Hong Kong: CE officiates at Sha Tau Kok opening

Chief Executive John Lee today officiated at the second phase opening-up of Sha Tau Kok launch ceremony as well as visited special attractions in Sha Tau Kok and kicked off a dragon boat performance.

Noting that the second phase opening-up of Sha Tau Kok is a milestone in the long-term development of the district, Mr Lee said at the ceremony that the Government and the Sha Tau Kok Rural Committee identified together the most distinguished characteristics of Sha Tau Kok and created the top 10 attractions, top 10 delicacies and top 10 cultural attractions, which have drawn many tourists since the opening-up on January 1.

He said that from conception, implementation to promotion of the new positioning, the attractions and facilities of Sha Tau Kok are the result of a collaborative endeavour across government bureaus and departments, the district and the industry.

After the launch ceremony, Mr Lee, accompanied by Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung toured the old Sha Tau Kok Fire Station, which still retains its former appearance, and unveiled a century-old firefighting hand cart.

The Chief Executive also visited the Sha Tak Kok Post Office and bought postcards featuring the winning entries of a Sha Tau Kok photo competition. He stamped a postcard with the unique cachets designed by the Security Bureau and mailed it to the bureau's colleagues to thank them for their efforts in promoting the opening-up.

At Dried Seafood Street inside Sha Tau Kok Market, Mr Lee chatted with a stall operator who sells Sha Tau Kok local specialties such as dried seafood, rice crackers and steamed sticky rice dumplings to learn more about the stall's business.

Mr Lee viewed scenes of the national intangible cultural heritage Sha Tau Kok fish-lantern dance at Fish Lantern Square and spoke to residents. He also was briefed by Mr Tang on the implementation of the current phase of the opening-up and the new facilities.

The Chief Executive then went to Sha Tau Kok Pier to kick off a dragon boat performance.

He was greeted by the beating of drums from four dragon boat teams formed by Police, the Immigration Department, the Customs & Excise Department and the Fire Services Department as well as four dragon boat teams formed by residents of Sha Tau Kok.

Mr Lee sounded the horn to mark the opening of the dragon boat performance in which the eight teams rowed together to the finish line, signifying the joint efforts in promoting the opening-up of Sha Tau Kok.

The daily tourist quota under the second phase opening-up of Sha Tau Kok includes 700 tour group visitors and 300 individual tourists. Tourists can visit all parts of Sha Tau Kok, except Chung Ying Street, from 7am to 9pm.

This story has been published on: 2024-01-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Celebrating its 25 anniversary at the Aero India 2023 exhibition, Brahmos Aerospace shows the Brahmos I air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) and the new Brahmos NG currently under development. Developed under the Indo-Russian Joint Venture, Brahmos I have been fielded by the Indian Navy and Army and is being fielded with the Air Force. The capability to operate the missile on Su-30 aircraft has raised prospects for Russian interest in obtaining the co-produced missile for their navy and air force. In 2016 such a purchase was discussed, but Russia did not pursue the acquisition. However, Russia may reconsider this opportunity after spending many of its Onyx missiles during the War in Ukraine.

The long-range naval/land attack missile is shown on the static display onboard the Sukhoi- 30MKI fighter platform of the Indian Air Force. Models of the next generation version (Brahmos NG) are displayed on a model at the Brahmos Aerospace stand.

Accelerated by a solid rocket booster and powered by a ramjet, the Brahmos I missile cruises at high supersonic speed (Mach 2.8) and can strike targets on land or sea at distances exceeding 500 km. The ALCM variant weighs 2.5 tons and carries a warhead weighing 200 kg. The Indian Air Force already confirmed a requirement of 400 missiles that will be delivered within five years.

Brahmos NG is designed as a smaller and more agile missile, reaching a top speed of 3.5 Mach. It will have the same range as Brahmos I and carry an equally capable warhead. The manufacturer plans to introduce another variant, Brahmos II, designed to reach an even higher speed, rated at the hypersonic regime (above Mach 5). In addition to achieving hypersonic speed, Brahmos II is likely to be low observable, making it suitable for fifth-generation platforms.

Brahmos I has attracted much interest in India and abroad. In January 2022, the Philippines became the first export customer of the system, deploying the missiles in coastal defense configuration. Some countries in the Middle East have also raised interest, and Brahmos intends to tap this interest, bringing the system to the IDEX 2023 exhibition in Abu Dhabi next week. As a versatile weapon system, Brahmos can be integrated on various platforms, including frigates, submarines, land-attack, and coastal defense weapons.

Brahmos is positioned as a central player in achieving Indias ambitious target to reach defense exports worth US$5 billion by 2025. Beginning in 2024, the missiles will be produced at a new manufacturing site built at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC). The site will also accommodate a development center for current and future missiles. More than 20,000 scientists, engineers, and technicians are directly engaged with the program, leveraging an ecosystem of +200 companies throughout India providing components and subsystems for the missile systems.

The Indian Sukhoi Su-30 MKI can carry a single missile on the centerline station. The large size and weight eliminated the ability to catty Brahmos I underwing. Even a single missile significantly reduces fuel and weapon loadout. The next-generation missile will be able to meet the three-missile configuration required by the Indian Air Force, adding two Brahmos NG missiles carried on underwing stations. Integrations for Tejas will expand the use of Brahmos NG with the Indian Air Force and Navy and open more export opportunities. Rafale integration is also considered for the Indian Air Force and could open more export prospects, primarily in the Middle East. The manufacturer also plans integration on Typhoon, targeting potential Middle East customers. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait are operating Typhoons and could be interested in the Brahmos NG integration on their aircraft. Brahmos NG is slated to begin flight tests within 1-2 years. The hypersonic Brahmos II is expected to follow toward the decades end.
Wadee Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy, was killed when he was stabbed 26 times in his home in Plainfield Township, Illinois on Oct. 14, 2023.

His mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, suffered critical injuries after being stabbed and strangled. Authorities have called the murder a hate crime motivated by Islamophobia and hostility toward Palestinians, as well as an extremist reaction to the simultaneous Israel-Hamas war that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.

Joseph Czuba, the landlord of the property where Wadee and his family resided, reportedly knocked on their front door before launching into a verbal tirade. Shahin later told detectives that Czuba was irate over the current situation in Israel, and began making discriminatory threats while strangling her. According to BBC, the mother responded to him with, "Let's pray for peace," and he then attacked her with a knife. Shahin then locked herself in the bathroom but was not quick enough to save her son. When she was able to dial 911, Wadee was enduring a relentless and repeated stabbing by Czuba, until the boy fatally succumbed to his wounds. An autopsy later confirmed he had been stabbed a total of 26 times.

An uncle and family spokesman, Yousef Hannon, said that before the killing "there was no signs of anything wrong" between Joseph Czuba, and the victims. "Czuba was friendly to the whole family, but especially to the kid, who he treated like a grandson," Mr. Hannon told the BBC. "He brought him gifts, he brought him some toys."

Prosecutors assigned to the case revealed Czuba had been listening to conservative talk radio and had become increasingly paranoid about the presence of the Palestinian-American family in his home. According to court documents obtained by BBC, Mr. Czuba's wife told police that her husband feared they would be attacked by people of Middle Eastern descent and, worrying that catastrophe would strike the US power grid, had withdrawn $1,000 from a bank.

Wadee's parents are from a village in the West Bank. His mother had immigrated to the United States 12 years prior as did his father, just 9 years prior. Wadee himself was born in the U.S. In his short life, Wadea "loved everything" - from his parents, to Legos to spending time with friends - said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Chicago office, during a press conference where CNN was present."He loved everybody," Rehab said. "He loved his parents, he loved his family and his friends, he loved life and he was looking forward to a long, healthy, prosperous life."

Rather than returning to class that Monday, Wadee was buried. Wadee's mother could not attend the funeral service as she was recovering from her injuries at the time.

A Candlelight Vigil Was Held

Odai Al-Fayoume spoke at a vigil outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Illinois, that was organized before a pretrial hearing for Joseph, Czuba. He made an emotional plea for justice and exhorted Americans to reject bigotry and "embraced the diversity that makes our nation so beautiful," reported ABC News.

"I stand before you with a heavy heart, one that's weighted down by immense grief of losing my dear Wadee," Al-Fayoume continued as a crowd behind him held candles on Wednesday.

Speaking through an interpreter, Al-Fayoume said he will not rest until justice is achieved for his son and his son's mother, Hanna Shahin, who survived the attack. "Wadee deserves nothing less than that. We owe it to him to seek justice," Al-Fayoume said. "However, I also want to take a moment to address a larger issue that we cannot ignore: My son was the victim not only of violence but also of prejudice and hatred. He was targeted because of his faith because he was Muslim and that is something we must confront as a society."

US President Joe Biden said in a statement, as reported by ABC News, that in response to the killing, "The child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek-- refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, this horrific act of hate has no place in America."

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the killing a "shameful reminder of the destructive role Islamophobia plays in our society."

"We grieve alongside his family and the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities in our state as we reckon with this unthinkable loss," Johnson went on to say.

Imam Omar Suleiman, founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an adjunct professor of Islamic studies in the graduate liberal studies program at Southern Methodist University, said, "Every single Palestinian child is just as beautiful, has just as much of a right to be mourned and when we mourn Wadea, we are mourning all of those children and when we condemn the hate that killed Wadea, we are condemning the hate that has killed all of those children.

"What type of hate has to be manufactured in the head of a man for him to stand over a 6-year-old boy and stab him 26 times?" he added. "I want each and every single one of us to take a step back and to actually assess our own humanity in the moment," he added.

Joseph Czuba pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and two counts of committing a hate crime.
As the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the U.S. State Department has issued a reward for any information on five Hamas-linked financial facilitators. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI

Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. government is offering a reward of up to $10 million to anyone who has information on key Hamas financiers.

The Department of State's Rewards for Justice Program on Friday said it is seeking information on Hamas financial facilitators Abdelbasit Hamza Elhassan Khair, Amer Kamal Sharif Alshawa, Ahmed Sadu Jahleb, Walid Mohammed Mustafa Jadallah and Muhammad Ahmad 'Abd Al-Dayim Nasrallah.

Khadir, also known as "Hamza," is a Sudan-based financier who has managed numerous companies in Hamas investment portfolio and was previously involved in the transfer of almost $20 million to Hamas, including funds sent directly to senior Hamas financial officer Mahir Jawad Yunis Salah, according to the State Department.

Hamza's network includes Sudan-based Al Rowad Real Estate Development, which the U.S. Department of the Treasury marked as a specially designated global terrorist organization in May 2022. Hamza also has longstanding financing ties to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden-linked companies in Sudan.

Alshawa, Jahleb and Jadallah all are part of Hamas' investment network in Turkey, the State Department said.

Alshawa is the CEO of Turkish foreign capital firm Trend GYO and has served as a board member on several Hamas investment portfolio companies.

Jahleb serves as the Hamas investment portfolio secretary and coordinates various activities for Hamas-controlled companies and Hamas officials.

Jadallah serves on the boards of several investment portfolio companies.

Nasrallah is a longtime Hamas operative with ties to Iranian entities. The State Department said he has been involved in the transfer of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas, including to the group's military wing.

The U.S. Treasury Department listed all five financiers as specially designated global terrorists in October.

The State Department said it will provide rewards for any information leading to the identification and disruption of:

any source of revenue for Hamas

major Hamas donors or financial facilitators

financial institutions or exchange houses facilitating Hamas transactions

businesses or investments owned by Hamas or its financiers

front companies engaged in international procurement of dual-use technology on behalf of Hamas, an

criminal schemes involving Hamas members and supporters that financially benefit the organization

People with information on these or other Hamas affiliates should contact Rewards for Justice at 1-202-702-7843. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  House Bill 8 became law with the start of 2024, marking an historical departure from how Texas has been funding its community colleges for decades.

HB 8 was signed into law last June by Gov. Greg Abbott, providing $683 million for community colleges across the state.

Prior to this year, the 50 community colleges across Texas would earn state funding based on enrollment. El Paso Community College President William Serrata said this method of funding was static and would force the colleges to divide however much funding the Texas Legislature provided, among all the institutions. Serrata added that HB 8 shifts the funding formula to a dynamic one.

Now what the new formula does its based on your performance. If you graduate more students, if you provide more students with a credential, then youll receive additional funding. So it really is a competition with yourself trying to get better, trying to do better for your community, offer more programs that allow students to get into a living wage job and be productive members of our community, Serrata said.

With the new law, Texas will also reward community colleges for successfully transferring students to four year universities, and for enrolling students in college courses in high school.

Community colleges receive their funding from three areas: state funding, local property taxes, and tuition and fees.

Serrata and El Paso businessman Woody Hunt were instrumental in getting the legislation to pass in Austin.

Hunt was appointed by Abbott to chair the Community College Finance Commission, tasked with studying community college finance and draft recommendations for the Texas Legislature.

Serrata served as the chair of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, representing all 50 of them, and was responsible for explaining to Texas Legislators what the colleges goals were.

EPCC is set to receive $7.1 million dollars in additional funds in the current biennium with the new law.

The benefit and part of the reason that 49 of the 50 colleges saw increases in funding is because weve really been focused on ensuring that students get to the finish line. And so Ill give you an example. In 2001, the 50 community colleges produced about 37,000 degrees. In 2010, that more than doubled. In 2020 we were looking at about a little over 125,000 degrees and certificates, Serrata said.

With this new formula providing a promising future for community colleges, EPCC is already looking to capitalize on the additional funding.

So were already implementing new programs. The Board of Trustees last month approved six new additional programs, including the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. These are high demand, high skilled programs that their salaries are significantly higher than traditional programs as well, Serrata said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
FRANKLIN  A 39-year-old Weymouth man was killed in a rollover crash Friday afternoon on Interstate 495, authorities said.

He was identified as Anthony Espino, state police said in an email Sunday morning.

The driver of a second vehicle that was involved in the crash was not injured.

The crash occurred on I-495 north at about 3:30 p.m., just south of Exit 41 (King Street). Several witnesses called 911 to report that a car had gone into the trees and rolled over several times, according to state police.

The motorist was ejected from the car. Troopers performed CPR on the man before the Franklin Fire Department transported him to Milford Regional Medical Center, where he was declared dead.

Single-car crash: Franklin woman, 19, dies after single-car crash on Interstate 495 in Hopkinton

The left and center travel lanes of I-495 were closed for two and a half hours. The scene was cleared about 6 p.m.

The cause of the crash is unknown and remains under investigation by the State Police collision analysis and reconstruction unit, crime scene services and detectives.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebok.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Weymouth man, 39, dies after rollover on Interstate 495 in Franklin
A 20-year-old Florida man has just been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison after crafting a plot to kill his girlfriend. Allegedly, he falsely accused her of giving him an STD. If you thought that was bad, just wait until you get to the part where his mother was in on the hit.

Police say 20-year-old Keith Agee walked into Home Depot in Escambia County, Florida, on August 11 to confront the 18-year-old mother of his child, orted by CBS AustinBrooklyn Sims. As rep, surveillance footage allegedly captured Agee walking down aisle 52 and seconds later, customers were seen running frantic from that very spot in the store.Brooklyn Sims. As reported by CBS Austin, surveillance footage allegedly captured Agee walking down aisle 52 and seconds later, customers were seen running frantic from that very spot in the store.

Read more

Read more from CBS Austin:

Investigators discovered that the mother of the suspect, Keith Agee, knew and even helped him coordinate the murder, the sheriffs office says in a release. According to text messages, its clear that Keith Agees mother, Sheila Agee, knew and participated in the plan to kill Brooklyn Sims. Additionally, text messages between mother and son highlight the mothers involvement in helping locate the victim.

In a series of text messages published by CBS Austin, Agees mother, Sheila, told her son if you dont come kill her you a mf b**ch. She also texted that she doesnt care what her son does because she wasnt going to hell or jail that day.

Well, that message aged terribly given she has also been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, court documents show. As for her son, hes been sentenced to life in prison for premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. His daughter is now in custody of Sims mother, according to PEOPLE.

Oh  and it was revealed during trial that he actually didnt have an STD.

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This article was originally published in Kentucky Lantern.

For Barry Shrout, raising four granddaughters is a role he willingly took on  and that he acknowledges is exhausting and expensive.

The financial part of it is a big thing with me, said Shrout, 66, a single grandfather from Maysville who has custody of the girls ages 10, 11, 13 and 17. I have to daily watch every nickel and dime I spend.

Grandparents like Shrout have prompted Norma Hatfield, of Elizabethtown, to renew her near-decade-long crusade for more help for such relatives, mostly grandparents, who are raising an estimated 59,000 Kentucky children in whats commonly called kinship care.

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Hatfield, president of Kinship Families Coalition of Kentucky, acknowledges Kentucky has adopted some changes meant to aid relatives raising children whose parents are unable to care for them or have lost custody because of neglect or abuse with addiction often a factor.

But Hatfield, who is raising two grandchildren, said more is needed to aid the many older relatives who have stepped in to raise children who likely would otherwise end up in foster care  at significant expense to the state.

I communicate with so many caregivers and I keep hearing the same issues, the same struggles, and I dont see a lot of change, Hatfield said. Its been nine years. Why cant we do better?

Kentucky Youth Advocates, while commending state social services for changes meant to aid such caregivers, continues to seek more help for those, many on fixed incomes, who have taken children into their homes.

Shannon Moody, chief policy and strategy officer for the nonpartisan advocacy group, said recent reports of children sleeping in state social services offices in Kentucky for lack of a suitable placement as well as others sent out of state to residential centers or psychiatric hospitals suggest a crisis in the system.

Placing children with relatives or caregivers known as fictive kin  adults known and trusted by the child such as a neighbor or friend  could ease the strain, she said.

Some of the recommendations we are making are making sure kids are with family or family-based care, Moody said.

Moody and Hatfield appeared in August before the General Assemblys joint Committee on Families and Children to recommend proposals they said would aid kinship caregivers.

But Rep. Samara Heavrin, R-Leitchfield and committee co-chair, expressed reservations about more financial assistance to such caregivers without more oversight.

Its a very big ask for the General Assembly to give money out without any strings attached, Heavrin said. I understand your story but we cant just write a blank check, either.

Hatfield and Moody said no one is asking for a blank check but said its clear more work is needed to help caregivers understand what they are taking on, what assistance is available and the expense involved.

We cant just leave them drained, completely drained, Hatfield said.

Dropped like a hot potato

Until 2013, the state offered a monthly payment of $300 per child to kinship care providers who took in children. By contrast, state-certified foster parents are paid about $750 a month.

But the state closed the kinship program to new applicants 10 years ago, citing budget pressures.

Since then, Kentucky has restored some assistance, prodded in part by a class-action lawsuit that successfully argued kinship caregivers were providing essentially the same services for free that foster parents provided for $750 or more per child per month.

Now, relatives can receive foster care payments if they agree to train and become certified by the state. Monthly payments range from the full amount per child to partial pay if the relatives cant meet all requirements  for example, if the house isnt large enough to meet state specifications.

But when the child moves from foster to permanent status, should the relative adopt or gain permanent custody, the payments stop.

They are dropped like a hot potato, Hatfield said. You take what you can when you can.

Good news for family, foster caregivers

One bright spot: a recent federal rule change will allow relatives to get full foster pay even if their homes dont meet all licensing standards.

Hatfield said Kentucky officials are reviewing how to implement the change that would be huge for relative caregivers.

In more potential good news for such caregivers, Gov. Andy Beshear, in his Dec. 18 budget proposal, included $10 million a year over the next two years to increase money available to relatives who agree to take children in care of the state social service system. And his budget proposes another $9.8 million a year each year to increase foster care rates by 12% for all foster caregivers.

Hatfield said both steps would be enormously helpful in relieving the financial strain for families.

Im so grateful to the governor for the proposed funding in the budget for kinship and foster families, she said. It gives me and many others a renewed sense of hope.

Hatfield said she and other advocates will work to convince lawmakers of the need for the funds as legislators begin drafting the states next two-year budget in the upcoming legislative session.

Other aid available to caregivers includes the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program, which provides a modest monthly payment per child, Medicaid health coverage for the children, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, and a Kentucky Caregiver program which offers an annual payment of $500 per child for expenses such as furniture, school supplies, clothes or other needs.

The childs parents also may be required to pay child support to caregivers, though advocates say that can be hard to collect in cases where parents are experiencing addiction, are incarcerated or have left the state.

All of those are important, Hatfield said, but more ongoing aid is needed to help relative caregivers with costs. And she said much better communication is needed for relatives who often are forced to make snap decisions in a moment of crisis about children abruptly removed from homes by authorities.

An uninformed decision  such as agreeing to take temporary custody of children  can force relatives to forfeit aid such as foster payments available only to those who agree to accept them under a foster care arrangement with the state, she said.

And state officials dont allow any changes after that initial decision.

Workers with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services are supposed to explain options and the cabinet has information, including a video on its website, but families need better, simple and clear explanations, Hatfield said.

People are caught up in a time of stress and all they hear is, You can take temporary custody or we can put them in foster care, Hatfield said. They say, Of course well take custody. Once you check the box, you cant change it.

Hatfield and Kentucky Youth Advocates are urging several changes they believe would help.

Mileage reimbursement

Relatives who take in children, often from abusive or neglectful situations, find they are required to take children to a host of appointments for medical care and therapy for the trauma many have experienced. They also are required to take children to any visits with parents ordered by the court, which can be weekly.

While foster parents get mileage reimbursement, relative caregivers do not, even as they are required to drive children many miles per week for appointments.

Michelle Tynes, who lives in Graves County in Western Kentucky, said she had to drive hundreds of miles back and forth to Louisville with no reimbursement after one of several grandchildren she took in temporarily needed multiple medical procedures at Norton Childrens Hospital.

She was able to pay for it, but Hatfield said buying gasoline is a hardship for many relatives.

This one is really a big deal for a lot of families, Hatfield said.

Respite care

Relative caregivers are not eligible for outside care for children for their medical appointments or just a needed break for errands or other events although foster parents do get reimbursed for respite care.

Shrout, the Maysville grandfather, said a trusted woman from his church cared for his granddaughters when he had to stay overnight in the hospital for a heart procedure.

He said hes grateful for the support from his church friends but said he wishes he had some of the same help as foster parents.

The legislature seems to be bending over backwards to help foster parents instead of kinship parents like me, Shrout said. Were treated differently than those people are and its not fair.

Guardianship payments

Relatives often take children under temporary arrangements in which they can get foster payments. But if the court determines the child cant return to the parents, the relative then may adopt or obtain permanent custody.

That stops foster payments.

Advocates would like to see the state take advantage of federal funds available through a guardianship arrangement where the relative is eligible for payments as a guardian until the child turns 18.

Hatfield said state social service officials have told her they are investigating this possibility and she hopes it will become available in Kentucky.

Also, while foster children are eligible for free tuition at a state college in Kentucky, kinship children are not.

Hatfield said that would be a big help to caregivers of children nearing college age.

Opioid settlement funds?

Hatfield says she doesnt know how much all these proposals would cost or how they would be implemented.

For that reason, she said, shes urging lawmakers to create a task force that would study the situation and try to get a handle on the scope of the need and money required to pay for any changes.

As much as weve been talking for the last nine years about kinship care, why wouldnt we have a task force to see what the needs are, she said.

And Hatfield said she has one final thought: Why not use some of the millions of dollars Kentucky has recovered in settlements with pharmaceutical companies over the opioid addiction crisis?

Addiction is what caused many parents to lose custody of their children, Hatfield said, asking:

Why are we not using some of these opioid settlement funds for kinship caregivers?

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
National Rifle Association Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre resigned from the organization Friday, merely three days before the troubled leader is scheduled to face a corruption trial in New York.

He, alongside other former NRA officials, stands accused of misappropriating funds from the non-profit to bankroll their lavish lifestyles. This included private jets, luxury vacations, and, expensive dining. LaPierre has denied these allegations.

In a statement attained by NPR on Friday, NRA President Charles Cotton said LaPierre, who is 74, is resigning due to health reasons. The gun group says it will continue to defend itself in the lawsuit brought by New York State.

"With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA," LaPierre said. "I've been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever," Politico announced.

LaPierre, who has served as chief executive since 1991, is facing charges brought against the NRA by New York Attorney General Letitia James. He is among four defendants in the case and is expected to testify in the trial before Justice Joel Cohen of the state Supreme Court.

Under the Wayne LaPierre epoch, the NRA stood as the country's largest and most powerful gun organization. LaPierre helped build the NRA into a political powerhouse, He has led multiple campaigns in Washington and statehouses to expand gun rights under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He successfully fought off repeated attempts at gun control even amidst the number of escalating mass shootings across the nation. However, despite this information, the organization has been under heavy scrutiny in the last few years.

James revealed in a statement to Reuters, "The end of the Wayne LaPierre era at the NRA is an important victory in our case. LaPierre's resignation validates our claims against him, but it will not insulate him from accountability."

Reuters also reported that NRA counsel William Brewer also said the NRA was "prepared and ready."

"The NRA will defend its governance programs and its substantial efforts in support of the freedoms it fights to defend," Brewer said in a statement.

What Has Happened To The NRA's Membership?

According to Reuters, Revenue has slid 44% since 2016, as membership has slumped in recent years. Once as high as 5.5 million, membership was down to 4.2 million in September 2021, said former NRA board member Phil Journey, who said the board was briefed on membership.

"We were shedding 1,000 members a day, net, at that time. It's probably less than 4 million now," said Journey, who was left off the board last year after he cast the lone vote against reappointing LaPierre.

But in the face of legal and financial troubles, LaPierre was easily re-elected last year by the 76-member board.

The trial is set for a Manhattan courtroom on Monday and will proceed without delay.

Andrew Arulanandam, previously the organization's head of general operations, will take over for LaPierre as interim CEO and executive vice president.
If the NHS is so wonderful, why do its staff keep threatening to emigrate? There is a bizarre contradiction in what junior doctors leaders tell us. On the one hand, they point to figures showing that thousands of clinicians are going overseas, where working conditions are less stressful. On the other, they hit the roof at any suggestion that NHS structures might be brought into line with these other systems.

Obviously, doctors want to be paid more. Who doesnt? And it is true that, in common with the rest of us, NHS staff have seen their pay fall as a result of the lockdown  a lockdown, by the way, which the BMA wanted to be even longer.

British medics are at the upper end of global salary leagues, but not at the very top. Although it is difficult to make like-with-like comparisons, surveys place them behind their counterparts in other wealthy states such as Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. Yet it remains taboo to point out that all these countries have mixed healthcare systems, in which public and private hospitals coexist. The NHS is unique in being able to exploit its position as a monopoly employer.

The worlds best-paid doctors are to be found in the US and Switzerland. Im going to leave the US aside for a moment. One of the odder aspects of our debate is the widespread belief that the only alternative to the NHS is the American model, which is hugely expensive and which offers a raw deal to the poor. (Funnily enough, the reverse is also true: American defenders of their status quo have done a terrific job of convincing voters that the only alternative is Britains NHS, with its long waiting times and poor cancer survival rates.)

No, lets instead take Switzerland, which devotes as much a share of GDP as us in healthcare expenditure  11.3 per cent in 2022, according to the OECD, putting our two countries in joint sixth place, above Australia and New Zealand.

I happen to be typing these words in Switzerland. Indeed, at the risk of irritating my readers, I am typing them in a ski resort, where I come every year as part of a British parliamentary team to be humiliated in a series of races against Swiss MPs.

A few years ago, while attempting an over-ambitious jump, I knocked myself out and, when I came round, found that I was being stretchered to the local hospital. That evening, a polite man in a suit came to my bedside and introduced himself as the chairman of the governing body.

May I ask how long it took for you to see a doctor after being admitted?

Well, it was right away. I mean, probably less than five minutes.

This is good. We have a target that everyone should be seen by a doctor within 15 minutes, and I am happy to say that we have a 100 per cent record of meeting it.

No, really? In my country, the target is four hours, and we only meet that something like 70 per cent of the time.

He looked at me sympathetically. Ah. So you are from Great Britain?

Unless you have lived overseas, it is hard to convey the extent to which our healthcare system is an object of global pity. When I was in Brussels, a friend who had recently had a baby told me that her obstetrician assumed she had moved to Belgium for the sole purpose of not having to give birth in a British hospital.

As an MEP, I was struck by the fact that no mainstream socialist party in Europe wanted to adopt the British model  although one or two Marxist parties liked the idea. Indeed, no healthcare model on the Continent has remotely resembled ours since the early 1990s, when former Warsaw Pact states dismantled their NHS-style monoliths.

Yet these truths, uncontroversial in Brussels, could not be voiced in Britain. The NHS was treated as something that should be above politics: unsullied, immaculate, eternal. As David Prior, then chairman of the Care Quality Commission, put it, When things were going wrong, people didnt say anything. If you criticised the NHS, the attitude was how dare you?

I experienced that attitude when I suggested on an American TV programme that the US should not copy the British model. I had, I soon learned, committed the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. I may have been only a backbench MEP, but my comments led BBC bulletins, prompted outraged questions in Parliament and led angry protesters to harass my elderly mother in her flat. All because I did not think the rest of the world should copy our system.

Far worse was to talk openly about poor provision. When a brave nurse exposed failings at Mid Staffs, she claims to have been threatened. An inquiry found serious failings at the hospital, in part because the first reaction was not to address the problems identified by whistleblowers, but to protect producer interests.

Im afraid the same motive appears to animate todays strikers. For all their cant about protecting the NHS, they are making unreasonable demands because they think that, in any dispute between doctors and ministers, the public will back the doctors regardless of the merits of their case.

Never mind that, in their first year of training, junior doctors median earnings are already above the national average. Never mind that they have just been awarded an 8.8 per cent pay uplift. They are appealing to faith, not reason.

Everyone remembers Nigel Lawsons remark about the NHS being the closest thing this country has to a religion. Less frequently quoted is his next sentence: For a bunch of laymen, who called themselves the government, to presume to tell the priesthood that they must change their ways in any respect whatsoever was clearly intolerable. And faced with a dispute between their priests and ministers, the public would have no hesitation in taking the part of the priesthood.

The strikers believe the old faith still moves us. They heard our applause during the lockdown. They saw the rainbow Thank You NHS signs, many of them in churches, sigils of our mawkish syncretic religion. They watched children on Newsnight singing Happy Birthday NHS. They remember the service of thanksgiving for the NHS at Westminster Abbey, which might have been specifically designed to vindicate Lawson.

Yet satisfaction with the NHS has halved over three years, according to British Social Attitudes, falling to just 29 per cent. People are asking whether being told yet again to protect the NHS is getting things back to front. A study by the Kings Fund last year ranked the NHS ranked second-to-last for saving patients with treatable illnesses. In order to protect the NHS, people were staying away too long and being seen too late.

And while a vague sense remains that the problem is with underfunding, this is chiefly a perception lag  like thinking that British food is terrible, or that Germany is militaristic. To repeat, Britain and Switzerland are joint sixth in the world when it comes to healthcare spending as a share of GDP, and we are outperformed by many countries that spend far less than we do.

No, the problem is not with funding, but with a structure that gives consumers no power over producers. In any other field of life, this would be obvious. If supermarkets were replaced by a National Food Service, funded out of general taxation and free at the point of use, wed be poorer and hungrier.

But faith, by definition, is unattached to evidence. So we refuse to point out the obvious, namely that clinicians would be better paid, and patients better served, if we ended our state monopoly. Instead of sending doctors to Australia, we should bring Australias model here.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
As the calendar turns to 2024, the presidential election is set to take the spotlight in Sunday news shows.

The first vote of the 2024 cycle, the Iowa caucus, is just over a week away. There, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), who will be on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, hopes to upset former President Trump and kick-start his struggling presidential campaign.

Trump leads polling in Iowa by a large, 34-point margin, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average of polls. DeSantis trails with 18 percent support.

In recent weeks, a flurry of states have begun legal attempts to take former President Trump off their primary ballots, citing the 14th Amendments insurrection clause.

The most notable of those efforts, in Colorado, is now headed to the Supreme Court. The justices are set to decide whether Trumps actions surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riots violate the 14th Amendment and disqualify him from office.

Democratic activists in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois also filed similar 14th Amendment challenges this week, after the Maine Secretary of State also barred Trump from its ballot last week. The upcoming Supreme Court case will likely be the most significant electoral case since Bush v. Gore, and determine who will be on the 2024 ballot.

Saturday marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, sparking widespread calls for action from activists and warnings from lawmakers about the threat of future political violence.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), one of the most vocal about the Jan. 6 riots, is set to appear on ABCs This Week, and former Vice President Mike Pence  whom rioters chanted about hanging  will be on CNNs State of the Union.

President Biden gave a harrowing speech Friday evening warning about the future of democracy and Jan. 6.

Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot, he said, in a speech that also directly attacked Trump. Donald Trumps campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. Hes willing to sacrifice democracy to put himself in power.

Biden campaign official Quentin Fulks is set to appear on NBCs Meet the Press.

Immigration is set to be the focus for Fox News Sunday, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) both facing off.

Abbott came under fire again this week for a migrant transportation program that has moved thousands of people from Texas to so-called sanctuary cities like New York City, Chicago and Denver.

New York City sued over a dozen transportation companies responsible for the migrant transports this week, claiming they broke state law. Johnston joined New York City and Chicago leaders in criticizing Abbott last week.

All we want is a system that is humanitarian for both the new folks that are arriving and for our cities and our city employees. And so, we understand there will be an inflow, we have already had 35,000 migrants arrive to Denver, weve successfully helped them integrate into the country here, Johnston said. What we dont want is people arriving at 2:00 in the morning at a city and county building with women and children outside in 10-degree weather and no support.

Heres the complete lineup for the Sunday news shows:

ABCs This Week  Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Rep. Tony Gonzales, (R-Texas).

NBCs Meet the Press  Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.); Israeli President Isaac Herzog; Biden campaign official Quentin Fulks.

CBS Face the Nation  House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.); Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.); Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md).

CNNs State of the Union  Former Vice President Mike Pence; Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.).

Fox News Sunday  Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas); Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D); Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).

Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake (R); former Trump adviser Stephen Miller; former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe; Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Silhouettes of people are seen standing on the ground, looking up at a starry sky and the center of the Milky Way.

The world of astronomy has already offered a pretty fascinating start to 2024. In just the first five days of the year, we've seen incredible discoveries like the true colors of Neptune and Uranus as well as a massive cyclone raging on a distant exoplanet thanks to the trusty Hubble Space Telescope. But things are only going to ramp up over the next week. By a lot.

From Jan. 7 to Jan. 11, the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society will convene in the vibrant city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Thousands of scientists specializing in an absolutely incredible array of subjects ranging from dark matter mysteries to star explosions and the search for habitable exoplanets to the technology required to propel spacecraft across the solar system will gather in one area. They'll get ready to announce some of the best and brightest studies they've been working on; meanwhile, they'll be figuring out how to get even bigger and brighter with their next by listening to wild ideas, strange contradictions and telescopic achievements their colleagues will lay out. Some have even called this event the " Super Bowl of Astronomy ."

Related: The Magellanic Clouds must be renamed, astronomers say

NASA will be there too, to offer updates on major missions like the trailblazing, $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope and the upcoming, highly anticipated, Habitable Worlds Observatory. According to a statement released on Jan. 5, NASA will also be discussing the 2024 total solar eclipse, which will take place on April 8, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope currently under construction and even its scientific balloon program.

"Experts will discuss new research from NASA missions at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) on topics ranging from planets outside our solar system to fleeting, high-energy explosions in the universe," the agency said in the statement.

All NASA press conferences will be streamed for the public to view on AAS's Press Office YouTube channel ; other conferences during the meeting will be found there as well. After the meeting concludes, the streams will be available to view on an online archive provided by the organization. You'll notice that this archive includes a wealth of presentations from previous years as well.

Beyond NASA, teams from other iconic space facilities, current and upcoming, are scheduled to speak, too. Members of the Rubin Observatory, for instance, are expected to let everyone know how things are going with their efforts to discover tens of billions of galaxies once its construction is complete in Chile. But, as we'd mentioned, perhaps the most interesting and hopefully mind-blowing presentations will be coming from researchers speaking during the event.

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Though we don't have a ton of information yet on each of those talks, we're able to see some of the study headlines. And they look quite intriguing. For instance, Jan. 8 is poised to bring us an update on a "dark galaxy," the origins of "odd radio circles," and a "famous exploded star in its best light." Jan. 9 appears to have information concerning an exoplanet's tail-like escaping atmosphere and a highly distant fast radio burst seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Jan. 10 has something about a "supernova imposter" on its schedule and Jan. 11 beholds an entire category of presentation dubbed "Oddities in the Sky." This honestly barely scratches the surface. You can have a look at the full list of presentations here.

Briefings are scheduled to begin between (and including) Jan. 8 to Jan. 11 at 10:15 a.m. CST (11:15 a.m. EST) and then again at 2:15 p.m. CST (3:15 p.m. EST). During the week, you can follow along with Space.com as we bring you some of the AAS's 243rd meeting highlights.
Washington  The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a politically explosive decision from Colorado's top court that found former President Donald Trump ineligible for the presidency and would leave him off the state's primary ballot, stepping into a high-stakes legal showdown that could have major ramifications for the 2024 presidential election.

The court set a swift schedule for filings from the parties in the appeal brought by Trump and said in a brief order that arguments will be held Feb. 8. A decision could come quickly after arguments, since Super Tuesday, when Colorado and more than a dozen states will hold their primaries or caucuses, is scheduled for March 5.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to hear the case and in a statement expressed confidence that "the fair-minded Supreme Court will unanimously affirm the civil rights of President Trump, and the voting rights of all Americans in a ruling that will squash all of the remaining ballot challenge hoaxes once and for all."

At the center of the dispute is the Constitution's so-called insurrection clause, a Civil War-era provision that bars a person who has sworn an oath to defend the Constitution and then engages in insurrection from holding public office.

The Colorado Supreme Court concluded in a divided, 4-3 decision on Dec. 19 that Trump is disqualified from serving as president because of his conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and barred him from being listed on the state's primary ballot. But the state's high court paused its decision to allow the former president and the Colorado GOP time to appeal.

The court fight over Trump's eligibility for the White House sends the Supreme Court into new territory, as it has never before ruled directly on the 155-year-old provision at the center of the case, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. It also puts the nation's highest court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, in a position to potentially play a pivotal role in the 2024 election  the outcome of the case could decide whether Trump is eligible for ballot, not only in Colorado, but in the 49 other states.

Colorado's high court was the first and only state court to find Trump is ineligible for the White House, and its explosive ruling marked the first time a presidential candidate has been found to be disqualified under Section 3. Maine's secretary of state reached a similar conclusion about the former president in response to two challenges brought by voters seeking to kick Trump off the state's primary ballot. The former president has appealed the decision by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to the Maine Superior Court. Bellows, a Democrat, paused the effect of her ruling to allow the appeals process to play out.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment

The Colorado case was brought by a group of six voters  four Republicans and two unaffiliated  who argued that Trump could not appear on the primary ballot because his actions related to the Jan. 6 riot rendered him ineligible for the White House under Section 3.

Enacted after the Civil War, the provision was intended to keep former Confederates out of office. It has rarely been used in modern times.

A state trial court in Denver ruled in November that the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 constituted an insurrection and found Trump engaged in insurrection, marking the first time a judge has reached such a conclusion about his conduct. But the judge ruled that Section 3 does not apply to the presidency or someone who has taken the presidential oath, and ordered Trump to be listed on the primary ballot.

The Colorado Supreme Court, though, reversed the lower court's finding about the scope of Section 3 and, in its 4-3 decision, said Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency.

"We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us," the majority wrote in its opinion. "We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach."

Trump and the Colorado Republican Party appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, urging the justices to overturn the state high court's ruling. All parties, including the voters who challenged Trump's eligibility, pushed the court to decide the issue swiftly.

If allowed to stand, the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling would "mark the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate," lawyers for the former president warned the justices in a filing.

They called the question of Trump's eligibility one of "paramount importance," and urged the Supreme Court to "return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters."

"The Colorado Supreme Court decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide," his lawyers said.

The case presents a number of novel questions that the high court will consider, including whether Jan. 6 was an insurrection and one Trump engaged in, as the Colorado courts concluded. The justices also are likely to weigh whether the former president and presidency are covered by Section 3.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled against Trump on all of those matters.

Other legal challenges

The challenges to the former president's eligibility in Colorado and Maine are among efforts pursued in more than 30 states that aimed to keep Trump off the ballot, though they have been the only two to prevail so far.

In Michigan, the state supreme court denied a request to review a lower court decision that allowed Trump to remain on the primary ballot. In Minnesota, the state's highest court tossed out a challenge by voters as to the primary ballot, concluding that the primary is an "internal party election to serve internal party purposes."

Secretaries of state in a handful of other states  including California, New Hampshire and Oregon  have indicated they cannot unilaterally withhold Trump's name from the ballot.

The battle over Trump's eligibility is not the only case involving the former president to land before the Supreme Court. In December the justices agreed to hear a case involving the reach of a federal obstruction law that has been used to prosecute hundreds of defendants for their alleged actions during the Jan. 6 attack, including Trump.

The former president faces four federal charges related to an alleged attempt to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election and has pleaded not guilty.

Arising out of his prosecution is another fight over whether he is entitled to broad immunity from criminal charges. A federal appeals court is weighing whether to uphold the district court's finding that Trump is not shielded from federal prosecution for alleged acts committed while in office, and its ruling will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court.

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The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Idaho to enforce provisions of a strict new abortion ban that could penalize doctors who perform the procedure in emergency situations.

The court granted emergency requests filed by Idaho state officials, putting on hold a federal judge's ruling that said the provisions conflict with federal law.

The court also said it would hear oral arguments on the issue in April and issue a ruling by the end of June.

Other provisions of the near-total abortion ban were already in effect.

The state abortion law was enacted in 2020, with a provision stating it would go into effect if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that found women had a right to end a pregnancy.

The law, called the Defense of Life Act, therefore went into effect when the Supreme Court in 2022 rolled back the ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion.

It declares that anyone who performs an abortion is subject to criminal penalties, including up to five years in prison. Health care professionals found to have violated the law can lose their professional licenses.

There is an exception if the abortion was necessary to protect the life of the pregnant woman.

The federal government sued, prompting a federal judge in August 2022 to block the state from enforcing provisions concerning medical care that is required under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

The 1986 law requires that patients  including, the federal government says, pregnant women with serious complications  receive appropriate emergency room care. The law applies to any hospital that receives federal funding via the Medicare program.

In blocking parts of the state law that conflict with federal law, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Winmill described the state's actions as putting doctors in a difficult situation.

"The doctor believes her EMTALA obligations require her to offer that abortion right now. But she also knows that all abortions are banned in Idaho. She thus finds herself on the horns of a dilemma. Which law should she violate?" he wrote.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals briefly put Winmill's ruling on hold in September, but subsequently allowed it to go back into effect, prompting the state officials to turn to the Supreme Court.

The state officials argued that the two laws are not in tension, in part because the federal law does not specifically say that doctors are required to perform abortions in certain circumstances.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, disagreed, saying in court papers that the Idaho law "criminalizes care required by federal law."

President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has enabled Republican elected officials to pursue dangerous abortion bans like this one.

He also called on Congress again to restore the protections of the landmark Supreme Court case that was overturned in 2022.

These bans are also forcing doctors to leave Idaho and other states because of laws that interfere with their ability to care for their patients, Biden said. This should never happen in America.

Earlier this week, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for Texas in a similar case in which the state was seeking to enforce strict abortion restrictions.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The U.S. Supreme Court is photographed on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in Washington. The Supreme Court is allowing Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, while a legal fight continues. | Mariam Zuhaib, Associated Press

The Supreme Court on Friday added a second major abortion case to its current term, agreeing to weigh in on a battle over Idahos abortion ban.

The law makes it a crime with a prison term of up to five years for anyone who performs or assists in an abortion, according to The Associated Press. It was set to take effect in August 2022, but that same month, a federal judge limited its application after the Biden administration sued to force changes to the policy.

The administration says that a federal policy called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act should outweigh state abortion bans when a pregnant womans life is in danger.

The Biden administration has argued that hospitals that receive Medicare funds are required by federal law to provide emergency care, potentially including abortion, no matter if theres a state law banning abortion, The Associated Press reported.

Related

Idaho officials, as well as leaders in other conservative states, including Texas, say that the federal policy in question does not mandate abortion access.

Emphasizing that nothing in EMTALA (the policy) mentions abortion, much less requires hospitals to perform them, the state and the legislature argued that EMTALA was simply enacted to ensure that hospital emergency rooms treat poor or uninsured patients  not to impose a federal standard of care for patients, SCOTUSblog reported about Idahos claims.

On Friday, the Supreme Court did more than agree to hear the dispute. The justices also said that Idahos abortion ban could fully take effect while the lawsuit plays out, staying the injunction that has been in place since August 2022.

Last month, the Supreme Court added a separate abortion case to its schedule, as the Deseret News previously reported. In Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the justices will debate whether a pill commonly used to induce abortion can remain widely available across the country.

Both cases arose in the wake of the Supreme Courts June 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

The Supreme Court will hear the Idaho case in April. A decision is expected by the end of June.
The Supreme Court said Friday that it will decide whether emergency room doctors can perform medically necessary abortions in states that prohibit them, bypassing the court of appeals to resolve on an expedited basis a lawsuit brought by the United States against Idaho.

Its the second major abortion case the court will consider this year amid the fallout from the reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The justices are already set to hear a case about access to the abortion drug mifepristone  even in states where the procedure is legal.

Idahos Defense of Life Act is a near total ban on abortion, but there is an exception to prevent the mothers death. The law imposes penalties on doctors who perform prohibited abortions unless the physician determined in good faith medical judgement and based on the facts known to the physician at the time, that the abortion was necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman. Physicians who violate the law could face criminal penalties and risk the suspension of their licenses.

The Biden administration sued, claiming that a provision of a federal Medicare statue  the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)  preempts Idahos law in emergency rooms.

The federal law requires hospitals to provide stabilizing care to emergency room patients regardless of their ability to pay. It was enacted to ensure that the poor and uninsured receive emergency medical care at hospitals receiving Medicare reimbursement.

A district court in Idaho blocked the law in hospital emergency rooms that receive Medicare funding, holding that the state law interferes with a federal Medicare statute.

In 2022, US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill said that the broad scope of Idahos near-total ban on abortion meant that he was not convinced that it would be possible for emergency health care workers to simultaneously comply with obligations under both state and federal law. The state law must therefore yield to federal law to the extent of that conflict, he wrote.

A federal appeals court later agreed to put the district court ruling on hold pending appeal, but a larger panel of judges on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the pause on November 13. The Idaho law will now be in effect pending the Supreme Courts decision.

The state, represented by a conservative legal group that opposes abortion, then turned to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to step in on an emergency basis to put the district court ruling on hold while appeals play out.

After Dobbs, Erin Hawley a lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom told the justices in court papers, the United States adopted the novel view that EMTALA creates a federal right to abortion in emergency rooms, even though EMTALA is silent on abortion and actually requires stabilizing for the unborn children of pregnant women.

The Justice Department warned the justices that the laws provision could have devastating harms for women in the state and urged the court to keep that part of it on pause.

As the district court recognized, when state law criminalizes essential care required by federal law, ordinary principles of preemption require state law to give way, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in court papers.

The narrow preliminary injunction is preserving the status quo and protecting women and doctors in Idaho from the devastating harms that would result if doctors could be subjected to criminal prosecution for providing essential emergency care, Prelogar wrote.

The ruling will have national implications.

While the mifepristone case is especially relevant for the availability of abortions in states in which they are still largely legal, this case has enormous ramifications for the availability of abortions in emergency circumstances in states in which they are not, said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

This story has been updated with additional details.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The Supreme Court announced Friday afternoon that it will hear oral arguments February 8 on the Colorado Supreme Courts ruling that Donald Trump is ineligible to run under the Constitutions disqualification clause due to his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Court was near certain to take up the case after both parties requested that it do so, and because similar cases are brewing in other states.

The case is on an expedited timeline, though a slightly slower one than the voters who triumphed in Colorado state court had requested. They wanted oral arguments on January 19, so that the Court may issue a ruling before in-state Colorado voters begin receiving their ballots on February 12 and well before Super Tuesday.

Leading up to the Courts February oral arguments, initial briefs will be due January 18, with respondents reply due January 31. Any further reply brief is due February 5.

The Court did not specify which questions it would hear in the Friday order, a major point of contention between the parties that might have indicated where the case is headed. Questions suggested by the parties range from whether Congress needs to pass legislation to make the disqualification clause enforceable to whether Trump engaged in insurrection.

Since the Court accepted Trumps petition to take up the case, it may suggest that theyll also request briefing on the questions he raised in his brief. Technically, he asked only one  Did the Colorado Supreme Court err in ordering President Trump excluded from the 2024 presidential primary ballot?  though in the briefing itself, he seems to ask several separate questions, including urging the Court to review the Colorado courts interpretation of state law, a request that is seemingly outside the U.S. Supreme Courts jurisdiction.

There are many paths the Supreme Court could take in the case, including more procedural off-ramps that would let it avoid the most hot button arguments. Team Trump argues, for one, that the disqualification clause never applies to presidents  an argument that, if the justices accepted it, would seem to zero out the multi-state effort to disqualify Trump without touching on the former presidents specific behavior.

That nationwide push has had varying levels of success, with Colorado as the first state to block Trump from the ballot and Maine close behind. In the latter state, the secretary of state made an administrative ruling barring Trump from the ballot, which he has appealed to state superior court. A ruling there is expected in mid-January, with the final word from the state Supreme Court by the end of the month.

The Supreme Court is expected to end up involved in another high-profile Trump dispute, as he fights to prove that sweeping presidential immunity protects him from special counsel Jack Smiths Jan. 6 prosecution. The Court  without explanation or any noted dissents  declined Smiths request for the justices to take up the question on an expedited basis, instead sending it back down to the D.C. Circuit.

Still, Fridays order in the disqualification case may concern the former president in terms of the Courts willingness to expedite briefings and arguments; Trump is trying to drag Jack Smiths case out past 2024, so he can make the Justice Department drop it if hes reelected.

Read the order here:

This embedded content is not available in your region.
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to take on former President Donald Trump's Colorado ballot disqualification case.

The development comes after the Republican businessman urged the country's high court to review the politically controversial decision of the Colorado Supreme Court. That ruling found that Trump was ineligible for the presidency because he was involved in an insurrection.

Supreme Court Takes Donald Trump Case

The Supreme Court set a swift schedule for filings from the parties involved in the appeal brought by Trump. In a brief order, the justices said that arguments will be held on Feb. 8, and a decision is expected to come quickly after. This is because Super Tuesday, which is when Colorado and more than a dozen other states will hold their primaries or caucuses, is scheduled on Mar. 5.

The dispute is centered around the Constitution's so-called insurrection clause, which is a Civil War-era provision that prohibits an individual who has sworn an oath to defend the Constitution but engages in insurrection from holding public office, as per CBS News.

In a divided 4-3 decision on Dec. 19, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded that Trump is disqualified from serving as president. Those in support of the ruling argued that his conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot amounted to insurrection.

The state's high court then barred the Republican businessman from being listed on its 2024 primary ballot. However, it paused its decision to allow the former president and the Colorado GOP time to appeal the decision.

The controversy regarding Trump's eligibility for the presidency is sending the Supreme Court into new territory. The high court has never, in history, ruled directly on the 155-year-old provision that is at the center of the current case, which is Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

On top of the Colorado ruling, the former president is also appealing a decision by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows that also bars him from that state's ballot for the 2024 race. It was also on hold until Trump's appeals played out in courts, according to Yahoo News.

The Supreme Court's decision to intervene in the matter is the most direct involvement in a presidential election since Bush v. Gore in 2000. During that time, a conservative majority effectively decided the election for Republican George W. Bush. Among the justices from that era, only Clarence Thomas remains on the court.

Read Also: Donald Trump Appeals Maine's Decision To Remove His Name From 2024 Ballot Over Alleged Insurrection

Trump's Involvement in Insurrection

While three of the nine justices in the Supreme Court were appointed by Trump, they have repeatedly ruled against him in 2020 election-related lawsuits. This is also true for his efforts to keep documents related to Jan. 6 and his tax returns from being turned to congressional committees.

Among Trump's other legal challenges, the one by New York Attorney General Letitia James could force the former president to pay $370 million. This is in relation to his alleged deceptive schemes, including inaccurately boosting his net worth and avoiding tax payments.

The Republican businessman's initial response to the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling was dismissive. His attorneys wrote in their petition to the Supreme Court that the Colorado decision erred in how it described Trump's role in the Capitol Hill riot.

The former president is set to file his opening brief in the case by Jan. 18 as Colorado voters challenging his eligibility for office will file their opening arguments by Jan. 31. The timeline compresses the usual briefing schedule to only one-third of its common length. This underscores how quickly the justices are choosing to move on the matter, said CNN.



Related Article: Trump might be forced to pay $370 million in fraud case
Tensions have risen sharply in the Indo-Pacific region as confrontations continue between China and its neighbours (iStock/Getty)

Sunlight glistens on the deep blue water like flakes of gold; black-headed gulls wheel in circles over slow-sailing fishing trawlers; and palm fronds sway in a gentle breeze on the shoreline. The seas around Matsu Island are a picture of tranquillity.

The calm of the afternoon is suddenly shattered by heavy gunfire  the sound of Taiwanese artillery carrying out drills. It is a reminder that the approaches to these isles will be the kill zone in the first line of defence against the invasion long-threatened by China.

Lee, a 30-year-old serving army sergeant, insists that Taiwanese forces will be ready if a conflict begins. His father lives in Shanghai, but that will not, he says, affect his resolve to resist Chinese forces if and when the time comes.

Lee, who asks for his full name not to be published, joined as a volunteer five years ago. It is our duty as men to serve our country, he says. We dont want a war; some people in the forces have families in China, like me. But that is not something we can afford to think about when we have to defend Taiwan.

It will not be a surprise if China attacks us; if it happens, it happens. I dont want to die, my friends dont want to die. But you need to accept death if you are a soldier.

Tensions have risen sharply in the Indo-Pacific region as confrontations continue between China and its neighbours backed by international allies. Taiwan  which Beijing wants to unify with the mainland, by force if necessary  has become a focal point. There are elections next week in which the issue of independence from China is a key theme.

While the Ukraine war has reached a bloody stalemate on the icy front lines, and international consternation rises over the staggering toll of civilian lives in Israels Gaza assault, what happens in Taiwan is likely to emerge as the first geopolitical crisis of the new year.

Lee, a 30-year-old army sergeant, has family in China, but he says this will not affect his resolve to defend Taiwan (Kim Sengupta/The Independent)

Beijing has ratcheted up aggressive military exercises around Taiwan, with its fighter jets and warships infringing Taiwans air and naval space as the election campaign has stepped up. Chinas president Xi Jinping has declared that his countrys armed forces will be ready for a full-scale invasion by 2027, and their commanders maintain that preparations are on schedule. In his latest New Years Eve address, Xi claimed that Taiwan will surely be reunified with China.

Chinas overall military activity has increased as it carries out a vast expansion of its forces. It rises in scale each time Western naval ships  including American, British, French and Australian vessels  carry out freedom of navigation voyages in the international waters Beijing claims as its own. There are also spikes in response to instances in which the international community shows solidarity with Taiwan, such as the visit of the then US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last year. Beijing reacted by launching barrages of missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan and starting a major military exercise.

Asymmetric warfare, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns have also escalated against Taiwan as the elections get closer. The main targets have been the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is campaigning on a theme of Taiwanese sovereignty, as well as sections of the media, civil rights activists, students, and artists groups. In effect, all who are deemed to be enemies of the Chinese Communist Party and its autocratic policies.

Two underwater internet cables were cut by Chinese ships a few months ago, effectively cutting off Matsu from the outside world, with flights to the island from the rest of Taiwan as well as public and private life on the island disrupted. It was viewed as a warning of what to expect on a much wider scale if Taiwan seeks to strike a path towards independence.

Taiwanese soldiers operating tanks during a drill (Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense/AFP)

Matsu and Kinmen, another island between China and Taiwan, experienced fierce fighting between the communist forces under Mao Zedong and the nationalist army of Chiang Kai-Shek as Chiangs forces retreated from the mainland to Taiwan at the end of the civil war.

The nationalists turned the two islands into fortresses bristling with weapons and thousands of troops. Barricades and mines were placed on the beaches, artillery dug into hills, anti-submarine netting laid into coastal waters, and deep bunkers dug into the ground.

A series of vast underground passageways were built on Matsu  the biggest number of military tunnels in the world  in preparation for the next war, with waterways in which supply vessels and attack crafts were kept hidden.

For 10 years from 1949, the two militaries clashed around the islands, leaving hundreds dead and several thousand injured. Intermittent Chinese shelling continued for the next two decades before an eventual ceasefire was followed by partial de-escalation and the withdrawal of most of the Taiwanese forces.

A gradual thaw in relations led to Chinese visitors coming to the islands and islanders going to the mainland. Some families migrated to begin new lives across the strait.

Some of the weapons used during previous fighting on Matsu (Kim Sengupta/The Independent)

Some of these fortifications are now tourist attractions. Jiahao Yang is showing his grandsons, aged four and six, one of the Matsu tunnels that has been opened to the public.

As a young officer in the Taiwanese army, he witnessed the final stages of their construction. It was dangerous work building these tunnels. There was one time when about 50 soldiers were killed; they had taken a break for lunch when big rocks fell on them. There were individual deaths quite regularly, with walls collapsing and also with the detonations that took place, he recalls. But the threat from China was very real, and the general feeling was that these sacrifices had to be accepted.

Captain Yang was on the receiving end of frequent Chinese bombardment. That was mainly in Kinmen. They used heavy artillery and missiles, but they were quite inaccurate. So they did a lot of damage, mainly to civilians rather than us, he says.

One of the tunnels dug underneath Matsu (Kim Sengupta/The Independent)

Do we face another war with the PRC [Peoples Republic of China]? No one wants that, but one hears what they are saying, what Xi is demanding, and it is unfortunately quite possible that they will attack when they think they are ready. Our troops need to be ready as well.

Lee, the serving army sergeant, says: We carry out frequent drills, and we look at all possible dangers coming our way. We have good equipment, but we need to have some more navy boats here. They will be a warning to China.

Lee is a follower of international news. Reflecting on what has happened in Ukraine, he comments: Once that war started, I had a feeling we would be next. China could follow the example of Russia. I think our allies like the US realise that, and they are helping militarily. We hear we may go on training exercises with them.

And, of course, we have our own people. The community will fight beside us. They know the land, the details of the tunnels; that will be very useful if the Chinese really do try to take over.

Chen Chi, 23 (Kim Sengupta/The Independent)

The Taiwanese government recently increased the duration of national service from four to 12 months as part of a series of measures to prepare the population for a possible conflict. Enrolment in courses for emergency service volunteers, and teaching basic first aid, has risen sharply in the last year.

Chen Chi, a 23-year-old student, is of the view that China will try economic coercion before taking military action against Taiwan. But he and his friends, he insists, are prepared to fight if necessary.

I have done my four months compulsory service already, so I have got the basics. A year would obviously be good; it gives us a better chance to throw them back. But I still think theyll try other methods before something as risky as an invasion, he says.

Chen came to Matsu from China with his family as a young boy. He is, he wants to stress, Taiwanese and not Chinese. Others, however, are more reticent about where their loyalties lie.

Yo Tianzhen moved from China to Matsu Island 30 years ago and started a new life as a successful fishmonger. But his ties with the mainland, which he visits three times a year, remain strong.

The Taiwanese military hold regular drills (AFP via Getty)

Yo, 52, does not want to talk about the current political situation or the possibility of war. I have to live here with these people, he says. We get on together, and my family and I have a good life. I wish things would stay the way they are.

An elderly, semi-retired fisherman nearby is more forthright. We are all Chinese. Taiwanese are also Chinese. China is good to us, and we are good to China, he says. As long as theres no war, well be OK. But if Taiwan declares independence, there will be war. All the people fear that Taiwan will start a war by declaring independence.

The fisherman, at 83 years old, does not want his identity revealed. We are living in a very dangerous time. Things will get unsafe. There are outsiders interfering; the Americans manipulate things. Theyll manipulate a war here, he predicts.

Yo Tianzhen, a resident of Matsu (Kim Sengupta/The Independent)

This should be a matter between China and Taiwan, but they are trying to make it something bigger. We now keep hearing about Ukraine. What do we care about Ukraine here? Why do they go on about Ukraine? Luckily there still some politicians here who dont want a war, who want good relations with China; they are trying to stop outsiders interfering.

The opposition Kuomintang party (KMT) ruled China under Chiang Kai-Shek until the generalissimo lost the mainland to the communists. Ironically, it is now deemed to be the party closest to Beijing, and has been accused of appeasement by those seeking to remove Chinese influence.

The KMT leader of Lienchiang County Government, which oversees Matsu, warns that certain moves by a Taiwanese government could trigger a conflict. Wang Chung Ming also cautions against concluding that the cutting of underwater cables, which isolated the island earlier this year, was a deliberate act by the Chinese. There is, he says, no evidence to prove this.

Wang speaks warmly of the benefits of the Four Links proposed by Chinas President Xi  bridge, water supply, gas and electricity  to create stronger ties between the islands and the mainland.

The stance of the ruling DPP party made these difficult to establish, says Wang. It is now politically sensitive to do this, but we can promote these when the time is right, he adds.

Three military boats from Taiwans Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit patrol the Matsu Islands with a view of Chinas Fujian province in the background (AFP via Getty)

Wen Lii, the DPP parliamentary candidate in Matsu, dismisses the links proposal as impractical, unnecessary and expensive and stresses the importance of not falling for charm campaigns that create a false appearance of cooperation and dialogue.

Everything possible is being done to avoid war, says Wen, but Taiwan needs to remain vigilant in order to protect its sovereignty. Expressions of international support are welcome, but the country must be ready to protect itself, he says.

Wen compares the situation in Ukraine and that facing his own country. We are under threat from large authoritarian neighbours. We should express solidarity with Ukraine with our shared links of democracy and support for human rights, he says.

He adds: One particularly striking thing that I see from the perspective of Taiwan and Matsu is that Putin used the shared Russian language as a pretext to invade Ukraine. However, his attacks did not discriminate between Russian speakers and Ukrainian speakers.

In Matsu, we have many people with family ties or friends across the Taiwan Strait. People cherish the cultural heritage shared between coastal China and Matsu. But that does not mean that people want to live under an authoritarian state, and it does not mean that people want to give up their freedom. China will learn this if it invades.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A recently released Internal Revenue Service (IRS) report indicates one of the agencys significant Florida financial crimes cases last fiscal year was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Middle District office in Tampa.

IRS investigators identified more than $37.1 billion from tax and financial crimes, and had an 88.4 percent conviction rate of cases accepted for prosecution, according to the annual report.

8 On Your Side helps disabled Tampa vet get power, water back weeks after driver crashes into home

One prominent Middle District case involved an alleged scheme by Mark Gyetvay, 66, of Naples. He was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a Russian natural gas company who was indicted in 2021 for allegedly hiding millions of dollars in overseas accounts over several years.

A Tampa federal jury convicted Gyetvay in March, and in September he was sentenced to 86 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution and fined $350,000.

Gyetvay is currently imprisoned at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex with a scheduled release date of Dec. 3, 2029.

(Photographer: Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Michael Walfield, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Tampas IRS field office, said Gyetvays case is an example of how the agency has to often track down hidden money.

He moved his money overseas to accounts he thought we would never find, Walfield said. We worked very hard to get those records. He did not see it coming because he wouldnt have done it otherwise.

More details  Read the IRS Annual Report

Gyetvay filed a notice to appeal the conviction, according to court records and is also suing the Department of Justice and the IRS for allegedly failing to comply with his records requests.

While Gyetvay was ordered to pay $4 million in restitution, the feds filed another complaint against him in June seeking nearly $44 million for allegedly failing to file Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) forms with the IRS.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

While that feds chase Gyetvay for a huge pot of money, the IRS annual report from last fiscal year indicates the agency identified nearly $32 billion from financial crimes and another $5.5 billion from tax fraud for a total of more than $37 billion.

Security expert weighs in on Sarasota jail smuggling scheme caught on camera but missed for days

Walfield said money successfully seized or paid as restitution goes back into the system.

Were here to hold those people to account so that everybody pays their fair share. Its not fair for that burden to be just on the honest people, Walfield said. It needs to be on everyone.

According to the report, last fiscal year there were 2,144 special agents in the criminal investigation unit and 994 staff members for a total of 3,138. The report states the total is up slightly from 2022 but down sharply from 2010 when the total was 4,017, including 600 more special agents.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
TAMPA (WFLA)  Tampa police are asking the publics help in identifying an armed robbery suspect seen in the photo below.

According to police, the suspect and two other individuals pulled a gun on a man during an arranged sneaker sale at the Park Terrace Apartments, located at 4121 Royal Banyan Dr., on Dec. 26, 2023.

After robbing him of his belongings, the suspects then robbed the victims wife who was waiting in a car nearby.

Neither victim was hurt in the robbery.

The suspects are described as being in their late teens, with the one shown in the photo being described as around 6 feet tall, thin build, last seen wearing a black shirt and navy-colored hat with fuzzy strings on it.

Photos of the other two suspects have not been released.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact Tampa Police at (813) 231-6130

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. (WGNO)  The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs Office is warning the public of a new scam happening in the parish.

On Jan. 5, Sheriff Daniel Edwards reported a citizen told deputies that he had received a call from someone identifying themselves as a Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs Office employee.

The citizen reports the alleged worker told him there was a warrant out for his arrest and in order to clear the warrants, $2,500 had to be put into a kiosk at Albertsons to obtain a receipt to present to the sheriffs office.

57th Governors inauguration moved up due to inclement weather

The citizen added that he expressed concern about the calls validity to the scammer who then put a high-ranking officer on the phone who reportedly attempted to intimidate him.

Deputies say the citizen did not believe the information and alerted deputies.

Edwards reassures the public that a deputy will not contact an individual with warrants to ask for money in lieu of arrest.

Anyone who receives such a phone call is asked to warned ti hang up and contact the Sheriffs Office at (985)-748-8147.

Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.

Latest Posts

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO.
Standing in the rain outside of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Saturday, Nik Gombos made a promise.

You watch, he said. It will rain on and off all morning, but when its time for the boys to dive, there will be blue skies and sunshine.

Rain may have dampened the start of Tarpon Springs 118th Epiphany celebration, the largest commemoration in the Western Hemisphere of Jesus Christs baptism in the Jordan River.

But by afternoon, when 65 boys aged 16 to 18 plunged into the Spring Bayou to retrieve a white cross tossed by the archbishop, the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

Ive seen it so many times, said Gombos, 62, who attended his first Epiphany in 1967 at age 6. Thats the Holy Spirit. Thats just how it works.

John Hittos, 16, of Clearwater, emerged from the water clutching the cross, receiving, as tradition goes, a year of blessings.

But Hittos, a junior at Calvary Christian High School, said he wants the good fortune represented by Epiphany to be shared with the community.

Its truly a wonderful and beautiful experience, Hittos said. We bless the world by blessing the water.

The event drew about 15,000 to downtown, according to spokesperson Johanna Gatzoulis, continuing the tradition with a slightly smaller crowd than last year.

It was a homecoming for His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain, who was born in Tampa and attended Tarpon Springs Epiphany as a child. In 1974, he dove and found the cross, making this years celebration the 50th anniversary of his retrieval.

While clergy and parishioners observed the mornings Divine Liturgy service in the cathedral, spectators began setting up their places around Spring Bayou to wait for the cross dive.

In pouring rain at 7 a.m., Cathy and Robert Lettre set their chairs down by the water to make sure they had a front row seat that afternoon.

Sisters Peggie Martin and Alexandra Harris drove from Alabama at 5 a.m. to arrive in Tarpon for a clear view of the boats the boys would be jumping from.

It just seemed like something you have to see, Martin said.

Others flew in from Canada and Greece.

But there were first-time celebrators from nearby, too.

Its a bucket list item, said Nikki Bailey, who came with her sister, Roni, from Clearwater.

The Baileys scoped out the area Friday night and returned Saturday morning.

We looked up the meaning of the dive and its history. Weve gotten really into it, Roni Bailey said. The divers are excited to be here so we are, too.

Epiphany is a deep tradition for generations of families in Tarpon Springs, which has the highest number of Greeks per capita in the U.S.

Margarita Karvounis, 29, grew up attending Epiphany and participating in the Hellenic Greek dancing as a child. On Saturday, her 8-year-old son David Cutler wore the traditional dance garb, and the generational bond hit her.

Its a lot of pride, she said. Getting him dressed this morning was special.

And although the cross dive is the main event for many spectators, Anastasios Damianakis, 18, said it is more of a religious experience.

What people dont realize is were in church still technically, he said before the dive. It looks like an event. But its part of the service.

It was just before 1 p.m. when the procession of clergy, divers, parishioners in traditional garb and onlookers arrived at the bayou. The archbishop blessed Tarpon Springs. Chloe Kotis, 17, who was selected from the choir as this years dove bearer, released the white bird over the water, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.

The boys plunged into the water, generating a roar of applause, and Hittos emerged from Spring Bayou with the cross.

After being carried back to the cathedral on the shoulders of his fellow divers, Hittos was met by a crowded reception at St. Nicholas.

He said his brother had a dream two nights ago that hed be the retriever. On Saturday, he didnt see the cross when he dove, he said, but he had a feeling  something divine. Then it was in his hand.

It feels amazing, Hittos said. I really hope for nothing but health for my family, my friends, those I hold dear, those I love.
Iran announced on Friday the arrest of 11 suspects who are believed to have been involved in the two bombings that resulted in the death of nearly 100 people.

The development comes after the Islamic State militant group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the horrific attacks in Kerman, southeastern Iran. The country's Intelligence Ministry issued a statement saying that security forces detained two people for providing support to the two suicide bombers in Kerman.

Iran Arrests 11 in Relation to Bombings

The ministry also noted that officials detained nine other individuals in other parts of Iran who were suspected of being linked to the deadly incident. The two blasts were considered the deadliest such attacks in the nation since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mourners wept on Friday over the victims' coffins as they were buried and crowds were heard chanting "revenge, revenge." Those who died were attending a memorial service for military commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in 2020 in Iraq by a U.S. drone, as per Reuters.

The two explosions took place amid a tense mood in the region amid Israel's ongoing conflict with the Hamas militant group in Gaza. The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said that its agents seized explosive devices and raw material, explosive vests, remote-control devices, detonators, and thousands of pellets used in explosive vests.

Officials also identified one of the suicide bombers as a Tajik national. On Thursday, the Islamic State said that two of its members detonated explosive belts in the crowd that had gathered for the memorial of the slain general.

During the funeral in Jerman's Imam Ali religious centre, Revolutionary Guards commander Major-General Hossein Salami said that they would find the people responsible for the incidents. In a televised address, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that his country's forces will decide on the place and time to take action against the terrorists.

ISIS claiming responsibility for the attacks comes as the group considers the Shia branch of Islam to be heretical and has continued to target shrines and religious sites across Iran. The terrorist group did not offer further proof of their claim and their account of the blasts differs from the one given by Iranian media, according to CNN.

Read Also: Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Bombing Iranian Memorial Event

Claiming Responsibility for the Attacks

On the other hand, Iranian officials did not immediately comment regarding ISIS's claim of responsibility. However, Iran's official state news agency IRNA, and its English-language state media outlet Press TV reported on the ISIS claim of responsibility.

The bombings come as Iran has, for years, justified its military presence in Iraq and Syria by saying that it is a strategy to keep terrorist groups at bay. Iranian officials have argued that fighting extremists directly or through proxy militias in the region meant that they did not have to fight them at home.

Despite ISIS' claim of responsibility for the two bombings, Iranian officials and pundits close to the government insisted that Israel is to blame. The media arm of the Revolutionary Guards, the Tasnim News Agency, went as far as claiming that "Israel ordered ISIS to take responsibility for the attack."

President Raisi also spoke at a ceremony in Kerman where he honored the victims on Friday. During his statements, he added that Iran would retaliate and laid blame on both Israel and the United States, said the New York Times.



Related Article: Desperate Families in Gaza Cling to Routine for Survival
Soldiers of Ukraine's National Guard 1st brigade Bureviy (Hurricane) practice during combat training at a military training ground in the north of Ukraine - Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Voters in key US battleground states believe that America has given too much military support to Ukraine, a new Telegraph poll reveals, as Joe Biden faces a fresh battle over the war effort on Capitol Hill.

A third of voters in six swing states said they thought America had spent too much on supporting Ukraine, while a large minority in five of the six said aid should now be cut.

The poll comes as Mr Biden brings his supplemental request for $61 billion (48 billion) back to Congress, in an attempt to pass the funding before Russias winter bombing campaign destroys key infrastructure in Ukraine.

The latest swing state tracker poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for The Telegraph shows that Donald Trump has more support for his Ukraine policy in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

In five of the six states, 32 per cent of respondents said US support for Ukraine had been too high, with 33 per cent reporting the same in Pennsylvania.

Between 30 and 37 per cent said support should be decreased, with between 15 and 19 per cent arguing it should be increased.

Mr Trump has pledged to end the war in one day by organising negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky and ending the supply of American munitions which have been used to win back territory captured by Russia since February 2022.

In five of the six states, voters thought that the war in Ukraine would not be happening if Mr Trump had won the 2020 election. Asked which country represented the greatest threat to the United States, 25 per cent or fewer in all six states said Russia.

Of the six swing states, voters in Georgia were most concerned about the war, with 34 per cent reporting that it would be an extremely important factor in their decision on polling day.

Deadlock

The White House has warned that the available funding to send weapons to Ukraine from US stockpiles has now run out  meaning Ukrainian forces cannot receive any more American weapons until Congress passes a resolution.

However, the war faces opposition from Republican congressmen, who have demanded a major spending package for border security measures as the price of their support.

Republicans in the House of Representatives look set to reject any compromise negotiated with the White House by more moderate Republicans in the Senate, and have demanded Mr Biden adopt a controversial HR 2 border bill that would see the erection of 900 miles of border wall and a significant cut in asylum claims.

Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, is reportedly planning to negotiate with Mr Biden directly in an effort to construct a deal on military spending later this month.

President Biden's support for Volodymyr Zelensky's defence against Russia is under threat from Congress - Oliver Contreras/Shutterstock

Tel Aviv vs Kyiv

The Telegraphs poll shows that voters in swing states are more supportive of the US governments backing of Israel  with the largest group of voters in five of the six states believing that the military aid given to Tel Aviv is the right amount.

Asked whether the US should increase, decrease or maintain its current levels of support, the largest group in all six states said the Biden administration should maintain it.

Unlike the war in Ukraine, most voters believe that the war in Gaza would still be happening if Mr Trump was president.

The poll also suggests that voters remain unconvinced by Mr Bidens economic message, with respondents ranking the economy as their top concern but around half reporting that they disapproved or strongly disapproved of his performance on that issue.

Asked which of Mr Biden or Mr Trump they trusted more on the economy, Mr Trump performed better in all six states, with the support of between 43 and 49 per cent of respondents.

Mr Trump remains ahead of Mr Biden in a hypothetical race in all six states, with a nine-point lead in Florida and a six-point lead in Arizona and Georgia.

The former president also remains ahead of his competitors for the Republican nomination, with the first primary voting set to begin next week in Iowa.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
Editor's note: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's website listed the wrong year the victim in this case went missing. A spokesman confirmed Saturday that the correct date is Jan. 1, 2024.

An investigation into a missing person's case has led to domestic-related homicide charges for 70-year-old Joseph Glynn, whose wife disappeared on Jan. 1.

Metro Nashville Police detectives charged Glynn with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and evidence tampering on Jan. 6 in connection with the death of his wife Jackie Glynn, 76, a press release said.

Joseph Glynn told his wife's children she had decided to leave their Abbott Martin Road home because she was terminally ill, but her medical provider said it wasn't true and other statements provided to the family were inconsistent, the release said.

Findings from the investigation, including admissions made by Joseph Glynn, show that Jackie Glynn was hit on the head with a hammer at home on the evening of Jan. 1, the release said.

Investigators said Joseph Glynn drove his wife's body to Dekalb County the next day and buried her.

Police found Jackie Glynn's body on the couple's Dekalb County property Friday. Her vehicle was found at a different location in the county, officials said.

Joseph Glynn is being held on $1,030,000 bond.

Katie Nixon can be reached at knixon@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Police: Tennessee missing person's case now domestic-related homicide
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Gun control defined last years session in Tennessee. Though thousands protested for more of it, no legislation was passed.

Its expected to look similar this session.

As far as Tennessee doing something to limit guns, were not going to do that, House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) said. We believe in the Second Amendment, and we believe that our Constitution was written correctly. Were not going to take guns from people.

 Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts 

In fact, if anything happens, it might be to expand gun rights, not pull them back. Lawmakers are planning to revive a bill from special session to allow people to carry guns in schools.

Whatever vehicle that is to get us to the point where kids can be protected in these schools, thats what Im going to be supportive of, Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County) told News 2 back in September. If it means running this bill again, I certainly will do that.

Instead, Republicans are pushing for more mental health reform, particularly after a recent shooting at Belmont University left a young student dead.

The Second Amendment in the Constitution is very clear about firearms and possession of firearms, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge).

The suspect in the case was free even though he faced earlier charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon because he was ruled incompetent to stand trial.

Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom

They shouldnt be released just right back out into the community, House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) said. For their safety and the safety of the community, that person should be committed. If they are committed, they absolutely should not be able to possess or purchase a firearm.

Its a change Democrats are in favor of.

We have to deal with the fact that people are not safe at all from random gunfire. This is no longer a situation of, It takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun, Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said. None of that matters if youre not even there, if youre just being shot because youre a bystander in a situation or youre just driving your car.

But after the deadly Covenant shooting last year, Democrats felt there was a chance to see some new laws through, though that didnt happen.

I expressed then to the Republican Leader, Speaker and the Governor that if we didnt do it then, its going to be hard-pressed to get it done in an election year, House Minority Leader Karen Camper (D-Memphis) said.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

In an election year, lawmakers are less likely to vote against what their party tells them to so as to not anger their donors.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
A Texas rapper and real estate broker has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a pregnant woman and locking her in his garage for years.

Lee Carter, 52, also known as Viper, was formally charged Jan. 4 after Houston police went to his home last year on a report of a kidnapping, according to a complaint obtained by HuffPost. There, officers found a woman who told them she had been trapped inside, the document said.

The woman told police she was abducted about four or five years ago, when she was pregnant and panhandling on the street.

Lee Carter, a rapper known as Viper, is shown on an Instagram post.

Lee Carter, a rapper known as Viper, is shown on an Instagram post.

According to the complaint, Carter had approached the woman to give her $1 and later returned to ask if she needed help, then told her to get in his car. The woman told officers she was vulnerable and, against her better judgment,got into his car.

The woman told police that when she arrived at Carters home, she was locked inside his garage, and afterwards, Carter repeatedly forced her to do drugs and have sex with him, feeding her only chips and snacks, a police report said.

The woman told officers that she never saw anyone inside Carters home but would sometimes overhear him fighting with other women. She would occasionally beg Carter to let her leave and made many attempts to get out, the complaint said.

In one instance, the woman told police, she tried to escape when fire department and police personnel arrived at Carters home. She said she broke a window in the garage and crawled out but ended up getting taken to the hospital, where [Carter] ... picked her up to take her back to his residence, the complaint said.

On April 7, the woman contacted police through the communication platform TextNow after Carter allowed her to use his laptop, according to the document.

Police reported that when they found her, she weighed about 70 pounds and stated that she had not showered for two months. In the garage, fire officials found a makeshift toilet that did not flush and a mattress covered with fresh vomit, according to the complaint.

Its unclear whether the woman gave birth and, if so, what happened to the baby.

A neighbor told officers that Carter once said he had three women in his residence and owned other homes where he kept women, the document said. The neighbor said Carter described the women as ungrateful because they want more food and drugs.

As Viper, Carter is perhaps best known for the 2008 album Youll Cowards Dont Even Smoke Crack. Uploads of his music have received millions of views on YouTube.

According to corporate records and the Texas Real Estate Commission, Carter is also a real estate broker who owns and operates a moving company in Houston, registered to the address where he allegedly held the woman.

Need help? Visit RAINNs National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Centers website.

Related...
A third woman has been arrested for a mob assault at a Conway bar that involved the political director of the South Carolina Republican Party and her mother.

The three woman allegedly hit multiple times a person who had been drinking at Stalveys Watering Hole, located at 1609 4th Ave. in Conway, in December, according to a police report.

Katie Richelle Turvey, 26, of Conway, was arrested Jan. 4 by Conway Police and charged with assault and battery by a mob, petit larceny and malicious injury to personal property.

Braylee Estep, 22, who is the political director for the South Carolina Republican Party and lives in Columbia, and Michele Stalvey Estep, 53, of Conway, were charged with third-degree assault and battery by a mob on Jan. 3 and Jan. 2 respectively.

Turvey is accused of not only hitting the victim, but also stealing the victims steel Stanley Cup from the vehicle and using it repeatedly to hit her vehicle, the report said.

Since Braylee Esteps arrest, officials from the state Republican Party have not released any information about Esteps status as an employee or leadership role, nor has anyone returned several messages that were left seeking comment.

The bar, which is attached to the family-owned Stalveys Bait and Tackle, appears to be operated by Michele Estep. She is listed in business filings as the registered agent of the bar.

Michele Estep, who was bartending at the bar Friday evening, declined to comment and asked that the reporter leave her establishment and never come back.

She directed comments to her attorney, Natasha Hanna of Conway, who also declined Friday to comment on the incident.

The bar does have a previous violation, according to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. Stalveys Watering Hole was cited in 2018 for having video poker machines on its premises, which resulted in a $2,000 fine and a 30-day suspension of its beer and wine permit.

Estep only in political leadership role for several months

Braylee Estep listed on her LinkedIn profile that she started her position at the SCGOP in August.

The Republican Partys website has her listed as its political director. Her bio states she started as an intern in 2018 with the state GOPs Victory Program in Myrtle Beach. Since then she has worked on multiple campaigns statewide.

Reese Boyd with the Horry County GOP said Friday that he knew Braylee Estep well, but declined to comment because he didnt know the facts of the case.

Boyd said there are no paid positions with the local GOP and said that a statement about the situation should come from the state party.

I hate to see this happening to anybody, Boyd said. Were praying for the families involved and hopefully things get sorted out.

What happened that night

Police responded about 11 p.m. Dec. 23 to a report of vandalism, according to a report. When officers arrived, the victim and a witness told police that while drinking at the bar Turveys boyfriend began to make them feel uncomfortable by hanging his arms over their shoulders. Turvey allegedly began to shake her head and call the victim and witness vulgar names. The victim and witness then decided to leave and the bickering continued between the two parties in the parking lot.

Michele Estep allegedly heard the victim say something negative about her daughter, the report said. Braylee Estep then came to the vehicle and began to bang on the window. The victim and witness were inside the vehicle at the time.

Michele Estep and Turvey came out of the bar after hearing the commotion and also came to the vehicle, the report said. At some point the door of the vehicle was opened by one of the women, the report said.

At that time, all three women began to hit the unnamed victim several times with their hands, causing injury. Turvey then allegedly grabbed the Stanley cup from the vehicles cup holder and began to bang it on the vehicle, placing dents into it, the report said.

The victims were able to put the vehicle in reverse and leave, and then call police.

Police asked for video of the incident but were told that there was no video, although the incident happened right outside the door, the report said.

There appears to be a camera potentially attached to the eaves of the roof just outside the bar.

The report said all of those involved, except for the witness, were highly intoxicated.
Many police stations have been shut across parts of the UK - Mark Richardson / Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy

Up to three-quarters of police stations have shut in some parts of the UK in a shocking reduction to front-line services, The Telegraph can reveal.

Figures released under freedom of information laws show the number of sites in the West Midlands has fallen by 76 per cent in eight years - from 42 in 2015 to 10 in 2023.

The total run by Scotland Yard has halved in the same time frame, from 73 to 36, while more than 40 per cent of stations have shut in both Staffordshire and Greater Manchester, leaving them with just 12 each.

The Lib Dems, who compiled the data, said the statistics revealed a disturbing postcode lottery, arguing that years of ineffective resourcing have left local police overstretched.

Across the 26 forces that responded in full, the number of stations has fallen by nearly 20 per cent, from 772 in 2015 to 623 in 2023.

And the true number of closures is likely to be far higher, as that only represents just over half of the UKs 45 territorial forces.

In the West Midlands, which saw the biggest drop, all 32 sites were shut towards the start of the eight-year period, with a similar pattern seen in Greater Manchester.

The headquarters of the West Midlands Police force, in Birmingham - Peter Lopeman / Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy

The same was true for the Metropolitan Police, which has not recorded a closure in five years.

However, some changes were more spaced out. In Staffordshire, the number of stations has fallen fairly steadily, from 22 in 2015 to 12 in 2023. And in Humberside, the total has dropped every year since 2019.

The Lib Dems asked specifically for the number of police stations in operation in each given year, dating back to 2015.

This was interpreted by forces in different ways. Many of the respondents, including the West Midlands and the Met, defined police stations as having a front desk. Derbyshire, which recorded no drop at all, said it took into account sites serving a particular district from which officers are dispatched.

In some cases, stations were closed to save money or because they were no longer needed. Cleveland, which has seen three of its sites shut since 2015, said some rented buildings were closed due to a reduced number of police officers.

Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dems home affairs spokesman, said: People deserve to feel confident that, if theyre the victim of a crime, the police will be nearby and available to help.

Its hard to feel that confidence when so many community police stations are being forced to shut their doors.

Its shocking to see such an important pillar of community policing be deprioritised - but its hardly surprising, given how much frontline policing has been sidelined by this Conservative Government.

Enough is enough. Its high time that the Conservatives finally get the basics right on stopping crime. That starts with restoring proper community policing, where officers are visible, known and accessible in their local areas.

Funding and recruitment

A Home Office spokesman said: We will always support our police. This financial year we have increased police funding by 313.8 million and thanks to our recruitment campaign we now have more police officers in England and Wales than ever before.

Our Criminal Justice Bill will also strengthen this Governments zero-tolerance approach to crime, which is already working. Since 2010, overall crime measured on a like-for-like basis is down 56 per cent, violent crime is down 52 per cent and domestic burglary by 57 per cent in England and Wales.

Chief constables and locally elected police and crime commissioners make decisions on local resourcing and estates, including police stations.

The police forces for the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Derbyshire and Cleveland, as well as the Met, have been approached for comment. Some directed The Telegraph to their local police and crime commissioners.

Ben Adams, Staffordshires police and fire commissioner, said one of his primary objectives on his election in 2021 was for a more local and visible police force.

He said Chief Constable Chris Noble had introduced a new model to this effect, bringing police and fire services closer together in a way that makes operational sense.

Thanks to this model and our additional police officers, residents in Staffordshire are already seeing more police, particularly in public spaces, and good response times are being maintained despite increasing demand, he added.

For me, its about having the right number of good quality bases in central locations to properly serve our communities.

Simon Foster, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, blamed the decline on a Tory government that does not believe in and has not been prepared to invest in local community police stations.

Simon Foster, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, blamed the decline on the Government - Facebook

In the West Midlands, reckless Government cuts were imposed on our police force. That was a big mistake, counter-productive and a false economy. The people of the West Midlands have been paying the price, he said.

He added: The West Midlands Police Estates Strategy will ensure a police estate that is fit for the 21st century, whilst prioritising maintaining police officer and staff numbers and managing a budget, that remains under severe pressure.

Mr Foster pointed out that in addition to the 10 stations with a front desk open to the public, the West Midlands has 44 buildings serving as a base for police officers.

Steve Turner, the Cleveland police and crime commissioner, said: In Cleveland, were committed to expanding the options available to the public to report crime and using innovation to meet the needs of all residents.

Thats why I developed the COPA app, the first of its kind in the country, where the public can provide intelligence, ask questions and make a complaint about police  directly from their smartphones.

The public can also report crime face-to-face in each of Clevelands boroughs, report on Cleveland Polices website  or call the police on 999 or 101. I believe its this wide variety of options that best meets the needs of our communities.

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Judge Mark Warner sentenced former Colorado police officer Randy Roedema to 14 months in prison and four years in probation for his role in the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain.

The Black man lost his life in 2018 after he was subdued by law enforcement personnel and injected with ketamine against his will. After Roedema's sentencing, McClain's mother, Sheneen, called the jail term and probation "a slap on the wrist" for the death of her son.

Randy Roedema's Sentencing

In her statement, she said that the ruling was not justice and was not accountability. Outside of the court, Sheneen added that they are not valued by the system, noting that the entire situation was about "good versus evil."

Last year, the former Colorado police officer was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and assault in the death of McClain. A second officer, identified as Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted of all charges, including reckless manslaughter and assault, in the same trial, as per CNN.

In 2020, the second officer was fired by the police department and Roedema was suspended and later fired after his conviction. The latter will serve a 14-month jail sentence on the assault conviction and will serve 90 days in jail for criminally negligent homicide, which is concurrent with the first sentence, plus four years of probation.

During the former police officer's first public statements since the death of the 23-year-old Black man, Roedema offered his "deepest condolences" to the young man's family. He added that he often thinks of what could have been done differently the night of the incident.

Roedema called McClain's death a "horrible outcome that nobody intended or wanted." He did not testify during his trial nor were his police interviews following the incident entered into evidence during court proceedings.

Read Also: [UPDATED] School Shooter Shocks Small Iowa Town

Elijah McClain's Death

During the sentencing, the judge said that the court was shocked by what appeared to be indifference to McClain's suffering after he was taken into custody and placed in handcuffs. Warner added that it was crucial for people to be aware that criminally negligent homicide is not considered a violent crime, according to ABC News.

Judge Warner added that on top of Roedema being placed under probation for four years, he is also required to serve 200 hours of community service. The sentencing came after a jury found the former Colorado police officer guilty on Oct. 13 in the first trial concerning McClain's death.

Sheneen was calling for the maximum sentence possible for her son's killer, adding that their communities could not know peace until the Justice Department holds their own enforcers accountable for their actions.

Roedema's sentencing comes a month after a jury convicted two paramedics who injected McClain with a powerful sedative while he was in police custody. In total, five men were prosecuted in the Black man's case and three have been convicted.

Sheneen also called Roedema a "bully with a badge," saying that it was clear to her that the former police officer "was not taught the valuable lessons of life's purpose," said the New York Times.



Related Article: Scotland-Based US Fugitive Nicholas Rossi Extradited for Sex Abuse Charges
Three Russian Su-34 fighter jets were shot down in one day

Russian forces have failed to dislodge a Ukrainian bridgehead across the Dnipro River after three of its fighter jets were shot down in one day.

The British Ministry of Defence said that after losing three Su-34 fighter jets on Dec 22, the Russian air force cancelled attacks on the bridgehead, 20 miles upstream from Kherson city.

The lack of air support contributed to the failure of an attempt by Russian Ground Forces 18th Combined Arms Army to clear the bridgehead, it said.

Ukrainian marines have been clinging on to a patch of territory on the Russia-controlled left bank of the Dnipro River that they captured in November.

Hellscape a strategically important foothold

Injured marines told The New York Times last month that the former fishing village of Krynky was now a destroyed hellscape under constant Russian bombardment, but Ukrainian military commanders have said that it is a strategically important foothold.

Russias far bigger air force has been cited as a reason for the failure of Ukraines counteroffensive in 2023 but the British Ministry of Defence said that Russia had failed to secure air superiority.

Russias inability to establish air superiority in the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine war continues to undermine daily operations, it said.

F-16s delivery faces six-month delay

Ukraine has been pleading with Nato to send F-16 fighter jets so that it can fight for control of the skies but, although its pilots are training to fly F-16s in Europe, these now appear to be delayed.

The Berlingske newspaper quoted the Danish ministry of defence as saying that the six F-16s that it was due to give to Ukraine this month would now be delayed by up to six months.

It did not give a reason for the delay although it has said that Ukraine needed to match certain conditions for the F-16s to be handed over, including having the necessary logistics and infrastructure in place.

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As the Conservatives continue to lay the groundwork for the upcoming election, housing is an issue that has come back into full focus. Last month, Michael Gove unveiled the latest national planning framework and this week he promised measures aimed at boosting affordability of housing, particularly for young people.

However, while it is positive to see the Government engaging on this important issue, the timing of the announcements suggest that it is seen by the Government mostly as a political chess move rather than an issue that needs to be strategically addressed long-term.

Housing in the UK is in crisis  and this is in large part due to key government decisions being focused too often on short-term political objectives. If our politicians cannot think beyond the next election cycle, then issues which require longer-term capital commitments and planning, such as housing, will never be properly tackled.

The fact that we have had 16 housing ministers since the Conservatives were elected in 2010 highlights the lack of consistency and long-term strategic direction for UK housing.

I have invested in a number of housebuilding businesses over the years, with my first in the sector in 1996 being the purchase of the Ministry of Defences Married Quarters Estate. More recently I bought two medium-sized regional housebuilders.

Since my first investment, the need for housing has only continued to grow. Yet successive government failures have meant that there is a severe lack of housing, particularly at affordable prices. A damning report from the Home Builders Federation last year found that England is the most difficult place to find a home in the developed world.

I believe passionately in investment with a social purpose but the fact is that owning your own home remains a distant dream for millions of young British people. High prices, difficulties raising a deposit and volatile mortgage costs are making it harder than ever to get on the property ladder.

Indeed, the number of first-time buyers fell by 22pc between January and August last year, according to Halifax, with the average deposit on a first home now at 54,116, 19pc of the property price, compared to 31,060, 21pc of the property price, in 2013.

The problem has emerged from years of undersupply caused by planning constraints, demographic changes, the long-term decline of social housing, increased building and housing costs, and many other factors. Exacerbating this is the Governments redirection of money previously invested in housing stock to other areas such as lower taxes.

This policy of redirecting funds away from housing started with the privatisation of council housing by Thatcher in the early 1980s. Rather than using the proceeds of the sale of council houses to improve housing stock or build new homes, the money was redirected to general government purposes unrelated to housing.

Both Labour and the Conservatives are guilty of doing this over the years. I remember telling Gordon Brown at a business leaders lunch prior to me leaving the UK: Labour has thrown away the chance to rebuild the UKs infrastructure of housing, schools and hospitals by instead keeping taxes low and encouraging people to buy foreign goods and take foreign holidays.

So this is not a Tory Party issue but an issue of the UK political establishment having lost their moral compass of focusing on what is good for the people of the UK in pursuit of votes.

The same pattern exists in military housing, with severe underfunding caused by the Governments redirection of capital to other areas felt to be more of a priority. Indeed, in our deal with the MoD, they were responsible for maintaining the condition of the military homes.

Yet despite the Government receiving 1.7bn for these homes from my investors back in 1996, almost none of the money was reinvested back into the homes for upkeep and maintenance. It is no wonder that many of these houses are today not in a state fit for human habitation after years of neglect by the MoD.

The Governments failure to commit sufficient funding toward housing means it is well off its target of building 300,000 new homes a year, underpinning the chronic supply problem. While building more homes would help to boost affordability by increasing overall supply, there needs to be a long-term strategy to deliver genuinely affordable social homes as well.

Research from homelessness charity Shelter has shown that over one million households are waiting for social homes, yet last year fewer than 7,000 were built while 29,000 social homes were sold or demolished.

Radical policy change is needed to address this crisis. I do believe it is possible to build enough housing in three years to make a material difference but it will need politicians to think bigger and remove rather than add red tape to an already convoluted system.

Designating land within the green belt for housing would be a good start as this can often be the most sustainable location for new housing as natural extensions to existing towns. We should also be looking at freeing up unused government and local authority property, as well as unused MoD and NHS properties and land.

There should then be a removal of tick-box planning restrictions except in exceptional cases. Abolishing stamp duty below 300,000 should be another priority, while there must also be more focus on shared ownership to provide support to young people trying to get onto the ladder.

It is a basic human need to have a roof over ones head. Yet the impact of not having suitable housing can also have a significant wider impact on future outcomes, including education.

Research from UK education charity School-Home Support found that 19pc of children cited housing concerns as an obstacle to school attendance, up from 11pc last academic year.

Housing issues can affect attendance and punctuality, particularly if families are moving into temporary accommodation further away from schools. Poor housing similarly affects health outcomes, social relationships and community building.

Addressing housing and its wider impacts must be a priority. Similarly to the Conservatives recent announcements, it has been positive to see the Labour Party pledging to increase the amount of affordable housing.

Only time will tell though, if they are elected, whether they actually have the desire and firepower to do this or if they will let people down as the Blair government did when they had the chance to transform the UK under far better economic conditions.

Guy Hands is the founder of private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners.

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Today Volodymyr Zelensky faces the greatest test of his leadership, greater even than the days almost two years ago when Russian invasion forces rolled across the border. Back then, when he was offered a ride to safety by the West and asked for ammunition instead, he led a country united in a fight for its life.

Thats not so much the case now. There are growing public divisions between Zelensky and other political leaders, such as former President Petro Poroshenko and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, as a blame game builds over failures in the war so far. Worse still, Zelensky and the Commander-in-Chief, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, also seem to be in conflict. When Zaluzhnyi admitted that the war had reached a stalemate, Zelensky publicly rebuked him.

Apart from the overriding need for national unity in war, this suggests that Ukraine lacks a clear strategy for the future prosecution of the conflict. Zelensky continues to insist that Ukraine will regain all its territory taken by Russia; although, after apparently over-promising on the summer offensive, he no longer seems to talk of timelines. Demoralised by the failure of that counter move, some are now talking in terms of some kind of peace accords. It has even been suggested that a potential peace agreement could be put to a referendum.

When I was last in Kyiv, there was certainly discussion among some political leaders about the idea of a peace deal in which Russia would accept Ukrainian membership of Nato in exchange for guarantees that there would be no Ukrainian efforts to re-take occupied territory. Such talk might well be mere exasperation, but it is mana from heaven for Biden and many European leaders who want nothing more than such a peace agreement and as soon as possible.

Any serious consideration of peace talks pretty much guarantees Ukraines defeat. Putting aside domestic politics in the US and EU that have, for the time being at least, essentially stifled further military aid, Biden and the Europeans have refused so far to equip Ukraine to win the war.

That brake was applied out of the unfounded fear of provoking Russia into escalating against them. With any hint of peace talks in prospect from the Ukrainian side, to that would be added the new fear of Russia refusing to acquiesce or if it did, of pulling out. Provocative weapons supplies would dry up for the long term. Putin is only too well aware of that, which is why he has repeatedly said he would be prepared to talk peace.

Zelensky needs to put a stop to this. With this years elections unlikely to go ahead in the midst of conflict, he should form a national unity government to help control the increasingly corrosive domestic dissent that can only weaken Ukraines war effort. He should also set out his countrys unified strategic vision.

So far he has not put forward any real strategy  beyond suggesting that the centre of gravity would shift to Crimea and the Black Sea while defending against potential Russian advances in the east, which is not good enough if he expects the West to keep putting its hands in its pockets.

Nor is it adequate to tell the West that Ukrainians are fighting not just for their own country, but for the whole of Europe which will itself be under threat from Moscow if Putin succeeds in this war. That is certainly true, but there is no sign that the US president or Western European leaders really believe it. If they did, they would long ago have pulled out all the stops to contain Putin and to supply Ukraine with the massive amounts of weaponry it needs to defeat Russia.

Zelensky may be drained by almost two years of war, but he must now focus on regaining the initiative.

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Scene of tragedy: the British Airtours Boeing 737 in which 55 people died at Manchester airport (AAIB)

As the aircraft stopped, the aft cabin was suddenly filled with thick black smoke which induced panic amongst passengers in that area, with a consequent rapid forward movement down the aisle.

Many passengers stumbled and collapsed in the aisle, forcing others to go over the seat-backs towards the centre cabin area, which was clear up until the time the right overwing exit was opened.

A passenger from the front row of seats looked back as he waited to exit the aircraft, and was aware of a mass of people tangled together and struggling in the centre section, apparently incapable of moving forward. He stated people were howling and screaming.

That horrifying account of unfolding tragedy is taken from the official report into the last fatal accident involving British Airways.

On 22 August 1985, a Boeing 737 belonging to BAs charter subsidiary, British Airtours, accelerated along the runway at Manchester airport, destination Corfu. An engine failure started a fire. The pilots aborted the take-off, stopped the plane and ordered an emergency evacuation.

In the ensuing chaos, only 83 of the passengers and crew made it out alive. One initial survivor died six days later, taking the death toll to 55  most of them killed by a mix of poisonous gases.

Many survivors from the front six rows of seats described a roll of thick black smoke clinging to the ceiling and moving rapidly forwards along the cabin, the accident report continues.

On reaching the forward bulkheads it curled down, began moving aft, lowering and filling the cabin. Some of these passengers became engulfed in the smoke despite their close proximity to the forward exits.

All described a single breath as burning and painful, immediately causing choking. Some used clothing or hands over their mouths in an attempt to filter the smoke; others attempted to hold their breath. They experienced drowsiness and disorientation, and were forced to feel their way along the seat rows towards the exits, whilst being jostled and pushed.

Almost 40 years later, on 2 January 2024, a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 was cleared to land on runway 34R at Tokyos main airport, Haneda. A small Dash-8 propeller plane belonging to the Japanese coastguard had been told to hold short of the runway but  we now know from the release of air-traffic control messages  strayed onto it.

The Japan Airlines Airbus A350 in flames at Tokyos main airport, Haneda, after striking a Dash-8 propeller plane that had strayed onto the runway (AP)

It seems to be that the guy in the Dash-8 lined up without permission, says Rowland Burley, a former Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 pilot who has flown into Haneda many times.

I understand hed been taxiing for an hour already, so he was probably impatient to be off  very go minded. Its just weird that he didnt look up and see this large A350 coming in and about to land on top of him.

Its just so sad that at night the A350 pilots didnt actually see this guy in front of them.

I can understand that because theres lots of lights around, its very bright, youve got the city quite close and Yokohama [a large port] and stuff, so there would be a lot of confusion with other lights around.

The Japan Airlines A350 struck the Dash-8, and both aircraft caught fire. The captain of the coastguard plane escaped, but his five colleagues perished.

The passenger jet continued for 1km along the runway, in flames. On board: 367 passengers, including eight infants under two, and 12 crew. The public address system failed, meaning cabin crew had to shout and use megaphones to order the evacuation. Only three of the eight emergency slides could be used because of the fire engulfing much of the aircraft.

The passenger jet continued for 1km along the runway, in flames and with 367 passengers on board (Reuters)

The circumstances so far bear a strong resemblance to the British Airtours tragedy at Manchester, but with nearly three times as many people at risk.

Yet all 379 people escaped from the aircraft. In terms of physical injury, there was nothing worse than bruises; the emotional toll of being involved in a near-death experience can only be imagined.

The Manchester disaster helped save their lives. Airlines are ferociously competitive  except in the most important aspect of all: safety. The aviation industry is based on open, collaborative investigation. The imperative is not to apportion blame but to protect future passengers by learning from tragedy.

The loss of 55 souls in chaotic circumstances in Manchester changed much. Floor lighting to guide passengers to an exit is mandatory. At those exits, minimum space and handholds are stipulated for cabin crew so they can help passengers escape.

At Manchester, the cabin crew  including two young stewardesses who perished while striving to save lives  performed their duties in exemplary fashion. But they had been dealt a deadly hand: on a blazing aircraft, filling with lethal fumes, passengers became jammed together at exits and the crew could not physically extract people in time.

While the Boeing 737 had been certified for evacuation within 90 seconds, events at Manchester bore no resemblance to the test parameters.

Passengers in the overwing exits did not understand how to open the emergency hatch, nor what to do with the heavy slab of metal when finally it was open. Today, everyone enjoying the extra legroom will also get a lecture about how to handle the device  and asked if they are prepared to assist.

The odds of a typical crew member experiencing an emergency evacuation during the course of a career are extremely low. Chris Hammond worked as a pilot for 43 years, first for BAs predecessor BOAC and later as a captain for easyJet.

Scenes from the Japan airport crash (JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

He now speaks for the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa).

I had probably three or four incidents that could have turned into an evacuation if theyd gone wrong. They didnt, Captain Hammond says.

Ive never, ever had to push the button to evacuate.

There is a button, yes  its on the overhead console. The evacuation button starts off all kinds of sirens and so forth and indicates to the cabin crew that they can do their drills.

We would announce if we could from the flight deck, saying: This is the captain. This is an emergency. Evacuate, evacuate.

The cabin crew can initiate an evacuation themselves. If they dont hear from the front end, that could be because the front end are disabled, so its within their remit to start one themselves.

Cabin crews focus is on helping passengers survive survivable accidents.

The nice person who poured you a drink and joked with you? They just turned into Gunnery Hartman from Full Metal Jacket.

So says a wise old aircraft captain who goes by the handle of KC-10 Driver (translation: pilot for the military version of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10). He posted a thread on X, formerly Twitter, that sums up an emergency evacuation. The cabin crew, he says, are trained to shout at passengers to save lives.

Youll obey. There is no what if I dont? Youll move quickly, because theyre using psychological means to get you to move. If you stop at the slide, theyre not going to have a conversation with you. Youre going down the slide and quickly. Theyll evacuate everyone within 90 seconds.

You may end up injured at the bottom of the slide, but its better than burning.

The 379 passengers and crew did not burn, but their 100m aircraft did. We love our jets, but they exist to deliver us to a destination, says KC-10 Driver.

Theyre engineered to sacrifice themselves to protect you if need arises and let you escape quickly.

The morning after the nightmare landing, almost nothing remained of the sacrificed carcass of the Airbus A350. The fuselage is made from carbon-based composite  used for high strength, low weight and durability. And, it turns out, added safety.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says: Aluminium will melt at 660C in large fires. Typically, for a composite material, the degradation temperature to cause burning is 300-500C, but it will maintain structural integrity during burning.

Investigators are now trawling through the embers looking for the black box  the cockpit voice recorder, which will reveal how the pilots responded. Perhaps a year from now, the final report into the accident will tell the full, chilling story. Safety officers for the worlds airlines will read it closely.

The safety and security of our customers and crew will always be our number one priority and we continually review our procedures in line with best practice and events that occur globally in our industry, says a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson.

Once the final report is produced by the Japanese Transport Safety Board we will review and, if applicable, take onboard any learnings.

Safety measures: escape slides on one side of the Airbus A350. Only three could be used for the Tokyo evacuation (Airbus)

Before then, though, passenger behaviour should start to change, says Chris Hammond of Balpa. He says that pilots will be emphasising that the safety briefing must be watched  perhaps by saying: These things can happen. If you dont believe me, remember the Japanese flight.

The survival of everyone on the passenger jet was not, though, a miracle. It was a testament to rigorous training and a safety culture unmatched in any other industry. British Airways has had an outstanding safety record since the Manchester disaster, and its rivals  Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair  have suffered no fatal accidents.

Out of tragedy, safety.
Tributes have been paid to a mother of three who was discovered stabbed to death in a crashed car near her 2.5 million mansion.

Maya Bracken, 56, was found inside a Lexus in Pangbourne in Berkshire on Thursday at 5.45pm.

An 18-year-old man was also killed by a train near Pangbourne.

It is seen as a linked tragedy by officers investigating the two deaths.

A friend of Ms Bracken, who asked not to be identified, in an interview with MailOnline, said: Maya was a lovely lady, so kind and generous to people. She doted on all her children. She had twins, a boy and a girl, and another son. Shed do anything for them.

They all spent Christmas and New Year together as a family. Whats happened is horrific and so unexpected.

They added: She was from Indonesia originally but met her husband, Michael, in Hong Kong. He worked in the banking sector I believe.

It was Michael who project managed building the house in Pangbourne. Im not sure he ever lived there, though, as he and Maya split soon after the house was finished.

She lived there with her three children and was quite a private lady. l believe they were boarders at a public school and the twins had gone to university.

Officers were originally alerted to the collision on the A340 Tidmarsh Road at the junction with Flowers Hill on Thursday at about 5.45pm.

Officers said the woman died at the scene after being fatally stabbed, although efforts were made to save her.

Thames Valley Police and British Transport Police were later told of the death of the 18-year-old on the railway track near Pangbourne at 6.15pm.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, head of the Major Crime Unit, said: We have launched a murder investigation after the death of a woman near Flowers Hill, Pangbourne, and the associated discovery of a deceased man at Pangbourne railway station.

Firstly, I would like to send my condolences on behalf of the force to loved ones of both at this extremely difficult time.

We are in the very early stages of this complex investigation, but we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with either death.

We are still investigating but are treating the two deaths as linked; we are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances of each. There is no wider threat to the public from these sad and tragic incidents.

A British Transport Police spokesman previously said: Officers were called to the line near Pangbourne railway station at 6.11pm on January 4 to reports of a casualty on the tracks.

Paramedics also attended and a person was pronounced dead at the scene.

British Transport Police are working closely with Thames Valley Police to establish the circumstances leading up to their death.

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Former President Donald Trump on Friday urged his supporters to put a stop to bags of crap arriving at polling places during this years election, warning of potential fraud.

At a rally in Mason City, Iowa, Trump echoed his false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him through tactics like ballot stuffing, and said that were not going to let it happen again.

He added: You should all stay in those voting booths. You should stay there and watch it. If you see bags of crap coming into the voting areas, youve got to stop it. You cant let it happen, because these guys are crooked as hell. They know how to cheat.

Trump, the current front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, went on to declare that he and his backers wouldnt allow Democrats to rig the 2024 election.

We will fight for America like no one has ever fought before, Trump said at the rally, held in advance of this months Iowa caucuses. 2024 is our final battle.

Trump: You should all stay in those voting booths you should stay there and watch and if you see bags of crap coming into the voting areas, you gotta stop it pic.twitter.com/qvXSTCmAE7  Acyn (@Acyn) January 6, 2024

His comments arrive after he told supporters at a previous Iowa rally to guard the vote during the election.

You should go into Detroit and you should go into Philadelphia and you should go into some of these places, Atlanta, and you should go into some of these places and weve got to watch those votes when they come in, the former president said last month.

Susan Benesch, who runs a research group called the Dangerous Speech Project, told The Associated Press at the time that Trumps remarks suggested that the elections outcome is foregone.

Is it actually guarding the election against fraud, or is it guarding the election against a result in which Trump is not declared the winner? she asked.

Trump made similar calls prior to the 2020 election when, during a presidential debate that year, he urged supporters to watch polling places and warned of bad things happening in Philadelphia.

Critics on X (formerly Twitter) reacted to Trumps latest rally remarks, alleging that the former president was engaging in voter intimidation in the months leading up to Election Day.

This sounds like voter intimidation.  Bill DeMayo (@BDeMayo) January 6, 2024

Trump has moved from a takeover of the capitol to a takeover of the voting booth.  cmacs (@Leafer1) January 6, 2024

Speaking of bags of crap... https://t.co/3QOUG3x4FT  MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) January 6, 2024

Related...
A well-known model from Kazakhstan and Russia, Ruslana Korshunova, tragically took her own life at the age of 20 in her Wall Street apartment in 2008. Shockingly, it has come to light that two years prior to her death, she had been flown to Jeffrey Epstein's infamous private island, also known as "Pedophile Island."

Court documents, recently unsealed, have revealed a network of people connected to Epstein, including his accusers, staff members, and business associates who gave testimonies about his alleged exploitation of underage girls, as per Daily Mail.

Jeffrey Epstein's Controversial Island Haven

Epstein's private island, called Little St. James, is a 72-acre estate located approximately 2 miles off the coast of St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. The island consisted of several villas and was accessible via a boat labeled LSJ. While Epstein made donations to local officials and schools, he was not respected nor regarded as an upstanding member of the community, given his status as a registered sex offender.

Epstein's activities on the island were carried out discreetly, facilitated by his private jet and two helicopters from Hyperion Air, which transported young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and Little St. James. Some air traffic controllers and airport personnel even reported witnessing Epstein with girls who appeared to be underage. Authorities were often denied entry to the private island, highlighting Epstein's ability to evade scrutiny due to his wealth and power.

Epstein's dealings with the law prior to his 2019 arrest shed light on the lenient treatment he received. In 2008, he struck a deal with prosecutors in Florida, pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor and serving only 13 months in jail. This non-prosecution agreement allowed him to continue his criminal activities relatively unimpeded.

The recent release of court documents has revived public interest in Epstein's associates, as well as his private jet, known as the "Lolita Express." This Boeing 727, which once transported prominent figures like Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, is now scheduled to be dismantled and scrapped. The current owner, upon learning of the plane's dark history, decided to abandon any plans of profiting from it, according to CBS News.

Read Also: Hershey's Facing Lawsuit Over Reese's Halloween Pumpkins; Plaintiff Cites Deceptive Packaging

Settlements Unmask Jeffrey Epstein's Network of Influential Figure

Epstein's victims, such as Virginia Giuffre, have settled cases with individuals like Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz. The ongoing legal proceedings and the release of sealed documents have further exposed the extensive network of influential individuals associated with Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The revelation of Epstein's island activities has brought unwanted attention to the rich and famous who had brushed shoulders with him. Despite some apologies and claims of ignorance from those involved, the public remains curious about the extent of their knowledge and involvement.

Jeffrey Epstein's death in prison while awaiting trial left many questions unanswered, and his connections to powerful figures continue to fuel conspiracy theories. The recently unsealed court records have once again cast a spotlight on the influential personalities who had socialized with Epstein and Maxwell, raising concerns about their potential complicity in the abuse of underage girls.

As investigations into Epstein's activities continue, the world watches with anticipation to see if justice will be served and if all those involved will be held accountable for their actions. The case serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of victims and the importance of uncovering the truth behind such heinous crimes, Finno Expert reported.

Related Article: Authorities Investigate Fatal Shooting of Islam Imam Hassan Shariff Outside Mosque
By Gram Slattery and James Oliphant

CLINTON, Iowa (Reuters) -Donald Trump on Saturday downplayed his role in the siege of the U.S. Capitol on the third anniversary of the attack, arguing that those prosecuted for storming the building should be freed.

Speaking at a campaign event in Clinton, Iowa with the first Republican nominating contest little more than a week away, Trump called those jailed in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack "hostages" and said they had been mistreated by the Biden administration.

"They've suffered enough," Trump said. "I call them hostages. Some people call them prisoners."

Speaking to more than a thousand supporters in a school gymnasium, Trump repeated his unfounded claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and cast himself as a victim of political persecution.

"I got indicted because I challenged the crooked election," Trump told the crowd.

Trump faces a bevy of state and federal charges for his attempts to subvert the election, but has not been charged with instigating the 2021 insurrection, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol as legislators were certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Biden has repeatedly called Trump a threat to democracy on the campaign trail, and that messaging has emerged as an central theme of his campaign so far. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke of the Jan. 6 assault at length during an event in South Carolina on Saturday.

At recent campaign events in Iowa, Trump's supporters - and even supporters of other Republican presidential hopefuls - have downplayed the significance of Jan. 6, and many have embraced conspiracy theories regarding the events of that day.

Trump himself has suggested during previous campaign stops that undercover FBI agents played a significant role instigating the attack, an account not supported by official investigations.

More than 1,200 people have been charged with taking part in the riot, and more than 900 have either pleaded guilty or been convicted following a trial.

"It wasn't really an insurrection," said Hale Wilson, a Trump supporter from Des Moines who attended a campaign event in Newton, Iowa earlier in the day. "There were bad actors involved that got the crowd going."

At the Clinton event, Erin George, a local county commissioner, said the prison sentences handed down to the rioters "were 100 percent unwarranted."

Trump was in Iowa to curry support ahead of the state's Republican caucus on Jan. 15, which is the first contest of the Republican presidential nominating contest. He currently leads all competitors by more than 30 percentage points in the state, according to most polls.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Newton, Iowa and James Oliphant in Clinton, Iowa; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Miral Fahmy)
Former President Trumps son, Donald Trump Jr., celebrated the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots on Saturday.

Happy Fake Insurrection Day!!! Donald Trump Jr. posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The first ever insurrection with armed tour guides and unarmed participants! I do hope that it was the start of something real though, where people realize that their government is not what they thought it to be unite to take back their country!!

President Biden gave a campaign speech on Friday, the day before the anniversary, in which he highlighted the Jan. 6 attack in an attempt to cement a point about the former president and other Republicans espousing a kind of extremism that was seen by the world on that day.

Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot, Biden said in the speech, delivered near Valley Forge, Pa.

On Friday, ex-D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who was attacked in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, said that Biden needs to fight harder for democracy.

I think its an all-hands-on-deck effort to make sure that Donald Trump doesnt assume the presidency in 2024, Fanone said on MSNBC. We all know what thats gonna look like, hes told us as much.

But I also  yeah, Ive gotta point out some of the disappointments that Ive had over the past three years, Fanone continued. And thats, wheres the outrage on behalf of the current administration? You know, I give credit, Joe Biden has given some fiery speeches with regards to MAGA and its effort to overturn a free and fair election. But thats something that this country needs to hear every single day, specifically younger people, young voters.

Earlier last year, a California man named Daniel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to assaulting Fanone during the Jan. 6 riots. He tased the ex-D.C. police officer twice in the back of his neck. Fanone experienced a minor heart attack and brain injury during the attack.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Donald Trumps political operation is seeking to bury Nikki Haleys presidential campaign just days before voting starts.

The former presidents campaign is spending millions of dollars on TV ads attacking Haley for the first time. His allies and social media influencers are ramping up efforts to savage her. And at his rally in Iowa on Friday night, Trump lit into her more sharply than at any prior point in the primary.

Its a major shift in focus nine days before the Iowa caucus.

After spending the last year focusing almost exclusively on tearing down Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Trump apparatus has determined that Haley now requires a greater share of its resources than he does. Trump allies increasingly view the former South Carolina governor  and Trumps onetime U.N. ambassador  as the last obstacle on his path to the nomination.

President Trump has long said hed train his sights on whomever is number two in the race, Jason Miller, a Trump adviser, told POLITICO. Rob DeSanctimonious is approaching single digits everywhere and his campaign is on life support, which means its Nikki Haleys turn in the barrel.

The ex-president has grown his double-digit leads in Republican primary polling and is the strong favorite to become the nominee. Yet there is increasingly a belief among Trump allies that a Haley second-place finish in the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus could give her momentum heading into the New Hampshire primary a week later. Trump advisers say they are looking to impose a ceiling on how much support she can win in the Granite State, where she is Trumps closest-polling rival.

Haleys poll numbers ticked up in the aftermath of her widely praised debate performances this fall, and she has continued to make gains in national and early state polling. She has surpassed DeSantis  who had long been seen as Trumps most formidable rival 00 for second place in some national and early-state polls.



Trumps campaign for the first time this week began airing TV ads against Haley in New Hampshire, claiming that Haley opposed Trumps proposed wall along the southern border. Its allied super PAC, MAGA Inc., is running a separate commercial in the state accusing Haley of supporting a gas tax increase during her tenure as South Carolina governor, a hit Haley has said mischaracterizes her record. The two outfits are spending a combined $4.5 million on anti-Haley commercials. Neither is currently running commercials targeting DeSantis.

Trump is also taking on Haley directly. At back-to-back rallies Friday night in Iowa, Trump accused his former U.N. ambassador of being a globalist under the control of Wall Street donors, while mocking her widely panned answer on the root cause of the Civil War.

Nikki Haley has been in the pocket of the open borders, establishment donors her entire career and shes a globalist, Trump said. She likes the globe. I like America first.

I hope you enjoy her little quips like, how did the Civil War start? Well, it had to do with government, Trump said, channeling Haley. No, it was slavery. You know I never wanted to pile on, but youll find out about Nikki.

In another indication of the shift in focus, the Trump campaign had been regularly sending out emails to reporters, under the subject line Kiss of Death, attacking DeSantis. But starting late last month, the Kiss of Death emails began to focus on Haley.

Trumps expansive army of online supporters is also turning its attention to Haley. Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon told POLITICO his War Room podcast, which is widely listened to among staunch supporters of the former president, will now solely target Haley.

Nikki was always the vessel the donor class wanted to stop Trump and MAGA, Bannon said.

Alex Bruesewitz, a pro-Trump social media activist, has meanwhile begun using his feed on X, formerly known as Twitter, to go after Haley  such as on Friday, when he posted a meme likening her to Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and Trumps 2016 opponent. Bruesewitz for the last year has been mostly devoted to going after DeSantis, and he said in an interview that he would continue targeting the Florida governor and his supporters for sport.

But with Haley rising  and DeSantis fading  in the polls, Bruesewitz said he is increasingly focused on her.

"There is a ton of ammo out there that has not been fired yet," Bruesewitz said.



Haleys campaign has taken note of the recent uptick in Trump attacks. Ahead of Trumps speeches in Iowa, Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas preempted the former presidents attacks by sending reporters a fact-check on her immigration record.

Donald Trump must be seeing the same Nikki momentum that were seeing, Perez-Cubas said in a statement. Why else spend millions in false ads attacking her? Its clear this is a two-person race between Nikki and Trump.

Trumps team says it will still find opportunities to target DeSantis, with some allies arguing the Florida governor has more potential to draw from the ex-presidents base. In his Friday speeches, Trump continued to derisively use the DeSanctus nickname he has given him.

Ron, well, youve got to have a little personality, Trump said. You need a personality still, and theres not a lot of personality there. You need a personality to charm foreign leaders.

But the main target has shifted, with Trump and his MAGA supporters seizing on everything  from Haleys Civil War remarks to a clip this week of her in an Iowa PBS interview saying you change personalities between early states.

Haley was responding to a question about whether she would change the order of the GOP nominating contests, as President Joe Biden did on the Democratic side this year. We want it to stay the way that it was, Haley said. Iowa starts it. You change personalities. You go into New Hampshire, and they continue it on.

For Trump's supporters, the slip presented another opportunity to pile on. New Hampshire-based MAGA Inc. spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reposted the clip on X, writing: Nikki Haley just opened the door to 2nd place for [Chris Christie] in New Hampshire.

Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report.
Former President Donald Trump reportedly submitted election paperwork in the state of Illinois this week without signing the customary loyalty pledge, a Red Scare relic wherein candidates vow not to advocate the overthrow of the government.

The Chicago Sun-Times andWBEZ reported the omission on Saturday, three years to the day after Trump supporters mobbed the U.S. Capitol in a misguided attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Bidens presidential victory.

Trumps various efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election currently threaten to send him to federal prison as he faces multiple special-counsel-led trials.

It has also led voters in several states, including Illinois, to try to prevent his name from being on primary ballots this year.

The Chicago outlets noted that Trump had signed the pledge during both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, as did Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Biden, who has also reportedly signed this year. Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis also reportedly signed the pledge.

Illinois lawmakers have attempted to scrap the loyalty pledge entirely since its 1950s inception, in the era Sen. Joe McCarthy led a heated charge against supposedly malicious communist activity around the United States during the Cold War.

Other states implemented loyalty oaths, as well. But federal courts have largely declared them unconstitutional.

Since Illinois oath is easy to sign and optional, it has simply become customary for presidential hopefuls, according to The Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.

Trumps apparent failure to promise he wont overthrow the government if he wins a second term by not signing the oath sets off alarm bells.

The full text of Illinois oath affirms that the candidate is not a communist or a member of any communist groups and that they do not directly or indirectly teach or advocate the overthrow of the government of the United States or of this State or any unlawful change in the form of the governments thereof by force or any unlawful means.

HuffPost has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

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South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has put forward a revision to the credit finance act, aiming to prohibit the use of credit cards by local citizens for purchasing cryptocurrencies.

The proposed amendment primarily seeks to restrict South Korean crypto traders from buying crypto on foreign exchanges, according to the FSC. The regulator has expressed concerns about illicit outflows of domestic funds, potential money laundering, and the promotion of speculative activities.

South Korea's FSC Targets Cryptocurrency Payments

The highest financial regulatory body in South Korea has introduced these restrictions due to worries surrounding the unlawful movement of domestic funds abroad through card payments on overseas virtual asset exchanges.

The FSC's notice emphasized the need to prohibit virtual assets as a form of payment in order to combat these concerns. The commission hopes that by establishing collaborations with international entities, it can strengthen measures to prevent both foreign currency outflows and money laundering.

Feedback from the public on the proposed amendment is currently being sought, with the consultation period running until February 13th. Following the review and resolution process, the amendment is projected to come into effect in the first half of this year. South Korea is widely regarded as a lucrative market for cryptocurrencies, boasting a high rate of crypto adoption. A survey conducted by KuCoin revealed that 26% of South Korean adults currently hold cryptocurrencies.

In an effort to regulate the industry, the country has already mandated identification verification for all users involved in deposits and withdrawals from local cryptocurrency exchanges. However, these regulatory measures do not extend to overseas crypto exchanges targeting the South Korean population, according to Finance Magnates.

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South Korea Eyes Credit Card Limits

South Korea is not the first to consider imposing restrictions on credit card purchases of cryptocurrencies. Taiwan, for example, has previously prohibited the use of credit cards for crypto transactions and has even advised banks and credit card companies not to engage in partnerships with cryptocurrency service providers.

Various banks have occasionally prevented their customers from using credit cards to purchase cryptocurrencies, citing concerns over the asset class's volatility and associated risks. The FSC aims to broaden the scope of prohibited credit card payments to include crypto exchanges in order to effectively combat the outflow of foreign currency and mitigate the risk of money laundering, as stated in a recent announcement. The FSC has invited organizations and individuals to provide their comments on the proposal by February 13th.

In addition to this credit card restriction, the FSC has also proposed new regulations to protect users of cryptocurrency exchanges. These rules would require exchanges to store a minimum of 80% of their customers' deposits in cold wallets, which are offline wallets offering greater security against hacks. Furthermore, exchanges would be obliged to compensate customers for using their deposits by paying them transaction fees.

Overall, the FSC's proposed amendment to the credit finance act in South Korea reflects the growing concerns surrounding the use of credit cards for cryptocurrency purchases. With the aim of curbing illegal financial outflows and strengthening anti-money laundering efforts, the regulator seeks to strike a balance between fostering innovation in the crypto industry and ensuring the protection of investors and the integrity of the financial system, Business Insider reported.

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The costs of prosecuting former President Trumps two federal cases has surpassed $12 million, with special counsel Jack Smith disclosing in the latest financial filings that his office spent over $7.3 million in the last six months.

The required disclosure came alongside those of three other special counsels, including former special counsel John Durham.

The bulk of the spending from Smiths office went toward personnel costs, covering the salaries of prosecutors working both on Trumps election interference case in D.C., as well as his Florida-based case for mishandling classified documents.

The disclosure came the day after Trumps attorneys complained Smith has spent untold tens of millions prosecuting the former president.

Funding for special counsels primarily comes from a permanent, indefinite appropriation set aside for independent counsels.

Special counsel Robert Hur, who is overseeing a probe into a small number of classified records found at President Bidens residence and former office, spent just over $2.8 million over the last six months, for a total of about $3.4 million since he was appointed in January.

Special counsel David Weiss, who has brought tax and gun charges against Hunter Biden in two different states, spent just under $183,000 since he was appointed in August, the figure nodding to both his brief tenure as special counsel and that the bulk of his five-year investigation was conducted before being elevated to the role.

Durham, who released a report on his investigations on the FBIs probe into the 2016 election and the Trump campaign, spent nearly $550,000 this cycle, the bulk to cover the expenses from contractors for litigation and IT support. Durhams probe cost a total of $8 million since he was first appointed in October 2020.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Two Florida men have been charged in Federal Court with multiple felonies and misdemeanors related to their conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Tom Vournas, 62, of Bradenton, Florida, and Leonard Lobianco, 52, of North Port, Florida, are named in the indictment and were arrested on Jan. 4, in Florida by the FBI.

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The men will make their initial appearance in the Middle District of Florida.

Vournas is facing multiple felony charges including: felony offenses of civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or ground with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Read: What I lived through is real: Former Capitol Police sergeant reflects on Jan. 6 attack

Hes also charged with misdemeanor offenses of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Lobianco is charged with civil disorder, a felony, and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Read: Channel 9 anchor runs in 10K, Disney Marathon Weekend continues

According to the indictment, on Jan. 6, 2020, the men committed and attempted to commit an act aimed at impeding law enforcement officers from performing their official duties during a civil disorder event.

In addition, defendant Vournas is alleged to have used a chemical irritant to assault law enforcement officers on the Capitol grounds and allegedly brought the weapon inside the Capitol building.

Read: Supreme Court to decide whether Trump can be kept off the 2024 presidential ballot

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CREVE COEUR, Mo.  Authorities arrested a man linked to two foiled carjacking attempts Thursday in Creve Coeur.

Johnnie Stidum, 58, faces five felonies in the investigation, including two counts of vehicle hijacking, two counts armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Investigators say Stidum attempted to steal one car in a Schnucks parking lot and another in a Burger King drive-thru.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Stidum first approached a victim in a parking lot, flashed a weapon and demanded his vehicle. The victim reportedly handed his keys to Stidum, though he was unable to drive far due to an emergency brake.

Snow blankets St. Louis, more winter weather expected

Investigators say Stidum then got out of that car and ran toward a nearby Burger King. Court documents state that he tried to steal a womans car as she was placing an order in the drive-thru lane. The woman refused to get out of the car.

Per court documents, police arrived to the scene a short-time later and arrested Stidum while he was standing in the drive-thru lane.

Video shared to FOX 2 caught one of the terrifying moments on camera. Instead of ordering food, one driver was briefly held at gunpoint.

As they were pulling in to try to apprehend him, he was in the process of actually trying to rob a second person of their car while they were in the drive-thru, said Creve Coeur Lt. Jonathan McIntosh.

The video also shows officers arresting Stidum by the Burger King. He said just minutes earlier, Stidum tried carjacking another person nearby.

Displayed a gun, told him to give him his car keys. The victim quickly gave him his car keys up and ran into a nearby business and asked them to call 911, said McIntosh.

He said multiple witnesses began calling 911 as Stidum tried to take off.

The parking brake was engaged, and he couldnt disengage it. So witnesses at this time were also calling 911, who saw him and gave a description of the subject as he fled the scene, said McIntosh.

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McIntosh says while this type of crime is unusual for Creve Coeur, he said everyone should know what to do in this type of situation.

Give what the suspect is asking for. If you can give your keys, if you can give your wallet, if you can give your purse, do that and flee to safety, said McIntosh.

Missouri court records reveal Stidum is a convicted felon with a criminal history dating back to 2000 and illegally possessed a weapon. He is jailed in St. Louis County on a $200,000 cash-only bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
An Iowa community is in shock after a 17-year-old student opened fire at Perry High School, killing one student and injuring five others. Dylan Butler, a senior at the school, allegedly targeted the victims before turning the gun on himself.

Classmates revealed that Butler had been a long-time victim of bullying, and the situation became even more distressing when his younger sister also experienced it, as per Daily Mail.

Perry High School Shooter Dylan Butler

The tragic incident occurred on Thursday morning when police responded to an active shooter report at the high school in Perry, a city located about 30 miles northwest of Des Moines. Armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun, Butler began shooting, resulting in the death of a sixth grader who attended Perry Middle School.

While the identity of the victim has not been released, officials have stated that the injured individuals are expected to survive.

Governor Kim Reynolds expressed her condolences to the community, calling the shooting a "senseless tragedy" that has shaken Perry and the entire state. The motive for the shooting remains unknown as the investigation is ongoing.

During a news conference, Mitch Mortvedt, the assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, revealed that responding officers found victims who had been shot and the shooter dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Additionally, an "improvised explosive device" was discovered, but it was rendered safe by the state fire marshal and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Evidence suggests that Butler acted alone, and authorities have noted that he made several social media posts before and around the time of the shooting. The attack occurred before the start of the school day, when only a few students and faculty members were present on campus due to a breakfast program.

As details emerge, it has been reported that Butler shared a cryptic video on his now-deleted social media just moments before the shooting. The video, analyzed by the media, depicted Butler in a school bathroom stall with a blue duffle bag at his feet, according to NBC News.

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Iowa School Shooter's Disturbing Social Media Posts

The caption accompanying the video read, "Now we wait." The unsettling footage was set to the song "Stray Bullet" by the rock group KMFDM, featuring lyrics such as "I'm your nightmare coming true, I am your worst enemy" and "Stray bullet, from the barrel of love."

The Perry High School campus, which houses both a middle school and high school, is located in a small town approximately 40 miles northwest of Des Moines. Investigators have also discovered other photos on Butler's social media accounts, which show him posing with firearms.

Classmates and family members have come forward, alleging that Butler had been a victim of persistent bullying since elementary school. The situation worsened when his sister became a target as well. The family had brought the matter to the attention of the school, but it remains unclear if any action was taken in response to their complaints.

"Yesenia Roeder Hall, 17, stated, 'He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment.' Although she acknowledges that retaliating by shooting up the school was not a wise decision, the tragedy provides a grim reminder of the consequences of unchecked bullying.

As the investigation continues, the community mourns the loss of a student's life and grapples with the aftermath of this unfortunate event. The incident serves as a somber reminder of the importance of addressing bullying in schools and ensuring the safety and well-being of students, WION reported.

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Defence Intelligence of Ukraine chief Kyrylo Budanov has responded to a request by Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic, to lift sanctions on his family members, aircraft and horses in exchange for releasing 20 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Source: Budanov on air during the 24/7 national joint newscast

Quote: "In general, I find the statements that appear in the media weird. If a person wants to solve something, he knows how and whom to contact. If he doesn't know, someone will tell him. But believe me, he knows. And announcing things in the media, like: Lift the sanctions against my family and give me my horses  which, by the way, are in another country  is a bit strange, in my opinion."

Background:

Russian news outlets posted a video showing Ramzan Kadyrov offering to release 20 Ukrainian prisoners of war if Western sanctions placed on members of his family are lifted.

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South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) has, for the first time, officially recognized Kim Ju Ae, the young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as her father's likely heir apparent.

This declaration comes amidst widespread speculation that Kim Jong Un is preparing his daughter to be the fourth successor in the dynasty that has ruled North Korea for over seven decades.

Kim Ju Ae Sparks North Korea Succession Speculation

The international community has closely followed the development of Kim Ju Ae, believed to be around 10 years old, since her inaugural public appearance in November 2022 during a long-range missile test alongside her father. Her subsequent prominent role in major public events, as documented by state media, has fueled discussions regarding her political standing and potential future leadership.

Kim Jong Un's daughter has been described by state media as his "most beloved" or "respected" child, showcasing a level of prominence previously unseen in North Korea. Notable moments include a senior general kneeling and whispering to her during a military parade, her presence at a VIP observation stand, and sharing a tender moment with her father during a New Year's Eve celebration in Pyongyang.

The NIS, in its official assessment, cited a comprehensive analysis of Kim Ju Ae's public activities and the protocols extended to her by the state. While designating her as the likely successor, the NIS emphasized that all possibilities in North Korea's power succession process are still under consideration, taking into account Kim Jong Un's relative youth, lack of major health issues, and the existence of at least one other child.

Lawmaker Youn Kun-Young revealed that Cho Tae-yong, the nominee for the NIS chief position, provided this assessment. However, the NIS has a history of unreliable information about developments in North Korea, a notoriously secretive nation, and North Korean state media is yet to comment directly on the succession plan or the existence of Kim Ju Ae's siblings.

Analysts, such as Du Hyeogn Cha from Seoul's Asan Institute for Policy Studies, caution against definitively predicting Kim Ju Ae's future leadership role. While the NIS sees a high possibility, analysts point out her lack of political achievements essential for formal anointment as the country's future leader, according to Hindustan Times.

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North Korea's Potential Successor Amid Kim Jong Un Health Concerns

Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, suggests that Kim Jong Un likely perceives his daughter as having the capacity to succeed him, especially given concerns about his health. He emphasizes her participation in major events as a potential learning experience in leadership and network-building from a young age.

Officials from South Korea's government, including the unification minister, Kim Yung-ho, remain cautious, asserting that it is premature to view Kim Ju Ae as the heir apparent. They contend that her repeated appearances may be aimed at shoring up public support for Kim's family rather than signaling an imminent power transfer.

North Korea, established in 1948, has witnessed successive male rule within the Kim family, with Kim Jong Un inheriting power from his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011. Kim Jong Un's wife, Ri Sol Ju, and other family members have been kept shrouded in secrecy.

The early public introduction of Kim Ju Ae is considered by some analysts as a strategic move by Kim Jong Un to establish her profile before any potential transfer of power, overcoming gender prejudices in a deeply patriarchal North Korea. Observers note the shift in language from calling her "beloved" to "respected," signaling a potential formalization of her role in the leadership hierarchy.

Miss Kim's recent prominent appearances during significant events, such as missile launches and satellite launches, suggest an orchestrated effort to familiarize the public with her and secure her position before any succession occurs. The complexities surrounding North Korea's leadership transition continue to capture global attention, as speculation and analysis persist regarding Kim Ju Ae's future role in the country's leadership, BBC News reported.

Related Article: North Korea Fires 200 Artillery at Sea Border, Prompting South Korea To Order Yeonpyeong Evacuation
The Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the control post at the airfield in Saki

The Ukrainian Air Force successfully struck a Russian airfield near Saky, Crimea, resulting in the destruction of a Russian military command post, Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk confirmed on Jan. 6.

Saky airfield! All targets are hit! Unfortunately, our Air Force has once again been left without yet another command post in Crimea, Oleshchuk wrote on social media.

Read also: Ukrainian strike destroys Russian ammunition depot and command post in occupied Crimea

"Once again, thanks to our pilots for excellent work!

He also shared a photo of the targeted area.

Reports of explosions in the occupied Crimea, specifically near the Saky airfield, surfaced late on Jan. 5.

Shortly afterward, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that their air defense systems successfully intercepted and shot down four guided missiles over Crimea.

Read also: Ukraine targets Saky military airfield in Crimea, Neptune missiles leave Russian equipment seriously damaged

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A 3-year-old boy named Brayden Smith lost his life after being struck by a stray bullet in his own home in Northeast Memphis, Tennessee. Authorities have attributed this horrific tragedy to the dangerous practice of "celebratory gunfire."

According to police reports from Action News 5, the incident occurred around 6 p.m. when a bullet penetrated the window of the Smith family's apartment, as per New York Post.

Brayden Smith's Tragic Death Spurs GoFundMe Support

Brayden Smith was immediately rushed to a local children's hospital in critical condition. However, despite the efforts of medical professionals, he tragically passed away early Wednesday morning, as confirmed by police spokesperson Christopher Williams.

Assistant Police Chief Don Crowe spoke to a local news station, stating that preliminary information suggests the stray bullet may have originated from a different part of the apartment complex.

Crowe emphasized the illegality of celebratory gunfire and its potential for catastrophic consequences. "We've tried to stress that this month: Celebratory gunfire is illegal and celebratory gunfire leads to tragic events like this, and we just have to stop shooting these guns," Crowe pleaded.

The Memphis Police Department reported receiving records of over 327 gunshots through their gunfire detection software during the New Year's Eve period, while dispatchers received approximately 195 calls reporting shots fired, according to Williams. Despite ongoing investigations, the authorities have yet to identify and apprehend the person responsible for firing the fatal bullet that claimed Brayden's life.

In response to the devastating loss, a close acquaintance of the Smith family created a GoFundMe campaign to provide financial support during this unimaginably difficult time. The organizer, Jaleesha Brown, expressed deep sorrow for the tragedy and urged the community to come together in solidarity.

The campaign aims to alleviate some of the financial burdens associated with funeral expenses and convey love and support to Brayden's grieving loved ones. As of Wednesday, the fundraiser has managed to raise $2,473, according to USA Today.

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Community Supports Brayden's Family, Calls for Justice

Meanwhile, community members are rallying around Brayden's family, offering their support and hoping for the apprehension of the shooter. Larry Hunter, a representative of the Touched by an Angel organization, distributed meals to residents of the apartment complex and voiced his concern over the incident. "You're at home. You're thinking you're in a place of safety, and a bullet comes from nowhere. It really bothered me. It could've been my son, my grandson, your son," Hunter emphasized.

The Memphis Police Department disclosed that between 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 3 a.m. on New Year's Day, their gunfire detection software recorded over 327 gunshots. Dispatchers were inundated with 195 calls reporting shots fired.

The police emphasized the need to halt the dangerous practice of celebratory gunfire, reiterating its illegal status and its potential for tragic events, such as the untimely death of young Brayden Smith.

As the investigation continues, the community mourns the loss of an innocent life and hopes for justice. The incident serves as a somber reminder of the dangers associated with celebratory gunfire and the need for collective action to prevent further tragedies, KGNS reported.

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How does the rapid fielding of modern and mature 88 IFVs reduce the risk and enhance the combat agility of NATOs Eastern front? The combat experience gathered in the Ukraine War reflects the need for agile land combat systems that effectively integrate maneuverability and firepower and rely on logistical support from domestic or neighboring allied countries.

IFVs are Rising to Face New Threats

While forward-deployed heavy armor  main battle tanks and heavily armored infantry fighting vehicles (AIFV)  provide the highest deterrence, the need to cover the long border requires more agile and deployable forces that often consist of wheeled combat vehicles, able to move quickly over long distances, and deploy adequate firepower and infantry troops, anti-tank equipment, self-propelled mortars, and artillery wherever they are most needed. 88 combat vehicles are deemed the most suitable for such missions and are widely available to many NATO countries. Eastern European armies have relied chiefly on Russian 88 vehicles such as the BTR-60, 80, and OT-64. Western APCs  Pandur II, AMV, and Piranha- replaced many of these legacy armored vehicles.

However, the Western vehicles were configured as Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), just like their Russian counterparts. Only recently, NATO embraced the 8x8s as an IFV, equipped with a 30mm automatic cannon, anti-tank guided missiles, sophisticated situational awareness, and target acquisition systems.

Unlike other AFV programs, this concept did not begin with the worlds leading armies but with small nations looking for affordable alternatives to heavy armored formations. Poland was the first to field such a system, mounting the Italian HitFist 30P turret from Leonardo as a standard weapon on the AMV Rosomak. Brazil came second, adopting the new Israeli concept of mounting a medium caliber gun on an overhead remotely controlled weapon station from Elbit Systems.

For several years NATO has been increasing its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance as a direct result of the Russian onslaught on Ukraine in 2014. In 2016 Allied Heads of State and Government agreed to establish NATOs forward presence in the northeast and southeast of the Alliance in response to the increased instability and insecurity along NATOs periphery. This act was followed by positioning four multinational battalion-size battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland providing some of the forces, led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the United States providing armored units and resources. Additional battlegroups were established following Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, positioning four more multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, effectively doubling the number of troops on the ground and demonstrating the Alliances determination to respond to any aggression and protect the Alliances eastern flank  from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south.

The High Cost of Integration

Unlike manned turrets that take much of the internal space for the weapon system, unmanned turrets are installed on top, clearing much of the room for the crew and infantry squad. However, without a crew in the turret, all operations must be performed remotely. This process requires extensive electronic integration of mechanical and electrical systems and extensive support to keep those automated systems running smoothly and meeting user expectations. Having those capabilities at close geographic proximity is important for rapid fielding and high readiness of such advanced combat systems.

The complex integration posed significant challenges to countries that opted to move this way. Since most vehicle manufacturers do not provide turrets, users often choose the weapon system and match it with the platform. A typical integration is complex and could take two to four years. The U.S. Army has also encountered problems with its Stryker 30mm Infantry Carrier Vehicle  Dragoon. In 2015, the U.S. Army chose the MCT-30 remotely operated turret from the Norwegian company Kongsberg to be mounted on flat-hull Strykers to increase the lethality of the Stryker Brigade in Europe. These systems have been fielded and operated with the US Army as part of the European Deterrence Initiative since 2018. However, after supplying two brigades, the Army switched to a more protected platform, the Stryker DVHA1, which required repeated integration of the medium caliber weapon system. This program was led by Oshkosh and used a derivative of the Samson 30 turret from Rafael optimized for the Armys requirements. Although the US required local production of the turrets to meet the rapid delivery schedules, manufacturing of turrets is currently undergoing in Israel. The integration was smooth and was completed within a year. Deliveries of the systems are now in the second year of production, under the $942 million program of record expected to complete delivery within four years.

Lithuania also pursued the Samson turret from Rafael for its Vilkas  the 88 Boxers. Lithuania was offered a German turret for the Boxer but preferred to mount the Samson MKII turret, which was more affordable. The integration of German and Israeli systems encountered significant challenges, particularly under the COVID-19 restrictions that prevented the flow of equipment and personnel, lengthy cycles for problem-solving, experimentation, testing, and repair that delayed deliveries by two years. The issues are reportedly resolved by now, but according to Lithuanian press reports, some problems still linger today and affect the operational capabilities of the Vilkas. Nevertheless, the integration challenges encountered in the process have delayed the delivery of the Boxers Lithuania planned to acquire.

Bridging the Gap with Localized, Mature Solutions

Bucharest opted for similar weapons but selected different platforms and turrets  opting for the locally produced General Dynamics Land Systems Europe Piranha V with Elbit Systems UT30MK2 unmanned turret, also built in the country, over the German Boxer and its Lance turret. Rafaels Spike guided missiles are also used on the Romanian APC. Croatia has also fielded a similar turret as part of its Patria 88 modernization program. The company also completed a similar integration of UT30MK2 on the Austrian Pandur II for various customers.

The paths followed by Romania and Lithuania reflect different acquisition approaches to other acquisitions in Eastern Europe. Traditionally, European countries favored the local assembly or full manufacturing of their vehicles, but, for many, the manufacturing of turrets required many specializations that were not readily available in most countries. Furthermore, integrating different platforms, turrets, missile systems, and electronics posed additional risks and delays, particularly for those investing in the independent local development of vehicles or turrets. For example, Poland, like Romania, favored the local production of an upgraded Rosomak equipped with an unmanned turret of a local design. But, unlike the tried and tested Romanian design backed by experienced teams from the original vehicle and turret manufacturers, Poland is currently integrating a new turret into a new vehicle  a significant challenge. Slovakia is also taking the uncharted path, matching the Patria AMV with a locally manufactured turret developed by EVPU. Bulgaria also planned to buy 150 such vehicles but has canceled their plan due to high costs.

Another country encountering a prolonged complex acquisition of IFV is Slovenia. In 2008 the country was one of the first European countries to select remotely controlled medium caliber weapons from Elbit Systems for their 88 IFV; the program stalled due to legal allegations concerning the vehicle manufacturer Patria. In 2018 Slovenia selected the German Boxer in the same configuration developed for Lithuania, but this plan was canceled in 2022. This year Slovenia is initiating this acquisition, this time considering a more considerable buy on a Government to Government (G2G) basis. Slovenia will likely view only European suppliers to ensure timely supply and continuous support even in times of crisis. Italy, Poland, Romania, Austria, and Switzerland already supply modern IFVs for domestic use; some offer local assembly for other European countries. The US Stryker could be considered, but other options are more feasible given that US production lines are full for several years for platforms and turrets. Turret manufacturers havent been mentioned yet. However, given the requirement for rapid delivery and local support from European countries, having fully integrated platform and weapon systems and active manufacturing and support, Romania is considered a good candidate, alongside other European manufacturers, such as the Norwegian Kongsberg and Italian Leonardo.

Fielding multi-role IFVs has been challenging, but these combat systems value to the modern battlespace is clear, but the IFV isnt made as a single system. It combines a chassis, propulsion, and armor systems, an unmanned turret, missile systems, and vetronics delivered by different manufacturers. The integration and assembly represent a complex task. Marrying proven systems and platforms delivered by trusted sources from active production lines is paramount in reducing risks and accelerating delivery and fielding.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi following a "serious terrorist attack" in Iran this week, as reported by state media on Thursday.

During a ceremony honoring the late General Qassem Soleimani, at least 84 people were killed in two explosions that caused chaos and devastation, as per Newsweek.

Xi Jinping Condemns Terror Attacks in Iran

The assassination of Soleimani by a US drone strike in 2020 continues to have significant repercussions in the region. China's official Xinhua News Agency stated that President Xi conveyed his shock at the terror attacks in Kerman, which resulted in heavy casualties. He firmly reiterated China's opposition to all forms of terrorism, strongly condemned such attacks, and expressed China's steadfast support for Iran in maintaining national security and stability.

The southeastern region of Iran where the attack occurred reported numerous injuries. Immediately following the explosions, Iranian officials attributed the act to terrorism, and the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility on Thursday. This attack marks the deadliest incident in Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

In response, Iran's mission to the United Nations vowed to "respond with fire and fury" to the orchestrators, although they have yet to address the ISIS claim. Iran has been a key supporter of the Hamas militant group and supplies arms, in addition to providing weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen who are currently disrupting shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

On the other hand, China has maintained a neutral stance in the Middle East and has refrained from condemning the Palestinian fighters in Gaza for their incursion into Israel last October or directly accusing the Houthis of threatening international maritime security.

Beijing's relatively restrained response aligns with its geopolitical agenda in the region, where it seeks to broker ceasefires and leverage its positive image in the global south.

In his message to President Raisi, President Xi Jinping expressed solidarity with Iran, as the two countries have cultivated a comprehensive partnership in recent years encompassing various domains such as economics, military, and technology. China and Iran position themselves as counterweights to US influence in Asia and the Middle East.

In March 2021, the two nations signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement, underscoring their commitment to deepen their ties. The Chinese leadership has not assigned blame for the attack in Iran, but some Chinese experts have directly linked the bombings to the United States and Israel, according to Reuters.

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Fudan Researcher Links Iran Attack to US, Israel

Sun Degang, a researcher at Fudan University in Shanghai, suggested that the Western allies may have instigated local factions to carry out the attack, which occurred on the anniversary of Soleimani's death. Sun claimed that the attack aligns with recent military actions by the United States and Israel targeting Iran and its proxies.

The dual explosions during the ceremony for Qassem Soleimani resulted in the loss of nearly 100 lives and left numerous others injured. Iranian officials initially attributed the incident to unspecified "terrorists." President Xi Jinping expressed his shock at the attack and reaffirmed China's opposition to terrorism, along with its strong condemnation of such acts.

He offered sincere condolences on behalf of the Chinese government and people, extending sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured. The bombings occurred during a commemoration event in Kerman, located approximately 820 kilometers southeast of Tehran. The second explosion occurred as the crowd attempted to flee from the chaos caused by the first blast, causing widespread panic and further casualties.

The international community, including the United Nations, the European Union, and countries such as Russia, Turkey, and Germany, have strongly denounced these bombings as horrific acts of terrorism. While investigations into the attack continue, the global community remains united in its resolve to combat terrorism and uphold peace worldwide.

This tragic incident serves as a stark reminder of the need for collective efforts to prevent, condemn, and eradicate terrorism, ensuring the safety and stability of nations, China Daily reported.

Related Article: China Designates Patrols in Disputed South China Sea Amid Philippines, US Joint Military Drills
Social media star Gypsy Rose Blanchard has quickly gained millions of followers after her recent release from a decade-long prison sentence.

Although it is rare for a social media personality to be convicted of second-degree murder, Blanchard, now 32, pleaded guilty to this charge in 2016 for her involvement in plotting the murder of her abusive mother, Claudine "Dee Dee" Blanchard, in their Missouri home in 2015, with assistance from her former boyfriend at the time.

Since her release, Gypsy Rose Blanchard claims to have undergone a complete transformation and has finally become the woman she had always dreamt of being, as per to Fox News.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Personal Struggles Revealed

ABC News' Good Morning America managed to secure the first exclusive TV interview with Blanchard, who expressed gratitude for the life experiences she gained during her seven-year prison stay. In a clip released by TMZ, Blanchard opened up to Deborah Roberts, co-anchor of "20/20" and ABC's senior national affairs correspondent, emphasizing the valuable life lessons she learned in prison. She proudly acknowledges the positive impact that her time behind bars had on shaping her post-prison life.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard believes that, just like anyone else, she matured through trial and error during her time in prison, transcending the confines of the correctional facility.

Blanchard's personal life, which unfolded during her incarceration, is now publicly known, including her romantic involvement with her husband, Ryan, whom she married while in prison. Despite facing criticism, Blanchard steadfastly supported Ryan both inside and outside the bedroom.

Ryan also accompanied Gypsy Rose Blanchard during the Good Morning America interview. The full interview, scheduled to air on Friday, promises to provide further insight into her life and experiences.

Recently, Gypsy Rose Blanchard caused a stir on social media when she revealed to People magazine the state of her mental health while planning her mother's murder. Alongside this shocking revelation, Blanchard disclosed that she had experienced childhood molestation at the hands of her grandfather, Claude Pitre, which will be explored further in an upcoming documentary series, according to TMZ.

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Post-Prison Life and Docuseries Insights

As reported by TMZ, Gypsy Rose Blanchard made her television debut on ABC News' Good Morning America, where she discussed her post-prison life. She spoke about the significant personal growth she underwent during her prison sentence, transforming into the woman she had always aspired to be. In an exclusive clip provided by TMZ, Gypsy Rose Blanchard also shared details about her upcoming docuseries, "The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard."

Fans eagerly expressed their anticipation, calling 2024 Gypsy's year of success and labeling her an iconic figure in her celebrity era. However, not everyone shared the same enthusiasm, with some individuals voicing their indifference towards Blanchard's appearance on Good Morning America. Yet, amidst the varying views, one user made a derogatory comment about Blanchard's appearance.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard's release from prison has undeniably made headlines, capturing the attention of both supporters and skeptics. Her pending interview on Good Morning America is set to shed further light on her unique journey, revealing the woman she has become after her lengthy prison stay, Meaww reported.

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The Pentagon has faced scrutiny for not disclosing US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalization for five days, following complications from an elective surgery.

Austin, aged 70, holds a position of great responsibility in the US military, second only to President Joe Biden. His role demands constant readiness to address any national security crisis that may arise.

Pentagon Hides Us Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's Hospitalization

The timeline of events surrounding Austin's admission to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year's Day remains uncertain regarding whether he lost consciousness prior to or following his arrival.

In a letter addressed to Pentagon officials, the Pentagon Press Association expressed their disapproval of the Defense Department's lack of transparency. They argued that Austin had no grounds for claiming medical privacy in this situation as a public figure.

The letter from the Pentagon Press Association highlighted the practice of US presidents openly sharing information about delegating responsibilities during medical procedures.

The Pentagon did not provide details about the elective surgery or any complications that may have arisen. Additionally, there was no mention of the extent to which his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, assumed his duties. Being prepared and accessible to address an imminent nuclear attack is part of the responsibilities.

Only a day ago, Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder conducted a televised news briefing at the Pentagon, where he maintained a sense of normalcy. He expressed Austin's condolences to Japan, a valued ally, in the wake of their New Year's Day earthquake.

However, the Pentagon has experienced an eventful week, as US troops in the Middle East grapple with the consequences of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and execute a retaliatory strike in Baghdad on Thursday.

The Defense Department's approach to Austin's hospitalization differs from the State Department's handling of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell's prostate surgery on December 15, 2003.

A statement was released by the State Department spokesman in the morning, announcing that Powell, a retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was undergoing surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It was stated that he would remain there for several days before returning home.

Additionally, it was mentioned that Powell would be working on a modified schedule during his recovery from the operation. In his daily briefing, Richard Boucher, the State Department's spokesman at the time, provided specific information about Powell's surgery.

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Lloyd Austin Was Aware That US Striked Iraq

A senior defense official, who requested anonymity, refused to disclose the details of Secretary Austin's procedure or the nature of the subsequent complication.

According to an official, Austin was fully aware on Thursday as US forces conducted the recent Iraq strike. The official also mentioned that both Austin and Biden had previously given their authorization for the operation, as per Washington Post.

An organization representing media covering the Defense Department expressed frustration about the department's lack of transparency regarding a recent hospitalization. They have requested a meeting with Pentagon leaders to discuss the department's handling of the matter.

Expressing their frustration, the group wrote a letter to Ryder and Chris Meagher, criticizing the delayed public alert about the number of days the individual has spent at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The timing of the announcement on a Friday evening was particularly concerning to them.

The press association emphasized the importance of transparency in informing the public about Cabinet members' hospitalization, anesthesia, or delegation of duties due to medical procedures. "This has been a common occurrence, even reaching the highest levels of the government," the letter stated. "Given Secretary Austin's position as the nation's top defense leader, privacy is not applicable in this situation."

Ryder explained that the Pentagon had to carefully consider various factors, such as medical and personal privacy concerns, before announcing due to the changing nature of the situation.

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A Floridian "World of Warcraft" player, who is a pedophile, was arrested by the police after his location was tracked because of his "WoW" gaming account.

This is not the first time that criminals have been located because of their gaming accounts these can disclose your physical addresses if the trackers are using the right methods.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office announced that the "World of Warcraft" player was arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 3. It was Detective Henrick Osthed who took the criminal, who was identified as 37-year-old Thomas Ebersole, into custody.

Florida: 'World of Warcraft' Player Pedophile Arrested by Police

According to Fox News' latest report, a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted Dt. Osthed to assist him in locating a missing girl.

Law enforcement authorities said that the missing kid, who is a resident of Ohio, was only 16 years old. The police explained that investigators found the missing girl after she accessed her "World of Warcraft" account.

She was located at a residential address in Dunnellon, Florida. After knowing this critical information, the police also discovered that the pedophile also had his own "WoW" account.

They confirmed that both of the "WoW" accounts of Ebersole and the missing girl were accessed in from the same location. Because of this, they contacted Ebersole to confirm if the missing girl was in the house he was staying in.

However, the criminal initially denied it, saying that he never knew the kid. Luckily, cops were able to press him into admitting that he brought back the minor.

Ebersole said that he had driven from Ohio to meet the 16-year-old girl and then brought her back to his house, as reported by HuffPost.

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'WoW' Gamer Admits Having Romantic Relationship With Minor

During an interview, the "World of Warcraft" player admitted that he had a romantic relationship with the 16-year-old victim. He also confirmed that he was aware of the girl's age.

However, he still wanted to marry and make her his wife, as confirmed by the police affidavit. Aside from this, Ebersole also shared that he met the juvenile victim on Discord.

When Ebersole was arrested, cops said that they saw some bruises on his neck. They believed that these were hickies given by the missing girl, which the victim confirmed.

Because of this, he was charged with interfering with child custody, sheltering an unmarried minor, as well as traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Related Article: Hell in a Cell: California Pedophile, Rapist Killed in Jail by Cellmate
Iowa lawmakers say they expect to see bills in the upcoming legislative session to tighten state law on foreign ownership of farmland.

Whether those proposals would remove exemptions for some foreign land buys, require more reporting by foreign and corporate entities or push state agencies for more enforcement of farmland transactions still is uncertain.

We dont have a caucus bill were starting Day 1 with, said Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes. But I do believe that is an issue our caucus is interested in and I would suspect well see a bill at some point about foreign ownership of land.

The Gazette interviewed legislative leaders, environmental groups and other statehouse watchers about natural resources and agricultural legislation they expect to see when the 2024 legislative session starts Monday in Des Moines.

According to them, the hottest topics are about energy, pipelines and farmland ownership. The issue of water quality may get limited exposure through a bill that seeks to relax restrictions on developers. Because Republicans have majorities in the Iowa Senate and House, GOP lawmakers will set the agenda on what bills will be considered.

Foreign land

Foreign investment in Iowa farmland more than doubled in the last 10 years, to nearly 514,000 acres in 2022, but Iowa still ranks in the bottom half of states for acres with foreign investment.

Iowas law governing foreign ownership of agricultural land is one of the strictest in the nation. More than 90%t of foreign investment in Iowa farmland is for long-term leases  not land purchases  for wind projects, a Gazette investigation showed.

The top countries with investors who own or lease Iowa farmland are Canada, Italy, Portugal and France, but that hasnt stopped fears about Chinese investors taking advantage of exceptions in Iowa law.

If our law has loopholes in it as far as foreign ownership and things like that wed be willing to look at that, said Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford.

House File 642, introduced last year, would let investors from allied foreign countries to buy agricultural land and get tax credits if they are willing to invest at least $1 billion to build a manufacturing or research facility in an approved MEGA  or Major Economic Growth Attraction  site.

When I first heard this about a year ago, I was thinking over my dead body, said Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, who is vice chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Hes been concerned for nearly two years about foreign and corporate ownership of farmland and the shell companies that can be used to conceal ownership. Now that I know a little bit more about it (HF 642), theres an economic development component that has value.

Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, said he plans to introduce legislation to require more transparency of all agricultural land transactions.

A Gazette investigation last year showed an investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns at least 22,000 acres of Iowa farmland, and a Tennessee family has bought at least 5,000 acres in Northwest Iowa using at least 10 different names.

Energy

On June 1, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 617 into law, which requires an independent review of the Iowa Utilities Boards responsibilities and procedures. The process would ensure the board furthers safe, adequate, reliable and affordable utility services with non-discriminatory, just and reasonable rates for Iowans.

The utilities board hired a consulting company to do research, gather public comments and produce a report to the Legislature, which it delivered Dec. 14.

Among its findings, the 200-plus-page review calls for utilities to regularly update their long-term resource plans as markets, technology and policies change  which would ultimately better inform the Iowa Utilities Board during rate-making decisions. It also recommends utilities periodically update their rates to reflect fluctuating costs of service.

The consultant questioned the need for Iowas advance rate-making principles, in which the utilities board preapproves new energy projects and their costs to incentivize more energy generation. Most recently, board preapproved two Alliant Energy solar projects.

The review also proposes the board evaluate how spending caps enacted by the Legislature in 2018 may limit utilities energy efficiency and demand response programs. If invested in more, the programs could help customers control their energy consumption and costs.

During the upcoming session, the consultant will present its findings to the House Commerce Committee.

We want to make sure that the Iowa Utilities Board has the tools that they need to make good decisions for the ratepayer, said Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta and House commerce committee chair, who first initiated HF 617. We want to make sure we have reliable service here in the state of Iowa, that it's affordable for Iowans and that we're not paying for energy being shipped out of our state.

CO2 pipelines

The Iowa House last March passed a bill that would require companies wanting to build a carbon dioxide pipeline to get voluntary easements for 90% of the pipelines route before being granted the right to force sale through eminent domain.

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Des Moines, the House minority leader, said many Democrats would like to see the Iowa Senate consider House File 565 this session.

Some of us were comfortable with the compromise bill passed in the House because its a start, she said.

But Whitver said he doubts there is consensus among Republicans.

We have some of the strongest eminent domain laws in the country right now. he said. ...There are people in our caucus all over the board. Some are very supportive of the pipeline. Some that aren't as supportive of the pipeline."

The utilities board now is considering a permit application by Summit Carbon Solutions to build a 2,000-mile CO2 pipeline, with nearly 700 miles of it in Iowa, to transport carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to underground sequestration sites in North Dakota.

Navigator Heartland Greenway decided in October to abandon its plan to build another CO2 pipeline because of an uncertain regulatory path in several states. Wolf Carbon Solutions, which has proposed a pipeline from ADM plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton to a sequestration site in Illinois, continues to try to secure voluntary leases in Iowa and Illinois, the company said.

Pipeline opponents on the political right and left have been vocal about their concerns about safety and the use of eminent domain for a private project.

Environment

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of Iowas Nutrient Reduction Strategy, a two-pronged plan addressing nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in state waterways. Last spring, legislators slashed funding for a statewide network of water quality monitoring sensors.

Its unclear what laws the Legislatures Republican majority may enact this year related to water quality.

Sen. Annette Sweeney, R-Alden, who is chair of the Senates natural resources and environment committee, said she wants to continue funding water quality improvement projects like saturated buffers and bioreactors  but only if theyre making an impact.

First of all, I want to see progress, she said. What have we been doing with the money that we have been given?

Sweeney also is re-proposing a bill that would require any property abstract, or the history of a property, to include if it lies in a drainage district. Drainage districts are areas that agricultural lands drain into, often complete with infrastructure like tile lines, levees or ditches.

Senate File 455, introduced last year by Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, would limit the ordinances that counties or cities can enact for topsoil preservation and stormwater runoff mitigation at construction sites.

In places where there's a lot of development pressures, there can be real issues with erosion, stream degradation and flash flooding, said Alicia Vasto, water program manager of the Iowa Environmental Council. To say that developers are not required to do any kind of stormwater management upfront puts the city and therefore all of the citizens of that community responsible for that new expansion and development.

Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.

The next pandemic could strike crops, not people The next pandemic could strike crops, not people Industrialization made food a global commodity, the burdens of which made crop diversification difficult Not all microbes are bad, and limiting or eliminating them can negatively impact biodiversity Intercropping may provide a means of making large-scale agriculture more biodiverse
WASHINGTON (AP)  In a busy term that could set standards for free speech in the digital age, the Supreme Court on Monday is taking up a dispute between Republican-led states and the Biden administration over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on
According to the National Association of Realtor's, data shows that all four regions of the U.S. experienced year-over-year sales decreases in 2023. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

Despite the turbulent housing market in 2023, buyers still managed to wade through the process to secure a home in two of Texas most popular zip codes: Cypress and Katy.

Opendoor, an online site for buying and selling homes, released a report detailing 2023s Hottest Zip Codes  and Hidden Gems.

Many buyers sought convenient locations and turnkey homes, the report says. Half of our list includes a number of Texas neighborhoods, followed by neighborhoods in Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia and Oklahoma  all states where the cost of living is below the national average.

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An unincorporated community in Harris County, Cypress boasts a population of at least 180,000 residents. Located roughly 25 miles northwest of downtown Houston, its one of the areas largest suburban neighborhoods and the hottest ZIP code in the country, according to the report.

Katy, just west of Houston, ranked second followed by Clarksville, Tennessee; Yukon, Oklahoma; Summerville, South Carolina; Forney, Texas; Aubrey, Texas; New Braunfels, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Fort Worth, Texas, completing the top 10 list of locations where people purchased homes the fastest last year.

Homes purchased in our top neighborhoods reflect the desire of homeowners to head to towns with convenient amenities instead of the congestion of bigger cities, Opendoor's report says.

According to the National Association of Realtors, in November 2023 existing homes sales increased in the midwest and south. However, they decreased in the northeast and west. Data showed all four regions of the United States experienced year-over-year sales decreases. November brought forth $3.82 million in sales, which the association says amounts to a median sales price of $387,500 and 3.5 months of inventory  up 0.2 months from November 2022.

"Home prices keep marching higher," the association's chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a press release. "Only a dramatic rise in supply will dampen price appreciation."

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Opendoor also took a look at communities under the radar, or what it calls "hidden gems."

The report reviewed where new listings increased from January 2023 to November 2023. The top 10 hidden gems across the U.S. include Chattanooga, Tennessee; Spartanburg, South Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Bloomfield, New Jersey; Marble Falls, Texas; Shelbyville, Indiana; Stanley, North Carolina; Bulverde, Texas; Sandy, Utah; and Decatur, Georgia.

In December, a report by New York Travel Guides named Marble Falls as one of the coziest winter towns in America. The cozy Texas town ranked 40 on the list out of 575 towns examined by experts at the New York Travel Guides.

Many of these areas have more opportunity than meets the eye, the Opendoor report notes. They have smaller populations than cities, but are growing rapidly because they are accessible to major metros.
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The lies of the authoritarian Algerian regime have been exposed once again to the world and this time with the Republic of Sierra Leone which recognizes the Moroccanness of the Sahara.

In its blind quest for elusive diplomatic achievements, the ruling junta in Algiers, an appalling divisive manipulator, tried to charm, deceive, and outsmart Freetown by suggesting that Algeria and Sierra Leone share same viewpoints and position on the Sahara issue.

The diplomatic trap was deployed during the official visit paid lately by President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio to Algiers. During this visit, he conferred with Algerian peer Abdelmadjid Tebboune on bilateral relations, the Sahara issue, and latest developments on the regional and international scene.

Sensing Algiers deceptive tactics and political end-game during their joint news conference, President Julius Maada Bio set the record straight, by citing the divergent stands of the two countries on the Sahara issue.

He affirmed that Freetown supports the efforts of UN Sahara envoy Staffan de Mistura and the UN-led political process engaged in line with Security Council resolutions adopted since 2007, referring to Moroccos autonomy plan offered for the Sahara under its sovereignty, a plan described as serious and credible for reaching a realistic, practical and mutually acceptable political solution.

He also reiterated his countrys call for the resumption of the round-table negotiations with the participation of all parties to the Sahara regional conflict.

In 2021, Sierra Leone opened its embassy in Rabat and a consulate in the Saharan city of Dakhla, confirming its recognition of the Moroccan sovereignty over its Saharan territory.
The case of a young Algerian stowaway who was found hiding in the landing gear of an airplane coming from Oran in Paris Orly airport has come to symbolize the fate of disenchanted youth willing to risk their life to flee to Europe as well as the unreliability of Algeria to secure its airports.

The young man was found suffering from severe hypothermia after a 2.5-hour flight from Oran and was rushed to hospital.

He was not the first stowaway. In June 4, 2022, two Algerian young men hiding in the luggage hold of an Air Algerie plane bound for Barcelona were found dead, while another died in another Air Algeria luggage hold in March the same year before reaching France.

The news embarrassed the military regime in Algiers and its civilian facade which resorted to its scapegoating tactics. At least 16 officials have been blamed for the incident including people who had desk jobs far away from the runway.

The incident is a blow to Algerias capacity to secure its international airports and reflects the reality of unemployment and lack of prospects for the Algerian youth.

Thousands have died while trying to cross the mediterranean. Journalists who dare to report on this face harsh state reprisals.
UPDATED, Jan. 10, 2024, 12:25 pm: Corrects description and locations of current Nature Conservancy conservation easements with Kelly Ranch LLC.

***

A rural Sutherland land resale by and conservation easement for The Nature Conservancys Nebraska chapter will receive its first detailed scrutiny Tuesday before the Lincoln County Planning Commission.

Members will recommend whether county commissioners should approve the easement, which would be the conservation groups second in its long ecological collaboration with would-be repurchaser Kelly Ranch LLC.

The planning panel also will elect a new vice chair/secretary during its 5:30 p.m. meeting in the North Platte City Hall council chamber, 211 W. Third St. Linda Hansen, who held the post, recently resigned from the Planning Commission for personal reasons.

County Board members will rule on granting the new conservation easement in mid-January, Planning Administrator Judy Clark said during commissioners first 2024 meeting Jan. 2.

The Nature Conservancy, which bought the 321.99-acre parcel from Mike Kelly and his family in 2001, currently owns just over 1,490 acres of grazing and river-bottom land along the North Platte River about 3 miles north and northwest of Sutherland.

The groups holdings border Kelly Ranchs privately held rangeland, including Mike Kellys former 505.84-acre home place and feedlot near North River and Prairie Trace roads. He now lives at Lake Maloney.

Tom Kelly now owns the home place parcel, which Mike Kelly told the County Board Tuesday has included a perpetual Nature Conservancy conservation easement since 1999. The conservation group also holds a conservation easement on the familys 15,000-acre-plus Buckboard Ranch in McPherson County.

A Dec. 15 letter from Rich Walters, the Nebraska chapters director of conservation, noted its partnership with the Kellys to protect Sandhills land for its ecological and agricultural value while keeping it in production.

The family, which ranches some 29,000 acres in Lincoln and McPherson counties, has leased the land it wants to buy back for seasonal grazing, haying and hunting since The Nature Conservancys purchase, Walters wrote.

Kelly Ranch wants to reacquire it, he added, to accommodate the next generation of the Kelly family and keep the property as a working ranch instead of being sold to recreational buyers.

The parcel contains significant wet meadows along a stretch of the North Platte River that provides critical refuge for more than 230 species of migratory birds including sandhill cranes, according to the sale deeds reservation of conservation easement addendum.

It cites the importance of sustaining the lands diverse plant community, heterogeneous patches of natural communities and large and intact open areas, all of which support a wide diversity of birds and other wildlife species.

Practices such as grazing, prescribed fire and haying can help preserve that biodiversity by providing the kinds of ecological disturbances grasslands need, the addendum added.

A proposed sale contract included in the Planning Commissions agenda book would return title to the Kellys for $821,000, plus the conservation easement and an access easement on the propertys entrance road south from North River Road.

The 321.99-acre parcel had a 2023 taxable value of $327,022, according to information on Lincoln County GIS.

The proposed conservation easement also would let the Kellys build a new cabin on 1.3 acres near an unused railroad boxcar in the parcels southeast corner. A seasonal hunting lease of the cabin would be allowed, it says.

Contract terms say the resale would close May 1, pending County Board approval of the conservation easement, or within 30 days of such approval if commissioners dont act before April 1.
Welcome to 2024! I had a question for a reader who had moved to Nebraska recently.

He asked if slugs were allowed and effective for hunting deer. It did not say in his note where he was from, but rifle hunting is a foreign concept to many hunters in other states. He may have been just checking the regulations  maybe he intends to hunt the later anterless deer season.

To answer the initial question: Yes, slug guns are allowed and effective  very effective!

You wont see any 300 yard shots made with slug guns, but at 50 yards and under, the typical distances you shoot deer in the river bottoms, slug guns are accurate and lethal.

A slug gun is defined as a shotgun firing a single projectile/bullet. Under Nebraska law shotguns, 20-gauge or larger, are legal to use. It doesnt require a special shotgun for this kind of hunting.

You can use your favorite shotgun, provided you have an open choke in the barrel. I wouldnt recommend firing a slug through anything tighter than an improved cylinder choke.

If you have a shotgun that accepts interchangeable choke tubes, they even make choke tubes that have rifling and can impart a spin on the slug. Ive tested a few of these and I do think they make a difference.

Ammunition manufacturers have made great improvements in the accuracy of slugs over the last decade. Most shotguns are now very capable of making 50-yard shots. Even smoothbore shotguns fitted with scopes are firing groups of 6-inches or less at 100 yards with the new slug ammo.

Fully rifled shotgun barrels firing sabot slugs are pushing the envelope of hunting capability out to 200 yards. Amazing.

About 15 years ago, I was doing some work with the Harrington and Richardson company and testing one of their Tracker II, 12-gauge slug guns.

The gun came with a fully rifled, 24-inch barrel and rifle sights. It became obvious to me very quickly that the gun was capable of better accuracy than I could do with just iron sights. I added a scope and began to test the gun firing various slugs.

Ultimately, I found a shell that fired a sabot containing a .50 caliber slug. At 50 yards the gun was capable of firing 3-shot groups where the holes in the target touched one another.

I had one 3-shot group that measured a mere 7/8-inch across. Harrington and Richardson actually used this target in their promotional advertisements for a couple of years to show just how accurate they could be.

Antlerless deer seasons

There are a couple special deer seasons currently underway. They are both antlerless deer seasons. The Late Anterless Only Firearm season runs until Jan. 15.

The River Anterless Late Firearm season runs until Jan. 31 and is open only on private lands and on properties enrolled in Nebraskas Open Fields and Waters program within three miles of the landward bank of a river.

Double check the NGPC deer permit map and special regulations page to make sure they are you intend to hunt is included.

Recipes

I have also been getting calls and emails asking for recipes. Hunters are getting a freezer full of game and are looking for a new way to fix it for dinner.

Here is one I developed a few years ago and it has been a favorite in my hunting camps  duck kabobs, served over wild rice.

De-bone your duck and cut it up into bite-sized cubes.

Marinade the duck pieces in 7-Up for at least eight hours.

Wrap each duck piece in a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Place duck piece on skewers with your favorite veggie, and a mandarin orange slice.

Grill over a low heat until the bacon is cooked.

This recipe will serve about four normal duck hunters per duck  or maybe two teenage boys.

Chislic

Another recipe  chislic  is a unique South Dakotan delicacy. In its purest form it is fried meat from deer, waterfowl, turkey, beef or pork.

The meat is cut into small cubes, grilled or fried and served on a toothpick. You can season it however you wish. I was introduced to chislic on my first pheasant hunt in South Dakota.

My favorite way to eat it is fried and lightly dusted with a seasoning like Lawrys Seasoned Salt. If I want more kick to my chislic I may use a Cajun seasoning or just a dab of hot sauce.

To make a batch of chislic, start with:

Two pounds of cubed meat  be sure to remove all fat or silverskin.

Add about a half a cup of oil to a small frying pan and heat to 350 degrees.

Add meat and stri around until all sides have been lightly cooked.

Remove from the frying pan and place on paper towels to dry.

Dust the meat with your favorite seasoning.

Stab a cube with a toothpick and enjoy!

I hope you have a safe and great 2024 and lots of great adventures.
Photo: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

The boom came just five minutes into the flight, as Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was climbing out from Portland, Oregon en route to Ontario, California. At 5:13 p.m. local time, as the 737 MAX was ascending through 16,000 feet, part of the wall on the left side of the passenger cabin suddenly blew out, taking with it the padding of an unoccupied window seat and ripping the shirt off a young man sitting in the adjacent middle seat. As the pressure in the cabin dropped, air masks dropped. The roar of the slipstream was so deafening that passengers could not hear what flight attendants were saying over the intercom; the stars in the night sky and lights on the ground below could clearly be seen through the gaping hole. The first thing I thought was, Im going to die,one passenger told the New York Times. The flight crew declared an emergency and returned immediately to Portland International Airport, where it touched down 14 minutes later. A flight attendant reported minor injuries, and the teenager who lost his shirt had red, irritated skin, but otherwise no one was hurt during the incident, and Alaska Airlines was able to book the passengers onward to their destinations on other flights.

Scary stuff.@AlaskaAir @Boeing 737-MAX plane makes emergency landing in Portland, Oregon after window blown out in mid-air.



Many phones said to have been sucked out of the window.



ps : hope what they say in aviation safety - happens in threes - does not happen this time.



 pic.twitter.com/XahO6784yV  Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) January 6, 2024

While there is still much to learn about the details of the incident, what we know so far is enough to cast another troubling light on the 737 MAX, an aircraft that has already garnered what is inarguably the worst reputation that any new plane has earned in decades, and is likely to raise new questions about the safety culture at Boeing and the competence of its leadership.

It is unusual, but not totally unknown, for chunks of a plane to come flying off in midair. Once a plane climbs above 10,000 feet it is essentially a balloon, with its air-tight fuselage holding in an internal atmosphere that is at much higher pressure than the outside air. In planes that have been landing and taking off for many years, tiny cracks in the metal can grow gradually larger, until one day the structure gives way catastrophically. Perhaps the most famous example of this phenomen took place in 1988, when an 18-foot section of roof ripped off an Aloha Airlines 737 as it was flying at 24,000 feet between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. A flight attendant standing underneath the section was sucked out and her body was never recovered. Eight passengers suffered serious injuries but the pilots were able to land the plane without further incident. In that case, the plane was nearly 20 years old and had been flown for more than twice the number of takeoff/landing cycles that it had been designed for.

The plane in Fridays incident, by contrast was nearly new, having been certified just two months prior. The model, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, is a stretched version of the MAX 8 that is most famous as the aircraft that crashed in Indonesia in 2018 and then in Ethiopia in 2019, killing everyone aboard. While the MAX 8 is 129 feet long and carries 178 passengers, the MAX 9 is 138 feet long and carries 193 people. The aircrafts basic design includes an emergency exit behind the wing that customers can choose to replace with what looks like a normal section of wall. To fill the gap where the door would be, Boeing installs a plug. It was apparently such a plug that blew out during Fridays decompression. Pictures published on social media showed what appeared to be clean breaks around the perimeter of the missing section.

According to this Reddit post, #ASA1282 from PDX to ONT tonight lost a window and unoccupied seat and experienced a rapid decompression after takeoff. The plane landed back at PDX safely. #avgeeks @AirlineFlyer @flightradar24 pic.twitter.com/RO3prc7oXd  Brian McGuigan (@bricaul) January 6, 2024

Can we even call those doors plugs if they are able to pop out under pressure? quipped aviation journalist Seth Miller on Twitter. Might need a new term for them after this incident.

In the wake of the incident, Alaska announced that it was grounding its entire fleet of 65 MAX 9 aircraft until each aircraft had undergone full maintenance and safety inspections, a process expected to take several days. The airline had previously been scheduled to operate more than 150 flights per day on these aircraft. Just hours after Alaska announced it would be grounding its MAX 9s, one of them took off at 7:13 a.m. from Fort Lauderdale en route to Seattle  its hard to imagine that they were able to conduct a very comprehensive inspection in that time frame. Other operators with significant fleets of 737 MAX 9 aircraft include United, with 79 in service, and Aeromexico, with 18. Later Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all U.S. airlines to temporarily ground their 737 MAX 9 planes until they could be inspected.

In the wake of the Indonesia and Ethiopia fatal crashes, 737 MAX planes were grounded around the world, and there was considerable doubt as to whether the public would ever accept them. After a two-year review process, the FAA recertified the MAX in late 2020, and the airline industry quickly overcame any qualms it might have had. Post covid, the aviation industry was booming, and new jets were needed. Today there more than 1000 737 MAX jets in operation, 221 of them the MAX 9 variant.

Fridays incident raised new questions about the wisdom of continuing to rely on an aircraft that has been so notoriously dogged by problems. Producing a plane whose pieces blow out explosively even when brand new is clearly a failure of engineering, but failures of engineering are a product of management failures. In 2021 Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department to settle fraud conspiracy charges over the design of the 737 MAX. In 2022 it agreed to pay $200 million to settle charges it misled investors about the MAX.

And it continues to struggle to bring its planned line of 737 MAX variants to market. Just this past Friday, the Seattle Times reported that Boeing was trying to get a safety waiver from the FAA for the 737 MAX 7, a smaller version, so that it could be certified to fly even though its engine de-icing system could pose a deadly danger in flight.

For all its problems though, the 737 MAX remains a commercial success: Boeing has more than 4,000 orders outstanding, 137 of them for the MAX-9.

This post has been updated.
Houthi rebel disruptions reaching the Straits of Hormuz could double oil prices, Goldman Sachs has warned.

In an interview given to American television station CNBC yesterday, head of the companys oil research division Daan Struyven said: the Red Sea is a transit route and a prolonged disruption there, oil can be three or four dollars higher.

However if you have a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz for a month, [oil] prices would rise by 20 per cent and could even eventually double if the disruption there lasted for longer, he said.

Despite caveating that the situation was highly unlikely, Struyvens comments join a collective of voices from across international business and politics decrying the situation in recent days.

Yesterday, former prime minister now foreign secretary David Cameron said in an interview to Sky News that the attacks have to stop.

This is not just a British interest, it is global, he said.

The clear message, and over ten countries have signed a letter to the Houthis saying that these attacks are illegal and have got to stop and if they dont, action will be taken.

Since November, the rebels have attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea more than 20 times using missiles, drones, fast boats and helicopters.

In response, the U.S. in December announced Operation Prosperity Guardian to step up patrols of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect commercial traffic  ships from the UK, Australia and Canada are among the other countries also involved.

Early-mid December saw the occasional minor oil price spike as a result of the actions, but the volatility has remained largely subdued as the wider market remains soft.

More significantly however has been the reaction of major shippers to the protective responses such as Prosperity Guardian.

Maersk and Hapag Lloyd, two of Europes largest shipping companies, have refused to use the Red Sea and Suez Canal routes, the former having had a vessel come under attack from rebels last weekend.

What began as seemingly isolated disruptions to Western commercial activities are now being seen by many to constitute targeted action in support of the Hamas cause as Israel continues to ramp up its attacks on Palestine.

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Should they continue, they are likely to throw the already-chaotic state of global shipping in that area into further strife.

By City AM

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
LINCOLN  Nebraska Department of Education officials say their agency doesnt have enough resources to manage a new federal food aid program after it was rejected by Gov. Jim Pillen in December.

Education Commissioner Brian Maher said during a State Board of Education meeting Friday that he had considerable conversations with Nebraska lawmakers and advocates about the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Program for Children. It will provide millions in food aid to low-income families with children qualifying for free or reduced-price meals this summer to states that participate.

States had to express interest in the program by Jan. 1, but Pillen decided against the program in December, despite pleas from Nebraskans.

The Nebraska Department of Education still has the authority to take on the program itself, but Maher said there are currently not enough resources to do so.

Certainly in our office, weve had meetings and worked to be clear what role, if any role, we have with EBT administration, Maher said. Were not set up to handle EBT administration at the NDE.

Maher said in order to administer the funds, the department would have to increase its staff or reallocate duties. Department officials have expressed multiple times in previous meetings that staff members are already stretched thin.

The department would also have to obtain the hardware, software, EBT cards and other materials, which would take a lot of time, Maher said. Nebraska Appleseed estimated the state cost would be about $300,000 for administration.

The item is not currently on our list of legislative priorities for the Department of Education, but thats not surprising  we werent aware of this until fairly recently, Maher said.

The new program, which is launching in other states this summer, would provide families $40 per child per month on an EBT card to be spent on groceries. Pillen said one reason he rejected the program was because the state already provides food through the Summer Food Service Program, an older federal program that provides free meals to children at various sites in low-income communities.

Advocates have said that traveling to various sites is a barrier for some families and the locations can be few and far between, especially in rural parts of the state. In 2019, Nebraska had 83 sponsors and 270 sites for the whole state. This year, there were only 58 sponsors and 197 sites.

Brian Halstead, the Education Departments chief of staff, said roughly 20,000 children participate in this program every summer. He said more than 100,000 children are eligible for food aid in the state.

Maher said the topic is an ongoing conversation between the department and lawmakers. On Thursday, Sen. Jen Day of Omaha introduced Legislative Bill 952, which would require the state to participate in the new federal program.

Enrolling in the program in the future is still possible, despite the challenges the Education Department would face in managing it, Maher said. States that choose not to participate this year can still participate in future years, according to the program.

None of these are deal breakers, should this program come to the department, Maher said. (This is) rather a heads-up that these are some areas we would have to address if something like this comes our way.

Photos: Nebraska Legislature, Jan. 4, 2024
LINCOLN  The city and opponents of the controversial Wilderness Crossing development near Wilderness Park and a Native sweat lodge have reached a settlement, ending an ongoing legal dispute over the citys handling of the housing development.

The settlement will require the City of Lincoln to hold two training sessions for city directors and staff, support advocates in their attempt to conserve green space within the development, conduct an environmental impact analysis of development in the area and help update city code regarding Native ceremonies.

Advocates said they were proud of the terms of the agreement but stressed more work remains to ensure that Native residents concerns are heard in future city planning decisions.

Even though we faced much disappointment in this entire process, going forward, the hope we have is that the City of Lincoln will be honorable in their commitments for the well-being of future residents, Native and non-Native alike, said Renee Sans Souci, who helped organize the Niskithe Prayer Camp formed in opposition to the development.

City officials declined to comment on the settlement, which will result in dismissal of a lawsuit against the city filed in March by Native and environmental advocates.

The lawsuit asked a court to require the citys Board of Zoning Appeals to hear opponents appeal of the annexation and zoning changes that allowed the Wilderness Crossing development to move forward.

The lawsuit was the latest step in legal wrangling and protests that began in 2022 after the City Council approved annexation and zoning changes allowing a housing development on 75 acres south of Pioneers Boulevard between First Street and U.S. Highway 77 to move forward.

Wilderness Crossing LLC plans to build 162 single-family homes, 134 town homes and 205 apartments on land it bought from the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln. Sam Manzitto Jr., president of a construction and development company, is the registered agent of the limited liability company.

Environmental advocates opposed the development because of its proximity to Wilderness Park and concerns about flooding and the negative impact of traffic, light and noise on wildlife and native habitat. Native advocates had similar concerns and said it threatened the sanctity of a sweat lodge located across First Street on private land known as the Fish Farm.

Those advocates sent more than 100 letters opposing the development and turned out in force to speak at a City Council public hearing in 2022, and after the councils actions allowing the development to move forward, they created the Niskithe Prayer Camp.

The prayer camp set up tipis on the land, then participants marched to City Hall two weeks later when they took down the camp. They came back to the site when developers began moving trees, and at least two protesters were ticketed and found guilty of obstructing a public roadway.

The advocates then asked the Board of Zoning Appeals to hear the case, and the city responded by filing a lawsuit asking the court to decide whether the appeals board had jurisdiction. The judge ruled that the decision was up to the city. After the city told advocates the zoning board wouldnt hear the appeal, they filed the lawsuit in March.

Those advocates Thursday filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The settlement agreement includes five commitments from city officials, including:

Holding two training sessions for city staff and directors conducted by the Indian Center or a mutually agreed-upon group to help foster better relationships with Indigenous people.

Supporting advocates in efforts to conserve green space if they acquire property within Wilderness Crossing, though it doesnt obligate the city to approve specific land use applications or building permits.

Erin Poor, one of the prayer camp organizers, said the advocates hope to purchase four lots in the development directly west of the land where the Sweat Lodge is located to create a park with Native plants that would act as a buffer between the development and the sweat lodge.

She said they hope to work with the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Foundation to raise money to purchase land to create a park.

Appointing Poor to a committee selecting a firm to conduct an environmental impact analysis of development on the upper watershed of Salt Creek.

Poor said that as part of the settlement, the city agreed to do the environmental impact analysis on the area, including the Wilderness Crossing development, something the advocates have been asking for from the beginning to assess the impact of the development. The request for proposals for firms must be issued by Aug. 1.

Working in good faith with the advocates on legislation theyre drafting to exempt Native ceremonies from city ordinances regarding fire and noise, something necessary since the land on which the sweat lodge sits was annexed into the city as part of the development, Poor said.

Adopting a proclamation that commits to honoring the land, its Indigenous people and committing to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The prayer camp organizers said that in addition to the settlement, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird committed to creating a subcommittee of the mayors multicultural advisory committee, and to making an effort to add Native residents to city boards and commissions.

Poor said she feels bittersweet about the settlement. She and other advocates were honored to work with the ACLU of Nebraska and Big Fire Law and Policy Group on the issues, she said, and based on their research of litigation in other cities, Lincoln agreed to significant concessions.

At the same time, we are disappointed with the city, she said. Every step of the way we were met with resistance. Every step of the way when we asked them to take responsibility for their actions or right their wrongs, they abdicated that responsibility on every single front.Im proud of us but disappointed in the city, she said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of December 2023
No fewer than 46 houses and a monarchs palace were destroyed by a rainstorm in Are Ekiti, a town in Ifelodun/Irepodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident, which followed three days of downpour, has thrown the community into a state of apprehension as many victims have been displaced.

The Alare of Are Ekiti, Boluade Adebiyi, who confirmed the incident on Wednesday, told NAN that the property of his subjects, including a section of the palace, were affected.

He appealed to both the state and the federal governments to come to the aid of the community.

As you can see, part of the palace roof has been blown off, but that is not my immediate problem now.

My concern now is how to take care of my people that have become homeless by this disaster.

Immediately after the rainstorm, I sent some of my chiefs to inform the state government.

I also contacted the officials of the National Emergency Management Agency and I spoke with their quick response team, He said.

One of the victims of the rainstorm, Ayodele Anisulowo, lamented that the roof of his family house was blown off while members of the family had been rendered homeless.

Another victim and octogenarian, Jibiye Adeleye, said she had been forced to relocate to her fathers house pending the time her children would repair the house.

I thank God that I am a native of Are Ekiti, I have a place to keep my head for now. But it is not convenient at all.

I have been married for almost 60 years and since I left for my husbands house, I have not slept a night here in my fathers house, the victim, who is also a widow, said.

When contacted, the General Manager of Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency, Buruji Olajide, also confirmed the incident.

He said Are Ekiti was not the only community affected by the rainstorm.

According to him, Ado Ekiti, the state capital, and some other communities such as Afao and Igbemo were equally affected.

Other towns affected, he said, included Governor Kayode Fayemis hometown of Isan Ekiti and Iludun in Oye Local Government Area.

The State Emergency Management Agency and NEMA have jointly visited some of the affected areas for an on the spot assessment of the damage, he said.

He also said more than 30 houses were destroyed in each of Isan and Iludun while 40 roofs were blown off in former Governor Ayo Fayoses hometown of Afao Ekiti.

Among the properties destroyed in Afao was the newly completed Gifted Academy, a government owned institution for gifted children in the town

We have visited some of the affected communities to assess the level damage. We have been able to establish that more than 70 houses were affected

We thank God that no casualty was recorded, but we are still compiling our report and when it is ready, we shall state the total number of the victims, he said.

(NAN)
A woman simply identified as Akua has accused her husband of attempted murder after she quarreled with him over using her money to pay a prostitute in Ghana.

According to a report by Class FM, the man identified as Kofi, slept outside and returned home the next day with a lady believed to be a sex worker, and then allegedly stole his wifes money to pay her.

Akua told Class FMs Felicity Naana Nelson that a heated argument ensued between her and the husband on Monday after she complained about him using her money to pay a sex worker he had slept with.

She added that while asleep in the night of the day of the argument, she felt a sharp excruciating pain in her head, only to Wake up and see her husband and father of two stabbing her in the head multiple times.

She pleaded with him to spare her life, but to no avail. She then shouted for help, drawing the attention of neighbours who rescued and rushed her to the hospital, before a complaint was lodged with the police.

Sensing trouble, Kofi reportedly absconded and has since not returned home.

Akua, a hairdresser, is reported as saying her husband must be arrested and prosecuted for attempting to kill her.

It is unclear how far the police have gone with investigations into the matter.
Resident says terrorist camp known

By Bature Yusuf, Kaduna

At least 17 people were killed while 58 were feared kidnapped in an operation that lasted for 6 hours after gunmen invaded three communities on Tuesday night at Dawaki Ward in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

A former Councilor of the Ward, Hon. Aminu Khalid disclosed this to reporters.

The three Villages affected include; Ungwan Sako, Kunkurai, and Dokan Kaji Village.

He explained that some of the locals were able to rescue 20 Villagers in a gun duel but 9 Villagers were killed in the process.

He said 34 of the locals are still in their custody and contact is yet to be established with the terrorists.

He lamented the constant attack on their communities by terrorists while calling on military intervention.

 The terrorists invaded these Communities on foot and took vantage positions at the same time.

 The terrorists always come from parts of Kajuru and Kachia forest where their camp is, adding the camp is situated at Dutsen Magunguna In Kajuru Local Government Area of the State.

 Except for the Nigerian military raid the terrorist camp Communities situated around can never experience peace, Khalid added.

The acting Police Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, could not respond to calls at the time of filing this report.
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has joined daughter of his late boss and former Head of State, Gen. Murtala Muhammed, Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode with her family to celebrate her 60th birthday anniversary at the Treasure of Love Missionaries Orphanage last Sunday.

Obasanjo was the second in command to Murtala Muhammed and subsequently took over when the late Head of State was assassinated in a failed coup on February 13,1976 in Lagos.

The former President Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi in a release hinted that Obasanjos visit of the orphanage, Treasure of Love Missionary Orphanage, Alapere, Lagos, barely hours to new year was a great period for sober reflection and an opportunity to change for good.

During the visit, the countrys former leader, who is also Chairman of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation commended Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode for selecting such a meaningful place to celebrate her diamond birthday anniversary.

Accompanied by his daughter, Dr. Kofo Blackshire and her family, who were spending Christmas with him, they toured the facility, gaining insights into the positive impact of the Foundations work.

Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, a distinguished human rights advocate and CEO of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, in a compelling message, said there was an the urgent need to dismantle barriers obstructing peaceful negotiations and enhance the protection of women and children in conflict zones. She reiterated her unwavering commitment to justice, women empowerment, and global development issues.

In a poignant gesture, she dedicated her diamond birthday anniversary to the memory of the remaining 91 Chibok girls, the five Dapchi girls who tragically lost their lives, and the unreleased Leah Sharibu, expressing solidarity with their parents in their enduring agony.

Dr. Muhammed-Oyebode emphasized the significance of shedding light on critical global issues during her 60th year, as she remains steadfast in her mission to advocate for a world where the rights and dignity of every individual, particularly women and children, are protected and upheld.

In invoking the spirit of empathy and compassion, Dr. Muhammed-Oyebode calls on the global community to join hands in creating a future where peace and security prevail and where the suffering of innocent lives is alleviated.

Drawing inspiration from her late father, General Murtala Muhammed, she invoked his historic Africa has come of age speech, urging all Nigerians to overcome challenges and eliminate barriers obstructing the countrys and the continents greatness.

Her message echoed her fathers vision, emphasizing the collective responsibility to tackle corruption, insecurity, and governance issues for Nigeria to flourish.

Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode expressed sincere gratitude to President Obasanjo for making the day memorable for her and her family, even at short notice.

Kehinde Akinyemi

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Yul Edochies estranged wife, May Edochie has begged God to take control after a prophetess issued a new scary prophecy about her remaining children.

Recal that Pastor Francisca Emmanuel of the Word Redemption Ministry had issued a warning that the remaining children of May may be in danger.

The preacher disclosed that the enemy is preparing a second attack in a video that is making the rounds online. This comes almost a year after the death of their second son, Kambili.

She clarified that this is the rationale behind her public admonition to the actor, hoping to reveal and foil their scheme. In the video, the cleric made it clear that May and her kids must not experience any negative outcomes.

Despite the negative prophecy, May took to social media and wrote that the will of God would be done in her life.
Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels has engaged her followers in a playful challenge, asking them to guess her Igbo name for a chance to win money.

In a post shared on her Instagram page, Regina Daniels announced that the first two correct guesses would win a prize of N50,000 each.

The mother of two humorously requested that family members and friends abstain from participating in the guessing game.

Sharing adorable photos with her sons, the actress said that the best version of herself is being a mother and went on to cheer on to the new year.

She wrote, The best version of me is being a mother  Cheers to an amazing 2024  @princekhalifa.nwoko @princemunirnwoko

Who can guess my Igbo name ? First two persons wins 50k each . Family and friends stay out lol 

Watch the video below:

KanyiDaily recalls that Regina Daniels recently shared a valuable lesson in financial literacy with her two sons.
The General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Gbolahan Oki, has disclosed an attack on officials of the agency with weapons and charms while on routine monitoring exercise along Musical Village, Awolowo Road in the Ikorodu area of the state.

This was revealed in a statement on the Facebook page of LASBCA on Thursday.

According to the statement, the assailant has been handed over to security operatives for prosecution.

The statement further noted that Oki disclosed this in the Ikeja office of the agency while condemning the increasing attack on officials of the agency on official duties.

He noted that no amount of intimidation or harassment will make the agency go back on its mandate in ensuring safe and secure buildings across the state.

He said, These assailants not only obstruct our staff but also hold them hostage for hours, these acts of hooliganism will not deter us from carrying out our duties.

Thankfully, we managed to overcome these attacks without any casualties. Our staffs resilience and quick responses have played a crucial role in overpowering the assailants and preventing more severe consequences.

In the statement, Oki called on the general public to support the agency in its mission to curb the menace of building collapses across the state.

It read, Incidents of harassment and attacks tend to jeopardise the agency monitoring activities and can potentially pose significant threats to the public.

He urged the citizens to collaborate in ensuring the safety and integrity of structures that will foster a secure environment for all.

The PUNCH reports in December 2023, that the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, warned artisans to avoid building projects without the supervision of the Lagos State Building Control Agency to avoid building collapse.
A 17-year-old identified as Dylan Butler opened fire at a small-town Iowa high school before classes resumed on the first day after the winter break, killing a 6th grader and wounding five others on Thursday as students barricaded in offices, ducked into classrooms and fled in panic.

According to reports, the suspect, a student at the school in Perry, died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation official said

Authorities provided no information about Butlers possible motive. 2 friends and their mother, who spoke with The Associated Press said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied for years

It is reported that Butler had a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun. The state investigation divisions assistant director, said during a news conference that authorities found an improvised explosive device and rendered it safe
From Umar Ado Sokoto

The Department of State Security Services (DSS) in Sokoto State has appealed for increased commitment to solution  oriented and developmental journalism to address security challenges in the state.

Mr. Fatai Olawuwo,the Director of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Sokoto State stated this when the Executive Council Members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) paid him a courtesy visit on Thursday.

Olawuwo, also stressed the importance of thorough investigation before reporting issues related to public safety.

As professionals, NUJ plays a crucial role in maintaining the security structure by ensuring that all publicised reports focus on solutions and development, he emphasised.

Olawuwo assured of enhanced collaboration with the council to fulfill the service mandate in maintaining internal security.

He urged working journalists in the state to maintain neutrality to successfully achieve the goals of solution-oriented and developmental journalism.

NUJ State Chairman, Malam Dalhatu Abdullahi, explained that the visit aimed to familiarize the union with the Director and his management team.

He highlighted the shared goals of the union and DSS in working for Nigerias security, peace, and development.

As journalists, our primary concern is to provide solutions to problems and convey government policies to the publics understanding, Abdullahi stated.

He expressed NUJs readiness to closely collaborate with the DSS, pledging to work towards achieving a peaceful environment.

Abdullahi appealed for increased synergy with the service to ensure working journalists contribute effectively to citizens safety and security.

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From Umar Ado Sokoto

Butchers in Kara market , Sokoto State have cried out over the neglect of the modern abattoir since its was established to date .

They expressed sad on how the past administration in the state neglected the complex noted that the abattoir has suffered years of neglect from successive government despite the fact that the abattoir was initiated to boost the economy based of the state and Nigeria at large .

They appealed to the State Governor,Dr. Ahmed Aliyu to rescue the abattoir from total collapsed and puts it into use for the development of the state.

It could be recall that the multi  billion naira Sokoto modern abattoir constructed and commissioned by former governor of Sokoto state, Senator Aliyu Magatakardan Wamakko in 2014 is roosting away due to neglect by butchers in Sokoto

An investigation conducted by this reporter shown that butchers abandoned the modern edifice and relocated to the traditional structures which according to the chairman butchers association Malam Abdullai Mijin yawa is more convenient to them

The mighty structure was designed and provided with the best state of the arts facilities to slaughter reasonable numbers of animals and processes ,prepares meats for onward sales to retailers and consumers .

But with the present manually system , less than 100 animals are slaughtered daily, animals such as sheep,ram, goat and camel respectively .

However ,the aim to achieved such dream was defeated do to proper management as such neglected the edifice by subsequent administrations in the state.

This resulted to the failures of the facility to be put into operation as designed ,the present situation of the abattoir is not write home about ,nearly grounded and becoming an eye sore .

Animals are slaughtered manually and the meat was transported to market in a locally methods which may be contaminated to the end users .

However,the facility was said to be test runs once and since then it was abandoned and presently its in looming decayed .

The Chairman of the Abattoir, Alhaji Abdullahi Mijin Yawa urged for the total repairs of the complex and woos for the investors to partners in packaging and exportation of meats ,hide and skin .

He emphasised that lack of training to handle the new modern abattoir is among the factor that of neglecting the use of facilities .

He also sought for the Sokoto State Government to assist the butchers with a reasonable profits to enable them boost their businesses .

The chairman also advocated the need for the government to lease the complex to the association of butchers to manage after rehabilitating the complex .

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Food Not Bombs volunteers Shere Dore, right, and TKTK look at tickets they have received for feeding the homeless Monday, May 22, 2023, at the Houston Public Librarys Julia Ideson Building in downtown Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

A Houston non-profit is joining in protest against the city's policy to hand out tickets to volunteers feeding the homeless outside the downtown library.

The city has been ticketing Houston Food Not Bombs for violating a 2012 law requiring property owners' permission to give food to groups over five since March, racking up what could be roughly $80,000 in fines. At a meeting Saturday, the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice reaffirmed its opposition to the ordinance, which has ongoing since the law's inception.

This is awesome that they want to support what were doing and that they believe in this cause, Food Not Bombs volunteer Phillip Picone said. Something like this can get into a community and then make the ground swell even larger  put more pressure on (Mayor Sylvester) Turner to do the right thing.

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Johnny Mata, the head of the coalition, said that the organization made resolutions to support both Food Not Bombs and to inspire the city to set an example for the rest of the country. Other cities have grappled with similar controversial ordinances that limit volunteers abilities to feed those in need.

Rather than having officers giving citations, there should be an effort to come up with a collective effort  community and government  to go beyond that, Mata said. Were the space city: If we can get a man to the moon, I see no reason why we cannot address the homeless in a systematic and human approach.

Longtime Food Not Bombs volunteer Nick Cooper has two tickets with court dates lined up for later this month, but he does not intend on pausing his efforts to give out food. The group has collected nearly 50 tickets, but citations have been dismissed in court.

Houston Food Not Bombs is concerned that it not just be about us being let off the hook for our tickets, but also against this terrible anti-food sharing ordinance that has caused a lot of food insecurity and suffering for a vulnerable population, Cooper said.

The organization was given permission to offer food to those in need when the ordinance was initially passed, but since March Food Not Bombs has been faced with ongoing ticketing. Cooper said that the law violates the organizations freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

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In an emailed statement to the Houston Chronicle Mary Benton, director of communications for Turner, said that he wants to offer unhoused people access to organizations that can support their needs and efforts.

Nothing has changed, she wrote. Mayor Turner feels strongly the city must protect the Central Library while providing a location nearby for homeless individuals to sit and eat with dignity and respect

The city has partnered with the Bread of Life, a nonprofit that also gives food to those in need, with portable restrooms and handwashing stations in a parking lot on Riesner. The city has also made housing services available to those who come.

The coalition is planning a press conference on Monday. Mata said he hopes to discuss the resolution with the City Council, the mayor and citizens to come to a long-term solution.

"But the best thing right now is to put a moratorium, quit giving out tickets and dismiss (the tickets)," he said. "Let's move forward."
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Friday, met with Ohanaeze chieftains behind closed doors in Owerri, Imo State capital where issues of mutual interests were discussed.

The meeting was said to have been held at the residence of the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.

According to the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okey Emuchay, who spoke with journalists on the outcome of the visit, issues of mutual interest were discussed by the former President and Ohanaeze chieftains at the meeting.

According to Emuchay, the meeting was symbolic and crucial as fruitful deliberations were held.

He, however, did not give further details on what was discussed during the courtesy visit.

Emuchay said, Issues of mutual interest were discussed, and the Ohanaeze PG informed Chief Obasanjo that Nigeria should erect monuments in his name for the sacrifices he has made.

Iwuanyanwu had recalled Obasanjos role in ending the civil war with the slogan of no victor no vanquished; repayment of huge external debts and recovery of the economy during his time as President.

He informed the former President that the Igbo nation will bestow honour on him appropriately.

The former President was accompanied by Chief Oyewole Fasawe; while some Igbo leaders and Ohanaeze chieftains who were at the meeting included Emuchay; former Minister for Aviation, Kema Chikwe; Bishop Sunday Onuoha, Fidelis Ozichukwu; and Chief Tony Ukasanya, among others.

Iwuanyanwu has been at the forefront of championing the cause of Ndigbo including seeking the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Iwuanyanwu has for long been advocating the development of South East as a major Industrial hub in the West African sub-region while urging Ndigbo to begin to invest at home.
Judy Austin used Instagram to inspire her followers with a quote.

When you look back on this past year, dont think of the pain you felt, wrote the actress, who has experienced backlash from Nigerians in recent days as a result of her husband Yul Edochies actions. Consider the strength youve gained and how far youve come.

Youve gone through a lot, but youve also grown a lot. Give yourself credit for your resilience and take another step forward with grace.

She captioned the photo, No gree for anybody!!!

Kanyidaily recalls that Yul Edochie broke silence as he celebrate his second wife, Judy Austin birthday.
The Nigerian Navy effected the arrest of 23 ships, 233 suspects and 690 boats with stolen crude oil in the year 2023.

The Director of Information, Rear Admiral Ayo Vaughan disclosed this in a statement dated Thursday, January 4, 2024.

Vaughan also disclosed that the Navy destroyed 703 illegal refineries, adding that tens of barges, 82 vehicles and tanker trucks were impounded as well as crude oil and petroleum products amounting to N105billion confiscated.

The spokesman further revealed that the arrested suspects are with the appropriate prosecuting agencies even as he assured that the fight against crude oil theft is being waged with renewed vigour in 2024.

The Navy therefore frowned at what it termed as malicious publications in the mainstream and online media against it.

It vowed to continue as the lead agency in the maritime environment to galvanize maritime stakeholders in the fight against crude oil theft and protection of national economic assets.

While blaming the campaign of calumny against it on criminals involved in oil theft, it assured that the Nigerian Navy under the watch of Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla will not be deterred by the misguided propaganda in the media.

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The Ruling All Progressive Congress (APC)in Sokoto State has reiterated the commitment of the state government to end banditry and other crimes across the state.

The Chairman of the State APC ,Alhaji Isa Sadiq Acida gave the assurance while addressing newsmen in the state on Friday.

Acida who commended Governor Ahmed Aliyu for his effort toward curtailing banditry activities ,kidnap for ransom ,rustle and other crimes across the 23 local government areas this year .

The party Chairman , expressed optimistic that the state governor has proved his commitment toward achieving the said goal of securing the state ,through collaboration and cooperation with security agencies at state and federal levels.

Emphasising that the recent assistance to the security agencies, and the provision of the right caliber of vehicles, has been severally applauded, even by the highest echelon of the military.

He insisted that such collaboration has since began to bear fruit as the bandits are now being pursued in their hideouts and attacked ,while several of their innocent victims are constantly being freed .

Acida also commended the governor for initiative of enacting a law to establish community guards and providing them with adequate transport and armaments which he noted as another giant stride to end banditry and enthrone a secure and peaceful Sokoto State within the 2024 .

The Chairman while congratulating the governor on his 54th birthday, described his performance in office within seven months of his administration as worthy of commendation.

While advising the opposition PDP members in the state to rest their case and collaborate with the ruling APC as Governor Aliyu has a large heart for progress of the common people .

Governor Aliyu further promised to complete all projects abandoned ,so long as they are useful to the people of the state .

Already,the governor has started by completing the Rijiya Flayover bridge and made a pledge to complete the state Teaching Hospital .

The chairman urged the general public in the state to rally round the state government in its desire to transform the state .
jerks up initial proposal by N21bn

The Lagos State House of Assembly has approved a total of N2,267,976,120,869 as the 2024 budget size of the State at a plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.with a N21bn increase from the initial proposal of N2,246,233,956,399.

It will be recalled that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented a budget size consisting a recurrent expenditure of N1.021,954trn (45%) and capital expenditure of N1.224,280trn (55%).

Consequently, the lawmakers present during Friday plenary approved 58 percent as Capital Expenditure and 42 percent Recurrent Expenditure following a unanimous voice vote by all after the sectoral breakdown of personnel, overhead cost and capital project provision for Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.

A bill for a law to authorise the issuance and appropriation of N952,430,566,998 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for Recurrent Expenditure and N1,315,545,553,871 from Development Fund for Capital Expenditure thereby totaling a budget size of N2,267,976,120,869 for the year ending 31st December, 2024 be passed into law, the Speaker had raised on the floor as the budget report was read a third time.

Obasa, thereafter, commended the lawmakers for their dedication and cooperation at ensuring a quick passage of the Appropriation Bill while directing the Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko, to forward a copy of the approved budget to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for assent.

Prior to its passage, Hon. Saad Olumoh, chairman of the joint-committee on Budget and Finance, had presented a report containing some recommendations to the House.

Among the recommendations is that the Public Works Corporation, the Water Corporation and the state-owned tertiary institutions be placed on first-line charge to enable them perform optimally.

Governor Sanwo-Olu had on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, presented the 2024 budget proposal of N2.246 trillion to the House of Assembly saying that the state anticipated internally generated revenue of N1.251 trillion and federal government allocations of N596.629 billion.

Recall that Obasa, during the presentation of the budget by the governor, urged the government should ensure a functional budget.

It is highly important for us to apply the right indices towards ensuring a performing and functioning budget that would lift our people out of poverty and reposition the state towards infrastructural growth and renewal.

Palliatives should move from just giving people garri, rice, beans or even money. We should have a direction that is focused, impactful and deeply backed up by effective policy implementations.

For instance, in the name of palliative care, let there be provision of drugs at all public hospitals in the state at subsidised rates. At the same time, focus should be on a downward review of treatment costs in these hospitals, the Speaker said during the budget presentation.
Prominent civil rights advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to liaise and partner actively with credible civil rights organisations, the Federal ministry of Culture and Creative Economy and the National Orientation Agency to create massive enlightenment and sensitize couples and youths in Nigeria about the necessity of pursuing legitimate sources of income and the avoidance of all traces of advanced fees fraud in Nigeria.

HURIWA raised the alarm that more and more couples and families are getting caught by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over their alleged involvement in mind-boggling and mind-blowing criminal acts of frauds and advanced fees fraud running into billions of Naira just as the Rights group said the trend should be clinically tackled from the root causes of these trends which can at best be situated around the unprecedented collapse of the hitherto respected African tradional and cultural values and the effects of unbridled materialism and unethical globalisation.

HURIWA which applauded the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for calling attention to the worrying trend of married couples increasingly getting entangled in criminal cases of frauds and advanced fees fraud, also called on the anti-graft agency to think of setting up a team made up of psychologists, sociologists, Anthropologists in Nigerian Higher academic institutions to articulate learned opinions on the remote and immediate causes of the involvement of multiple numbers of couples in the disturbing cases of sophisticated fraud and then to proffer far-reaching solutions to the scandals which has deeper implications to the place of African culture and tradition globally.

HURIWA recalled that recently, the Head, Cybercrime of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Nura Buhari, attributed the increase in the number of couples committing crimes to greed and loss of traditional values.

Its just the 21st century generation where people believe they can make money through the internet by identifying a glitch or system weakness and committing fraud, Buhari said in an interview with one of the nations fast growing online newspapers.

The EFCC official was reacting to the rising number of couples caught by the agency for their involvement in internet fraud.

On 28th November 2023, the Commission arraigned a couple, Oriyomi Idowu and Ruth Idowu, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos over false pretence, money laundering, stealing, retention of stolen property and forgery to the tune of N2,757,188,000.00.

The couple were arraigned alongside Food Commodity Processing Enterprise, Bonway Food Processing Company Limited, Samee Idowu Company Limited and Farmex Integrated Companies Limited, which all belong to Ruth Idowu.

According to EFCC, sometime in 2023 in Lagos, Ruth converted the sum of N10,000,000 to purchase a GLK Benz, purchase sum derived from converting the sum of N500,000,000 belonging to Creditpro Business Support Services with the aim of disguising the illegal origin of the funds.

The accused also dishonestly retained the sum of N936,619,876 in UBA account, property of Creditpro Business Support services, knowing same to be funds fraudulently obtained from Creditpro Business Support Services but the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

EFCC also arraigned another couple, Aisha Malkohi (a.k.a Ummitah, Arab Money) and her husband, Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud (at large), over alleged fraud involving the sum of N410,518,000 meant for the purchase of cars from Saudi Arabia.

They were arraigned on 8th December 2023, before Justice Aisha Mahmud at Kano State High Court after they obtained the sum of N225,259,000 belonging to Farida Ibrahim between 6th January to 16th December, 2022.

The said money was reportedly paid into a Zenith Bank account bearing Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud for the purchase and supply of 64 cars, from Saudi Arabia.

But Malkohi pleaded not guilty to all the five counts read to her.

Malkohi was arrested by EFCC investigators in Kano following a petition from two peopleFarida Ibrahim and Ibrahim Mohammed Abdulrahmanalleging that she conspired with her husband and defrauded them under the guise of supplying them with cars, gold, electronics and kitchen utensils from Saudi Arabia.

EFCC carried out an investigation that revealed the defendant had collected a total sum of N410,518,000 through bank accounts belonging to her companyGolden Grass Hill International Ltd and her husbands Zenith Bank account.

Further investigation also revealed that the defendant, alongside her husband, who is still at large, diverted the monies into several bank accounts.

On 19th December 2023, the Enugu Zonal Command of the EFCC arraigned another couple, Mr. Udeani Sunday and his wife, Udeani Amaka, before Justice M.G. Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu.

They were arraigned on three-count charges bordering on obtaining the sum of N2,750,000.00 by false pretence in an alleged land fraud.

According to EFCC, between 10th July 2019 to 19th December 2019 in Enugu, the couple lured one Onugu Chinyere to deliver N2,750,000.00 to them under the pretence that theyd sell a plot of land behind Ebenezer Anglican Church, Ala-Uguaji along Enugu/Port Harcourt Road to her, but like the other couples they also pleaded not guilty and the case was adjourned till February 6, 2024.

Looking at these cases and the established harmonious pattern of couples increasingly becoming partners in the crime of fraud from a deeper philosophical point of view, is actually left for philosophers and free thinkers like us to weigh in. So why are couples who ought to behave as embodiment of good behaviour and the supposed teachers of morality and ethics to their children, now turning around to become undesirable social elements?, HURIWA affirmed.

Speaking further on the breaches of family cohesion and the collapse of well respected African cultural value systems, HURIWA argued that there are actually a formidable body of scholarly works on the renowned African cultural values, one of which states that in Africa, the sense of family unit, ethics and etiquette are fundamental to understanding who the African is at all times. Professor Oliver Onwubiko listed the following African cultural values: sense of community life; sense of good human relations; sense of sacredness of life; sense of hospitality; sense of the sacred and religion.

HURIWA has therefore advocated a coordinated approach and the intra-governmental synergies between the EFCC, Federal ministries of information and culture and some credible CSOs, to work out a template and implement strategies for promoting the reversal of the authentic African cultural values and for families and youngsters in Nigeria to be enlightened persistently to embrace the pursuit of legitimate wealth and reject shortcuts to wealth as it were.
From Mohammed Nasir Shuaibu BAUCHI

As the partys primaries of All Progressives Congress (APC) is drawing nearer in Edo State, a bigwin and party chieftain Dr. Blessing Agbomhere has appealed the National leadership of the party under Alhaji Umar Ganduje to reward members loyalty with the partys gubernatorial ticket of Edo State.

In a letter to the APC National Chairman Umar Ganduje by Dr Agbomhere and made available to Journalists on Friday, noting that it is in the habit of President Bola Tinubu to reward loyalty and dedication to the party and therefore his request to be given the partys ticket is not out of place,.

According to the letter, Dr Agbomhere who is also the current South South Zonal Organising Secretary said: loyal and committed party members deserve all necessary considerations and reward from the leadership of the party,.

A frontline aspirant in the All Progressives Congress APC for the forthcoming Governorship election in Edo state, also urged the leadership of the party to reward his loyalty with the partys ticket for this years election in the state.

Blessing Agbomhere, a committed, dedicated, passionate and loyal member of the All Progressives Congress, from Polling Unit 6, Ward 1, Unone Village, Fugar, Etsako Central Local Government Area of Edo North in Edo State and the current APC South-South Organizing Secretary.

My contributions to the successes of the All Progressives Congress deserve commendation, appreciation and reward, as such I should be given the Governorship Ticket of the party.

To fly the partys flag in the Edo State Governorship Election. It is common knowledge that despite all the antics and betrayal of some politicians in Edo State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu won.

Examining the three Senatorial Districts that make up Edo State, Bola Tinubu got 88,527 Votes in Edo North (Afenmai), 38,392 Votes in Edo South (Benin) and 17,558 Votes in Edo Central (Esan).

The people of Edo North, under the leadership of Senator Adams Oshiomhole, aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda and voted for Senator Bola Tinubu to emerge the President of Nigeria. Edo North gave the highest number of votes to Bola Ahmed Tinubu to win.

As the South-South Organizing Secretary, I worked hard to ensure we won. Thank God, Bola Ahmed Tinubu rewards commitment and loyalty to the Party, the letter said.

It added that by demonstrating loyalty to the Party and commitment to Bola Tinubus victory, I, Blessing Agbomhere from Edo North, and the Highest Ranking Party Officer in the race, deserve and merit the Governorship Ticket of the Party.

The letter also mentions a few things from the many community services rendered which Ive done constantly for years, hospital visitations, providing food for the sick and paying medical bills.

I have done free medical outreach in Edo North communities of Okpella, Auchi, Jattu, Aviele, Agenebode and Fugar, and many other communities. I donated a 44 bed Hostel to Itseoghena Orphanage in Jattu.

Community when I discovered in 2017 that the facility accommodating the children was too small for their comfort.

I donated a 16-seater Toyota Hiace Bus to the Avhianwu Traditional Council in Etsako Central Local Government Area of Edo State to ensure that they function effectively in discharging their cultural obligations.

Dr Agbomhere concluded by appealing saying: My Chairman, I apply to be given the APC Governorship Ticket. Please, for the sake of the unborn generation of our dear State, engage and employ me to work for our dear State.

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From Joshua Chibuzom

Gunmen, in the early hours of Saturday, kidnapped Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri, a former Chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers.

According to reports, the monarch was whisked away by the hoodlums in the early hours of Saturday at his residence in Orodo, Mbaitoli LGA of Imo State.

The unidentified gunmen, are yet to make contact with the family of the monarch.

Eze Ohiri is the traditional Ruler of Obi Orodo Autonomous Community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo state and served as the Chairman of the traditional rulers council of the state under former Governor Rochas Okorocha.

An indigene of the community, who broke the news said: Eze Samuel Ohiri, former Chairman of Imo state Council of Traditional Rulers has been kidnapped few hours ago in Orodo, his country home.

The community, as I speak is in palpable tension as many have fled for their dear lives. We are yet to hear from the family who came home for Christmas.

The spokesman of the Imo State Police Command, Henry Okoye, when contacted, said he had yet to be briefed but would revert when the command got the full information.

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A German actor, Christian Klepser, 51, who went by the stage name Christian Oliver, his daughters Madita, 10, and Annik, 12, have tragically d#ed alongside pilot Robert Sachs after the tiny aircraft crashed into the waters off Bequia, which is part of St Vincent.

According to authorities, the single-engine plane took off from F Mitchell Airport and was headed to nearby St Lucia when tragedy struck. In one video, an eyewitness can be heard saying the plane crashed  call the Coast Guard.

The plane crash comes just weeks after a dad and his daughter tragically lost their lives in a single-engine plane crash during a morning flight together.

James Blalock, 78, and his daughter Jenny Blalock, 45, were the only ones onboard when the small Beechcraft 35 aircraft crashed in Giles County, Tennessee.
By Lasisi Adedoyin K.S

As the first-due engine arrives, the crew leader can see Mr & Mrs. Ologundudu waiting anxiously outside their house. Heavy smoke is venting from a first-floor window. Mrs. Ologundudu asking the crew do you have water? is your engine working? Without excitation, the engine operator positions the apparatus, the crew begin to stretch a line and the crew leader talks with Mrs. Ologundudu, who tells her we are professionals. She comment you speak good English. Jokingly he said I am a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University. With huge smiles and excitement she shouted great Ife. Within 3 min, the crew leader completes his 360-degree assessment, the total operation took just 25 min from the time the first-due truck arrives, within a period of 30 minutes, Mr. and Mrs. Ologundudu who are shouting on top of their voices had stated raising praises on the fire crew, neighbors bring drinks, the estate management offering cash reward and everyone talking about how effective the operation was.

This is a common scenario in fire situations across the State. A resident has a fire or emergency situation and calls the emergency line (mostly many do know the direct line to the nearest fire station) call intake information is gathered, the crews are dispatched, and firefighters turn out and arrive on scene to mitigate the situation. But hidden among these everyday actions are hundreds of data points, important clues to understanding whether the fire services has enough resources to address emergencies in the community.

On the 14th December, 2023) like most days, Nigerians shows the educated illiterate syndrome that has always contribute to low responses time to fire emergency in Lagos State. On the highly busy Lekki-Epe expressway with vehicles ranging from highly luxury Bentley to the common commercial korope, its took the fire truck and average of 3-5 min to move from lekki Phase one to Ikate. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA Standard 1710) establishes an 80 second turnout time and 240 second travel time (together, 320 seconds or 5 minutes and 20 seconds response time). However, fire response time differs from city to city depending on geographical settings, density and other factors.

The above situation is becoming a daily occurrence in most part of Lagos and if urgent action is not taken emergency response time which should be the easier part of emergency procedure may become has become the bottle neck to it. Saving peoples lives is still the heart of firefighting. The primary purpose of the fire and rescue service is the prompt and efficient mobilization of firefighters in response to a fire or other related incident, in order to save lives and protect property. This is a key aspect of public safety that must be understand by every citizen. Over the years, I have come to understand that the efficiency of our fire service is linked to the ability of the officers and the response time. However, opposite is the case.

In my over ten years of lecturing and researching on fire incident it has become evident that we has a people are making fire service work more difficult and more challenging for the fire men. Form lack of enforcement of fire regulation, to poor attention to fire issues. The fire service is now been reduce to the bottom of safety hierarchy. Early this year, a popular comedian house was involved in fire incident in one of the gated community in Lekki (I dont call them estate because the dont meet the standard of an estate). The fire service trucks could not enter the gated community easily because of poorly designed road infrastructure . Regrettable few months before the incident, fire officers were denied access to some estate in the area when they wish serve notice of inspection.

Today, rapid urbanization and population growth are driving the construction of new buildings, with global building stocks expected to double in the next 15 to 20 years. While such trends will represent significant development advances and offer economic growth opportunities, concern remains regarding the resilience and safety of new and aging building stocks that will support the living environment and lifestyle of people. Driving around Lagos today and seeing how building and estates are constructed without proper regards to fire safety. It points me to the challenges that will be face by the fire service in the next 5 to 10 years. Look around you now, the windows and doors are becoming smaller, the roads are becoming smaller and narrower, estate and communities are designed without following standards regulations for fire safety.

For example, the faster the fire service can respond and set up, the sooner they can begin to mitigate an incident. This should translate into increased safety for firefighters and occupants as well as decreased property loss and indirect business loss. The time taken to set up and sustain firefighting operations can be considerable for high-rises and other complex buildings. This time can be extended when the fire location is not obvious or is remote from the arrival location. Let look at some of the condition that contributes to effective fire prevention and see if our estate and communities meet up with the requirements.

Many buildings are located on public streets that provide good access to at least one side in the case of an emergency, today cars are parked on most street. Fire officer have to practically start to beg residents to move their cars for fire trucks to access some building. This is more embarrassing in newly constructed estates especially in lekki and its environ. The entrance gates are too small the roads are not just there. In addition, another common observation is the road dimensions. The dimensions for roads and fire lanes that lead to a building must accommodate all apparatus that will use them. Spaces wider than the apparatus itself may be needed for several reasons. One is to enable apparatus to pass each other if necessary to facilitate developing and expanding operations. Near hydrants or other water sources, engine companies may need a wider area to facilitate hose connections, allow other fire service vehicles to pass, or permit water tenders to position alongside pumpers. Also proximity is very important when designing estate and gated community. It is important for fire apparatus to have close access to buildings to facilitate the stretching of hose lines, the use of a master stream device, or the placement of portable ladders. Long hose stretches can delay the time it takes to contain or extinguish a fire. Similarly, carrying ladders a long distance can delay access or rescue.

Additional in designing gated community or estate for the use of fire service, the following must be considered; turning radius: the minimum turning radius (inside and outside edges) for the most restrictive fire apparatus should be considered. Dead-end fire lanes or roads that exceed a certain length should have a means for fire apparatus to turn around. Turnarounds save considerable time when a fire apparatus. Traffic Calming Features such as Speed bumps/humps/tables, narrow road widths, curvy arrangements, and islands are traffic calming features used to control vehicular traffic speed most of such measures that slow traffic also hinder fire apparatus access, delaying their arrival to a fire scene.

Water is used to suppress most fires, so an adequate water supply is crucial to fire service operations. The supply must deliver an adequate amount of water through a distribution system to the locations needed. The system can serve manual firefighting (typically through fire hydrants), fire standpipe systems, fire sprinkler systems, other water-based suppression systems, and non-fire needs (industrial, commercial, domestic, etc.). It is sadden to known that most estate and communities are constructed without plan for fire hydrants. Its not recommended that fire engines has to travel distance to get water for replenishing.

For us to have a good firefighting system we need to put in place a well structure firefighting system and developed a firefighting strategy. In a bustling metropolis like Lagos, where the population is rapidly growing, the need for a robust fire safety management strategy becomes even more imperative. A fire safety management strategy encompasses a range of measures designed to prevent, detect, and respond to fires. It involves conducting risk assessments to identify fire hazards, implementing preventive measures like fire alarms and extinguishers, establishing emergency evacuation plans, and ensuring adequate training for individuals and communities. Lagosians play a vital role in fire safety management. As individuals living and working in Lagos, it is our responsibility to be aware of potential fire hazards and take necessary precautions to prevent fires. This includes adhering to safety guidelines, practicing good housekeeping, and promptly reporting any fire hazards or incidents to the appropriate authorities.

Furthermore, raising awareness among Lagosians about fire safety is crucial. This can be achieved through public education campaigns, workshops, and community engagement programs to ensure that everyone understands the importance of fire safety and their role in preventing and responding to fire emergencies. Collaboration between Lagosians and authorities, including fire services, is essential for effective fire safety management. Lagosians should actively engage with the authorities by reporting potential fire hazards, participating in fire drills, and following safety instructions during emergencies. By working hand-in-hand with the fire services, Lagosian can contribute to faster response times and more efficient handling of fire incidents. This collaboration also involves being knowledgeable about emergency contact numbers, establishing communication channels with local fire stations, and supporting efforts to improve fire infrastructure and resources in the city.

In conclusion, the effective management of fire incidents in Lagos requires a collective effort and a comprehensive strategy. Lagosians play a vital role in fire safety management, both in terms of their responsibility and awareness. To ensure a safer Lagos, fire safety management must be a priority. By implementing advanced technology and systems, providing training for firefighters, building awareness among Lagosians, and strengthening emergency response systems and infrastructure, we can enhance fire safety in the city. However, this requires the collaboration and active participation of all Lagosians. Together, we can make a significant difference in ensuring a fire-safe environment for everyone. So, lets blaze a trail towards a safer Lagos! Let be safe its dry, the dry season is here.

Environment and Safety Expert, Coordinator of Eko Enviro Talk TV
In the three years since the Jan. 6 riot in Washington D.C., more than 1,200 people have been arrested and charged with crimes connected to the attack to disrupt the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election.

That number includes more than a dozen men from Houston and surrounding communities who were caught in the wide-ranging, and still ongoing, effort to identify and arrest people who participated in the insurrection.

LOOKING BACK: FBI timeline depicts roles Texans played in Capitol siege

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Over the last year, only one new charge was brought against a local person in connection to Jan. 6. Since the beginning of 2023, seven people were convicted for their roles in the riot. Three more are scheduled to be sentenced this year

Of those 19 local people charged, 12 have been convicted or pleaded guilty and 11 of those people have been sentenced, according to court records. Their sentences have ranged from anywhere between 12 months probation to 7 years in prison.

Here is what has happened since last year in connection to local Jan. 6 arrestees:

Authorities say a Galveston County man, John Lammons, was brought into custody Thursday in connection to his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection last year at the U.S. Capitol. The FBI started to investigate a tip last year related to Lammons, which included several screenshots of a WhatsApp group chat, according to a criminal complaint.

 On Feb. 6, 2023, John Lammons, a Galveston martial arts teacher who was charged with four misdemeanors in connection to the insurrection, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 36 months supervised release.

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 Raul Jarrin, who was accused of entering the Capitol and taking photos while inside, on Feb. 8, 2023 was sentenced to 14 days in prison and 26 months probation. Around the time of his arrest, Jarrin's attorney said he spent less than 20 seconds inside the Capitol building.

Adam Mark Weibling is wearing a suede jacket as he faces off against Capitol police on Jan. 6, according to court documents. Courtesy U.S. Department of Justice

 Adam Weibling of Katy on April 12 was sentenced to 2 years probation and ordered to pay $500. Weibling was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds as well as knowingly entering or remaining in restricted grounds without lawful authority.

Authorities have charged Joshua Lollar, 39, in the Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. FBI officials say he traveled from Texas and participated in the riot, appearing to be on the "front lines" of people confronting Metropolitan police trying to get into the building. Justice Department

 On May 22, Joshua Lollar, of Spring, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding. Lollar was the first Houston-area person arrested in connection to the insurrection, and was accused of livestreaming his entry of the Capitol while wearing a gas mask and body armor.

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 On July 27, Micheal Marroquin, 63, of Nederland, was arrested and charged with obstruction of an official proceeding as well as several misdemeanors. Prosecutors said Marroquin was caught on video moving through the U.S. Capitol and was heard encouraging people to keep moving as they encountered police and called officers "traitors."

Criminal proceedings against Marroquin are still pending. No trial date has been set.

Katy brothers Brian (circled in red) and Andrew Jackson (circled in yellow flashing a white supremacist hand signal), allegedly pictured participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The brothers were charged with assaulting police officers. Courtesy Justice Department

 In September, Adam Jackson, of Katy, pleaded guilty to felonious assault of a federal law enforcement officer. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March, and faces a possible prison term of 8 years in prison. Jackson and his brother, Brian, were arrested within a week of each other in June 2022 and accused of hurling items, including a flagpole, at police while on the terrace outside the Capitol building. Brian Jackson's criminal case is still pending. Court records show he is in plea negotiations with prosecutors.

Shane Jenkins, 45, of Houston, was caught on videos posted to social media wielding a tomahawk axe that he used to smash a window during the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. FBI

 On Oct. 6, Shane Jenkins, of Houston, was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for his role in the insurrection. It was the lengthiest sentence to date, for someone from the Houston area. Jenkins was convicted of assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and destruction of government property along with five other felonies and two misdemeanors. Prosecutors said he struck a Capitol window with a tomahawk and used broken furniture as weapons against police inside the building.

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In the years following the attack, Jenkins started an online store that sells merchandise portraying jailed rioters as political prisoners.

 When William Mellors, of Tomball, was arrested in July 2022, he was accused of using bear spray on police officers. Mellors died in October, and the charges against him were posthumously dismissed, according to court records.

Judy Fraize, 70, of Highlands, was arrested Monday and charged with four crimes connected to the Jan. 6, 2021 riots in Washington, D.C., according to federal court documents. Courtesy/FBI

 On Jan. 29, Judy Fraize, 70, of Highlands, was arrested and charged with four crimes related to her participation in the insurrection. Wearing a red Make America Great Again hat, blue facemask and holding a cellphone aloft, Fraize was caught on security cameras walking through the Capitol and entering the rotunda and statuary hall, at times taking pictures with other rioters.

She was the first local woman charged in connection to the riot.

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Nathan Mackie, of Magnolia, was arrested on Feb. 13, 2024 and accused of entering the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot. Courtesy/U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

 On Feb. 13, Nathan Mackie, 36, of Magnolia, was hit with four charges related to the riot, including disorderly conduct inside a Capitol building or grounds. Mackie was charged on the same day as his brother, Brandon Mackie, of Weatherford, and another man, Daniel Hatcher, who is described in court documents as a hunting buddy of the brothers.

The men are accused of spending about two minutes in the Capitol, which they entered through a broken door. In the short time the trio was in the building, they took a picture standing in front of police responding to the riot, according to court documents.

Alexander Fan, of Houston, was arrested Thursday after he took a selfie of himself during his alleged participation in the US Capitol breach Southern District of Texas

 On Feb. 16, Alexander Fan, a part-time University of Houston student, pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a room in the Capitol building, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 12 months probation. Federal prosecutors have also alleged that Fan was victimized during the investigation into his participation of the riot. In January, FBI agent Nicholas Anthony Williams, was accused of stealing cash and silver from Fan while he executing a search warrant at Fan's home.

 Pasadena bakery owner Wilmar Jeovanny Montano Alvarado on Oct. 25 was found guilty of three felony charges and four misdemeanors over accusations that he was at the front of a group of rioters as they tried to gain access to the Capitol building. Alvarado is scheduled to be sentenced later this year.

The FBI included photos of Andrew Taake in a July 2021 criminal complaint accusing him of assualting officers during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Courtesy
On Wednesday, 3 January 2023, Sierra Leones ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma was charged with treason and three other offences in the capital, Freetown. Those found guilty of treason can be sentenced to life in prison.

This follows his arrest after what the Sierra Leone government has described as a failed coup attempt following the re-election of President Julius Maada Bio in June 2023.

President Koroma is one of a small group of former African heads of state that have relinquished power peacefully and honoured democratic processes. As such, the attacks on his freedom, long underway well before the latest charges, are unlikely to encourage others to do the same. They should be viewed with great concern by the international community, given the attacks on democracy through a rash of recent coups across the Sahel and into West Africa, from Niger through Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and into Gabon.

Trained as a teacher and an insurance executive by profession, Koroma stood for the opposition in the 2002 Sierra Leone election losing by a landslide to incumbent President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), who received 70.3% of the vote. Koroma won the August 2007 for the All Peoples Congress (APC).

During his time in office until 2018, Koroma was able to consolidate Sierra Leones emergence from failure and civil war and to weather the Ebola crisis in 2014. Since he handed over power to President Bio, he has become a leading African statesman, participating in and leading election monitoring missions as well as providing calm leadership as a member of the group of African elders who encourage peace and democracy.

To understand Koromas plight it is necessary to understand his relations with his successor, Bio, who took over from him in 2018.

As a Brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army, Bio had ousted Captain Valentine Strasser in a palace coup in January 1996, shortly before the countrys already planned return to civilian rule two months later. Thereafter Bio moved to the US where he was granted political asylum, returning to Sierra Leone to compete in the 2012 presidential election, when he was soundly defeated by the incumbent, Koroma.

Six years later Bio defeated former finance minister Samura Kamara who stood for Koromas APC in the run-off for the presidency.

Bio set about overturning his predecessors policies, of which he had been a stern critic in opposition. This quickly went petty, including a systematic removal of Koromas security and other presidential privileges. Immediately after taking office, Bios government announced Commissions of Inquiry into the performance of the previous government, indicting Kamara on corruption charges.

With increasing public protests over the state of the economy, the already strained relations between the two deteriorated further in the run-up to the general election on 24 June 2023. Although Bio was re-elected with 56% of the vote to Kamaras 41%, the result was disputed by the opposition APC, citing glaring irregularities and demanding a re-run. International observers noted statistical inconsistencies in the results, and a lack of transparency.

This was contrary to Koromas own instincts and political teachings.

Even before the 2023 election, Koroma went on record saying that the best way to foster political inclusiveness was to reach across the political aisle and to not go after your political opponents. In a speech to Afrobarometer on the means to make democracy work in conflictual environments, he said that it was critical, in his experience, to detoxify the politics and foster inclusiveness. His first step after being elected was to send the right message for a smooth transition. Immediately after I had been officially notified  I drove to the outgoing president to thank him for his service, for presiding over the elections, and to inform him that I would be calling for his wise counsel periodically. I then moved to the outgoing vice president, who lost the elections to me, and found that the Inspector-General of Police had already withdrawn his security detail. I telephoned him right away and instructed that the full complement of the vice presidents security be restored immediately. I then assured him of his safety and that he could stay at the official residence until such a time he was ready to move to his private residence.

The claim that former President Koroma is involved in the coup attempt lacks evidence and as such represents a backward governance step by the government of Sierra Leone. On 26 November, following attacks by gunmen on military barracks, a prison and other locations resulted in the deaths of 20 people and the freeing of over two thousand inmates.

Koroma condemned the attacks shortly after they happened. Yet Bios government claimed that the action was a foiled coup led by Koromas bodyguards, several of whom were attacked afterwards in the former presidents own compound.

Koromas lawyer, Joseph Kamara, has said of the charges against his client: A dangerous precedent has been set We are dragging a former head of state  democratically elected  on trumped up charges under a political vendetta.

International efforts to broker a settlement, including those by the ECOWAS Court, allowing Koroma temporary exile in Nigeria, have been rejected by Bios government. There has been a crushing silence from donors and civil society bodies. Among them the Tony Blair Institute has worked in the country for more than a decade.

The Paramount Chief of Kuffa Bulam, as Sir Tony is styled locally, is revered in Sierra Leone because of the UK-led military intervention in 2000 that helped to defeat the Revolutionary United Front, ending a civil war that had cost 50,000 lives. Such roles  and titles  are hollow statements of intent without support for the inner stuffings of state success, including democracy and the rule of law. Without difficult choices on issues of principle, such initiatives are more about idealizing Britain and idolizing Blair in Africa.

Britain remains the largest bilateral donor to Sierra Leone, providing $80 million, or ten percent of the average annual aid spend.

Given the documented intense pattern of physical harassment of Koroma, to remain schtum on such issues is an own goal against democracy and stability, particularly in the face of growing Chinese and Russian regional roles. The same applies to President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger, who remains under lock and key since the overthrow of his democratically-elected government in July last year by the head of his presidential guard General Omar Tchiani.

African democrats should be expressing their concern too, since this could happen to them. And in Sierra Leone, instead of persecuting President Koroma, the government should work with him to build and entrench democracy in a country familiar to the bitter taste of civil war.

Its in the enlightened self-interest of all leaders to treat their predecessor with respect and within the law.

To do otherwise simply reeks of vengeance.
Former chairman of the Pensions Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, has dragged Reno Omokri, media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, to court over allegations of corruption recently made against him in a national newspaper.

In the suit filed before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Maina has asked the court to award the sum of N4bn compensation against Omokri for the alleged defamatory publication.

Sued along Omokri was the Vanguard Media Limited publisher of the Vanguard newspaper, wherein the said defamatory publication was made.

Maina, in the suit, prayed the court to declare that the comments contained in Omokris right of reply titled, General Buharis Cambridge Certificate is as nonexistent as Louis Odions self esteem, published in the Vanguard newspaper on September 12, 2019 as defamatory and libelous.

The claimant, in the suit filed by his counsel, Edwin Inegedu, wants the court to order the publication of apology, retraction and rebuttal of the libelous materials in the Vanguard newspaper and two other national dailies within seven days.

He prayed for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further publishing or disseminating the libelous materials against him.

According to Maina, Omokri, in his right of reply published in the Vanguard classified him as one of the highlights of alleged corruption, which he noted was a libelous publication.

The claimant further averred that the 1st defendant, by his right of reply made the following libelous publication about him.

Who is super corrupt between Atiku, who is the most investigated politician in Nigeria, without anything being found against him, and a General Buhari, who loaded his cabinet with corruption gold medalist?

If Mr. Louis Odion says General Buhari has integrity, then I have the following question for him

Why was Gojes N25 billion corruption dropped, who owns Ikoyi apartment billions, when will #AishaMBuharis ADC be tried and who reinstated and double-promoted Maina?

The claimant averred that Omokri maliciously and in extreme bad faith made the said publication in an adventurous attempt to score a point in his quarrel with one Mr. Louis Ofion.

By that libelous publication, Maina said he was being portrayed as corrupt and unworthy of being entrusted with public funds, that he was a beneficiary of corruption and was corruptly reinstated into the civil service, had no integrity to be reinstated, among others.

He said the libelous materials were false, untrue, baseless and was orchestrated to ridicule, malign and smear his reputation, adding that he was not double promoted by the president or issued with any letter of double promotion.

That he had never been tried and convicted for corruption by any court in Nigeria and further added that the publication had damaged his image, character, reputation and that he had suffered considerable distress and embarrassment and had been put into public scandal, odium and contempt.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit which was filed last Friday.
<! Femi Otedola >

Days after pledging to support the fight against Coronavirus in Nigeria, Nigerian billionaire, philanthropist, and former chairman of Forte Oil PLC, Femi Otedola has redeemed his pledge.

Otedola confirmed that he fulfilled his promise to donate N1bn to fight COVID-19.

The business mogul posted a confirmation which was published by the Central bank of Nigeria, stating that he honoured his pledge because his word was his bond.

He also called on those who were yet to fulfill their own pledges to make sure they do so.

He wrote; Matching words with action is the hallmark of Integrity, hence my fulfillment of my 1 Billion Naira Donation which has been published above by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

My word is my bond and this has always been the bedrock on which my life is based. I salute the other contributors listed above who have honoured their pledge and call on those who are yet to fulfill their own pledges to this noble cause that will undoubtedly save lives F.Ote? he wrote.
<! Timipre Sylva: says Nigeria pegging oil output in line with OPEC+ decision >

Nigeria is set to peg its daily oil output at 1.412 Million barrels per day from the average 1.87mbd.

The production cut will take effect from May-June 2019.

Petroleum Minister, Timipre Marlin Sylva said Nigeria is taking the shaving as a result of the 9.7m barrels output cut reached by OPEC+ on Sunday.

The global cut which is graduated till 2022, will see oil producers reduce output by 8 million barrels between July and December 2020.

From January 2021 till April 2022, output will be reduced by six million barrels.

Nigeria is set to peg crude production in like manner.

After the 1.412m output level in May-June, Nigeria will also peg output at 1.495 Million Barrels per day in July-September.

Then from January 2021 till April 2022, output will go up to 1.579 Million Barrels per day.

This is in addition to condensate production of between 360-460 KBOPD of which are exempt from OPEC curtailment, Sylva said.

Nigeria joined its other OPEC+ counterparts on Easter Sunday to reach the production pegging decisions.

The intervention of the United States of America resulted in Mexico agreeing to a cut of 100 KBOPD and to be complemented by an additional 300 KBOPD by US Producers, Sylva disclosed.

This will enable the rebalancing of the oil markets and the expected rebound of prices by $15 per barrel in the short term.

This also promises an appropriate balancing of Nigerias 2020 budget that has been rebased at $30 per barrel, Sylva added.
I want you to think about the United States centuries ago. Think about the milestone events that altered the course of American history  wars, protests, events, trials that defined generations.

Think about the world decades ago  wars, protests, events and trials.

Think about the last two decades or even the last four years and the wars, protests, events and trials that once again defined us as a country  not just the American people, but our government, the judicial system, and our outlook on the entire world.

You might be asking yourself, Why is she giving me a history lesson in a play review? It's because that is what Community Players Theatre's current production of 12 Angry Jurors, based on the 1954 teleplay "12 Angry Men" by Reginald Rose, makes us think about. The play brings to life the murder trial of a young man accused of killing his father.

Thanks to the entrancing and gradual lighting design of Dan Virtue, we are introduced to this play's 12 jurors in what appears to be a 1950s setting, much like the original production, but as the show progresses, we see time passing in more ways than one, bringing us into the present day.

Costume designers Ken Sprouls and A.J. Ainslie also lend their designs to this element of time travel as the decades progress, but we will not spoil those tricks for the readers.

Director Jeff Ready has been able to capture all levels of society in his casting choices, making for a well-rounded jury, in addition to ensuring that the ensemble cast commands the stage for the solid 90- to 100-minute run time in a space where the only movement and action is by the actors.

Assistant Director and Set Designer Michael Ainslie has cut Community Players typically large proscenium stage into the enclosed and hot jury room that feels smaller as the characters and blocking become bigger and tensions grow.

From the moment the actors walk on stage, we can feel who wants to seek justice, and who wants to go home and not worry about the case because the facts are right there. But as we hear in a recording just before the actors enter the jury room, they must find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Brian Artman as Juror 3 commands the stage from the beginning, convinced of the defendants guilt. Artmans character juxtaposes with the collected manner of Mark Robinson as Juror 8. Robinson and Artman both show immense control and confidence in their roles, and that it is OK to stand alone if you believe in something strongly.

Other notable performances come from Jacqueline Schwarzentraub as the levelheaded Juror 4 seeking information from all sides, Jake Marshall as the hot-tempered Juror 7, and Juliet Wright as Juror 9.

Ready does an excellent job of trying to make sure everyone can be seen, but due to the set being a jury deliberation room, there can be sightline issues if you are looking to see the faces of any particular actors.

Ready tells us in his directors note that It is easy to think this is a 1950s issue and nowadays, everyone gets a fair trial, evidence is more definitive, and biases no longer plague our justice system. But as the evidence shows, this is not the case.

It can be easy to think that justice for all has advanced, and it is a much easier process now, but 12 Angry Jurors goes to show that facts are not always clear. We are still fighting the same biases and opinions we faced decades ago. Have we improved? I like to think so, but we still have a long way to go.

Please be advised that this show does contain mature themes and is recommended for ages 14 and up.

IF YOU GO

What: "12 Angry Jurors"

Where: Community Players Theatre, 201 Robinhood Lane, Bloomington

When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5 & 6; 2:30 p.m. Jan. 7; 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 & 13; 2:30 p.m. Jan. 14

Running time: 1 hour and 30 to 40 minutes, no intermission

Normal Public Library's top books of 2023 Books for children: Elephants Cannot Dance! Books for children: I Am Invited to a Party! Books for children: Are You Ready to Play Outside? Books for children: I Am Going! Books for children: Double Down Books for children: I Really Like Slop! Books for children: The Meltdown Books for children: Diper Overlode Books for children: Pigs Make Me Sneeze! Books for children: The Getaway Books for teens: One of Us is Lying Books for teens: The Hunger Games Books for teens: Six of Crows Books for teens: Mockingjay Books for teens: Catching Fire Books for teens: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Books for teens: The Book Thief Books for teens: Scythe Books for teens: The Inheritance Games Books for teens: Throne of Glass Books for adults: The Boys from Biloxi Books for adults: Long Shadows Books for adults: Mad Honey Books for adults: Ugly Love Books for adults: No Plan B Books for adults: Spare Books for adults: Verity Books for adults: Simply Lies Books for adults: Going Rogue Books for adults: Heart Bones Books for adults: I Will Find You
WAUKEGAN  The man charged with killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago asked to again be represented by public defenders after firing them last month and insisting on handling his own case.

Robert Crimo III is charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder  three counts for each person killed  as well as 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery. Dozens of people were wounded in the 2022 shooting in Highland Park, including a 8-year-old who was left partially paralyzed.

Last month, 23-year-old Crimo told a judge he wished to represent himself at his trial, and asked to move his court date up by a year, to February of this year rather than next.

Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti asked Crimo several times if he understood the possible penalties  including consecutive life sentences  if a jury finds him guilty, and then she granted both requests. In response to the judge's questions, Crimo acknowledged he has no law degree and said his highest level of education is high school. Rossetti suggested he reconsider his choice to represent himself.

Crimo appeared in court on Friday for just a handful of minutes. The judge reminded him of his right to an attorney, and suggested he exercise it. Crimo agreed, asking to reappoint Lake County public defenders. His long dark hair was pulled back into a bun and he wore a white cloth mask and red jail uniform.

Crimo's mother, Denise Pesina, and father, Robert Crimo Jr., attended the hearing but declined to comment on their son's decision to rehire lawyers. Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty in November to seven misdemeanors  one for every person who was killed in the parade attack  in a case that centered on how his son obtained a gun license.

The father was sentenced to 60 days and has since been released from Lake County Jail.

In 2019, at age 19, Crimo III was too young to seek his own gun license, but he could apply with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian. His father agreed, even though just months earlier a relative reported to police that Crimo III had a collection of knives and had threatened to "kill everyone."

Authorities said in 2022 that Crimo III confessed to police in the days after the attack that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in Highland Park and then fled to the Madison, Wisconsin, area, where he contemplated shooting up another parade there.

Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart, who is prosecuting the case against Crimo III, declined to comment on the defendant's legal representation.

Lake County Public Defenders Gregory Ticsay and Anton Trizna, who represented Crimo until last month, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Crimo's next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10. Rinehart said he anticipates discussion of the trial date.

Photos: Highland Park marks one-year anniversary of parade shooting US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth US Shooting July Fourth
The maiden edition of the Greater Accra Emergency Medical Services Excellence Awards ( GAEMSEA) under the National Ambulance Service has been held at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly conference room.



The event was a gathering of Emergency Medical Technicians within the Greater Accra region whose works had been recognized by the committee and judges of the GAEMSEA.



This years awards night celebrated Emergency Medical Technicians ( EMTs) who distinctive works have contributed immensely to the EMS delivery system.



Speaking at the event, the Deputy Minister of Health, Honorable Tina Mensah extended here sincere appreciation to National Ambulance Service for the commitment and selfless service demonstrated to ensure the health and safety of fellow citizens in the country.



 Tonight is a celebration of the remarkable commitment and selfless service demonstrated by our frontline heroes who work to ensure the health and safety of our fellow citizens, I extend my sincere appreciation for your invaluable service to our beloved Ghana  she said



In a remarks by the Board Chairman of National Ambulance Service, Nana Wiafe Ababio, he said the awards symbolizes a collective gratitude for the sacrifices made and the communities uplifted by the unwavering efforts of our Emergency Medical Technicians and not just tokens.



 This awards are not just tokens, they symbolize our collective gratitude for the sacrifices made and the communities uplifted by the unwavering efforts of the Emergency Medical Technicians  he stated



The Chief Executive Officer for National Ambulance Service, Prof Ahmed Nuhu Zakariah thanked the Greater Accra Regional Administrator and the entire organizing committee for their dedication in putting together this meaningful event.



The Greater Accra Regional Medical Coordinators of National Ambulance Service, Dr Theophilus Nii Saka Bulley and his Deputy Dr Felicia Birch Freeman also plays a major role in the pre-hospital care settings in the area of medical direction during patient care , bed arrangement for patients during inter hospital transfers , good care of critically ill patients and training of EMTs personnel and the immense contribution for the success of Awards ceremony.



The Greater Accra Regional Administrator of National Ambulance Service, PAEMT Daniel Asare and his Deputy PAEMT Walter Foli Ashom thanked all sponsors of the event and urged all EMTs to emulate this kind of dedication and hardwork of their colleagues to help better the Emergency Medical System.



List of GAEMSEA winners 2023



BEST EMT DRIVER ( ADVANCE)

- Newton Wutor



BEST EMT DRIVER ( BASIC)

- Jalil Abdul Abubakar



DISPATCHER OF THE YEAR ( ADVANCE)

- Joyce Sellassie Avadzinu



DISPATCHER OF THE YEAR ( BASIC)

- Micheal Obodai Torgbor



BEST EMT ( ADVANCE)

- Richard Awuah Adusei



BEST EMT ( BASIC )

- Christopher Asare



BEST STATION MANAGER

- Nathaniel Essoun Amoah



EMS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

- Rahman Musah Abdul

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Featured Video
The internet has been flooded with congratulations and goodwill messages for award-winning television host, Berla Mundi following her marriage today.



Even though speculations had been rife about Berlas impending marriage since the last quarter of 2023, her close friend and colleague, Giovanni broke the good news in a Twitter (X) post today.



He wrote earlier today, Already excited about the goodness of the Lord this year 2024. Congratulations my Teshie Beyonce-Queen B! Bless your union.



Berla married her now husband, David Tabi in the presence of family and a few friends in a very private ceremony. (Read Sugar daddies competing with young men for their girlfriends unfair  Berla Mundi)



There are no photos or videos online at the moment from the ceremony since from reports, guests were not allowed to take pictures of the couple and ceremony.



Even in the absence of pictures, her fans and Ghanaians continue to pour in congratulatory messages for the latest bride in town.

Source: graphiconline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The University of Houston-Downtown, left, and the Harris County Jail, right, along the Buffalo Bayou are shown from a window view in the Harris County Criminal Justice Center Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

A 52-year-old Houston man remains in jail on $100,000 bail after being accused of kidnapping a woman and keeping her locked up against her will in his homes garage for four to five years.

Lee Carter was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated kidnapping, court records show.

A Houston police officers discovery on April 7 led to Carters eventual arrest. While talking to the woman, the officer noticed she was extremely malnourished, weighed about 70 pounds, had a pungent stench, had crusty hair, was shoeless and her T-shirt and shorts were filthy and dirty, according to court records.

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THE YEAR IN REVIEW: 6 crimes that captured Houstons attention in 2023

She had several encounters with law enforcement before her eventual release, but each time the woman was returned to her alleged captor, records stated.

The same officer who rescued her had visited Carters home a year ago to check on a possible kidnapping. He reportedly heard a womans voice emanating from a window of the house, according to court documents. It is not known if the officer ever made contact with the woman or why it took police another year to rescue her.

Once rescued, the woman told the officer that she met Carter about four or five years ago when she was pregnant and panhandling off Almeda Genoa, court records show. Carter apparently pulled over his vehicle to give her $1, but once he left the area, he returned shortly. The woman reportedly told Carter she was vulnerable. He told her to get into his vehicle and that he would help her, records show.

Once the woman got into the vehicle, Carter then drove to his home in the 5000 block of Perry and kept her locked up in his garage for years, court records show. The woman also accused Carter of forcing her to have sex with him, feeding her drugs and preventing her from leaving his home.

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Its not clear what happened with the pregnancy. Court records made no mention of a child at the home.

The woman told the officer that she contacted police several times through the Text Now app, but it only led to her being hospitalized and then released to Carter, according to court records.

The last time police and the Houston Fire Department came to the home, the woman said she broke the southern-facing window and climbed out to get the authorities attention. This escape attempt resulted in her going to the hospital, being released to Carter and him boarding up several windows, according to court records.

WHITMIRE VOWS TO MAKE HOUSTON SAFER: Mayor John Whitmire pushes back against crime stats, vows to make Houstonians feel safer

While locked in the garage, the woman said there was no shower and that Carter would allow her to bathe in the main home from time to time. The woman explained how she never saw anyone in Carters home, but she could hear him arguing with other women while she showered.

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Anytime the woman tried running away, she told the officer that Carter would grab her, return her to the garage and lock her in it again. She routinely pleaded to Carter to let her leave, but he would just threaten to physically assault her if she left his home, court records show. She accused Carter of giving her crack cocaine, pills and other drugs to make her physically unable to leave.

To survive, she subsided on chips and snacks, she told the officer.

The woman contacted police April 7 because Carter allowed her to use his laptop, according to court documents. With Carters laptop, she used the Text Now app to contact law enforcement and inform them that she was being held against her will. The woman said the last time she saw Carter was the day before police found her.

When Houston firefighters opened Carters garage, they saw boarded windows, a makeshift toilet that didnt flush, a sink with a faucet, a mattress covered in fresh vomit, a 74-inch TV, one box of assorted chips, a few packages of Twinkies and shelf with about four to five folded shirts and 10 to 15 diapers on it, court records show.

Officers did hear what sounded like two womens voices coming from inside Carters home, but after knocking on the door multiple times, they did not get an answer, according to court documents. Curtains covered all the windows in the home.

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KTRK late Friday identified Carter as Houston rapper Viper.

His next court date is Jan. 8 in front of Judge Veronica M. Nelson.
Update Jan. 6, 2024. Our original coverage appears below the update.

INCIDENT SUMMARY from the Washington County Sheriff's Office: According to Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy, on Thursday, Jan. 04, 2024 at 10:42 a.m., the Washington County Sheriffs Office responded to a report of a one car roll over accident with entrapment on State Route 4, near Needhamville Lane in the Town of Fort Ann.

Upon arriving, deputies located Thomas S. OBrien, 86, of Clarendon, Vermont.

Mr. OBrien was extricated from the vehicle by members of the Fort Ann Fire Department.

After extraction, he was transported to a nearby landing zone by Fort Ann EMS where he was then transferred to a LifeNet medical helicopter with severe head and facial injuries.

A preliminary investigation showed that Mr. OBrien had been traveling north on State Route 4 in his 2018 Volvo before the accident. A witness reported seeing Mr. OBriens vehicle swerving before speeding up and ultimately leaving the roadway and into a culvert on the east side of the Route 4 before rolling over and

landing on its roof.

Sheriffs Investigators are looking into the cause of the accident including the possibility of some type of medical event prior to the crash or any other contributing factors that may have played a role in the incident.

Mr. OBrien was flown to Albany Medical Center for treatment. A portion of Route 4 was closed for a time while the accident was cleared.

Original Post:

Jan. 4, 12:41p.m.: Google maps is showing clear traffic in the area of the Village of Fort Ann and Route 4 south of the village. We have not gotten the "all clear" from the Washington County Sheriff's office, but traffic looks to have cleared.

Jan. 4, 11:53: Our reporter Caton Deuso has spoken to one sheriff's deputy on scene who said it was a one-car roll-over with medical air lift.

Jan. 4 11:33: We have heard that Route 4 at Route 149 in the center of Fort Ann is cut off by emergency responders. Google Maps is showing congestion near that intersection. Again, we will have an official report later.

Jan. 4, 11:22 a.m.: We are hearing from the scanner of an air lift occurring at the McDermott Harley-Davidson dealer on Route 4 south of Fort Ann. An accident occurred north of there on Route 4 near Needhamville Lane south of the Village of Fort Ann. Southbound traffic is clogged through that area. We have a reporter on the way and will have more as events warrant.
From Saratoga Springs Police Department: Police reported finding human remains of a former Glens Falls resident over the holiday weekend.

Police responded on Saturday, Dec. 30 at approximately 10:52 a.m., to call was regarding possible human remains found in the area of South Broadway and Adelphi Street, an updated news release shared on the Saratoga Springs Police Department Facebook on Tuesday, Jan. 2, said.

Police said that after investigation of the scene a tentative identification of the victim was made as Paul Jamison, 79, with a last known address in Glens Falls.

The identification was made through the discovery of personal property at the scene, according to the release.

An autopsy was conducted on Sunday, Dec. 31, and preliminary reports show no signs of suspicious activity or a criminal aspect to Jamisons death, police said.

DNA samples have been obtained and a positive identification is pending those results.

The Saratoga Springs Police Department was assisted by New York State Police and the Saratoga County Coroners Office.
UPDATE: Jan. 6, 9:30 a.m.

In a statement issued Saturday morning, New York State Police named Skyway Coach Lines out of Markham Ontario as the company from which a charter bus carrying 23 individuals crashed while heading south-bound on the Interstate-87 Northway while traveling from Montreal Canada.

Troopers are asking anyone from the public who may have dash cam footage, or witnessed the crash, or the bus before the crash, to contact the New York State Police at Troop G Headquarters at (518) 783-3211. The southbound lanes of I-87 remain closed between Exits 23 and 22.

Original post:

New York State Police are investigating the bus crash on the Interstate-87 Northway that killed one person and sent at least nine others to area hospitals including one in critical condition who was flown by helicopter to Albany Medical Center.

It is unclear at this time how the bus, traveling south, lost control on a downhill stretch between Exits 23 and 22 and ended up on its side in the ditch alongside the highway.

According to the New York State Police, the bus was traveling to New York City with 23 people, mostly adults, aboard. The people aboard were Canadian citizens with some people from Switzerland, according to Warren County officials.

Along with the fatality, and one passenger with serious injuries, another 10 passengers had non-life threatening injuries, a state police press release said.

According to Warren County officials, one person went to Albany Medical Center aboard a helicopter. The medical center did not release any further information about the person.

At least eight people went to Glens Falls Hospital, according to Warren County communications director Don Lehman.

Another 11 people were brought to a staging area at the Lake George Firehouse. Those people had minor injuries or none at all. The Red Cross arrived there and is setting up a shelter or will help people shelter at hotels this evening.

Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement saying: "I join the people of New York in praying for the well-being of all involved in this horrific incident and am deeply grateful for the heroic efforts of our first responders."

Lake George's First Assistant Fire Chief Jim Barber said the purpose of the staging area at the fire station was to provide a place for "minor triage and (to) warm the patients."

The bus turned over near the construction zone where a bridge is being rebuilt over U.S. Route 9. As many as 30 emergency vehicles, including 12 ambulances arrived on scene. At least two helicopters responded, according to scanner traffic.

The Northway southbound is not open to traffic between Exits 22 and 23.

Correction: Our original post said the Northway was open. It is closed southbound, currently.
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ATLANTIC CITY  A boil-water emergency has been issued in the resort for at least the next couple of days, city officials announced Friday night in an emergency news conference.

Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority Deputy Executive Director Cliff Keen said a water processing issue Thursday night into Friday caused sludge from the settling basin to be recycled to the water treatment plant, causing turbidity  or the cloudiness of water caused by particles  in the filters to rise above required standards.

"What this means is the iron we normally pull from the water was put back into our treatment process, and our filters received more iron than they could remove," Keen said. "It made water cloudy. When the water is cloudy, there is a small potential for contaminants that can cause harmful effects on people (that) can enter the system and be masked by that cloudiness."

Because of that, the ACMUA and the state Department of Environmental Protection issued a drinking water warning, advising residents to boil water before consumption. That includes drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation. Residents are advised to boil water for one minute. Water reaches boiling at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bally's Atlantic City, in a news release Saturday morning, said the casino has a self-contained freshwater well system that is used to sustainably serve its property. That means Bally's is unaffected by the city's boil-water notice.

"This system is treated and inspected regularly to ensure our guests have access to fresh, clean water at all times," the casino said.

Harold Reeves, of the city Health Department's environment division, said they expect the boil-water emergency to last "maybe two days, until Monday."

"We ask that you do not panic," Reeves said Friday night. "We will be monitoring the situation to make sure you're in good hands."

Keen said that late Friday night, ACMUA crews would be flushing water in the city to remove any potential contaminants. He warned of dirty water that may come out of faucets and that people should wait until it clears before attempting to boil.

"After we confirm the compromised water is removed from the system, we'll be sampling water throughout the city to ensure that our water meets all quality standards to ensure our water is healthy, safe and there is no issues with the welfare of the public," Keen said.

Fire Chief Scott Evans also asked residents to keep their faucets running overnight Friday as there was a code blue in effect into Saturday morning due to freezing temperatures and the storms expected to pass through this weekend.

"We're going to be flushing hydrants, which will help create the clouds you might see. Be careful on roadways. In the areas where flushing is going on, drive slow," Evans said, adding that public works would be assisting in those areas, and extra salt may be laid down to help with the potential for frozen spots.

For more information, visit acmua.org or acnj.gov. People may also contact Ed Jones at 609-345-3315 or ejones@acmua.org. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
NORTH WILDWOOD  In April 2021, the city Planning Board gave a unanimous if reluctant yes to plans to dramatically reshape the citys bayfront, with new buildings, sweeping renovations to existing buildings and adding a new top floor to Marina Bay Towers on New York Avenue.

The project was, in part, supposed to help fund repairs to senior housing in the high-rise building, and resolve about 15 years worth of tangled litigation over the property, which had been built more than two decades earlier as affordable housing for seniors.

Even the applicant agreed the property was not in good shape. There had been multiple reports of leaks throughout the building, where a dwindling number of seniors still lived full time, and no reason to believe that those issues had been addressed in the meantime.

With the approvals in place, there has been no sign of work on the property, with no indication that work on the new structures is likely to begin soon.

Mayor Pat Rosenello and an advocate for the residents said there has been no indication that any repairs have begun, either.

The owner of the building, Paul Cocoziello, could not be contacted for an interview. There was no response to a phone message, and the phone numbers for Marina Bay Towers and several businesses associated with Cocoziello were disconnected.

The attorney who represented Cocoziello in front of the Planning Board in 2021, Sal Perillo, did not respond to a phone message either.

Since the Planning Board approval 32 months ago, property values in North Wildwood have continued to climb, Rosenello said, indicating there would be a market for new condominiums overlooking Beach Creek.

Nothing has transpired since then, Rosenello said. It is very, very unfortunate, the current state of that building. To have such a large parcel of bayfront not being very productive at all, its a shame.

Olga Pomar, an attorney who has represented residents of the building, suggested Wednesday that it is likely Cocoziello could not find investors to fund the proposed work.

But she, too, said she has little insight into the current conditions inside.

One of her clients has died since the litigation was active, she said, and others have moved out of the property. One sign of life she reported: a planned status conference with Judge Michael J. Blee with those involved in litigation connected to the property.

The lawsuits and counterlawsuits were active for about 15 years, covering most of the buildings existence. Pomar believes it likely that the owner will ask for permission to rent some units at market rate.

Documents on file in City Hall in 2021 put the estimated cost of the first project at $12 million, with the second building coming in at an estimated $65 million. There is further work planned for additional buildings at the property, which spans two city blocks.

Construction costs have risen sharply since the planning hearing.

While plans are to complete market-rate units as part of the extensive expansion, the existing 143 units at Marina Bay Towers are restricted to use as affordable housing.

Massive bayfront project planned for beleaguered Marina Bay Towers site NORTH WILDDOOD  A year after reaching a settlement on a tangled lawsuit over the future of 

In testimony to the Planning Board in 2021, Cocoziello said repairing the senior housing units was the primary motivation for the expansion project. He said he would not have the funds to make the needed repairs without the project.

At that time, between 20 and 30 of the units were occupied. Pomar believes that number is now fewer than 20.

Its such a wasted resource, she said. Its a beautiful building in a beautiful location, and affordable housing is such a badly needed commodity.

The towering structure looks much as it did two years ago, with some boards on the windows and some exterior indications of water damage, and some signs of life, with a few cars in the parking lot on a January morning.

Rosenello pointed out that the building is still subject to inspection, and said to his knowledge there have been no citations issued on the property.

Attempts to contact residents of the property for comment were unsuccessful. On Wednesday, two men working at the associated marina at the property had no information about when work could start at any of the proposed new buildings.

At the 2021 Planning Board hearing, Rosenello said the building is in complete disrepair and that approving the project offered the best chance for repairs to take place to the existing units.

Further complicating matters for the city, Pomar said, is that North Wildwood has included the affordable housing units at Marina Bay Towers in its fair share housing plan.

North Wildwood Planning Board supports massive bayfront project NORTH WILDWOOD  In two unanimous votes Wednesday, the citys Planning Board supported a mul

Some neighbors opposed approving the expansion, but some residents of the existing building supported the plans in hopes of speeding the repairs to the current building.

The approved plans call for the renovation of one floor of the existing building, followed by the addition of another story to allow for two-floor penthouse apartments. Under that plan, the completed building would have 105 affordable housing units and 60 units to be sold at market rate.

The North Wildwood board also gave preliminary site plan approval to a second high-rise to be built next to the existing building, on a crushed-shell lot currently used to store boats for the marina. That building will include 144 residential units, four levels of parking underneath and a two-story penthouse. Plans are for those to be sold as condo units, with 60 to be used as condo/hotel units to be rented through a central management company.

The boats remain in place on that lot, with no sign of preparation work there or anywhere else on the property.

The application included plans for expansive new construction at the site as well as proposed renovations to the existing marina.

With work planned in phases, the application included renovations and expansion to the existing boathouse, an additional 56-foot-tall retail and apartment building being described as a lighthouse, and a marina club and 333-seat restaurant to include a rooftop pool.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  As 2023 ends and the nights get shorter, those nights will also likely get colder in January and February.

That can impact everyone, but it can be especially difficult for those without permanent homes.

It is difficult to get reliable information on how many people are without homes in Cape May County, but local officials and advocates for the homeless agree the issue is at its most visible in the Rio Grande section of the township.

Residents have complained about worsening problems with crime and panhandling. Those without housing have said they have few options, and no money to pay fines if citations are issued.

This year, the Township Committee approved an ordinance aimed at curbing encampments in the woods. Mayor Tim Donohue described the ordinance as governing temporary structures, not an attempt to criminalize those with nowhere else to go.

This is centered around the homeless, but really the intent of the ordinance is to maintain the health and safety of the community, Donohue said.

In some of the camps, he said, police found unsanitary conditions, such as garbage dumps and makeshift sewer systems, as well as fires and drug paraphernalia.

These are things we simply cant tolerate, he said.

As homelessness climbs in Cape, Middle Township says it cant go it alone Finding safe, affordable housing for those without shelter is too big a problem for Middle Township, Mayor Tim Donohue said at the most recent meeting of the Township Committee.

At The Branches, an outreach service at 201 Hirst Ave. that provides meals, food and support, one woman said things have gotten worse over the past year, saying police would seek to keep people from standing on corners.

If these people cant afford shelter, a bus, a phone, giving them a ticket is not going to help them, said Stephanie Soto, 34. She said she has been coming to the Community Wellness Center for about two months, and homeless for roughly two years. As a single mother, she said, it is extremely difficult to find a place she can afford to live.

Even with two, three jobs, its impossible, she said.

Staff at The Branches say the township ordinance has made life worse for their clients.

We live in an area which lacks an overnight homeless shelter, adequate transitional housing opportunities and adequate affordable housing opportunities, said Tyler Keene, who recently started as the executive director of The Branches. Where are people experiencing homelessness supposed to go? When you ask where is one legal place someone experiencing homelessness can sleep and the answer is consistently nowhere, then what are people supposed to do?

Seeking regional answers

Donohue, who did not seek reelection this year and will end his term as mayor in early January, acknowledges the problem and said he is sympathetic, but he also said the problem is beyond the townships ability to address.

He wants more involvement from Cape May County. Donohue cited efforts in Cumberland County and elsewhere that he said have been successful in getting people housed, with strict rules of behavior. There have been meetings with advocates and county officials, but so far, no next step, he said.

Status quo in Rio Grande tent community At least for now, nothing appears to have changed in the tent community in the woods in the Rio Grande section of Middle Township.

It sort of keeps getting pushed back into Middle Townships lap, Donohue said. We really need the county to step up and be a partner with this.

County officials say they are working on making things better.

The county continues to assist numerous residents who are in need of housing, and who are willing to accept help, county spokesperson Diane Wieland said Friday in an emailed statement. The homeless population in Rio Grande is a more complex issue and largely consists of people who are unwilling to accept help which presents multiple layers of complexities. The county continues to be an active participant in the discussions on how best to serve this unique and specific population.

Several sources indicate there is a greater police presence in Rio Grande, where police recently opened a new, larger substation. And some have said there have been citations issued to people staying in tents, although Donohue said to his knowledge only two summonses have been issued so far, and in both instances, they have been given to landowners, not the people living there.

The ordinance does not allow people to stay in temporary structures where there is no permanent structure.

If your kids want to camp out overnight in your yard, youre fine. You cant set up a tent city, Donohue said.

People still gather in public places during the day, often close to where services are being offered.

Weve been told its public property. Theres really not much anybody can do about that, said Denise Venturini-South, president of the organization Cape Hope.

Rio Grandes tent dwellers may have until Monday to vacate Time may be running out for those who live in Middle Township's homeless encampments, with a new township ordinance banning living in tents. Residents there said they may have to be out of the area by Monday.

Some people have died from exposure in previous winters, South said.

Real risks on cold nights

A lot of these folks are not healthy. They have underlying medical issues, she said. It can be about as uncomfortable sleeping outside on a 35-degree night as one that drops to 32, she said, and as dangerous. Hypothermia can set in.

Her group tries to get people indoors, in a hotel room or a longer-term housing option. Still, each night some number of people will remain out in the cold.

On cold nights, cold enough for an official declaration of Code Blue  usually described as 25 degrees or colder, or 32 degrees with rain or snow  there are warming centers in Middle and Lower townships.

On those nights, there is somewhere warm available, with food and shelter for anyone who asks. But there is not a Code Blue every night, and not everyone wants to go to the warming centers.

Just how many homeless there are is little more than anyones guess, all the more so under the township ordinance approved in June banning people from sleeping in tents.

Getting more remote

Middle Township approves ban on sleeping in tents MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  Advocates raised a persistent question at the Monday Township Committee me

South said she could not say for certain whether the ordinance has had an impact on the numbers of homeless people in Rio Grande, but it has meant a change in patterns.

It has led to a lot of the homeless people being scattered, she said, finding places in Lower Township or more remote spots in Middle Township or elsewhere in the county.

We have been told that people are being ticketed, South said.

One of the property owners who has been cited is cooperating with the township, Donohue said, while another may challenge the ordinance in court. He said it is likely the ordinance will face a legal challenge.

Jeffrey Wild, an attorney at the Lowenstein Sandler law firm and a trustee of the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness, agreed to represent some of those living in tents. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Our lawyers have talked to their lawyers, Donohue said. The threat of legal action is out there.

Donohue has said the township simply does not have the resources to address homelessness, an issue for which long-term solutions have eluded major cities, the state and the federal government.

Even the strongest advocates for those without homes say there are multiple problems intermingling, from mental health and substance abuse to the broader economic context. South said the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact.

Middle Township ordinance: No living in tents MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  For years, residents, advocates and police have reported encampments in th

But South brought the matter back to a basic concern: There are few options for affordable housing in Cape May County. More and more, she said, people who have lived their lives in or near Middle Township, who have had careers and families, are slipping into extreme poverty.

Most of the clients at The Branches come from nearby, Keene said.

We have guests who have worked for decades who fell on hard times, guests whose homelessness was a result of the costs associated with life-altering illness, families with young children who fell on hard times, veterans who served our nation, senior citizens sleeping in their cars, people with mental health and addiction issues who are not always receiving the resources they need, he said. Where are they supposed to go? Regardless of the circumstances, everyone deserves basic human dignity.

Some migrate from couch to guest room to couch, relying on friends and family members for a few nights at a time. An increasing number of people now live in their vehicles, South said, comparing it to stories of the Great Depression.

This is a problem that has been festering, she said. Like an infection that has been growing for a very, very long time. The Band-Aids that have been applied in the past, they do not work anymore.

The tent ordinance would have a different impact if there were other options open to people, Keene said.

Yes, we do need to find a place for these people, Donohue said. He rejected characterizing the townships efforts as some sort of crackdown.

Some help offered

Residents raise objections to latest move to revitalize Rio Grande MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  There seems to be little disagreement that the Rio Grande section of the t

In instances in which property owners have sought help from police in removing encampments, the police bring along people from the organization Volunteers of America to help people access social services, Donohue said.

Some decline any assistance, he said, and the requirements that come with it. Those without housing are not a homogeneous population, Donohue said, with some temporarily without shelter, facing family issues, economic pressures or health issues.

Some have lived in the woods for years, with some holding jobs while living in the woods. Others struggle with mental health concerns, substance abuse issues or both.

We have people roaming around Rio Grande. Some are not well connected to reality, Donohue said. In many cases, there is little that police or anyone else can do for someone who declines help.

If we do have compassion for these folks, sometimes tough love is in order to get them on a better path, Donohue said.

The demand is growing. Keene said the food pantry at The Branches saw a 14% increase in demand this year, mostly seniors and families with young children.

While the unhoused population in the county has become increasingly visible, it remains a bigger problem than what is obvious, Keene said.

There are many more people experiencing homelessness in our community than most realize. People have found ways to survive, but they are not ways we would wish on any human being, he said. We have guests with severe mental illness who sleep in Dumpsters. It is heartbreaking.

Staff Photographer Matthew Strabuk contributed to this report.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection boat heads south on the Rio Grande River at the international border crossing between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Friday morning, August 18, 2017. The Eagle Pass Golf Course (left) sits on the bank of the river between the two bridges. Mark Mulligan/Mark Mulligan / Houston Chronicle

Abbotts immigration policies

Regarding Abbotts new border security law sets cops up for failure (Opinion), (Dec. 29): Each time I see a news clip, read a story or listen to a report that features the border I am sad. In 1958, Eagle Pass  also known as El Paso del Aguila  was a welcoming town for most children and new arrivals like us. Yes, small towns are not designed for or capable of handling the flow of migrants that have become commonplace.

The few maquiladoras like Dickies, manufacturer of work clothes, absorbed most of the available workers. And like Dickies clothes, migrants would flow to other parts of the country after a few months.

The elected leaders of Texas have demonized welcoming border towns such as Eagle Pass, Laredo, Mission and even El Paso, where I took basic training in 1969. They mischaracterize an asylum process that was never meant to absorb or service the mass of humanity that the seemingly endless caravans of people represent.

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It is difficult to ascertain that each person who presents themselves to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in normal circumstances, much less in the situation that has become our new normal today.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans in federal posts have resisted efforts to modernize the countrys immigration policies, laws and procedures in large part because it is convenient to their political purposes. In resisting much-needed action they succeed in demonizing persons who are victims of our own foreign policy choices.

No attention is given to the push-pull factors that have influenced migration flows globally, just as they influence migration within the country. The refrain Its the economy, stupid applies as much internationally as nationally.

The last major overhaul of U.S. immigration policy and procedure was signed into law by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Abbott and his lot are no Reagan, and they would have you believe that Eagle Pass is no longer welcoming. Thank you for your work.

J. Michael Trevino, Houston

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Unfortunately, the governors focus is not on the border but on what his border policies do for his political standing, especially among his right-wing supporters.

Thus, Senate Bill 4 is without a doubt effective, politically, for Gov. Greg Abbott. The farther you go north from the border, the simpler solutions seem to be.

The actual impact of SB4 I cant judge, as new laws have uncertain, often unintended, consequences. I do become discouraged with the political process, which does not allow a cooperative effort. Should SB4 actually be a good idea (doubtful), how much more effective could it have been had the federal authorities and state authorities collaborated?

I have no doubt Abbott knows what he is doing, using the border as a political rallying point, even if his policies have little impact on the number of migrants entering or remaining for varying periods of time.

Harry Elliott, Houston

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I was born here in Texas, as were my parents and two of my grandparents. When visiting my grandparents in Fronton, near the border, we had to carry our birth certificates with us.

Back then, they would stop anyone who looked Mexican and wave the white-looking people through.

I am 74 years old and went to segregated schools. I was told not to go to college as there were no jobs for graduates in Corpus Christi. Even recent immigrants have it better than we did.

Manuel Barrera, Houston

The immigration problems at our southern border are very complicated and without a clear solution. One contributing problem is politicians putting politics before country.



Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said the quiet part out loud in a CNN interview this week when he admitted that he has no plans to support any border deal right now because it could benefit President Joe Biden in November.

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Let me tell you, Im not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Bidens approval rating, Nehls said. I will not help the Democrats try to improve this mans dismal approval ratings. Im not going to do it.

Sad, but thats the state of affairs we find ourselves in these days.

Jost Lunstroth, Houston

Regarding Abbott targets immigrants because they cant vote (Opinion), (Dec. 27): Good to see that Dr. Tatcho Mindiola has not lost his ability to get to the real meat of the issue. When he directed the Mexican American Studies program at the University of Houston, I always appreciated his insight. Abbott seems to be bought and paid for by those magnet industries Mindiola points out attract undocumented immigrants. The governors blatant hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Tim Conley, Houston
Before earning multiple ivy-league degrees, Dr. Alan Garber attended Rock Island High School.

On Tuesday, Garber took over as the interim president of Harvard University.

"Our former students are out in the world doing great things and this is just one example of this," Rock Island-Milan School District said in a statement Friday. "We are extremely proud of Dr. Garber and all of his accomplishments."

Formerly serving as Harvard's provost and chief academic officer for 12 years, Garber will serve as interim president until the university selects its new chief leader.

While Garber attended Rocky, he is not a Rocky graduate, He actually graduated from Stephen Tyng Mather High School in northern Chicago, according to the school's year book and friends.

The Rock Island Argus published an article about Garber's selection as a National Merit Scholarship Finalist on May 1, 1973. The article notes he plans to attend Harvard in the fall.

Though the reason behind Garber's transfer is unclear, former Rocky classmate David Sherrard said it may have to do with Rocky's advanced placement (AP) offerings at the time.

"I grew up with Alan, his (twin) sister Debra and his brother David," Sherrard said in a Rock Island High School Class of 1973 Facebook post.

Sherrard noted Garber's intelligence, including testing out of general courses and getting a master's in economics at Harvard before moving on to medical school at Stanford.

Garber wore yet another hat while at Stanford, too, earning his PhD in economics from Harvard.

"Alan is truly gifted," Sherrard said.

Another former classmate, Ann Erwin, posted that Garber and "Debbie" were "very smart and poised."

"I remember Alan could easily beat me in any debate," Erwin said. "Bravo and congratulations to him."

Miles Rich, now of Bradenton, Florida, attended Camp Tivkah  a summer camp through the former Rock Island Tri City Jewish Center  with the Garber kids.

He graduated from Rocky with Garber's older brother, David.

While he said he did not know Garber incredibly well, Rich believes his new role at Harvard  and prestigious academic journey  are testament to the Jewish Community in the Quad-Cities.

"He was a well-rounded kid  really brilliant," Rich told the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times. "The (QC) Jewish community, especially in Rock Island, back 50 years ago, was a vibrant community."

He recalled the local Jewish community placing a high value in education and achievement.

"The Quad-Cities should be proud of him," Rich said. "That's for sure."

Garber's new interim role comes as Claudine Gay, Harvard's 30th president, announced her resignation amid backlash from a congressional hearing about antisemitism on college campuses last month and accusations of plagiarism.

Still, Gay will continue teaching Government and African and African-American Studies at Harvard, a position she's held since 2006.

A statement from the Harvard Corporation, the university's top governing body, thanked Gay for her, "unwavering commitment to Harvard and to the pursuit of academic excellence."

"She has devoted her career to an institution whose ideals and priorities she has worked tirelessly to advance, and we are grateful for the extraordinary contributions she has made  and will continue to make  as a leader, a teacher, a scholar, a mentor, and an inspiration to many," the statement said.

Harvard Corporation's statement also thanked Garber for stepping into the interim role.

"An economist and a physician, he is a distinguished and wide-ranging scholar with appointments at Harvard Medical School, Harvards Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We are fortunate to have someone of Alans broad and deep experience, incisive judgment collaborative style, and extraordinary institutional knowledge to carry forward key priorities and to guide the university through this interim period."

Argus archives also revealed Garber won an "outstanding" award at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science's state contest in May of 1969.

His project  one of forty selected for the award  was on "the effects of drugs on brine shrimp," according to Newspaper.com clippings.

At the time, Garber was an eighth-grader at Edison Jr. High School in Rock Island.

Gannon Hanevold of the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times contributed to this report.

Photos: Alleman at Rock Island High Girls Basketball
Two people wanted in Texas were arrested Thursday in Davenport on drug, gun and theft charges after they were allegedly caught in a stolen RV valued at more than $400,000, police said.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Cpl. Patrick Sievert, at 4:35 p.m. Thursday, officers were sent to investigate a traffic issue at the intersection of Kimberly Road and Elmore Avenue.

Officers found Deanna Rae Corey, 38, and Jason Victor Goforth, 49, also known in court records as Jason Victor Gofroth Jr., both of Bellow Falls, Vermont, in a 2020 Dutch Star recreational vehicle valued at $415,000 that had been reported stolen out of Knoxville, Tennessee. According to the affidavit, Goforth admitted to possessing the vehicle for about a month.

Goforth was in possession of a Smith and Wesson Model 640 .38-caliber gun, the affidavit said.

He has felony convictions for felony battery in Florida in 2003, kidnapping and false imprisonment in Florida in 2003, unauthorized use of a vehicle in 1997 in Texas, theft of property in 2005 in Texas, and aggravated robbery in 1997 in Florida.

Corey was in possession of four separate packages of crystal meth weighting a total of 40.65 grams, according to the affidavit.

Both Corey and Goforth are charged in Scott County District Court with first-degree theft, a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

Goforth also is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years.

Corey also is charged with possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of methamphetamine. The charge is a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 25 years. She also is charged with violating Iowas drug tax stamp law, a Class D felony.

During a first appearance on the charges Friday in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Catherine Cartee scheduled a preliminary hearing in their cases for Jan. 12.

Goforth is wanted in Galveston County, Texas on a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to district court electronic records.

Goforth was being held Saturday in the Scott County Jail on a cash-only bond of $60,000 for the Scott County charges, and a bond of $60,000, cash or surety, on the interstate warrant out of Texas.

Corey is wanted out of Comal County, Texas, on a charge of endangering a child.

Corey was being held Saturday in the Scott County Jail on a cash-only bond of $25,000 for the Scott County charges, and $3,000, cash or surety, on the interstate warrant out of Texas.
Before earning multiple ivy-league degrees, Dr. Alan Garber attended Rock Island High School.

On Tuesday, Garber took over as the interim president of Harvard University.

"Our former students are out in the world doing great things and this is just one example of this," Rock Island-Milan School District said in a statement Friday. "We are extremely proud of Dr. Garber and all of his accomplishments."

Formerly serving as Harvard's provost and chief academic officer for 12 years, Garber will serve as interim president until the university selects its new chief leader.

While Garber attended Rocky, he is not a Rocky graduate, He actually graduated from Stephen Tyng Mather High School in northern Chicago, according to the school's year book and friends.

The Rock Island Argus published an article about Garber's selection as a National Merit Scholarship Finalist on May 1, 1973. The article notes he plans to attend Harvard in the fall.

Though the reason behind Garber's transfer is unclear, former Rocky classmate David Sherrard said it may have to do with Rocky's advanced placement (AP) offerings at the time.

"I grew up with Alan, his (twin) sister Debra and his brother David," Sherrard said in a Rock Island High School Class of 1973 Facebook post.

Sherrard noted Garber's intelligence, including testing out of general courses and getting a master's in economics at Harvard before moving on to medical school at Stanford.

Garber wore yet another hat while at Stanford, too, earning his PhD in economics from Harvard.

"Alan is truly gifted," Sherrard said.

Another former classmate, Ann Erwin, posted that Garber and "Debbie" were "very smart and poised."

"I remember Alan could easily beat me in any debate," Erwin said. "Bravo and congratulations to him."

Miles Rich, now of Bradenton, Florida, attended Camp Tivkah  a summer camp through the former Rock Island Tri City Jewish Center  with the Garber kids.

He graduated from Rocky with Garber's older brother, David.

While he said he did not know Garber incredibly well, Rich believes his new role at Harvard  and prestigious academic journey  are testament to the Jewish Community in the Quad-Cities.

"He was a well-rounded kid  really brilliant," Rich told the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times. "The (QC) Jewish community, especially in Rock Island, back 50 years ago, was a vibrant community."

He recalled the local Jewish community placing a high value in education and achievement.

"The Quad-Cities should be proud of him," Rich said. "That's for sure."

Garber's new interim role comes as Claudine Gay, Harvard's 30th president, announced her resignation amid backlash from a congressional hearing about antisemitism on college campuses last month and accusations of plagiarism.

Still, Gay will continue teaching Government and African and African-American Studies at Harvard, a position she's held since 2006.

A statement from the Harvard Corporation, the university's top governing body, thanked Gay for her, "unwavering commitment to Harvard and to the pursuit of academic excellence."

"She has devoted her career to an institution whose ideals and priorities she has worked tirelessly to advance, and we are grateful for the extraordinary contributions she has made  and will continue to make  as a leader, a teacher, a scholar, a mentor, and an inspiration to many," the statement said.

Harvard Corporation's statement also thanked Garber for stepping into the interim role.

"An economist and a physician, he is a distinguished and wide-ranging scholar with appointments at Harvard Medical School, Harvards Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We are fortunate to have someone of Alans broad and deep experience, incisive judgment collaborative style, and extraordinary institutional knowledge to carry forward key priorities and to guide the university through this interim period."

Argus archives also revealed Garber won an "outstanding" award at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science's state contest in May of 1969.

His project  one of forty selected for the award  was on "the effects of drugs on brine shrimp," according to Newspaper.com clippings.

At the time, Garber was an eighth-grader at Edison Jr. High School in Rock Island.

Gannon Hanevold of the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times contributed to this report.
JANUARY 23

Quad City Gospel Celebration

WQPT PBS and The Friends of MLK invite you to join them for the Quad City Gospel Celebration, a night filled with uplifting music and powerful performances at 7 p.m., Tuesday, January 23, at Adler Theatre, Davenport. Free admission - reservations requested.

Get ready to be moved by the soulful voices and heartfelt lyrics of talented gospel artists from the Quad City area, including: Jerry Johnson and the Voices of the QC, Ashley Dean, Olivet Baptist Church Male Chorus, Gospel Mission Temple Inspirational Choir, Dwayne Hodges, Pastor Sam Kyles and Vision, and Gospel Soul Revivers.

In addition to enjoying these outstanding performers, you will be part of the live audience as WQPT PBS tapes the concert. The concert will be broadcast on WQPT PBS, in conjunction with GOSPEL, a new 4-hour docuseries that explores the rich history of Black spirituality through sermon and song, produced by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Whether you're a long-time fan of gospel music or simply looking for an evening of inspiration, the Quad City Gospel Celebration is the perfect event for you. Gather your friends and family and come together to celebrate the uplifting power of gospel music.

To reserve your free tickets, visit: wqpt.org/qcgospel or call 309-764-2400.

Free admission to the concert is made possible through the support of our presenting sponsor, Royal Neighbors of America, and the Adler Theatre Foundation.

As a public media service of Western Illinois University, WQPT PBS actively serves a diverse audience throughout the West Central Illinois and Eastern Iowa region.

JANUARY 27

Discover a rejuvenated version of yourself in 2024 at free retreat

The holidays are supposed to be a joyous time, but they also can be overloaded with obligations, high expectations, financial pressures, loneliness and stress.

To help reorient and bring forth a rejuvenated you in the new year, the Spiritual Growth Mission at Grace Lutheran Church invites those in the greater Quad-City community to Reflect  Release  Renew, a free morning retreat from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Jan. 27, at Grace Lutheran Church, in Pat Bell Hall, 1140 E. High St., Davenport. Refreshments will be served.

Featured speaker will be Chris McCormick Pries, board-certified advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) with the Vera French Community Mental Health Center in Davenport for 45 years, having served as its clinical director until her semi-retirement in 2020. Since then, she has continued her work at Vera French on a part-time basis, seeing patients and mentoring graduate students in psychiatric/mental health nursing. She is also very active in the community, including serving as the chairperson of the Diocese of Davenport Sexual Abuse Review Board, as a parish nurse at St. John Vianney in Bettendorf, as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa School of Nursing and preceptor to physician assistant students at St. Ambrose University, to name just a few.

During the holidays, we can deplete ourselves of energy, focus and purpose. We give to everyone else but ourselves. As we move into the new year, it becomes important to pause, take an opportunity to replenish ourselves and then move through the five important stages that can reshape what we are doing and how we are thinking, she says.

Those five stages are:

 Replenishing

 Reflecting

 Refocusing

 Recommitting and

 Rejoicing.

McCormick Pries will take participants on a deep dive into each stage and offer practical ways to fully implement them in our lives. The retreat will be a way for all of us to give a gift to ourselves by looking inward, taking care of ourselves, recharging our batteries and filling ourselves with positive spiritual energy that will help carry us through the new year, she says.

While this retreat is free to all in the community, participants are asked to pre-register by calling Grace Lutheran Church at 563-322-0769 or by going to www.GraceWelcomesYou.org.
DES MOINES  A trio of Fox News town halls with presidential candidates in Des Moines next week will dig into the issues that are motivating Americas voters for the 2024 election, especially when it comes to women, Fox Newss Martha MacCallum said in an interview with Lee Enterprises.

The network will host town hall events with Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, just days before Iowa Republicans head to the caucuses and kick off the presidential nominating process. The town halls will be moderated by MacCallum, executive editor and anchor of The Story; and Bret Baier, the chief political anchor for Special Report.

The Haley town hall will be held at 5 p.m. Jan. 8, the DeSantis town hall will be held at 5 p.m. Jan. 9, and the Trump town hall will be held at 8 p.m. Jan. 10. The Trump town hall will take place at the same time as CNNs scheduled debate between DeSantis and Haley, also in Des Moines.

The DeSantis and Haley town halls are billed by Fox News as being focused on womens issues. MacCallum said the town halls will broadly cover the issues that women, especially suburban women, care about. She said suburban women have been a decisive voting population in past elections, and how they vote in 2024 will be a key factor in the outcome.

For most people issues are issues, whether youre a man or a woman, she said. And a lot of these issues go across the board. But because its such an interesting group to watch on election night, I hope that within these town halls, were going to get a sense from the women in the room about where they are on all of this.

The town halls will be held in front of a live audience and much of the time is planned to be dedicated to questions from the audience. The network will select from questions the audience submits to present to the candidates, MacCallum said.

The issues MacCallum said she expects to cover in the town halls include the economy, the border, crime and abortion.

DeSantis, Haley and Trump have participated in a number of town halls and televised media events throughout the caucus campaign held by major cable news networks. CNN held back-to-back town halls with DeSantis and Haley on Thursday.

Whats different this time, MacCallum said, is the level of attention voters are paying to the presidential primary, with just a few days left until the caucuses.

I think the difference now is that were so close, MacCallum said. And that people have had opportunities to listen to these candidates. I think, also, all of them are sharpening their games in the recent weeks, which I think is very interesting to watch.

Baier occasionally clashed with Trump in a June interview when the former president defended withholding classified documents after leaving the presidency and repeated unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

MacCallum said she hopes the town hall does not get too eaten up by Trumps false election claims or multiple criminal indictments. She said Republican voters generally are less interested in those issues compared to issues like the economy and the border.

Im sure that well touch on some of those issues, but I hope that we spend the majority of the time talking about the things that we know voters care about the most, she said.

Photos: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigns in Waterloo, Dec. 19 Trump Waterloo 1 Trump Waterloo 2 Trump Waterloo 3 Trump Waterloo 4 Trump Waterloo 5 Trump Waterloo 6 Trump Waterloo 7 Trump Waterloo 8 Trump Waterloo 9 Trump Waterloo 10 Trump Waterloo 11 Trump Waterloo 12
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be kept off the ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, inserting the court squarely in the 2024 presidential campaign.

The justices acknowledged the need to reach a decision quickly, as voters will soon begin casting presidential primary ballots across the country. The court agreed to take up a case from Colorado stemming from Trumps role in the events that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Underscoring the urgency, arguments will be held on Feb. 8, during what is normally a nearly monthlong winter break for the justices. The compressed timeframe could allow the court to produce a decision before Super Tuesday on March 5, when the largest number of delegates are up for grabs in a single day, including in Colorado.

Trump's campaign welcomed Friday's announcement. "We are confident that the fair-minded Supreme Court will unanimously affirm the civil rights of President Trump, and the voting rights of all Americans in a ruling that will squash all of the remaining ballot challenge hoaxes once and for all, spokesman Steven Cheung said.

The court will be considering for the first time the meaning and reach of a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who engaged in insurrection from holding public office. The amendment was adopted in 1868, following the Civil War. It has been so rarely used that the nation's highest court had no previous occasion to interpret it.

Colorado's Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, ruled last month that Trump should not be on the Republican primary ballot. The decision was the first time the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot.

Trump is separately appealing to state court a ruling by Maines Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, that he was ineligible to appear on that states ballot over his role in the Capitol attack. Both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of states rulings are on hold until the appeals play out.

The high court's decision to intervene, which both sides called for, is the most direct involvement in a presidential election since Bush v. Gore in 2000, when a conservative majority effectively decided the election for Republican George W. Bush. Only Justice Clarence Thomas remains from that court.

Three of the nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Trump, though they have repeatedly ruled against him in 2020 election-related lawsuits, as well as his efforts to keep documents related to Jan. 6 and his tax returns from being turned over to congressional committees.

Some Democratic lawmakers have called on conservative justice Clarence Thomas to step aside from the case because of his wife's support for Trumps effort to overturn the results of the election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Thomas is unlikely to agree. He has recused himself from only one other case related to the 2020 election, involving former law clerk John Eastman, and so far the people trying to disqualify Trump havent asked him to recuse.

The 4-3 Colorado decision cites a ruling by Gorsuch when he was a federal judge in that state. That Gorsuch decision upheld Colorado's move to strike a naturalized citizen from the state's presidential ballot because he was born in Guyana and didn't meet the constitutional requirements to run for office. The court found that Trump likewise doesn't meet the qualifications due to his role in the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. That day, the Republican president had held a rally outside the White House and exhorted his supporters to fight like hell before they walked to the Capitol.

The two-sentence provision in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that anyone who swore an oath to uphold the constitution and then engaged in insurrection against it is no longer eligible for state or federal office. After Congress passed an amnesty for most of the former confederates the measure targeted in 1872, the provision fell into disuse until dozens of suits were filed to keep Trump off the ballot this year. Only the one in Colorado was successful.

Trump had asked the court to overturn the Colorado ruling without even hearing arguments. The Colorado Supreme Court decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide, Trumps lawyers wrote.

They argue that Trump should win on many grounds, including that the events of Jan. 6 did not constitute an insurrection. Even if it did, they wrote, Trump himself had not engaged in insurrection. They also contend that the insurrection clause does not apply to the president and that Congress must act, not individual states.

Critics of the former president who sued in Colorado agreed that the justices should step in now and resolve the issue, as do many election law experts.

This case is of utmost national importance. And given the upcoming presidential primary schedule, there is no time to wait for the issues to percolate further. The Court should resolve this case on an expedited timetable, so that voters in Colorado and elsewhere will know whether Trump is indeed constitutionally ineligible when they cast their primary ballots, lawyers for the Colorado plaintiffs told the Supreme Court.

The issue of whether Trump can be on the ballot is not the only matter related to the former president or Jan. 6 that has reached the high court.

The justices last month declined a request from special counsel Jack Smith to swiftly take up and rule on Trumps claims that he is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, though the issue could be back before the court soon depending on the ruling of a Washington-based appeals court.

And the court has said that it intends to hear an appeal that could upend hundreds of charges stemming from the Capitol riot, including against Trump.

Read more:
The City of Martin, South Dakota and the Oglala Sioux Tribe are at odds over a public records request sent by the tribe.

The City of Martin has asked that the Oglala Sioux Tribe waive its sovereign immunity or pre-pay an undetermined amount of attorney fees and administrative fees for the records it requested. The South Dakota American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is challenging this through the South Dakota Office of Hearing Examiners.

On August 25, under the South Dakota Sunshine Act, the tribe requested records relating to potential violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to the South Dakota ACLU.

The initial request from the tribe asked for an extensive list of documents, each of which span a time range of 20 years, including election results, redistricting maps (boundary changes and reorganization plans), agendas from meetings where redistricting was discussed, any and all analysis of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act or Gingles factors and more.

On September 11, the City of Martin denied the tribes request unless the tribe waived its sovereign immunity and paid upfront for time spent gathering records and attorney fees for 20 years' worth of records. City representatives said requested attorney fees were included as many of the records required an attorneys assistance to locate.

After the denial, the tribe got in touch with the South Dakota ACLU. Working with the ACLU, the requested records were narrowed down to a 10-year time frame rather than 20.

The tribe, represented by the ACLU, Native American Rights Fund and Public Council, is appealing the City of Martins stipulations in the South Dakota Office of Hearing Examiners.

The ACLU said the charging of attorney fees and request to waive tribal sovereignty are unreasonable.

Why do they not want to produce these records without imposing these very stiff, punitive demands on the tribe like making them agree to prepay attorneys fees in an unknown amount and also waive their tribal sovereign immunity, said Stephanie Amiotte, legal director of the ACLU of South Dakota and a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, in a phone call. It certainly begs the question, why aren't they just producing these records as they would to any other requester if, in fact, everything is in accordance with the Voting Rights Act or the law.

The City of Martin said it's asking for attorney fees to be charged due to the nature of the documents requested.

The requests are vague and broad, leaving it difficult for a layperson to determine whether a statutory exception applies, said Sara Frankenstein, an attorney representing the City of Martin. Many of the requests require legal analysis as to whether the documents sought are excluded from public disclosure pursuant to South Dakota law. Additionally, the request sought documents spanning over twenty years. Such a huge and broad request is taxing on the City of Martins resources and its citizenry. The City of Martin is small, and resources are thin.

Generally, tribal sovereignty allows tribes to be free from lawsuits whether private or commercial, much like any other nation. The tribe is choosing to pursue action through the Office of Hearing Examiners because it says the conditions sought by the City of Martin are unreasonable or sought in bad faith.

The City of Martins legal counsel said the city requested that the tribe waive its sovereign immunity to ensure the request would be paid should it be fulfilled.

Due to sovereign immunity, the City does not have legal recourse for collecting the applicable fee should the Tribe not pay, and the amount may be substantial if the ACLU continues to demand 20 years worth of broad-ranging documents, Frankenstein said.

Frankenstein also said if the Oglala Sioux Tribe or ACLU refuses to pay for the records request or sovereign immunity is not waived, Martin taxpayers will have to foot the bill.

The ACLU said a request to waive sovereign immunity reflects a larger problem facing Indian Country.

It really carries bigger implications than that because it amounts to a gradual erosion of the constitutionally protected status as a sovereign nation, Amiotte said. We see that every day in attempts by states to take that sovereign status away through encroachment on jurisdictional issues, and just other areas that tribes really do enjoy that status as a sovereign nation to govern in a manner that other governments are allowed to govern.

Records shared with the Rapid City Journal and ICT suggest the City of Martin did share a January 2022 redistricting map with the tribe; however, no other records will be shared without pre-payment.

The ACLUs press release is wildly inaccurate, Frankenstein said in an email to the Journal and ICT. First, the City has yet to deny any document requested, other than broadly asserting a general denial that protected or privileged documents will not be disclosed, if the ACLU truly seeks them. The ACLU is not contesting the withholding of protected or privileged documents, so no denial of records is at issue here. In other words, there has been no denial to trigger any judicial review.

The City of Martin and Bennett County are within the exterior boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation and are considered by the Department of the Interior to be reservation land. State agencies, however, such as the South Dakota Department of Transportation, generally list Bennett County as not being within the reservation. Census records indicate roughly half of Martins population is non-Native.

In 2005, the South Dakota ACLU attempted to sue the City of Martin for Voting Rights Act Violations. After an 11-day bench trial, the claim was dismissed.
Schuff Steel Company headquartered in Arizona will pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging racial and national origin harassment and retaliation, the EEOC announced last month.

The lawsuit claimed that managers harassed other Black and Latino employees in its steel fabrication plant located in Eloy, Arizona and then retaliated against them when they complained about the mistreatment.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, gender, national origin color and religion.

According to the EEOCs announcement, Schuff Steels Eloy plant manager regularly used racial slurs and epithets against Black and Latino employees, including using the N-word, and calling Latino employees beaners. The plant manager ridiculed Latino employees who did not speak English well and, on several occasions, declared white power in front of Black employees.

Employees were allegedly fired in retaliation for complaining about the harassment or they were moved to a less desirable night shift. If true, this would amount to retaliation if the reason for the changes was due to complaints of harassment.

In addition to paying $500,000 to the employees who suffered from the harassment, the company will be subjected to a three year consent decree, and it will be required to update its policies and implement anti-discrimination training to its employees, managers and human resources personnel. In addition, policies will be distributed in English and Spanish and the company will establish a hotline to report discrimination and/or harassment complaints.

Too often certain industries wrongly believe that they are exempt from the requirements of federal discrimination and harassment laws due to a historic culture of abusive conduct.

To this point, the EEOC stated in its announcement, Employees  no matter what industry they work in, their racial background or their national origin  have the right to work in an environment free of harassment and discrimination and without the threat of being fired or retaliated against for complaining about the harassment. The EEOC added: No person should ever have to work in such a racist and hostile work environment in order to make a living to support their families. And it is particularly troublesome that this behavior was done by a manager in this case.

Cultures like this make the work environment toxic for everyone  not just those suffering from this abusive behavior. Despite efforts to promote DEI, our workplaces are too divisive. Every employee should enjoy a safe, civil and respectful workplace.

Depending on the industry, I frequently hear, You dont understand our culture. Whether its agriculture, retail, hospitality (restaurants are the worst), public safety, health care, construction  you name it  the industry has an excuse for the behaviors. Its time to put an end to harassment and discrimination, including any abusive behaviors. Employers need to set expectations for professionalism and respect and hold those who fail to comply accountable.

Equally abhorrent in this case was the retaliation. When an employee complains of harassment or discrimination that employee is protected from retaliation. Employers should investigate complaints and eradicate misconduct  not retaliate against those who are reporting the behaviors.

In 2024 employers need to commit to creating safe workplaces and employ a zero tolerance for harassment in the workplace.
Virginia is still facing a teacher shortage this school year with more than 3,600 full-time equivalent vacancies, according to state data released in late December.

The number of teacher vacancies increased slightly compared with last year, and the vacancy rate stayed about the same at 3.9%.

Richmond, Henrico County and Chesterfield County school systems teacher vacancy rates are all higher than the state average. Richmonds is at 5.2%, Henricos is 5.4%, and Chesterfields is 7.1%.

For all school positions, which include administrators, teachers, aides, paraprofessionals and non-instructional personnel, Virginia has about 9,000 vacancies this school year.

Generally, teacher shortages are localized issues in the commonwealth. Some divisions will have little to no vacancies, while the division adjoining it may have dozens, said Virginia Department of Education spokesman Todd Reid.

At the beginning of this school year, over 20% of school divisions reported one or no vacancies. We continue to work with school divisions to help to solve their teacher recruitment issues and ensure that all students have high-quality licensed teachers in their classrooms.

Reid said one of the departments focuses to help fill vacancies is working with divisions on a Grow our Own apprenticeship program to help recruit and support staff within the community to work in the school division as they gain on-the-job experience. This past October, the state announced an investment of $10 million in a Grow Your Own grant program for divisions and participants.

The head of Virginias teachers union said the shortage of teachers reflects inadequate pay.

Even before the pandemic, educators were sounding the alarm about the increasing staff vacancy rate in their schools, but the fallout from the pandemic has exacerbated the problem exponentially, said James Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association.

While this number may look low, it represents thousands of trained professionals who should be working every day in your childs school, but for one reason or another, are not, he said. That means the educators who are working must pick up that slack, further straining an already understaffed workforce. We will only see fully staffed schools in Virginia when educators get the pay and respect they deserve.

The new House Education Committee chairman, Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, said one of his top priorities for this upcoming legislative session is increasing teacher pay.

Del. Nadarius Clark, D-Suffolk, pre-filed legislation that would require public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. Under current law, compensation at that rate is not required.

Chesterfield schools spokesman Shawn Smith said the county has continued to grow in student population during the pandemic which has not been the pattern with many school divisions. Therefore, some teaching positions were added during the pandemic years.

As teaching positions have been added, supply has not kept up with demand, creating a higher vacancy rate.

In Hanover County, the teacher vacancy rate has remained at a low 0.6%.

We are extremely proud of our low vacancy numbers and the variety of innovative solutions, personal approaches and operational efficiencies that we utilize during our year-round recruitment process to help ensure that our students receive the top-tier education they deserve, said Hanover schools spokesman Justin Mattingly.

The school district launched a new in-house program in 2022 that provides provisionally licensed teachers with the training needed to obtain a full teaching license.

The first of its kind in Virginia, the Provisional Academy for Teachers in Hanover program saves teachers thousands of dollars in the process of procuring their full license by allowing them to bypass the need for paying tuition to a college or university and earn their license while they teach.

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Last week (16 March 2023), SIG SAUER announced the acquisition of Israeli robotics expert General Robotics, a world-leading manufacturer of lightweight, remote weapon stations and tactical robotics.

This acquisition will greatly enhance SIG SAUERs growing portfolio of advanced weapon systems. Ron Cohen, President and CEO of SIG SAUER, Inc., said. The team at General Robotics is leading the way in developing intuitive, lightweight remote weapon stations with their battle-proven solution, Cohen added.

Recently, the U.S. Army selected the SIG SAUER lightweight machine gun (XM250), automatic rifle (XM7), and high-pressure hybrid ammunition for the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program, representing a historic step forward in weapons technology. The NGSW program is in the early stages of adoption, and the U.S. Army will field the weapons at the squad level in 2023.

In January 2023, SiG demonstrated their SIGs MG 338 belt-fed machine mounted on a General Robotics PITBULL Remote Weapons Station installed on a Polaris All Terrain Vehicle. This application enables special operators to deliver precision suppressive fires at long range from defensive positions, using PITBULLs remote control capability. The two companies demonstrated the combined system at the Shot Show 2023 in Las Vegas and IDEX 2023 in Abu Dhabi.

Combining the General Robotics remote weapons station with SIG SAUERs lightweight squad weapons and high-pressure hybrid ammunition will revolutionize small arms for military forces worldwide. This acquisition exponentially increases the capabilities of our lightweight weapon systems delivering transformative advancements in mobility, greater lethality, and battle-tested force protection for todays warfighters, Cohen commented.

General Robotics currently provides two types of lightweight RWCS  the PITBULL is designed for land vehicles, autonomous ground robots, and marine applications PITBULL and the SHARK is optimized for marine applications in manned and unmanned vessels. The company also markets the DOGO, an armed, tracked robot for indoor surveillance. Dogo was initially designed to operate only with Glock handguns but is now configured to operate some SIG handguns. The companys weapon systems are remotely controlled from a small tablet, featuring an advanced user interface that enables fast orientation, agile movement, effective surveillance, quick weapon alignment, and tracking of targets to facilitate fast and effective engagement. These capabilities also enable the effective use of the weapon as a hard-kill countermeasure against drones.
(Photo : Unsplash/SpaceX)

SpaceX sued the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) a day after being accused of unfair treatment of its employees.

Illegal Firing Lawsuit

On Wednesday, a complaint against SpaceX was filed by the board, alleging the unlawful firing of eight workers who criticized Elon Musk with an open letter denouncing his behavior and advocating for a separation between SpaceX and Musk's brand. Only three out of the eight employees who claimed retaliation from SpaceX publicly joined the complaint. If SpaceX doesn't settle the charges, the company is set to go through a hearing with an NLRB administrative law judge on March 5.

SpaceX Counters an Ongoing Lawsuit

A lawsuit has been filed by SpaceX accusing the company of unlawfully terminating employees who wrote a letter to company executives describing CEO Elon Musk as "a distraction and embarrassment."

The filed complaint has asserted that the NLRB structure is governed by officials with unconstitutional removal protections that go against the U.S. Constitution. Musk's company argues that the agency has inherent structural flaws that make it unfit to oversee its efforts in holding private employers accountable for labor law violations. SpaceX argues that the NLRB lacks the constitutionally required control because the president cannot freely remove board members or agency judges. The claim is that the board plays a dual role as both a prosecutor, charging SpaceX with violations of federal labor law, and an adjudicator, as the same NLRB members issue the agency's final order on whether SpaceX violated federal labor law.

The lawsuit is similar to SpaceX's recent lawsuit against the U.S. attorney general and two other Department of Justice officials, aiming to halt a separate hiring discrimination case on the company's unlawful decline to hire refugees and asylum recipients.

"NLRB ALJs are Officers of the United States under the Constitution's Appointments Clause, not mere employees, because among other things, they hold continuing offices through which they preside over adversarial hearings, receive testimony, shape the administrative record, and prepare proposed findings and opinions," SpaceX argued.

READ ALSO: SpaceX Wrongfully Terminating Eight Workers, Faces Criticism on Labor Laws and Working Conditions

Second Accusation of Musk Brand to Regulators

Musk's company has accused a U.S. regulator of violating the country's constitution in its regulatory actions for the second time in less than a month. Tesla, Musk's electric car brand, claimed that California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) violated its free speech rights by portraying Tesla's Autopilot's autonomy as a complete self-driving platform rather than an advanced driver assist system. Tesla's lawyers argued that the DMV tries to restrict Tesla's truthful communication about its vehicles and features unfairly.

Musk's lawyers use a constitutional argument against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where they are currently contesting a consent decree stipulating that Musk cannot post tweets about the electric carmaker without being legally reviewed.

The decree was issued after Musk's tweets caused a substantial drop in share price in 2020. The judge argued that Musk had forfeited his First Amendment rights by agreeing to the consent decree. Still, Musk's lawyers contest that it shouldn't apply since he was acquitted of securities fraud by a California jury in the case.

RELATED ARTICLE: Workers at Non-Union Automakers in the U.S. Lodge Unfair Labor Practice Charges, Defying Union-Busting Tactics

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Two of the General Assemblys military veterans  both currently congressional candidates  are proposing measures that would bar people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from public office.

Navy veteran Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun, has a bill that would declare that anyone who engaged in an insurrection or gave aid and comfort to attackers is disqualified from the ballot and from holding office.

Meanwhile, Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, an Army veteran, has a bill that requires any public official convicted of rioting or insurrections related to elections to immediately resign from office. His bill says the Jan. 6 attack, during which rioters trying to stop the certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, is such an act. Saturday is the third anniversary of the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Reid and Helmer are among a dozen Democrats who are seeking the partys nomination to succeed Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10th, who is retiring for health reasons.

Reids bill would amend Virginia election law to disqualify anyone from holding office if they were involved in an insurrection, invoking the U.S. Constitutions 14th Amendment.

That amendment says anyone who has taken an oath to support the U.S. Constitution cannot hold public office if he or she engaged in an insurrection or has given aid or comfort to the enemies of the nation.

Candidates would have to submit an affidavit that they had not been involved in an insurrection and could be liable for a $25,000 fine and prison term of at least five years for submitting a false one.

The bill would also amend state law on civil court procedure to say the attorney general, commonwealths attorneys or any interested person can file a petition seeking to remove an official from office if he or she holds office unlawfully.

I first took the oath in 1988 to serve as a Naval Intelligence Officer in the U.S. military. In a few days, I will take the oath of office again alongside my colleagues as a Virginia Delegate, elected to serve the people of our Commonwealth, Reid said.

The directives of that oath have never been more critical as our democracy continues to be at risk, he added. We must hold those elected accountable to the oath they make.

Reid said the bill comes at a critical time, noting that the state Supreme Court in Colorado and Maines top election officer have removed former President Donald Trump from primary ballots on the grounds that his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualifies him from office under the terms of the 14th Amendment. Trump has said he will appeal both decisions.

In September 2022, a New Mexico judge ordered that a county commissioner be removed from office for his participation in the Jan. 6 attack, Reid said.

Helmers bill would bar people from serving in positions of public trust if they have been convicted of rioting or insurrection related to elections  that is, if the incident occurred at a polling place or any location being used for voting or to register voters; or during the certification of an election; or at any other official proceeding related to an election.

The bar would be lifelong. Violating the prohibition  serving in office after such a conviction  would be subject to a $1,000 fine.

Political violence has no place in our society, and the perpetrators of that violence should not serve in positions of leadership in our Commonwealth, Helmer said.

We must take action to stop political violence and extremism of all stripes, like the kind we saw on January 6th, in order to protect our democracy and fundamental freedoms.

A federal judge late last year rejected a lawsuit filed by two Hampton Roads activists seeking to remove Trump from the March 5 Republican party primary ballot, on the grounds that they lacked standing.

The two have since filed a much-revised suit in Richmond Circuit Court charging that Trump is disqualified for his role in Jan. 6 and other efforts to subvert the 2020 election, detailing their view that they would be injured if Trump were on the ballot because their votes for candidates they favored would be discounted by the votes for a man they say is disqualified from public office.

Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, who lost her seat to Sen.-elect Glen Sturtevant in a June primary, and Sen.-elect John McGuire, R-Goochland, attended Trumps Stop the Steal rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, but say they were not among the mob that stormed the Capitol.

McGuire is also running for Congress. He is challenging Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, for the GOP nomination.

Democrats are likely to hold a 21-19 edge in the state Senate and a 51-49 edge in the House of Delegates in the session that begins Wednesday, pending the outcomes in two special elections Tuesday in conservative districts.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, will wait to review any legislation that reaches his desk, said Macaulay Porter, the governors deputy director of communications. While Youngkin often does not comment on pending legislation, he has said he thinks voters should decide which officials hold elective office.

Youngkin has condemned the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In a July 2022 interview with CBS Face the Nation, he said, The invasion ... was awful, and its a blight on our democracy.

Images of chaos: AP photographers capture US Capitol riot
A judge has taken a notorious Henrico County apartment complex out of the hands of its owner after years of repeated building code violations from sewage leaks to failing floors to unsafe gas heaters.

And now Henrico is gearing up for a first of its kind effort to rebuild and transform the Glenwood Farms complex, which contains 294 apartments on portions of six blocks in a part of Henrico that is east of Mechanicsville Turnpike and south of Laburnum Avenue.

'Alarming': Despite Henrico's efforts, tenants at complex live in hazardous conditions Henrico inspectors have found approximately 1,800 violations of building code violations since the New Jersey-based owner bought the Glenwood Farms complex five years ago. From 2018 to present, apartments at Glenwood Farms were at times unheated and leaked sewage onto the ground outside. Many had floors that had rotted away and dangerous electrical and gas installations, according to court records and Henrico County citations against the complex.

Henrico would use the same tools it has deployed for major economic development projects, like the redevelopment of Regency shopping center.

At the same time, it will ask the General Assembly to allow local governments to levy stiffer penalties for repeated violations of the state building code in blighted multifamily housing.

When you walk into a unit and the floors so soft youre going to fall through ... when youre cooking a meal and your son upstairs flushes the toilet and brown water starts flowing over the stove, thats not the way it is supposed to be, County Manager John Vithoulkas said.

A Richmond Times-Dispatch story last year reported that county inspectors had found more than 1,800 violations at the complex that the New Jersey-based owner would not fix. But state law gave county officials little power to force repairs, officials said.

The number of violations grew to 2,200 by the time Judge Lee A. Harris ordered the complex into receivership, taking it out of the hands of owner Apex Glenwood LLC.

Now, the receiver is busy assessing how much work needs to be done to make the property safe and in compliance with the state building code. A receiver is a court-appointed agent who looks after property on behalf of a lender.

In the meantime, the county is hoping its economic development toolbox can help fund a transformation of the complex.

The idea is to contribute the same kind of incentives that local governments and the state have used for decades to woo new businesses or to support business expansions: picking up the cost of new water and sewer connections and waiving permit fees.

For Glenwood Farms, these incentives would also include money for demolition and for relocating residents  in all, a bill of about $11 million.

The other key element, also typical of many development deals, would be an agreement that the additional tax revenue to be generated as the project is redeveloped, and its value rises, would flow back to the developer to be used to help pay down debt.

That flow of funds, likely to be several million dollars a year, along with rental income from a denser development that would include market rate units as well as subsidized units and low-income tax credit-based funding, could support something on the order of a $100 million project, Vithoulkas said.

This would be the first time weve done this on a residential project, he said. Were turning something thats a net cost to the county into something where we can reinvest additional revenue to make something better.

The county figures more than twice as many units  700 in fact  could fit on the 32-acre site, currently assessed at nearly $10 million.

It is aiming for a mixed-income community.

In addition to rents at typical market rates for the area, there would be so-called workforce units priced at rents that county employees such as police officers and teachers can afford; affordable senior housing; and housing for people who need help paying rent, using U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 8 vouchers, which pick up the difference between average rents in an area and what 30% of an eligible tenants income can cover.

Were going to have units that people can afford, said Eric Leabough, Henricos director of community revitalization.

Its in the heart of my community, the number of violations is just unbelievable, said Roscoe Cooper, one of the countys new supervisors, elected in November.

Its really important to do this.

Its been a long haul to get to this point, said Greg Revels, who, as Henrico building official, leads the team of inspectors who have been noting major violations of state building code safety, electrical, plumbing and structural standards.

But when my team gets discouraged, I tell them the legislation well be bringing is a result of what theyve done, he said.

The aim, he said, is to make it too costly for a landlord to flout county notices to fix problems, on the grounds that it is cheaper to fight them in court and pay whatever fines are finally issued than it is to fix the problem.

Vithoulkas said county officials early feelers suggest developers are going to be interested in tackling the transformation of Glenwood Farms.

And well be there, he said. With this legislation, theres a message: If youre Apex, or Apex-like, we dont want you here.

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To learn that the fetus you're carrying is nonviable is heart-rending enough without bullying by the state. And to be charged with a felony after suffering the physical and emotional trauma of a miscarriage qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment.

As recent cases in Ohio and Texas dramatize, women in America are being sacrificed at the altar of a callous political movement to control their bodies in a manner that makes "The Handmaid's Tale" look increasingly like a work of nonfiction.

There but for the tenuous grace of the General Assembly goes Virginia, given the stated desire of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his allies to ratchet up restrictions on reproductive rights.

The headlines should make it increasingly clear: Reproductive rights is a human right. And draconian attempts to police abortion are placing pregnant women at risk.

In Ohio, Brittany Watts faces up to a year in prison after passing her nonviable fetus in her bathroom and trying to flush the remains down the toilet  an outcome that occurred after she twice sought medical care for dire symptoms at a local hospital, according to the New York Times.

According to the Times, Watts' first visit to the hospital occurred when she was 21 weeks and 5 days pregnant; fetal viability starts at 22 weeks, according to Ohio law. Doctors "recommended she be induced and deliver the fetus despite its nonviable status, according to a coroner's report cited by the Times, because she was at significant risk of maternal death, sepsis or complete placental abruption with catastrophic bleeding. But she encountered a delay as an ethics panel discussed how to induce her without running afoul of the law. She left the hospital after eight hours, returning the following day before leaving untreated. She miscarried two days later.

Watts, after the hospital reported her miscarriage to authorities, was charged with abusing a corpse after her toilet was removed and broken open to retrieve the fetus, the Times reported. The autopsy determined that it had died before delivery.

Her miscarriage occurred a little more than a month before Ohio voters enshrined reproductive rights into the state constitution, including the right to an abortion, contraception and miscarriage care.

In Texas, Kate Cox, whose fetus had a lethal abnormality, fled the state to get an abortion after Attorney General Ken Paxton bullied and threatened health care providers against terminating her pregnancy, despite a ruling that would have allowed Cox to do so by Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, The Texas Tribune reported.

The idea that Ms. Cox wants desperately to be a parent, and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice, Gamble said.

How can we care more about the fetus than the mom?" asks Kendra Sutton, founder and executive director of Birth in Color, a Richmond-based reproductive justice organization. "So are we really pro-life, or whats the goal here?"

For this havoc and paralysis, we can thank the U.S. Supreme Court, whose wild overreach in overturning Roe v. Wade has resulted in judges and politicians effectively practicing medicine without a license. Women and girls are being held in no more regard than lab rats.

Yes, girls. During the summer of 2022, a 10-year-old girl, an alleged rape victim, was forced to leave Ohio to obtain an abortion.

That nonviable fetus that ended up in the toilet apparently carries more value than the life of Watts in the eyes of the Ohio criminal justice system.

It certainly is being viewed with more compassion.

"Although records show that Ms. Watts spontaneously miscarried, a finding that the state has not challenged, the case has come under scrutiny by lawyers and reproductive health advocates who say that prosecuting her is baseless and may deter other women who miscarry from obtaining medical attention they need," wrote Remy Tumin in her story in The New York Times.

Imagine going through the emotional trauma of experiencing a failed pregnancy, only to be treated like a criminal.

It was extremely devastating, the fact that I can actually have a miscarriage, lose my baby and be dealing with that, and then have to think about the law and being charged," said Sutton, describing her reaction to Watts' story.

Many times with miscarriages, doctors dont fully understand what happened, she said. So for the state to really get legally involved in whats happening within my body that I really have no control over, what does that say about the country we live in?"

It should be noted that African American women like Watts are three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributes this disparity to various factors, including variations in quality health care, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism and implicit bias.

It has been demonstrated time and again in America that Black lives don't matter. But Cox's treatment in Texas flips the counter cliche. When it comes to women and public policy in America, all lives don't matter.

This level of rigid ideology over humanity and common sense casts shade on the entire "pro-life" movement, which has been demonstrably willing to not only jeopardize the health of women, but their future fertility. Why would anyone, in this environment, feel comfortable about having a child?

Cases like Watts' and Cox's create a climate of fear in which pregnant women fear that a misstep or a miscarriage could result in charges against them, Sutton said.

Sutton cited the case of a Virginia woman who recently lost her baby.

She actually went to the hospital, told them what was going on, they hooked up her to a machine and said, 'Oh youre fine' and sent her home. Within two hours, her baby was gone," she recalled.

If this had been in Ohio and she had lost her baby and she was charged, whos at fault: the hospital or her? Those are things people arent really thinking about.

Which raises the question: What would the response have been if Watts or Cox had died?

Certainly, there are folks with sincere religious convictions against abortion. But sadly, too many actors in this drama are mainly about scoring political points. What's afoot post-Roe is too cruel to be kind.

You can't be "pro-life" and willingly put current and future lives at risk.

Close 12-21-1945 (cutline) Santa's helpers--Making sure that Christmas gifts arrive on time at McGuire Hospital are (left to right), Misses Mary Jackson Shepherd, Martha Lafferty, Ann Rose, Sudie Mann and Archer Christian, members of the Red Cross Motor Corps. 02-23-1948 (cutline): Miss Diane Hunt (left) is loading a cargo desintine for McGuire with assistance of Miss Nancy Poindexter. 09-19-1943 (cutline): Mrs. Jan Laverge, Motor Corps, directs servicemen into station wagon for quick transfer to make rail connection. 07-23-1942 (cutline): Miss Emma Fensom leads her winning group past the judges. 09-04-1952 (cutline): Taxi service at work--Miss Ellen Armentrout (left), chairman of the Richmond Red Cross motor service, helps Mrs. Frances Tucker out of a car at the Medical College of Virginia. Driving patients to and from the hospital's clinic and bloodmobile constitutes the greater part of the work done by the motor service volunteers. 03-19-1942 (cutline): Motor Corps Holds Test Drill--The Henrico Red Cross Motor Corps holds its first test drill or workout in uniform to show what the women can do after completing Red Cross courses in first-aid and advanced first-aid. They have also completed training in motor mechanics and have had military drill under Colonel Sheppard Crump and blackout test driving under Chief Hendrick. In the picture: Mr. K.L. Jones, instructor in motor mechanics, is giving some las minute advice. Left to right: Miss Ann Vaughan, Mrs. Crump, Mrs. W.B. Cherry and Captain Mary Simmons. 01-23-1942 (cutline): The Red Cross Motor Corps and Canteen held a regional conference at the Jefferson Hotel yesterday , with representatives from 20 Red Cross units. Speakers were Mrs. F. Trubee Davison, national director of the Motor Corps, and Mrs. Graham Dougherty, national director of canteen. Talking over plans before the conference (left to right) Mrs. Dougherty, Mrs. John G. Hayes, chairman of the Woman's Red Cross War Council, who introduced the speakers, and Mrs. Davison. 07-05-1942 (cutline): Mrs. Herbert L. Smith, Mrs. T. Kent Norment, sergeant, and Mrs. Henry Sycle, lieutenant, carrying stretchers from the East End Casualty Center at Leigh Street Baptist Church. Because of the establishment of these centers, the Red Cross Motor Corps needs many more volunteers. 09-09-1943 (cutline): Swimming teams are (left to right) Miss McVey carrying Mrs. Brydon, Miss Emma Fensom (submerged) carrying Miss Jean Fensom, and Mrs.Jackson carrying Mrs. Trice. 03-17-1953 (cutline): On guard--Members of the local Red Cross Motor Corps with the assistance of members of the city police force have the responsibility of depositing campaign funds turned in at the Richmond-Henrico-Chesterfied Red Cross report luncheons. Above, C.S. McKenney turns over some of the money collected at yesterday's luncheon to Mrs. Patrick Walsh, of the Motor Corps. 08-31-1943 (cutline): Motor Corps Farmettes--Without the assistance of (left to right) Mrs. Ernest Trice, Miss Bee Fitzgerald, Miss Mabel Forbes, Miss Jean Fensom and Miss Emma Fensom, George A. Herman, of Creighton Rd., would have been unable to get his onions planted. These girls, members of the Red Cross Motor Corps, also recently helped in picking tomatoes and other vegetables and cutting weeds. 09-06-1942: Mrs. Molly in the driver's seat--the Richmond Motor Corps. 09-06-1942 (cutline): It's an army truck, and behind the windshield, delivering supplies for the Richmond Air Base Hospital, are Mrs. Anne Pinckney and Mrs. John DeWolf, Jr. 05-28-1947 (cutline): Clothing collected for overseas relief--Members of the Red Cross Motor Corps, pick up materials contributed by local merchants from unclained and unsalable goods for the drive for overseas relief. Mrs. W. Earl Miller, chairman of the spcial sources committee, has announced that more than 300 merchants have responded to the appeal. Fifty-trucks and drivers have been donated for the city-wide, house-to-house pickup of clothing, bedding and shoes slated for Saturday. 03-30-1945 (cutline): On tour of Richmond and Red Cross activities for the Philippine Islands, Mrs. William Rustia and Miss Aurea Labador see the sights. Their escort is Mrs. Clem Belmeur, of the Red Cross Motor Corps. From the Archives: The Women of the Richmond Red Cross Motor Corps The Motor Corps branch of the American Red Cross was established in 1918 with the mission to transport sick and wounded soldiers to hospitals and deliver supplies to posts during World War I. According to the American Red Cross, by the end of WWI, women of the Motor Corps had driven more than 35,000 miles. During WWII, the Motor Corps helped thousands of civilians evacuate from dangerous, war-torn areas. From 1946 to 1947, the dedicated 45,000 volunteers of the Motor Corps drove over eight million miles all over the globe. Here is a look back at the Motor Corps in Richmond. 12-21-1945 (cutline) Santa's helpers--Making sure that Christmas gifts arrive on time at McGuire Hospital are (left to right), Misses Mary Jackson Shepherd, Martha Lafferty, Ann Rose, Sudie Mann and Archer Christian, members of the Red Cross Motor Corps. 02-23-1948 (cutline): Miss Diane Hunt (left) is loading a cargo desintine for McGuire with assistance of Miss Nancy Poindexter. 09-19-1943 (cutline): Mrs. Jan Laverge, Motor Corps, directs servicemen into station wagon for quick transfer to make rail connection. 07-23-1942 (cutline): Miss Emma Fensom leads her winning group past the judges. 09-04-1952 (cutline): Taxi service at work--Miss Ellen Armentrout (left), chairman of the Richmond Red Cross motor service, helps Mrs. Frances Tucker out of a car at the Medical College of Virginia. Driving patients to and from the hospital's clinic and bloodmobile constitutes the greater part of the work done by the motor service volunteers. 03-19-1942 (cutline): Motor Corps Holds Test Drill--The Henrico Red Cross Motor Corps holds its first test drill or workout in uniform to show what the women can do after completing Red Cross courses in first-aid and advanced first-aid. They have also completed training in motor mechanics and have had military drill under Colonel Sheppard Crump and blackout test driving under Chief Hendrick. In the picture: Mr. K.L. Jones, instructor in motor mechanics, is giving some las minute advice. Left to right: Miss Ann Vaughan, Mrs. Crump, Mrs. W.B. Cherry and Captain Mary Simmons. 01-23-1942 (cutline): The Red Cross Motor Corps and Canteen held a regional conference at the Jefferson Hotel yesterday , with representatives from 20 Red Cross units. Speakers were Mrs. F. Trubee Davison, national director of the Motor Corps, and Mrs. Graham Dougherty, national director of canteen. Talking over plans before the conference (left to right) Mrs. Dougherty, Mrs. John G. Hayes, chairman of the Woman's Red Cross War Council, who introduced the speakers, and Mrs. Davison. 07-05-1942 (cutline): Mrs. Herbert L. Smith, Mrs. T. Kent Norment, sergeant, and Mrs. Henry Sycle, lieutenant, carrying stretchers from the East End Casualty Center at Leigh Street Baptist Church. Because of the establishment of these centers, the Red Cross Motor Corps needs many more volunteers. 09-09-1943 (cutline): Swimming teams are (left to right) Miss McVey carrying Mrs. Brydon, Miss Emma Fensom (submerged) carrying Miss Jean Fensom, and Mrs.Jackson carrying Mrs. Trice. 03-17-1953 (cutline): On guard--Members of the local Red Cross Motor Corps with the assistance of members of the city police force have the responsibility of depositing campaign funds turned in at the Richmond-Henrico-Chesterfied Red Cross report luncheons. Above, C.S. McKenney turns over some of the money collected at yesterday's luncheon to Mrs. Patrick Walsh, of the Motor Corps. 08-31-1943 (cutline): Motor Corps Farmettes--Without the assistance of (left to right) Mrs. Ernest Trice, Miss Bee Fitzgerald, Miss Mabel Forbes, Miss Jean Fensom and Miss Emma Fensom, George A. Herman, of Creighton Rd., would have been unable to get his onions planted. These girls, members of the Red Cross Motor Corps, also recently helped in picking tomatoes and other vegetables and cutting weeds. 09-06-1942: Mrs. Molly in the driver's seat--the Richmond Motor Corps. 09-06-1942 (cutline): It's an army truck, and behind the windshield, delivering supplies for the Richmond Air Base Hospital, are Mrs. Anne Pinckney and Mrs. John DeWolf, Jr. 05-28-1947 (cutline): Clothing collected for overseas relief--Members of the Red Cross Motor Corps, pick up materials contributed by local merchants from unclained and unsalable goods for the drive for overseas relief. Mrs. W. Earl Miller, chairman of the spcial sources committee, has announced that more than 300 merchants have responded to the appeal. Fifty-trucks and drivers have been donated for the city-wide, house-to-house pickup of clothing, bedding and shoes slated for Saturday. 03-30-1945 (cutline): On tour of Richmond and Red Cross activities for the Philippine Islands, Mrs. William Rustia and Miss Aurea Labador see the sights. Their escort is Mrs. Clem Belmeur, of the Red Cross Motor Corps.
QUESTION: I have a business that I think is doing well. My accountant says its profitable. Unfortunately, I never seem to have any cash. Further, I took out a $150,000 second mortgage line on my home to start the business. While I have made interest payments, I havent been able to pay down the balance at all. Was this a good investment? Am I really making money? How can I get a handle on my financial position?

ANSWER: The answer lies in understanding the differences between profit, cash flow and Return on Investment (ROI). Given the disparity between profit and cash flow you described, we are going to assume that you are using an accrual based accounting system. This is typically the best system to use for management decision making and understanding the financial health of your business on a month-to-month basis because it matches revenue to the expense that generated it.

Your accountant says you are profitable. This means that the number on the bottom of your income statement is positive  the revenue you recognize each month exceeds the expenses that generated that revenue. This is good. However, it does not necessarily mean that you have positive cash flow. Your business may be very profitable, but if your inventory, accounts receivable and/or fixed assets are growing rapidly, it may not have a positive cash flow. Growing these three accounts uses cash. For example, you have to spend cash to buy inventory. However, these are all balance sheet accounts that do not immediately affect the income statement. Therefore, they have no impact on profitability.

It is absolutely possible for a business to be profitable and be hemorrhaging cash at the same time. The fact that you never seem to have cash and havent been able to pay down the balance on your loan indicates that you may have cash flow issues. We suggest that you ask your accountant to analyze your monthly cash flow over the past couple of years. It is possible that your cash is being spent to grow assets. If this isnt the case, we suggest that you have an independent third party do a thorough check for embezzlement. Weve seen thieves pull amazing stunts to make the books look right on the surface while they siphon cash out of the business.

It is possible to have a profitable business and even have a positive cash flow, but not be getting a good ROI. You initially funded your enterprise with a $150,000 investment (were assuming that you didnt put any other cash into your business). Lets assume your annual profit is $1,500 and that this is also your cash flow. ROI is calculated as Profit divided by the Investment. In this case the ROI would be 1%not an impressive performance. At this rate, it would take 100 years to earn back your investment. Depending on the specifics of your situation, you should target at least a 10% to 20% return on your investment.

To return to your initial question, you are making money if your business is profitable. The next question is, how profitable is your business? This is often measured by Return on Sales (ROS) which is calculated as Profit divided by Sales. The appropriate ROS target is a function of your specific situation, but for many businesses a 10% ROS is a good target (obviously, more is better).

Once you understand your profitability, make sure that this translates into an acceptable positive cash flow. As a finance expert told us, You cant buy beer with profit, you can only buy beer with cash.

Finally, make sure that your ROI is acceptable. If you are achieving your target ROS, but you still arent getting the ROI that you need, the answer is likely that you need to grow your sales without making additional investment. In other words, you need to improve your asset utilization (sometimes expressed as sales divided by assets).

Assessing the financial health of your business is not a one dimensional exercise. However, if your ROS is acceptable, your profit is translating into cash flow and you have a good ROI you can rest assured that the financial health of your business is good.
More than 33 million tourists visited Quintana Roo during 2023

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  More than 33 million travelers arrived in the state of Quintana Roo during 2023. On Friday, Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama said the state broke previous tourism records.

She reported a total of 33.7 million passengers, an impressive milestone that demonstrates the capacity and tourist attraction of the destination.

She says more than 21 million of those travelers visited other state destinations (other than Cancun), marking an 8 percent increase in travelers and a 12 percent increase in spending over 2022.

Quintana Roo is undoubtedly at its best moment, thanks to everyone who make these figures possible. Without a doubt, the transformation is advancing with shared prosperity, with social justice and with development, she said in a statement.

According to the Quintana Roo Tourism Secretariat, the ports of Quintana Roo received more than 6.1 million cruise passengers in 2023, strengthening the economy and tourism.

The tourism diversity of our destinations makes us unique, not only in Mexico, but in the world, said Bernardo Cueto, the Secretary of Tourism.

From paradisiacal beaches to cultural riches, each place offers an unforgettable experience, Quintana Roo is at its best, he said.

Over 6 million cruise ship passengers visited the state through its ports. Photo: CGC January 2024.

With more than 130,000 hotel rooms, Quintana Roo is established as a first-class destination for national and international visitors. Connectivity is a fundamental pillar for the state, he said, with direct flights to 114 cities around the world, positioning Quintana Roo as the main gateway for foreign tourists in Mexico.
Sailors rescue 8 aboard makeshift vessel off Isla Contoy

Isla Mujeres, Q.R.  Navy sailors were busy Thursday carrying out the rescue of eight Cuban nationals. Their boat was found adrift near Isla Contoy Thursday afternoon.

They were located aboard a makeshift vessel by Mexican sailors in Isla Contoy National Park waters in the municipality of Isla Mujeres.

The eight Cubans were pulled aboard the Navy vessel. Their boat was reported to authorities after being spotted by area fishermen.

Mexican personnel attend to the 8 Cubans found adrift off Isla Contoy. Photo: Semar January 4, 2024.

The eight Cuban nationals were returned to Puerto Juarez where they were met by National Migration Institute (INM) authorities. The Secretary of the Navy did not say where their final destination was or how long theyd been at sea.
An energy conservation group in Floyd may be the last hope for a lawsuit that seeks to reverse Virginias withdrawal from a multi-state effort to reduce air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels.

The Association of Energy Conservation Professionals was one of four organizations that sued to block Gov. Glenn Youngkins decision to pull the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Last November, a Fairfax County judge ruled that three of the plaintiffs  Appalachian Voices, the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light  lacked standing to sue because they did not receive funding from RGGI, thus undercutting their claims that they were harmed by Virginias departure.

But because members of the Floyd-based Association of Energy Conservation Professionals get RGGI money for their work weatherizing low-income homes, Circuit Judge David Oblon did not dismiss the associations claims.

Rather, Oblon transferred what remains of the lawsuit to Floyd County Circuit Court, where a judge must first decide whether the association has standing before considering the merits of the case.

A hearing before Judge Mike Fleenor is scheduled for Jan. 19.

Better known as RGGI, or Reggie, the initiative is a market-based approach by 12 East Coast states that requires the operators of power plants to purchase an allowance for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

The number of allowances is reduced over time, with the goal of pushing utilities to cut their carbon emissions and rely more on renewable energy.

Since Virginia joined RGGI in 2020, carbon emissions from power plants have declined by nearly 17%, environmental groups say in their lawsuit. More than $650 million has been generated from the sale of allowances, money that is used for flood control projects and energy efficiency programs for the poor throughout the state.

All that good was undercut when the State Air Pollution Control Board voted, at Youngkins behest, to withdraw from the initiative, environmental groups say in their lawsuit against the board, the Department of Environmental Quality and its director, Michael Rolband.

But the state contends that the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals lacks standing to sue, which requires a showing of particularized harm. Fighting climate change is a global issue that affects everyone on the planet and not just the association, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Sanford wrote in court papers.

Although its members receive RGGI funds to make low-income homes energy efficient, the association itself does not. In the states eyes, that makes it simply a concerned bystander with no stake in the fight.

However, the associations mission has already been harmed by Virginias exit from RGGI, its executive director, William Weitzenfeld, said in a declaration filed with the lawsuit.

Nate Benforado, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center who represents the association, said he plans to ask Judge Fleenor to put the withdrawal from the initiative, which took effect at the end of 2023, on hold while the case is pending.

That would allow the associations members to receive funds from the next regional auction of carbon allowances, scheduled for March.

Allowances are sold as part of a market-based effort among the other states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Youngkin has called RGGI an ineffective way to combat climate change and a bad deal for utility ratepayers. The problem, he and other critics say, is that utilities are allowed to pass the costs of carbon allowances on to their customers.

The result has been higher rates for consumers  costing Virginians hundreds of millions of dollars  with no corresponding incentive to reduce emissions, Sanford wrote in a motion to dismiss the case. Simply put, RGGI does not work in Virginia.

The State Corporation Commission allowed Appalachian Power Co. to raise its rates to recover the costs of participating in the initiative. Although the amount varies depending on several factors, company spokeswoman Teresa Hall said the estimated cost is $280,000 a year, which amounts to about 2 cents a month for an average residential customer.

That is much less than the cost to Dominion Energy, which serves a more heavily populated portion of the state.

Environmental groups argue that the Air Pollution Control Board improperly considered utility rates in its decision to withdraw from RGGI. Because the General Assembly voted in 2020 to join the initiative, they say, only the legislature can pull the state out.
The town of Christiansburg reports an oversight with a water-monitoring test due to a clerical error.

The town monitors drinking water quarterly with a variety of tests, in accordance with the Commonwealth of Virginia and State Board of Health waterworks regulations.

During the the last such tests in 2023, a sampling of total trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids was missed, according to a town news release. All other samplings were completed and confirmed safe, including bacteria testing, according to the release.

State health officials with the VDH believe there is little need for concern about water safety as past records have shown no documented problems with total trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids contamination, according to the release.

The towns public water comes from the New River Valley Regional Water Authority and no reports of poor water quality have been documented by other localities that are authority members, according to the release.

The town will collect samples for analysis within the coming weeks and share that information on the towns website: www.christiansburg.org, according to the release.

 The Roanoke Times
Roscommon County Council is seeking further information on a planning application for a new Alzheimers day care centre in the county town.

On October 25th, the council received a planning application from the West of Ireland Alzheimer Foundation for the centre which is proposed for Ardsallagh More, Roscommon Town. A planning decision had been expected by Tuesday December 19th. West of Ireland Alzheimer Foundation has six months to respond to the councils request.

In its letter to the applicant, the council said it had no objection in principle to the overall merits of this proposal, but that a number of salient issues needed to be addressed in the interests of proper planning and orderly development.

It asked for a proposal for a nature based solution to manage surface water for the development. Further information was also sought for the proposals access road and footpath as well as a revised plan for car parking spaces.

The proposed development would see the construction of a new daycare centre, including activities and day room, kitchen facilities, administration office, medical examination room, sanitary facilities, storage and all ancillary spaces.

The development would also see upgrade works to the existing access road off the roundabout, an extension to the existing spur road into the site, a drop-off zone, car parking, new external landscaping, a bin store, new boundary fencing, new signage, lighting, and connection to existing services.
(Photo : Unsplash/Mohammad Rahmani)

While 2023 was a pivotal year for artificial intelligence, AI is expected to have a more significant impact in 2024, when employees will experience a rapid transformation that impacts their professional lives across various aspects of the workplace, and businesses will need to adapt quickly. Here are the five trends to expect in the AI space this year:

AI will Promote Widespread Inclusivity

AI is expected to be a valuable tool for workers with disabilities, and these advancements could bring positive changes for everyone. Many machine-learning tools designed to benefit disabled workers, like algorithm-based speech-to-text and text-to-speech tools, could become more widely accessible. These tools offer additional support to visually- and hard-of-hearing users. They can remove barriers and empower people with disabilities, promoting independence and inclusion, according to Victor Santiago Pineda, director of the Inclusive Cities Lab at UC Berkeley, U.S.

AI will Improve Equity in the Hiring and Layoff Processes

HR professionals are ready to employ AI in hiring to foster fairness, but existing technology has flaws. Academics and experts aim to diminish algorithmic bias in electronic hiring platforms and HR tools using AI. The Hire Aspirations Institute, led by Cynthia Dwork, a computer science professor at Harvard, is actively addressing bias in screening tools and the professionals who use them.

While AI can aid in diversifying candidate pools, experts and HR professionals acknowledge its limitations, especially in addressing human bias in hiring. Nevertheless, recognizing hiring inequities can heighten awareness, helping HR professionals understand their implicit judgments and work towards overcoming them.

AI will Prioritize Diversity in Hiring and Training

The growth of AI might lead regulators to concentrate more on supporting practices that include workers in both public and private sectors. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission emphasized addressing workplace discrimination in a world where AI is more prevalent in its recent Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP). In the EU, the recently enacted AI act mandates that firms adhere to set standards for workers' rights in HR data and processes, or they may face fines.

Investing in inclusive technology, like language-learning models created by diverse teams, can aid employers in developing personalized educational programs for a broad range of employee experiences. This can offer an equal starting point for workers from diverse backgrounds.

READ ALSO: How to Upskill with On-the-Job Generative AI: A Comprehensive Guide

Employees Want to Work with AI, and Employers will Invest in Upskilling

While some experts acknowledge valid concerns about AI potentially replacing specific roles, they also predict that it won't eliminate all human jobs. Instead, workers will need to adapt to coexist with this emerging technology, and those willing to learn and adjust to AI will experience the most benefits. For many, this adaptation involves re-training in specific areas and taking advantage of employer-sponsored learning opportunities. According to a 2023 survey by Jobs for the Future's Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work (JFF), most respondents believe they will need new skills to compete in an AI-driven workforce. Younger workers, in particular, feel the pressure, with 66% of Gen Z and millennial respondents expressing the need to refine and update their skill sets to stay competitive.

AI Regulation will Continue to Struggle to Keep Pace with the technology

As AI becomes more prevalent, some tech leaders are urging the establishment of clear boundaries. Regulators aim to expand AI while safeguarding the rights and jobs of a diverse workforce. Global collaboration among corporations, governments, and researchers is necessary for effective regulation. However, the rapid progress in AI technology poses a risk of surpassing efforts to create a flexible and comprehensive regulatory framework, which may raise worker concerns about job security, workplace privacy, and industry changes. Such worries can have tangible effects. A 2023 Workplace in America survey by the American Psychological Association found that respondents concerned about AI impacting their jobs experienced higher stress, anxiety, and professional burnout levels than those embracing the technology.

RELATED ARTICLE: Companies Invest Millions for AI Workforce Integration, Anticipating Extended ROI Beyond A Year

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Businessman, renewable energy entrepreneur and County Roscommon native Eddie OConnor, has died.

Mr OConnor, a native of Elphin, was a former CEO of Bord na Mona, the founder of Airtricity and the co-founder of Mainstream Renewables and SuperNode.

A former purchasing manager with the ESB, he went on to become chief executive of Bord na Mona before a late career change.

Aged 76, Mr OConnor, who was always proud of his County Roscommon roots, switched to the renewable energy sector in the late 1990s and went on to become one of its key business figures.

Mr OConnor had a degree in chemical engineering and a masters in industrial engineering, both from University College Dublin, as well as a doctorate in business administration.

He was appointed Chief Executive of Bord na Mona in 1987. In 1997 he became the founder and chief executive of the Irish wind farm development company, Airtricity.

After Airtricity, Mr OConnor was involved in the establishment of Mainstream Renewable Power.

This evening Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan TD, expressed his deep sadness at the death of the businessman and renewable energy visionary.

He said: I am truly saddened to learn of Eddie OConnors passing. He was, without doubt, a true pioneer when it came to the development of wind energy, both in Ireland and across the globe.

From his time as chief executive of Bord na Mona to his establishment of Airtricity and the subsequent creation of Mainstream Renewable Power and SuperNode, he was always several years ahead of everyone else in his thinking.

He was one of the first, not just to understand Irelands enormous potential for renewable energy, but to act upon it. More recently, he has been a passionate and articulate advocate for a European supergrid, which he understood would ensure people across the continent would enjoy clean, secure energy into the future.

There are few people who will leave behind such a positive and long-lasting legacy as him. I wish to convey my deepest sympathies to his family and friends, said Minister Ryan
The Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council has warned that rates could have to be increased at some point in the future.

The councils budget at 75.4 million, was welcomed and unanimously approved by the councillors at a recent meeting. Rates payments contributed 12.7 million to the budget.

It is not often that we come into a budget meeting, and everyone is in full support of the budget. Theres been many years where there is disagreements and counter proposals, Cllr John Keogh said at the conclusion of the meeting.

He thanked the councils director of finance Sean Mullarkey and his team, the executive as a whole, and the councillors for working together in the best interests of the people of the county.

Cllr Keogh said that there had been continued investment into the county and its communities over recent years.

He highlighted the success of the Croi Conaithe scheme, with 11 million over the next three year. This scheme, which was praised by both the executive and the councillors, supports the refurbishment of vacant properties, and allows local authorities to make sites available in towns and villages at a discounted rate to individuals who want to build their own home.

As I said at the outset, there is no rates increase on this occasion, Cllr Keogh said. The reality is that in future years if we want to continue the development of the county, the public realm works, and to promote our county from a tourism point of view, we have to be prepared to make tough decisions.

In the very near future, we are going to have to look at the possibility of a rates increase. He said that the incoming council would have to give it serious consideration.

Cllr John Cummins also made this point during a discussion on the 75.4 million budget, which he described as a significant endorsement of the councils activity.

I think the budget, if well spent, will make a big difference to the future of this county, he said. He added that the council was a countys chief economic driver.

There has been no increase in rates for the last seven years, since 2018. If you compare that to some of our neighbouring counties, which in the same period of time, have had to increase their rates by significant amounts. In some areas, up as far as 10 per cent. Roscommon on the other hand had maintained its level, he said, which was good for the rate payers and an indication of the councils prudent financial management.

At the start of the meeting, Chief Executive Shane Tiernan thanked the councillors for their "foresight" on maintaining the local property tax (LPT) level. This led to the Government increasing the LPT adjustment figure to 12.5 million.

This was an increase of 1.77m in the baseline funding for 2024 from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. This decision, which was made in September 2022 to maintain the LPT for two years has resulted in an increase of 540,000, Mr Tiernan wrote in the budgets foreword.

I will stress that we havent varied the rate in Roscommon in 20 years and that is not sustainable. That will have to change if we are to attract further funding into the county. We simply dont have the means for the continued support of match funding, and various other demands, that were ever increasing on local government. He said that while the council received central funding to establish new initiatives such as the Healthy Ireland programme and climate action, but these would more and more become the financial responsibility of the local authority.

They will ultimately be our full responsibility and we have to be cognisant of that, he said.

He said that the budget had risen from just over 52.4 million in 2017 to 75.4 million.

Its a very significant increase and has to be carefully managed.
A County Roscommon man who is known world-wide for managing the worlds largest and longest running St Patricks Day Parade in New York City has announced his intention to run for Seanad Eireann.

In an interview on Friday on Shannonside Radios Joe Finnegan Show, Hilary Beirne, from Boyle spoke passionately about the urgent need for increased political engagement of Irish nationals, particularly those living abroad. To this end he announced he will be seeking a nomination to Seanad Eireann in the National University of Ireland (NUI) constituency.

On the show, Hilary said: After speaking at the Global Irish Civic Forum in Dublin Castle last year, where I discussed Seanad reforms and the need for better engagement of Irish citizens living abroad, I have been approached to run for Seanad Eireann.

The Beirne campaign is already gaining momentum as he is building support within the NUI universities and has received encouragement from several well-known NUI personalities in Ireland for the Seanad run. This is in addition to strong support from NUI graduates abroad.

In the past year, he has spoken concerning Irish political engagement at the Global Irish Civic Forum, the Inter-Celtic Business Forum in Brittany, France, the Tangible Ireland conference in Limerick, and at the Golden Bridges award ceremony in Boston.

Educated at NUI Galway and NUI Dublin. He holds a bachelors degree in agricultural science and a masters degree in environmental and occupational health sciences. He also attended Atlantic Technology University (ATU) Mountbellew, formerly the Franciscan Agricultural College in Mountbellew.

He is a member of the Irish Ad Hoc Committee to protect the Good Friday Agreement in Washington DC, Chairman and founder of the St Patrick's Day Foundation, NYC, and member of the executive board at Votingrights.ie, as well as a member of a number of other Irish organisations.

Fun fact

Hilary Beirne was instrumental in introducing the wrapping of baled silage into the West of Ireland during the late 80s.
Kenneth Fox

More than 13,500 people were living in emergency accommodation in November  a new record homeless figure.

It includes more than 4,000 children for the first time in the history of the State.

The Department of Housing released its November homeless figures, showing there was a total of 13,514 people living in emergency accommodation in November.

Dublin has the largest proportion of those in emergency accommodation at 9,906, which includes more than 3,100 children.

The figures do not include asylum seekers, women in refuge centres, rough sleepers or the so-called 'hidden homeless'.

A total of 65 per cent of adults in homelessness were single, while 4,989 (53 per cent) were aged 25-44.

Following the latested figures, charities have urged the Government to take action in the face of shocking rates of homelessness.

Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan said not only were there more children homeless than ever, but more of them had been homeless for longer.

Mr Dennigan said 2024 must be the year the Government makes a different approach to homelessness, urging policymakers to focus on people who have been homeless for longest time.

'Entirely achievable objective'

He said the Government should respond to the high numbers of people in emergency accommodation and the increase in asylum seekers and refugees arriving in Ireland by maximising the number of long-term homeless households moving out of homeless accommodation and into their own home.

Mr Dennigan said this would free up emergency accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees.

This is an entirely achievable objective. In the last two years, more social housing has been delivered than for many years, but we are not using this resource to its best effect in reducing homelessness.

If a fairer share of new social housing was allocated to those who have been homeless for long periods, we could reduce the harm caused by homelessness and ensure there was enough temporary accommodation for those who need this form of support.

Wayne Stanley, executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, said the current level of homelessness was a preventable trauma.

Addressing the current homelessness crisis will require Government to work with local authorities to ensure more secure affordable homes are made available to those in homelessness and that we see increased delivery of social housing in the years ahead, Mr Stanley said.

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Cian OCallaghan added that since Darragh OBrien became Minister for Housing almost four years ago, the number of people living in emergency accommodation has shot up by 55 per cent.

Shamefully, the number of children growing up without a home has also increased by 55 per cent.

The government is in a state of paralysis when it comes to dealing with the housing crisis. Its final year in office will be tainted by unprecedented levels of child homelessness and a generation locked out of home-ownership, Mr OCallaghan said.
Holy Cow! History is written by novelist, former TV journalist and diehard history buff J. Mark Powell. Have a historic mystery that needs solving? A forgotten moment worth remembering? Please send it to
WASHINGTON, D.C.  Friday, Congressman Russell Fry announced his U.S. Service Academy nominations for South Carolinas Seventh Congressional District. Eight high school students from the Grand Strand and Pee Dee have been chosen to be considered for appointment to one of the following U.S. Service Academies  the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

Through a rigorous application and interview process, Fry nominated:

Charles Chapman of Florence, Wilson High School  U.S. Air Force Academy

Forde Emerson of Florence, West Florence High School  U.S. Military Academy (West Point), U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

Wyndham Freeman of Little River, North Myrtle Beach High School  U.S. Naval Academy

Brandon Harrison of Hartsville, Hartsville High School  U.S. Military Academy (West Point), U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

Harrison Horvath of Pawleys Island, Lowcountry Preparatory School  U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy

Alexis Jeppson of Hartsville, Mayo High School  U.S. Naval Academy

Riley Monroe of Florence, Florence Christian School  U.S. Military Academy (West Point), U.S. Naval Academy

Jennifer Musiol of Pawleys Island, Lowcountry Preparatory School  U.S. Air Force Academy

I am honored to nominate such an impressive group of students from the Grand Strand and Pee Dee to be considered to attend one of our U.S. Service Academies, said Fry. These eight nominees clearly demonstrate the exceptional fitness of character, academic acumen, and leadership skills necessary for our nations service members. I have no doubt that if accepted, these students will go on to make South Carolinas Seventh proud and exceptionally serve in the greatest military in the world.

As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Fry has the privilege of nominating a limited number of students from South Carolinas Seventh to the U.S. Service Academies each year. Students selected during this nomination process must still receive an offer of admission into their respective academy.
Tense year lies ahead as Pyongyang redoubles efforts to build up arms

Editors note This article is the first in a four-part series that provides an analysis of South Koreas diplomatic situation with neighboring countries at the start of 2024.  ED.

By Jung Min-ho

Pyongyang has left little room for second-guessing about what inter-Korean relations would be like this year. During a year-end ruling Workers Party meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for overwhelming war readiness against South Korea and the U.S.

As a means of building such military forces, he then told officials to redouble their efforts for five top-priority tasks for the year ahead. Among the plans are producing supersized nuclear warheads and developing submarines capable of launching an underwater nuclear attack.

All this suggests that North Korea might be preparing for its first nuclear weapons test since 2017, according to experts contacted recently by The Korea Times. With the North officially abandoning its peace efforts, the big question now is how much tension would rise on the peninsula rather than whether there would be any turnaround, they said.

Among the top priorities, the supersized nuclear warhead is the only weapon that has not been revealed. After his announcement, North Korea may move to test it before unveiling it to the world, said Cha Du-hyeogn, a senior analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank.

North Koreas latest nuclear test was estimated to have a yield of up to 100 kilotons, which is five times stronger than the atomic bomb detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki in 1945. Cha fears the new bomb under development  likely a thermonuclear type  would be far more powerful.

Experts said if Pyongyang ever decides to carry out another nuclear test in spite of apparent opposition from Beijing, the purpose would be to demonstrate its nuclear strike capability in a real-war situation.

It is important to keep in mind that North Korea is doing all this to pressure U.S. politicians to recognize it as a significant threat they should deal with, said Kim Jin-ha, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), a state-funded think tank.

To convince them, North Korea could test its tactical nuclear weapon or test-launch its intercontinental ballistic missile at a normal angle (instead of a high angle) to demonstrate its ability to strike the U.S. mainland.

Kim said one possible scenario for North Korea is to test-fire its Haeil-1 and Haeil-2 underwater drones, which he said are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. They were believed to be inspired by the Poseidon, a Russian unmanned underwater vehicle equipped with a nuclear propulsion system and nuclear warhead.

Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute, a think tank, is another scholar who thinks that North Korea may well test the Hwasan-31, its nuclear warhead disclosed for the first time last March, in the coming weeks  possibly on the occasion of Kim Jong-uns 40th birthday on Jan. 8, or his deceased fathers on Feb. 16.

In his announcement, the North Korean leader set forth plans to launch three additional spy satellites in 2024 after the successful launch of its first in November.

He said it would be critical to establish a reliable foundation to build more nuclear weapons amid signs that it started operating a new light-water reactor at its main nuclear facility in Yongbyon. He also told officials to enhance submarine capabilities as his navy is trying to turn dozens of its mid-sized submarines into tactical nuclear attack submarines.

Experts have expressed concerns that all such efforts could be aided by its strong ties to the Kremlin, which is using North Korean ammunition for its war against Ukraine in exchange for the promises of its technical support for the regime. They also worry that this Cold War-like climate would deepen the division of the two Koreas even further.

Highly calculated provocations expected

Despite its belligerent rhetoric, experts believe North Korea will largely avoid making blatant provocations in fear of retaliation from the Seoul-Washington combined forces.

The most likely scenario is that North Korea would plan something similar to its 2015 attack, in which two South Korean soldiers were seriously injured by a landmine in the demilitarized zone apparently planted in secret by the North Korean military, they said.

For its political and diplomatic objectives, North Korea would want to stir up tensions. But I think it is unlikely to make big-scale provocations like its attack on South Korea's Cheonan frigate, Cha said. The risk of possible consequences is too great. Most likely, it would aim for something that could have a major political impact without causing many deaths.

With critical elections scheduled for this year  in Taiwan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S.  North Korea will explore the best timing for its provocations while amplifying efforts to develop new weapons to increase its bargaining power in any future negotiations with a possibly new U.S. president  maybe Donald Trump  after its election in November, said experts. They added that the regime ultimately wants a nuclear disarmament deal with Washington.

According to Kim Jin-ha, North Koreas attempt to align itself with Russia and China is another recent pattern that deserves extra attention.

Instead of acting alone, North Korea has recently shown a tendency of acting in accordance with the messages from Russia and China, which appear to view it more importantly in their geopolitical strategies against the U.S., the KINU analyst said. After Taiwans presidential election (scheduled for Jan. 13), North Korea is expected to watch closely how China reacts to the results.
(Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

SINGAPORE  A 65-year-old man was charged with the murder of a woman in Bukit Batok on Sunday (7 January). This followed the discovery of his neighbour's deceased body in a Bukit Batok apartment on Saturday.

Quek Eng Hock is accused of killing the 43-year-old woman on Saturday. The victim cannot be named due to a gag order, according to CNA.

The news outlet reported that the police received a call for assistance from a residential unit at about 8.20am.

Upon arrival, law enforcement found a motionless 43-year-old woman inside the apartment. Paramedics later pronounced her dead. A five-year-old boy, who is believed to be the deceased woman's child, was taken to the hospital while conscious.

Arrest made as authorities seize knife

The man was arrested at the scene, and the authorities seized a knife suspected to be involved in the incident. Police have said that investigations are ongoing.

The Straits Times (ST) reported earlier that at least four police vehicles were parked at the foot of the block in the morning, and a man dressed in white protective gear was escorted to a police vehicle.

Singapore Civil Defence Force said it had received a call for assistance at about 8.25am. One person was pronounced dead at the scene, and another was brought to the National University Hospital.

According to ST, the area surrounding Block 460B Bukit Batok West Ave 9 had been cordoned off by the police, including the void deck as well as the public walkway.

MP of Hong Kah North SMC extends condolences

ST also reported that the Hong Kah North SMC MP, Amy Khor, expressed her sadness regarding the incident. She conveyed her "deepest condolences" to the deceased's family and offered prayers, particularly for the "child that has been hurt".

She said, "My grassroots (team) and I will find out how we can be of assistance to those who have been affected and provide support as necessary."

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The motorcyclist was booked during enforcement operations held by LTA on 3 May 2023. (Photo: LTA Facebook page)

SINGAPORE  A man has been charged and convicted for using his motorcycle as a public service vehicle and for using it without the requisite insurance coverage, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Friday (5 January). This is the first time that a motorcyclist has been convicted for illegal chauffeuring services, according to the Facebook post by the LTA.

The motorcyclist was booked during enforcement operations held by the LTA on 3 May 2023, around 8.45am, along the vicinity of Block 505D Yishun Street 51, according to CNA. Investigations showed that 33-year-old Muhammad Hasbullah was paid $18 to ferry his passenger, whom he did not know personally, from Yishun Street 51 to ITE College West in Choa Chu Kang.

Hasbullah was also found to have accepted $18 earlier on the same day at about 6.30am to bring another passenger from Tampines to ITE College West. He had taken both passengers as he wanted to earn additional income despite knowing that it is an offence to ferry passengers on a motorcycle for a fare.

As motorcycles cannot be used as private-hire vehicles in Singapore, Hasbullahs motorcycle was not registered as a public service vehicle. The insurer for his motorcycle, Etiqa, also confirmed that he did not have a valid insurance policy, as their policy does not cover the vehicle when it is used for hire and reward services, CNA reported.

Two other drivers had vehicles impounded after same operation

Two other drivers were booked in the same enforcement operation and also had their vehicles impounded, with one charged alongside Hasbullah.

Muhammad Nasrulhaw Shamsulnizam was discovered to be ferrying a passenger from Block 194 Rivervale Drive to Thomson Plaza when he was stopped by an LTA enforcement officer on 3 May 2023, at about 11.55am. The 21-year-old was paid $24 and investigations found that he did not have a vocational license to drive a taxi, private hire car or bus.

His vehicle was also registered as a passenger motor car and did not have a valid public service license, nor a valid insurance policy, as his insurer NTUC Income similarly said that their policy does not cover the car when it is used for hire and reward services.

Story continues

Both Hasbullah and Nasrulhaw were charged and convicted for not possessing a valid vocational license and using their vehicles without a valid Public Service Vehicle license and the requisite insurance coverage. They were fined each $1,800 and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licenses for 12 months.

The case of the last driver booked in the May 2023 operations by the LTA is still before the courts.

We take a serious view of such unlawful practices and will continue to take enforcement action against those providing illegal car- and motorcycle-pooling services, said the LTA. Instead, commuters should book point-to-point transport services, including commercial car-pooling services, via licensed business platforms.

Those who know of any such illegal operations are encouraged to report them on the LTA website or the OneMotoring website.

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.
SIOUX CITY -- Briar Cliff University has appointed an interim president, following the resignation of Dr. Patrick J. Schulte, who was named the Sioux City college's 12th president less than a year ago.

"Schulte is pursuing other personal and professional opportunities, following a recent engagement and accepting a new executive leadership position with Donnelly College in Kansas City, Missouri," Briar Cliff said in a statement released Friday evening.

Steve Freeman was unanimously appointed the interim president. A formerly retired business professional with experience in higher education and pharmaceuticals, Freeman served on Briar Cliff's Board of Trustees for 12 years and as chair from 2018 to 2022.

"While this news is unexpected, we want to assure you of the Board of Trustees' confidence in our leadership, employees, students, and this institution. We wish Dr. Schulte the best in his future endeavors," said Steve Stouffer, Briar Cliff board chair. "Steve Freeman, a Sioux City native, is a longtime supporter and an incredible mentor, leader, and friend of many within the Briar Cliff and Siouxland community. We look forward to his continued leadership and support as we navigate the next phase of Briar Cliff University's future."

Schulte joined Briar Cliff in June 2021 as vice president of finance. He was selected in July 2022 to serve as interim president after Rachelle Keck left to become president of Grand View University. Schulte shared with the Journal at the time that his plan was to stay as president and was using the time to showcase his skills.

Schulte was chosen out of 50 candidates who applied for the position in March 2023. His inaguration ceremony took place four months ago.

Stouffer said Freeman's leadership, character, and longstanding Briar Cliff connections across the country will "help propel the university forward and make the path smooth for the next president."

The statement said presidential search plans "will begin in the near term."
SIOUX CENTER  During a Friday speech in Sioux Center which stretched more than 100 minutes, former President Donald Trump complained to a crowd of about 500 people at the Terrace View Event Center "(You) can't have any fun in these rather terrible times."

Trump rallies in Sioux Center Former President Donald Trump walks on stage for a campaign rally at Terrace View Event Center in Sioux Center, Iowa, Friday.

The grievance came as Trump repeatedly: warned rallygoers of possible nuclear war, mused about death penalties for drug dealers, accused President Joe Biden of targeting him through the federal court system, claimed members of the Catholic Church were being persecuted nationwide, suggested the November election would be rigged against him, took swipes at the personalities of his 2024 Republican primary challengers and said the country had become an embarrassment after he left office following his loss in the 2020 election.

"We're going to hell, you don't mind me using that horrible word, do you?" Trump asked early in his remarks which began with "We're going to take our country back."

The stop was part of a blitz Trump is making through the state with less than two weeks until the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses. In the coming days, the GOP frontrunner will make Iowa appearances in Sioux City and Cherokee (just one day before the caucuses) as well as Newton, Clinton, Atlantic and Indianola.

The shooting in Perry, Iowa

After instructing potential caucus goers on how to support him, Trump touched on the school shooting in Perry, Iowa which left two dead (including the 17-year-old shooter) and seven others injured. The Associated Press reported: "Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger put himself in harm's way so students could try to escape from after the shooter opened fire in a cafeteria as students were gathering for breakfast before class."

"I want to send our support, and our deepest sympathies, to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa. To the entire community, we love you, we pray for you and we ask God to heal and comfort, really, the whole state and the pain that you have," Trump said. "This is something that's very unique to your state. We're really with you as much as anybody can be. It's a very terrible thing that happened. It's just horrible to see that happening. It's just horrible. So surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it. We have to move forward. But to the relatives and all of the people that are so devastated right now, to a point they can't breathe, they can't live, we are with you all the way. We're with you. We love you. We cherish you."

Trump then began attacking Biden for his handling of immigration.

"They pretend like it's under control"

Trump, who launched his 2016 bid for the White House by saying immigrants coming from Mexico are rapists, spent as much time talking about immigration as anything else in his speech. He told the crowd America's borders had completely disappeared under Biden which led supporters to cheer "build the wall" and "build the border."

"As we speak, the last remnants of our open and broken border are completely leveled as millions and millions of people storm into the United States in the largest illegal mass migration ... There's never been anything like what you're watching on television," said Trump, who recently defended comments about migrants crossing the southern border "poisoning the blood" of America (which multiple politicians and experts on extremism have said is reminiscent of language used by Adolf Hitler).

Without specific evidence, Trump said so-called elites were bringing in undocumented immigrants because they are stupid, hate America and want to win elections. (A 2022 story from the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism outlet, reported such claims have been made for more than 100 years).

Trump rallies in Sioux Center Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Terrace View Event Center in Sioux Center, Iowa, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.

In a passage where he referenced the ongoing Israel - Hamas War, which has killed more than 17,000 Palestinian civilians and 1,200 Israeli civilians, Trump bragged his administration had no problem with "Islamic people who wanted to come in and blow the hell out of our cities."

As remedies to the problems he alleged, Trump talked about building a wall along the United States' southern border with Mexico. During his time as president, Politico reported Trump "built a mere fraction of what he promised, 452 miles of a wall  most of which replaced old, existing fencing."

When he raised the prospect of capital punishment for anyone who made it across the border with illicit drugs that kill a person, members of the crowd cheered. He said within the legal realm everything moves slow... with one exception.

"If I'm being tried for bull****, they (trials) go fast," Trump said as the crowd laughed.

Trump rallies in Sioux Center Supporters raise their phones to record as former President Donald Trump walks on stage for a campaign rally at Terrace View Event Center in S

Criticisms of DeSantis

Though averages of Iowa polls show Trump with commanding lead over the Republican field, he still made sure to take shots at his opponents, especially Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (who served under Trump for almost two years).

Trump, who endorsed DeSantis in the runup to his 2018 bid for the governorship, boasted he "took him from zero." (The Florida governor has noted a number of times he won by even more in his 2022 reelection when Trump did not endorse him.)

"You need a personality and theres not a lot of personality there," Trump said of DeSantis and what's needed to run for president.

Trump wasn't the only one slamming DeSantis. At one point, after Trump called DeSantis "DeSanctimonious" (a running joke on his last name), a person in the crowd said "DeSnoozefest."

Leading up to Trump's speech, Iowa State Sen. Lynn Evans (R-Aurelia) "We can't afford to put a candidate in office that will require at least two years of job training," a kind of pushback to DeSantis saying the GOP cannot afford to make Trump the nominee because he would only get four more years in the White House if reelected on Nov. 5. Evans, a former superintendent of the Alta-Aurelia school district, also said the 2024 election represents "a battle of good versus evil."

While speaking at Johnnie Mars Family Restaurant in Sioux City Wednesday, DeSantis sprinkled criticisms of Trump, throughout the 40-plus minutes he spent speaking to and taking questions from patrons of the popular diner. DeSantis accused Trump, who hasnt appeared in a GOP primary debate and has maintained a lighter campaign schedule in Iowa than his opponents, of "making a mockery of this whole process by not showing up and answering peoples questions." Trump left the Sioux Center stage Friday afternoon without taking questions from the crowd.

Criticisms of Haley

Though Trump picked Haley as his first U.N. Ambassador, he said he "did not enjoy her."

"Nikki sucks," a fan yelled out.

Echoing attacks other 2024 GOP hopefuls have had, Trump criticized Haley for receiving donations from top Democratic donors.

As a combined attack on Haley and DeSantis, Trump speculated either one would be bad for ethanol in Iowa. In 2021, the state produced more than 4.5 billion gallons (according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association). He mocked each one's poll numbers as well.

Trump rallies in Sioux Center Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Terrace View Event Center in Sioux Center, Iowa, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. The sto

Coming to Sioux Center and what comes next

When Trump previously held an event in Sioux Center, on Jan. 23, 2016, less than two weeks before that year's caucuses, he remarked he could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?"

Trump rallies in Sioux Center Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Terrace View Event Center in Sioux Center, Iowa, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. The sto

The former president was scheduled to make a stop at Dordt University but the event was moved because "the vision of the Trump campaign and Dordt were incongruent," according to a news release from the private Christian college.

"The Trump campaign started the process of lining up a campaign stop but desired a rally format," the news release stated. "Dordt understood that President Trumps visit would not be publicized until the format was finalized after the new year. Ultimately, the vision of the Trump campaign and Dordt were incongruent, and the event will not take place at the university."

In early December, the university, in conjunction with Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull), hosted four of Trump's challengers in the 2024 primary: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Texas pastor Ryan Binkley. Trump did not participate in the event and has yet to appear at any event with the two-term congressman for Iowa's Fourth District.

Trump rallies in Sioux Center Former President Donald Trump walks on stage for a campaign rally at Terrace View Event Center in Sioux Center, Iowa, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. Th

As it stands, an average of Iowa polls on the FiveThirtyEight data website shows Trump with a 31.6 point lead over DeSantis, a 34.3 point advantage on Haley and a 44 point edge against Ramaswamy. No Republican candidate, in a competitive field, has won the first-in-the-nation caucuses by more than 12 points. This year, Iowa voters will head to caucus sites at 7 p.m.

Despite the polling, Trump repeatedly urged attendees to go and caucus because it "shows strength."
BEIJING  A competitor in Chinese chess says he has sued the national association in China for mental distress after he was stripped of a title for drinking alcohol and defecating in the bathtub of his hotel room at a recent competition.

Yan Chenglong doesn't deny what happened but wrote in a civil complaint this week that he drank a moderate amount of beer to celebrate his win with other players and that some food had caused stomach problems and he couldn't make it to the toilet in time.

The complaint came one week after a social media post by the Chinese Xiangqi Association that described the drinking and defecation. It said an investigation had found that Yan damaged hotel property, violated public order and good behavior, and had a negative impact on the tournament.

Chinese chess, called xiangqi in Chinese, is a traditional board game that remains popular, particularly among older people. Neighborhood residents play in parks and along sidewalks, often with small crowds gathered around to watch.

Yan's complaint  which demands that the association apologize, restore his reputation in the media and pay him 100,000 yuan (about $14,000) in damages  was mailed to a court in central China's Henan province on Monday, according to a post on Yan's social media account.

The post includes photos of the six pages of the complaint and an envelope with an express mail sticker addressed to a court in central China's Henan province.

Calls to the Chinese Xiangqi Association weren't answered on Thursday and Friday.

The chess association said in its post that it had also looked into reports that Yan had cheated during the tournament but was unable to confirm them.

Celebrity birthdays: Jan. 5 Bradley Cooper Brooklyn Sudano Carrie Ann Inaba Chris Stein Clancy Brown Diane Keaton Franz Drameh Iris Dement January Jones Jessica Chaffin Ricky Paull Goldin Robert Duvall Shea Whigham Ted Lange Troy Van Leeuwen Vinnie Jones
Iowa lawmakers say they expect to see bills in the upcoming legislative session to tighten state law on foreign ownership of farmland.

Whether those proposals would remove exemptions for some foreign land buys, require more reporting by foreign and corporate entities or push state agencies for more enforcement of farmland transactions still is uncertain.

We dont have a caucus bill were starting Day 1 with, said Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes. But I do believe that is an issue our caucus is interested in and I would suspect well see a bill at some point about foreign ownership of land.

The Gazette interviewed legislative leaders, environmental groups and other statehouse watchers about natural resources and agricultural legislation they expect to see when the 2024 legislative session starts Monday in Des Moines.

According to them, the hottest topics are about energy, pipelines and farmland ownership. The issue of water quality may get limited exposure through a bill that seeks to relax restrictions on developers. Because Republicans have majorities in the Iowa Senate and House, GOP lawmakers will set the agenda on what bills will be considered.

Foreign land

Foreign investment in Iowa farmland more than doubled in the last 10 years, to nearly 514,000 acres in 2022, but Iowa still ranks in the bottom half of states for acres with foreign investment.

Iowas law governing foreign ownership of agricultural land is one of the strictest in the nation. More than 90%t of foreign investment in Iowa farmland is for long-term leases  not land purchases  for wind projects, a Gazette investigation showed.

The top countries with investors who own or lease Iowa farmland are Canada, Italy, Portugal and France, but that hasnt stopped fears about Chinese investors taking advantage of exceptions in Iowa law.

If our law has loopholes in it as far as foreign ownership and things like that wed be willing to look at that, said Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford.

House File 642, introduced last year, would let investors from allied foreign countries to buy agricultural land and get tax credits if they are willing to invest at least $1 billion to build a manufacturing or research facility in an approved MEGA  or Major Economic Growth Attraction  site.

When I first heard this about a year ago, I was thinking over my dead body, said Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, who is vice chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Hes been concerned for nearly two years about foreign and corporate ownership of farmland and the shell companies that can be used to conceal ownership. Now that I know a little bit more about it (HF 642), theres an economic development component that has value.

Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, said he plans to introduce legislation to require more transparency of all agricultural land transactions.

A Gazette investigation last year showed an investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns at least 22,000 acres of Iowa farmland, and a Tennessee family has bought at least 5,000 acres in Northwest Iowa using at least 10 different names.

Energy

On June 1, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 617 into law, which requires an independent review of the Iowa Utilities Boards responsibilities and procedures. The process would ensure the board furthers safe, adequate, reliable and affordable utility services with non-discriminatory, just and reasonable rates for Iowans.

The utilities board hired a consulting company to do research, gather public comments and produce a report to the Legislature, which it delivered Dec. 14.

Among its findings, the 200-plus-page review calls for utilities to regularly update their long-term resource plans as markets, technology and policies change  which would ultimately better inform the Iowa Utilities Board during rate-making decisions. It also recommends utilities periodically update their rates to reflect fluctuating costs of service.

The consultant questioned the need for Iowas advance rate-making principles, in which the utilities board preapproves new energy projects and their costs to incentivize more energy generation. Most recently, board preapproved two Alliant Energy solar projects.

The review also proposes the board evaluate how spending caps enacted by the Legislature in 2018 may limit utilities energy efficiency and demand response programs. If invested in more, the programs could help customers control their energy consumption and costs.

During the upcoming session, the consultant will present its findings to the House Commerce Committee.

We want to make sure that the Iowa Utilities Board has the tools that they need to make good decisions for the ratepayer, said Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta and House commerce committee chair, who first initiated HF 617. We want to make sure we have reliable service here in the state of Iowa, that it's affordable for Iowans and that we're not paying for energy being shipped out of our state.

CO2 pipelines

The Iowa House last March passed a bill that would require companies wanting to build a carbon dioxide pipeline to get voluntary easements for 90% of the pipelines route before being granted the right to force sale through eminent domain.

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Des Moines, the House minority leader, said many Democrats would like to see the Iowa Senate consider House File 565 this session.

Some of us were comfortable with the compromise bill passed in the House because its a start, she said.

But Whitver said he doubts there is consensus among Republicans.

We have some of the strongest eminent domain laws in the country right now. he said. ...There are people in our caucus all over the board. Some are very supportive of the pipeline. Some that aren't as supportive of the pipeline."

The utilities board now is considering a permit application by Summit Carbon Solutions to build a 2,000-mile CO2 pipeline, with nearly 700 miles of it in Iowa, to transport carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to underground sequestration sites in North Dakota.

Navigator Heartland Greenway decided in October to abandon its plan to build another CO2 pipeline because of an uncertain regulatory path in several states. Wolf Carbon Solutions, which has proposed a pipeline from ADM plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton to a sequestration site in Illinois, continues to try to secure voluntary leases in Iowa and Illinois, the company said.

Pipeline opponents on the political right and left have been vocal about their concerns about safety and the use of eminent domain for a private project.

Environment

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of Iowas Nutrient Reduction Strategy, a two-pronged plan addressing nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in state waterways. Last spring, legislators slashed funding for a statewide network of water quality monitoring sensors.

Its unclear what laws the Legislatures Republican majority may enact this year related to water quality.

Sen. Annette Sweeney, R-Alden, who is chair of the Senates natural resources and environment committee, said she wants to continue funding water quality improvement projects like saturated buffers and bioreactors  but only if theyre making an impact.

First of all, I want to see progress, she said. What have we been doing with the money that we have been given?

Sweeney also is re-proposing a bill that would require any property abstract, or the history of a property, to include if it lies in a drainage district. Drainage districts are areas that agricultural lands drain into, often complete with infrastructure like tile lines, levees or ditches.

Senate File 455, introduced last year by Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, would limit the ordinances that counties or cities can enact for topsoil preservation and stormwater runoff mitigation at construction sites.

In places where there's a lot of development pressures, there can be real issues with erosion, stream degradation and flash flooding, said Alicia Vasto, water program manager of the Iowa Environmental Council. To say that developers are not required to do any kind of stormwater management upfront puts the city and therefore all of the citizens of that community responsible for that new expansion and development.

Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.

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Iowa lawmakers say they expect to see bills in the upcoming legislative session to tighten state law on foreign ownership of farmland.

Whether those proposals would remove exemptions for some foreign land buys, require more reporting by foreign and corporate entities or push state agencies for more enforcement of farmland transactions still is uncertain.

We dont have a caucus bill were starting Day 1 with, said Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes. But I do believe that is an issue our caucus is interested in and I would suspect well see a bill at some point about foreign ownership of land.

The Gazette interviewed legislative leaders, environmental groups and other Statehouse watchers about natural resources and agricultural legislation they expect to see when the 2024 legislative session starts Monday in Des Moines.

According to them, the hottest topics are about energy, pipelines and farmland ownership. The issue of water quality may get limited exposure through a bill that seeks to relax restrictions on developers. Because Republicans have majorities in the Iowa Senate and House, GOP lawmakers will set the agenda on what bills will be considered.

Foreign land

Foreign investment in Iowa farmland more than doubled in the last 10 years, to nearly 514,000 acres in 2022, but Iowa still ranks in the bottom half of states for acres with foreign investment.

Iowas law governing foreign ownership of agricultural land is one of the strictest in the nation. More than 90 percent of foreign investment in Iowa farmland is for long-term leases  not land purchases  for wind projects, a Gazette investigation showed.

The top countries with investors who own or lease Iowa farmland are Canada, Italy, Portugal and France, but that hasnt stopped fears about Chinese investors taking advantage of exceptions in Iowa law.

If our law has loopholes in it as far as foreign ownership and things like that wed be willing to look at that, said Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford.

House File 642, introduced last year, would let investors from allied foreign countries to buy agricultural land and get tax credits if they are willing to invest at least $1 billion to build a manufacturing or research facility in an approved MEGA  or Major Economic Growth Attraction  site.

When I first heard this about a year ago, I was thinking over my dead body, said Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, who is vice chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Hes been concerned for nearly two years about foreign and corporate ownership of farmland and the shell companies that can be used to conceal ownership. Now that I know a little bit more about it (HF 642), theres an economic development component that has value.

Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, said he plans to introduce legislation to require more transparency of all agricultural land transactions.

A Gazette investigation last year showed an investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns at least 22,000 acres of Iowa farmland, and a Tennessee family has bought at least 5,000 acres in Northwest Iowa using at least 10 different names.

Energy

On June 1, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 617 into law, which requires an independent review of the Iowa Utilities Boards responsibilities and procedures. The process would ensure the board furthers safe, adequate, reliable and affordable utility services with non-discriminatory, just and reasonable rates for Iowans.

The utilities board hired a consulting company to do research, gather public comments and produce a report to the Legislature, which it delivered Dec. 14.

Among its findings, the 200-plus-page review calls for utilities to regularly update their long-term resource plans as markets, technology and policies change  which would ultimately better inform the Iowa Utilities Board during rate-making decisions. It also recommends utilities periodically update their rates to reflect fluctuating costs of service.

The consultant questioned the need for Iowas advance rate-making principles, in which the utilities board preapproves new energy projects and their costs to incentivize more energy generation. Most recently, board preapproved two Alliant Energy solar projects.

The review also proposes the board evaluate how spending caps enacted by the Legislature in 2018 may limit utilities energy efficiency and demand response programs. If invested in more, the programs could help customers control their energy consumption and costs.

During the upcoming session, the consultant will present its findings to the House Commerce Committee.

We want to make sure that the Iowa Utilities Board has the tools that they need to make good decisions for the ratepayer, said Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta and House commerce committee chair who first initiated HF 617. We want to make sure we have reliable service here in the state of Iowa, that it's affordable for Iowans and that we're not paying for energy being shipped out of our state.

CO2 pipelines

The Iowa House last March passed a bill that would require companies wanting to build a carbon dioxide pipeline to get voluntary easements for 90 percent of the pipelines route before being granted the right to force sale through eminent domain.

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Des Moines, the House minority leader, said many Democrats would like to see the Iowa Senate consider House File 565 this session. Some of us were comfortable with the compromise bill passed in the House because its a start, she said.

But Whitver said he doubts there is consensus among Republicans.

We have some of the strongest eminent domain laws in the country right now. he said. ...There are people in our caucus all over the board. Some are very supportive of the pipeline. Some that aren't as supportive of the pipeline."

The utilities board now is considering a permit application by Summit Carbon Solutions to build a 2,000-mile CO2 pipeline, with nearly 700 miles of it in Iowa, to transport carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to underground sequestration sites in North Dakota.

Navigator Heartland Greenway decided in October to abandon its plan to build another CO2 pipeline because of an uncertain regulatory path in several states. Wolf Carbon Solutions, which has proposed a pipeline from ADM plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton to a sequestration site in Illinois, continues to try to secure voluntary leases in Iowa and Illinois, the company said.

Pipeline opponents on the political right and left have been vocal about their concerns about safety and the use of eminent domain for a private project.

Environment

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of Iowas Nutrient Reduction Strategy, a two-pronged plan addressing nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in state waterways. Last spring, legislators slashed funding for a statewide network of water quality monitoring sensors.

Its unclear what laws the Legislatures Republican majority may enact this year related to water quality.

Sen. Annette Sweeney, R-Alden, who is chair of the Senates natural resources and environment committee, said she wants to continue funding water quality improvement projects like saturated buffers and bioreactors  but only if theyre making an impact.

First of all, I want to see progress, she said. What have we been doing with the money that we have been given?

Sweeney also is re-proposing a bill that would require any property abstract, or the history of a property, to include if it lies in a drainage district. Drainage districts are areas that agricultural lands drain into, often complete with infrastructure like tile lines, levees or ditches.

Senate File 455, introduced last year by Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, would limit the ordinances that counties or cities can enact for topsoil preservation and stormwater runoff mitigation at construction sites.

In places where there's a lot of development pressures, there can be real issues with erosion, stream degradation and flash flooding, said Alicia Vasto, water program manager of the Iowa Environmental Council. To say that developers are not required to do any kind of stormwater management upfront puts the city and therefore all of the citizens of that community responsible for that new expansion and development.

Caleb McCullough of the Journal Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.
Its been three years since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and much of the initial public horror at the violence has faded, at least on the right. Polling has found that Republicans are less and less likely to view the Jan. 6 rioters as violent; most now think its time to move on. Some of the insurrectionists have even become martyrs or folk heroes. And perhaps most tellingly, the new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, was considered one of the primary architects behind the Stop the Steal movement.

Johnsons more genteel way of politics may not fit with the image of a rabid crowd storming the Capitol, but he does have something in common with many of the Jan. 6ers: a profound religious conviction in his own cause. In many ways, Johnson seems like a classic leader of the Christian right. His legal career focused on elevating protections for religious liberty over the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. On a more personal level, he hits the traditional cultural markers, taking to extremes, for example, his commitments to marriage and avoidance of porn. Scholars of the Christian right have characterized him as a textbook Christian nationalist.

But hes also something newer. As reporting from the fall showed, Johnson has deep ties to a movement called the New Apostolic Reformationa network of politically ambitious church leaders, pulled largely from a kind of Christianity called Neo-Charismatic Pentecostalism. NAR leaders (typically known as apostles) have been credited with stoking the large and influential Christian nationalist contingent at the Jan. 6 insurrection.

It can be hard to keep track of all these movements and groupsNeo-Charismatic Pentecostalism, the NAR, Christian nationalism, and so onand its tempting to write it all off as a matter of right-wing Christians getting worked up for Donald Trump. But a new book, focused on the political strategies of Neo-Charismatic Pentecostals, makes the case that to really understand the anti-democratic impulse of some of the Christian right, its worth examining the segment that believes in a literal battle for the country between the supernatural forces of good and evilthe segment Johnson already has ties to.

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The book is American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times, written by Andre Gagne, professor and chair of the theological studies department at Concordia University in Montreal. It was first published for a French-speaking audience in 2020, and Gagne has recently released an updated version for an English-speaking American audience.

To better understand how these Neo-Charismatic Pentecostals rallied their religious influence to push an anti-democratic agenda before Jan. 6, and why it matters that politically motivated leaders in this movement still have strong ties to the GOP, Slate spoke to Gagne on Thursday. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Slate: Lets start with Johnson and his connection to NAR. What is the New Apostolic Reformation?

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Gagne: The New Apostolic Reformation is essentially a new mode of church governance. Its a movement that has, as its core idea, apostolic governance. [That is, churches led by apostles, people granted leadership authority by God.] Its about dismantling the way churches function democratically, with elders and the congregation voting for their pastor. This nondemocratic impetus at the church level exhibits itself as the idea of dominionism at the social level.

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Dominionism is the idea that Christians should exercise authority, that the kingdom of God is to be established here on earth now, and its the responsibility of Christians to bring that about. This is rooted in a particular reading of the book of Genesis 1, where God calls humankind to exercise dominion over the universe. And to do that, Christians need to be able to ascend to the top of mountains of culturereligion, politics, education, family, media, and so on.

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Youve said that not all NAR members are Neo-Charismatic Pentecostals. But the overlap is strong. Who are Neo-Charismatic Pentecostals?

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Neo-Charismatic Pentecostals, or Neo-Pentecostals, put an emphasis very much on the gifts of the Spirit: speaking in tongues, miracles, prophecy, things like that. Theyre a third wave of charismatics-slash-Pentecostals who embrace all of these ideas of apostles, prophets, spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is very important [to them].

What we have seen during the Trump years is that those that were very close to him were often people that embraced these Neo-Charismatic Pentecostal ideas.

Whats new about them, politically? How are they different from what we traditionally think about when we think about the Christian right?

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The Neo-Charismatics are part of the Christian right, but its different from the old Christian right. The Christian right with the Moral Majority in the 1980s was about certain social conservative values. These people are not the same, because were in the world of spiritual warfare, where your adversaries are literally understood as being under the influence of demons.

Why would the concept of demonic influence make such a difference?

It has been mainstreamed as an idea, that Christians are waging a spiritual war against demonic forces in the world that have sometimes taken over their political enemies. And spiritual warfare language leads to, eventually, the possibility of violence. It is not just spiritual; it bleeds into the real world. On Jan. 6, they were blowing shofars, a kind of ancient Jewish trumpet that was sometimes used as a rallying call for battles.

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Why engage in that rhetoric and performance if youre not hyped up to the point where youre going to do everything you can to make sure that Donald Trump stays in office? You have these people enacting all of these symbolic things that are reminiscent of very violent actions depicted in the Bible: actions of genocide and destruction and overturning of rule.

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You make the case that these people arent fringe. Are there any Neo-Pentecostal figures with particular prominence?

Paula White-Cain was very close to Trump during his presidency. There was not a rally where Paula White-Cain wasnt present, and often opening rallies with prayer. Most of the time, she engaged in what we call spiritual warfare prayerprayers that are directed against President Trumps enemies, against the enemies of Christians, implying that these demonic forces have a hold on Trumps political adversaries.

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During Trumps reelection campaign, there were 20,000 people at the Amway Center [at an Orlando rally in June 2019]. And the first person to show up on the podium is Paula White-Cain. And shes praying against principalities and powers. To all these 20,000 people, shes labeling Trumps adversaries as being influenced by evil supernatural forces. So its a way to disqualify Trumps political adversaries.

What connection did this religious group have to the events of Jan. 6?

Leading to Jan. 6, they started getting these rallies going onJericho marches. That refers to a story in the Hebrew Bible in which God has called Joshua to go and circle the city of Jericho and destroy and kill everyone in the city. A lot of these leaders were present, preaching, screaming their heads off about were fighting the spiritual battle against Jezebel, and so on. Neo-Charismatic Pentecostals with close ties to this idea of New Apostolic Reformation were there.

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Many of these Neo-Charismatic Pentecostal leaders that had supported Trump bought into this big lie that the election had been rigged. And they participated in instigating it through their rhetoric of spiritual warfare, that they were battling for the soul of America.

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Related From Slate Mike Johnson Claims That God Told Him to Be a New Moses Read More

So youre saying that these Neo-Charismatic Pentecostal leaders promoted the concept of spiritual warfare in such a way that some religious conservatives were then not concerned about democracy?

Yes. You have these people there with their spiritual warfare rhetoric, with their view of dominion, constantly drilling that this is the way to go. They quote Scripture: It is the violent that take the kingdom of God by force. But they completely decontextualize thatJesus doesnt mean that you have to be violent to take the kingdom of God. Theyre using Scripture in a way that is truncated and doesnt actually reflect careful biblical interpretation. So thats why I think theres a danger to democracy.

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Youve mentioned the Shofars and the Jericho marches as symbols of spiritual warfare. What about Mike Johnsons Appeal to Heaven flag, flown outside his office?

This flag was very much popularized in NAR circles. The flag initially was used during the Revolutionary War. The idea of an Appeal to Heaven comes from John Locke, who wrote about this idea of an appeal to heaven against the political idea of the divine right of kings. You can appeal to heaven: Theres someone greater than the king. This concept was against tyranny. Its interesting how this flag has completely turned. The way that they understand Trump is like a king. Youre using this flag to support the idea that Trump should be president, that hes chosen by God. So I think all of this speaks very loudly about their profound fascination with power, and ultimate power.

Are the Neo-Charismatic Pentecostal leaders still worth paying attention to?

Now there are new actors left and right, and theyre talking in a way thats very troubling. So this is why Americans need to pay attention, because they need to understand that a lot of these people have been trying to infiltrate politics and have been trying to influence politicians for a while. And their goal is to change society. Democracy and pluralism as Americans know it would certainly not be the same with these individuals in power.
So, how was Golden Bachelor Gerry Turners much-anticipated televised wedding to show winner Theresa Nist, in the end? It was, as Hillary Frey puts it, a totally depressing dud! She examines why the heavily produced event strayed so far from what viewers loved about the show.

Plus: Scott Nover takes a look at the economics of getting married on live TV.

And in case you missed it: Frey homes in on the real winner of The Golden Bachelor.

SCOTUS is not ready! 

The Supreme Court will officially be weighing in on whether states can prevent Donald Trump from being on the presidential ballot. Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern argue that, regardless of the outcome, the courts decision to accept this case will be bad for democracy, bad for public acceptance of the institution, and bad for voters.

A quitters manifesto 

Rich Juzwiak quit meat. Then cigarettes. Then alcohol. Then caffeine. Then  eating after 8 p.m.? He shares how none of it has gone like he expectedbut its still led to a thrilling place.

And as we all push on into 2024 and try to bring our New Years resolutions with us, take a moment to peruse Quit It, our collection of essays about smarter ways to leave behind the things that arent serving you.

The Cold War nostalgia trap 

Some diplomats are waxing poetic for the days of Cold War foreign policy. If the icons of that time period were in charge of things today, the argument goespeople like George Kennan, George Marshall, and Dean Achesonthe U.S. would be in a much stronger position on the world stage.

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Fred Kaplan argues that this way of thinking is a trap, and that, compared with the international problems of today, postWorld War II diplomats actually had it easy.

Plus: Kaplan joined Mary Harris on What Next to discuss what will happen if we let Ukraine lose.

Sign of our cursed times 

Alan Dershowitz said what about Jeffrey Epstein, feminists, and Hamas? Nitish Pahwa is, quite unfortunately, going to have to break this one down for you.

Today, Slate is   CONJURING A GENERAL IMPRESSION OF HUMBLE MILDNESS

 much like the face of Nikki Haleys husband, formerly known as Bill, who changed his name to Michael at her urging. Wait, what? Heather Schwedel takes a closer look at the head-scratching rebrand.

We hope you have a weekend that is perfectly pleasant and mild!

Thanks so much for reading, and well see you on Monday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent messages of sympathy to the leaders of Iran and Japan on Saturday, the North's state media said, after the countries were hit with deadly bombings and an earthquake respectively this week.

Two bomb blasts in Iran claimed by the Islamic State killed nearly 100 people Wednesday, while the death toll in Japan's devastating earthquake on New Year's Day is nearing 100.

Kim expressed condolences to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with the hope that affected areas would be restored to stability soon, according to state media KCNA.

He also expressed sympathy to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and reaffirmed North Korea's stand in "opposing all sorts of terrorism," the KCNA said.

Meanwhile, North Korea fired more than 200 artillery rounds near a disputed maritime border with South Korea, Friday, prompting the South to take "corresponding" action with live fire drills. (Reuters)
On Friday, in the least surprising grant since Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging Donald Trumps eligibility for president, teeing up final resolution of a constitutional dispute that could knock Trump off the ballot in multiple states. The justices will review, on an expedited basis, the December ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court finding the former president disqualified under the 14th Amendment from returning to office due to his participation in an insurrection on Jan. 6. The justices will hear oral arguments in the historic case on Feb. 8. To reach a decision, the court will have to weigh strong legal arguments for disqualification against the daunting real-world impact of intervening decisively against Trump, to the fury of his would-be voters. The institution, as constituted today, is poorly suited to undertake such a delicate balancing act with sky-high stakes. But it no longer has a choice.

The battleone of a few Trump-centered appeals hurtling toward the high court this yearover Trumps eligibility is rooted in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which the nation ratified in the wake of the Civil War. In an effort to prevent former U.S. officeholders who had fomented and fought that war on behalf of the Confederacy from returning to office, this section bars citizens from holding any office, civil or military, if they previously took an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection against the United States. In Colorado, a group of voters filed a lawsuit arguing that Trump incited violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, participating in an insurrection that disqualifies him from returning to the White House. The states highest court agreed on Dec. 19, barring Trump from the primary ballotbut placing its decision on hold so he could seek review at SCOTUS. In the meantime, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, reached an identical conclusion last week and kicked Trump off the ballot there; the former president is now appealing her decision, which is on hold, in the state courts. Bellows decision proved that the Colorado ruling was not a one-off, and raised the possibility of a domino effect, with more blue and purple states declaring Trump ineligible to run; it all but guaranteed that the U.S. Supreme Court would ultimately step in to provide a definitive answer.

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Related From Slate How the Supreme Court Can Take the Sting Out of a Pro-Trump Ballot Ruling Read More

To prevail, Trumps opponents will have to make a clean sweep of three primary legal questions: First, is the presidency an office and is the president an officer subject to Section 3? Second, did Trump engage in insurrection in constitutional terms? Third, is the amendment self-executingmeaning Congress need not pass enabling legislation before individual states can enforce it? SCOTUS must say yes to all three to affirm the Colorado Supreme Court. Then there are a slew of secondary but still urgent questions swirling around. A sampling: Did state election laws give Trump sufficient due process to defend his inclusion on the ballot? Did Trump have a First Amendment right to engage in the speech that fomented the Capitol riot? Does the Colorado Republican Party have a First Amendment right to put Trump on the ballot? Then this puzzle, too: Section 3 technically prevents insurrectionists from holding office, not running for office; does that mean the judiciary has no authority to block Trump from the ballot, only to block him from actually taking office if he wins? Or is the decision to prevent him from taking office even if he is on the ballot left exclusively to Congress?

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The U.S. Supreme Court has never before confronted any of these questions. It has become conventional wisdom that a majority of justices will find a reason to answer at least one of them in way that justifies reversing the Colorado Supreme Court, clearing the way for Trump to run in all 50 states. But which one? Scholars have put forth a growing pile of evidence that the presidency is indeed an office subject to Section 3s restrictions; that Jan. 6 was an insurrection in which Trump engaged; and that Section 3 is self-executing, enforceable with or without an act of Congress.

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The trouble for SCOTUSand, specifically, for the conservative justicesis that this evidence creates a strong originalist justification for removing Trump from the ballot. It is rooted in the original meaning of Section 3, as understood by the lawmakers who wrote and ratified it, as well as the American public at the time. The conservative majority purports to follow original meaning wherever it leads, with no regard for politics, policy concerns, or real-world ramifications. If the Republican-appointed justices stay true to their principlesa huge ifthey may feel compelled to agree with the Colorado Supreme Court on these main questions. That leaves two options. The court could seize upon one of Trumps backup arguments as an escape hatch, even though they are pretty flimsy and do not necessarily provide an answer to other states questioning his eligibility. Or the court could face the music, disqualify Trump, and let the chips fall where they may.

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There are, in addition to these strictly legal questions, a host of purely political, even existential democratic questions about the wisdom of using this particular mechanismknocking a former insurrectionist off state ballotsin such a way as to essentially place the courts in the position of disenfranchising potentially millions of voters. Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig made some of these arguments here in Slate (and has been cited for that proposition by Trumps legal team and the Republican National Committee). There is the argument that if blue states can remove Trump from the primary ballot, red states will find some excuse to remove Joe Biden or some future Democrat in retaliation. Or that having Trump on some state ballots but not others will lead to a split decision in this coming presidential election that Trump and Republicans will be sure to exploit to justify rejecting whatever the outcomethis time to more successful effect if public opinion is more mixed over the removal of Trump from some ballots than it was when Americans largely rejected Trumps last attempt to illegally stay in power. Putting the judicial branch in charge of such a wildly political enterprise reads to some critics as a recipe for even more violence, vigilantism, and doubt over election outcomes. By contrast, others argue that pandering to Trumps bullies and their bully threats is an act of supreme cowardice, and that efforts to remove Trump from American political life by way of impeachment, electoral defeat, and criminal trials have failed, leaving no other option but this one. (Multiple of Trumps criminal trials are set for this year, though its unclear which if any will ultimately reach any sort of outcome prior to Novembers election.)

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It is also lost on nobody that this case, which really could make Bush v. Gore look like small ball in retrospect, is landing at 1 First St. when the court is experiencing historically low public trust, and in the midst of a seemingly endless cascade of ethical lapses by some of the same justices who have taken undisclosed gifts and pay from the same conservative legal groups backing Trump in these lawsuits. (One of these justices even had a wife who played a not-inconsequential role on insurrection day.) Trumps lawyer has already offered up quid-pro-quo pledges that another justice, Brett Kavanaugh will step up to protect Trump because Trump worked so hard to seat him amid a cloud of sexual assault allegations. It certainly appears that if the court had wished to hand down a decision in this litigation that was accepted as independent and purely based in its reading the law in the manner of neutral umpires, some of its members might have comported themselves differently in recent years. But that ship has sailed.

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Just to review then: Regardless of the outcome, the courts decision to accept this case will be bad for democracy, bad for public acceptance of the institution, and bad for voters. Had the court not accepted the case, it would also have been bad for democracy, bad for public acceptance of the institution, and bad for voters. Perhaps the bitter truth is that American democracy is too creaky and wobbly to competently handle the quandary of an insurrectionist running to reclaim the office he previously attempted to steal. There are strong policy arguments on both sides of the disqualification debatearguments that the justices say they are forbidden to consider. The law is the law, and the rule of law is the rule of law, and the court is the entity tasked with determining whether the nation follows where that leads. Unlike with so many of their recent decisions, the people most affected by this decision, whatever it may be, will not be silent, or fearful, or mollified by the words IT IS SO ORDERED. This may be the first major test this year of whether the court, and indeed the country, can weather 2024 with its institutions intact. It decidedly will not be the last.
Are you looking to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs? The possibilities for small business ideas for kids have never been greater! With the right guidance and resources, a kid-friendly business could be a potentially life-changing experience.

So lets explore 15 of the best options out there for kid business ideas!

Selecting the Top Business Ideas for Kids: Our Methodology

When evaluating business ideas suitable for kids, its essential to focus on aspects that are both engaging and educational, while also being feasible for their age group. Heres an assessment of key criteria with their respective importance ratings from 1 (least important) to 10 (most important):

Safety and Age-Appropriateness Importance: Essential (10/10)

The business idea must be safe and appropriate for the childs age, ensuring no risk to their well-being.

Educational Value and Skill Development Importance: Essential (10/10)

The idea should offer educational value, helping kids develop skills like financial literacy, creativity, or problem-solving.

Feasibility and Simplicity Importance: High (9/10)

The business should be simple enough for kids to understand and manage with minimal adult supervision.

Fun and Engagement Importance: High (9/10)

The idea must be engaging and fun to keep the child interested and motivated.

Market Demand and Practicality Importance: Moderate (7/10)

While market demand is less critical for kids businesses, the idea should still have a practical application or audience.

Cost and Investment Importance: Moderate (7/10)

The required investment should be minimal and within the financial means of the family.

Growth and Learning Opportunities Importance: High (9/10)

The business should offer opportunities for growth, learning, and the development of entrepreneurial skills.

Community and Social Interaction Importance: Moderate (7/10)

Opportunities for social interaction and community involvement can enhance the childs social skills and network.

Environmental and Social Responsibility Importance: Moderate (6/10)

Encouraging responsibility towards society and the environment can be a valuable part of the learning process.

Flexibility and Time Management Importance: High (8/10)

The business should be flexible enough to not interfere with the childs education and other activities.



Popular Small Business Ideas for Kids

Kids have the potential to be amazing entrepreneurs, so why not give them a foundation for success by introducing them to some good business ideas?

From pet sitting and tutoring to baking cupcakes or making crafts, there are plenty of creative, fun, and profitable small business ideas for kids. Lets take a look at some of the most popular businesses for kids.

1. Lemonade Stand

With help from a parent or trusted family members, a lemonade stand can be a fun way to introduce young minds to the entrepreneurial spirit and make some decent money. Its a simple and feasible idea with tons of time flexibility. Kids can learn many entrepreneurial lessons from this business, while also enjoying social interaction and getting involved in their community.

2. Party Planning Business

Parties and special events are so much fun but a lot of people are unaware of how much work goes into making them perfect. Its a job and a great opportunity for a young person to learn some work ethic and make a little money.

3. Online Store

Creating an online store and popular goods for sale is a fabulous opportunity for a young business person to make some extra money. There are many niches with high market demand, and its a great opportunity for older kids to learn how to safely and efficiently run an online business.

4. Pet Sitting Business

People love their pets and often need a trusted person to take care of them while they are away. Pet sitting is a great business opportunity and who wouldnt love to play and snuggle with a fluffy puppy or kitten for a few days and earn some spending money at the same time?

5. Dog Walking Business

If your young business person loves animals becoming a dog walker could be a wonderful way for your child to spend their time learning some responsibility to customers as well as earning a little cash.

6. Tutoring Services

There are many schools age children who have trouble in one subject or another. Your child could offer his or her tutoring services for a small fee. This not only gives them the opportunity to interact with other kids, but it can provide educational value for them and their students.

7. Car Washing Service

Running a car wash in your neighborhood is a great business idea to make some extra cash. There is definitely supply and plenty of demand making it a fantastic business venture.

8. Baby Sitting Services

Parents everywhere are always looking for a trustworthy person to watch their little ones whether it is for relaxation or so they can work. Babysitting is the perfect way for older children and teens to make their own money while learning responsibility.

9. Painting Faces

Whether it is at a carnival, street fair, or other local events face painting delights children everywhere. This also makes it a wonderful opportunity for a first business for a child who has fun being creative.

10. Musical Performer

Does your child play a musical instrument or love to sing? Offering your services for a special event, such as a birthday party, can pay well. They can even offer music lessons for a fee.

More Great Business Ideas for Young Entrepreneurs

As you can see there are a plethora of business opportunities for young entrepreneurs. Here are some more ideas to browse before you get your new business started.

11. Create A Blog

Creating a blog is an online business that kids can enjoy even at a young age. There are many niches with high market demand, and this allows children to learn about online platforms in a safe, supervised environment.

12. Design T-Shirts

Fashion is always changing with the times but t-shirts are evergreen. They can be sold online or even in a local store. And this allows kids to have some fun and show off their creativity.

13. Sweets and Treats

If you have a knack for baking or making candies you can offer your services at birthday parties or other events. This makes it another fun and engaging idea.

14. Write a Book

Does your child have a vivid imagination? He or she can write a childrens book and have it published on an online platform or even find a good publisher and illustration services.

15. Create a YouTube Channel

If your child has the gift of gab and personality to spare then creating a YouTube channel is a great childhood business idea. Not only can they share what they love but they also can earn a bit of money from the site.

Business Idea Advantages Disadvantages Skills Needed Lemonade Stand Easy to start, fun and social, teaches basic math skills Seasonal, depends on foot traffic Math, customer service Party Planning Encourages creativity, good organizational skills Requires strong organizational skills, can be stressful Organization, creativity, communication Online Store Flexible, wide customer base, encourages entrepreneurship Requires digital skills, may need initial investment E-commerce, marketing, customer service Pet Sitting Fun for animal lovers, flexible hours Requires responsibility, unpredictable pet behavior Responsibility, love for animals, patience Dog Walking Great for animal lovers, provides exercise Requires responsibility, need to be physically fit Responsibility, love for animals, physical fitness Tutoring Services Helps reinforce academic skills, can be done online Requires expertise in a subject, requires patience Academic expertise, patience, communication Car Washing Easy to start, requires little investment Physically demanding, requires space and supplies Physical fitness, attention to detail Babysitting Flexible hours, builds responsibility Requires responsibility, might need first aid knowledge Responsibility, patience, first aid (optional) Face Painting Encourages creativity, fun at events Requires artistic skills, some investment in supplies Artistic, creativity, customer service Musical Performer Encourages creativity, can be rewarding financially Requires musical talent, might need to manage bookings Musical talent, organization, performance Create a Blog Encourages writing skills, can be done on any topic Requires good writing and digital skills, building audience Writing, digital skills, creativity Design T-Shirts Encourages creativity, can sell online or locally Requires design skills, may need initial investment Creativity, design skills, marketing Sweets and Treats Encourages cooking skills, can cater to local events Requires baking skills, may need initial investment Cooking/baking, creativity, business skills Write a Book Encourages writing and creativity, can be published online Requires writing skills, process may be long Writing, creativity, patience YouTube Channel Encourages creativity, can generate income Requires video editing skills, building audience can be slow Video editing, public speaking, creativity

Can a Kid Start a Successful Small Business?

Believe it or not, kids are indeed capable of starting a successful small business.

With an entrepreneurial spirit, applying the right knowledge, and having access to the necessary resources, it can set them apart from other kids and they can realize their business dreams.

What Is the Easiest Business Idea for Younger Kids to Start?

Starting a lemonade stand is the easiest business to start. It provides a great opportunity to bond and teach your child valuable business skills.

Not to mention that it is a deliciously refreshing treat on a hot day.

Why Should a Young Entrepreneur Start Their Own Business?

Starting your own business as a young entrepreneur offers many advantages, a chance to earn money, and the opportunity to gain valuable experience.

Additionally, setting up a business can provide you with a platform to express yourself creatively and advance your business skills. With dedication and hard work, the rewards of being an entrepreneur are limitless.

Learning New Skills  Starting a business can help kids develop important skills such as problem-solving, communication, decision-making, and organization.

 Starting a business can help kids develop important skills such as problem-solving, communication, decision-making, and organization. Exploring Passions & Interests  Business ownership gives kids the opportunity to explore their passions and interests in a meaningful way.

 Business ownership gives kids the opportunity to explore their passions and interests in a meaningful way. Gaining Confidence & Self-Esteem  Engaging in the world of business encourages self-confidence and aids in boosting self-esteem.

 Engaging in the world of business encourages self-confidence and aids in boosting self-esteem. Acquiring Financial Independence  Kids can learn how to save, invest and make money by starting a business and becoming financially independent.

 Kids can learn how to save, invest and make money by starting a business and becoming financially independent. Supporting The Community  Kids who start businesses are often at the forefront of helping their community through donations or services.

What Life Skills Do Kids Learn by Starting a Business?

Starting a business can offer children a wealth of life skills and knowledge that will serve them well into adulthood. These include but are not limited to:

Communication Skills : When running a business, its crucial to communicate effectively with customers, suppliers, and anyone else involved in the business. This can help children enhance their speaking, writing, and listening abilities.

: When running a business, its crucial to communicate effectively with customers, suppliers, and anyone else involved in the business. This can help children enhance their speaking, writing, and listening abilities. Teamwork : Running a business often requires working with others. This could mean collaborating with family members, friends, or other young entrepreneurs. This teaches the importance of cooperation and respecting others ideas and opinions.

: Running a business often requires working with others. This could mean collaborating with family members, friends, or other young entrepreneurs. This teaches the importance of cooperation and respecting others ideas and opinions. Problem-Solving Skills : Starting a business comes with its fair share of challenges and obstacles. These could range from logistical issues to managing customer complaints. Dealing with these situations can help children develop problem-solving skills and resilience.

: Starting a business comes with its fair share of challenges and obstacles. These could range from logistical issues to managing customer complaints. Dealing with these situations can help children develop problem-solving skills and resilience. Financial Literacy : Having a business provides kids with a real-world context to learn about money management, budgeting, and basic accounting principles. Its a hands-on way to teach children about the value of money, saving, investing, and even concepts like profit and loss.

: Having a business provides kids with a real-world context to learn about money management, budgeting, and basic accounting principles. Its a hands-on way to teach children about the value of money, saving, investing, and even concepts like profit and loss. Negotiation Skills : Whether its bargaining with suppliers for better prices or negotiating a deal with a customer, business ownership can help children improve their negotiation skills. This is a critical skill that can benefit them in many aspects of life.

: Whether its bargaining with suppliers for better prices or negotiating a deal with a customer, business ownership can help children improve their negotiation skills. This is a critical skill that can benefit them in many aspects of life. Networking : Kids can learn how to build and maintain professional relationships. They can meet new people and learn to create a network, which can be beneficial in their future careers.

: Kids can learn how to build and maintain professional relationships. They can meet new people and learn to create a network, which can be beneficial in their future careers. Public Speaking : Business can often involve presenting ideas to others, whether its pitching to potential investors or speaking about their products or services to customers. This can help children improve their public speaking skills.

: Business can often involve presenting ideas to others, whether its pitching to potential investors or speaking about their products or services to customers. This can help children improve their public speaking skills. Time Management : Owning a business requires juggling many tasks at once, which can help children improve their time management skills. Theyll learn to prioritize tasks, set goals, and create schedules.

: Owning a business requires juggling many tasks at once, which can help children improve their time management skills. Theyll learn to prioritize tasks, set goals, and create schedules. Empathy: Interacting with a diverse range of customers can teach kids about understanding and catering to different needs and perspectives, thereby cultivating empathy.

Starting a business can equip children with a wide range of life skills and experiences that are not only beneficial for their immediate project but can also be a valuable foundation for their future careers and personal life.

What Are the Legal Considerations When Kids Start Businesses?

Its vital to keep in mind legal considerations when kids start a business. Here are some of the main points:

Establishing a Legal Entity : Depending on the scale of the business, it might be necessary to establish a legal business entity such as an LLC (Limited Liability Company) to protect personal assets. Since minors generally cant form legal entities, a parent or guardian may need to do this.

: Depending on the scale of the business, it might be necessary to establish a legal business entity such as an LLC (Limited Liability Company) to protect personal assets. Since minors generally cant form legal entities, a parent or guardian may need to do this. Permits and Licenses : Depending on the type of business and local regulations, certain permits or licenses may be required. For instance, a lemonade stand might need a vendors permit, or a pet sitting business might need a license. Parents or guardians should research local and state laws to ensure the business is legal.

: Depending on the type of business and local regulations, certain permits or licenses may be required. For instance, a lemonade stand might need a vendors permit, or a pet sitting business might need a license. Parents or guardians should research local and state laws to ensure the business is legal. Taxes : Even a small business run by a child may have tax obligations. The childs parents or guardians will typically be responsible for these. Its crucial to keep accurate financial records and understand which business expenses can be deducted.

: Even a small business run by a child may have tax obligations. The childs parents or guardians will typically be responsible for these. Its crucial to keep accurate financial records and understand which business expenses can be deducted. Funding : Since minors cannot legally sign contracts or apply for business loans, adults may need to assist with initial startup costs. They can also guide kids in exploring other funding options, such as crowdfunding or savings.

: Since minors cannot legally sign contracts or apply for business loans, adults may need to assist with initial startup costs. They can also guide kids in exploring other funding options, such as crowdfunding or savings. Contracts : If the business involves any agreements (like with suppliers or customers), these usually need to be signed by an adult. Parents or guardians can help their children understand the basics of contracts.

: If the business involves any agreements (like with suppliers or customers), these usually need to be signed by an adult. Parents or guardians can help their children understand the basics of contracts. Child Labor Laws : In some cases, especially if the business requires significant time or physical labor, child labor laws may come into play. These laws vary by location and the childs age, so its important to understand the relevant regulations.

: In some cases, especially if the business requires significant time or physical labor, child labor laws may come into play. These laws vary by location and the childs age, so its important to understand the relevant regulations. Insurance : Depending on the nature of the business, it might be necessary to have liability insurance. For instance, if the business involves pet sitting or babysitting, its advisable to consider an insurance policy that covers any potential damages or accidents.

: Depending on the nature of the business, it might be necessary to have liability insurance. For instance, if the business involves pet sitting or babysitting, its advisable to consider an insurance policy that covers any potential damages or accidents. Online Privacy Laws: If the business is online and collects any personal data from customers (like names, email addresses), its essential to be aware of online privacy laws. For example, in the U.S., the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to online businesses that collect data from kids under 13.

While theres a lot to learn when it comes to legal considerations for kid entrepreneurs, parents or guardians can use this as an opportunity to teach their kids about these important aspects of running a business. Its always a good idea to consult with a legal professional if you have specific questions or concerns.

Nurturing Entrepreneurial Mindset in Young Minds

The journey into entrepreneurship for kids is not just about earning money or starting a business; its about nurturing a mindset geared towards innovation, creativity, and resilience. This mindset is cultivated with the support and guidance of parents and guardians. Their role extends beyond mere supervision; it involves mentoring, encouraging problem-solving, and sometimes, just being a sounding board for their young entrepreneurs ideas.

In todays digital age, integrating technology into these business ventures is crucial. Its an opportunity for kids to learn about digital marketing, online sales, and managing digital tools, which are essential skills in our increasingly digital world. More importantly, its a chance for them to understand and practice digital safety and literacy.

Involving children in business also allows them to see the value in their academic education. They begin to understand how mathematical concepts apply in budgeting and pricing or how persuasive writing skills are crucial in marketing. This practical application of academic skills can lead to a more profound appreciation and interest in their studies.

Moreover, nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset isnt just about fostering business acumen. Its about developing a growth mindset. Each challenge in their business journey teaches them resilience, helping them understand that setbacks are not failures but opportunities to learn and grow.

Educational Aspects of Child Entrepreneurship

Embarking on a business venture provides children with a unique educational experience that transcends the traditional classroom setting. It introduces them to real-world applications of academic skills. Math becomes more than just numbers on a page; it turns into a tool for budgeting, pricing, and measuring profitability. Language skills are put to the test in marketing materials and customer communications.

This hands-on experience in running a business can also enhance a childs problem-solving skills. They learn to tackle challenges head-on, think critically, and make decisions based on the information they have. These are invaluable skills that will serve them well throughout their lives, both personally and professionally.

Moreover, child entrepreneurship is a playground for developing social skills and empathy. As young business owners interact with customers and possibly collaborate with others, they learn the art of communication, negotiation, and teamwork. They also learn to understand and cater to the needs of their customers, which cultivates empathy and a customer-centric approach.

Lastly, through their entrepreneurial activities, children can learn the importance of contributing to their community. Whether its through charitable acts, community service, or simply by being a positive presence in the local market, they understand that their actions can have a meaningful impact beyond just their business.

These educational aspects of entrepreneurship are instrumental in shaping well-rounded, capable, and responsible future adults. They provide children with a strong foundation not only for potential future business endeavors but also for various life paths they may choose to follow.

Conclusion: Business Ideas for Kids

The landscape of entrepreneurship is evolving rapidly, and young minds today have more opportunities than ever to embark on exciting and potentially life-changing business ventures. With the right guidance, resources, and a touch of youthful creativity, the possibilities for young entrepreneurs are virtually limitless.

The question of whether a kid can start a successful small business is answered with a resounding yes. While age may seem like a barrier, its often an advantage. Children possess a natural curiosity, boundless creativity, and an eagerness to learn that can set them apart. By nurturing these qualities and providing them with the necessary tools and knowledge, we can empower kids to realize their entrepreneurial dreams.

But why should a young entrepreneur start their own business? Beyond the potential for financial gain, there are several compelling reasons:

1. Learning New Skills: Starting a business equips kids with essential life skills such as problem-solving, communication, decision-making, and organization. These skills are not only valuable in business but also in various aspects of life.

2. Exploring Passions & Interests: Business ownership offers kids a meaningful way to explore their passions and interests. Whether its turning a love for animals into a pet-sitting business or a passion for baking into a cupcake enterprise, they can follow their hearts.

3. Gaining Confidence & Self-Esteem: Engaging in the world of business fosters self-confidence and boosts self-esteem. As kids witness their ideas turning into reality and experience the positive impact of their efforts, their belief in themselves grows.

4. Acquiring Financial Independence: By starting a business, kids learn the fundamentals of saving, investing, and making money. This early financial education sets them on the path to becoming financially independent adults who understand the value of money.

5. Supporting The Community: Kid entrepreneurs often find themselves at the forefront of helping their communities through donations or services. They learn the importance of giving back and making a positive contribution to society.

The list of popular small business ideas for kids presented in this article offers a diverse array of opportunities. From the timeless charm of a lemonade stand to the digital realm of an online store, each idea has its unique appeal. These businesses not only provide kids with enriching experiences but also pave the way for financial independence and self-expression.

In addition to these business ideas, there are more avenues for young entrepreneurs to explore, such as creating a blog to share their interests, designing custom t-shirts that reflect their creativity, crafting sweets and treats to delight taste buds, writing childrens books to spark imaginations, and even venturing into the world of YouTube to share their passions with a global audience. The possibilities are as diverse as the interests and talents of the young entrepreneurs themselves.

Starting a business offers more than just monetary rewards; it imparts a wide range of life skills and experiences. Kids who embark on entrepreneurial journeys develop communication skills through interactions with customers and suppliers. They learn the value of teamwork, problem-solving, and time management as they navigate the complexities of running a business. Financial literacy becomes second nature as they manage finances and budgets, and negotiation skills are honed through various business transactions.

Furthermore, the act of starting a business is an exercise in empathy. Kids learn to understand and cater to the needs and perspectives of their customers, fostering a sense of empathy and customer-centric thinking that can be invaluable in any career or endeavor.

However, its crucial to remember that starting a business, even for kids, comes with legal considerations. Establishing a legal entity, obtaining permits and licenses, understanding tax responsibilities, securing funding, and abiding by child labor laws are all essential aspects of ensuring that the business operates within the boundaries of the law. Parents, guardians, and mentors play a pivotal role in guiding young entrepreneurs through these legal considerations.

In conclusion, the landscape of entrepreneurship is evolving, and the opportunities for young entrepreneurs are boundless. Kids can indeed start successful small businesses, provided they have the right guidance, knowledge, and resources.

By nurturing their entrepreneurial spirit and supporting their endeavors, we can inspire the next generation of business leaders and innovators. These young entrepreneurs have the potential to not only shape their own futures but also make a positive impact on their communities and the world at large.

As we look ahead to the future, let us continue to encourage and empower our young entrepreneurs, providing them with the tools and knowledge they need to turn their dreams into reality. In doing so, we not only inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs but also contribute to a world where innovation and creativity know no age limits.

The journey of a young entrepreneur is not just about business; its about self-discovery, growth, and the limitless possibilities that lie ahead.

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Discover the International Women's Club of Bratislava and its role in getting to know Slovakia.

SNG guided tour for the International Women's Club of Bratislava. (Source: Courtesy of the International Women's Club of Bratislava)

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Established in 1991, the International Women's Club of Bratislava (IWCB) presently unites 110 women from over 30 countries worldwide, alongside accomplished Slovak women in various professions.

The organization's primary objectives encompass the promotion of Slovak history, culture, and traditions, as well as fostering interpersonal connections. I am convinced that enhancing our understanding and mutual enrichment, representing diverse peoples, traditions, and cultures, is crucial for upholding values like solidarity, friendship, faith in goodness, and, notably, affirming the position and role of women in society. In an atmosphere of genuine friendship, this dynamic club engages in multifaceted and enriching activities.

Monthly, our members orchestrate diverse events, from gatherings with eminent Slovak intellectuals, artists, sculptors, and fashion designers to visits to museums, galleries, and iconic landmarks like Cerveny Kamen Castle, Skalica, the Jaskyna Driny cave, the Milan Rastislav Stefanik Monument, Oponice, Topolcianky, and more.

The Jaskyna Driny cave visit. (Source: Courtesy of the International Womens Club of Bratislava)

I would like to highlight another significant aspect of our activities. A commendable tradition involves inviting distinguished personalities as our guests. Allow me to mention one such individual  Pavol Demes, a prominent public figure and former Slovak foreign minister.

One of his lectures focused on the remarkable work of the brothers Cyril and Methodius, declared patrons of Europe by Pope John Paul II. In the 9th century, they conducted extensive educational activities in the territory of present-day Slovakia and the Czech Republic, leaving indelible marks on the region's history. The holy brothers are enshrined in the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, with July 5 designated as Ss. Cyril and Methodius Day, a public holiday.

Another lecture centered on Slovakia's churches. Few people know that today, nearly 4,200 churches stand on Slovakian soil, with a number of them being included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Slovakia is among the few nations worldwide to create a comprehensive map of these churches, providing valuable insights into their histories.

The lecture held by Pavol Demes. (Source: Courtesy of the International Womens Club of Bratislava)

Our club also features various interest groups, such as learning Slovak and English, recipe and cooking skill exchanges, hiking in Slovakia's picturesque forests, attending concerts and more. Weekly, we gather to share our diverse experiences over coffee or lunch.

I must also highlight another crucial aspect of our club's endeavors. Following a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our club revived a cherished tradition in 2023  the charity Christmas bazaar held in the historic Old Market building in Bratislava. About 20 embassies and organizations actively participated in this initiative with great desire and enthusiasm, raising over 27,000. These funds will aid the elderly, disadvantaged, and orphans in Slovakia.

Extending help and solidarity to those in need is a profound act and a testament to our humanity. Let our charitable actions serve as a call to all those with compassionate hearts to remember the less fortunate, strive to help, do good, and demonstrate to everyone through our deeds that there are eternal human values.

Modra visit and majolica class (Source: Courtesy of the International Womens Club of Bratislava)

In conclusion, I would like to share that for me, the IWCB has become an integral part of my life. I take pride in being its member and Vice-President, and I can affirm that it stands as one of the finest and most captivating international women's clubs.

May the New Year 2024 bring health, happiness, and success to everyone, and above all, peace on our planet.

Zlatina Petkova is the Vice-President of the International Womens Club of Bratislava. She is the spouse of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Slovak Republic.
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Human rights activist and 2016 Green Party vice presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka pulled no punches discussing the Biden administrations recent diplomatic efforts in the Middle East Friday, claiming efforts to persuade countries to receive Palestinian refugees cant be successful.The Black Alliance for Peace organizer made the claim on an episode of Sputniks Political Misfits program with host John Kiriakou.It would be an invitation to destabilizing their society, added Baraka, referring to reports that Egypt has rejected US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens request to receive 2 million Palestinians. The same with the Iraqis.Kiriakou agreed with the assessment. The Egyptians apparently said 'And put them where?' he noted. People live on top of each other in Cairo And you can't just put them in the Sinai Peninsula, because then the Israelis are going to say, 'Oh my God, there are all these Palestinians right on the border with Israel, and it's too dangerous for us.'The discussion then turned to domestic politics in Israel, where far-right figures like Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir are playing an increasingly prominent role. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was able to return to power in 2022 by including figures like Ben-Gvir in his cabinet. But, caught between the extremism of the far-right and a reinvigorated opposition that staged massive protests last year, Netanyahu commands the allegiance of a shrinking segment of the countrys population.Can he survive this war politically? he asked. And even if he can't, does Israel then get a prime minister who's even more right-wing and even more willing to kill or displace Palestinians?Baraka clarified that although Netanyahu is unpopular, the Israeli public overwhelmingly supports the countrys devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip. At one point, something like over 80% of Israelis supported the attack on Gaza, he noted. Israeli violence in the beseiged enclave has reportedly killed some 22,438 people, with women and children representing an estimated 70% of the casualties.The activist claimed the best safeguard against the far-right taking further power in Israel is a successful prosecution of the Israeli criminals that would come out of a decision from the International Court of Justice in the next few weeks, not only Israeli officials, but also US officials. The ICC, the International Criminal Court, would be compelled to begin to identify those individuals responsible for the genocide if there's a favorable dispensation coming from the International Court of Justice.The organizer expressed optimism in South Africas recent filing of charges against Israel at the International Court of Justice, noting that a judgment against Israel would delegitimize their policies. Israel reportedly plans to defend itself against the charges in The Hague next week.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231219/their-only-playing-card-us-talk-of-two-state-solution-cover-for-israels-genocide-in-gaza-1115685725.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231220/israel-not-prepared-to-face-houthi-gaza-deployment---however-rhetorical-the-threat-1115711320.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231201/genocide-becomes-functional-when-israel-us-deny-palestinian-existence---academic-1115335342.html

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humanitarian disaster, humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian ceasefire, israel-hamas conflict, gaza strip crisis, shelling of gaza, gaza devastation, israel-palestine conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, palestinian-israeli, zionist regime, zionists, hamas attack, israeli strikes, israeli forces, hostages, israeli military, hamas fighters, hamas soldiers, hamas military, killings of civilians, civilian infrastructure, civilians dead, civilians die, israel kills civilians, civilian casualties, civilian deaths
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/dc-think-tank-if-congress-fails-to-fund-ukraine-soon-biden-will-need-to-freeze-conflict-1116018075.html

DC Think Tank: If Congress Fails to Fund Ukraine Soon Biden Will Need to 'Freeze' Conflict

DC Think Tank: If Congress Fails to Fund Ukraine Soon Biden Will Need to 'Freeze' Conflict

Sputnik International

There is no way to help Ukraine aside from Congress approving a new package, Team Biden signaled on Friday. The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft does not rule out the possibility that US congressmen will refuse provide Joe Biden with requested aid in the near term.

2024-01-06T18:59+0000

2024-01-06T18:59+0000

2024-01-06T18:59+0000

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US aid funds for Ukraine officially ran out this week, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told the press on January 3."We have given now Ukraine the last security assistance package that we have funds to support right before New Year's, right after Christmas. And we've got to get support from Congress so we can continue to do that," Kirby said.Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, warned on Friday that Ukraine is running out of time and needs legislators to react urgently. Although the US Department of Defense still has some limited ability to help the Kiev regime, "that is not going to get big tranches of equipment into Ukraine," Young stressed.The Ukrainian leadership admitted on Wednesday that they have no "plan B" if US funding runs out despite previous speculations by economist Oleg Ustenko, an advisor to Volodymyr Zelensky.Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson has demanded illegal immigration issues be solved before approving new aid packages for Ukraine. On January 3, Johnson together with 60 fellow Republican lawmakers visited the Mexican border to push for stronger measures."If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin with defending America's national security. We want to get the border closed and secured first," Johnson underlined.The DC think tank suggests that the Senate "has never been the real obstacle" to passing the Ukrainian package, while the House remains the major battleground in this internal game of funds.Johnson wants H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which was passed by the lower chamber last May, to be signed into law. One shouldn't underestimate the House speaker's determination as he has made it clear that he's going to risk a government shutdown to pass the bill. But with much of the Democrat voter base in favor of liberal immigration laws, the government faction in Congress may block the legislation."Such a possibility could force the Biden administration to make a push for negotiations to freeze the war along its current lines and find a deal that compromises on key aspects of each sides stated goals," the institute said.But Russia has shown no sign of wanting to "freeze" its ongoing offensives and give the Kiev regime an "operational pause" to replenish its stockpiles and replace its manpower, former Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik last month. However, Russia has always been open to comprehensive and meaningful dialogue to sort out the European security dilemma, including NATO non-expansion, as well as the de-militarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine.The Russian armed forces are is steadily improving its positions along the entire contact line in the special military operation zone. "I don't see Ukraine surviving too long into 2024," Scott Ritter told Sputnik's New Rules podcast in mid-December.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240105/us-house-speaker-considering-direct-talks-with-biden-on-ukraine-aid-border---reports-1116000413.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231206/scott-ritter-zelensky-in-dire-straits-as-ukraine-wont-get-operational-pause-in-winter-1115426496.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231215/scott-ritter-ukrainian-military-to-crumble-by-mid-2024-1115603833.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/denmarks-shipment-of-first-f-16s-to-ukraine-delayed-for-q2-2024-1116015716.html

Denmark's Shipment of First F-16s to Ukraine Delayed for Q2 2024

Denmark's Shipment of First F-16s to Ukraine Delayed for Q2 2024

Sputnik International

The delivery of Denmark's first F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine has been delayed for up to six months, the Danish Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

2024-01-06T13:09+0000

2024-01-06T13:09+0000

2024-01-06T13:09+0000

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"Under the current schedule, the transfer is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2024," the ministry said in a statement to the Berlingske newspaper. The Scandinavian country initially planned to hand over F-16 fighters to Kiev around the New Year period, the newspaper said. The Netherlands and Denmark were the first countries to agree to supply Ukraine with F-16s. The White House has confirmed that Kiev will receive the US-made jets from third parties as soon as the Ukrainian pilots finish their training. The Dutch defense minister said that the country planned to supply Ukraine with the first batch of F-16s in 2024. In July 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said any delivery of nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets would lead to a further escalation of the military conflict in Ukraine and be viewed by Russia as a direct threat to its security.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240103/what-awaits-f-16s-in-ukraines-skies-1115947153.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/french-politician-calls-for-natos-destruction-for-world-peace-1116019093.html

French Politician Calls for NATO's Destruction 'For World Peace'

French Politician Calls for NATO's Destruction 'For World Peace'

Sputnik International

While many NATO member states continue antagonizing Russia by massing troops on its borders and prolonging the Ukrainian conflict through arms supplies to the... 06.01.2024, Sputnik International

2024-01-06T19:03+0000

2024-01-06T19:03+0000

2024-01-06T19:04+0000

world

russia

ukraine

nato

florian philippot

france

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French politician and The Patriots party founder Florian Philippot has called for the NATO alliance to by disbanded for the sake of peace. Phillipot accused NATO hawks and their "puppet" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of trying to impoverish us and send hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to certain and unnecessary death.Voicing his grievances in a post on social media network X (formerly Twitter), Philippot urged the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict through peace negotiations as soon as possible and called for the destruction of NATO for world peace.He also pointed to the recent revelations of retired French Air Force General Bruno Clermont, who admitted that Russia commands considerable air superiority in the Ukrainian conflict. Philippot noted that those who had made similar remarks over the past two years were ridiculed.Philippot has long been a critic of his country's support to the regime in Kiev, arguing in November that France must not allow itself to be duped by being the last country at war against Russia.The politician's remarks came amid media speculation that Ukraines Western sponsors are growing weary of Kievs military blunders and inability to meet the goals of NATO's proxy war against Russia.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231220/ex-pentagon-analyst-putin-sends-strong-message-to-nato-amid-ukraine-conflict-1115693929.html

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North Korea fired some 60 artillery shells into waters off its western coast Saturday, South Korea's military said, conducting live-fire drills near the tensely guarded western border for the second consecutive day.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the artillery firings in the North's southwestern coastal areas for an hour from 4 p.m.

The shells splashed into the maritime buffer zone north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, the JCS said. The buffer zone was set under an inter-Korean military accord signed on Sept. 19, 2018, to reduce border tensions.

"Unlike yesterday, North Korea fired toward the sides and northern inland areas. It was not necessary to respond like yesterday, since all the shots were fired toward its own territory," a senior JCS official said.

On Friday, the North fired some 200 artillery shells near two South Korean western border islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, prompting islanders to take shelter and the South Korean military to stage live-fire drills in response.

The South Korean military warned against the North's latest saber-rattling after it scrapped a 2018 inter-Korean military accord in November, which set up buffer zones in land, sea and air, and banned live-fire drills near the border area.

"We strongly warn against North Korea's continued artillery firings in the maritime buffer zone, which threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and escalates tension, and urge it to immediately stop," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

If the North continues to threaten South Koreans, the JCS said it will take action without specifying.

The South Korean military does not plan to conduct a live-fire military exercise in response Saturday, according to military officials.

On Friday, the South Korean military fired some 400 rounds into the maritime buffer zone, double the amount fired by the North, in response to the North's drills.

It was the South's first artillery firing into waters near the NLL, since the military tension reduction accord was signed in September 2018.

Hours after the firings, the North Korean military said the drill was "a sort of natural countermeasure" against recent artillery firings by South Korea and vowed to demonstrate "tough counteraction on an unprecedented level."

Tension remains high after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean ties as relations "between two states hostile to each other" and called for stepped-up preparations to "suppress the whole territory of South Korea" at a year-end ruling party meeting. (Yonhap)
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/iraq-intends-to-boost-talks-on-withdrawal-of-us-led-coalition---prime-ministers-adviser-1116018563.html

Iraq Intends to Boost Talks on Withdrawal of US-Led Coalition - Prime Minister's Adviser

Iraq Intends to Boost Talks on Withdrawal of US-Led Coalition - Prime Minister's Adviser

Sputnik International

The Iraqi government intends to speed up negotiations with the US-led international coalition on the final withdrawal of its forces from the country, media adviser to the Iraqi prime minister, Hisham al-Rikabi, told Sputnik on Saturday.

2024-01-06T17:10+0000

2024-01-06T17:10+0000

2024-01-06T17:10+0000

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iraq

middle east

pentagon

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us-led coalition

us troop withdrawal

us withdrawal

withdrawal

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"The government is committed to accelerating dialogue with the international coalition to withdraw its forces from the country. Our technical teams are negotiating with coalition states," al-Rikabi said. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is constantly monitoring the composition of the countrys armed forces in order to prepare for the post-withdrawal period, despite the fact that the personnel does not perform any combat missions on the ground, the adviser added. On Friday, the Iraqi prime minister confirmed Baghdads "steadfast and principled" position that the presence in the country of the coalition that has already fulfilled its mission should be completed. Al-Sudani added that the government will soon determine the start date of the bilateral committee, which will regulate the procedure for the final withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq. On Thursday, the Iraqi armed forces accused the US-led international coalition of a drone strike on the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Baghdad, which killed a Shia militia commander Abu Taqwa and injured six others. Iraq called the deadly attack an "act akin to terrorist activities" and "a dangerous escalation and assault on Iraq." The Pentagon confirmed that US forces conducted a strike in Iraq targeting Abu Taqwa for his alleged role in attacks on US troops in the region. The Shia armed groups have intensified their attacks on bases of the US-led international coalition in Iraq, as well as US troops in Syria over the past months, as they consider the US complicit in the attacks mounted by Israel on Palestinian civilians. Washington, for its part, believes that the attacks are carried out by pro-Iranian groups.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20210722/us-iraq-to-agree-american-troop-withdrawal-should-be-complete-by-end-of-2021---report-1083441132.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/process-of-elimination-watch-russian-artillery-blast-ukrainian-positions-1116013129.html

Process of Elimination: Watch Russian Artillery Blast Ukrainian Positions

Process of Elimination: Watch Russian Artillery Blast Ukrainian Positions

Sputnik International

Blasting Kiev regime fortifications and armor to smithereens has become something of a routine for Russian artillery units operating in the Ukrainian conflict zone.

2024-01-06T14:06+0000

2024-01-06T14:06+0000

2024-01-06T14:06+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

russia

artillery

howitzer

video

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Yet another Ukrainian troop detachment with armored support was in for a nasty surprise when it was spotted by a Russian forward reconnaissance team.Once the coordinates were relayed to the Russian artillery in the sector, the fate of the Ukrainian unit was sealed. Not even their attempts to camouflage their positions could save them from precise howitzer strikes.This short video published by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows how the action looks from on the artillery units end.

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Russian Artillery Blasts Ukrainian Positions Sputnik International Russian Artillery Blasts Ukrainian Positions 2024-01-06T14:06+0000 true PT0M49S

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/shadow-of-january-6-capitol-riot-looming-large-over-us-democracy-three-years-after-1116011104.html

Shadow of January 6 Capitol Riot Looming Large Over US Democracy Three Years After

Shadow of January 6 Capitol Riot Looming Large Over US Democracy Three Years After

Sputnik International

Three years after the January 6 storming of the US Capitol after then-US President Donald Trump's election defeat, the United States appears to remain in a sort of Cold Civil War, analysts told Sputnik.

2024-01-06T08:06+0000

2024-01-06T08:06+0000

2024-01-06T08:06+0000

analysis

us

putin's 2023 year-end press conference

joe biden

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us capitol

capitol hill occupation protest (chop)

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On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters breached the US Capitol in an attempt to halt Congress from verifying the election results. Following the January 6 riot, the then Democrat-majority House impeached Trump for "incitement of insurrection." The former US president also faces federal and state charges for alleged election inference in connection to January 6. Trump has denied doing any wrongdoing and of having the legal right to challenge the results of the 2020 election. Most recently, the US states of Maine and Colorado have decided to oust Trump from their state primary ballots, citing the insurrectionist clause in 14th Amendment. but those decisions will not be effective until a higher court rules on the appeals to their decisions. There are also efforts in the states of Illinois, Massachusetts and California to possibly remove Trump from their state primary ballots as well. Supressing DissentThe attempt to suppress all political dissent in the United States that had followed the events of January 6, 2021 is real, Europe-based financial analyst and political commentator Alex Krainer told Sputnik. Krainer also stated that Trump had been subjected to a relentless wave of politically motivated indictments to try and discredit him and create a legal justification to prevent him from running against Biden as the Republican candidate in November. Krainer predicts that even if Trump wins the Republican nomination, he would be forced into defeat by bureaucratic maneuvers and rigged processes. "Trump losing again will only lead to further consolidation of power under the DNC politburo. ... What this means is that it's become extremely difficult to challenge the [Biden] administration's abuses through the regular, judicial channels which perhaps explains the continuing legal abuse of the January 6 'insurgents," Krainer said. Destroying DemocracyUS constitutional historian and political commentator Dan Lazare told Sputnik that the Democratic legal offensive against Trump is an obvious effort to knock him out of the presidential race before US voters have a chance to head to the polls. Democrat-controlled state governments, such as Maine and Colorado, are part of a growing effort to delegitimize Trump and destroy democratic procedures, Lazare observed. The constitutional principles being quoted to justify ousting Trump from primary state ballots have no precedent or valid principle, Lazare pointed out. "The only conclusion voters will draw is that the Biden forces are as contemptuous of elections as any January 6 [protester]," he said. The January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol represents "another step" towards the collapse of the democratic political process across the United States, according to Lazare. University of Houston Professor of African American History Gerald Horne warns that another Trump defeat in the upcoming November vote will not end the current national political crisis, but would only exacerbate it. Mob RiotsPolitical commentator and former hedge fund manager Charles Ortel noted that the Biden administration turned a blind eye to the widespread mob riots and destruction of property carried out by Black Lives Matter and other leftist groups while they worked nonstop to Suppress the January 6, 2021 protesters. "In contrast to the rampaging crowds and extensive damage during numerous Black Lives Matter protests (riots) across America where few protestors were prosecuted or convicted, numerous January 6 attendees have been thrown into prison and/or convicted in processes that appear to violate important Constitutional rights," Ortel told Sputnik. Trump could return to the White House, but only under an open, free and fair election in November, Ortel said. "I do not believe any likely Democrat candidate can defeat Trump other than by successfully rigging the November 5, 2024 election," Ortel said. On Friday, Biden during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania accused Trump of making comments reminiscent of those made by Nazi officials in Germany under the Third Reich. In December, Trump rejected comparisons to Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler and called them unwarranted. Bidens speech focused on Trumps ties to the January 6 US Capitol riot and alleged threats posed to US democracy by the former president. Biden vowed to protect democratic principles in the United States, which he called the "central cause" of his presidency. The remarks come in advance of the 2024 US presidential election, in which Biden and Trump may again square off as their respective parties nominees. A recent Gallup poll found that Biden had a 39% approval rating in December, the worst of any modern president heading into a reelection campaign.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231214/selfish-biden-doesnt-care-whether-trump-wins-1115593143.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/taiwanese-troops-detect-13-chinese-military-aircraft-5-vessels-2-balloons-near-island-1116011870.html

Taiwanese Troops Detect 13 Chinese Military Aircraft, 5 Vessels, 2 Balloons Near Island

Taiwanese Troops Detect 13 Chinese Military Aircraft, 5 Vessels, 2 Balloons Near Island

Sputnik International

The Taiwanese armed forces have detected 13 Chinese military aircraft, five vessels and two balloons near the island nation over the past day, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

2024-01-06T08:11+0000

2024-01-06T08:11+0000

2024-01-06T08:11+0000

military

china

pla

people's liberation army (pla) navy

one china policy

taiwan

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"13 PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 06:00 (UTC+8) today. 1 of the detected aircraft (WZ-7 UAV RECCE) had entered Taiwans SW ADIZ  Two PRCs balloons were detected at 12:04 [04:04 GMT] and 13:05 [05:05 GMT] yesterday after crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait at the location 33 nautical miles northwest and 51 miles west of Hsinchu respectively," the defense ministry said in a statement on X. The Taiwanese troops have monitored the situation and ordered aircraft, naval and land-based units to respond to Chinas activities near the island, the statement read. "The balloons altitude were approximately 17,000 and 24,000 feet respectively. The balloons headed NE and sequentially disappeared at 12:57 and 15:37 yesterday," the statement also said. Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing regards the island as its province, while Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous entity but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official foreign contacts with Taipei and regards Chinese sovereignty over the island as indisputable. The latest escalation around Taiwan started in April 2023 after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with then-US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States. Beijing responded by launching massive three-day military drills near the island in what it called a warning to Taiwanese separatists and foreign powers. In August and September, the Taiwanese armed forces reported multiple sightings of Chinese naval and air patrols in the island's vicinity. On September 18, the ministry reported a record high of 103 Chinese aircraft seen near the island in one day.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240105/biden-white-house-eyeing-another-firefight-in-asia-with-rok-us-decapitation-drills-1115983312.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231222/ex-pentagon-analyst-warns-us-stretched-thin-on-ukraine-israel-and-taiwan-fronts-1115749074.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/turkish-foreign-minister-calls-for-ceasefire-in-gaza-during-talks-with-blinken---source-1116017873.html

Turkish Foreign Minister Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza During Talks With Blinken - Source

Turkish Foreign Minister Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza During Talks With Blinken - Source

Sputnik International

Blinken embarked on a trip to the Middle East on Thursday to highlight the importance of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. The secretary also held a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following talks with Fidan.

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Blinken embarked on a trip to the Middle East on Thursday to highlight the importance of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. The secretary also held a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following talks with Fidan. "The ministers assessed the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in the Gaza Strip. Fidan noted the threat to the entire region posed by intensifying Israeli attacks and called for an immediate ceasefire to ensure uninterrupted supplies of humanitarian aid. He also called for an early start of negotiations for a two-state solution," the source said.In addition, the ministers discussed negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the situation in Syria and Iraq, as well as other regional issues. In December, Erdogan said he had discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip with US President Joe Biden and urged Washington to intervene. Fidan and Blinken also discussed Ankara's efforts to resume the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the source noted. At the same time, the Turkish foreign minister told his counterpart that Ankara is waiting for the completion of the F-16 procurement process, the source added. In April 2021, the US excluded Turkiye from the F-35 program after Ankara purchased Russia's S-400 air defense systems. Erdogan said later that year that Washington had offered that Ankara buy F-16 jets instead, one generation behind the F-35s. However, the deal needs approval from the US Congress, with many lawmakers strongly opposing the initiative, in particular, due to Turkiye's position on Sweden's NATO bid.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231212/ex-cia-officer-ceasefire-veto-and-white-phosphorus-shells-for-israel-show-us-isolatation-1115541630.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/uk-experts-reflect-on-what-could-relaunch-russia-ukraine-peace-talks-1116014825.html

UK Experts Reflect on What Could Relaunch Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks

UK Experts Reflect on What Could Relaunch Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks

Sputnik International

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that Moscow has never given up on peace negotiations with Kiev, and that it was the Ukrainian side who withdrew from the talks.

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The US political establishment realizes Ukraine will have to be divided as the focus turns to "how peace can be restored in Western Europe," British pundits say,British Newspaper the Daily Express quoted experts as saying the "stark realization" comes amid growing concerns in Washington that if Donald Trump retakes the White House in the November 5 presidential election, he will pull the plug on US aid to Ukraine.Expert on Russia Owen Matthews noted that "we are talking about a ceasefire, not a peace deal" in Ukraine, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has reportedly sent out feelers to the US about the possibility of a ceasefire to freeze the conflict on the line of control."Another Russia expert, Mark Galeotti, claimed that the Russian president could be seeking peace for "entirely pragmatic reasons.""On one hand, Putin has a wider goal to subordinate Ukraine, removing it from the West's sphere of influence. But Putin is pragmatic. He is aware that this is an exceedingly expensive war for himself, politically and economically," Galeotti argued, referring to Russias ongoing special military operation.The Express noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine will continue fighting until it has taken back "all of its territory from Russia, including Crimea." President Putin has consistently called Crimea an essential part of Russia, adding that the peninsulas reunification with the country was never on the agenda before the 2014 coup in Ukraine. Crimea reunited with Russia in March 2014 following a referendum in which more than 95 percent of the peninsula's voters said "yes" to the reunification.The article came just days after the Russian president hinted that the Ukraine conflict could be resolved by peaceful means. Putin emphasized that Russia did not want to fight "endlessly" in Ukraine  but will not give up its positions and is ready for peace only on its own terms.Putin also expressed his satisfaction with the Russian armys performance in Ukraine and that Kievs forces were "gradually deflating."Last year, the Russian head of state pointed out that for peace negotiations to go ahead, Kiev must first cancel Zelenskys decree that bans talks until a list of demands are met, including Putin leaving office and the surrender of Russia's new territories in the former Ukraine.Just days after Moscow launched its special military operation, Russian and Ukrainian delegations began several rounds of peace talks which ultimately reached an impasse. Russia has repeatedly insisted that it is open for talks with Ukraine even after Zelensky issued his decree in October 2022.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231231/there-is-no-stomach-in-us-to-continue-funding-ukraine---ex-pentagon-official-1115908133.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231229/is-talk-of-peace-in-ukraine-a-washington-deception-1115885032.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/uk-finance-minister-says-attacks-on-red-sea-ships-may-impact-national-economy-1116015301.html

UK Finance Minister Says Attacks on Red Sea Ships May Impact National Economy

UK Finance Minister Says Attacks on Red Sea Ships May Impact National Economy

Sputnik International

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday that attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial shipping in the Red Sea could have an impact on the country's economy through rising prices.

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"It may have an impact and we will watch it very-very carefully," Hunt said on air of the BBC Radio 4 broadcaster when asked if the attacks could drive up the prices. The United Kingdom pledged "consequences" for the Yemeni rebel group's actions because the Red Sea is vital for global trade, the minister added. After the armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas broke out in October last year, the Houthis have intensified their attacks on cargo ships it believes to be linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, vowing to continue the attacks until Israel ends its military actions in the Gaza Strip. The disruption to maritime trade routes led to the formation of a US-led maritime coalition to provide security for ships navigating through the region. Dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, the formation currently consists of a handful of countries, including the UK, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway, plus Bahrain and the Seychelles. Some members participation seems purely decorative, with Norway reportedly planning to send 10 officers, the Netherlands two, and Denmark just one, to assist in the mission. Spain, in turn, said it will not take part in any military operation unless it is under the direction of NATO or the EU.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240102/oil-price-notches-up-15-amid-us-houthi-naval-skirmish-in-red-sea-1115940453.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/us-will-soon-be-unable-to-deliver-missiles-for-patriot-systems-to-ukraine-1116017735.html

US Will Soon Be Unable to Deliver Missiles for Patriot Systems to Ukraine

US Will Soon Be Unable to Deliver Missiles for Patriot Systems to Ukraine

Sputnik International

On Tuesday, The Telegraph newspaper reported that Ukrainian air defense systems would not be able to repel all Russian attacks this winter due to a shortage of interceptor missiles, including for the Patriot air defense systems.

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The United States will soon be unable to supply Ukraine with interceptor missiles for Patriot surface-to-air systems that can cost from $2 million to $4 million per piece, The New York Times newspaper reported on Saturday, citing White House and Pentagon officials. Western countries have been providing Ukraine with military aid since the start of Russia's special military operation in February 2022. The support evolved from lighter artillery munitions and training to heavier weapons, including tanks. Ukraine eventually started pushing for Western-made fighter jets, which its donors abroad long resisted. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231231/there-is-no-stomach-in-us-to-continue-funding-ukraine---ex-pentagon-official-1115908133.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240106/why-polands-plan-to-provide-ukraine-with-long-range-missiles-is-just-hot-air-1116001390.html

Why Poland's Plan to Provide Ukraine With Long-Range Missiles is Just Hot Air

Why Poland's Plan to Provide Ukraine With Long-Range Missiles is Just Hot Air

Sputnik International

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell discussed providing the Kiev regime with long-range missiles with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. How could this initiative pan out for Warsaw?

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"Good discussion with FM of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski," Borrell tweeted on January 3. "We agreed on the need to enhance our military support to Ukraine, including with long-range and anti-aircraft missiles."Previously, Sikorski called on Western countries to transfer long-range missiles to Ukraine for attacks on Russian territory. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, warned Warsaw against the provocative bellicose rhetoric."If such statements were made by representatives of those countries and organizations that could actually theoretically and potentially send such weapons to the Kiev regime, then this could be taken seriously. But I think that this is just a certain rhetoric, which, of course, does not contribute to, say, reducing the level of escalation of the conflict, but, nevertheless, it is just rhetoric."Furthermore, it appears that the provision of long-range missiles to Ukraine doesn't correspond to Poland's national interests given that last year an unidentified aerial object from Ukraine violated the nation's airspace and fell on its territory.The Polish political commentator emphasized that Warsaw is not in a conflict with the Russian Federation: Moscow has zero territorial, political or other claims against Warsaw, and therefore, "generally perceiving Russia as an enemy and threat by Warsaw is completely absurd," he underscored."Unfortunately, the Polish political class has been immersed in this absurdity for 30 years, despite all the obvious facts and the fact that now there are no significant contradictions between Russia and Poland's foreign and security policies. Unfortunately, despite these facts, the dominant political circles of Poland constantly repeat this unfounded thesis about the existing 'Russian threat'," Piskorski concluded.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231222/pouring-praise-on-poland-just-pr-pressure-to-put-pan-european-state-under-us-hegemony-1115741436.html

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Police arrested 20 university students affiliated with a progressive group Saturday after they attempted to enter the presidential office in central Seoul, officials said.

The members of the Korean University Progressive Union were caught at the site for allegedly attempting to trespass on the presidential office compound by entering through its western gate and climbing over its fences, according to the officials.

Before the attempt, the students had staged a protest outside the compound, demanding a special probe into first lady Kim Keon Hee and a meeting with presidential officials.

Police plan to investigate the incident further to determine the students' exact motives, among other details.

On Friday, President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed two opposition-led special investigation proposals, one of which involves allegations against the first lady.

Kim has been accused of involvement in manipulating the stock prices of Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in South Korea, between 2009 and 2012. She has denied the allegations. (Yonhap)
After 40 years and three generations of the Jensen family as owners, the Switzerland Inn, located along the McDowell-Mitchell county line in Little Switzerland, now belongs to Mississippi-based MMI Hospitality Group.

Marcus & Millichap, a leading commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in investment sales, financing, research and advisory services, announced recently the sale of the Switzerland Inn, the 70-room mountain resort located along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the county line. The resort and two residential houses were sold for $15.65 million, according to a news release.

It was a privilege to utilize our tested process to expose and unlock the top of the market value for generational owners of such a unique and historic property, said McLean Hicklin, first vice presidents of investments. We wish MMI Hospitality nothing but success as they steer the property forward into the next generation of ownership.

Hicklin and Robert Hunter, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichaps Fort Lauderdale, Fla. office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor, and procured the buyer, MMI Hospitality Group, which is located in Mississippi. Benjamin Yelm, Marcus & Millichaps broker of record in North Carolina, assisted in closing the transaction, according to the news release.

Some of the other properties owned and operated by MMI Hospitality Group include Fontana Village Resort & Marina at Fontana Dam; Cambria Suites in Fort Mill, S.C.; the James Madison Inn in Madison, Ga.; Hotel Simone at St. Simons Island, Ga.; and The Memphian in Memphis, Tenn., according to MMIs website.

This sale process confirmed that demand for leisure-driven hotels is still conditionally very strong, said Hunter, senior vice president of investments. Due to Switzerland Inns expanding business, barriers to entry, and physical appeal, the value was roughly 50% higher than expected pre-COVID. Its location in the mountains also provided a buffer against inflated insurance premiums that have impacted leisure properties in coastal markets.

The Switzerland Inn is a full-service resort nestled in the heart of North Carolinas Blue Ridge Mountains and it spans 14 acres and is located at the entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

In addition to the inn, two nearby residential houses, each with three bedrooms, were included in the sale. The properties were recently featured in Travel & Leisure Magazine. The resort is near Crabtree Falls, Pisgah National Forest, The Orchard at Altapass, Lake James State Park, Grandfather Mountain and The Biltmore Estate.

The properties are situated at 86 High Ridge Road, 55 Reid Queen Drive and 9560 N.C. Highway 226A.

For three generations, the Jensen family has owned and operated this top-quality hotel and resort along with its restaurant, The Chalet. It has become a popular destination for tourists and local residents alike. Numerous special events such as weddings, conventions, installation banquets and reunions have been held at the Switzerland Inn.

Former owner Gary Jensen Jr. and his family have owned and operated the place for 40 years.

I was there for 37 of them, he told The McDowell News.

Now, he looks forward to visiting the Switzerland Inn as just another tourist. Jensen and his parents now live near Vero Beach, Fla.

The Switzerland Inn has around 80 employees and it is open from April through late fall. The resort is closed for the winter and will reopen on April 17, according to its website.

Jensen told The McDowell News that the new owners may plan to extend that schedule for its operation.

Like his family, Jensen said MMI is a family-owned business. The companys website says it has successfully operated hotels and restaurants since 1956.

I think they started in farming and moved to hospitality around 60 years ago, he said.

Jensen said he and his family did a lot of research before deciding on the sale to MMI.

We had it up for sale and we talked with a lot of people and we felt this was the best fit for it, he said. Their main concern was about our employees, who does what and how do we keep them.

Jensen said the new owners may implement some renovations to the historic property.

If you look at some of the other properties they have, they operate them very well, he added. It was a good time to sell and everyone is happy.

Jensen said one of his daughters, Jordan Gowan, and her husband, Nathan, will keep working at the Switzerland Inn during the transition period of owners.

And in September, his youngest daughter, 27-year-old Jaie, will have her wedding at the resort, which has hosted numerous weddings over the years.

We will be back frequently as guests, Jensen told The McDowell News.

Most of all, Jensen, 57, said he and his family wants to thank the loyal customers from McDowell County who supported the Switzerland Inn and dined at his restaurant or enjoyed an evening there.

Some of our best customers we had over these years were from McDowell County and I hope they continue to come, he said. I want to thank them for our support. McDowell County was a really good market for us.
Former Deputy Cowlitz County Health Officer Steve Krager, who resigned Sunday, has reapplied for the position as an independent contractor rather than through Clark County.

Earlier this week the board temporarily contracted with a regional health officer to continue local services while looking for a permanent replacement.

Krager and former County Health Officer Alan Melnick resigned following a decision by the Cowlitz County Board of Health not to renew the countys contract for their services with Clark County Public Health. Though employed by Clark County, Krager and Melnick also act as part-time health officers for Pacific, Skamania, Wahkiakum counties and formerly Cowlitz County.

During a Nov. 21 board of health meeting, board member and Cowlitz County Commissioner Arne Mortensen said he did not want to continue the current arrangement with Krager because he did not provide balanced information about COVID-19, but that he would be willing to consider hiring Krager directly rather than through Clark County.

I do not know what forces Dr. Krager was operating under, because he wasnt the boss, Mortensen said at the meeting. If he would like to go independent and assures me that there is no subservience to the Clark County entity or Dr. Melnick himself, I probably would entertain that discussion.

The duties of the county health officer, which include signing birth and death certificates and issuing orders related to disease outbreaks, are temporarily being covered by Regional Health Officer Jay Miller while the board of health looks into hiring a permanent replacement. The board made the decision to hire Miller during a special meeting Wednesday, but have to request to use his services every two weeks during the year-long contract.

Krager said that while board members sometimes asked him for additional information about COVID-19, he does not recall any specific disagreements about his decisions.

I feel very strongly that I have done my best to present the most evidence-based recommendations, he said.

Since deciding not to renew the contract with Clark County, the board has put out multiple requests for applications. As of the special meeting Wednesday, they had not reported receiving any responses other than from Krager and Melnick on behalf of Clark County and from Krager directly.

The Lewis County Board of Health also let go of Krager and Melnick as the countys health officers in March 2022 in order to hire a local representative, which they selected that summer: Joe Wiley, M.D., who works at Providence Centralia Hospital, according to The Chronicle.

Krager said he is currently in discussions with Clark County Public Health about how best to handle the possibility of an independent contract, and he hopes he and Cowlitz County are able to come to an agreement to continue his employment.

Ive thought a lot about how to approach (the position) and I do feel, not obligation, but I know the people in the department I work with very closely and I want to continue working with them, he said. There is important work going on that I feel strongly about continuing.
The saga of Leo, a 3-year-old golden retriever, proves that cats arent the only animals blessed with nine lives.

On New Years Day, Leo fell down a nearly vertical 300-foot hill at Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach, resulting in serious injuries. He ended up in an inaccessible spot on the beach.

The owners call for help resulted in the first U.S. Coast Guard rescue of 2024 in Oregon.

A helicopter crew arrived from Warrenton, hovered over the beach and lowered a rescue swimmer and basket down to the dog.

That morning, Alexa Fery and her fiance, Cody Chimienti, both 26, had decided to take Leo and drive from their home in Forest Grove to the Oregon Coast.

They met up with other family members, some with their own dogs, to hike along a trail, one that nearly claimed the life of a German shepherd last summer when she fell down the steep hill.

Leo was named because of a dream, but this day became a nightmare.

I always wanted a golden retriever, Fery said. I had a dream I had one, he was named Leo and when we got this good boy thats what we named him.

During the hike, Fery said she and Chimienti lost track of Leo, who was not on a leash. Her father said the dog ran past him really fast.

They went looking for him and found themselves peering over a ledge. They spotted Leo way down below on the beach. He looked hurt.

I knew the beach was not accessible by foot and the tide was coming in, Fery said. Trying not to panic, she called 9-1-1.

Crews from the Seaside and Cannon Beach fire departments mobilized at about 3 p.m. They quickly showed up and began figuring out how to use rappelling gear to inch their way down the steep hill to the dog. The severity of the incline was going to make it a difficult descent  and even harder to bring the dog back up.

Then they thought of a better way.

A Seaside Police Department dispatcher reached out to the U.S Coast Guard station in Warrenton.

The Coast Guard agreed to take on the mission.

We launched a helicopter crew, said Petty Officer Steve Stromeyer. They lowered a rescue swimmer. He saw the dog had some visible injuries. He was able to calm the dog down, give it some attention and gingerly put him in the basket.

And up in the air went Leo.

Im sure the dog was terrified, the helicopter is loud, said Stromeyer. They got to the top of this hill, landed in the parking lot and the dog was reunited with its owners.

Given what the Coast Guard team often deals with  searching for missing people in the ocean  Stromeyer said it was a good call to start 2024.

This was a real chance to help, he said. It was a good outcome.

Fery said it was unreal to see her dog in a basket being lowered to her in the parking lot.

He looked really lethargic, she said. I was super worried.

She and her fiance drove Leo to an emergency veterinarian clinic in Beaverton.

There, the couple learned Leos jaw was broken in three spots. Two teeth were broken, his body was bruised, and the doctor found air in his chest cavity. Leo spent two nights in the office, and on Wednesday was sent to a veterinary dentist for jaw surgery.

We have the deepest appreciation for the first responders and the Coast Guard, said Fery. We would not have Leo if it wasnt for them.

We are forever thankful to them.

Fery said the medical bills are expected to be about $10,000, and so she and Chimienti have put up a GoFundMe page to help with expenses.

Given the fall, everyone is surprised he lived through it, said Fery. Its incredible. We learned an unfortunate lesson. No matter how well behaved your dog is its always safer to have him on a leash. We should have done that.

Fery said they plan to bring Leo home, adding:

Were just going to love on him.
WinCo will pay $3.6 million to settle a class action suit that alleged the company misled thousands of customers into paying hidden surcharges on certain non-grocery goods.

The settlement was reached during mediation before Oregon Senior Judge Henry Kantor and follows an $8.8 million payout from Safeway to settle a similar case.

Portland customers who bought non-grocery items from WinCo after Nov. 25, 2018, and who submit timely claims are anticipated to receive $200 each. Any unclaimed money will be donated to nonprofits in Oregon that help consumers, under the negotiated settlement.

The named plaintiff, Virginia Simonin, visited WinCos store at Southeast 79th Avenue and Powell Boulevard on Nov. 23, 2019, and only after she had gone through checkout and examined her receipt did she realize that she had paid a 10-cent surcharge, according to her lawyer Michael Fuller.

The suit alleged WinCo engaged in unlawful trade practices and unlawful enrichment for failing to advertise the true cost of goods it sold.

WinCo, in response, admitted it disclosed to its customers a 1% Clean Energy surcharge on certain products by itemizing the surcharge on customer receipts. But the company said the city of Portland authorized it and other retailers to itemize the surcharge on receipts.

WinCo did not willfully use or employ a method, act or practice declared unlawful under Oregons Unlawful Trade Practices Act, wrote John C. Clarke, one of WinCos lawyers, in court papers.

The stores lawyers argued that WinCo made no attempt to conceal the charge; rather, it fully disclosed the charge on Plaintiffs receipt as suggested by the Citys rule.

In November 2018, Portland voters passed a ballot measure establishing a grant program known as the Portland Clean Energy Fund. The program is designed to fund green energy initiatives from a 1% surcharge on sales by large retail businesses that generate more than $1 billion a year in national revenue and $500,000 in annual revenue in Portland. The program exempts basic groceries and health care services.

In 2019, the city adopted rules governing the Clean Energy Fund that provided that a large retailer may separately itemize its (Clean Energy Surcharge) obligations on its invoices to its customers to whatever extent it chooses.

Yet a federal judge denied WinCos motion to dismiss the suit in 2020.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta found that even though neither Portlands City Code nor its Business Tax Administrative Rule required retailers to itemize the Clean Energy Surcharge in a specific way, WinCo was required to accurately advertise the price it intended to charge customers for non-grocery goods.

Not including the surcharge in the retailers advertised price of goods, Acosta found, could constitute a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices Act.

Portlands cash-rich fund that aims to bankroll clean energy projects and jobs could see a staggering $540 million in unexpected revenue in the next five years, according to the latest city forecast.

Last May, Safeway agreed to pay up to $8.75 million to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations that the grocer also improperly passed the Portland clean energy tax on to shoppers.

The class administrator will run an ad when the claims period starts, according to Fuller. Receipts will be preferred but not required. Claimants will need proof of Oregon residency if they dont have a receipt.
By Lee Hae-rin

Police said they will respond sternly to anyone who posts threats to commit copycat crimes or spreads misinformation online following the recent knife attack against Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic People of Korea.

The National Office of Investigation at the National Police Agency said on Friday that it will cooperate with cyber investigative units across the country as well as with foreign investigative bodies to enhance the relevant crackdown.

The move came as a series of threats to commit copycat crimes against politicians including Han Dong-hoon, the new interim leader of the ruling People Power Party, have been posted online after Lee was stabbed in the neck by a 67-year-old man on Tuesday morning while touring the proposed site of a new airport on Busans Gadeok Island.

Police said online copycat crime threats targeting key politicians and other random people and misinformation have aggravated public anxiety and social confusion.

On the day of the attack against Lee, a death threat against Han was also uploaded. Police identified a man in his 40s as the writer and arrested him the following day on intimidation charges.

Police also warned against the spread of fake news.

The warning came as some online posts claimed that the attack against Lee was a self-fabricated scenario in his apparent bid to gain public attention and unify opposition voters ahead of the general elections slated for April. Some posts claimed, for example, that Lee was stabbed with a wooden chopstick.

"Posting threats to commit brutal crimes and spreading misinformation constitute serious crimes and threaten our community," said Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Office of Investigation. "We will take as strict measures as possible against these crimes to the fullest extent that the law allows."

The main opposition party, for its part, filed complaints with the Korea Communications Standards Commission, which regulates communications including television and internet, against six YouTube channels that the party believes spread misinformation about the attack against its chairman.

The party also decided to launch a task force, led by Jeon Hyun-heui, the former head of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, to deal with the incident's aftermath.

"The task force is aimed at calling for prompt investigations on the political terror against Lee and taking strong measures against blunt remarks and false information spread by cable channels and far-right YouTubers," the DPK spokesperson Kang Sun-woo said.
Key politicians of the rival parties on Saturday called for "unity and tolerance" to bring harmony into society deeply divided over "extreme politics," as they gathered at a rare event marking the centennial of the birth of a late former president.

The participants made the calls during the ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of former President Kim Dae-jung, who led the country from 1998-2003, as social division over political polarization is emerging as a hot-button issue ahead of the April's general elections.

Such calls from the politicians also came days after the stabbing attack by a frustrated citizen on the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader, Lee Jae-myung. Lee was absent from the event due to post-surgery treatment.

"Politics, at present, is mired in confrontation, antagonism and division," National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, a co-chair for the event, said in the congratulatory speech at the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul.

"What former President Kim would want from us will certainly be national unity," Kim said.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also a co-chair, pointed out that politics has in part instigated the distrust and hatred, stressing that "national unity and solidarity" are the only way to overcome the crises.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that as President Yoon Suk Yeol respects and remembers Kim's legacy, his government will strive to "open an era of trust and integration."

Rising political star Han Dong-hoon, the justice minister-turned-interim leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said South Korea experienced harmony and empathy under Kim's leadership at the height of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

"The PPP and I, with that heart, will do better than now, in the Honam as well as Yeongnam regions," Han said. Honam refers to the Jeolla region in the country's southwest, the traditional stronghold for the liberal bloc, while Yeongnam covers the southeastern Gyeongsang provincial areas, the main stronghold for the conservatives.

Lee, in a speech read on his behalf by Rep. Ko Min-jung of the DPK, emphasized democracy "achieved through fighting."

"Democracy, the livelihoods of people and peace on the Korean Peninsula, (to all of which) former President Kim had devoted himself, belonged to those who fought (for) and protected (it)," Lee said.

"Let's protect democracy, the people's livelihoods and peace at risk. We can do it when we become one," he said.

Former President Moon Jae-in, Yoon's predecessor, also attended Saturday's event with his wife and former first lady, Kim Jung-sook. (Yonhap)
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Beef producers can work with UNL veterinarians at one-day Cow-Calf College

CLAY CENTER  The 2024 Cow-Calf College, offered by Nebraska Extension, gives producers a chance to learn about cow and calf health from some of the University of Nebraska-Lincolns veterinarians and researchers.

Topics will range from newborn calf health to pinkeye, scours, causes of bovine abortion, and when to call the vet.

The free event is scheduled 10:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at the Great Plains Veterinary Education Center near Clay Center, with an optional tour of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center to follow, weather permitting.

Matt Hille, assistant professor and diagnostic pathologist at the Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center, will kick off the program with a discussion of management of infectious disease from birth to weaning.

During the provided lunch, Brian Vander Ley, associate professor and assistant director of GPVEC, will give an overview of the work they are doing at GPVEC.

The afternoon will include three sessions. Hille will address bovine abortion causes and how and when to use the diagnostic tools available to producers. Lindsay Waechter-Mead, livestock systems educator with Nebraska Extension, will talk about neonatal calf care. Becky Funk, animal health and teaching Extension specialist at GPVEC, will provide a wet lab that gives producers a hands-on opportunity to explore bovine reproductive tracts.

There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is requested for food and supply counts.

To register call the Webster County Extension office at 402-746-3417 or visit https://go.unl.edu/cow-calfcollege2024.

Chemigation training offered in Broken Bow

BROKEN BOW  Chemigation training will be offered at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, at the 4-H Building in Broken Bow.

Chemigation training is a requirement for ag producers to apply chemicals through their irrigation systems, says Troy Walz, Extension Educator. The Nebraska Chemical Act requires anyone who applies chemicals though an irrigation system, whether that be through gaited pipe or center pivot systems, to take the chemigation training and become certified.

In order to become certified producers need to: register at their local extension office, attend training, and pass a written test. It is recommended to review the chemigation materials prior to coming to the class, as passing the written test is a requirement of certification. To register for the training in Broken Bow call the Nebraska Extension Office in Custer County at 308-872-6831.

Pesticide trainings offered in Custer County

BROKEN BOW  Private pesticide trainings will be offered in Custer County for farmers and ranchers who need to renew their certified private pesticide applicators license or anyone who wants to become certified.

Training sessions include: 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, Legion Building in Arnold; 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, Community Building in Sargent; 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, Community Building in Ansley; and 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the 4-H Building in Broken Bow.

In order to become certified, producers pay a $60 recertification fee for study materials and training and will then be billed from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture an additional $25.

If you cannot attend any of these trainings, other options include completing an online training costing $60 or attending a private pesticide training in another county.

Pre-registration is required by calling the Custer County Extension Office at 308-872-6831. You must be certified if you intend to purchase or use any restricted use pesticides.

Calving workshops to help producers

prepare for upcoming calving season

LINCOLN  Nebraska Extension will host a hands-on Calving Workshop at two locations in January featuring Becky Funk, DVM and Extension Specialist, and Lindsay Waechter-Mead, DVM and Extension Educator.

Topics covered will include calving equipment and proper use, techniques for managing dystocia, when to call for help, and hands-on demonstration and training using a life-size model cow and calf.

Workshops are planned for Thursday, Jan. 18, in Sidney; and Friday, Jan. 19, at the NCTA Livestock Teaching Center in Curtis. The cost to attend is $30. Students attend for free.

For more information, or to register for the workshops, call Aaron Berger (Sidney) at 308-235-3122 or email aberger2@unl.edu; or Erin Laborie (Curtis) at 308-268-3105 or erin.laborie@unl.edu.
The University of Nebraska-Lincolns Center for Agricultural Profitability will present a workshop in Kearney for those planning and involved in farmland succession who want to learn more about the best strategies for managing and owning this asset and how it may impact the transition plan.

So Youve Inherited a Farm  Now What? is planned for 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Buffalo County Extension Office, 1400 E. 34th St., Kearney.

The workshop will cover Nebraska land industry topics for farms and ranches. Those include evaluating current trends in land values and cash rents, strategies for successful land transitions, lease provisions, legal considerations, and managing communication and expectations among family members. Creating and adjusting estate plans will also be covered.

We hear all the time from people who engaged in various stages of transitioning land involved in a farm or ranch, said Jim Jansen, an agricultural economist with Nebraska Extension. The dynamics surrounding succession differ for each operation, and this workshop provides the best management concepts and strategies for an effective transition.

The program is free to attend, and lunch will be provided by Farm Credit Services of America in Kearney. Pre-registration is requested for meal planning purposes by Jan. 31; call the Buffalo County Extension Office at 308-236-1235.

More information is available on the Center for Agricultural Profitabilitys website, https://cap.unl.edu.

January private pesticide training

Nebraska Extension will provide private pesticide applicator and chemigation trainings this winter for applicators who wish to obtain or renew their current license.

One private pesticide trainingsession will be offered from 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Dawson County Extension Office, 1002 Plum Creek Parkway in Lexington.

If you wish to attend, please RSVP to the Extension Office at 308-324-5501 so enough materials are provided. February training dates will be provided in a future article.

Commercial/non-commercial pesticide applicators

Nebraska Extension will be providing pesticide trainings this winter for commercial/non-commercial applicators.

Applicators that wish to obtain or renew their current license are encouraged to participate in these trainings. Local and state-wide training dates are available online for initial commercial/non-commercial pesticide applicator trainings (https://pested.unl.edu/initial-classes-registration) and for recertifying commercial/non-commercial pesticide applicator trainings (https://pested.unl.edu/pesticide-safety-recertification).

Physical dates are not listed here as there are several categories and training sites available across the state depending on the needs of the applicator.

Commercial/non-commercial applicators can find a complete list of categories, study materials, and resources at https://pested.unl.edu/certification-and-training.

Depending on the category or needs of the applicator, training may be completed either online or in-person. Testing is also another option if in-person training dates are missed or do not work for scheduling purposes.

Please contact your local Extension Office or the Pesticide Safety Education Office at 402-472-1632 with questions.
By David A. Tizzard

There are no more deserts. There are no more islands. And yet, and yet, we need them. For us to understand the world, we need poetry as much as we need peace. And where better to find this than Seoul.

Millions have lived under this eternal, high, often starless, sky. The physical land has frequently changed its name  in its previous lives it has been called Wiryeseong, Namgyeong, Keijo, Hanyang, and many more monikers lost to the wisps of memory  and it will no doubt do so again. For while the sky and the mountains are infinite, human memory, nostalgia, emotions, even things as seemingly dogmatic as ideology, are fleeting. The conflicting tribes of bears and tigers, the rivalries of the Buddhists and the Confucians, and the existential battle of freedom fighters and mustached colonists preaching modernity have been replaced by another soon to be future memory of the past: the communists and anti-communists.

Still cold

History books tell us that the Cold War ended somewhere around 1989. People danced to the music of David Hasselhoff in Berlin, Metallica assaulted Russia with its battery of thrash, and Francis Fukuyama predicted democratic utopia for everyone from his desk at Telluride House. Those history books, however, were not written in Korea. They did not contain the figures of Hong Beom-do, Rhee Syngman, Kim Il Sung, Kim Gu, Alexandra Kim, Kim Yong-bom, and Pak Hon-yong. They forgot to include the hegemonic political line that would shape a country's elections and cultures far more than the noise of transgender toilets, cultural appropriation, or the worry of immigration.

The Cold War still rages here more than ever. Tanks, missiles, and heavily armed young men who wish of little more than a soft bed and a warm woman split this land in two, rupturing the natural flow of the mountains, rivers and energy around the land. If geomancy has ever been a thing, surely here, with barbed wire having replaced trees, the energy must surely be negative. Only the modern city, Hegel said, offers the mind a field in which it can become aware of itself. In nature, we are more keenly attached to the sky and the mountains. The Korean division has us gazing at our navels and inner-selves rather than the infinite that confronts us. We now witness everything but see nothing. We have lost our vision.

And while the political animosity between blue and red, between left and right, between two entities who have more in common with each other than they would ever dare admit, seems an unsurpassable divide, it would be wise for us to remember that the disagreements between Confucians and Buddhists were once just as ubiquitous. The arguments and the people change; yet the sky remains the same. For now, at least.

The new world

Antonio Gramsci said, The old world is dying. The new world is yet to be born. Now is the time of monsters. Our old world was successful. Capitalism, democracy, socialism and modernity in various parts of the world lifted many out of poverty and servitude. The degrees and speeds obviously differed but the change from 200 years ago is evident. But are those old systems still working now? Are people today confident of getting even the basics of life such as a house, a job, and a partner? Are they confident that their political system presents with them the best possible leaders capable of making the most appropriate decisions? It doesnt seem that that is the case. Yes, we have Netflix, yes we have social media, and yes we can get on a subway for a relatively cheap price and enjoy a hot drink in a warm coffee shop. But we need more than pleasure. We need progress. And we need stability. The old world, however, creaks. It is evident in the old men who argue with each other in positions of power or the young people who use old arguments to become just like those above them.

In Korea, one cry of Communism bloodies the neck of an opponent. The yell of fascism dizzies the eyes of the attacker. The two fighters swing at each other. There is little regard for technique or sophistication. The only thing that matters is the viscousness and ultimate success of the attack. The onlookers, the baying crowd and the den of social media gangsters profiting from the violence, itself a truly pale and inglorious memory of the colosseum of yore, all get covered in the blood and sweat of the combatants equally. Yet for the rich, no umbrella is better than money. They can dry themselves off while the rest of us walk away soaked with the misfortune of others.

And so here we stand, like "Gladiator 2." A sterile repeat of humans at their worst: turning on each other in order that one might be king. Clawing like beasts for power. And the whole time failing to realize the truth we all know yet ignore in favour of selfies and tweets. All of us are humans, one and the same, brothers and sisters, and the true lord is that sky above us. Dispassionate in its observations of our latest incestuous fighting, never having seen change beyond the words we use and the methods of attack we employ. Whence will come change? Can the blue dragon roar?

Where is the new world? What does it look like? Is Korea capable of giving birth to it? Can this land and its people serve as a nurse to a baby of the future and give the sky something new to look at? Or will talk of communists and China, of Japan and colonization, of Pyongyang and feudal memories still scream from the otherwise silent streets of Seoul?

Revolution now?

Every so often here in Korea a revolutionary wind blows that fills this island with hopes of a new world and the twang of fallen glories. Around us are the echoes of clashes of empires. The power of history can be heard retching. Another page unfolds before us.

As days are added to days, we move stones from here to there. Take down towers and erect buildings. Rebuild palaces. Like Camus' Sisyphus we are to imagine ourselves happy, insta-fueled and dopamine driven, but we forget, or perhaps remember that all this has been said before. Often in far loftier and more beautiful ways. We are but an imitation. A clone of our ancestors, dressed differently certainly, but still pulled by those same instincts that prompted our ancestors to action: justice, revenge, and love. We now just philosophize and fight by sending tweets rather than firing arrows or raiding palaces.

Oh, to actually be unique.

In its constant pursuit of totality, Korea is the child of disproportion. Born with a fervent desire for unity and a singularity of thought, it finds only division, suffering and conflict. That is its tragedy. Nature contrasts her indifferent skies with the madness of men. And with the sky empty, with God dead, we are left with nothing but history and power. Until perhaps, that is, we find poetry again.

Only the sky knows. Yet it remains silent.

For now.

Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies and lectures at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He is a social-cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. He is also the host of the "Korea Deconstructed" podcast, which can be found online.
KEARNEY  The Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present Returning to the Farm, a workshop series for families who are in the transition process of bringing members back to the farm or ranch.

It will begin with a two-day workshop in Kearney for multi-generational families on March 8 and 9 at the office of Nebraska Extension in Buffalo County, 1400 E 34th St.

The series, which is rescheduled from December 2023, assists families and agricultural operations with developing financial plans and successful working arrangements to meet their unique needs. It will guide families in developing estate and transition plans, setting personal and professional goals and improving the communication process between family members.

Returning to the Farm gives families the tools and resources to have a successful transition with more family joining the business, said extension educator Jessica Groskopf. We really want to have two or three generations come to this together and take that time, as a family, to sit down, learn together and start these important processes.

Presenters will include extension experts as well as agribusiness and legal professionals. During the program, participants will:

Learn communication strategies

Set both personal and professional goals

Develop a farm or ranch transition plan

Identify estate planning issues and develop effective strategies for planning

Review financial feasibility and financial tools

The workshop fee is $75 per person on or before March 1. On March 2, the fee increases to $85 per person. Registration includes dinner on March 8 and lunch on March 9. It also includes two follow-up workshops, to be held virtually. Hotel accommodations are not included.

Registration may be completed online at https://cap.unl.edu/rtf24. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number FSA22CPT0012189.

Workshop series for veterans focuses on agritourism

LYONS  Military veterans interested in agriculture are invited to attend a series of on-farm and virtual workshops highlighting farm stores, onsite and off. This course is free for active military service members and military veterans.

Hosted by the Center for Rural Affairs, the 11-session series, Agritourism through Farm Stores, starts Feb. 19 and runs through August. The workshops will rotate between online classroom sessions and on-farm sessions with an online option.

In our classroom sessions, participants will hear from experts, learn business and financial skills, and obtain resources applicable to farm stores, whether it be an actual storefront, online store, or a farm stand, said Kirstin Bailey, senior project associate for the center. During the on-farm sessions, experienced farmers will go through the ins and outs of on- and off-site farm stores, how they set up their on-farm buying experiences, and challenges they have faced.

Session topics include obtaining proper equipment, maintaining adequate facilities, setting up purchasing systems, and more.

Farmer-leaders with experience in various types of agriculture and agritourism (such as poultry, pork, beef, beekeeping) will be available to assist participants throughout the courses online platform.

For more information or to register, contact Bailey at 402-870-2390 or kirstinb@cfra.org.

Participant stipends are available to cover approved expenses such as travel, meals and child care. Individuals are welcome to attend with family members. For on-farm events, physical accommodations may be made upon request.

Find a detailed schedule, including dates and times of sessions, at cfra.org/AgVets2024.

Programming is funded through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. NIFA USDA fund award #2020-77028-32890.

Articulation agreement aims to benefit agriculture students interested in communications

WAYNE  Agriculture students interested in communications will be the beneficiaries of an articulation agreement between Northeast Community College and Wayne State College.

Students who attend Northeast Community College and complete an associates degree in agriculture will now be able to complete 60 additional credit hours at Wayne State and earn a four-year degree in Agriculture Communications and Leadership from Wayne State. This pathway includes required courses in mass communications as well as electives that will allow students to craft a program of study that meets their needs.

For students with interests in both agriculture and communications, this articulation agreement provides the perfect pathway to enter a diverse job market.

It was a great pleasure to work on this collaboration before my retirement, said Deborah Whitt, professor emeritus at Wayne State. The new program allows students who are passionate about agriculture to build their leadership and interpersonal communication skills through print, audio, and video platforms. These communication skills will be invaluable to the future of our agricultural economy.

Agriculture industry professionals will also benefit from this agreement.

Agriculture is the backbone of our society, but there are fewer people than ever directly involved in food production, said Jill Heemstra, director of Northeasts agriculture program. Agriculture communicators bridge the gap by raising awareness and contributing to an informed public and industry. We are excited to work with Wayne State to create a pathway for students in this high-demand field.
Vietnam conglomerate Thaco eyes $4.2 bln Central Highlands bauxite project

By Tri Duc Sat, January 6, 2024 | 9:02 pm GMT+7

Thaco Group, a leading Vietnamese private conglomerate, is looking to implement a VND103,024 billion ($4.23 billion) project to exploit and process bauxite in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

The project is envisaged as a circular economy initiative including bauxite ore exploitation, processing of alumina and aluminum, environmental restoration, tree planting, farm produce processing, an aluminium factory, and tourism activities.

An alumina factory in Lam Dong province, Central Highlands. Photo courtesy of Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.

The investment will include VND50,042 billion ($2.05 billion) for machinery and VND23,409 billion ($960.17 million) for construction.

The firm hopes to receive project approval in March 2024, construction plan approval in September 2024 and complete land-related procedures in July 2025. It plans to begin construction of the projects first phase, which will create an annual capacity of one million tons, in August 2025. The first phase is to be completed in January 2028.

Work on the second and third phases that will increase annual capacity to two and four million tons a year is set to begin in 2029 and 2032, respectively.

Based on estimated mine reserves of 178 million tons, Thaco targets exploitation for 20 years, paying VND4.8 trillion ($196.88 million) to the state budget annually and employing 4,000 people directly. It calculates total post-tax profits at VND570 trillion ($23.38 billion) and capital recovery in 11 years.

Since the alumina factory has an operational duration of 50 years, Thaco plans to continue its operations after the 20-year period, using ores from outside the mine.
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Experienced veterinarian Matt Breed has joined Clemson University as attending veterinarian and director of the Office of Animal Resources and Godley-Snell Research Center.

Breed has worked the past 10 years at Leidos Biomedical Research Inc. in Bethesda, Maryland, as a senior animal program veterinarian. He has also worked as a staff scientist and clinical veterinarian with National Institutes of Health and has experience with Tulane University, Cornell University, University of Florida and Clemson, where he worked as an extension/field veterinarian with Clemson Livestock Poultry Health.

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Matts experience in both private and academic settings will be valuable as we continue to enhance our research portfolio. I am confident he will collaborate closely with Clemson faculty, administrators and staff to enrich an already well-respected and accredited animal care program at Clemson, said Tanju Karanfil, senior vice president for research, scholarship and creative endeavors at Clemson.

Breed is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, an accredited veterinarian by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science, the American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners and the Association of Primate Veterinarians.

He earned his Ph.D. from the Tulane University School of Medicine, his veterinary degree from the University of Queensland in Australia and his bachelors degree from the University Adelaide, also in Australia.

I am thrilled to embark on my journey at Clemson University. I look forward to supporting the crucial research endeavors of Clemson University investigators and upholding the highest standards of animal welfare. I aim to honor Dr. Parrishs legacy and wish him all the very best in a fulfilling retirement, Breed said, referring to his predecessor, John Parrish.

Parrish is retiring after leading Clemsons animal welfare programs for nearly 20 years. He joined Clemson in 2006 following a distinguished career in the U.S. Army. Parrish will remain with Clemson as a consulting veterinarian until his official retirement date of April 1.

I want to thank John for his service to Clemson over the past two decades, Karanfil said. John has led Clemsons animal research programs during a period when our research activity has grown exponentially, and he has done so while maintaining a top-quality, accredited animal research program that has expanded in recent years to accommodate even more activity.
The half-hour nature series Coastal Kingdom has returned for Season 4 on South Carolina ETV. Host Tony Mills, a naturalist and educator with the Spring Island Trust in Beaufort County, and cinematographer Rob Lewis guide viewers through the diverse ecosystems of the South Carolina Lowcountry. The show provides a unique perspective on the regions rich wildlife and habitats.

'Coastal Kingdom' Tony Mills hold up an animal while filming in the salt marsh.

The six-episode series builds on previous seasons and features some of the most well-known plants and animals of the South Carolina Lowcountry. In Season 4, viewers will learn about two of the most important features along the coast - the ACE Basin and the salt marsh. Signature species of coastal South Carolina such as alligators, sharks and blue crabs will also be featured.

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This season of Coastal Kingdom premieres Jan. 10 on ETV-HD at 7:30 and airs each Wednesday. Below is a glimpse into each episode of Coastal Kingdom Season 4:

Signature Species - Part 1: The Lowcountry is a region with a wide variety of habitats. Host and naturalist Tony Mills explores some of the animals that live here that are relatively common, but iconic to the area. This episode includes Kingsnakes, Slider Turtles and sharks.

Signature Species - Part 2: A continuation of Part 1, Tony looks at more animal species that are ambassadors for our local habitats. This episode includes American Alligators, Corn Snakes and raccoons.

Life in the Salt Marsh: Venture into the salt marsh, a habitat teeming with diversity. Tony Mills takes viewers on a journey through marshes, creeks and rivers, encountering crabs, shrimp, sharks, Redfish and the resilient Spartina grass.

The DIY Naturalist: Discover the art of being a naturalist with Tony's hands-on guide to creating traps and nesting boxes. From bluebirds and crayfish to Mummichogs and blue crabs, witness the process of connecting with the Lowcountry's fascinating creatures.

The ACE Basin: Uncover the mysteries of one of the "50 Last Great Places on Earth!" Tony explores the unique natural habitat created by the convergence of the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto Rivers in this awe-inspiring episode.

Safety in the Field: In this episode, Tony Mills demonstrates techniques he has learned that will help keep you safe in nature. Segments include identifying venomous vs non-venomous snakes, looking out for poisonous plants and staying away from fire ants.

Coastal Kingdom is a public television program produced in partnership by SCETV's regional studio at ETV Lowcountry and the Spring Island Trust. ETV Lowcountry in Beaufort is one of four regional studios located across the state of South Carolina. Other locations include Sumter, Rock Hill and Spartanburg. Production funding for Coastal Kingdom is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.

Coastal Kingdom is filmed in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Season 4 filming locations include: the ACE Basin, Combahee River, Port Royal Sound, Hunting Island State Park and more.

More information on Coastal Kingdom and episodes from Season 1-3 can be viewed on the SCETV website.
A new camera system is being installed along this countrys roadways with the aim of tackling traffic congestion and reducing the countrys crime.

This was said yesterday by Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, who spoke with the media at the intersection of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and Golden Grove Road in Piarco.
The United States urged North Korea, Friday, to end its "destabilizing" actions and to return to diplomacy after it fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean border islands.

"We call on the DPRK to refrain from further provocative, destabilizing actions and return to diplomacy," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"In particular, we encourage the DPRK to engage in substantive discussions on identifying ways to manage military risks and create lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"As we have repeatedly made clear, the United States harbors no hostile intent towards the DPRK." North Korea's military said it had conducted a naval live-fire drill as a "natural countermeasure" against alleged threats by South Korea, a treaty-bound ally of the United States, which stations troops in the democratic country.

North Korea has repeatedly rebuffed offers for dialogue with President Joe Biden's administration.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un met three times with Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, an unusually personal diplomatic approach that reduced tensions but produced no lasting agreement. (AFP)
With ten people murdered between Thursday and Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley took to Facebook yesterday to assure citizens that State agencies will not give up the fight to rid our streets and other places of the evil that is now widespread as a gun culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

And in a voice note to the media, Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher said, We are determined to dismantle criminal gangs and make a difference in transforming impacted communities.
The University of Arizona has partnered with a state commission on deafness and hearing issues to establish a new project providing free hearing health care for eligible people 21 years and older lacking insurance.

The Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing and the UA announced the Hearing Healthcare Assistance Project on Thursday, including clinic hours and support classes.

Hearing aids can often be prohibitively expensive for people without insurance, sometimes costing as much as $3,000, UA said in the announcement.

The UA clinic offers support from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

At these appointments, patients meet with a student as their primary provider and an audiologist professor is there for support, the announcement stated. There, they will focus on diagnosis, counseling, hearing aid selection and fitting, as well as follow-up care.

Additionally, there is a weeks-long adjustment period in which patients receiving hearing aids can adjust sound levels. The hearing aids may have telecoils which enables the hearing aid to directly connect to assistive listening systems in places such as The Loft Cinema in Tucson.

Those seeking care are asked to contact the commission, which refers those eligible to the university. If you are low-income and need hearing aids, please email Christy Abrams at C.Abrams@acdhh.az.gov, the commission says on its website, acdhh.org.

Just over 4% of Arizonas population had a hearing disability in 2021, according to Statista, a website that collects and presents large datasets. The National Council of Aging reported that hearing loss affects about 60.7 million Americans aged 12 and older.

When patients cannot communicate well with others, it can lead to feelings of isolation and depression, said Amy Wheeler, an audiologist at the UAs Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Clinic. Not being able to communicate can also lead to difficulties with employment, which in turn can have a large impact on the patient and loved ones.

She added that it was a heartbreaking thing to know what treatment would lead to a great outcome for your patient and not be able to get it to them due to cost. With this project, there is a new way for me to get my patients the treatment they need.

In 2021, Arizona State University received a donation of new hearing aids but did not have funding for testing and fitting, according to the announcement. This prompted the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, established in 1977, to step in and develop the Hearing Healthcare Assistance Project which funds diagnostic audiology, hearing aid fitting and follow-up appointments and provides free aural rehabilitation.

Northern Arizona University joined the project in January 2023, and the UA joined in fall 2023.

Wheeler said the UA contract is for one year, but that she and her department are working to secure long-term funding for the project.

The UA Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences offers other help beyond clinical appointments, including classes to learn about hearing loss and strategies for communication, also funded by the state commission.

Wheeler is enthusiastic about the work the partnership can produce both for those with hearing disabilities and for students interested in treating them.

The most fulfilling part of work at the clinic is helping individuals communicate better with those around them, she said in the announcement. We also get to help educate future audiologists. Work at the clinic can be a win-win as we help students learn while also helping our community.
In December, a group of Turkish reporters visited us in the Arizona Daily Star newsroom.

One of them asked me about something hed expected to see in Tucson but didnt.

The journalist was from a town in eastern Turkey, about as far from the Syrian border as Tucson is from Mexico.

Where, he wondered, are all the refugees? In his home region, refugees from Syrias civil war have filled the Turkish border towns, inspiring local hostility, he said. But in Southern Arizona, where he had heard of a crush of migrants coming from around the world, even from Turkey, there was no sign of them at all.

He was right. A huge number of migrants has been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border not far from here, up to 3,000 per day in the Border Patrols Tucson sector, almost 120,000 in October and November. Many or most of them pass through Tucson. But unless you are involved with them in your job or as a volunteer, you wouldnt know it.

They arrive in the Casa Alitas shelter on Tucsons south side, or to a series of motels and hotels that charities use, and they are quickly sent on, mostly through Tucson International Airport or Sky Harbor in Phoenix.

The turnaround is crazy fast, said Diego Lopez, director of Casa Alitas, which is a program of Catholic Community Services.

How weve avoided dire effects is a sort of magic trick  one that Tucsonans have pulled off before and have been executing for a few months during this current surge.

While the threat of street releases is ever present, for now, Tucson is reliving the spirit of 2019, less visibly but on a greater scale. Thats the year when thousands and thousands of Central American families fled north through Arizona. Developer Ross Rulney temporarily donated the use of the Benedictine Monastery on North Country Club Road to house and process them.

It was a chaotic miracle, with dozens of volunteers pitching in daily to move people through. But at that time, there were at most a couple of hundred people per day coming through the monastery. In recent weeks, around 1,500 people per day have stayed at or passed through the Casa Alitas center.

Back then, everything was volunteer run, Lopez recalled. Now, with this volume, we cant have that, for better or worse.

Lopez gave me and photographer Mamta Popat a brief tour of the shelter on Friday. Its the central node in a system that has largely prevented the chaotic scenes that have played out in some cities in Texas and elsewhere on the U.S. side of the Mexican border.

There are separate areas for single adult travelers and for families, massive refrigerators filled with box lunches, two travel-planning rooms, as well as intake and outflow areas. In past weeks, most of the people passing through have been from Latin American countries, but more recently, many are from West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal.

About 700 people slept in the shelter overnight Thursday night into Friday, Lopez said, but by the time we were there at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, only about 50 of them were left.

Now we have the structure and systems, and weve been exercising our muscles, he said.

People working really hard

The success of the current system traces back to a serious fear of failure  failure in this case meaning the mass release of migrants on the streets of towns like Douglas, Bisbee, Nogales, Ajo, and, yes, Tucson.

The chief of the Border Patrols Tucson Sector, John Modlin, told me about what happened in an interview Friday afternoon. Since 2021, the Biden administration had been discussing rolling back the Title 42 border policy, Modlin said. Thats the Trump administration measure that used public-health laws to quickly return migrants to Mexico during the pandemic, minimizing asylum claims.

Worried that the repeal of the Title 42 policy would lead to a huge increase in migration, Modlin and others started preparing. He got to know NGO leaders like Teresa Cavendish of Catholic Community Services and Pima Countys emergency manager, Shane Clark. They started preparing for the apparently imminent repeal of Title 42.

We did table-top exercises, Modlin said. We involved all the community stakeholders in those exercises  what would happen, what were we projecting for numbers. We had been around this track multiple times before we got to where we are today.

The date for the repeal of Title 42 kept being pushed back. It took until May 2023 for the policy to end, and when it did, the effects were not so drastic here. A few days of rush preceded the end, and that was it. Meanwhile, the bulk of migration through Mexico was directed toward Texas.

But then the pattern changed. In late 2023, western Pima County became the focal point of migration through Mexico, especially on the southern edge of the Tohono Oodham Nation and west beyond Lukeville.

The plans that Modlin and the others had made went into effect. Now, when a large group crosses to turn themselves in, Border Patrol agents pick them up in remote areas and take them to gathering spots reachable by agency buses and vans.

Those buses and vans take people to Border Patrol processing centers such as the Ajo, Nogales or Tucson stations, or even farther away in other sectors. There, a file is created on each person, and their names and biometric data are checked  biometric data being fingerprints and facial features.

If nothing untoward comes up for them, the migrants are then sent on buses contracted by the state or Pima County to Casa Alitas or other shelters in the Phoenix area.

In Nogales, migrants are released on the street downtown, but they are adjacent to a building used by Casa Alitas to gather migrants and put them on county-contracted buses.

Even towns like Ajo, which had street releases in 2021, have been relatively unscathed so far this time. Aaron Cooper of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance credited a shift in where Border Patrol processes migrants, and said more broadly, the success is down to a lot of people working really hard.

After a night or two at Casa Alitas or Tucson area hotels, they move on, usually by airplane, to their final destinations in the United States, with an obligation to show up in immigration court for their case.

Its not a reliable way to vet potential new residents of the USA, not a long-term immigration solution. Modlin and others worry about who else is sneaking across the border while agents are busy with large groups who turn themselves in. But its been a strong way to prevent chaotic backups in border towns.

Migrant stream takes a toll

Thats not to say there is no regional impact. Especially in the places where migrants stop after crossing the border, they often leave trashed grounds.

In a written statement, Tohono Oodham Nation chairman Verlon Jose said, There is a serious concern of the environmental impacts the migrants are causing. This includes migrant trash, human waste, burning campfires, and deforestation of the mesquite trees and other vegetation in the area. Other concerns are the constant traffic of buses traveling on the reservation roads.

But those damages are concentrated near the international line. Beyond there, Tucson International Airport may be the place where everyday Southern Arizonans are most likely to encounter migrants. Theyre not hard to recognize, usually in confused-looking groups holding packets of white papers.

About 99 percent of them pay for their own tickets, Lopez said.

If we open the gates where were buying everyone a ticket, or a good portion of folks a ticket, then it gives people the wrong idea, Lopez said.

The airlines and airport appear to have benefited. Lopez noted that the same-day tickets migrants often buy may cost hundreds of dollars. With up to 700 migrants per day flying out through the Tucson airport in December, they appear to have made up around 5 percent of total passengers at the airport last month.

Local people minimize impact

Of course, it could all break down. Pima County officials have warned that the federal Shelter and Services Program money they rely on to transport people to Tucson will run out at the end of February. After that, who knows?

Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly demanded in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security that they extend more funding, but both senators offices said Friday they had not received any response. Gov. Katie Hobbs is demanding reimbursement from the federal government too, for $500 million in border related expenses.

But these issues are likely tied up in the broader debate in Washington D.C. over asylum law, immigration, border security and funding for Ukraine and Israel.

For now, we can be happy that local people have minimized chaotic situations like those weve seen in other places  in the United States and in faraway countries like Turkey.
An executive from Collins Aerospace has taken the reins of RTX Corp.s Raytheon defense unit in Tucson as president Wes Kremer heads for retirement, RTX said.

Phil Jasper, a 31-year aerospace and defense veteran, has been appointed president of Raytheon and will report to RTX President and Chief Operating Officer Christopher Calio, the Arlington, Virginia-based parent company said.

Kremer, president of Raytheons Tucson-based missile business since 2019, was expected to step down as Raytheon president effective on Sunday, Jan. 7, when Jasper will replace him, according to an RTX regulatory filing.

Kremer will retire from the company at the end of the first quarter, the company said.

Jasper, 55, has been president of Collins Mission Systems strategic business unit in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, since 2018. The unit provides military, government and civil aerospace products and services worldwide.

United Technologies Corp.s Collins unit along with its Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine unit joined with Raytheon to form Raytheon Technologies Corp. when UTC acquired Raytheon Co. in 2020.

Since then, the merged company consolidated several former Raytheon operations including Tucsons former Raytheon Missile Systems and changed its name to RTX Corp.

Kremer joined Raytheon in 2003 and came to Tucson as a systems engineering director for Raytheon Missile Systems in 2008.

After stints as program director for Raytheons Standard Missile line and as vice president of air and missile-defense products, Kremer was named president of Raytheons Integrated Defense Systems unit in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, in 2015.

He returned to Tucson in 2019 to replace the retiring Taylor Lawrence as president of Raytheon Missile Systems and later headed the combined Raytheon Missiles & Defense business in 2020.

Kremer was named president of the RTX unit now known simply as Raytheon in July.

Wes has contributed significantly to the advancement of missile defense systems for the U.S. and its allies and played a critical role in structuring the Raytheon business in 2023, Calio said in prepared remarks, wishing Kremer well in his retirement.

Prior to his most recent role at Collins, Jasper worked in various executive positions mainly on government programs for predecessor Rockwell Collins, which United Technologies acquired in 2018.

Calio called Jasper a proven leader and cited his deep experience delivering defense products.

His recent integration of RTXs connected battlespace solutions, a critical customer priority and growth driver for the company, is one of many business transformations he has led over his career, Calio said.

As president of Raytheon, Jasper will serve as a member of the RTX senior leadership team and will lead the business and its programs including missile defense, air-to-air missiles, fire-control radars, and electro-optical and infrared systems, the company said.

Meanwhile, Calio is slated to replace Chris Hayes as CEO of RTX Corp. in May as part of a planned succession.
On a Tuesday night in the former Remington Elementary School in west Tulsa, a group of Indigenous high school students are sharing sewing machines and chatting away while working on ribbon skirts with Sara Fleming, an Indian Education resource adviser and Choctaw artist.

Meanwhile, down the hall at a monthly meeting of parents and Indian Education resource advisers, a conversation is underway about how to get at least one tribal language offered in the Tulsa school district that would count toward graduation requirements.

With a previously announced memorandum of understanding with the Kiowa Tribe now on hold, the discussion shifts instead to a dual enrollment agreement with Rogers State University to offer Cherokee I and II in the spring semester.

Fifty years ago, those conversations would not have been happening. Those jobs didnt exist.

The 2023-24 school year marks 50 years since Tulsa Public Schools launched its Indian Education Program. Funded exclusively by federal and tribal dollars, it serves about 3,000 Indigenous students across all grades representing more than 50 tribes through culturally based programming and academic resources.

We are very appreciative, because our students are urban students, TPS Indian Education Coordinator Shari Williams said. They are generally far from their tribes home communities, so they may be missing out on the traditional and the cultural aspects that are provided there within the tribe on a regular basis. So our program allows us to provide some culture in the district to the students. It might not be to the level or the magnitude if it was programming offered by their tribe, but we are able to at least offer opportunities where they can meet with other students.

Who are these people coming in?

In November 1969, the U.S. Senates Committee on Labor and Public Welfare published a report outlining the impacts of the federal governments Indian education policies and funding levels. Compared to their non-Native classmates, American Indian and Alaska Native students nationwide at that time were more than twice as likely to drop out; on average, they were two to three grades behind academically.

The report also highlighted that many of the already existing federal resources, including the Johnson-OMalley Program, often excluded urban Native students.

In response, Congress approved the Indian Education Act in the summer of 1972. Among its provisions were new funding opportunities for school districts like Tulsa with substantial Indigenous student populations.

According to enrollment archives, 2,654 American Indian students were enrolled in TPS in fall 1972. The actual figure could be higher as students at that time did not have the option to self-identify as multiracial or biracial.

The Indian Education Act also required that any district receiving funding through those new grant opportunities show that their programs were designed in consultation with families and the tribal community.

The first meeting was in one of the elementary schools, Lillian Williams recalled. We had all of the staff on stage and the parent committee members up there, too, because it was critical to have the parents involved. And it was standing room only.

I remember looking out at the crowd, and they kept asking, Who are these people coming in?

A member of the Skidi Band of Pawnee and of Cherokee and Chickasaw descent, Williams was one of the first people hired to help launch TPS Indian Education Program.

Originally an early childhood educator, Williams came on board in October 1973 and was charged with finding 20 math and reading tutors for American Indian and Alaska Native students at elementary schools across the district.

In addition to finding and training tutors, Williams had to persuade both the site principals to let those tutors come on campus and teachers to allow eligible students to be pulled out of class to receive additional help  for a program nobody had heard of. That meant multiple meetings at each campus to explain Indian Education, why their site was selected for a tutor and why certain students were being singled out for extra assistance while others were not.

I had no blueprint in terms of how to do this, Williams said, noting that several principals were hesitant even to meet with her at first. I was creating it as I went.

Not enough to check a box

Compounding the work was finding Indigenous students who fell through the cracks, as well as complying with federal requirements that the new program prove it was serving Indigenous students.

Williams and the rest of the new programs staff had to deal with the myth that simply checking a box on an enrollment form was sufficient to be counted. They often had to track down families to get a parent signature on a form attesting that their children were indeed American Indian or Alaska Native. Even 50 years later, families still have to turn in a 506 form for their children to be eligible for services.

In some cases, the new programs staff ended up talking to parents about simply enrolling their children in public school.

That was the other part of Indian education was finding the children  not just finding them at school but at home, too, Williams said. Some of them hadnt been in school for a year or two because people thought they were in boarding schools, but their parents were just not sending them to school.

We had this population of children that had to transition back into a public school system.

Along with tutoring for elementary and middle school students, additional resources were gradually added over the years targeting older students who grew up with the Indian Education Program, including on-campus Native student organizations, test preparation help and visits to colleges in the region with larger Native populations, such as Northeastern State University and Haskell Indian Nations University.

Programming started to expand to include cultural assemblies and other events that would involve all the students on campus.

Those were an introduction to the entire school population about who Native Americans are, and they still gave our young people a sense of This is who your people are, Williams said.

Fostering a connection to students culture

The program requires the district to consult with tribes and Indigenous students families about the Indian Education Programs priorities and offerings. The recent tribal language-offering discussion for TPS high schoolers came from a survey sent to the districts Indigenous families on programming priorities.

One of the initiatives launched in direct response to parent and community feedback is the Tulsa Native Youth Board. Open to any Indigenous TPS student in eighth grade and above, the organization meets weekly for culturally focused activities and speakers, such as making ribbon skirts or a cooking class with chef and Cherokee citizen Nico Albert.

Booker T. Washington High School seniors Sophia Cook and Adam Demientieff are 2023-24 co-presidents of the Tulsa Native Youth Board. Demientieff is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, and Cook is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

Although TPS attendance area straddles their tribes reservations, the pair said having on-campus cultural ties via the Tulsa Native Youth Board and TPS Indian Education has been a boon.

Its been really valuable, Cook said. All of us in TPS are growing up in that urban environment,  and its harder to be involved and connected to our cultures.

And even with initiatives like the Tulsa Native Youth Board and schoolwide, student-led cultural events, there are still concerns about visibility and uneven on-campus support.

Back at Remington that Tuesday night, the parent committee discussed a districtwide spirit week in honor of Native American Heritage Month.

A Cherokee parent mentioned that the principal at Felicitas Mendez International School at Ralph J. Bunche has been sending daily text reminders to all families about the different spirit days and encouraging both Native and non-Native students to participate.

Another attendee mentioned that when she arrived at Hamilton Elementary School for an assembly, she was greeted by a sea of orange from students and staff in honor of Indigenous boarding school survivors and victims.

Meanwhile, despite efforts from the Indian Education staff to contact every school leader about the districtwide spirit week, parents from two elementary schools and a high school say it has not been brought up at all at their childrens schools.

For a pair of attendees with elementary-age students, theres a worry that their children could be sent to the office for violating the schools uniform policy if they show up for class in ribbon shirts, moccasins or one of the spirit week colors designated by TPS Indian Education.

The school sent out all sorts of reminders about dressing up for Red Ribbon Week, so I know its possible, a Citizen Potawatomi mother says. Why is this any different?
OKLAHOMA CITY  Oklahomans haven't seen an increase in the minimum wage in more than 14 years, but supporters of an increase hope to change that by taking the matter to the voters.

Minimum wage in Oklahoma is still $7.25, in line with the federal minimum wage that went into effect in July 2009. Oklahoma is one of 20 states where the minimum wage remains $7.25.

A petition to put State Question 832 on the ballot and raise the minimum wage gradually was filed with the Secretary of State's Office on Oct. 27. After challenges to it, the petition will go in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court at a hearing Jan. 31.

If it goes to the ballot and is approved by voters, State Question 832 would gradually raise the minimum wage in Oklahoma from the current $7.25 per hour to $15 in 2029.

Starting in 2030, the minimum would increase each year based on the cost of living increase measured by the U.S. Department of Labor. Federal and state employees would not be covered under the new rules, and some employers with 10 or fewer employees would be exempt.

Since the petition is to approve a state statute rather than amend the Oklahoma Constitution, the petition needs only 92,263 signatures from registered voters to make it onto the ballot.

The group supporting the state question, Raise the Wage Oklahoma, said too many Oklahomans are working multiple jobs just to keep up with the rising cost of living.

"Thousands of Oklahomans work full-time and earn less than $15,100 a year on minimum wage," the group's website reads. "People who work for a living should earn a living."

The State Chamber of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau filed a challenge to the petition on Nov. 20, and the challenge has received the support of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

The challenge asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to declare the petition "legally insufficient for submission to the voters."

Drummond weighed in on Dec. 14, and his brief says the details of the petition contradict the Oklahoma Constitution.

The petition, he said, "improperly delegates legislative authority to the U.S. Department of Labor by deferring future amendments to Oklahoma's minimum wage after 2030 to the Department.  (The petition) leaves no discretion whatsoever to the state, its legislature, or its executive agencies, to determine the minimum wage after 2030."

The Oklahoma Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the case at 10 a.m. Jan. 31 in the high court's ceremonial courtroom on the second floor of the state Capitol building.

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Three Oklahoma tribes will continues to provide Summer EBT food program funding for low-income children on their reservations, while Gov. Kevin Stitt opted the state out of the program for 2024.

The Summer EBT program is designed to assist families during the summer months when school is out of session. Each child from a low-income family will receive $40 per month for supplemental food.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin told the Tulsa World on Friday: I think it is mystifying that the state of Oklahoma would cut low-income children off from an additional source for food insecurity this summer. Thats not what I think we need to be doing in this state, and thats why, for another year, I will be administering this program for both native and non-Native children.

Stitts spokeswoman, Abegail Cave, has been quoted as saying Stitts concern is that the programs rules have not been finalized and that there are already other food resources for children in Oklahoma, such as SNAP benefits, the Oklahoma State Department of Education Summer Food Program and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahomas Summer Feeding Program.

But the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes have plans to offer the program, providing nearly $50 million to low-income households on their reservations.

This would cover Grady, McClain, Garvin, Pontotoc, Stephens, Carter, Murray, Johnston, Jefferson, Love, Marshall, Bryan, Coal, Adair, Cherokee, Craig, Delaware, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Ottawa, Rogers, Sequoyah, Wagoner, Washington, Haskell, Latimer, Pittsburg, Hughes Coal, LeFlore, Atoka, McCurtain, Pushmataha, Choctaw and part of Tulsa counties.

Oklahoma is the only state to have tribal nations participating in the program thus far, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Hoskin said that like states, tribal nations have the opportunity to leverage a relatively modest administrative cost share and receive federal funds that positively impact families in need.

In the past year, the Cherokee Nation was awarded about $3.5 million in federal funding for this program. The tribes administrative cost is about $250,000, which Hoskin said is minimal compared to the impact on low-income children and families.

The Cherokee Nation has participated in the program for about five years and this past year served about 7,000 families.

When our program application opens in the spring, Hoskin said, we do expect more children will apply.  We welcome this potential increase in participation as an opportunity to help more Oklahoma children living within our reservation.

The Chickasaw Nation has been implementing this program since 2012 to play a significant role in reducing hunger among Oklahoma children, serving more than 47,000 children in 2023.

Households earning up to 185% of the federal poverty line are already eligible for reduced-price lunches in public schools, but during the summer, these school lunches are not an option.

A recent report found 1 in 5 Oklahoma children experience food insecurity, with about 60% of students eligible for free and reduced lunches.

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Trisha Fox was optimistic when her husband, Richard Fox, appeared on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board docket in early September.

The 63-year-old prisoner, incarcerated since 1980 on a first-degree murder conviction in Caddo County, had not received a misconduct violation since 1995. Letters of support poured in from family, friends and prison ministry volunteers assuring board members he would have stable housing and employment if granted parole.

He never meant to kill anybody, but he also never denied doing it, Trisha Fox said, adding that her husband was 19 at the time of the crime. Hes just someone who deserves a second chance.

In a 4-1 decision that took a few minutes, the board denied Richard Foxs application. Trisha Fox said her husband would have progressed through the parole process if board members had more time to consider his case and the opportunity to interview him in person.

Its really easy to say no to a piece of paper or a computer, she said.

Oklahomas parole rate has plummeted over the past three years, an Oklahoma Watch analysis of docket results found. Prisoners convicted of violent offenses must progress through a two-stage process with gubernatorial approval required. The board has the authority to release nonviolent offenders to the street.

In 2021, 36% of prisoners who appeared before the board received a favorable recommendation. That percentage dropped to 24% in 2023, with 323 fewer nonviolent prisoners granted parole compared to 2021. At least three of five board members must vote favorably for parole to be granted or recommended to the governor in violent cases.

The decline correlates with a recent uptick in Oklahomas prison population. A Bureau of Justice Statistics report released last month found the states prison population rose 2.3% from late 2021 to 2022.

The trend isnt unique to Oklahoma. An October analysis from the Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts-based think tank that advocates for criminal justice reform, found that parole rates declined in all but six states from 2019 to 2022. The analysis concluded that political pressures and attitudes often influence board decisions.

The makeup of Oklahomas parole board has shifted considerably over the past two years. Noting that his beliefs on capital punishment differed from Gov. Kevin Stitt, former board chairman Adam Luck resigned in January 2022. Luck, the chief executive officer of an Oklahoma City nonprofit that supports people facing poverty and homelessness, faced criticism from some district attorneys over his propensity to recommend clemency for death row prisoners.

It is time that we do better, Grady County District Attorney Jason Hicks said during a March 2021 news conference held weeks after commutation recipient Lawrence Paul Anderson murdered three people in Chickasha. We dont want these people on our street.

Kelly Doyle, a trained social worker and leader of a Tulsa-based nonprofit, resigned unexpectedly in March 2022. Similar to Luck, district attorneys criticized Doyle over a perceived leniency in recommending clemency for death row inmates and parole for prisoners convicted of violent offenses.

Of the boards five current members, four have a background as a district attorney, judge or police officer. The longest-tenured member is Richard Konieczny, a retired Episcopalian priest and police officer whom Gov. Stitt appointed to replace Luck in January 2022.

Sue Hinton, a retired English professor at Oklahoma City Community College, became interested in criminal justice reform when she started teaching classes at state prisons in the 1980s. After retirement, she began attending Pardon and Parole Board meetings, compiling unofficial data on the boards decisions.

She said the board is much more likely to consider early release if a prisoner personally appears before the parole board. But because the board functions in a part-time capacity and Oklahomas prison population has soared since the body was formed in 1944, thats not feasible in most cases.

Depression is the prevailing state of mind, Hinton said of parole applicants. Theyre not gang members, not trouble makers, and have a heart of good citizenship, but they dont feel like theres a reward.

Hinton said board members face extraordinary outside pressure and are often predisposed to reject an application if they do not have enough information. Making the board full-time could allow members more time to review cases, she said. Oklahoma parole board members are classified as part-time state employees and expected to work about 10 hours per week.

Parole board members in neighboring Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Arkansas are classified as full-time state employees. In Texas, whose state prison population is about five times greater than Oklahoma, board members earn an average salary of well over $100,000.

Richard Fox wont be eligible to reapply for parole until September 2026. Trisha Fox said shes hopeful a proposed overhaul of the states criminal sentencing code will take effect and make her husband eligible for early release before then, but in that scenario his fate would again rest with the parole board.

When you listen to them and how fast they go, its just no, no, no, on to the next one, she said. Its like they already made up their mind when they got there.

Pardon and Parole Board guidelines advise members to consider the nature of a parole applicants crime, criminal history, participation in prison programs and misconduct history. District attorneys are also allowed to oppose or protest a parole application ahead of a board hearing.

About Oklahoma Watch Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.

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The Finnish Ministry of Defense has informed the Israeli Ministry of Defense of its decision to procure the Davids Sling Weapon System (DSWS), an advanced airdefense system. The procurement decision follows a long competitive evaluation that lasted several years; the two finalists were Rafael and IAI. The Finnish Ministry of Defense chose the advanced Israeli system, which will form a layered defense against various threats. The Finnish MOD has set a minimum intercept ceiling of 15,000 m (50,000 ft) for this new capability.

The system will significantly strengthen the capability of Finlands air defense. said Commander of the Finnish Air Force, Maj Gen JuhaPekka Keranen, Together with the commissioning of the F35 and the already fielded groundbased air defense systems in service, the air defense of Finland will be very substantial on the European scale.

This is the first export sale of the Davids Sling Weapon System to a foreign military. DSWS is a joint program developed by the IMoDs Israel Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems as the prime contractor. The system is designed to intercept advanced aerial threats, including ballistic missiles, aircraft, UAVs, and cruise missiles. DSWS has been operational in Israel since 2017 and is a core component of the countrys multitier airdefense array.

Israel will provide Finland with Davids Sling system according to the agreement, including interceptors, launchers, and radars, which will be connected to Finnish command and control systems. The agreement is valued at approximately 316 million euros. The contract includes further options worth 216 million euros. The possible exercise of these options requires a separate decision.

Due to the programs joint development with the United States, it is contingent on final export approval from the US Government. The procurement contract will include a separate part between the Israel Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Defence of Finland to ensure the security of the supply of the system. The arrangement will ensure the availability of critical system components in all security situations. The Finnish version of the system will be manufactured and integrated as a collaboration between Israeli, American, and Finnish contractors led by Rafael and Raytheon. Finnish companies will participate in the integration of the system and in the planning and equipping of the systems command and control elements.

DSWS is an advanced system designed to intercept ballistic and cruise missiles, developed jointly by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Rafael is the prime contractor for Davids Sling, working alongside Elta. This IAI subsidiary developed the MultiMission Radar and Elbit Systems, which developed the Israeli command and control system.

The system is a central component of Israels multilayered defense network. It serves as an intermediate layer between the Iron Dome at the lower tier and the Arrow missiledefense systems (Arrow 2 and 3) at the highest tiers.

At the intermediate layer, DSWS is a centralized national asset designed to deal with advanced threats at long ranges. From its central locations, DSWS relies on its high speed and long range (>250 km (150 miles) to engage targets well beyond Israels borders. It adds interception opportunities to the Arrow 3 exoatmospheric interceptors, Arrow 2, and future Arrow 4 missile defense interceptors, also operated as centralized assets. DSWS can also intercept targets from long range before they are engaged by the Iron Domes, distributed to multiple locations around the country. With high kinematic capabilities, superior dual seeker, and extended range, DSWS also provides optimal defense against cruise missile attacks.

The system uses an interceptor powered by an advanced rocket motor with exceptional maneuverability and speed. Davids Sling offers high interoperability with external systems, using an architecture allowing maximum flexibility while operating as part of an air defense network that consists of different and diverse systems.
The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it found that imports of tin mill products from Canada, China, Germany and Korea are being dumped onto the U.S. market, and imports of tin mill products from China are also being subsidized.

The department also found that imports of tin mill products  a shiny silver metal widely used in cans for food, paint, aerosol products and other containers  from the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom are not being dumped, it said in a statement.

The final duties are largely in line with the Commerce Department's preliminary anti-dumping duties on the tin-plated steel imports from Canada, Germany and China imposed in August. With the exception of China, they are far lower than the double-digit and triple-digit duties initially sought by U.S. steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers union in their petition for a Commerce investigation filed a year ago.

The department said Friday that the highest final anti-dumping duties of 122.5 percent will be imposed on tin mill steel imported from China. It also imposed countervailing anti-subsidy duties of 650 percent on tin mill products from top China producer Baoshan Iron and Steel and 331.9 percent on all other Chinese steelmakers.

Germany's ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein and other German producers were slapped with final anti-dumping duties of 6.88 percent, while Canada's ArcelorMittal Dofasco and other Canadian producers were hit with final anti-dumping duties of 5.27 percent.

Commerce imposed a final anti-dumping duty rate of 2.69 percent against Korea's KG Dongbu Steel after initially receiving no anti-dumping duties.

The department upheld its earlier findings that tin-plate steel from the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey and Britain were not dumped. The U.S. produces less than half of the tin mill steel it consumes, making the packaging industry reliant on imported steel.

"These findings demonstrate that Commerce took a careful and nuanced approach based on the particular circumstances presented by each company and the governing provisions of U.S. law," the department said in a statement.

For the duties to remain in place, the U.S. International Trade Commission must determine that American producers have sustained material injury due to the dumping findings. That vote is expected in the coming weeks. (Reuters)
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Expect to hear a defense about the well-being of children and families during this next year  an election year. For a state many claim to be pro-life and pro-family, Oklahomas statistics show a different story.

From babies into young adulthood, the state isnt faring well and hasnt for decades. Each year, lawmakers have a chance at true interventions, but they so easily get distracted with non-problems.

The Oklahoma Legislature convenes in about a month (Feb. 5). Heres a rundown on the state of children and youth:

Oklahoma received a D- grade last year from the March of Dimes for preterm births. The lack of reproductive health care in the state, particularly in rural areas, is cited as the biggest obstacle.

Oklahomas ban on abortion complicates expanding access. The exception for the life of the mother is ill-defined and harms pregnant women in crisis. With prosecution as a consequence, more health providers are unwilling to take a chance. The law has jeopardized federal grants.

Notably, Black women in Oklahoma are 1.5 times more likely to have a preterm birth, and infant mortality is 1.7 times higher for Black babies in the state. The Legislature has resisted facing these inequities, getting too emotionally sidetracked by discussions on race.

Oklahoma teens rank No. 4 in the nation for having babies. Thats 73% higher than the national average, according to birthinjurylawyer.com.

Rather than expand on sex and relationship education, Oklahoma lawmakers seek to restrict and even ban it. It makes no sense.

While the state ignored the problem of high teen births, Tulsa and Oklahoma counties made progress. Starting in 2010, Tulsa County created a network of programs to reduce unintended pregnancies using private donations with federal grants.

The Tulsa programs include giving low-income women free long-term contraception, increasing teen clinic access and promoting evidence-based prevention programs in schools. Within five years (2013-2018), teen births in Tulsa County fell by 35%, and abortions among Oklahoma teens fell 24% between 2013 and 2019.

Another benefit in evidence-based programs is reducing sexual assault. Sending teenagers into adulthood with little understanding of what defines sexual violence or healthy relationships sets them up for hardships. Of total crimes on U.S. college campuses, sexual assault makes up 43%.

Domestic violence has concerningly jumped in Oklahoma since 2020, placing the state among the worst in the nation. Arming youths with information to prevent relationship violence and providing avenues for them to be safe would be tax dollars well spent.

Oklahoma economic indicators, such as low unemployment, look good. But more than one in five children live in poverty, and one in four are food insecure. The state is among the bottom 10 in the nation in hunger.

This past week, Gov. Kevin Stitt joined a wave of conservative governors to turn back federal funds from a USDA program that provides extra funds to low-income families to feed their children during the summer months.

It would have provided about $40 in an Electronics Benefit Transfer card to children who qualify for free and reduced-priced meals in school. This methods allows families with transportation issues get food from stores, rather than require children arrive at a specific location and eat meals on site.

Between 400,000 to 500,000 Oklahoma children would have qualified for this extra help.

Last years Kids Count report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Oklahoma 49th in education, 43rd in family and community, 38th in economic well-being and 37th in health. Overall, that placed the state at 46th in child well-being.

There is a lot to digest within the details, such as child care.

More than one in 10 Oklahomans had to leave jobs or reduce hours due to a lack of child care, costing about $1.2 billion in productivity, according to an Oklahoma Senate interim study testimony. Of Oklahomas 77 counties, 34 are considered child-care deserts. Plus, the average cost of care is $715 for an infant and $550 for a 4-year-old, but that can be higher depending on quality and location.

Child health care includes mental health. Our children are hurting and dying due to a lack of mental health services, and it affects our schools and neighborhoods.

Among the most vulnerable are LGBTQ+ youths, who are four times more likely to attempt suicide. About half of all transgender and nonbinary youths made a suicide attempt in the past year, yet our lawmakers push anti-trans laws.

Education will continue to be debated in Oklahoma. Expect more pushes to use tax dollars for private schools, even though only about 5% of all the states students attend such schools.

Lawmakers for nearly 20 years sought tax reductions under the argument that they would improve communities. They did not. They slashed public budgets for more than a decade with consequences continuing to be felt, from embarrassing dilapidation of state parks to wait lists for disability services and vocational workforce programs.

Public education took a brunt of those blows, with ballooning class sizes, stagnant salaries, and cuts to academic and extracurricular programs. Schools are still digging out from that time. Just look at the teacher shortage crisis.

Since July 1, the Oklahoma state school board has approved 3,810 emergency certifications. That doesnt include the emergency certifications that came in the waning months before the fiscal year began.

Lawmakers last year made big investments in public education, but one year doesnt make up for a decade of neglect.

It will take building incentives to get qualified teachers in the classrooms, resources to offer needed coursework, and infrastructure to help kids who are coming to school hungry, depressed or in trauma from family chaos.

Childhood experiences have direct effects on their adult lives, as shown through adverse childhood experiences research. The higher the ACE score, the more likely an adult will have challenges, ranging from job stability to heath. These experiences include things like parental divorce or separation, parental incarceration, domestic violence, parental death, or living with someone with substance abuse or mental illness.

Last year, two in five Oklahoma children (18.3%) reported having at least two ACE factors, placing the state at the ninth worst in this category, according to Americas Health Ranking by the United Health Foundation.

Oklahoma can become a more true pro-life, pro-family state if leaders have the will to make it so. We can make it safer for all children by providing supports at points in their lives when they and their families struggle.

It isnt about library books, drag performances or religious symbols on walls. Its about investing tax dollars wisely in ways that expand health protections, education and safety.

Tulsa World Opinion podcast: Year in review of President Biden, Oklahoma's congressional delegation and more
The Colorado Supreme court ruled on Dec. 19, that former President Trump is disqualified from being a candidate for president. He will therefore not be allowed to be on the ballot in that state in 2024, subject to review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Colorado based its decision on violations by Trump of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies people from holding elective office if they took an oath to the Constitution but then engaged in an insurrection.

The Colorado court justified its finding in a 213 page opinion agreed to by a 4 to 3 majority. The GOP and some Democrats have objected saying that such a ruling means that voters would not be able to choose the president.

But, under our Constitution, its not the voters who choose the president. Its the states through the Electoral College. In the 2016 election, Hilary Clinton got almost three million more votes than Trump, but Trump won the majority of the state electors votes. In 2020, President Biden won both the popular vote  by seven million  and the Electoral College.

Of course, Trump might have won if the Jan. 6 insurrection had succeeded. And that possibility occurring in the 2024 election is what the state of Colorado is trying to help prevent. Other states may join in to support Colorado and remove Trump from their ballots.

I hope the U.S. Supreme Court agrees with them.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to tulsaworld.com/opinion/submitletter.

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LONDON -- Major rivers across Britain were flooded on Friday after heavy rain, with the government issuing more than 300 flood warnings, travel operators announcing serious disruption and around 1,000 homes suffering damage so far.

A succession of storms in recent weeks meant prolonged rainfall that started on Thursday fell on saturated ground and quickly caused already-swollen rivers and waterways to burst their banks across England and Wales.

The River Trent in central England flooded, prompting the local authority to declare a major incident. London's fire service said it had to escort around 50 people to safety late on Thursday after a canal in the east of the capital overflowed.

"We have woken up to, as many people will see, to a very wet situation across the country," Caroline Douglass, the director in charge of flood management at the Environment Agency, told the BBC.

Douglass said around 1,000 homes had so far been flooded. Great Western Railways said its lines in three parts of the south of the country were closed. Roads in the worst affected areas were also closed.

More rain was forecast for Friday, albeit not at the same intensity as seen overnight, with drier weather expected to follow.

An aerial view shows properties surrounded by floodwater, in the aftermath of Storm Henk, on an island in the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, Britain, January 5, 2024. Photo: Reuters

A man uses his kayak to cross flooded meadows in the aftermath of Storm Henk, at Henley-on-Thames, Britain, January 5, 2024. Photo: Reuters

A dog looks out of a vehicle driving along a flooded road in the aftermath of Storm Henk, at Henley-on-Thames, Britain, January 5, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, his spouse, and a high-ranking delegation of Laos arrived in Hanoi on Saturday morning, commencing his official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh, according to Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The top Lao official and his entourage were welcomed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi by Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung, and other diplomats.

During his two-day stay in Vietnam, the Lao PM is scheduled to attend a welcoming ceremony and hold talks with PM Chinh.

The Lao PM will co-chair the 46th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee from January 6 to 7.

He will meet with Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on Saturday afternoon.

This marks his first Vietnam visit since assuming power in late December 2022.

The visit takes place nearly a year after PM Chinh paid an official visit to Laos in January last year and at a time when the Vietnam-Laos political ties have advanced strongly.

At multilateral events, top Vietnamese and Lao officials attended many bilateral meetings, with the two PMs already meeting with each other for five times in 2023.

The security-defense cooperation between the two countries has continued to develop qualitatively and quantitatively, while their economic-trade ties have garnered positive outcomes.

Vietnam remained the third-largest investor in Laos, with 241 active projects worth US$5.47 billion in pledged capital.

In the January-November period last year, Vietnamese investors developed seven new projects and revised up the capital of two others in Laos, with a total registered capital of over $114 million.

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung (R) welcomes Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and his spouse at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, January 6, 2023. Photo: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet (R, 2nd) shakes hands with Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, January 6, 2023. Photo: Vietnam News Agency

This is Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandones first Vietnam visit since assuming power in late December 2022. Photo: Vietnam News Agency

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The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) has taken disciplinary action against the abbot of the Ba Vang Pagoda in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam for his involvement in the display of a relic known as the Buddha hair sarira, which recently garnered much public attention and controversy.

The disciplinary action against Most Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh was discussed and passed at a meeting held on Thursday by the VBS Executive Council in northern Vietnam.

The meeting was chaired by Most Venerable Thich Thanh Nhieu, permanent vice-chairman of the Executive Council, according to Giac Ngo (Enlightenment) newspaper.

The Vietnam Buddhist Sanghas Executive Council in northern Vietnam chairs a meeting on January 4, 2024. Photo: Giac Ngo (Enlightenment) newspaper

Most Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh had admitted fault in front of the VBS, monks, nuns, and Buddhist followers for the display of the object that provoked public controversy and tarnished the VBS reputation, according to Most Venerable Thich Duc Thien, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Executive Council.

The VBS accepted the penance of Most Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh, asking him and the Ba Vang pagoda not to organize any international exchanges at the pagoda over a course of one year, the secretary-general of the VBS Executive Council added.

The executive board of the VBS in Quang Ninh will closely monitor religious and communications events held by the Ba Vang pagoda as per the prevailing regulations, he continued.

Previously, the Ba Vang pagoda held a ceremony to receive the so-called Buddha hair sarira which was said to have originated from Myanmar, drawing much attention from Buddhists and curious people.

The public voiced their suspicions over the authenticity of the object.

On December 28 last year, Most Venerable Thich Duc Thien asked Most Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh to provide an explanation about the origin of so-called Buddha hair sarira and the reason for the organization of the said ceremony.

Most Venerable Thich Truc Thai Minh was also told to remove all introductions about the object at the pagoda and on relevant platforms.

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Check out the latest news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and his spouse began an official visit to Vietnam on Saturday at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh, during which he is scheduled to co-chair the 46th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee from January 6 to 7.

-- Speaker of the Bulgarian National Assembly Rosen Dimitrov Jeliazkov arrived in Hanoi on Friday, starting his official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnams National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

Business

-- Vietnam imported US$84.14 billion worth of computers, electronic products and accessories from the beginning of 2023 till December 15, up 5.4 percent year on year, according to data recently released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Society

-- Sen Hong Stage, located at 23/9 (September 23) Park in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City will resume operations before the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday to serve local residents and tourists, after a five-year suspension to serve a park renovation project.

-- The administration of District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City said it is taking measures to cope with exorbitant parking services in tourist attractions in the area like Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street and Bach Dang Wharf, following complaints of local residents and visitors.

-- A delegation of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association in Ho Chi Minh City visited the Consulate General of Japan in the city on Friday to extend their condolences and offer words of encouragement to the Japanese people over damages caused by a major earthquake on the Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture and the vicinity.

World News

-- Major rivers across Britain were flooded on Friday after heavy rain, with the government issuing more than 300 flood warnings, travel operators announcing serious disruption and around 1,000 homes suffering damage so far, Reuters reported.

-- Communications intercepts collected by the United States confirmed that Islamic States (ISIS) Afghanistan-based branch carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people, two sources familiar with the intelligence told Reuters on Friday.

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Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have planned to employ more radical measures, such as the application of non-stick paint, to address the ongoing issue of vandalism on bridges and public structures.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport tasked the Road Traffic Infrastructure Management Center with applying specialized paint to deter graffiti at bridges that facilitate water traffic in the city, allowing easy cleaning.

Scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2024, this initiative is one of two projects aimed at eradicating vandalism and illegal graffiti issues in the city, Pham Minh Hai, deputy director of the Road Traffic Infrastructure Management Center, said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Additionally, the center plans to install five surveillance cameras underneath those bridges to enhance monitoring and deter unauthorized activities.

At the same time, the center suggests that authorities at the district level and in Thu Duc City enhance patrol forces to apprehend and address taggers, using measures such as fines and compelling them to take remedial actions to restore the architecture defaced with graffiti to its original state.

Authorities should also actively promote warnings against the destruction of state property and offer incentives to individuals who report instances of tagging and unauthorized graffiti drawing.

Additionally, installing signs in both Vietnamese and English indicating the prohibition of graffiti at bridge locations with specifc fines for violations is strongly recommended.

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Police in central Vietnams Quang Ngai Province have apprehended a specially wanted man who fled away after he and his accomplices killed six people and appropriated their assets 43 years ago.

Phan Thanh Viet, 71, did not expect the arrest after hiding for such a long time, said Colonel Vo Van Duong, deputy director of the Quang Ngai Province Police Department, said in a statement on Saturday.

Viet had long been wanted for the offenses of murder and robbery, the official said.

Viet, a native of Quang Ngai, and his four accomplices committed murder in 1981 in Binh Chau Commune, Binh Son District, Nghia Binh Province, which was split into Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh Provinces in 1989.

In April 1981, Viet, then 28 years old, and his conspirators set up a scheme in which they pretended to organize for people to leave Vietnam illegally but they actually aimed to appropriate their assets.

After getting acquainted with six people who were seeking ways to get out of Vietnam unlawfully, the gang promised to help them.

They later took them to a place in Binh Chau, where Viet and his accomplices killed all of them and appropriated all the assets they brought along.

The murderers then divided the robbed assets among themselves before escaping the scene of crime.

Local police tracked the killers and arrested three of them, who later received two death penalties and a life sentence.

Meanwhile, Viet and another member of the ring were still at large.

That other member was later shot dead by police officers whom he fiercely resisted when they were trying to seize him.

Local police put Viet on the special wanted list but he still got away from police detection until early this year, when detectives discovered him to be hiding in Cai Nuoc District of the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

A plan to arrest the wanted man was conducted successfully and Viet pleaded guilty of murder he committed 43 years ago.

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Vietnam was expected to end its golden population phase and enter its aging population period in 2036, according to local experts.

Golden population structure means that there is only one dependent person for every two or more working-age people aged 15-64, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

The golden population structure usually lasts from 30 to 35 years, or even longer. In Vietnam, the period started in 2007.

Pham Chanh Trung, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Population and Family Planning Department, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that Vietnam was among the countries with the fastest population aging in the world.

To effectively utilize the golden population period and adapt to an aging population, the country should drastically improve its population quality, invest in healthcare and education, and enhance the manpower quality, Trung added.

Vietnams trained laborers remain modest. Many of them fail to meet the requirements of sectors, resulting in a low labor productivity and the failure to serve the fourth industrial revolution and the international integration, Trung noted.

Vietnam is in the golden population period and it should take advantage of the opportunity to boost its socio-economic development, according to Nguyen Khanh Cuong, rector of Lilama2 International Technology College based in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam.

The country needs to focus on training its laborers, he said.

Vietnam is forecast to end its golden population period in 2036. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam had 52.4 million working-age people aged 15-64 years, or 52 percent of its total population, in 2023.

The number of trained laborers was estimated at 14.1 million, making up 27 percent of the population.

This means that over 38 million laborers were untrained.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Cu, president of the scientific council of the research institute for population, family and children, said with about half of the working-age people being under 34, Vietnam has favorable conditions to absorb new science and technology.

The country annually has an additional 1.5-1.6 million working-age people. However, the force is still unable to push economic development as over 70 percent of them are unskilled laborers.

The severe shortage of high-skilled laborers and those for high-end services in trade, finance, banking, and tourism sectors are enormous challenges for the country, Cu said.

Professor Dr. Giang Thanh Long from the National Economics University in Hanoi shared the view that Vietnam will pass the golden population phase in 2036, saying that the number of trained laborers in Vietnam is increasing slowly.

Manufacturing sectors have played an increasingly important role in ensuring growth and improving incomes.

However, many local enterprises labor-intensive sectors, such as textile, garment, and footwear, are mainly completing unimportant phases of the value chains.

We are mainly assembling or outsourcing products, not independently creating or designing [products]. In other words, local laborers will be vulnerable if there is an economic shock, Long said.

As a result, it is a must to improve laborers skills and change the countrys economic structure, specifically fostering the development of hi-tech sectors, the expert suggested.

It is also important to prepare for the aging population by building healthcare policies for old residents so that they can live healthily, have their living and working environment and will not become a burden for the society, Long added.

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The Vietnamese Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang will sell all carbon credits generated from the 30,000 hectares of high-quality low-emission rice within 2024, according to a local agricultural official.

This year, Kien Giang will cultivate 60,000 ha of high-quality low-emission rice, part of the World Bank-funded Vietnam Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Project (VnSAT), under which one million hectares of high-quality low-carbon rice will be grown in the Mekong Delta region by 2030, said Nguyen Duy Tan, deputy director of the management board of the sub-project in Kien Giang (VnSAT Kien Giang).

Tan released the figures at a conference held on Friday to review the provinces agricultural production results in 2023 and discuss the targets set for 2024.

Accordingly, the VnSAT Kien Giang management board expects to sell all carbon credits generated from 30,000 ha out of the 60,000 ha of rice of the special type in 2024, and the corresponding figures will be increased to 40,000 ha and 100,000 ha by 2025.

Carbon credits are tradable certificates that give holders the right to emit a certain amount of CO 2 or another amount of greenhouse gas converted to CO 2 equivalents.

One carbon credit is equal to one metric ton of CO 2 or one ton of CO 2 equivalents.

By 2030, the province will make about 200,000 ha of low-emission high-quality rice available, contributing to improving income and quality of life of farmers, strengthening environmental protection, adapting to climate changes, and minimizing greenhouse gas emission.

Such sustainable and green agricultural development will also contribute to the implementation of the countrys international commitment of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, which was announced by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the UK in 2021.

In addition to Kien Giang, the aforementioned project is being implemented in 11 other Mekong Delta provinces, including An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Soc Trang, Can Tho, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Ca Mau, Tien Giang and Vinh Long.

Kien Giang is the province with the largest rice production area in Vietnam, with a total annual cultivation area of about 700,000 hectares and an output of more than 4.4 million metric tons per year on average, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The province aims to produce 4.4 million metric tons of rice in 2024, slightly lower than 2023, and high-quality rice will make up 90 percent of the output.

In 2023, Vietnam sucessfully sold over 10 million forest carbon credits, bringing in a total revenue of US$51.5 million, according to the agriculture ministry.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday for an unspecified medical matter, the Pentagon said late on Friday, without detailing why he was being treated or why it kept his hospital stay secret all week.

Austin, who is 70, sits just below President Joe Biden at the top of the chain of command of the U.S. military and his duties require him being available at a moment's notice to respond to any manner of national security crisis.

The Pentagon did not say whether Austin ever lost consciousness before or after he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Jan. 1, or the extent to which his duties were assumed by his deputy, Kathleen Hicks.

Those duties include being ready and available to respond to an incoming nuclear attack.

The Pentagon said Austin suffered "complications following a recent elective medical procedure," but declined to say what that procedure was or what complications he suffered.

"He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today," Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement Friday.

Just a day earlier, Ryder held a televised news briefing that conveyed the sense of business as usual at the Pentagon, offering Austin's condolences to ally Japan following its New Year's Day earthquake, for example.

But the past week has been anything but normal for the Pentagon, with U.S. troops in the Middle East wrestling with the regional fallout from the unfolding Israel-Hamas war and carrying out a U.S. retaliatory strike in Baghdad, Thursday.

The Pentagon Press Association, in a letter to Pentagon officials, criticized the Defense Department's secrecy, saying that Austin was a public figure who had no claim to medical privacy in such a situation.

"At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader," it wrote.

Reuters correspondent Phil Stewart is a member of the association's board of directors.

The Pentagon Press Association letter noted that even U.S. presidents disclose when they must delegate duties due to medical procedures.

The way the Defense Department handled Austin's hospitalization stands in contrast to how the State Department dealt with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell's prostate surgery on Dec. 15, 2003.

The State Department spokesman at that time issued a statement in the morning making public that Powell, a retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and would remain there for several days before returning home.

It also said Powell would be on a reduced schedule while he recovered from the operation. The State Department's spokesman at the time, Richard Boucher, then offered details on Powell's surgery in his daily briefing.

Boucher, contacted by Reuters, Friday, said the key question regarding public disclosure was whether Austin was under anesthesia or was incapacitated.

"Was there any moment in the process where he could not function as secretary of defense?" he asked. "If you are up and walking around and have your information and you have your aides in the next room and you can make split-second decisions  then there is probably not a public necessity to disclose.

"The only necessity is if you are going to be conked out," he added.

The Pentagon has not yet answered that question. (Reuters)
It is a prime time for nature lovers to visit Mang Den, a hidden gem in Vietnams Central Highlands province of Kon Tum, to experience the cool weather and changing hues of leaves at a leisurely pace.

Mang Den, a town in the provinces Kon Plong District, in recent years has become a perfect spot among lots of tourists who flocked to this upland town to explore the beauty of cherry blossoms.

The entire forests there turned to striking shades of yellow, red, and orange like a freshly-made oil painting.

Aside from witnessing the magic of the brilliant foliage, nature enthusiasts should not forget to explore other awe-inspiring corners of this upland town filled with cherry blossoms and foxtails in this season.

Foxtails dot rolling hills in Mang Den, a town in Kon Tum Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands. Photo: Ha Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

Tourists usually flock to Mang Den at the turn of the year to relax and experience its scenic landscapes. Photo: Ha Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

Streams wind their ways between cliffs, creating breathtaking waterfalls in Mang Den forests. Photo: Ha Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

Different shades of the leaves in a forest in Mang Den, a town in Kon Tum Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands. Photo: Ha Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

Foxtails could be spotted everywhere in Mang Den at the turn of the year. Photo: Ha Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

A forest is traversed by a newly-built bypass linking Kon Ray District with Kon Plong Districts Mang Den in Kon Tum Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands. Photo: Ha Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

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Actor Kevin Hofbauer knows all about mixed marriages.

He is the son of an Austrian father and a mother from Tuvalu, and now finds himself playing an Australian father who married an alien in Planet Lulin.

They met when dad was in the military. And he did all the maps for East Timor and the Pacific Islands. When he went over, he found her and they fell in love, he explains.

But he is also a widower in ABC MEs children series and father to its lead character, grade sixer Lulin (Nina Gallas) who has inherited her mothers Astoradian powers, although she doesnt quite know how to use them.

Playing dad Ken, Hofbauer is supportive even if he has entered a galactic mixed marriage.

Kens worried a lot for Lulin because of what happened to his wife, Christine, being sucked into the void. So hes very protective of her and he has a big heart as well. Something that weve worked on throughout this process is as long as everyone else is happy, hes happy. He very much puts everyone in front of himself, he tells TV Tonight.

Surrounded by the powers of his daughter, and mother in law Ezme (Lisa McCune), perhaps he is a new age Darrin from Bewitched, then?

Hes still trying to his head around it and its still it still doesnt make sense. So thats a great comparison, he laughs.

Meanwhile Lulin is being tracked by Megaheads; intergalactic invaders in the form of little girls, who are hunting down Astoradians and banishing them to the Void!

The series, which also features rising stars Uma Dumais and Max Turner, marks a change of pace for Hofbauer whose credits include Rush, Spreadsheet, Clickbait, Playing For Keeps. As the young father of twin boys he is eager to show them what Dad does for a living.

Its the first Kids TV Ive done and I cannot wait to show them this. Weve told them what I do for work, but a lot of the stuff that Ive done I cant really show them because its not not appropriate. Whereas this show is very much in their wheelhouse of what they watch at the moment I reckon theyre gonna absolutely love it and then be even more in love with Dad, he explains.

It definitely makes me more comfortable working with kids because I hadnt had too much experience working with children, prior. But now having kids of my own, I love it. Its a lot of fun. I dont really have anything to compare it to, because it is my first but it is a show where we try and make it as fun as possible. Weve been lucky enough with the directors that weve had, that we are able to have a bit of creative licence, putting funny bits in.

Hofbauer also credits a high school drama teacher for encouraging him to pursue natural abilities in performing.

I had an amazing drama teacher down in Tasmania when I did school down there, he continues.

I wasnt a great student, but being able to do drama and be a class clown and get great marks for it, that sort of put me onto the road that I found. I was lucky enough to have a teacher that really kept me kept me there, even though I wanted to, sort of, fart around and go my own way. She was like, No, Im going to make you come to class.'

He later studied at the Victorian College of the Arts.

For many years after I graduated anytime I got a role Id send her an email, thanking her for being such an amazing teacher. It got me to where I am.

Planet Lulin screens 5pm weekdays on ABC ME
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Antony Blinkens connection to Jeffery Epstein debated

Amid the media reports linking the top US politicians with the sex offender and Israeli Mossad agent Jeffery Epstein, claims are also being shared about the connection the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has with the sex offender. Read More

Saturday January 6, 2024 4:50 PM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies

[Antony Blinken with Israeli PM Netanyahu in a file photo.]

Washington: Amidst the release of secret documents relating to Jeffery Epstein also comes to light US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens connection with the infamous American financier and Mossad agent accused of sex trafficking and using sex to influence American and British foreign policies.

Antony Blinkens connection with Jeffery Epstein has been discussed at the backdrop of the name of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is also the wife of former US President Bill Clinton, cropping up in the third batch of unsealed documents related to Jeffrey Epstein case Friday January 05, 2024.

These documents stem from a 2015 civil suit by Virginia Giuffre, who says she was one of the many minor girls trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Hillary Clinton, who also contested the 2016 US Presidential elections , was one of the "thirteen specific witnesses" mentioned by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, new documents claim.

The documents also claimed that Jeffrey Epstein also supplied young girls to Bill Clinton, former US President. Clinton had an 18-month long affair with Monica Lewinsky, his then 22-year-old intern, during his first term as president. He was 49 years old.

Meanwhile, a 1999 article has resurfaced which alleges that Monica Lewinsky was used by Mossad to obtain sex tapes of Bill Clinton . 15 years later, The Times of Israel alleged that the Israeli PM Netanyahu had access to the Bill Clinton Sex tapes that he used as leverage to release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

The documents also said UK Prince Andrew stayed at Epstein's Palm Beach home whereas Jeffery Epstein hosted former US President Donald Trump at his south Florida house.

The documents further claimed that Prince Andrew extended his stays at Epstein's Palm Beach home, where he received daily massages.

The 900-page unsealed court documents released Friday also revealed his connection with the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad. This revelation is consistent with claims by former Israeli spy Ari Ben Menashe, who argues in his upcoming book that the pedophile Jeffery Epstein was also an Israeli spy, according to the Global Village.

Blinkens connection with Epstein

Amid the media reports linking the top US politicians with the sex offender and Israeli Mossad agent Jeffery Epstein, claims are also being shared about the connection the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has with the sex offender through his familya relations.

According to the details available online, Blinkens stepfather was Samuel Pisar - a long-time lawyer and confidant of Robert Maxwell. Robert Maxwell was a Mossad spy who had one of the biggest funerals in Israels history, attended by both the Prime Minister and President of Israel at the time.

Ghislaine Maxwell, a British former socialite and convicted sex offender, is daughter of Robert Maxwell. She was Jeffery Epstein's life-partner and also reportedly his partner in crime. According to media reports, she helped Epstein run his child sex trafficking ring.

Israeli spy Ari Ben Menashes book also mentioned Ghislaine Maxwell, linking her to Mossad, who wrote that the two ran a honey-trap operation, providing minor girls and boys to politicians for sex and then using the incidents to blackmail them for the Israeli intelligence.

The Daily Mail reported similar details, stressing that the unsealed document has reignited suspicions about Epsteins links to Mossad.

A friend of the Maxwells, Laura Goldman, further stated she believed not only that Robert Maxwell was a Mossad spy, but that Ghislaine carried on his work, the UK based news outlet said.

It is however not yet clear if Antony Blinken has any direct link with Ghislaine Maxwell or Jeffery Epstein.

Jeffery Epstein's conviction and death

Jeffery Epstein, who taught at Dalton School despite not having any degree, first came to light after a parent reported that he had sexually abused her 14-year-old daughter. Federal officials had identified thirty-six girls, some as young as 14 years old, whom Epstein had allegedly sexually abused.

Epstein later pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2008 by a Florida state court of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. He was convicted of only these two crimes as part of a controversial plea deal, and served almost thirteen months in custody but with extensive work release.

Epstein was found injured and semiconscious on the floor of his cell with marks around his neck on July 23, 2019. He was kept on suicide watch but found dead in his cell on August 10, 2019.

Ghislaine Maxwell faced persistent allegations of procuring and sexually trafficking minot girls for Epstein and others, charges she denied. She was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire by the FBI on July 2, 2020. She was found guilty and convicted by a Jury in US federal court on five sex trafficking-related counts on December 29, 2021.

Ghislaine Maxwell is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution FCI) in Tallahassee, Flordia - a low security United States federal prison for female inmates.



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Welcome Guest! You are here: Home  International

90K and counting, massive support for SA ICJ petition against Israeli Genocide

More than 90,000 people have so far signed an online petition started on change.org endorsing South Africas referral of Israel to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) for its genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the number is growing every second. Read More

Saturday January 6, 2024 11:18 AM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies

Mumbai: A huge support is building up in support of the South Africa petition at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague urging the UN court to hold Israel accountable for its genocide against the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

More than 90,000 people have so far signed an online petition started on change.org endorsing South Africas referral of Israel to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) for its genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the number is growing every second.

South Africa filed its petition at the International Court of Justice on December 29, 2023 accusing Israel of genocide. The ICJ accepted the SA petition and confirmed it will hold a public hearing on it on January 11 and 12, 2024.

To endorse and support the SA petition at ICJ, Riyad Tibi, who is based in the United Kingdom, started the online petition titled Why this petition matters on the online platform six days ago.

"We the undersigned applaud and fully support South Africas referral of Israel to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) for its genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza", Riyad Tibi wrote in the petition. "We hope that this action will lead to some form of international action that will put an end to the suffering of the people of Gaza, and also lead to achieving justice after two months of incessant war crimes by Israel which have led to 21,000 deaths so far", he wrote.

Riyad Tibi further said that South Africa in its application at ICJ described Israels actions in Gaza as genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.

The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction", South Africa said in its plea at ICJ.

After a slow start, the petition on change.org is now receiving a huge online support. As many as 90,809 internet users have signed Riyad Tibis petition  around 70,000 of them signing in the last two days, at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Occupation Forces have continued their brutal military offensive targeting civilians in Gaza Strip, and also the Occupied Palestine, killing close to 22,500 Palestinians  more than 70 per cent of them women and children, as on January 05, 2024.

According to the Health Ministry of Palestine, the Israeli airstrikes on the civilian areas and refugee camps in Gaza have killed 125 Palestinians and left 318 others injured in the last 24 hours.

The besieged Gaza Strip is also facing acute water and food shortage because of the Israeli blockade since Oct 7.

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Welcome Guest! You are here: Home  Hajj and Umrah

Watch: Makkah is Greener and Scenic as never before

The Saudi Arabian landscape, normally devoid of any greenery, lived up after frequent rains that followed Salatul-Istisqa offered in November 2022. Read More

Saturday January 6, 2024 12:58 PM , Faizee Aniqua Sabahat, ummid.com

Makkah (Saudi Arabia): The last one years of regular rains have turned Makkah, a desert into a Green Valley with mountains and highways giving a scenic view of the Holy City which the local residents have never seen before.

Mount Hira Turns Green

The Mount of Hira, a black and rocky mountain, has always been a tourist hunt for the visitors of the Holy City of Makkah. Visiting this place is now more memorable for them.

I have visited Mount Hira a number of times in the past while in Makkah to perform Umrah. But I have never seen such a greenery before, Alqama Kausar, who returned from Umrah December, last told ummid.com. The entire mountain is covered under a green capsule. So beautiful. So enthralling, she said.

Mount Hira, also known as Jabal al Nour, houses the Cave of Hira or Ghar I Hira, is where Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) had received the first revelation of Holy Quran.

In his early life in Makkah, Prophet Muhammed spent years in supplication inside the Cave of Hira. Sometimes he would stay here for days and his noble wife Khadija would bring him tiffin meal.

Hajj and Umrah pilgrims routinely visit the Cave of Hira as a gesture of their love and affection for the Prophet.

Also Read

Why Saudi Deserts Turning Purple?

The Saudi Arabian landscape, normally devoid of any greenery, lived up after frequent rains that followed Salatul-Istisqa  the Special Prayer offered seeking rains, in the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah, and other mosques of the Kingdom in November 2022.

New images and videos shared online show a desert bloom carpeting the Makkah Valley and the northern part of Saudi Arabia triggered by heavier than usual winter rains ever since then.

600 per cent increase in Makkah Green Spaces

According to The National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, the Makkah region in Saudi Arabia witnessed a staggering 600% increase in vegetation cover and greenery over the course of last five months, from August to December 2023.

Also Read

Taif once attempted to lynch Prophet Muhammed, now produces Roses to wash Holy Kaaba

The center has attributed this growth to the significant rainfall during this period that reached up to 200 mm in some areas.

Based on the analysis of remote sensing data, the center said the total area of vegetation cover in Makkah in August was 3,529.4 square kilometers, representing 2.3% of the total area of the region. This area gradually rose over the following months with increased rainfall, reaching 26,256 square kilometers by the end of the year.

Watch Video

Macca & Quran pic.twitter.com/sBh4IAVKvG    | Makkah (@HolyMakkah01) January 6, 2024

By December 2023, the vegetation cover spanned 17.1% of the total area of the Makkah region, predominantly in the mountains and highlands parallel to the Red Sea coast, with elevations ranging from 500 to 2,600 meters.

This includes the governorates of Makkah, Taif, Al Laith, Al Jumum, Al Kamil, and Khulais, the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating said.



The center uses modern remote sensing and AI technologies to monitor and assess changes in vegetation cover and land cover, as well as rainfall patterns and plant health.

This data-driven approach allows for accurate tracking of environmental changes and facilitates strategic planning in combating desertification and promoting greener landscapes.

Also Read

Viral: Intriguing video of Makkah Tower handling lightning strikes amid thunderstorm

Another attraction amidst heavy rains and thunderstorm in Makkah and around is Makkah Tower. Viral images and videos show the Clock Tower in Makkah standing high and steady as lightning bolts strike the Golden Crescent atop the iconic building located very close to the Grand Mosque in Makkah or Haram al-Makki.

The Makkah Clock Tower has been specially designed and work on a tech system to handle lightning and thunderstorm. The system not only protect from lightning the Clock Tower but also the adjoining areas.

There is also a debate about Makkah mountains turning green as a sign of Qiyama or the last day also called as doomsday. This debate is on the basis of a prophecy by the Prophet who as narrated in Sahih Muslim said, The last hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakat out of his property and do not find anyone to accept it and till the land of Arabia reverts to meadows and rivers.

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HA NOI  The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has lowered its target for seafood export value for 2024 to US$9.5 billion from its previous expectation of $10 billion due to many challenges.

The fisheries sector is expected to an output of 9.22 million tonnes of seafood from an aquaculture area of 1.3 million hectares this year.

According to the Department of Fisheries, the seafood export value in 2023 was estimated to reach $9.2 billion, or 92 per cent of the plan, down 8 per cent compared to 2022.

Of this year's export value, about $3.45 billion was from shrimp, $1.9 billion from pangasius, $900 million from tuna, and $800 million from mollusk.

Total seafood export output in 2023 was estimated at 9.05 million tonnes, an increase of 2 per cent compared to 2022. Exploited seafood output reached 3.68 million tonnes, equal to 2022, while aquaculture output was more than 5.4 million tonnes, an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to 2022.

The fishery sector's current problems include traceability of seafood to combat illegal exploitation and ensure food safety on fishing vessels and fishing ports.

In addition, seafood exports also face many other barriers such as animal welfare and carbon certificates to ensure environmental safety during the production process of products exported to Europe and the US.

From 2024, the Department of Fisheries will continue to develop marine and lake-bed aquaculture and carry out scientific and technological solutions to increase the value of processed seafood products.

Besides that, the world economy has recovered slowly, while the prices of some input products for aquaculture development and logistics costs have remained high, putting pressure on production.

These challenges impacted Viet Nam's seafood processing and export activities, causing difficulties for the seafood industry this year.

Meanwhile, the European Commission continues to maintain a yellow card warning for Viet Nam's seafood. Therefore, in 2024, the task of production and business will become more difficult.

Tran inh Luan, director of the Department of Fisheries, said seafood export revenue decreased in 2023 as the fisheries industry faced challenges such as a lack of standards and regulations for environmental monitoring, and inadequate infrastructure in farming areas. The efficiency of catching activities was still low. Consumption demand decreased in most markets, causing the decrease in export turnover.

Vuong Thi Oanh, an official from the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said although the fisheries industry shows signs of recovery, there are still many difficulties in 2024.

Specifically, China, the US, Europe, and Japan were expected to recover from the last months of 2023 because those markets prepare food for festivals at the year end and the new year, while importers' inventories are low. Viet Nam is a potential supplier to those markets.

However, competition with rivals also increased, such as with Thailand, Indonesia and China, for processed products and with Ecuador for regular products.

Tra fish exports

Viet Nam aims to produce 1.7 million tonnes of commercial tra fish and earn $2 billion from exporting the products in 2024, according to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung uc Tien.

To that end, the fishery sector needs to be ready with plans to better respond to an increasingly competitive market, and stricter regulations and technical barriers of importing countries, Tien said.

Although Viet Nam's tra fish exports in 2023 faced difficulties and lower consumption demand, especially from the European and Chinese markets, there will be many positive signs for the tra fish industry in 2024.

Le Hang, communications director of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said despite a decrease in market share in certain markets, the export of tra fish is showing more positive signs in some markets such as China, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and the UK.

The tra fish export value reached an estimated $1.8 billion last year, down 27 per cent compared to the figure of 2022, according to the General Department of Customs.

However, there remains great demand for Vietnamese tra fish in many markets, especially for deeply-processed products, Hang said.

The US has been among the top markets consuming the most Vietnamese tra fish products.

Demand for tra fish products has also seen a resurgence in the European Union (EU) market, which hopes to be a bright spot for Viet Nams exports this year.

As one of the traditional import markets for Vietnamese tra fish, China is expected to witness a high growth in tra fish imports in 2024. In recent years, this market has consistently ranked among the top three largest importers of tra fish products, following the US and Japan.

The product also has an advantage in other markets such as Europe and Algeria. Recently, the Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria coordinated with the Carrefour supermarket system in the country to organise an activity to introduce and promote Vietnamese products, including coffee and tra fish fillets.  VNS
HA NOI  The market of Vietnamese food delivery through apps has grown strongly in the past few years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is considered a delicious piece of cake for service providers, but it is not easy to enjoy.

Over the past four years, Baemin has become a large, famous delivery brand, creating good brand recognition in the Vietnamese market after aggressive and methodical marketing campaigns.

Therefore, the fact that Baemin stopped operating in Viet Nam from December 8 came as a surprise to many people.

Baemin is operated by Woowa Brothers Viet Nam, a joint venture between Woowa Brothers  the leading food delivery company in South Korea, and Delivery Hero  a German food delivery technology group, operating in more than 50 countries.

Baemin decided to leave Viet Nam because of the difficult economic situation globally, as well as the fierce competition in the country.

Commenting on Baemin's departure, marketing experts said that this foreign soldier had created a good brand, attracting attention from users, but did not create a difference in products and services.

Baemin's departure from Viet Nam has partly shown that the food delivery market is fiercely competitive.

Results of the "Connected Consumer" report for the third quarter of this year published by Decision Lab and the Viet Nam Mobile Marketing Association showed that the demand for ordering food online has increased sharply and delivery platforms are competing fiercely to dominate the market.

GrabFood is the most used food delivery application with a rate of 49 per cent, followed by ShopeeFood with a rate of 45 per cent.

Fierce competitive pressure

After Baemin left the market, many people began to worry about Vietnamese food delivery brands such as Loship and BeFood.

Experts estimate that each of these brands currently accounts for only a few per cent of the market share.

To attract store partners to participate in selling on Loship, this brand has offered programmes such as free shipping for stores.

The reason why Loship has survived until now is because it raised US$12 million in capital by venture capital fund BAce Capital, sponsored by Ant Group and Sun Hung Kai & Co.  a listed investment company in Hong Kong.

Providing information to the press earlier this year, Nguyen Hoang Trung, CEO of Loship, said that the company recorded a 500 per cent increase in revenue last year compared to 2021 thanks to optimising business operations with 250,000 stores and more than five million users.

Loship also focuses on cutting losses and promoting profitability in 12 operating cities. It is expected to reach the profitable milestone this year.

Food delivery and supermarket shopping would still have big competition in the next three years, said Trung.

In addition, food delivery applications will also deploy additional services related to financial technology such as their own e-wallets to exploit the available user base.

Loship had no plans to enter the financial technology sector to 'burn money', said Trung, instead, the business wanted to exploit the number of restaurant partners to supply raw materials.

Besides Loship, there is another Vietnamese delivery brand on the market, beFood. To stay in the market, beFood has also launched programmes to attract customers such as reducing surcharges for small orders and becoming the platform with the lowest small order delivery surcharges in the market.

The removal of small order surcharges aims to encourage individual customers to order low-value items anytime, anywhere, said a beGroup representative to Kinh te Sai Gon (Saigon Times) online newspaper.

Eliminating small order surcharges also promises to bring more potential online business opportunities to local eateries.

Be believes that this policy can help them reach up to seven million active users on the platform and be more considered by customers even when eating alone.

After Beamin's departure, experts said that they did not know how long Vietnamese food delivery brands could stay in the market, especially in the difficult economic context after the COVID-19 pandemic when many people were tightening their spending.

Besides, customers often look for applications with strong incentives and discounts. The food delivery market is still a game of 'burning money' to retain and attract customers.  VNS
VIENTIANE  The two-day official visit of Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone to Viet Nam from today is expected to enhance the trust and close bond between the two Parties and Governments and contribute to making the Viet Nam-Laos great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation more substantial and effective, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung.

In an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency on the threshold of the visit, Ambassador Hung noted that the visit, the first official visit of Sonexay Siphandone to Viet Nam as the PM of Laos, and the 46th meeting of the Viet Nam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee to be co-chaired by the two PMs, provide a chance for the two sides to update each other on the situation of each country and discuss international and regional issues of shared concern.

The two sides will also review and evaluate the implementation of high-level agreements and cooperation deals between the two governments that were reached at the 45th session of the Viet Nam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee held in January 2023, and sketch out orientations and breakthrough measures to continue to make bilateral cooperation deeper, more effective and practical in 2024, said Ambassador Hung.

The diplomat highlighted major achievements in the Viet Nam-Laos ties in 2023, particularly in the exchange of delegations at high level.

During the year, the two sides exchanged about 300 delegations and most key leaders of both countries made visits to each other or engaged in meetings on the sidelines of international events, contributing to strengthening mutual trust and reaching many important agreements with strategic meaning to the relations between the two countries in the long term.

The two sides have made security-defence cooperation a firm pillar of bilateral ties, and coordinated with Cambodia to successfully organise the first Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia border defence friendship exchange.

Economic, scientific-technical, cultural and education cooperation continued to develop. Last year, Viet Nam maintained its position among the largest foreign investors in Laos, while bilateral trade recorded good growth, the ambassador noted, adding that collaboration among agencies of the Parties, National Assemblies as well as ministries, sectors, localities and businesses of the two sides was expanded and strengthened. Viet Nam and Laos also kept close coordination at international and regional forums, especially the UN, ASEAN and the Mekong Sub-Region.

Ambassador Hung underlined that the two sides are paying great attention to boosting bilateral economic cooperation, which is defined as one of the important drivers for the bilateral partnership.

Economic cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos is being promoted in both quality and number, especially through the speeding up of major joint projects with strategic meaning, said the diplomat, noting that many Vietnamese-funded projects were put into operation last year, including Nongkhang airport in Houaphanh and Laos-Viet Nam Friendship Hospital in Xiengkhuang.

The Lao Government is working hard to further improve the countrys investment environment to meet the requirements of Vietnamese businesses, Hung said.

The ambassador said he believes that the 46th meeting of the Viet Nam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee will create breakthrough steps forwards in the bilateral economic partnership, making it deeper and more effective in the coming time, and turning economic cooperation a firm pillar of the Viet Nam-Laos ties along with other pillars of politics and security-defence.  VNS
HA NOI - Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria Rosen Dimitrov Jeliazkov and his entourage arrived in Ha Noi on January 5 evening, beginning an official visit to Viet Nam from January 5-9 at the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Vuong inh Hue.

They were welcomed at the airport by NA Vice Chairman Nguyen uc Hai, Head of the NA Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha, and Deputy Head of the NA Committee for Legal Affairs Ngo Trung Thanh, Bulgarian Ambassador to Viet Nam Pavlin Todorov, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria o Hoang Long.

This is the first visit by a high-ranking Bulgarian leader to iet Nam over a decade, following Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev's visit in October 2013. Particularly, it is a reciprocal visit following the official Bulgaria visit by Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Vuong inh Hue in September last year.

The Viet Nam visit will contribute to strengthening and nurturing the already robust political relations between the two countries through the Party, State, Government and people-to-people channels. It will present an opportunity for both sides to engage in discussions on global and regional issues of shared concern, intensify substantial and effective bilateral ties, particularly in areas of their strengths such as trade-investment, education, health care, culture, tourism, labour, and locality-to-locality cooperation. VNA/VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a welcome ceremony on January 6 morning for his Lao counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, who is in Viet Nam for an official visit and the 46th meeting of the two countries Inter-Governmental Committee.

This is the first official visit to Viet Nam by Sonexay Siphandone as the Government leader of Laos. With the trip on January 6 - 7, the two PMs have met each other for six times since January 2023.

PM Chinh and his spouse welcomed PM Siphandone and his spouse at the ceremony in Ha Noi.

At the Government Office, the two leaders visited a photo exhibition on the countries relations organised by the Government Office and the Viet Nam News Agency. Bilateral talks were held after that.

During the visit, the Lao PM is scheduled to have meetings with other leaders of the Vietnamese Party and State. He will also join his Vietnamese counterpart in the 46th meeting of the two countries Inter-governmental Committee, a Viet Nam-Laos investment cooperation forum, and some other important activities.

The two sides will also review the implementation of their countries high-level agreements and cooperation mechanisms in all fields, including politics, diplomacy, security-defence, investment, trade, culture, and education. They are set to tackle difficulties, obstacles, and outstanding problems (if any) in the implementation of certain programmes and projects, and create new momentum, especially for economic connectivity, thereby developing bilateral partnerships in an increasingly substantive and effective manner and promoting the Viet Nam-Laos friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation. VNA/VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks in Ha Noi on Saturday with his Lao counterpart Sonexay Siphandone who is on an official visit to Viet Nam from January 6-7.

PM Chinh welcomed the first official visit to Viet Nam by Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone in his new capacity, and highly valued the achievements that the Party, State and people of Laos obtained recently, especially maintaining political-social stability and national defence-security, and boosting economic recovery.

He said he believed that under the leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), Laos would overcome all difficulties and challenges and successfully implement the 9th five-year socio-economic development plan, continue to successfully carry out the Resolution of its 11th National Party Congress.

He thanked the Lao Party and State for their valuable support to Viet Nam in the past struggle for national independence and the present national construction and development, while affirming that Viet Nam always treasures and gives the highest priority to the special relationship between the two countries.

For his part, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone expressed his impression of and congratulated Viet Nam on its achievements in socio-economic development, defence-security, and foreign affairs which helped raise the country's prestige and position in the international arena.

They were considered a great source of encouragement and support for Laos national safeguarding and building, he said.

PM Sonexay Siphandone took the occasion to thank Viet Nam for the valuable support and assistance it gave to Laos in the struggle for independence, and national development.

The two PMs expressed their delight at the sound development of great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos in all fields, including the consolidation of political relations, the regular exchange of high-level visits and meetings, and the deepening of collaboration in defence, security and foreign affairs.

Besides, economic, trade and investment cooperation continues to witness positive changes. Viet Nam currently has 241 investment projects in Laos with a total registered capital of US$5.47 billion, ranking third among countries and territories investing in Laos. Total bilateral trade turnover in 2023 was estimated at more than $1.5 billion. Cooperation in other fields such as education-training, culture, science and technology, tourism and people-to-people exchanges is constantly strengthened.

Regarding future cooperation directions, the two PMs agreed to increase the exchange of high-level visits and contacts. PM Chinh proposed both governments concretise and effectively implement the agreement between the Politburos of Viet Nam and Laos and outcomes of the meeting between General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the LPRP and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith and President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) Hun Sen.

The Vietnamese Government leader also suggested well implementing agreements between the two governments, including the Viet Nam-Laos Cooperation Strategy Agreement for the 2021 - 2030 period, the Viet Nam-Laos Bilateral Cooperation Agreement for the 2021 - 2025 period and the agreement on Viet Nam-Laos cooperation plan for 2024.

The two PMs consented to continue improving the effectiveness of defence and security cooperation to effectively address new challenges; strengthen border management and protection, and transnational crime prevention and combat, especially drug crimes; continue to coordinate and support the search and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Laos.

The two sides will strengthen the connectivity between the two economies of Viet Nam and Laos, especially in institutions, finance, transport infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, and tourism; continue to promote the Vientiane-Ha Noi expressway and Vientiane-Vung Ang railway projects and other key cooperation projects; support each other to build independent, self-reliant economies, associated with extensive, effective, and practical international integration.

They will also strengthen tripartite cooperation between Viet Nam, Laos and an appropriate development partner to attract more resources for collaboration projects; work together to review and completely resolve difficulties and obstacles, creating a favourable investment and business environment for Vietnamese enterprises operating in Laos; effectively implement protocols and cooperation projects in education and human resources development; promote cooperation in health, culture, arts and sports; promote communications and education about the tradition of the special relations between Viet Nam and Laos for all walks of life, especially the young generation of the two countries.

Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, the two Prime Ministers emphasised the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability in the region, including maintaining ASEAN's solidarity, common stance and centrality in regional security and strategic issues, such as the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue. They also agreed to continue to coordinate closely and support each other at regional and international forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, and Mekong sub-region cooperation mechanisms, and boost close cooperation between Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia.

PM Chinh affirmed that Viet Nam would be ready to support Laos to successfully perform international responsibilities in 2024, including the ASEAN Chairmanship.

On this occasion, he conveyed greetings, good health and New Year wishes from Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese leaders to Party General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Xaysomphone Phomvihane, and senior leaders of the Party and State of Laos.

After the talks, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of four cooperation documents, including a protocol on border guard cooperation between the defence ministries of Viet Nam and Laos, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation plan between the Government Office of Viet Nam and the Lao Prime Ministers Office, a MoU on development and connectivity of border trade infrastructure between the Governments of Viet Nam and Laos, and a cooperation plan for 2024 between the Ministry of Education and Training and Laos Ministry of Education and Sports. VNA/VNS
HA NOI  A gathering took place in Ha Noi on January 6 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the victory of the war defending the southwestern border and, together with the Cambodian troops and people, defeating the genocidal regime (January 7, 1979 - 2024).

The event saw the presence of Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chea Kimtha; Vietnamese generals and heroes of the peoples armed forces; foreign guests; 200 war veterans, former volunteer soldiers, and former experts of Viet Nam who used to fight and work in the neighbouring country; and Cambodian students.

Le Kim Anh, President of the Hanoi Womens Union and Chairwoman of the citys Viet Nam - Cambodia Friendship Association, affirmed that the two countries boasted friendly neighbourliness, solidarity, and mutual support throughout history.

Shortly after winning the resistance war against the US in 1975, the Cambodian people suffered from a big tragedy caused by the reactionary force of Pol Pot - Ieng Sary. This force also distorted history, provoked, and seriously violated the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Viet Nam.

To safeguard the Fatherlands sacred sovereignty, protect peoples lives and property, and respond to the urgent appeal from the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation, with the noble international spirit of helping others means helping oneself, volunteer soldiers of Viet Nam and the revolutionary armed force of Cambodia launched a strategic offensive along the entire borderline to drive off the Khmer Rouge and liberate the Cambodian people from the genocidal regime. On January 7, 1979, Phnom Penh capital was completely liberated.

At the gathering, former volunteer soldiers and former experts of Vietnam recounted their memories of the time they spent with Cambodian comrades and people while fighting on the southwestern battlefield to free Cambodia from the genocidal regime, and settling this regimes consequences and rebuilding Cambodia.

On this occasion, 50 gift packages were presented to war veterans, former volunteer soldiers, former experts, and representatives of Cambodian students in Viet Nam. VNA/VNS
To Nhu

HA NOI  Local farmers in the Mekong Delta province of ong Thap are excited as rice prices in the 2023 fall-winter crop have increased and they have a bumper crop.

Currently, the price of rice is above VN9,000 (US$0.37) per kg. Previously, the price of rice was only VN6,600-7,000 ($0.27-0.28) per kg.

Perhaps, it has been a long time since farmers have had so much joy and excitement, Ta Van Bong, chairman of the Board of Directors of Tan Binh Cooperative, told the Viet Nam News.

If the rice prices continue to stay high, farmers can get rich from growing rice, he said.

Bong also said that local farmers had overcome many difficulties due to heavy rains in the 2023 fall-winter crop to get a bumper crop.

This is the highest price so far and our farmers are very happy, he said.

According to Bong, the cooperative's revenue growth reached 15-20 per cent in 2023. The high rice prices helped farmers to earn a profit of 35-40 per cent.

The farmers of the cooperative had applied science and technology in growing rice, and they did not use pesticides.

The cooperative's goal was to produce safe rice following the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standards, aiming to produce rice with low carbon emissions.

The SRP Standard is the world's first voluntary sustainability standard for rice. Designed to be inclusive, it incentivises farmers from smallholders to large producers to shift to adopt proven climate-smart, sustainable best agricultural practices.

He also said that by 2025, safe rice products are expected to be launched into the market, moving towards building the brand "Cu Lao Tay Agricultural Products" in the coming years because consumers are increasingly concerned about the quality of rice.

Thus, growing high-quality rice and ensuring food safety will bring benefits to both producers and consumers, he said.

The cooperative now has 220ha growing organic rice. The area is expected to expand to 300-400ha this year.

Sustainable development

Nguyen Duy Thuan, general director of the Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company, said Viet Nam's rice production value chain could rise three times higher than its currents level.

The quantity and quality of Vietnamese rice are increasing day by day, however, there are a number of barriers that need to be overcome towards sustainable development.

The first thing needed was to boost production linkages. Production linkages help to reduce costs and stabilise supply capacity, he said.

He also added that it was an important issue because the rice sectors scale was very large, with demand for millions of tonnes, so it was imperative to boost production linkages.

Credit can also be a barrier. Although there are currently many incentives for farmers, cooperatives, and rice production and trading enterprises, the incentives are not completely consistent with the characteristics of the rice industry.

The violation of contracts (related to rice production and consumption) was still common.

The final barrier was asynchronous mechanisation in the agricultural sector. If synchronous mechanisation was applied, losses in harvesting would be reduced.

Le Van Thiet, deputy director of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the department had set a goal of developing the plant protection sector in a modern and sustainable direction.

It would expand models and develop the production of biological plant-protection drugs and organic fertilisers.

At the same time, it would also open the market, creating conditions for domestic manufacturers to export their products to the world market.  VNS
HAI PHONG  Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Vuong inh Hue and other NA deputies of the northern port city of Hai Phong met with local voters who are workers on Saturday.

Applauding local socio-economic development last year, the top legislator said Hai Phong was a bright spot in the disbursement of public investment, the recovery of tourism and services, and the implementation of social security policies, helping create jobs and improve the life quality of workers.

He stated businesses and workers were at the centre of every decision, noting that since the first national conference held by the NA Standing Committee in September 2023 to carry out the 15th-tenure NAs laws and resolutions, the situation had improved much. Issues mentioned by voters had been basically covered by laws and resolutions released by the parliament.

Describing salary increases as a very difficult issue, he said the Party and State supported the building of harmonious, stable, and progressive labour relations to ensure stable and sustainable development.

"In the digital era, labour relations are diverse. Aside from formal labour, many companies hiring out workers have appeared, people can work online, from home or in a single day, and they can also work for different partners or app-based firms," Hue pointed out, noting that the Employment Law was being amended by relevant agencies and would be updated with new regulations, including those on informal labour, labour without contracts, and unemployment insurance.

At the meeting, officials of some NA committees, ministries, and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour fielded voters questions about social housing for workers in industrial parks, the building of cultural facilities for workers, the preferential tax policy for the companies employing many female personnel, the talent attraction policy, and the training of human resources for marine sectors.

On the occasion of the New Year, Chairman Hue and Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang presented gifts to 200 workers with outstanding performance and those with disadvantages.

Earlier the same day, Chairman Hue, Deputy PM Quang, Secretary of the Hai Phong municipal Party Committee Le Tien Chau and representatives from ministries and sectors attended a groundbreaking ceremony of the Happy Home project in Hai An District - the largest scale social housing project in the city, providing 4,300 houses. VNA/VNS
A Louisiana man was indicted Thursday, more than a year after authorities say he trafficked a 16-year-old girl from Corpus Christi to Waco and sexually assaulted her.

Christepher Dell Menson, 60, was initially arrested Nov. 11, 2022, and a McLennan County grand jury indictment him Thursday on four second-degree felony counts of sexual assault of a child and one first-degree felony count of trafficking of a person. If convicted, Menson faces between two and 20 years on each of the sexual assault charges and 25 years to life on the trafficking charge.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, McLennan County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched Aug. 31, 2022, to Speegleville Baptist Church on a report of a runaway child. Deputies later determined the child, a 16-year-old girl, had been reported as a runaway from Corpus Christi on Aug. 27, 2022, the affidavit says.

The next day, the girl reported she had been sexually assaulted, and told police that using her tablet, she met Menson through an online messaging app, the affidavit says. The girl told police she and Menson spoke for two days before he picked her up at a gas station in Corpus Christi and drove her to Waco, where they stayed at an RV park near Lake Waco, the affidavit says.

The girl also told police Menson threw her tablet into a lake to avoid location detecting services, and bought her a cellphone to communicate with her, the affidavit says.

The girl said Menson sexually assaulted her eight or nine times over the course of five days when she was in his trailer, the affidavit says. The girl reported she told Menson she wanted to leave, but Menson told the girl "he loved her and didn't want her to leave," police wrote in the affidavit.

Menson also told the girl he was planning on taking her to Las Vegas so she could have intercourse with his friends, the affidavit says. On Aug. 31, 2022, Menson told the girl he had to go back to Louisiana to check on his wife, and said he planned to put her in a hotel room for three days and would take her to Las Vegas when he got back, the affidavit says.

Upon searching the girl's phone, investigators found a contact for "Chris" that had made several phone calls to the girl, the affidavit says. The phone number was also found to be the same one on record for a reservation made by Menson at the RV park from June 1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2022, the affidavit says.

Menson was booked into McLennan County Jail on Nov. 11, 2022, and was released on $100,000 bond the next day.
Editor's note: This story has been revised with the correct Web address for updating registration. It is votetexas.gov. In addition, it has been revised to clarify the rules on completing a statement of residence at polling places.

As the March 5 primary election approaches, McLennan County voters who have not received one of the new yellow registration cards mailed out last month should verify that they are registered to vote, officials said.

They should also be alert to blue cards notifying them of a need to provide addressing or other information.

The deadline to register for the primary is Feb. 5. Early voting begins Feb. 20 and ends March 1.

Voters who have previously registered should have already received a vivid yellow voter registration certificate that the McLennan County Elections Administrators Office mailed between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Elections Administrator Jared Goldsmith said by phone Friday. In addition, people who have moved since the last time they voted should contact elections officials to update their address.

Dont wait till the last minute, Goldsmith said. If you want to vote in the primary and you havent received the new (yellow) certificate, you should update your voter registration or register for the first time.

Voters may verify their registration or update their address online at votetexas.gov. Those who dont use digital devices may call the county elections office at 254-757-5043. Registered voters will be prompted to supply any information that needs to be updated.

Some voters may also have received a blue voter registration confirmation card from Goldsmith and his staff seeking to verify information.

Some may be alarmed to see state-mandated language on the blue card cautioning that they will see their registration canceled if they fail to respond to the notice or do not confirm their address when voting before November 30 following the second general election for state and county officers that occurs after the date the confirmation notice is mailed.

This does not mean registrations have been cancelled or will be cancelled soon, Goldsmith said.

People who received this card last summer or last fall and do nothing, will not be removed from the vote rolls until the end of November following the midterm Congressional election in 2026, Goldsmith said. If you received a confirmation notice (card) before the last Congressional election in 2022, you will have until the end of November following the Presidential election later this year before you have to worry about being removed from the voter rolls.

The simplest way to update voter registration is to fill out a voter registration address confirmation card, sign it in ink and mail it back to the county elections administrators office, or respond online.

Those who are registering to vote for the first time in Texas cannot do so online. They must sign and mail a voter registration form to the county elections office.

Previously registered voters who do not receive the new yellow certificate and do not update their registration will likely see their registration put in suspense status, Goldsmith said.

Registered McLennan County voters who have not resolved their suspension by the time they go to vote can still fill out a "statement of residence" at the polling place and be allowed to cast a regular ballot.

Voters who have moved to McLennan County from another Texas county without changing their registration can also fill out a statement of residence at the elections office voting center, but only during early voting. They will then be allowed to cast a "limited ballot" which will cover only the contests that would be on the ballot in both their former and current locations.

Updating the rolls

The elections administrators office continually updates the voter rolls, Goldsmith said. His staff sends out address confirmation notices any time they have returned mail from the post office.

Anytime we send something to a voter, and the post office returns it to us, we send out an address confirmation notice, Goldsmith said. If the post office gives us a forwarding address well send the confirmation notice there.

There are also times when the elections office may receive a purge list.

Sometimes in the past we have received lists of people that others want removed from the voter rolls, Goldsmith said. Those lists could include voters who may have died or moved out of the county.

When get such a list we dont start deleting names left and right. We send out the voter registration address confirmation notices to the people on the list.

Goldsmith said sending that notice starts a clock ticking that will run through two federal election cycles. It could be a little longer than two years, if the notice goes out right before a federal election. Or it could be close to four years if it goes out after one.

Voting by mail

Voters who are disabled or 65 and older may send a request to the early voting clerk to vote by mail in all elections all year.

People who are about give birth a few weeks before an election or who will be out of town on the election may send in a request to vote by mail for that election.

Requests to vote by mail for the March 5 primary must be received at the elections office, not postmarked, before 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23.

With two months to go before the March 2024 primary, now is the time to register, McLennan County Republican Party Chairman Bradford Holland said by phone Friday.
In 2023, the number of people killed in cases Waco police investigated as homicides was the same as 2022, with 14 homicide investigations involving 15 deaths, Waco police reported.

Grand juries cleared people of interest of criminal charges in two of the cases. The suspect in another case pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, and 11 cases remain active murder investigations. Parents of three infants who died in Waco in 2023 have been criminally charged, though one of the cases involving infants is not currently considered a homicide investigation, police said.

Tina Foster

Tina Foster, 70, died March 25, nine days after what police described as a disturbance when she entered another patients room in the long-term care facility where she was a resident. An autopsy showed her cause of death as blunt force trauma, but a local grand jury in June declined to indict the person of person of interest in the case, whose mental capacity was in question, according to a McLennan County District Attorneys Office press release at the time.

Felipa Martinez, Antonio Martinez

Police were called to a residence in the 2100 block of Clay Avenue on March 26, where they found Matias Maltos-Saucedo, 25, covered in blood and holding two knives. His stepfather, Antonio Martinez, 70, was pronounced dead at the scene with stab wounds, and Maltos-Saucedos mother, Felipa Martinez, 59, was taken with stab wounds to a local hospital, where she later died, police reported at the time. Maltos-Saucedo was arrested that day and indicted on a murder charge in April. He remains in McLennan County Jail on $1 million bond awaiting trial.

Justin Sharp

Justin Sharp, 16, was found dead with gunshot wounds March 28 at Guthrie Park, and Waco police arrested a 15-year-old suspect in April. He pleaded guilty in August to a lesser riot charge, his attorney Jason Darling said. The boy shot Sharp in defense of another person after Sharp pulled out a handgun and appeared to point it at someone, Darling said. However, it was later determined the firearm Sharp had was defective and could not have fired, he said.

Darling said about 15 high-school age boys were participating in a fight club before the incident. He said his client was sentenced to two years probation, and several others are facing a riot charge.

Zachary Kazwayne Hughes

Zachary Kazwayne Hughes, 24, was fatally shot the afternoon of April 3 as he sat in a car with two others outside a convenience store in the 1800 block of Richter Avenue. A woman in the car was also shot, and survived after having surgery to remove bullet fragments, while the other man in the car was shot at but not hit, police reported. Charles Earl Ervin, 29, was arrested on a murder charge and two aggravated assault charges April 10 after being seen committing the shooting on surveillance video, according to an arrest affidavit. Ervin had an ongoing feud with Hughes, according to the affidavit. Ervin was indicted on the three charges in June and remains in McLennan County Jail awaiting trial.

Jamerson Hawthorne

Jamerson Hawthorne, 40, died after a shooting April 19 at a residence in the 1100 block of Cleveland Avenue, police reported. A woman also was shot and taken to a local hospital, where she survived. Police have not announced any arrests in the case.

Tercquan Johnson

Tercquan Johnson, 17, was shot and killed May 2 in the 1900 block of J.J. Flewellen Road, near the Estella Maxey Place public housing complex. Another teen, Ruben Villa Lee Dominguez, 17, was arrested on a murder charge later in May in Freestone County. Investigators determined Dominguez intended to illegally sell a firearm to Johnson and that Johnson was shot after he attempted to steal the firearm, according to an arrest affidavit. Dominguez was indicted on the murder charge in July and remains in McLennan County Jail awaiting trial.

Jared Searles

Jared Searles, 31 was fatally shot July 15 at Hotel Indigo in downtown Waco. Bryan Cantrell, an attorney for Jason Nelson, of China Spring, previously said Nelson shot Searles in self-defense after being awoken in the middle of the night by women screaming for help in the hallway. Searles attacked Nelson after Nelson confronted him, Cantrell said. A grand jury in November declined to indict Nelson on any criminal charges in the case.

Sondre Johnson

Waco police announced Aug. 30 that Sondre Johnson, 19, had died after a shooting four days earlier in the 600 block of Ruby Avenue that also sent another 19-year-old man to the hospital. Police have not announced any arrests in the case.

Christopher Anderson

Christopher Anderson, 41, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Sept. 7 in the 2000 block of Colcord Avenue, police reported. Police have not announced any arrests in the case.

3-month-old boy

The 3-month-old son of Margaret Ann Cosby, 33, of Waco, died Sept. 23, after he was hospitalized Sept. 21 in Temple for malnourishment and multiple fractures, officials reported. Child Protective Services reports filed one day before the infant was hospitalized say CPS removed him and another of Cosbys children from her custody due to multiple instances of neglect and abuse. Cosby was arrested Oct. 11 on an injury to a child charge and indicted in November. She remains in McLennan County Jail awaiting trial. Police said the case against Cosby is not considered a homicide investigation, but that designation could change pending further investigation, including the results of an autopsy.

Maria Fernanda Guerrero

Maria Fernanda Guerrero, 21, was killed Sept. 29 in a shooting outside a home in the 1900 block of Avondale Avenue that also sent a 21-year-old man to the hospital. The next day, police arrested Gustavo Rojas, 29, the father of Guerreros child, on murder and assault charges after a neighbor and the man who survived the shooting identified Rojas as the shooter, according to an arrest affidavit. At the time of the shooting, Rojas was awaiting trial on an assault by strangulation charge from October 2020, when police say he strangled and slapped Guerrero. Rojas was indicted on the murder and assault charges in November and remains in McLennan County Jail awaiting trial.

8-month-old girl

The 8-month-old daughter of Nichole Ann Green, 24, died Oct. 12 at a home in the 900 block of Camp Drive due to the toxic effects of methamphetamine, police reported. Green was arrested Dec. 26 on a murder charge, an endangering a child charge and several others, including drug possession, after police received an autopsy report for the child. Green remains in McLennan County Jail.

Michael Everett Jr.

Michael Everett Jr., 24, died Nov. 17 of injuries sustained in a shooting two days prior in the 1100 block of North Sixth Street, police reported. Police have not announced any arrests in the case.

3-month-old boy

The 3-month-old son of Skylynn Katherine Tuerk, 33, and Charles Devin Harris, 27, died Nov. 29 at a hotel in the 4000 block of North Interstate 35, police reported. Tuerk and Harris were arrested later that day on child endangerment and drug possession charges. CPS reports filed a day after the death say the infant was malnourished and looked like a skeleton before his death, and police found the motel room the couple was staying in to be nasty, with old food containers, cockroaches and meth found in the room. Tuerk and Harris remain in McLennan County Jail, and police are awaiting the results of an autopsy on the child.

Queen Tinisha Louise Brooks

Queen Tinisha Louise Brooks, 25, was strangled on Christmas Eve by her boyfriend, Kevin Eugene Reese, 28, police reported. According to an arrest affidavit, Reese strangled Brooks in their home in the 1700 block of Dallas Circle in front of their child and left her on the floor unconscious for two days until a family member came to the home after not hearing from her on Christmas and called 911.

Brooks was declared brain-dead Dec. 29, police reported. A post the day of the incident on Reeses Facebook page discusses how the only thing he wrapped for Christmas was his hands around a womans neck. Reese was arrested Dec. 30 on a charge of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and remains in McLennan County Jail.
CEDAR FALLS  The Brass Tap listed its downtown Cedar Falls building for sale for $1.2 million this week.

But ownership says it has no plans to close. It is liquefying in pursuit of plans to open additional locations, including one in Waterloo thats first on the list.

James Burtis and his brother, Walter Burtis, whos coming off a failed, largely self-financed mayoral campaign in Cedar Falls, would continue to operate the 5,289 square-foot bar and restaurant at 421 Main St. they opened in late 2017. The only difference would be that Burtis Core Inc. is the tenant.

Were staying in business and still intend to be a staple of downtown for many years to come, said Walter Burtis.

Theyre looking to free up capital and reduce debt in hopes of bringing a smaller location to Waterloo. They have begun preliminary work exploring an already constructed building along the Cedar River.

We feel we have a commitment to both communities as weve split time between both of them, and we want to be a part of that revitalization of downtown Waterloo, Burtis said.

This would help expand our footprint and help those who dont like the travel time to our Cedar Falls location, he added.

The brothers agreement with FSC Franchise Co., the parent company, allows them to open up to five total locations. They have an established region in Iowa that extends along Interstates 80 and 380 as far as Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Coralville.

We want to focus on the brand recognition that comes with growth and additional units, he said.

Burtis emphasized theres no rush to sell the building. The focus is on finding the right buyer. Theyd prefer a local one, and an agreement with a right of first offer to buy it back if necessary. He also hopes the person or entity has enthusiasm and commitment to the community.

T and T Rentals, owned by Tony Tomlyanovich, had the building, at the corner of Fifth and Main streets, in its portfolio until selling it to the tenant Burtis Core for $1.1 million in 2022.

The owner of Tonys La Pizzeria on the same block, Tomlyanovich has the deed for the building next door to Brass Tap housing Sarahs Espresso Cafe and Bigfoot Bettys at 419 Main St.

Also in the 400 block, the 6,200-square-foot top floor at 401 Main St., once home to Voodoo Lounge, recently became available for lease. Skyview, a business of Ben Stroh, owns that building.

Burtis will never say never that someone could come along and put in an offer to buy them out, effectively changing the course of Brass Taps flagship location. But thats not on the brothers minds right now.

We have no plans to leave, he emphasized.

The business is coming off a significant renovation and expansion over the summer. Burtis said selling was already a possibility when they took on that project.

He denied the decision had anything to do with his run for office.

This is a simple business decision, Burtis added.

PHOTOS: NWCA Multi-Division National Duals
WATERLOO  A Waterloo couple has been arrested in connection with the sexual abuse of a young girl.

Waterloo police arrested Wesley Dale Widner, 40, and Jay Nicck Widner, 29, on Thursday on charges of second-degree sexual abuse. Bond for Wesley Widner was set at $25,000. Bond for Jay Widner, who is also awaiting trial in another case, was set at $30,000.

Court records allege Wesley Widner let an 8-year-old girl climb on him while he was naked and allowed her to touch him.

Jay Widner later reported the incident to Iowa Department of Human Services staff and allegedly said, I was OK with it and at the time, I agreed to it because I didnt want to cause a fight, but hes done a number of questionable things, court records state.

Jay Widner is currently awaiting trial for a child endangerment charge in a June 2023 incident where she allegedly struck a 7-year-old girl in the face while she was covered with a blanket and threatened to kill her, according to court records. The girl suffered minor bruising, records state.

15 signs your child is affected by bullying and what you can do about it Changes in eating habits Declining grades or loss of interest in school work Self-destructive behavior Feelings of helplessness or decreased self-esteem Feeling or faking sickness, headaches and stomach aches Unexplained injuries Lost or destroyed clothing, books, or other belongings Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares Avoidance of social situations or sudden loss of friends What you can do Signs that your child is bullying: Getting into fights Has friends who bully New money or possessions Detention Blames others Worried about reputation
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DES MOINES  City, county and school district finance departments will be putting together their annual budgets based on a significantly smaller residential rollback than in recent years.

The statewide rollback, or the percentage of a propertys value that can be taxed, has dramatically dropped from 54.65% in the current fiscal year to 46.34% for the next fiscal year. The Iowa Department of Revenue released the rollback order in November.

The rate serves a purpose of limiting the burden of annual growth in property values on the taxpayer. It had been steady for several years between about 54% and 56%

But now as a result of the change a property valued at $100,000 would see its taxable value drop from $54,650 to $46,340.

The figure is based on a complicated formula.

According to the Iowa League of Cities, the significant drop in the residential rollback comes essentially because of a massive increase in assessed residential values. That is driven by growth in the urban metro areas and, more generally, the increase in housing demand and decrease in supply seen across the nation.

The lower taxable value is viewed as a starting point to calculate how much a homeowner pays in property taxes. The actual tax rate is set by city councils, school boards and other taxing bodies each spring as part of their budgets.

Officials in Black Hawk County will be keeping in mind a third factor in developing their budgets and tax rates. Thats the countywide reassessments residents received early last year, leading many to be concerned because of the spikes theyd seen in their home values.

That will be in play in determining how much in property taxes residents will pay in September 2024 and March 2025.

This year is also the first time multi-residential properties  including mobile home parks, assisted living facilities and any property with three or more living quarters  is now classified as part of the residential property class.

The last few years it had been its own class and before that considered a commercial property. Fiscal year 2025 starts July 1.

Can landlords be held responsible for criminal activities on their properties? Can landlords be held responsible for criminal activities on their properties?
CEDAR FALLS  Ron DeSantis was on a roll Friday night during his latest stop in the Cedar Valley.

Several dozen were in attendance to hear the Republican presidential candidate at the Cedar Falls Womans Club on Clay Street. Some kind words from an audience member sparked Floridas governor as he proceeded to tout several objectives  drawing the crowds approval  10 days ahead of the Jan. 15 caucuses.

Waves of clapping followed his mention of term limits for those in Congress and a call for the country balance its budget.

The former congressman, alongside Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, spoke highly about an authority he has as governor  line-item veto authority.

If he had that power as president, he said, the federal government could effectively pass a budget and adopt spending bills more efficiently.

The authority allowed him to wipe out individual spending items.

One year I vetoed 3% of the entire budget that was put on my desk, and thats part of the reason weve been able to pay down 25% of our states debt, DeSantis contended.

The Congress will put out a massive spending bill  $2 trillion or $1.5 trillion  and its like a lot. No one knows whats in it, and the president either has to veto all the spending and fund nothing or sign it and fund everything, he added.

He also claimed to have never traded stocks while in elected office, which he says others are doing. That promotes distrust.

DeSantis said its an example of a larger problem: Elected officials dont follow the laws they pass, like they are better than citizens.

Ive always been in favor of a proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution that says simply this: Congress shall make no law respecting the citizens of the United States that does not also apply to members of Congress themselves, he said.

DeSantis also used some of his 90-minute appearance to take digs at former President Donald Trump. The governor noted Trump had problems with personnel during his term and doesnt think hed be able to recruit good people.

With me, wed inspire people from all across the country to want to be part of this. I dont think you can just recycle people from D.C. I think you need to bring people from Iowa, Texas, Florida.

I think the people in D.C., its a swamp for a reason, he added. How is it that five of the eight wealthiest counties in our country are suburbs of Washington, D.C.? Its because its all about benefiting the entrenched D.C. class at your expense.

The governor admitted he campaigned hard for Trump during the former presidents first run in 2016. Responding to a question about illegal immigration, he said Trump made the border wall and immigration his top issue but did not follow through.

He got in and he didnt pursue the wall right off the bat. He gave the agenda to (former House Speaker) Paul Ryan. They were doing other things. I think had he constructed the entire wall Biden would not have been able to bring in 8 million people, DeSantis said.

He said the first thing hell do if elected is declare a national emergency at the border, but with Mexico paying for it.

Its not that Mexico is just going to give you money, he said. The country must impose fees on remittances workers with visas send back to foreign countries.

Makell Magley of Cedar Falls asked how DeSantis would appeal to young people. DeSantis pointed out how he kept Florida businesses and schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic to the benefit of that demographic. He noted colossal mistakes he felt Trump made, such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

The night saw questions about health and senior issues, the most common topic. Others raised subjects like higher education and abortion.

Kevin McCrindle of Waterloo asked about DeSantis foreign policy views. DeSantis said the big enemy is China. He said in Florida, he passed a law that prevented China from purchasing land.

The governor did not mention any other countries in his response, most notably ignoring the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas.

Randy Grover of La Porte City said 2024 is the first time hes going to caucus in 70 years.

Im really scared about the direction of this country, he said.

He said any candidate can talk, but he likes DeSantis because of what hes produced. One example is his fight with Disney.

Dan and Becky Corbin of Cedar Falls also cited his record in Florida, in particular how he stood up to Disney.

That was awesome. Hes a man of integrity and character, said Becky Corbin.

PHOTOS: NWCA Multi-Division National Duals
WATERLOO  In the wake of another school shooting  this one in Perry  local school officials are offering support to residents of the Iowa town of 8,000 and reviewing their own safety protocols.

On Thursday, a 17-year-old student with a shotgun and a handgun opened fire at the small-town high school, killing a sixth-grader and wounding five others, authorities say.

The shooting had students at Perry High School barricading themselves in offices, ducking into classrooms and fleeing. Authorities said one of the wounded was a school administrator. The suspect was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities identified the shooter as Dylan Butler, 17, but provided no information about a possible motive. Two friends and their mother who spoke with The Associated Press said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied for years.

Waterloo Schools Superintendent Jared Smith offered condolences to all affected by the tragedy in Perry.

In times of unimaginable sorrow, our hearts reach out to the Perry Community School District and community as they grapple with the aftermath of this tragedy. As a district, we stand united, offering our deepest condolences and unwavering support to all who were involved. This crisis is another reminder of why the physical and emotional safety of our students and staff is a top priority, Smith said in an email to The Courier.

The Waterloo School Board will meet in special session Monday night to discuss the districts participation in the Safe and Sound Iowa program, offered by the Iowa Department of Public Safety. Cedar Falls also participates in an anonymous alerts program.

According to the programs webpage, Safe and Sound Iowa is free to all K-12 schools statewide. It is meant to empower students, teachers, parents and community members to anonymously report school safety concerns and get students in crisis the help they need before its too late.

Emily Frederick, director of school and community relations at Waterloo Schools, said several safety protocols are in place at Waterloo attendance centers.

They include:

All doors are locked in school buildings during the school day. Visitors must check into the main office before they are able to enter any building.

Each building has a dedicated safety team that meets regularly and conducts safety drills to ensure all staff and students know how react in the face of danger.

Both the Waterloo and Evansdale police departments provide school resource officers that support staff in all buildings.

Schools continue to actively pursuing safety upgrades through governors safe schools grant program.

The Cedar Falls School District did not respond to calls requesting comment on the Perry shootings.

According to Cedar Falls Community Schools website, students and staff routinely practice actions that would be taken in a crisis situation. Parents can request a student opt out of drills if they believe they could be detrimental for their child.

The district has adopted procedures recommended by the U.S. Departments of Education and Homeland Security to use in the event of a dangerous intruder situation. Students learn about options that can be taken along with discussing ways of preventing these situations. Age-appropriate curriculum for teaching students has been developed by school counselors with input from outside professionals. Cedar Falls also has a police liaison/school resource officer shared by its school buildings.
David Young, PA

Helen McEntee has condemned groups intent on sowing division and fear through intimidation following arson attacks on buildings proposed for the housing of asylum seekers, insisting those responsible will face justice.

The Minister for Justices comments came as gardai carried out a series of searches as part of an investigation into a blaze at a disused hotel in Co Galway where international protection applicants were set to be accommodated. Gardai previously said they are treating the incident as arson.

The Ross Lake House Hotel at Rosscahill was badly damaged in the fire last month, days before it was due to accommodate 70 asylum seekers.

It was one of a series of recent incidents of criminal damage at properties that have been earmarked as accommodation for refugees or asylum seekers.

A former pub on Thorncastle Street in the Ringsend area of Dublin, which was targeted in an arson attack on New Years Eve (Brian Lawless/PA)

A former pub in Ringsend in Dublin was set alight on New Years Eve amid speculation it was going to be used to house international protection applicants, even though it was actually due to be used for homeless accommodation.

On Thursday, gardai said they were investigating suspected criminal damage by fire at an unoccupied building in Fethard, Co Tipperary.

In a statement on Saturday, Ms McEntee said: I strongly condemn these criminal acts of arson.

People need to understand these are very serious crimes which carry heavy prison sentences and those who have carried them out will be brought to justice.

I have been in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner (Drew Harris) and I have reassured him that any resources required will be made available to him.

Meanwhile, An Garda Siochana is doing everything possible to investigate recent acts of arson. I understand they are making good progress in their investigations and I encourage anyone with any information in relation to any of the incidents to contact them.

I also ask anyone with information either on past incidents or about possible upcoming threats to contact their local gardai.

It is clear that a group of people in society are intent on sowing division and fear through intimidation. I repeat that there can never be justification for such acts, regardless of circumstances or alleged motivation.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she has been in regular contact with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in relation to the arson attacks (PA)

Earlier, gardai said they carried out four searches at properties in the Rosscahill area on Saturday morning in relation to the investigation of the Galway fire.

The operation was conducted by Garda members attached to Galway Divisional Crime unit, supported by the National Bureau of Crime Investigation.

Gardai said a number of exhibits were seized which will be subject to analysis that will determine the next stages of the investigation.

The force described the investigation to date as large scale, with 229 investigative tasks having been conducted and 145 statements taken.

Gardai also reiterated their appeal for anyone with information about the attack to come forward.

Ms McEntee said Gardai and the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) continued to work closely together to ensure effective policing plans were in place wherever there is an identified operational need.

Where accommodation centres are being established, IPAS notifies and engages with local communities through their Community Engagement Team in advance, she said.

Gardai are continually monitoring emerging threats, including monitoring social media activity, and stepping up policing responses as necessary.

Both my department and I are fully committed to the fight against racism and bigotry and strongly condemn the actions of those who abuse and attack others because of their own prejudices.

Ireland is a diverse and tolerant country, and such behaviour is not acceptable.
 Interview with the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for international cooperation in the field of information security, Director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs A.R. Lyukmanov RIA Novosti (January 5, 2024)

https://ria.ru/20240105/lyukmanov-1918969037.html

Main points:

 Over the past two years, the domestic information infrastructure has become the target of regular computer attacks. Most of them are carried out from the territory or in the interests of the V. Zelensky regime. < ...> We have to admit that this country has actually become a NATO testing ground for testing methods of confrontation in the digital space.

 Now the issue of information security has firmly entered the UN agenda. The main negotiating platform is an open-ended working group created at the initiative of Russia in 2021. < ...> One of the priority areas of work for the Russian Federation is the formation of universal legally binding instruments in the field of information security.

 Based on the results of 2023, we can confidently say that our interaction with African partners in the field of information security has reached a qualitatively new level . The starting point was the second Russia-Africa summit .

 China is not just the most important partner in the field of international investment, but also our main like-minded partner. The approaches of Moscow and Beijing are as close as possible .

 US authorities and intelligence agencies, in an effort to gain control over electronic communications on a global scale, have relied on the potential of the IT giants of Silicon Valley. Corporations like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta and others were forced to meekly fulfill Washingtons political order.

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Japanese authorities say the death toll has risen to 126 from Monday's massive earthquake in central Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture, and more than 200 people are still unaccounted for.

The magnitude 7.6 quake struck on New Year's Day.

At least 10 people including an 8-year-old boy are believed trapped in part of the town of Anamizu after landslides destroyed several houses.

Several roads remain blocked, making it difficult to reach survivors. Japan's Self-Defense Forces are using helicopters to carry out rescue operations and deliver supplies to isolated areas. But survivors say items such as gasoline and kerosene are in short supply.

The situation remains difficult at facilities for the elderly. In one facility with 100 residents, the second floor was severely damaged and is now unusable. Residents have been forced to live in the limited available space. The facility has been forced to take tough measures, such as using stored rainwater to flush toilets.

Authorities warn that the weekend's weather will only worsen the danger for people in quake-hit areas. Rain is forecast through Sunday across the Hokuriku region and Niigata Prefecture. The ground has been loosened, and even a small amount of rain could trigger more landslides. A cold front on Sunday afternoon could bring snowfall through Monday, especially in mountainous areas.

Evacuation centers in the prefecture currently house about 30,000 people. Local government officials say about 66,000 households remain without water.

Severe seismic activity continues on the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas. A powerful magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday morning. Authorities urge residents to stay alert for more, possibly as large as the first magnitude 7.6 quake.
iD Fresh Food, Indias leading and most innovative fresh food brand, kickstarts the New Year by building on itscontinued success and accelerating its local-to-global strategy by strengthening its domestic and global leadership team.

With an India-centric approach to its global plans, the company announced today the appointment ofindustry veteran Rajat Diwaker as the India CEO. Rajat is an industry veteran with an illustrious career spanning over two decades in the FMCG industry. He has an outstanding track record of turning around businesses and delivering high-impact growth. In his last role, he served as the Managing Director of Marico Bangladesh Limited. He is also a director on the board of Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Bangladesh.

PC Musthafa, who led iD Fresh for nearly two decades to make it Indias most loved consumer brand, takes on the role of Global CEO while continuing to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Musthafa will be responsible for global expansions, building food-tech capabilities, strategic acquisitions, inspiring organizational culture and driving iD Freshs innovations for the global market.

As part of its growth strategy, iD Fresh will also a ppoint dedicated Business Heads and CEOs for each International market. In fact, the company is in the process of hiring its US CEO. Currently, over a third comes from revenues outside India. The plan for 2024 is to enter new markets, such as Singapore and Australia, while expanding its footprints in the existing markets.

Commenting on the latest development, PC Musthafa, Global CEO, iD Fresh Food, said, iD Freshs journey so far has been incredibly rewarding, and we continue to make tremendous strides. I am delighted to welcome Rajat Diwaker to the iDFresh family. Under his able and forward-looking leadership, I m confident that we will scale new heights and win more hearts in the years to come. And as we embark on new adventures, I am thrilled to lead the brand into new global markets, driven by the incessant consumer love that we have garnered over the years.

Rajat will spearhead iD Freshs efforts to foster sustainable business growth and innovation, as the brand continues to achieve newer milestones in India. I am very excited to assume this responsibility. It's a privilege to lead a team that has set new benchmarks for innovation and business growth. My focus will be on accelerating innovation, portfolio expansion, widening distribution and expanding manufacturing footprint; thereby creating more value and impact on consumers, team members and shareholders alike, said Rajat.

iD Freshs journey from its hu mble beginnings in Bengaluru in 2005 to a soaring global enterprise has set new benchmarks for the food industry, with its USP of 100% natural, high-quality, healthy, preservative- and chemical-free products. The companys announcement comes at a time when the consumer demand for fresh, healthy foods and opportunities for growth in the international markets have reached unprecedented levels. To leverage this growth,, the company also plans to roll out IPO over the next three to four years.

The company had recently announced the appointment of Megha Latawa as its Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for India and international markets, and Enakshi Dasgupta as Head of New Business and New Product Development (NPD). As the Bengaluru-based company accelerates its global growth plans, the focus is on strong leadership that paves the way for a bright future.

In 2022, the company had raised INR 507 crore in Series D round of funding, in one of the largest deals in the food start-up space. The round was led by a global private equity firm focused on the Asia-Pacific region, along with the existing investor, Premji Invest.
Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions Limited, a leading manufacturer of electric two and three-wheelers in India, announced the recent appointment of Mr. S. Sundareswaran as the Director of Manufacturing & Operations. With over three decades of experience in the automotive and auto component industries, Mr. Sundareswaran brings a wealth of expertise and a proven track record of success in leading manufacturing, operations and strategic sourcing teams.

In his new role, Mr. Sundareswaran will spearhead the direction and monitoring of plant performance to support the organization's objectives. His responsibilities will encompass leadership in production, quality assurance, supply chain management and manufacturing engineering activities. Additionally, he will play a pivotal role in ensuring the implementation of manufacturing capacity augmentation strategies and instill advanced processes aligned with business objectives, focusing on price, quality and delivery targets.

Mr. Sundareswaran's distinguished career includes senior positions at renowned companies such as Ashok Leyland Ltd., Switch Mobility Automotive Ltd. and TAFE Ltd. He holds a Post Graduate degree in Senior Leadership from XLRI, Jamshedpur, a Masters in Science (M.S) from BITS, Pilani, an MBA (Finance) from IGNOU and a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Industrial Engineering.

Recognized for his ability to cultivate robust relationships with customers and suppliers, Mr. Sundareswaran has previously headed the successful creation of an electric vehicle plant capable of manufacturing 3000 chassis annually, complete with a 1000 MW Lithium ION battery manufacturing and charging facilities. Notably, he has demonstrated success in launching four new EV products.

Expressing her delight, Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder and CEO of Kinetic Green, said, "I am excited to welcome Mr. S. Sundareswaran to Kinetic Green. Sundareswaran is a proven leader with a deep understanding of the manufacturing, quality and sourcing excellence process. We are confident that his expertise and leadership will be instrumental in driving our growth, help create advanced, high quality yet affordable EVs and spur innovation as we continue to expand our EV product portfolio."

Mr. Sundareswaran also shared his enthusiasm about joining Kinetic Green, stating, "I am thrilled to embark on this exciting journey with Kinetic Green at a pivotal juncture in the company's growth. Kinetic Green stands as a leader in the electric vehicle industry and I am honoured to take on the role of Director Manufacturing & Operations. My commitment is to lead a team of highly skilled and dedicated professionals towards achieving operational excellence and fostering innovation. Together with the talented team at Kinetic Green, I am confident that we will continue to set new benchmarks in the EV industry, driving not only operational success but also making meaningful strides towards a greener and more sustainable future."
An elderly man who walks with a cane robbed a downtown Pensacola, Fla., bank Friday morning, according to the Pensacola Police Department.

Police say shortly before 10 a.m. Friday 74-year-old Randall Lawrence Digsby of Pensacola walked into the Synovus Bank on W. Romana Street and, brandishing a knife, demanded cash from a teller.

The teller complied and handed over what police said was a small amount of cash. Digsby was apprehended by police just outside the bank -- two minutes after he robbed it, police said. No one was injured during the incident.

Digsby is now in the Escambia County (Fla.) Jail, being held without bond on charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault. He is scheduled in Escambia County Circuit Court on Jan. 26.

If convicted of armed robbery, Digsby faces up to 30 years in state prison under Florida law. An aggravated assault charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.
Marshall County authorities have charged a 48-year-old Geraldine man with sodomy and sexual abuse of a six-year-old child.

Billy Lee was arrested on Thursday. He is being held in the Marshall County Jail without bond.

According to the sheriffs office, Lee was taken into custody following an investigation that began the evening of Dec. 28.

Deputies responded to a residence near Swearengin, where the parents of a six-year-old told them that their child said a visiting family member, identified as Lee, had engaged in sexual contact.

At the time, Lee was highly intoxicated and was found unconscious inside a bedroom at the residence. He was taken into custody because of active warrants through Fyffe police.

According to the sheriffs office, Lee was released by the Alabama Department of Corrections in October on a mandatory release.

Based on interviews with the child by the Childrens Advocacy Center, Lee is accused of fondling and performing oral sex on the child.

Sex-crimes involving young children typically get reported months, or even years, after the events took place, which makes investigating those cases very difficult, a statement from the sheriffs office reads.

Victims often dont recall the specific details, and family members are often too embarrassed or ashamed to report those crimes, which makes prosecution of those cases even more difficult. Thankfully, the parents of this child immediately knew something was wrong, and made an early disclosure to the Sheriffs Office.
Ishikawa, Jan 09 ( NHK ) - The number of people killed in the New Year's Day earthquake in central Japan has risen to 180. Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture say more than 120 people are still unaccounted for, and tens of thousands impacted by the disaster are still struggling.

Search and recovery crews are still sifting through the city of Wajima, near the earthquake's epicenter.

More than 200 buildings were burned down by a massive fire sparked during the disaster.

Starting Tuesday, police plan to conduct an intensive 4-day search to find anything left behind.

Ishikawa Prefecture says more than 3,000 people in the Noto region remain isolated.

Yamashita Kanako, an evacuee and a volunteer at shelter in Wajima says people there don't have enough drinking water. She says they are boiling spring water or bringing buckets of water from a river so they can flush their toilets.

As the recovery continues, findings suggest the disaster could have a lasting impact on the region's fishing industry. Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry says more than 120 fishing boats capsized or sank, mainly around Suzu City.

Japan's Meteorological Agency warns people should not let their guard down just yet even though it is over a week since New Year's Day's magnitude 7.6 earthquake.

The agency is warning of possible quakes with upper five or more intensity on Japan's zero-to-seven seismic scale over the coming month.
A man wanted for the murder of an elderly Mississippi woman who was found shot and set on fire in her home last week has been captured near Jackson, Miss.

Sammy Patrick had been wanted for murder since the body of 73-year-old Dee Eady was found inside her Scott County home last Saturday.

Eady had been fatally shot and her body set on fire. Investigators believe she may also have been sexually assaulted, but are awaiting the results of an autopsy.

On Monday, Patrick was believed to have robbed a Subway in Wilkinson County, Miss., not far from the Mississippi-Louisiana state line in southwestern Mississippi, prompting Louisiana law enforcement to join in the hunt, although Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee warned at the time Patrick could go anywhere in his effort to elude capture.

On Friday, U.S. Marshals received information that Patrick was riding in a vehicle which had been reported stolen out of Jefferson Parish, La., according to WLBT in Jackson. A U.S. Marshal and Mississippi State Trooper spotted the vehicle and the trooper pulled it over just before 11 a.m. at a convenience store in Byrum, Miss., not far from Jackson and about 50 miles west of where Dee Eady was murdered.

Patrick was taken into custody without incident.

The Scott County Sheriffs Office took to social media to express its gratitude for Patricks capture.

Thank you to all of the agencies that assisted with the capture of Sammy Patrick, read the Facebook post. Rankin County SO, Louisiana State Police, Mississippi Highway Patrol, US Marshal Service, New Orleans PD, Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, and Byram PD. Thank you all for the help!!
Some artists can hold an entire arena, stadium or mega-festival crowd in the palms of their hands. It takes special songs, talent, charisma and savviness.

Sometimes that power comes in smaller doses. Bands who pack small rooms with their music and make it feel like the most electric place in the universe to be that night.
Bishop Glenda Curry, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, on Thursday ordained the Rev. Katie Kirk as a priest at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Birmingham.

Kirk, a graduate of Auburn University and Yale Universitys Berkley Divinity School, has been serving at St. Georges Cathedral in Jerusalem on a fellowship.

Shes the 2023-2024 Porter Fellow, a program for seminary graduates at Yale to advance global leadership by having recent graduates live and work in Jerusalem.

The opening hymn for the ordination service was I Bind Unto Myself This Day. The service was broadcast on the St. Andrews Facebook page.

As we sang in the opening hymn, I truly felt Christ in all that love me  those in the church and those watching online, and those who are now with us in the great cloud of witnesses, Kirk said.

In March 2023, she had been ordained as a deacon, sponsored by Holy Trinity Church in Auburn.

After completing the Porter Fellowship, Kirk plans to return to Alabama.
Several Alabama shopping centers were targets of bomb threats Friday morning.

Police in Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Mobile, and Leeds are among those who reported receiving the bogus threats.

Tuscaloosa police officers responded about 10:30 a.m. to University Mall after staff received an email bomb threat that was later determined to be a hoax, said police spokeswoman Stephanie Taylor.

Although there was no indication the threat was valid, nearly two dozen officers responded with assistance from UAPD, Taylor said.

Officers and bomb-sniffing dogs checked all interior and exterior areas of the property before deeming it safe.

The mall remained open while officers conducted a thorough security check of the premises.

An all-clear was declared shortly after 11 a.m.

Leeds police also responded Friday morning to the Shops of Grand River after shopping center, but deemed the threat a hoax as well.

The Huntsville Police Department was dispatched at 10:30 a.m. to the Parkway Place Mall. Police did not evacuate the mall and said the threat was unfounded, according to television reports.

The Shoppes at Bel Air was evacuated Friday morning, according to a Mobile television. Employees and customers at the mall were asked to leave the building.

All of the threats were delivered via email.

Birmingham police said they had not been dispatched to any bomb threats Friday, but did respond to bogus threats Thursday at the Birmingham Museum of Art, the McWane Center and Vulcan.

On Wednesday, Alabamas State Capitol was included among a swath of other states that received a bomb threat.

A bomb threat emailed to officials in several states early Wednesday briefly disrupted government affairs and prompted some state capitol evacuations, but no explosives were found and federal officials quickly dismissed the threats as a hoax.

Taylor said Tuscaloosa investigators suspect that the same individual or group responsible for recent threats to government buildings, residences, businesses, and places of worship across the country and state is likely behind Fridays hoax as well.
By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday due to complications following a minor elective medical procedure, his press secretary said, in the Defense Departments first acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted five days earlier to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Friday that it was not clear when Austin, who is a native of Mobile, Ala., would be released from the hospital, but said the secretary was recovering well.

The Pentagons failure to disclose Austins hospitalization is counter to normal practice with the president and other senior U.S. officials and Cabinet members. The Pentagon Press Association, which represents media members who cover the Defense Department, sent a letter of protest to Ryder and Chris Meagher, the assistant defense secretary for public affairs.

The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage, the PPA said in its letter. At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader.

The White House has refused to say when or how it had been notified of Austins hospitalization, and it referred questions to the Pentagon.

When Attorney General Merrick Garland went in for a routine medical procedure in 2022, his office informed the public a week in advance and outlined how long he was expected to be out and when he would return to work.

Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, cited an evolving situation, and said that due to privacy and medical issues, the Pentagon did not make Austins absence public. He declined to provide any other details about Austins medical procedure or health.

Austin, 70, spent 41 years in the military, retiring as a four-star Army general in 2016. In 2021, he became the countrys first Black Defense Secretary.

In a statement, Ryder said that at all times, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required.

Austins hospitalization comes as Iranian-backed militias have repeatedly launched drones, missiles and rockets at bases where U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq and Syria, leading the Biden administration to strike back on a number of occasions. Those strikes often involve sensitive, top-level discussions and decisions by Austin and other key military leaders.

The U.S. is also the chief organizer behind a new international maritime coalition using ships and other assets to patrol the southern Red Sea to deter persistent attacks on commercial vessels by Houthi militants in Yemen.

In addition, the administration, particularly Austin, has been at the forefront of the effort to supply weapons and training to Ukraine, and hes also been communicating frequently with the Israelis on their war against Hamas.
Marshall County authorities have arrested a Guntersville woman they say shot a man on a busy four-lane highway.

The shooting happened Wednesday, according to the Marshall County Sheriffs Office. Deputies responded to the Town of New Hope, where a 59-year-old man was being treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his left shoulder.

The victim told deputies that he had been shot while driving in his vehicle on U.S. 431 near Guntersville Dam Road. The man said he believed he knew who wounded him, and provided some information about the vehicle from which the shot came.

Investigators began looking for three persons of interest related to the shooting, and found one early the next morning - identified as Kelly Wooten, 37, of New Hope. Wooten had warrants for her arrest through Guntersville police and was taken into custody.

She has been charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle and is being held in the Marshall County Jail without bond.

Investigators believe the shooting was an isolated incident, and that the victim and Wooten knew each other.

The Madison County Sheriffs Office assisted in the case.
Authorities are searching for a 20-year-old man who is wanted in a December shooting that killed two people, including a 13-year-old boy.

The suspect is already awaiting trial for a 2022 shooting that left his 3-year-old sister injured.

Leon Walker Jr. is charged with two counts of capital murder in the killings of Johnathan Keith Cottingham, 13, of Forestdale, and Louis Craig IV, 19, of Birmingham. He is also charged with attempted murder for a 15-year-old boy was in the car with the slain victims but escaped injury.

The warrants against Walker were obtained Dec. 18. Authorities have been searching for him since then.

The deadly shooting happened just before 8 p.m. on Dec. 11. Jefferson County sheriffs deputies responded to a call of shots fire in the 200 block of Chickasaw Drive near Forestdale.

When they arrived, they found a vehicle had crashed into several other parked vehicles in the parking lot of an apartment complex, said Lt. Joni Money.

Cottingham and Craig were found unresponsive inside the vehicle. Both were pronounced dead on the scene at 8:19 p.m.

Money said the third teen, who was uninjured, ran to a nearby residence for help.

Jefferson County sheriff's deputies are investigating a Dec. 11, 2023, shooting that left two people dead.(Contributed)

A motive has not been disclosed but authorities said the suspect knew the victims.

Cottingham was a sixth grader at Minor Middle School.

He had his whole life ahead of him, and it is heartbreaking to lose someone so young to an act of violence, Jefferson County schools superintendent Walter Gonsoulin said in a prepared statement.

His family, his friends, and his teachers are all in my prayers today. I also pray the person responsible will be brought to justice quickly.

Walker is charged with aggravated child abuse in the 2022 incident that left his younger sister injured by gunfire.

In that incident, sheriffs deputies were dispatched to Tower Drive on a report of a child shot. They arrived to find the girl suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach area.

Authorities said the girl had been left in the care of her brother, Leon Walker Jr. That case has been over to a grand jury for indictment consideration.

Once back in custody, Walker will be held without bond on the capital murder charges.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
By Margaret Baker | The Sun Herald (TNS)

A sheriffs deputy shot and killed in the line of duty in George County, Mississippi is being remembered as a beloved husband, father, and law enforcement officer who dedicated his life to serving others.

Jeremy Malone was shot and killed Thursday evening after he pulled over a man for a tag violation in the parking lot of a Dollar General.

Malone had just gone on duty about 45 minutes before his killing, newly-elected Sheriff Mitchell Mixon said Friday. The sheriff never thought for a minute that would be the last time he saw Malone alive.

We were looking forward to working together, Mixon said. He was excited. He just loved law enforcement. Other than his wife and three daughters, this would be the next love he had.

Malone was shot and killed shortly after he made the stop.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into the shooting.

According to MBI, the shooting happened after Malone pulled the suspect over around 5:15 p.m. Thursday in the parking of a Dollar General store on Mississippi 98, near the intersection of Brushy Creek Road in the Rocky Creek community. Malone was shot as he approached the vehicle.

Witnesses at the store called 911.

Victoria Graham, the stores manager, said she was inside the store when she heard what sounded like three gunshots. She said the officer killed and his wife often visited the store.

I cannot sleep, Graham said Friday. This man did not deserve this.

An undercover law enforcement officer, she said, happened to be inside the store when the shooting happened. That officer ran outside to try to render aid to Malone.

Graham, a former EMT in Mobile, said all she could thin to do was lock up the store after the shots rang out.

Ive seen a lot but never a cop (shot), she said.

A witness jumped into a vehicle and followed the suspects vehicle, believed to be a silver SUV, until law enforcement got there to get behind him, authorities said.

The vehicle chase continued out of George County into the Beaumont community in Perry County until there was believed to be an exchange of gunfire, resulting in the suspects death, authorities said Friday.

The suspect, who has a criminal history, has not yet been identified.

Sean Tindell, the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said investigators are still trying to piece together all the events that happened leading up to the shooting and afterward when the suspect died.

His office, he said, has refrained from releasing too many more details at this time at the request of Malones family.

However, authorities have determined that Malone had been shot multiple times.

Gone too soon

Malone, who also worked as head of security at a Coast shipyard, died at the scene.

His fellow law enforcement officers escorted his body from George County to the Mississippi Crime Lab in Biloxi. His body is being brought back to a funeral in Lucedale on Friday.

His death has left his family, friends and his community in shock and mourning.

Former George County Sheriff Keith Havard hired Malone to work at the Sheriffs Office when he took over as sheriff in 2016. Malone had also worked in Jackson and Greene counties.

He was just a great guy, Havard said. He was dependable. He was always there when you needed him and always had a joke for you.

Each year, Havard said, Malone took great joy in collecting toys for the less fortunate during the Blue Line toy drive the Sheriffs Department held over the holidays.

Malone was also the first deputy to volunteer to help with law enforcement duties in Biloxi and surrounding areas as part of the annual Cruisin The Coast events.

He loved working Cruisin The Coast in Biloxi, Havard said.

News of Malones death also hit close to home for Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter, who was Malones roommate when they attended the law enforcement academy over 20 years ago.

He said Malone was the type of man who always tried to keep close ties with his friends in law enforcement.

Just a few weeks ago, Ledbetter said he had lunch with Malone at Ruby Tuesdays in Moss Point. Malone, he said, always made a point of keeping in touch.

We were fairly close, he said. I never thought itd be the last time we had lunch. He was excited about the new sheriff and working for him. "

Malones death, he said, is a reminder of how dangerous our work can be and how unpredictable any day in law enforcement can be.

Like others in the law enforcement community, Ledbetter is mourning the loss of a friend and fellow officer.

He, Mixon, Havard and others in the community are asking for prayers of support for Malones family and law enforcement officers grieving the loss.

An officer and friend

In the days before Malones death, he changed his Facebook profile picture to remember another first responder from the area who had died.

ASAP emergency medical technician Mary Katie Pipkins died on Dec. 31 when she was struck and killed at the scene of a traffic accident in Mobile, Alabama.

Pipkins and her crew were on their way back to Mississippi from taking a patient from there to Mobile when they drove up on the Alabama crash.

Pipkins was providing aid to one of the injured at the crash scene when a passing vehicle hit her and the injured person.

Malones picture is of a black line over a medic badge with the inscription of the bible verse from John 15:13 that reads, There is no greater love than to lay down ones life for ones friends.

This story was originally published January 5, 2024, 11:46 AM.

___

(c)2024 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)

Visit The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) at www.sunherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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For the past three years, Spence Harrison has gotten to know Roxy, a red fox that roams the vast stretch of beaches along the western edges of Alabamas lone barrier island.

The 69-year-old wildlife photographer from Mobile is now trying to find ways to save Roxy, and the other foxes who call Dauphin Island home from an effort to remove them from the island. He points to a 224-page bird conservation and management plan released last month that points to the foxes as a main predator of migratory birds, and a need to remove them from the island.

Roxy is an icon there, said Harrison, who posted about Roxys plight on the website change.org, and has received more than 3,000 signatures of support in saving the red foxes on Dauphin Island.

Their main objective appears to be trap them and relocate them, Harrison said, referring to the report that was assembled by a group of state, county, and local interests. Its the relocation part that is unacceptable to me. Its a death sentence.

But fox watching isnt what brings the masses to Dauphin Island. Long considered a bird-watching mecca, the more than 350 bird species that have been spotted within the island contribute to what is a major tourism lure in a town of fewer than 2,000 permanent residents.

Birding is a big deal for us, said Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier. We are on the migratory trail and were well known for that.

Predatory concerns

Birding is such a big deal that its one of the reasons the plan was crafted after the State of Alabama, through BP oil spill settlement funds, purchased 838 acres of undeveloped area on the far western areas of Dauphin Island. The land purchases overall budget is close to $8 million and was financed from Alabamas portion of the $8.8 billion settlement with BP following the Deepwater Horizon disaster and subsequent oil spill in 2010.

Alabama later transferred ownership of the land to Dauphin Island.

The habitat, which had previously been in private ownership, includes sweeping dunes, salt marshes and beaches. The area is also home to numerous bird species, including federally listed and state-listed species that use the beach and dune areas for nesting.

The beach is also a known home for the sea turtle, a marine reptile that is protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Its a sensitive area, and the report produced to manage it singles out foxes as one of the main causes for the loss of bird nests on West End of the beach. That conclusion was based on a survey from 2018-2022, in which researchers monitored the beaches with cameras.

The details from the survey were included in a plan produced by California-based consulting firm Environmental Science Associates (ESA). The plans intent is to help provide guidance for a host of public entities including the Town of Dauphin Island. The company has over 50 years of experience in environmental planning and analysis.

According to ESAs report, Alabama Audubon biologists found and monitored 38 snowy plover nests along the West End. The snowy plover is a rare shorebird with white and brown colors to it and it is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The report suggests that nesting activity ranged from two to 15 nests per year, with an average of 7.6 per year. The biologists then estimated only three chicks survived to fledging age in those five years.

The report then pins the blame on foxes, although it also concludes that little is known about the foxes on the island and that determining the population size and home ranges of foxes on Dauphin Island will help in understanding how foxes are using the island and whether management in one area  such as the West End  will influences how foxes in another area will use the island.

The report calls foxes invasive exotic species that present a serious threat to native wildlife, including birds and sea turtles.

The report suggests several ways to rid the foxes:

Removal. The report calls this approach a priority management measure for protecting shorebirds and other species.

Taste aversion. The strategy involves placing fake eggs (usually quail eggs) that contain a chemical irritant in a study area, which can cause discomfort for foxes like vomiting. But the chemical is not lethal. The report suggests this strategy could be used as a pilot program to see if it could be effective on the West End.

Electric fencing. A strategy that is used by farmers to protect poultry, and would be used to protect sensitive birding nest areas.

Trap, neuter and release. The plan does not recommend this strategy because it would still allow red foxes to remain on Dauphin Island.

Harrison said he thinks the plan represents overkill. He said some of the foxes, like Roxy, pose little threat and have bonded with the residents. He also said the plan does not dive into research on whether foxes are more of a problem than other predators named within the report such as ghost crabs, owls, hawks, falcons, feral cats and dogs.

They shouldnt sacrifice one predator over 10 other predators out there, said Harrison.

He said he supports the taste aversion and electric fence possibilities for protecting the bird and turtle eggs, as long as the foxes are allowed to remain.

Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, at the university's administrative building in Mobile, Ala. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Collier said he isnt sure on what the best approach will be, and that nothing imminent is in the works for addressing foxes. He said he will defer to the experts on the best approach, citing representatives with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others.

Well have to see how this plays out, Collier said. I think anyone would want (wildlife management) to be done in a humane way. Any normal human would want to start there. But I dont know which is the best way to go. It will be up to the environmental and wildlife experts who know best on how to deal with these things.

Wildlife feeding

Harrison is hoping the attention at change.org will save the foxes, particularly Roxy. He said that he and others within Dauphin Island have fed Roxy, and that she is a docile fox that does not pose harm to anyone.

Fishermen will get (to the Island) early in the morning or late at night and Roxy will show up, said Harrison. They will toss her out food. Ive got pictures of youngsters on the beach, and they are just sitting there on the blankets with a plastic jug of Cheetos and next to them is Roxy. And they are feeding her Cheetos. People just love to get a glimpse of her.

Wildlife experts are concerned that animals like Roxy are being fed by humans, which could make them risky for dangerous behavior.

Todd Steury, associate dean at Auburn Universitys College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, said wildlife can become dependent on humans for food whereas they should be allowed to hunt for their own food. They can also become dangerous to humans, losing their fear of people.

Studies of human/wildlife encounters have often found that when humans get hurt by wildlife, the animal was accustomed to interacting with people, Steury said. Foxes can bite.

Harrison said those concerns are typically reserved for alligators and wolves, but not Roxy.

He said the incidences of rabies among foxes in Baldwin County in 2018 were rare and have not occurred on Dauphin Island. Officials in 2018 confirmed at least eight attacks by rabid foxes in Baldwin County, prompting the Alabama Department of Public Health to issue a warning.

An 8 to 10 pound fox is a timid animal, and Ive never seen a fox make a move toward me, he said. There has never been a verified case of a fox making aggressive move (toward someone) on Dauphin Island or a document case of rabies on Dauphin Island or in Mobile that I know of.

A fox is the epitome of a non-aggressive species, Harrison said, calling the ESA report a scare mechanism aimed at getting the foxes removed from Dauphin Island.
Alex Crow has been formally laicized -- or removed -- from the priesthood, the Archdiocese of Mobile announced in a statement Friday.

The Archdiocese said the now-former priest is no longer a member of the clergy, as confirmed in a letter from Pope Francis.

Crow, 30, and Taylor Victoria Harrison, 18, were the subject of a months-long church scandal after the two left Mobile for Europe not long after Harrison had graduated from McGill-Toolen High School, where Crow had often served as a guest lecturer.

They remained there for roughly four months while both the Mobile County Sheriffs Office and Mobile County District Attorneys Office conducted what would ultimately be fruitless investigations into possible wrongdoing by the former priest in the Archdiocese of Mobile.

After learning of Crows departure with Harrison, the archdiocese stripped him of his duties, saying he had abandoned his assignment.

Crow and Harrison returned to Mobile in early November and, according to court records, were married later that month.

In its statement Friday, the Archdiocese noted Crow himself initiated the process for his own laicization, although Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi had said in August he saw no way back to the priesthood for Crow, considering his scandalous behavior.

Under Catholic canon, a bishop can begin the process for laicization after a priest has been absent from his duties for six months, or the priest can request laicization at any time. Crow made his request before the six-month period had expired.

The Archdiocese said it supported Crows request and noted Pope Francis decision is final, with no avenue of appeal.

I pray that this decision is one more way in which we can all move forward toward peace after these unsettling events, Rodi said. I continue to pray for Gods grace to bring healing for all.
A 34-year-old woman is charged in the DUI crash deaths of a Bessemer couple killed in a head-on collision in Hoover late last year.

Sarah Rose Tisdale, of Hoover, is charged with two counts of murder in the Oct. 31 wreck that killed Teresa Roberts, 64, and George Roberts, 67.

Tisdale is also charged with reckless endangerment for serious injuries caused to her 3-year-old son who was in her vehicle.

Hoover police Capt. Keith Czeskleba said investigators determined that Tisdale was under the influence of multiple controlled substances at the time of the crash.

The wreck happened at 6:19 a.m. that Tuesday on John Hawkins Parkway at Mars Hill Road. That location is near Hunter Street Baptist Church.

Authorities said the couple was in a Nissan Rogue, with Teresa Roberts behind the wheel, when they were struck by an oncoming Lexus RS 350 driven by Tisdale.

The Lexu was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of John Hawkins Parkway when it hit the Roberts vehicle head on.

The Roberts were pronounced dead on the scene at 6:37 a.m.

Tisdale was taken to UAB Hospital. Her son was taken Childrens of Alabama.

Hoover police took Tisdale into custody at 12:16 p.m. Friday in the 1500 block of Chace Terrace.

She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail where she remains held without bond.
The first witness didnt know where the heart was.

Nor did the second. Nor the third.

No answers as to the location of Brandon Clay Dotsons heart came during a Friday morning hearing at the Hugo Black U.S. Courthouse in downtown Birmingham.

Dotson was found dead at Ventress Correctional Facility on November 16. The 43-year olds family members -- his mother, daughter and brother -- claim in a federal lawsuit that they spent days trying to obtain his body. Once they did receive his body on Nov. 21., the family suspected foul play, in part because of the Alabama Department of Corrections extensive and ongoing violations of basic human and constitutional rights, said the lawsuit.

They hired a private pathologist to do a second autopsy on the body. That doctor, Dr. Boris Datnow, discovered during his exam that Dotsons body was missing his heart.

The family filed a lawsuit after that revelation, suing the Alabama Department of Corrections, the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, and UAB Medical Center, arguing the heart was in some way received or planned to be received by the university. Dotsons family is asking for the heart to be returned to them and to find out why it was removed in the first place, and under whose orders.

The heart of a deceased person simply does not go missing in the absence of deliberate illegal activity or gross negligence on behalf of the entity or entities that had possession of the body prior to it being turned over to the family for burial, said the family lawsuit.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala held a hearing in the case, trying to pinpoint where the heart currently is and why it went missing.

No answers came during the three-hour hearing.

Lawyers for the prison system said that Dotsons heart was inside his body when it left the facility, and they do not have the heart.

Read the original story here.

The familys attorney, Lauren Faraino, said the department is shrouded in secrecy and that Dotsons mother had to use money from her retirement account to pay for the second autopsy.

People forget were talking about a human being here.

The fourth and fifth witnesses were no help either in locating the missing organ.

In all, five people testified during the three-hour hearing. They were: the warden at Ventress, where Dotson died; the commissioner and chief deputy commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections; the director of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences; and the head of autopsies at UAB.

All people who die in custody have an autopsy, said multiple prison officials. Some of those autopsies are done at UAB, while the rest are conducted at the state level by the department of forensic sciences.

But Dotsons autopsy was performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testimony revealed.

And attorneys for UAB argued that no one from the school performed the initial autopsy on Dotson, nor had his body or organs ever been in their custody.

But the director of the Alabama Department of Forensice Sciences, Angelo Della Manna, said he hadnt reviewed Dotsons particular case file and couldnt answer any questions about Dotson specifically.

He said that in a standard autopsy, a person will have their internal organs examined and then sectioned, or have pieces of tissue cut off, to be sent for further testing to determine cause and manner of death. The organs will then be put in a special biohazard bag and returned to their appropriate body cavity. The organs arent replaced in the exact place where they anatomically are located.

Those tissue sections are generally the only pieces of organs that would not be returned to the body, Della Manna said. He couldnt name a reason why a fully intact organ wouldnt be replaced in the body.

I think we can probably get some insight on that... by looking at the document thats currently available, said the judge.

If any sections were sent for further testing, or if there was anything abnormal about the body, Della Manna said that information would be in Dotsons case file and autopsy report.

That report hasnt been provided to the Dotson family attorney and is not yet public.

Haikala ordered the state to provide that report for her to view privately by the end of the day Monday.

Lauren Faraino, the Dotson familys attorney, said she believed the medical school was planning to receive the heart until the lawsuit was filed.

But a UAB attorney said in court that Faraino had absolutely no evidence to that, and added that the university is certainly very sympathetic to the Dotson family. UAB checked with the Alabama Department of Corrections and they had not sent Dotsons body or organs to any UAB entity, according to court records filed in response to the lawsuit.

Lawyers for the school asked the judge on Friday to dismiss them from the lawsuit. Theres really no reason for us to be here, he said. (It) just does not involve us.
The Alabama commission tasked with awarding a limited number of licenses to medical marijuana dispensaries has included one for Daphne.

But while all the licenses have been put on hold by a judge  again  Daphnes city council is preparing to enact an ordinance setting up how much the dispensaries will have to pay each year to operate inside the city.

RJK Holdings was one of the four companies granted dispensary licenses by the Alabama Medical Marijuana Commission in December. The dispensary planned for Daphne lists an address of 1903 U.S. 98. Efforts by AL.com to reach the company for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

State legislation passed in May 2021 that legalized medical marijuana products for people with certain health conditions requires cities to enact an ordinance for those dispensaries to exist. Products can include gummies, tablets, capsules, tinctures, patches, oils and other forms allowed by the legislation.

The city council passed an ordinance in 2022 that would allow dispensaries to operate in the city under zoning and business license rules that apply to health care stores, such as pharmacies, health food stores and cosmetics stores.

The 2022 ordinance mentions the benefits having medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits would bring, such as more job opportunities and revenue for the city through licensing fees.

The Daphne finance committee made the recommendation to the council on Dec. 18, 2023, to make a new category under the existing business license ordinance to accommodate medical cannabis dispensaries.

The City of Daphne, after due consideration, believes that certain revisions to the City of Daphnes Business License Ordinance are necessary to establish a license classification for medical cannabis dispensaries and set forth a schedule of fees for such license, the proposed ordinance reads.

Under the current health care store schedule, Schedule C, fees are determined by calculating gross sales and categorizing businesses based on that number. Whatever sales range the business falls under determines the license fee. The minimum fee for Schedule C is $100 with a graduated scale based on gross sales.

Dispensaries would be subject to an annual license fee of 3% of their gross sales under the new Schedule X with a minimum of $500. For example, if the dispensary has gross sales of $100,000 it would owe the city $3,000 for its license.

Schedule X would make the licensing fee significantly higher for dispensaries because they are a specialized business, said Daphne Mayor Robin LeJeune. For instance, a pharmacy may pay a few hundred dollars in fees, but a cannabis dispensary earning the same income would pay thousands.

LeJeune said the city was between putting an additional sales tax on dispensaries products or charging the business a higher fee.

We talked to the state, and they said its easier and they prefer for us to go this route rather than trying to add a special higher sales tax on it, he said. It is a much higher rate, the business license and the revenue because it is a specialized item.

But Daphne  nor any other city in Alabama  will be getting a dispensary for the time being.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson issued a temporary restraining order late last month to stop the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission from issuing licenses to companies that will dispense medical cannabis.

The council is expected to vote on this ordinance at their next meeting scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. on Jan. 15.
The daughters of the Alabama man sentenced to life in federal prison for orchestrating the killing of his ex-wife at the hands of his brother unleashed their anger at their father in a Montgomery courtroom Thursday.

F--- you, I hope you rot, one of Jason Starrs two daughters told him shortly before he was sentenced, according to WTVY.

Another of Starrs daughters called the father of four useless, the station reported.

Sara Starr, a fourth-grade teacher at Harrand Creek Elementary School in Enterprise and the mother of two sets of twins, was killed just four months after her divorce with Jason finalized.

The couple was to share custody of their four children, and Jason Starr was ordered to pay his ex-wife $1,050 a month in child support and $1,500 in alimony. She also was awarded a portion of his military benefits.

Shortly after the divorce, from September 2017 to November 2017, Jason Starr sent approximately $2,600 to his brother, Darin Starr, authorities said. He reportedly also gave his brother a motorcycle.

Testimony in the trial showed that cell phone records indicated that Darin Starr traveled from Texas to Coffee County just before Thanksgiving in 2017 and, on multiple occasions, was very near the home of his brothers ex-wife.

Around midnight on November 27, 2017, Darin Starrs phone was turned off.

About seven hours later, Darin Starr shot and killed his brothers ex-wife in her driveway as she was leaving for work.
Thinking about the recent surge in anti-Semitism (brought to us by the Democrats, Antifa, the NAACP, and Harvard) called to mind my favorite historical instance of a rabid anti-Semite getting his well-earned comeuppance.

The story involves Roland Freisler, one of the most odious human beings of the 20th century. Characterizing Freisler as a fanatic Nazi just wont cut it. He was more the Platonic ideal of a diehard, foaming-at-the-mouth-in-the-bunker Nazi, the kind that all other Nazis strive to emulate, even amid the bitter knowledge that they will never match him for sheer vileness.

Freisler was a pure opportunist. While a POW in Russia during WW I, he eagerly attached himself to the Bolsheviks following the October 1917 coup. He served as a commissar on their behalf in his POW camp and was also involved with the paramilitary Red Guards.

After the war, Freisler returned to Germany as a full-fledged communist. Yet within a short time, he just as avidly connected with the Nazi party, joining up in 1925. He quickly worked his way into the Nazi hierarchy, culminating in his appointment as the chief of the Reichs Ministry of Justice in 1934, where he oversaw the Nazification of the German justice system.

Freisler was a key figure at the Wannsee conference in January 1942, in which the planning for the Final Solution was carried out.

Later that year, he was appointed president of the Volksgerichtshof (Peoples Court), essentially becoming Adolf Hitlers hanging judge. Freisler had witnessed Soviet show trials while visiting the USSR during the 30s, and imported Stalinist methods to Nazi Germany for the same purpose. Although legal protocols were followed in form, the trials were circuses, with Freisler shouting insults and imprecations at the defendants while the defense counsel stood meekly silent before hearing the inevitable death sentence. One of Freislers tricks was to see that the prisoners in the dock were issued with oversized pants with no belts, allowing him to scream Stop fiddling with your trousers! Among his victims was the schoolgirl Sophie Scholl of the White Rose resistance movement.

On February 3, 1945, Freisler was presiding over the trial of Fabian von Schlabrendorff, who as a Wehrmacht officer had been prominent in Ludwig Becks underground resistance group attempting to bring down Hitler, and who had helped carry out several failed assassination efforts. Schlabrendorff had been picked up in the vast manhunt following Col. Claus Schenk von Stauffenbergs bold July 1944 assassination attempt against Hitler. The end result was foreordained. But before sentence could be passed, Berlin was struck by an air raid by B-17s of the USAAFs Eighth Air Force. As the sirens sounded, the courtroom emptied out, with everyone present heading for the air raid shelter. Freisler turned back to retrieve some paperwork (some wehraboos claim that hed gone back to assist some female court clerks, but this is unlikely). At that moment, a bomb hit the roof of the courthouse, and a pillar collapsed atop Freisler, burying him in the wreckage of the courtroom hed debased. Schlabrendorff was evidently looking over his shoulder at the very moment that Freisler was struck down. Its not for nothing that it was Germans who coined the term Schadenfreude. (Some sources claim that Freisler was hit by bomb shrapnel and bled to death in front of the courthouse, but all agree that Schlabrendorff was present.)

German punctilio took control, and a mistrial was declared., a month later Schlabrendorff was acquitted on the grounds that his confession had been coerced by Gestapo torture (this would not have happened under Freisler). Hitler then personally issued a death warrant, but that German fixation on proper procedure kept Schlabrendorff alive straight through into early May, when he was liberated by Allied troops.

But thats only half of it.

It happens that the Eighth AF formation that struck Berlin was commanded by Lt. Col. Robert Rosenthal, a lawyer, a highly decorated airman, and, needless to say, Jewish. It was a bomb from one of Rosenthals planes -- its even possible that the bomb that hit the courthouse was dropped from Rosenthals own plane  that killed Freisler. Its a real pity that Freisler never knew that he had been struck down by a member of a race he believed to be Untermenschen.

But wait, as they say in the late-night commercials  theres more.

Rosenthals B-17 was hit and seriously damaged by German flak. The main fuel tank was punctured, and at the rate they were losing fuel, it was clear that theyd never get back to England, or even an alternate field in France or Belgium. But Rosenthal knew that the Soviets were a little more than a hundred miles from Berlin at this point. So, as the rest of the formation headed for home, he kept boring on eastward.

At some point the plane caught fire. After assuring that the rest of the crew had escaped, Rosenthal finally bailed out when his bomber was less than a thousand feet above the ground. He was found by Red Army troops, who were delighted to hear that he had been carrying out a raid against Berlin. He was soon forwarded to Moscow, and was back in action in a matter of weeks.

Both Schlabrendorff and Rosenthal went on to distinguished careers in their field. Schlabrendorff became a judge on West Germanys Federal Constitutional Court, which had replaced the Nazis degraded justice system. Rosenthal served as an assistant prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials (where he questioned Hermann Goering) and in 2006 was inducted into the Jewish-American Hall of Fame.

There exist some ladies who would ask that this story be put into proper context. So here it is: any civilization demands certain obligations from its constituents. Among the most critical is that they recognize gross evil when they see it  evil of the kind embodied by Roland Freisler  that they take its measure, and that they work to strike it down. Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Robert Rosenthal both accomplished this, at serious risk to themselves. The elites of Harvard, MIT and UPenn need to be aware that we will do no less.

Images: Bundesarchiv, USAF
Harvard President Claudine Gay claims that she is being forced to resign because of racism. As Greg Gutfeld aptly observed on Fox, Gay is not a victim of racism -- she was appointed because she is the beneficiary of racist policy. Ms. Gay is a sterling example of how DEI is the antithesis of meritocracy.

While it may seem that Gay is on the chopping block because of plagiarism or her defense of calls for anti-Jewish genocide, the real reason for her downfall is her lack of qualifications for the job. She was appointed not because she was the best or the brightest, but because she fit the diversity profile that Harvard wanted. Gay is the perfect symbol for a university that has become a bastion of left-wing ideology and the enemy of meritocracy.

Does Harvard really want diversity? If you are a conservative professor, try to get hired at Harvard. People who demand diversity, such as the people who run Harvard, are against viewpoint diversity -- also known as free speech. Diversity means it is great to look different as long as you think the way I do. Conservatives need not apply.

How in the world did Harvard University end up accepting, hiring, and promoting so many people who, given the opportunity to speak freely, do so in defense of murder, rape, and terrorism? asked John H. Cochrane, economist and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. The answer is that Harvard is against diversity of thought.

Gay was executing her job perfectly according to the DEI ideology that has taken over at Harvard. Harvard should fire her because the cause is rotten, said Cochrane, not the execution. Harvard and other elite universities are contributing to the destruction of the critical American value known as meritocracy.

Meritocracy and diversity are opposites. Instead of hiring and promoting people based on competence, advocates for diversity want such decisions to be based on race and gender. The entire basis of American exceptionalism  competence -- is being outlawed. Hence the hiring of Claudine Gay. With the ascendency of identity politics, says Scott Greer in No Campus for White Men, skin color trumps merit -- as long as that skin isnt white.

Evidence of the trend is everywhere. Medical schools are discarding traditional standards of merit in order to alter the demographic characteristics of their profession, says Heather Mac Donald, author of When Race Trumps Merit. The majority of top-25 medical schools are supporting equity and critical race theory. In the future, the physician performing your brain surgery could be the product of affirmative action. Going in for surgery may become an act of suicide as medical standards of excellence are discarded in favor of skin color.

United Airlines has announced that 50 percent of all new pilots will be chosen from among minorities and women. At 30,000 feet, who wants an affirmative action pilot sitting in the cockpit? President Biden delivered on his promise that the next Supreme Court justice will be black and a woman. He made it clear that he intended to bribe black voters and women by appointing a black woman. No one else need apply.

Eligibility for an Academy Award will no longer be based on merit. Nominees for best picture must contain minority themes and have a quota of minorities and women in both cast and crew. Past Oscar winners such as On the Waterfront, Patton, and Lawrence of Arabia would no longer qualify.

The rejection of objective standards of accomplishment is nihilistic, says Heather Mac Donald. The diversity movement deems color-blind measures of competence to be unjust instruments of racial exclusion. It would appear that Harvard agrees.

Americas obsession with diversity makes little sense in view of the tremendous progress that the nation has made since the civil rights movement. The bitter allegations of critical race theory and Black Lives Matter cannot be justified. In Baltimore, where Freddie Gray died, said Black talk radio host Larry Elder, the majority of the city council is Black, the top cop is Black, the number two cop is Black, the majority of the command staff is Black, the mayor is Black, the AG is Black, and yet here we are talking about racism. Its absurd.

In addition to fomenting racial strife, diversity encourages minorities not to take responsibility for their own lives. This is part of the Democratic Partys plan to make as many people as possible dependent on government handouts. Entitlements foster a victim mentality that places the blame on whites.

Giving special treatment to any one group is in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. It is also the worst kind of racism. Blaming current social problems on alleged white oppression heightens racial tensions and keeps the country divided. Sadly, that is the divisive message that Harvard wants to force on young people.

Ed Brodow is a conservative political commentator and author of ten books, including No. 1 Amazon Best Seller THE WAR ON WHITES: How Hating White People Became the New National Sport. His website is www.edbrodowpolitics.com.

Image: Governor's Press Office
Karine Jean-Pierre (KJP) was recently at it again, claiming police officers were killed on January 6. If fact checkers bothered to fact check her, theyd discover no officers died, but USAF veteran Ashli Babbitt was killed, shot by the diverse Capital Police Lt. Michael Byrd. Byrd was never charged, but has been promoted. Fortunately, Judicial Watch isnt letting America forget Babbitts murder:

Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Government on behalf of the family of Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021 (Estate of Ashli Babbitt and Aaron Babbitt, et al. v. United States of America (No. 3:24-cv-00033)). The lawsuit includes claims against the U.S. Government for wrongful death, assault and battery, and various negligence issues.

Image: Judicial Watch press release graphic

Ive extensively covered Babbitts murder at my home blog, including Byrds record of firearm incompetence. The lawsuit alleges even greater, and more dangerous, incompetence than has been previously known:

The lawsuit argues that, based on prior incidents involving Lt. Byrd, the Capitol Police, Capitol Police Board, and ultimately Congress, as Lt. Byrds employer, knew or should have known that Lt. Byrd was prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner: Less than two years before January 6, 2021, on or about February 25, 2019, Lt. Byrd left his loaded Glock 22  the same firearm he used to shoot and kill Ashli Babbitt  in a bathroom in the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) complex. Lt. Byrds loaded Glock was discovered during a routine security sweep later the same day. Approximately 15,00 to 20,000 people pass through the CVC, which serves as the main entrance for visitors to the U.S. Capitol, daily during peak season (March-July). Lawmakers and staff charged with oversight of the USCP were not made aware of the incident until contacted by a reporter.

This bit of incompetence was previously known. Its the kind of lapse for which police officers are routinely fired, but not Byrd. This was not previously known:

Lt. Byrds police powers had been revoked on more than one occasion prior to January 6, 2021, for failing to meet or complete semiannual firearms qualification requirements. In fact, Lt. Byrd had a reputation among peers for not being a good shot. Under USCPs range management system, an officer who fails to meet firearm qualification requirements is given one week of remedial training. If the officer still fails to qualify after remedial training, police powers are then revoked until the officer qualifies. Lt. Byrds police powers also were revoked for a prior off-duty shooting into a stolen, moving vehicle in which the occupants were teenagers or juveniles. The stolen vehicle was Lt. Byrds car. Lt. Byrd fired multiple shots at the fleeing vehicle in a suburban area. Stray bullets from Lt. Byrds firearm struck the sides of homes nearby. An official investigation found that Lt. Byrds use of force was not justified.

The Washington Examiner has the complete lawsuit filing.

So Byrd failed to qualify a few times. So what? Most Americans dont know police officers tend not to be good shots. Most arent gun guys and girls. Many possess only their issued handgun. Police qualifications have a low minimum passing score, usually no more than 70%, fired at short distances with generous, or no, time limits. They can miss 30% of shots fired under ideal circumstances, and still pass. Officers are usually allowed as many do-overs as necessary to minimally pass. This is important because there are many cases on file of officers shooting at suspects at inside-a-phone-booth ranges, and missing, while ventilating the surrounding countryside.

That was the case with Byrd, who on January 6 was depicted walking about with his finger on the trigger of his 5.5 pound trigger pull Glock, a flashing red warning of an incompetent, dangerous cop. Striking was the lawsuits allegation of Byrd wildly firing at his own stolen vehicle, and apparently hitting only surrounding homes. Thats precisely the kind of horrific handgun control and alarmingly bad judgment that would get most cops instantly fired.

Why wasnt Byrd fired for that incident, leaving his handgun in a bathroom and for killing Babbitt? Byrd is black. Firing him would expose diversity hiring, retention and promotion practices, and prosecuting him for an obvious murder would damage the Jan. 6 insurrection narrative. Instead, Byrd was proclaimed a hero and promoted to captain. Ashli Babbitt was not available for comment.

Hopefully, the Judicial Watch lawsuit will proceed. The Mummified Meat Puppet Administration will surely do all it can to quash it, because discovery will be, to put it mildly, revealing. Or maybe well be surprised and the most transparent administration ever will actually opt for transparency. This is me, bitterly laughing.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
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In response to allegations that his wife had plagiarized her MIT thesis, billionaire Bill Ackman, who drew attention by challenging antisemitism at Harvard University, has decided to go 'Conan the Barbarian' on MIT, and its media ally, Business Insider, playing the pair at their own 'gotcha-journalism' cancel-culture game:

My wife, @NeriOxman, was just contacted by Business Insider claiming that they have identified other plagiarism in her work including 15 examples in her dissertation where she did not cite Wikipedia as a source.



Business Insider told us that they are publishing their story  Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 5, 2024

Dinesh D'Souza had the best response:

Excellent response! You are experiencing the unscrupulous viciousness of the Left, and the only way to respond is to go full Conan the Barbarian on them. Raze their institutions to the ground, and leave no stone on top of another  Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) January 6, 2024

And while he was at it, Ackman would also do this:

This is an excellent idea. We will review the work of the reporters and staff at BI for completeness. https://t.co/4VImfFN4A6  Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 6, 2024

Ackman set off a firestorm at Harvard by first saying he wanted to know who the antisemitic protestors were at that school, which is his alma mater, and then calling for the publication of their names so he wouldn't accidentally hire them at his hedge fund firm.

Business Insider wrote this last Oct. 23:

Like many on Wall Street, the billionaire investor Bill Ackman is full of rage, fear, and sadness over the brutal and terrifying terrorist attack that Hamas unleashed on Israel. But unlike his fellow titans of finance, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management  one of the world's most powerful hedge funds  has spent the last few days taking his feelings out on a small group of students at Harvard. Earlier this week, after 30 student groups at the university signed a deranged statement that blamed the Israeli government for the attack, Ackman responded on X, formerly Twitter, by demanding that Harvard  his alma mater  release the names of the students involved in the organizations so that he and other Wall Street executives could refrain from hiring them. "The names of the signatories should be made public," Ackman fumed, "so their views are publicly known."

Then the outlet wrote several articles detailing the wife's plagiarism. which to be honest, looks like, yeah, it was plagiarism, and that is not good given that she runs the famed MIT lab which is known for its innovation, rather than for copying others.

The wife has since said she will correct the way Claudine Gay did.

But even as it appears true, it's also pretty obvious it's a hit job.

Harvard's president at the time, Claudine Gay, and two university-president colleagues, one of whom was running MIT, made weak responses to congressional inquiries about antisemitism on their campuses. That Gay and the Penn president were forced to resign for it enraged the left. Ackman was blamed, so they turned the plagiarism checker onto him and his, not because there was a compelling public interest, but to make him look like a hypocrite. Ackman can see this game they are playing and he's biting back.

Business Insider published this on January 5:

Neri Oxman , a former MIT professor and celebrity within the world of academia, stole sentences and whole paragraphs from Wikipedia, other scholars, and technical documents in her academic writing, Business Insider has found. Oxman is married to billionaire Pershing Square Capital Managment founder Bill Ackman , who has been vociferously campaigning for numerous university presidents to resign over what he perceives as their mishandling of student protests related to Israel's war in Gaza. Ackman has termed plagiarism a "very serious" offense. He used revelations unearthed by right-wing activists that Harvard president Claudine Gay had plagiarized dozens of times across the body of her academic work to underscore his calls for her resignation. Gay stepped down on Tuesday.

While it appears to be true, Ackman could clearly see the double standard here. His wife was only investigated because he took a stand against antisemitism. If his wife was to be investigated as a petty plagiarist as retaliation for Ackman's stirring up the pot at Harvard which led to the resignation of Gay for plagiarism, and then held up to scorn for it, well then, all of them at MIT could get the same treatment. Suddenly, the shaming of Oxman, Ackman's wife, doesn't look like such a bad thing if Ackman uncovers significant plagiarism across the board at MIT.

What a pretty picture that will be. Business Insider, too, would be get the same treatment.

Ackman is out advertising for contractors.

Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander, and Ackman has a very deep pocket.

He's obviously starting to understand how the swamp's game is played and means to bore harder on taking down this rotten corrupted establishment, not bow down.

Image: Insider Monkey, via Flickr // CC BY-ND 2.0
The Mummified Meat Puppet Administration (MMPA) might reasonably be labeled the Who You Gonna Believe? Us Or Your Own Lyin Eyes And Bank Accounts? Administration. No Bidenite makes that label change more convincing than Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, who went full Who You Gonna Believe? on the 01-05-24 edition of CNBCs Squawk Box:

Co-host Becky Quick asked, Secretary, weve talked a lot about whats been happening with ExxonMobil and Chevron as well, walking away from basically the refinery situations, their operations in California. Theyve taken massive write-downs in the last several days, to the tune of billions of dollars. Mike Wirth was on talking about this last night, and mentioned that the situation in California is largely because of California policy. I realize thats not a federal policy, but when you look at California and the gas prices there, it creates unhappiness with the consumers. Theyve basically said, we cant continue to make investments in some of these operations, whether that be the refineries or the pipelines, because we dont think well get the return on investment. When they say something like that and you have multiple big companies basically walking away from some of these things, what does that mean? What can you do on the federal level?

Because of course America should do whatever California is doing.

Granholm responded, Well, its interesting, because I think there [are] a lot of those who have refineries who are converting some refineries, anyway, to biofuels. There [are] significant policy incentives to the creation of drop-in biofuels, so youre seeing some of that happening. The refineries that are around the country are working full tilt and are producing. So, we are  but I will say this, Becky, we are seeing, in the United States, we think that we have achieved peak gasoline, because of the increase in electric vehicle sales. And obviously, this is just the U.S., other, more developing countries will  are still looking at significant  potentially significant  but lessening so, increase in demand. But, in the United States, were seeing a leveling out and a diminishment of the demand for gasoline, and we just got the numbers yesterday for the sales of electric vehicles.  [I]n 2023, 1.4 million sales of EVs. Thats a 50% increase from the year before. Thats going to have an impact.

Peak gasoline?! That must be why Joe Biden has drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to historically low levels, and why he has done virtually nothing to refill it. That could be kind of a problem if one or more of the regional wars hes encouraging by discouraging our allies and refusing to deter Irans proxy states regularly attacking our troops explodes into open conflict. We have so much fuel, and at such historically low prices, gas stations are overflowing and refusing deliveries! We have so much production the MMPA is trying to shutter refineries and pipelines! Around the world, no one wants gasoline anymore, and its all because of the MMPAs marvelous, planet-saving policies. All hail Secretary Granholm, climate change warrior queen and savior of the planet!

Image: Ford Mustang Mach E, England, Right Hand Drive. Wikimedia Commons.org. CCASA4.0 International.

In the real world, market reality is notoriously stubborn. If there is an excess of supply, there is less demand and prices decrease. Oddly, despite what people like Granholm say, gas prices arent going down, which in objective reality terms means there is strong demand and barely adequate supply.

As to the impact of all those electric vehicles for which American drivers are clamoring, 4000 dealers recently begged President Biden to stop subsidizing EVs. It seems they cant give them away, which kind of contradicts Granholms rosy predictions. At least half of all Ford Dealers wont even try to sell EVs, which are rusting, unsold, on their lots. We have half the Buick dealers we had last week. They took buyouts rather than lose money on EVs. Ford largely bet its EV future on the F-150 Lightning pickup, but Americans are getting wise. Ford announced it was halving its EV production plans. But what about GM?

General Motors is building Silverado EVs. It delivered a whole 18 of them during the third quarter of this year. It planned to expand production beyond its Detroit-Hamtramck facility, also known as "Factory Zero", by 2024 to Orion Assembly where the Bolt EV is built, albeit not for much longer. That plan has now been pushed back to late 2025, and according to GM, the decision was not made due to any supply shortages, or even the ongoing United Auto Workers strike. It could be indicative of waning consumer enthusiasm for fully electric vehicles as a whole.

A whole 18? Could be? Billion-dollar production decisions add up to could be? Well OK, butwho you gonna believe?

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
What is it about the left and its special little cold spot for black people who support Donald Trump?

They're at it again, and not for the first time, with Trump campaign official Harrison Floyd:

New bodycam video from Maryland police officers obtained by "The Ingraham Angle" depicts a 2020 Trump campaign aide who was indicted in the Georgia election case complaining about allegedly overblown tactics by FBI agents dispatched as part of special counsel Jack Smith's separate federal probe. On Friday, substitute host Will Cain reported former Black Voices for Trump Director Harrison Floyd had claimed he was returning home with his daughter when men in suits "out of the show Better Call Saul" appeared and ran after him. Floyd can be seen appearing winded while recounting to police in Montgomery County that he yelled back to the men "who the [expletive] do you think you are?" and claiming the men never displayed credentials. Floyd, who served in Iraq with the Marine Corps and is an MMA expert, also recounted how he considered responding when one of the men brandished a pistol.

What kind of trash is this?

I've been a process-server in my long-ago and know that that's not the way you serve papers. You walk up to someone, you act courteous, you give them their court papers and then you go away. Yeah, it's a tough job, because nobody wants to get served, but you sure as heck don't make it tougher by chasing people and pointing guns and acting like maniacs and thugs, not when you can get them on a second try next time they walk out of their houses. What's more, Floyd gave them no reason to think he would not act as a normal person does when served papers. The only reason they might employ the tactics they did was because they assumed all black people, regardless of the messaging they sent out, were all violent criminals. But it wasn't Floyd who acted like a criminal here, it was the FBI agents serving the papers. These guys did all they could to convince Floyd that they were goons or criminals, coming to beat him up or worse. The last thing Floyd would have guessed they were up to, based on their behavior, was that they were there to serve court papers. What they didn't do was focus on their job, which was to deliver their court papers respectfully as professionals do and then promptly leave the premises.

But that's about par for team Biden, which has sought to make out as criminals anyone who was caught up in the January 6 crowd-control event, or supports Trump. With Floyd, they seem to be acting crazier, though, which calls to mind that he's getting special treatment, most likely because he's a black guy.

This isn't the first time they have acted crazy around the black guy, either.

Andrea Widburg wrote this last August:

If only Harrison Floyds first name were George. If only hed been a convicted felon who passed a counterfeit bill, filled himself with illegal drugs, and resisted arrest. If that were the case, hed have had millions of dollars flowing to him from Hollywood and Democrat politicians, and hed have been a media hero. However, Harrison Floyd isnt a thug of color. Instead, hes a retired Marine vet, living with his family and getting by on his pension. And hes also a black Trump supporter, which is why hes rotting in a Fulton County jail.

...and noting the special treatment he got in Georgia, I wrote this last September:

They recently released all of the defendants charged by the Fulton County prosecutor, Fani Willis on bail -- except for the hapless black guy, Harrison Floyd, whose accused crimes were insignificant and in any case, was no flight risk as they claimed. They shoved him into their rat- and bedbug infested jail for five days, while letting all the whites out on bail.

Now we hear news that they treated him as a criminal on the run when they should have been respectfully serving him federal court papers.

Obviously, there's some kind of double standard going on here. There is absolutely no need to treat a top black Trump campaigner with this kind of barbaric insanity other than gratuitously wanting to make him suffer for his support of Trump.

He's the black guy, so he gets special treatment.

Christian Parenti, a lefty writer I used to know back when I lived in San Francisco, wrote a startling piece at Compact magazine a few days ago about why so many black people do support President Trump:

Why is political support for Donald Trump so high, even as he faces 91 felony charges in four separate cases? Though polling suggests that a criminal conviction could cost him the election, observers have been surprised that the indictments themselves havent done more to dent his support. Put differently, why isnt the lawfare against Trump working yet? Seventy-seven million Americans have criminal records. Part of the answer might lie in this fact: 77 million Americans have criminal records, meaning they have at least been arrested. Many of these people may find themselves identifying with the 45th president because of their own experiences of being accused, arrested, charged, and forced to defend themselves. Of course, many of these 77 million Americans have had their cases dropped, but they were all at least cuffed, fingerprinted, and photographed; some were briefly jailed. ... When Americans who have faced the business end of the criminal-justice system see the lawfare waged against Trump, they draw parallels to their own lives. They know what it is like speaking to a judgein court, not at a cocktail party. They may recall trying to maintain composure, even as the judge is snide, ignorant, or haughty. They know that the police and prosecutors frequently exaggerate to make defendants look bad and thus advance their own careers.

In light of what's been happening -- from draconian sentences of small-time drug offenders in once-Attorney General Kamala Harris's California, to the 22-year sentence a black guy got over January 6 when he wasn't even at the Capitol, this treatment of Floyd is the epitome of what Parenti describes -- and why every blow against Floyd is going to multiply black votes for President Trump.

Black voters know all about this special treatment, and now it's properly coming to light that Democrats are the instigators of that special treatment. It's time to get Trump in office to put a stop to it. Justice must be equal justice or it's not justice. Democrats don't seem to grasp this.

Image: Screen shot from Fox News video, posted on Twitter
There seems to be only one reason Joe Biden isnt making better decisions: He is being lied to by his staff, other Democrats, and his advisors.

For example, anyone watching the news can see that the border is wide open, yet Biden & Co. keep saying either that the border is closed or that its under control.

Fact is, the border is wide open and not under control. Millions of people have come across our borders lately, yet Joe doesnt seem to know that. If he does know it, he condones it, believing he is importing Democrat votes. That is malevolent.

There can be no other reason for the rampant tax increases than Joes policies, yet he blames the rich.

Or climate change. Has no one told him that his disastrous closing of the Keystone XL pipeline started this cascade of chaotic economic dominoes? Why is he blaming Republicans when they are not the ones responsible?

There is no reason for Joe to continue to tout Bidenomics unless he is being lied to.

These are policies that are devastating the middle class and hurting everyone else. But Joe seems too confident that Bidenomics is working. How do you believe such a monumental lie unless you are relying on aides and The View, all of whom are lying to you? He cites figures given to him that indicate his policies are working, yet average Americans know it is not only not working, its killing chances of workers retiring as planned, getting medical treatment, becoming prosperous, taking leisure time off, and putting good food on the table. Its working, all right. Its working taking everyone down except those immune to the economic pressures  his private jet buddies in the WEF, the Democrat party, and the like.

Was Joe lied to when he cut and ran from Afghanistan, leaving innocent people and billions of dollars in sensitive military equipment there? Who does that? Who told him that was a great idea? And why did he listen?

Was Joe lied to when someone told him that Iran is our friend and wont use a nuke to destroy The Great Satan (America) or the Little Satan (Israel)? Trump had Iran wrapped up just right until Biden came along and reversed the sensible policy of viewing Iran as our enemy. Joe seems to think they are friends who wont stab us multiple times in the heart and liver given a chance.

Was Joe lied to that millions of Americans are sympathetic to a musical gay Christmas in the White House halls and half-nude transexuals on the White House lawn? Did someone tell him that the majority of Americans accept such grossly inappropriate and de classe behavior?

Is Joe being lied to when sycophants tell him that the Green Agenda is based on legitimate data that the Earth is somehow in crisis, which it isnt, and that Americans really slaver after electric vehicles, which they dont?

Or is Joe just such a good prevaricator that he knows that what he is being told isnt true and lies about it anyway?

Or is he stupid? Ignorant? Ill-informed? Intransigent? Many decades ago, Joe was known on Capitol Hill as being ineffectual, not very bright, and corrupt. That hasnt changed, so now he gets to be effective at bringing down the greatest country on planet Earth.

How do you explain to decent people (and to Joe) that the bitter medicine Americans have been ingesting these past three years is really a deliberate and painful poisoning of the American bloodstream by the people who are really running the Biden administration? Who are these people?

We are pretty certain that the influence of Barack Obama and his acolytes is powerful in todays White House, so who-all is lying to Joe? All of them?

Or is this what Lunchbucket Scranton Joe is really like?

Image: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr (cropped) // CC BY-SA 2.0
The latest from the border is that the Department of Justice is picking another fight with Texas. As you may know, Texas passed a law making illegal immigration a state crime. According to Governor Abbott, the Biden administration has forced Texas to fend for itself. So its more court time for Texas vs. the DOJ.

I agree that Texas is pushing the limit and the DOJ may be technically right about its criticism of the law. At the same time, being technically right does not fix the problem if your policy is totally wrong.

The Dallas Morning News nailed it in Fridays editorial:

Texas latest law aimed at stemming migration is likely to present constitutional concerns. But the federal government drove this moment to its crisis by throwing up its hands in the face of hundreds of thousands of migrants crossing into the U.S. every month. Immigration officers logged nearly 2.5 million migrant encounters last year. Thats a city more than double the size of Dallas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has come in for easy criticism from immigration advocates who think the states policies are inhumane, from creating new physical barriers to busing or flying migrants to other parts of the country. But the Biden administrations response is to condemn any effort Texas makes in the name of enforcement. That includes suing the state over a new law that authorizes the arrest and potential deportation of suspected migrants. We have serious concerns about that law. But no one should be surprised that the state is now passing laws around immigration when there has been so little action by the federal government to act to protect the state.

Yes, there are concerns but the reality on the ground can not be overlooked. From Laredo in the east, to El Paso in the west, to neighboring Arizona, the situation is beyond unsustainable.

What happens if this case goes to the Supreme Court? I dont know, but the Biden administration is risking a double loss here. First off, the justices may agree that Texas is under siege and entitled to self-defense. Secondly, and this is bad, but the ruling will confirm that the federal government has been missing in action.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

Image generated by AI.
Well, he did it again. Speaking near Valley Forge, PA, President Joe Biden delivered a follow up to his red-tinged Triumph of the Shill speech. The New York Post explains:

President Biden kicked off his bid for re-election Friday by deriding former President Donald Trump as a loserand calling his bid for a political comeback something out of a bad fairy tale Friday  prompting his predecessor to fire back that the 80-year-old is a true threat to democracy.

As one would expect on the anniversary of Democrats/socialists/communists (D/s/cs) high holy day, we learned, yet again, how very, very close we came to losing America:

Valley Forge tells the story of the pain and the suffering and the true patriotism it took to make America, Biden, 81, began his first proper 2024 campaign speech. Today, we gather in a new year, some 246 years later, just one day before January 6  a date forever seared in our memory because it was on that day that we nearly lost America, lost it all.

Image: Erie Railroad Train Wreck. Wikimedia Commons.org. Public Domain.

Im sure China, Iran and our other enemies are paying close attention. They dont need massive militaries with nuclear weapons to conquer America, only a minor riot by unarmed citizens, provoked by the FBI, that lasts an hour or so.

Trumps assault on democracy isnt just part of his past, its what hes promising for the future. Hes being straightforward. Hes not hiding the ball, Biden said. His first rally for the 2024 campaign opened with a choir of January 6 insurrectionists singing from prison on a cellphone while images of the January 6 riot playing on the big screen behind him at his rally. Can you believe that? This was like something out of a fairy tale  a bad fairy tale.

What were those horrid insurrectionists singing? The Star-Spangled Banner, our national anthem. The horror.

Lets be clear about the 2020 election: Trump exhausted every legal avenue available to him to overturn the outcome  every one. But the legal path just took Trump back to the truth that Id won the election and he was a loser, Biden said to hoots and applause.

Gropin, sniffin Joe forgot to mention not a single court actually heard evidence, which makes for rather a dead end legal avenue. He also forgot to mention Trump quietly, and on time, left office as the Constitution requires. What a pathetic dictator.

Well, knowing how his mind works, he had one act left, one desperate act available to him: the violence of January the 6th, Biden said, and since that day, more than 1,200 people have been charged for their assault on the Capitol, nearly 900 of them have been convicted or pled guilty. To more cheers, he added, Collectively to date, they have been sentenced to more than 840 years in prison.

Rational Americans might think Bidens glee in destroying the lives of more than 1000 Americans for what amounts to misdemeanor trespassing--normally a ticketable offense--doesnt really live up to his endless rhetoric about uniting America.

He calls those who oppose him vermin. He talks about the blood of Americans being poisoned, echoing the same exact language used in Nazi Germany. He proudly posted on social media the words that best describe his 2024 campaign, revenge, power, dictatorship. Theres no confusion about who Trump is and what he intends to do, Biden said. You cant be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American, the president added at one point  insisting that unlike Trump our campaign is about preserving and strengthening our American democracy. The protection and preservation of American democracy will remain as it has been the central cause of my presidency, Biden went on before turning his wrath on Trumps allies in Congress.

There it is again: our American democracy, by which Biden means a tyranny of the majority. The words constitutional, representative republic, which is what America is, never escape his lips. Donald Trump replied:

This is not a time for us to have a mentally challenged president, the former president said, adding that the only insurrection is the insurrection that is taking place at our border where he is allowing millions of people from parts unknown to invade our country at a level far worse than even a military invasion. Bidens record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption and failure, other than that hes doing quite well, isnt he? Thats a hell of a hell of a list, right? Thats why Crooked Joe is staging his pathetic, fear-mongering campaign event in Pennsylvania today. Did you see him? He was stuttering through the whole thing, hes going, Hes a threat to Democracy, Trump said.

Bidens remarks are a preview of his second basement campaign, and a continuing act of desperation. The 2024 campaign will be one for the record books, if America survives to write them.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
After four years of relative world peace and prosperity under President Trump, the media breathed a sigh of relief with Joe Bidens (s)election, and cheered his staff picksthe adults were back in charge, and they had experience. Remember this, from Vogue?

Joe Bidens Cabinet Picks Send a Clear Message: The Adults Are Back in Charge In the first wave of appointments for the cabinet that Joe Biden will form after he is inaugurated on January 20, the president-elect has opted for a quality that Donald Trump mocked and disdained over the four years of his presidency: experience.

Trump sanctioned Iran, cutting off funds and limiting their influence of terrorism; he gave us a more secure border, and lower oil prices with his energy independence approach; he got NATO countries to pay more for their defenses, and started holding China to account for stealing our intellectual property; and he gave the world the Abraham Accords.

He finally kept the promise of many presidents before him, to move the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

He pulled out of the worthless Paris Climate Accords, which would cost the U.S. taxpayers trillions, while essentially letting China and India off the hook for the same offenses.

He cut off funds for the World Health Organization for covering up for China and lying to the world about COVID.

Trump took out terrorist Qasem Soleimani and Biden didnt like thatBiden clearly doesnt understand what real deterrence looks like.

Bidens foreign policies can essentially be summed up in a few words: flatten everything built up by Trump while claiming it was for the sake of our American reputation. See below, from World Politics Review:

President Joe Biden took office with an ambitious U.S. foreign policy agenda summed up by his favorite campaign tagline: America is back. Above all, that meant repairing the damage done to Americas global standing by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. During his four years in office, Trump strained ties with Americas allies in Europe and Asia, raised tensions with adversaries like Iran and Venezuela, and engaged in a trade war with China that left bilateral relations in their worst state in decades. In principle, Bidens agenda is rooted in a repudiation of Trumps America First legacy and the restoration of the multilateral order. That was reflected in his early moves to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization, and reestablish U.S. leadership on climate diplomacy. The COVID-19 pandemic also offered Biden an opportunity to reassert Americas global leadership role and begin repairing ties that began to fray under Trump.

This article, published Wednesday at The Washington Post, recognizes that kissing up in Serbia hasnt workedIn Serbia, Bidens conciliatory policies have failedand I would ask the media and other Democrats which of Bidens policies have made the world better or safer.

Trump cut off the funding for Iran after Obama, Biden, and many European countries had appeased the regime with hundreds of billions of dollars. Biden turned their spigot back on so they could better fund Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Bidens withdrawal in Afghanistan was a disaster. Americans died, and we left billions in equipment for the Taliban. Of course the media has essentially stopped reporting on the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan now because it makes Biden look bad, and we cant have that.

Trump worked hard to secure the U.S. border over Democrat objections, and Biden immediately opened the border up, unleashing record crime and invaders. Has that made the U.S. or the world safer?

Biden repeatedly appeases China. He doesnt seem to care about the origins of COVID, he allowed a spy balloon to fly across America, he permits thousands of Chinese men to filter in illegally, and makes it easier for the communist government to spy on America and steal our intellectual property. Why was it considered controversial when Trump made moves to stop the Chinese stealing our intellectual property? From NPR:

The Justice Department is ending its controversial China Initiative The Justice Department said Wednesday that it is scrapping its China Initiative, a program that it launched under the Trump administration to counter Beijings theft of American intellectual property but increasingly came under criticism from civil rights groups that say it created a climate of fear among Asian Americans.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict flared up while Obama was in office, and again with Biden in office, but not while Trump was in office.

This article says that there was a chance for a peace deal with Russia soon after the war reignited in 2022, but the U.S and other NATO countries discouraged Ukraine from accepting peaceper the text, the U.S. repeatedly blocked peace deals. Now the war has gone on for almost two years, and Biden essentially wants a blank check for Ukraine, and is blaming Republicans for whatever goes wrong because they ask questions.

Robert Gates recognized that Biden has been wrong on foreign policy for four decades, but that doesnt stop the media from cheering the politician on, no matter how much unsafe and unstable the world becomes because Orange Man Bad.

Image generated by AI.
Remember General Mark Thoroughly Modern Milley? As Chairman as the Joint Chiefs of Staff he called his Chinese counterpart and told him should America plan action against China, hed let them know in advance. He pushed our military to new lows of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity madness. It was he whose priority was to discover white rage, among our forces. So determined was he to find and obliterate extremismanything other than leftist thought, word and deedhe sent our military on a hunt for the thousands of domestic terrorists he was certain lurked in the ranks. Not only were few, if any, found, Milley, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have presided over a recruiting deficit that has emboldened our enemies, horrified our allies, and directly threatens national security.

A recently released independent study showed that there was no extremism problem in the United States military, despite the Biden Pentagon making it a top priority to root out alleged extremists. The study, which was commissioned by the Department of Defense, conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses, and publicly released just four days before Christmas, found no evidence that the number of violent extremists in the military is disproportionate to U.S. society.

Image: Mark A. Milley With Christopher C. Miller at Arlington National Cemetary

Wikimedia Commons.org. Public Domain.

This is hardly surprising. The system, including basic training, is designed to weed out people unfit to serve.

The report noted that the Pentagons own data showed there were fewer than 100 substantiated cases per year of extremist activity by members of the military in recent years. This too is unsurprising. One of the primary duties of the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Corps is ensuring such problems are detected and eradicated. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is also hell on such problem troops. However, the Biden administrations  as well as the establishment medias  focus on so-called extremism in the military came after some veterans were found to have participated in the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Bidens then-top military adviser, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, famously told members of Congress during a hearing that he wanted to understand the white rage that he believed was behind the riot. And some of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins first moves as defense secretary were to stand up a Countering Extremism Working Group and to implement a force-wide stand down for commanders to discuss extremism with their troops.

Again, an unnecessary waste. The military runs on discipline, and expected standards of behavior are intensively taught from a recruits first day in basic training.

The IDA looked into whether currently-serving troops were among those charged in relation to the events of January 6, 2021 and found fewer than 10 who were charged. Of the more than 700 federal cases in which charges were publicly available a year after these events, fewer than ten were for individuals who were serving in the military at the time, the study said. Based on the size of the military relative to the general population and considering the rate of charges for males and females, we find no evidence that service members were charged at a different rate than the members of the general population, the study added. The study also found that there were only 73 veterans out of the more than 700 people charged, and that on average, they were separated from the military for nearly 15 years. A Wall Street Journal editorial board piece noted that the study was a welcome rebuke to the narrative that the military is a breeding ground for domestic terrorism.

One would think people like Milley and Austin, who served for decades, would know better. Obviously, they were careerists, attuned far more to political than military reality and needs. Our military members are more than smart enough to recognize the difference and quickly lose faith in leaders that hate them or see them as pawns to be played for career advancement.

The piece also credited the studys authors for warning that the risk of widespread polarization and division in the ranks may be a greater risk than the radicalization of a few service members.

Covid mandates, failure to protect our troops and deter our enemies, the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle, DEI lunacy, and every aspect of woke orthodoxy have been imposed on our military at enormous financial and personal cost. DEI bureaucrats, in uniform and out, are Soviet-style political officers, enforcing political uniformity and ruthlessly punishing thought crimes. General Milley has, thankfully, retired. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin continues to damage our military in his Javert-like hunt for virtually non-existent extremists, trans and pronoun-deniers.

Is it any wonder the sons and daughters of the regions and families that have traditionally produced our warriors are opting for different, and far less politically hazardous, careers?

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
Verizon users might be eligible to receive up to $100 as compensation for hidden fees in their bill, thanks to a proposed $100 million settlement. The proposed deal is in response to a class-action lawsuit filed in New Jersey, which claimed Verizon used deceptive practices to place administrative charges on customer bills that were not adequately disclosed. Despite the settlement, Verizon denies any wrongdoing.

Verizon will provide $100 million for a settlement fund, which will be split among eligible customers. The maximum each class member can receive is $100, and the exact payment amounts will depend on how long they have been a Verizon customer. Itll also vary based on how many eligible class members make a settlement claim.

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Its fairly easy to figure out whether you are eligible to receive a payment. Customers who had wireless or data plans between Jan. 1, 2016, to Nov. 8, 2023, and were charged administrative fees, are eligible. The settlement only applies to postpaid plans. Which are those that are charged at the end of each month via a bill. Prepaid plans, by comparison, are not part of the settlement. Plus, to make it easier, people who qualify will get a physical letter or an email about the settlement.

However, Verizon customers must manually file a claim form to get payment. Youll need to enter a personalized Notice ID and Confirmation Code, included in the letter or email, to enter the portal. Class members will have to file a claim before April 15, 2024, to be eligible.

Its important to note that by joining the class or doing nothing, eligible members will lose their right to sue Verizon in the future. To retain that right, you must sign and mail a written request to opt out of the class.

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Whats changing for Verizon customers going forward

The terms of Verizons Customer Agreement will be changing to include revised Administrative

Charge disclosures, the settlement agreement states. The fees wont be going away, but Verizon will make them more clear to customers in the future. The agreement also explicitly states Verizon can increase the charge down the road if it wants to.

However, the company maintains that it believes it acted fairly. Verizon clearly identifies and describes its wireless consumer Admin Charge multiple times during the sales transaction, as well as in its marketing, contracts, and billing, Verizon spokesperson Rich Young told USA TODAY in a statement. This charge helps our company recover certain regulatory compliance and network-related costs.
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of Harry Pitman in north London on New Years Eve.

Harry Pitman, who was also 16, had gathered with friends to watch fireworks before he was stabbed to death in Primrose Hill park, Camden, shortly before midnight.

The suspect, who is from Westminster and cannot be named because of his age, is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon.

He was charged in the early hours of Saturday and will face Highbury Magistrates Court later.
Hundreds of people are still stuck in Afghanistan or other countries awaiting resettlement to the UK more than two years after the Taliban takeover, Lord Cameron has said.

Almost two thirds of people eligible to come to the UK under a scheme for those who directly supported the British and international communitys efforts during the war are yet to be resettled.

There has been one case of someone being deported back to Afghanistan despite being on a scheme for vulnerable refugees.

When Taliban militants returned to power in summer 2021 after western forces, including the US and UK, withdrew following a 20-year occupation, the British Government announced legal routes for those most vulnerable and at risk to come to the UK.

Hundreds are still stuck in Afghanistan more than two years on from the Taliban takeover (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

They committed to welcome up to 20,000 people under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme (ACRS) but campaigners have criticised the process for being slow.

The scheme is split into three pathways, with the third specifically for British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni  all of whom are deemed to have directly supported the UK and international communitys efforts in Afghanistan.

The Government initially put a cap of 1,500 places for this first stage of pathway three, but said that with eligible family members coming too, this would likely be exceeded.

There has been ongoing concern about eligible Afghans being stuck in other countries as they try to make it to the UK.

The plight of some elite veterans, who fought alongside UK forces but were since threatened with being deported back to their home country from Pakistan, was raised last month in the House of Lords.

Pakistan had announced it was expelling Afghans who took refuge there as part of an ongoing crackdown on people without valid papers.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has given an update on those awaiting resettlement in the UK, including hundreds still stuck in Afghanistan.

In a letter to Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns, he said there had been two flights, one with 246 people on board, in December, meaning that almost all of the most vulnerable undocumented EPs (eligible persons) will have left Pakistan before a deadline of December 31, 2023.

He added: Over a third of all those due to come to the UK under this first stage of ACRS pathway three will have got here before the end of the year.

He said: Plans are in place to bring the remainder of those now in third countries to the UK early in the New Year, leaving only those still in Afghanistan, of which our estimate is there are less than 700.

He said that for those people their journey to the UK will depend on whether they can secure the necessary documentation to be allowed to leave Afghanistan, and visas for third countries, to cross the border.

On people being deported back to Afghanistan having fled, Lord Cameron said there had been one case under ACRS pathway two, which covers vulnerable refugees referred for resettlement to the UK by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

He said the Foreign Office was not aware of any deportations under pathway three or under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) which was set up for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan.

Lord Cameron said he was not complacent about deportations, adding: We continue to work hard to try to ensure there are no further cases.

Ms Kearns said this was a cross-cutting, complex area and that Lord Cameron had provided some much-needed clarity on the current state of Afghan resettlement schemes and the remits and responsibilities in government.

She said there was finally some movement in the right direction.

But she added there remain serious concerns over the danger that eligible Afghans, including those who put their lives at risk for the UK, will be deported back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan which she said would be a betrayal of the promises we made to them and would place them in substantial peril.

She added: It remains the case that two thirds of the Afghans eligible for resettlement in the UK under the first stage of ACRS pathway three havent been resettled, and this letter does not provide details on the Governments plans to evacuate them to the UK.

The Foreign Affairs Committee will continue to scrutinise the UKs approach to the fallout from the Afghanistan evacuation, and advocate for those Afghans who made significant sacrifices on our behalf.

Lord Cameron will appear before the Foreign Affairs committee next week for the first time since becoming Foreign Secretary.

Figures published in November, the latest available, showed that 1,110 Afghans arrived in the UK in the year to September under the legal routes created by the Home Office after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

Arrivals under the schemes were down from 5,346 in the year to September 2022.

Under the ACRS, 224 people were resettled in the UK in the year to September 2023, 96 of them aged under 18.

Some 886 arrived under Arap, of whom more than half (501) were under 18.
The King is preparing to withdraw private funding for the security operation at the Duke of Yorks home, according to reports.

Pressure is growing on Andrew as the unsealing of hundreds of pages of court documents connected to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues apace.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment, but The Telegraph said Andrew will have to fund the multi-million pound security costs at Royal Lodge himself if he wants to stay in the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park.

The move will be seen as the monarch distancing himself publicly from his younger brother, who less than two weeks ago walked to church with the royal family on Christmas Day.

The Duke of York after attending the Christmas Day morning church service in 2023 (Joe Giddens/PA)

The latest batch of legal papers detailed how Epsteins former housekeeper claimed Andrew had daily massages when he spent weeks at the paedophile financiers Florida home.

Juan Alessi, who worked at Epsteins Palm Beach residence, said both Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were friends with Epstein and the now convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

The duke greeted well-wishers outside church in Sandringham, Norfolk on December 25, with Sarah back in the royal fold and at his side.

But as the New Year began, previous allegations Andrew sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre three times when she was 17 including during an orgy resurfaced in newly-published court documents.

The Duke of York, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell (US Department of Justice/PA)

He strenuously denies the claims, and in 2022 paid millions to Ms Giuffre to settle a civil case out of court, saying he never met her.

The Metropolitan Police said no new investigation has been launched, but Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, former head of the Crown Prosecution Service, said where credible accusations are made they should be investigated.

Republic  the anti-monarchist group  reported the duke to Scotland Yard and is calling for the accusations to be properly investigated in the UK.

During his video-taped interview under oath in 2009, Mr Alessi was questioned on the dukes relationship with Maxwell and Epstein.

Lawyer Katherine Ezell asked whether Andrew and Sarah ever had massages at the Florida home.

Sarah, Duchess of York and the Duke of York (Adam Davy/PA)

Mr Alessi replied: Prince Andrew did.

I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I dont think she slept in there. I cannot remember.

I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us.

Ms Ezell then asked: Where would he sleep?

Mr Alessi said: In the main room, the main guest bedroom. That was the blue room.

The lawyer then said: And, so, when he would come and stay, during that time would he frequently have massages?

Mr Alessi replied: I would say, daily massages.

In a further interview under oath by an Epstein employee, who is labelled only as the witness in the documents, they claimed Maxwell took the paedophile financier to England to introduce him to royalty.

The staff member said there were many pictures of the duke with Epstein in the property they worked at.

Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell (US Department of Justice/PA)

They also said they never saw the duke visit the property, but he called.

In a resurfaced video-taped interview with Maxwell, the disgraced socialite said she did not know how Epstein met the duke and she insisted she did not introduce them.

Maxwell admitted, however, that there was a Duke of York puppet in Epsteins New York apartment.

Andrew was accused by Johanna Sjoberg of groping her breast while posing with what is reported to have been a Spitting Image puppet of himself in Epsteins Manhattan home in 2001.

Maxwell said she did not recollect putting the hand of the caricature on Ms Sjobergs breast.

The Duke of York at the the Kings coronation (Andrew Matthews/PA)

There was a puppet  not a puppet  there was a  I dont know how would you describe it really a caricature of Prince Andrew that was in Jeffreys home, she said.

A US judge ordered hundreds of documents to be unsealed as part of Ms Giuffres previously settled civil claim against Maxwell, which was filed in 2015.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

It was previously reported the duke was offered the much smaller Frogmore Cottage, which used to be home to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in a bid to relocate him from Royal Lodge.

But the duke was said to have signed a 75-year lease on the mansion in 2003.

Andrew attended the King and Queens coronation in May, despite stepping down from public life in 2019 over his friendship with Epstein.
Two people have been charged in connection with a fatal shooting on Hogmanay in Edinburgh.

Marc Webley, 38, was shot just before midnight outside the Anchor Inn in West Granton Road, before dying in hospital.

Two people have been arrested & charged in connection with the death of a 38-year-old man in Edinburgh. Emergency services were called around 11.50pm on Sun, 31 Dec after a firearm was discharged in West Granton Rd, seriously injuring two men. Read more: https://t.co/KbkKKsSPM8 pic.twitter.com/xEIjL1WgpV  Police Scotland (@PoliceScotland) January 6, 2024

Police said another man, aged 39, was taken to hospital with serious injuries but his condition remains unknown.

On Friday, a 32-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were arrested in connection with the incident, before being charged on Saturday.

Both are due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday and a report has been sent to the procurator fiscal.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday it will temporarily ground some Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes used by U.S. airlines after a panel appeared to have detached from an Alaska Airlines flight midair.

The FAA said it will also ground 737 Max 9 planes that operate in U.S. territory. In total, the order will affect about 171 of the airplanes out of 218 worldwide, the FAA said.

The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes before they can return to flight, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the [National Transportation Safety Boards] investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.

No serious injuries were reported on the flight, which turned back and landed safely at Portland International Airport on Saturday evening.

The FAA said in a directive that the decision to ground all 737 Max 9 planes stems from "a report of an in-flight departure of a mid cabin doorplug, which resulted in a rapid decompression of the airplane," referring to the Alaska Airlines incident.

The agency added that it is issuing this directive because of unsafe conditions that could potentially occur in a similar scenario in another aircraft of the same model, including "injury to passengers and crew, the door impacting the airplane, and/or loss of control of the airplane."

Boeing said it supports the FAAs decision.

Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers, Boeing said in a statement. We agree with and fully support the FAAs decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane.

A Boeing technical team is supporting the NTSBs investigation, the statement read.

We will remain in close contact with our regulator and customers, Boeing said.

airline mishap (Courtesy Kyle Rinker)

Alaska Airline temporarily grounded all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft Saturday for maintenance and safety inspections. It said a quarter of the inspections were completed with no concerning findings and so far 18 aircraft were cleared to return to service on Saturday. The remaining aircraft inspections are expected to be completed in the next few days.

United temporarily suspended service on select Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct an inspection. The removal is expected to cause about 60 cancellations.

Panama's Copa Airlines also said it was complying with the order and temporarily suspending flights on the planes.

'A loud bang'

Flight 1282 was bound for Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County, California, but turned back to Portland, Oregon, shortly after takeoff.

The FAA said the plane returned to the airport after the crew reported a pressurization issue.

According to FlightAware, an air travel tracking site, the flight took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. and landed back at Portland at 5:27 p.m.

Its not clear how or when the panel became separated from the passenger jet.

The plane was carrying 174 passengers and six crew members, according to Alaska Airlines, which initially described what happened as an incident. A photo from a passenger on board showed an entire panel missing from a side of the fuselage, next to a row of seats.

Kyle Rinker posted a photo from inside the plane on the social media platform X, along with the caption, When the wall of the plane just breaks off mid flight.

A passenger on the plane who gave her name only as Elizabeth told NBC affiliate KGW of Portland, Oregon, that the incident happened about 20 minutes after departing Portlands airport.

Everything was going fine until we just heard like a loud bang! Or like a boom, she said. And I look up, and the air masks are, like, out, popped down.

And I looked to my left, and theres just this huge gaping hole, on the left side where the window is, she told the station in a phone interview. She said the sound of the wind was very loud.

She said everyone had their seat belts on and people stayed calm, she said.

Alaska said in a statement, The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on X Saturday morning that he has been briefed on last nights incident and remain[s] in close contact with FAA on the response.
Updated  10 May 2023: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed a large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) called BLUE WHALE, designed for covert intelligence gathering in the open sea and coastal waters. The system incorporates Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) sonars developed in partnership with Atlas Elektronik and was unveiled at the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) event held this week at Rostock, Germany.

The system incorporates ATLAS ELEKTRONIKs unique, towed passive sonar triplet array. In contrast to existing towed sonars, the combined system is designed to function at depths traditionally exploited by submarines to avoid detection. A transmitter developed by ATLAS ELEKTRONIK, deployed from an autonomous or crewed surface vessel, enables the bistatic location and tracking of submarine targets by BlueWhale ASW. The towed sonar array is based on Atlas proven ACTAS (Active Towed Array Sonar) platform, a deep-water sonar system originally designed for surface vessel deployment. The system utilizes a low frequency sonar system that facilitates excellent area coverage while maintaining high sensitivity at depths previously beyond the reach of conventional sonar systems.

This AUV has undergone thousands of autonomous operation hours, including acoustic intelligence, identifying the presence of naval mines, and intelligence gathering for maritime and coastal targets.

The AUV measures 10.9 meters long and 1.12 m in diameter. It weighs 5.5 tons and can perform missions up to 30 days long. It can move at an optimal speed of 2-3 knots, with a maximum speed of 7 knots when required. BLUE WHALE has an integrated sensor payload mounted on an articulated telescopic mast that extends several meters high when fully opened, enabling the submarine to remain submerged throughout its mission, spanning two to four weeks. The AUV can descend to the bottom of the sea, where it can lurk and hide while using some of its sensors to collect intelligence for days. When submerged, the mast is stored in a container protecting the sensors and equipment. An intelligent, on-board controller manages the mission and sensors, sensors, communications, and power resources, enabling the operators to focus on the mission.

The sensors are mounted on the sail and telescopic mast. The mast mounts a small radar, designed for low-probability of intercept (LPI), and electro-optical payload providing visual intelligence (VISINT) just as a submarine does. An electronic support measures (ESM) sensor array is tasked with COMING and ELINT.

A broadband satellite communications antenna is also mounted on the mast, transferring the gathered data in real-time to command posts worldwide, either at sea or on land. To detect submarines and mines and gather acoustic intelligence, the AUV uses two types of sonars  a bi-static towed array for acoustic surveillance and submarine detection and flank sonar arrays for mine detection and seafloor mapping. The autonomous submarine can perform a significant portion of the operations of manned submarines, at minimal cost and maintenance, without the need for personnel on board. The AUV can be shipped in a standard 40-foot shipping container and deployed from a port or a support ship at sea. In addition, the Blue Whale can be used as a forward scout for manned submarines, special forces, and naval commandoes.

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On Jan. 8, 2023almost a year agoBeijing ended one of its toughest COVID-zero measures: its system of mandatory quarantine for international arrivals. After years of closed borders, those entering China, including Chinese citizens who had to travel overseas, no longer needed to spend days in isolation. It was an exciting development for many outside the country as well, with tourist destinations around the world preparing for a wave of Chinese visitors, ready to travel and spend after years of being stuck at home.

But while outbound travel in much of the rest of the world largely returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, one segment of the travel economy is still missing: Chinese tourists. The hoped-for rebound failed to materialize, as Chinese tourists pivoted to domestic tourism instead of overseas travel.

Thats a challenge for many destinations in Southeast Asia, which before the pandemic relied on Chinese spending to grow their tourist sectors. Just this week, Thailand permanently waived visa requirements for Chinese travelers. This will upgrade the relationship between the two countries, Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said at the time. (China is waiving visa requirements for Thai visitors as well, as Beijing also tries to boost inbound tourism.)

Chinese outbound travel surged in 2023, but its still lagging the massive outflow before COVID. In 2019, Chinese tourists made a whopping 155 million outbound trips. Official data for the first half of last year reports 40 million trips, and while the full-year figure will be larger, its still likely to be lower than what was reported before the pandemic.

Yet travel analysts are hopeful that Chinese citizens will start traveling more internationally this year.

If you see around the world, probably Chinese outbound travel is the only missing phase, said Parash Jain, head of transport research for Asia-Pacific at HSBC.

While a China-led rebound for Southeast Asias tourism sector didnt materialize last year, 2024 could finally prove analysts correct, thanks to more flights, relaxed visa regulations, and the receding effects of the COVID pandemic.

Despite a lot of pessimism about Chinas outbound travel, Jain still predicts that year-on-year growth in outbound travel will be out of the park. He doesnt think that Chinas slowing economy will diminish the appetite for travel overseas. Rather, Chinese tourists will opt for destinations closer to home. Instead of going to Miami, if I want to save something I will go to Bali. If not Bali, Ill probably go to Thailand, he suggests.

Where are Chinese tourists traveling to?

Pre-pandemic, Chinese tourists were commonly the biggest group of visitors and spenders for many Southeast Asian countries. Yet COVID halted outbound travel owing to strict border measures that included lengthy quarantines for Chinese residents returning to the mainland.

China ended its quarantine requirements on Jan. 8, 2023, yet Chinese tourists didnt immediately go on long-delayed international trips.

Thailands tourism-reliant economy attracted just over 11 million Chinese tourists in 2019 accounting for about 27% of the total tourist arrivals that year. Thailand collected about $15.39 billion from Chinese tourists that year, which also made up about 27% of the total income from all international arrivals. Contrast that with 2023, when Thailand received only 3.09 million Chinese tourists, way below the governments early target of 5 million.

In Singapore, the chairman of the Orchard Road Business Association, an organization that looks after the interests of businesses on the city-states premier shopping belt, told Nikkei Asia the return of Chinese touristsin his view, still the top spinner of saleshas been slow.

Jain thinks the sluggish travel revival was in part the result of Chinas massive exit wave of COVID cases in late 2022 and early 2023. Chinas economy had reopened, but there was a wave of COVID, he says. It was not a full-fledged reopening, per se.

Analysts also point to limited flight connections and post-COVID visa backlogs as factors contributing to the delay in outbound travel. During the pandemic, China restricted international flights with its five one policy, which allowed foreign carriers to fly just one air route to China once a week. Chinese carriers also had to similarly cut down on international routes. Restoring flight capacity takes time, as carriers coordinate crew, get planes back from storage, and wrangle with governments.

And Chinas economic struggles probably wont last forever. Consumption sentiment is picking up, boosting outbound travel in 2024, says Ying Zhang, a China research analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit. Health and COVID concerns among Chinese tourists also receded throughout 2023, which may encourage more to consider overseas holidays this year.

Asian countries like Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore dominated the list of popular destinations for Chinese tourists over the New Years holiday, according to travel company Trip.com. Outbound bookings are up by 388% year on year, according to Boon Sian Chai, the companys managing director and vice president of international markets.

China, too, is trying to get its international aviation sector back online again, and that also could help boost outbound travel. On Thursday, the countrys aviation regulator said it expects to see 6,000 international flights a week by the end of 2024. Thats about 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
A conservative activist group on Friday sued the U.S. government for $30 million over the alleged wrongful death of Ashli Babbitt who was shot and killed by law enforcement during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Judicial Watch attorneys filed the complaint in federal court in California, on behalf of Babbitt's estate and husband, Aaron Babbitt, for wrongful death and assault and battery. The suit claims U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was negligent when he fired a single fatal shot that struck Babbitt, a supporter of Donald Trump who joined a mob that broke into the Capitol trying to halt the certification of his electoral loss, in the shoulder as she climbed through a door leading to the House chamber. Lawmakers were being evacuated from the House floor.

"The facts speak truth. Ashli was ambushed when she was shot by Lt. Byrd," they wrote.

Syndication: Wilmington News Journal (Adam Monacelli / USA Today Network)

The lawsuit alleges that Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who was a decorated security forces controller, had traveled to Washington from her home in San Diego, Calif., to attend the Save America rally on Jan. 6, where Trump delivered a speech outside the White House.

"Ashli did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose," they wrote, adding that Babbitt was unarmed and "posed no threat to the safety of anyone."

The lawsuit accuses Byrd of violating a series of standards of care governing the safe use of a firearm, imminent threat assessment, and the use of force that led to Babbitt's death.

Byrd, a longtime veteran of the Capitol Police, was not in uniform, did not identify himself as a police officer, and failed to provide Babbitt "any warnings or commands" before firing, the lawsuit states.

A Capitol Police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Byrd previously told NBC News in an interview that he believed he "saved countless lives" during the riot, adding that he yelled repeatedly for rioters to get back, but the mob pressed forward and Babbitt attempted to climb through one of the doors.

Babbitt's death has become a martyrdom among Trump supporters, with some Republicans declaring her death a murder and Trump calling her a "great patriot."

Byrd was cleared months after the riot following an internal agency investigation that concluded his actions aligned with department policy on the use of deadly force.
A Republican Kentucky lawmaker has filed a resolution claiming that many people arrested for involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have been wrongfully held.

Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, filed Senate Resolution 50 on Friday, which recognizes citizens who have been held without due process after the attempted insurrection led by supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump, who has falsely asserted that he won the 2020 presidential election.

A number of false claims about the treatment of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, have been circulated by national conservative media and politicians. A quarter of Americans believe the false claim that the FBI instigated the Jan. 6 riot, according to a recent poll. Tichenor repeated one of the falsehoods, stating that a number of people arrested for actions that day have been held for more than 1,000 days and still havent had a trial or been charged.

While it is true that many defendants are still awaiting trial, theres no evidence supporting the claim that people have been held that long without being charged. The Associated Press reported in February 2022 that all people arrested in connection with the riot have been charged with crimes. The AP fact-checked the issue after former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake made a similar claim.

As of December, about 1,240 people have been arrested, according to the New York Times. The Department of Justice reported in October that nearly 600 people had pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the Capitol riot and nearly 100 had been convicted by a jury. The New York Times reports two people have been acquitted.

The resolution does not take any specific action, but acknowledge(s) the events of January 6, 2021, and recognize(s) those citizens who have been wrongfully held without due process.

When characterizing the events of that day, Tichenor said that maybe there were some people who attended the Jan. 6 rally to disrupt the election and storm the Capitol, but that didnt reflect the majority of those in attendance.

The majority of people assembled peacefully, Tichenor said. As the events unfolded, it became un-peaceful, but I know the majority did not attend that with mal-intent. They had a right to gather to protest. Its their First Amendment right to assemble.

Tichenor also said that she recently spoke with a Kentuckian who was pushed into the U.S. Capitol and was later arrested. She did not name the individual.

Its cost a lot and its been a really unfortunate situation, Tichenor said. And I think we have a lot of people who were affected in that way.

At least 23 people from Kentucky have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 riots. A Lexington man who has previously run for city council was among them.
A woman from Georgia visiting a California beach with her family died Saturday morning after strong waves hit them, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office confirmed.

Brindha Shunmuganathan, 39, and her two children were at Pismo Beach when a large wave around 9 a.m. knocked them down, authorities said.

According to police, Shunmuganathan and her family stayed in a nearby hotel while on vacation. They decided to go to the beach, and a large wave came up while taking pictures and knocked them down.

Fox26 News reported that family members rescued the two children; however, the mother was stuck on a rock bed and continuously hit by oncoming waves.

A Georgia woman was killed when a massive wave struck her on Pismo Beach in California on Dec. 30, 2023, authorities said. This file photo shows Pismo Beach across Highway 101 as a wildfire burned in the area in June 2020.

Bystanders who saw the event pulled Shunmuganathan from the waters and attempted to save her by doing CPR, police said. The Pismo Beach Police Department told USA TODAY officers arrived at the scene about 9:11 a.m. Saturday, where they tried to save Shunmuganathan.

After several attempts, she was pronounced dead at the scene by medics who came moments later, police said. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office said investigators are waiting for an autopsy to determine Shunmuganathan's cause of death.

Staying safe from massive California waves

This week, the West Coast is expected to experience a swell with big waves and coastal flooding. The strong El Nino pattern in the Pacific Ocean is causing hazardous waves up to 16 feet in size to return to the California coast.

The National Weather Service advises people to stay safe from the ocean. Deadly waves can surge up the beach by at least 150 feet. Experts say it's important to avoid standing on logs on the beach, as large waves can roll or lift these hefty, water-soaked logs, posing a severe safety risk.

Patrick Barnard, a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Pacific Coastal Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, previously told USA TODAY the ocean has risen by approximately 10 inches over the last century along the West Coast, and this trend is gaining momentum.

"We're riding on a higher baseline when these larger waves come in, so you tend to have larger coastal impacts, more erosion, and more flooding," Barnard said.

Other recent California waves

On Dec. 30, 2023, The Ventura County Fire Department issued an evacuation warning for some residences bordering Pacific Coast Highway, due to high surf impacting structures in the area.

The recent waves caused significant damage to government buildings in Ventura County, led to erosion of beaches, and resulted in numerous water rescues throughout the state. According to coastal experts and meteorologists who spoke with USA TODAY, the waves are most likely low-frequency, gravity-induced waves originating from offshore, which create a massive runup due to the rough surf and high water conditions.

At least eight people were injured last week in Ventura County when a rogue wave jumped a seawall and cleared out cars and people in its path.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rogue California wave kills Georgia woman visiting Pismo Beach
One of the specialties of Granada Hills home bakery Rose & Rye is nazook, the traditional Armenian spiral pastry that's in high demand for Armenian Christmas. (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

In her family's Granada Hills kitchen, Kristine Jingozian, one of the founders of Rose & Rye bakery, takes a tray of fresh nazook out of the oven  the flaky, rolled, traditional Armenian pastries that have a butter-and-sugar filling, scented with vanilla and burnished golden on top. Brown paper boxes would be neatly filled with nazook by the half and full dozen in preparation for the weekend of Armenian Christmas, which takes place on Saturday, when families share sweets with relatives to celebrate the holiday.

While the batch is cooling, Jingozian starts to roll delicate gel-like rose delights into sticks and arrange them along with walnuts onto rounds of dough that she shapes into crescents, called lokumlu  in high demand for Armenian Christmas Eve, to drink with cups of tea.

The flavors of L.A. meets Armenia: Rose & Rye's nazook with fillings such as classic vanilla, strawberry matcha, chocolate hazelnut, black sesame matcha, and brandied dates and walnuts. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Its one of the cookies Jingozian recovered from her grandmothers old book of recipes, which reflect influences from the years she spent in Soviet Armenia, intertwined with her Syrian and Lebanese background.

I watched her make lokumlu during my entire childhood. When we decided to add it to the menu, she came and stayed with us, following our every move and making sure we made it properly, Jingozian recalls.

Los Angeles is home to one of the largest Armenian communities outside of Armenia, and dozens of bakeries throughout L.A. reflect its tradition of pastry making, culturally connected to Russia, Iran, Lebanon, France and beyond. To be Armenian is to be of many places.

Rose & Rye is the story of one familys journey of refuge and immigration told through pastries and cakes that so many like the Jingozians adopted during displacement and changing political regimes, theirs perfected by testing hundreds of recipes.

Kristine Jingozian, left, and her sister, Rose Jingozian, started the family bakery with their mom, Karine, re-creating the Armenian pastries of several generations and adding flavors "to incorporate other cultures into our own culture," Kristine says, "because Rose & Rye is a diasporic project." (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

Karine Jingozian started the home bakery in May 2017 with her daughters, Rose and Kristine. From their kitchen they also make Persian halva, Russian layer cakes, borek, pirog shortbread tarts and ashtamali, a cross between two iconic desserts (orange blossom semolina cake layered with thickened cream and pistachios) with flavors and ingredients that root them in California, including local olive oil, mandarinquats, blood oranges, black sesame, strawberries and matcha.

I am obsessed with matcha, I drink it everyday so I decided to add it to the traditional nazook, Kristine says. It was a way for me to incorporate other cultures into our own culture because Rose & Rye is a diasporic project.

Kristine Jingozian brushes matcha black sesame nazook with a final egg wash before they go into the oven. "I am obsessed with matcha," she says. (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

Diasporic food means that its not just Armenian: It means that everywhere Armenians went they cooked and its Armenian food.

The tangy smell of baked yeasted dough prevails in the sparkling clean kitchen with four ovens placed strategically in different corners, allowing the family of bakers to make their signature cakes and cookies simultaneously.

The tidy German-made wooden mill situated on the counter turns grain into flour that Rose & Rye uses in baked goods. When they started their business, the Jingozians set out to work with the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project, which grows and preserves heirloom organic grains. The project aligned with Rose & Ryes goal of supporting the local economy and keeping generational traditions alive through food.

Read more:The secret to the most delicious jam I've ever tasted? Hot, sunny days

Food has always played a significant role in the Jingozian family. Karine grew up with the vivid stories of her great-grandfather, a chef in Iran. He was known for his shakshuka, which Karine re-created for her family. After repatriating to Armenia, her family moved to Siberia and later, in 1988, to the U.S.

For her 40th birthday, Karine decided to apply to culinary school and convert her passion for cooking into a profession. In 2016, she decided to quit her job as a pastry chef in West Hollywood and bake classic French cakes with Rose. Soon, Kristine, who worked at Republique, joined her mother and sister with the idea to modernize traditional recipes and make them accessible for others outside her community. Thats how centuries-old nazook received a makeover with hazelnut, chocolate and matcha fillings.

Rose & Rye was meant to be a temporary project, but as the customer base grew, with orders for dozens of nazook and full cakes, the Jingozians expanded the menu.

Thats when the Jingozians Russian honey cake, medovik, was born. The only good honey cakes that I tasted were the homemade ones. Store-bought ones were either dry or too sweet or didnt taste like anything, Kristine says. So she decided to create a cake based on one from her grandmother's recipe book as a starting point, but redeveloped with a flour called Rouge de Bordeaux, a hard red French wheat by Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project with a specific nutty taste that enhances the honey flavor.

Freshly baked, golden brown nazooks are packed carefully into boxes by the half and full dozen. They're especially popular at Armenian Christmas, when families exchange sweets with relatives. (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

After six months of trial and error, researching 600 different recipes and an endless stream of YouTube videos, they landed on an ultimate multilayer honey cake with strata of honey sour cream whip and a little golden bee on top.

The next project was to revitalize another childhood favorite popular in Armenia and other countries under Soviet rule: the Birds Milk Cake with white cream between layers made with Muscovado sugar and covered with a chocolate glaze.

The way I describe this cake to non-Armenians or someone who is not from Eastern Europe, Kristine says, is that it has the flavors of untoasted smores.

Weekly pre-orders for pickup at Rose & Rye are booked through its website. Cakes by the slice are available at pop-ups in Los Angeles announced on Instagram.

Read more:19 dishes from all over the world that blew our minds in 2023

Sign up for our Tasting Notes newsletter for restaurant reviews, Los Angeles food-related news and more.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Wayne LaPierre resigned as leader of the National Rifle Association on Friday, ending his decadeslong reign over the prominent gun rights group, days before the start of his civil trial in New York.

In announcing his departure, LaPierre, the organizations executive vice president, said he has been a card-carrying member of the NRA for most of his adult life and that he would never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom.

My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever, LaPierre said in a statement.

Fox News Digital, which first reported the resignation, said the 74-year-old cited health reasons for his exit, which will take effect Jan. 31.

He has led the NRA for more than 30 years.

LaPierre and three other current and former NRA leaders are fending off a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2020 that alleges they violated nonprofit laws and misused millions of dollars of NRA funds to finance lavish lifestyles for themselves.

LaPierre announced his resignation Friday afternoon as jury selection neared an end.

James touted his exit as an important victory.

LaPierres resignation validates our claims against him, but it will not insulate him from accountability, she said in a statement. We look forward to presenting our case in court.

The lawsuit alleges that LaPierre diverted millions of dollars away from the groups charitable mission for his personal use of private jets, expensive meals, travel consultants, private security, and trips to the Bahamas for him and his family.

The attorney general claims LaPierre spent more than $500,000 of the NRAs assets to fly himself and his family members to the Bahamas. From May 2015 to April 2019, the NRA incurred over $1 million in expenses for private flights in which LaPierre was not a passenger, according to the lawsuit.

LaPierre received more than $1.2 million in expense reimbursements from 2013 to 2017, the lawsuit alleges.

The other defendants are also accused of violating nonprofit laws and internal policies as they enriched themselves, the suit says, contributing to the NRAs loss of more than $64 million in three years.

They are Wilson Woody Phillips, a former NRA treasurer and chief financial officer; Joshua Powell, a former chief of staff and executive director of general operations; and John Frazer, the corporate secretary and general counsel.

In a court filing Thursday, Powell, who is representing himself, indicated that he is attempting to settle the case against him. The attorney generals office declined to comment on Powell.

The civil trial in Manhattan is expected to begin Monday and will last six weeks.

Six members of the jury will be tasked with determining whether the defendants violated nonprofit laws. If the jurors find the defendants liable, they will recommend the amount of money that each defendant would have to repay the NRA.

In that outcome, state Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen would have the final say over monetary damages and remedies, including whether the defendants should be permanently barred from serving on the board of any charity in New York and whether an independent monitor should oversee the NRAs finances.

The attorney general is seeking both remedies, which Cohen would decide on during a second phase of the trial.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said she would maybe consider Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as her running mate, saying, If he wants to join forces with me, I welcome that, in a joint interview with NBC News and the Des Moines Register on Friday.

Haleys comments come as the two Republican presidential candidates have been trading attacks on the campaign trail as they seek to become the primary alternative to former President Donald Trump, who has maintained a wide lead in the polls.

I am going to defeat Donald Trump on my own. Thats the goal that we have. If he wants to join forces with me, I welcome that, Haley said when asked about the prospect of joining forces with DeSantis to beat Trump. But right now, weve got a race that we feel good about. Weve got a surge. Weve got momentum.

When DeSantis was asked in an interview with NBC News and the Des Moines Register on Thursday if he would consider joining forces with Haley, he answered, For what? He also called Haley a phony and a darling of the Never Trumpers, intensifying his attacks on her as they fight for position in the race.

Haley, by contrast, barely mentioned DeSantis in her interview, in which she also spoke about whether former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie should drop out of the race, attacks on her record from the right, and the racism she experienced growing up.

DeSantis also accused Haley of running to be Trumps vice president, which the Florida governor has said he would not do.

Haley on Friday did not directly answer whether she would be Trumps vice president if asked, dismissing it as a setup by her opponents.

The reason I dont answer that question is I dont play my opponents games, Haley said. But she also sought to pour cold water on the idea, adding, I am not running to be vice president.

Nikki Haley speaks with reporters during an interview (Jamie Kelter Davis for NBC News)

Christie has left 'everybody scratching their heads'

Haley has risen to second place behind Trump in most polls in New Hampshire. That has led to growing pressure on Christie, who is courting many of the same moderate and independent voters in the state as Haley, to drop out to prevent splitting the non-Trump vote.

Haley wouldnt call on Christie to end his campaign, but questioned what he would accomplish by staying in the race, noting he is not campaigning heavily in Iowa or South Carolina, the states that vote before and after New Hampshire in the GOP nominating contest.

I think its left everybody scratching their heads saying, You know, you say you want to defeat Trump, yet you might be the one person that helps him win, Haley said of Christie staying in the race.

With the Iowa caucus just 10 days away, Haley is not setting the expectation to win, but to have a strong showing. When asked if a candidate can look strong if they finish double-digits behind Trump, Haley said, Absolutely. I mean, its one of many states.

Haley has often told supporters that she plans to take it in her home state of South Carolina, but on Friday she refused to commit to dropping out if she loses there. She instead said that she is fighting every day to make sure Trump doesnt win the state, where he is leading in polls by a wider margin than in New Hampshire.

Defending her record as a conservative

In light of her rivals attempting to paint her as a moderate, Haley called herself a hardcore conservative Friday, but said the Republican Party can only win if it focuses on trying to win the majority.

The only way were going to save our country is if we go after everybody, if we focus on lifting up everybody, not just a select few, and thats what Im going to do, she said. And so yes, is that conservatives? Yes. Is that moderates? Yes. Is that independents? Yes. I want them all.

After the Trump campaign attempted to tie Haleys stances on immigration to President Joe Bidens border policy in a new ad in New Hampshire this week, the former U.N. ambassador said Friday that Trump didnt do enough to secure the border when he was president.

When Trump says that I didnt want the border wall. Thats not what I said, she said in response to the ad, which claims Haley opposed building the wall. What I said is, a border wall is not enough. You have to do more than that.

Haley said she would support sending U.S. special operations into Mexico to take out the drug cartels and those that are trafficking, adding that if Mexico doesnt deal with it, well deal with it.

A quadrant with detail shots of Nikki Haley gesturing during an interview. (Jamie Kelter Davis for NBC News)

Personal 'hardships' dealing with racism

Haley also discussed growing up in the Deep South as a brown girl in the interview, saying she knows the hardships, the pain that come with racism.

While addressing the criticism she faced over her omission of slavery as a cause of the Civil War at a New Hampshire town hall last month, Haley shared her own personal experience, saying she was teased every day for being brown while growing up in rural South Carolina.

If you want to know what it was like growing up, I was disqualified from a beauty pageant because I wasnt white or Black because they didnt know where to put me, she said. So look, I know the hardships, the pain that comes with racism.

Haley has been attempting to clarify her Civil War comments, now saying she didnt include slavery in her answer because she thought it was automatic.

Speaking about her experience with race and her Civil War comments during a CNN town hall Thursday, Haley said, I had Black friends growing up.

When asked about those comments in the Friday interview, Haley said, Saying that I had Black friends is a source of pride.

Jan. 6 a terrible day

Ahead of the third anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, Haley called Jan. 6, 2021, a terrible day that she said can never happen again. She drew a distinction between those who broke the law and those who didnt, saying, Not everybody did something wrong.

But the ones that went in, the ones that broke the law, those are the ones  you have to hold them accountable, she said. You have to make sure that they pay the price to show that it will never happen again.
WASHINGTON  Amid tensions in the Middle East, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized, including spending four days in the intensive care unit, according to two senior administration officials.

The Pentagon did not inform senior officials in the White Houses National Security Council of Austins hospitalization until Thursday  three days after he arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center, a U.S. official confirms. Politico first reported the delay.

Austin was admitted to the hospital Monday night for complications following a recent elective medical procedure, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Friday evening.

Austin released a statement Saturday taking responsibility for not disclosing his condition sooner.

"I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon. I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better," Austin said. "But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.

President Joe Biden spoke with Austin on Saturday evening, according to a senior administration official, who indicated it was the first phone call between the president and Austin since his hospitalization.

It was a warm conversation, the senior administration official said. The President wished him the best in his recovery and said he looks forward to seeing the Secretary back at the Pentagon soon.

Austin was not able to perform his duties since New Years Day, a senior defense official said Friday. It was unclear when he would be released, the source said. Details about what ailed him were unavailable.

Ryder told NBC News that Austin resumed his full duties on Friday evening. He remained hospitalized Saturday.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, who was on leave, has picked up his duties, the senior defense official said.

Hicks was on pre-scheduled leave when Austin was hospitalized this week, according to a defense official. She has been on vacation in Puerto Rico, the official said.

She has maintained full communication with the DOD staff throughout, the official said. She has monitored DODs day-to-day operations and conducted some routine business.

The third in line among Pentagon civilian leadership, the office of the under secretary of defense for policy, is occupied temporarily as an acting position because nominee Derek Chollet has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the source said. Sasha Baker has been acting in the role since last summer.

At all times, the Deputy Secretary of Defense was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required, Ryder said in the statement.

Pentagon officials refused to describe Austins condition or say what exactly prevented him from carrying out his duties this week.

The Pentagon also would not release details about the procedure or when it took place, and it wont say whether Austin was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Asked why the Pentagon kept Austins hospitalization secret, Ryder told NBC News, This has been an evolving situation in which we had to consider a number of factors.

Those include Austins personal privacy, he said.

While Austin has been hospitalized, the U.S. conducted a rare and controversial strike against a senior Iranian-backed militia member in Baghdad, bases with Americans have been attacked at least six times, and the Biden administration has been considering options to strike Houthi militants in response to their continued attacks against ships in the Red Sea.

Tension in the region centers on the Israel-Hamas war. In October, the U.S. Navy sent two carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in response.

Iran-backed Houthi militants based in Yemen, unhappy with Israels attacks on Palestinian communities, have been attacking container ships in the Red Sea.

On Dec. 30, a U.S. Navy destroyer shot down two Houthi missiles after it responded to a strike on a container ship that resulted in no injuries or damage, military officials said at the time. The next day, Houthi rebels fired on Navy helicopters responding to a container ship distress call. The Navy fired back, sinking three small boats and killing the crews, officials said.

The U.S. is also wary of further regional entanglement as Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon exchange munitions with Israel along its northern border.
Donald Trump distanced himself from his former friend Jeffrey Epstein since his arrest in 2019 - Davidoff Studios Photography/ARCHIVE PHOTOS

Donald Trump visited Jeffrey Epsteins Florida mansion for dinner, but would eat with staff in the kitchen, a former housekeeper has claimed in new court filings.

Juan Alessi, who worked for the disgraced financier until 2002, said that Mr Trump would visit from his own nearby Mar-a-Lago resort and spend the evening at Epsteins mansion.

The property is where Epstein is alleged to have carried out many of his sex attacks against underage girls who were hired to perform massages.

Mr Trump has distanced himself from his former friend since his arrest in 2019, telling reporters that he knew [Epstein] like everybody in Palm Beach knew him and that the pair were not especially close.

However, Mr Alessi told lawyers in a deposition released as part of a defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins former girlfriend, that Mr Trump would visit the house in Palm Beach for dinner.

He would come, have dinner. He never sat at the table. He ate with me in the kitchen, Mr Alessi said.

The former housekeeper says Donald Trump visited Epstein's Florida mansion for dinner, but would eat in the kitchen

He added that Mr Trump would not receive massages in the house because he had his own spa at Mar-a-Lago.

Photographs from the late 1990s and early 2000s show Mr Trump and Epstein socialising together in Palm Beach. In one image, the former president and the paedophile pose with their respective girlfriends Maxwell and Melania Knauss, who would go on to become Mr Trumps wife.

In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, Mr Trump described Epstein as a terrific guy and appeared to address his interest in young women.

It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side, Mr Trump said.

Donald Trump (left) poses with Melania Knauss, who would go on to become his wife, and Epstein and Maxwell in 2000 - Davidoff Studios Photography/ARCHIVE PHOTOS

The pair ultimately fell out over a real estate deal in Florida in 2004, when both tried to buy the same house.

Mr Trump is mentioned several times in the latest release of documents. In one deposition, a woman working for Epstein said he would call up Trump to go to a casino, after an unscheduled visit to Atlantic City in New Jersey.

Elsewhere in Mr Alessis testimony, he said he had waited for Maxwell to receive a massage before taking her to Mar-a-Lago.

The former housekeepers evidence names several other high-profile figures, including the Duke of York and his then-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

Asked whether the prince would have massages in Epsteins home, he replied: Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us, adding that the massages would take place daily.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by either Ms Ferguson or Mr Trump.

More than 100 files from a 2015 defamation action by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epsteins accusers, against Maxwell are expected to be released in the coming days.

They follow a New York judges decision to unseal documents that had previously been held confidentially, after an application by The Miami Herald.

Mr Trump is one of two former presidents named in the unsealed court documents, with alleged victims of Epstein also referring to Bill Clinton in their testimony.

Johannah Sjoberg, who worked as a massage therapist for Epstein, said that he had once told her that Mr Clinton likes them young, in what she said was a reference to women.

There is no suggestion that Mr Clinton engaged in illegal activity, and a spokesman for the former president has said that he was not aware of Epsteins crimes.

The pair flew together on a trip to Africa on Epsteins plane, and although Ms Giuffre has previously claimed that Mr Clinton visited the financiers private island in the Caribbean, no evidence has been provided to support that allegation.

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A video shared by the Navy featured three Indian crew members expressing gratitude for their rescue

MV Lila Norfolk during a sanitisation operation by the Indian Navys Marine Commandos (MARCOS) after it was hijacked near Somalia's coast in the Arabian Sea. The Indian Navy rescued all 21 crew, including 15 Indians, onboard. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy said on Saturday that it is investigating suspected vessels in the North Arabian Sea to track down the pirates involved in an attempted to hijack the Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk. The vessel, carrying 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, was targeted by unknown armed personnel on Thursday evening.

Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar said on Saturday that Indian Navy is going to increase the number of warships deployed for anti-piracy and anti-drone activities in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. "Indian Navy has deployed six warships in the Anti Piracy and Anti Drone operations. The number is going to go up further. A proposal has been submitted to the government in this regard and clearance is expected shortly," he told a news agency.

He mentioned that it appears the hijackers of MV Lila Norfolk fled on spotting Indian Navy's drones and aircraft. "It seems that after seeing our aircraft and drones operating all over the ship hijacked by them, the pirates ran away from on the night of January 4-5 itself. The Marine Commandos had to sanitise the vessel for any traps or other issues," he said.

The Navy Chief stated that the first action taken by the Indian Navy upon receiving information about the hijacking was to direct the forward mission-deployed ship, INS Chennai, to move towards the vessel, located at a distance of 400 miles.

"Simultaneously, we launched our aircraft immediately to communicate with the crew... There were approximately 4-5 fishing boats around our ship, providing us with a clear indication of a pirate attack," he explained. He said that the Anti-Piracy Rule, enacted by the Government, played a crucial role in this operation.

"It is our duty to protect our national interests, regardless of their location. Though it was not an Indian-flagged ship, the crew were Indian, and it is our national policy to assist them in times of distress. We have followed a similar approach in Sudan and Ukraine. We embrace the challenge of repatriating our countrymen, no matter where they are," stated the Navy Chief. He added that directives have been issued to naval officers to take decisive actions to prevent piracy at any cost. "Our objective is to maintain the safety and security of the Indian Ocean region," he said.

"All 21 crew members of MV Lila Norfolk have been rescued and are safe. Indian Naval forces are actively investigating suspected vessels in the area," the Navy said. It said efforts were on to restore the vessel's functionality and highlighted the recent surge in maritime incidents in the strategic waters. The crew is now focused on restoring the vessel's propulsion system, power supply, and steering gear, to resume its journey under the escort of an Indian naval warship.

A video shared by the Navy featured three Indian crew members expressing gratitude for their rescue. "I am proud of the Indian Navy," remarked one of the crew members.

The incident with MV Lila Norfolk follows a series of maritime events, including a drone attack on the Liberian-flagged vessel MV Chem Pluto on December 23, off India's west coast. Another commercial oil tanker en route to India experienced a suspected drone strike in the Southern Red Sea on the same day, carrying a team of 25 Indian crew members.
The high-level committee declared that suggestions received by January 15 would be thoroughly considered

NEW DELHI: The committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, focusing on the 'One Nation, One Election' initiative, has invited suggestions from the public to enhance the existing legal and administrative framework, enabling simultaneous elections across the country. The committee, formed in September of the previous year, has conducted two meetings to date.

In a recent public notice, the high-level committee declared that suggestions received by January 15 would be thoroughly considered. The general public is encouraged to provide their input either through the panel's official website https://onoe.gov.in or via email on sc-hic@gov.in.

Former president Kovind has endorsed the concept of simultaneous elections and has urged all political parties to rally behind the idea for the greater good of the nation.

The committee had earlier sought the opinions of political parties, initiating interactions on a "mutually agreed date" to discuss the idea of concurrent polls. Subsequent reminders were dispatched to the parties. Letters were dispatched to six national parties, 33 state parties, and seven registered unrecognised parties.

The committee has also deliberated on the perspectives presented by the Law Commission regarding simultaneous elections, and further consultations with the law panel may be considered.

Apart from Former president Kovind, the committee comprises home minister Amit Shah, former Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Nabi Azad, 15th Finance Commission Chairperson N.K. Singh, former Lok Sabha secretary-general Subhash C. Kashyap, and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is a special invitee.

According to its terms of reference, the committee is mandated to "examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha), State Legislative Assemblies, Municipalities, and Panchayats." The committee will consider the existing framework under the Constitution of India and other statutory provisions, suggesting specific amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and relevant rules. The objective is to facilitate simultaneous elections, a practice followed nationwide from 1952 to 1967.
The BJP chief said Modi has ended vote bank politics and connected everyone with the politics of development

Chandigarh: BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed the country's political culture that used to revolve around caste, creed, and vote bank politics.

Nadda held a roadshow in Haryana's Panchkula and expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would sweep all the 10 Lok Sabha Seats in the state in the upcoming general elections.

"He (PM) has changed the culture of politics in the country which was earlier based on caste and creed... divisive politics and vote bank politics were practised for a long time until PM Modi gave a new message -- 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas' -- and said that the country can move ahead with the mantra," Nadda said.

The BJP chief said Modi has ended vote bank politics and connected everyone with the politics of development.

Scores of people lined the route of the roadshow, which was dotted with party flags, and showered flowers on the vehicle of the BJP chief who urged the crowd to ensure that the party repeats its 2019 parliamentary polls performance and wins all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the upcoming general elections.

With Nadda's visit to Haryana coming after BJP's victory in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, the BJP chief told the gathering, this enthusiasm shows you want to take the country and the state forward and make Narendra Modi the PM for the third time.

When he asked how many of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will the BJP win, the crowd replied, "Dus ki dus (all 10)".

Nadda then said, "Dus bata bus, dus bata dus (all 10 seats)... I am making an advance booking. I have come here with Modi ji's message."

The BJP is in alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party in Haryana, but both have remained non-committal about whether they would contest the LS polls jointly.

Nadda also addressed a gathering of party workers and leaders from BJP's Chandigarh unit while in the evening, he met newly appointed district presidents of the party's Haryana unit in Panchkula.

Praising Modi's leadership, Nadda, while speaking during the roadshow, said, "He is the country's and the world's most popular leader and we are proud that he is a leader of the BJP."

"We have to make the country strong and stable and you will see it becoming a developed nation before your own eyes," he added.

Even the Chinese media is praising India's progress. It has been said that earlier, India used to balance but now, it works according to its interest, he said.

He cited an article in Global Times, a prominent state-run Chinese media outlet, that said India has become more strategically confident and proactive in creating and developing a "Bharat narrative".

Nadda also mentioned several welfare schemes and initiatives of the Modi government, particularly for the underprivileged sections, saying they have benefitted from the policies and programmes of the Centre.

The PM has ensured the empowerment of the deprived, he said. Today, India is the world's fifth largest economy and is poised to be among the world's top three economies well before the end of this decade, he said.

Addressing the Chandigarh unit here, Nadda while encouraging the workers and terming them as the party's backbone, urged them to gear up for the impending electoral battle.

Highlighting Prime Minister Modi's special connection with Chandigarh, Nadda commended the workers and expressed confidence in their ability to further the development initiatives initiated by the prime minister.

He underscored the global recognition of India's social justice initiatives under Modi's leadership.

He also highlighted the "fast progress" that the country is making on the economic front and other fronts, including steel production, automobile industry, pharmaceutical sector, petrochemicals, road network, railways, and waterways.

At the Panchkula roadshow, Nadda praised the welfare schemes of the Khattar government and said its flagship 'Parivar Pehchan Patra' (family ID) scheme has brought a big change in society.

Today, people don't have to run to government offices, they only have to mention their details on a portal and the government reaches their doorsteps, said Nadda.

Nadda was accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and state BJP chief Nayab Singh Saini on the vehicle decorated with marigold garlands during the roadshow.

BJP Haryana affairs in-charge Biplab Kumar Deb, senior party leader Om Prakash Dhankar and State Assembly Speaker and Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta also accompanied the BJP chief.
San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto discusses his departments plans to address drug crimes in the Tenderloin district during a June 8, 2023, news conference outside City Hall. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle 2023 Former Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Terry Wiley became San Franciscos first inspector general last month, an accountability role that will put him in oversight of the sheriffs department. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle 2023

The San Francisco Sheriffs Department Oversight Board leaned toward recommending a complaint mediation process that would prevent low-level misconduct claims from appearing on officers records on Friday.

The board met for the first time since appointing Inspector General Terry Wiley, who would need to implement such a process and who will oversee the sheriffs department, which operates two county jails.

The Sheriffs Department Oversight Board, established by voters in 2020, has been meeting since August 2022. The seven-member board, composed of four supervisorial and three mayoral appointees, is tasked with overseeing and evaluating the inspector generals work and recommending policies to the sheriff.

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However, the board conducted no policy reviews last year as it instead focused on hiring an inspector general, and didnt even make a recommendation on the mediation proposal Friday. It will now turn to reviewing sheriffs department policies in county jails and on patrol, at a time when the department faces significant hurdles.

The sheriffs department needs to hire more than 150 deputies and faces a $9 million budget deficit, Undersheriff Katherine Johnson told the board. While the department is mostly a custodial agency, it has been conducting patrols in the Tenderloin district as part of Mayor London Breeds task force to address drug sales and use in the neighborhood, Johnson said.

The board announced the citys first inspector general last month. Wiley, a longtime Alameda County prosecutor who unsuccessfully ran for district attorney last year, promised fairness, transparency and competence after taking the oath of office on Dec. 20. Wiley, who was not at Fridays meeting, will head an office tasked with reviewing and investigating complaints of police misconduct and all deaths in custody.

The board is considering a mediation process similar to one long used by the San Francisco Police Department. Mediation creates a non-disciplinary outcome for certain civilian complaints that do not rise to the level of serious misconduct as defined by state law, such as inappropriate behavior, neglect of duty or detaining someone without cause.

It involves getting the officer and complainant in a room for an hour to resolve their differences, said Allie Schultheis, the director of mediation for the Department of Police Accountability, which oversaw the sheriffs department until an inspector general was appointed and carries out a similar function for the police department.

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The optional process, which Schultheis described as an off ramp, means no investigation or disciplinary action will occur against the officer, and nothing will go on their record. Mediation does not always end with people seeing eye to eye, but it does always mean the end of the complaint process.

Once the mediation is done, the case is closed, Schultheis said. We dont guarantee anything is going to happen.
BJP is using the Ram Temple consecration ceremony to expand its reach to territories, which have, so far, remained out of its reach.

With two weeks to go for the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, the Bharatiya Janata Partys plans to publicise the event have picked up speed. Frenzied efforts are being made to ensure that details about the temples architecture, travel arrangements to Ayodhya and plans for celebrations at local temples percolate down to the grassroots through the combined use of social media and local cadres. While Hindi heartland states are fertile ground for such publicity, the BJP is using the Ram Temple consecration ceremony to expand its reach to territories, which have, so far, remained out of its reach. Take the case of Kerala, a state where the BJP is making strenuous efforts to put down roots. There are reports that people there have received messages through various social media platforms recalling that the real architect of the Ram Temple movement, K.K.K. Nair, hailed from Kerala and the public here should celebrate the construction of the temple in deference to his contribution. Nair was the district magistrate of Faizabad when the idols of Ram Lalla mysteriously appeared under the Babri Masjids central dome in 1949. Nair refused to remove the idols despite instructions from the then Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and inspector general of police. His decision laid the foundation of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

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In 2019, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar decided to move to the Rajya Sabha and fielded his daughter Supriya Sule from his Lok Sabha constituency Baramati. The move was meant to send out a message that Ms Sule is his heir apparent and that Mr Pawar would henceforth play an advisory role. However, the situation has changed dramatically since Senior Pawars nephew Ajit Pawar split the NCP and joined the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra. Forced to play a more proactive role, there is talk that Sharad Pawar may contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha election from Baramati once again to cash in on the sympathy generated in his favour following the split. NCP insiders maintain this would enthuse its cadres and help the party electorally in constituencies neighbouring Baramati. At the same time, the BJP is learnt to be pressing Ajit Pawar to contest against his uncle. Alternatively, it is suggested he could field his wife. The BJPs chief objective is to put an end to the Sharad Pawar era in Maharashtra politics.

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While the Congress is yet to initiate formal seat-sharing talks with its allies in the INDIA bloc, regional parties have made it clear that they plan to drive a hard bargain. Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has said she would be willing to leave two seats for the Congress. Similarly, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is learnt to have told Rahul Gandhi that the Congress demand for 22 seats in Uttar Pradesh is unrealistic given the partys negligible presence in the state. Mr Yadav has instead suggested the Congress focus on winning Amethi and Rae Bareli which itself could prove to be an uphill task. The Aam Aadmi Party, it is said, has offered two seats to the Congress in Delhi and one each in Punjab and Chandigarh.

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Congress Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoors recent comments on the Ram Mandir did not go down well with his party which is still struggling to take a decision on whether its leaders should attend the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22. While stating that the invitation to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge was an attempt to box the party, Mr Tharoor had said on social media platform X that the Bharatiya Janata Party was reverting to its core message, presenting Narendra Modi as a Hindu Hriday Samrat. In an informal conversation with presspersons, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said Mr Tharoor is not the partys official voice and any one offering such unofficial comments can be pulled up. Ramesh recalled he, too, had been pulled when he was not the communications head. To this, Pawan Khera, chairman of the Congress media and publicity department, remarked, I was the one who pulled you up and today you are my boss. A classic case of karma.

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The Congress released the route map of Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra last week. Set to start from Imphal on January 14, the yatra will wind its way through several states and end in Mumbai over two months later. Uttar Pradesh is among the several states Rahul Gandhi will be covering during this yatra. Among the places he plans to touch are Amethi, Rae Bareli, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Lucknow, but tellingly, Ayodhya is missing from the itinerary. A section in the Congress believes this is a glaring omission, considering Rahul Gandhi has been temple-hopping over the past few years on his countrywide tours in an effort to dispel the public perception that the Congress is anti-Hindu. Faced with a similar situation, his father, Rajiv Gandhi, had launched his 1989 election campaign from Faizabad, a few kilometres from Ayodhya, with the promise to usher in Ram Rajya. Its a different matter that the Congress was defeated in that election.
A judicially sanctioned Temple Trust has been constituted to oversee the construction.

These days the entire country is absorbed with the forthcoming inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22. By and large, there is popular support, but in a democracy, there is always scope for some to disagree. What concerns me, however, is the extent of unproductive and ill-thought-out politics that now surrounds this momentous occasion.

The building of the much-awaited abode of Shri Ram is not a BJP project. It is the consequence of a Supreme Court (SC) judgment, and is, therefore, by definition an event that is apolitical. A judicially sanctioned Temple Trust has been constituted to oversee the construction, and it is this trust that is making the arrangements for its opening.

Such a procedure is in conformity with the values associated with Maryada Purushottam Ram, because it follows due process, and is nyayasangat, in consonance with the ruling of the highest court in the land. The earlier attempt in 1992, by cadres of the BJP-RSS to take the law in their own hands and demolish the existing Babri Masjid was amaryadit, because it was done in an illegal manner. In fact, the top BJP leadership of that time, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani, expressed deep regret at what had happened.

Is the BJP making political capital out of this event? The answer is an obvious yes, but frankly, that is inevitable. The BJP-RSS combine were at the forefront for decades for the construction of this temple. When L.K. Advani began the Rath Yatra in 1990, the motivation was perhaps both aastha or faith, and politics, since the party needed a strong emotional issue to recover from the humiliating defeat of 1984 when it was reduced to just two MPs. Now that the Prana Pratishtha of the magnificent temple is being performed when the party is in power, and is led by a charismatic leader like Narendra Modi, it is but natural that it will reap political dividends, especially since the inauguration is on the eve of the national elections in 2024, and will be followed by an extensive outreach programme that, by some reports, will involve carrying the prasad to around 1,50,000 villages.

It is the Oppositions stand that leaves me perplexed. If they had welcomed the SC judgment sanctioning the building of the temple, they cannot consider it a partisan affair of only the BJP party. The only way that they could gracefully counter the anticipated political gain to the BJP, is to stress that Shri Ram belongs to all, and is not the monopoly of only one party or leader. To simultaneously welcome the judicial process, and to remain undecided or small-minded about the inauguration of the temple, is a self-defeating strategy.

The emphasis of the Opposition parties should have been to claim Shri Ram on an equal footing as the BJP, and assert that the building of the temple, which is the result of an SC verdict, is a victory of all those who believe in Him, so as to dilute the BJP narrative of claiming exclusive credit. In philosophical terms, they would have been absolutely right in doing so. In Tulsis Ramcharitnamas, when Shri Ram asks Valmiki to help him find a place to stay while in exile in the forest, the sage replies: Poochehu mohi ki rahaun kahan main poochat sakuchaun/Jahan na hohu taham dehi kahu tumkahi dekhavi thaun (You ask me: Where should I take up my residence! But I ask you with respect: tell me first where is the place you are not!)

Alas, the politics playing out is distasteful. The BJP is not blameless. It has transparently sought to make the inauguration of the temple an electoral victory banner for the party, appropriate all credit for it, and in the process project PM Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath as the most committed bhakts of Ram. Some of the partys over-zealous members  including a Union Cabinet minister  are aggressively saying that Ayodhya tau jhanki hai, aage bohat kuch baki hai: Ayodhya is just the beginning, a lot more still remains to be done. The ruling party seems to have lost all reticence in threatening that what has happened in Ayodhya will also be replicated in Kashi and Mathura, with scant regard for the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which the BJP may have opposed, but is still the law of the land.

A war on who is invited is and who is not is also unfolding. The Congress is, as usual, confused and undecided about whether to condemn the BJP for politicising the temple, or attend the inauguration, or call it an attack on secularism, or divert attention from it through the Nyaya Yatra. Akhilesh Yadav has gone on a separate tangent, when especially as the leader of the largest Opposition party in UP, it would have made much greater political sense for him to publicly thank the SC for its ruling and announce that he and his cadres would be attending the inauguration with full enthusiasm. Perhaps Akhilesh has his Muslim vote bank in mind, but the leaders of the minority community had also accepted the SC verdict, and in any case, in UP, it has no one else to support except the strongest party opposing the BJP, which is the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Similarly, the Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena has decided not to attend, although ideologically it was perhaps even more committed to the building of the temple, and had even justified the illegal demolition of the Babri Masjid. In Kerala, the CPI(M) and the Congress are at loggerheads over the issue, with the leaders of the former accusing the Congress for lacking the spine to oppose communal politics. The Muslim community is apprehensive that an inauguration at such a grand scale with the fullest involvement of the PM and his party, will lead to much greater aggression against other existing mosques  and the Muslims in general. Asaduddin Owasi has said that this kind of religious partisanship on display with the governments fullest involvement is a danger to the secular structure of the Constitution.

All in all, the Ram temple has become simultaneously the most uniting and divisive event of recent times. Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram must be wondering what is happening in his name.
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Competition breeds innovation, and innovation usually brings success. Unfortunately, that is not the case anymore for the traditional war between the Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, and the Dodge Challenger plus Charger. At least for now, that is.General Motors initially ordained the 2024 Chevy Camaro to end production and send the sixth generation of the iconic pony car into retirement this January. It wasn't meant to be, though  convertibles were dropped from manufacturing in November, and the final coupe was born as a ZL1 in December.Concurrently, Stellantis also wrapped up the story of the Challenger and Charger this past December, with the final coupe and muscle sedan signaling the end of the Hemi V8 era. We don't know what will happen with the Challenger nameplate going forward, given that a new Charger will adopt the two-door fastback body style and spring to life sometime later this year withpower and (allegedly) Hurricane inline-six mills under the hood.Well, at least Dodge will have an answer to the 500-hp Mustang Dark Horse if the upcoming Charger coupe arrives with the Hurricane H/O (high output) sporting 520 or 540 hp like on the Jeep models or the 2025 Ram 1500 lineup, respectively. How about Chevrolet ? Officially, the Camaro nameplate is dead but not buried yet  it could come back somewhere sometime.But for now, nothing is coming for the 2025 model year. Not in the real world, at least. Meanwhile, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators doesn't want to leave the market potential of muscle cars untapped by Chevy. Some pixel masters only have eyes for a Chevelle revival , while others would very much like to see the Impala make a glorious comeback.Interestingly, Muhammad Maulana, the virtual artist behind the 'TalkWheels' channel on YouTube, presents us with his vision for Camaro's mightier replacement that mixes and matches the Chevelle and Impala into just one thing  a two-door muscle car labeled 'Impala Finale.' It's pretty easy to understand the desiderate  it has two doors like the Camaro but a larger footprint like the Impala and a brawny AI-designed attitude like a Chevelle.Even better, the pixel master envisions this Chevy Impala Finale revival as the unofficial beginning of a new era by making the design project the template for a hypothetical muscle car sporting hybrid power. So, wouldn't it be great to see the Impala return with a detuned powertrain borrowed from the all-new, first-ever C8 Corvette E-Ray?
I will be celebrating my 35th anniversary this year. It's a strange feeling. When did time go by so fast? It feels like I was playing Need for Speed: Porsche for the first time just yesterday. Time is our most valuable commodity indeed.

'65 Corvette

Photo: eBay/User RIX REDZ

Roll Cage

Photo: eBay/User quinazland

So Fine

Photo: eBay/User Wolverine Trends

'67 Dodge Charger

Olds 442

Photo: eBay/User OldSchoolDiecast

I've dug further through Mattel's Hot Wheels Treasure Hunt series in recent months. I've already looked at almost 20 years of special collectibles. Seeing that it all started in 1995, we still have seven more sets to look through. Today, I'll be reviewing the 2001 lineup. But first of all, let's set the stage and remember what that year was like.George W. Bush officially became the 43rd President of the United States in January. In February, Dale Earnhardt tragically lost his life on the final lap of the Daytona 500 race. Apple introduced the Mac OS X operating system in March, while Microsoft launched its XP system several months later. I also remember being shocked by the September 11 attacks, as every single news station around the world was reporting the topic. But at least 2001 gave us some incredible movies, including the first installment of the Lord of the Rings series, The Fast and the Furious , Down to Earth, and Ocean's Eleven.If music helps you remember distant moments in time, Nickleback released How You Remind Me that year. And the world was still listening to Outkast's "Ms. Jackson," which had debuted one year prior. Over at Mattel , the Treasure Hunt series featured 12 items as usual. But one was a motorcycle, the Blast Lane. Three more featured non-Real Riders wheels, while the Deora wore the ugly Red Line rims. That leaves me with seven collectibles to go down from for my top five list. We already discussed the Rodger Dodger in a previous story, while the Pontiac Rageous concept is anything but exciting.Mark Jones designed the '65 Corvette for its 2000 First Editions debut. It featured a simple black finish with a contrasting red interior, and it was great. Mattel upgraded it to Treasure Hunt status for the second iteration, which arrived the following year. It had an Enamel Red paint job and a white interior this time. But the Chromed Deep Dish Real Riders wheels were the cherry on the cake.This TH would be just as popular in 2024 as it was back then. Its market value ranges from $10 to $80, whereas the complete 2001 TH set will cost slightly over $200. Mattel would release an additional 35 variations of this casting until 2020. That's right, no new model has come out since that year.Given that the previous four were all Multipack Exclusive items, this casting may be a thing of the past. The most expensive iterations of the '65 Vette are the 2005 RLC sELECTIONs 'Vette and the Spectraflame cars from the Hot Wheels Classics 2 series. But you'll still be able to get the entire collection for a reasonable budget.The Roll Cage debuted around the same time as the '65 Vette. You can quickly tell what Mark Barthold intended with this design. With the new Mad Max universe movie coming up this year, this casting may serve as a base for a themed series. Even though we last saw it in 2019, it has had two re-tools with 25 variations in between.Most featured a metal base, always a big plus for collectors. The First Edition model featured a yellow paint job and Saw Blade wheels with Off-road tires. Only the first few iterations used the same wheel design, and sadly, Mattel decided to switch to a 5-spoke setup starting in 2002. But before that happened, the TH variation was a rather spectacular appearance. If you're an off-road enthusiast, I'm sure you'd like to have this collectible on display at home.With no fenders to cover the tires, you get a clear view of them, and you'll forget this is just a fantasy casting. It's a shame that the spare tire is not part of the RR lineup, but that's one way of reducing costs. Price-wise, you can expect to pay anywhere between $5 to $40 for the Roll Cage TH So please use common sense before spending more than necessary for one.Gary Saffer drew inspiration from the 1951 Buick Roadmaster to design the So Fine casting. It's just as old as the previous two items but went extinct long before they did. Between 2000 and 2015, Mattel released 30 iterations, only five of which rolled on Real Riders wheels.The 2001 Treasure Hunt variation was first in line, and one should pay attention to avoid confusing it with the base model. The latter has the same color on the outside but no tinted windows and a regular set of wheels. What's even better about the TH So Fine is that it has White Wall tires, something you'd expect from a car over 70 years old.Price-wise, it's the same old story: $10 to $30 will allow you to add this item to your collection. A lot of eight variations could even kickstart the whole adventure for less than $60 if you're keen on reaching that point.You may have noticed the lack of Japanese cars on this list, which shows how different things were back in 2001. Something like this may become inconceivable ten years from now. But Dave Weise's Dodge Charger was exciting enough to make you forget about this minor issue. The First Edition featured a tedious Grey paint job but a fun red interior and PR5 wheels.Mattel quickly addressed the issue by switching to yellow on the outside, black for the cabin, and Chromed Deep Dish Real Riders wheels. Let's be thankful for the wheel diversity we have today. The livery for the TH was slightly overcrowded, but then again, you'd expect something like this from a race-ready vehicle.I've spotted two of these collectibles for just under $60 on eBay, which is unsurprising. You can still find several for less than $20. With 35 variations coming out until 2012, you're looking at anywhere between $500 to $1,000 for the complete collection. You'll be fine if you stay away from the one with a $5,500 price tag.The last item on today's list is the Olds 442. Michael Kollins designed it, and it's the oldest one here. It made its debut in 1993 as part of the Demolition Man series alongside eight more vehicles. Mattel released a limited edition run of 7,000 items for the Greater Seattle Toy Show the following year.Despite the scarcity and the Goodyear Real Riders, you can still pick one up for less than $50. 1995 was a big year for the Olds 442: it was part of the first-ever Treasure Hunt series with a 10,000-unit limit per collectible. I've seen a few of these selling for over $200! The 2001 TH was the 22nd iteration of the casting and featured a Metalflake Blue finish.It's one of my favorite items on the list, and I'm surprised that most sellers have listed it for less than $20. If the name rings a bell, you may remember Mattel used an Olds 442 in the Mud Runners series in 2022. There are several other similar castings to look for if you're a fan of the model. Have fun spending all your money if you decide to get them all!
Since the dawn of the automobile, engineers and car designers have come up with an immense variety of unique car designs that have made waves across the industry. But they say there is nothing new under the sun and what has been will be again, and this is also true for the automotive world. We might be currently witnessing a boom in electric vehicles, but the technology has been around for decades.

Photo: Metalocus

Photo: Metalocus/Musee des Arts et Metiers

Photo: Metalocus/Musee des Arts et Metiers

kW

Nowadays, there seems to be a consensus that the automotive future is electric, with battery-powered vehicles slowly replacing internal combustion engines, but EVs existed long before Tesla. The very first electric cars actually predate gasoline-powered autos, and the automotive history includes some innovative takes and even failed attempts on electrified vehicles One vehicle that had something to tell the world about the car of the future, demonstrating the incredible potential of automotive design and engineering, was L'Oeuf Electrique, which is French for the Electric Egg. That's a weird name for a car, but a fitting one nonetheless, considering its peculiar shape.Designed in 1942 by Paul Arzens, the Electric Egg provides us with a glimpse into a world where anything can be envisioned and brought to life, no matter how outlandish and unconventional it may appear at first glance.Multi-disciplined industrial designer Paul Arzens was born in 1903 in Paris and initially pursued a career as an artist, having studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Later on, in the 1940s and '50s, he became interested in engineering and design and built a reputation as a talented designer of locomotives and cars. He designed most of the diesel and electric locomotives built for the French railway system (the SNCF) during the 1950s and also contributed to the TGV (Tres Grande Vitesse) late in the 1960s.In 1942, he introduced the prototype of the L'Oeuf Electrique, a compact three-wheeled bubble car powered by electricity with an aluminum body and a plexiglass windshield.A bit of historical context would help to better understand the designer's aim with this car. In the spring of 1940, German troops invaded and conquered France and moved on to occupy factories and seize most of the country's cars. Moreover, gasoline was in short supply. So Arzens wanted to develop an electric vehicle that could be used as a city car and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.His solution is this minimalist egg-shaped two-seater electric vehicle that was often described as the wackiest car created in Europe during the 1940s. He used aluminum for the bodywork and a plexiglass bubble that surrounded the body, offering the driver and passenger great visibility as they moved along. The hand-formed aluminum body tapers at the rear to cover the third wheel and the electric motor.It was all framed around a chassis made of Duralinox tubing, a stainless steel, aluminum, and magnesium alloy that offered increased resistance to corrosion. It featured suspension on the rear wheel for optimal handling.The use of aluminum and plexiglass was way ahead of its time, and both materials were chosen to minimize weight. The body and the electric motor weighed only ninety kilograms (198 pounds). Electricity was provided via five 12-volt batteries that brought the minicar' s weight up to 350 kg (772 pounds).On the performance front, L'Oeuf Electrique was reportedly able to reach a top speed of 70 kph (44 mph), or 60 kph (37 mph) with two people on board. The five batteries endowed it with an autonomy of 100 kilometers (63 miles).For the interior, Arzens went for the same minimalist approach. There is just a bench seat over a wicker frame and a steering wheel. No instrument panel or gauges in sight.Though Arzens attracted quite a bit of attention with its eclectic electric car , the privations of the war in France prevented the electric car from catching on. Aluminum was a scarce and valuable material during those times when most of the available resources were used to make military equipment. As a result, only one prototype was ever built, which Arzens used as his personal transportation until his death in 1990.When the war came to an end, the industrial designer replaced the electric motor powering the Egg with a 125 cc (7.6 cu-in) Peugeot single-cylinder gas engine. It delivered a modest 5.5 horsepower (4.1), but it led nonetheless to an increase in the car's top speed to 80 kph (50 mph).The L'Oeuf Electrique was not Arzens' first automotive project. In 1938, he built La Baleine (the Whale), another unique vehicle with a lengthy body inspired by aviation and a chassis borrowed from an American Buick Standard.After Arzens' death, the L'Oeuf Electrique was donated to the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris. In 2022, this unique historic car found a new home at the Cite de l'Automobile in Mulhouse, together with La Baleine.Though it never entered mass production, the L'Oeuf Electrique was a pioneer in the automotive world with its compact, lightweight design, electric motor, excellent visibility, and, last but not least, the fun factor. It laid the foundation for future city cars like the BMW Isetta , Mini, or Fiat 500.
Microsoft no longer has a mobile platform, as Windows 10 Mobile bit the dust long ago, so the software giant is focusing on the next big thing for its mobile strategy.

The company keeps investing in Android and iOS apps, though Google's operating system receives much more love (and the Phone app bundled with Windows 11 is living proof).As part of its efforts to bring its apps where users are, Microsoft revealed last year that it would also bring Microsoft Teams to Android Auto The Microsoft Teams adoption skyrocketed in 2020, the horrible year when most of us started working remotely and switched to production, communication, and collaborative software to keep in touch with workmates. Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and several other products recorded a significant boost in global usage, and Microsoft wanted to make the most of this trend by releasing more app updates and bringing the software to more platforms.In 2023, the software giant confirmed an Android Auto version of Microsoft Teams, promising to provide essential capabilities, such as joining meetings, on the infotainment screen.The company failed to deliver on its promise, so the Microsoft Teams app is still nowhere to be seen on Android Auto. But according to the company's official roadmap, Microsoft Teams is getting the finishing Android Auto optimizations, with a release now due in February. It means we're approximately one month away from the moment Microsoft Teams lands on Android Auto, though the company will probably share further specifics in a blog post closer to launch.The available information remains limited for now, as the company only says that Microsoft Teams will allow Android Auto users to join meetings from the calendar view, view recent calls on Android phones, and call contacts from the speed dial.For obvious reasons, Microsoft Teams won't support video calls, so users who want to join a meeting must pull over and turn to their mobile devices for the full experience.Microsoft seems to be in a rush to bring Teams to Android Auto users, especially because its competitors have already joined Google's platform . Zoom and Webex by Cisco landed on Android Auto last fall, offering a feature lineup similar to the one promised by Microsoft for Teams.If you're wondering when Microsoft plans to bring Microsoft Teams to CarPlay, the answer is 2021. That's right, the software giant released a CarPlay version of Teams two years ago, likely as usage numbers indicate higher adoption on Apple's platform.Meanwhile, there's nothing you can do to get Microsoft Teams on Android Auto than wait. Once the big update goes live, you only need to install the latest app version on your Android device, with Microsoft Teams to show up on Android Auto automatically.
Toyota built its reputation around reasonably priced reliable vehicles. Although reliability fell in recent years due to increased complexity and too much plastic where there should be metal, everyone and their dog knows that Toyota still is king of the hill.

SUV

Victor Sheppard is the perfect case in point. Back in 2016, the folks at Toyota USA made him a pretty sweet offer: his 2007 model year Tundra work truck  which clocked 1,020,130 miles in nine years on the original 4.7-liter V8 engine  in exchange for a brand-new 2016 model.Sheppard still uses the 2016 model as his personal truck, yet right before the trade, Sheppard bought a 2014 model as his next work truck. According to Tim Esterdahl of Pickup Truck +Talk, the 2014 model racked up a little over 900,000 miles (1,448,410 kilometers) to date.The pickup truck in question is a Tundra SR5 Double Cab with the 5.7-liter V8 engine, and thus far, said workhorse required a new alternator and transmission. The original tranny gave up at 780,000 miles, yet Sheppard put 80,000 more miles on his SR5 Double Cab before replacing the damn thing.Tim, who talked with Sheppard on the phone about his soon-to-be second million-mile Tundra, further understands that the front seat recline motor gave up the ghost at 800,000 miles. Considering that Sheppard is a big-framed guy, that's only natural.Another reason why the recline motor failed is Sheppard's job. Working as a hotshot driver, he often reclines the driver's seat and sleeps in his Tundra rather than wasting time driving back home. More often than not, he's too far away from home to drive back in one stint for a better sleep environment.Still on the original engine, the 2014 model year Tundra SR5 Double Cab was meticulously serviced from day one. Including the oil filter, the V8-powered Tundra calls for 7.5 quarts of 0W-20 fully synthetic oil. Toyota recommends oil change intervals of 10,000 miles or 12 months, which is perfectly fine if you're doing mostly highway driving. For severe duty, make that every 5,000 miles or 6 months.Unfortunately, the naturally aspirated V8 of the second-gen Tundra is out of production. Its final applications were the 2022 model year Sequoia, 2021 model year Tundra, 2021 Land Cruiser 200 series, and the technically similar Lexus LX 570.The indirect successor of the supremely reliable 3UR-FE is the V35A-series V6, a twin-turbo lump that develops up to 389 horsepower and 479 pound-feet (650 Nm) in the 2022-and-newer Tundra . The V35A-FTS is also used by the Land Cruiser 300 series, Sequoia, Lexus LX 600, LS 500, and the GX 550 sport utility vehicle. Despite its nomenclature, this engine's actual displacement is 3,445 cubic centimeters, meaning 3.4 liters rather than 3.5 liters.
Volvo Cars has issued a safety recall for a little over 110 examples of the XC90 mid-size luxury crossover. More specifically, 115 vehicles produced between 2015 and 2023 specifically for the Australian market.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Photo: Volvo

Published by the Department of Infrastructure in Australia, campaign R10259 concerns the safety of second-row passengers in the event of a crash. Volvo Car Australia says that second-row seatbelts may not operate as intended because of a manufacturing error. The seatbelt buckle and lower anchor bolts may not have been tightened to the correct specification.If this sounds familiar, that's because Volvo Cars also issued a safety recall in the United States to address this very problem. Over in the United States, a grand total of 2,911 vehicles produced for the 2015 through 2024 model years between December 1, 2014 and September 23, 2023 have been recalled thus far.The Australian division fails to explain how Volvo messed up this badly. In the United States of America, documents filed with thereveal that a supplier , not Volvo, messed up. The supplier  Adient Sweden AB of Gothenburg  set up a rework repair line for the second-row seats without torque angle monitoring.Dealers have already been instructed to inspect the seatbelt buckle anchorage bolts and  if necessary  retorque them to the correct specification. The repair will be carried out free of charge, and the very same applies to affected owners in the Australian market.Volvo Car Australia recommends affected owners to get in touch with their preferred dealers to schedule a service appointment. At the moment of reporting, Volvo Car Australia lists two dealers in Perth, three in Brisbane, 14 in the Sydney area, one in Canberra, 8 in Melbourne, three on the island of Tasmania, and one in Adelaide. Alternatively, owners can contact Volvo customer care by telephone at 1300 787 802.The XC90 soldiers on as Volvo's largest vehicle in the Oz, for the zero-emission EX90 is due in late 2024. Technically different from the combustion-engined XC90, the newcomer doesn't have a price yet in this part of the world. Prospective customers in the United States are charged $76,695 from the outset, whereas the XC90 Recharge is $71,900 sans destination fee. $76,695 converted to Aussie bucks is $115,000 at current exchange rates, but in truth, the new EX90 for Australia will be closer to $150,000.The XC90 starts at $100,990 for the Ultimate B5 MHEV, whereas the Recharge Ultimate T8 carries a price of 129,990 dollars in Australia. Regardless of spec, a 2.0-liter turbo four-pot engine and transverse leaf springs for the rear axle will have to suffice.Volvo Cars reported a record-breaking 2023 in terms of global sales, with the Swedish automaker clocking 708,716 deliveries worldwide. The XC60 and XC40 sold better than the XC90, with Volvo reporting 228,646, 200,670, and 107,549 global deliveries.
Mary Remington stands in her buildings garage in November. Her car was stolen out of her locked garage in May. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

MarRem Remingtons 2018 Honda Fit was snatched from her garage as she slept. Thieves stole Milan Sanders 2019 Kia Sorento outside of the building where she worked. And Emily Fraziers 2020 Kia Forte was stolen as she visited her boyfriend.

Its not a good time to own a car in Oakland.

Vehicle thefts have been rising dramatically and making residents lives difficult across the Bay Area. The problem is acute in Oakland, where nearly 15,000 cars were reported stolen last year  the highest number in the city in at least 15 years and 45% more than 2022, according to Police Department and state data. Uptown and North Oakland had the biggest spike, with a 69% increase in car thefts.

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Factoring in population, the theft rate was equivalent to roughly one car stolen for every 30 people living in the city. Thats more than four times the rate in both San Francisco and San Jose, which had increases over the past year of 5% and an estimated 12%, respectively. And it comes on top of other woes car owners are facing including rampant break-ins and catalytic converter thefts.

The reasons that car thefts are rising in the Bay Area and nationwide are myriad, experts said. Chief among them are a lack of basic anti-theft technology in popular Kia and Hyundai models, compounded by a social media challenge to boost those cars. Meanwhile, strapped police resources are going to higher-priority crimes. And in Oakland, the trend mirrors an overall rise in property and violent crimes still linked to the pandemic.

Remington, 63, walked into her apartment complexs garage on a Monday in late May to discover her car was gone. At first, she thought her partner might have taken it for an errand. In fact, a thief had broken through the complexs gated entrance to the garage and stolen the car.

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Mary Remingtons garage key box was tampered with by thieves outside of her apartment building in Oakland. Her vehicle, a Honda Fit, was stolen from her locked garage in May. Courtesy Mary Remington

Over the 23 years she has lived in her apartment building on Perkins Street  even with the apartment gate  thieves have repeatedly broken into cars or stolen them. But the situation has been getting worse, she feels. She has seen neighbors posts on social media about crime in Oakland. Blocks away, a neighbors friend was forced out of his car at gunpoint and watched as thieves drove away.

Its unbelievable what is happening, she said.

Two months later, she got a call from the police. They had found her car in San Leandro, missing its plates. Her insurance company had already paid for the loss, so it was too late to get the old car back. She bought an older Honda Fit that didnt have safety features she had liked on her other car  but she made sure to get it equipped with LoJack, the tracking system, in case it ever gets stolen.

Police in California recover many of the vehicles stolen in the state but catch few of the thieves. Thats particularly true in Oakland, where police arrested people in about 4.5% of 2022s auto thefts  a rate lower than in San Francisco or San Jose.

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Police Department spokesman Paul Chambers said in an email that the department is committed to reducing crime and serving the community. Oakland police have just two officers tasked with auto theft investigations, one in the investigations division and one in the Violent Crime Operations Center.

Mary Remington sits in her recently-purchased car in Oakland. Her previous car was stolen out of her locked garage in May. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

Law enforcement veterans said they sympathized with victims, but that the situation reflected a simple reality that, in 2023, resourced-strapped departments chose to focus on solving violent crime.

By no means should the city ignore it, but its tough when the sheer level of violent crime takes up all your resources, said Steve Tull, who spent 27 years with OPD, where he once oversaw operations, before retiring in 2015. In todays current environment, people are aware these are not highly prioritized crimes  and sadly, each agency will tell you there simply arent enough officers to respond in a timely manner to these types of property crimes.

Oakland experienced a 21% increase in violent crime  murders, assault, robberies and rapes  in 2023. The city also reported a 38% increase in robberies and a 23% increase in burglaries, capping what police union President Barry Donelan called a three-year, crescendoing, across-the-board, staggering increase in crime.

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This is the decision this city has made about resources for policing, Donelan said. OPD, he said, has to make difficult deployment decisions about triaging these numbers.

In an emailed statement, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said that making the city safer for children, families, businesses and visitors is her top priority. She said the city is investing in a robust and accountable police department, strengthening violence prevention initiatives, and using technology to modernize our investigations and disrupt criminal networks the city believes is driving increases in property crimes.

Progress is underway and investments are starting to bear fruit, Thao said, citing a decrease in auto burglaries that followed the citys deployment in September of a special unit of uniformed and plainclothes officers dedicated to thwarting the break-ins. The mayor pointed to double-digit reductions in property crimes in many of the citys business districts over the past two months, which she attributed to the units work.

A mayoral spokesperson, Francis Zamora, said the city has increased the number of police officers on the street by restoring foot patrols and curbed attrition rates by adding police academy classes. The city now has more sworn police officers, 724, than at any time during the past two years, he said.

Facing a record $360 million deficit in the citys general fund, Thao froze hundreds of vacant positions, including unfilled positions within OPD, while the departments budget grew approximately $40 million in the current two-year cycle compared to the two years prior. The police union has criticized the move, saying it reduced police staffing at a time of rising crime.

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As department staffing across the country has dwindled, many agencies have scrapped once-popular auto-theft investigative units, said J. Thomas Manger, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police and former head of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Like many offenses, people have decided its a nonviolent crime, he said, and really isnt a priority.

While violent crime has plummeted in many parts of the U.S. over the past year, preliminary data from the FBI for the first three quarters of 2023 show that car thefts rose 10%, with a 35% jump in cities of more than 1 million residents, said Jeff Asher, a New Orleans-based criminologist. Dallas saw a 70% increase. Cities between 250,000 and 500,000 residents saw a 14.3% increase, and cities with population of 500,000 to 1 million residents had increases of 15.6%. Smaller cities  with populations of 50,000 or less  saw decreased thefts.

Oakland had 430,000 residents in 2022.

While many cars stolen in the Bay Area are located  Oakland police recovered 1,823 cars in 2022, Chambers said  theyre often damaged or totaled.

Milan Sanders, 29, was preparing to leave her job in late August on Jackson Street in downtown Oakland. When she stepped outside, her 2019 Kia Sorento was gone from the spot where she had parked it.

She posted on social media, asking anyone who saw her car to get in touch. Several days later, she got a tip  someone saw a car they believed was hers in the Oakland hills. But it turned out to be a different car.

Eventually, a BART employee contacted her and told her the agency had impounded the car after finding it abandoned near where it went missing.

Thieves had trashed the car, which reeked of cigarette smoke and was filled with stolen goods and other items. Someone was clearly living in it, she said.

Shed just finished paying off the loan, but it was totaled. The thief was never caught.

Very frustrating, she said, to say the least.

One factor at play in rising auto thefts is the TikTok car theft challenge that spread virally in recent years. The videos showed would-be thieves how to pop off a steering wheel column and use a USB cable to start a vehicle. Soon, law enforcement officials across the country began noticing a spike in thefts of certain models of Kias and Hyundais.

From 2011 to 2022, the manufacturer stopped installing immobilizers in many of its vehicles, making it far easier for thieves to do their work.

Bay Area police documented a significant uptick in thefts of such vehicles last year. Hyundais and Kias were the first- and third-most commonly stolen vehicles in San Francisco, and they accounted for roughly a quarter of cars stolen in San Jose, according to data from the cities. Similar breakdowns were not available from OPD.

Its a weird thing, said Asher, the criminologist. Theres an obvious cause, no obvious solution, and the cause is completely outside of the police departments control.

Half a dozen Bay Area residents whose cars were stolen in Oakland in 2023 described to the Chronicle the frustration of the experience, with little help from police or confidence the crooks who victimized them would be caught.

Emily Frazier was visiting her boyfriend at his home near Lake Merritt in late June. The two planned to drive to San Francisco to celebrate Pride, but when the 33-year-old San Francisco resident walked outside, she realized her 2020 Kia Forte was missing.

She walked up and down the block, wondering at first if shed forgotten where she had parked it.

Later, a man called her and told her the car was parked in front of his business, and that he had security video footage of thieves dumping the car there. Like Remington and Sanders, she discovered her car was totaled.

She called police again; this time they dispatched an officer to the scene. The officer went into the business and reviewed the tape, spoke to the business owner, and spoke to us and left, she said.

In an email, police said the incident remains under investigation. Officers had found the vehicle unoccupied and still running and appeared to have sustained major damage.

Further investigation revealed that multiple masked individuals exited and abandoned the vehicle in the area prior to fleeing on foot, police said.

The following week, thieves broke into Fraziers temporary rental car as she was getting coffee from Red Bay Coffee on Grand Avenue. That was her limit. She recently found a place in San Francisco with her boyfriend.

I liked hanging out in Oakland, Frazier said. But nothing in Oakland is worth my safety, or the amount of money Id have to spend if my car got broken into or stolen again.
Palmdale, CA (93550)

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A mix of clouds and sun. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 71F. ENE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph..

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Mostly clear. Low 44F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
6 January 2024 16:00 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

Trying to show itself as the representative of democracy and human rights, the United States has for some reason recently been engaged in grossly violating the principles of democracy. Extending a helping hand to conflicts around the world, the US State Department creates an illusion of helping by bypassing the ongoing material enrichment of the corrupt system. After offering Azerbaijan a platform to sign a peace treaty with Armenia in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken may have changed his mind based on the latter's actions.

Armenian lobby is not slumbering and is gaining support from the corrupt authorities of the USA and probably continues to infect the rest of the world. Thus, US diplomacy continues to amaze the world with its unprofessionalism and irresponsibility. The State Department, as is known, regularly reports on religious freedom in the world.

There is also a "black list" of countries where this religious freedom is violated: China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. And now, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is presenting another report on religious freedom that includes Azerbaijan among the countries that require oversight for possible violations of religious freedom.

The move was followed by an unsubstantiated document from Secretary of State J. Blinken's office, in which he placed Azerbaijan on a special watch list, possibly because of a heavy bag of gold not only from the Armenian lobby but also possibly from the "elites" involved in the Jeffrey Epstein and Gillane Maxwell cases. The list of 150 names of famous people from the highest ranks, musicians, actors, and former and current presidents of America was recently made public after many years since the capture and death of Epstein. Both he and his enabler (Maxwell) are accused of the most heinous, sordid, and inhuman things like human trafficking and selling underage children for sexual exploitation. What will it be like for the minions of chaos in the USA and around the world now that the world recognizes these names? After all, there are those who have ever supported and are supporting Armenia, such as Adam Schiff, Tonny Blair, Joe Biden, and the Clintons).

"In addition, I have placed Algeria, Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam on the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating serious violations of religious freedom."

After these events and the confusion of power and the United State's cultural strata about crimes against humanity, some congressional authorities made statements listing countries as "countries of special concern because they have participated in or tolerated particularly serious violations of religious freedom." The allegations themselves carry no weight in trying to change America's dire power situation and somehow save it from "re-drying the swamp."

A country that worships the "horned beast" and promotes satanism for children at schools speaks of a threat to religion. In a 'Christian country' where 100k children disappear without a trace every year and buried children next to churches speak of religion and freedom.

The former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza expressed his opinion on the statement of the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the inclusion of Azerbaijan among the countries where Azerbaijan is included in the list of countries requiring supervision for possible violations of religious freedom.

Raising concerns about religious freedom in Azerbaijan seems an inappropriate attempt to undermine one of the greatest strengths of Azerbaijani society, which is religious and ethnic tolerance.

"My personal experience living in Azerbaijan and working on U.S.-Azerbaijani relations is that Azerbaijan is remarkably diverse and tolerant when it comes to its various religious communities. One of Azerbaijan's greatest strengths strategically from a U.S. perspective is that Azerbaijani society is secular, with a predominantly Shia Islamic society, but it is inherently secular," he said.

Despite the false accusations against Azerbaijan, this will not prevent it from reaching a peace treaty with Armenia, in the extreme case Baku will use the moment to bide its time until the "beast system falls" to create peace.

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Abbas Ganbay is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @Noend33

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
6 January 2024 14:41 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan's newly appointed Ambassador to India Elchin Huseynli has presented his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Presidential Palace in New Delhi, Azernews reports.

During the credential presentation ceremony, Ambassador Huseynli conveyed the sincere greetings of President Ilham Aliyev to President Droupadi Murmu. In response, President Murmu expressed gratitude for the greetings and requested the ambassador to communicate her best wishes to President Aliyev.

The meeting included discussions on the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and India across various sectors, such as economic and trade, energy and tourism. Both sides emphasized the considerable potential for expanding cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats.

President Droupadi Murmu congratulated Ambassador Huseynli on his appointment and extended her best wishes for his successful tenure.

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6 January 2024 15:06 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the candidates for the US presidency from the Republican Party, wants the country to leave NATO.

Azernews informs that this has been published on Politico, where he openly expressed his opinion about this. After V. Ramaswamy is elected president, he is also expected to withdraw his country from the Alliance.

It was noted that the presidential candidate thinks that NATO's attempt to expand after the Cold War unreasonably increases the risk of a major conflict with Russia. According to him, it is time to leave the UN.

The publication notes that the withdrawal of the United States from NATO may be the beginning of the biggest transatlantic crisis of recent decades.

It should be noted that former president Donald Trump also said that the time has come for the United States to withdraw from NATO.

Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy, among the candidates for the presidential elections in the United States, is distinctive with his pro-Armenian position. In his speech at every talk show and TV program, he defends Armenians as the first traditional step to increase his political rating. However, in order to make his speech more effective, Vivek confusedly mentions Azerbaijan as one of the African countries and baselessly condemns the country for "oppressing" Armenians.

This love of Vivek Ramaswamy for Armenians has made him quite popular together with his anti-Azerbaijan rhetoric as well.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
6 January 2024 16:19 (UTC+04:00)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan expressed its condolences to Japan.

Azernews reports that the condolence text was shared on the official "X" account of the ministry.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction recorded as a result of the earthquake in Japan's Noto Peninsula. "We offer our deepest condolences to the families and relatives of those who died in this tragedy, and we wish recovery to those who were injured," the ministry said.

It should be noted that a series of earthquakes have been recorded in Japan since January 1. According to the latest information released by the official bodies of Japan, the number of dead as a result of the natural disaster reached 126, and at least 516 people were injured.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of lives and damage caused by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in #Japan.



We extend heartfelt condolences to the families and friends who have lost loved ones in this disaster, and wish speedy recovery to the injured.@MofaJapan_en  MFA Azerbaijan  (@AzerbaijanMFA) January 6, 2024

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6 January 2024 16:45 (UTC+04:00)

The Western Azerbaijan Community has issued a statement.

Azernews presents the statement:

"Anti-Azerbaijani activities have become a way of life for the ambassador of France to Armenia. The approach of the French ambassador, who thinks that he is "stinging" Azerbaijan in his imagination with xenophobic tweets and statements, is simply ridiculous. This full-time Azerbaijanophob is thus attempting to present himself as the "hero" of the Armenian society. It seems that the French ambassador, by posting such ridiculous tweets, is trying to express his anger and rage that his country has failed for several months to endorse a document against Azerbaijan at the UN Security Council.

"The ambassador with a crusader mentality should understand that he is accredited in Armenia and should not interfere in the issues related to the sovereignty of another country - Azerbaijan. As an ambassador, he should rather talk about ensuring the right of return of Azerbaijanis who were expelled from Armenia, the inadmissibility of the destruction and desecration of the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people in Armenia as well as mosques, and the misrepresentation of the Blue Mosque. However, ethnic and religious bigotry, Azerbaijanophobia, Islamophobia, charlatanism do not allow this," the Community added.

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6 January 2024 17:09 (UTC+04:00)

On January 6, the regular meeting of the Central Election Commission (CEC) is held under the chairmanship of Mazahir Panakhov.

Azernews reports that the issue of registering the candidacy of Zahid Oruj, whose candidacy for the presidency was nominated by himself, was considered at the CEC meeting. After the discussions, the candidacy of Zahid Oruj, whose candidacy was put forward on his own initiative in the extraordinary presidential elections of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was registered.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
6 January 2024 19:30 (UTC+04:00)

Asim Aliyev Read more

The main news program of Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) has aired an extensive report on the ongoing peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the chances for a complete restoration of peace in the region in the near future, Azernews reports, citing Azertag.

The report headlined Will there be peace in the South Caucasus soon? said that at the end of the 30-year-long conflict and wars, the South Caucasus was finally looking forward to peace and tranquility in 2024. Before showing the report of the crew that visited Azerbaijan, the TV presenter said that after Azerbaijan had resolutely regained control over Karabakh in September of last year, a clear rapprochement was observed in the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia on issues of the border and settlements. It was pointed out that after the Armenians living in Karabakh had vacated the region, the current peace talks should reflect the new balance of powers.

The first images of the report show Fuzuli, a city resembling a huge construction site. Presenter Philipp Zahn says that the city of Fuzuli, which remained in ruins for 30 years, is undergoing a revival. Armenia, which had occupied these places during the First Karabakh War in 1993 and expelled all Azerbaijanis, has now had to retreat from here in the aftermath of the war that took place three years ago and claimed heavy human losses.

The report also mentioned the factors complicating construction work, in particular the problem of land contamination with mines. It was noted that the problem of landmines impedes restoration and construction work, but 30 percent of Fuzuli has already been cleared of landmines, and progress in this regard is rapidly advancing. In a short period of time, the government of Azerbaijan built up to a thousand apartments in the city and handed the keys to the families returning to their homeland every month. The message Azerbaijan is sending is quite explicit: Armenia cannot put forward permanent territorial claims in Fuzuli or any part of Karabakh. At the same time, ethnic Armenians can return to these territories and live there again under the condition of adopting Azerbaijani citizenship.

Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev said in an interview with SRF that Azerbaijan's desire is to change the landscape of the entire South Caucasus. The name of this region should no longer be associated with wars and conflicts in the future, but rather with opportunities, business partnerships, development and prosperity.

The presenter notes that there is a high level of confidence in the Administration of the President of Azerbaijan in Baku, because this metropolis lying on the coast of the Caspian Sea is the economic driving force for the entire region. Against the backdrop of the embargoes imposed against Russia, Azerbaijan, a country rich in oil and gas, has become an indispensable partner for Europe.

The report also contained footage of President Ilham Aliyev raising the Azerbaijani national flag in Khankendi on October 15 of last year. It was noted that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has strong allies, and a special place among them is occupied by Turkiye, which has been supporting Azerbaijan in military and geopolitical terms for years.

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6 January 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

"Japanese auto concern Toyota Motor cannot yet restart car production in the country, suspended for the New Year holidays, due to supply chain disruptions caused by the earthquakes still ongoing," company president Koji Sato told reporters, Azernews reports.

Assembly plants in the country were originally scheduled to start operating on 8 January, but these plans had to be abandoned due to the natural disaster. "We will assess the condition of components and make a decision," the agency quoted him as saying. Sato emphasised that the company plans to decide on the timing of the production launch by the end of the week.

The company president said that many suppliers of components are currently unable to fully function due to the effects of earthquakes in the central part of the country.

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6 January 2024 12:43 (UTC+04:00)

The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, is visiting Lebanon to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

According to Azernews, Turkiye's CNN reported referring to the EU representative.

"The head of the EU foreign policy is on a visit to Lebanon due to his concern that the clashes on the border between Lebanon and Israel may turn into a larger-scale conflict," the TV channel said.

It is noted that Borrell will stay in Lebanon until Sunday to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and its impact on the region.

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Big-wave surfer Shaun Burns rides under the breaking crest of a monster wave at Mavericks on Dec. 28, 2023. Courtesy Audrey Lambidakis / Mavericks Awards Big-wave surfer Hunter Murison catches a ride at Mavericks during a historic day of 50-foot waves on Dec. 28, 2023. Courtesy Audrey Lambidakis / Mavericks Awards

The historic ocean swell that pulled surfers from around the world to Mavericks for a one-day big-wave surfing bonanza last week has been captured in a documentary film posted to YouTube and free to view.

Its the best footage thats ever been captured at the famous Half Moon Bay reef break, said Mavericks pioneer Jeff Clark.

On Dec. 28, weather and water conditions aligned to pump a train of estimated 50-foot titans through the notoriously fickle surf zone off of Pillar Point. That kind of setting is a call to action for the worlds elite big-wave riders, and a couple of dozen hopped red-eye flights into San Francisco or drove to town to cash in on an event many would say was unforgettable.

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The forecast also caught the attention of Aussie surfing filmmaker Tim Bonython. The 65-year-old has built a career out of chasing monster swells across the planet and filming the men and women who ride the enormous waves they produce.

Big-wave surfer Mikey Joshua charges down the face of a huge Mavericks wave during a historic surfing session on Dec. 28, 2023. Courtesy Tim Bonython / Surfing Visions

By the time weather buoys in the Pacific were broadcasting an eye-popping swell driving towards California, Bonython had flown from his winter pad at Nazare, Portugal, to the harbor in Half Moon Bay.

The stage was set.

Youve got the gigantic swell as a canvas and then the best artists in the world going to draw their lines on it, Clark said. Then you have someone in (Bonython) who is so dedicated to his craft its like getting Ansel Adams to come photograph your scenery.

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Big waves are serious business for Bonython, whose production company, Surfing Visions, has put out hundreds of surfing videos and garnered millions of views on YouTube. He wields a Red V-Raptor, a theater-quality camera that shoots in 8K resolution and, when encased in a waterproof shell, weighs about 27 pounds. Base models run north of $20,000.

I only want waves that are really visually dramatic, that produce a cinematic image, Bonython told the Chronicle.

He wanted to get as close to the action as possible. After boat trouble hampered his efforts to get to the break that morning, Bonython hopped on the back of Clarks Sea-Doo watercraft and the two motored out for a front-row look at the madness.

The south shoulder of the surf zone gives a clear, 45-degree-angle view of the crushers that roll through Mavericks in all their peaking-and-peeling glory. Its a relatively safe area for spectators on Jet Skis  so long as they keep their guard up and are ready to throttle into retreat, Clark said.

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You have to be a matador out there, he said.

A surfer catches air off the peak of a crushing wave at Mavericks on Dec. 28, 2023. Courtesy Tim Bonython / Surfing Visions

Clark and Bonython motored around the chop for six straight hours that day.

The trivial things like food and water, they dont matter when your soul is being filled, Clark said.

The final product, simply titled Monster Mavericks, is a 45-minute depiction of what Clark calls a monumental day in the history of Mavericks given the conditions, the talent in the water, and the acumen of Boynthon and a couple other videographers whose footage is stitched into the film.

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Whats remarkable is the turnaround time of the film. After returning to Portugal last week, Bonython said he spent two and a half days in his editing cave chopping up footage, organizing segments and overlaying music.

With his big-wave films, Bonython said he tries to approximate the feeling of watching a live sporting event: The world wants to see these stories tomorrow, at the latest, he said.

Big-wave surfer Andrew Cotton riding Mavericks during a historic day of 50-foot waves on Dec. 28, 2023. Courtesy Tim Bonython / Surfing Visions

Clark, who has surfed Mavericks for more than 30 years, was impressed by the film.

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It literally feels like youre going to be splashed from your TV, he said.
6 January 2024 12:19 (UTC+04:00)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Saturday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, during Blinkens latest trip to the Middle East and Europe aimed at ramping up diplomatic efforts over the Israel-Hamas war and preventing an expansion of the conflict, Azernews reports, citing VOA news.

His weeklong visit, which will also take him to Israel, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, is his fourth trip to the Middle East since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.

The tour will largely focus on preventing an expansion of the conflict in Gaza to the West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.

The Middle East has been a tinderbox since Iran-backed Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people while taking about 240 people hostage, Israel said. Some of the hostages have been released, with about 130 still in Gaza.

Israel's response has killed more than 22,600 Palestinians, a large percentage of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Neither side differentiates between combatants and civilians.

Blinken also will reaffirm calls for increasing humanitarian aid in Gaza, the State Department said.

Fears of a widening conflict grew this week after a presumed Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, that killed a senior Hamas official.

On Friday, the leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah said his group must retaliate over the strike.

"We cannot keep silent about a violation of this seriousness," said Hassan Nasrallah, according to The Associated Press. He said the cost of staying quiet is "far greater" than the risks of retaliating.

Hamas and security officials in the region attributed the strike that killed Saleh al-Arouri to an Israeli drone, although Israel has not directly acknowledged responsibility.

In the southern Gaza areas of Khan Younis and Rafah, as well as parts of central Gaza, more than 100 targets were struck, including military positions, rocket launch sites and weapons storage facilities, Agence France-Presse quoted the Israeli military as saying.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have evacuated to southern Gaza, where most have been reduced to living in squalor without access to food, clean drinking water or working toilets.

Israel's defense minister announced Thursday plans for a new stage in its ongoing war in Gaza, including a more targeted strategy in the territory's north. There has been no official acceptance by the Israeli government of the defense ministers plan.

The announcement comes amid rising international pressure, including from the United States, to transition to less intense combat.
6 January 2024 13:54 (UTC+04:00)

Asim Aliyev Read more

The European Parliament has shared a post on its official X page announcing the names of cities selected as the cultural capital of Europe for 2024.

Azernews reports that Bad Ischl (Austria), Tartu (Estonia), and Bodo (Norway) have been announced as European capitals of culture for this year.

Meet the three European Capitals of Culture  of 2024:



Bad Ischl, Austria 

Tartu, Estonia 

Bod, Norway 



Which one(s) would you like to visit?



Find out more: https://t.co/BuOLpt2fzr pic.twitter.com/8KhMjy5YCu  European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) January 6, 2024

It should be noted that the "European capital of culture" initiative was developed in 1985, and to date, more than 60 cities in the European Union (EU) and beyond have been awarded this status. Elefsina (Greece), Vesprem (Hungary), and Timisoara (Romania) are the European capitals of culture in 2023.

Moreover, the initiative has been designed to highlight the richness and diversity of cultures in Europe, celebrate the cultural features Europeans share, increase European citizens' sense of belonging to a common cultural area and foster the contribution of culture to the development of cities.

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6 January 2024 18:20 (UTC+04:00)

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan agreed to create a joint working group to remove barriers to bilateral trade, the press service of the Ministry of Investment, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz News Agency.

On January 5, the head of the department, Laziz Kudratov, discussed with the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliyev the implementation of projects within the framework of the road map signed a year ago by the presidents of both countries.

Over the past seven years, the volume of bilateral trade has increased almost 2.5 times  from $1.9 billion in 2016 to $4.6 billion in 2023. The parties also noted the possibility of increasing trade turnover to $10 billion in the coming years.

Based on the joint foreign trade company, UzKazTrade will create an online trading platform for selling a wide range of goods in the markets of both countries.

In addition, the parties agreed to accelerate the creation of an international center for industrial cooperation Central Asia. It will produce import-substituting products using the production base of the border areas of the two countries.

In March last year, a joint company, UzKazTrade, was established to supply fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan and flour from Kazakhstan. A little later it became known that UzKazTrade plans to wholesale fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan without a commercial markup.

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6 January 2024 23:30 (UTC+04:00)

The Seawolf-1/2024 naval drill, to be conducted by the Turkish Naval Forces Command, will take place Jan. 7 - Jan. 16 in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, according to a naval officer, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces Command, Rear Admr. Kaan Turkkan said at a news conference attended by admirals that the drill is an exercise conducted by the Naval Forces Command in accordance with the Turkish Armed Forces exercise program.

The drill aims to evaluate the operational command and control effectiveness of naval affiliated commands, elevate the preparedness levels of participating elements and enhance the judgment, foresight and decision-making abilities of headquarters staff and participating units in a highly challenging environment, said Turkkan.

In addition, testing interoperability procedures among other force commands and public institutions is also a goal.

Turkkan said the exercise would involve eight frigates, three corvettes, 16 assault boats, seven submarines, six mine-hunting ships, 47 auxiliary class ships, 13 patrol ships, nine landing ships, 10 aircraft, 17 helicopters, 22 unmanned aerial vehicles, five SAT mission teams, five SAS mission teams, amphibious marine infantry units, amphibious assault teams, attack helicopters from the Land Forces Command, general-purpose helicopters, heavy-duty helicopters, attack aircraft from the Air Forces Command, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, target towing aircraft, two search and rescue ships and six coast guard boats from the Coast Guard Command.

He mentioned that the exercise will be conducted in collaboration with the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry through the Cooperation and Guidance for Maritime Transport activity.

He further said that approximately 17,000 personnel, including 110 surface ships, seven submarines, 34 aircraft, 22 helicopters and 22 unmanned aerial vehicles from a public institution, are planned to participate.

Turkkan said on Jan. 10, port visits by 43 participating units covering the coasts of the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean are also planned.

The Turkish Naval Forces, drawing its strength and determination from the great Turkish nation and the crescent-star flag, stand ready to sacrifice for the defense of the homeland when needed, with all its floating, diving, and flying elements. With unwavering determination, willpower, and enthusiasm, the Turkish Navy is at the service to the nation, stationed at the forefront of our Blue Homeland, across the borders, and in the world's seas.

On this occasion, we remember with gratitude, respect, and thankfulness our Commander-in-Chief, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who bestowed the Republic upon us, as well as all our martyrs and national struggle heroes. We pay tribute to those who have passed away, the immortalized veterans, and extend our wishes for health and well-being to the living veterans, as well as the esteemed families of martyrs and veterans, said Turkkan.

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6 January 2024 18:50 (UTC+04:00)

Turkiye and the UK signed a $1.3 billion financing deal for the construction of a new high-speed electric railway line in central Turkiye, between the city of Kayseri and the small town of Yerkoy, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

During a meeting at the British Consulate General in Istanbul on Friday, Kemi Badenoch, the UK trade minister, hailed the agreement as a huge testament to our trading relationship, speaking of the two countries.

Badenoch said this is the third time the UK has worked with Turkiye to secure the future of a sustainable large-scale transport project.

Im absolutely delighted that we are seeing yet another huge deal between the UK and Turkiye with 1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) of finance for what we believe is going to be a transformative railway between Yerkoy and Kayseri, she said.

Badenoch said the new railway line will also help Turkey expand its low-carbon railway network, saying: It will reduce congestion and it's going to cut net carbon emissions on the Yerkoy-Kayseri route by over 6,500 tons of CO2 per year.

Badenoch said the project will be implemented by a joint venture of Turkish firms Dogus Construction, Celikler, and Ozkar, which were also the main contractors for the Ankara-Sivas High-Speed Railroad.

She added that Turkiye presents huge opportunities for UK businesses, with its large economy and strategic location.

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6 January 2024 21:45 (UTC+04:00)

Russia has retained its position as the main supplier of natural gas and oil to Turkiye in 2023, Azernews reports, citing TASS.

Russia is the main exporter of natural gas to Turkiye. Thus, in October 2023, its share in Turkiye's imports amounted to 59.14%, the newspaper said, noting that Russia's postponement of payments to Turkiye for natural gas last year "had a calming effect on Ankara in solving economic problems."

The newspaper also said that in October 2023, Turkiye imported 49.93% of its oil from Russia. A year earlier, the share of Russian oil in the Turkish market was 40.74%.

Earlier, local media reported that Turkiye saved about $2 billion last year thanks to increased imports of Russian oil and oil products.

According to Hurriyet, one of the symbols of bilateral trade and economic cooperation is Turkiye's first Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is being built by the Russian side. According to the plan, the plant should start generating electricity in 2024, the newspaper said. Earlier, Turkish authorities reported that this could happen on October 29, when the national holiday - Republic Day - is celebrated.

Turkiye's active cooperation with Russia in 2023, both in the economic and political spheres, will continue amid Ankara's unstable relations with the West. In general, according to the newspaper, the development of relations with Russia is one of the priorities of Turkiye's foreign policy.

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Eric Shaw, director of the Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development in San Francisco, will step down from his job next week. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

The head of Mayor London Breeds affordable housing office is stepping down from his role next week.

Eric Shaw was appointed by Breed to be the director of her Office of Housing and Community Development in April 2020. His last day on the job is Jan. 12, the city announced Friday.

One of the housing offices most crucial responsibilities is helping to finance the construction of affordable homes in San Francisco, making it a key player in the citys efforts to address its persistent housing crisis. The offices role has become even more important as San Francisco looks to meet its state-mandated goal of approving 82,000 new homes by 2031, more than half of which must be affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

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City Hall did not give a reason for Shaws departure, and a spokesperson for Breed told the Chronicle on Friday that the administration did not yet have any news to share about who would succeed him.



Shaw noted in a statement provided by Breeds office that he stepped into his position during the early days of the pandemic, and he said he was grateful to the team for continuing to advance affordable housing projects during that unprecedented time.

To our many partners  thank you for your continued collaboration and commitment to help us carry out our mission, Shaw said. We could not have achieved what we have over the last three years without your partnership, and Im confident that the department will continue to play a vital role in delivering on this Citys commitment to deliver affordable, accessible, and safe housing that will serve generations to come.

During Shaws tenure, the housing office provided nearly $1 billion in grants and loans to help fund the building or preservation of about 5,000 affordable homes, Breeds office said. Shaw was also credited with launching a housing stabilization fund during the pandemic that assisted vulnerable households struggling to stay in their homes after losing a large amount of income. And as part of Breeds Dream Keeper Initiative to invest in the citys Black community, Shaws office also launched a down-payment assistance program that has distributed more than $17 million in financial assistance to 42 first-time homebuyers.

An audit last year found that Shaws office was collecting money faster than it could spend, ending the prior fiscal year with a fund balance of $537 million. Funding delays for affordable housing are normal, but the audit said the high accumulation of unspent money was also a likely symptom of San Franciscos notoriously lengthy housing approval process.

Breed praised Shaw for assuming his role during the pandemic and working to continue to provide affordable housing and community support when our residents really needed it.

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He has focused on doing whats best for the residents of this city and I wish him luck in his next steps and thank him for his service to the City and County of San Francisco, Breed said in a statement.

Before taking the helm at the mayors housing office, Shaw advised the state Office of Emergency Services on planning and community development efforts in the aftermath of the catastrophic 2018 Camp Fire that nearly destroyed the Butte County town of Paradise.

His successor at City Hall will be tasked with advancing affordable housing development at a difficult time for residential construction in San Francisco.



Very few market-rate homes are being built in the city due to a combination of factors that include steep building and financing costs. While most affordable-housing projects are financed with tax credits and bonds, market-rate builders also contribute through fees and onsite affordable units they incorporate into their projects. So the slowdown in new market-rate projects means the city has less money with which to build homes for low- and moderate-income families. And San Francisco is still required by the state to authorize 46,000 affordable homes in the coming years.

Affordable-housing projects are particularly challenging and expensive in San Francisco, where they often drag on for several years and each affordable unit can cost between $800,000 and $1 million to build. Voters are set to decide in March on a proposed $300 million bond measure that would provide more funding for affordable-housing projects.

Editors Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct timing of when San Francisco voters will consider an affordable housing bond measure.
Under the cover of Covid, and now in the shadow of the infamous Election Irregularities of that fated 2020 presidential election, with current emerging alleged election fraud in Nevada and Pennsylvania inconveniently slipping into the public discourse, there is proved a colluded ongoing Election Interference in the nomination of the Republican candidate, the likes of which has never occurred in our Constitutional Republic's history, albeit, the question remains: Do you support the plain-sight Election Interference of the Democratic Socialist party, employing its minions in their Propagandistic Media, and their Two Tiered Justice System?

98.28% No, I do not support Election Interference; I am a patriot unto our Constitution.1.72% Yes, I do support Election Interference; the alternative, Donald Trump, to this mentally diminished president is far worse.0% "What, me worry" if elections are rigged?


By L.A. Williams

Christian Action League

January 5, 2024

North Carolinas new age verification law, designed to keep minors from accessing online pornography, is having a broader than intended effect thanks to an act of protest by one of the nations largest porn peddlers. On Jan. 1, when the law took effect, Pornhub, which is said to have more users than Amazon or Netflix, put the Tar Heel state on its growing list of places where its website is no longer accessible.

Other sites also owned by Aylo, which include Brazzers, Redtube and YouPorn, are also not accessible from North Carolina. Instead, when users click on the sites, they see a message from a clothed porn star urging them to contact their representatives and to demand device-based verification solutions.

The company contends that having users provide their ID to verify that they are at least 18 puts their privacy at risk. So rather than comply, they are shutting out users from states with age verification laws with the apparent hope that lawmakers will receive enough pushback to alter the legislation.

So far, despite the popularity of Pornhub  the site logged 42 billion visits in 2019  that hasnt happened in any of the eight states with age verification laws.

Implementing these age verification laws stems from a sincere concern for the potential societal impacts of explicit content, explains the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. He cited the growing body of evidence suggesting that exposure to explicit material can condition users towards deviancy and have adverse effects on psychological and emotional development, particularly among minors.

The CAL firmly believes the proliferation of pornography, especially explicit and obscene material, contributes to the desensitization of individuals to sexual aggression and the debasement of women. It reduces the profound beauty of intimacy, a gift from God, to a mere commodity in the marketplace of indecency. Furthermore, pornography often conveys messages that pain and humiliation are acceptable, even enjoyable, for women, which has contributed to a culture of sexual aggression and violence, Creech says.

Nearly three out of four teen respondents (73%) to a 2022 Common Sense Media poll said they had been exposed to pornography, either accidentally or on purpose. The poll showed that 15% of teens were exposed to porn online by age 10 (the average age is 12), and the majority of these exposures were unintentional.

North Carolinas new law, an amendment to House Bill 8 which passed overwhelmingly last September, allows users to sue pornographic sites that retain their personal age verification info, and more importantly, lets parents sue sites that allow their minor children access.

Creech says claims by the porn industry that such laws are a violation of free speech simply do not hold water.

It is important to note the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. California established a clear precedent that not all forms of expression, especially obscene materials, are protected by the First Amendment. Therefore, regulating explicit or obscene materials, as is the case with North Carolinas age verification laws, is a constitutionally permissible measure that serves to protect the well-being of our states citizens, he said.

Ultimately, our goal is to safeguard the psychological and emotional health of our youth and maintain the moral fabric of our society. We firmly believe these restrictions on pornography are necessary, particularly and especially in shielding children from explicit and harmful content, as it is our duty to prioritize their well-being and development.

A similar age verification law went into effect in Montana this month, and internet watchers reported that web searches for VPN in both states spiked as porn users tried to find ways around the Pornhub block. (Virtual private networks connect computers to remote servers owned by a provider, encrypting personal data and masking IP addresses.)

Rep. Laurie Schlegel, the Louisiana lawmaker who started the push for age-verification on porn sites in 2022, has told the media that she considers VPNs similar to fake IDs. The fact that there are ways for minors to get liquor doesnt nullify the value of underage drinking laws, she contends, and neither should VPNs dissuade states from enacting age-verification laws. In her state, Pornhub is still available and uses Louisianas digital drivers license wallet app to verify identities, but reports show traffic to the site has dropped by some 80 percent.

Since Louisiana started the trend, Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, Virginia, Texas, and now Montana and North Carolina have passed their own versions of the law. At least a dozen more states are eyeing similar legislation. Politico calls the bills, which have passed by overwhelming margins and been signed by both Democratic and Republican governors, the most bipartisan policy in the country.

And so far, the age-verification efforts have withstood legal challenges. Suits over the requirements have been filed against Texas, Utah and Louisiana. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a district courts injunction against the law in Texas. And judges in Utah and Louisiana have dismissed suits in those states.
A year after Walgreens-owned VillageMD acquired Summit Health for $8.9 billion, healthcare leaders and analysts told Becker's the deal presents both partnership and competitive opportunities for health systems.

On the partnership side, Chris Coburn, chief innovation officer of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, pointed to his health system's recent hospital-at-home collaboration with Best Buy Health as an example.

"It highlights 'own some elements/partner others' as a high-quality and capital-efficient model," he said. "We expect to see the industry leverage such relationships more broadly over the next several years as the business models solidify."

VillageMD, which Walgreens has a majority ownership stake in, pulled off one of the biggest healthcare deals of 2023 when it said last Jan. 5 that it had closed on its acquisition of Summit Health and its roughly 400 primary care and urgent care clinics. The purchase gave VillageMD nearly 700 practices around the county and an additional 2,800 providers.

"The scale and inherent complexity of healthcare mergers and acquisitions mean that the first year of a transaction like this will have some things go by plan and others that don't," Mr. Coburn said. "From a distance, it appears that 2023 was a transition year targeting synergies among the different units and that will continue into 2024."

VillageMD's acquisition of Summit Health wasn't the only big retail healthcare deal of 2023. Amazon purchased primary care company One Medical for $3.9 billion last February, while CVS bought senior-focused Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion three months later. While Walmart was reportedly in talks late last year to acquire ChenMed, another primary care chain catering to seniors, retail healthcare megadeals appear to have cooled off since the first half of 2023.

Walgreens has already shown its willingness to partner with health systems via cobranded express clinics in several local markets. However, some of its fellow disruptors have been more aggressive of late in seeking out health system partners, with One Medical notably entering into multiple new collaborations last year.

In a Jan. 4 quarterly earnings report, Walgreens said Summit Health contributed to a 95% sales increase for its healthcare segment compared to a year earlier, with $1.9 billion in revenue overall.

"While it is still early to say, we think the deal has been fairly successful so far," said Morningstar equity analyst Keonhee Kim. "On a high level, it looks like productivity and efficiency are increasing for the business."

He pointed to VillageMD's reductions of "noncore" clinics as an example of the company's "rightsizing" approach. VillageMD plans to shut down 60 clinics this fiscal year, as it turns its focus to higher-growth markets.

Despite the boost from Summit Health, Walgreens still has to get costs under control and improve its bottom line, which could provide an opening for its competitors, said Neil Saunders, an analyst with GlobalData Retail. Across the country, many health systems go head to head with Walgreens, VillageMD and Summit Health on retail and urgent care clinics.

"As an acquisition, Summit Health is sensible. However, Walgreens needs to have a much clearer strategy for healthcare going forward," Mr. Saunders said. "This is starting to come into play with a new CEO, but there is a lot more work to do if Walgreens is to gain ground on CVS and other rivals in the space."
Healthcare executives have a lot to juggle and prioritize headed into 2024 as pressures and challenges continue to push on the industry.

From expanding diversity within health systems to prioritizing health equity among patients, leaders have a lot to look forward to, and a lot to overcome.

Susmita Pati, MD, chief of the division of primary care pediatrics at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University & Stony Brook Children's Hospital, told Becker's what she is most looking forward to in 2024.

Question: What are you most looking forward to in 2024?

Dr. Susmita Pati: I am most looking forward to continuing collaborations with diverse team members to advance our organizational initiatives to support our healthcare workforce and promote health equity for our patients at Stony Brook Medicine. In particular, I am delighted to work on enhancing our exceptional primary care services and building sustainability for our unique healthcare communication workshops in partnership with our colleagues at the Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University.

Q: What is your system/team prioritizing this year?

SP: Our healthcare system is prioritizing workforce development with a focus on interprofessional teams this year as we implement our strategic plan. Other priorities include transforming healthcare delivery by leveraging innovation and technology, as well as advancing our research and educational missions.

Q: What are the biggest challenges you anticipate facing this year?

SP: I anticipate our biggest challenges will be related to managing our healthcare system's clinical and academic growth in parallel with achieving philanthropic goals. Our teams are excited to work together to achieve these goals, and communication amongst our diverse stakeholders will be key to ensure smooth implementation.

Like what you see? All executives featured in this article will speak at the 14th Annual Meeting in Chicago! Hospital and health system leaders, click here to apply for a complimentary badge. Interested in exhibitor or sponsorship opportunities to connect with 3,000+ hospital and health system leaders? Download the prospectus here.
An AI copilot program is being tested at Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center to assist physicians with healthcare documentation.

As per a Jan. 5 VUMC report, physicians are testing a Microsoft AI tool called the Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) copilot, which is used to automate the creation of clinical notes. By using this system, VUMC is hoping to alleviate physician burnout by removing some of the paperwork burden from clinical professionals.

"The upcoming pilot marks a significant step in VUMC's exploration of AI's potential in streamlining clinician workflows and enhancing medical record-keeping while reducing time spent on documentation," said Dara Mize, MD, the leader heading up the pilot.

VUMC joins Atrium Health, a subsidiary of Advocate Health, in being some of the first health systems to use the DAX copilot.
Megan Fan Munce is a reporter who joined the San Francisco Chronicle as part of the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship, spending her first year of the program at the Houston Chronicle.

Munce grew up in San Jose before attending Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, graduating with a B.S. and M.S. in journalism and a second major in political science.

She previously worked as an audience engagement fellow and a reporting fellow at the Texas Tribune, as well as an audience intelligence intern for KQED.

She can be reached at Megan.Munce@sfchronicle.com.
The family of Eddie Bernice Johnson, a former U.S. representative from the Dallas area, has alleged that medical negligence at Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation led to her death. They plan to file a lawsuit, KERA reported Jan. 4.

Ms. Johnson died Dec. 31 at age 89, just over three months after the incident in question. She received surgery to place hardware in her lower spine in September and was referred to the Fort Worth, Texas-based rehabilitation hospital by her surgeon, Andrew Park, MD.

On Sept. 21, Kirk Johnson, the former congresswoman's son, was supposed to attend a meeting at the hospital with his mother's caseworker. He left early after receiving a call from Ms. Johnson, saying that she could not reach nurses for help from her hospital bed.

When Mr. Johnson arrived at the hospital about 10 minutes later, he said he found his mother in pain and lying in her own urine and feces. Nurses had not been responding to the call button and could not be found on the floor, he alleged. Another employee he located went to find the nurses, and said they were in training and would be back shortly.

Mr. Johnson said he was directed to the administration office and followed to his mother's room by the hospital's CEO, David Smith, after asking for the person in charge. Nurses were already cleaning her up when they arrived.

Three days later, Ms. Smith began having "copious purulent drainage" from a lower back incision, which required surgical debridement twice and required the hardware in her back to be replaced, according to the surgeon's notes shared in a news release and with reporters. She was transferred to a skilled nursing facility in October and was released home on antibiotics Dec. 18.

Les Weisbrod, the family's attorney, said that wound cultures from the rehabilitation hospital and Dallas-based Medical City Heart and Spine showed organisms related to feces.

"The name Baylor indicates a certain level of professionalism and the nursing staff and management fall far below a standard of medical care, especially in this situation," Mr. Johnson said in a statement. "I asked Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation CEO Mr. Smith 'Is this how you would like your mother treated? Is this customary treatment for anyone's mother?'"

Mr. Weisbrod sent a pre-lawsuit notice to Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation on Jan. 4, noting his intent to file a healthcare liability claim. Per Texas law, the hospital has 60 days to try to resolve the claim before a lawsuit can be filed.

"Congresswoman Johnson was a longtime friend and champion in the communities we serve  she is an inspiration to all," Baylor Scott & White Health said in a press statement. "We are committed to working directly with the Congresswoman's family members and their counsel. Out of respect for patient privacy, we must limit our comments."

The health system has not returned Becker's request for comment. This story will be updated if more information becomes available.
The Arizona College of Nursing, a for-profit school based in Phoenix with additional campuses across 11 states, will soon open two locations in a 12th: Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Jan. 5. However, not everyone is keen on its expansion into Wisconsin.

The Arizona College of Nursing is slated to open a campus in Milwaukee in the spring of 2024 and one is planned to open in Madison in spring 2025.

School administrators are still working to iron out the final aspects before the opening, but its three-year, accelerated BSN program has received full approval from the Wisconsin Board of Nursing, the Journal Sentinel reported.

However, the college is facing scrutiny from other groups in Wisconsin, including the Committee for Equity in Nursing Education, which filed a complaint in December to the Wisconsin Educational Approval Program over concerns about the program's quality.

The school is accredited by both the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. However, a 70% program completion rate is one factor required for accreditation from the Commission and across all its campuses in 2022, the Arizona College of Nursing had a completion rate of only 65%, according to the Journal Sentinel.

In a previous presentation to the Wisconsin Board of Nursing, the Arizona College of Nursing reportedly cited personal reasons as the cause of 60% of non-completions.

Becker's reached out to the Arizona College of Nursing to request a comment on the matter and is awaiting a response.

Questions about the quality of for-profit nursing programs have also cropped up this year for two other colleges.

Aspen University in Phoenix avoided an abrupt shutdown from the Arizona Board of Nursing after being investigated for its program quality.

Stone Academy, another for-profit nursing program with three campuses in Connecticut, shut down all locations following investigations by the board of nursing and state's department of higher education. Multiple lawsuits are ongoing related to its closure.
Nearly 35,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country in the week ending Dec. 30  a 20% jump from the week prior. In the same week, more than 20,000 flu patients were hospitalized, according to the latest updates from the CDC.

Since the pandemic began, COVID-19 cases have surged every winter similar to flu and respiratory syncytial virus. However, the CDC does not yet recognize COVID-19 as a seasonal disease. Experts say low vaccine uptake, a new variant with more immune-evasive properties, and low utilization of Paxlovid shouldn't be overlooked as factors driving up cases this winter.

"If you look at the different peaks in cases since the beginning of the pandemic, every one of them coincided with the emergence of a new variant," Michael Osterholm, PhD, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told The Washington Post in a Jan. 4 report. "Too many people are attributing this to seasonality."

The JN.1 variant has grown rapidly since mid-November, with the latest CDC estimates showing it is now the dominant U.S. strain, accounting for nearly 62% of cases. The strain is closely related to BA.2.86, which first caught experts' attention over the summer because of its large number of mutations in the spike protein. JN.1 has a single additional change in its spike protein, the L455S mutation, that health officials believe may make it either more transmissible or better at evading immunity than earlier strains. However, there has been no evidence it causes more severe illness.

JN.1 gained dominance earlier in Singapore, where it didn't seem to cause a higher proportion of hospitalizations, ABC News said in a Jan. 5 report.

"But like with other variants that are more transmissible, the more people that get infected, even if a smaller percentage of them go to the hospital, it's going to numerically mean a lot," Peter Chin-Hong, MD, a professor of medicine and infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco, told the news outlet.

Hospitals across the U.S. have been grappling with volume surges as respiratory virus metrics continue to climb. As a result, some have reinstated mask mandates and are opening up additional units to handle the influx.
Officials from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health are reporting a cluster of measles cases in unvaccinated individuals, according to a Jan. 5 news release.

According to the department, 93% of individuals in the city are vaccinated against the virus, but it can be deadly for those who are not.

So far, there have been eight cases in the city  five confirmed cases and three probable ones  and officials believe the index case originated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Cheryl Bettigole, MD, Philadelphia Health Commissioner told WPVI, an ABC News affiliate. The two most recently confirmed cases occurred after individuals decided not to follow quarantine protocols, she confirmed.

The outbreak is growing and is "a major event," Dr. Bettigole told CBS News. So far, three children have had to be hospitalized due to the outbreak.

Officials believe the outbreak began after an infant who was too young to be vaccinated was taken out of the U.S. for travel and returned and was hospitalized with a case which then spread to other patients. One child who was hospitalized with a case was sent home, but still with symptoms attended daycare anyway, exposing additional patients, which is why health officials think there is potential for other cases to be out there, according to CBS.

Vaccination uptake since the COVID-19 pandemic, even for routine vaccines like measles, mumps and rubella, have fallen, particularly in school-aged children who are often required to obtain them.

Six locations of possible exposure were also identified by health officials in the release, along with guidelines for quarantining for those who may have been exposed.

"Unfortunately, we are seeing cases of measles that have spread to vulnerable individuals including young children due to people declining vaccination and also failing to adhere to quarantine recommendations," Dr. Bettigole stated in a news release. "Philadelphia is a city where we believe in a duty to take care of each other. We are asking all city residents who may have been exposed to measles to do their part to ensure that no additional infants are harmed by this infection."
The University of Virginia board of visitors recently extended the contract of K. Craig Kent, MD, as executive vice president for health affairs and CEO for UVA Health through Jan. 31, 2030, which will take him up to 10 years at the helm of the system.

Over the next few years, Dr. Kent told Becker's he is excited to continue to implement the health system's 10-year strategic plan, which, among other things, aims to transform UVA Health into "the nation's leading public academic health system and best place to work."

"Staffing continues to be our number one priority. We have a very ambitious strategic plan, which includes substantial growth of our clinical, research and educational enterprises," Dr. Kent said. "When you grow, it takes more people. And if you don't have the people, you can't grow. In some ways it's fundamental to the work we already do, but it's equally fundamental to our ability to grow."

A key component of the strategic plan is to create a culture that people want to be a part of  one of the most fundamental improvements a health system can make, according to Dr. Kent.

"We outlined in our strategic plan that we want UVA to be the 'workplace of choice,'" he said. "A lot of that is culture, and the feeling that you're appreciated, making sure compensation is appropriate, and that the right teams and leaders are put in place."

The system is already seeing positive results as it revamps its culture and strives to become the "workplace of choice."

UVA has reduced its nursing turnover rate to about 12%, which is not too far away from where it was pre-pandemic, according to Dr. Kent. That 12% figure is also far better than the national average, which stands at around 22.5%, according to data from NSI Nursing Solutions.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that we're knocking it out of the park in terms of recruiting nurses. But once we do recruit nurses, they stay," Dr. Kent said. "Some of our culture work has been pivotal there."

UVA has also invested heavily in its physician culture, creating an environment in which it surrounds providers with the tools and resources they need to be successful and provide the highest quality care.

"The turnover rate for our physicians is certainly among the lowest in the country," Dr. Kent said. "We've done very well there."

UVA's "Less is More" initiative, led by Juliana Bueno, MD, seeks to improve faculty wellness by reducing administrative burdens, allowing physicians to focus on their core missions of serving patients and students, and pursuing research.

"Hospitals and health systems ask their physicians to take care of patients, but also ask them to take care of 100 other things," Dr. Kent said. "The question is are all of those other things absolutely necessary. When you roll up your sleeves and take a deep dive, you realize that many of those things are not necessary. So, in a very methodical way, we are working through the daily life of a physician and questioning everything they are asked to do outside of patient care."

One area of focus from the Less is More initiative is clinical case-based learnings, which can become a burden on physicians trying to balance their clinical work with teaching, research, administrative or community commitments as part of an academic medical setting.

"Every year, our physicians take dozens of hours of CBLs, so we're working to reduce that by 50% or 60% so our physicians can have more time back in their day to spend it with their families, patients or do whatever they'd like," he said. "We've an incredible focus on culture to make sure we become the workplace of choice."

The early reception from physicians has been extremely positive, according to Dr. Kent.

"The first message we wanted to get across is that leadership cares," he said. "I'm a physician, and I've been at every level at the organization. "I think there is an appreciation that anything that can be done to help, we are trying and are supporting them, and that message has really gone a long way in supporting our physicians."

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California's minimum wage for healthcare workers is slated to increase this year, eventually reaching $25 an hour. Those increases begin June 1, and when workers see the $25-per-hour level depends on their size and location.

Although Gov. Gavin Newsom is looking to modify the bill, leaders are still preparing a strategy to accommodate the wage increase.

Lyndon Edwards, COO of Loma Linda (Calif.) University Health Hospitals, spoke with Becker's to discuss his system's strategy for approaching the increase.

Editor's note: This response was edited lightly for clarity and length.

Question: What healthcare trend are you the most concerned about in 2023?

Lyndon Edwards: The state Legislature and governor signed a bill requiring a standardized minimum wage  there's a lot of dependencies around the size of the organization and the type of organization, but we are projecting for our system that we will be required to have a minimum wage for all healthcare workers of at least of $23 an hour, which is about $6 an hour higher than our current lowest hourly rate.

There's a lot of concern about how that will get implemented and what that means to our overall financial picture, and the law actually has increases every year for the next three years.

Q: What is your team's strategy for approaching this wage increase?

LE: We are looking at a number of options which will coalesce into a strategy. One of the things that we are looking at is the potential for offshoring jobs and even relocating some sort of administrative tasks to other less expensive states. Obviously, most of the workers that are directly impacted by a minimum wage are people who have to physically be in the hospital to provide services. So where we find opportunities to reduce our labor costs in other areas is really what we've been focused on.

We've also been looking at ways to leverage technology to reduce labor spend. An example of that is using a kiosk for arriving patients and leveraging the EMR for arriving patients so that you don't necessarily need a complement of registration and admission staff when patients show up for appointments. Access to labor is not as huge of a challenge as it was right after the pandemic, but  we are still working with a smaller pool of applicants for many of our positions. The law actually is helping us to focus more on how we can be more efficient with our labor.

We are projecting for our system an annual impact of about $25 million from the increase, and that doesn't even fully address compression issues. We're still analyzing what it may mean even beyond that.



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Ulster Bank have confirmed that they have no plans at present to reverse their decision on closing 10 branches in Northern Ireland throughout 2024.

Between February and November this year, Ulster Bank will be shutting branches in Ballynahinch, Crumlin, Downpatrick, Glengormley, Belfasts Kings Road, Ormeau Road and University Road, Lisnaskea, Lurgan and Waterside in Londonderry.

The closures will leave the bank with just 25 branches remaining across the region.

Like other banks, its branch network has been cut dramatically in the last decade or more  in 2011, Ulster Bank had 90 NI branches.

Its understood average counter transactions at Ulster Bank were down by just over half between January 2019 and January 2023. Over the same period, the number using mobile apps rose by 45%.

In November, banking trade union the Financial Services Union said it would be campaigning vigorously for banks to commit to carrying out no further branch closures in Northern Ireland in the next five years.

They also urged Ulster Bank to reverse their decision not to close the 10 branches earmarked for closure this year, with the first set to shut next month.

Read more Bank closures are a sign of the times

The Commissioner for Older People for NI has also said previously that the needs of older people must not be overlooked amid the widespread shift to digital services.

It seems, however, that these appeals have been unsuccessful, and Ulster Bank remains firm that the closures will take place this year.

A spokesperson for Ulster Bank did confirm that there would be no further closures until at least 2026.

In a statement they said: As with many industries, most of our customers are shifting to mobile and online banking, because its faster and easier for people to manage their financial lives.

We understand and recognise that digital solutions arent right for everyone or every situation, and that when we close branches we have to make sure that no one is left behind.

We take our responsibility seriously to support the people who face challenges in moving online, so we are investing to provide them with support and alternatives that work for them.

We will be investing over 3m across our branch network over the next two years, following 3.25m of investment in 2023.

We will be making no further changes to our branch network until at least 2026.

Over the next few weeks, the Financial Services Union (FSU) will be presenting motions to councils across Northern Ireland to urge the bank to reconsider before its too late.

Weve garnered a lot of support from local politicians all across the region as to why Ulster Bank should keep these branches open and we are firm in our beliefs that the branch network across Northern Ireland should be preserved for customers, a spokesperson for FSU said.

He added: We recently met with the Financial Conduct Authority in London before Christmas and expressed our concerns to them, so over the next few weeks we will be intensifying our campaign and putting pressure on them to reverse their decision.
Did you know?

New research by Solo Female Travelers Tours has discovered the top 10 cities in the UK for foodies, with London taking the top spot and Belfast ranking in seventh position.

Charity recipe calendar on sale now

Charity recipe calendar on sale now

Twelve leading Northern Ireland chefs have teamed up with digital creators, The Gourmet Boys, to create a 2024 recipe calendar in aid of NSPCC Northern Ireland. It celebrates local food and raises much-needed funds for the NSPCC charity. Sponsored by Click Energy, the calendar features delicious recipes from well-known kitchen maestros including Paula McIntyre, A Peculiar Teas Gemma Austin, and Stephen Jeffers from Forestside Cookery School.

The calendar costs 8 and be purchased online, at thegourmetboys.com

250 reasons to celebrate

250 reason to celebrate

Clifton House is celebrating its 250th year with a 12-month programme of activities. Dating back to 1774, Clifton House is the oldest working building in Belfast. It remains the home of Belfast Charitable Society, who fundraised, built it, managed it, and who ensure that its uses remain true to the charitys mission to look after those in need. On January 12, members of the public can participate in the Clifton House Tour: Experience The Belfast Poorhouse. Via augmented reality, visitors can fully immerse themselves in what life was like in the eighteenth century  but be warned theres a Black Hole punishment room awaiting anyone who misbehaves. The Clifton House Open Day takes place on January 20; a drop-in style event where experienced guides will be on hand to share highlights of the buildings history.

For information on other anniversary events, see www.cliftonbelfast.org.uk

From all corners

From all corners

The 4 Corners Festival had pledged carbon neutrality for its 2024 event which runs from February 1-11. Now in its 12th year, the festival was conceived as a way to inspire people from across Belfast to transform it for the peace and wellbeing of all. It features events designed to entice people out of their own corners of the city and into new places where they will encounter new perspectives, new ideas and hopefully meet new friends. The theme for 2024 is Our Stories Towards A Culture Of Home and a central focus of the programme is ensuring that the events are organised and run as sustainably as possible. Part of this commitment is their pledge to not only offset their carbon footprint but also work towards becoming carbon negative. 4 Corners Festival events are available to book now online.

4cornersfestival.com

From all corners

New exhibit opens at Ards

New exhibit opens at Ards

A specially curated selection of work from Arts Council Northern Irelands Collection has gone on display at Ards Arts Centre. Featuring renowned artists such as Oliver Jeffers and Colin Davidson, the exhibit also showcases work from local artists Mark Hanvey and Hannah Magill Shaw. The Arts Councils Collection consists of over 700 works and its primary aim has been to raise awareness of and interest in the contemporary visual arts from Northern Ireland, to encourage the commissioning and purchase of work, as well as providing patronage to artists. The exhibit is available to view until January 23.

www.andculture.org.uk

Get up, stand up, for Marley gig

Get up, stand up, for Marley gig

Legend: A Tribute to Bob Marley shows at the Ulster Hall on January 11. Marley fans can look forward to a two-house stage show featuring timeless hits Could You Be Loved, Is This Love, No Woman No Cry, and many more reggae classics. Tickets cost 27.50-32.50. Under 14s need to be accompanied by an adult.

www.ulsterhall.co.uk

Laughter is the best medicine

Laughter is the best medicine

Russell Howard the uplifting comedy king brings his stand-up show to the Waterfront, Belfast, on January 14. From cost-of-living concerns to Covid, Russell wont let any crisis get him down and he put the world to rights in his own reflective way. Tickets cost 30 and theres two shows, one at 3pm and one at 7.30pm.

www.waterfront.co.uk

The maiden city to host international festival

The maiden city to host international festival

A new, all-female, international arts festival inspired by one of the most famous female characters in Irish literature, Molly Bloom from James Joyce Ulysses, is set to take place in Londonderry in the summer. The YES Festival will feature 32 female artists from 16 countries across the world, who are coming together to perform in a range of multi-disciplinary, family-friendly and free events across various locations in Derry and Donegal from June 13-16. The YES Festival marks the Derry homecoming and culmination of the three-year international ULYSSES European Odyssey 2022-2024 programme, which will have seen events in 18 cities across Europe including Athens, Budapest, Marseille, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen and Istanbul. Produced by the Arts Over Borders Ireland team, the event is set to attract visitors from all around the world, with an action-packed lineup of theatre, dance, visual arts, installations, film, writing, photography, textiles, circus, music, rap and song.

ulysseseurope.eu

Experience orchestral music

Experience orchestral music

Ulster University has partnered with the Ulster Orchestra in a new initiative whereby the two will host a series of joint community, school and student-based workshops, outreach sessions, partnership events, concerts and a dedicated talks programme. There will be opportunities across the Universitys campuses to listen to music, learn about your favourite composer or piece of music, and to make your own music with the talent within the Orchestra. Ulster University Professor Cathy Gormley-Heenan expressed her hope that the partnership will create an appreciation of and love for orchestral music within the wider community.

To see the full schedule of events, visit www.ulster.ac.uk/events
BEWARE: SPOILERS ALERT

Since the second series of The Traitors came to our screens this week, a lot of hype has surrounded Diane - a retired teacher from Northern Ireland whose son happens to be famous actor, Kerr Logan.

While Kerr, who is best known for his role as Matthos Seaworth on Game Of Thrones, tried to share his shock online at his mothers appearance on the hit tense BBC show, viewers for Fridays show got an even bigger surprise.

This is because it was finally revealed that another contestant on the programme, Ross, is in fact, another son of Dianes.

Some of the other contestants had initially suspected that Paul was Dianes son.

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However, in a mouth-dropping moment, as she admitted their connection to the self-confessional camera, Diane then said: "I cant believe that it was suggested that Paul is my son. I mean hes about three times taller than me. Hes got red hair. Paul just couldnt be my son, but Ross is."

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) during The Traitors premiere episode on Wednesday, Kerr said: "My mother is on the traitors. My mother is on the traitors. My mother is on the traitors. Shes bonkers. Im scared."

Then, on Friday evening, after the revelation about Ross was made clear, he posted: My brother is on the traitors. My brother is on the traitors. My brother and mother are on the traitors..

What. Is. Happening!?!?

There have been a few sly clues in the lead-up to the grand reveal, which might have tipped off any eagle-eye watchers throughout the first three episodes.

For example, it was Diane and Ross who first met on the train heading to the Scottish castle.

The pair were seen chatting about joining the show, with Diane asking Ross why he signed up for it.

At the time, he explained that it was his mum who signed him up, as he dropped a clue they were both on the programme.

Kerr Logan was born in Bangor and lived there with his family before moving to Lancashire when he was 12.

Aside from Game of Thrones, he has stared in Lisa McKees London Irish, Strike, Alias Grace and more.

Diane had moved to Lancashire over 20 years ago with her children.

On why she applied for The Traitors, she coyly explained: Mainly because my children said I could never do something like this! We started watching series one together and l just loved the idea of the challenge. I thought it would be great to have a go and see if I could do it.

Viewers have been loving the dramatic revelation, and Ross and Diane will now have to continue trying to keep their familial relationship from the rest of the group.

One X user posted: The Traitors episode 3 dropping this Diane reveal like the end of a Saw movie.

Another said: Diane's admitting Ross is actually her son not Paul in the confessional was so good. She was like you think you got me. She's not even a traitor, but playing the best game there.

While another fan stated: The licence fee for this year is worth it for the Traitors cliffhanger alone. Fantastic TV for the whole episode. Brian's meltdown, the traitors turning against each other, Diane and Ross, all amazing.

You can watch The Traitors season 2 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The Proxy outdoor space in Hayes Valley features an outdoor gym and small shops operating out of shipping containers. San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston is asking the state to weigh in on a long-delayed affordable housing project on the property. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston is asking the state to weigh in on a long-delayed affordable housing project in Hayes Valley that is now home to a temporary community space, known as Proxy, that some residents are pushing to keep.

Preston sent a letter Friday to the California Department of Housing and Community Development making the request, the latest salvo in a yearslong battle over what to do with the property in one of the citys trendiest neighborhoods that is the site of a popular outdoor gym and small shops operating out of shipping containers. Neighbors have staunchly opposed the housing proposal and Breed has largely stayed away from the debate. It comes as San Francisco pushes to build more housing to meet a state mandate that includes a significant affordable-housing requirement.

Im writing today to ask that HCD investigate and/or weigh in on the Mayors unilateral delay of affordable housing at Parcel K in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of the district I represent, the letter says. I am concerned that San Francisco is not on track to meet our affordable housing goals. We would appreciate your partnership in making sure San Francisco delivers the 46,598 affordable units required by the Housing Element.

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The letter and complaint to the state comes after Preston unsuccessfully pushed Breed to commit to a timeline for construction on the site after she missed her own deadline to create a plan.

Breed had promised in March that her office would set up a timeline by August for the 100-unit affordable housing project slated for Parcel K. Its one of the lots opened up by the demolition of the Central Freeway in the early 2000s, a landmark moment for Hayes Valley.

During much of the 20th century, Hayes Valley was a multiethnic neighborhood with a large Black population, but many of those residents left due to rising costs, reflecting a trend in neighborhoods across the city. Now, an increase in young, wealthy residents has turned Hayes Valley into one of the trendiest areas of San Francisco, with a median age around 35, an average $90,000 individual income and high-end retail and restaurants, according to City Real Estate.

Some neighborhood residents want to keep Proxy the way it is, saying it has fostered a sense of community. But the site was intended to be affordable housing, so Preston has been pushing to build it since coming into office.

The Parcel K saga is a key point of division between Breed and Preston, who often trade barbs over city policy, including around policing, drug policy and housing.

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In October, Preston asked Breed during the Board of Supervisors question time if she would commit to building affordable housing on Parcel K, but the mayor refused to commit to issuing the RFQ by the end of the calendar year, or on any timeline, the letter says, referring to a request for offer. Mayor Breed responded at the time that she was not ready to make any commitments on Parcel K, according to minutes from the meeting.

Breed said in a statement to the Chronicle that the City has a long list of affordable housing projects that are awaiting funding, and Parcel K is on that list behind many of those projects. She said her office is balancing limited funding resources in building more affordable housing.

The mayors office said that her administration has a strong, years-long working relationship with HCD to develop and deliver real solutions to San Franciscos housing shortage that include securing funding and delivering affordable housing projects across the City, and to dramatically reform how housing is approved.

But Preston wants the state to mandate that the city build affordable housing at Parcel K once and for all.

Weve done everything possible locally to push for affordable housing development at Parcel K, Preston said in an interview. The state has shown it can intervene to push the city to meet its market-rate (housing) goals. Theres no reason they shouldnt intervene here to push San Francisco to meet its affordable housing goals.

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San Francisco must build roughly 82,000 homes in eight years, about 57% of which must be affordable for moderate-, low- and very-low-income families. In the last housing cycle, San Francisco produced less than half of its targeted goals for affordable housing, and overproduced in the market-rate category.

With the board-approved plan to lower the percentage of affordable housing in new housing developments, the city will have to approve more projects to meet its affordable housing goals unless it commits to building more 100% affordable housing projects itself.

The HCD said in a statement that the agency does not comment on active cases, though it evaluates all complaints about potential violations of state housing law.

Its unclear whether the HCD will weigh in on such a case, but in the past it has sent corrective letters to cities across California to urge them to approve certain housing projects. The HCD in December sent a letter to San Francisco warning that it could be subject to the builders remedy  a developers recourse to build housing without local approval  unless it did away with city regulations that make it difficult for developers to build.



On the heels of the Policy and Practice Review, HCD continues to work closely with the City to remove barriers to housing production and to ensure that the City is meeting its required housing goals for all income levels, the statement says.
We all have some way of identifying with the characters in a crime novel
Take five with Erin McGregor

Favourite meal?

I mean thats a tough one, but my favourite meal is quite possibly the Forged Steak on the Stone from The Black Forge Inn [which is owned by Erins brother Conor McGregor], in Dublin. Its a big juicy Irish angus steak, served with all the trimmings  chunky chips, buttermilk onions, tomato and a pink peppercorn and brandy sauce that is out of this world.

Favourite book?

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne was a life-changing book for me. It really opened the door for me and changed how I viewed things, by introducing me to the concepts of the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction and exploring how shifting your mindset can empower you to manifest your goals and dreams and achieve big things. I dont put it into practice as often as Id like, but this book has been a game-changer for me, and it is the one book Ill always go back to when I need some motivation and inspiration. Talking about achievements, I recently launched a second collaboration with Tyrone-based bed company, DFI Beds which I love. The Autumn/Winter range from my Imperfection Collection features three beautiful beds called Dreamweaver, Oasis and Bliss that are available in a beautiful range of colours and will make the perfect centrepiece in any bedroom. We have another exciting collection planned for the new year, so watch this space. I am also super proud of my own brand, Imperfection by Erin. We have just launched a brand-new collection of lounge wear that sold out within hours of going live and its amazing to see all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes paying off. I love being busy, so Im already working on the next collection which will be launching soon.

Favourite film?

My favourite film is The Polar Express. This is because it was the first film my son, Harry ever watched, and I wasnt sure if he would ever be able to watch a full movie. This film really holds a special place in my heart, its a beautiful memory I have of me and my son watching this film together.

dsf

Favourite place?

I have been lucky enough to travel to some beautiful locations around the world, and I do love the sun, but I must say, my favourite place has to be my own home. I love the feeling of being safe in my house with my family, surrounded by those who I love. Theres no better feeling in the world than that.

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Meet the Mourne Wall stonemasons proud to follow in their grandfathers footsteps  but its no easy task.

Rocks being delivered to the site of the Mourne Wall by Skyhook.

Rocks being delivered to the site of the Mourne Wall by Skyhook.

Belfast Telegraph journalist Ralph Hewitt talks with stonemason Andrew Rooney, Cathaoir McClenaghan (GEDA) and Michael Donnelly (NI Water) at the Mourne Wall. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Phase two of the Mourne Wall Restoration Project is expected to be completed in 18 months time. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Belfast Telegraph journalist Ralph Hewitt talks with Cathaoir McClenaghan (GEDA) and Michael Donnelly (NI Water) as they make their way to the Mourne Wall on Slieve Muck. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Dave Colgan carrying out repairs on the Mourne Wall on Slieve Muck. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Rocks being delivered to the site of the Mourne Wall by Skyhook.

Andrew Rooney hard at work on the Mourne Wall Restoration Project. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Andrew Rooney (right) and Dave Colgan of Thomas Rooney & Sons Stonemasons, Ballymartin, working on restoring part of the Mourne Wall on Slieve Muck situated in the Mourne Mountains. Picture by Peter Morrison.

The tricky conditions of the Mourne Mountains can be a challenging task for the most experienced walkers but the men carrying out the restoration of the famous Mourne Wall are made of stern stuff.

Known as The handrail of the Mournes, the wall was built 101 years ago and the Co Down stonemasons behind the repairs are direct descendants of the very men who first built the 22-mile long granite structure.

Not only do they have the back-breaking task of stripping parts of the Mourne Wall down and building it back up, the stonemasons must hike the mountains  carrying their tools  before they even begin the work.

Andrew Rooney hard at work on the Mourne Wall Restoration Project. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Andrew Rooney (60), along with his brother Brian, Dave Colgan and Norman McComb, from Thomas Rooney & Sons Stonemasons in Ballymartin, are the tight unit braving the conditions to complete the Mourne Wall Restoration Project.

NI Water, which is in ownership of the Mourne Wall, last year announced a 2.5m investment for phase two of the project.

Phase one, which was completed in 2018, saw over 600 repairs undertaken.

Hand-built by the Belfast Water Commissioners between 1904 and 1922 to mark and protect the 9,000-acre water catchment which feeds the Silent Valley and Ben Crom Reservoirs, the wall has been a listed building since 1996.

Phase two of the works, which are being undertaken by GEDA Construction working with Thomas Rooney & Sons and Scottish helicopter company Skyhook, involve repairs on Slieve Muck and Rocky Mountain.

Stone for the repairs were bagged in the quarry on Slieve Binnian and were transported to Slieve Muck and Rocky Mountain by helicopter.

The steep half-hour hike up Slieve Muck was just a taste of what the stonemasons must climb before their daily work can begin.

Rocks being delivered to the site of the Mourne Wall by Skyhook.

As the cars travelling the Moyad Road connecting Hilltown and Kilkeel became smaller and smaller during the wet hike up the mountain, the fierce wind brought its own challenges.

Spelga Dam disappeared from view due to poor visibility but hard at work on the Mourne Wall in the mist was Andrew Rooney and Dave Colgan.

Mr Rooney is a fifth generation stonemason and said it was privilege to work on the Mourne Wall, which his grandfather helped build all those years ago.

You feel a great sense of achievement when you go to some of the bad places where its ready to fall then you take it down and rebuild it knowing its hopefully going to be there for another 100 years, said Mr Rooney, who was wrapped up warm to protect him from the wind chill.

They say the granite Mourne Wall is The handrail of the Mournes and I always say when people are up here walking in foggy or misty conditions to stay by the wall.

The wall will guide you and youll never go wrong.

When conditions get bad on us, our rule of thumb is stay by the wall and the thing about it is you can have different seasons on both sides of the wall.

Mr Rooney explained during the tough winter months, there would be a small group of three or four stonemasons working as a team at one time as a health and safety precaution.

Depending on the mountain and the height the stonemasons need to climb, a return hike could reach four-miles in rough and steep terrain.

Dave Colgan carrying out repairs on the Mourne Wall on Slieve Muck. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Another added danger to their work is a potential collapse of the 101-year-old listed building.

We have to be careful around the likes of Slieve Bearnagh for health and safety because its so steep and if there is a collapse at the likes of that wall, say a stone is taken out which shouldnt be disturbed, it can create a domino effect, said Mr Rooney.

It can be very dangerous. Theres no stopping the stones collapsing to the bottom.

Mainly up here we need to watch out for the weather, the height of the wall and the safety of the stones.

Belfast Telegraph journalist Ralph Hewitt talks with stonemason Andrew Rooney, Cathaoir McClenaghan (GEDA) and Michael Donnelly (NI Water) at the Mourne Wall. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Temperatures at the peak of the Mourne Mountains can drop 10 degrees compared to ground level and with the added wind chill, temperatures can drop even further.

During winter, it can drop well below zero degrees but the team always has an escape route in place to make sure everyone stays safe.

We keep it a tight squad at winter but in summer there could be five or six of us to push it on a bit when the weather is good, said Mr Rooney.

Three is just enough during winter to keep everybody safe.

The stonemason team carry out their work five days a week and begin their hike at 6.45am during the summer months before descending around 3.30pm.

Belfast Telegraph journalist Ralph Hewitt talks with Cathaoir McClenaghan (GEDA) and Michael Donnelly (NI Water) as they make their way to the Mourne Wall on Slieve Muck. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Mr Rooney explained that during winter they start out at 7.30am and leave the wall around 3pm  but it all depends on what the weather has in store each day.

When we started the project in 2018, I honestly hadnt been that fit at the time and me and the team thought, my God, well never get to the wall never mind work at it, he said.

But whenever you get a few months up here, you dont actually know it but you get a lot fitter  you have to  but come Friday youd be tired after a full week of walking, hiking and dealing with big heavy stones. You have no problem sleeping come Friday.

My fitness levels arent bad, plus I do a bit of gym work as well so that helps, but it definitely keeps you active and I would recommend to anybody to come up here to keep yourself active, especially when you come to my age.

GEDA Construction site manager Cathaoir McClenaghan, said the company carried out the initial survey of the entire Mourne Wall to identify any defects such as collapses, along with any bulges, or tilts, which will eventually result in collapses. As the principal contractor, GEDA is responsible for health and safety on site and ensuring that work activities are carried out in a safe manner.

Phase two of the Mourne Wall Restoration Project is expected to be completed in 18 months time. Picture by Peter Morrison.

Mr McClenaghan said all defects identified were then categorised on a scale of one to five  with five being high priority.

During our initial survey we identified just under 1,000 different defects in the wall, he said.

The project environment is constantly changing. Defects in the wall deteriorate with time and what was considered to be a category two defect during the original survey may now be a category four or five defect.

To attempt to complete repairs where they are needed most we have to constantly survey the wall and make note of these changes.

Factors which play into this deterioration include weather, such as the wind, freeze thaw cycles, heavy snow etc., erosion due to surface runoff, erosion due to footfall, among others.

Rocks being delivered to the site of the Mourne Wall by Skyhook.

NI Water project manager Michael Donnelly, said the Mourne Wall was originally built as a form of water treatment for the areas of Belfast and Co Down by keeping livestock out of the catchment areas.

While the wall no longer serves that function, NI Water still has animals grazing the upper catchment in the mountains in an effort to keep peat down and reduce the chance of wildfires.

If you have a heavy heather, your more susceptible to fires in the mountain, said Mr Donnelly.

If you get fires in the mountain your run off water into the reservoirs is much harder to treat.

So the wall does control the livestock, however, must-dos is the best master, and theres a thing called the protocol for the care of the government historic estate.

If the government owns a listed building, which the wall is, you have statutory obligations to look after it.

The Mourne Wall.

Nearly 300 hectares of land in the Mournes were destroyed by the extensive gorse fire in April 2021.

Mr Donnelly said it could take another four or five years for the area to fully recover from the devastating fires.

The National Trust, which cares for much of the area, introduced Luing cattle to the area earlier this year to aid recovery.

The herd of six cows trample bracken and chomp through the dominant purple moor-grass that has sprung up since the fire, providing the space for native plants and heather to return, and creating habitat for newts, lizards, ground-nesting birds and hares.

Meanwhile, Mr Donnelly said phase two of the Mourne Wall Restoration Project is expected to be finished in 18 months.

Were aiming for early summer to complete this 2.5m project, he said. Weve carried out just over 280 repairs and weve probably another 70 or 80 to do.
Exclusive | We believe we have another sibling foundlings trio appeal for help

Case of baby who was abandoned in a Newry telephone box in 1963 has echoes of their incredible story

The Foundlings  The Latest Twist

Catherine Fegan Sat 6 Jan 2024 at 08:40

It was the story of two long-lost siblings, both abandoned in mysterious circumstances, only to find their way back to each other many years later.
Mr Gallagher was shot in a UFF attack at his home in west Belfast in January 1994.

Troubles victims advocate Paul Gallagher has said he is concentrating on what he has gained, rather than what he has lost on the 30th anniversary of his 1994 shooting.

Mr Gallagher was just 21 when UFF terrorists entered his west Belfast home on January 6 1994.

He was shot in front of his family, with injuries that would leave him in a wheelchair.

The loyalist gang was preparing to launch an attack on an ex-republican prisoner who lived nearby, but after an hour grew tired of waiting for their target.

As they fled, they opened fire in the Gallaghers' living room with a submachine gun.

Paul was hit with six bullets, one of which shattered his spine. He also lost his spleen and half a lung.

On Saturday, Mr Gallagher (51) published a personal blog post reflecting on the milestone of the attack that left his life changed in an instant.

"Looking back over three decades, I now realise that that instance set me on a new path, he wrote.

Read more The dangers of consensus: How Stormont was often at its worst when it was unanimous

"The beauty of the passage of time gives us that opportunity to see those long-term changes within ourselves that we miss in the busyness and the humdrum of daily life.

"It also took me a long time to understand the reality that I had been traumatised. Many of us use the word for everything these days, even for trivial events.

"I just had to get on with it. I am not alone in this. Many who suffered injury or loss during our Troubles experienced trauma and didnt know it.

"We were in siloes. Isolated within our families. Medicated. Drunk. High. Looking for ways to cope; not all to our betterment. It was difficult to see another way.

"This was my existence for many years. I would not have survived but for the love, support and care of my family and my friends.

Mr Gallagher said his decision to become involved with others who had suffered trauma had opened his eyes to how everyone affected had suffered.

Paul went on to graduate with a first-class Honours degree Honours degree in Psychological Trauma Studies from Queens in 2016, then completing a Masters and embarking on his Phd, graduating in July 2022.

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He said the most rewarding part of his studies and current role as Trauma Education Officer with WAVE was the opportunity to help others.

"To be able to give the power of knowledge to people who suffered trauma in the same way I had is a privilege. I hope this can be an inspiration to them to continue on their own learning journey, he wrote.

Thats what I got from my own trauma education. I was inspired by those around me. Those who supported me, who encouraged me, who presented me with opportunities, who believed in me. I was lucky.

"Some wounds have healed but others have left me with persistent physical pain around the clock. But now that I have had thirty years to think about this statement, I can see what they meant in some ways.

"So instead of spending time, like I used to do, on the anniversary of that fateful day, thinking about what was lost, I will be concentrating on what I have gained.
A Circuit Court judge convicted of a series of sexual assaults has resigned from his position.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said Gerard OBrien had conveyed his resignation on Saturday, effective from the preceding day.

Last month, OBrien, 59, from Thurles in Co Tipperary, was found guilty of six counts of sexual assault on young males in the 1990s  a period when he was a secondary school teacher in Co Dublin.

Ms McEntee had been facing calls to remove the judge from post.

In the wake of the conviction, she had said she would consult with the attorney general on the matter.

A statement on Saturday from the Department of Justice said: The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, has confirmed that Circuit Court Judge Gerard OBrien conveyed his resignation today, effective from January 5.

The resignation has been conveyed to the president in accordance with the requirements of section 6 (2) of the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act 1961.

The minister will be making no further comment on this matter prior to the court finalising the case by sentencing, which is adjourned to March 4.
People take part in a pro-Palestine march and rally at Belfast City Hall (David Young/PA)

Thousands of people demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as they took part in pro-Palestine rallies in various locations across the island of Ireland.

Belfast and Cork saw two of the largest protests on Saturday.

In Dublin, a smaller demonstration outside RTEs headquarters saw 108 pairs of shoes laid out in a display activists said was to signify the number of journalists killed since the conflict began in October.

The rally at Belfast City Hall came after supporters of the Palestinian cause marched through the city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Protesters carrying Palestine flags and placards criticising the Israeli regime were among the large crowd that gathered outside the gates of the landmark building to hear a series of speeches.

108 pairs of shoes for each journalist killed in Gaza are laid out as Mothers Against Genocide protest outside RTE in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

The addresses were interspersed with chants and songs voicing support for the Palestinian people and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Among the speakers was Mark McTaggart, who is northern secretary of the INTO teaching union and also spokesman for the Trade Union Friends of Palestine group.

He reflected on the numbers of students and teachers who have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest  education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the north who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety, he said.

Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people across in Palestine.

Mr McTaggart also encouraged people to actively boycott Israeli goods and companies.

People take part in a pro-Palestine march and rally at Belfast City Hall (David Young/PA)

In Cork, hundreds attended a demonstration organised by The Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Similar demonstrations have taken place in the city every weekend since the conflict erupted.

The protest at RTE HQ in Donnybrook in Dublin was organised by the group Mothers Against Genocide.

One of those taking part was sustainable development scientist Naomi Sheehan.

She said Irelands national broadcaster should be referring to Israels actions in Gaza as genocide.

Its hard to even speak about this because it is so emotional, this is like witnessing the worst human rights atrocities of our times, she said.

Its a silent genocide and we are hearing a deafening silence in terms of assigning appropriate accountability to the forces who are enabling this genocide.

Cities on the island of Ireland have also witnessed pro-Israeli demonstrations since the conflict began in October.

Saturdays pro-Palestinian protests were staged after Tanaiste Micheal Martin warned that a widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world.

Mr Martins comments came as Hezbollah in Lebanon claimed it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli observations posts after it blamed Israel for a strike on Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official during the week.

The Tanaiste also rejected suggestions coming from some Israeli ministers that large numbers of Palestinians should be relocated out of Gaza.

Mr Martin further expressed concern about the situation in the Red Sea where commercial ships have been attacked by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

The Irish minister for foreign affairs said the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was more urgent than ever.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

He also stressed the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation, he said.

A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

The Tanaiste added: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe.

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected.

This trajectory must be reversed. The international community, including parties in the region, must, in the first instance, redouble efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.

But our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole. This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality.

In that context, the recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory. Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has kicked off his latest Middle East diplomatic mission in Turkey, as fears mount that Israels war against Hamas in Gaza may explode into a broader conflict.

Mr Blinkens fourth visit in three months comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza, including in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq, that have put intense strains on a US push to prevent a regional conflagration in the weeks after the war began, as well as growing international criticism of Israels military operation.

Americas top diplomat met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Turkey and others can do to exert their influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease soaring tensions, speed up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin in earnest to plan for reconstruction and governance of post-war Gaza.

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Mr Blinken later stopped in Chania, a port city on the Mediterranean island of Crete, to see Greeces Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at his residence.

These are difficult and challenging times, Mr Mitsotakis said.

The difficulty of Mr Blinkens task was underlined just hours before his talks with Mr Erdogan as Lebanons Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel.

The group warned that the barrage was just an initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanons capital earlier this week.

Meanwhile, increased attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels have disrupted international trade and led to increased efforts on the part of the US and its allies to patrol the area and respond to threats, including possibly taking direct action against the group at its bases in Yemen.

The Houthis have carried out at least two dozen attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza just since December 19, which have further heightened tensions and raised risks for the global economy.

In Istanbul, American officials said Mr Blinken would be seeking a Turkish buy-in, or at least consideration of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multi-national force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

Mr Blinkens latest trip comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza (Pool via AP)

Turkey, and Mr Erdogan in particular, have been harshly critical of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

In addition, officials said, Mr Blinken will stress the importance the US places on Turkey ratifying Swedens membership of Nato, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon.

Swedens accession to the alliance is seen as one critical response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

According to a Turkish official, Mr Fidan told Mr Blinken that Israels increasing aggression in Gaza was a threat to the region and called for an immediate ceasefire and the delivery of uninterrupted humanitarian aid.

The Turkish minister said negotiations for a two-state solution should begin as soon as possible.

Mr Blinken will move onto Jordan after his Turkish visit (Pool via AP)

Mr Fidan also said Turkey was awaiting the outcome of Ankaras request to upgrade its fleet of F-16 fighter jets and stressed that the ratification of Swedens Nato membership lay in the hands of the Turkish parliament.

From Turkey, Mr Blinken travelled to Turkish rival and fellow Nato ally Greece to meet Mr Mitsotakis at his residence on Crete.

Mr Mitsotakis and his government have been supportive of US efforts to prevent the Gaza war from spreading and have signalled their willingness to assist should the situation deteriorate further.

Greece has also shown patience in waiting for the delivery of advanced American fighter jets as the issue of Swedens accession to Nato is worked out with Turkey.

The Turkish President has sharply criticised Israel (Pool via AP)

Mr Blinken will end his Saturday in Jordan, which apart from Israel has been the secretarys most frequent stop on his recent Middle East tours.

Jordan will be the first Arab nation on Mr Blinkens current tour, and will be followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Mr Blinken will then visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

We dont expect every conversation on this trip to be easy, state department spokesman Matthew Miller said shortly before Mr Blinken departed Washington.

There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead. But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head-on, and hes prepared to do that in the days to come.

As well as pressing Israel for dramatic increases in humanitarian aid to Gaza, a shift toward less intense military operations and a concerted effort to rein in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Jewish settlers, Mr Blinken will be urging reluctant Gulf Arab nations to work with America on the future of Gaza.
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip (Ariel Schalit/AP)

The United Nations humanitarian chief says Gaza has become uninhabitable three months after Hamass attacks against Israel and a public health disaster is unfolding.

Martin Griffiths said in a statement on Friday that people are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded (and) famine is around the corner.

And Gazans are witnessing daily threats to their very existence  while the world watches on, he said.

The UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been killed or injured, families are sleeping in the open as temperatures plummet, and areas where Palestinians were told to relocate have been bombed.

The few partially functioning hospitals are overwhelmed and critically short of supplies, infectious diseases are spreading, and amid the chaos some 180 Palestinian women are giving birth every day, he said.

Mr Griffiths reiterated UN demands for an immediate end to the war and the release of all hostages, declaring: It is time for the international community to use all its influence to make this happen.

He said the humanitarian community is facing an impossible mission of supporting more than two million people in Gaza while aid workers are killed, communications blackouts continue, roads are damaged, truck convoys are shot at, and vital commercial supplies are almost non-existent.

A Palestinian boy sits on the rubble of a destroyed building after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (Fatima Shbair/AP)

Gaza has shown the worst of humanity, Mr Griffiths said, and it is long past time for the war to end.

Also on Friday the Israeli military said it is preparing an investigation into failures connected with the Octobr 7 Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war against the militant group.

The armys chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the military is still planning the investigation. But he said it would include a look at the chain of command, decision making and former officials.

He said the investigation aims to improve the army and is not meant to replace any future external investigations.

On October 7, several thousand Hamas militants stormed across the border and invaded nearly two dozen Israeli communities and army bases, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. It was the worst such attack in Israels history.

Israeli military, intelligence and political leaders have come under heavy criticism for being caught off guard.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far rejected calls for an investigation, saying the government must focus on the war and answer questions later.

The public broadcaster Kan reported earlier that a Security Cabinet meeting late on Thursday broke up after four hard-line Cabinet ministers shouted at the armys commander in chief because they opposed his plans for the investigation.
President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)

President Joe Biden warned on Friday that Donald Trumps efforts to retake the White House in 2024 pose a grave threat to the country, the day before the third anniversary of the violent riot at the US Capitol by then-president Trumps supporters aiming to keep him in power.

Speaking near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago, Mr Biden said that January 6 2021 marked a moment where we nearly lost America  lost it all.

He said the presidential race  a likely rematch with Mr Trump, who is the Republican frontrunner  is all about whether American democracy will survive.

The speech, the presidents first political event of the election year, was intended to clarify the expected choice for US voters this autumn.

Mr Biden, who re-entered political life because he felt he was best capable of defeating Mr Trump in 2020, believes focusing on defending democracy to be central for persuading voters to reject Mr Trump once again.

We all know who Donald Trump is, Mr Biden said. The question we have to answer is who are we?

Mr Biden laid out Mr Trumps role in the Capitol attack, as a mob of the Republicans supporters overran the building while members were counting Electoral College votes that certified Democrat Mr Bidens win.

US President Joe Biden speaking at a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania on Friday (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)

More than 100 police officers were beaten and attacked by the rioters who overwhelmed authorities to break into the building.

Whats Trump done? Hes called these insurrectionists patriots, Mr Biden said, and he promised to pardon them if he returns to office.

He criticised Mr Trump for glorifying rather than condemning political violence.

At least nine people who were at the Capitol that day died during or after the rioting, including several officers who died from suicide, a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber, and three other Trump supporters who authorities said suffered medical emergencies.

Mr Biden said that by trying to rewrite the facts of January 6, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election.

Mr Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Mr Biden and three other felony cases, argues that Mr Biden and top Democrats are themselves seeking to undermine democracy by using the legal system to thwart the campaign of his chief rival.

Donald Trumps campaign is about him, Mr Biden said, saying it was Mr Trumps aim to get retribution on his political enemies. Not America. Not you. Donald Trumps campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future.

He added: Theres no confusion about who Trump is or what he intends to do.

Before his remarks, Mr Biden, joined by his wife Jill, participated in a wreath laying ceremony at Valley Forge National Arch, which honours the troops who camped there from December 1777 to June 1778.

Rioters loyal to Donald Trump gather at the US Capitol in Washington on January 6 2021 (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

In the days after the attack, 52% of US adults said Mr Trump bore a lot of responsibility for January 6, according to the Pew Research Centre. By early 2022, that had declined to 43%. The number of Americans who said Mr Trump bore no responsibility increased from 24% in 2021 to 32% in 2022.

A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released this week found that about 7 in 10 Republicans say too much is being made of the attack.

Mr Biden said that politics, fear, money have led many Republicans to abandon their criticism of Mr Trump.

On the second anniversary, Mr Biden presented the nations second highest civilian award to 12 people who were involved in defending the Capitol during the attack.

Fridays appearance included supporters and young people motivated by the attack to get involved in politics, campaign advisers said.
Joe DAlessandro, CEO of San Francisco Travel, speaks at a news conference announcing the deployment of police officers in tourist areas in July 2021. After 17 years with the tourism organization, DAlessandro retired at the end of 2023. Nick Otto/Special to the Chronicle 2021

Joe DAlessandro still loves San Francisco.

Its still spectacularly beautiful, he said. And, you know, as I drive across the Golden Gate Bridge or go through the city and see these hills and the vistas with the water and the parks and the architecture and the neighborhoods  its unlike anywhere else in the world. We have that base, and a lot of places dont.

After 17 years as the citys tourism chief and a true believer of the city, DAlessandro, 67, retired at the end of last year. He saw 11 record-breaking years for visitors, followed by its worst crisis in recent memory, when the pandemic brought tourism to a standstill.

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Hospitality is the engine of San Franciscos economy, accounting for the most jobs of any industry before the pandemic  2020 slashed visitor spending by an estimated $8 billion. Tourism encompasses airlines, hotels, restaurants, museums and more, critically shaping the citys reputation around the world through millions of visitors visiting landmarks and walking through its streets.

As CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association, the citys official destination marketing organization, DAlessandro saw it all: Crises including the 2008 financial crash, followed by a tech boom that crammed the city with business travel and conventions. His last big event was Novembers Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which brought almost two dozen world leaders to the city amid unprecedented security and global attention, which he hailed as a success.

Ive never met anyone that had the passion for San Francisco that Joe DAlessandro did. He couldnt wait to tell people how amazing this city is and did it with the same energy and excitement and vigor as his first day at work, said Anna Marie Presutti, general manager of Hotel Nikko, who has known him for around two decades. Joe saw tourism and the city of San Francisco at its highs, at the ultimate highs and saw it crash.  The good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing.

The recovery is far from over, but San Francisco will have to move on without one of its biggest champions. DAlessandro has urged the city to prioritize safety and cleanliness throughout his tenure and continues to do so.

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We just have to work harder and pay more attention to make sure that we keep it as special and we dont take it for granted and we dont let it decay. We dont let it become just a memory of its past glory, he said.

But the city hasnt gotten stale for him  the North Beach resident is looking forward to spending more time in San Francisco with family, now that he doesnt have to jet-set around the world to tout its allure.

Or, as he put it recently: San Francisco in its worst time is a beautiful city. Other cities have come back and are still ugly.

DAlessandro was born in Sacramento, the child of Italian immigrants. He graduated from Sacramento State University with plans to pursue urban planning, but his first job was at a travel agency, which specialized in journeys to his familys homeland.

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That kind of just changed everything, said DAlessandro, who went on to work at Visit California, the states tourism bureau, in international marketing, and then served as the Oregon state tourism director.

I just thought it was changing the world because I think that the more people travel, the more they open their minds to other people and they become aware of that, DAlessandro said. I think that travel really can make a difference in fostering better understandings internationally.

After becoming CEO of San Francisco Travel in 2006, he was a key negotiator in the successful $551 million expansion of Moscone Center, which was about two-thirds funded by a fee on hotel rooms, with the rest coming from the citys general fund.

Joe DAlessandro, CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association, attends the grand reopening of the renovated Moscone Center in January 2019. He was a key negotiator in the $551 million expansion of the facility. Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle 2019

DAlessandro really exposed the neighborhoods of San Francisco that werent as well known to tourists, such as the Castro, Mission, Dogpatch and Excelsior, said Rodney Fong, CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and a previous San Francisco Travel board chairman.

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The organization harnessed photography to showcase the citys spectacular views, romantic fog and drool-worthy food, racking up hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

Last year, San Francisco Travel began its biggest-ever ad campaign, a $6 million spend that included television ads and a billboard in New Yorks Times Square.

DAlessandro is always a happy guy, he can light up a room, Fong said.

But he wasnt blind to the citys problems. In 2018, DAlessandro took an unusual step as a tourism chief, criticizing his own citys cleanliness and homelessness and drug crises.

It came down to visitor feedback. Customers were having bad experiences with interactions with some people in the streets who were struggling through mental health issues or substance abuse issues. And we were starting to get a lot of complaints, DAlessandro said. I think we were all taking the prosperity for granted.  We became complacent, and we were letting things decay a little bit.

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After sounding the alarm, he saw some progress in cleaning up in 2019. But later that year, tech giant Oracle moved its OpenWorld conference from Moscone Center, citing poor street conditions and high costs.

DAlessandro said San Francisco has always been expensive. Its a function of not only demand, but high costs spanning labor, real estate and goods.

Customers told us theyre willing to pay the price if the experience is a good one. And if they felt that there was value in that experience, he said.

During boom times, the answer was yes. Then came the pandemic.

DAlessandro has a cousin in Italy who is a doctor. In the spring of 2020, as the country locked down for months, he received a warning: This is bad. This is really, really bad.

San Francisco was uniquely vulnerable to the effects of coronavirus as a gateway to Asia  it has direct flights to Wuhan, China. Bay Area officials also imposed some of the strictest health measures in the country, and the tech economy was the epicenter of remote work.

As tourism imploded, there were few things San Francisco Travel could do in 2020 except hunker down like the rest of the world and wait for a vaccine. The organization had to lay off 60% of its 107-person staff.

I dont know if well ever get back to 107 because weve changed the way we do things, DAlessandro said.

Scott Beck, DAlessandros successor, arrived from Torontos tourism board. Beck is still developing his plans for San Francisco Travel, but sees the future as an evolution, rather than a wholesale change.

Beck regards DAlessandro as a strong mentor for almost two decades.

He just creates a sense of welcome, Beck said. This is a global city; Joe had a very big role.

Beck shares his passion for San Francisco: His wifes family is in the East Bay, and his daughters have taken ballet classes in the city. Beck sees his biggest challenge as changing a narrative that it is a monolithic experience and that challenges in one neighborhood reflect the entire city.

San Francisco Travel Association CEO Joe DAlessandro speaks during the grand reopening of the renovated Moscone Center in 2019. Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle 2019

San Francisco Travels strategy has already shifted as the virus changed preferences: Weve learned in San Francisco to market the outdoors more. And I think that a lot of people didnt look at San Francisco as an outdoor destination, he said. So we talk more about things like Golden Gate Park or the Presidio, where the Tunnel Tops expansion received media coverage around the world.

Though the virus threat has receded, the aftershocks are still pummeling San Franciscos economy.

Remote work and Zoom meetings have slashed the appetite for business travel, and budgets have also been hit amid widespread layoffs and cost-cutting. Visitors from Asia, particularly the pre-pandemics top-spending market of China, are still lacking. Visa processing is slow, and geopolitical tensions have risen.

Theres more competition from places such as Las Vegas and San Diego, and San Franciscos appeal has fallen.

Tourists have a lot of choices. Were not necessarily always their first choice. We used to be, said Presutti, of Hotel Nikko. The 533-room hotels business is still about 30% below pre-pandemic levels.

Beyond the economic challenges, theres also a perception problem, Presutti said. The citys safety reputation crashed in recent years, according to a recent Gallup poll. Thats despite the citys violent crime rate being lower than average among the biggest U.S. municipalities, according to FBI statistics, though property crime rates are higher than average.

Whats frustrating is that you see these stories or you see these articles that get picked up, and you just shake your head because theyre just not true, DAlessandro said. Maybe somebody saw something happen on a block and they inferred to the world that thats all over San Francisco. And that hurts people.

As a gay man, I know what its like. I know how theres haters out there, DAlessandro said. We can stand up and we can be proud because we are a remarkable place. We have to push back on a lot of that narrative and tell the truth about what the citys about.

That approach meant acknowledging the citys sometimes dark past, such as the AIDS epidemic and the Summer of Love, which included hundreds of thousands of youths arriving in San Francisco without shelter.

We were able to tell the story about San Francisco. And we told it, I think, in an authentic way. We didnt exaggerate what San Francisco is bad about. We told, you know, some of our challenging history because that makes us unique, he said.

DAlessandro still remembers his first time visiting San Francisco with family as a child, gravitating toward Italian-heavy North Beach, which resonated with his heritage.
Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have traded fire in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks.

The clashes come a day after the militias leader urged retaliation over the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanons capital.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that if his group did not strike back against the killing on Tuesday of Saleh Arouri, Hamas deputy political leader, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attacks.

Lighted candles are seen in a roadside bomb shelter where people were killed during the Hamas militants attack near the Israeli-Gaza border (AP)

Amid the risk of regional escalation, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has kicked off an urgent diplomatic tour of the Middle East, his fourth since the Israel-Hamas war erupted three months ago.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in Beirut during his own Middle East tour: It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict.

Hezbollah said it launched 62 rockets toward an Israeli air surveillance base on Mount Meron and scored direct hits in its initial response to Mr Arouris killing.

It said rockets also struck two army posts near the border. The Israeli military said about 40 rockets were fired toward Meron and that a base was targeted, but it made no mention of the base being hit. It said it had struck the Hezbollah cell that fired the rockets.

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip (AP)

Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon hit the outskirts of Kouthariyeh al-Siyad, a village about 25 miles from the border, Lebanons state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, adding that there were casualties.

Such strikes deeper inside Lebanon have been rare since the border fighting started nearly three months ago. NNA also said Israeli forces shelled border areas including the town of Khiam.

Separately, the armed wing of the Islamic Group in Lebanon, the countrys branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and a close ally of Hamas, said it fired two volleys of rockets toward the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday night.

Two of the groups members were killed in the strike that killed Mr Arouri.

The war in Gaza was triggered by a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages.

Israel is moving to scale down its military assault in the north of the territory and pressing its heavy offensive in the south (AP)

In recent weeks, Israel has been scaling back its military assault in northern Gaza and pressing its offensive in the territorys south, where most of Gazas 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster while being pounded by Israeli air strikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that the war must not be stopped until the objectives of eliminating Hamas, having Israels hostages returned and ensuring that Gaza will not be a threat to Israel, are met.

On Saturday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 122 Palestinians had been killed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the war to 22,722.

The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The ministry has said two-thirds of those killed have been women or children. The overall wounded rose to 58,166, the ministry said.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah received at least 46 bodies overnight, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press. Many were men who apparently had been shot. The dead also included five members of a family who were killed in an air strike.

Palestinians flee the Israeli ground offensive in the central Gaza Strip (AP)

The latest Israeli-dropped leaflets urged Palestinians in some areas near the hospital to evacuate, citing dangerous fighting.

In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the focus of Israels ground offensive, the European Hospital received the bodies of 18 people killed in an overnight airstrike on a house, said Saleh al-Hamms, head of the hospitals nursing department. Citing witnesses, he said more than three dozen people had been sheltering in the house, including some who had been displaced.

Israel has held Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the group embeds itself within Gazas civilian infrastructure. However, international criticism of Israels conduct has grown because of the rising civilian death toll.

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The United States has urged Israel to do more to prevent harm to civilians, even as it sends weapons and munitions while shielding its close ally against international censure.

MBlinken began his latest Mideast trip in Turkey, which the Biden administration believes can exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to tamp down fears of a regional conflagration.

Those fears have spiked in recent days with incidents in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. On Saturday, a drone launched from an area of Yemen controlled by the Houthi militant group was shot down by the US destroyer Laboon near multiple commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the US Central Command said in a statement, adding there were no casualties or damage reported.

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In talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign minister Hakan Fidan, Mr Blinken sought support for nascent plans for post-war Gaza that could include monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multinational force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

Mr Blinken then travelled to Greece to meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has been supportive of US efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading.

Other stops include Jordan, followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Mr Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank next week before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.
Myanmars military government has withdrawn its forces from a key city on the north-eastern border with China after it was taken over by an alliance of ethnic armed groups.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance took control of Laukkaing late on Thursday after Myanmar military forces laid down their arms and were allowed to withdraw, both sides said on Saturday.

Photos and videos on social media showed a vast amount of weapons the alliance claimed to have captured.

Laukkaing is the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, which is geographically part of northern Shan state in Myanmar.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance is comprised of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Taang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army. The MNDAA is a military force of the Kokang minority, who are ethnic Chinese.

Laukkaing city in Shan state (Kyaw Ko Lin/AP)

The capture of the city was a primary goal of the alliances offensive launched on October 27.

Myanmar government spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told the Popular News Journal, a pro-army website, on Saturday that the military and its local commanders relinquished control of Laukkaing after considering many aspects, including the safety of the family of soldiers stationed there.

He said the military also took into consideration Myanmars relationship with China, which has good relations with both the military and the ethnic alliance and has been seeking an end to the fighting.

Beijing protested after artillery shells landed in its territory on Wednesday, wounding five people. Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun said the alliance had fired the shells and tried to blame the military to damage its relationship with China.

A statement posted by the alliance on social media late on Friday declared that the entire Kokang region had become a Military Council-free area.

It said 2,389 military personnel  including six brigadier generals  and their family members had surrendered by Friday and that all had been taken to safety.

Video clips on social media purportedly showed the soldiers and their family members being transported in various vehicles. The Shwe Phee Myay News Agency, an online news site reporting from Shan state, reported that many of them were taken to Lashio, the capital of Shans northern region, under an agreement with the MNDAA for their repatriation.

The citys fall to the alliance is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmars military government since the offensive was launched, underlining the pressure it is under as it battles pro-democracy guerrillas and other ethnic minority armed groups across the country.

Ethnic armed organisations have battled for greater autonomy on and off for decades, but Myanmar has been wracked by what amounts to civil war since the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking nationwide armed resistance by pro-democracy forces.

Aung San Suu Kyi (Chris Ison/PA)

The alliance cast its offensive as a struggle against military rule and an effort to rid the region of major organised criminal enterprises, including cyberscam operations controlled by Chinese investors in collusion with local Myanmar warlords, especially in Laukkaing.

China has publicly sought to eradicate the large-scale criminal industry and tens of thousands of people involved have been repatriated to China in recent weeks.

But the offensive was also widely recognised as an effort by the MNDAA to regain control of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone by ousting a rival Kokang group backed by the military government from its seat of power.

Peng Deren, the MNDAA commander, said in a new year speech published by The Kokang, an affiliated online media site, that the alliance had seized more than 250 military targets and five border crossings with China.

He said more than 300 cyberscam centres had been raided and over 40,000 Chinese involved in cyber crimes taken back to their country.
A thug who is no stranger to the court has pleaded guilty to yet more offences.

It appears that Conor Oliver Floyd has moved from offending in his native Co Fermanagh further north to Co Antrim.

Standing in the dock of Ballymena Magistrates Court on Thursday, the 25-year-old was charged with common assault and disorderly behaviour on December 12 last year on the Galgorm Road in the town.

While Floyd, now with an address at Glentoran Place in east Belfast, confirmed that he understood the charges against him, his defence lawyer told the court his client was entering guilty pleas to both offences.

Commenting that Floyd is not a stranger to the courts, District Judge Nigel Broderick adjourned passing sentence until February 15 and ordered that a probation pre-sentence report be compiled in the meantime.

Read more Pervert jailed over sickening child rape videos appeals one-year sentence

With more than 115 previous convictions, the 25-year-old usually appears in the petty sessions at Enniskillen and Omagh.

Amongst the plethora of offences are almost 30 charges of assault as well as other entries for assaulting and resisting police, drugs, criminal damage and breaches of bail.

In one widely-reported incident in August 2017, officers had to give chase up Enniskillen Main Street as a handcuffed Floyd took to his heels in a break for freedom.

Officers gave chase on foot and in vehicles. When cops got him, he threw a cup of tea over a female constable and then having been refused bail, Floyd became physically and verbally abusive towards court and security staff.

There were no such outbursts in Ballymena Court on Thursday as DJ Broderick advised Floyd to fully comply and cooperate with probation when their officer interviewed him for the pre-sentence report.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Overcast. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Variable clouds with snow showers. Low 28F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 50%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
by Raj Gonsalkorale





In answer to a question posed by the interviewer Kelum Bandara from the Daily Mirror regarding a statement made by JVPs politburo member K.D. Lalkantha that the party is even ready for an armed struggle if the need arises, senior JVP member Dr Nalinda Jayatissa said, quote in the latest opinion poll, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is leading among all the prospective presidential candidates. Then, there is no need for us to take up arms once again. Are we mad to do it? We believe in capturing power through electoral politics. We need public support and international backing. If we win democratically, we can get support from both ends, unquote.





Leader of the "Marxist" JVP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Andrew Patrick, recently [ JVP Media]





In the interview published in the Daily Mirror on the 14th of December 2023, Dr Jayatissa periodically mentions how interpretations are made of statements. If one were to take a cue from his statements, readers could interpret his answer to the question posed by Kelum Bandara (quote, in the latest opinion poll, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is leading among all the prospective presidential candidates. Then, there is no need for us to take up arms once again) as an admission that the JVP has not ruled out an armed struggle to achieve their end objective of gaining power, if the JVP leader was not leading the poll of all the prospective presidential candidates.





In responding to a follow up question Then, are you denying what he (Mr Lalkantha) said? Dr Jayatissa responded by saying In his remarks, there is scope for one to interpret it in that way. He said he was involved in the armed struggle in 1988/89. He said he will not shy away from such action if the need arises in the future. This is interpreted in this manner. We completely rule out an armed struggle.





Dr Jayatissas response to the question In your opinion is the 1988/89 struggle a past aberration? quote Whether an armed uprising is good or bad depends on its end result. In China, the government was formed in 1949 through an armed struggle. The armed struggles resulted in power capture in Vietnam and the United States. If the struggle is won, it is hailed. If it is defeated, it is bashed unquote, appears to leave doors open for an armed uprising, if in the opinion of the JVP, conditions exist for one as they feel it did in China and Vietnam.





The JVP stance is ambiguous at best as they seem to be qualifying their policy on a possible third armed struggle should conditions present themselves for them to launch one. The question then arises as to what may constitute as conditions that justify an armed struggle. Could it be their failure to win the Presidency and/or government by the ballot? Could it be their failure to achieve their governance objectives should they win government?





Dr Jayatissa stated in the interview that the JVP has and is mobilising ex-military personnel politically. While this is the democratic right of the JVP and the right of the ex-military personnel to make their choices and decisions, the ambiguity regarding their stance on an armed struggle and the statement of Dr Jayatissa that they resolved internally that they should not make any statement that leaves scope for any interpretations, leaves behind some concern that the JVP is more concerned about interpretations than unambiguity when it comes to their policy on an armed struggle and violence. Any ambiguity could encourage some to resort to violence as they could easily interpret such ambiguity as an endorsement of violence. In an environment of hardships, and loss of hope, patience could wear thin, and violence could escalate. This is where the JVP, with their history of violence as a means to topple democratically elected governments, has to be totally unambiguous on their policy on an armed struggle. They cannot leave room for interpretations and misinterpretations. If they do not do this, they will be complicit in any violence that may occur in response to government policies that may be unpopular, but what may be necessary for the country.





JVP is yet to apologise for their violent uprisings of 1971 and 1988/89





In an article written by the author and published in the Sri Lanka Guardian in April 2022 titled  Lest we forget; JVP needs to apologise to the Nation for their two violent uprisings  the following was stated talking of the past, there are things that haunt many politicians and political parties.





The JVP too has some skeletons they have hidden in cupboards and what some people seem to have hidden from their minds as well. The country experienced two violent uprisings of the JVP in 1971 and in 1988/1989. In particular, the second uprising of the JVP in the late eighties was more violent and inhuman. Those who lived through that period knows how violent it was. No doubt, some measures taken by the then government to quell that uprising were equally inhuman. More than 40,000 people were reportedly killed during that uprising, killed by the JVP and/or by a State apparatus. Some politicians who were part of that administration are still around and some have risen to great heights in the political arena.





The article pointed out that the JVP needed to be remorseful and repentant about their violent campaigns to unseat the governments of the time and apologise to the Nation and the families of those killed during their two violent uprisings if they are to be treated with some regard and respect. The Sunday Observer of 1st June 2014 had reported that quote for the first time in its history, the JVP had tendered an apology to the people over 6,000 deaths that occurred due to JVP activities during the 88-89 insurrection. Addressing a meeting in London recently, JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake had expressed regret over the killings for which his party was responsible during the 1988-89. However, he had also said that one had to understand that 1988-89 uprising was no coincidence and that there were developments that led to unfortunate incidents that occurred during the 88-89 period. He added that the 88-89 uprising occurred due to oppressive behaviour of the then UNP government, led by the late President J.R. Jayewardene.





This feeble regret is not an apology, and it did not display any remorse for the violent activities of the JVP. The caveat that the uprising was a consequence of the oppressive behaviour of President J R Jayewardene cannot be taken as any kind of justification for the consequential wanton killing of thousands of innocent people.





The article went on to say that the public had to be more discerning and question whether there are Wolves in Sheeps clothing, and whether those who attempted to seize power by violent means, would do that again. Some could interpret the statement by JVP politburo member Mr K D Lalkantha, and the response from Dr Jayatissa as a possibility that there may be Wolves in Sheeps clothing amongst the JVP.





Violence begets violence and neither the JVP nor any other political party or combine should directly or indirectly encourage, aid or abet violence to achieve their political objectives. It is well to remember the apostle of nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi and the political and social strategies he adopted and promoted, to free India from the might of British colonialism.





The JVP no doubt has increased their following amongst the public. Some would opine that this has happened partly on account of their ability to articulate well and bring home hardship messages to a large section of the general public who are heavily burdened by the rising cost of living, rather than by articulating specific policies to address what they are criticizing. However, a general feeling that a change is needed in the political arena is quite palatable.





The selective law and order enforcement where some are, and have been, more equal than others, the skyrocketing corruption levels in the country, the failure to investigate alleged corrupt deals of very high level politicians and senior government officials, the unconscionable acts of some politicians and high officials in permitting substandard drugs to be procured and distributed to unsuspecting patients, are among the many issues that needs highlighting and the JVP has to be credited for keeping these issues in the limelight. If the NPP/JVP aims to win the Presidency and government at the oncoming elections, they have enough and more ballot ammunition to do so. However, the public needs to know specificities as to what changes they will introduce to arrest the situations they have articulated with great success and how they will do so and when they will do so.





The voters of the country are far more sophisticated and informed than what some may be assuming. They will spot that criticism without solutions is the same wine (or Arrack) in different bottles unless specificities are presented to them, not just voluble rhetoric. While many probably understand the difficult decisions that the current government has made, the doubt created in their minds by critics without specific solutions, and the hardships faced by them, could lead them to vote one way or the other by default rather than through an informed choice. The public probably are ready to heed what Einstein said; if the same thing is done repeatedly expecting different results, that is insanity. The economic and social models of the past have not worked, and they have collectively landed the country in a state of bankruptcy. Continuing them and irresponsible pandering with short term populist measures will indeed be insanity.
BENNINGTON  A Springfield, Mass., man already facing murder charges in the shooting death of an individual on Pleasant Street in Bennington in 2022 is now facing a second charge  attempted murder  for an unrelated shooting on Main Street a month earlier.

Raul Cardona, 29, was arraigned at the Bennington Superior Courthouse via a video link from the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on one count of attempted murder for allegedly shooting up an occupied apartment from the street. It was the third attempt to arraign Cardona due to two separate lawyers posting motions to withdraw as his attorney due to conflicts with other related defendants.

That incident was part of an alleged drug war with a rival gang based in and around the Springfield and Holyoke areas of Massachusetts, police said. According to a police affidavit, Cardona was one of three individuals spotted lurking outside Ramuntos Restaurant after the shooting occurred, as part of a retaliation scheme for a previous shooting on McCall Street by a rival gang fighting over fentanyl-dealing territory.

Cardona was already on police radar for links to kidnappings, shootings, and drug gangs distributing fentanyl and other narcotics  including crack cocaine  in and around Bennington.

Through confidential informants, social media accounts, cellphone data mining, search warrants, and an intense police investigation, authorities were able to link Cardona to the Main Street shooting. Further evidence from shell casings found at the scene and sent to a national handgun database (NIBIN) positively linked the .45 caliber handgun found on Cardona when he was arrested in Enfield, Conn., with the casings.

Cardona was charged with 2nd-degree murder last August for a fatal shooting on Pleasant Street in Bennington. Patrick Mullinnex was found dead shortly after Bennington Police officers arrived at 324 Pleasant St. Mullinnexs body was found on the floor of a first-floor apartment with several gunshot wounds.

Police believe hed been shot minutes before their arrival. The next day, Bennington Police released Cardonas name and photograph, identifying him as the alleged shooter. An arrest warrant was issued the following day. Cardona appeared at the Bennington Police Station days later to turn himself in to authorities.

Cardona is facing a life sentence if convicted of that murder, with a presumptive minimum 20-year prison sentence if found guilty. He faces an additional life sentence for the attempted murder on Main Street, with a presumptive minimum sentence of 20 years.

At Fridays arraignment, it was disclosed that Cardona will be tried in mid-September for the murder of Mullinnex. Both charges will remain separate, with separate trials. Cardona is already being held without bail on the first murder charge. He was also held without bail on the attempted murder charge. Cardonas attorney, Steven Howard, reserved the right to a weight of evidence hearing on the bail issue if Cardona is found not guilty in September. He was also given conditions, including no contact with other defendants or victims in the case.
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BENNINGTON  The Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union board is closing in on a final draft of its fiscal 2025 budget, pending an expected vote during a special meeting Monday.

Meeting this week, the board reviewed a budget reduced from a $35.9 million spending draft plan reviewed in December.

According to figures posted on the SVSU website, the proposed fiscal 2025 budget now totals $34,359,044, up by $2,984,674, or 9.5 percent, over the current budget year.

If approved as is, the proposal would go to voters in supervisory union towns during the March 5 annual elections.

Vote expected

The board on Wednesday decided to hold off voting on the plan until Monday, Jan. 8, when a special meeting was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the SVSU Central Office on North Street in Bennington.

A delay was suggested by Nicol Whalen, a representative of the Arlington School District Board, and supported by other board members.

Whalen said she hoped to discuss the latest supervisory union budget draft with the ASD board during a Thursday meeting and would contact SVSU Board Chairman Scott McEnaney prior to the Monday budget session if further questions were raised.

Whalen said some of her questions about the earlier SVSU spending plan have been addressed or the details have been explained, and she praised the budget data provided by finance office staff with the current draft plan.

Arlington concerns

However, she said her board and members of the Arlington community are expected to very closely monitor the SVSU budget, specifically the assessment to the Arlington district, which is expected to be higher than what the district previously paid before joining the SVSU.

McEnaney said he would pass any questions from the Arlington board on the SVSU Superintendent Jim Culkeen prior to the budget meeting Monday.

He said Friday in an email, I think there were a few members of the board who wanted to bring the information presented in the SU meeting back to their individual boards.

SVSU needed first

Culkeen said a vote on the SVSU budget should come before the member district boards approve their own fiscal 2025 budgets.

Finalizing other budgets depends on this here getting finished, he said, which would then make the assessments real, or more accurate.

He noted that the member district boards are expected to meet within the next week.

Culkeen also said Wednesday that the expenditures for all the districts and the supervisory union under budgets approved in March 2023 total $85.18 million, with another $8 million coming from grant funds.

In general, each of the school districts has a budget to operate the schools within that district and they also receive support from the supervisory union.

The SVSU budget is shared among the districts based on a formula related to student enrollment and the services provided to a district.

A major segment of the supervisory union budget is the cost of para-educators, which are divided among the districts. Social services and special education resources also are often shared across the districts of the supervisory union.

Meetings set

According to the SVSU meetings calendar, the Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District Board will meet Tuesday, Jan. 9; the North Bennington district board and the Arlington district board are scheduled to meet on Jan. 10, and the Mount Anthony Union School District Board and the Sandgate district board will meet on Jan. 11.

State projections

At prior budget sessions, SVSU board members had discussed a release posted on the state Department of Taxes website in which the tax projects that property tax rates could increase by an average of 18.5 percent next fiscal year, driven largely by a forecasted 12 percent increase in year-over-year education spending.

In addition, many districts could see changes in the coming year in equalized pupil counts with implementation of the new pupil weighting formula from Act 127 of 2022. Changes in pupil counts would affect education tax rates, which are based on per-pupil spending.

Pupil weights adjust student counts according to different student needs or circumstances. Pupil weights are added to a school districts pupil count to account for the potentially higher costs of educating these students.

Act 127 was proposed to improve student equity by adjusting the school funding formula and providing education quality and funding oversight, and it could benefit districts with high numbers of students from low-income families or in rural or smaller schools.
The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is ineligible to be president because her parents were not U.S. citizens at the time of her birth.
The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming T-Mobile is going to fine individual consumers for texting about topics that fall under the categories of sex, hate, alcohol, firearms or tobacco.
PITTSFIELD  A defense witness Friday said Kristopher H. Laine dropped off several cans of beer for him before Laine slammed head-on into a motorcyclist, contradicting prosecutors' claim that Laine drank those beers before the crash.

On the third day of testimony in Laine's motor vehicle homicide trial, Michael Cleveland...
"In any situation, ask for representation." That was some of the advice relayed by the teachers union president in a Jan. 8 memo spelling out advice for teachers a month after an unprecedented search for a book by police in a middle school classroom.
Someone complained about a book in a Great Barrington classroom. Then the police showed up After someone called the cops about the book "Gender Queer," what happened next has outraged many in the school community.

Sometimes, its easy to deceive ourselves that it cant happen here. Culture war campaigns in favor of book-banning and demonizing perspectives of the marginalized might be ascendant in some corners of the country like Texas or Florida, but we do not believe those efforts could take root here in the allegedly progressive bastion of Western Massachusetts, right?

The scandal over a police officers search for a controversial book in a Great Barrington middle school classroom underscores why we must never let our guards down in opposition to censorship and in defense of the freedom to read.

When a citizen complained to the Great Barrington Police Department about the content of a book in an eighth-grade English class at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School, a plainclothes police officer then conducted a search of the classroom before days end. In a previous editorial, weve already laid out the problematic procedural elements of this needlessly invasive and intimidating police action about a book. But while some would like to make this controversy about a singular book that provoked the citizens complaint  Gender Queer: A Memoir, an illustrated coming-of-age story about the authors struggle with identity outside of the gender binary  it is so much bigger than any one piece of literature.

As we noted in the previous editorial, Gender Queer clearly does not fall under the legal category of obscenity; it passes the so-called Miller test with flying colors. More importantly, our state law that forbids disseminating obscene material to minors includes the specific defense ... if the evidence proves that the defendant was a bona fide school, museum or library, or was acting in the course of his employment as an employee ... serving the educational purpose of such organization. So no matter how offended the complainant or anyone else is about this books contents about gender and sexuality, its presence in an eighth-grade English classroom is not a criminal matter, which Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue confirmed when his office advised the Great Barrington Police to cease its inquiry and appropriately remanded discussion about the book to the school board.

So the critical question for this school community, and indeed every community in a nation with the highest ideals around literary freedom and resistance to governmental coercion of ideas and expression, is this: Do we really want to be the kind of country where police march into classrooms to confiscate controversial books?

We can answer with a loud and clear no without erasing the healthy debate that school communities should have about what content is appropriate for classrooms. While some right-wing culture warriors have sought to target and scapegoat public school teachers as indoctrinating corruptors whom righteous parents must relentlessly oppose, the reality is that nearly all educators take up a tough job as a commitment to helping our next generation learn and flourish. It doesnt compromise anyones values to give educators the initial discretion as to what is appropriate for their students, especially since they have a unique window into how the most vulnerable and otherized kids struggle with school and socialization. (Its worth noting that the English teacher who kept Gender Queer in her classroom did not include it in her eighth-grade class general materials but kept it on a separate bookshelf where students could request access to it.)

Parents and guardians absolutely can and should have their say as well, and those who dislike Gender Queer or any other classroom material should speak up  at their local school committee meeting. We foresee some impassioned public comment periods in the near future for Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee. Local school board meetings should not dissolve into the uncivil battlegrounds for political proxy wars as they have in other corners of the country, but a spirited and healthy discussion is not only OK but necessary for democracy. Bring on that debate.

Whats not OK is a campaign to scrub from everyones view the art and ideas that dont sit neatly within ones own worldview. Whats even worse is seeking to criminalize those who possess and discuss those ideas and art, whether they be teachers, students, librarians or anyone else who owns or shares books on the naughty list of this generations most censorious activists. Its one thing to say you dont want your child exposed to a certain book or idea; its another thing entirely to assume your instincts are omniscient and omnibenevolent in an attempt to impose those strictures on every student. That would be akin to parents who pull their children out of sex education classes demanding those classes be canceled for every other student, too.

While the loudest calls for book-banning and censorship currently resonate from the right, an incident like the one in Great Barrington ought to alarm those who hold truly conservative values. We have school boards for a reason. Why let public education issues that reasonably should be left to those elected representatives instead be subject to a hecklers veto enforced by the police? Making controversial or even offensive works of art a police matter evokes the gestapo or communist regimes, not a democracy. And it trivializes the real public safety work that police devote themselves to when they they take their oaths.

Because the Great Barrington Police kept the book complainants name confidential (a consideration not given to the teacher when the department publicly released its incident report), we can only infer his or her motive. What we can note is how this incident fits into a worrisome backdrop of intensifying censorship efforts across the country, fuel for book-burning flames threatening to turn up the temperature on our already heated political climate.

In fact, Gender Queer is currently the most banned book in the country. Those who hold high the First Amendment, academic freedom and the right to read and discuss what others find offensive might be tempted to characterize these censorious efforts as un-American. Ideally, they would be correct, but historically they would be wrong. Whatever one thinks of Gender Queer, its now in good company along with various works targeted by censors and book-burners in America over the years, from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Animal Farm to Slaughterhouse Five and Ulysses.

Students, staff and Gov. Maura Healey express grief, disapproval after police searched a Great Barrington classroom for 'Gender Queer' book The search by police for the book "Gender Queer" has outraged the school community. Some students feel the pain, and talked about it at a demonstration against censorship at Monument Mountain Regional High School.

Just as its easy to think it cant happen here, its easy to look back on those titles and wonder how the forces of suppression ever had a leg to stand on. The fact that some of these titles were banned somewhere for some time demonstrates how fragile our freedoms can become if they are not constantly defended. Now, the forces who favor the freedom to read and freedom from thought policing must take a stand, just as principled Americans did against the banning and censoring of all those other books. To do so, you dont have to like Gender Queer or any particular book. You just have to love liberty.

Take a page from the 100-plus Monument Mountain Regional High School students who turned out for those values last month. They organized a walkout to peacefully protest against the polices overreach and for our rights to expression and controversial ideas for which many before them have fought and many more will still have to. The kids are alright. Will the adults listen?
Eighteen warships representing 12 navies have convened at Singapores RSS Singapura Changi Naval Base for a display as part of the International Maritime Defense Exhibition (IMDEX ASIA) 2023. This event showcases cutting-edge defense maritime technologies from hundreds of exhibitors, with topics ranging from new vessel designs and weapon systems to vessel defense and security, underwater warfare, surveillance, and situational awareness. In this review, we highlight some of the innovative technologies featured at the exhibition.

As underwater defense becomes an increasingly vital concern for modern navies, advanced countermeasures against submarines and torpedoes are of paramount importance. At IMDEX ASIA 2023, leading defense companies such as RAFAEL and its subsidiary DSIT, the German Atlas Elektronik group, and the Franco-Italian consortium EuroTorp showcased their latest innovations in torpedo and submarine defense technologies.

EuroTorps MU90 Lightweight Torpedo: EuroTorp, a consortium formed by Naval Group, Thales, and Leonardo, has developed the highly advanced MU90 lightweight torpedo (LWT). Drawing on the experience and requirements of leading NATO navies, the MU90 has undergone more than 300 sea trials, including two live-fire tests in complex scenarios. Capable of operating in very shallow water and against midget submarines, the MU90 is designed to address 21st-century operational requirements. The next version of this LWT, currently under development, will also offer anti-torpedo capabilities. The MU90 has been equipped on over 150 platforms, including surface ships, aircraft, and helicopters, with more than 1,000 units produced. The weapon is in service with the navies of France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Australia, Greece, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. Weighing 304 kg and measuring 2.85 meters in length, the MU90 relies on passive mode during the initial phase of intercept. It features a digital acoustic seeker capable of classifying all types of smart decoys and jammers within seconds.

RAFAEL and DSITs Torpedo Defense Suite: RAFAEL and its subsidiary DSIT have developed a comprehensive torpedo defense suite for surface ships, including the MONKFISH torpedo threat detection and alert (TDAS) and the BLACKFISH hull-mounted sonar (HMS) sensors. The MONKFISH system overcomes the limitations of current passive sonar systems by operating in active, passive, and intercept modes, providing continuous 360-degree detection and alert capabilities for any approaching torpedo. To counter detected threats, RAFAELs TORBUSTER SP hard kill decoy is deployed, defending against passive, active, and wake-homing torpedoes. In the case of passive torpedoes, TORBUSTER SP simulates the ships acoustic signature to lure the torpedo away. In contrast, for active torpedoes, it provides a near real-time tailored response based on the torpedos transmission. When the torpedo is at close range, TORBUSTER SP neutralizes it to prevent reattacks.

In the realm of underwater surveillance, detecting potential intruders is crucial for maintaining naval security. The British company Wavefront has developed an advanced system called Sentinel, which is designed for the protection of ports, harbors, military assets, commercial vessels, and waterside properties. The Sentinel system automatically detects, classifies, and tracks subsea threats such as swimmer delivery vehicles, divers, and unmanned underwater vehicles. Its latest version utilizes Simultaneous In-band Active and Passive Sonar (SInAPS) technology to identify and protect objects at ranges up to 1,500 meters. This combined surveillance approach is highly efficient when tracking low-target-strength drones or slow-moving targets in cluttered seabed conditions, typical of some harbor settings.

Without compromising the active tracker, SInAPS leverages the processing gain of the Sentinel array and its high-bearing resolution to track targets simultaneously passively. SInAPS then combine the spatially co-registered output from the active and passive trackers. This technology enables the system to detect intruders hiding in sheltered areas or obscured from active sonar, such as behind pipelines or harbor walls, where traditional sonar solutions struggle to provide detection. Sentinels SInAPS technology also offers superior tracking capabilities for submersibles and drone targets (SDVs, AUVs, & UUVs) from a single-point sensor.

A special focus was given to start-up companies developing innovative solutions for maritime challenges. The Innovation Challenge, jointly hosted by Starburst Aerospace and IMDEX ASIA, showcased groundbreaking products and solutions from eight companies to potential customers, partners, and investors.

Two AI applications were among the finalists selected for the challenge, both designed to enhance ship safety through real-time information gathering and processing. These AI systems aim to improve situational awareness, facilitate decision-making, and provide crew members with the necessary guidance and advice to respond to emerging risks.

LexX Technologies: The Australian company LexX Technologies developed an intelligent, compact smartphone app or tablet-based system that supplies crew members and technicians with relevant technical information when needed. Utilizing advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) technology through Natural Language Processing (NLP), this system offers real-time, intelligent solutions to technical issues. Already in use in the aviation, utility, and defense industries, the system is now being applied to maritime settings.

Captains Eye: Israeli startup Captains Eye has designed a system that delivers a comprehensive situational understanding of vessels. Employing real-time video analytics based on a unique AI algorithm, the system detects safety and security events such as smoke, fire, and leaks. By identifying anomalies and potential causes, the system enables rapid response before an event escalates into an emergency. It also prevents environmental pollution and cargo damage. The system features real-time AI video analytics on all cameras, a control panel for the captain and crew, and fleet-wide monitoring capabilities.

Other startups selected by Starburst include:

Eddyfi Technologies: This Canadian company offers remote ship inspections, both internal and external, using underwater surveillance via various robotic systems. With applications ranging from hull structural integrity assessments to inspections of critical components, Eddyfi Technologies has garnered significant interest at the exhibition.

This Canadian company offers remote ship inspections, both internal and external, using underwater surveillance via various robotic systems. With applications ranging from hull structural integrity assessments to inspections of critical components, Eddyfi Technologies has garnered significant interest at the exhibition. Image Soft: Finnish company Image Soft has developed an underwater surveillance simulation system.

Finnish company Image Soft has developed an underwater surveillance simulation system. Hydrov: Singaporean company Hydrov has introduced an underwater inspection system designed for rapid and detailed examination of vessel exteriors and interiors.

Singaporean company Hydrov has introduced an underwater inspection system designed for rapid and detailed examination of vessel exteriors and interiors. SubUAS: US-based company SubUAS has showcased similar capabilities to Hydrovs system, focusing on underwater inspection solutions.

IMDEX ASIA 2023 provides an invaluable platform for showcasing the latest advancements in defense maritime technologies. These technologies are crucial for ensuring the safety and security of naval forces in an increasingly complex surface and underwater environment. From AI applications improving ship safety to underwater inspection solutions, the exhibition highlighted the ongoing innovation in the naval sector.
by Saurav Sarkar

In 2024, 12 percent of forcibly displaced and stateless people are expected to be from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, said the United Nations. This displacement will be caused due to war, humanitarian crises, and environmental catastrophes. The numbers recent causes are the civil war in Sudan and the fallout from natural disasters in Turkey, Syria, Morocco, and Libya. This percentage does not include the millions of people in Palestine who have been displaced since 1948.





Former U.S. President Donald Trump (R, Front) sits in the courtroom during his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court in New York, the United States, on Oct. 18, 2023. (Jeenah Moon/Pool via Xinhua)





At Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where 20-year-old pregnant Syrian woman Souad lives, children make up 50 percent of the camps population of more than 80,000.





Raising a child in the camp is difficult. Theres limited access to essential resources such as clothing and baby milk formula, Souad told the Wilson Center, a U.S.-based policy think tank in June 2023.





For a short while in 2013, Zaatari was the fourth-largest city in Jordan and was host to more than 200,000 people from Syria at the time. The population of the 11-year-old refugee camp has since decreased, but with no sign of an end to the conflict in neighboring Syria, Zaatari remains the biggest refugee camp in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (The vast majority of refugees dont live in formal camps.)





The UNHCR stated that an estimated 131 million people are projected to be displaced around the world in 2024.





Of the total 131 million people who are projected to be displaced, 63 million are expected to be internally displaced and another 57 million will be refugees or those who are externally displaced, said the UNHCR. As with Zaatari, women and children will make up the vast majority of those who have been displaced.





In 2022, more than three-quarters of the refugees were hosted in low- and middle-income countries, with Turkey leading the way in sheer numbers at 3.6 million followed by Iran at 3.4 million. Meanwhile, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita (one in eight), followed by Jordan (one in fourteen), stated the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.





The majority of the refugees in the MENA region are from Syria, where the civil war began in 2011 and continues unabated. More than 5.3 million refugees from Syria are in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and North Africa. Germany also hosts roughly 560,000 Syrian refugees, the most in Europe.





This does not include about 6.8 million internally displaced persons who remain in Syria. About three-quarters of those under the purview of UNHCR in the MENA region were internally displaced, including millions from Yemens and Syrias civil wars.





Zaatari, which features a bustling business thoroughfare known as the Sham Elysees (a play on the Arabic word for Syria and the Parisian avenue Champs-Elysees ), is often highlighted for the entrepreneurial spirit of the refugees. But 18-year-old Asia Amari, a resident of the camp, said in 2016 to CNN, We are not living here, its just an existence.





A visit to another refugee camp for Syrians in Jordan, Azraq, reveals a very different story than the one about a thriving bazaar. Designed as a model camp, Azraq has been characterized as a heavily controlled, miserable, and half-empty enclosure of symmetrical districts that restricts economic activity, movement, and self-expression. Refugees have characterized it as an outdoor prison and outside observers have called it a dystopian nightmare.





Meanwhile, nearly 6 million multigenerational Palestinian refugees fall under the mandate of a different UN body. About 1.5 million Palestinian refugees live in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, as well as smaller numbers reside in other MENA countries.





According to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which oversees the camps for Palestinians, Socioeconomic conditions in the camps are generally poor, with high population density, cramped living conditions, and inadequate basic infrastructure such as roads and sewers.





For example, the nearly 488,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are stateless and have very limited access to public health care, education, or the formal economy, according to the think tank Migration Policy Institute. Nearly 45 percent of them live in camps. According to the nongovernmental organization Anera, In some Lebanese camps, when the winter rains come, raw sewage washes into peoples homes. In 2012, a Lancet study published to assess the health and living situation of Palestinian refugees residing in these camps found that 31 percent had chronic medical conditions and 55 percent experienced psychological distress. Not only is gender-based violence a major issue in these camps, but according to UNRWA, [v]iolent clashes [among various groups] are [also] a regular occurrence.





In another example of the dire conditions of Palestinians, in Gaza, the poverty rate is more than 80 percent, as is the percentage of people dependent on humanitarian assistance. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was 47 percent as of August 2022. Anera reports that in 2017, 13 percent of the youth population faced malnutrition. And that was before Israel started its genocidal bombing and invasion campaign.





Like many Palestinians, a lot of refugees retain a strong desire to return to their home country, should conditions once more allow for it to be safe for them to go back. But few have the opportunityfor example, in the first eight months of 2023, less than 25,000 Syrian refugees were able to return to the country.





Others, like Amari, wish to resettle in Europe, Canada, or elsewhere. But for now, they are stuck in squalid camps.





Source: Globetrotter
Transformative potential of drones in healthcare supply chains, enhancing accessibility in remote areas

Founded in 2017 by IIT Kanpur alumni, TechEagle has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by completing one of the longest drone delivery flights in collaboration with AIIMS Rishikesh. This historic mission, aligned with the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Yojna, successfully transported essential Tuberculosis (TB) medicine, showcasing the immense potential of drone technology in revolutionising healthcare logistics.

The success of this mission in challenging hilly terrains was made possible with the unwavering support of the "Drone Didi" initiative under the PM's scheme. This empowering initiative provides comprehensive training to women Self Help Groups (SHGs), enabling them to proficiently operate and monitor drones, thereby contributing to the empowerment of local communities.

During its flight from AIIMS Rishikesh to secluded regions like Chamba CHC and Hindolakhal PHC,, the drone adeptly navigated through complex terrains and elevations, achieving an impressive altitude gain of over 2.5 kilometers in a single 47 km journey. To put this feat into perspective, the same distance would take more than 4 hours by road.

TechEagle's Vertiplane X3 delivered the payload, including crucial TB medicines, in just 34 minutes, marking an incredible 8X improvement in speed compared to traditional road transport.
There is a growing gap between what employees say and do when it comes to office working, according to Linda Trim, director at workplace design consultancy, Giant Leap.

Image source: CoWomen from Pexels

In the four years since the start of the global pandemic, work and workers have permanently changed in all ways, said Trim.

Employers quickly transitioned data to the cloud to enable remote work, teams leveraged technology to collaborate virtually across geographies and time zones, and individuals learned how, where, and when they work best  both solo and with each other.

Now, we are starting to see new work patterns emerge and a clear disconnect between what employees say and do when it comes to office work and office vibes.

Trim points to new research by Gensler, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, which found that while employees say they ideally need the office two-thirds of a typical work week, they are only coming in half of the time.

The study was based on 14,000 office workers across nine countries and 10 industries.

The study also found that employees are willing to return to the office more often for a new mix of experiences.

This suggests that employers need to rethink the office to make it more attractive to employees, and to better accommodate their diverse needs and behaviors, Trim noted.

There is a new awareness that employees are unique individuals at various life stages who may have diverse living conditions, family arrangements, and commuting patterns, said Trim.

As we reimagine a new workplace for the future, its time to design people-centric environments that are flexible and tailored to workers diverse needs and behaviors.

The studys key findings include:

Employees come into the office half of their time, but say they ideally need the office two-thirds of a typical work week for their productivity.



Younger generations (Gen Z and millennials) have the largest gap in what they say and do. They come into the office 43-44% respectively but say they ideally need the office 64-65% of a typical week.



Workers living with children under the age of 12 report a preference for full and extended days in the office beyond 9am5pm, while office workers living with children above the age of 12 have a stronger preference for partial days.



Office workers with 45-minute or longer commutes currently come into the office the least but the majority stay for full or extended days. Those office workers who live less than 15-minutes from the office report working at the office 63% but ideally needing to be there slightly less than they are currently.

The study also there is a mismatch of vibe in the office between what employees have and their ideal, with most employees wanting what they dont have. Vibes range from quiet offices with fewer people, to spaces that are buzzy, to active spaces with lots of people.

The implications for future workplace design include:

The need for more flexible and tailored office spaces that can accommodate the diverse needs of workers.



A move away from universal planning, where all work settings have a uniform layout.



A greater recognition of the unique needs of individual workers, including their life stage, living arrangements, and commuting patterns.

Workplaces must evolve and be ever-changing, consistent with the dynamic nature of work and the changing needs of the people who use them, said Trim.

This will create not only a more inclusive work environment, but one that recognises and celebrates that we are unique individuals working collectively to learn, grow, and do great work together.
South Africa needs a massive power plant construction programme to ensure adequate electricity supply up to 2050, a government planning document gazetted for public comment on Thursday showed.

A man walks beneath electricity pylons during frequent power outages caused by its ageing coal-fired plants, in Orlando, Soweto. Source: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

Africa's most industrialised economy has suffered power cuts for more than a decade which have held back growth, reaching record levels last year lasting up to 10 hours a day.

The latest iteration of the government's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) analysed different options to close the power shortfall over the period up to 2030, and the period from 2031 to 2050.

Up to 2030, the plan said the deployment of "dispatchable" power generation options like gas-to-power must be accelerated, and where technically and commercially feasible, the planned shutdown of coal-fired plants should be delayed to retain capacity.

Dispatchable facilities can be ramped up or down depending on power system needs.

Between 2031 and 2050, the IRP said ways to ensure security of supply included different combinations of nuclear power, renewables, clean coal, and gas.

"In the period between 2031 and 2050 the system will require a massive new build programme with significant capacity required in just over a decade from now," the IRP said.

South Africa was once seen as a poster child for the energy transition away from polluting coal-fired power plants that still provide the bulk of its electricity needs.

But a worsening of its power crisis has forced the government to rethink and potentially delay its strategy of closing old coal stations in an effort to keep the lights on.
January 5, 2024: Some things never change in Russia and one item is medical care. Russia never was able to establish a nationwide healthcare system and military health system comparable to those found in the west. This was especially true in the military. Russian medical care in combat units, especially in combat, was never very effective or even available.

In the combat zone there was poor or nonexistent medical treatment for the wounded. It was the same for diseases that of the breakout among troops in the combat zone. Russian troops in Ukraine are currently suffering from what is called mouse fever and receiving little treatment. This means a growing number of Russian troops are technically available for service but are in fact disabled by the mouse fever, which Russian military medical personnel have been slow to deal with. In part thats because this is a new ailment, and the Russian medical community has not yet found a way to effectively deal with it.

It's a different situation with Ukrainian troops, where the army has been quick to adopt western military practices. The traditional military feldsher (medic with practical but no formal medical training) have received more training and better equipment than their Russian counterparts. The results have been dramatic.

About 40 percent of Russian casualties die compared to only 20 percent of Ukrainian casualties because the Russians in this war often get no battlefield medical treatment whatsoever. The Ukrainians eagerly adopted western combat medical practices, which were above average during World War Two and continued to improve after that war. Subsequently western forces have at least minimal battle treatment, largely by getting the wounded off the battlefield to be treated by medics and eventually sent to field hospitals where surgery and other emergency treatment was available. It has long been known that wounded soldiers in freezing conditions died of exposure or shock within about an hour unless they are carried to shelter, but that is not happening for Russian soldiers in this war at all even though it was done somewhat during World War Two. Soviet field medics then were generally women with no medical training whose major job was to crawl out into battlefields with groundsheets, roll wounded soldiers onto those, and then drag them back to an aid station. There are no such Russian female medics in this war so wounded who cannot themselves crawl to a rear aid station generally die. Prospective recruits know this and thats another reason for avoiding military service.

One of the more amazing, and underreported, aspects of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, are the dramatically lower American casualties compared to Vietnam, and previous 20th century wars. The casualty rate in Iraq was a third of what it was in Vietnam. It was even lower in Afghanistan and all subsequent conflicts. Medical care has gotten much better, quicker, and faster. Not only are procedures more effective, but badly wounded soldiers get to the operating table more quickly. Field medics now have capabilities that, during Vietnam, only surgeons had. All this is one reason why the ratio of wounded to killed was 6 in Vietnam, compared to 7.3 for Iraq. In Ukraine, Ukrainian troops benefit from these changes, their Russian adversaries do not.

The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has brought about a major change in how the United States deals with combat casualties. The result is that over 90 percent of the troops wounded survived their wounds. That's the highest rate in history. There are several reasons for this. The main one is that medics, and the troops themselves, are being trained to deliver more complex and effective first aid more quickly. Military doctors now talk of the platinum 10 minutes, meaning that if you can keep the wounded soldier, especially the ones who are badly hurt, alive for ten minutes, their chances of survival go way up. Medics have been equipped and trained to perform procedures previously done only by physicians, while troops are trained to do some procedures previously handled only by medics. This skill upgrade is made possible by a number of factors.

First, over the last few decades, there has been continuous development in methods and equipment for emergency medicine practiced by ambulance crews and staff in emergency rooms. These practices were initially slow to be adopted by the military. Two decades ago, because of the fighting in Iraq, it had nearly all been adopted by military medical personnel. This was often due to medics in reserve units often having full time jobs as emergency medical personnel.

As much as combat deaths have been reduced in the last decade, by more than half, there are still some types of wounds for which there is no battlefield treatment, meaning the victim will die before more extensive treatment can be obtained. Chief among these are abdominal wounds, where the abdominal aorta is opened. When that happens the victim bleeds to death in minutes. Now there is a solution for this in the form of a belt that is placed on the abdomen and activated. A bladder inflates which puts sufficient pressure on the abdominal aorta to stop the bleeding or reduce it enough to make it possible to get the casualty to a surgeon.

While tourniquets have been around for thousands of years, these devices only work on limbs. Preventing death from most other rapid blood loss situations was achieved in the last decade with the development and widespread use of powders and granules that could quickly stop the bleeding. First came special bandages like the Chitosan Hemostatic Dressing, more commonly called HemCon. This was basically a freeze dried substance that caused rapid clotting of blood and was incorporated into what otherwise looked like a typical battlefield bandage. It greatly reduced bleeding, which had become the most common cause of death among wounded American troops. This device was a major breakthrough in bandage technology. Over 95 percent of the time, the HemCon bandages stopped bleeding, especially in areas where a tourniquet could not be applied. This did not work when the abdominal aorta was involved. HemCon was followed by WoundStat powder to deal with some of the bleeding that HemCon could not handle. While medics and troops prefer the bandage type device, there are situations where WoundStat, a fine granular substance is a better solution, especially in the hands of a medic. Only the medics got packets, usually two of WoundStat powder. That's because this is only needed for deep wounds and has a theoretical risk of causing fatal clots if it gets into the bloodstream.

WoundStat was but one of many new medical tools for battlefield medicine that greatly increased the effectiveness of the immediate within minutes or seconds, after getting hit, by medical care for troops. This effort consisted of three programs. First, there was the development of new medical tools and treatments that troops could quickly and safely be taught to use. This included stuff like HemCon. Then came the equipping of medics, about one for every 30 or so combat troops with more powerful tools, so that troops were less likely to bleed to death or suffocate from certain types of wounds that are not fatal if treated quickly enough. Finally, there was the Combat Lifesaver program, which more than tripled the number of medics by putting selected soldiers through a 40 hour CLS or Combat Lifesaver course in the most common medical procedures soldiers can perform to deal with the most dangerous types of wounds usually encountered. These CLS trained soldiers are not medics, of course, but they do make available in combat crucial medical treatments. Thus, they are sort of medics lite, which is close enough if you are badly wounded and in need of some prompt medical treatment.

During the last two centuries major wars have tended to produce significant improvements in medical care. This is what has happened in the past decade but in a much accelerated fashion. For example, since September 11, 2001, over two million American troops went off to war and about two percent of them were killed or wounded. Only 12 percent of the 57,000 combat zone injuries were fatal, the lowest percentage in military history. This was largely due to major improvements in dealing with rapid blood loss (as when a major artery is severed) and the increased speed with which complex medical care could be delivered to wounded troops. New medical technologies also made it possible to detect injuries like brain trauma that, in the past, was very difficult to detect and treat.

The Combat Lifesaver course teaches the troops how to do things like inserting breathing tubes and other emergency surgical procedures to restore breathing. The CLS troops have skills most likely to be needed in life-saving situations when a medic is not available. The additional emergency medical training, and new emergency first aid gear, the CLS bag, has saved hundreds of lives and reduced the severity of even more wounds. Enough troops have taken CLS training so that there is one for every 10-15 combat troops and one for every 20 or so support troops on convoy or security duty.

These new developments were also popular with civilian emergency medical services, and many of the experienced combat medics coming out of the military went to work as EMTs or Emergency Medical Technicians, thus increasing the quality of care for civilian accident victims. This was similar to what happened to the EMT field after the Vietnam War, when ambulance crews rapidly evolved from simply transporting accident victims, after a little first aid, to EMTs who could administer procedures that previously only doctors could handle. This followed the experience in World War II, where war demands led to development of mass production of the newly created antibiotics and that led to a revolution in surgery techniques.

Second, there's the high intelligence and skill levels of the volunteer military. High enlistment standards have largely gone unnoticed by most people, but within the military it is well known that combat troops are much brighter than at any time in the past and can handle more complex equipment and techniques. Getting the combat troops to learn these techniques is no problem, because for them, it could be a matter of life and death.

Third, medical teams, capable of performing complex surgery, are closer to the combat zone. These teams, like the medics and troops, have more powerful tools and techniques. This includes things like telemedicine, where you do a video conference with more expert doctors back in the U.S., to help save a patient.

The speed at which wounded troops get treated was called the golden 10 minutes in the 20th century, now that has become the platinum 10 minutes because more effective care can be applied more quickly.

All this is part of a century old trend. During World War II, the golden hour standard of getting wounded troops to an operating table was developed. Antibiotics were also developed at about the same time, along with the helicopter, whose first combat mission, in 1945 Burma, was to recover injured troops. So, these new developments are not anything exotic.

Finally, the military medical community has a track record of success that the troops know about. So, everyone realizes that if they pitch in, chances of survival are good, and they are. In Ukraine the results are startling because Ukrainian troops who are wounded get better battlefield medical treatment and are quickly moved to where they can receive hospital level care. Its another reason why Ukrainian troops have higher morale and combat capability than their Russian counterparts. The Russian troops often have no professional medical care from medics, or feldsher, while the Ukrainians do. Russian wounded troops who are captured are allowed to let their families know they are alive but injured. Eventually these Russian troops are able to let their families know that they received much better medical care from the Ukrainians that the Russian military could provide.
January 6, 2024: Over the past 70 years the United States has spent thirty billion dollars on several generations of ballistic missile early warning systems, which is often shortened to BMEWS. This effort began in the 1950s, before the Russians, as the Soviet Union, strived to create such a threat. When the Russians finally did build a large number of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBMs, they found they were behind in the development of an early warning system.

In 2009, the United States put into orbit a pair of experimental STSS (Space Tracking and Surveillance System) satellites. These have better heat sensors and are there to provide earlier warning of ballistic missile launches, so that anti-missiles hit ballistic missiles earlier and with a higher probability of destroying them. STSS can also track other satellites, making it easier to destroy enemy satellites in wartime. STSS recently demonstrated an ability to detect short range, air-launched missiles.

STSS is another component of the BMEWS. The half century old system uses radars and satellites to monitor the planet for ballistic missile launchers (specifically ICBMs, but any large missile launch is detected.) If STSS passes more tests, it will become part of a new generation of BMEWS satellites.

Early on, BMEWS consisted of long range radars that could spot warheads coming over the North Pole (from Russia). When SSBNs (ballistic missile carrying nuclear subs) entered the Russian arsenal in the 1970s, BMEWS was augmented by satellites equipped with heat sensors that could detect the enormous amount of heat generated by a ballistic missile launch (or any large explosion, like an above-ground nuclear weapons test). These satellites cover the entire planet, while the radars only cover part of the Middle East. In all, 23 of these DSP (Defense Support Program) satellites were launched by 2007. This was when the replacement of the DSP satellites began. The 2.3 ton DSP satellites were replaced by the Space-Based Infrared System or SBIRS. This was a network of four stationary orbits. There are 24 low orbit infrared or heat sensing satellites that provided more detail than the DSPs. SBIRS was fully operational by 2012. By this time SBIRS had been renamed the Space Tracking and Surveillance System or STSS. The latest upgrade was made in 2021 with the addition of a new Long Range Discrimination Radar or LRDR. There are six of these, three in the continental United States, two in Greenland and one in Britain.

The United States has provided Israel with access to its BMEWS. Twice before, in 1991 and 2003, the U.S. allowed Israel to plug into BMEWS, to get warning of Iraqi missile launches. Later BMEWS provided Israel warnings of any Iranian ballistic missiles headed west from Iran to Israel.
Gardai investigating an arson attack at a disused hotel where asylum seekers were set to be housed have carried out a series of searches.

The property at Rosscahill in Co Galway was badly damaged in the blaze in December.

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The fire at the Ross Lake House Hotel happened days before it was due to accommodate 70 asylum seekers.

It was one of a series of recent incidents of criminal damage at properties that have been earmarked as accommodation for refugees or asylum seekers.

A former pub in Ringsend in Dublin was set alight on New Years Eve amid speculation it was going to be used to house immigrants, even though it was actually due to be used for homeless accommodation.

On Thursday, gardai said they were investigating suspected criminal damage by fire at an unoccupied building in Fethard, Co Tipperary.

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In regard to the fire at the Ross Lake House Hotel, gardai said they carried out four searches at properties in the Rosscahill area on Saturday morning.

The operation was conducted by Garda members attached to Galway Divisional Crime unit supported by the National Bureau of Crime Investigation.

Gardai said a number of exhibits were seized and they will be subject to analysis that will determine the next stages of the investigation.

The Garda described the investigation to date as large scale, with 229 investigative tasks having been conducted to date and 145 statements taken.

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Gardai reiterated their appeal for anyone with information about the attack to come forward.
Helen McEntee has condemned groups intent on sowing division and fear through intimidation following arson attacks on buildings proposed for the housing of asylum seekers, insisting those responsible will face justice.

The Minister for Justices comments came as gardai carried out a series of searches as part of an investigation into a blaze at a disused hotel in Co Galway where international protection applicants were set to be accommodated. Gardai previously said they are treating the incident as arson.

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The Ross Lake House Hotel at Rosscahill was badly damaged in the fire last month, days before it was due to accommodate 70 asylum seekers.

It was one of a series of recent incidents of criminal damage at properties that have been earmarked as accommodation for refugees or asylum seekers.

A former pub on Thorncastle Street in the Ringsend area of Dublin, which was targeted in an arson attack on New Years Eve (Brian Lawless/PA)

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A former pub in Ringsend in Dublin was set alight on New Years Eve amid speculation it was going to be used to house international protection applicants, even though it was actually due to be used for homeless accommodation.

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On Thursday, gardai said they were investigating suspected criminal damage by fire at an unoccupied building in Fethard, Co Tipperary.

In a statement on Saturday, Ms McEntee said: I strongly condemn these criminal acts of arson.

People need to understand these are very serious crimes which carry heavy prison sentences and those who have carried them out will be brought to justice.

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I have been in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner (Drew Harris) and I have reassured him that any resources required will be made available to him.

Meanwhile, An Garda Siochana is doing everything possible to investigate recent acts of arson. I understand they are making good progress in their investigations and I encourage anyone with any information in relation to any of the incidents to contact them.

I also ask anyone with information either on past incidents or about possible upcoming threats to contact their local gardai.

It is clear that a group of people in society are intent on sowing division and fear through intimidation. I repeat that there can never be justification for such acts, regardless of circumstances or alleged motivation.

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Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she has been in regular contact with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in relation to the arson attacks (PA)

Earlier, gardai said they carried out four searches at properties in the Rosscahill area on Saturday morning in relation to the investigation of the Galway fire.

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The operation was conducted by Garda members attached to Galway Divisional Crime unit, supported by the National Bureau of Crime Investigation.

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Gardai said a number of exhibits were seized which will be subject to analysis that will determine the next stages of the investigation.

The force described the investigation to date as large scale, with 229 investigative tasks having been conducted and 145 statements taken.

Gardai also reiterated their appeal for anyone with information about the attack to come forward.

Ms McEntee said Gardai and the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) continued to work closely together to ensure effective policing plans were in place wherever there is an identified operational need.

Where accommodation centres are being established, IPAS notifies and engages with local communities through their Community Engagement Team in advance, she said.

Gardai are continually monitoring emerging threats, including monitoring social media activity, and stepping up policing responses as necessary.

Both my department and I are fully committed to the fight against racism and bigotry and strongly condemn the actions of those who abuse and attack others because of their own prejudices.

Ireland is a diverse and tolerant country, and such behaviour is not acceptable.
Thousands of people demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as they took part in a pro-Palestine rally in Dublin and Belfast.

In Dublin, a smaller demonstration outside RTE saw 108 pairs of shoes laid out in a display activists said was to signify the number of journalists killed since the conflict began in October.

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The rally at Belfast City Hall came after supporters of the Palestinian cause marched through the city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Protesters carrying Palestine flags and placards criticising the Israeli regime were among the large crowd that gathered outside the gates of the landmark building to hear a series of speeches.

108 pairs of shoes for each journalist killed in Gaza are laid out as Mothers Against Genocide protest outside RTE in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

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The addresses were interspersed with chants and songs voicing support for the Palestinian people and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Among the speakers was Mark McTaggart, INTO's northern secretary and also spokesperson for the Trade Union Friends of Palestine group.

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He reflected on the numbers of students and teachers who have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest  education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the north who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety, he said.

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Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people in Palestine.

Mr McTaggart also encouraged people to actively boycott Israeli goods and companies.

People take part in a pro-Palestine march and rally at Belfast City Hall (David Young/PA)

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The protest at RTE in Dublin was organised by the group Mothers Against Genocide.

One of those taking part was sustainable development scientist Naomi Sheehan.

She said RTE should be referring to Israels actions in Gaza as genocide.

Its hard to even speak about this because it is so emotional, this is like witnessing the worst human rights atrocities of our times, she said.

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Its a silent genocide, and we are hearing a deafening silence in terms of assigning appropriate accountability to the forces who are enabling this genocide.

Both Belfast and Dublin have also witnessed pro-Israeli demonstrations since the conflict began in October.

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Saturdays pro-Palestinian protests were staged after Tanaiste Micheal Martin warned that a widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world.

Mr Martins comments came as Hizbullah in Lebanon claimed it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli observations posts after it blamed Israel for a strike on Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official during the week.

The Tanaiste also rejected suggestions coming from some Israeli ministers that large numbers of Palestinians should be relocated out of Gaza.

Mr Martin further expressed concern about the situation in the Red Sea where commercial ships have been attacked by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs said the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was more urgent than ever.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

He also stressed the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation, he said.

A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

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Mr Martin added: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe.

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected.

This trajectory must be reversed. The international community, including parties in the region, must, in the first instance, redouble efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.

But our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole. This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality.

In that context, the recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory. Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.
A variety of stories feature on Ireland's newspaper front pages on Saturday, including child homelessness, the country's newest political party, and an exclusive interview with the Healy-Rae brothers.

The Irish Times reports that the number of children recorded as living in emergency accommodation in the Republic has passed 4,000 for the first time.

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Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae has hit back at claims about his wealth, telling the Irish Examiner that his businesses are struggling and it is "absolute rubbish" to say he is one of the richest TDs in the country.

Thousands of people who carried out building works without planning permission have been granted retention approval by local authorities, according to the Irish Independent.

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The founders of Ireland's newest political party have told the Irish Daily Mail that they will vow to fly the flag for rural Ireland and will try to poach some existing TDs, Senators and councillors.

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Hospitality chiefs have blasted calls by the Minister for Agriculture for restaurants to reduce portion sizes, the Irish Daily Mirror reports.

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Murder witness Mary Lowry has admitted causing the death of a motorcyclist through careless driving, according to the Irish Daily Star.

A trio of siblings who discovered each other later in life have made an appeal in the Belfast Telegraph for information about a baby who was abandoned in a Newry telephone box in 1963, who they believe could be another full sibling.

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Floods and the death of former Labour political adviser Derek Draper feature amid a range of stories on the front pages of the British newspapers.

Both the Daily Mirror and Daily Express feature Mr Drapers wife, Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway, bidding farewell to Darling Derek.

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Saturday's DAILY EXPRESS: 'Rest gently and peacefully'...Kate's pain at loss of 'darling' Derek#tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/BHPjuDImny  Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) January 5, 2024

The Sun and Daily Star also focus on her goodbye, following three years of health issues after he contracted Covid.

On tomorrow's front page: Kate Garraway fought desperate financial battle to care for her dying husband Derek Draper after Covid crippled them https://t.co/ZsiQO2DE9A pic.twitter.com/0KZy51oE6p Advertisement  The Sun (@TheSun) January 5, 2024

Flooding which has hit large parts of southern England features on the front of The Guardian with Labour accusing the prime minister of being asleep at the wheel over warnings, while The Independent carries a picture of a man carrying a child at the River Thames in Henley and simply says: Washed Out.

Saturday's GUARDIAN: Sunak 'asleep at the wheel' as floods devastate England#tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/RhxDZoZ2Si  Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) January 5, 2024

The Daily Telegraph also focuses on politics with the resignation of former energy minister Chris Skidmore, who is stepping down as an MP over legislation allowing new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.

The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:



'Top green Tory quits over net zero row'#TomorrowsPapersToday



Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/TrwRTZKJ0L  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 5, 2024

The Telegraph also reports Britain's Prince Andrew will lose funding for security at his Windsor home after the latest revelations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, while the Daily Mail says pressure is growing on police to quiz Andrew.

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London's Met Police also features on the front of The Times, which says the force is investigating the Post Office over the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters.

Saturday's TIMES: Post Office faces police inquiry over IT scandal#tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/ocvy2ftuYA  Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) January 5, 2024

The i weekend focuses on bin chaos in towns and cities across the UK, which it says is leading to infestations of rats.

And the FT Weekend says the British Library will drain around 40% of its reserves as it rebuilds after a cyber attack.
Israel and Lebanon-based Hizbullah have traded fire in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks.

The clashes come a day after the militias leader urged retaliation over the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanons capital.

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Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that if his group did not strike back against the killing on Tuesday of Saleh Arouri, Hamas deputy political leader, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attacks.

Lighted candles are seen in a roadside bomb shelter where people were killed during the Hamas militants attack near the Israeli-Gaza border (AP)

Amid the risk of regional escalation, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has kicked off an urgent diplomatic tour of the Middle East, his fourth since the Israel-Hamas war erupted three months ago.

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The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in Beirut during his own Middle East tour: It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict.

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Hizbullah said it launched 62 rockets toward an Israeli air surveillance base on Mount Meron and scored direct hits in its initial response to Mr Arouris killing.

It said rockets also struck two army posts near the border. The Israeli military said about 40 rockets were fired toward Meron and that a base was targeted, but it made no mention of the base being hit. It said it had struck the Hizbullah cell that fired the rockets.

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Smoke rises after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip (AP)

Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon hit the outskirts of Kouthariyeh al-Siyad, a village about 25 miles from the border, Lebanons state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, adding that there were casualties.

Such strikes deeper inside Lebanon have been rare since the border fighting started nearly three months ago. NNA also said Israeli forces shelled border areas including the town of Khiam.

Separately, the armed wing of the Islamic Group in Lebanon, the countrys branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and a close ally of Hamas, said it fired two volleys of rockets toward the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday night.

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Two of the groups members were killed in the strike that killed Mr Arouri.

The war in Gaza was triggered by a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages.

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Israel is moving to scale down its military assault in the north of the territory and pressing its heavy offensive in the south (AP)

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In recent weeks, Israel has been scaling back its military assault in northern Gaza and pressing its offensive in the territorys south, where most of Gazas 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster while being pounded by Israeli air strikes.

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated that the war must not be stopped until the objectives of eliminating Hamas, having Israels hostages returned and ensuring that Gaza will not be a threat to Israel, are met.

On Saturday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 122 Palestinians had been killed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the war to 22,722.

The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The ministry has said two-thirds of those killed have been women or children. The overall wounded rose to 58,166, the ministry said.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah received at least 46 bodies overnight, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press. Many were men who apparently had been shot. The dead also included five members of a family who were killed in an air strike.

Palestinians flee the Israeli ground offensive in the central Gaza Strip (AP)

The latest Israeli-dropped leaflets urged Palestinians in some areas near the hospital to evacuate, citing dangerous fighting.

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In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the focus of Israels ground offensive, the European Hospital received the bodies of 18 people killed in an overnight airstrike on a house, said Saleh al-Hamms, head of the hospitals nursing department. Citing witnesses, he said more than three dozen people had been sheltering in the house, including some who had been displaced.

Israel has held Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the group embeds itself within Gazas civilian infrastructure. However, international criticism of Israels conduct has grown because of the rising civilian death toll.

In-depth exchange with @Mofalebanon on how to strengthen EU-Lebanon bilateral relations and contain spill-over of the Gaza war.



We discussed the continued presence of Syrian refugees and its impact on Lebanon. I reiterated the EUs solidarity with the Lebanese people. pic.twitter.com/gZyGgouSjS  Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) January 6, 2024

The United States has urged Israel to do more to prevent harm to civilians, even as it sends weapons and munitions while shielding its close ally against international censure.

Mr Blinken began his latest Mideast trip in Turkey, which the Biden administration believes can exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to tamp down fears of a regional conflagration.

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Those fears have spiked in recent days with incidents in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. On Saturday, a drone launched from an area of Yemen controlled by the Houthi militant group was shot down by the US destroyer Laboon near multiple commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the US Central Command said in a statement, adding there were no casualties or damage reported.

'Why are you silent?'



In the age of social media, it's easy to criticize. But for us, denouncing one side in a war only happens when all other options are exhausted.



Here we explain why we work behind closed doors to reach those in need.  pic.twitter.com/qUUe1VgjVU  ICRC (@ICRC) January 6, 2024

In talks with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign minister Hakan Fidan, Mr Blinken sought support for nascent plans for post-war Gaza that could include monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multinational force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

Mr Blinken then travelled to Greece to meet Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has been supportive of US efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading.

Other stops include Jordan, followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Mr Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank next week before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.
Thinking about revamping your look in the New Year? A chic haircut or colour refresh can make all the difference, whether its a dramatic transformation or a subtle tweak to your usual style.

If youre looking for inspiration, a host of stylish celebrities and influencers are ahead of the curve, and hairdressers say the cool cuts and sumptuous shades theyve been rocking recently will be everywhere next year.

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We asked hair industry experts to talk through their predictions for the hottest hair trends of 2024

1. The Nineties bob

Last year, Hailey Biebers wavy bob inspired many a haircut, and now were seeing variations on the short, sharp chop.

Harking back to the Nineties is the blunt bob that is continuously evolving, now more so into a chin-length style, says celebrity hair stylist Paul Edmonds.

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He recommends trying the style with a soft fringe: Its all about shorter bangs and keeping the outside edges long. The cut-through fringe with the centre being shorter than the edges provides flexibility.

2. Golden blondes

Kate Hudson (Alamy/PA)

Warm golden tones are replacing the long-standing preference for ashy blondes and cool brunettes, with a shift towards gold and honey hues, says celebrity hairdresser Edward James.

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Inspired by celebrities like Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Blake Lively, the best way to achieve multi-tonal golden hues is with balayage: For darker blondes and mid-to-dark brunettes, it creates depth and will reflect more light, making your hair look incredibly glossy.

3. The kitty cut

Weve had the wolf, the octopus and the jellyfish  the next animal-inspired, layered do that will be all over your social media feeds is the kitty cut.

The kitty cut is longer than a bob with hair falling between the shoulders and collarbone, explains hair stylist Adem Oygur, founder of Adem salon.

Cut with subtle ascending layers throughout, its face-framing without being too short or choppy.

The great thing about this mid-length style is that it can be tailored to every hair type and face shape: Around the face, the layers can begin from the cheekbones or jawline  it is versatile, with many styles such as curled, beachy waves, shaggy or straight.

4. Glass hair

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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Alamy/PA)

I love that were moving into a more glamorous era, says Charlotte Reid, celebrity hair and make-up artist and Bristows ambassador.

But that doesnt mean complicated updos. On the contrary, shes noticing a trend towards poker-straight, ultra-glossy locks worn long and loose.

For premieres and red carpets well be seeing more Nineties, glass-straight hair  that is all Im being asked to do at the moment, Reid says.

Case in point? British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley swapped her usual glam waves for super-straight tresses at the Fashion Awards 2023 in December.

5. Red hot hues

Megan Thee Stallion (Alamy/PA)

Countless celebrities jumped on the copper bandwagon in 2023, and now the red trend is hotting up.

The natural development of this trend is into the brighter and less natural-looking red tones, says hair stylist and trend forecaster Tom Smith.

Glossy, intense, deep and bright, true reds will bring a fiery nature into 2024 for those wanting to stand out from the crowd. Weve been seeing this already on tastemakers such as Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion.

Robbie Purves, hair stylist and Ffr ambassador, agrees that rich reds will rule next year: Cowboy copper is the latest trend to hit salon chairs, characterised by its versatile and warm leathery tones. I predict that clients are going to opt for deeper red tones, moving towards plum red and even violet hues.

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Scarlet shades are notorious for fading fast, so if youre going down the red route, youll need to stock up on a pigment-packed product to keep it looking vibrant.

Smith says: Thankfully, simply using a red-toned conditioner when washing ones hair is enough to keep the hair healthy and glowing hot red. My go-to is the Evo Fabuloso Colour Boosting Conditioner.

6. The mixie cut

Pioneered by the likes of Miley Cyrus, Kristen Stewart and Emma Corrin (who rocked the look on the Miu Miu catwalk), the choppy, edgy mixie cut is short at the front and longer at the back, and has been gaining traction recently.

A mix of pixie cut and mullet, this trend is perfect for those who want a daring transformation, says Tasha, senior stylist at Paul Edmonds.

The mixie makes a bold statement without sacrificing a touch of femininity, creating a fashion-forward look that exudes confidence and a hint of rebellion.
Jeffrey Epsteins former housekeeper said Britain's Prince Andrew had daily massages when he spent weeks at the paedophile financiers Florida home, court documents have revealed.

Juan Alessi, who worked at Epsteins Palm Beach residence, said both Prince Andrew and his then wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were both friends with him and now convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

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During his video-taped interview under oath in 2009, Mr Alessi was questioned on the dukes relationship with Maxwell and Epstein.

The duke strenuously denies any wrongdoing (US Department of Justice/PA)

Andrew stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Virginia Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

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He was cast out of the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

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The duke strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

A US judge ordered hundreds of documents to be unsealed as part of Ms Giuffres previously settled civil claim against Maxwell, which was filed in 2015.

In an email from Maxwells counsel Philip Barden shortly after a claim was filed against her, the UK lawyer said that saying nothing is reputational suicide, adding: I can see why (Epstein) doesnt want this as it may not suit him but he is already toast.

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Another email exchange between Maxwell and Epstein saw the former describe an allegation that Ms Giuffre was asked to have a baby and sign it off to the pair as bullshit.

She shared a draft statement with Epstein from Mr Barden, which read: At no point in Ms Maxwells life has she ever contemplated, thought or wanted to bring up someones child as her own and or ask the mother to sign her rights away to the child.

In fact the mere idea of such a suggestion is abhorrent.

Further, the idea that Ms Maxwell would contemplate an arrangement with someone who abused drugs and alcohol contemporaneously and who was living with her fiance beggars belief.

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No document has ever been contemplated, created nor lawyer nor other approached to write such a document at any time.

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In the interview with Mr Alessi, lawyer Katherine Ezell asked: Were Prince Andrew and Princess Sarah friends of Ms Maxwell?

Mr Alessi replied: Both of them

Ms Ezell continued: Both Ms Maxwell and Mr Epstein?

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Yeah.

The lawyer went on: Did they ever have massages when they were there?

Mr Alessi replied: Prince Andrew did.

I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I dont think she slept in there. I cannot remember.

Sarah, Duchess of York, was labelled as a friend of Epstein and Maxwell by Mr Alessi (Ian West/PA)

I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us.

Ms Ezell then asked: Where would he sleep?

Mr Alessi said: In the main room, the main guest bedroom. That was the blue room.

The lawyer then said: And, so, when he would come and stay, during that time would he frequently have massages?

Mr Alessi replied: I would say, daily massages.

Asked if it was sometimes more than one a day, Mr Alessi said: I cant remember if he had more than one, but I think it was just a massage for him.

We set up the tables and

Ms Ezell interjected: Do you have any recollection of (Virginia Giuffre) coming to the house when Prince Andrew was there?

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Mr Alessi replied: It could have been, but Im not sure.

In a further interview under oath by an Epstein employee, who is labelled only as the witness in the documents, they claimed Maxwell took the paedophile financier to England to introduce him to royalty.

The staff member said there were many pictures of the Duke of York with Epstein in the property they worked at.

They also said they never saw the duke visit the property, but he called.

In a resurfaced video-taped interview with Maxwell, the disgraced socialite claimed she never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein.

The deposition, from 2016, showed Maxwell describe Ms Giuffres alleged meetings with the duke as a tissue of lies.

In an exchange with Ms Giuffres lawyer Sigrid McCawley, Maxwell was asked: Did you introduce him to Jeffrey?

Maxwell responded: That would be another of Virginias lies and the lies you perpetrate.

I never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein at any time ever, so just add that the (sic) to long list of lies.

Ms McCawley continued: Did Jeffrey know Prince Andrew?

Maxwell replied: Clearly he knew him.

Pressed on whether she knew how Andrew met Epstein, Maxwell said: I do not know (sic) Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.

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What I do know is that I did not introduce them.

That is one of the many lies. Are we tallying all the lies?

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020 despite attempts by her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the Southern District of New York in June 2022.

The socialite indicated her desire to appeal shortly after her conviction, with her lawyers claiming victims had faded, distorted and motivated memories.

Her appeal is scheduled to be heard in November next year.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has kicked off his latest Middle East diplomatic mission in Turkey, as fears mount that Israels war against Hamas in Gaza may explode into a broader conflict.

Mr Blinkens fourth visit in three months comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza, including in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq, that have put intense strains on a US push to prevent a regional conflagration in the weeks after the war began, as well as growing international criticism of Israels military operation.

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Americas top diplomat met Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Turkey and others can do to exert their influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease soaring tensions, speed up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin in earnest to plan for reconstruction and governance of post-war Gaza.

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Im returning to the region to engage in additional diplomacy on the situation in Gaza. I will continue to urge the protection of civilian life and work intensely with partners to secure the release of hostages and ensure sustained delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza. https://t.co/zylFYbs5uw  Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 4, 2024 Advertisement

Mr Blinken later stopped in Chania, a port city on the Mediterranean island of Crete, to see Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at his residence.

These are difficult and challenging times, Mr Mitsotakis said.

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The difficulty of Mr Blinkens task was underlined just hours before his talks with Mr Erdogan as Lebanons Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel.

The group warned that the barrage was just an initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanons capital earlier this week.

Meanwhile, increased attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels have disrupted international trade and led to increased efforts on the part of the US and its allies to patrol the area and respond to threats, including possibly taking direct action against the group at its bases in Yemen.

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The Houthis have carried out at least two dozen attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza just since December 19, which have further heightened tensions and raised risks for the global economy.

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In Istanbul, American officials said Mr Blinken would be seeking a Turkish buy-in, or at least consideration of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multi-national force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

Mr Blinkens latest trip comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza (Pool via AP)

Turkey, and Mr Erdogan in particular, have been harshly critical of Israel and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

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In addition, officials said, Mr Blinken will stress the importance the US places on Turkey ratifying Swedens membership of Nato, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon.

Swedens accession to the alliance is seen as one critical response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

According to a Turkish official, Mr Fidan told Mr Blinken that Israels increasing aggression in Gaza was a threat to the region and called for an immediate ceasefire and the delivery of uninterrupted humanitarian aid.

The Turkish minister said negotiations for a two-state solution should begin as soon as possible.

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Mr Blinken will move onto Jordan after his Turkish visit (Pool via AP)

Mr Fidan also said Turkey was awaiting the outcome of Ankaras request to upgrade its fleet of F-16 fighter jets and stressed that the ratification of Swedens Nato membership lay in the hands of the Turkish parliament.

From Turkey, Mr Blinken travelled to Turkish rival and fellow Nato ally Greece to meet Mr Mitsotakis at his residence on Crete.

Mr Mitsotakis and his government have been supportive of US efforts to prevent the Gaza war from spreading and have signalled their willingness to assist should the situation deteriorate further.

Greece has also shown patience in waiting for the delivery of advanced American fighter jets as the issue of Swedens accession to Nato is worked out with Turkey.

The Turkish president has sharply criticised Israel (Pool via AP)

Mr Blinken will end his Saturday in Jordan, which apart from Israel has been the secretarys most frequent stop on his recent Middle East tours.

Jordan will be the first Arab nation on Mr Blinkens current tour, and will be followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Mr Blinken will then visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

We dont expect every conversation on this trip to be easy, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said shortly before Mr Blinken departed Washington.

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There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead. But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head-on, and hes prepared to do that in the days to come.

As well as pressing Israel for dramatic increases in humanitarian aid to Gaza, a shift toward less intense military operations and a concerted effort to rein in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Jewish settlers, Mr Blinken will be urging reluctant Gulf Arab nations to work with America on the future of Gaza.
Rebranding is a response to public perception. Entities concerned with consumer satisfaction take rebranding very seriously. Politically speaking, rebranding cements an entitys relevance and popularity among the masses. In an article published by Crowdspring, rebranding, from a business perspective, allows ones company to stand out from its competition by showcasing to its target audience the things that make it different and better.

Likewise, some political parties have to tell a stronger brand story. I have to address particularly the oldest party in the country, the Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO). Without singling out PUDEMO, it is an indisputable fact that all the countrys political parties have a daunting task to accomplish. Effectively meaning, they need to do substantial work on the ground to convince emaSwati that multiparty democracy is more effective than Tinkhundla System of Government.

The daunting task stems from the fact that the Tinkhundla political system proponents have taught emaSwati to accept the belief that political parties are not ideal for the countrys administration. Actually, they advanced a persuasive theory that King Sobhuza II in Council, with legislative backing from Parliament, issued the 1973 Decree which banned political parties because he wanted to save the nation from bloodshed.

EmaSwati were raised with the belief that political parties take their rivalry to the battlefield. As they battle out in the field, the grass suffers. Whos the grass? Your guess is as good as mine. For the nation to live in peace and tranquillity; our seniors argued that Tinkhundla is a political system suitable for emaSwati. While they branded the countrys political system as an ideal mechanism for service delivery, they besmirched the integrity of political parties.

Resultantly, some of our fellow citizens began to view political parties as a recipe for division and mayhem. This is a political doctrine embedded in many of emaSwati. We cannot deny this fact. It is deep in the mental faculties of many of our people. Any process that ignores this political doctrine is a waste of time.

Crumbling

In June 2021, we presumed that political parties had gained ground. When Cyril Ramaphosa paid a courtesy call on His Majesty the King, many of our people thought Tinkhundla System of Government was crumbling. In November 2022, the President of Namibia, Dr Hage Geingob, also undertook a working visit to the country to hold consultations with King Mswati III. While this process of consultations was ongoing, certain elements within the mass democratic movement (MDM) took emaSwati back to what the elders taught them about the disadvantages of multiparty democracy in Eswatini.

Firstly, the formation of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) did not go down well with some senior executives of the PUDEMO. Frankly, Mduduzi Gawuzela Simelanes participation in the formation of SWALIMO was never viewed by PUDEMO as a complementary effort in the pursuit for multiparty government. The enmity or rivalry between SWALIMO and PUDEMO began. Was this rivalry necessary in a country where the people still have some questions about multiparty democracy?

Secondly, the consternation emanated from what other members of PUDEMO defined as disloyalty on the part of Simelane. The ex-Siphofaneni MP is a former member of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), the youth wing of PUDEMO. He also worked closely with Mlungisi Makhanya in the student movement. Makhanya is the president of PUDEMO.

Logically, Simelanes stint with SWAYOCO created an impression that he would definitely vouch for PUDEMO. However, he sailed to Tarshish. When the call for political reforms was at its climax, Makhanya, addressing people, dedicated the VIVA slogan to Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube. He did not recognise Simelane. He claimed he would not recognise people who feared arrests. This, he said, after the former legislator had fled the country to exile, leaving behind Mabuza and Dube.

Makhanyas omission of Simelane from his salute irked some comrades, viewing and defining this conduct as sheer disrespect to the former Siphofaneni MP. On that fateful day, there was also a physical confrontation among partisans which left others injured. The emnity or rather impasse between PUDEMO and SWALIMO has continued over the past two years under the publics watchful eye. As things stand, I wouldnt be surprised at hearing a proponent of the Tinkhundla System of Government warning again: what did we say about political parties?

Of course, I wouldnt be surprised at seeing a small group breaking away from one of the main political parties to establish their own. I am aware that certain partisans would argue, even though without substance, that the rivalry is part of politics. As it were, that would be a lame excuse because their potential electorates (emaSwati) are insecure and uncertain about the effectiveness of the rule of political parties in the context of Eswatini, whose people are interrelated.

I have talked to liberal thinkers who also share the same feelings that the fighting among political parties has frightened emaSwati to a point that they might have to cling to the adage that: better the devil you know than the angel you dont. SWALIMO executive member Sibongile Mamba-Manyika believes that her home was attacked by those who align themselves with PUDEMO.

Ordinarily, one would have expected Manyika to shift blame to the State. But, she sees enemies within the mdm. Manyika argues that some partisans wanted to kill her. This is a very serious statement. With my limited knowledge on politics, perception is mightier than evidence. That there is no evidence pointing to some members of the mdm doesnt wash in the political space. The truth is that the image of some political organisations has been tainted and the general perception is that there is no smoke without fire.

Killed

The adage no smoke without fire is applicable in politics, and it has affected many political parties on the polls. On the other hand, the issue of evidence is only dealt with in-house. There are people who believe in the school of thought that Muzi Mmema was not killed by the State. The late former Deputy Secretary General of the Swazis First Democratic Front (SFDF) was reportedly snatched in front of his wife and four children and shot dead in a forest, about 20km from his home. The four men who kidnapped him were travelling in a white foreign registered Ford Ranger.

There are other people who believe that Thulani Maseko was also not killed by the State and a party worth its salt will never scoff at those who subscribe to this theory. There is also a feeling within the mdm that certain partisans set a trap for Thabo Kunene to be arrested. Kunene, the self-styled commander of the underground forces, is in jail with others.

These are some of the infightings occurring within the movement, which leaves a great deal to be desired. With regard to these hair-raising assassinations, why are people shifting the blame to political parties? This is because they havent done justice to convince the masses that they are united in their cause for political reforms. Instead, they adopted a militant posture that frightens emaSwati to believe that political parties are not yet ready to govern the country, but poised to spill blood.

In other countries, political parties hire Public relations (PR) agencies to enhance their brand. I have observed that political parties in Eswatini do not invest in processes aimed at building mutually beneficial relationship with the public. Food donation is morally upright but not enough to convince people that multi-party democracy is more effective than the Tinkhundla System of Government. As it were, an indigenous liSwati is unsure if rivals in the political space can accept the outcome of an election.

Some of our people are not accustomed to a government under the administration of a political party, and justifiably so, they may be sceptical of the political changes. Political parties need public backup to push for change. Therefore, emaSwati, all of them, should have a say in the manner in which the country should be governed. It cannot be the exclusive or preserved right of political parties to suggest the countrys political destiny.

EmaSwati should be allowed to ask critical questions: What if SWALIMO wins elections; will PUDEMO accept the outcome or what if PUDEMO wins the election, will SWALIMO accept the results? Political reforms in a conservative country like Eswatini need intellectual and physical postures in the frontline. I must also acknowledge the fact that the image of some parties like Sive Siyinqaba National Movement, Swaziland Democratic Party (SWAPEDA) and NNLC has not been tainted.

They havent been fighting against each other. Their executives have tried to portray a good posture to the public. I must say that they havent done enough as well to win the hearts of the people. I dont have records of their members involved in action that undermine the call for political reforms. Sive Siyinqaba almost lost it when its president, Matoni Ngomyayona Gamedzes vehicle was burnt. I dont know why his car was burnt, and I dont even know the people who burned his vehicle.

Velaphi Mamba, PUDEMO Treasurer, can attest to the fact that there is a lot of ground work that needs to be done before parties can be allowed to contest the election and form a government. Mamba has been a victim of slur and ridicule on social media. He has been fighting back through posts understood to be attacking SWALIMO executives, particularly Simelane, the co-founder. So far, the happiest person is the one who favours Tinkhundla. I think the proponents of the Tinkhundla System of Government are watching the show with keen interest. Basically, the most important thing to realise is that they enjoy the spectacle.

Do you see, we told you that political parties are a source of bloodshed, a supporter of Tinkhundla could be pushing this theory. I will not blame those who subscribe to this theory because Eswatini political parties are in a crisis. So far, Tinkhundla System of Government is in the driving seat.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said Turkey is committed to playing a positive, productive role for post-war Gaza and is prepared to use its influence in the region to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from broadening.

The latest Middle East mission by Americas top diplomat opened with talks in Turkey and Greece before shifting to the region for not necessarily easy conversations with allies and partners about what they are willing to do to build durable peace and security.

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Mr Blinkens fourth visit in three months comes as developments in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq have put intense strains on a US push to prevent a regional conflagration since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, and as international criticism of Israels military operation mounts.

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Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis @PrimeMinisterGR and I discussed our strong relationship and cooperation as @NATO Allies. We appreciate Greeces leadership on regional issues, including assistance to Ukraine and efforts to enhance freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/kwL4cyEjsH  Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 6, 2024 Advertisement

He held meetings with Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, in Istanbul about what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease tensions, speed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin planning for reconstruction and governance of post-war Gaza.

Much of the territory has been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombardments.

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In Chania, a port city on the Mediterranean island of Crete, Mr Blinken later visited Greeces prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at his residence. These are difficult and challenging times, Mr Mitsotakis said.

Mr Blinkens day ended in Jordan, with stops in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to follow on Sunday and Monday.

He will visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

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Mr Blinken met Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan (Pool via AP)

Mr Blinken said his priorities are protecting civilians  far too many Palestinians have been killed  getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, ensuring Hamas cannot strike again and developing a framework for Palestinian-led governance in the territory and a Palestinian state with security assurances or Israel.

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The ultimate goal, he said, is lasting peace, and his talks will focuses on what US allies and partners are prepared to do to help with that process.

He said: These are not necessarily easy conversations. There are different perspectives, different needs, different requirements, but it is vital that we engage in this diplomacy now both for the sake of Gaza itself and more broadly the sake of the future for Israelis and Palestinians and for the region as a whole.

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There is clearly a strong desire among the majority of people in the region for a future that is one of peace, of security, of de-escalation of conflicts, of integration of countries and thats one path, thats one future.

Mr Blinken will travel to a number of countries across the region (Pool via AP)

The other future is an endless cycle of violence, a repetition of the horrific events that weve seen and lives of insecurity and conflict for people in the region, which is what virtually no-one wants.

Turkey, and Mr Erdogan in particular, have been harshly critical of Israel and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

But Mr Blinken told reporters before he flew from Crete to Amman that from our conversations today, its clear that Turkey is prepared to play a positive, productive role in the work that needs to happen the day after the conflict ends and as well more broadly in trying to find a path to sustainable peace and security.

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Mr Blinken would not go in details about what he heard from the Turkish officials.

I think theyre also prepared  to use the ties, the influence they have, the relationships they have with some of the critical players and some of the critical countries in the region to do everything possible to deescalate and to prevent the conflict from spreading, he said.

Turkish President @RTErdogan and I discussed the conflict in Gaza, shared security priorities as NATO Allies, and desire to expand our bilateral trade and investment. pic.twitter.com/0CgLT5IBa8  Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 6, 2024

They clearly have a shared interest with us in doing just that and Im confident from these conversations that theyre going to make every possible effort.

From the Turkish officials, Mr Blinken sought at least consideration of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts in Gaza and participation in security arrangements, according to US officials.

Mr Blinken also stressed the importance that the US places on Turkeys ratification of Swedens membership in Nato, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon.

Swedens entry to the alliance is seen as a significant response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

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A Turkish official said Mr Fidan told Mr Blinken that Israels increasing aggression in Gaza was a threat to the region and he called for an immediate cease-fire and the delivery of uninterrupted humanitarian aid.

Mr Fidan said negotiations for a two-state solution should begin as soon as possible, according to the official.

He also said Turkey was awaiting the outcome of its request to upgrade its fleet of F-16 fighter jets and stressed that the ratification of Swedens Nato membership lay in the hands of the Turkish parliament.
Britain's King Charles III is preparing to withdraw private funding for the security operation at the home of his brother, Prince Andrew, according to reports.

Pressure is growing on Andrew as the unsealing of hundreds of pages of court documents connected to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues apace.

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Buckingham Palace declined to comment, but The Telegraph said Andrew will have to fund the multi-million pound security costs at Royal Lodge himself if he wants to stay in the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park.

The move will be seen as the monarch distancing himself publicly from his younger brother, who less than two weeks ago walked to church with the British royal family on Christmas Day.

Andrew after attending the Christmas Day morning church service in 2023 (Joe Giddens/PA)

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The latest batch of legal papers detailed how Epsteins former housekeeper claimed Andrew had daily massages when he spent weeks at the paedophile financiers Florida home.

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Juan Alessi, who worked at Epsteins Palm Beach residence, said both Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah were friends with Epstein and the now convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

The prince greeted well-wishers outside church in Sandringham, Norfolk on December 25th, with Sarah back in the royal fold and at his side.

But as the New Year began, previous allegations Andrew sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre three times when she was 17, including during an orgy, resurfaced in newly-published court documents.

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Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell (US Department of Justice/PA)

He strenuously denies the claims, and in 2022 paid millions to Ms Giuffre to settle a civil case out of court, saying he never met her.

London's Metropolitan Police said no new investigation has been launched, but UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, former head of the UK's Crown Prosecution Service, said where credible accusations are made they should be investigated.

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Republic  the anti-monarchist group  reported Andrew to Scotland Yard and is calling for the accusations to be properly investigated in the UK.

During his video-taped interview under oath in 2009, Mr Alessi was questioned on the princes relationship with Maxwell and Epstein.

Lawyer Katherine Ezell asked whether Andrew and Sarah ever had massages at the Florida home.

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Sarah and Andrew (Adam Davy/PA)

Mr Alessi replied: Prince Andrew did.

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I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I dont think she slept in there. I cannot remember.

I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us.

Ms Ezell then asked: Where would he sleep?

Mr Alessi said: In the main room, the main guest bedroom. That was the blue room.

The lawyer then said: And, so, when he would come and stay, during that time would he frequently have massages?

Mr Alessi replied: I would say, daily massages.

In a further interview under oath by an Epstein employee, who is labelled only as the witness in the documents, they claimed Maxwell took the paedophile financier to England to introduce him to royalty.

The staff member said there were many pictures of Andrew with Epstein in the property they worked at.

Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell (US Department of Justice/PA)

They also said they never saw Andrew visit the property, but he called.

In a resurfaced video-taped interview with Maxwell, the disgraced socialite said she did not know how Epstein met Andrew and she insisted she did not introduce them.

Maxwell admitted, however, that there was a Prince Andrew puppet in Epsteins New York apartment.

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Andrew was accused by Johanna Sjoberg of groping her breast while posing with what is reported to have been a Spitting Image puppet of himself in Epsteins Manhattan home in 2001.

Maxwell said she did not recollect putting the hand of the caricature on Ms Sjobergs breast.

Andrew at the coronation of his brother, Britains King Charles III (Andrew Matthews/PA)

There was a puppet  not a puppet  there was a  I dont know how would you describe it really a caricature of Prince Andrew that was in Jeffreys home, she said.

A US judge ordered hundreds of documents to be unsealed as part of Ms Giuffres previously settled civil claim against Maxwell, which was filed in 2015.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

World Prince Andrew had daily massages when he visited E... Read More

It was previously reported Andrew was offered the much smaller Frogmore Cottage, which used to be home to Charles son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, in a bid to relocate him from Royal Lodge.

But Andrew was said to have signed a 75-year lease on the mansion in 2003.

Andrew attended Charles coronation in May, despite stepping down from public life in 2019 over his friendship with Epstein.
Police detectives are looking at potential fraud offences in the UK Post Office, as the business faces further scrutiny over the Horizon IT scandal.

More than 700 Post Office branch managers were handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing from their outlets.

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It has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history and a public inquiry into it is ongoing.

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Scotland Yard said on Friday evening that officers are investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions, for example monies recovered from sub-postmasters as a result of prosecutions or civil actions.

London's Metropolitan Police has already been looking into potential offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice in relation to investigations and prosecutions carried out by the Post Office.

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Two people have been interviewed under caution but nobody has been arrested since the investigation was launched in January 2020.

After ITV aired a drama into the scandal, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office starring actor Toby Jones, 50 new potential victims have approached lawyers, it has been said.

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Neil Hudgell, executive chairman of Hudgell Solicitors, who has, so far, helped 73 former subpostmasters to have convictions related to the scandal quashed, told the PA news agency: Our clients welcome the statement from the Met.

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They want to see people properly held to account for proven wrongdoing in the prosecution and financial ruin of so many of them.

They have complete faith in the public inquiry in the search for answers as to who knew what and when and who made the decisions on the back of that to press forward with wrongful prosecutions and civil recoveries.

They have waited two decades for this all to unravel and will let the inquiry reach its conclusions so that the police investigation can be best informed as to what follows then.

The drama has elevated public awareness to a whole new level. The British public and their overwhelming sympathy for the plight of these poor people has given some the strength to finally come forward.

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Those numbers increase by the day, but there are so many more out there. We had 50 up to yesterday and approaching another 20 today.

Former subpostmaster Lee Castleton, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, who is a victim of the scandal, told Times Radio his familys lives were torn apart by the ordeal.

We were ostracised in Bridlington. We were abused in the streets. Our daughter was bullied. She was on the school bus and spat on by a young boy because (they thought) her father was a thief, and hed take money from old people, he said.

Mr Castleton was pursued by the Post Office for the repayment of 25,000 (29,000) in alleged discrepancies arising from the faulty Horizon software, and his failed legal action to challenge the debt led to 300,000 costs and bankruptcy.

He said: Its about accountability. Lets find out where the money went. Theres millions of pounds that were washed into the profit and loss accounts over many years.

Lets see who made those decisions and made this happen. Hopefully well get some accountability and find out some names.
An Iowa principal who was critically injured in a school shooting put himself in harms way to allow his pupils to escape after the teenage gunman opened fire, authorities have said.

Perry High School principal Dan Marburger and six others, including two staff members and four teenage pupils, were injured in the shooting on Thursday morning that left one 11-year-old dead.

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The 17-year-old pupil who opened fire at the school cafeteria in the city of Perry also died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

The US states department of public safety said Mr Marburger, who is being treated in a Des Moines hospital, acted selflessly and placed himself in harms way in an apparent effort to protect his students.

An 11-year-old was killed in the incident (AP)

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Details have also emerged about other victims. The pupils who was killed was identified by authorities as sixth grader Ahmir Jolliff, who was shot three times.

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The mother of one teenager posted on Facebook that her son was helped to an ambulance after he was shot multiple times. Perry Superintendent Clark Wicks said several people helped others to safety.

Mr Wicks said: This is an extremely painful and difficult time for our entire school community, and in our grief, we will take time to remember.

Yellow crime tape still lined the campus Perry High School shares with the towns middle school on Friday, and flowers and stuffed toys were left at mini memorials.

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Mr Wicks said classes will not resume in the district before next Friday at the earliest.

The news that seven pupils and staff suffered wounds or injuries of varying degree during the shooting was two more than authorities had previously spoken of.

The schools principal was among those injured (AP)

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Iowa division of criminal investigation spokesman Mitch Mortvedt said the number increased after investigators later learned about two more wounded faculty members.

All seven are believed to have been either wounded or grazed by bullets, and suffered injuries ranging from significant to minor.

On Friday, Mr Marburger and two students remained in hospital.

In a Facebook post on Thursday night, the principals daughter said he was in surgery all day, and is currently stable.

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Claire Marburger called her father a gentle giant and said it was not surprising that her father tried to protect his students.

As I heard of a gunman, I instantly had a feeling my Dad would be a victim as he would put himself in harms way for the benefit of the kids and his staff, his daughter wrote.

Thats just Dad.

Mr Mortvedt said Mr Marburger, who has been principal since 1995, did some pretty significant things to protect others during the shooting, but did not release details.

The 17-year-old shooter is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound (AP)



Mr Wicks, the superintendent, said Mr Marburger was a hero who intervened with Butler so students could escape. Wicks said other staff also acted heroically, including Middle School Assistant Principal Adam Jessen who carried a wounded student into a safe area.

One mother, Bobbi Bushbaum, posted on Facebook that her son Corey was shot multiple times, suffering a fractured femur and wrist.

Mr Bushbaum said Corey was able to stumble to a nearby field after being wounded, and when she arrived, he was being helped toward an ambulance.

In the post, Bushbaum said her son underwent one surgery, but still had bullets in his body and will not be able to walk for weeks.

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Bushbaum expressed thanks to those who helped pull Corey to safety, saying: I would like them to know my son wouldnt be here without them.

Authorities said the suspect, identified as Dylan Butler, had a pump-action shotgun and a small-calibre handgun.

Mr Mortvedt told The Associated Press that authorities also found a pretty rudimentary improvised explosive device in Butlers belongings, and that experts advised it was something that they needed to disarm. It was rendered safe.

Federal and state investigators are interviewing Butlers friends and analysing his social media profiles, including posts on TikTok and Reddit. However, authorities have provided no information about a possible motive.
In 2019, Krysty Sullivan started to experience back and breast pain on her left side. The then 47-year-old booked herself in for a mammogram at a local BreastScreen centre. It came back clear, she recalled.

Eleven months later, she felt a lump in her left breast. Having meanwhile learned the BreastScreen service is for women without symptoms, the Sydneysider attended a private clinic.

Breast cancer survivor Krysty Sullivans mammogram didnt detect her tumour. Credit: Dean Sewell

At this consultation, Sullivan discovered her breasts were classified as extremely dense and so not suited to mammography. Two two-centimetre tumours detected by ultrasound at the clinic were not visible on a mammogram taken the same day.

I trusted that the first report had said no cancer detected, she said. I didnt think that meant they couldnt see anything.
As jobs become automated, soft skills  those that cant be offered by a computer  could become increasingly valuable. Loading For anybody who wants to develop their career in an AI future, focus on the basic soft skills of problem-solving, creativity and inclusion, says Cayla Dengate, news editor at LinkedIn Australia. Some concerns about the dangers of AI in the workplace remain in 2024. Artificial intelligence automates away a lot of the easy parts and that has the potential to make our jobs more intense and more demanding ... there have always been unethical uses of technology. Peter says. She says education and policy are vital to curb irresponsible uses of AI.

Hybrid work Are we nearing the end of the work from home era? While COVID fast-tracked flexible working models, in 2023 many organisations began ushering employees back to the office. In a KPMG survey of more than 1300 chief executives released in October, most predicted a complete eradication of working from home over the next three years. Younger workers, who require more support than previous generations after COVID, benefit from a return to the office. Credit: Peter Rae Still, many employers are grappling with keeping employees happy.

Were seeing a divide between managers and staff in terms of how much time they want to be spending in the office versus working from home, says Dengate. Loading An idea thats gaining momentum is that a workplace is not somewhere to sit down and quietly do your work. Going into work is about connecting with your colleagues and having a bonding experience, more so than just working. Younger workers, who require more support than previous generations after COVID, also benefit from a return to the office. That generation really do need mentors, they need to be getting feedback and to feel that others in the workplace value them and that they have the opportunity to learn, says Johnson.

The fall of corporate jargon Circling back, taking things offline, sorry if that was unclear  corporate jargon has been slowly falling out of favour for the past few years  and younger generations are leading the charge. A global report from LinkedIn from June found that 60 per cent of Gen Z and 65 per cent of Millennials want to reduce or eliminate the use of workplace jargon, while a quick scroll on TikTok reveals many young office workers mocking the veiled language. Sometimes corporate buzzwords can help a team feel like theyre all speaking the same language, says Dengate. But the flip side is that it can isolate people who arent in on the lingo.

Remote workers are more likely to dislike corporate buzzwords because it makes them feel left out. They dont know what the latest acronym is, and it stands in the way of understanding. Wellbeing From managers supporting staff through a divorce to lunchtime meditation, the personal and professional have become increasingly intertwined. Worker wellbeing is a growing concern for organisations with increases in psychosocial risk claims and work absences due to stress and exhaustion. The pandemic was a trigger for many workers. People did some soul-searching and asked themselves, do I care about where I work? Is this feeding my soul? says Dengate.

In response, she says organisations took a stronger stance on social issues, such as the environment, to create a workplace where peoples personal mission is aligned with their workplace. While breath work and nutrition seminars are positive steps, wellbeing solutions in the workplace should go beyond the individual to be meaningful. We need to be looking more closely at what people are doing at work and whether its good for them, says Johnson. How is the work youre doing designed? What extent are you receiving feedback? Do people just have too much to do in the time that they have available? Paid job interviews Recognition is growing for just how much work goes into looking for a job. From multiple rounds of interviews to business proposals, the application process can be incredibly time and labour-intensive  and some are calling for applicants to be compensated for their time.

The idea is gaining traction abroad. Canadian food justice organisation FoodShare offers prospective candidates $75CAD per interview ($83), while Zero Waste Club in the UK compensates workers with $275 for attending a two to three hour workshop. Its a concept Dengate believes will catch on in Australia in 2024. Loading Part of the reason why is to level the playing field. Its not one person asking to impress the other. Its an acknowledgement that this person is important, and their time is valuable. Dengate says compensating workers for work during the interview process can also be beneficial for organisations. Paying somebody to attend a job interview forces companies to be more direct about who they want and why, without wasting time on additional job interviews and additional applicants, she says.
One particular branch of pesticides, the neonicotinoids (also known as neonics) are used to treat seeds before planting and are claimed to increase crop yields. Scientists are now comparing neonicotinoids with DDT, of which the devastating effects on wildlife were revealed in the 1960s. Roger Kitching, on the conservation committee of the Australian Entomological Society, says DDT affected vertebrates, particularly birds, but now, equally, insects deserve to be a major cause for concern due to their part in the food chain. The substitution of the range of earlier pesticides for the current generation of neonics and others is particularly bad for insect fauna, he said. These pesticides are systemic, that is they act from within plants, they are persistent, water-soluble and are very general in the species they target. The endangered ancient greenling damselfly at Discovery Bay Coastal Park, in south-west Victoria, in 2009. When insects decline in ecosystems there are knock-on effects because of their roles as bird food, pollination vectors, plant munchers and so on  even though neonics do not impact vertebrates directly they have measurable impacts through these food-chain effects.

In June, US ecologist Mike Miller, who works for Wisconsins Department of Natural Resources, told a fly-fishing podcast that he had found neonics in randomly selected waterways throughout the state. He said a lethal dose of neonics the size of a sugar grain was enough to kill 125,000 honey bees. One of those little paper sachets holds between 3 -4 grams of sugar and the comparable amount of neonics is enough to kill 600 million honey bees, he said. Neonics are thought to be 7000 times more toxic than DDT. The podcast host, fly-fishing guru Tom Rosenbauer, said: It seems like in the past 10 years or so you hear so many fly-fishers complaining that the hatches [of insects] arent what they used to be. There seems to have been a dramatic decline in insects since neonics became popular. Tom Rosenbauer says fly-fishers have noticed the decline in aquatic insects in the US and Australia. Credit: Getty Millers comments were based on a scientific paper by ecologist Dave Goulson published a decade ago, called An overview of the environmental risks posed by neonicotinoid insecticide. Goulson, now at Sussex University, said 5 grams was enough to kill half of 1.25 billion bees and leave the other half just alive [known as an LD50 dose].

While that figure is accurate, the levels of neonics found in the environment are pretty low and a bee would have to consume several CCs [cubic centimetres] of nectar to get a lethal dose, which it might do in its lifetime, but not in a morning, he said. The evidence we have is that bees are probably consuming less than a lethal dose, but that doesnt mean that we can all breathe a sigh of relief that all is well. Loading There is evidence that sub-lethal doses can seriously mess up the bees in a whole bunch of different ways  reduce their fertility, their ability to navigate and their resistance to disease. If their disease-resistance is knocked out by exposure to a pesticide, and then they are exposed to a virus transmitted by the Varroa mite, then there are many people who believe it does explain why bee colonies are collapsing. For an aquatic insect, you are not drinking the pesticide, you are bathing in it. The evidence is that anything over about 1 part per billion in a stream, which is the level which is commonly exceeded, it is enough to be impacting on aquatic insects when they are exposed to it 24/7. Asked if he felt Australia was behind other countries in regulating neonics, he added: That would seem to be the case, the European regulators are pretty slow to act, but they thought the evidence was sufficiently compelling five years ago to act, and lots of other countries have followed suit in various ways. Within the developed world, Australia would appear to be at the tail end of the queue to do something about neonics. To ignore the evidence, I think, is probably foolish.

There is a perception that we banned the really nasty pesticides years ago, we got rid of DDT and modern pesticides are better, but in some senses modern pesticides are much more dangerous because we have invented compounds that are far, far more poisonous to insect life, it means less of them has to go astray, into rivers or whatever, to do harm. Loading Australian scientists have also found imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid) in the catchment area of the Great Barrier Reef and the reef lagoon. Professor Michael Warne at the School of the Environment, University of Queensland in a research study of 6500 samples from 14 Great Barrier Reef catchment areas found the average concentration of imidacloprid was 0.051 g/L (micrograms/litre) between July 2009 and June 2017. That concentration is 2.5 times higher than that found in a study of Dutch rivers, which led to an annual decrease in insectivorous bird populations of 3.5 per cent. In a paper published a year ago, Warne wrote that within the Great Barrier Reef catchment area that imidacloprid was used to control canegrubs in sugarcane and the banana weevil borer in banana crops. He said that in a not yet published work by UQ and Department of Environment and Science suggests the risks from imidacloprid since 2017 may have stabilised or decreased, in part through education programs conducted in collaboration with some industry groups. But he said: There are many water samples where the concentration exceeds the proposed Australian and New Zealand water quality guideline for ecosystem protection from imidacloprid.

Imidacloprids were restricted by the EU in 2018. In June last year, New York State moved to pass the Birds and Bees Protection Act, a first-in-the-nation bill to rein in the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. The Natural Resources Defence Council said in a statement: Neonics are linked to massive bee and bird losses that impact food production, contaminate New York water and soil, and create human health concerns, especially with recent testing showing rising levels of neonics in 95+ per cent of pregnant women from New York and four other states. Pesticides use here is governed by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). It updated its website page on neonicotinoids in May and lists six neonics approved for agricultural use in Australia. It published a report in 2014 and then announced a review in 2019. It states three of the six neonic pesticides used here were restricted in April 2018 in the European Union to greenhouse use only. Loading A spokesperson for the APVMA said in a statement: The APVMA commenced its review of neonicotinoids in 2019 to allow for the consideration of new scientific information about risks to the environment, and to ensure safety instructions on products meet contemporary standards. Based on the statutory timeframes, the review is due to be completed in August 2023. The APVMA anticipates publication of proposed regulatory decisions during 2024 and has assigned additional resources to chemical review activities, including the use of external scientific reviewers to progress reviews as rapidly as possible. However, there has been no update to the statement last May.

The authority was subject of a damning independent report in July which said it was concerning that a number of chemical reviews have been ongoing for over 20 years. It said the APVMA appeared reluctant to take compliance and enforcement action against industry. Recent changes to the APVMAs staff profile following the relocation of its offices from Canberra to Armidale in 2019, has most likely impacted corporate knowledge, workload, and work capacity. Only a small proportion of previous APVMA staff relocated. Sanchez-Bayo said the APVMA was way behind schedule. We are behind in many ways and how long it will take them to come up with a final decision we dont know, he said. It is under-resourced and behind the times. My understanding is that the APVMA does not have enough staff, they are not properly trained in these issues, there has been a lot of turnover in the last few years. They are not producing the results they are expected to produce. Eddie Tsyrlin, a freshwater ecologist and waterbug taxonomist, estimates that as many as to 2000 species of freshwater invertebrates could have already been lost.
A Perth magistrate has called for an overhaul of the law after being forced to grant bail to two serial offenders accused of going on a Christmas stealing spree in Perths north-east.

Nicholas Terrance Mark Rodd and Janelle Gail Martin fronted Northbridge Magistrates Court on Saturday on five counts of stealing and four counts of failing to comply with a prohibition order.

Janelle Gail Martin and Nicholas Terrance Mark Rodd leaving Northbridge Magistrates Court on Saturday. Credit: Jesinta Burton.

The pair  dubbed colleagues by police prosecutors  had been arrested over the alleged offences, which took place in Midland, Rivervale and Morley between December 22 and December 31.

Rodd and Martins lawyer lodged bail applications on their behalf, requesting the matters be deferred until their next scheduled court appearances later this month.
Two federal Liberals MPs are warning that a debate over religious discrimination laws must not again descend into a culture war that captures LGBTQ Australians in its crosshairs, as faith leaders and equality advocates urged the Albanese government not to delay legislating.

Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer and NSW senator Andrew Bragg were among a small bloc of moderate Liberal MPs who broke ranks with their party room in favour of stronger protections for LGBTQ students during the former Morrison governments failed attempt to pass religious discrimination laws on the cusp of the 2022 federal election.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer says she is concerned a renewed debate on religious discrimination will devolve into a nasty culture war. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

A renewed debate on the issue is expected to kick off when federal parliament returns in February and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus releases the findings of a review by the Australian Law Reform Commission. The review is designed to inform the governments plans to legislate a religious discrimination framework while also bolstering protections for LGBTQ students and staff at religious schools.

Archer and Bragg said their positions remained unchanged on the issue and that any reform must simultaneously protect people of faith while also repealing laws that provided a legal basis for discrimination against LGBTQ teachers and students.
NTFONJENI  The Lufafa Mountain was once revered for painting the landscape of Hhelehhele with its natural beauty but today, its image has been tainted by illegal mining an exploitation of children.

The Lufafa Mountain is situated in Hhelehhele under the Ntfonjeni Inkhundla. In a shocking revelation by concerned residents, children as young as 12 years, are being exploited as illegal miners in the mountain. It was gathered that older teenagers are also being used in the illegal mining, as it is easier for them to get into the small tunnels where the gold is extracted. However, it was also gathered that most of the children assist in transporting the soil that is dug out and contains the unextracted gold.

Child labour remains a pressing global issue, and Africa is no exception. In the context of illegal mining activities, the exploitation of children in hazardous conditions, is a grave concern. Many children are drawn into the web of illegal mining, due to poverty and limited opportunities.Due to its rich gold deposits, the gold mountain has attracted illegal miners, informally known as zama zamas.

Risking

The zama zamas are said to have dug makeshift tunnels inside the mountain, risking their lives including those of children. Unlike a normal mining conditions which ensures safety of the miners, illegal miners lack the means and the expertise to ensure safety. It was also gathered that sometimes, the illegal mining takes place during night time and this compromises their safety even further.

This publication spoke to some residents and also traditional authorities to shed light on the distressing plight of these young souls and the alarming state of lawlessness that persists, despite the presence of armed forces. It was gathered that some of the children participate in the illegal mining activities in the presence of their parents. The children are also used in carrying the soil mixture that contains the gold for extraction of the mineral at a different site, usually a homestead.

In the past, this publication has written about children being used in illegal cultivation of dagga. However, some children are now being used in the illegal mining of the gold. Some parents are divided about the use of children in the illegal mining. One of the parents who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she would never allow her child but *Maluti said poverty was the main reason she had no problem with her child getting involved.

We are living a better life than before because we are able to buy some food and clothes, said Maluti. She also said she was aware of the dangers of the makeshift mines collapsing, but they were advised that during the wet season, they should avoid it. She insisted that poverty was a driving factor and that if this was not the case, she would not take the risk. A recent report by our sister publication, the Times of Eswatini, uncovered the illicit mining operations taking place at the now treacherous mountain. Also, some of the illegal mining is said to be operated at an old abandoned mine near Piggs Peak, over 20 kilometres from Lufafa Mountain, where more illegal mining takes place.

Abandoned

The abandoned mine, known as old Piggs Peak Mine is also guarded by members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) just like the Lufafa Mountain. However, despite the security measures in place, the illegal miners are allegedly brazenly pilfering gold right under the noses of the very soldiers assigned to prevent such activities.

Security guards are placed at the Lomati Mine which is licensed to mine the gold at the mountain.

This flagrant disregard for the law, by the zama zamas, is said to have created an atmosphere of audacity and lawlessness, leaving the authorities grappling for effective solutions, such that others have suggested that the soldiers should operate under a rotating roaster.If the same soldiers keep guarding the mines for a long time, they may end up being influenced by the criminals, said a senior resident.

Just two weeks ago, an operation involving soldiers and police officers resulted in the apprehension of seven individuals, who included Zimbabwean nationals and a liSwati. The arrests were made amidst allegations of engaging in illegal mining activities. The arrest of the six was also confirmed by the Chief Police Information and Communications Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati. In an endeavour to understand the extent of this rampant illegal mining, this publication conducted an in-depth investigation, unearthing harrowing revelations about the situation.

Mbholofidi Sibandze, the indvuna (traditional authority) of Hhelehhele, expressed his concerns about the alarming rise in illegal trading within the area. Sibandze revealed that illegal mining had escalated, with the zama zamas exhibiting fearlessness in the face of nearby military presence. It is also believed that the zama zamas are also armed with firearms and other dangerous weapons. Sibandze further disclosed that numerous residents had raised concerns, as in most homes there were at least two ore more individuals involved in illegal mining.

He said some of the residents work as the illegal miners who collect the soil mixture that contains the gold, while the others were involved, in the extraction process. He said the reason many people were involved, was because the financial returns from selling the gold were very lucrative. Sibandze said for this reason, even women were tempted to engage in the activities and that some took their children with them.

Illustrate

To illustrate how lucrative gold was, Sibandze held up a piece of gold slightly smaller than a plum and revealed that its sale on the black market could yield enough funds to purchase a reasonably good car, with surplus cash remaining. When he was asked if such a small piece could generate so much money, he responded: Uyadlala wena, before bursting into laughter. Sibandze also shed light on the motivations behind some of the zama zamas actions.

He noted that some former employees of Lomati Mine, the mining company licensed to operate at Lufafa, had turned to illegal mining, as they claimed that they made more money working illegally. Sibandze said the feeling by some of the residents was that something should be done to protect the children. He said the children were very young and that it was not safe to involve them in the illegal mining act.

*Not real name.
Federal officials in the US have ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.

The required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft and will affect about 171 planes worldwide.

An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff above Oregon late on Friday, US time, creating a gaping hole that forced the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 174 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.

No one was seriously hurt as the depressurised plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after it had departed, but the airline grounded its 65 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft until they can be inspected. The National Transportation Safety Board said it will also investigate.
Oil prices rose on Friday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a week-long sweep through the Middle East in an attempt to contain regional tensions stoked by the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Brent crude futures settled up $1.17, or 1.51 per cent, at $78.76 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished up $1.62, or 2.24 per cent, at $73.81.

Both benchmarks are on track to end the first week of the year higher, rebounding from losses on Thursday triggered by hefty increases in U.S. gasoline and distillate stocks.

"With the tensions in the Middle East, the geopolitical trading premium has to get pushed higher," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC. "It's hard for traders to fight the headlines."

Shipping giant Maersk said it will divert all vessels away from the Red Sea for the foreseeable future, warning customers of disruptions.

A U.S. government report showing employment grew in December would be supportive of demand in the coming year, Kilduff said.

U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in December while raising wages at a solid clip, prompting financial markets to dial back expectations that the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates in March.

Non-farm payrolls increased by 216,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 170,000 jobs. The economy added 2.7 million jobs in 2023, down sharply from the 4.8 million positions created in 2022.

"Strong employment should point to strong demand for fuel," Kilduff said.

The latest Fed meeting on Thursday gave a growing sense that inflation is under control and raised concern about the risks that an "overly restrictive" monetary policy may hold for the economy.

Bank of America on Friday said it was taking a defensive stance towards oil stocks because of the long-term price forecast for oil.

It said it expects the $70-$90 a barrel Brent trading range in place since OPEC+ intervened to hold, adding that "a permanently backward oil curve steepened by spare capacity" is a headwind for sector value.

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes said the count of active drilling rigs - oil and natural gas rigs combined - fell by one last week to 621 for the third decline in four weeks.

Crude oil drilling rigs were up by one at 501 while natural gas drilling rigs fell by two to 118.

(Reporting by Erwin SebaAdditional reporting by Robert Harvey and Noah Browning in London and Sudarshan Varadhan in SingaporeEditing by David Gregorio, Jonathan Oatis, Alexander Smith and David Goodman)
Minister for Industries TRB Rajaa welcomed the delegates who are scheduled to participate in the Global Investors Meet

Tamil Nadu is all set to host the third edition of the Global Investors Meet, and the first one by the ruling DMK government, from Sunday with a galaxy of leaders set to participate in it.

A host of representatives from several multinational companies, over 450 international delegates, and representatives from 50 countries are expected to attend the two-day event.

The previous editions of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) were held in 2015 and 2019, when AIADMK was the ruling party, under the chief ministers late J Jayalalithaa and Edappadi K Palaniswami, respectively.

The Ministry of Industries and Guidance Tamil Nadu--the state's investment promotion agency--, who are the organisers of the event, expect over 30,000 participants during GIM 2024 with Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal set to be part of the inauguration along with Chief Minister M K Stalin and his cabinet colleagues.

"As the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024 approaches, the air is thick with anticipation! With over 30,000 participants, our campaign - Titans of Tamil Nadu- has sparked widespread excitement," Stalin said.

"GIM 2024 will feature 450 plus international delegates, 170 globally acclaimed speakers, and representation from 50 countries underscoring Tamil Nadu's industrial prowess," he said in a social media post.

"We also have an MSME pavilion, Tamil Nadu ecosystem pavilion, several country pavilions and the StartupTN pavilion -- providing a fantastic opportunity for delegates to witness the industrial marvel of the state and foster business collaborations," he added.

Minister for Industries TRB Rajaa welcomed the delegates who are scheduled to participate in the Global Investors Meet.

"A Global Industrial Giant, a stable and progressive state. The best destination for your investments. Welcome to Tamil Nadu," he said.

"For GIM, we have a totally different target apart from Rs 3 lakh crore worth of investments which have come in. We are expecting investments of a few lakh crores more to come in," Rajaa told PTI recently.

Setting the ball rolling for GIM 2024 in 2023, Stalin unveiled the 'logo' for the Global Investors Meet. Symbolizing the Tamil word 'Tha', the logo also refers to Tamil Nadu flourishing in all its parameters.

Singapore, the United States of America (USA), Australia, France, and Malaysia are some of the partner countries for GIM 2024.

Stalin had also undertaken overseas visits to Dubai and Japan to woo investors to the state.

According to the industry department, Tamil Nadu has already secured investment commitments worth Rs 2,97,196 crore from various companies which would generate 4,15,282 jobs in the state.

Besides the signing of MoUs with various companies, sector-specific policies are also expected to be unveiled. StartupTN is also expected to launch its Tamil Nadu Startup Fund to promote startups during GIM 2024.

Backed by the government, StartupTN aims to nurture a vibrant ecosystem for startups, resulting in innovation and entrepreneurship-driven employment and economic growth.
Senior TDP leader and sitting Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas on Saturday said he will resign from the party as well as the Lok Sabha, as N Chandrababu Naidu deems him "unnecessary".

Srinivas, who is known as Kesineni Nani in the Telugu-speaking states, said he will soon travel to Delhi and submit his resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker.

"As Chandrababu Naidu deems that the party (TDP) does not need me, I feel it is not correct for me to continue in the party. So, I will go to Delhi soon, meet the Lok Sabha Speaker and tender my resignation," said Srinivas in a post on social media platform X.

Srinivas also said that he will be resigning from TDP immediately after submitting his resignation of the Lok Sabha membership.

Srinivas (57) was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014, followed by a re-election in 2019.
Bangladesh's main opposition BNP has demanded a UN-supervised investigation into a fire on a passenger train that killed four persons, calling it a "pre-planned" act of sabotage ahead of the general elections being boycotted by the party.

The incident happened around 9 pm on Friday when four carriages of the Benapole Express that runs from Benapole, a town bordering the Indian state of West Bengal, were set on fire as it nearly reached its destination of the capital's Kamalapur Railway Station.

Railway officials said that most of the train's nearly 292 passengers were returning home from India.

Shahjahan Sikder, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence Media Cell, said they recovered four bodies from the gutted coaches of the train.

In a statement, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) senior Joint Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi expressed concern over the "heartbreaking incident of casualties due to arson by miscreants on the Benapole Express train headed from Benapole to Dhaka".

"There is no doubt that the Benapole Express train fire was an act of sabotage, leading to the loss of life," The Daily Star newspaper quoted Rizvi as saying.

He termed it an "inhuman brutal atrocity against humanity" and called for a UN-supervised investigation into the incident, the paper said.

Rizvi said that the incident was "pre-planned" and called for the immediate arrest and punishment of the "perpetrators involved".

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock and sorrow at the loss of four lives in the Benapole Express train fire. She directed the authorities concerned to investigate whether the fire was an act of sabotage.

She also prayed for the salvation of the departed souls and directed the authorities to take immediate steps for the treatment of the injured.

Bangladesh goes to polls on Sunday. More than 100 foreign observers, including three from India, have reached Dhaka to monitor the general election.

Led by former prime minister Khalida Zia, the BNP is boycotting the general election and it is demanding an interim non-party neutral government to hold the election.

The demand was rejected by the government headed by Prime Minister Hasina, who is heading the ruling Awami League.

Foreign Ministry officials said a three-member delegation from the Election Commission of India reached Dhaka on Friday while 122 others from different countries were set to be here ahead of the January 7 polls, which the United Nations said would watch closely.

Bangladesh witnessed a couple of train-related arson incidents in recent months.

Unidentified person on December 19 set a train ablaze killing four people, among them a mother and child, amid an opposition called countrywide strike on that day.

One passenger was killed and dozens wounded as saboteurs uprooted railway tracks when seven carriages derailed in Gazipur on the outskirts of the capital in early December.

On January 2, a train carrying some 300 passengers narrowly averted a major crash at the last minute as suspected saboteurs removed 28 dog spikes or hooks from the tracks on a railway bridge in northern Bangladesh.

Awami League accused the BNP of carrying out the sabotage, which the party denied.

A school was partially damaged after miscreants set it on fire in Khulna's Dumuria upazila on Friday night.

Officer-in-Charge of Dumuria Police Station Sukant Saha said miscreants set fire to Tipna Government Primary School in Kharnia Union around 9:30 pm thinking it was a polling station.

The school library was burnt due to the fire.

"We are conducting drives to arrest the miscreants," he added.

Unidentified miscreants also partially burnt a passenger bus in the port city's Nayabazar-Eidgaon area on Friday night. However, no casualty was reported.
Bangladesh will go to the polls on Sunday in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition BNP which on Saturday began a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government" amidst sporadic violence.

A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday's polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country's Election Commission.

More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates.

Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security.

The election commission said voting will start at 8 am and will end at 5 pm. The results are expected to start flowing from early on January 8.

Prime Minister Hasina's ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest as a convict of graft charges, boycotted the polls.

Hasina, 76, in a nationally televised address this week has urged the pro-democratic and law-abiding parties not to fuel ideas that disrupt" the country's constitutional process.

The BNP has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike which began at 6 am and will end at 6 am on Monday.

The number of vehicles on the street is fewer compared to other days, but despite fear of arson attacks, public vehicles were plying the streets.

The 27 political parties that are contesting the elections include the opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA). The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts dub as "satellite parties."



As part of its vote boycott campaign, BNP has been calling countrywide general strikes. The party has been claiming no election under the incumbent government would be fair and credible.

BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the strike, saying it was aimed to press for their demands for "resignation of the illegal government, establishment of a non-party neutral government and release of all party leaders and activists from prison".

Ahead of the elections, Hasina's government arrested tens of thousands of rival politicians and supporters, a move which rights groups have condemned as an attempt to paralyse the Opposition.

Prime Minister Hasina said the Awami League, whenever it came to power, ensured the economic and social development of the people of the country.

Authorities deployed Army troops across the country two days ago "in aid of civil administration" to maintain peace and order during the voting.

Despite the strict security arrangements, unidentified people carried homemade bomb and arson attacks in empty polling centres in four out of 64 administrative districts, while BNP activists clashed with police in another district, leaving five people wounded on Friday.

At least 14 arson attacks were reported in 16 hours till 9:30 am Saturday, according to Fire Service statistics.

At least four people were killed when a passenger train was torched by arsonists near Dhaka on Friday night. The BNP has demanded a UN-supervised investigation into the incident which it described as a "pre-planned" act of sabotage.

Detectives said they arrested eight persons, including Dhaka south city unit BNP joint convener Nabi Ullah Nabi, for their involvement in setting fire to the Benapole Express.

They claimed to have found involvement of the BNP and the activists of the Jubo Dal, the youth wing of the party, in last night's attack.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday denounced the arson attack and said the government was playing with fire to make political gains by blaming the Opposition.

Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group (ICG) said Bangladesh is at a critical juncture.

"Bangladesh is at a critical juncture. The once vibrant, if imperfect democracy will soon hold a third election without a credible alternative to the incumbent government," it said in a recent report.

The think tank said while it was now too late to delay the January election, the Awami League and BNP should work after the vote to de-escalate the country's political tensions, including through concessions by both sides.

Political science professor and analyst Harunur Rashid said he feared Bangladesh might need to wait for an indefinite period to witness a congenial political atmosphere because of the highly conflicting nature between the two major parties.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Kader on Friday said there was no perfect democracy anywhere in the world, but BNP's participation could have made the upcoming elections more competitive.

Emerging from a meeting with the Commonwealth Observer Group, Kader said, "They have agreed with us that nowhere in the world there is a cent per cent or perfect democracy".

He said an unprecedented "mass tide" has been created in favour of the party across the country ahead of the elections.

Hoping that the national election would be held in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, he said the election means a festival of democracy to the people of Bangladesh, and this time it is no exception.

"Ignoring the severe cold, the people have welcomed the election and taken part in the polls campaign. A mass tide has been created across the country in favour of the boat (the Awami Party's election symbol)," Kader said.

He commented on the BNP's general strike on election day and said it is now an "obsolete tool" in Bangladesh's politics.

Hasina has been in power since 2009 and won the last election in December 2019, in a poll marred by deadly violence and accusations of poll rigging.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 election but joined the one in 2019, which party leaders later said was a mistake, alleging the voting was marred with widespread rigging and intimidation.

BNP's boycott announcement this time, however, initially posed a challenge to Hasina on the legitimacy of the January 7 polls as JAPA also expressed its reluctance to join the fray but agreed to participate as the ruling party decided to spare them 26 seats, withdrawing their candidates.

Awami League also left six seats to its partners in the 14-party ruling alliance while Hasina encouraged independent and rebel candidates to contest to make the polling participatory while the ruling party was carrying out a campaign for high voter turnouts.

Senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan on Friday called the government efforts "childish", proving its "political bankruptcy".

Analysts and watchdogs, however, said the country of 170 million was heading for virtual one-party rule, while many voters said they found no charm in voting this time as the polling was set to reelect the incumbent government.

Bangladesh's economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war boosted prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout of USD 4.7 billion last year.

Many fear that a fourth straight term for Hasina would worsen the economic situation, deepening their despair.
By Greg Stohr

The US Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Colorado can bar Donald Trump from the presidential ballot, taking up a landmark constitutional and political clash stemming from his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The US Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Colorado can bar Donald Trump from the presidential ballot, taking up a landmark constitutional and political clash stemming from his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

The justices will hear the case on an expedited basis, with arguments on Feb. 8. They will review a Colorado Supreme Court decision that said Trump engaged in insurrection  and forfeited his right to run for president again  by trying to nullify Joe Bidens election victory and inciting the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault.

The clash over the Constitutions insurrection clause promises to be a pivot point in Trumps bid to reclaim the White House. A broad Supreme Court decision in the ex-presidents favor would end efforts around the country to remove him from the ballot. A ruling against Trump would fuel that drive and raise new questions about the viability of his candidacy.

The showdown comes just as the party nominating contests get underway, starting for Republicans with the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus and the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary. Trump, who is facing four criminal indictments and a civil lawsuit in New York over his business practices, is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.





Insurrection Clause

The clash turns on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted shortly after the Civil War as the nation grappled with the status of former Confederate soldiers and leaders. The provision says a person who took an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection is ineligible to hold office again. The case will test the high courts ability to navigate a partisan firestorm while grappling with novel constitutional questions. Chief Justice John Roberts is likely to seek consensus, possibly with a narrow ruling, but that may prove challenging on a conservative-controlled court that often divides sharply in high-profile issues.

The clause doesnt say how it is to be enforced, though it gives Congress power to lift a ban with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

Trump contended in his appeal that the clause doesnt apply to the president, that he didnt engage in insurrection and that only Congress can declare him disqualified. He also made narrower arguments that would apply just to Colorado and not nationwide.

The Supreme Court is taking the case from Colorado, he said during a campaign speech in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Friday night. The Republican judges want to go out of their way to be fair. He pointed out that three of the courts nine justices were nominated by him.

The six Colorado voters challenging Trump also urged the Supreme Court to grant review, though they said some of the former presidents arguments werent worthy of high court consideration. They are represented by the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.





Full Appeal

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the entirety of Trumps appeal, declining to limit the case as the voters had urged. The Feb. 8 argument will be a special session, falling in the middle of what normally is a four-week recess. The court gave no indication when it will rule. Were glad that the Supreme Court will definitively decide whether Donald Trump can be on the ballot, CREW spokesperson Jenna Grande said in an email. We look forward to presenting our case and ensuring the Constitution is upheld.

Fifteen states and one territory hold primaries or caucuses on March 5, which is known as Super Tuesday, including Colorado and Maine. Trump has sued to challenge the Maine secretary of states finding that he is ineligible for the ballot.

Thank God, Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams said in an interview. The Supreme Court taking the case is the first step in overturning this attack against free and fair elections. We expect to win in the courtroom and then again in November against these despicable Democrats.

The Colorado Supreme Court said in its 4-3 decision last month that Trump engaged in overt, voluntary and direct participation in an insurrection that culminated with the Capitol riot.

The majority pointed to Trumps unsupported claims that the election was stolen, his fiery Jan. 6, 2021, speech to a crowd that included armed people and his demands before and during the riot that Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify the results. The ruling was the first ever to invoke the insurrection clause against an ex-president.

The Colorado ruling wont take effect, if at all, until the Supreme Court rules. The state court directed Colorados secretary of state to keep Trumps name on the presidential primary ballot in the meantime.

The case is Trump v. Anderson, 23-719.
Soldiers stand next to an artillery unit on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon. (Photo: Reuters)

The leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah said on Friday that his group must retaliate after a presumed Israeli strike hit a Beirut neighbourhood this week, killing a senior Hamas official, or else all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack.

Hassan Nasrallah appeared to be making the case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. But he gave no indication of how or when the militants would act.

The strike that killed Hamas' deputy political leader, Saleh Arouri, threatened months of efforts by the United States to prevent the war in Gaza from spiralling into a regional conflict.

Nasrallah said it was the first strike by Israel in the Lebanese capital since 2006.

We cannot keep silent about a violation of this seriousness, he said, because this means that all of our people will be exposed (to targeting). All of our cities, villages and public figures will be exposed.

The repercussions of silence are far greater than the risks of retaliating, he added.

Tensions are rising on multiple fronts as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in the region. Iraqis are furious after an American airstrike killed a militia leader in Baghdad. At the same time, the US is struggling to deter attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on commercial Red Sea shipping.

In Gaza, Israel is moving to scale down its military assault in the north of the territory and pressing its heavy offensive in the south, vowing to crush Hamas. In the south, most of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster, while still being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Hezbollah has fired rockets and missiles into northern Israel, bringing a return bombardment from the Israeli military in near daily cross-border exchanges.

After the strike Tuesday in Beirut, the Lebanon-Israel front appeared to be at a critical juncture, with the potential to veer into an all-out war.

But Hezbollah has held back from a dramatic escalation, wary of a repeat of the two sides' 2006 war in which Israeli bombardment wreaked extensive destruction in Lebanon.

Nasrallah said Friday that the details of Hezbollah's response will be decided on the battlefield. He did not elaborate.

The Beirut strike is not the only thing threatening a wider fight between Israel and Lebanon.

Israeli officials have threatened greater military action against Hezbollah unless it withdraws it fighters from Lebanese territory near their shared border.

A pullback called for under a 2006 UN truce but never implemented is necessary to stop barrages and allow the return of tens of thousands of Israelis to homes they evacuated near the border, Israel says.

Nasrallah boasted about the evacuations, saying that after Israel forced Lebanese to flee in past conflicts, Hezbollah had now done the same to Israelis, putting political pressure on the government.

Hezbollah's cross-border attacks aim to engage Israeli forces away from Gaza, Nasrallah said, and the only way to stop them is to stop the aggression on Gaza.

Israel says it aims to destroy Hamas' military capabilities and remove it from power in Gaza after the militants' October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which they killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others.

Israel's onslaught in Gaza has killed more than 22,600 people, more than two-thirds of them women and children, according to the territory's Health Ministry. The ministry's count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Much of northern Gaza the most urbanized part of the tiny territory has been flattened by bombardment and fighting. Most of its population has fled south, joining its residents who have largely been driven from their homes as well. The risk of famine is increasing daily, according to the UN humanitarian office, known by the acronym OCHA.

The ground offensive threatens to bring further destruction in the south, particularly in the main battleground city Khan Younis.

Footage aired on Al Jazeera TV showed devastation in downtown Khan Younis. No building in the city's central Sunneya Square has been left untouched. Some structures have been leveled, while others have been partially destroyed or scorched.

Almost every day this week, strikes have hit in and around Khan Younis' Al Amal Hospital and a hospital run by the Palestinian Red Crescent, killing dozens of people, the OCHA said.

Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment has continued around the territory. At least 13 people were killed when an apartment building was leveled in Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, hospital officials said.

In Rafah, at Gaza's southernmost end, relatives and friends wept over the bodies of six people killed in a strike on a house overnight, including three children.

Sohad al-Derbashi, whose sister was killed in the strike, said the owner of the house had evacuated, fearing he would be targeted since he works as a civil servant in Gaza's Hamas-led administration, as do thousands of others in the territory. When he came to visit the house last night, the strike hit, she said. Her sister, living on the floor below, was crushed.

They were civilians, innocent people, with no connection to anything. Even the target who was with Hamas was a civil employee. What did he do wrong? el-Derbashi said.
Quectel Wireless Solutions, a global IoT solutions provider, today sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cavli Wireless of San Jose, CA, USA, demanding that it immediately stop making false accusations about Quectel and its IoT modules and that it retracts and disavow all false and defamatory statements and innuendos.

Once again, it has recently come to our attention that our competitors are circulating untrue and defamatory rumors to Quectels customers and potential customers, said Norbert Muhrer, President and Chief Sales Officer of Quectel. We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves against any false claims by competitors, and we will not tolerate untrue and defamatory practices targeting Quectel and its customers.

Quectel has been reaching out to U.S. government officials to correct fundamental misunderstandings about its IoT module technology. The China Select Committee is issuing politically motivated statements about Quectel which are in large parts incorrect. Quectels modules do not pose any risk to national security or privacy. We are in full compliance with U.S. laws, rules and regulations. In the area of cyber-security protection of our modules our work with Finite State has created new best-in-class standards, as highlighted in our reporting, Mr Muhrer continued. Results can be found here.

Additionally, the company is committed to countering any misinformation spread by competitors, such as Cavli Wireless, by ensuring the accurate portrayal of its products.

About Quectel

Quectels passion for a smarter world drives us to accelerate IoT innovation. A highly customer-centric organization, we are a global IoT solutions provider backed by outstanding support and services. Our growing global team of 5,900 professionals sets the pace for innovation in cellular, GNSS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules as well as antennas and services.

With regional offices and support across the globe, our international leadership is devoted to advancing IoT and helping build a smarter world.

For more information, please visit: www.quectel.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240105773290/en/
MBABANE  A Ministry of Health employee has revealed that in Piggs Peak, mental patients were detained at the police station due to, among other things, the shortage of nurses in the public hospital.

This civil servant, employed as a nurse at Piggs Peak Government Hospital, testified before CMAC Commissioner that he worked at the psychiatric hospital in Manzini for over 20 years, before being transferred to Mankayane Government Hospital and finally to Piggs Peak. He testified that he was currently based at the psychiatric unit in Piggs Peak.

He was testifying in a matter currently before CMAC, where hospital orderlies are challenging governments decision to pay them at different scales despite that they are doing the same duties. The nurse also testified that the patients in question were taken to the police cells for security reasons.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said the arrangement to keep mentally ill patients in police cells was not isolated to Piggs Peak Police Station. This happens in all the police stations where mentally ill patients considered to be violent are referred to police custody for security reasons before they are transferred to the Psychiatric Centre, Vilakati stated briefly.

According to some police officers, who asked not to be mentioned, it is not unusual for them to house people who were mentally ill at the police station, pointing out that it was not easy to determine how many people had been housed there throughout the month or year, as such incidents were frequent.

This usually happens when the person who had been admitted became violent due to mental challenges. Unlike the Manzini Psychiatric Centre, which is able to house mentally ill patients even when they become violent, this is not the case at the Piggs Peak Government Hospital. It is not safe to house them in the hospital as they could end up damaging the equipment or furniture there.

Further, the officer alleged that most people who were brought in with mental illness appeared to have a drug use problem, pointing out that in almost all reports, the medical personnel indicated that the behaviour was drug-induced.

The witness testified that from his observation, the duties done by the orderlies between the two different institutions were similar in that it required somebody to clean. He said the entry requirements were that the person would be from around that community, physically fit and strong. The nurse said there were no special qualifications and the work required on-the-job-training.

He further pointed out that the risks varied between the different wards, making an example that the TB wards carried the risk of exposure to contagious diseases, while maternity wards carried more risks, as the patients were inclined to develop mental problems and attempt to manhandle the hospital personnel, whereas with the mental patients, there was a high exposure of violence on admission and thereafter, they are sedated and separated indifferent wards.

Research by this publication revealed that psychological therapies can be helpful for most people affected by mental health issues. For some mental health conditions, medications can also be helpful. Other support options include counselling, peer support, and community support services.
Quectel Wireless Solutions, a global IoT solutions provider, issued the below statement in response to the recent request made to the Biden administration by the Select Committee on China of the U.S. House of Representatives to consider barring U.S. investments in the companys shares.

We are disappointed to see continued and false allegations from the Select Committee on China about Quectel and its supposed cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). Quectel is not owned, controlled or directed by the CCP or the PLA. We are an independent company publicly traded on the Shanghai stock exchange that operates internationally, said Norbert Muhrer, President and Chief Sales Officer, Quectel Wireless Solutions.

He added: Select Committee leaders also misleadingly state in a press release and on X (Twitter) that they are asking federal departments to blacklist Quectel. In fact, even if Quectel were placed on the lists the Select Committee suggested  which has no basis  the only impact would be to block U.S. investments in Quectel securities. Quectel would not be barred from selling any of its products, in other words would not be blacklisted. The committees misuse of the term is causing needless irritations with customers we are serving well.

Quectel maintains the highest industry standards of security and data privacy. Our products, which are designed only for civil and commercial use cases, exceed industry standards and best practices in multiple security and compliance measures. We comply with all U.S. and international export control and sanctions laws. We do not sell to any person or entity in Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria or Crimea, nor do we sell to military manufacturers anywhere. We require our distributors and resellers to abide by the same restrictions. Moreover, Quectels compliance approach  reflected in strict and auditable policies and technical measures  goes above and beyond industry best practice and other module vendors practices.

We look forward to talking to U.S. government officials to correct the errors and misunderstandings in the Select Committee letter and to demonstrate that our activities are in full compliance with U.S. laws and regulations, Mr. Muhrer continued.

Quectel is committed to delivering high-quality, best-in-class, secure modules and to exceeding industry standard practices regarding cyber security. Quectel retained Finite State to perform independent audits and penetration tests of Quectels modules in July 2023. In September, Quectel shared results showing that its products substantially exceed industry standards and best practices in multiple security measures.

In addition to penetration testing of our key modules, we share the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and Vulnerability Exploitability Exchange (VEX) documents for our modules  an industry-first among IoT module manufacturers. Quectels modules have earned certifications from more than 80 leading operators worldwide, and we have achieved more than 200 FCC certifications in the last two years alone. Our modules meet the stringent standards of regulatory and conformance bodies such as CE, FCC, GCF, PCS, PTCRB, Bluetooth SIG, and the Wi-Fi Alliance, Mr. Muhrer said.

Quectel is committed to upholding the highest standards of security, privacy, and compliance within the IoT industry and to actively collaborating with global partners to foster a safer, smarter, and more connected future.

About Quectel

Quectels passion for a smarter world drives us to accelerate IoT innovation. A highly customer-centric organization, we are a global IoT solutions provider backed by outstanding support and services. Our growing global team of 5,900 professionals sets the pace for innovation in cellular, GNSS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules as well as antennas and services.

With regional offices and support across the globe, our international leadership is devoted to advancing IoT and helping build a smarter world.

For more information, please visit: www.quectel.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240105896179/en/
HistoSonics, (www.histosonics.com), the manufacturer of the non-invasive Edison Histotripsy System, announced today a patient from the University of Rochester Medical Center has received the worlds first targeted liver tumor treatments utilizing the Edison System following its recent FDA De Novo clearance. In the same week Cleveland Clinic treated their initial patients suffering from liver tumors utilizing histotripsy. HistoSonics' image guided sonic beam therapy system uses proprietary technology and advanced imaging to deliver non-invasive, personalized treatments with precision and control. The science of histotripsy uses focused sound energy to produce controlled acoustic cavitation that mechanically destroys and liquifies targeted tissue at sub-cellular levels.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240105688632/en/

HistoSonics Edison Histotripsy System (Photo: Business Wire)

On December 18th, Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro MD, Chief of the Division of Transplantation, Koji Tomiyama, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Surgery & Transplant, and team were first to use Edison to perform a histotripsy liver treatment on a patient suffering from recurrent liver tumors originating in the colon. There is an enormous potential applicability of histotripsy in patients with liver tumors. By destroying targeted liver tumors, histotripsy opens the opportunities for patients to be downstaged and bridged for surgical resections and transplantation, said Dr. Hernandez-Alejandro. He added, One of the most interesting findings in our early experience is the preservation of the vessels and blood flow, which is unique and may open a new era in liver therapies.

C.H. David Kwon, MD, PhD, Director of Minimally Invasive Liver Surgery at Cleveland Clinic, and his team performed their initial procedure on a patient with primary colorectal disease with metastasis to the liver that has continued to progress despite getting chemotherapy. In our early experience, we have found that patients have the potential to benefit from histotripsy because it is less invasive than other treatment options and our patients reported a lack of pain following the procedure, said Dr. Kwon. The Cleveland Clinic team led by Dr. Kwon, Federico Aucejo, MD, and Jaekeun Kim MD has treated three patients with liver tumors of multiple different diseases.

Our purpose has always been to make a meaningful change in the lives of patients, said Joe Herman MD, Medical Director. Herman added, Working with the University of Rochester Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic as the first to offer non-invasive histotripsy to treat their patients liver tumors as part of standard clinical practice supports our ongoing mission. HistoSonics is in the process of training key staff and launching over a dozen of its first partners programs around the United States. The company believes that the novel mechanism of action of their proprietary technology provides significant advantages to patients, including the ability of the treatment site to recover and resorb quickly. Uniquely, the HistoSonics platform also provides physicians the ability to monitor the destruction of tissue under continuous real-time visualization and control, unlike any modality that exists today.

For more information on the University of Rochester Medical Center Histotripsy and Liver Surgery Team: University of Rochester Medical Center Liver Surgery and Transplant

For more information on the Cleveland Clinic Liver Surgery Team: Cleveland Clinic Liver Surgery and Transplant

The Edison System is intended for the non-invasive mechanical destruction of liver tumors, including the partial or complete destruction of unresectable liver tumors via histotripsy. The FDA has not evaluated the Edison System for the treatment of any specific disease or condition. Use of Edison System in kidney applications is limited by federal law to investigational use.

About HistoSonics

HistoSonics is a privately held medical device company developing non-invasive platforms and proprietary sonic beam therapy utilizing the science of histotripsy, a novel mechanism of action that uses focused ultrasound to mechanically destroy and liquify unwanted tissue and tumors. The company is currently focused on commercializing their Edison System in the US and select global markets for liver treatment while expanding histotripsy applications into other organs like kidney, pancreas, and others. HistoSonics has offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Minneapolis, MN.

For more information please visit: www.histosonics.com/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240105688632/en/
MBABANE  The decision by government to pay hospital orderlies lower than those at psychiatric hospitals has opened a can of worms.

Hospital orderlies (auxiliary staff) are all unskilled support staff of hospitals and clinics. Orderlies are the non-professional support staff that assist inside hospital wards, outpatient department, and even inside the operations theatres. Government is now being accused of practising discrimination inasfar as the pay between the orderlies is concerned.

The auxiliary staff is usually deployed at various government hospitals in the country in different categories, which include seamstresses, switchboard operators and laundress, Others are house maids, night watchmen, dish washer, cook and senior cook, labourers, groundsman, darkroom assistant, scullion, handymen and senior orderlies.

The argument is that orderlies are paid at a higher grade than all the auxiliary staff members, being grade A4, whereas orderlies are paid at the grade of A2.

It has been established that salary grade A2 has the gross monthly salary of E3 895, while salary Grade A4 has the gross monthly salary of approximately E6 200. The auxiliary staff members feel that the differentiation in pay is discriminatory, as the job done is similar and of equal value to the employer. The auxiliary staff members are convinced that the intention behind the payment of the auxiliaries and the hospital orderlies on different salary scales was to discriminate among them, something they argue is contrary to Section 29 of the Employment Act of 1980.

Grade

The discrimination in pay between the orderlies and the auxiliary has been happening from the date of employment of each of the members of the categories. However, the hospital orderlies have been paid on grade A4 since the 1st April 2014 and we humbly ask that the auxiliary staff payment be paid from the same date as the government hospital orderlies.

With regard to the senior positions mentioned above, they suffer grave injustice, as they are paid lower than the orderlies and are paid at grade A3 yet the people who they should be supervising are paid at grade A4. The gross salary for grade A3 is approximately E5 358.25 and the difference with orderlies is approximately E1 000. These should be paid higher than orderlies and a higher like grade A4 or higher as the nature of their job is senior and supervisory to that of hospital orderlies and the others.

These officers have been employed on different dates and they all have their distinct duties and functions, which are mentioned on paper. However, in actual practice, these officers have been doing the same job that is normally done by hospital orderlies. Hospital orderlies are the non-professional support staff who assist inside hospital wards, outpatient department, and even inside the operation theatres.

The employees in all the categories mentioned perform the duties and functions of hospital orderlies to varying degrees and are given these tasks differently at different hospitals and clinics. It is a fact that the employer himself treats the above 10 categories, as interchangeably non-professional staff and they choose and allocate the duties as they deem fit. The aggrieved orderlies have since reported government to the Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC), where they want their employer to be compelled to pay them on grade A4.

Aggrieved

The applicants are employed by the first respondent under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The applicants are aggrieved that the first respondent remunerates them at grade A2, whereas their counterparts at the psychiatric hospitals are remunerated at grade A4. The applicants are of the view that the duties they conduct are similar to those of the orderlies at the psychiatric hospital, hence they view the action of the respondents as being discriminatory, reads the application by the orderlies.

One of the witnesses in this matter, who was employed by the health ministry in June 1999, as a hospital orderly, testified that she was initially paid under Grade II, but was aggrieved by the payment under this grade due to the fact that she was rotated through many different departments within the hospital.

She submitted that these departments were not under her cadre, revealing that she subsequently lodged a dispute against her employer with CMAC, and was as a result promoted to grade A4 as a mental health orderly.

She testified that the duties of a mental hospital orderly were for all intents and purposes similar to those of a hospital orderly, stating that the job description she was given when she resumed work as a mental health orderly was the same as the one she had been given when she assumed the position of hospital orderly at Mbabane Government Hospital.

She stated that the work at the psychiatric hospital was similar to the work she did as an orderly at Mbabane Government Hospital, the only difference being that the patients were more violent. She submitted that the main duties of an orderly at the general hospitals and clinics were to clean, bath and feed patients and at the psychiatric hospital, it was to clean, bath and feed and also sedate violent patients.

She further alleged that at the mental hospital, there are orderlies who are paid on Grade A2, and as such, they did not understand the rationale for this. She said as a result, they had requested an official from the Ministry of Public Service to explain to them the difference between the grades. The matter is still ongoing at CMAC.

In making her ruling, CMAC Arbitrator Khanyisile Msibi stated that she would be guided by the manner in which nurses are paid, stating that she was inclined to the fact that nurses were paid as professional staff because they possessed a relevant tertiary qualification, hence they are paid based on qualification and seniority.

What is, however, of paramount importance is that if the argument raised by the respondents of the risk factor was to be taken into account, the question would be why are nurses at the mental hospital not paid more, because they are also subject to the physical risks. Do the respondents only mean that the risk factor comes into play only when orderlies are concerned?

Duties

The respondent went on to painstaking lengths to show that the duties carried on by these two categories are not the same. Accordingly, the duties carried out by nurses in the mental hospitals are not similar to those carried out by nurses elsewhere. I am thus inclined to state that orderlies are employed in the same designation and performing the same job, thereby rendering it unfair for the respondents to make disparate payments to them.

Msibi said the justification that the mental orderlies were paid more because they are trained was a misconception, pointing out that the witness for the respondents testified that they undergo a one-day workshop. She said, in her view, such a workshop did not amount to training, adding that: it appears to be more of an induction on the job and, hence would not justify such payments.

Msibi stressed the employers are mandated to train their employees, hence it becomes unfair when one group is trained in order to justify or warrant such pay. She said, in her view all the orderlies possessed the same skill or expertise. In her ruling, Msibi directed government to upgrade the positions of all orderlies in the country to Grade A4. She said this upgrade is to be implemented as from the April 1, 2014, to enable government to sufficiently include the same in its budget.

The respondents are directed to firstly consider internal advertising all auxiliary positions. This is to be implemented with immediate effect. The respondents can only recruit externally if not suitable position is identified within the cadre. However, despite this ruling, which was taken on September 26, 2013, the upgrade has not been effected by government, 13 years later.
In what may be an awards season first, an animated feature has received an endorsement from a head of state. The film is Signe Baumanes My Love Affair with Marriage and the head of state is president of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics.

Latvia, a country on the Baltic Sea in eastern Europe, isnt necessarily a heavy hitter on the global stage. It is the size of L.A. and San Bernardino counties put together and it has less than half the population of the city of Los Angeles. Nevertheless, Rinkevics endorsement carries significance as there is no other instance we can think of when the president of a country has gotten involved in an animated films Oscar campaign.

In his brief video statement, shared by the filmmaker on her social media accounts, Rinkevics calls Baumane a very good and visionary director and describes her film as a very interesting, really personal story [about] self-exploration, music, and animation.

New York City-based filmmaker Baumane was born in Latvia while it was under Soviet Russian occupation and she produced My Love Affair with Marriage as a co-production between the United States, Latvia, and Luxembourg. The film is a longshot contender in this years animated feature Oscar race, and among the 33 qualified films, it is the lowest-budget production by a wide margin.

But as we pointed out last week, few, if any, of this years qualified features feel as personal as Baumanes film. The musical film tells its story from a bold and unflinching womans point of view that mainstream animated features wouldnt dare consider. The film has won over 20 awards during its festival run and was nominated for the prestigious European Film Award in 2022.
Most filmmakers can only dream of the kind of success that Makoto Shinkai has enjoyed over the last decade. His last three features  Your Name, Weathering with You, and Suzume  have delighted critics and audiences alike, receiving rave reviews and grossing over $900 million worldwide.

All three of these films have entered the top 10 highest-grossing Japanese films of all time globally, a feat matched by only one other filmmaker: Hayao Miyazaki.

Like that other great Japaense auteur, Shinkais films are driven by a singular point of view. Shinkai, 50, is not just the director, but he also writes and storyboards his own movies, a vastly different approach from the collaborative world of American feature animation where dozens of writers and artists are involved in crafting the final story. Shinkai doesnt stop at boarding either; he also provides acting reference to animators and writes detailed instructions for how each shot should be composited.

His hands-on process undeniably works. His latest film, Suzume, is a supernatural adventure with generous dollops of romance, comedy, and coping with trauma (its concept was inspired by the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011). Its an unlikely stew of ingredients  one of the main characters turns into a chair early on in the film  but audiences have wholeheartedly embraced Shinkais vision. The film has grossed nearly $325 million worldwide to date, and it is receiving a strong Oscar campaign from its American distributor, Crunchyroll.

While Shinkai was visiting Los Angeles last November, I sat down with him for an in-person interview. In our talk, I wanted to focus on how he develops his films from script through animatic, a topic that I felt hadnt been covered enough in other English-publication interviews. Shinkai is a generous interview subject and he was happy to discuss his creative process at length. His answers, given through interpreter Mike McNamara, have been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Cartoon Brew: In American feature animation, theres a strong tendency to have multiple screenwriters involved in the writing process, followed by dozens of story artists. But you, like some other Japanese auteurs, write and board the film entirely by yourself. At what point, if any, do you reach out for feedback on your story, and if you do get feedback from others, who is involved in that process?

Makoto Shinkai: I think its quite rather uncommon, even in the Japanese film industry, for the director to write the screenplay himself, and often those roles are separated, but in my case, to your point, like some of the other animation directors, I write my own screenplay and direct my film so Ive never directed a screenplay someone else has written. And mostly this process, all the way through the storyboarding, is something that I do alone, but that doesnt necessarily mean I dont want feedback.

So once I have the first draft of my screenplay, Ill share it with the producers definitely, maybe some animators or even the composer to try and gather their input and to see what their interpretation is. And well go through this cycle until draft three, maybe all the way up to [draft] five or six and around [that point] is when I know I think we have something.

This process usually takes about six months. Ill have a new draft of the screenplay, perhaps around once a month, so naturally that feedback cycle will go over six months. And once were happy with where thats at, then Ill go into storyboarding, which again, I do myself. And well go through a similar process where at certain stages of completion of the storyboard, Ill share it with a similar inner circle and then theyll give me some feedback and then the [feedback] that I think is quite good, Ill either integrate or decide not to. And this process takes over a year, this storyboarding plus feedback loop, and once the storyboard is complete from that point, I generally dont change the story.

Im curious if you can talk about the kind of feedback you received from others during the script phase. For example, I read that Sota the chair was initially a girl and your producer suggested a different approach. How did Suzumes story evolve based on the feedback you received and can you give other examples of that evolution?

Shinkai: So to your point, initially when I conceived this this project, it was Suzume and a partner going on this journey and she was initially a girl and not a chair, but that was the very, very first draft. That was a really early iteration. And having talked to my producer, he thought, Well, I think we definitely need a more of a romantic type of component. So thats when I swapped out the girl partner for a young adult male, who then gets transformed into a chair. But thats one example.

Another example  and again these are very, very early feedback loops, so the changes might seem quite drastic and its like a fundamental change of the entire structure of the film  but in the first iteration, Daijin actually wasnt a character. The movie was initially about two characters and one getting transformed into something and helping that character return to form was really the core concept. But after some discussions with the producer it made more sense to give a much more direct motivation to our adventurers. And it would be easier if they were chasing or going after something. I think thats very easy to relate to and understand. So thats when I started to think, OK, well what could they chase. Maybe a cat whos also a big god, this kind of divine being, and Daijin was born.

This back and forth of a lot of very fundamental structural discussions leads to the synopsis. And once we get to the synopsis stage, nothing changes too drastically until I complete the first screenplay. But when that happens, the feedback loops become a little more dialed in, and we focus on more of the details, like when we already had introduced Daijin, we talked about whether we should have one Daijin or two. Or should there be one keystone in Japan or two. Smaller details like that become the topic of conversation.

One example of that is Sotas grandfather. He appears in the film as kind of this mentor-like figure for Suzume, but initially I was thinking someone else would be the one to explain how the ever-after mechanics worked. Initially I thought perhaps a school teacher or professor would fill that role. So, what was happening in terms of transmitting information to the audience was the same, but after discussion, we thought having it be a relative would be more powerful and ultimately we shifted to using Sotas grandfather as opposed to a random teacher.

With storyboarding finished, I assume the animatic would come next

Shinkai: After the storyboarding phase Ill make an animatic of the entire film strung together about the length that the final film ends up being, and I will perform all the characters scratch tracks for it. Ill actually act it and really lean into it, including everything down to certain breaths or different beats. For example, with Suzume, even her footsteps. So, in a way, the sound effects and the foley as well. So once we have this completed package so to speak, it becomes very easy for the animators to know, OK, this is about the speed theyre walking because they already have what I imagined that scene unfolding will look like. The different sort of performances and beats will already be embedded into this massive animatic. So I think the animators jobs then become more honed in and more directed, so to speak. Thats a unique thing about how our production works.

I have to know, if youre performing all the voices, do you use a girl voice for Suzume or just speak as yourself?

Shinkai: Yes, I do all the characters and all the voices, but I do differentiate it enough so that animators, other people watching it, will know that its a different character speaking and interacting. So yeah, for Suzume, Ill raise my voice a little bit. [Laughs.] Or for an older character, I might try to make it a little husky or grumpier.

Is the animatic based entirely off the storyboard or are there other key drawings in there that your animation director has done?

Shinkai: In this case its largely based off the storyboards and at that point Ill have most of the keyframes you would want. It depends on the cut [of the animatic], but for example, if we have a scene where Suzume is turning around, youll have [a drawing] of her looking away and then her facing the camera. But depending on how important it is, I might have a few in between frames as well as part of the storyboard translated to this edit so that the animators know, OK, this is about the tempo that hes looking for.

Do you update the animatic with animation as its completed?

Shinkai: So once we have this edited storyboard with audio, I use that as a foundation for the entire movie. Ill edit in Premiere, and as each animation team starts to upload different cuts, different scenes, Ill drop that on another track on top of the storyboard, start replacing in a way or layering on top. And now its been colored and Ill add the color track on top of that, so I can kind of see the entire movie gradually get replaced scene by scene. In the case of Suzume, I think there were two thousand shots total, and I would slowly from this storyboard state add on to it and then the movie gradually gets completed.

Youre very comfortable using cg techniques. In Suzume, you had two primary cg characters  the chair and the disaster worms. Would you ever consider doing a fully-cg film and what type of story or characters do you think would require a full-cg treatment?

Shinkai: Of course, I do have a huge admiration and almost longing to do a film in full cg and you can see a lot of the Western animation has transitioned into more cg than hand-drawn type of expression. For me, of course, one day I would like to direct something like that, but given our current team composition and my confidence level in us being able to do an equal or better type of expression of what weve already achieved using 2d hand drawn, I dont know that I have that confidence level yet for doing a full 3dcg film.

In Japan, theres a film called The First Slam Dunk and I think they did an amazing job of combining cg as kind of the foundation. Of course, they had to do a lot of touch-ups by hand on top of it, but just the richness of the movement and the form of expression that they were able to do using that technique I thought was quite groundbreaking. So perhaps in the future, if we feel confident enough that we can do something like that or some equivalent kind of groundbreaking type of expression, we might take on the challenge.
Raychem RPG clears Pre-Qualification test for manufacturing 245KV cable in India 18 Mar 2024 | 8:38 PM New Delhi, Mar 18 (UNI) One of the longest surviving JV for about four decades, Raychem RPG, has achieved another milestone by completing the very stringent, yearlong Pre-Qualification (PQ) test protocols, at Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) for its 245KV cable accessories manufactured in India. see more..

Startup Founders meet to be held on March 23 18 Mar 2024 | 8:29 PM Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 18 (UNI) Founders of top startup ventures that flourished in Keralas robust ecosystem will share their experience and insights at the 17th edition of the Startup Founders Meet planned by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) on March 23. see more..

Flipkart foundation, Kineer services partner for LGBTQ+ employment 18 Mar 2024 | 8:21 PM Mumbai, Mar 18 (UNI) Flipkart Foundation, the charitable arm of the Flipkart Group, has collaborated with Kineer Services, an organisation advocating for gender sensitization, to launch Trans-formation, an initiative aimed at uplifting the marginalised transgender community and other members of the LGBTQ+ spectrum. see more..

Godrej & Boyce and Thales forge strategic partnership for a sustainable future 18 Mar 2024 | 6:56 PM Kolkata, Mar 18 (UNI) In a landmark move towards a low-carbon future, Godrej Precision Engineering, a key player in the Godrej & Boyce manufacturing conglomerate, has entered into a letter of intent with Thales, a global technology leader in defence and security, aeronautics and space, and digital identity and security, agreeing to work together to tackle climate change in their respective value chains. see more..
Srinagar, Jan 6 (UNI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday attached the house of a 'key conspirator' here in the weapon recovery case of 2022.



The property of accused Aamir Mushtaq Ganaie, identified as one of the masterminds in the case RC -4/22/NIA/JMU, was attached today as proceeds of terrorism by an NIA team in Chanapore area of Srinagar.



NIA spokesperson said the accused had used the proceeds of terror for conspiring and committing terror crimes against the nation.



On May 23, 2022 J&K Police arrested two hybrid militants of "The Resistance Front", a shadow group of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Chanapora area of Srinagar and recovered 15 pistols from their possession.



The case was initially registered by the J&K police and was later taken over by the NIA to widen the investigations.



According to NIA investigations, Ganaie and his associates were cadres of TRF/LeT and were associated with their Pakistan-based handlers, operatives, and commanders.



The case was part of a larger conspiracy relating to drone dropping of weapons and money by a Pakistan-based module operating in J&K, investigations have revealed.

The main kingpin of this drone dropping, namely Faisal Muneer, was earlier arrested and chargesheeted by NIA, which found him to be involved in receiving weapons consignments sent from across the border by one Sajjad Gul alias Hamza, the spokesperson said.



After receiving these weapons, Faisal used to deliver them in Srinagar to Amir Mushtaq Ganaie, who further distributed them to active cadres, terrorists of TRF/LeT for the purpose of carrying out targeted killings in J&K with the aim of spreading terror among the people, NIA said, adding the accused were also engaged in radicalizing, motivating and instigating vulnerable youth to join TRF/LeT and other terror outfits in Kashmir.

Besides arms and ammunition, NIA investigators had recovered several incriminating materials, including chats about terror funds, from the mobile phones of the accused persons.



NIA has established that the accused had been carrying out terrorist activities for a long time, thereby threatening the security, integrity and sovereignty of India.



The NIA intends to intensify its efforts to dismantle all terror networks and demolish their support infrastructure by attaching and seizing their properties in the coming days, the spokesperson said.

UNI MJR CS1645
Georgia Northwestern Technical College is hosting an Open House for its Practical Nursing program to provide an opportunity to tour the facilities and to meet the instructors, staff and students.The event will take place on GNTCs Walker County Campus at 265 Bicentennial Trail, Rock Spring on Wednesday, Jan. 24, from 4-6 p.m.The Practical Nursing program includes academic and occupational courses, along with a variety of clinical experiences to integrate theory and practice under the clinical instructors guidance.The laboratory equipment includes Gaumard patient simulators, or manikins, that can replicate various human patient physiology such as respiration, heart beat and pulse.Upon completion of the program, graduates receive a Practical Nursing diploma and are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-PN exam to become a licensed practical nurse (LPN).We are excited to continue to offer our Practical Nursing program on the Walker County Campus, said Allison Patnode, dean of Nursing and Health Technologies at GNTC. We look forward to putting more students out into the profession of nursing.The Practical Nursing program at GNTC is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).For more information, contact Blakely Burgess, instructor of Practical Nursing, at 706-764-3839; Melinda Chapman, instructor of Practical Nursing, at 706-764-3854; or Lauren Vosika, instructor of Practical Nursing, at 706-764-3851.
Governor Bill Lee on Friday announced plans to update Tennessees law to include protections for songwriters, performers and music industry professionals voice from the misuse of artificial intelligence. Tennessees existing law already protects image and likeness.From Beale Street to Broadway and beyond, Tennessee is known for our rich artistic heritage that tells the story of our great state, said Governor Lee. As the technology landscape evolves with artificial intelligence, were proud to lead the nation in proposing legal protection for our best-in-class artists and songwriters.This coming Wednesday, Governor Lee will be joined by legislative leadership, artists, songwriters and music industry stakeholders in Nashville to announce the legislation.
Southeast real estate development group Urban Story Ventures has acquired the Arcade Beautys manufacturing site at 3800 Amnicola Highway. The off-market purchase was completed in the final days of 2023, after months of negotiations and preparing arrangements.

The seller Arcade Beauty, based in New York, announced plans last summer to consolidate its Chattanooga operations with its other production sites in New Jersey and most recently announced in December it would be relocating its slurry and laboratory operations to 7026 Discovery Dr. in Chattanooga.

Officials said, "The Arcade Beauty property is a fitting addition to Urban Story Ventures portfolio, which already includes north of 1 million square feet of industrial space located throughout Chattanooga. The commercial real estate developer sees the new addition as a prime economic development opportunity for Chattanooga.

"Urban Story Ventures president and general partner Jimmy White aims to reposition the site as an ideal choice for manufacturing or other industrial tenants looking to relocate or expand. By revitalizing and modernizing the property, Urban Story Ventures plans to cater to industrial tenants seeking flexible space in a convenient and strategic location. Some of the industries viewed as potential fits include logistics, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and e-commerce."

Mr. White said, This is the perfect example of the value-add projects we take on, where we improve upon the strengths and reimagine the rest for the highest and best use. Its an amazing facility with solid existing features, and we have the rare opportunity to develop additional space in one of the strongest industrial corridors in a market with an extremely low vacancy rate of about one percent.

He said the site has two pristine, move-in ready buildings totaling 169,000 square feet and includes 9.8 acres of undeveloped land that is already zoned for manufacturing and is conveniently located by a traffic light. The main building is 130,000 square feet and features climate-controlled areas throughout with fire suppression. The second building has about 40,000 square feet of office and industrial flex space. The property has ample parking and can accommodate one or multiple tenants.

Urban Story Ventures has owned, invested in, and managed industrial space in the market since 2014, when Mr. White purchased the Aerisyn building, which is now part of the industrial side of the Bend redevelopment on the downtown riverfront. Some of the industrial employers Urban Story Ventures has recruited include Novonix, Lincoln Electric, HEF USA, and Micronics.

Officials said the developers "extensive local experience and vision for a strong industrial market over the next decade were critical factors for the seller Arcade Beauty, which seriously considered a number of attractive offers."

Jimmy and his team seemed to be the right fit. They were local, had strong industrial experience, and it was refreshing to see the new vision and energy for our site, said JorgeGarcia, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Arcade Beauty, a 121-year-old manufacturer that operated in the Chattanooga industrial corridor on Amnicola Highway from 2010 to 2023.

Mr. White said he "sees an exciting future for Arcade Beautys former site. Depending on the needs of the new tenant or tenants who move in, we could end up supporting hundreds of new jobs in the market. Ive always believed in industrial and am excited to get to work with recruiting one of Chattanoogas next big employers.

Urban Story Ventures has already kicked off the planning process for what is next, but will serve as landlord and property manager for the Arcade Beauty team during the companys transition over the coming months.
Staff at the Hotel Clarion, 3641 Cummings Hwy., told police a white male, clean shaven and wearing blue jeans, attempted to check in to the hotel with an Illinois drivers license that did not resemble him and a credit card with a different name than the drivers license. Hotel staff declined to check the man in and he cussed at the staff before leaving. Hotel staff did not remember the name on the drivers license or credit card. Staff said that they wish to have the man trespassed from the hotel if he returns or is identified.



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A passerby called into Dispatch saying that there was an abandoned auto in the middle of the road on Tunnel Boulevard. Police located a gray Chrysler rental minivan. The minivan had an iPad inside, money, credit cards, ID's, etc., inside when police located the vehicle. The renter of the vehicle saw police in the road behind his rental minivan, and made contact with police. He said that someone must have stolen it and drove it there. He said he and his crew of salesmen were inside a home just up the road, where the vehicle was originally parked, He said they were trying to install cameras on a lady's house, when their rental minivan was stolen out of the lady's driveway. There was new damage on the passenger side of the minivan, and after investigating, it appeared that the person who stole the minivan backed into one of the cars at the lady's residence before leaving the driveway. Police are awaiting camera footage from the lady's property to see if the person who took the minivan can be identified. The rental minivan was released back to the man.

* * *

A disorder was reported at a residence on Homer Street. Two women were having a verbal disagreement over their shared living space and the cleanliness of it. One of the women went to a neighbor's house to call for police assistance. She volunteered to leave the location and was given a courtesy ride. Officers did not find any probable cause to believe a crime had been committed.

* * *



A man told police he was kicked out of a home on Swan Road that he and his mother had been staying at. He said the boyfriend of the woman owning the house "pulled a gun" on him and dragged him out of the house. He said he did not know why he was being put out and he was not leaving. When police arrived, the man and his mother's belongings were outside around the man's vehicle. Police then spoke with the woman who owned the home, and she said that she told the man he had to leave because he was being "disrespectful" to her and her home. She said her boyfriend came to her residence and moved the belongings outside for the man. She said the mother could stay at the residence if she wished, due to her being disabled. However, the man refused to let her stay (he has power of attorney over his mother). Police also spoke to the boyfriend, and he said that the man said he wanted to leave, so he came over and took the man's belongings outside, and then left. The homeowner and her boyfriend both said there was no gun involved. There were also witnesses in the home who said no weapon of any kind was pulled on the man. The homeowner said she would like for the man to be trespassed from her property. Police explained to the man that he had to leave and he was unable to come back. He said he was not leaving because he did not do anything wrong and he had nowhere else to go. He said multiple times he was not leaving and made little effort to pack his things. The man was detained at that time. Eventually he figured out a plan and said his brother would give him and his mother a place to stay. He packed his belongings and waited for his brother.

* * *

Police were called to a disorder at 780 Interstate 75 SB. A woman told police she and a man had gotten in an argument due to her talking to another man and her wanting to look through his phone. While the man was taking her home they got in an argument and he stopped the car on the side of the interstate and called police. Police then spoke to the man, who said that they had gotten in an argument, and while taking her home they got into another fuss. He said the woman then grabbed his keys and so he pulled over and called police. Police told the woman to give the man his keys, and she did. Police gave the woman a ride home.

* * *

Police were requested to check the lobby of the Choo Choo at 1400 Market St. for homeless people setting up camp and the cleaning crew leaving doors unlocked. Police found all the doors on the Market Street side were left unsecured and one homeless person was found in the lobby. The man requested a taxi be called for him and Mercury Taxi was requested. He left without incident.

* * *



A suspicious person was reported at the Food City Gas & Go, 3801 Tennessee Ave. Police spoke with the man, who said he was on the sidewalk in front of the business for the past couple hours, minding his own business. He said staff at the business told him to leave multiple times. Police spoke with the staff, who said they would like the man to leave, due to him being there for no legitimate purpose. Due to "No Loitering" signs posted in the immediate area, police asked the man to leave, which he did without further incident.

* * *

Police responded to property found at 2 Market St. A shell casing was found in the parking lot of Riverset Apartments. The casing was brought to the Chattanooga Property Division.

* * *



Police responded to St. Elmo Avenue on a report of a suspicious vehicle. A woman told police there was a white SUV parked in the parking lot there for several days. She said some residents in the area had seen several young men park the vehicle, then enter another vehicle and leave the area several days ago. Police confirmed the vehicle to be stolen from outside of Chattanooga through NCIC. Police notified the owner, whose wife arrived on scene, took possession of the vehicle and drove it from the scene. The vehicle was removed from NCIC.

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A woman on Hoyt Street told police that a few weeks ago her ex-boyfriend was over at her home. She said police had escorted him there and he had taken some of his belongings. She said that during the ordeal, he took her Apple iPhone 15 ($1300). She said that she has spoken with him several times and asked for him to return it to her, but he refuses. She said that she can pull the Apple app and show police where the phone is pinging from his place of work. Police have the iPhone number and also called him on the phone and left him a message to contact police. The woman said she will allow for a certain amount of time for him to return the phone; but if he refuses, she will prosecute. Police are allowing time for him to return their phone call.

* * *



Police responded to Compass Auction, 3114 Freeman Ave, to recover a stolen firearm. NCIC confirmed the rifle was reported stolen in Arizona. How it came to be in Chattanooga is unknown. Compass acts as a third party, auctioning items for individuals on consignment. NCIC was unable to determine the rifle owner. The rifle was logged in to CPD Property and removed from NCIC.

* * *

A shoplifting was reported at Publix, 400 N. Market St. Police spoke with the assistant store manager, who stated a white male stole over $100 worth of groceries. Police reviewed video footage of the man park and exit what appears to be a white Chevrolet HHR around 11:52 a.m. The man entered the business and selected merchandise throughout the store. He placed the items inside unpaid for reusable Publix bags. He then left the store approximately 30 minutes later.

* * *

Police responded to a fire at Rogers Road/Talley Road. A woman said she was driving her vehicle when she observed smoke coming from the vehicle and evacuated all the occupants. Police found the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames and CFD was working on putting it out. The vehicle was completely destroyed by the fire, as were all the belongings inside the vehicle. No injuries were reported. The woman had no insurance and the vehicle was towed by Airport Towing.

* * *

A man told police he hired a white male named "Sean" to drive a U-Haul for him. He said he rented the U-Haul in his own name and gave consent for "Sean" to drive it with him. When the work was over, he and "Sean" returned to the U-Haul. He said he asked for the keys back so he could return the vehicle, but "Sean" said no, saying he was responsible for the keys, and left the area in a gold Buick. The man said U-Haul should have a copy of "Sean's" drivers license. Police arrived at U-Haul to speak with employees about the possible theft. Employees said their manager was not on scene and he would need to address this issue. Police will follow up again with U-Haul at a later date.

* * *



A woman on E. 13th Street told police at 5:30 p.m. she received a call from an unknown number and spoke with an Hispanic man who claimed to be her cousin. The man requested her address so he could visit. She provided her address because she believed she was speaking with her cousin, who she has no contact with. She realized it wasn't her cousin when they requested she send $1,480 to a card number . The man said the card was from "Banco Azteca" in Jalisco, Mexico and the owner of the card is a "Kevin Javier" who they said lives with him. "Kevin Javier's" phone number was given to police. The woman said she received multiple calls from four separate numbers at approximately 8 p.m. She said three separate Spanish speaking men called her from the phone numbers requesting she place the money on the card. She said she does not want to press charges. She only wants the incident reported due to her fear of the unknown men's knowledge of her current address.


Dr. Bill W. Stacy, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga chancellor from 1997 to 2004, died Thursday in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Dr. Stacy was 85.

Dr. Stacy was often described as a visionary and a builder, UTC Chancellor Steven R. Angle said.

After I first arrived at UTC in 2013, Dr. Stacy took me under his wing and was instrumental in introducing me to key members of the community, Angle said. He was easy to get along with, always entertaining, and committed to bettering the lives of those around him.

I had the pleasure of introducing him as the featured speaker for the fall 2017 commencement ceremonies. It allowed me to extol his virtues while talking about his incredible impact on this campus; he was a truly transformational leader.

Dr. Stacy worked hand-in-hand with Scotty Probasco and the UC Foundation on building South Campus housing, changing UTC from a commuter campus to a residential institution; during his time as chancellor, over 1,600 beds were built. Just as significantly, he grew the stature of the University academically by establishing UTCs first Ph.D. programs.

Kim White, Vice Chancellor of Advancement, lauded Dr. Stacys role in involving the Foundation in student housing.

He was a visionary and very forward-thinking. He thought big and backed it up, changing both our campus and the Foundation with his big vision for what UTC couldand hasbecome, White said. He was a fantastic fund- and friend-raiser for our campus, helping close out some major gifts, and he stayed active both on the Foundation board and as an ambassador for UTC after retiring as chancellor.

Dr. Stacy was born and raised in Bristol, Tennessee, becoming the first person in his family to attend college. He earned a bachelors degree in speech communication at Southeast Missouri State University and masters and doctoral degrees in the same discipline from Southern Illinois University.

En route to earning his Ph.D., his dissertation centered on Harry S. Trumans campaign speaking during the 1948 election. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, as Dr. Stacy described it in a 2018 interview, he sat down face-to-face with Trumanthe 33rd President of the United States.

How else can you say it except, You just got blessed. You got lucky, Dr. Stacy said. When I got ready for the paper portion of the Ph.D., I had a chance over a couple of years to interview him. Well, it was a great thing for me to be around the President of the United States to get to speak to him.

When I think about that opportunity  this fellow from Bristol, Tennessee, interviewing President Truman. There is something thats blessed about that, right?

Dr. Stacys road to UTC began at his alma mater, Southeast Missouri State, where he spent 10 years as president. He then had a rare opportunity in higher education, helping launch a new university from scratch as the founding president at California State University San Marcos.

Dr. Stacy arrived in San Marcos in 1989 to preside over the building of the nations first state university since the University of Texas-San Antonio was established in the mid-1960s. Among his many duties, he was responsible for the construction of the campus physical plant, building a curriculum, assembling a faculty and recruiting a student body.

I must admit that anybody who would have taken on that job needed to have his head examined just a little bit, Dr. Stacy joked in the 2018 interview. But it was a splendid thing to go to San Marcos. It was a school that the public demanded and built; there were a lot of people fighting for campus approval from the state legislature. Once I started there, I worked with a lot of peopleand we had a chance to decide on the curriculum, to make sure that we were teaching what we wanted to teach rather than picking up and carrying on the way it had been going on for 50 or 100 years.

After eight years in California and accomplishing most of what he sought to do there, Dr. Stacy interviewed for the UTC chancellor position and moved to Chattanooga, where he would lead another university transformation.

Growing the campusthen a 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday commuter college that virtually all students left for the weekendwas a top priority when Dr. Stacy took office. As he often said, he was struck by the constraints on growth that UTCs urban setting faced, but he had the vision to expand across McCallie Avenue.

The expansion brought South Campus housing into existence. When Dr. Stacy took office, UTC enrollment was around 8,000 students, compared to nearly 12,000 today.

We went in the direction of trying to make the campus vibrant and alive, Dr. Stacy recalled in the 2018 interview. We had some building to do and brought in the sense of vitality and gave this campus some life. It turned out wonderfully. It was really something to be in on the energizing and refurbishing of the campus.

After his time as UTC chancellor, Dr. Stacy remained in Chattanooga and became the headmaster at Baylor School, a position he held until retiring in 2009.

Ive had one of those storybook lives, he said in 2018. All of my education was a result of public education. Im the first kid in my family to go to college, and Ive had such fabulous opportunities. I feel like this has been the best career ever. Its been splendid, and the people have made it so.

Dr. Stacy is survived by his wife of 34 years, Dr. Sue Stacy, and three children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13, at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, with a livestream on Facebook. A private burial service will be held at the Fairdealing (Missouri) Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to United Way.

Current Chancellor Steve Angle said:

With deep sadness, I am informing the campus community of the passing of Dr. Bill W. Stacy, chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from 1997 to 2004. Dr. Stacy passed away in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on Jan. 4 at the age of 85.

After I first arrived at UTC in 2013, Dr. Stacy took me under his wing and was instrumental in introducing me to key members of the community. He was easy to get along with, always entertaining, and committed to bettering the lives of those around him.

I had the pleasure of introducing him as the featured speaker for the fall 2017 commencement ceremonies. It allowed me to extol his virtues while talking about his incredible impact on this campus; he was a truly transformational leader.

Dr. Stacy worked hand-in-hand with Scotty Probasco and the UC Foundation on building South Campus housing, changing UTC from a commuter campus to a residential institution. During his time as chancellor, over 1,600 beds were built, changing the trajectory of this institution. Just as significantly, he grew the stature of the University academically by establishing UTCs first Ph.D. programs.

Kim White, Vice Chancellor of Advancement, lauded Dr. Stacys role in involving the Foundation in student housing.

He was a visionary and very forward-thinking. He thought big and backed it up, changing both our campus and the Foundation with his big vision for what UTC couldand hasbecome, she said. He was a fantastic fund- and friend-raiser for our campus, helping close out some major gifts, and he stayed active both on the Foundation board and as an ambassador for UTC after retiring as chancellor.

Dr. Stacy was born and raised in Bristol, Tennessee, becoming the first person in his family to attend college. He earned a bachelors degree in speech communication at Southeast Missouri State University and masters and doctoral degrees in the same discipline from Southern Illinois University.

Dr. Stacys road to UTC began at his alma mater, Southeast Missouri State, where he spent 10 years as president. He then had a rare opportunity in higher education, helping launch a new university from scratch as the founding president at California State University San Marcos.

Dr. Stacy arrived in San Marcos in 1989 to preside over building the nations first state university since the University of Texas-San Antonio was established in the mid-1960s. Among his many duties, he was responsible for the construction of the campus physical plant, building a curriculum, assembling a faculty and recruiting a student body.

After eight years in California and accomplishing most of what he sought to do there, Dr. Stacy accepted the UTC chancellor position and moved to Chattanooga.

Growing the campus, then a 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday commuter college that virtually all students left for the weekend, was a top priority when Dr. Stacy took office. As he often said, he was struck by the constraints on growth that UTCs urban setting faced, but he had the vision to expand across McCallie Avenue.

The expansion brought South Campus housing into existence. When Dr. Stacy took office, UTC enrollment was around 8,000 students, compared to nearly 12,000 today.

After his time as UTC chancellor, Dr. Stacy remained in Chattanooga and became the headmaster at Baylor School, a position he held until retiring in 2009.

Dr. Stacy is survived by his wife of 34 years, Dr. Sue Stacy, and three children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 11 a.m. CST on Saturday, Jan. 13, at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, with a livestream on Facebook. A private burial service will be held at the Fairdealing (Missouri) Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to United Way.

Our condolences go out to the Stacy family on behalf of the entire UTC community.
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If youve been active on social media the last few weeks, you may have seen people talk about something called Fried Rice Syndrome.

It sounds quite outlandish, but Fried Rice Syndrome, another name for the foodborne illness Bacillus cereus bacterium, is a real and dangerous illness that has been popping up in headlines after a 2008 tragedy resurfaced online and served as a warning against it.

In 2008, a 20-year-old man in Brussels, Belgium, passed away after eating leftover spaghetti that had been sitting in a kitchen at room temperature for five days. After reheating the pasta and eating it, he became fatally ill with vomiting and diarrhea.

He then passed away around 4:00 am, and after examination, experts believe it was because of the foodborne illness, Bacillus cereus.

This story recently started recirculating, and TikTok creators began making videos about Bacillus cereus and how its often referred to as Fried Rice Syndrome.

When cooked pasta or rice is left to sit at room temperature for long periods of time, an overgrowth of bacteria develops.

These bacteria can produce toxins that can be very harmful to the body and lead to awful symptoms like abdominal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea, your standard food poisoning symptoms.

However, the bacteria Bacillus cereus can sometimes be fatal. While it is rare to die after developing Fried Rice Syndrome, it is not impossible. Although this bacteria is commonly associated with leftover fried rice and pasta dishes, it can occur in any starchy foods or even vegetable noodles.

Many doctors recommend that you avoid leaving starchy foods like pasta or rice at room temperature for more than two hours. If something has sat out all night or for more than one day, youll definitely want to throw it out.

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Home News Religious freedom groups criticize Biden admin. for leaving Nigeria off violators list

Religious freedom advocacy groups are criticizing the Biden administration for leaving Nigeria off the U.S. State Department list of the world's worst violators of religious freedom despite constant attacks and violence impacting Christian communities.

The U.S. State Department released its annual list of Countries of Particular Concern Thursday, a label assigned to nations that have "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom."

Nigeria was absent from the list for the third year in a row, although the Nigerian Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram was listed under the category of "Entities of Particular Concern." In 2020, Nigeria was added to the CPC list by the Trump administration but was removed during the first year of the Biden administration.

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ADF International's Global Counsel for Religious Freedom Sean Nelson denounced the omission of Nigeria from the CPC list, saying in a statement Friday that "More Christians are being killed in Nigeria for their faith than in all other countries combined."

"We are disappointed and deeply concerned that the Biden administration again has failed to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for its egregious violations of religious freedom," said Nelson. "The United States should increase pressure on Nigeria for the blatant violations of religious freedom occurring in the country."

"Since it is clear that the State Department will not take significant action over the terrible religious freedom conditions in Nigeria, it is vital that Congress makes its voice heard."

ADF International was one of several advocacy groups to sign on to a letter last month urging members of Congress to back a measure calling on the State Department to designate Nigeria a CPC and seeking the appointment of a special envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.

The letter elaborated on the violations of religious freedom engulfing the African nation, explicitly highlighting how "90 percent of all the Christians killed for their faith worldwide last year were killed in Nigeria."

The letter cited statistics documenting how 100 Catholic priests had been kidnapped since the start of 2022, and 20 of them were murdered. Additional data included in the letter noted the torching of 17,000 Christian churches in Nigeria since 2009, many of which were burned with congregants inside.

In addition to highlighting the crimes committed against Christians in Nigeria, the letter condemned the government's response to those crimes as indicative of "a problematic level of apathy" as it "routinely failed to investigate these attacks and prosecute those responsible."

The advocacy organizations cited the frequent enforcement of blasphemy laws against Christians as an example of government-sanctioned persecution.

"These laws have been accompanied by a routine grant of impunity for extrajudicial attacks against their perceived violators," the letter stated. "Last year, there was the unprosecuted mob killing of student Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu after she was accused of blasphemy and the unprosecuted serious death threats against the Sultan of Sokoto, Sokoto's Catholic bishop, and Rhoda Jatau, a Christian woman, all three of whom were targeted for expressing disapproval of Yakubu's murder."

Two weeks after the letter was entered into the Congressional Record and a week before the State Department released its list of CPCs, more than160 Christians were massacred in coordinated attacks that began on the Saturday before Christmas and lasted through the holiday. Hundreds of homes in predominantly Christian areas of Nigeria were burned as well.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also expressed outrage about Nigeria's absence from the CPC list despite the organization's 2023 Annual Report including Nigeria on its list of recommended CPCs.

In a statement published Thursday, USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper and USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick Davie called for a congressional hearing on "the failure of the State Department to follow our recommendations" concerning Nigeria.

The USCIRF leaders maintained that "there is no justification as to why the State Department did not designate Nigeria  as a Country of Particular Concern, despite its own reporting and statements."

The USCIRF leaders cited the Christmas massacre as "the latest example of deadly violence against religious communities in Nigeria that even the State Department has condemned," adding that "the majority of Commissioners have travelled to Nigeria and noted the threats to freedom of religion or belief and the deadly implications to religious communities."

While the State Department took USCIRF's recommendation to place Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the CPC list, it did not include the other five countries USCIRF recommended the designation for: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria and Vietnam.

The department acknowledged that "significant violations of religious freedom also occur in countries that are not designated."

Regarding Afghanistan, the State Department listed the ruling Islamic terrorist group, the Taliban, as an Entity of Particular Concern.
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater are "pretty much inseparable".

The 30-year-old pop star and Ethan, 31, have developed a close bond over recent months, and Ariana "absolutely sees a future with him".

A source told Us Weekly: "Things between Ariana and Ethan have grown more serious in the past few months, and theyre pretty much inseparable."

Ariana and Ethan started dating in 2023, and the pop star is keen to see "how things continue to grow for them".

The insider explained: "Ariana deeply cares for Ethan and absolutely sees a future with him. Shes looking forward to a fresh start in the new year and cant wait to see how things continue to grow for them."

Ariana recently described 2023 as one of the "most challenging" years of her life.

The 'Thank U, Next' hitmaker finalised her divorce from Dalton Gomez last year, and she also filmed the movie adaptation of 'Wicked'.

Ariana wrote on Instagram: "one of the most transformative, most challenging, and yet happiest and most special years of my life. there were so many beautiful and yet polarized feelings.

"i've never felt more at the mercy of and in acceptance of what life was screaming to teach me. i've never felt more fulfilled by or present in my work, being able to cherish every moment. i gave everything i could have possibly given of my heart and of myself to the projects i was fortunate enough to be a part of and learned so much from every brilliant, beautiful, soul that i had the privilege of creating art with and crossing paths with this year.

"i have never felt more pride or joy or love while simultaneously feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don't know me, who piece whispers together and make what they want out of me and their assumptions of my life. i have learned how much more important one of those things is than the other. (sic)"
Home News Woman becomes first non-resident to die through Vermont's assisted suicide law

A woman diagnosed with terminal cancer was among the first out-of-state residents to hasten her death through Vermont's medical aid in dying law. The elderly woman claimed that she wanted a meaningful death, but not one where she died after a prolonged illness.

Lynda Bluestein, a 76-year-old Connecticut resident, sought to end her life through Vermont's assisted suicide law, which allows patients who have an illness that is likely to kill them within six months to take a lethal medication.

Bluestein, who had terminal cancer, died Thursday after receiving permission to die by assisted suicide in Vermont, even though she didn't live in the state.

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In an email provided to The Associated Press, Bluestein's husband Paul told the assisted-suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices that his wife's last words were, "'I'm so happy I don't have to do this (suffer) anymore.'"

The group had filed a lawsuit on Bluestein's behalf in 2022, and Dr. Diana Barnard, a Vermont physician, did so as well. The suit argued that the residency requirement violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal treatment.

In March, a settlement agreement stated that Bluestein could use Vermont's assisted suicide law to end her life, even though she was not a state resident. Two months later, Vermont amended its law to allow people from out-of-state to hasten their deaths, as the AP reported.

"Lynda was an advocate all the way through, and she wanted access to this law, and she had it, but she and everybody deserves to have access much closer to home because the need to travel and to make arrangements around the scheduling to come to Vermont is not something that we wish for people to have," Barnard said, as quoted by the AP.

"But more than a silver lining is the beauty and the peace that came from Lynda having a say in what happened at the very end of her life."

Bluestein didn't want to die like her mother, who passed away in a hospital bed after a prolonged illness. Last year, the elderly woman told the AP that she wanted to die surrounded by her family, friends, neighbors and dog.

Vermont's assisted suicide law has been in effect since 2013, and the original bill required patients with a terminal illness to make two in-person visit requests to a prescribing physician at least 15 days apart.

The state amended the law in 2022 to allow patients who meet specific criteria to request lethal medication without an in-person doctor visit. The bill, S.74, eliminated the requirement for the prescribing physician to perform a physical examination to determine if the patient suffers from a terminal condition.

Under S.74, healthcare providers and pharmacists aiding patients in suicide also have legal immunity.

According to a study published in November 2022 titled "Does Legalizing Assisted Suicide Make Things Better Or Worse?" nations that have legalized assisted suicide or euthanasia appear to have higher rates of "self-initiated" suicides. The report derived its conclusion from multiple studies in Europe and North America.

Wesley J. Smith, chair and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism, told The Christian Post at the time that allowing suicide in some cases sends the message to people with thoughts of suicide that killing themselves is "proper."

"Assisted suicide advocacy is, literally, suicide advocacy, even if promoters deploy deflecting euphemisms such as, 'aid in dying,'" Smith said. "A society can't be pro-some suicides and then be surprised that some suicidal people outside the permitted categories think it includes them."
Home News Kim Davis ordered to pay $260K for refusing to issue marriage license to gay couple: judge

Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis must pay $260,000 in attorneys' fees and other expenses for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2015.

United States District Judge David L. Bunning of the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a memorandum opinion and order last week awarding plaintiffs $246,026.40 in attorneys fees and an additional $14,058.30 in other expenses.

The Court is mindful that in this case, Plaintiffs not only prevailed, but obtained the result sought. They sought to vindicate their fundamental right to marry and obtain marriage licenses; and they did so, wrote Bunning.

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The Court has reviewed the Plaintiffs submissions and finds that the hours expended, and the rates charged to be reasonable.

The Liberty Counsel, which has been representing Davis during her years-long legal proceedings, announced on Tuesday that they were going to appeal the decision and were willing to go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit if their appeal fails.

The conservative law firm noted that, in December 2015, then Gov. Matt Bevin issued an executive order granting religious exemptions to all clerks in the state.

This case is far from over, said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver, as quoted in the announcement. Because of Kim Davis, every clerk in Kentucky now has the freedom to serve as an elected official without compromising their religious convictions and conscience.

This case has the potential to extend the same religious freedom protections beyond Kentucky and to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which was wrongly decided and should be overturned.

In 2015, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state-level gay marriage bans in the 5-4 Obergefell decision, then-Rowan County Clerk Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Davis was briefly jailed for her refusal to issue the licenses and was later sued by David Ermold and David Moore, one of the same-sex couples she had refused to give a marriage license to.

Last September, a federal jury awarded Ermold and Moore $50,000 each in damages in their lawsuit against Davis, which is in addition to the $260,000 that Bunning ordered Davis to pay.

Joe Buckles, who helped represent Moore and Ermold, told National Public Radio last year that he was "thrilled" by the jury's decision and his clients were "completely vindicated.

"The Supreme Court says that my clients have a constitutional right to marry under the 14th Amendment," Buckles continued. "But this case isn't really about [Davis'] religion. The case isn't really about our clients' right to marry. The case is about a government official that just refused to do her job. It's a pretty simple case."
Home News Passion 2024: Jonathan Pokluda slams 'lukewarm Christianity,' says Jesus is only path to God in 'new tolerance' era

At a time when it's increasingly unpopular to believe that salvation is only attained through faith in Jesus Christ, Jonathan Pokluda slammed Americanized lukewarm church-going Christianity and stressed that lasting truth and life is found in no other thing or no other person than Jesus Christ.

In a message delivered to thousands of young people gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, for Passion 2024, Pokluda cited statistics from USA Today revealing that 70% of all major Christian and non-Christian religious groups say many religions can lead to eternal life.

And we might reject this in belief; maybe you hear that, [you think], No, that's not true. But we accept it in practice because we're not bothered by someone not believing in Jesus, he said. We sleep fine. We ride elevators and walk through hallways with people who are going to Hell, and we're OK. It doesn't seem like we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way.  If you're here and you're a believer, I want to teach you how to address things like, All religions lead to God, or I'm glad thats your truth. Or, I'll live my life and get right with God later before I die; I'll figure out the Jesus thing.

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Pokluda, pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, tackled the idea of truth, emphasizing that Jesus is not just historically true but the embodiment of truth itself. He stressed the importance of recognizing absolute truths, regardless of personal beliefs or feelings.

[Jesus says] I'm the way to God. There's no other way to God; I'm the only way to God. And you probably have heard, Well wait, I think there are many ways to God, or All religions will lead to God, or Don't all religions actually teach the same thing? Thats a statement of ignorance. The person who says that all religions teach the same thing has never studied other religions, he said.

The pastor cited examples from Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, each asserting their exclusive paths to spiritual fulfillment and salvation. He pointed out the contradictions among these religions, noting that if one claims to be the only true path, it inherently negates the others.

Pokluda highlighted the inclusivity within Christianity's exclusivity, as Jesus Christ offers salvation to all who believe in Him, regardless of their background.

Christianity is exclusive. But it's the most inclusive of all world religions. Jesus on the cross, arms spread, saying, Anyone who believes in me shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Pokluda shared a story about his daughter's illness during a mission trip, using it as a metaphor for the necessity of finding the right path to salvation. Telling someone any religious path leads to salvation is as misleading as telling a lost traveler that any gate at an airport leads home, he said.

Jesus is the only way to Heaven, and that's loving because it's true, he added.

Jesus calls people to a life of repentance and turning away from sin, not to restrict fun, but to guide them to a fulfilling life in a right relationship with God, he said.

Jesus says, I am the truth, and so many of you are not on a truth journey, you're on a happiness journey. You don't care. You'd say, I'll believe a lie if it will make me happy, and what if the truth doesn't make me happy? What if the truth means I can't do whatever I want to do, when I want to? I cant date whoever I want to date  I cant look at whatever I want to look at. What if the truth compromises my deepest desires? Its still the truth.

The pastor discussed the concept of "new tolerance," contrasting it with "old tolerance. Old tolerance was accepting differing opinions, while new tolerance demands agreement with others' beliefs, even if they contradict one's own convictions.

That goes against the will of God. It's inconsistent with what He teaches; its inconsistent with His Word and it's inconsistent with what's going to lead you to life, he said.

Some of you here, you're on the straight and narrow and you're like, Jesus just trying to keep me from stuff. He is trying to keep you from stuff: STDs, addiction, jail time hangovers. I'm telling you, when you go 100%  I'm not talking about this Americanized lukewarm church-going Christianity  I'm talking about, I'll go anywhere and talk to anyone about Jesus because I'm free from what people think of me. I'm not a slave to that anymore. I'm living for Him. I don't care what you think about me. I'll talk to anyone.

Jesus Christ is the way, Jesus Christ is the truth, and Jesus Christ is the life, and no one gets to the Father except through Him, he concluded.

Passion 2024, held this year on Jan. 3-5, is a gathering of 18-25-year-olds and their leaders united for the fame of Jesus. Other speakers this year include Sadie Robertson Huff, Louie Giglio and Levi Lusko, with musical performances from KB, Kari Jobe and more.
Home News Lisa Robertson, daughter-in-law of religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, dies at 69

Lisa Robertson, the daughter-in-law of recently deceased televangelist Pat Robertson, died on Dec. 30. She was 69.

An obituary for Lisa Robertson, who was married to Tim Robertson, states that she died peacefully in her home surrounded by her beloved husband and family."

She passed away knowing that her hope is in Jesus Christ and she will be with Him for eternity," the obituary added.

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Born Lisa Delavan Nelson on March 9, 1954, Lisa Robertson was raised in Colorado and graduated from Sweet Briar College, a private liberal arts college in Virginia.

Lisa was the founder of a religious conference at Sweet Briar, where she met Tim Robertson after successfully inviting evangelist Pat Robertson to be the conferences keynote speaker. They were later married in 1977.

The couple had been married for 46 years.

Lisa Robertson was an occasional guest on The 700 Club, the prominent Christian Broadcasting Network show that her father-in-law co-hosted for decades.

She also authored the book, The Path of Life: Walking in the Loving Presence of God, and the 2006 devotional, Advent: Making Christmas About Christ.

Additionally, Lisa Robertson founded a women's outreach ministry called Changing Seasons and served on the boards of the Museum of the Bible and Proverbs 31 Ministries.

I would describe motherhood as one of the great opportunities God gives women, the late Robertson reportedly said in an interview with her daughter, Abby. It is a job, it is a ministry, it is so much fun, and its a way we partner with the Lord to see His work.

Lisa Robertson is survived by her husband of 46 years, five children, 15 grandchildren, a 16th grandchild, who is "on the way," and two sisters.

Gordon Robertson, the president and CEO of CBN, said that one of the untold stories of Lisa Robertsons life was that she put Tim [Robertson] through seminary through her work at a time when the couple was desperately poor.

Without that, there wouldnt have been his ministry with CBN, Gordon Robertson said. There wouldnt have been a Family Channel. She was always such a bedrock, such a pillar of the Robertson family. We will greatly miss her.

A celebration of life for Lisa Robertson will be held on Saturday at Galilee Episcopal Church.
Home News Social media erupts with allegations that Iowa shooter may have identified as LGBT

Allegations emerged on social media that the teenage gunman who shot multiple people at a high school in Iowa on Thursday had an online footprint rife with LGBT symbolism that suggests he may have been struggling with his sexuality or gender identity.

Dylan Butler, 17, killed a sixth-grade student and injured five other people at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa, on Thursday before turning the gun on himself, according to law enforcement.

One of the injured was principal Dan Marburger, who is in stable condition, according to local KCCI.

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Butler used a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun to carry out the attack, according to Mitch Mortvedt with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.

Chaya Raichik, who runs the influential conservative Libs of TikTok account on X, posted screenshots in the wake of the shooting that suggested Butler used a rainbow LGBT flag in the bio of his TikTok and Instagram accounts. She noted the social media posts have already been taken down.

Shortly before the shooting rampage, Butler posted a photo to his TikTok of himself in a bathroom stall with a duffel bag on the floor. "Now we wait," he wrote.

Butler's alleged accounts also used "he/they" pronouns, and his TikTok account included a photo using trans flags and the hashtag "genderfluid," as well as a video of Butler pretending to shoot someone and a screenshot of graffiti that reads: "Love your trans kids."

A Reddit account believed to have belonged to Butler posted in a forum about transgenderism and claimed he was reticent to transition because he didn't "want to look ugly," according to Reduxx.

Law enforcement is looking into the posts Butler made on both his social media accounts, according to The Associated Press.

As left-leaning websites and NBC News have painted conservatives as attempting to seize on the shooter's potential LGBT identity for political points, Raichik suggested that mainstream media was trying to shift the narrative to make Butler out to be the victim because he was reportedly bullied.

Raichik tweeted on Friday that mainstream journalists were already reaching out to her to suggest that she was demonizing the LBGT community by posting about Butler's alleged social media. She tweeted a screenshot of a direct message she received from an NBC reporter who implied she was "stoking fear, hatred and potential violence against a marginalized group of people" by disseminating the information.

"Wait, am I reading this right?! NBC is more concerned that your posting facts might somehow inspire 'potential violence'than they are about the ACTUAL violence?" Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign, responded to the screenshot.

NBC News quoted Gillian Branstter, a communications strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union, who accused conservatives of "scapegoating," calling it a "very dangerous and old tactic for justifying the extreme marginalization of a specific group."

"They're very eager for other people to be as obsessed with trans people as they are, and this overlaps with their need to blame mass shootings on anything that's not shaped like a gun," Branstter was quoted as saying.

Sources who spoke to The Associated Press claimed that Butler was relentlessly bullied by other students since elementary school and that the "last straw" for him was the fact that the bullying had spilled over to affect his younger sister.

"He was hurting," classmate Yesenia Roeder Hall told the AP. "He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment. Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no."

Raichik predicted that framing the Iowa shooting as a response to bullying would lead to a push for draconian hate speech laws.

"We're going to see a massive campaign for hate speech laws as the media coordinates to frame the Iowa shooting as a result of bullying LGBTQ people," Raichik wrote. "There's' going to be a lot of rhetoric around clamping down on 'hate speech,' which basically means any speech that criticizes the LGBTQ movement in the slightest, including; misgendering, opposing se*x change surgeries for kids, and stating scientific and biological facts."
Home News Supreme Court to decide if Trump can be kept off Colorado ballot Court agrees to take up former president's request to review decision

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments in a case that will determine if Colorado can remove former President Donald Trump from its 2024 election ballot.

In a miscellaneous order issued Friday, the high court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of Donald Trump v. Norma Anderson, setting oral arguments for Feb. 8.

Last month, the Colorado Supreme Court released a per curiam opinion in which it ruled that Trump cannot be placed on the ballot for the 2024 election, citing his alleged connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in 2021.

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Specifically, the high court cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits people from holding public office who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."

"President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three; because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot," read the per curiam decision.

"We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach."

Colorado Chief Justice Brian Boatwright authored a dissent to the opinion, arguing that the states highest court went beyond its scope when it decided Trump had engaged in insurrection.

"Unlike qualifications such as age and place of birth, an application of Section Three requires courts to define complex terms, determine legislative intent from over 150 years ago, and make factual findings foreign to our election code," wrote Boatwright.

"Dismissal is particularly appropriate here because the Electors brought their challenge without a determination from a proceeding (e.g., a prosecution for an insurrection-related offense) with more rigorous procedures to ensure adequate due process."

In response to the decision, Trump filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the nations high court to overturn the state Supreme Court ruling.

The question of eligibility to serve as President of the United States is properly reserved for Congress, not the state courts, to consider and decide, argued the appeal.

By considering the question of President Trumps eligibility and barring him from the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court arrogated Congress authority.

The appeal also warned that if the Colorado Supreme Court ruling stands, it will mark the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate.
Home News Vatican issues 5-page clarification amid backlash to same-sex blessing guidance

The Vatican's doctrinal office issued a five-page statement Thursday clarifying last month's controversial "Fiducia Supplicans" guidance, which led to an eruption of pushback from theologically conservative Roman Catholic prelates worldwide.

The office headed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez addressed the reception to the guidance while urging "a full and calm reading of the Declaration so as to better understand its meaning and purpose," according to Vatican News.

"Fiducia Supplicans," which was issued by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope Francis on Dec. 18, permits priests to "bless couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church's perennial teaching on marriage."

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The Vatican advised, however, that "one should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation."

The guidance drew an adverse reaction from Catholic bishops, mainly in Africa and Eastern Europe.

Tomash Peta, who has served as metropolitan archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana since 2003, went so far as to publicly admonish the pontiff and prohibit any form of blessing for same-sex couples in churches under his authority.

In Kenya, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement explaining that the new guidance is "causing anxiety and even confusion among the Christians, and in general the people of God."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops emphasized that the declaration makes a "distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings, which may be given to persons who desire God's loving grace in their lives."

"The Church's teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God's healing love and mercy in our lives," the USCCB statement reads.

Nine bishops in France issued similar guidance in a Jan. 1 statement instructing priests that they are permitted to bless homosexual individuals but not same-sex couples.

Pushback from bishops' conferences globally "cannot be interpreted as doctrinal opposition because the document is clear and definitive about marriage and sexuality," Fernandez said in his clarification.

"There is no room to distance ourselves doctrinally from this declaration or to consider it heretical, contrary to the Tradition of the Church, or blasphemous," the cardinal wrote.

Fernandez offered a "concrete example" of what a "non-ritualized form of blessing" would look like, noting that it should only be about 10 or 15 seconds and "does not intend to justify anything that is not morally acceptable."

He stressed that the informal blessing is neither a marriage nor an "approval" of anything in particular, but simply a "response of a pastor towards two persons who ask for God's help."

Such nonliturgical blessings may require more time for application "depending on local contexts and the discernment of each diocesan bishop with his diocese," Fernandez said.

"In some places, no difficulties arise for their immediate application, while in others it will be necessary not to introduce them, while taking the time necessary for reading and interpretation," he wrote.

Fernandez, who also serves as a theological adviser to Pope Francis, recently maintained to the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost that the guidance was intended as a "clear answer" to liberal bishops in Germany who desire to implement formal liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, according to Catholic News Agency.

"It is not the answer that people in two or three countries would like to have," Fernandez told the German outlet of the guidance. "Rather, it is a pastoral response that everyone could accept, albeit with difficulty."
Home Opinion The decline of marriage: A glimpse into an unsettling trend

Richard Baxter (16151691), a Puritan minister of the 17th century, penned his thoughts on the covenant of marriage, writing, It is a mercy to have a faithful friend that loveth you entirely to whom you may open your mind and communicate your affairs. And it is a mercy to have so near a friend to be a helper to your soul and to stir up in you the grace of God.

Unlike Baxter in his time, today, the covenant of marriage is not held in as high regard. Many women remain single longer, seeking independence and pursuing the same career goals as men. Moreover, fewer men see enough advantages to marry nowadays. These men believe that the value women bring as wives and mothers has drastically declined. Additionally, they fear the risk of losing assets and damaging their relationship with their future children in the event of a divorce, which occurs in about 50% of marriages. Consequently, they view marriage as a dangerous proposition.

Finding a life partner has diminished in importance as couples increasingly delay or forgo marriage altogether. The decline in marriage rates can be attributed to the evolving societal roles of women, the perceived concerns that men associate with marriage, and the myriad of new options provided by social media that enable both genders to bypass the once obligatory rite of passage.

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Social medias impact on marriage

When considering the impact of social media on marriage trends, its impossible to ignore its influence. With 54% of social media users being women, they utilize the platform 2.8 times more than men. Now, in the palm of her hand, a woman can receive unprecedented male attention. Historically, a woman might receive attention from within her circle of 150 friends, with 45% being male. Now, a woman can post captivating images on her social media platforms, leading to thousands of likes, hundreds of comments, and inbox messages from men worldwide. Now, with her social media apps, a woman can experience an unparalleled dopamine rush previously unmatched in her everyday social context. This new reality diminishes her dependence on in-person social interactions with men, intensifying her addiction to cell phones as social media promptly gratifies her needs and desires.

Social media impacts men and women, but some trends mainly affect women. Its worth noting that the United States has three million more women than men. When considering unmarried women of marrying age (18 to 35), the national ratio reveals that there are, on average, 90 men to 100 women. Morgan Stanley predicts that by 2030, 45% of women aged 25 to 44 will be single and childless. However, many women disregard these statistics, thinking they are the exception to any rule and that the men they desire will be available when they are ready for relationships.

However, men are also evolving in their perspectives on women and marriage. The average man now acknowledges that a large number of women are mostly in pursuit of the same type of man. While a woman may initially seek traditional male providers for marriage, she generally finds herself attracted to men who embody a bad boy persona or offer an element of challenge.

Most average men, realizing that they are being overlooked in favor of taller, stronger, alpha-male stereotypes, are seeking solace in online groups like Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW). These groups provide a platform for men to find camaraderie and navigate the current cultural climate. Moreover, for many men, social media and pornography have distorted their perception of reality when it comes to women, including appearance and expectations in genuine relationships.

The rise of social media has opened up a world of possibilities and opportunities for both men and women, unlike anything previous generations have experienced. The level of attention that was previously exclusive to a select few, like celebrities, is now within reach for a much larger audience. Unfortunately, women seeking attention and validation in the digital realm often face pressure to objectify themselves, with the pornification of women being portrayed as female empowerment.

The decline of marriage predates the rise of social media, but its current usage has undoubtedly impacted the lives of many. On the other hand, women find themselves receiving more attention than ever through their use of social media, which delays their desire for marital companionship. Men, on the other hand, face social deformation through the objectification of women and the availability of a wider range of options, ultimately resulting in postponing marriage.

The Church girl struggle

When exploring the topic of marriage in evangelical circles, the challenges women encounter are from various angles. On Sunday, the majority of church services are attended by 61% of women and 39% of men. The age demographics most impacted by this statistic are widows and unmarried 18- to 25-year-olds. Among the available individuals aged 18 to 35, a significant portion of them once claimed to be devout followers of religious practices. However, after a college education, they no longer identify with any religious affiliation.

Feeling disheartened by these obstacles, young Christian women (18 to 35) are actively searching for alternatives beyond the confines of the Church. Some are pursuing relationships with non-believers, participating in hookup culture, or even stepping away from the church while still holding onto their Christian faith.

The struggle for Christian women in the dating realm is multifaceted. As it pertains to dating, far too many Christian women, anxious for marriage, drift away from relying on Gods sovereignty. Instead of seeking godly guidance from the men in authority in their lives  their fathers or a local church pastor  they often pursue husband hunting on their own. This often leads to crossing paths with men who claim to be Christians but whose actions reveal a stronger commitment to worldly desires rather than spiritual growth. This disparity between a profession of faith and an actual lifestyle adds another layer of complexity to the challenges faced by young Christian women in the dating scene.

Women want weddings, not marriages

Marriage is no longer solely driven by women aspiring to be wives. Nowadays, women pursue fulfillment beyond traditional family roles, focusing instead on higher education and careers while abandoning homemaking and childrearing skills. Women surpass men in college admissions (60% to 40%) and exhibit higher graduation rates with a significant 10-point advantage. Feminism teaches women to be self-reliant, treating marriage as unnecessary or optional only after securing a solid career. Pursuing college is no longer a means to find a husband but a necessary pathway for a career with no family in sight. It also provides a sense of security if one encounters the wrong husband.

In todays world, women have more opportunities than ever before. Still, the message of female empowerment and gender equality is instilled from a young age. This encompasses breaking away from traditional gender roles, pursuing career opportunities, and embracing the freedom to express ones sexuality in a manner that feels right for each individual woman.

Every decision carries consequences, some of which can be profound. However, acknowledging this reality in conversations with women may prove to be dangerous. Men have taken note of these changes. While the societal expectation for men to fulfill traditional roles as providers, protectors, and leaders within the household has persisted, women have moved away from their traditional roles as homemakers, caretakers of the children, and submissive wives.

Despite increasing opportunities for women, many still desire marriage. In fact, 61% of women express this desire. However, women are now choosing to marry later in life. In 2000, the median age for women to marry was 25.1 years. As of 2022, that age has risen to 28.6 years. The choice to delay is causing many to ponder whether womens true desire lies in a wedding rather than a lifelong partnership in marriage. Interestingly, the median age for men to marry has also reached a new high of 30.5 years.

Mens unrealistic expectations

As men choose to marry later in life, they face important decisions and express deep concerns about commitment. While men no longer expect women to be sexually pure, nearly 90% of American men and women have engaged in premarital sex, often with someone other than their future spouse. This reality has negative consequences for marriage. Although premarital sex does not directly cause divorce, relationships with multiple sexual partners are more likely to end in separation or divorce.

Divorce has also influenced the decision to marry. In 1867, the divorce rate was 5%, but by 1967, it skyrocketed to 50%. Scholars attribute this increase to women entering the workforce, giving them more independence in difficult marriages. Nowadays, the average first marriage lasts around 7.8 years. Second marriages face a 60% divorce rate, while for third marriages, it reaches a staggering 73% failure rate. The millennial generation has witnessed the impact of divorce through their parents experiences. Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are the most divorced generation in US history. This ongoing phenomenon continues to shape marriage decisions today.

Old answers to new questions

When we contemplate the enormity of the issues and their influence on family dynamics and even birth rates, the solution does not present itself readily. For those of us committed to the Church, it is all too common to assign blame to the Church (an easy target) and devise superficial, pragmatic initiatives that aim to bring boys and girls together in the hope that nature will take its course. While the desire to do something may appease some, the solution to these appeals is never self-sustaining or capable of reversing the magnitude of the downward slide.

Instead of an appeal to all of evangelicalism, I encourage those seeking marriage to explore Richard Baxters timeless wisdom. As a Puritan writer and theologian, Baxter offered invaluable insights into marriages theological and practical aspects. His writing on the mutual duties of husbands and wives provides a strong foundation for understanding the covenant of marriage and offers practical steps for building healthy relationships. These steps should be considered long before entering matrimony.

While the dating phase of relationships can place couples into a state of blind bliss, Baxter warns couples, writing,

Do not forget that you are both diseased persons, full of infirmities; and therefore expect the fruit of those infirmities in each other; and do not act surprised about it, as if you had never known of it before. Decide to be patient with one another, remembering that you took one another as sinful, frail, imperfect persons, and not as angels, or as blameless and perfect (Volume 1, Baxters Practical Works, A Christian Directory, page 431).

As couples progress in their relationship and become more comfortable with each other, unrealistic expectations often emerge. Disagreements fueled by pride can have devastating effects on a relationship. Baxter also provides instructions in this regard when he writes,

Both husband and wife must mortify their pride and strong self-centered feelings. These are the feelings that cause intolerance and insensitivity. You must pray and labor for a humble, meek, and quiet spirit. A proud heart is troubled and provoked by every word that seems to assault your self-esteem (Volume 1, Baxters Practical Works, A Christian Directory, page 431).

Puritan writers like Baxter consistently associated love with duty, effectively intertwining emotion with action. This connection ensured a profound sense of purpose and commitment. Baxter would note,

Remember that justice commands you to love one that has forsaken all the world for you. One who is contented to be the companion of your labors and sufferings and be a sharer in all things with you and that MUST be your companion until death (Volume 1, Baxters Practical Works, A Christian Directory page 431).

Finally, Baxter writes,

We should be very concerned to know what the duties of our relationships are. And how can we please God in our relationships? Study and do your part, and God will certainly do his. The main matter in which a husband and wife should make a conscience of duty is their mutual love and forbearance. This is the great business of married persons  to study each others welfare and to help it forward by all means possible (Volume 1, Baxters Practical Works, A Christian Directory page 432).

In a world where selfishness reigns supreme, Baxter reminds us that marriage should focus on mutual love, not just individual desires. By emphasizing the importance of duty towards one another, he highlights the importance of selflessness and sacrifice in a successful marriage.

We would do well to heed these old answers to new questions.

Originally published at G3 Ministries.
Spiritual warfare

Christians are at war, and it is escalating. I'm not talking about the war in Ukraine, or Palestine, or even the war on terror. This war is a spiritual war and every person is involved in it. As Christians we must understand this and learn how to fight in this war.

Not a worldly war

This is how the scriptures describe this war: "For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete" (2 Corinthians, chapter 10, verses 3-6).

From this we see several things:

This is not a worldly war

The war is of a spiritual nature

The battleground for this war is in the mind

In Christ we have spiritual weapons to fight and win

Nature of this war

This is a war in the spirits of people, and it is fought in our minds.

The scripture above shows that we are not capturing cities, ground, or strategic assets as occurs in physical war. Instead, we are capturing thoughts, arguments, and attitudes. We capture prideful, lustful, jealous, envious, devious, and evil thoughts to eradicate them from our thinking.

Our objective is to remove disobedience to God and replace it with obedience. And like any war, we must identify the enemy and learn how to fight them.

Who is the enemy?

The scripture tells us that in this war our enemies are spiritual: "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12).

It is the satanic forces of evil that are arrayed against mankind for the sole purpose of destroying us, both physically and spiritually.

How does the devil attack?

As this is a war in the spiritual realm and the thoughts of men are the battleground, the primary way that the devil fights is to influence our thoughts.

He inflames the weaknesses of our flesh and uses them against us, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death" (James chapter 1, verses 13-15).

The devil is the great tempter and he puts temptations before us all the time. Temptations to sin begin in the mind and flesh, and that is where the battle for supremacy is fought. The devil uses our weaknesses to tempt us, hoping that we will succumb and fall into sin.

Overcoming temptations

The Lord has provided weapons to fight this war and win against these temptations.

God has provided many pieces of armour, and we must learn how to use it: "Therefore take the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints" (Ephesians chapter 6, verses 13-18).

These are the seven weapons of spiritual warfare, five of which are defensive pieces of armour and the other two are weapons of attack. All are important but space does not permit me to cover them in depth.

The spiritual weapons

The defensive weapons are armour designed to protect us. Briefly, they protect us when we keep our mind girded up by knowing, believing, and always keeping the five pieces of armour at the forefront of our minds, especially when under spiritual attack.

The offensive weapons, which are prayer and the word of God, allow us to fight back.

An example of the power of the word of God as a weapon was seen when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, which is described in Matthew chapter 4. Every temptation that the devil threw at Jesus was answered in the same way; "It is written..."

This is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, in action. When we have a deep understanding of the word, we too can throw off devilish attacks in the same way.
Vatican issues 5-page clarification amid backlash to same-sex blessing guidance

(CP) The Vatican's doctrinal office issued a five-page statement Thursday clarifying last month's controversial "Fiducia Supplicans" guidance, which led to an eruption of pushback from theologically conservative Roman Catholic prelates worldwide.

The office headed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez addressed the reception to the guidance while urging "a full and calm reading of the Declaration so as to better understand its meaning and purpose," according to Vatican News.

"Fiducia Supplicans," which was issued by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope Francis on Dec. 18, permits priests to "bless couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church's perennial teaching on marriage."

The Vatican advised, however, that "one should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation."

The guidance drew an adverse reaction from Catholic bishops, mainly in Africa and Eastern Europe.

Tomash Peta, who has served as metropolitan archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana since 2003, went so far as to publicly admonish the pontiff and prohibit any form of blessing for same-sex couples in churches under his authority.

In Kenya, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement explaining that the new guidance is "causing anxiety and even confusion among the Christians, and in general the people of God."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops emphasized that the declaration makes a "distinction between liturgical (sacramental) blessings, and pastoral blessings, which may be given to persons who desire God's loving grace in their lives."

"The Church's teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God's healing love and mercy in our lives," the USCCB statement reads.

Nine bishops in France issued similar guidance in a Jan. 1 statement instructing priests that they are permitted to bless homosexual individuals but not same-sex couples.

Pushback from bishops' conferences globally "cannot be interpreted as doctrinal opposition because the document is clear and definitive about marriage and sexuality," Fernandez said in his clarification.

"There is no room to distance ourselves doctrinally from this declaration or to consider it heretical, contrary to the Tradition of the Church, or blasphemous," the cardinal wrote.

Fernandez offered a "concrete example" of what a "non-ritualized form of blessing" would look like, noting that it should only be about 10 or 15 seconds and "does not intend to justify anything that is not morally acceptable."

He stressed that the informal blessing is neither a marriage nor an "approval" of anything in particular, but simply a "response of a pastor towards two persons who ask for God's help."

Such nonliturgical blessings may require more time for application "depending on local contexts and the discernment of each diocesan bishop with his diocese," Fernandez said.

"In some places, no difficulties arise for their immediate application, while in others it will be necessary not to introduce them, while taking the time necessary for reading and interpretation," he wrote.

Fernandez, who also serves as a theological adviser to Pope Francis, recently maintained to the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost that the guidance was intended as a "clear answer" to liberal bishops in Germany who desire to implement formal liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, according to Catholic News Agency.

"It is not the answer that people in two or three countries would like to have," Fernandez told the German outlet of the guidance. "Rather, it is a pastoral response that everyone could accept, albeit with difficulty."

 The Christian Post
The 50,000 flight hours milestone celebrated by the Royal Air Force and the Affinity Group was an important achievement for the company. In only seven years, Affinity evolved from a ten-employee startup to a group of 180 professional personnel operating a fleet of 42 aircraft training aircraft in three bases, supporting the elementary, basic, and multi-engine pilots training for the RAF and Royal Navy. With this proven record, Affinity has established itself as a role model for other countries looking for a similar approach to military training.

In the following article, Kees Otten and Wim Das summarize their visit to the company, where they had a personal impression of its activity. The article was first published by the Dutch aviation magazine Piloot & Vliegtuig.

The article is republished here with permission of Dutch Defence Media. The article provides some guidelines for foreign air forces considering outsourcing similar activities to service providers.

Outsourcing: non-operational tasks to private companies, such as pilot training, can save costs and improve efficiency.

non-operational tasks to private companies, such as pilot training, can save costs and improve efficiency. Partnership: Building a strong partnership between government and industry, as seen in the partnership between Affinity and the UK Ministry of Defence, can lead to successful outcomes. Adding an experienced local company to the team improves efficiency and success.

Building a strong partnership between government and industry, as seen in the partnership between Affinity and the UK Ministry of Defence, can lead to successful outcomes. Adding an experienced local company to the team improves efficiency and success. Aircraft: Choosing the right training aircraft addresses operational performance and life cycle cost efficiency and adaptability to the military training mission based on efficient aircraft use, updating systems, and availability of spare parts.

Choosing the right training aircraft addresses operational performance and life cycle cost efficiency and adaptability to the military training mission based on efficient aircraft use, updating systems, and availability of spare parts. Focus: Focusing on customer requirements by providing excellent service, maintaining skilled manpower, technical capabilities, and advanced technology, and being flexible in responding to changing needs.

Outsourcing military tasks to private companies can best be called a trend. To gain insight into why non-operational tasks are increasingly being transferred to such parties, it is worth looking at how, in the United Kingdom, in cooperation with the British armed forces, Affinity Flying Training Services is part of the national military aircrew training system, the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS). Affinity is a joint venture of US-based Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) and Israeli Elbits local subsidiary, Elbit Systems UK. A recent visit by Piloot & Vliegtuig shows excellent cooperation between all parties involved. Affinity can be considered a role model for other countries looking for a similar approach.

Contracted for 17 Years

The person who has put his heart and soul into supporting Affinity and making it grow into what it is today is Iain Chalmers, a former Royal Air Force (RAF) qualified flight instructor and now managing director of Affinity. Iain explains Affinitys role within the overarching scheme during our visit. In 2008, the UK Ministry of Defence (UK MoD) selected the Ascent consortium to work in partnership to structure a new format for pilot training. Ascent is a partnership of Lockheed Martin UK and Babcock International and is the projects prime contractor, thus designing the new pilot training system in collaboration with the UK MoD. It is responsible for maintaining an adequate overview and is, for example, also active in providing simulator training. Together with the RAF, it also provides the necessary instructors. The mandate within the UKMFTS for Ascent involves training pilots for the Air Force, Navy, and Army, the RAF, Fleet Air Arm (FAA), and Army Air Corps (AAC), respectively.

In its turn, Ascent submitted the order to provide the fixed-wing training aircraft to Affinity in 2016. Elementary, basic, and multi-engine training aircraft procurement was thus contracted as a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for 17 years (until mid-2033). The exceptions are advanced jet, rotary-wing, and Navy rear-crew training, which other providers deliver. It is remarkable that Affinity, operating from the RAF airbases Cranwell, Barkston Heath, and Valley, and embedded in the military flight operations at the same time, is, therefore, part of it and, on the other hand, sees the RAF, No.22 Training Group as its user and customer. So this is where the business model comes in, where service is considered the most important thing. Iain frequently consults with his next-higher level, Ascent, essentially his direct customer.

The Value of Operational Experience

Affinity started small with six people, and during the first two years, there was a lot to arrange and set up. This included purchasing aircraft, recruiting ground personnel, and obtaining approval for the systems and maintenance procedures. This process was eased because Elbit Systems has built extensive experience in recent years in supplying military training aircraft and fleets, supporting their operational use, with accompanying maintenance and logistics procedures provided as a complete module. Elbit previously did so in Israel, among other countries, and is now establishing a similar framework in Greece. Shai Louk, the business development director of flight academies & services of Elbit Systems, tells us that Elbit operates almost 180 training aircraft worldwide and that it is precisely because of this experience that so much knowledge and insight have been gained on how to organize such training schemes.

Iain agrees that partly because of this, the consortium was able to present to the British Ministry of Defence and Ascent a particularly good offer to support the need for a new training concept in practice. This need mainly concerned the switch to training that would be much more in line with the digital capabilities available today in aircraft with which the front-line squadrons are equipped. It is important to build and shape digital awareness to a sufficient performance level of the pilot in training to be able to fly the modern 5th generation aircraft and understand and control their capabilities.

Training Aircraft Chosen With Care

Elbit Systems experience led to carefully choosing the most suitable aircraft. The commercial availability of the aircraft and its supply chain was of paramount importance. Also, selecting an aircraft requiring minimum changes and upgrades prepares it for the military training mission favored.

The choice for elementary flying training (EFT) fell on the Grob G 120TP, known within the RAF as Prefect T.1  23 such aircraft were acquired by the operator and became operational beginning in 2017. A student receives practical flying hours on these trainers and significant time using Ground Based Training Equipment. Those who look into the cockpit of a Prefect T.1 understand how the transition to digital awareness is taught. Even at this elementary phase, there is an elaborate glass cockpit that, a decade ago, one would only find in a fighter aircraft. The Prefects supplied by Affinity operate from Cranwell and Barkston Heath and serve RAF and Fleet Air Arm pilots in training.

After successfully completing elementary flying training, there are two directions to proceed. If destined to become a fighter pilot, basic flying training (BFT) on the Textron T-6C Texan II comes next. Affinity has ten of these at Valley, and they became operational starting in 2019. Four additional aircraft were recently added and are now operational. After that, training can be continued on the Royal Air Force BAE Systems Hawk T.2, also based at Valley, for advanced jet training to be ready for the transition to the Typhoon or F-35. For the multi-engine stream, students stay at Cranwell to receive further training in one of Affinitys five Embraer Phenom 100s in the form of Multi-engine pilot training (MEPT).

The Importance of Good Management

Being able to meet customer requirements created challenges during the COVID period. For example, the delivery of parts took longer, so Affinity management has now chosen to have more parts available in stock. Nevertheless, overall performance did not suffer from this. After a week, we were operating as before but with new procedures, Iain said. He attributed this to a strong financial base, quick decision-making, and out of the box thinking. And this marks Affinitys inventiveness in delivering a great turnkey product.

The Prefect and Phenom maintenance and operations occur in and from the large hangars Affinity occupies at Cranwell and Barkston Heath. Personnel for these operations are sourced locally as technicians, certified engineers, marshallers, and people who refuel the aircraft. All this is done while aiming for a pleasant and safe working environment. It is like running the house with all the details as Iain describes it.

Value for Money

Affinitys managing director and his staff have supported a real transformation in pilot training. Now with Affinity and through well-chosen systems and efficient organization, Iain can generate an adequate number of deployable training aircraft with significantly fewer people than was previously the case when the military did everything in-house. Iain: Unlike military colleagues, we are not paid to perform operational side tasks. We only do one thing: provide flying aircraft, and do it well. The customer can then focus on training. This alone makes us a lot more efficient. He continues: Requirements change, however. Our efficiency also helps to create a bit of flexibility to respond to changing circumstances.

Shai adds, We draw up the bill at the end of the day. How much manpower was needed, and how much availability did we deliver? This is where we learn all the time. The drive to get a little better every day is embedded in Affinitys performance. They will soon start using tablets to do various checks to reduce further turn around time. In this way, maintenance is becoming increasingly smart. Characteristic of the desire to involve the local industry, Affinity also invested in partners who, for example, developed software to determine the consumption of parts better and have the necessary replenishment arrive in time.

Outsourcing a Comprehensive and Flexible Service

Affinity offers flexibility when adapting to changes, whether foreseen or unforeseen. Iain calls it delivering reliability. The planes are deployed according to the customers requirements and schedule. Already it is clear that more pilots are being delivered. Flying with digital instruments is different, sometimes, it seems too easy. In any case, the requirement to train more pilots for the front-line squadrons is being met. The Prefect, Phenom, and Texan II do exactly what they are supposed to do. Affinity has firmly established itself at various bases and now employs 200 professionals. The coming years can therefore be viewed with confidence. The set-up of such a training scheme in which a private company organizes and executes the entire process of generating available training aircraft, including all ins and outs, could be a godsend for air forces that must make similar decisions as the RAF. Given its experience, Elbit Systems has some strong cards up its sleeve.
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What is Epiphany and why do we celebrate it?

At Epiphany, we remember the wise men who came to find Jesus. This is the story...

Meaning of Epiphany

The word Epiphany is not found in the Bible as such. It comes from the Greek word  (epiphanea) which means manifestation or revelation, from the word meaning to reveal. It is used in Greek in 3 Maccabees 2:9 which is translated into English as 'manifestation' in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), which gives a footnote which reads 'or epiphany'.

The word epiphany has come into general English usage to mean a moment of sudden realisation. We say 'I had an epiphany' when we come to suddenly understand something. It can be a profound scientific breakthrough, or it may be a religious awareness, or it can be a mundane situation when we realise why someone did something strange, or we work out why something works in a certain way, or we crack a puzzle, or we solve a bugging mystery. Sometimes an epiphany is also called a 'Eureka moment', from the story of Archimedes in the bath, when he realised a method to determine the volume of an irregular object. A famous scientific epiphany was when Isaac Newtown realised that an apple falling, and the moon orbiting, were both subject to the same force of gravity.

Religious epiphanies

Sometimes people have a religious epiphany when they discover faith. A famous epiphany happened to John Wesley when he suddenly understood faith, and his heart was strangely warmed. A more modern epiphany happened when C.S. Lewis realised he believed in God whilst thinking, when riding on the top of a double-decker bus. In Christianity, the Christian Epiphany refers to a realisation that Christ is the Son of God.

Epiphany

Epiphany has been part of traditional Christian worship since at least the fourth century. In the traditional Western Church calendar, the coming of the Magi is recalled as twelve days after Christmas, on 6th January which is called Epiphany. The day before is called the Twelfth Night, which is traditionally when Christmas decorations are taken down. This Epiphany is the idea that the Gentiles first came to know of the incarnation of God, through the Magi, when the baby Jesus was revealed for who he was. Epiphany is therefore also sometimes unofficially known as "The Three Kings' Day".

Epiphany customs

Centuries ago Epiphany used to be observed in Britain. However in Victorian Britain, Christmas became a bigger festival, and Epiphany was forgotten in its wake. Today in many churches especially in the Protestant world, Epiphany passes by as an ordinary day. For most people Epiphany is really just a marker for when to take down the decorations. However, in other countries especially those with a living Catholic or Orthodox heritage, Epiphany is very much celebrated and is associated with different customs.

Latin countries

In some countries such as Italy and Spain, and Latin America, Epiphany is when children receive their Christmas presents. Children may write letters to the Magi and leave their shoes out overnight to find presents in the morning. They may fill their shoes with straw or food for the three kings' horses or camels to eat, and place them on their balcony or by the front door on "Reyes Magos" (Epiphany Eve). Many families will take Epiphany off and exchange presents. In Spanish, it is called "El Dia de los Reyes" (The Day of the Three Kings). In Spain, families line the streets to watch colourful parades. Likewise, in Italy Italian children wake up to find gifts and sweets.

Epiphany food

In some parts of the world they bake special Epiphany bread. In Mexico, people eating a special type of sweetbread called "Rosca de Reyes", which is ring-shaped and topped with candied fruit, with a small figure of baby Jesus hidden inside. Whoever finds the figurine is said to have good luck. In Switzerland, another type of bread is called "Dreikonigskuchen" (Three Kings' Cake) which is eaten on Epiphany. In France "Le Jour des Rois" (the Day of Kings), also called the "Fete des Rois", is marked with parties, when "galette des rois" (cake of the kings) is eaten. This cake is flat and round, and covered with a white napkin when it is carried into the dining room.

Epiphany in Prague

In the Czech Republic, some people mark "Zjeveni Pane" (Epiphany) by swimming in the usually very cold River Vltava which cuts through Prague. Later there is a "Tri Kralove" (Three Kings) Parade in Prague. People dress up as the Magi, and ride camels through Malostranske Square to the Staromestske namesti (Old Town Square). This is meant to be a re-enactment of the wise men's journey to Bethlehem, and the Magi arrive at church for "Pulnocni mse" (midnight mass). The Three Kings Collection annually raises a lot of money for charity.

Orthodox Epiphany

In the Orthodox tradition, Epiphany falls on 19th January, but that usually is when they remember the baptism of Jesus, rather than the arrival of the Magi. For Orthodox believers, Epiphany marks a celebration of Christ's baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan (Matthew 3:16-17). This is sometimes accompanied by swimming in the local river, lake or sea. In some countries the Orthodox priests throw a cross into water and divers compete to bring it back first. In Ethiopia, Epiphany is called "Timket" and is a very colourful event when people dress in colourful liturgical robes, and people are sprinkled in blessed water by the priests.

Public holiday

Epiphany is a public holiday on 6 January in some Catholic countries such as Austria, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Spain, and on 19 January in some Orthodox countries like Cyprus, Greece and Ethiopia.

Chalking the door

In some countries, especially those in central Europe with a Catholic culture, there is a tradition called "chalking the doors". This involves people, sometimes dressed as oriental kings, visiting houses at Epiphany who then chalk up the letters C, M and B with crosses between them, on the door lintels along with the year. This is supposed to bless the house and its occupants for the coming year. It echoes the story of marking door lintels at the Passover in Exodus 12:13. The letters C, M and B are short for the Latin phrase "Christus mansionem benedicat" (meaning may 'Christ bless this house'). However many people also think of them standing for Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, the traditional names of the wise men. The tradition dates back to mediaeval times. C+M+B chalk letters can be seen on doorways in Catholic parts of Germany and across Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. However, in the Czech Republic it is more likely to be K+M+B where Caspar is called Kaspar, and in Hungary it is more likely to be G+M+B where Caspar is called Gaspar.

Lectionary readings

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) is used by many churches, but typically those in the Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran traditions which follow a set of commonly agreed readings, which are topically linked to the traditional Church calendar. There is usually an Old Testament reading, a reading from the Psalms, a reading from one of the Gospels, and a reading from one of the Epistles. The lectionary readings for Epiphany are Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Matthew 2:1-12; and Ephesians 3:1-12.

Old Testament readings for Epiphany

The verses in Isaiah 60:1-6, speak of kings coming to pay homage to the Lord. Notable is the verse which reads "Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord" (Isaiah 60:6 NIV).

Psalm 72 is a psalm of King Solomon, which follows the same idea of people paying honour to the royal son (Psalm 72:1). Notable is the verse which reads "The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him, the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him with gifts" (Psalm 72:10 NIV). For some people these are actual prophecies of the coming of the Magi, although for others they are poetic descriptions of a future Messiah.

New Testament readings for Epiphany

The reading from Matthew 2:1-12 is the actual story of the coming of the Magi, which is only found in Matthew's Gospel account. In the Bible the Magi are unnumbered and unnamed and from a land (or lands) unspecified. These details are added by tradition, but the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh are mentioned in the text (Matthew 2:11).

The reading from Ephesians 3:1-12 is about Paul explaining that he is the preacher for the Gentiles. This relates to the story, because the Magi are regarded as the first Gentiles to meet Jesus, and when they returned to tell the story to their own land (or lands), and as envoys of their king, they were the first Gentiles to pass on the good news of Jesus.
Who were the magi remembered by the Church at Epiphany?

Epiphany on January 6 recalls the visit of Magi, or wise men, to the infant Jesus. It falls on the 12th day after Christmas and brings the Christmas season to a close. But who were the wise men that are remembered on this day?

The wise men in popular culture

The actual story of the wise men visiting Jesus is only found in Matthew 2:1-12. This account is lacking in details, and as often happens gaps in the biblical narrative are filled in by tradition.

We see this in Nativity plays, in crib scenes and on Christmas cards featuring the wise men. Typically these depict three kings riding on camels, each one carrying one of the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Magi appear in a number of Christmas carols. In the carol "the First Noel" they are called "three wise men". In the carol "We Three Kings" they are imagined as a trio of oriental kings.

What does Magi mean?

In the Gospel of Matthew, it says that  (magoi) came to visit. The Latin Vulgate rendered this as 'magi' which is how the term came into English. Magi is the plural of the singular word 'magus'. Forms of this word are the origin of the English words 'magic' and 'magician'.

The same word in the singular is used in the New Testament, for two men mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Elymas the Magus (  ) is mentioned in Acts 13:6-11, where he is called a sorcerer or a magician depending on the translation. Simon Magus (  ) is mentioned in Acts 8:9-13, where he is described as practising sorcery or practising magic, depending on the translation.

The word 'magi' came into Latin via Greek, and into Greek via the old Persian word for a Zoroastrian priest 'magush'. The same word, in Greek in the Septuagint and in Latin in the Vulgate, is used of King Nebuchadnezzar's wise men in the book of Daniel. Matthew was perhaps was making a link to the Babylonian court, where these men were referred to as 'magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers' (Daniel 2:2 NIV) and collectively as 'wise men' (Daniel 5:7 NIV). Whether Matthew is implying that they came from that region is not clear, but his choice of word gives an indication of the type of men they were.

Actually the word 'Magi' is very difficult to translate. The tradition of translating 'Magi' as 'wise men' in English goes back to William Tyndale in his 1526 New Testament, which was kept in the King James Version (KJV). Most modern English translations such as the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), English Standard Version (ESV), New Living Translation (NLT), and the Contemporary English Version (CEV) have followed this tradition.

Other translations have called them 'astrologers'. This word is used by the New English Bible (NEB), J.B. Phillips' New Testament in Modern English, the Amplified Bible and the Living Bible. In ancient times, many royal advisers included studying stars as part of their methods, when the distinction between astronomy and astrology was fuzzier than it is today. Other attempts to translate the term have included 'mages' in Young's Literal Translation, and 'band of scholars' in The Message. The Good News Bible has 'some men who studied the stars'. Another solution is used in the carol "Angels from the Realms of Glory" where they are called "sages" who leave their contemplations.

Some modern translations prefer to leave the ambiguity of the term Magi. So, the word 'Magi' itself is used in the New International Version (NIV), and also in the recent New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue).

Who were wise men?

Groups of wise men are actually mentioned many times in the Bible. Rulers used to gather a group of advisers and counsellors to help them make decisions. The idea carries on in the United Kingdom with the Privy Council.

In the Old Testament we read of wise men being consulted by Pharaoh to explain his dream in Genesis 4:18. Later another Pharaoh calls his wise men to meet Moses and Aaron in Exodus 7:11. In 1 Kings 4:30, King Solomon is said to be wiser than the wise men of the East, or the wise men of Egypt. In 1 Kings 10:1 we read of the Queen of Sheba who came to visit King Solomon with a group of attendants, ready to ask difficult questions, so it seems she brought her wise men with her, and perhaps she had some wise women too. Wise men are then mentioned most often as being consulted by King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel (see Daniel 1:20, Daniel 2:2, Daniel 2:10, Daniel 4:7, Daniel 5:7 and Daniel 5:15). In the Old Testament the knowledge of wise men is contrasted to the knowledge of God's people such as Moses and Aaron, King Solomon and Daniel.

Then in the Nativity story, we read that when the Magi first arrived at the court of King Herod, that King Herod consulted his own wise men, who were the chief priests and scribes (Matthew 2:4). Here the Jewish wise men of King Herod knew the Scriptures, implying perhaps that these Magi were Gentiles.

So, it is likely that these wise men were linked to the royal court, and were not Jewish. Stories of wise men show that they were employed by a monarch. They probably worked for a King, but we know from the stories of Queen Athaliah of Judah (2 Kings 11:3), the Queen of Sheba (2 Chronicles 9:1) and Queen Candice of Ethiopia (Acts 8:27), that in biblical times there were also ruling Queens, so they might have worked for a Queen. The wise men did their duty and alerted their monarch to the birth of a new king in Judea, and then he (or possibly she) sent them on his (or her) behalf with suitable gifts from one king to another.

Were they kings?

Sometimes the wise men are called 'kings'. Our idea is reinforced by the Christmas carol, 'We three kings of Orient are', written in 1857. This references Isaiah 60:3, 6 which reads 'And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising ... They shall bring gold and frankincense ...' (Isaiah 60:3, 6 ESV). Another verse with this idea is Psalm 72:11, which says 'all kings shall fall down before him'. Wise men were attached to royal courts, so these wise men probably had royal connections, and may have represented a king. However had they been kings themselves Matthew would no doubt have called them such, rather than as Magi. Most likely they came as envoys of a king.

Did they know the Scriptures?

When the Magi came to visit Jesus they were following a star. The idea that a star heralded the Messiah comes from Numbers 24:17, which includes the phrase 'There shall come a Star out of Jacob'. As such perhaps they knew the Scriptures. However, they first went to Jerusalem and not Bethlehem, and it was Herod's wise men who told him that the new king would be from Bethlehem from, citing the verse which reads 'And you, O Bethlehem ... from you shall come ... one who is to be ruler in Israel' (Micah 5:2 ESV). So it is not clear if they knew the Scriptures or not, or perhaps they knew some of the Scriptures but did not know the Minor Prophets.

What were their names?

In the carol 'We Three Kings' the Magi are assigned names Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. These are traditional names, which have been used since the sixth century, but the wise men are not named in the Bible, and we will probably never know what their names were.

How many were there?

In Europe, the idea that there were three of them comes from the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh mentioned in Matthew 2:11. The Early Church writer John Chrysostom (c347  407 AD), the great scholar and Archbishop of Constantinople, believed that there were twelve of them, which is still the tradition in many churches in the East. The idea of twelve might have been symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel.

If we read the Bible story, there is no mention of the number of wise men at all. Magi is just plural. People travelling with gold, frankincense and myrrh, which were very valuable, were more likely to travel in a larger group for safety, and a royal delegation was more likely to have been larger. Often in the Bible when there are a two of something they are referred to as a pair, so it seems that that there were at least three of them. It maybe that there was a larger group and the exact number is not given, simply because Mary could not remember the exact number when she related to the story to Matthew, or whoever he got the story from. So, it might have been three men, but it seems likely it was more.

Were they all men?

They may not even have all been male. The Greek word Magi is a masculine plural, which means it might be all males, or a mixture of males and females. For example when Jesus told his disciples to be 'fishers of men' (Matthew 4:19) we assume he meant women too. So possibly the group of 'wise men' included one or more women, or perhaps one or more brought their wife or female retainers. We can't be sure. Perhaps instead of 'wise men' it would be better translated as 'wise people'?

We don't actually know a lot about the wise men, but we do know that wise men sought Jesus, and that wise people still do.
Pankaj Mishra in the LRB:

n March 1960, Konrad Adenauer, the chancellor of West Germany, met his Israeli counterpart, David Ben-Gurion, in New York. Eight years earlier, Germany had agreed to pay millions of marks in reparations to Israel, but the two countries had yet to establish diplomatic relations. Adenauers language at their meeting was unambiguous: Israel, he said, is a fortress of the West and I can already now tell you that we will help you, we will not leave you alone. Six decades on, Israels security is Germanys Staatsrason, as Angela Merkel put it in 2008. The phrase has been repeatedly invoked, with more vehemence than clarity, by German leaders in the weeks since 7 October. Solidarity with the Jewish state has burnished Germanys proud self-image as the only country that makes public remembrance of its criminal past the foundation of its collective identity. But in 1960, when Adenauer met Ben-Gurion, he was presiding over a systematic reversal of the de-Nazification process decreed by the countrys Western occupiers in 1945, and aiding the suppression of the unprecedented horror of the Judaeocide. The German people, according to Adenauer, were also victims of Hitler. Whats more, he went on, most Germans under Nazi rule had joyfully helped fellow Jewish citizens whenever they could.

West Germanys munificence towards Israel had motivations beyond national shame or duty, or the prejudices of a chancellor described by his biographer as a late 19th-century colonialist who loathed the Arab nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser and was enthused by the Anglo-French-Israeli assault on Egypt in 1956. As the Cold War intensified, Adenauer determined that his country needed greater sovereignty and a greater role in Western economic and security alliances; Germanys long road west lay through Israel.

More here.
Olivia Waxman in Time Magazine:

Tom Richey, a teacher in Anderson, South Carolina, is hesitant to call the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol an insurrection when hes in his classroom. If a teacher were to come into a mostly Republican community talking about the January 6 insurrection, thats a politically charged term, Richey says, despite the fact that the 2023 report by the bipartisan House Select Committee charged with investigating the violence refers to it as such. I dont approve of anything that happened on January 6, but I think for a teacher to use a term like insurrection in a classroom setting would be unnecessarily partisan and inappropriate.

Richey is far from the only teacher wrestling with how to discuss Jan. 6 with students as the country approaches the third anniversary of the attack. Because there is no standardized history curriculum in the United States, there is no nationally required curriculum on Jan. 6. Teachers have to figure out how to link it to what theyre already teaching, whether as part of planned lessons on how the Electoral College works, different forms of protest, or post-Civil War era violence, or devote a class period to talking about it.

Theres been increased scrutiny of how history is taught in the aftermath of the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Some conservatives argue there has been an increased focus on identity, sexual orientation, and race in the classroom that vilifies white people and sours young people on America. Some liberals, on the other hand, have pushed for more intersectionality in lesson plans and a deeper reckoning with the painful parts of U.S. history. At a time when there have been efforts to ban AP African American Studies in Florida, states are enacting laws designed to restrict how teachers talk about LGBTQ+ topics, and book bans are on the rise, many of the educators TIME spoke to say Jan. 6th falls into the category of topics that can be a political minefield.

More here.
Elizabeth Anderson in Dissent:

In March 2020, most of the governors in the United States issued stay-at-home orders for all but essential workerspeople involved in providing services necessary to support basic human needs. The public hailed essential workers as heroes and called for them to be given hazard pay. Many employers accepted this demand. Yet shortly after, harsh treatment of essential workers became the order of the day. Employers ended hazard pay. Hospitals fired healthcare workers for complaining about the lack of personal protective equipment. Slaughterhouse owners sped up disassembly lines, which forced workers to crowd closer together and increased the spread of COVID-19.

This conflict over the proper treatment of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is the latest battle in a three-century struggle over the political implications of the countrys traditional work ethic. Does the fact that workers are engaged in socially necessary labor entitle them to respect, decent pay, and safe working conditions? Or does it mean that they have a duty to work relentlessly, without complaint, under whatever awful conditions and low pay their employer chooses in pursuit of maximum profit? The first view I call the progressive or pro-worker version of the work ethic; the second, I refer to as the conservative work ethic. At various periods in European and North American history, one side or the other has held sway over moral thought and economic policy.

More here.
CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday told investors what to watch for on Wall Street next week, highlighting JPMorgan 's market-moving health-care conference in San Francisco. Taking place from Monday to Thursday, the conference is one of the year's largest gatherings of major industry CEOs where they reveal earnings guidance and updates on clinical trial research.

"The new year has started with a redistribution of cash out of the 'Magnificent Seven' and on to the sidelines," Cramer said, pointing to health-care stocks as a particularly notable group that will likely be "propelled by what people expect to hear from the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference."

Cramer will interview several CEOs at the conference, starting with Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth on Monday. Cramer said he's interested to hear how the company plans to get its groove back after cutting its dividend nearly in half this week. Cramer will also speak with leadership from Amgen and Medtronic , as well as the new CEO of Bristol Myers , Chris Boerner, whom he'll ask about the company's rigorous biotech acquisition plans.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Cramer will continue to interview the CEOs of major industry names, including Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks. Cramer said he's particularly interested in the company's diabetes and weight loss drug as well as its Alzheimer's initiative. He'll also speak with CVS Health CEO Karen S. Lynch to discuss the company's ongoing transition from drug store to health-care provider. Cramer will also hear from the CEOs of Pfizer , Regeneron , Novartis , Abbott Labs and Cencora .

Thursday brings the consumer price index for December. Cramer said he thinks those hoping for soft figures will be disappointed. Cramer will also be tuning into CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, next week. The tech event will include commentary by leadership from Nvidia and Dell .

Earnings season kicks off Friday with reports from major banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo . BlackRock will also report, and Cramer said he thinks the company's earnings could give investors a solid overview of the financial industry. He'll also be paying attention to Friday reports from UnitedHealth Group and Delta .
An Alaska Airlines plane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on December 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

Alaska Airlines will temporarily ground its fleet of 65 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after a section of the plane blew out midflight on Friday, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing.

"Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections," CEO Ben Minicucci said. "We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days."

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was heading to Ontario, California from Portland, Oregon, when it returned shortly after departure with 171 passengers and six crew aboard, the airline said.

Images and video of the new Boeing 737 Max 9 shared on social media showed a gaping hole on the side of the plane and passengers using oxygen masks. It landed back in Portland at 5:26 p.m. local time, according to Flightradar24. It had reached an altitude of 16,325 feet before returning to Portland.

The National Transportation Safety Board said "no serious injuries" were reported. It is sending a team to Portland to investigate, arriving later on Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration also said it plans to investigate.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a Saturday social media post that he had been briefed on the "terrifying incident" and that the FAA plans to "take all appropriate steps going forward."

"While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation," Alaska said.

The plane was certified in November, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
Passenger oxygen masks hang from the roof next to a missing window and a portion of a side wall of an Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which had been bound for Ontario, California and suffered depressurization soon after departing, in Portland, Oregon, U.S., on Jan. 5, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered a temporary grounding of dozens of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspections, a day after a piece of the aircraft blew out in the middle of an Alaska Airlines flight.

Images and video of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 that were shared on social media showed a gaping hole on the side of the plane and passengers using oxygen masks before it returned to Portland shortly after taking off for Ontario, California, on Friday afternoon.

The FAA's emergency airworthiness directive will affect about 171 planes worldwide and applies to U.S. airlines and carriers operating in U.S. territory, the agency said. Alaska and United Airlines said late Saturday that they were grounding their entire fleets of Boeing 737 Max 9s.

No serious injuries were reported on the flight, according to federal safety officials. There were 171 passengers and six crewmembers on board, Alaska Air said.

"Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB's investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement.

Large-scale groundings of aircraft by the FAA or other aviation authorities are rare. The FAA has heavily scrutinized the Boeing 737 Max since two fatal crashes grounded the jetliner worldwide almost five years ago. Two other models of the Max, the smallest and largest version, have not yet been cleared by the agency to enter commercial service.

The section of the fuselage missing appeared to correspond to an exit not used by Alaska Airlines, or other carriers that don't have high-density seating configurations, and was plugged.

The National Transportation Safety Board has started its investigation. Chair Jennifer Homendy, at a press briefing in Portland Saturday night, asked the public for help in finding the plane's missing door.

Homendy said no passengers were seated at the seat closest to the panel or the middle seat in the row where the door blew out and added that it was fortunate that the plane was still climbing and not at cruising altitude when travelers and crew could have been standing or walking through the cabin.

"We could have ended up with something more tragic," she said.

The incident was described as "an explosive decompression at the window exit," according to Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the labor union that represents Alaska's cabin crew and flight attendants at United, Spirit and other carriers.

Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said such an incident is extremely rare.

"Rapid decompression is a serious matter," he said. "To see a gaping hole in an aircraft is not something we typically see. In aviation safety, we would call this a structural failure."

The incident is also a reminder to keep your seatbelt fastened when seated, he added.

"I always advise people on a commercial aircraft, keep your seatbelt on regardless of what the light says," Brickhouse said.

Before the FAA issued its directive, Alaska Airlines earlier said it would ground its fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. On Saturday, the carrier said 18 of the planes "had in-depth and thorough plug door inspections performed as part of a recent heavy maintenance visit," but later said it would temporarily ground them all.

"We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service," Alaska said.

As of 7 p.m. ET, Alaska said it canceled 160 flights, affecting 23,000 customers.
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address at a memorial ceremony to mark one week since the passing of Mohammad Yaghi, one of the powerful armed group's figures, in Baalbek, Lebanon, on Jan. 5, 2024.

Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group said on Saturday it had fired rockets at Israel and its arch-foe said it had struck a "terrorist cell" in retaliation, as top U.S. and EU diplomats visited the region to seek ways to halt spillover from the war.

Shortly after rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel, the Israeli military said that "approximately 40 launches from Lebanon toward the area of Meron in northern Israel were identified."

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Hezbollah said it had hit a key Israeli observation post with 62 rockets as a "preliminary response" to the killing of Hamas' deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.

Tensions have been especially high since Arouri was killed by a drone in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hamas' Lebanese ally Hezbollah, in an attack widely attributed to Israel.

Read more about the Israel-Hamas war: Israeli defense minister outlines new phase in Gaza war

The head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Friday Lebanon would be "exposed" to more Israeli operations if his group did not respond to the killing.

Israel's military said it had responded to Saturday's rocket attack with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strike on "the terrorist cell responsible for the launches toward the area of Metula."

Israeli fighter jets and troops also struck a series of Hezbollah targets in the areas of Ayta ash Shab, Yaroun, and Ramyeh in southern Lebanon, it said, striking a launch post, military sites, and "terrorist infrastructure."
Oil traders have largely shrugged off repeated attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, but a confrontation with Iran that disrupts the Strait of Hormuz would send crude prices significantly higher, according to analysts. "If you've got a disruption of the Strait of Hormuz for a month, prices would rise by 20%," Daan Struyven, Goldman Sachs' head of oil research, told CNBC's Brian Sullivan on Thursday evening. Shipping can be rerouted away from the Red Sea, but crude would be essentially trapped if the strait is shut down, Struyven said. A prolonged disruption in the strait could eventually double oil prices, he said. While Goldman Sachs views this scenario as unlikely, Bob McNally with Rapidan Energy Group sees a 30% risk that the conflict in the Middle East will expand to Iran and cause a material disruption to oil flows in the Persian Gulf. Tensions in the region are escalating and the market has not adequately priced in the risk of contagion, said McNally, who served on the National Security Council in 2003 during the Bush administration. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East for a week of diplomacy in effort to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into broader conflict. Geopolitical risk premium Daniel Yergin, vice chair of S & P Global, said geopolitical risk is now creeping back into the market. The price of U.S. crude rose by $2.16 over the past week and global benchmark Brent gained $1.72. "We're starting seeing an impact on oil prices, geopolitical risks coming into a market which has really been dominated by supply and demand," Yergin said on CNBC's " The Exchange " on Friday. McNally thinks the market should be factoring in a $12 geopolitical risk premium in oil prices right now. He said the market has not factored in the risk because traders have "very thick skin" after witnessing repeated conflicts in the region that ultimately did not disrupt supplies for a prolonged period. But the risks are growing and Iran has not shied away from tacking action in the Strait of Hormuz in the past. Chevron CEO Michael Wirth pointed to attacks by Tehran's navy last summer against the oil major's ships in the strait. Wirth told CNBC's Sullivan that Chevron is currently working with the U.S. Navy to protect its vessels transiting the Red Sea. But Houthi militants, who are based in Yemen and allied with Iran, have defied a stern U.S. ultimatum to halt attacks on Red Sea shipping or face the consequences. The Danish shipping giant Maersk said Friday that it will divert all of its ships away from the Red Sea for the "foreseeable future" as the "security risk continues to be at a significantly elevated level." President Joe Biden's national security team met on Wednesday to review options that include strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, two administration officials told NBC News . Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Friday acknowledged that Red Sea disruptions could "add some price to energy in terms of how long it takes and how much more fuel it takes to get those shipments around." Goldman Sachs thinks a prolonged disruption in just the Red Sea could add up to $4 to the price of crude, Struyven said. Granholm gave tepid reassurance about the situation in the waterway, pointing to the U.S.-led maritime coalition to protect commercial vessels. But she tempered that message with the prospect of large scale shipping diversions. "Hopefully, if it doesn't escalate further, we'll be OK  even if there has to be a wholesale diversion of shipments around the Red Sea," Granholm said. Yergin noted that about 40% of oil flowing from the Strait of Hormuz passed through the Red Sea before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, which triggered the current round of tensions. The amount of crude transiting that route has dropped by about half since the attack, he said. Pay attention to Lebanon While attention is focused on the Red Sea at the moment, McNally said traders need to keep a closer eye on the escalating situation in Lebanon. Hezbollah rocket fire has forced Israel to evacuate civilians from its northern border. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet, warned Beirut last week that the time for a diplomatic solution is running out. Gantz said Israel would intervene if the Lebanese government does not convince Hezbollah to withdraw from the border area. Though Lebanon is not an oil producer, Hezbollah functions as Iran's strategic right arm and the Islamic Republic cannot allow such a key asset to get pummeled, according to McNally. The Islamic Republic's main piece of leverage over the U.S. and its allies is the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. McNally said Iran can use the flow of oil in the strait to threaten Biden's "election, economy and infuriate motorists around world." U.S. oil production providing relief As tensions rise in the Middle East, record oil production in the U.S. is the major factor that has kept prices from jumping substantially higher, said Bob Yawger, energy futures strategist at Mizuho. The U.S. pumped an estimated 13.2 million barrels of oil per day for the week ending Dec. 29, just slightly below the previous record of 13.3 million, according to the Energy Information Agency. Gasoline and distillate inventories in the U.S. both soared more than 10 million barrels during the same period. Yawger said refiners in Europe will increasingly import oil directly from the U.S. and avoid geopolitical risk altogether rather rely on ships rerouted from the volatile Red Sea around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. "You can just sail a vessel to the beautiful Gulf Coast of the United States and do business in nice clean fashion," he said. This shift showed up in U.S. export data, with crude shipments rising more 1 million barrels per day to 5.2 million barrels per day total last week, Yawger said. U.S. crude is cheaper than Brent and also provides a higher gasoline yield, he said. Ultimately, the confluence of conflict in the Middle East and U.S. production could further undermine OPEC's market share, pushing customers away from the region. "The position of the United States, by far the world's largest oil producer, it has been not only a rebalancing of supply and demand  it's been a rebalancing geopolitically," Yergin said.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testifies during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Oct. 31, 2023.

WASHINGTON  Amid tensions in the Middle East, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized, including spending four days in the intensive care unit, according to two senior administration officials.

The Pentagon did not inform senior officials in the White House's National Security Council of Austin's hospitalization until Thursday  three days after he arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center, a U.S. official confirms. Politico first reported the delay.

Austin released a statement Saturday taking responsibility for not disclosing his condition sooner.

"I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon. I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better," Austin said. "But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure."

Austin was not able to perform his duties since New Year's Day, a senior defense official said Friday. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told NBC News that Austin "resumed his full duties" on Friday evening.

Austin remained hospitalized Saturday. It was unclear when he would be released, the source said. Details about what ailed him were unavailable.

Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday night for "complications following a recent elective medical procedure," Ryder said in a statement Friday evening.

Pentagon officials will not disclose what the procedure was or when it occurred. They also refuse to provide any details about how serious Austin's condition was this week.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, who was on leave, has picked up his duties, the senior defense official said.

Hicks was on pre-scheduled leave when Austin was hospitalized this week, according to a defense official. She has been on vacation in Puerto Rico, the official said.

She "has maintained full communication with the DOD staff throughout," the official said. "She has monitored DOD's day-to-day operations and conducted some routine business."

The third in line among Pentagon civilian leadership, the office of the under secretary of defense for policy, is occupied temporarily as an acting position because nominee Derek Chollet has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the source said. Sasha Baker has been acting in the role since last summer.

"At all times, the Deputy Secretary of Defense was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required," Ryder said in the statement.

Pentagon officials refused to describe Austin's condition or say what exactly prevented him from carrying out his duties this week.

The Pentagon also would not release details about the procedure or when it took place, and it won't say whether Austin was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Asked why the Pentagon kept Austin's hospitalization secret, Ryder told NBC News, "This has been an evolving situation in which we had to consider a number of factors."

Those include Austin's personal privacy, he said.

While Austin has been hospitalized, the U.S. conducted a rare and controversial strike against a senior Iranian-backed militia member in Baghdad, bases with Americans have been attacked at least six times, and the Biden administration has been considering options to strike Houthi militants in response to their continued attacks against ships in the Red Sea.

Tension in the region centers on the Israel-Hamas war. In October, the U.S. Navy sent two carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in response.

Iran-backed Houthi militants based in Yemen, unhappy with Israel's attacks on Palestinian communities, have been attacking container ships in the Red Sea.

On Dec. 30, a U.S. Navy destroyer shot down two Houthi missiles after it responded to a strike on a container ship that resulted in no injuries or damage, military officials said at the time. The next day, Houthi rebels fired on Navy helicopters responding to a container ship distress call. The Navy fired back, sinking three small boats and killing the crews, officials said.

The U.S. is also wary of further regional entanglement as Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon exchange munitions with Israel along its northern border.
Every workplace has three rules. One: Thou shalt not kill. Two: No explosions, except when specifically required by the job. Three: Keep damages under nine figures.

Sadly, these rules are broken constantly, and so are peoples spines. Itd be nice if you could go to work without dying, but as the old saying goes, You cant make an omelet without occasionally the whole building burning down.

5 The Case of the Explosive Chicken Tenders Chicken tenders are not, as some people think, just a phrase like chicken nugget, for mashed-up bits of chicken stuck together again and fried. The tender, or the tenderloin, is a specific cut of the bird, a piece of meat under the breast. Youre well acquainted with that fact if you were one of the workers putting chicken tenders on the conveyor belt at the Imperial Food Products plant in North Carolina in 1991. However, if you were one of those workers, you also likely burned to death, so this job came with pros and cons. Perdue All worth it for the chicken knowledge, if you ask us. The hydraulic line on that belt had been giving trouble, and the factory had asked management for a replacement, but management told them to hack their way through a spare line and make do. This spare line exploded under the pressure, and the hydraulic fluid vapor ignited when it flowed over the chicken fryer. The chicken fryer was full of oil, which tends to be flammable. The entire room was coated with chicken grease, which is also flammable. A gas line also happened to be leaking, and methane is also extremely flammable. Workers rushed for the nearest exit and found that the doors were locked from the outside. Owner Emmett Roe had locked exits to keep workers in, out of suspicion that they were stealing chicken. Another exit was totally blocked by a delivery vehicle. A dozen workers decided the safest move for them was to run to the freezer room and seal themselves in. All of them in there died. Jack Yates Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. Advertisement The fire killed 24 workers, plus one guy who was just there to drop off a vending machine. All blame fell on Roe, who in addition to locking everyone in had avoiding installing fire alarms or sprinklers. Hed wisely escaped inspections by never registering the place as a food plant. Roe pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence. They paroled him after a few years, presumably for good behavior that included revolutionizing efficiency in the prison kitchen.

4 Nuclear Kitty Litter Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory mixed a bunch of kitty litter into nuclear waste in 2014. Hearing that, youll probably think, Yeah, I see how that was an insane idea. Clearly, disaster ensued. Surprisingly, adding kitty litter to nuclear waste wasnt the problem. Adding kitty litter to nuclear waste is standard. Martin.o/Wiki Commons It was pioneered by British girl group Atomic Kitten. Advertisement Nuclear plants take lots of steps to avoid waste getting out and causing problems, and a huge chunk of risk vanishes when you turn liquid waste to solid waste. For example, you might mix nuclear waste with molten glass, a process called vitrification. The resulting product will never leak because theres nothing to leak  its solid. Again, another method involves mixing the waste with cat litter. This resulting product isnt quite as solid as vitrified waste, but its less volatile that the sludge you had before. Advertisement These 2014 workers, however, made a mistake. They used the wrong kitty litter. They made the error of adding organic kitty litter. Some pet owners opt for organic litter because its biodegradable, but when were storing nuclear waste, we want all material to be the exact opposite of degradable. We want all containers and fillers to last as long as the waste and to stay totally inert. This organic litter broke down and slowly heated up. Department of Energy Fortunately, this all happened in an isolated underground vault. Advertisement The nuclear cat litter sat in a 55-gallon drum at a New Mexico site called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Once the litter heated enough, it burst out of the barrel. The resulting leak irradiated 21 workers, and the cleanup took three years and cost $2 billion. With that kind of money, they could have invested in some much surer method of waste treatment. For instance, heavy duty cat litter, the kind Arm & Hammer sells.

3 The Flaming Rat Lets return again to the topic of how dangerous it is to work professionally with vending machines. The United Novelty Company used to make slot machines and vending machines out of a factory in Mississippi. In 1949, a worker there sat down to clean a machine, using gasoline. As with the kitty-litter story, this detail might immediately raise flags in your mind, but the gasoline alone didnt spell his doom. People rub machines with oil all the time. Gasoline is a rather volatile fraction of oil, but people used to even wash their clothes in gasoline in those days and had to be specifically warned that this presented a fire hazard. California Fire Marshal Silly Mildred, always setting herself on fire. Advertisement Advertisement This worker was named William Daniels, and he was 19 years old. Unbeknownst to him, a rat was hanging around inside the vending machine  not nibbling on food, as far as we know, but just chilling in the inner workings since the machine wasnt sealed up. This rats fur soaked in some of the gasoline, or maybe just some of the fumes. It dashed out of the machine elsewhere into the room. Heating that room was a lamp with an open flame. The rat reached the lamp and caught fire. Then it ran back toward the vending machine, where the gasoline fumes hovered around Daniels, since this was a tiny room measuring just 8 by 10 feet. The gasoline exploded, and that was the end of William Daniels. Walt Disney No relation to actor William Daniels, currently still alive at age 96. This was such an absurd set of events that some people hearing it think its just some fable about workplace safety. This site, for example, says the factual premise is pure nonsense, but it happened, and the resulting legal decision remains written up in full in old law books. Daniels family sued the company, who had actually warned employees off washing with gasoline, but they hadnt warned Daniels directly. The case went up to the state supreme court, who decided in favor of the family. Advertisement As for the true key figure in this case, the rat, no one mourned it, but also, no one held it responsible.

2 Trapped in the Oven Plastic kayaks are made in factories, in a dedicated oven. In 2010, at one such factory in England, Alan Catterall stepped into the oven, to clean up some of the melted plastic in there. Another worker passed by and switched the oven on. This second worker just happened to be engaged to Catteralls daughter. Advertisement This sounds like a clear case of murder, as any man with a future father-in-law is battling him in some fierce conflict. In reality, it was not murder, but the oven was indeed a deathtrap. Thanks to its design, the door automatically locked whenever the power turned on. It was designed this way to save energy. Mark Bosky/Unsplash Killing humans is a green solution. Advertisement Alan Catterall was not unarmed in this struggle. He had a crowbar, which hed presumably brought with him to scrape the oven clean. He attacked the door from the inside  but to no avail. Also, no one was close enough to hear him struggle. The ovens temperature rose to 280 degrees Celsius. He died of shock well before more grisly injuries could take hold. Surprisingly, we have here another case in which the law held someone powerful responsible, and were not talking about the son-in-law. Were talking about the oven manufacturer. A jury found the companys director guilty of manslaughter, and he went to prison. As for the son-in-law, reports dont mention whether he really did go on to the marry the daughter of the man he unintentionally killed, probably because its not really any of our business. Advertisement
Wayne LaPierre, the NRA chief, is projected on a large screen as he speaks at the annual CPAC.
The transatlantic slave trade is one of the darkest and most indelible stains on human history.

Over more than two centuries, millions of black Africans were abducted from their homes, transported across the ocean in chains and put to back-breaking work in strange and hostile lands.

It's true that Britain played its part in this deplorable enterprise, profiting hugely from the use of slave labour on colonial plantations in the Caribbean and parts of what is now the USA.

The coffee and sugar sold at fashionable London cafes, cotton spun in Lancashire mills, rum for sailors, the snuff pinched and cigars smoked by the moneyed classes were all the result of brutally forced labour.

But what is too often forgotten or wilfully ignored is that although having enjoyed its fruits, Britain was also pivotal to ending slavery. We were the first to abolish this appalling trade in human misery and went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the rest of the world did the same.

The Spanish Slave Brig El Almirante in the Bight of Benin, on February 1, 1829

Between 1807 and 1867, the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron seized 1,600 foreign slave ships and freed 150,000 slaves bound for the Americas. The campaign used up half the Navy's budget at its peak and cost the lives of 1,500 sailors in combat and from disease. But it worked.

So, we warmly welcome Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt's new campaign  launched in today's Mail  for a memorial in Portsmouth to commemorate the Navy's vital role in stamping out global slavery.

It would not only be a tribute to sacrifice and achievement, she writes, but would also help towards educating young people on the complex history of our remarkable island nation.

Too many vested interest groups push a 'narrow, anti-British, grievance-led' narrative of our heritage, writes Ms Mordaunt, herself a former naval reservist.

The truth is that Britain didn't invent slavery. Greeks and Romans routinely kept slaves, as did Arab, Asian and African empires  not to mention Soviet Russia, which sent millions to brutal labour camps.

Neither were we the biggest beneficiaries of the transatlantic trade. Some 40 per cent of all slaves shipped to the Americas went to Brazil, which was also the last country formally to abolish slavery.

As a nation we must, of course, study and learn from the mistakes of the past. But we should not be ashamed to celebrate some of the good Britain brought to the world. This memorial would do just that.

On a different planet

As condescending, out-of-touch fat cats go, Sir Howard Davies really takes the petit four.

The NatWest chairman's pronouncement yesterday that it's 'not that difficult' for the young to get on the property ladder shows how far removed he is from real life.

What an insult to the millions being shut out of the market by high prices and eye-watering mortgage rates.

With a salary of over 750,000 and a string of other plum jobs behind him, Sir Howard can no doubt afford a grand house (or houses) of his own. But for many young people, home-ownership has become an impossible dream.

As condescending, out-of-touch fat cats go, Sir Howard Davies really takes the petit four (File Photo)

Sir Howard came under fierce criticism earlier this year for backing his chief executive, Dame Alison Rose, after she leaked private details of Brexiteer Nigel Farage's bank account at Coutts (owned by NatWest) to a BBC journalist.

Following a public outcry over this breach of confidentiality, she was forced out anyway, raising serious questions about Sir Howard's judgment. Yesterday's outburst suggests it hasn't improved.

As head of one of our biggest high street banks, he should show sympathy for his customers who, unlike him, are struggling to make a living. Instead, he treats their concerns with disdain.
One week ago today a superhero of the Left died at the age of 84. John Pilger had a good claim to being the most influential journalist of his generation.

Although there have been obituaries in the Press, some favourable and others hostile, Pilger's passing has stirred surprisingly little interest in the broadcast media.

And yet for years he was a television star, attracting millions of viewers to his trenchant documentaries, many of which were shown on ITV at peak-time. There will be few over the age of 50 who can't remember the good-looking, charismatic reporter laying down the law in foreign climes.

His 1979 film Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia was watched by 150 million people in 50 countries, and won more than 30 international awards. Pilger was among the first journalists to report the horrors of the 'Killing Fields' under the Khmer Rouge, and his documentary provoked a massive humanitarian response.

He was also a Promethean writer and, from the mid-1960s until the mid-1980s, a star foreign correspondent for the Daily Mirror at a time when the Left-of-centre red-top was selling several million copies every day.

John Pilger, the Australia-born journalist and documentary maker known for his coverage of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, died last week. He was 84

John Pilger (right) pictured with Nelson Mandela in the 1990s, as Pilger returned to South Africa to film a documentary 30 years after he was banned from the apartheid state

What should we think of this extraordinary man? It's impossible not to salute him as fearless, enterprising and dynamic (Pictured: John Pilger in Fleet Street, London)

Pilger was among the first journalists to report the horrors of the 'Killing Fields' under the Khmer Rouge, and his documentary provoked a massive humanitarian response

The young John Pilger, growing up in very modest circumstances in a suburb of Sydney, Australia, can scarcely have dreamt of the prizes, awards and fame that would come his way  nor of the riches, which enabled him to buy a farmhouse in Tuscany, where he reportedly displayed photographs of himself in the company of various freedom fighters and Left-wing despots.

What should we think of this extraordinary man? It's impossible not to salute him as fearless, enterprising and dynamic. But he was not always reliable. Too often he let his ideological preconceptions  at the centre of which lay a hatred of American power  determine his coverage. He didn't believe in balance.

At his best, he set the political agenda to an extent almost no one in my trade has done. In his film Death Of A Nation (1994), he revealed how British arms were being used by the brutal Indonesian regime to suppress an uprising in East Timor. He and his producer bravely entered East Timor undercover.

In the documentary Stealing A Nation (2004), he recounted in greater detail than had any other journalist how British governments of the late 1960s and early 1970s disgracefully expelled the entire indigenous population of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to make way for an American base.

So, yes, John Pilger was on the side of victims of oppression, and eager to champion their rights. The trouble was that in his mind there were almost always only two oppressors  the United States and Britain.

Sometimes, as in the case of the Chagos Islands, he was right. But there are other bullies in the world, and they are usually much more ruthless and dangerous than American or British governments. Pilger couldn't see this. He found himself defending some pretty ghastly regimes.

Even in his most famous film, Year Zero, he stacked the cards against the United States, blaming its earlier bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War for the growth of the murderous Khmer Rouge. There was little emphasis, in this and later films about Cambodia, on the fact that Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, was a communist once lionised by the Left.

John Pilger was one of those reporters  more often than not to be found on the Left  who make up their minds in advance, and then look around for corroborating evidence. If facts emerge that contradict the overriding thesis, they tend to be ignored.

John Pilger poses outside the premiere of his film Utopia in Sydney, Australia in January 2014

Nowhere was this more apparent than in Pilger's 1982 story in the Daily Mirror that didn't directly have anything to do with the U.S. He bought Sunee, an eight-year-old Thai girl, for 85. The purpose was to show that slavery was rife in Thailand, an American ally.

Unfortunately for Pilger, Sunee wasn't a slave girl after all. He had been duped. After the fabrication had been revealed by another journalist, the columnist Auberon Waugh took Pilger to task in The Spectator magazine. The world's most famous journalist threatened to sue.

Waugh, who was mischievous, then coined the verb to Pilger, Pilgerise, or be Pilgered. Part of the definition was 'to present information in a sensationalist manner to reach a foregone conclusion'. Somewhat surprisingly, it was included in the Oxford English Dictionary of New Words until legal action by Pilger, seldom quick to see the funny side of things, forced its removal.

As it happens, there were slave children in Thailand at that time. John Pilger just didn't succeed in finding one of them. Perhaps that didn't matter to him. He may have believed that the truth could be manipulated to serve a good cause.

Pilger's anti-Americanism led him to embrace dictators who hated the U.S. One was Hugo Chavez. Pilger's 2007 interview with the Venezuelan demagogue was described by the Left-wing New Statesman (for which he then wrote a column) as 'one of the most toe-curlingly obsequious episodes in modern cinema, putting to shame any run-of-the-mill Hollywood political toadie'.

More alarming still was his admiration for Vladimir Putin's Russia. A few months after Russia had seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Pilger wrote in the Guardian that the Putin was 'the only leader to condemn the rise of fascism in 21st-century Europe'.

Mr Pilger's acclaimed reporting saw him send dispatches from across the world for the Daily Mirror for over 20 years

John Pilger promoting book Freedom Next Time at a bookstore in Sydney in 2007. He has been hailed as a 'giant' of campaigning journalism

But isn't Putin  with his control of the Press, his murder of political opponents, his police state and now his barbaric assault on Ukraine  the true fascist of 21st century Europe?

Even after the invasion of Ukraine, Pilger didn't change his mind about Putin and Russia. In an interview with the South China Morning Post in July 2022, he declared that 'above all, this is a war about propaganda'. Not a war about killing innocent civilians, then.

What was most objectionable about Pilger were his repeated dismissals of journalists who didn't share his world view. In 2006, he asserted that 'journalists in the so-called mainstream bear much of the responsibility' for the Iraq War because they hadn't exposed 'the lies of Bush and Blair'.

That's rubbish, of course. Hundreds of journalists, including not a few in this paper, drew attention to the 'dodgy dossier' and the many falsehoods of Blair and his egregious sidekick, Alastair Campbell.

Pilger was at it again in that interview with the South China Morning Post, when he claimed that 'almost nothing one reads in the Western Press about the invasion of Ukraine is to be trusted'. That is preposterous. Pilger was accusing his journalistic colleagues of Pilgerism!

And this from a man who supported Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chavez, Cuba's Fidel Castro, and a whole gallery of other rogues. He even had a slight soft-spot for Donald Trump, probably because he hoped that the deluded narcissist would leave Putin and anti-Western dictators alone.

Believe me, I'm far from being an uncritical supporter of the United States. It waged a cruel and ultimately futile war in Vietnam. Its involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, where so much British blood and treasure were squandered, was misguided, and equally futile.

But it's possible to disagree with aspects of U.S policy without writing off America as a rogue state, and there's certainly no good reason for embracing its undemocratic and corrupt enemies, by the side of which Uncle Sam looks positively benign.

I never met John Pilger. I don't suppose I would have liked him greatly if I had, and he probably wouldn't have been drawn to me. But I do raise my hat to him as a courageous and indomitable journalist who wanted to make the world a better place.

In the end, though, his judgment was warped by an all-consuming hatred of America and Britain. His hard-Left ideology often got in the way of honest journalism, and self-righteousness sometimes blinded him to the truth. A giant of journalism, no doubt, but a giant who was deeply flawed.
Justice will never be done to the victims of the Post Office computer scandal. What they have lost is irrecoverable, in some cases more than others.

Years of what could have been happy and contented lives have been stolen. Good names have been snatched away and grudgingly returned years later. Innocent people have been locked away in prisons, a horror very hard to forgive. Marriages have been torn apart. In some appalling cases these ill-treated people understandably lost their minds or took their own lives.

I will not join in the easy call for the removal of the CBE awarded to the former Chief Executive of the Post Office, Paula Vennells. I think she should be forced to keep it, as a lifelong reminder to her and to the rest of us of how justice and mercy have been strangled in this country.

Resigning her medal is too easy, too simple and too quick. We  and she  have to come up with ways of ensuring that she (and others) may consider how they may spend the rest of their lives trying to put right the wrongs they have done. This is for their good as well as for ours.

All of us, in our own ways, have such a duty while we live. But in her case it is especially heavy. As someone who has preached the Gospel of Christ in church, she will know in detail that there are many things she can and must do.

There have been calls for the removal of the CBE awarded to the former Chief Executive of the Post Office, Paula Vennells

I watched the ITV drama on the Horizon outrage, and was constantly switching from anger to grief, to occasional joy at the shafts of light which pierced the awful gloom

Alan Bates is brilliantly portrayed by Toby Jones on the ITV drama about the Post Office scandal

As the prophet Micah asked thousands of years ago, 'What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God'  such simple demands, but how many in high office now know of them or seek to obey them?

My concern is for the future. Like millions of others, I watched the ITV drama on the Horizon outrage, and was constantly switching from anger to grief, to occasional joy at the shafts of light which pierced the awful gloom. And I wondered if I would be able to see, and ready to oppose, another such injustice if it was brought before me tomorrow.

I thought of all the times some government department or corporation has blithely informed me (as the sub-postmasters were told) that 'nobody else has complained'. I thought of the growing powerlessness of the individual in Britain in the modern age, as government, police and business have hidden themselves behind electronic walls which keep out all the cries of pain and misery, but still let the money through. We have gone so wrong, and we can only get back to civilisation if we restore the presumption of innocence as the keystone of all our law.

For that principle forces us to refuse to run with any crowd, to question any certainty, to doubt all official statements, to side instinctively with the weak against the strong and to recognise that we are most unlikely to know the full story. And surely that when we see people such as Alan Bates (so brilliantly portrayed by Toby Jones on ITV) wrestling with giants, that we do not take the side of the giants.

Jews fleeing Hitler weren't the same as today's asylum seekers

I too choke with unexpected tears at the famous scene when Nicholas Winton, then not honoured or even much known, found himself in a TV studio with scores of people whose lives he had saved half a century before, when they were children. Who cannot?

But I am not sure of the purpose of the new film about Sir Nicholas, One Life, in which he is played in old age by Anthony Hopkins.

In an early scene, set in the late 1980s, he is shown listening to a radio news broadcast about Tamil refugees. I can only assume this is supposed to suggest that the refugees from modern conflicts are pretty much the same as the ones Sir Nicholas saved. But they aren't, just as modern conservatives who object to unlimited migration are not Nazis. The film's timing turns out to be sensitive, as it reminds us all of the reasons for the existence of the State of Israel. The children Sir Nicholas rescued were Jews, who would have been murdered in death camps if he had not got them out of Prague when he did.

I am not sure of the purpose of the new film about Sir Nicholas, One Life

The story is far more complicated than the film can possibly show, and the politics of the time are explained in the usual Ladybird Book way

Businessman Nicholas Winton organised the rescue of 699, mainly Jewish, children from Czechoslovakia to Britain

There was not much doubt about this after the Nazi state had openly supported a horrifying anti-Jewish pogrom all across Germany in November 1938, in which Jews were killed for being Jews (a policy shared today by Hamas).

Many who could not be rescued did in fact die in the years afterwards. Their parents (who we did not allow into Britain) suspected they were saying goodbye for ever when they waved their sons and daughters farewell on stations across Europe. And they were right. They would almost all be murdered in Nazi death camps.

The story is far more complicated than the film can possibly show, and the politics of the time are explained in the usual Ladybird Book way, assuming that Britain (then, as now, a weak and indebted country with ramshackle and unprepared armed forces) was an almighty superpower which could and should have 'stood up to Hitler' in 1938.

Actually, the refugee trains stopped the moment we did go to war in 1939, and thereafter we did almost nothing to help Europe's endangered Jews, which is a fact we might ponder from time to time.

Case with two judges... and one issue

Have you ever heard of the same court case being tried twice, in front of two different judges? This must be very rare, yet the event has attracted little attention  except in The Mail on Sunday.

The case is that of Graham Phillips, the British former civil servant and video blogger who has been sanctioned by his own Government, apparently for holding and spreading the wrong opinions about Ukraine.

It is necessary to say here that I do not like or agree with Mr Phillips. But I think his opinions are none of the business of the British Government, which has frozen his assets and made his life almost unliveable, by decree.

As his lawyer, Joshua Hitchens (no relation) has argued: 'There is an enormous and crushing effect this decision has on my client. He is unable to pay rent, unable to return to Britain, he lives in a friend's flat in a warzone.'

The issue was first tried before Mr Justice Swift, but then had to be held again when it turned out this judge had himself been sanctioned by the Kremlin.

My colleague Cameron Charters attended both trials (I was abroad when the second was rather suddenly held) and reported that the second judge, Mr Justice Johnson, asked the Government lawyers a rather pertinent question: 'If you are concerned about what he is saying, why do you not challenge what he is saying rather than impose very, very rigorous sanctions on him which do not actually stop him doing what you do not want him doing?'

It may be some weeks before the outcome of this unique and rather important trial, which is about a vital issue  whether the Government can arbitrarily punish people who say things it doesn't like. In the meantime, I hope more people take an interest in it.
He was once declared one of Brunei's 'most eligible blue blood bachelors' by GQ Thailand - but Prince Abdul Mateen recently hit headlines after his New Year nuptials were revealed by his father, the Sultan.

Prince Mateen, 32, who is the fourth son - and tenth child - of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, 77, and his former second wife Mariam Abdul Aziz, 67, will marry Anisha Isa Kalebic in a nine-day extravaganza from 7 to 16 January.

Although little is known about how their relationship blossomed, it's been reported that the pair have been dating for years and Anisha is the granddaughter of one of her soon-to-be father-in-law's closest advisers, Pehin Dato Isa.

Only one official photo of the couple has been released, which featured Anisha showing off her huge diamond engagement ring in a snap to mark the New Year.

Prince Mateen who is sixth in line to the throne, is a lot more open and actively engages with the public on Instagram, where he simply goes by the name of 'Mateen' - and boasts 2.4 million followers.

He was once declared one of Brunei's 'most eligible blue blood bachelors' by GQ Thailand - but Prince Abdul Mateen (pictured) recently hit headlines after his New Year nuptials were revealed by his father, the Sultan

To mark the New Year, Prince Abdul Mateen of Brunei shared an unseen photograph with his fiancee, Anisha Rosnah binti Adam

His lavish lifestyle is profoundly evident on the social media platform: superyachts, exotic pets, world-class hotels and private jets, intertwined with official royal engagements around the globe.

However, perhaps surprisingly, when the Prince was 24, GQ Thailand described him as 'a grounded man who doesn't like to flaunt his family's wealth.'

'He says thank you at the end of every sentence, and he makes no distinction of class or social status in his interactions with the people around him,' the publication added.

The interview highlighted that the Prince's charm captured attention more than his striking looks.

It also pointed out that Mateen was more focused on sharing his interests, and discussing family and friends, rather than the monarch's wealth.

Coincidentally, his father, the Sultan of Brunei, is one of the richest people in the world, having a net worth of over 24 billion - thanks to crude oil and natural gas exports.

Prince Mateen, who was named one of Asias 50 most eligible bachelors by Tatler Magazine in 2016, obtained a Master of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London in 2016.

He currently serves as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Brunei Air Force, holding the rank of major.

Mateen has also showcased his passion for polo by representing Brunei at the South East Asian Games in 2017 and 2019.

The 32-year-old is an avid traveller, frequently posting pictures of exotic destinations for his Instagram audience. One photo, in particular, captures him cradling a tiger cub on the beach.

Prince Mateen pictured with his father (left) at the wedding of Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Rajwa Alseif in Jordan last June

Mateen actively engages with the public on Instagram and boasts 2.4 million followers

The Prince is pictured holding a tiger cub while on holiday in an exotic location

He often accompanies his father on official visits, including the Coronation of King Charles II and Queen Camilla, held at Westminster Abbey on 6 May.

Earlier this month, the Sultan announced his son will marry Anisha Isa Kalebic in January 2024.

The couple have reportedly been dating for a number of years, having attended a number of events together, including the wedding of Mateens sister, Princess Azemah Nimatul Bolkiah, earlier this year.

Anisha, who is the granddaughter of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's special advisor, Pehin Dato Isa, is said to be a thriving entrepreneur in Brunei.

She founded the successful fashion brand Silk Collective, and co-owns a tourism enterprise, called Authentirary, with a close friend.

While it has not yet been confirmed, it is thought that the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 41, could attend the nuptials.

The 32-year-old appears to be confident in front of the camera

He has showcased his passion for polo by representing Brunei at the South East Asian Games in 2017 and 2019

Prince Mateen currently serves as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Brunei Air Force, holding the rank of major

He was named one of Asias 50 most eligible bachelors by Tatler Magazine in 2016

The Sultan and Queen of Brunei were notable guests at the wedding of William and Kate in 2011. Given this history, it's thought they will extend an invitation to the British royals for their son's special day.

Furthermore, both couples - along with Prince Mateen - attended the wedding of Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Rajwa Alseif in Jordan last June.

Other notable guests included Princess Beatrice, 34, and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 39.

Prince Mateen is the youngest of three siblings to get married, following his two older sisters Princess Fadzilah and Princess Azemah, who tied the knot in January 2022 and January 2023 respectively.

While it has not yet been confirmed, it is thought that the Prince and Princess of Wales (pictured at Crown Prince Hussein's wedding on June 1, 2023, in Amman, Jordan), both 41, could attend the nuptials

'By the royal command of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah of Brunei Darussalam, the palace has announced the upcoming wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Mateen and Anisha Isa Kalebic will be held from 7 to 16 January 2024,' read an official announcement.

The celebration, which will spread over nine days, will start with the proposal of marriage ceremony to receive the Royal Command, followed by performances from royal court musicians to officially mark the beginning of the wedding.

The matrimony will be solemnised at the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque on January 11.

After this, the royal wedding reception will be held, featuring an opulent banquet attended by guests from across the globe.
Although chauffeured in style for most of her life, the late Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed taking the wheel herself - when given the chance.

She certainly had a fair choice of vehicles at her disposal - including the trusty Land Rovers with which she was most closely associated.

Elizabeth was often spotted roaring her way through the vast royal estates, sometimes with foreign royalty in the back, sometimes with her corgis.

The Queen's love affair with cars began in 1944, during the Second World War.

Princess Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1944. She was taught how to drive heavy Army vehicles and how to maintain the fleet

Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister Princess Margaret pictured playing in a miniature automobile while their governess, Marion Crawford, keeps an eye on them in 1930

The car loving monarch drives a Daimler saloon in 1957 with Prince Charles and Princess Anne in the passenger seats

That's when an 18-year Princess Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, which allowed women to enlist as soldiers in order to carry out the sort of work that would free men for frontline duties.

It was with the ATS that she learned to drive heavy Army vehicles and to service and maintain them. She also studied mechanical theory and map reading.

The royal, who was nicknamed 'Princess Auto Mechanic' by the media, worked for seven hours a day learning her trade and was defiantly hands on when it came to work more commonly associated with men.

While at the time it was even a novelty to see women serving in the Armed Services, it was even more of a shock to see the Princess in overalls stripping down a truck engine and changing tyres in a vehicle park.

To pass her final test, she had to drive a heavy Army truck alone from Camberley into central London.

Princess Elizabeth graduated as a fully qualified driver and held the rank of Second Subaltern.

Following the end of the war and her succession to the throne, the Queen continued to enjoy driving - and over the course of her reign acquired an impressive collection of cars, including some of the best vehicles on the market.

These included models such as the Rover P5 B, the Vauxhall Cresta estate and even a Jaguar X-Type wagon, along with Bentleys, Jaguars and Rolls-Royces.

Her true love, however, lay with Landrover Defenders and Range Rovers. The Queen was often photographed behind the wheel.

But it seems that not everyone was always a fan of Her Majesty's driving.

Queen Elizabeth at the wheel of a 1961 Vauxhall PA Cresta Friary Estate as she drives Prince Andrew to the Windsor Horse Trials in April 1968

Queen Elizabeth drives er Range Rove, accompanied by her lady-in-waiting Dame Annabel Whitehead for the second day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2021

The late Queen at the wheel during a visit to the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2010

Sherard Cowper-Coles, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, wrote in his memoir that: 'After lunch, the Queen had asked her royal guest whether he would like a tour of the estate.

'To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off...

'Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a queen.'

It seems that when the prince had agreed to the tour, he had not expected the Queen to get behind the wheel herself - or that she would proceed to drive full-speed around the bumpy country roads.

Abdullah reportedly implored the Queen to concentrate on her driving rather than chatting. At that time, women were banned from driving in Saudi Arabia.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron also offered a shaft of insight into the Queen's driving habits when, in 2019, he described how she once took him at 'breakneck speeds' around the Balmoral estate.

He told The Times' Red Box podcast: 'You get into a car, sort of seven o'clock at night, often driven by the Queen herself, driven at breakneck speed up onto the moor.

Queen Elizabeth in the driving seat of her estate car stops on the Long Walk, Windsor, to speak to a man taking part in a charity pageant in 1973

The late Monarch watches the Land Rover International Driving Grand Prix from her new Jaguar X Type estate car on the first day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2006

Queen Elizabeth on the way to a Grouse Shoot on the Corgarff Estate, Aberdeenshire, in September 2014

The monarch's Queen Elizabeth was the only person in the United Kingdom who could legally drive without a licence and without even taking a driving test.

Driving licenses were issued in her name, of course.
A woman who escaped a polygamist group has spoken out about the horrific abuse that she endured while growing up in the religious sect.

Lu Ann Cooper has exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com that she was forced to start working at age five before marrying her cousin when she was only 15, and was 'bullied' by the police after fleeing, who told her that her 'story was not believable.'

The now mother-of-two spent her childhood as a member of a religious organization known as the Kingston Group, where she was subjected to child labor, incest, and underage marriage before she ultimately escaped at age 20.

She is sharing her story as part of A&E's upcoming docuseries entitled Secrets Of Polygamy, which will premiere on January 8 at 10pm EST/PST.

A woman who escaped a polygamist group has spoken out about the horrific abuse that she endured while growing up in the sect

Lu Ann Cooper spent her childhood as a member of a religious organization known as the Kingston Group, where she was subjected to child labor, incest, and underage marriage

She was forced to start working at age five and married her cousin when she was only 15 - before she ultimately escaped at age 20. She's seen as a kid

Ahead of the new show, Lu Ann spoke about her journey to DailyMail.com, while detailing the trauma that she experienced during her time in the controversial group - as well as how she turned her life around after she was left with no family, money, or education.

According to Lu Ann, the Kingston Group not only believes in 'polygamy,' but they also teach members that they must 'obey the person above them no matter what.'

Now, the mother-of-two has shared her story as part of A&E's upcoming docuseries entitled Secrets of Polygamy, which will premiere on January 8 at 10pm EST/PST

'It's a brainwashing technique that they use,' she told DailyMail.com.

'There was a lot of abuse. Physical, mental, spiritual, sexual, all of the abuse. It was a big part of our lives. Anyone who is over you is allowed to abuse you to get you to do what they want.

'When we're babies, we're taught to stop crying at the drop of a hat and if we didn't they would slap us in the face until we did stop crying.'

The group was started by her uncle, Elden Kingston, in 1935, after their family was ex-communicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church.

When Elden died from cancer in 1948, his brother and Lu Ann's dad, John Kingston, took over as the leader.

By the time he passed away in 1987, John had 13 wives and a total of 79 kids. After his death, Lu Ann's half-brother Paul Kingston became the head.

Each of John's wives lived in a separate home with their children, and Lu Ann said he only visited them twice.

Ahead of the new show, Lu Ann spoke about her journey exclusively to DailyMail.com, while detailing the trauma that she experienced during her time in the controversial religious group

Lu Ann (seen far left) said: 'There was a lot of abuse. Physical, mental, spiritual, sexual, all of the abuse. When we're babies, if we cried, they would slap us in the face until we stopped'

She continued: 'I remembered the few times we would be around [my dad], my mom and my aunt had to prep us first and remind us, "Don't make any noise or fiddle around or fidget. Don't make yourself known." They were a nervous wreck around him.'

Lu Ann went to public school as a child, but she said she was 'prepped' from a young age to 'lie' and keep what was happening in her family hidden from the outside world.

Lu Ann's dad John Kingston (seen), was the leader of the group. By the time he died in 1987, he had 13 wives and a total of 79 kids

'We were taught to blend in with the world so people didn't know we were part of a secret group,' she explained.

'I was told, "These are the secrets you don't tell and the lies you use to cover it up." I would go to school but I wasn't allowed to make friends or hangout with anyone outside of school. It was hard, it was just lonely.'

At age five, she started going to the store her mom worked at after school, where she was forced to 'organize shoes and clothes in the back and keep the shop clean.'

'Eventually I was taught how to run the cash register and help the customers,' she revealed.

'When I was 12, I was told that I was old enough to have my own job so I'd catch the bus to Salt Lake City after school and I started doing data entry for The Order's monthly statements.'

Lu Ann said she was told that her work was for the 'kingdom of God' and would allow her to get into heaven.

'I remember knowing we were different and wishing I was born in a normal family,' she told DailyMail.com. 'I remember wishing I wasn't born in that family.

'I remember being tired a lot. But we were working for the kingdom of God so we just pressed forward and kept working.

Lu Ann said the Kingston Group believed in keeping the 'bloodline pure,' which meant members had to marry their siblings or cousins

She wed her first cousin, named Jeremy, when she was 15 and he was 23. They went on to welcome two little girls together

'We worked for the order and were raised to believe we were the only group that was gonna go to heaven.

'So we were better than everyone else and above the law so it didn't matter if the law said kids weren't allowed to work.'

The Kingston Group also believed in keeping the 'bloodline pure,' which meant members had to marry their siblings or cousins.

At age 15, Lu Ann was approached by her first cousin, named Jeremy, who was 23 at the time, and told her he 'thought they were supposed to be married.'

She said she 'didn't dare resist' because she had seen other family members unsuccessfully try to escape, only to get caught and 'beaten' for attempting to leave.

'I had half sisters and cousins who resisted and they got married anyways. I watched them go through the struggle of trying to not get married but getting married anyways. So I knew once he was asking for me it was done,' she shared.

'I considered myself fortunate that I wasn't marrying my half brothers because both of my older sisters did marry their half brothers. I was also happy that he was only 23 and not 43.'

Lu Ann - who was Jeremy's fourth wife - said about a week into their marriage, she had a sudden realization that she was 'never gonna feel loved' or 'have a real relationship' with her new husband.

'It hit me like a brick how unhappy I was gonna be. I knew I was going to be miserable in that marriage,' she admitted.

But she 'found a way to survive' and 'tried to be a good wife.' She and Jeremy went on to welcome two little girls together, but as time went on, she eventually fell into a 'deep depression.'

'I started having suicidal ideations. But I also had my two little girls who I couldn't leave behind,' she said.

While Lu Ann said she never considered leaving the group, a chat with a cousin who had fled 15 years prior changed everything.

'She told me, "You know you could leave right?" I had never though of that before,' the mom-of-two shared.

'I had thought of ending my life before I thought about leaving because you just don't leave The Order. That's spiritual suicide.'

Then, when one of her daughters came home from daycare - which was held at the home of one of her husband's other wives - with a 'handprint on her face,' Lu Ann decided it was finally time to do something.

'I put her in the car that night and I said, "You never have to go back here again,"' she recalled.

She decided to run away after one of her daughters came home from daycare - which was held at the home of one of her husband's other wives - with a 'handprint on her face'

Lu Ann - who has since remarried - is now a successful realtor and public speaker, and she runs a non-profit organization called Hope After Polygamy. She's seen recently with her daughter

The next morning, she started to pack up her things but was caught by one of her siblings who 'tried to stop her from leaving' and attempted to 'take her kids' from her.

She ended up 'calling the police' - but when she told the officers about what she had endured, they accused her of lying.

'The officer flat out said, "I do not believe you. This story is not believable. This is a domestic dispute that you need to figure out,"' she remembered.

In the end, Lu Ann was able to get away in May 2000, when she was 20 years old. But joining the real world after spending two decades under the control of the cult was extremely difficult.

'I left with only a few high school credits. I was very limited to what jobs I can get,' she explained.

'It was frustrating, I had the job experience but I couldn't use any of those references.'

She started off by 'selling paintings' in front of a local grocery store, which she hated.

'It was a horrible fit because we were taught not to interact or talk to outsiders, and when you've just left everything you know and you're starting over in a foreign world, being a sales person is the last thing you should be,' she added. 'But it paid enough to cover my part of the rent.'

She also focused on getting an education and went back to high school, earning her diploma within a year.

She then moved to a temp agency while working on getting her real estate license.

Lu Ann - who has since remarried - is now a successful realtor and public speaker, and she also runs a non-profit organization called Hope After Polygamy, which she started with four other women who left the Kingston Group.

'We give out scholarships to people who have left [polygamist groups],' she said of the organization, which was started with four other women who left the Kingston Group

She hopes that being so open about what she went through, especially on A&E's upcoming series, will help shine a light on the growing problem of polygamist groups in America

Lu Ann (seen with her new husband and daughter) concluded: 'When I first left, I couldn't get people to listen to my story. I am so glad someone is finally talking about everything'

'We promote education and give out scholarships to people who have left [polygamist groups] to help them with their education,' she said.

'Like me, a lot of them leave with very little education and that's really what you need to survive in this outside world.'

She now has very little contact with her family. She added, 'When I first left, I was told, "You're no longer my sister, we're not family anymore. Stop calling."

'I will call my mom once in a while, but she's not nice. It's been over 20 years now and I've been able to get on with my life.'

She hopes that being so open about what she went through, especially on A&E's upcoming series, will help shine a light on the growing problem of polygamist groups in America.

'When I first left, I couldn't get people to listen to my story. I am so glad someone is finally talking about everything that's going on in these polygamist groups,' she concluded.

'There's times that we've reached out for help and haven't gotten it and it's still happening in a lot of polygamist groups in this country today.

'They're letting a lot of other crimes slide because it involves polygamy. We need to criminalize polygamy and stop letting these people break the law.

'I went to the police and said, "I'm a witness of incest and underage marriage." They [didn't believe me]. They were essentially bullying me so that they didn't have to do anything about it.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Kingston Group, which is also known as The Davis County Cooperative Society, for comment.

In 2020, a bill was passed in Utah that decriminalized polygamy for consenting adults, reducing polygamy charges from a third-degree felony to an infraction, which means if convicted, polygamists won't receive prison time.

Last year, it was revealed that 10 former members of the Kingston Group were suing the organization for 'unpaid labor, sexual violence, and human trafficking.' The case is still ongoing.

According to The Guardian, the group responded to the lawsuit by insisting that 'marriage is a personal choice.'

'Members are encouraged to prayerfully seek guidance from their parents or through personal inspiration, but ultimately, the decision must be their own,' they said.

'Once an individual has made a decision on who to marry, members are encouraged to seek the blessing of their parents, family, and/or church leaders, but to say that one individual chooses or heavily influences who will marry who is entirely inaccurate.'

They also 'denied allegations that children worked for their businesses.'

A spokesperson for the group also called claims in the suit 'categorically false' in a statement to the New York Post.

On its website, the group insists that 'has been speaking out publicly against fraud and abuse for decades.'

'We re-affirm to our members that this type of behavior goes completely against our beliefs and principles and we cannot support anyone found to be engaged in this type of behavior,' it adds.

'Any individual who is engaged in or becomes aware of any unlawful activity are encouraged to promptly correct any impropriety.

'We encourage any individuals facing an abusive situation to seek help from an impartial source that is acting in the best interest of the victim or potential victim.

'We have diligently worked with State social services and the juvenile judicial system to create impartial relationships that are in the best interest of the people we serve.

'We believe crimes of this nature are no more prevalent in plural families than the general population.'

It also states 'we believe personal relationships between consenting parties should not be regulated by the state so long as they are not coerced and are entered into by the free agency of both parties.'

A&E's Secret of Polygamy will premiere on January 8 at 10pm EST/PST.
The 13th series of the UK shows nurses fight for better pay in storylines

Its incredible to think that Call The Midwife, which was set in 1957 when it started with the ghosts of war and the workhouse haunting Londons East End, has now reached the end of the 1960s.

In its 13th series, the ever-popular BBC drama will see man land on the moon, nurses fight for better pay and, as always, the pain of poverty mixed with the joys of childbirth.

In other words, nothing has changed  and yet, change is continuous. People ask me if I ever run out of stories, but that would mean a world in which every baby was born without trauma and women had nothing left to fight for  a perfect world, says the shows creator Heidi Thomas.

But Call The Midwife is not a perfect world. Even though its set nearly 60 years ago, many of the issues we cover shine a light on the way we live now. Sometimes we look back and think, Thank God thats changed, but often we look back and think nothing has changed. Thats why we keep going.

The first episode of the new series, set in 1969, is a particularly dramatic one featuring a mobster and a pregnant woman with cerebral palsy, played movingly by Rosie Jones who was born with the disorder.

Student midwives Joyce Highland (left), played by Renee Bailey, and Rosalind Clifford, played by Natalie Quarry, arrive at Nonnatus House in the first episode of the new series

It also sees the arrival of student midwives, two of whom will live at Nonnatus House: Joyce Highland (Renee Bailey), a fiercely bright and independent immigrant from Trinidad, and the more naive Rosalind Clifford (Natalie Quarry), who quickly has to find her feet.

For Natalie, 25, who used to watch the show with her family, joining the cast is a dream come true.

It feels like a full-circle moment to be on it, she says. On my first day I shot my first scene where I walk up to Nonnatus House. I felt immediately at home.

There were challenges, though. In my first birth scene I was terrified because the baby was only nine days old and I havent held a newborn since my smallest cousin was born ten years ago, she recalls.

They said, Here you go, a baby... and I was really worried something was going to go wrong. But theyre so sweet and tiny  Ive grown more confident with them.

Episode five sees most of the community head to the seaside, and although it was filmed in early autumn, the cast and crew faced gale-force winds thanks to Storm Agnes.

Cliff Parisi, who plays Fred, almost got hypothermia because of the unseasonal weather.

One of the seriess stories shows nurses fighting for better pay for the first time, a modern parallel Heidi was surprised to discover.

The 13th series of Call The Midwife sees nurses fight for better pay for the first time. Pictured (L-R): ,Trixie Franklin (Helen George), Nancy Corrigan (Megan Cusak), Rosalind Clifford (Natalie Quarry) and Joyce Highland (Renee Bailey)

During my research I saw nurses taking to the streets protesting for the right to be better paid and respected as professionals.

The protest movement spreads over the series without resolution because historically the nurses did not get what they wanted until the 1970s, but I thought it was important to include because were still having the same arguments.

'And I think this is what fuels Call The Midwife. We arent a show about present-day politics, were about timeless humanity.
Calvin Klein has a reputation for intimate, steamy shoots which often see A-list celebrities (and gorgeous models) strip down to their underwear.

The Bear's Jeremy Allen White had fans 'hyperventilating' when his own underwear campaign was unveiled on Thursday, capturing the actor's chiseled body in high definition.

As the new spokesmodel for Calvin Klein underwear, White, 32, posed with the iconic backdrop of New York City, where he showed off his toned abs in the brand's classic briefs.

The actor has made a name for himself as chef Carmen Berzatto in the comedy-drama series The Bear, and appeared in The Iron Claw with Zac Efron last December.

He has now followed in the footsteps of a number of A-list celebrities who have stripped down to their underwear for Calvin Klein - and got hearts racing globally.

Here, we take a look at the fashion outfit's hottest ever male underwear shoots...

The Bear's Jeremy Allen White had fans 'hyperventilating' when a new underwear campaign was unveiled on Thursday, capturing the actor's chiseled body in high definition

As the new spokesmodel for Calvin Klein underwear, White, 32, posed with the iconic backdrop of New York City , where he showed off his toned abs in the brand's classic briefs

The actor has made a name for himself as chef Carmen Berzatto in the comedy-drama series The Bear, and appeared in The Iron Claw with Zac Efron last December

Justin Bieber

Perhaps one of the most memorable Calvin Klein campaigns of the last 10 years, Justin Bieber became the face of the brand with a steamy shoot in January 2015.

In his first shoot with the fashion outfit, Bieber stripped down to his underwear, and got up, close and personal with model Lara Stone - his abs (and tattoos) on full display.

He's since appeared in a number of other campaigns for Calvin Klein, including the brand's 50th anniversary shoot, where he shared the spotlight with his wife Hailey.

Perhaps one of the most memorable Calvin Klein campaigns of the last 10 years, Justin Bieber became the face of the brand with a steamy shoot in January 2015

He's since appeared in a number of other campaigns for Calvin Klein, including the brand's 50th anniversary shoot, where he shared the spotlight with his wife Hailey

Jamie Dornan

Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan has stripped down to his underwear for Calvin Klein twice, most recently in February 2015 when the first of his steamy trilogy of films hit cinemas.

He recently told The Guardian that he still can't shake the title of 'Underwear Model', despite not having worked for Calvin Klein in almost a decade.

The actor said: 'I think I've done two shoots in my underwear ever. They both happened to be for Calvin Klein. But that tag  underwear model  I just can't get rid of it.

'And it's such a bizarre, specific thing  underwear. It's like I never modelled clothes.'

Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan has stripped down to his underwear for Calvin Klein twice, most recently in February 2015 when the first of his steamy trilogy of films hit cinemas

Dornan recently told The Guardian that he still can't shake the title of 'Underwear Model', despite not having worked for Calvin Klein in almost a decade

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

The Bullet Train actor, 33, is one of Calvin Klein's more recent ambassadors, having taken part in a stripped back campaign in March 2023 with a number of famous faces.

The photoshoot was in the fashion outfit's classic black and white style, with Taylor-Johnson posing in front of a grey background without a single frill or prop.

He said at the time he was 'honoured and flattered to have been invited to be a part of Calvin Klein's men's underwear'.

'felt incredibly safe in the hands of Mert [Alas] and Marcus [Piggott], who I think are equally iconic photographers,' Taylor-Johnson added.

The Bullet Train actor, 33, is one of Calvin Klein's more recent ambassadors, having taken part in a stripped back campaign in March 2023 with a number of famous faces

The photoshoot was in the fashion outfit's classic black and white style, with Taylor-Johnson posing in front of a grey background without a single frill or prop



Michael B Jordan

Actor Michael B Jordan became a face of Calvin Klein in February last year, stripping down to his underwear in a racy black and white photoshoot for the brand.

The Black Panther star, 36, showed off his sculpted physique as he modelled the iconic boxer briefs in the campaign, which featured a number of other famous faces.

Photos captured Jordan lounging in boxer briefs with his buff biceps on full display, tearing off a white tank top, and generally being all-around pleasing to the eye.

Actor Michael B Jordan became a face of Calvin Klein in February last year, stripping down to his underwear in a racy black and white photoshoot for the brand

The Black Panther star, 36, showed off his sculpted physique as he modelled the iconic boxer briefs in the campaign, which featured a number of other famous faces

Photos captured Jordan lounging in boxer briefs with his buff biceps on full display, tearing off a white tank top, and generally being all-around pleasing to the eye

Jacob Elordi

Australian actor Jacob Elordi became an ambassador for Calvin Klein back in August 2019, when he was gaining fame as the star of Euphoria and the Kissing Booth franchise.

Then 22, Elordi has his washboard abs on full display for the campaign, where he appeared alongside the likes of models Naomi Campbell and Bella Hadid.

Posting a few of the photos online at the time, Elordi wrote: 'For mum.'

Australian actor Jacob Elordi became an ambassador for Calvin Klein back in August 2019, when he was gaining fame as the star of Euphoria and the Kissing Booth franchise

Then 22, Elordi has his washboard abs on full display for the campaign, where he appeared alongside the likes of models Naomi Campbell and Bella Hadid

Mark Wahlberg

Actor 'Marky Mark' was the star of one of the most iconic Calvin Klein photoshoots of the 90s - when he posed in a snapback and his underwear with model Kate Moss.

The campaign in 1992 launched Moss to the top of the modelling industry, while its success led then-rapper Mark Wahlberg to instead peruse a career in acting.

Moss has described Wahlberg as being 'very macho' on the shoot, with the moment clearly being 'all about him'.

'He had a big entourage. I was just his model,' she said in 2022.

Actor 'Marky Mark' was the star of one of the most iconic Calvin Klein photoshoots of the 90s - when he posed in a snapback and his underwear with model Kate Moss
The Princess of Wales is 'heartbroken' over Prince William's decision to send Prince George to single-sex Eton College when he turns 13, a royal insider has claimed.

Speculation had grown in December that the Wales's may snub Eton College in favour of Malborough College in Wiltshire, which was attended by Kate Middleton.

The Princess of Wales toured the 47,000-a-year co-educational school for the second time last month  this time accompanied by her husband and ten-year-old George.

Kate is said to not be a fan of single-sex schools like Eton, and reportedly 'absolutely hated' her time at Downe House, an all-girls boarding school in Berkshire, where she was allegedly targeted by bullies.

However, a royal insider has claimed the decision has now been made to send George to Eton College, the school his father and uncle attended, when he turns 13.

The Princess of Wales is 'heartbroken' over Prince William 's decision to send Prince George to single-sex Eton College when he turns 13, a royal insider has claimed

The source told In Touch Weekly that Kate is 'heartbroken' at the idea of sending George away to a boarding school - as she was 'horribly bullied at her first boarding school, and can't bear the thought of George suffering through that'.

It has long been tradition for royal children to attend boarding schools, though William and Harry were the first to attend Eton College rather than Gordonstoun in Scotland.

Despite this, the insider said Kate and William had 'argued' about the idea of boarding school for their children 'for years'.

William has 'finally won', they claimed.

Speculation had grown in December that the Wales's may snub Eton College in favour of Malborough College in Wiltshire, which was attended by Kate Middleton

It has long been tradition for royal children to attend boarding schools, though William and Harry were the first to attend Eton College rather than Gordonstoun in Scotland

Despite this, the insider said Kate and William had 'argued' about the idea of boarding school for their children 'for years'. Pictured: Princess Diana, King Charles and Princes William and Harry at Eton College in 1995

'Kate long disagreed with her husband about sending him away, even though it's tradition,' the source said.

'Kate thinks sending him to such a stuffy, upper-crust institution goes against all of their efforts to modernise the monarchy. Plus, she'll miss George desperately.'

William began attending the Oxbridge feeder school in 1995, and boarded during the week. He visited his late grandmother at the nearby Windsor Castle at the weekend.

'Kate thinks sending him to such a stuffy, upper-crust institution goes against all of their efforts to modernise the monarchy. Plus, she'll miss George desperately,' the source said

The insider has alleged Kate 'finally gave in' on the matter of George attending Eton College after acknowledging her eldest son wanted to follow in his father's footsteps

Kate Middleton pictured at St Andrew's prep school with her classmates

The insider has alleged Kate 'finally gave in' on the matter of George attending Eton College after acknowledging her eldest son wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.

Pupils typically enroll at Eton when they turn 13, and it is understood Kate is skipping a planned visit to Singapore next year to be with George when he takes the entrance exam.

This consists of a 150-minute verbal and mental reasoning test.

George is currently at co-educational prep school, Lambrook, along with his sister Princess Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old brother Prince Louis.
Turkeys International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2023 was a hub of groundbreaking innovation, especially in armored vehicles. Renowned Turkish manufacturers like BMC, FNSS, OTOKAR, Nurol Makina, and Katmerciler participated, unveiling a range of novel platforms and configurations. Defense Updates Weapon Systems Analyst Lt. Col. (Ret) Dan Zeevi attended the exhibition and reports.

The event offered a vivid display of what tops the Turkish Armys wishlistadvanced turrets and active protection systems to multispectral camouflage and guided missiles. This article delves into the key highlights, focusing on the technologies that seem to align well with the future of armored warfare, based on the extensive experience gathered by the Turkish armed forces, defense industries, and their customers in battlefields in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Arabian Peninsula.

These armored vehicle companies, often competitors in both the domestic and international markets, showcased platforms with similar configurations, as they are aligned to the government directives to seek cooperation among local companies rather than join foreign partners for those technologies. This trend has been evident since the US embargo imposed after Turkey bought S400 air defense systems from Russia. The result  many of the vehicles on display were equipped with similar or identical turrets, APS, and other weapon systems, like Aselsans active protection systems and turrets, TDUs multispectral camouflage systems, and Roketsans guided missiles, all of which are of significant interest to the Turkish Army.

Otokar and FNSS presented two solutions for a medium-weight tank  Tulpar and Kaplan. Otokar exhibited two variants of the Tulpar tank; one outfitted with the Cockerill 3105HP 105mm gun turret and the other featuring Aselsans 35mm gun Korhan Turret System, capable of firing ATOM airburst, armor-piercing, and high-explosive ammunition. This turret also integrates Aselsans Akkor active protection system. FNSS displayed several Kaplan Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) variants, including the Kaplan Medium Tank (MT). Unlike Tulpar, Kaplan MT has already been integrated into an armys inventory and represents a joint development between FNSS and PT Pindad of Indonesia. The Kaplan Hybrid and Shadow Rider Heavy robotic vehicle were also interesting configurations on display.

Another key highlight was the BURC Air Defense System, an integrated turret mounted on an FNSS 88 RARS Scout vehicle. This system has four Retinar AESA radar panels, eight Sungur missiles, and a 3x20mm cannon. It is designed to detect and neutralize drones and loitering munitions.

Not to be overshadowed, the ARMA II 88 has shown impressive strides, with two new variants on displaya mobile repair and recovery vehicle and an armored fighting vehicle equipped with the Mizrak turret, which includes a 30mm canon and two OMTAS guided missiles. Despite ARMAs absence in local orders, its export credentials are strong. The UAE has already procured 400 units of a total 700-unit program anticipated, and Kazakhstan is set to purchase over 800.

ARMA IIs Mobile Repair and Recovery Vehicle variant is designed to support mechanized units operating ARMA AFVs. The vehicle features a multifunctional capability, ranging from recovery operations to ground leveling and counter-obstacle measures.

BMC, which has dominated recent armored vehicle contracts, displayed its flagship platforms: the Firtina-II T-155mm Howitzer and Altay Main Battle Tank. Other noteworthy additions included the Vuran 44 Multi-Purpose Armored Vehicle and the ALTUG 88 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), showcasing a modular ceiling concept for mounting turrets up to 105mm in caliber.

IDEF 2023 was a testament to the rapid advancements in armored vehicle technology, particularly from Turkish manufacturers. The innovations on display were impressive, from medium-weight tanks to anti-drone systems and multi-purpose armored vehicles. As these technologies transition from prototypes to fielded systems, they will significantly enhance armed forces capabilities.
Zara Tindall looked glamorous in an embellished midi dress as she attended an awards dinner in Australia's Gold Coast with her husband Mike tonight.

The daughter of Princess Anne, 42, dressed up for the Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement Awards in a chic black dress, which featured gold floral embellishments.

She wore her blonde hair swept back in a sleek up-do for the occasion, and carried a white, pearlescent clutch bag with metal detailing.

Her dress, by Australian designer Rebecca Vallance, also featured slightly puffed cap sleeves, and fell to just below her knees.

She completed her ensemble with pointed black heels, and kept her make-up fresh and minimal for the dinner.

The Tindall's were in good spirits last night as they left the Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement awards and dinner on Australia's Gold Coast last night

The dazzling pair were seen hand in hand as they walked out of the award ceremony on the Gold Coast

Zara Tindall looked glamorous in an embellished midi dress as she attended an awards dinner in Australia's Gold Coast with her husband Mike tonight

The daughter of Princess Anne , 42, dressed up for the Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement Awards in a chic black dress, which featured gold floral embellishments

Her husband, former rugby union player Mike Tindall, also dressed up on Saturday night, in a cream suit jacket and black tie.

The Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement Awards celebrates 'outstanding national success and achievements by women in the thoroughbred industry'.

Zara is one of five judges on the panel for the racing awards, which were presented to winners at the dinner.

It comes after the keen equestrian commenced the year in style as she arrived at the Cheltenham Racecourse in a chic ensemble on New Year's Day.

The King's niece accompanied her youngest daughter Lena, five, in the paddock at Cheltenham Races - and the youngster appeared keen to grab her mother's attention.

She wore her blonde hair swept back in a sleek up-do for the occasion, and carried a white, pearlescent clutch bag with metal detailing

Her dress, by Australian designer Rebecca Vallance, also featured slightly puffed cap sleeves, and fell to just below her knees

Her husband, former rugby union player Mike Tindall , also dressed up on Saturday night, in a cream suit jacket and black tie

The Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement Awards celebrates 'outstanding national success and achievements by women in the thoroughbred industry'

Mother-of-three Zara showed her style prowess and donned a plaid belted coat with a mahogany fur trim as she attended the races with her daughters Lena and Mia, and nieces Savannah and Isla Phillips.

She paired the ensemble with a chocolate-coloured fascinator featuring a statement golden bow and complemented the look with a quilted black leather bag and classic leather knee-high boots.

Meanwhile little Lena, who grabbed her mother's hand tight and pointed out something that had caught her eye, looked adorable in a burgundy coat.

Zara is one of five judges on the panel for the racing awards, which were presented to winners at the dinner

It comes after the keen equestrian commenced the year in style as she arrived at the Cheltenham Racecourse in a chic ensemble on New Year's Day

Zara and Mike Tindall mingle with those attending the Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement Awards

Zara completed her ensemble with pointed black heels, and kept her make-up fresh and minimal for the dinner

Zara and Mike Tindall are shown to a table at the Magic Millions Racing Women Achievement Awards

The Cheltenham Races traditionally falls on New Year's Day, with families flocking to the area each year to watch the racing action.

As Lena and Zara were spotted in the paddock, Zara's eldest daughter Mia was spotted on the balcony with her cousins Isla and Savannah Phillips, where the trio appeared enthralled by the happenings on the racing track.

Mia, nine, appears to have taken after her parents, Mike and Zara, who are also keen horse racing fans, as she concentrated hard on the races.
Princess Leonor of Spain was the picture of confidence as she made her debut appearance at the country's new year Military Easter ceremony today.

Proud parents Queen Letizia and King Felipe were also in attendance at the Royal Palace in Madrid as the 18-year-old heiress presumptive marked the start of the new year in full military dress.

The annual ceremony welcomes in the start of the new military year, with the custom dating back to the Spanish King Charles III in the 18th century.

On this day in 1782, the Manorcan town of Mahon was recovered from English occupation, and the King ordered the viceroys, governors and military commanders to hold a parade in celebration.

The ceremony is now held on 6 January every year to mark the occasion.

Princess Leonor of Spain was the picture of confidence as she made her debut appearance at the country's new year Military Easter ceremony today

Proud parents Queen Letizia and King Felipe were also in attendance in Madrid as the 18-year-old heiress presumptive marked the start of the new year in full military dress

Making her first appearance at the Military Easter today, Princess Leonor was clearly confident as she stood beside her mother and father in her military uniform.

In September, the future Spanish queen enrolled at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza in northern Spain, where she will undergo three years of military training.

After a year at the academy, it is expected that Leonor will move to a naval academy in Spain, before heading for her final year of training at the General Air Academy.

She was the picture of military precision on Saturday, with her hair slicked back in a braided bun and not a crease in her dark grey uniform, which featured a blue sash.

The annual ceremony welcomes in the start of the new military year, with the custom dating back to the Spanish King Charles III in the 18th century

On this day in 1782, the Manorcan town of Mahon was recovered from English occupation, and the King ordered the viceroys, governors and military commanders to hold a parade in celebration

The ceremony is now held on 6 January every year to mark the occasion

Making her first appearance at the Military Easter today, Princess Leonor was clearly confident as she stood beside her mother and father in her military uniform

In September, the future Spanish queen enrolled at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza in northern Spain , where she will undergo three years of military training

After a year at the academy, it is expected that Leonor will move to a naval academy in Spain, before heading for her final year of training at the General Air Academy

She was the picture of military precision on Saturday, with her hair slicked back in a braided bun and not a crease in her dark grey uniform, which featured a blue sash

Queen Letizia was typically chic in a high-neck silk blouse and skirt, which she paired with pointed black heels

Her mother Letizia was typically chic in a high-neck silk blouse and skirt, which she paired with pointed black heels.

She completed her simple ensemble with a sleek, ponytail hairstyle, and opted for simple, fresh make up to mark the start of the new year at the Royal Palace.

The Spanish queen shrugged on a black jacket with a fur-affect collar as the family headed outside for a section of the ceremony to greet those in the Military Easter.

Her husband, King Felipe, was equally dressed up for the annual ceremony.

Like his eldest daughter, Felipe was in his military uniform, complete with a red sash around the waist and numerous glittering medals.
First signs something was wrong were 'really bad headache' and vomiting

She collapsed one morning at 22-weeks pregnant and woke up two weeks later

Mum suffered a stroke out of the blue due to a rare and unusual condition

A fit and healthy Aussie mum was living her dream life when she suffered a catastrophic stroke that left her in a coma and claimed the life of her unborn baby.

Nicole Gallacher, from Melbourne, was 22 weeks pregnant with her first child and everything seemed to be going to plan; there were no signs of any health issues.

But one morning in March 2020, she suffered a sudden stroke. Later she found out it was caused by an 'unusual and undetectable' cardiovascular condition in her brain.

The now-34-year-old woke up two weeks later in hospital after being put in a coma. Her baby boy did not survive.

Nicole had to relearn how to walk and still has physiotherapy for her balance and movement. Despite that, she tells FEMAIL she considers herself lucky.

Nicole (pictured with her husband David) was fit, healthy and 22 weeks pregnant with her first child with no signs of anything being wrong before collapsing one morning in March 2020

Nicole's condition was so critical she had to give birth to her baby boy, Ned, at 22 weeks to save her life. Ned sadly did not survive the delivery

Nicole woke up on that Thursday morning in March feeling 'completely normal'.

She was taking some time off her job as a primary school teacher because she was in the early stages of her first pregnancy and wanted to protect her health as Covid was starting to sweep the nation.

'It was about 10:30am and all of a sudden I got a really really bad headache and couldn't stop vomiting. I didn't know what was wrong but I knew that I needed help,' she said.

Nicole tried to call Dave but he was at work so phoned her parents. She passed out while she was on the phone to her dad and her mum quickly called an ambulance to her house.

She was rushed to Austin hospital where doctors determined she had a stroke due to arteriovenous malformation (AVM), an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in her brain which had ruptured.

She is still recovering after suffering a devastating stroke three years ago due to an undetected condition in her brain

Nicole's condition was so critical she had to give birth to her baby boy, Ned, at 22 weeks to save her life. Ned sadly did not survive the delivery.

Doctors then spent eight hours operating on Nicole's brain to remove the AVM which she never knew she had as there were no signs or symptoms.

Nicole's condition was so dire she was then hooked up to life support and Dave was told to prepare for the worst as doctors were unsure she would make it through the night.

However, overnight the mum made a miraculous turn around.

Nicole had to relearn how to walk and is still needing physiotherapy for her balance and movement but she considers herself lucky

'The doctor said to David, "Medically, I have no explanation, Nicole's numbers have dramatically improved. We're actually going to take her off the machine cause she doesn't need it,",' Nicole said.

Although she was taken off life support, she still needed a breathing tube.

Nicole came out of her coma with no recollection of what had happened since the moment she passed out on the phone to her dad two weeks earlier.

'Doctors prepared Dave and said, "Look we don't know what to expect, we don't know if Nicole's going to suffer from brain damage or what's going on",' she recalled.

She was unable to speak due to the breathing tube but found a way to communicate with Dave.

'David and I had this code where we would squeeze each other's hands in front of people so they wouldn't hear us talk. If you squeezed three times it would mean I love you,' she said.

'When he was at my bed side I would squeeze his hand three times so he realised I remember. He knew that coming out I was still with it.'

Because of her 'fragile state' and 'questionable' condition, Dave had to keep the news about Nicole's pregnancy from her while she had the breathing tube in.

'I kept gesturing to my stomach and he had to ignore me. He said it was the hardest few days,' she said.

'I knew that I wasn't pregnant with Ned anymore because I couldn't feel him. Dave hadn't felt kicks yet but I could feel them internally. I wasn't pregnant, but I didn't know exactly what happened to him.'

Nicole then had to have another operation on her brain to fully remove the AVM.

'They couldn't complete (the procedure) on the day I went in because I was just too weak but that surgery was successful,' she said.

After having brain surgery she was transferred to a rehabilitation facility for four months where she had to relearn how to walk and talk

The mass of blood vessels was successfully removed making her risk of a second stroke the same as any one else.

She was then transferred to a rehabilitation facility for four months where she had to relearn how to walk.

'I had eight weeks of that without any visitors because it was the height of Covid. Not even Dave,' she said.

'We could FaceTime and that was it. He stood at the window and I was on the other side and I was like this is rubbish, I don't want to be a part of this,' she said.

Nicole was told her recovery was expected to take three years and her main concern was whether she could have children again.

'I was absolutely beside myself. I was devastated but now with hindsight I realise it was just that I couldn't have children within those years. I was thinking I would be that way for three years but it actually meant I would improve gradually over time,' she said.

In rehab, she regained her function enough to be discharged at the end of August 2020.

Nicole needed a walking frame and stick to get around but she's thankful the damage from the stroke wasn't more severe.

Her memory and personality remained unaffected but she still has trouble with her balance, walking and mobility in her right hand.

Nicole was told her recovery was expected to take three years and her main concern was whether she could have children again

Nicole was able to have kids again but it would be deemed high risk and she would have to deliver via caesarean.

'That offered me such relief, the fact that it was still a possibility gave us some hope and when you're in a situation like that hope is so important,' she said.

Nicole got to trying for another baby as soon as she could however it took eight months to fall pregnant.

She said it was her body's way of waiting until she was physically and mentally ready.

Nicole and Dave's son Angus Michael Andrew, nicknamed Gus, was born in December 2022 and named after the surgeons, paramedics and ICU doctors that saved the mum's life.

Her physical limitations don't get in the way of being a mum. Nicole said she can meet all of Gus's needs albeit with some adjustments.

She can't carry Gus while walking so uses a travel pram around the house - a job that's getting slightly more challenging as he starts moving and reaching his toddler years.

Nicole tried for another baby as soon as she could however it took eight months to fall pregnant. She said it was her body's way of waiting until she was physically and mentally ready

Nicole and Dave's son Angus Michael Andrew, nicknamed Gus, was born in December 2022 and named after the surgeons, paramedics and ICU doctors that saved the mum's life

The mum said the ordeal had taught her about gratitude and patience and she considers herself 'lucky' to have a happy healthy child and loving husband.

'Our world had just completely turned upside down but not once did I ever consider Dave wouldn't be there. I couldn't have done it without him,' she said.

'It's really important to try and focus on the positives, because if I was to focus on negative, I'd never get out of bed at morning.'

Nicole is still having regular physiotherapy and her condition is improving slowly but surely.

She also has a mild case of tachycardia, an increased heart rate, and is on medication to keep her heart rate and blood pressure low.

The Heart Research Institute is currently doing groundbreaking research on cardiovascular disease to better understand how and why it occurs, and how it can be prevented.

'If I was able to know beforehand (about my AVM), my life would be completely different and that's why this research is so important - it could really change someone's life,' Nicole said.
Thousands of children are being denied surgery that would prevent them from needlessly suffering from tonsillitis every year.

Strict NHS guidance has prevented many patients from undergoing the procedure, known medically as a tonsillectomy, since 2018 in a bid to save money.

As a result, seven-times fewer patients are undergoing the surgery now compared to the fifties, despite a landmark study last year finding that the op, which is most commonly offered to children, is both clinically and cost effective.

While the findings prompted NHS England to update its advice on recurrent tonsillitis, patients must still fit into strict criteria of a certain number of severe bouts they have within the space of months to qualify.

Parents have told MailOnline that their children have been left 'struggling to breathe' and 'so ill' due to tonsillitis but are still denied the op. Other patients, who meet eligibility rules, have also detailed being denied the procedure.

Strict NHS guidance has prevented many patients from undergoing the procedure, known medically as a tonsillectomy, since 2018 in a bid to save money. As a result, seven-times fewer patients are undergoing the surgery now compared to the fifties, despite a landmark study last year finding that the op, which is most commonly offered to children, is both clinically and cost effective. Pictured, Katie Brett and her now four-year-old son Konrad. Ms Brett raised more than 3,000 for Konrad to undergo private surgery in late 2022

Parents have told MailOnline that their children have been left 'struggling to breathe' and 'so ill' due to tonsillitis but are still denied the op. Other patients, who meet eligibility rules, have also detailed being denied the procedure. Pictured, Konrad Brett who underwent private surgery in late 2022

Guidance from NHS spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) states that tonsillectomies  the surgical removal of both tonsils  should only be carried out under the '357 rule'.

Under the rule, a child or adult must have at least three bouts of severe tonsillitis a year for three consecutive years, five attacks a year for two years or seven attacks inside 12 months in order to qualify for surgery.

This rule is followed by the 40-plus Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), which control GP spending in England.

Each ICB has its own funding criteria and guidance for GPs considering whether to refer their patients to a throat specialist.

Natalie Smith-Williams has suffered frequent bouts of tonsillitis for more than a decade, which can leave her in debilitating pain for days on end.

The now 29-year-old has battled the infection at least three times every year since the age of just 14. Some years have seen her plagued with the condition up to seven times.

Her GP referred her for tonsil removal surgery three years ago but at an initial ear, nose and throat (ENT) appointment in July 2022 she claimed she was told she did not meet the criteria.

A second referral months later saw the same outcome.

She told MailOnline: 'I felt so deflated, upset, angry and just annoyed. I know I meet the criteria because my GP even said I do due to the amount of times I have it.'

With few options left, she has been forced to try and raise the money needed for private surgery instead.

'It's affecting my asthma, it affects my sleep and it's really affecting my mental health,' she said.

Katherine Sisk, from Malton in North Yorkshire, meanwhile, suffered the infection three to four times every winter from the age of six until her early 20s.

Now 44-years-old, she was told to take antibiotics on each occasion, which she believes has impacted her gut health.

She told MailOnline: 'It would completely floor me. The glands in my legs would swell as well as my throat.

'I had terrible breath, no appetite so weight loss and obviously a painful throat and tiredness.

'When my mum asked about me having them out they [Ms Sisk's GP] said that they didn't do it anymore as if you had no tonsils you were losing your first line of defence [against bugs].'

Ms Sisk was also told by medics, she claimed, that she would 'grow out of it'.

The marketing agency owner added: 'I did grow out of it, but not for almost 15 years.'

Her daughter Orlaith, now eight-years-old, has also suffered the infection three times since the age of five.

She told MailOnline: 'Doctors are reluctant to give antibiotics but she gets so ill there is no choice. Her airways close, she gets croup  its awful.

'But, removing her tonsils doesn't seem to be something they are keen to do either.'

Once one of the most common types of surgery carried out on the NHS, with around 250,000 patients undergoing tonsillectomies in the 1950s and 1960s, numbers have now dwindled to around 35,000 a year in England.

In the majority of cases, tonsillitis either clears up on its own or with a short course of antibiotics.

But for recurrent or severe cases, surgery to remove the tonsils is the only effective option.

Despite a referral to Preston hospital, Konrad Brett (pictured with his mum Katie) was regularly attending A&E after 'getting poorly so regularly'. It was during one visit to the emergency department that doctors discovered his tonsils had swelled to such a size they were blocking his airways

Recent research has also suggested tonsillectomies can prove both clinically and cost effective for adults.

In May, researchers from the University of Newcastle tracked 500 patients who were randomised to either undergo an early tonsillectomy or were given treatment such as painkillers and antibiotics.

Writing in The Lancet, they found patients who had a tonsillectomy had 50 per cent less sore throats over two years, compared to patients who did not undergo the surgery.

Dr James O'Hara, clinical senior lecturer at Newcastle University and consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'There has been variation across the UK in referrals from primary care for tonsillitis, with some patients having to experience three times the recommended number of episodes before being referred for a tonsillectomy.

'Our research should level the threshold for referral for this problem, and clinicians can now be assured that tonsillectomy is effective for those who suffer with recurrent tonsillitis.'

The study prompted NHS England to update its advice on recurrent tonsillitis and the possible treatments available, publishing a 'decision support tool' in September offering additional advice to patients on weighing up treatment options.

The procedure, however, is not free of risks for complications. The most common includes difficulty breathing after the surgery, affecting one in 10 patients, and bleeding, which impacts around one in 20.

According to the NHS, one in every 100 children who have their tonsils taken out will require a second operation to stop the bleeding.

Around one in 20 children also develop an infection after surgery requiring antibiotics.

Some research has also indicated that NHS funds were being wasted on unnecessary surgery.

One 2018 study by scientists at the University of Birmingham found more than 88 per cent of surgeries between 2005 and 2016 to remove children's tonsils were unnecessary.

Published in the British Journal of General Practice, the researchers looked at the medical records of children up to the age of 15 at more than 700 GP surgeries in the UK.

Just 2,144 out of 18,281 children who had their tonsils removed had an 'evidence-based need for the operation', they said.

But data has also shown that the number of children treated for complications from throat infections more than doubled since the early nineties, as tonsillectomy surgery rates plummeted.

Leading experts have also blamed the rationing of surgery for an increase in the number of adults now seeking surgery for severe tonsillitis.

Complications of tonsillitis include quinsy, where an abscess forms between the tonsils and the wall of the throat which must be drained with a needle.

It's not clear why some people are so prone to repeat tonsillitis infections. But research has suggested some children may have lower antibodies to the strep bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes, which can cause the infection.

Others have suggested that some carry drug-resistant strains of bacteria, have weakened immune systems or live with someone who carries the bugs that cause it.

Some parents, however, have become so desperate they have been forced to pay for private tonsil removal.

Katie Brett, from Cleveleys in Blackpool, raised more than 3,000 for her now four-year-old son Konrad to undergo surgery in late 2022.

In February 2020, at just seven months old, he contracted a virus Ms Brett now believes was likely Covid.

Evidence suggests the average cost of private tonsillectomy surgery in the UK exceeds 3,000, with myTribe Insurance  which offers info on private health insurance in the UK  listing it at 3,084. But the price by region shifts dramatically, with those in Belfast expected the fork out 2,750 on average, while people in Glasgow can expect to pay around 3,321. myTribe Insurance's average pricing is based on data collected from 25 private hospital websites in January 2024

'He was struggling to breath and had raging temperatures,' she told MailOnline.

He was admitted to hospital twice in the eight weeks he took to recover, but was still left with breathing difficulties at night.

Despite a referral to Preston hospital, he was regularly attending A&E after 'getting poorly so regularly'.

It was during one visit to the emergency department that doctors discovered his tonsils had swelled to such a size they were blocking his airways.

Over the course of the next year his tonsils 'were so big and sore that he was bleeding from the mouth, unable to eat and drink due to the pain,' she said.

He also suffered high temperatures, urine infections, tonsillitis and recurrent sleep apnoea, the 32-year-old added.

An ENT appointment with a consultant in August 2021 confirmed he would need his tonsils removed and funding was approved.

But the waiting list was 'ridiculously long', Ms Brett told MailOnline.

After fundraising online, Konrad underwent the surgery at Manchester Spire hospital more than a year later.

Private healthcare providers also told MailOnline they had seen an uptick in tonsillectomy enquiries in recent years.

A spokesperson for Practice Plus Group, which offers treatments and procedures across the UK, said: 'We have noticed an increase in enquiries and bookings for tonsillectomies over recent years, the majority of which are for people who have been told they wont be able to access the procedure on the NHS.'

Evidence suggests the average cost of private tonsillectomy surgery in the UK exceeds 3,000, with myTribe Insurance  which offers info on private health insurance in the UK  listing it at 3,084.

It can in some cases drop to around 2,430.

The exact price and waiting time varies depending on the choice of private hospital and surgeon, it adds.

But the price by region also shifts dramatically, with those in Belfast expected the fork out 2,750 on average, while people in Glasgow can expect to pay around 3,321.
Ibogaine, from the iboga bush native to Africa, could help with brain injuries

A substance found in the roots of a plant hidden deep in the African rainforest could help veterans recover from traumatic brain injuries, a first-of-its-kind study suggests.

Ibogaine, from the iboga bush, is a naturally occurring psychedelic substance that has been used in shamanistic rituals for years because of its dissociative effects.

But now researchers at Stanford University say just one dose administered orally eased mental health problems in 30 US veterans  whose symptoms did not return one month after treatment.

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) caused by sudden blows or jolts to the head are suffered by hundreds of servicemen every year  often leaving them struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and unable to return to daily life.

Doctors said the psychedelic may ease these mental health problems by flooding the brain with chemicals spurring the growth of new neural connctions, which can help people to 'reprocess' traumatic memories.

Experts heralded the results of the study as 'revolutionary' and said it could pave the way for new treatments for veterans suffering from the effects of wars.

Ibogaine is currently illegal in the US  considered a schedule I substance on par with heroin and LSD.

But in recent years it has gained traction as a treatment for mental health problems or addictions, with celebrities including 'Wolf of Wall Street' Jordan Belfort swearing by its effects for beating addictions to opioid blockers.

Craig, a 52-year-old study participant from Colorado who served in the US navy for 27 years, said: 'I wasn't willing to admit I was dealing with any TBI challenges. I just thought I'd had my bell rung a few times  until the day I forgot my wife's name.

'Since [ibogaine treatment], my cognitive function has been fully restored.

'This has resulted in advancement at work and vastly improved my ability to talk to my children and wife.'

Sean, a 51-year-old veteran from Arizona who served six combat deployments, added: 'Before the treatment, I was living life in a blizzard with zero visibility and a cold, hopeless, listless feeling.

'After ibogaine, the storm lifted.'

Ibogaine, from the plant iboga, has been used in shamanistic rituals for centuries. But now studies suggest it could also help to ease PTSD in veterans

Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort is among those to claim ibogaine helped him battle an addiction to opioid blockers

For the study, published in Nature Medicine, 30 US veterans with TBIs were recruited and administered the drug between November 2021 and September 2022.

They were 45 years old on average, were all men and were discharged from the military approximately seven years ago with mild TBIs.

Of the group, 23 had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)  the most common issue in the study  15 had major depressive disorder and 15 had alcohol use disorder.

Nineteen admitted to considering suicide in the past, with seven saying they had attempted to end their lives.

Each veteran was sent for evaluation at Stanford University before they were sent on a five-day treatment trip to a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, where the drug is legal.

They were treated at Ambio Life Sciences clinic, where they received the drug during treatment sessions.

At the clinic, participants were administered the drug orally on the second day  after receiving magnesium intravenously to help control blood pressure.

Treatment periods lasted for two hours, with patients given the drug in pill form.

Patients were in the treatment room for two hours, where they were blindfolded and reclined on a lounger.

Staff was there to monitor them to ensure no adverse reactions, but they were otherwise 'self-guided' while they were on the drug.

People who take ibogaine are described as being in a 'dream-like' state and disassociated from reality.

Patients only had one treatment session with ibogaine.

Results from the study showed significant improvements in mental health following administration of the drug.

Beforehand, the participants had an average disability rating of 30.2 based on a World Health Organization (WHO) survey for disabilities  indicating mild to moderate disability.

But after treatment, this fell to 19.9  indicating no to mild disability.

The low score was maintained at a follow-up evaluation one month after treatment.

The veterans also saw an 88 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms, 87 percent reduction in depression signs and 81 percent reduction in anxiety one month after the treatment.

The authors said their study was the first to show that a single dose of ibogaine could help ease TBI symptoms.

Pictured above is the iboga plant which ibogaine comes from. It is found in the roots

Amber Capone, the co-founder of VETS  which helps veterans access therapy and was not involved in the study  told DailyMail.com: 'This study is a game-changer, and possibly the first to reveal how a single treatment can significantly improve chronic disabilities from combat-related TBIs.

'In a landscape where no FDA-approved treatment exists for the long-term effects of combat-related TBI, these findings are not just promising, they are revolutionary.

'These results reinforce our mission at VETS to pioneer and advocate for effective treatments.

'We're witnessing real, tangible, hope for our veterans  a breakthrough that could redefine recovery pathways for those who've endured the invisible yet profound wounds of war.'

Dr Nolan Williams, a psychiatrist who led the research, said: 'No other drug has ever been able to alleviate the functional and neuropsychiatric symptoms of dramatic brain injury.

'The results are dramatic and we intend to study this compound further.'

About 414,000 US veterans suffered from TBIs between 2000 and 2019  equivalent to 20,000 every year.

More than 185,000 veterans are currently receiving care for TBIs in the United States.

About 14.8 percent of veterans with TBIs committed suicide between 2006 and 2020, statistics showed, compared to 14.4 percent among those who were not diagnosed with the condition.

Current treatments for TBIs and PTSD include a mixture of cognitive therapy and antidepressants to help sufferers live a normal life.

Researchers told DailyMail.com they also monitored sufferers for several months after treatment and that the results were positive.

They are excited by the results but acknowledge the study's limitations, including the small sample size and the fact all veterans were willing to try the drug, suggesting a placebo effect cannot be ruled out.

Psychedelics are becoming more popular for treating PTSD and other mental health issues in veterans and the general public, after they have showed promise in clinical trials.

This includes ketamine, which a study found lifted half of patients out of depression even after anti-depressant medicines had failed.

Ketamine clinics have popped up across the US, claiming the drug - originally used as a horse tranquilizer and sometimes a party drug - can help ease mental health issues when administered intravenously.
A new drug combination that can spare skin cancer patients from the gruelling side effects of current treatments has been approved by health regulators.

Sold under the brand name Opdualag, the blend of two drugs treats advanced melanoma  a crippling disease which kills more than 2,000 Britons a year. The medicine is made up of nivolumab and relatlimab, both of which help the bodys immune system seek out and destroy cancer cells.

The current combination offered on the NHS is nivolumab paired with another drug called ipilimumab, and while it can effectively cure the disease in some patients, up to 40 per cent are taken off it due to the intolerable side effects. These include fatigue, fever, anaemia, limb swelling and muscle pain. However, just one in five patients being treated with Opdualag are hit by these issues.

Opdualags approval by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) came after research showed the combined treatment was more effective in slowing down progression of the disease than nivolumab alone.

Some 2,000 Britons each year are diagnosed with an advanced melanoma skin cancer

The new drug combo is delivered via a drip every four weeks for as long as it benefits the patient

Like other immunotherapy drugs, Opdualag works by blocking proteins on cancer cells that help them evade the immune system. This allows antibodies and other immune cells to spot and destroy tumours.

A trial of 714 patients with previously untreated melanoma found those given Opdualag lived for an average of ten months without their tumour progressing, compared with four-and-a-half months for those solely on nivolumab.

The drug is given via a drip every four weeks for as long as the treatment is of benefit.

Prof James Larkin, a melanoma expert at the Royal Marsden Hospital in West London, said Opdualag could be offered to older or less well patients who may not be able to cope with the adverse effects of nivolumab and ipilimumab.

The crux of it is that if patients arent fit enough, we might not even think of treating them with nivolumab and ipilimumab because of the risk of side effects, he says. But this new treatment gives us another option.

Some 17,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed every year in the UK. Alongside age and genetic susceptibility, overexposure to UV radiation  most commonly from the sun  is the main cause. People with fair skin who burn easily, and those who have a large number of moles on their body, are also at a greater risk. If melanomas are caught early they can be cut out of the upper layers of the skin. But once the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, the disease becomes more difficult to treat and can ultimately kill you.

In 2022 reality TV star Khloe Kardashian underwent surgery to have melanoma removed from her cheek that she initially thought was a pimple. The 39-year-old has since made a full recovery. While Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley died in 1981 at the age of 36 after being diagnosed with a rare form of melanoma that started under his toenail.

Jackie Hodgetts, a nurse and melanoma specialist at The Christie hospital in Manchester, welcomed the approval of Opdualag.

When I started working with skin cancer patients two decades ago, we had to tell those with advanced melanoma there wasnt any treatment. It was very bleak. Immunotherapy drugs changed everything. Today we can confidently say were curing some patients  if they havent had a relapse in five years, its likely they wont.

Ipilimumab was the first skin cancer immunotherapy to be licensed, in 2011, followed by nivolumab and pembrolizumab. There are now also targeted therapies dabrafenib and trametinib, giving further hope to patients.

Prior to the approval of Opdualag, nivolumab and ipilimumab in combination gave the best result in terms of boosting survival. However, Jackie says: We tend to offer the combination to younger, fitter patients as theyre better able to cope with the side effects.

A significant number of patients are older and have other illnesses, such as heart failure, which means they could become more unwell if they do suffer side effects  so we have to offer them nivolumab alone. Its this group well be able to give Opdualag to.
The customer is always right  or was, until Ryanairs social media chief MICHAEL CORCORAN decided to give moaning Millennials a run for their money. Stephen Armstrong meets the internets savviest troll.

Michael Corcoran, 39, sits scrunched up in a meeting pod in the foyer of a busy London conference centre, scratching his dyed red hair and choosing his favourite Twitter/X burn carefully. After all, this is his day job. As head of Ryanairs social media team, he built what The Washington Post called the most savage Twitter presence of any brand in the sky: the budget airlines snarky official account, which spent more time making fun of flyers middle-class problems than worrying about their travel complaints. Im meeting the man who invented reverse customer service, telling moaning Millennials paying a piddly 12 exactly where they could get off.

Illustration: Klawe Rzeczy

There was the time when his team trolled the customer who tweeted: What are your rules for tall people sitting on the plane where the legs dont fit in normal seats? Ryanair: Bend your knees. Or when a woman griped: I pay 12 for a seat but a window isnt included in the deal? Wtf. Ryanairs reply: Read that again, but slowly.

This merciless roasting amassed more than 2.1 million followers on TikTok alone and received praise from outlets as diverse as the Financial Times (a headline read: Brands, be more Ryanair), GB News and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Fallon read out a tweet from a passenger complaining, with a picture attached, about the lack of window by her exit-row seat. Corcorans team reposted the same picture with a little red circle around the tiny window on the exit door. The tweet received an astonishing 55 million views. When Fallon read that, I thought, Weve won, we can all go back to farming, Corcoran says, grinning.

Brands  especially brands that charge 55 if you forget to check in before arriving at the airport  arent supposed to be this sassy and get away with it. The customer is always right, right? But Corcoran, who started working at Ryanair in July 2021, wanted to try something different.

Mostly the problems people have with Ryanair are because they dont read the terms and conditions, he explains, tucking into soup and a sandwich. They feel they have the right to complain even though they paid for what they got. If it was an actual problem that was our fault, customer service would get involved. But we wanted to cancel people who were cancelling us when it wasnt our problem, it was theirs.

In person, Corcoran is much less spiky than the brand image he created  hes genial, friendly, a little bit scruffy and he laughs a lot. I love dad jokes, he says. A passenger called Ryan Meaney moaned, F**king hell, can we just fly already please. We replied, Only if youre Ryan Nicey. I giggle every time I think of it. Hes also a little more serious than he appears. It turns out his hair is red for a challenge: hes participating in Shave or Dye, a fundraiser for cancer.

Ryanair flyers feel they've a right to complain but they get what they pay for

Corcorans career began as a bouncer in Waterford, a port town in Southeast Ireland. I am from a working-class family in County Kilkenny, he says. We were taught hard work and great values. Sadly, I ignored them for many years. I was an awful gobs***e to my family.

His dad was a truck driver earning 300 a week and raising five children, who all had to work their way through college. Corcoran may have been a mouthy kid, but it was the hard yards talking down angry drunks that taught him how to handle the internet.

I was refusing to admit intoxicated people, having no idea which way their mood would go, Corcoran says. Humour played a huge role. I was like a comedian on the door trying to de-escalate situations. Its perfect training for social media.

Working the door paid his way through a masters degree in marketing at Dublin Business School. He then grafted in social media jobs at various agencies, Betfair and Euro 2020. Ryanair hired him after just one interview and he set about dealing with the airlines biggest customer problem: moaning Millennials (hes a Millennial himself, he points out): The Boomers travel to sunny holidays at an affordable price and understand the trade-off, he explains. Gen Z are young and broke wanting a flight to Italy for a tenner. The silver-spoon Millennials expect heated seats, USB chargers and TV screens on a 40-minute flight. Its all madness.

A somewhat forlorn Gen X, I ask Corcoran what he makes of my cohort. The forgotten generation, he replies with a smile. Less offended on other peoples behalf than Millennials but more PC than Boomers. Most of all, youre nervous about social media because youre scared of being cancelled. Youre probably the most open-minded generation.

Under Corcorans watchful eye, Ryanairs jabs were sharp and to the point. Corcoran says a successful social-media strategy necessitates keeping it brief. People consume social media in small breaks in chaotic days, he explains. On the toilet for five minutes in a 12-hour shift. A parent, after work and three hours keeping kids alive, watching telly and bingeing. You cant waste their time. Twitter [now X] is a comedy club for brands. You have to perfect the art of the one-liner and reply in under three minutes.

The madness ended this autumn when he announced he was leaving  on social media, of course. Such was his impact that Guillaume Huin, head of social media at McDonalds, wrote: You and your team have redefined the industry you were in and opened new horizons for every social team across the world.

Hes now set up his own consultancy, Frankly, working with Aldi, Citizen M hotels and Lastminute.com among others. He still, he admits, misses his old boss  the infamous Ryanair CEO Michael OLeary, who set the airlines abrasive tone with claims hed charge passengers to use the toilets and introduce standing seats.

He understands that the media will write about what he says, good or bad, Corcoran says. We learned a lot from that. My favourite tweet of all was the one that got his papal seal of approval.

Hes talking about a Ryanair tweet in December 2021, during the Downing Street lockdown parties scandal, when his team created a version of the 54321 Covid code  five being risk of healthcare services overwhelmed and one being the wildly optimistic Covid-19 no longer present in the UK. Ryanairs version went from one (small gathering with wine and cheese) to five (full on rave. Everyone off their t*ts. Jacob [Rees-Mogg] crying in the corner asking for nanny).

We put it out and the heads came over the desk:

Youve gone too far, he says, laughing. Fifty per cent of the UK loved it, 50 per cent hated it  but it got attention. The Financial Times wrote about being more Ryanair, which reached all our investors. The next morning, I found a copy of that article on my desk with a handwritten message from OLeary saying, Well done, keep up the good work. I went, Right, guys, were good to go, weve got approval from the gaffer.

We finish up. Corcoran is leaving the conference and heading home to Dublin. Whos he flying with? Ryanair, he says confidently. Im still loyal. Then he pauses. Although technically Im flying Aer Lingus. He shrugs. Ill fly with whoever gets me there on time for the lowest price. My moral compass is flexible, like every other human. But at least I know that. My motto is  if youre on a plane, on social media or just in life, try not being a d**khead and youll probably do better.
With the hugely anticipated biopic Priscilla in cinemas, the truth about being married to the king of rock n roll is finally laid bare, says Samuel Fishwick .

Priscilla, director Sofia Coppolas new film based on the memoir of Priscilla Presley, spends a lot of time in Elviss Graceland. A 24-year-old Elvis met Priscilla, then 14, when he was doing military service in West Germany  her Air Force officer father was also stationed there  and brought her to live in his Memphis home when she was 18. They married three years later.

Bedtime with the Presleys (Jacob Elordi as Elvis and Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla)

The film, which stars Cailee Spaeny in the title role, was shot almost entirely in Toronto and captures much of the discomfort and claustrophobia of Priscillas life in Graceland, especially Elviss darkly decorated bedroom. Here we see a gold-tone bedspread fit for the King and, on the bedside table, bottles of pills, his and hers clocks and two phones  one for private calls, the other a direct line to the Colonel, Elviss manager. What you wont see in the room is anything inspired by Priscilla herself. As set decorator Patricia Cuccia put it: It turns out there wasnt really a Priscillas Graceland. It was 100 per cent Elvis. There wasnt even really anything that was hers in there that she remembers she loved.

Priscilla is in cinemas now
TOPLINE TRAVEL: Mauritius for midwinter

Outline: In the Indian Ocean beyond Madagascar, Mauritius is its own special creation, from its volcanically forged peaks to its reefs, rainforests and platinum-blond beaches. More accessible than the scattered Seychelles, less Muscovite than the blingy Maldives, the island is a winter winner: picture Barbados with bigger, bolder landscapes, India without the Imodium  now lie back and dont think of England.

The pool scene at Beach Rouge

Eyeline: January blues here are a joy: seen from a lounger, azure shallows deepen to broad bolts of lapis lazuli and wavy navy, under skies the colour of Cillian Murphys eyes. What to do with this beautiful day? Nothing, unless it involves pina coladas.

Designer line: Lux Grand Baie (doubles from 352; luxresorts.com) is the best-looking five-star to open here in years. A giant metal and exotic-timber lobby curves up, sail-like, as if Robinson Crusoe had built a scale-model Sydney Opera House. Interiors star Kelly Hoppen has waved her wand over the monochrome, minimalist suites. If the literature on shelves seems odd for holiday consumption (Hemingway, Proust, W B Yeats), notice how the black-and-cream book jackets subtly match Hoppens colour palette to a T.

Flatline: Resort restaurant Beach Rouge is one of the very best places in Mauritius to be on your back. Gentle club anthems drift, for an ambience thats equal parts St Tropez and Miami. Its retro swim-up bar is inspired.

Breadline: Making pillowy chapatis is good, floury fun on a cookery morning at nearby boutique hotel Salt of Palmar in Belle Mare (doubles from 122; saltresorts.com). With chefs Shiva and Vishan, eager novices get to grips with chicken curry, pulping tomatoes, steamrollering cumin and dicing lurid veg. Its served to participants for lunch, along with a certificate and a bag of spices.

Dotted line: Driving is on the left, so motoring is a doddle (daily car hire from 18; kayak.co.uk); Kodak-colourful, too. From November to March the vermilion flowers of flame trees overhang the byways. Sunbird nests dangle orb-like in bottle-green branches, and people sell rainbow displays of lychees, bananas, papaya and pineapple.

Fine line: At just-renovated Lux Belle Mare (doubles from 204; luxresorts.com), genial Navin leads tours in the resorts stately 1969-vintage Daimler: past downhome hamlets where dogs yawn, villagers bashing soapy saris clean in a stream, tumbledown sugar mills in canefields with mauve uplands beyond. Last stop: a champagne picnic.

Kelly hoppens Lux Grand Baie interior

Frown line: In the capital, Port Louis, the Intercontinental Slavery Museum is crucial to understanding multi-ethnic modern Mauritius and is a sad but potent memorial to the African, Asian and Madagascan people enslaved and shipped to the town in their thousands between 1638 and 1835, when the practice was abolished.

Dividing line: Spiritually, there isnt one. Dark-stone village churches coexist with candy-red mosques and incense-smoky shrines to Shiva. Given those grim centuries of European colonialism, the harmony among Catholic, Muslim and Hindu religions, with a dash of Buddhism among the Chinese, is life-affirming  like the kaleidoscopic festivals.

Fishing line: In coastal towns such as Port Louis, the catch of the day is a shiny display of orange prawns and saturnine lobsters, fiery red snapper, purple octopus and quicksilver tuna the size of mini-submarines. Book a walking tour with foodie experts Taste Buddies (tastebuddies.mu, 47; which has five options around the island). Guides  ours was upbeat Adrien  know the top local spots: at shack-tiny Karai Kreol, Grand Baie, try the tuna casserole or salmi de thon  its delicious.

Wavy line: Safe to say youll be walking in one after a mojito or two at Cocoloko, in Grand Baie. Its lively by night, and under fairy-lit palms a weekend band plays seggae  Mauritian-Creole sega beats fused with Jamaican reggae. Created by 80s island artist Kaya, its a national obsession.

Airline: Gatwick returns cost from 600 with airmauritius.com. Special-occasion trip? Flat bed in business class is 3,234.

Next week TOPLINE FITNESS: Hit the climbing wall
Q A new employee at the company where I work constantly complains about another colleague. The latter and I have both been there for over 13 years and are best friends. She is a lovely person who would help anyone out, and was on top of the job until a year ago when her 20-year-old sons best friend took his own life. Her son sank into a depression and has had problems with drugs. My friend has needed time off to help him. It was tricky at work, but another colleague and I have stepped up to fill in the gaps.

She keeps complaining that my friend isn't pulling her weight

Ive even gone back to full-time, which I was able to do following the death of my mum, for whom I was a carer. However, this new worker keeps complaining that my friend isnt pulling her weight. Its not true. She has to phone her son throughout the day and occasionally leaves early, but she is still efficient. Our boss is supportive, but it doesnt stop this woman constantly telling me that I am being taken advantage of  and that the son needs to get over it. I am fed up of her complaints. I hate conflict but Im on the verge of losing my temper with her.

A Its understandable that you feel angry with the new worker. Your other colleague is a good friend  and that is a precious thing. You are trying to support her through a stressful time in which she has a great deal of worry about her son. Dont forget that your friend also knew the young man who took his own life, so she will be grieving too. Unfortunately, this will probably have a lasting effect on her son. In time, he will learn to bear his grief and it will get easier. However, he has sadly turned to drugs which, combined with the depression, makes recovery far from simple.

You might want to have a quiet word with your boss

I dont think youre being taken advantage of  it is incredibly kind to support your friend while her life is so difficult. You know that she would do the same for you. As long as you are happy to do the job, this is none of your annoying colleagues business. However, it is important to manage your stress levels. If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, or feel you need to return to part-time work, then you might have to review the situation. Dont get angry with the other colleague  it wont be productive. But do tell her firmly and calmly that you wont hear another word against your friend. Be charming but firm. You might want to have a quiet word with your boss too, to make sure your views are heard and understood. I hope your friend has been in touch with Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (uksobs.org) and Adfam (adfam.org.uk, the charity for those affected by a loved ones drug use).

Anyone experiencing issues raised by this letter can also contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.

Was I wrong to lose my temper with my father?

Q My father upset my lovely, sensitive 19-year-old son over Christmas and I was furious with him. Our son has struggled with his mental health and has had to choose a different subject for his degree because he didnt get the grades for his first choice. However, my father was denigrating and rude about it at Christmas lunch  and said that hed never get a proper job.

My father has been difficult all his life  strict, controlling, arrogant  and I always felt sorry for my mother when she was alive because she was dominated by him. Although he manages mostly alone (with carers a couple of hours a day) he is in his late 80s and becoming increasingly frail. I feel guilty for shouting at him. Since then, he has been polite but a bit distant and says that I should apologise.

A It is your father who needs to apologise  though, oF course, he wont. I am glad you found the courage to stand up to him because often this sort of person can cause their children to be subdued and cowed, even as adults. (Your mother was clearly under his thumb, too.) But when your own childs happiness was threatened by the kind of behaviour you were subjected to, your protective instincts kicked in. You did the right thing by stopping your father criticising your son, though perhaps in the wrong way  shouting is rarely effective. You dont need to apologise or feel guilty just because he is old. Of course he still deserves to be cared for, and you can offer that support and kindness. However, he needs to be aware that he should voice any criticisms of your son only to you or keep them to himself. I hope your son is OK.

If you have a problem, write to Caroline West-Meads at YOU, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY, or email c.west-meads@mailonsunday.co.uk. You can follow Caroline on Twitter @Ask_Caroline_

Caroline reads all your letters but regrets she cannot answer each one personally.
Theatre and music halls were all the rage in Victorian times. But few benefited from electric lighting. Instead, they would heat quicklime until it emitted a brilliant white light, known as limelight.

Quicklime has more of a backstage role in modern times but, behind the scenes, the chemical also known as calcium oxide plays an essential part in almost every aspect of our daily lives.

Made by heating limestone, quicklime is used as a purifier to create products as wide-ranging as glassware, crockery, kettles, ovens, milk and sugar.

Bright future: SigmaRoc produces limestone needed for products from roads to crockery and kettles

The compound is also deployed to create steel bridges, buildings and roads. It is an essential component of paper production, ensures water is pure enough to drink and acts as a fertiliser, making soil less acidic and grass tastier for cattle.

Historically, most leading players in this industry have been privately owned. Now, however, SigmaRoc is set to become a top-tier lime and limestone producer, following an audacious deal announced late last year. The shares are 57p and should move considerably higher as the transaction beds in and the business grows.

SigmaRoc was founded in 2016 by Max Vermorken, a Belgian, now 40, who came to the UK to do a PhD and decided to stay put. Formerly at cement giant Holcim, Vermorken joined with building materials veteran David Barrett to create SigmaRoc, an innovative aggregates and quarrying firm.

With 40 years' experience in the field, Barrett is known for founding and developing successful companies. Both he and Vermorken felt that businesses in their industry had become too centralised, with decisions taken by directors far away from the coalface.

From the start, SigmaRoc encouraged regional managers to develop their own networks, build relationships and make decisions based on local customers' needs. The strategy worked. In 2017, SigmaRoc generated sales of 27 million and profits of 2.6 million. By 2022, revenues had increased to 538 million, while profits had soared to 63 million.

Growth came organically and by acquisition but Vermorken wanted more and, last year, he found it, when Irish building group CRH decided to offload its Northern European lime operations.

Vermorken pounced and last November unveiled an 870 million takeover of the CRH businesses, funded by shares and debt.

With SigmaRoc valued on the stock market at less than 400 million, the deal was ambitious but big investors signalled their faith in Barrett and Vermorken, approving the acquisition just before Christmas.

Now, the duo just have to make it work. Their task will not be easy but the rationale behind the deal is clear, creating a business with sales of 1 billion and sites in 14 countries.

SigmaRoc already had a reasonable position in the limestone and lime industry. Following the CRH deal however, the group will become the number one operator in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia and number two in Germany and much of Eastern Europe.

Vermorken and his team have also proved that they can buy and integrate businesses, having acquired about 20 over the past seven years.

This is the biggest, but it has been structured in three tranches. The first and largest was completed last week  the others will be finalised later this year. Payments are staggered too, with 580 million due now and the rest falling due over the next six years.

The combined business will generate significant economies of scale and lower transport costs, creating a company with more than 2.5 billion tons of mineral reserves and resources. Size matters in this field. Many industries cannot function without lime so firms need to be confident that the right products will be delivered on time to their plants and factories.

SigmaRoc has already developed a reputation for efficiency. Extra heft should bolster that  to the benefit of customers and investors alike.

Vermorken has green credentials too. Lime absorbs carbon dioxide and is expected to play a key role as companies strive to reduce their carbon footprint.

Brokers are optimistic about SigmaRoc's future, with sales and profits forecast to more than double this year and beyond.

CRH has signalled its support too, spending 82 million on a 15 per cent stake in SigmaRoc, as part of the takeover deal.

Midas verdict: Lime and limestone are essential components of daily life and SigmaRoc has now become a market leader in this sector. At 57p, the shares are a long-term buy.

Traded on: AIM Ticker: SRC Contact: sigmaroc.com or 020 7129 7828
Multifaceted tech giant Amazon is about to unveil a major investment in one of Britain's biggest wind farms.

The company is aiming to power its entire UK operation  from sales warehouses to film studios to cloud computing  using renewable energy by next year.

The Mail on Sunday understands that Amazon, which employs about 75,000 people in Britain, plans to later this month announce a deal to buy electricity from the Moray West offshore wind farm.

The project, which is located off the North-East coast of Scotland and controlled by a joint venture between Spanish energy giant EDPR and French rival Engie, is currently under construction. It is expected to start operating later this year.

Eco friendly: Moray West is aiming to generate about 900 megawatts of electricity

Moray West is aiming to generate about 900 megawatts of electricity. Amazon will use 473 megawatts  more than half the total capacity and enough to power 175,000 homes. The site will also inject an estimated 500 million into the Scottish economy and support more than 1,000 jobs.

The upcoming deal for wind power comes as Amazon tries to hit its target of using renewable energy to power its entire worldwide operations by 2025  five years ahead of schedule.

The firm is currently obtaining 90 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources after pouring billions of pounds into around 400 wind and solar energy projects around the world.

Amazon claims that between 2014 and 2022 its green energy efforts generated 285 million worth of investment and boosted Britain's GDP by 90 million.

The breakneck expansion into renewables forms part of an agenda spearheaded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The multi-billionaire is thought to have blocked initiatives at the company which he deemed environmentally unfriendly, including petrol discounts for Amazon's Prime customers in the US.

Amazon is not the only overseas giant interested in the UK's burgeoning wind power sector, which has struggled amid worries that spiralling costs could make some projects unviable.

Last year, it emerged that Masdar, the United Arab Emirates' state-backed green energy company, was set to buy up to 49 per cent of the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm, which is being built off the coast of Norfolk.

In December, Masdar snapped up a 49 per cent share of Dogger Bank South  an 11 billion UK wind project in the North Sea  from German utility group RWE.

Last month, Danish giant Orsted signed off its financial plan for the Hornsea 3 project in the North Sea, which will be the world's largest offshore wind farm, able to power more than 3.3 million homes. It will create about 1,200 jobs.
Mamas & Papas plans to open up to ten more concessions in Next and Marks & Spencer stores as the nursery and baby clothing retailer ramps up expansion plans.

The further push into bricks-and-mortar shops caps a remarkable revival for the company, which has undergone a series of restructurings that have included cutting jobs and shutting stores since it was bought by private equity firm Bluegem a decade ago.

Chief executive Nathan Williams told The Mail on Sunday: 'We're very much on track for a record-breaking year. We've had a phenomenal golden quarter of peak trade.'

Expansion plans: Mamas & Papas plans to open up to ten more concessions in Next and Marks & Spencer stores

Mamas & Papas sells everything from baby clothing and toys to nursery furniture and pushchairs.

The company posted a 7 per cent jump in underlying sales in the 13 weeks to 31 December. Underlying profits rose by 50 per cent.

'Growth has come from all our channels,' Williams said. UK sales are now split almost equally between its own shops, concessions and online.

Mamas & Papas has 33 'stores-within-stores' in Next and M&S and is looking to open another ten this year. It also plans to expand in Spain, Thailand and Indonesia.

Williams played down speculation that Bluegem might look to sell the business. He said market conditions 'are not that conducive'.

Accounts filed for Mamas & Papa's holding company, Stork Beta Ltd, show that in the year to March 2023 sales hit 144 million, versus 126 million in 2022. Pretax profits jumped to 8.2 million from 6.2 million.
A mining firm focused on Ghana is planning to list on the London Stock Exchange's junior AIM market by the summer.

In a recent presentation seen by The Mail on Sunday, CAA Mining told investors that it was aiming to float at some point between April and June.

Founded in 2018, the group works on gold and lithium projects in the West African country.

Digging deep: Founded in 2018, CAA mining works on gold and lithium projects in the West African country Ghana

Chief executive Douglas Chikohora previously worked at Cluff Resources, set up by British energy and mining veteran Algy Cluff.

It is not clear what valuation the firm will attract, but it is likely to be small.

However, if the group joins AIM it will be a boost for the London market after a dearth of flotations in 2023, and a series of major companies snubbing the City or switching their primary listing to New York.
The U.S. military has been infiltrated by white supremacists and insurrectionists with experts warning a recent Pentagon report detailing dozens of internal plots to overthrow the Government is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Department of Defense (DoD) released a report on November 30 revealing it has investigated 183 instances of extremism within the military, including 78 cases of troops 'advocating for, engaging in, or supporting the overthrow of the U.S. Government'.

But experts have told DailyMail.com that the figures were likely to be a significant underestimate, pointing to a 2020 Military Times poll that showed a third of active service members had witnessed signs of white nationalism or racism among their fellow troops.

Historians highlighted a litany of alarming cases in which both current and former Army members have plotted to assassinate political leaders, bomb media organizations and topple the Government.

Many have never materialized, but those that do often have deadly consequences due to the military training of the perpetrators.

Travis Owens was an active duty U.S. Marine when he was investigated by the FBI for allegedly plotting to assassinate members of the Democratic National Committee. Owens was never charged but the case led to his removal from the military

Former Marine Liam Collins, 24, pleaded guilty on a charge connected to a neo-Nazi plot to attack US energy infrastructure, hatched over three years at a military camp in North Carolina

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, accused the Pentagon of not doing enough to root out extremists within its ranks.

'If the military doesn't take this seriously, it means terrorist attacks will be more violent, more successful,' she told DailyMail.com.

'This is a poison for the rest of American society. If we don't rip these people out, they're deadly.'

In a 2019 New York Times report, Carter F. Smith, who served as an Army criminal investigator for 30 years before joining the faculty of Middle Tennessee State University, was quoted as saying that the military does not make this issue a priority.

'They always say the numbers are small, and because of that, it is not a priority,' Smith said. 'Well, the numbers might be small, but they are like a drop of cyanide in your drink. They can do a lot of damage.'

The Pentagon report comes amid a series of alarming trends of extremism within the military.

Over the past decade a murderous Neo-Nazi group has been founded by a former soldier, a growing number of plots to attack critical infrastructure in the U.S. have been hatched by current and former servicemen, while 18 percent of those charged in connection with the Capitol siege in 2021 have military backgrounds.

In the wake of the January 6 riots, The Pentagon admitted it did not know how to deal with the problem of extremism within its ranks and ordered a military-wide pause to allow commanders a window to tackle the issue.

Matt Dallek, a political historian at The George Washington University in Washington, DC, pointed out that radicalization has been a long standing concern within the US military.

The most infamous example being Timothy McVeigh, the former U.S. Army soldier behind the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that left 168 people dead and injured nearly 700.

More recently, a former active-duty Marine and member of the Army Guard was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2020 after he was accused of plotting a terrorist massacre of journalists and Democrats including Nancy Pelosi.

Coast Guard Lieutenant Christopher Hasson was found to have held violently racist views even before he joined the military, raising questions over vetting procedures.

The Base has been described by extremism watchdogs as a neo-Nazi group that conducts military-style training, with its members tied to plots that have targeted U.S. critical infrastructure with the aim of hastening the end of society

Christopher Hasson, 54, a former active-duty Marine, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2020 after he was accused of plotting a terrorist massacre of journalists and Democrats including Nancy Pelosi

Physical attacks on the US power grid rose by 71 percent last year, according to data from the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC). Some of these plots have been concocted by members of the military

READ MORE: Neo-Nazi domestic terrorists are targeting critical power stations with guns and explosives Neo-Nazi affiliate Beau Daniel Merryman, 21, of Jefferson, Texas, pleaded guilty to distributing information related to constructing explosive devices to target critical infrastructure Advertisement

But Dallek, author of 'Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right', said it was hard to tell whether a disproportionate number of servicemen held extremist beliefs due to a lack of data, but warned the issue was particularly concerning due to its potentially fatal fallout.

'There is a clear threat in people who are experts in weaponry, who have access to advanced knowledge about how to make bombs, who also have a radical view of the world that impels them to commit violence,' he said. 'That can be a pretty dangerous recipe.'

Beirich agreed that attitudes within the military tended to reflect a rise in white nationalism in wider society.

But she said there appeared to be a 'disconnect' between the DoD's report and the Military Times survey, which she believes indicates a far higher number of military personnel are 'involved in extremist activities'.

Beirich said there was a long history of white supremacist groups encouraging their members to join the military so they could learn how to 'blow things up and be better with weapons', while also spreading their hateful ideologies.

These infiltrators are known as 'ghost skinheads' due to their removal of neo-Nazi tattoos before they enter service.

There are also concerns that younger service members can be susceptible to new ideas disseminated by those in leadership positions.

For example, in 2019, Army Reserve lieutenant colonel Christopher Cummins distributed flyers for the extremist group Identity Evropa in Tennessee and Mississippi, while Army private Christpher Hodgman did the same in Brighton, New York, according to an investigation by HuffPost.

Beirich also highlighted a growing number of recent cases in which current and former servicemen have targeted critical power stations in the U.S. with guns and explosives as part of neo-Nazi terror groups.

Earlier this year, DailyMail.com revealed security chiefs were increasingly concerned by a rise in ballistic threats on its energy sector this year, with previous attacks resulting in entire counties losing power for days.

In October, a former Marine pleaded guilty on a charge connected to a neo-Nazi plot to attack US energy infrastructure, hatched over three years at a military camp in North Carolina.

Liam Collins, 24, was accused of stealing military gear and delivering them to co-conspirators who planned to use them for assaults on power stations.

His conviction comes after a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) threat assessment published last month warned that domestic terrorists have 'increasingly called for physical attacks on critical infrastructure this year' in the belief that they 'would have cascading impacts on US industries and the American way of life'.

The growing threat from the far right is attributed to the growth of 'accelerationism' - an 'ideology that seeks to destabilize society and trigger a race war', according to the DHS.

Indeed, a report published by The George Washington University in September last year noted the number of white supremacist plots targeting energy systems had 'dramatically increased' since 2016.

The neo-Nazi group founded by former soldier

Her co-conspirator, Brandon Russell, 28, of Florida, is a founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division (AWD) and has a long history of plots to attack US infrastructure, according to a criminal complaint filed against him

Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 27, of Maryland, was arrested for her part in an alleged neo-Nazi plot to 'completely destroy' the power grid in the predominantly black city of Baltimore, according to a criminal complaint filed in Maryland

The American Al-Qaeda stuffed with military men The Base, a sister organization to the Atomwaffen (AWD), derives its name from the English translation of Al-Qaeda. Since 2018, it has built a coalition of white supremacist members within the U.S. and abroad through online chat rooms, in-person meetings, propaganda, and military-style training, according to the Department Of Justice. Its social media accounts repeatedly post content promoting terrorism, lone-wolf attacks, and a white ethno-state. In March 2021, it was revealed that former Marine Ryan Burchfield, 23, from Virginia, was deported from Ukraine for his alleged affiliation to the group, according to VICE News. He told other members of The Base in an encrypted chat room that 'we're going to make Atomwaffen look like boy scouts', according to VICE News. Atomwaffen had reportedly already been implicated in five murders in the US at the time. In January 2019, three members of The Base, including ex-Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Jordan Mathews, allegedly hatched a plot to 'kick off the economic collapse' of the US by taking out critical infrastructure across the country', according to court filings. Ex-Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Jordan Mathews allegedly hatched a plot to take out critical infrastructure across the US, according to court filings Advertisement

Founded by a former National Guard soldier who had a picture of fellow veteran and Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh on his dresser, the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division (AWD) has already been linked to several murders, bombings and plots in the U.S. and elsewhere.

It has also been a part of the growing trend of 'infrastructure terrorism', in which insurrectionists have targeted critical power stations around the country in a bid to bring an end to the American way of life.

Its founder, Brandon Russell, 28, formerly a private first class in the National Guard, was arrested in February this year over an alleged racist plot to 'completely destroy' the power grid in the predominantly black city of Baltimore, according to a criminal complaint filed in Maryland.

He stands accused of conspiring to inflict 'maximum harm' by shooting at five substations operated by Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), which serves 1.2 million customers in central Maryland.

He met his alleged co-conspirator, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 27, of Maryland, while the pair were in jail.

They were caught in an FBI sting.

In 2018, Mr Russell was sentenced to prison after being convicted of explosives charges.

Mr Russell was released from prison in 2021, before his arrest over the Baltimore plot.

Ms Clendaniel had been serving a prison sentence for armed robbery when the pair met.

Atomwaffen members subscribe to a neo-Nazi version of 'accelerationist' philosophy - the idea that political goals can be achieved only via social collapse.

The group believes that modern society 'ought to be driven into apocalyptic collapse so a white ethnostate or whites-only utopia can be constructed in its wake', according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describes it as a 'small neo-Nazi group whose members are preparing for a race war to combat what they consider the cultural and racial displacement of the white race'.

Atomwaffen or its offshoots have been banned in the UK, Canada and Australia.

Vasillios Pistolis, 24, was booted out of the military in 2018 after he was outed as a member of the group.

The former U.S. Marine Corps was one of the earliest members of AWD, having joined in 2017, a military probe found.

But his membership only became known following an investigation by ProPublica and Frontline into his online profile.

He left a conspicuous digital footprint of his involvement with extremist groups, but had no criminal background.

It sparked a debate over whether military chiefs could delve into recruits online history to root out extremist views without infringing on freedom of speech.

Marine Corps Recruiting Command said its the screening process for 'aberrant thinking and behavior' is a 'multi-layered' approach that involves police records checks, records of convictions and a signed statement and screening form that addresses gangs and racist or extremist organizations and activities.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched a probe into Pistolis following the media reports of his neo-Nazi ties.

The investigation, obtained by Marine Corps Times, revealed the former marine started researching the 'Unite the Right' movement while in the Corps, before attending several rallies, including the bloody Charlottesville rally in 2017, which turned deadly when James Alex Fields Jr., 20, drove his car into counter protestors, killing Heather Heyer.

Vasillios Pistolis, 24, was booted out of the military after he was outed as a member of the AWD

Pistolis told military investigators that he was in Atomwaffen for less than a year and described himself as a 'nationalist', not a white supremacist.

He said the organization was a 'prepper group for the collapse of the U.S. government'.

Meanwhile, in October 2020, three alleged neo-Nazis were charged with a conspiracy to attack US energy infrastructure in a plot hatched at a military camp in North Carolina.

Liam Collins, Paul Kryscuk and Jordan Duncan researched a previous attack on power infrastructure, according to the charges.

For three years, between 2017 and 2020, Kryscuk manufactured guns and Collins, stationed at Camp Lejeune at the time, stole military gear and had them delivered to the other men, the indictment said.

Duncan allegedly gathered 'a library of information,' some military-owned, about weapons, toxins and explosives.

Video footage obtained shows the men shooting guns, wearing 'AtomWaffen-masks' while giving Nazi salutes, according to court documents.

Collins pled guilty this year to interstate transportation of an unregistered firearm, but not guilty to a charge of destruction of an energy facility.

Duncan is attempting to have his indictments dropped, arguing that they are unconstitutional.

Capitol riots reveal military's extremism problem

Larry Rendall Brock Jr, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and decorated combat veteran from Texas, was arrested after he was photographed wearing a helmet and body armor on the floor of the Senate during the storming of the Capitol

Brock was photographed during the deadly riot carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs

Jacob Fracker Jr., 31, was serving in the Virginia National Guard at the time of the riots, but was placed on leave after an image posted to Facebook showed him participating in the siege

Fracker was reportedly accompanied to the riot by fellow Rocky Mount PD officer Thomas Robertson (left, and right with Fracker), 49, who is an Army veteran also facing charges

Around 18 per cent of the more than 1,000 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack, according to data from the University of Maryland and the Justice Department.

In comparison, about 7 percent of all American adults are veterans, U.S. Census Bureau data from 2018 shows.

Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has admitted that the numbers are 'a concern', but said those who participated in the siege 'don't define the military'.

He added that only a handful of those involved in the attack on the Capitol were still on active duty or reservists.

Several veterans have been charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Among them is Larry Rendall Brock Jr., 55, an Air Force veteran from Texas, who was photographed donning a tactical helmet and vest while carrying flex cuffs inside the Capitol.

In a post to Facebook, Brock said he was gearing up for a 'Second Civil War' ahead of the riot, according to court documents.

The Air Force Academy graduate flew combat missions in Afghanistan and remained on active duty until 1998 before retiring from the Air Force Reserve in 2014, according to the service.

Brock was sentenced to two years in prison in March.

Some accused of laying siege to the Capitol were still serving in some capacity at the time.

Jacob Fracker Jr., 31, was serving in the Virginia National Guard at the time of the riots, but was placed on leave after an image posted to Facebook showed him and Army veteran Thomas Robertson, 49, participating in the siege.

Fracker pleaded guilty in March last year to a felony charge of conspiring with Robertson to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

He was sentenced to one year of probation, with prosecutors citing his cooperation in the investigation and his testimony against Robertson.

Robertson was convicted of attacking the Capitol to obstruct Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote and sentenced to seven years and three months in prison  matching the longest sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases  along with three years of supervised release.
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The year 2023 was characterised by a huge surge in global conflicts.

The outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October captured the world's attention, while the bitter fighting between Russia and Ukraine grinds towards its third year.

Elsewhere, much of sub-Saharan Africa is blighted by battles between government forces, militias and extremist groups, and nations like Myanmar and Sudan have been wracked with civil war.

But in the coming years, a new battleground could emerge that threatens to dwarf them all, pitting global powers against one another like never before in a mad dash for control and supremacy.

As the Arctic region undergoes unprecedented changes due to climate change, the melting of the ice opens up a massive new frontier, unlocking a treasure trove of previously untapped natural resources, new trade routes, and strategic superiority.

And it should come as no surprise that the world's major military and economic powers Russia, China and the United States - as well as other Arctic nations - are already charting their path to polar supremacy.

Now, with some of the world's top defence and security analysts warning of the potential for a hot conflict in the Arctic, MailOnline examines just why the region is so important and how such a conflict could emerge.

The 50 Let Pobedy [50th Anniversary of Victory] nuclear-powered icebreaker operated by Atomflot makes its way through the frozen waters of the Gulf of Ob, the Kara Sea

Image shows Russia's new nuclear submarine during a flag-rising ceremony led by Vladimir Putin at the Arctic port of Severodvinsk on December 11, 2023

Russia's Admiral Gorshkov frigate fires a hypersonic Tsirkon missile in the Barents Sea

Why is the Arctic so important?

The Arctic, once a frozen wilderness, is quickly becoming a hotspot for geopolitical manoeuvring, primarily because of the incredible reserves of resources hidden beneath the frost.

The receding ice caps have revealed vast reserves of vital resources - the US Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic holds an estimated 90 billion barrels (roughly 15%) of the world's undiscovered conventional oil resources and some 40 billion barrels (roughly 30%) of its undiscovered conventional natural gas resources.

The region is also flush with sorely needed rare earth minerals integral to the production of modern battery and microchip technology.

And Arctic conditions are ideal for maximising the benefit of renewable energy capture methods - the vast expanse is ripe for the construction of solar panels and wind turbines, and the huge seas present opportunities for marine turbines to produce hydroelectric power.

Countries like Iceland and Finland already harness hydroelectric, wind and geothermal energy to satisfy almost all their energy needs alongside nuclear power.

Additionally, the increasing accessibility of existing trade routes like the Northern Sea Route (NSR) - or the potential for new routes like the Transpolar Sea Route (TSR) - could drastically cut shipping times and fuel use.

The distance from a northwestern European port to the Far East along the NSR, for example, is almost 40% shorter than the traditional route via the Suez Canal.

And the melting of Arctic ice means more ships with reinforced hulls will be able to traverse regions that have historically been inaccessible - or at the very least the reserve of dedicated icebreakers.

This makes shipping via the Arctic a highly attractive proposition for global trade with huge economic benefits for the countries involved.

The distance from a northwestern European port to the Far East along the Northeast Sea Route is almost 40% shorter than the traditional route via the Suez Canal. Other sea routes are becoming more accessible for more of the year

This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope

Oil production facility is seen close to Alaska's Arctic wildlife reserve

Russia is already ahead

While the West faces numerous challenges in asserting its interests in the High North, Russia has strategically positioned itself at the front of the race for Arctic dominance.

One of the key areas where Russia has taken the lead is in icebreaker technology.

Icebreakers are indispensable tools in navigating the Arctic's icy waters, and Russia boasts the world's largest and most advanced fleet, exemplifying its commitment to controlling new shipping routes and exploiting new arenas for resource extraction.

'Russia has a significant advantage [in the Arctic] level with dozens of active icebreakers, including nuclear-powered variants. China is also building up its fleet,' RAND Europe defence analyst and European security expert Nicolas Jouan said.

'The UK and the US respectively have one and two active icebreakers. This is probably the key capability gap between NATO and its competitors at the moment.'

Russia has also invested huge funds into the development of military infrastructure in the Arctic Circle since 2014.

More than 50 Soviet-era Arctic bases including airfields, radar stations, cargo ports, missile launch pads and naval yards have been renovated, while others - including dozens of airfields in the Kola Peninsula some 200 miles east of Finland - have been expanded to host larger forces, including nuclear bombers and missiles.

Some have been adapted to house Moscow's state-of-the-art military technology - the Plesetsk Cosmodrome was used in 2021 for a test-launch of Russia's latest satellite-killer missile and was in 2022 used to launch Sarmat-2, one of its most fearsome intercontinental ballistic missiles.

And Russia's nuclear arsenal is embedded within its Northern Fleet - the headquarters of which are located in Severomorsk, a city within the Arctic Circle.

Rob Clark, a British Army veteran who now heads the defence research team at UK think-tank Civitas, told MailOnline: 'We need to wake up to the threat posed by Russian expansion in the Arctic  while all eyes are on Ukraine, Russia is testing new-age nuclear subs and hypersonic missiles in the Arctic and building up its presence in the region.'

But not only is Russia enhancing its technological and military capabilities to the north - it is also working to destabilise the operations of other Arctic nations via a mix of cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.

Alaska, Norway, Canada and Finland have all suffered a spate of what they say were Russian-authored cyberattacks in the past three years, with other territories such as Iceland and Greenland reporting a surge in 'suspicious internet traffic' since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia's new Alexander III nuclear submarine is pictured during a flag-rising ceremony led by Russia's President at the Arctic port of Severodvinsk on December 11, 2023

A Mikoyan MiG-29KUB carrier-based multirole trainer aircraft of the Russian Northern Fleet's naval aviation lands at the Severomorsk-3 airfield in the Arctic Circle

The launch of an 'unstoppable' Zircon nuclear-capable Mach 9 hypersonic missile from Russia's Admiral Gorshkov frigate in Barents Sea on May 28, 2022.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attending a flag-rising ceremony at the new Imperor Alexander III and Krasnoyarsk nuclear submarines at Sevmash shipyard in the Arctic port of Severodvinsk on December 11, 2023

There is also the possibility, however small, that Moscow could deploy submarines or submersibles to cut vital fibre optic undersea cables, dealing unprecedented damage and disruption to Western infrastructure, logistics and communications amid an escalation in future conflict.

As regards trade and resource extraction, Russia lays claim to ownership and control over the majority of the Northern Sea Route, the most accessible Arctic shipping path which could become a new thoroughfare for international trade.

The route runs along Russia's Arctic coast and therefore falls within Russia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), allowing the country to assume control of shipping activities, navigation and resource exploitation, as per Article 234 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Foreign vessels therefore have to seek permission to navigate in these waters and are helped on their way by Russian icebreakers - paying fees to Russian authorities for the trouble.

This is a major point of contention for many territories, including the United States, which has argued - so far unsuccessfully - that large parts of the NSR should be considered international waters.

And amid torrid relations with the West, the NSR offers Putin a way to ship its natural resources and other exports to China, India and other buyers in the East with no interference from the US or Europe.

As the ice continues to recede and other shipping routes become more accessible, Russia's longtime focus on Arctic strategy and infrastructure will grant it considerable influence in shaping the future of global commerce.

The Russian '50 Years of Victory' nuclear-powered icebreaker is seen at the North Pole on August 18, 2021

A picture shows the manufacturing of a RITM-200 nuclear reactor, the latest reactor for the icebreaker fleet, at ZiO-Podolsk Machine-Building Plant, an enterprise of Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom machine-building unit, in the town of Podolsk in the Moscow region on December 5, 2023

China is trying to muscle in

China, along with the United States, is one of the world's great powers, and describes itself as a 'near-Arctic state'.

Despite not having any right to sovereignty over any Arctic waters or continental shelves, China is classed as an 'observer' to the Arctic Council - the group of eight Arctic states comprised of Canada, Denmark (via Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

For these reasons, China's efforts to stake a claim in the High North are completely unjust in the eyes of many.

But Beijing has both the means and motivation to become a major player in the development of the Arctic and the race to attain access to its natural resources and trading routes.

China is at the forefront of permafrost research and polar technology, because large parts of the country - particularly the Tibetan plateau to the West and South - are covered in ice year-round.

This means Beijing has invested heavily in developing infrastructure designed to operate in freezing conditions and is in the process of building more icebreakers to add to its burgeoning fleet.

And it is possible that Putin, given the Kremlin's reliance on China as an economic and trading partner and key political ally, could seek to offer President Xi Jinping favourable deals for access to a region where he has no outright territorial claim.

Cultivating influence in the High North and access to developing Arctic waterways is paramount for Beijing, which at present is forced to conduct the bulk of its trade through a series of key chokepoints not under its control.

One such location is the Strait of Malacca - a strategic bottleneck bordered by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, all of whom are partnered with the US.

FILE PHOTO: China's aircraft carrier Liaoning takes part in a military drill of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the western Pacific Ocean

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping

China is at the forefront of permafrost research and polar technology (pictured: Lhoka, Tibet Autonomous Region, China)

In an interview with former British diplomat Arthur Snell, the director of the Brookings Institution's Foreign Policy programme Bruce Jones said: 'China is hugely dependent on the flow of resources through critical waterways... right now the United States dominates all the major chokepoints flowing into the South China Sea.

'That's a huge vulnerability for China,' he said, adding that developing naval power and being at the forefront of Arctic development to secure favourable trading passages are among the Chinese Communist Party's key priorities.

Like Russia, China has bought up real estate in Arctic nations and also maintains a series of satellite bases and antenna arrays. These are ostensibly for research purposes but likely have a dual military use.

China also argues, along with other countries, that it should be involved in discussions at the highest level on the ecological impact of Arctic development because of the potential harm rising sea levels could deal to massive coastal cities like Shanghai.

Nicolas Jouan told MailOnline: 'China's participation to the Arctic Council as an observer is in and of itself fair play considering the presence of many other countries whose territories are quite remote from the Arctic.

'There is however a conversation to have on what this observer status concretely implies... The partnership between Russia and China can rightly make Western countries uncomfortable considering the two nations' assertive stances on resource exploitation and militarisation of the region.'

Can Arctic nations rally together?

Though Russia and to a lesser extent China are evidently intent on seizing Arctic dominance, there is no real conflict, or even overt competition, in the High North at present.

Despite relations between East and West being at their lowest ebb in decades, Arctic cooperation has continued relatively unchanged, even as the war in Ukraine continues to rage on.

But the status quo is almost certain to change in the coming years as climate change continues to erode the ice and the prospect of capitalising on what the Arctic has to offer becomes more tangible.

Before this happens, experts believe there is an opportunity for other Arctic nations - all of which are Western-aligned countries - to work together and effectively counterbalance any threat that may arise from the East.

Should the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO go ahead uninhibited, then seven of the eight Arctic nations will be members of the bloc.

This could greatly enhance the Arctic Council's ability to set forth a more rigorous, multilateral security approach to tackle Russian technological and military dominance, and make up for any one country's shortcomings.

FILE PHOTO: Areas of ice are seen as the airplane carrying U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken approaches Kangerlussuaq Airport in Greenland, Thursday, May 20, 2021

Scientists drive their snowmobiles cross the arctic towards Kongsfjord during sunset near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Norway, April 10, 2023

Nicolas Jouan also argued that Moscow may not be so inclined to work with Beijing in the polar region despite the recent ramping up of Sino-Russian cooperation, and urged Western governments to capitalise on any discord between the two giants.

'We should not overestimate the strength of the partnership between Russia and China, which ultimately relies on the personal relations between their respective leaders and on geopolitical circumstances.'

He said that Russia is obstinate with regards to its control, 'both of the Northern Sea Route and more generally of its perceived rights on the Arctic and will not take well an always more active role of China in the region'.

'Western countries could play this to their advantage by finding potential common grounds with China on trade routes and resource access to challenge Russia,' he concluded.

Establishing governance of the Arctic is another challenge facing all players.

Each member of the Arctic Council has sovereign rights over their territory and EEZ. But according to the UNCLOS and international law, all parts of the Arctic outside the EEZs are classed as international waters or high seas.

A huge swathe of territory around the North Pole - including much of the Transpolar Sea Route that could become a future artery of global trade - is therefore open to free navigation, fishing, resource exploration and overflight by any and all parties, leaving the door ajar for a potentially violent conflict for control and influence in these regions as and when they become accessible.

As a result, many experts advocate for the development of more concrete governance structures in the Arctic to provide a legal and regulatory framework in which to settle future disputes and discourage nefarious attempts for land and resource grabs.

The Arctic Council serves as the primary forum for Arctic governance, but the Council's mandate is largely advisory, lacking the legal teeth to enforce regulations or resolve disputes and allowing for assertive actions by individual member states.

Whether council members can agree upon a reinforced framework to promote good governance of the Arctic and protect against wanton exploitation of the High North remains to be seen.
Sofia Coppola demonstrated the depth and significance of her career as a director with the launch of her intimate new book - which was attended by throngs of A-list collaborators and admirers.

Over her 30 year career- Coppola, 52, has produced iconic films time and time again, and in Sofia Coppola Archive she offers a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes workings of her impressive repertoire.

The book features candid photographs from her personal collection from some of the great movies she directed, including The Virgin Suicides with Kirsten Dunst, Lost in Translation with Bill Murray and her new blockbuster Priscilla.

It includes 488 pages of art that has been thoughtfully edited and annotated by Coppola herself, offering a personal glance at her methods, references and collaborators.

The book launch took place in September 2023 and the affair, hosted by Chanel, was packed to the brim with stars.

Attendees included Dakota Fanning, Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, John Mulaney, Olivia Munn, Maya Rudolph, Paris Hilton and many more.

Coppola followed in the footsteps of her father, Francis Ford Coppola, who directed some of the most significant films in history - Apocalypse Now and The Godfather trilogy, to name a few.

Sofia Coppola made her feature film directing debut with The Virgin Suicides in 1999. The movie - starring Kirsten Dunst and Danny DeVito - was a film adaptation of the Jeffrey Eugenides novel. Coppola said she felt the story's author understood the 'teenage experience' and attributes her career in film to the movie (pictured: Kirsten Dunst in The Virgin Suicides)

The theme of loss in The Virgin Suicides was personal to Coppola - who had lost her older brother in 1986. Despite her father's fame and notoriety in the directing world - she secured the rights and adapted the screenplay herself (pictured: Kirsten Dunst in The Virgin Suicides)

Coppola highlighted the representation of teenagers 'lazing around' in The Virgin Suicides - something she related to but thought was rarely seen in films in a relatable way. The psychological romantic drama was shot in Toronto and premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival (pictured: Hanna R. Hall in The Virgin Suicides)

Coppola's second feature film was Lost in Translation - a 2003 starring Bill Murray. The romantic-comedy-drama earned Coppola an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as three Golden Globes. Coppola became the third female director to be nominated for an Academy Award, and only the second to win (pictured: Bill Murray on the set of Lost in Translation

Coppola's films often deal with themes of loneliness, wealth, privilege, isolation, youth, femininity and adolescence in America. She is pictured here, asleep, on the set of Versailles that she used for Marie Antoinette. 'I had never worked with so many crew, actors, costumes, and locations,' Coppola wrote in the image's caption in Archive

Coppola collaborated with Kirsten Dunst again in 2006 on Marie Antoinette, in which Dunst took the title role. Coppola said she was initially drawn to Marie Antoinette's character because she was innocent and caring - but found herself in a situation that was outside of her control, so she wanted to present Antoinette as a heroine. The Guardian wrote 'Sofia Coppola's presentation of Marie's life has a sisterly, unjudging intimacy' (pictured: Kirsten Dunst on camera in Marie Antoinette)

The 2006 historical drama premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received boos from the audience, and also a standing ovation at the end. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and three BAFTA Awards nominations (pictured: Behind the scenes pictures of Coppola's Marie Antoinette)

Coppola wrote and directed Somewhere (2006) starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning as a father-daughter duo. The film explored the theme of boredom among Hollywood stars and depicted a parent-child relationship that Coppola related to on a personal level because of her famous father (pictured: Sofia Coppola on the set of Somewhere with Madison Clapp and Elle Fanning)

Coppola worked with Elle Fanning again in 2017 in The Beguiled - a remake of the 1971 gothic psychological thriller. The movie starred Fanning alongside Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst, a regular face in Coppola's films. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and made Coppola the first American woman to ever win the Best Director award at the festival. She cited her fascination with the South as inspiration for the film, which was set in Virginia during the Civil War (pictured: Elle Fanning on the set of The Beguiled)

In 2023 - Coppola released Priscilla, starring Cailee Spaeny as the titular character. The movie is based on Priscilla Presley's 1985 memoir Elvis and Me and tells the largely untold story of Priscilla's experience with Elvis's wild fame. The film was distributed by A24 and starred Jacob Elordi alongside Spaeny as Elvis Presley (pictured: Cailee Spaeny in Priscilla)
The world watched in horror as a Japan Airlines jet erupted into flames at an airport near Tokyo this week after colliding with a small Coast Guard aircraft in what would be every passenger's nightmare.

But miraculously all 379 passengers and crew on board the large airliner managed to escape with their lives as the plane was engulfed in a raging inferno on the runway at Haneda Airport in Ota City.

Such miraculous escapes are extremely rare but there have been other extraordinary tales of survival with passengers managing to flee their burning planes just in time.

From the heroics of pilot Chelsey Sullenberger who saved all 155 passengers and crew by landing his flight in the Hudson River to the evacuation of hundreds from a burning plane in Dubai, people have survived aviation disasters against the odds.

Here MailOnline takes a look at some of the most miraculous cases of passengers escaping from plane crashes with their lives.

Japan Airlines Flight 516 plane in flames at Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. The airplane collided with a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) aircraft on arrival at Haneda Airport

Miracle on Hudson River

In arguably one of the most famous cases of an aviation disaster turning into a tale of miraculous survival, Pilot Chelsey Sullenberger saved all 155 passengers and crew on a US Airways flight by conducting an astonishingly soft landing in the Hudson River.

The Airbus had just taken off from New York's LaGuardia airport for Charlotte in North Carolina on January 15 2009 when it struck a flock of Canadian geese at 3,000 feet, causing both engines to fail.

Sullenberger and co-captain Jeff Skiles told air traffic controllers they couldn't make it back to LaGuardia. Sullenberger's choices were a small airport for private aircraft in New Jersey - possibly too far - or the river.

But the pilot was able to successfully land the American Airlines Flight 1549 in the freezing cold Hudson River after telling passengers to 'brace for impact'.

Following the extraordinarily skillful landing in the Hudson River, frantic passengers scrambled out onto the plane's wings, the chilly river water lapping at their feet in 2009

A diver, left, aboard an NYPD vessel prepares to rescue passengers from the aircraft in 2009

In arguably one of the most famous cases of an aviation disaster turning into a tale of miraculous survival, Pilot Chelsey Sullenberger saved all 155 passengers and crew on a US Airways flight by conducting an astonishingly soft landing in the Hudson River

Emergency personnel search for passengers after a U.S. Airways plane landed in the Hudson River in New York on January 15, 2009

Passengers are rescued after a U.S. Airways plane landed in the Hudson River in New York on January 15, 2009

Somehow the plane stayed in one piece and missed the George Washington Bridge by just 900 feet, and began floating fast towards the harbour.

Following the extraordinarily skillful landing, frantic passengers scrambled out onto the plane's wings, the chilly river water lapping at their feet. Commuter ferryboats steamed to the rescue as the aircraft slipped under the water.

Women and children - including a mother and her baby - were allowed to go first, survivors said. The emergency chutes were used as rafts to take passengers onto the bigger tourist boats that were standing by to help.

All 155 passengers survived, with only four passengers and one flight attendant suffering minor injuries including hypothermia and a broken collarbone. Although several people fell into the cold water, they were pulled out by divers.

New York governor David Paterson hailed the near-disaster as the 'Miracle on the Hudson'. The story was made into the movie 'Sully' starring Tom Hanks as the pilot.

Somehow the plane stayed in one piece and missed the George Washington Bridge by just 900 feet, and began floating fast towards the harbour

Following the extraordinarily skillful landing, frantic passengers scrambled out onto the plane's wings, the chilly river water lapping at their feet. Commuter ferryboats steamed to the rescue as the aircraft slipped under the water

In this photo taken by a passenger on a ferry, airline passengers evacuate a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York in 2009

On the 10th anniversary of his heroic landing, Sullenberger said his main priority was the safety of the passengers on board. During the rescue, he checked the cabin twice to make sure it was cleared.

'I was deathly afraid after the landing was accomplished and we'd pulled that off that someone might slip into the water unnoticed and drown, or succumb to hypothermia,' Sullenberger said at the time.

'I was on pins and needles for four terrorising hours until finally that evening - still in the hospital being evaluated - I got the word it was official, everyone was safe. Only then could I feel the weight of the universe being lifted off my heart.'

Plane from Newark makes fiery belly landing in Warsaw

Passengers on board a Boeing 767 miraculously survived after their plane was forced into an emergency landing that saw the aircraft erupt into flames following a catastrophic equipment failure.

The pilot was forced to bring the LOT plane carrying 230 people in to land at Warsaw airport in Poland with no wheels in November 2021 after all its landing gear failed.

Terrifying video showed the aircraft skidding along the tarmac on its belly, sparks flying, before a fire broke out in the starboard engine as the plane came to a halt.

Incredibly nobody on the flight, which came from Newark, New Jersey, was injured but afterwards disembarking passengers spoke of their alarm.

'I was praying for the pilot not to lose control because we started to make circles over the airport. It was terrible,' passenger Teresa Kowalik said at the time.

The pilot told passengers four hours into the flight that the plane faced technical problems, passengers said.

'The pilot addressed us a number of times and said we should follow instructions. Later, a flight attendant said there might be a fire, and at that point people began to get nervous and uncertain,' one said.

Terrifying images showed the aircraft skidding along the tarmac on its belly, sparks flying, before a fire broke out in the starboard engine as the plane came to a halt

Terrifying images showed the aircraft skidding along the tarmac on its belly, sparks flying, before a fire broke out in the starboard engine as the plane came to a halt

As the plane crash landed on its belly, sparks and black smoke rose from the aircraft, sending panic through the cabin with many passengers and bidding what they thought would be their final goodbyes to one another.

As the situation unfolded emergency services were waiting at the end of the runway to deal with any potential disaster, while two F-16 fighter jets escorted it to the ground.

The pilot had radioed ahead to let the control tower know there was a problem with deploying the landing gear. After several attempts, however, it was decided that the aircraft would have to come down without any wheels.

While the plane circled the Polish capital for an hour, dumping excess fuel and repeatedly trying to solve the problem, ground crews prepared for a crash landing, closing the airport to all other flights and clearing nearby streets. Waiting fire crews also sprayed the runway with foam in a bid to prevent a fire from breaking out.

The pilot lifted the nose of the aircraft slightly as it approached the tarmac. As it slid along the runway, smoke billowed from the undercarriage followed by bright flashes from under the engines.

When it came to a halt, fire engines that were waiting along the sides and at the end of the tarmac rushed towards the plane, dowsing it with foam. Meanwhile, passengers were quickly taken off down the inflatable chutes on either side.

Astonishingly, all 230 people on board were unhurt in the emergency landing.

Emirates double decker jet bursts into flames on landing and all passengers survive

In August 2016, an Emirates double decker jet crash-landed at Dubai International Airport before it exploded into a giant fireball with 300 people on board.

Shocking footage from inside the Boeing 777 flight showed passengers screaming in terror as smoke filled the cabin just minutes before it exploded.

Panicked cabin crew forced open the emergency exit doors in a desperate bid to get all 300 people on board out safely.

But travellers were seen scrambling to collect their luggage as the cabin filled with smoke and oxygen masks dangled from the ceiling.

An Emirates airlines Boeing 777-300 A6-EMW plane flight number EK521 from Trivandrum to Dubai lays on the ground in Dubai airport after being gutted by fire due to a mechanical failure at Dubai international airport on 3 August 2016

Minutes later, as passengers fled the destroyed plane, it exploded into a fireball that claimed the life of hero firefighter Jasim Issa Mohammed Hassan

Minutes later, as passengers fled the destroyed plane, it exploded into a fireball that claimed the life of hero firefighter Jasim Issa Mohammed Hassan

As the woman holding the camera guides her children to the emergency exit, where passengers were throwing themselves down inflatable slides, a voice can be heard shouting for her to 'jump, jump, jump'.

She continues filming throughout her dramatic escape, and as she flees the wreckage the camera captures a glimpse of the flaming engine.

Minutes later, as passengers fled the destroyed plane, it exploded into a fireball that claimed the life of hero firefighter Jasim Issa Mohammed Hassan.

It emerged that pilots tried to abort the landing moments before the jet crashed, telling air traffic controllers they wanted to 'go around'.

Controllers at Dubai International had to remind pilots on the Boeing 777 to lower the landing gear as it came in to land, according to the respected Aviation Herald, which monitors air accidents.

Minutes later, as passengers fled the destroyed plane, it exploded into a fireball that claimed the life of hero firefighter Jasim Issa Mohammed Hassan

Footage showed the plane's wing bent at an alarming angle above the flaming engine as the belly of the plane appears to be in contact with the runway itself - strongly suggesting that the crash was due to a fault in the landing gear.

All of those on board, including 24 Britons and six Americans, were led to safety at Dubai International Airport, minutes before the Boeing 777 was completely destroyed in a massive fireball.

All 99 passengers survive fiery crash in Mexico

An Aeromexico plane with 103 people onboard crashed in flames near an airport in northern Mexico in 2018 within minutes of it taking off due to strong winds.

The pilot was trying to abort take-off from Durango International Airport, northern Mexico, but did so too late and crashed into an area of scrubland at the end of the runway.

Terrifying footage filmed by American teenager Ashley Garcia showed the plane racing down the runway and rising up into the air before it abruptly dropped and crashed into the ground in a fireball explosion.

As the plane rapidly lost speed, passengers could be heard screaming and praying before the aircraft slammed into the runway.

The impact destroyed the plane's engines before it skidded to a halt about 1,000 ft beyond the runway and burst into flames.

Red Cross workers and rescue workers carry an injured person on a stretcher, right, as airline workers, left, walk away from the site where an Aeromexico airliner crashed in a field near the airport in Durango, Mexico, on July 31 2018

The flaming wreckage of the AeroMexico plane after crash in 2018

An orange flash of flames can be seen in the video as the plane crashed, throwing Ashley and her fellow screaming passengers forward.

Her harrowing video showed the horrific aftermath of the crash, as terrified passengers quickly fled the aircraft, knowing that it could explode any second.

The hysterical high school student repeatedly shouted her disbelief at what happened as passengers ran across scrubland clutching what they managed to take with them.

All 99 passengers and four crew miraculously survived the crash, which has been dubbed the 'Miracle of Durango'.

Another video by passenger Ramin Parsa also showed the moment of the crash and the piercing screams of passengers in the seconds after.

Screams and cries of fellow passengers, including children, could be heard throughout the smoke-filled cabin of the Mexico City bound plane.

All 99 passengers and four crew miraculously survived the blazing plane, which has been dubbed the 'Miracle of Durango'

Two people screamed 'open the door' in Spanish while everyone tried to pry open the exit as the plane caught fire.

The four cabin crew members assigned to Flight AM2431 were commended for their heroism and lauded for the swift and quick action they took in assisting 99 passengers to safety.

The crash injured 18 people, including two critically - flight captain Carlos Galvan Meyran and a young girl, who suffered first and second degree burns.

Plane ploughs into Pacific Ocean 400ft from runway

In 2018, a Boeing 737 passenger jet ploughed into the Pacific Ocean 443ft from the runway in Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, seconds after its frantic pilot screamed 'we're too low!'.

The Air Niugini jet missed the runway and crashed into the water off the tiny island of Weno in Micronesia on 28 September.

Terrified passengers told how they saw a hole in the plane after the crash landing, with water gushing in and swelling at their feet.

American Bill Jaynes, who was on board the plane, said the flight attendants were 'panicked' and started yelling at the passengers as water began rising quickly to their waists.

One male passenger died and another nine were injured in the crash in which 34 passengers and 12 crew members scrambled to safety with the help of locals who rushed out on their small boats.

Without hesitation, the men and women who witnessed the horror crash from Weno rowed out in a flotilla of small fishing boats towards the plane to rescue passengers in 2018

An Air Niugini plane has crash-landed in the ocean after it undershot a Micronesian runway

This graph shows the Boeing 737-800's rapid descent and how the pilots ignored the on-board computer's alarms and lights going off in their cockpit before they ditched 400ft shy of the runway on Weno island

One man died and nine other passengers were injured when an Air Niugini Boeing 737-800 sank in a Pacific lagoon last year

Without hesitation, the men and women who witnessed the horror crash from Weno rowed out in a flotilla of small fishing boats towards the plane.

The heroic locals pulled people from the jet as it sank into the ocean, saving the lives of scores of passengers who may have otherwise drowned.

Some of the passengers had already begun to swim for their lives while others were standing on the wings of the rapidly-sinking ship when the locals arrived in their boats.

Terrifying cockpit footage later emerged of the moment the plane slammed into the Pacific Ocean as the frantic pilot screamed 'we're too low'.

The shocking video showed how the pilots were unable to see anything - not least the runway - as alarms blared in the background with warnings of low altitude.

The video emerged yesterday during an air crash investigation after the Air Niugini jet ditched 400ft from a runway in Micronesia last September

The business class interior of the sunken jet after divers boarded the aircraft during their investigation

The broken fuselage of the Boeing 737 on the seabed in the Chuuk Lagoon

One passenger died and another nine were injured in the crash in which 34 passengers managed to scramble to safety from the Chuuk Lagoon off Weno island in Micronesia

Moments before the footage cuts out, the co-pilot shrieks at the captain, 'Too low! We're too low! We're too low!'

A Papua New Guinea Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) report into the September 28 crash found the captain and co-pilot ignored numerous automated warnings while approaching the runway.

It said the pair missed 'pull up' warning lights and continued the landing attempt at Chuuk International Airport, even after bad weather made them lose sight of the runway.

Russian jet crash lands in cornfield near Moscow

In 2019, a Russian pilot was hailed a hero after he managed to crash land a flaming jet carrying 233 people in a cornfield after birds were sucked into both engines.

Ural Airlines Flight U1678 was taking off from Moscow's Zhukovsky airport at 6.10am local time on 15 August bound for Simferopol, Crimea, when it it struck a flock of birds - causing one engine to burst into flames and the other to stop working.

Captain Damir Yusupov radioed the airport asking to make an emergency landing but he was forced to crash land in a cornfield a mile away after realising he wasn't going to make it back.

Extraordinarily, all 226 passengers and seven crew on board survived the bellyflop landing without engine power or wheels lowered. Only 23 people required medical treatment for minor injuries.

A view shows the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 passenger plane following an emergency landing in a field near Zhukovsky International Airport in Moscow Region, Russia, in August 2019

Ural Airlines Flight U1678 was taking off from Moscow's Zhukovsky airport for Simferopol, in Crimea, in 2019 when it hit the birds during takeoff. The pilot began to climb before the engines failed, tried to circle back around to the airport but had to land in a nearby field after losing power

A Russian Ural Airlines' A321 plane is seen after an emergency landing in a cornfield near Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, Russia, on August 16, 2019

A Russian Ural Airlines' A321 plane is seen after an emergency landing in a cornfield near Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, Russia, on August 16, 2019

Passengers by an Airbus A321 plane of the Ural Airlines that has made a hard landing in a field near Zhukovsky International Airport due to an engine fire in 2019

Firefighters spray foam on the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 passenger plane following an emergency landing in a field near Zhukovsky in 2019

Captain Damir Yusupov (pictured after the crash) radioed the airport asking to make an emergency landing but he was forced to crash land in a cornfield a mile away after realising he wasn't going to make it back

Dramatic footage filmed by a terrified passenger shows a flock of birds being sucked into the jet's engines as soon as it took off from Zhukovsky airport - before the plane's were heard struggling.

Other extraordinary video filmed by another passengers shows the plane quickly losing power and getting closer and closer to the fields below.

Suddenly, the plane hits the ground with a huge thud, thrusting the screaming passengers forward in their seats as they cried and shouted in horror.

But miraculously, all survived after Yusupov used the corn field as a brake, despite the terrifying risk of the aircraft's fuel tanks bursting into flames.

After the evacuation, passengers rushed to embrace and thank Yusupov and his flight attendants who helped them exit the stricken Airbus.

A still image, taken from a drone video footage, shows the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 passenger plane following an emergency landing in a field near Zhukovsky International Airport

A view shows the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 passenger plane following an emergency landing in a field near Zhukovsky International Airport in Moscow Region, Russia, in August 2019

A still image, taken from a drone video footage, shows the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 passenger plane following an emergency landing in a field near Zhukovsky International Airport

Yusupov and his co-pilot Georgy Murzinw were awarded the Kremlin's top honour - the Hero of Russia medal - by President Vladimir Putin for safely landing the plane.

Following the miraculous escape, Yusupov told reporters at the time: 'I didn't feel any fear. I saw a cornfield ahead and hoped to make a reasonably soft landing.

'I tried to lower vertical speed to make the plane land as smoothly as possible and glide softly.'

Miracle escape for 101 passengers on Lion Air jet in Bali

More than 100 passengers had a miracle escape in 2013 after their plane crashed into the sea as it attempted to land in Bali.

Passengers fearing for their lives screamed in panic as the Lion Air jet fell short of the runway at Ngurah Rai Airport, near Denparsar.

The aircraft, carrying 101 passengers and seven crew members, smashed into the sea, with water quickly filling the plane.

Terrified passengers fled the stricken plane, with many waiting on its wings as rescuers launched a dramatic rescue effort.

Terrified passengers fled the stricken plane, with many waiting on its wings as rescuers launched a dramatic rescue effort

More than 100 passengers had a miracle escape in 2013 after their plane crashed into the sea as it attempted to land in Bali

Passengers fearing for their lives screamed in panic as the Lion Air jet fell short of the runway at Ngurah Rai Airport, near Denparsar

Indonesian rescue workers help remove a section of a Lion Air Boeing 737 from the sea four days after it crashed while trying to land at Bali's international airport near Denpasar in 2013

Dewi, a passenger who sustained head wounds in the crash, relived the horrific moment the plane crashed into the water: 'The aircraft was in landing position when suddenly I saw it getting closer to the sea, and finally it hit the water.

'All of the passengers were screaming in panic in fear they would drown. I left behind my belongings and went to an emergency door. I got out of the plane and swam before rescuers jumped in to help me.'

Many of the passengers escaped through emergency doors which opened half way along the fuselage and made their way to the shore in inflatable yellow dinghies.

Several passengers were injured in the crash but there were no fatalities in the crash at Ngurah Rai airport, which is known for its runway that extends out into the ocean.

Plane from Paris overshoots runway and lands in ravine before erupting in flames

On August 2, 2005, an Air France Airbus A340 arriving from Paris overshot the runway and landed in a ravine just outside Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport.

All 297 passengers including seven Britons and 12 crew members miraculously escaped death by jumping to safety just seconds before fire engulfed the plane.

The evacuation of the flight took under two minutes, with around 40 people suffering only minor injuries.

Officials praised the crew for the speedy evacuation, with the co-pilot singled out for checking the plane before exiting last and advising rescue crews.

Passengers spoke of darkness and panic as the plane skidded along the runway before bursting into flames.

On August 2, 2005, an Air France Airbus A340 arriving from Paris overshot the runway and landed in a ravine just outside Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport

Crash investigators examine the wreckage of Air France flight 358 at Pearson Airport in Toronto in August 2005

Crash investigators examine the wreckage of Air France flight 358 at Pearson Airport in Toronto in August 2005

'It was a hell of a roller coaster going into the ravine. The people around me, everyone was running like crazy just in case there was an explosion,' passenger Roel Brammer said at the time.

'I was at the very back of the plane and saw that there was a fire outside. I was the second person off the plane. Down the chute.'

Passenger Gwen Dunlop, returning to Canada from a holiday in France, said: 'It happened so quickly - it was a little bit like being in a movie.

'At some point the wing was off. The oxygen masks never came down. The plane was filling up with smoke.'

She said one of the flight attendants tried to calm passengers and tell them that everything was OK.

'And yet the plane was on fire and smoke was pouring in,' Gwen said.

Dazed survivors made their way to 401 highway, the busiest freeway in Canada, which is a multi-lane road that adjoins Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

They then flagged down commuters who had slowed down as flames and thick black smoke billowed from the wrecked plane.

Plane struck by lightning before crash landing and breaking into three

In 2010, a Boeing 737 passenger jet was struck with lightning before crash landing and breaking into three pieces.

The plane, carrying 121 passengers and six crew members, was about 260 feet from the runway on the Colombian island of San Andres when it was hit by lightning during a thunderstorm.

The strike caused the plane to hit the ground 260ft short of the runway and spin out of control, buckling and breaking apart as it slid along its body.

Eyewitnesses said some screaming passengers were 'scattered' across the runway as the aircraft cracked apart.

After the three pieces of the plane finally came to rest at one end of the runway, the remaining passengers and crew scrambled to safety.

In 2010, a Boeing 737 passenger jet was struck with lightning before crash landing and breaking into three pieces

The plane, carrying 121 passengers and six crew members, was about 260 feet from the runway on the Colombian island of San Andres when it was hit by lightning during a thunderstorm

The strike caused the plane to hit the ground 260ft short of the runway and spin out of control, buckling and breaking apart as it slid along its body

Eyewitnesses said some screaming passengers were 'scattered' across the runway as the aircraft cracked apart

'When we fell, we wound up on the pavement still in the seats,' Ricardo Ramirez, a civil engineer on board the plane, said at the time. He said he struggled to free himself and his wife from their seat belts.

'We tried to get out of the plane because it started to shoot flames. In a few minutes, a police patrol arrived and helped us,' Ramirez said, describing it as a 'miracle of god' that they survived.

Firemen quickly doused a fire on a wing as a fleet of ambulances ferried the injured to hospital.

Extraordinarily, only two people died in the devastating crash which saw the plane break into three pieces. A 68-year-old woman suffered a heart attack and died on the hospital while an 11-year-old girl died in intensive care after suffering brain damage.

Colombian Air Force colonel David Barrero, said at the time: 'The skill of the pilot kept the plane from colliding with the airport.'

Miracle escape for 240 passengers on plane from Cardiff after crash landing

More than 200 British holidaymakers escaped with their lives after their plane's fuselage was ripped apart in a crash-landing in Spain in 1999.

The Britannia Airways Boeing 757 from Cardiff to Gerona slammed down into the runway during a storm at the Spanish destination on September 14, 1999.

Passengers described how the plane skimmed along the runway like a 'pebble across a lake' before being torn apart and eventually coming to a halt in a muddy field.

Miraculously, none of the 245 passengers and crew onboard were killed in the crash.

More than 200 British holidaymakers escaped with their lives after their plane's fuselage was ripped apart in a crash-landing in Spain in 1999

Passengers described how the plane skimmed along the runway like a 'pebble across a lake' before being torn apart and eventually coming to a halt in a muddy field

Retired steel worker David Dennis, 72, from Swansea, told the BBC at the time: 'It was amazing that no one was killed. How we all got out was a miracle.'

'The monitor showed us at 4,000 feet, then 3,000 and then 2,000. Then suddenly we shot back up to 5,000ft.

'Then the pilot had another go. We touched down but then it was like someone throwing a pebble across a lake. We just skimmed along the runway.'

Brian Perry, 59, a retired steel worker, from Caerphilly, said at the time: 'We ran as fast as we could away from the plane. There was a smell of fuel, but no fire.

'We are all talking about how good it feels to be alive. How nobody got killed I just don't know.'
Elizabeth II was more than a fellow head of state to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. She was a friend, a cousin, and a role model.

The late queens devotion to duty was an inspiration to Margrethe, who once admitted: She is a good deal more experienced than I am.

Elizabeth taught her that I must somehow understand that I must dedicate my life to my nation like she has done, and in that way she has been very important to me.

Elizabeth also made it clear to Margrethe that the monarchy is a task you have handed down to you and that you keep as long as you live.

Queen Margrethe pays a state visit to Britain, accompanied by her husband Prince Henrik, in 1974. They arrived at Greenwich aboard the Royal Danish Yacht. Prince Philip is centre and behind him, to the left, is Mark Philips, Aide-de-Camp to the Queen and husband of Princess Anne

Queen Margrethe of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary attend a gala banquet for The Crown Prince's 50th birthday at Christiansborg Palace in 2018

Queen Margrethe of Denmark with Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark to the left. Her younger son, Prince Joachim, stands to the right. His children have lost their titles

Queen Elizabeth II stands on the Palace balcony with Prince Charles for Trooping The Colour in 2018. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stand behind

The future King Edward VII with his bride, Princess Alexandra of Denmark on their wedding day in 1863. Queen Victoria sits between them

Queen Elizabeth, centre, pays a state visit to Denmark in May 1957. On the left stand Princess Margrethe and King Frederik. To Elizabeth's right stand Queen Ingrid, Princess Anne Marie, Prince Philip and Princess Benedicte

This shared belief that being sovereign is a job for life, made this weeks abdication announcement - which came out of the blue - all the more surprising.

Having said that, Margrethe may well had had the late queen in mind since her priority is for a smooth transition of her throne to Crown Prince Frederick.

Elizabeth II, as an anointed sovereign, would never have abdicated but in February 2022 she memorably asked the country to give Charles and Camilla the same support that you have given me and endorsed Camilla as her sons queen consort.

Which is to say, there seems to have been a strong threat of planning and preparation for the future in the late Queens final years.

Similarly, Margrethe would have taken on board the no-nonsense way that Elizabeth stripped Harry and Meghan of their HRH status, their royal patronages and the princes honorary military titles once they had decided to step down as working royals in 2020.

In a similar move  and one provoking controversy at home - the Danish queen removed the titles prince and princess from the four children of her younger son Prince Joaquim.

As with Elizabeth II, it hurt her to do so but Margrethe thought it a necessary measure, commenting that difficulties and disagreements can arise in any family, including mine.

Elizabeth and Margrethe were not only friends, they were also third cousins.

Both are great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria and also of Denmark's King Christian IX, whose daughter was Elizabeth's great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra (Queen Consort of Edward VII).

Prince Philip had an even closer tie to Margarethe.

He was born Prince Philippos of Greece, but the Greek royal family were in fact Danish.

Philips grandfather was Prince William of Denmark, who agreed to take on the vacant throne of Greece, serving as King George I.

While Elizabeth and Margrethe addressed each other in public as Your Majesty, in private Margrethe was known to her cousin as Daisy.

This was the Danish queen had been named after her British-born grandmother Princess Margaret (Daisy) of Connaught, one of Victorias many granddaughters.

Elizabeth was known to Margrethe by her family of Lilibet as her cousin once explained:

That's the way we have known each other always. That is what we call each other when we see and speak to one another. We are definitely affectionate, but I don't want to splash it all over the place!

Margrethe was 31 when she became queen.

Fourteen years younger than Elizabeth, she had watched on as Lilibet succeeded her father aged just 25.

When I was growing up, I hoped I wouldn't be as young as that when my father died, Margrethe said decades later.

It made an enormous impression on me. The fact that she was dedicating her life. I understood what that meant. This is for life. That is the whole point of my life. And I know she sees that too.

When I was growing up, my mother and father said to me, look at what they do in England, and I could see that it could be done and it was worthwhile and you could live a very full life with it, even with a heavy schedule and demanding job.

Both she and I see it as a dedication, but also a job.

Thirteen-year-old Princess Margrethe of Denmark, became heir-presumptive to the Danish throne on 5th June 1953 following an amendment to the Danish constitution

A 1941 portrait of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose with a pet corgi

Princess Margrethe, then 13, represented her father, King Frederick at the 1953 Coronation of Elizabeth II

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark pictured together as they inspect a line of guardsmen during a state visit to England in May 1974

Denmark's Queen Margrethe laughs while visiting her friend and cousin Queen Elizabeth on her second state visit to Britain in 2000

Elizabeth greets Margrethe in the Home Park at Windsor during the official welcome

Both Queens look relaxed as they attend a banquet at the Natural History Museum hosted by Margrethe in Elizabeth's honour

Queen Margrethe attends a banquet held at Windsor Castle to mark Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee in June 2002

Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik arrive for a dinner hosted by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess Of Cornwall to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in 2012

When she became queen in 1972 Margrethe soon realised one has a position which is in some ways alone, but one depends on all sorts of people. Its important to know that you are not alone.

Sharing the burden, were their two consorts. Both women married before succeeding to the throne, and both married foreigners  Philip was a Greek prince and the French-born Prince Henrik had been a diplomat.

The two men were both outspoken, controversial characters, who modernised the two royal courts and were impatient with bureaucracy. Margrethe once said, my husband has found it difficult I know.

The onset of dementia made it worse. Henrik once went on strike until he had an increase in his allowance from the state and he was incensed when his son, Crown Prince Frederick was placed above him in the order of precedence.

Much sadness was caused when he refused to attend Margrethes 75th birthday celebrations and also announced that he did not wish to be buried alongside her.

Beside admiring Elizabeths sense of duty, Margrethe loved her sense of humour.

She was in the royal box for the opening of the London Olympic Games in 2012 and like all the other guests was taken in by Elizabeths involvement in the James Bond spoof.

There was the queen sitting with her back to the camera and I thought Is that somebody being very clever impersonating her, and she got up and it was her! What a good sport.

Afterwards, she continued, I told her how much I admired that she had taken part and told her that we all thought it was absolutely wonderful.

According to Daisy, Elizabeth enjoyed the surprise  apparently she hadnt even told her children.

Margrethe was the head of state the late Queen saw most of.

Protocol dictates that a Queen Regnant such as Margrethe should only make one state visit to a country during the reign of a fellow monarch.

The Danish queen was, however, invited twice, first in 1974 and again in 2000.

Elizabeth bestowed the Royal Victorian Chain on her cousin in 1972  a rare honour, with less than a dozen living recipients.

She was also made only the seventh Lady of the Garter since Queen Alexandra became the first in 1901.

Elizabeth and Philip both received Denmarks highest order of chivalry, the Order of the Elephant, as a wedding present in 1947, though rather than in a formal presentation ceremony, Margrethes father, King Frederick sent it in the ordinary post.

Elizabeth also made Daisy Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment in 1997 the year after Princess Diana renounced the role following her divorce.

Margrethe and the other members of the Trade Union of Kings as Edward VII dubbed his fellow monarchs often gathered to mark significant state occasions in Britain including three of Elizabeths four jubilees, and her silver and golden and wedding anniversaries.

In addition, Margrethe has a house in Belgravia just behind Buckingham Palace and once said Elizabeth always invites me for lunch when I am in London  when we talk about family, how things are going in this country and that country and what the children are up to.

Elizabeths death in September 2022 coincided with the celebrations in Denmark marking Margrethes golden jubilee.

Many events were cancelled as a mark of respect.

One that went ahead was a gala at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. Before it began, Margrethe called for a minute of silence to honour Elizabeth.

Daisy travelled to London for the funeral in September 2022.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her nephew, Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, attend the committal service for Queen Elizabeth II at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on September 19, 2022

Margrethe and Frederik during the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark attends the Memorial Service For The Duke Of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey on March 29, 2022

As she attended the late queens Lying in State at Westminster Hall, she was photographed clearly tearful and looking rather desolate.

On the news of Elizabeths death, her cousin sent a special letter to King Charles III that read:

Deeply moved by the sad news of your beloved mothers death, I send you and Camilla my warmest thoughts and prayers.

Your mother was very important to me and my family. She was a towering figure among the European monarchs and a great inspiration to us all. We shall miss her terribly.
It's not hard to see why Catherine, Princess of Wales and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark draw so many comparisons.

Two 'commoners' marrying into royalty, each has been asked to take on a new and daunting responsibility.

Where Catherine is now Princess of Wales, Mary will become Queen Consort of Denmark on Sunday January 14.

Each has studied hard to fulfil their roles - and under the most intense scrutiny.

Along with other royal women around Europe, they are also bound together by distinctive fashion choices.

From wearing the same piece to turning to different designers for the same result, there are times when Mary and her counterparts seem like doppelgangers - united by a secret style code for modern royalty.

From fitted frocks by day to glamorous gowns by night, together with floral prints and tailored separates, it's as if the future Queen of Denmark has been taking notes from leading ladies including Queen Letizia of Spain and Princess Charlene of Monaco to refine a modern and sophisticated look.

Vilshenko

Pale pink and featuring an intricate floral design that is placed perfectly to flatter the figure, this keyhole detail Vilshenko dress cut from silk crepe de chine was the pick of both Princess Charlene of Monaco and Princess Mary of Denmark.

Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary meet Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan in October, 2017

Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene of Monaco arrive with Prince Jacques, to take part in the traditional Monaco's picnic in Monaco, September 10, 2016

Charlene chose it to attend the annual traditional Pique Nique Monegasque in September 2016 with contrasting black heels, and in October 2017 Mary wore it to a business seminar in Tokyo with coordinating navy and blush accessories.

Raquel Diniz

This cherry red dress by Raquel Diniz with keyhole detail and bow was worn by Princess Mette-Marit of Norway to the Munch Museum in Norway in May 2017 paired with Christian Louboutin pumps.

Crown Princess Mary is pictured for the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron in August, 2018

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit arrive at the Munch Museum in Oslo for the 2017 exhibition Towards the Forest

Crown Princess Mette-Marit at the opening of the Munch exhibition

Later in August 2018, Princess Mary also opted for it at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark, although she gave it a more conservative edge by adding a brooch, tie belt and pulling her hair into a chignon.

Hugo Boss

Queen Letizia of Spain often wears Hugo Boss, however she is not alone as Crown Princess Mary of Denmark also favours the brand and both ladies own the same pale blue belted pencil skirt, each pairing it with different separates for subtle yet elegant daytime ensembles.

Crown Princess Mary opens an exhibition of Danish jewellery in Houston, Texas, in 2019

Queen Letizia of Spain attends a meeting at the Spanish Royal Academy of Language in June 2019

Letizia chose a navy blouse and heels for a public engagement in Madrid in June 2019, while Mary similarly chose a navy top, but instead hers was a polka dot print when she visited Texas a few months earlier.

Beulah

Crown Princess Mary and the Princess of Wales both opted for a blue floral printed dress from Beulah complete with a crisp collar and cuffs in contrasting white.

Mary and Kate choose blue Beulah for the hot weather. Crown Princess Mary is pictured in 2019 in Indonesia. Catherine is caught the following year in Norfolk

Although they both accentuated the waist with a tie belt, Mary softened the look by choosing nude heels and a loose blow dry during a trip to Indonesia in December 2019, while Kate pulled her hair back and added her favourite Rupert Sanderson navy suede pumps when visiting the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn as part of the NHS birthday celebrations in July 2020.

The Beulah Ahana dress, seen here worn by Mary and Catherine in different shades, has become a firm favourite with the royals. Princess Mary is pictured in 2020. Kate is in pink the following year

The Beulah Ahana dress has become a popular choice among the royals in many colours of the rainbow, and this time Mary and Kate opted for a similar shade of pastel pink with short sleeves and a wide belt at the waist.

Princess Mary wore it in June 2020 to an exhibition opening in Denmark, while the Princess of Wales wore it to Wimbledon in July 2021, and with their matching blush heels and wavy brunette locks they were style doppelgangers.

Zimmermann

Princess Mary honoured her native roots when she wore this lace, flowery dress by Australian designer Zimmermann on an official trip to South Korea in 2019.

Crown Princess Mary on an official visit to South Korea in May, 2019

Zara Tindall attends the Platinum Pageant on The Mall in June, 2022

With its flattering nipped-in waist and full sleeves it was also a stylish choice for Zara Tindall a few years later at the Platinum Pageant celebrations in June 2022 when paired with an Aspinal of London bag and Illesteva sunglasses.

Emilia Wickstead

One of the Princess of Wales favourite Emilia Wickstead frocks which she owns in four colours and is called the Kate dress is a mainstay in her wardrobe and has also been seen on Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

Princess Mary of Denmark wears Emilia Wickstead for Tokyo in 2015

Duchess of Cambridge attends the 2018 Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit at County Hall in London

Long-sleeved and belted at the waist with a sleek silhouette, the A-line style was worn by Mary in dove grey during a trip to Tokyo in March 2015, followed by her style twin choosing in in lavender whilst attending the Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit in October 2018.

Etro

This printed orange Etro skirt gave deja vu when worn by Queen Maxima of the Netherlands during her visit to Kenya in October 2023. Styled with a crisp white skirt and belted at the waist, it was a mirror image of Crown Princess Marys look when on tour in India in February 2023.

Mary wears her Etro skirt in front of the Taj Mahal in 2023

Queen Maxima in an identical Etro skirt as she visits Kenya in 2023

The versatile skirt was first seen on Mary during the Rio Olympics in 2016, although when seen on both the royals seven years later it still looked just as fresh and on trend.

H&M

Showing that royals can still shop on the high street and look regal, both Princess Mary of Denmark and Princess Victoria of Sweden went for summer casual in a blue and white printed H&M dress with blouson sleeves and a flowing pleated skirt.

Mary chose this boho frock for her official summer family portraits in 2020

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden gave the piece a glamorous edge for a visit to the National Maritime Museum in June 2023

Mary chose the boho frock for her official summer family portraits in 2020, adding a leather belt and metallic flat pumps, whereas Victoria gave the piece a glamorous edge for a visit to the National Maritime Museum in June 2023 by adding a Valentino bag and Marzio pumps.

Alexander McQueen

Princess Mary dazzled in an Alexander McQueen design which featured silk ties at the waist when attending.

Princess Mary attends the 2005c Hans Christian Andersen bicentenial Gala Dinner in New York

Sarah Ferguson poses at the the 10th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation's benefit in Wall Street , 2011

The red carpet showstopper was a recycled piece which she had worn on four previous occasions and had also been seen on Sarah Ferguson back in October 2011 at the Elton John Foundation gala.

Both swept their hair up and added diamond drop earrings to amp up the glamour of the floor length gown.
Vulnerable people are moving into the 'pods' for the first time this month

Bristol Council has built eight housing pods on a car park in St George, Bristol, to help fight the city's homelessness crisis - with vulnerable people moving in for the first time this month.

The single-person homes, which are fitted with a kitchen, bathroom, living area and bedroom, are located on Derby Street Car Park just off Church Road in Bristol.

Planning permission for the pods was approved in December 2022, despite concerns about their location opposite St George Preschool.

They were built and handed over to housing provider Places for People on September 27 and the site is now ready to welcome residents, who have experienced homelessness but are ready to improve their lives.

The pods are also managed by the Salvation Army and were given to Places for People by Bristol City Council on a peppercorn rental, meaning a very low rental fee, on a 60-year lease.

Bristol Council has built eight housing pods on a car park in St George, Bristol, to help fight the city's homelessness crisis - with vulnerable people moving in for the first time this month

There will also be a support worker for the accommodation to look after the homeless people living there, who will stay temporarily until they find a permanent housing arrangement.

Due to the size of the properties, a resident can live there for up to two years.

Also known as a 'SoloHaus,' the homes are described as 'unique retreats specifically designed for the homeless people'.

They provide 'dignity and independence' as well as dramatically cutting the costs associated with traditional temporary accommodation - the 'pods' can reduce elecricity bills to just 5 per week.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: 'As part of our work to support people who have experienced homelessness we have installed eight modular units on Derby Street Car Park in St George.

'These purpose-built modular homes, designed to provide follow-on temporary accommodation for people who have experienced homelessness, were handed over from the Hill Group to Places for People on 27 September.

'We are working with Places for People to move people in during January. This project will transform the lives of Bristol residents that need some extra support.

'In 2021/22, Bristol built 2,563 new homes  exceeding the Mayors ambitious manifesto target.

Planning permission for the pods was approved in December 2022, despite concerns about their location opposite St George Preschool

The single-person homes are fitted with a kitchen, bathroom, living area and bedroom,

Due to the size of the properties, a resident can live there for up to two years

The homes are located on Derby Street Car Park just off Church Road in Bristol

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Former cocaine addict raises 80,000 for his homelessness charity by sleeping rough in UK's biggest cities Advertisement

'More are needed to continue to tackle a housing crisis that sees over 20,000 households on our housing waiting list.'

Bristol City Council also advised that there is more than enough parking available nearby, despite the pods using 22 free spaces.

Peak demand in the parking areas (forming of Derby Street Car Park, Derby Street and Chalks Road Car Park) was 98 spaces, meaning 11 free spaces are still available at peak times in these areas.

The 'pods' follow the success of another car park housing project nearby called Hope Rise, where 11 ZEDpod apartments will be built on stilts above the car park in Chalks Road in 2020.

The pilot scheme aimed to help vulnerable young adults get back into work and education, and was such a success that it was tipped for a national roll-out in 2022.

However, it's not just homeless people that are moving to 'pod' style homes.

Last month, a couple swapped their semi-detatched home for an eco-friendly 'ModPod' in Coventry - they said their bills are cheaper, but compared it to a morgue.

Gillian and Wayne Millward took the bold step to ditch their two-bed, where they had lived for 13 years, for a small eco-friendly, factory-built home.

The modular prefab home, called a ModPod, decked out with solar panels on the roof, was trucked over and craned into place on the site of former garages in Coventry, West Midlands.

Care worker Mrs Millward, told MailOnline: Weve only been here for a few weeks but we love it.

'We wanted to downsize and it is the perfect place for us. Our old home was too big for us'.
Residents living in and around a proposed new national park in the heart of Wales have blasted the eco-scheme as a 'crazy idea' that will cause planning chaos and drive up house prices.

Welsh Labour in their 'Programme for Government' have pledged to create a new national park in north east Wales, based around the current Clwydian Range and Dee Valley area of outstanding natural beauty.

The park would cut through sections of Powys, Flintshire, Wrexham and Denbighshire where residents say there is already a large discrepancy between the value of similar sized housing, with research showing it can be up to 100k.

Last year it was revealed that Powys recorded the biggest spike in house prices in the UK with the average property going up 17.4 per cent in value.

While locals say that creating a new park would see them paralysed by bureaucracy when it came to home improvements and extensions,

On resident told MailOnline: 'If they turn it into a national park you won't be able to do anything. It's a crazy idea  why does it need to be a national park?'

Welsh Labour in their 'Programme for Government' have pledged to create a new national park in north east Wales

The new national park would cut through Llangollen, next to the river Dee, where locals say house prices are on the rise

Residents say the park will paralyse them with more bureaucracy and drive up house prices for young people

There is already a large discrepancy between the value of similar sized housing in the proposed park area

At picturesque Llangollen, next to the river Dee - a town with a popular canal and a gateway to Wales which attracts thousands of tourists properties inside the area of outstanding natural beauty are already 100,000 more expensive than those outside.

Research by property firm Purplebricks revealed that a four-bedroom home within the proposed park site at Froncysyllte in Llangollen costs 500k while a four-bed detached property in nearby Wrexham, but outside of the zone, costs just 399k.

Two three-bedroom homes inside the proposed site. in Ruthin and Corwen, are worth 375k and 339k respectively compared to a bigger four-bed home worth just 275k outside of it.

Resident Pat Convery, 64, told MailOnline the prospect of the park being pushed through fills him with dread.

He explained: 'You won't be able to do anything. There's enough bureaucracy around planning and you have an area of outstanding natural beauty already.

'If they turn it into a national park you won't be able to do anything. It's a crazy idea  why does it need to be a national park?'

Mr Convery said it would become another 'costly bureaucracy' established by the Welsh Government which had spent millions of pounds already on the controversial 20mph default speed limit.

He added: 'They need to run things more like a private business. There are enough people employed by the state already.'

Kevin Burns, 68, an engineer, said the plans were 'not a good idea' and would be 'too restrictive' in industrial areas of nearby Flintshire. 'There's too much bureaucracy already in Wales,' he added.

Last year Powys recorded the biggest spike in house prices in the UK with the average property going up 17.4 per cent in value

Resident Pat Convery, 64, told MailOnline the prospect of the park being pushed through fills him with dread

The Welsh Government has asked Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to investigate setting up a national park

John Simon believes that the national park will be nothing more than a gravy train for politicians

The green area in this map shows the land covered by the proposed park in the heart of Wales

John Simon, 70, a property owner and local, said :'I would get rid of the National Assembly. I have got to the age now where all politicians and all parties I have no regard for any of them because they don't take account of people's real requirements.

'I am so fed up of the whole lot of them. It's just another gravy train for politicians.'

The Welsh government have argued that the new park would be 'important for the environment' and help Wales 'achieve more sustainable tourism' - but previously warned of painful budget choices for Wales in the devolution era.

In north west Wales, in the Snowdonia national park, there have been some complaints of 'over-tourism.'

Mountain paths have been eroded by walkers, there have been issues with rubbish and complaints about selfish parking blocking country roads.

House prices have soared in villages popular with families wanting a beauty-spot holiday home. There are fears it could happen in a new national park, within just an hour of Manchester and Liverpool.

But at his town centre food shop Ross Anderson, 52, said a new national park would be 'a good thing.'

He said :'We are largely a tourist town. It can only be a good thing for the area. There have been a lot of positive things with the area of outstanding natural beauty, it's pulled a lot of people in.

'The last twelve months have been the busiest we have ever had.'

Customer Sharon Gunning, 56, visiting family from Spain, said :'It would be a shame if it became too expensive for local people. It's a beautiful area.'

The Welsh government have argued that the new park would be 'important for the environment'

Sharon Gunning said it would be a shame if the park priced out local people

It is expected that the proposals and boundary of the park will be confirmed this year ahead of possible implementation by 2026, the Powys County Times reported.

Local Plaid Cymru Councillor Elwyn Vaughan has opposed the plan at every turn and warned that should it go through it could cost local people 4m a year and raise house prices by 25 per cent making things 'even worse' for young people.

Cllr Vaughan told a Powys County Council meeting last month: 'The existence of a national park status makes no difference to biodiversity.

'What it will do is cost about 4 million a year at a time when Powys needs to save 40 million over the next three year.'

He added: 'Setting up a new authority is not sustainable when we are likely to see other authorities go into the wall.'

Commenting on the Welsh government's plans, Purplebricks chief sales officer Jonny Magill told MailOnline that any new national park could see some teething problems.

He explained: 'I can see how the introduction of the proposed Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Park will lead to an increase in house prices in this area.

'It could ensure more control to limit new housing developments, due to restrictions in areas of natural beauty- therefore, reducing the amount of homes available in these sought-after postcodes.

'The associated lifestyle and beauty are certainly at a premium.

'National parks have notably contributed to a positive effect on house prices, creating an increased demand for properties. This trend is evident even in locations like Nottingham, where I am from.

'Sherwood Forest, a renowned national park, has become a focal point enhancing the desirability of the surrounding properties. Interestingly, this surge in demand not only impacts traditional home sales but also translates into a higher demand for rental properties, Airbnb's etc.

'As Wales continues to enhance its appeal for both residents and visitors, the establishment of this national park seems poised to exert a positive influence on property prices. This optimism persists even in the face of potential increases in council tax for investors.'
Democrat-run cities like New York and Chicago have complained that the migrant crisis has left them at breaking point.

They say the border crossers wading through the Rio Grande and hiking across the desert are overwhelming their communities when they head north.

But it's the tiny Texas communities with barely any resources that are bleeding cash to deal with the historic influx of migrants into the U.S.

Eagle Pass has quickly become the epicenter of the migrant crisis. Last month, the city of just 28,000 residents saw 5,000 migrants pass through.

Local resources, including emergency services, have been stretched thin to the point where they are shedding thousands a month from the budget.

Last month the Department of Homeland Security shut down an international rail bridge in the city for a month to divert personnel to process migrants.

Fire Chief Manuel Mello estimated the move cost the city between $500,000 and $1 million in lost revenue, and they are not getting help recovering the funds.

'That's our main source for the city to sustain itself, from the bridge profits - commercial trucks and vehicle and pedestrian crossing,' he told DailyMail.com in an interview.

Some 300,000 migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in December, prompting the closing of four international bridges, one in Eagle Pass.

While much of the immigration debate centers on big cities being overwhelmed with new occupants, the quiet community of Eagle Pass, Texas is now bleeding money from its own pot to handle the influx

Some 300,000 migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in December, prompting the closing of four international bridges, one in Eagle Pass, pictured above

The city again came into the spotlight when over 60 House Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson visited with border agents and local law enforcement there.

Groups of migrants were seen wading through the river and into the arms of border agents just as Johnson and his Republicans took a tour. A group of Venezuelan teenagers screamed 'Ayudame! Help me!' at the speaker as he stood on the riverbank.

But Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who represents the area, suggested the city had been cleaned up, migrants diverted to cross in other sectors, for the congressional visit.

'I am grateful for my colleagues and grateful for the speaker to show up and the fact that all of a sudden, everything stopped. We needed that,' he told reporters. 'Eagle Pass was on the brink of having to release hundreds, thousands, of people onto the streets. The fact that House Republicans showed up today and all of a sudden everything got turned off is a win.'

Mello's own local fire department gets called in to transport migrants to the hospital whenever there's an emergency. They see everything from pregnant mothers going into labor, people who drown while crossing the Rio Grande or suffer heat strokes.

From January to December the department was inundated with nearly 9,000 phone calls and had to transport 778 migrants to the hospital at its own cost.

Eagle Pass Fire Chief Manuel Mello

Each EMS transport amounts to around $700 in lost revenue - leading Mello to estimate his agency lost about $21,000 in revenue per day in the fall months of this year.

And with overtime pay, vehicle maintenance and other factors, the department is going over budget by about $38-40,000, Mello said.

The federal government has not been in touch about reimbursing the city, which could this year run out of money and have to tighten its belt.

'Sometimes we've got all five ambulances out and a fire truck is going to have to respond to an ambulance call,' said Mello. 'A medic will respond and sometimes we'll have to call a private ambulance company.'

Mello said he and his team began feeling stretched thin around two years ago, and became even more inundated in the spring of this year.

Last week the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to step in on a legal case over the blade-studded concertina wire Abbott has placed along the border in the city

Migrants cross Rio Grande as Speaker Mike Johnson gives a briefing

International bridge pictured from riverbed

'When all this started, all the focus was on law enforcement, border patrol DPS and the local law enforcement. But they were forgetting a big component of all this the EMS portion,' said Mello.

Mello said the only one who has reached out is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. 'So Governor Abbott realized that and he called a meeting he helped us out with $400,000 for overtime he got us through a grant. He got us a boat, an airboat and an all-terrain vehicle.'

Abbott has been locked in a war with the Biden administration over border policies he enacted in Eagle Pass.

Last week the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to step in on a legal case over the blade-studded concertina wire Abbott has placed along the border in the city. The White House wants to tear it down.

Speaker Johnson and 60 House Republicans tour border in Eagle Pass

Abbott already lost a case over floating barriers he placed in the Rio Grande. But shipping containers lined with National Guard members patrolling along the top still line the riverbed on the American side in Eagle Pass.

The governor openly defied federal authority by having state law enforcement police the border, as he says border agents have been locked up in processing migrants into the country.

On Wednesday the Justice Department filed a lawsuit challenging a Texas law Abbott recently signed giving police officers authority to arrest and turn away migrants that is set to go into effect in March.

Abbott in recent years has stirred liberal lawmakers by sending migrants to northern cities to give them a taste of life in Eagle Pass.

In 2023, the Eagle Pass fire department alone has counted 43 drownings of migrants who try to cross the Rio Grande.

'That's a big number. When I first started here, back in 1992. We thought that six drownings in a year was you know, wow,' said Mello. That number does not include drownings encountered by Texas Department of Public Safety or Border Patrol. It also did not include how many bodies were yanked from the river on the Mexican side.

For now, Mello fears another bridge closing, and waits for the day he'll be told he has to cut back on hiring and can't buy new equipment his first responders need.

'When they close one bridge - or both of them - if they close both of them then we'll really be hurting,' he said.
Police chiefs are at the centre of a spin row after being accused of interfering with government crime figures on the use of soft-touch warnings for sex offences.

The force was given early access to the official statistics before their publication  and, after discussion with the Scottish Government, some data about Recorded Police Warnings (RPWs) was taken out.

Top brass feared their inclusion would trigger negative headlines following an earlier row over RPWs  intended for minor offences  being issued for sex crimes.

The warnings are now being dished out for crimes including possession of heroin and cocaine and allow the recipient to escape a court appearance and a full criminal record.

Soft-touch police warnings are being used in defiance of strict guidelines from the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain

Last night, Scottish Tory deputy justice spokesman Sharon Dowey said when public safety is at stake the priority should be telling the public the truth  not trying to meddle with the figures.

She added: The SNP Government must reveal what changes have been made to these statistics following this vetting process.

The Mail has obtained a briefing paper by a senior officer which was submitted to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), the civilian oversight body for the single force.

Chief Superintendent Gordon McCreadie said there was a risk that crime figures which were about to be published by the Scottish Government would reignite the row over RPWs, amplifying political and media interest.

He said we [police] have an opportunity to get ahead of this now and I am working with [the Scottish Government] and Police Scotland experts to isolate and examine each of the crimes referenced [in relation to RPWs].

Mr McCreadie said: If there are any [RPW figures] of concern then we will put in place appropriate lines [media statements] to mitigate this risk as given the proximity of these recent headlines there is no doubt this will garner some attention.

Police told the Mail that the RPW data was removed because some of it contained errors.

Neither the force nor SNP Government officials would provide any detail on what was taken out.

Mr McCreadies briefing states: Recognising the risk of this years data amplifying political and media interest, we have secured the embargoed release from SG [Scottish Government] and scrutinised the RPW data.

It appears [redacted] amongst some other matters have been disposed of by the use of RPW.

This will be released in around four weeks so there is a short window to intervene.

The paper was written in September, with the Scottish Government publishing its criminal proceedings figures in October.

Those figures showed that 20,245 RPWs were issued in 2021-22 for threatening and abusive behaviour, possession of drugs, common assault and other offences including shoplifting and vandalism.

Around ten days before Mr McCreadie wrote his memo, it had emerged that in 2020-21, some 20 RPWs had been issued for sex crimes, sparking a political row.

There is, however, no mention of RPWs for sexual offences in the 2021-22 statistics.

Asked by the Mail to provide more detail, Chief Superintendent Nicola Russell said: We made the Scottish Government aware that data supplied relating to RPWs contained some errors.

It would be inaccurate to say we would request to change the data  this would be a decision for the Scottish Government.

A government spokesman said: It is normal practice for Scottish Government officials to have regular communication with data suppliers  in this case Police Scotland  as part of quality assurance processes for statistical publications.
In the aftermath of former Harvard President Claudine Gay's resignation amidst nearly fifty reports of plagiarism, a target has been placed on the back of the wife of a strong advocate for Gay's ousting.

Business Insider had launched an investigation into billionaire Bill Ackman's wife, Neri Oxman, accusing her of plagiarizing sections of her doctoral dissertation; Oxman denies plagiarizing but admits omitting quotation marks despite proper citations.

The article takes a deep dive into Oxman's work, knit-picking instances where she failed to include quotation marks around borrowed passages - despite providing the proper references - in a desperate attempt to prove that the American-Israeli designer violated MIT's academic-integrity standards.

The report highlights multiple instances of alleged plagiarism by Oxman, who became a tenured professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2017, where Oxman clearly states the authors' names as references.

Comparatively, Gay, the former president of one of the top elite universities in the world, was hit with another six accusations of plagiarism just last week, bringing the total number of copying claims to nearly 50.

Business insider claimed their analysis proved Oxman plagiarized multiple paragraphs of her 2010 doctoral dissertation, including at least one passage directly lifted from other writers without citation.

Harvard President Claudine Gay at the congressional hearing last month

Oxman responded to the brazen allegations against her, admitting errors in omitting quotation marks but asserting proper crediting through references.

'I was forwarded an email this morning from a reporter at Business Insider who noted that there are four paragraphs in my 330-page PhD dissertation: "Material-based Design Computation," which I completed at MIT in 2010,' she wrote on X Thursday.

'Where I omitted quotation marks for certain work that I used. For each of the four paragraphs in question, I properly credited the original source's author(s) with references at the end of each of the subject paragraphs, and in the detailed bibliography end pages of the dissertation.'

'In these four paragraphs, however, I did not place the subject language in quotation marks, which would be the proper approach for crediting the work. I regret and apologize for these errors.'

'Business Insider also identified one sentence in the dissertation where I paraphrased Claus Mattheck and did not cite him,' she wrote. 'I should have provided a citation to Mattheck for the above sentence. I paraphrased from his book, 'Design in nature: learning from trees, Springer 1998,' which I cited throughout my thesis, and properly attributed in the sections which follow the subject sentence. I deeply apologize to Mattheck for inadvertently not citing him when I paraphrased the above sentence.'

Meanwhile, the rest of the article delves into the private lives of Oxman and Ackman, emphasizing Ackman's recent activism against plagiarism and anti-Semitism at Harvard, his alma mater.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman , who has actively sought the ousting of Harvard President Claudine Gay applauded her resignation on Tuesday afternoon

Ackman addressed the accusations against his wife in a post on X Thursday, expressing his admiration for his accomplished wife and her ability to take responsibility for her mistakes.

'You know that you struck a chord when they go after your wife, in this case my love and partner in life, Neri Oxman,' Ackman posted on X Thursday.

'Part of what makes her human is that she makes mistakes, owns them, and apologizes when appropriate. Neri, a former tenured professor at MIT, is the author of 74 peer-reviewed papers, eight peer-reviewed book chapters, and numerous other journal papers and proceedings.'

'She has been awarded 15 patents for various innovations, and her work has been featured in 116 exhibitions around the world including two recent retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art and SF MoMA,' he added.

Gay's alleged plagiarism of Franklin Gilliam's work seen here in bold font

Gay's alleged plagiarism of Franklin Gilliam's work seen here in bold font

Gay's alleged plagiarism of Gary King's work seen here in bold font

Gay's alleged plagiarism of David Canon's work seen here in bold font

Gay's alleged plagiarism of David Canon's work seen here in bold font

The Associated Press has faced fierce backlash after they published a headline that said that plagiarism is the 'new conservative weapon' in a piece about Claudine Gay's resignation

This comes as other mainstream media outlets attempt to downplay the allegations against Gay.

The Associated Press was blasted and forced to make a humiliating U-turn after they published an article about Claudine Gay's resignation with a sensational headline that said plagiarism was a 'new conservative weapon.'

Gay, 53, resigned as the President of Harvard University on Tuesday in a bitter letter to colleagues and students - taking zero responsibility for the controversies that marked her leadership in her resignation letter.

She stepped down from her role 28 days after her shocking response at a congressional testimony about campus anti-Semitism. Gay refused to categorize calls for genocide of Jews as harassment or admit that Jewish students had a right not to feel unsafe at Ivy League schools.

After Gay's resignation, Ackman called for the resignation and replacement of the school's board, which he said is just as much to blame for its problems as ousted president Gay.

In Gay's departure, she was lauded by Harvard Corporation, the university board led by Penny Pritzker, Obama's Commerce Secretary and sister of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, which said it accepted her resignation 'with sorrow'.

Ackman, a Harvard graduate and donor, vocally campaigned for the resignations of Gay, as well as the presidents of MIT, Sally Kornblut, and Upenn, Elizabeth Magill following their failure to unequivocally condemn antisemitism on their college's campuses at a congressional hearing last month.
Actors nominated for Bafta Awards can now be referred to as gender-neutral 'performers'  leading to fears they could be dominated by men.

All nominees and winners in the four acting categories can choose which term they want on their certificates and mask plaques.

But the creation of gender-neutral categories is still being discussed, despite other awards such as the Brits and Berlin Film Festival already having done so.

Moves to phase out gendered prizes have gathered momentum recently, with stars including Emma Corrin  who identifies as non-binary  questioning whether they should be included in gendered categories.

But there are fears gender- neutral awards will lead to shortlists being dominated by men. Nine of the 15 neutral Brit Awards were won by men last year.

All nominees and winners in the four acting categories can choose which term they want on their certificates and mask plaques

But there are fears gender- neutral awards will lead to shortlists being dominated by men

Moves to phase out gendered prizes have gathered momentum recently, with stars including Emma Corrin  who identifies as non-binary  questioning whether they should be included in gendered categories

BAFTA is also allowing stars nominated for awards to be referred to as a gender-neutral 'performer' rather than 'actor' or actress'.

Bafta's new 'performer policy', which is also aimed at female stars who dislike the term 'actress', emerged as the academy released the longlists for this year's film awards, which were dominated by Barbie, with 15 nominations.

David Tennant is set to host the 2024 British Academy Film Awards next month.

The Doctor Who star, 52, will take over the coveted spot from last year's hosts Alison Hammond and Richard E Grant, and will front the star-studded ceremony at London's Royal Festival Hall on February 18.

While David is no stranger to the ceremony, having previously presented an award at the BAFTA Television Awards in May, this will be his hosting debut.
The Virginia teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student in her classroom has revealed that she relives the 'horrifying' look on the boy's face as he shot her.

Abby Zwerner was shot in the hand at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia on January 6, 2023.

Reflecting one year on from the shooting the former teacher, who now suffers from PTSD, said the moment she play's over in her mind from that fateful day is the child's face as he pulled the trigger.

The 26-year-old also revealed she still has fragments of the bullet lodged in her upper left chest, where the bullet passed through her hand and into her body.

'The same thing that stuck out to me is the student's look on his face when he pulled out the firearm and pointed it right at me,' Zwerner told KSN.

Virginia teacher, Abby Zwerner, who was shot by a six-year-old student has revealed she relives the 'horrifying' look on the boy's face as he shot her

Abigail Zwerner, 25, (pictured) was shot by her six-year-old student at Richneck Elementary School in January

'That look  and the look after the firearm went off. Traumatic. Horrifying.'

'I still have a bullet  bullet fragments  that remain in my upper left chest and, you know, still some scars that those won't go away either.'

The child took his mother's 9mm handgun from his mother's purse in their home.

Deja Nicole Taylor, 25, was charged with felony child neglect and sentenced to two years in prison.

Taylor previously pled guilty to using marijuana while owning a gun and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison in November on felony gun charges.

She is also forbidden from from contacting her child until he turns 18.

Zwerner explained how the shooting of the impact has changed the trajectory of her life.

'I was moving forward in my career and looking forward to continuing my career year after year, then it just stopped,' she said.

Zwerner was shot as she sat at a reading table in the classroom

Deja Nicole Taylor, 25, (pictured) faces up to five years in jail for felony child neglect after her son shot his first-grade teacher

Deja Taylor seen arriving at federal court for a previous hearing on June 12, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, where the shooting occurred

'I had to basically sit back and, you know, observe all of my friends continuing their careers and continuing their lives, and I feel like I had setbacks  but not fair setbacks.'

Adding: 'I now live with trauma in my life. I live with PTSD, and that changes people.

'No matter what terror a person might go through, it always stays with them, and I know it'll always stay with me.'

The day of the shooting, the six-year-old was dropped off at the school by his mother.

He concealed the gun in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting his teacher in front of the class.

He told other children that morning he had a firearm in his backpack and staff were also told about it.

Rather than remove him from any classes, the school's administrators allowed him to be around other children and teachers.

They checked his backpack for a weapon, but he had already removed it and put it in his sweatshirt, according to a lawsuit later filed by Zwerner.

Abby Zwerner is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging gross negligence against school administrators

Zwerner's lawyers are arguing that the administrators at her school were grossly negligent and ignored reports that the child had a gun in his backpack

After the shooting, Zwerner filed a lawsuit against the school district seeking $40 million

She is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging gross negligence against school administrators.

Zwerner said administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun that day and had routinely dismissed ongoing concerns about his troubling behavior.

The vice principal forbade any teachers from searching the boy himself, according to the lawsuit.

At 1:59pm, he pulled out the gun from his sweater and shot Zwerner in the chest. The bullet hit one of her hands first - which she says saved her life.

Moments after the shooting, the six-year-old told a reading specialist who restrained him: 'I shot that (expletive) dead' and 'I got my mom's gun last night,' according to search warrants.

In April, she filed a lawsuit against the school board and some teachers for not doing more to protect her and others from the child. The 20-page lawsuit describes the boy's past behavior in disturbing detail.

'John Doe had been removed from school during the 2021-2022 school year when he was in kindergarten after he strangled and choked a teacher,' the lawsuit noted.

'Also during the 2021-2022 school year, a female child had fallen on the playground and John Doe came up to her, pulled her dress up and began to touch the child inappropriately until reprimanded by a teacher,' it reads.

Two days before the same boy had smashed her phone and called her a 'b***h.'

A year before the shooting, the boy was so troublesome that he'd been removed from the school after he tried to choke a different teacher, and was supposed to be chaperoned by a parent every day.
After losing both her boyfriend and 'CJ', their baby, in two separate incidents Abby is opening up about the grief she faces

Abby Young, 24, and her boyfriend Chad found love on Tinder in March 2023

An EMT from Tennessee was hit with the death of her new boyfriend and the stillbirth of their child just months apart

A young EMT from Tennessee faced a double heartbreak after losing her new boyfriend and their baby just three months apart in two separate tragedies.

Abigail Young 'Abby', an EMT from Tennessee, was swept up in a whirlwind romance just 10 months ago with Chad, a student at UT Chatanooga.

Abby, 24, and Chad, 23, met on Tinder and chatted online before exchanging numbers, connecting on social media and eventually making plans to meet in person. Chad invited Abby to visit him on campus in March - and she decided he was worth the hour-and-a-half journey.

'I was so nervous the whole way because I hadn't met him in person before, but I was really excited because of our conversations leading up until then. I knew he was going to be an amazing person,' Abby told People.

The pair hit it off and by July they were exchanging 'I love yous' and considering themselves an official couple.

A young EMT from Tennessee faced a double heartbreak after losing her new boyfriend and their baby just three months apart in two separate tragedies

Abigail Young 'Abby'(pictured right), an EMT from Tennessee, was swept up in a whirlwind romance just 10 months ago with Chad (pictured left), a student at UT Chatanooga

Abby, 24, and Chad, 23, met on Tinder and chatted online before exchanging numbers, connecting on social media and eventually making plans to meet in person.

The young lovers discussed their future together and figuring out a five-year-plan, and they decided to start trying to have a baby

Coming from a complicated background - Chad opened up to Abby about longing to be a father.

The young lovers discussed their future together and figured out a five-year-plan. They decided to start trying to have a baby.

'He said, "I spent the last 20-few years of my life alone. I've done nothing but work and I think that it's time for me to get my life started and I want to share that with you,"' Abby recalled.

However - tragedy struck on July 27 when Abby received a devastating phone call from Chad's mom.

Her boyfriend had discussed feeling unwell earlier that day - but assumed it was because of his hard work that day.

'I got a message from Chad's mom that said, "Please call me,"' Abby shared.

When Abby called back, Chad's father answered and delivered the unthinkable news.

'At first he said [Chad's mom] was having trouble breathing, so I thought they were calling me for medical advice, which family members sometimes do since I'm an EMT,' she says. 'And before I can say anything, he tells me, "Chad is dead."'

However - tragedy struck on July 27 when Abby received a devastating phone call from Chad's mom and discovered that Chad was dead

Abby was devastated by the news - she had lost the love of her life whom she was beginning to plan a life together with.

But there was something else, the new couple had been secretly taking pregnancy tests that had so-far been inconclusive.

After Abby, alongside Chad's family, laid him to rest on August 2 - Abby's mom encouraged her to take a pregnancy test.

Unlike previous tests - this one was definitively positive.

'I just fell to the floor crying because that was all he talked about, was how excited he was to be a dad. And all I could think about was how I was about to have his child that he wanted so bad, and he wasn't going to be here to see it.

'I was also happy to have a piece of him to carry with me forever, but devastated he wasn't there to share it with me,' Abby said.

Just as Abby got excited about motherhood by buying baby supplies and preparing for a pregnancy announcement - another tragedy struck.

Abby's boss noticed she looked unwell at work and sent the 24-year-old EMT to the hospital immediately after testing her heart rate and blood pressure.

'I had tachycardia. My heart was beating 174 beats per minute, which is really dangerous. And so my lieutenant calls my shift commander and he says that I don't have a choice, I need to go to the hospital immediately,' Abby shared.

During the exam at the hospital - the nurse could not find the heartbeat of the baby, who Abby had already named Chad Jr. 'CJ' after his deceased dad.

An ultrasound confirmed that CJ no longer had a heartbeat - and Abby went into induced labor so that she could take the stillborn child home to bury with Chad.

She gave birth to the baby on October 25. 'They made everybody in the room leave so it was just me and my little boy alone.

'I held him as long as I could and I looked over him and could see so much of Chad in this beautiful baby boy that we wanted so bad.'

After Abby, alongside Chad's family, laid him to rest on August 2

Abby's mom encouraged her to take a pregnancy test. Unlike previous tests - this one was positive

Just as Abby got excited about motherhood by buying baby supplies and preparing for a pregnancy announcement - another tragedy struck. The baby was tragically stillborn

Since the heartbreaking series of events - Abby has taken to TikTok to share her story and her grief.

A GoFundMe account was set up for her to help with the costs of medical bills and living expenses.

'I'm doing everything I can to keep Chad's legacy alive and to keep CJ's legacy alive. And I hope that this reaches people who need it, so they can have somebody they relate to.

'I want to bring awareness that these types of tragedies don't always happen to people later in life and that it can happen to anybody,' Abby shared.
Former President Donald Trump slapped back at President Joe Biden during a rally in Iowa late Friday afternoon mocking the president for 'stuttering' through a speech in which he warned Americans about the dangers of a second Trump term.

Trump called out Biden for hosting a 'pathetic fearmongering campaign event,' which the president did to mark the approaching anniversary of the January 6 Capitol attack.

In his speech in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Biden called Trump 'sick' and a 'loser' and said 'we nearly lost America' three years before.

'Did you see him? He was stuttering through the whole thing,' Trump said in response. 'He's going bah bah bah he's a threat to democracy. They've weaponized government. He's saying I'm a threat to democracy.'

'He's a threat to d-d-democracy,' Trump continued, pretending to stutter. 'He couldn't read the word.'

Former President Donald Trump slapped back at President Joe Biden during a rally in Iowa late Friday afternoon mocking the president for 'stuttering' through a speech in which he warned Americans about the dangers of a second Trump term

President Joe Biden made an appearance Friday in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and warned Americans about the dangers former President Donald Trump represented, calling the Republican 'sick' and a 'loser'

The ex-president also preemptively lashed out to reporters in the room, suggesting they would mischaracterize his jabs.

'You know how bad the press is?' Trump asked. 'You know what they do? They take me saying that, like that, and they say "Trump couldn't say the word democracy - look!"

During his hour and 45 minute appearance in Sioux Center, Iowa - his first of two back-to-back Friday night rallies - Trump also lambasted New York Attorney General Letitia James' updated total she wants the ex-president to pay in his civil trial.

The Democratic New York attorney general on Friday asked the judge in the case to have Trump pay $370 million - up from $250 million - which she said he gained due to unlawful conduct.

'So if you don't mind, I was a little bit angry when I walked in. Did you notice the anger? Maybe not. But the corrupt AG wants $370 million for a fee for what I did and I did nothing wrong. Nothing,' Trump said. 'This is weaponization at a level that nobody's ever seen.'

Later, at his second rally in Mason City, Iowa, Trump picked on James again, but this time called her a 'big slob in New York.'

The ex-president also spoke about the Supreme Court's decision to take up the Colorado Supreme Court case in which a Democratic-leaning panel pushed him off the 2024 ballot due to the 14th Amendment's 'insurrectionist' clause.

Trump suggested he feared that the Supreme Court could actually rule against him because pundits have pushed that he 'owns' the high court, as he appointed three of the nine current justices.

Former President Donald Trump signs a hat for a supporter after his remarks wrapped up at his second Iowa rally Friday night, this one in Mason City, Iowa

Supporters of former President Donald Trump cheer as he arrived at his Mason City, Iowa campaign event Friday night

'If they rule in his favor it will be horrible for them and we'll protest at their houses,' Trump said, quoting a pundit on 'DeFace the Nation.'

'And that puts pressure on people to do the wrong thing,' Trump said.

'I just hope we get fair treatment because if we don't our country is in big, big trouble,' the ex-president added.

Trump also acknowledged Thursday's school shooting in Iowa at the top of his Sioux Center remarks.

'Before going further I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting in Perry, Iowa,' he said. 'To the entire community we love you, we pray for you and we ask God to heal and comfort really the whole state in the pain, in the pain that you have it's just something you have that's very unique to your state.'

He said he was with the families and victims 'as much as anybody can be.'

'So surprising to see it here,' he added. 'But we have to get over it, have to move forward.'

Despite being 30-plus points ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley in Iowa ahead of the January 15 caucuses, Trump was leaving nothing to chance, with plans to headline two Hawkeye State rallies on Saturday and several next weekend as well.

Trump pointed out to his Mason City crowd that it was Friday night and so most in the audience had the day off tomorrow.

'You know what I have to do, I have to make speeches in Iowa tomorrow. I have to go to work,' Trump said. 'Oh I could be home in one of those beautiful places, no, but I have to.'
Mid-afternoon at a train station in a leafy London suburb, fringed by 1.5 million red-brick villas and a 13,000-a-term private boarding school.

A young man in a black jacket is cowering on the platform as two youths, their faces obscured by hoods and masks, punch and kick him in front of horrified bystanders.

He shouts, 'Get off, get off,' as the attackers repeatedly grab at his jacket and push him to the ground, before running down the platform and disappearing on to the street.

Video footage of this appalling attack, which took place last week at Elmstead Woods, Bromley, was shared online and subsequently led to the arrest of two 16-year-old boys.

Their target? It would seem it was his jacket, a much sought-after, furry-hooded parka by the designer brand Canada Goose, with a price tag of up to 1,800.

The victim, who hasn't been identified, was lucky: he escaped the assault relatively unharmed, with his expensive jacket still on his back.

However, this isn't the first time Canada Goose coats  a clothing item worn by A-listers from Nicole Kidman to Rihanna  have been targeted. Recently there has been a worrying spate of attacks, many of them on children.

Caught: Footage shows two 16-year-olds attacking a youth wearing a Canada Goose coat at Elmstead Woods, Bromley

The target was believed to be his jacket, a much sought-after, furry-hooded parka by the designer brand Canada Goose, with a price tag of up to 1,800 (stock image)

Last month, a 13-year-old from Hornchurch, East London, was cornered by a group of youths who stole his Canada Goose jacket and mobile phone.

In March, another 13-year-old was forced to hand over his coat to a teenage gang on bikes who surrounded him on his walk home from school in Swindon, Wiltshire.

One teenager was held at knifepoint for his coat in Cheshire, while a 15-year-old in Liverpool had his head stamped on by four youths who stole his 1,100 jacket.

Recently, a shocking video surfaced on TikTok, apparently showing another victim, sitting in a hospital emergency room with a deep vertical scar down one side of his face. 'Don't die for Canada Goose,' he had written in the caption.

That an item of clothing, albeit one with a steep price tag, could provoke such violent and senseless attacks is unnerving. But these incidents are part of a wider, deeply worrying wave of luxury item thefts, which have risen by 83 per cent in the past year.

Last month, Transport for London revealed data showing thefts of high-end goods rose from 2,935 in 2022 to 5,378 in 2023.

For youngsters (Canada Goose is a brand coveted particularly by teenagers) who own one of these coats, social media is full of ominous warnings: 'Wearing Canada Goose puts a target on your back,' reads one comment on TikTok. 'Owning a Canada Goose in London has you fearing for your life,' says another.

But thefts may not be as random or opportunistic as they seem.

Experts told the Mail that many of the Canada Goose attacks are likely being orchestrated by gangs, motivated by money, status and bragging rights on social media.

Some of them are being filmed specifically to attract 'likes' and clicks online; others are sick initiation challenges set by gang leaders, testing the mettle of prospective members by ordering them to steal one of the jackets.

'We know the youths involved are often in gangs, primarily young men aged between 14 and 20  the same age as their victims,' explains Daniel Garnham, president of the Security Industry Federation, who worked as an officer with the British Transport Police for 20 years and has first-hand experience of investigating Canada Goose thefts.

'It's typically planned: there are five or six of them who go somewhere they don't live, somewhere there will be rich pickings. They know there'll be other teenagers there who aren't as streetwise as they are, wearing hundreds of pounds worth of designer clothes.'

Rihanna is pictured in a Canada Goose jacket in 2016

These youth gangs differ from the larger, organised crime groups who have been known to target designer outlets  including Canada Goose shops  to make off with more lucrative hauls.

In 2017, thieves on mopeds carried out a smash-and-grab robbery at the newly-opened Canada Goose flagship store on London's Regent Street, while in Dublin, where thefts of the jackets have been linked to notorious drug gangs, the city centre store was robbed in January 2021.

'On a larger scale, there is certainly a market for organised criminals to trade in luxury goods and launder the proceeds of crime through these jackets,' explains Dr Paul Gilmour, senior lecturer in economic crime at the University of Portsmouth.

'It's been happening in America for several years. There are cases reported in Boston, Chicago and Washington DC but it has only just caught on in this country.

'These coats are going to attract a hefty sum of money, making them a valuable commodity like drugs or other luxury items.'

The recent thefts, however, bear the hallmarks of being carried out by less-established, younger groups with a distinctive modus operandi.

Garnham, whose organisation represents security professionals nationwide, says his members have reported a sharp rise in attacks on the National Rail network.

'They surround someone in a carriage, knowing there's nowhere they can go,' he explains. 'They target a trainline to and from a big shopping hub, like Westfield Stratford or [designer outlet centre] Freeport in Braintree. They take their phones  and often their shoes, too  so they can't run or call their parents for help.'

It is, says Professor David Wilson, one of the country's leading criminologists, reminiscent of the 'Rolex Rippers'  the spate of brutal watch thefts last year. 'The theft of desirable luxury goods is one which has a very long history,' he explains. 'Charles Dickens wrote about Fagin and his gang stealing silk handkerchiefs, and training Oliver Twist to do the same.

'The goods might have changed to Canada Goose jackets, but the phenomenon is a historic and common one. It's a case of young men identifying an opportunity they can exploit.'

So why have Canada Goose jackets become so coveted among today's young criminals? Worn by the likes of J-Lo, Daniel Craig and rapper Drake, the company started in 1957 in Toronto, Canada, as a sportswear and outerwear brand, sold mostly to extreme athletes and film crews working in the Arctic.

By 2010, it had become a cult fashion brand with a price tag to match. The cheapest item currently on the website is a pair of 75 socks; its priciest coat is the 1,795 'Paradigm Expedition Parka', said to withstand temperatures of -30C.

Nicole Kidman is pictured wearing a Canada Goose jacket in 2018 in New York City

However, Canada Goose has come under fire for using duck down and coyote fur in the manufacture of its products. In 2019, animal rights campaign group Peta urged shoppers to boycott the brand and, in response, in 2021 the company agreed to stop using real fur.

Meanwhile, celebrity endorsement has cemented it as a symbol of wealth, class and status for today's youth. Chartered psychologist Dirk Flower, an expert in adolescent psychology, adds: 'Some of it is driven by social media. You can present yourself as being someone in [one of the coats]. It's worn for credit in the social media world.'

Canada Goose certainly holds serious sway online. It is tagged in almost 380 million videos on TikTok, where fans post videos of their latest purchases and 'hauls' from designer outlets.

But not only does social media fuel young thieves' desire for a coat of their own, it's also a forum where they can  hidden from public view  buy and sell stolen jackets and swap intel on mugging spots.

Insiders suggest they may also be incentivised to video and upload the attacks themselves, earning a sort of sickening cachet among gang members.

Some gangs, explains Flower, groom children by getting them to steal high-end goods, which the younger thief then has to 'earn' by doing their dirty work.

Garnham says some of the criminals he helped to catch blamed initiation ceremonies for their actions. 'They said stealing the jacket was part of an initiation to join a particular group, a sort of 'show us what you've got'.'

It's little consolation for the victims, many of whom are left not only without their prized jacket, but terrorised and afraid to go out.

Some, like the TikToker with the facial stab wound, are left in agony after brutal assaults. For others, the consequences are even worse.

In March 2021, law student Hussain Chaudhry, 18, was fatally stabbed at his home in Walthamstow, East London, by two thugs, also 18, who'd feigned interest in buying a Canada Goose jacket he'd advertised for sale online.

They held the teenager captive at knifepoint while they searched his home for more jackets, but a fight broke out when Hussain tried to protect his mother and two brothers, who were also in the house at the time.

The attackers were convicted of manslaughter, robbery and GBH in 2022, but nothing, said his devastated family, 'will ever ease the pain of losing Hussain'.

As for other criminals who target owners of the jackets, Chris Casey, chief superintendent of the British Transport Police, says the force is 'relentlessly committed to bringing offenders to justice'.

For the most part, however, the jackets are difficult to track down as they end up being sold online for quick cash-in-hand, on virtually untraceable resale websites such as Gumtree, eBay and Facebook Marketplace.

An investigation by the Mail found several suspicious-sounding adverts for Canada Goose coats on these sites, by users with little or no profile information, or who had recently signed up  all signs they may be passing on stolen goods.

One ad, on Gumtree, from a new user in south-west London, features an 'original' Canada Goose parka jacket for 800. 'Negotiable. Feel free to text. Need to sell it ASAP,' the advert reads.

Meanwhile on Facebook Marketplace, there's a dark blue jacket going for 250. 'Open to offers, let me know ASAP. Need gone,' the seller has written.

The very existence of this black market for stolen coats, says Professor Wilson, is part of the problem. 'If you're being offered a Canada Goose jacket for less than 500, it's quite clear it's stolen. We need to give some of the responsibility for this phenomenon to the people who buy these stolen items.

'If it wasn't so easy to sell them on, if the market didn't exist, then the problem of the thefts wouldn't exist.'

To the owners of Canada Goose coats he urges caution. 'You have to be vigilant for opportunists who might try to steal them,' he says. 'Be careful, be aware of your surroundings and know who's around you.

'As soon as the weather gets warmer, they'll move on  and there'll be something else for them to target.'
Owners of defect-riddled Sydney apartments have been offered a lifeline after their latest bid at financial freedom failed.

The city's infamous Mascot Towers, located less than 7km south of the CBD, were evacuated in June 2019.

Massive cracks discovered in one of the two towers' primary support beams led to 132 families fleeing their units for fear the building would collapse.

Even though they can't live in the apartments almost five years later, owners are still paying off huge strata debts and their mortgages, in addition to the cost of alternative accommodation.

In a desperate attempt to return home shortly after the foundation damage was discovered, owners raised enough to take out a $22million loan.

Despite having already spent $15.3million of that money, it is estimated another $25million for maintenance work is needed.

However, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler could soon offer indebted owners a fresh start.

The deal would see their strata debts and outstanding mortgages cancelled by selling the apartments.

Owner-occupiers at Sydney's infamous Mascot Towers (above) have faced millions of dollars worth of debt since their homes were evacuated due to structural damage in 2019

It follows the owners' bid in the NSW Supreme Court to sell the entire block for either demolition or repair in November.

Their case - which was objected by strata loan company Lannock Strata Finance and banks that held their mortgages - was rejected by the judge.

Mr Chandler believes his scheme could be the owners' last chance to rid themselves of the disastrous property.

'Some might not see it as the best option, but I think it's now the only option,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday.

'This will mean people can walk away with no debt, although they will lose part of their equity.

'They won't have this hanging over them for the rest of their lives. You can't rewrite history, but what you can do is start to map your future.'

Mr Chandler's plan relies on 75 per cent of owners voting to sell their apartments next month as 'individual lots' to a third party syndicate.

That syndicate will then likely pay to fix the building and resell the 131 units.

Each owner would be entitled to a percentage of the sale price, minus the repayment of the building's strata debt.

Price estimates for the smallest apartments start at just $133,500 with third-party purchasers required to make all formal offers by February 15.

Mr Chandler is negotiating with Lannock and the big four banks who have supplied the majority of the owners' mortgages.

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler (above) has proposed selling the apartments as 'individual lots' and using the funds to repay the owners' debt

So far, the banks have agreed to discount the outstanding money owed on owner-occupier loans with the government agreeing to top up the balance.

That means those with big mortgages will end up debt free while those with smaller mortgages will have their debt paid off and could be entitled to extra payment.

Owner-occupiers over the age of 65 or facing particular hardship will also be means-tested to see if they are entitled to additional funds.

Investors will not receive the same assistance.

The deal would also see the displaced residents' rental assistance end on June 30.

If Mr Chandler's plan is passed, those who voted against selling their apartments will be entitled to stay but will need to continue repaying their mortgage and strata debt.

While the residents the Herald spoke to were on board with the scheme, Daily Mail Australia recently spoke to a couple who stood to lose thousands to it.

Sue, 67, and Gary, 71, bought a $486,000 apartment in Mascot Towers in March 2012, believing they would work for a few more years before settling into retirement in their new home.

Now Sue and Gary are still working to try and recover retirement funds that have instead been spent on their now uninhabitable one-bedroom apartment.

'Gary and I would love to be retired, but we are both still working over the Christmas period,' Sue told Daily Mail Australia in December, 2023.

'We wanted to retire at 65.

'[But] we are still paying around $1,000 a month in strata fees [for Mascot Towers] while renting another property in Brisbane.'

Sue and Gary have lost more than $500,000 in direct costs (such as the purchase price, stamp duty and strata levies) and almost another half a million in estimated capital growth on their apartment.

Owners Sue and Gary (above) don't want to see Mr Chandler's scheme go ahead as they would lose the more than $500,000 they've already invested in their apartment

Sue's daughter, Sally Prosser, said her parents were left in an unimaginable situation.

'You can't live in it, you can't sell it, they won't fix it, no one is taking responsibility, but you still need to pay your strata fees and you still need to pay your mortgage,' she said.

'It's wild.'

Ms Prosser explained the thousands the couple have spent would be completely lost under Mr Chandler's proposal.

'People like my mum and Gary, who have now paid off the mortgage, will not receive any equity, let alone any of the thousands of dollars in strata payments that have essentially gone down the drain,' Ms Prosser said.

'It is so unfair. The owners are being royally trucked over financially, not to mention emotionally and physically. The stories coming out are just heartbreaking.'
A Louisiana police chief is pleading with the residents of the small city he protects for another chance after being caught in an explosive love triangle that saw both him and his wife being shot - allegedly by his mistress.

In an open letter to the community, Opelousas Police Chief Graig 'Twin' LeBlanc shed some light on the 'unfortunate incident' that occurred on the night of December 22, which the chief noted was 'deeply personal'.

'I want to be forthright with you. My actions have caused pain and distress, not only to my family but also to our community,' the chief explained.

'I want to express my sincere apologies to my wife, my family. all parties involved, and to each and every member of our community. I understand the importance of regaining your trust, and I am fully committed to taking the necessary steps to address this situation head-on,' LeBlanc wrote.

Police Chief Graig 'Twin' LeBlanc, right, wrote an open letter to the community after he and his police captain wife, Crystal, left, were allegedly shot by another officer Savannah Butler

Chief LeBlanc had hired Savannah Butler to work under him but ended up having an affair with her

Chief LeBlanc and his wife Crystal LeBlanc, a Captain with the neighboring force, St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office, were allegedly shot by a woman the chief had recently hired to his police department, Opelousas Police Officer, Savannah Butler, 42.

Chief Graig LeBlanc was shot in the hand while his wife Crystal was struck in the arm by the same bullet outside Butler's home, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office said.

Sheriff Bobby Guidroz of Landry Parish sheriff said the shooting was the result of a domestic issue and happened at a home just outside the city limits of Opelousas.

Both LeBlancs - the police chief and his wife - were taken to hospital to recover from gunshot wounds.

Butler, meanwhile, who is alleged to have fired the gun was detained.

Crystal LeBlanc had gone to Butler's home to speak with her husband who was already inside at the time.

In an open letter to the community, Opelousas Police Chief Graig 'Twin' LeBlanc shed some light on the 'unfortunate incident' that occurred on the night of December 22, which the chief noted as 'deeply personal' and referred to his 'infidelity'

Opelousas Police Chief Graig 'Twin' LeBlanc together with his Police Captain wife Crystal LeBlanc are seen together with their children

Chief LeBlanc was shot through the hand. The bullet travelled through it and hit his wife's arm

When Graig LeBlanc came outside the married couple began arguing. Butler then came to the door armed with her gun.

As Graig LeBlanc reached out to grab Butler's gun he was shot in the hand. Thebullet travelled through his hand hitting his wife Crystal in the arm.

The full picture only became clear once the chief put pen to paper to explain to locals what had transpired and fully admitted the affair.

'I must acknowledge the role I played in this unfortunate situation,' LeBlanc wrote. '

'I have failed in my commitment to uphold the standards expected of the Chief of Police and, more importantly, failed the trust you have placed in me.

'Infidelity is a breach of not only the personal commitments I made but also the professional standards we all expect from those in public service,' he went on.

The incident occurred when Crystal LeBlanc, right, went to Savannah Butler's house to confront her. Her husband, Graig LeBlanc, left, was already at Butler's home at the time

'I want to express my sincere apologies to my wife, my family, all parties involved, and to each and every member of our community,' Opelousas Police Chief Graig 'Twin' LeBlanc said in an open letter

'I want to express my sincere apologies to my wife, my family, all parties involved, and to each and every member of our community.'

In what will surely be an uncomfortable inquiry, the chief also stated how he is 'initiating an internal review to ensure that the actions of myself and those within the police department uphold the values and integrity that our community deserves.'

Butler is alleged to have cleaned up the scene to cover up evidence before notifying the sheriff's office.

She was booked on two counts of negligent injury, one count of obstruction and 1 count of illegal discharge of a firearm. She later posted a $22,000 bond.

A trespass summons was also issued to Captain Crystal LeBlanc for entering Butler's home.

Captain LeBlanc and Officer Butler have both been placed on administrative leave. Butler was told to return her department-issued vehicle and all equipment she had, and to 'immediately cease all activity as a commissioned police officer.'

Chief Graig LeBlanc is not facing any pending charges at present.
Mountain rescuers showed 'dogged determination' after they were called out after a 40kg doberman was too tired to walk down England's highest peak and staged a sit-down protest.

Dexter, a doberman/Belgian malinois cross, had been walking up Scafell Pike in the Lake District with his owners when, close to the summit, he suddenly decided he'd climbed far enough.

The hulking hound sat down and refused all attempts to coax him into carrying on with the walk.

As darkness started to descend and Dexter showed no sign of relenting, the walkers had no option but to call in mountain rescuers, who trekked up the 3208ft peak at 11.30pm on Tuesday.

As the rescuers approached they were able to find the stricken climbers because Dexter began to bark and howl when he heard their approach.

Mountain rescuers showed 'dogged determination' after they were called out after a 40kg doberman was too tired to walk down England's highest peak and staged a sit-down protest.

Dexter, a doberman/Belgian malinois cross, had been walking up Scafell Pike in the Lake District with his owners when, close to the summit, he suddenly decided he'd climbed far enough

But no amount of coaxing, pushing and pulling could persuade him to leave his perch so a plan was made for Dexter, his owners and eight members of the rescue team to camp out on the mountain and hope for better luck at daybreak.

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His owners were well equipped for spending a night outdoors but rescuers also erected bivvy shelters to protect from the wind and cold.

Thankfully, the following morning, Dexter got over his stubbornness and was led down the hill on a 50M rope.

Recounting the rescue, the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team said on Facebook: 'Search teams were sent via the normal routes in Wasdale and Eskdale. The team sent to Sty Head were clearly "barking" up the wrong tree and found nothing.

'Other teams were 'poodling' around for some time with nothing heard or seen.

'However, the search team in Hollow Stones heard a woof and a howl in response to their whistles, and so we finally had a "Scooby Doo". The hunt was on.

'A light was seen high on the flanks of Scafell, but due to the mist it was very difficult to tell exactly where. "Dogged" determination kept the teams searching in Lord's Rake, up Black Crag and in Red Gill.

'Finally a clear line of sight could be made and fortunately the group was thankfully found to be 'dogfast' rather than cragfast, on steep ground but manageable with care.

'Dexter, the 40kg Doberman/Belgian Malinois cross had decided not to move any further on nightfall, despite much encouragement.

'The walkers were uninjured, cold, and had not wanted to leave their dog on the fell.

'They were equipped well enough to spend an unplanned night on the fell, and we found that Dexter was trained to bark and howl, thus initially attracting our attention.'

Mountain rescue were called to rescue Dexter the doberman from Scafell Pike

Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team searching for Dexter and his owner

A spokesman for Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team said: 'Due to the weather conditions, and potential for hypothermia, a full callout was made and additional support from Duddon and Furness Mountain Rescue Team and Lake District Search Dogs.

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'After searches of several areas, the team assigned to Hollow Stones heard barking and howling and spotted a light high on Scafell.

'The walkers were uninjured, cold, and had not wanted to leave their dog on the fell.

'They were equipped well enough to spend an unplanned night on the fell, and we found that Dexter was trained to bark and howl, thus initially attracting our attention.

'Other rescuers harnessed the energy to make the hard pull up to their location but no amount of encouragement could make Dexter move downhill.

'The agreed course of action was to wait for daylight and hope that he regained his confidence to move downhill with better visibility. As such, bivvy shelters were deployed for all, and a long "paws" ensued.

'After a "woof" night, as dawn broke, further attempts were made but Dexter stood fast. As hope was fading a last ditch attempt was made with a 50m rope lead and he was gently encouraged downhill.

'Thankfully once he started moving there were no further problems and a brisk, boisterous and friendly walk with Dexter was then made back to Brackenclose.'

The exhausted mountain rescue team with Dexter after they rescued him from Scafell Pike

The mountain rescuers had the climb the peak to rescue the stubborn dog

Dexter's owners were well equipped for spending a night outdoors but rescuers also erected bivvy shelters to protect from the wind and cold

The mother of Dexter's owner, Sara Kelly, thanked the rescuers. She said: 'No witty puns from me just a MASSIVE Thank you to the whole team for their amazing work that night and for every rescue.

'This was my son and dog they have climbed all of the local mountains as far as Ben Nevis together without any issues. Something just spooked him this time.

'We knew something was wrong when they didn't check in as planned.

'We called the police and the team were there in no time.

'We cannot thank you all enough. A special thank you to Merseyside Police Cumbria Police and of course Wasdale Mountain Rescue. This could have ended so differently without your help.

'As an aside one of Dexter's litter is a search and rescue dog.'
Two 12-year-old boys who were charged with stabbing teenager Shawn Seesahai to death in a park and possessing a machete will face trial in April.

Mr Seesahai, a 19-year-old from Anguilla, was found on Stowlawn playing fields in East Park, Wolverhampton, on November 13. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two boys charged with his killing, who cannot be named because of their age, made a 25-minute video-link appearance at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday.

They spoke only to confirm their names and that they could hear Judge Michael Chambers KC, the Recorder of Wolverhampton.

Neither of the defendants, who are being held in secure accommodation outside the West Midlands, was required to enter a plea. They will reappear for a pre-trial review on April 8 at the same court.

Shawn Seesahai, a 19-year-old from Anguilla, was stabbed to death in Bilston, Wolverhampton

A police tent set up in Stowlawn Playing Fields, Bilston, after the stabbing of Shawn Seesahai

Addressing the defendants at the conclusion of the hearing, the judge said: 'Your case is being put off for trial. If there is to be a trial that will take place on the 29th of April here in Wolverhampton.

'If you choose not to attend, the trial will proceed in your absence.

'You have a right to give evidence at your trial. In the meantime you must remain in secure local authority accommodation as previously directed.'

The boys face a second charge alleging they were in possession of an article which had a blade or was sharply pointed, namely a machete, without lawful authority.

Ambulances were called to land off Laburnum Road, East Park, at 8.41pm on November 13.

Crews arrived to find Mr Seesaha, who had only been in the UK since April, in a critical condition.

They began administering advanced life support, but he was confirmed dead at the scene.

In a statement previously released through police, Mr Seesahai's mother paid tribute to the 'courageous, compassionate and confident young soul' of her son.

A police officer stands guard at a cordon close to the scene where Mr Seesahai was stabbed to death

She said her son was 'looking forward to accomplish[ing] many future plans and ambitions'.

'He cared dearly about his family and friends and he absolutely loved to help people', she added.

'He was a generous person and had a good personality. We will always have him in our hearts.'
A woman who was knifed to death in a crashed Lexus near her home had moved into the 2.5million mansion after 'splitting from her husband' and 'kept herself to herself', neighbours have revealed.

Just minutes after the woman's death, a teenager was killed by a train at a nearby station in what police are describing as a 'linked' tragedy.

The woman's property, a seven-bedroom detached house situated on Flowers Hill in the quiet rural village of Pangbourne, Berkshire, is being searched as a part of a murder probe.

Neighbours in the area - known locally as 'millionaires' row' - have revealed their shock at what happened, with one describing the scene as police gathered at the scene as 'like a horror movie'.

On Friday, there was a palpable sense of astonishment and grief among the nearby residents, who described the 56-year-old victim as a 'lovely' woman who 'kept herself to herself.'

The property, a seven-bedroom detached house situated on Flowers Hill in the quiet rural village of Pangbourne, Berkshire, was searched by police

At around 11.30am today, forensic specialists were seen to recover a black-handled kitchen knife near Pangbourne station

Police officers at Pangbourne station after a young man died at a railway track in the Berkshire town

One neighbour, who lives on Flowers Hill and who asked not to be named, said of the woman: 'She had been living there a for a few years. She split up from her husband and has a big house.'

He added: 'Last night there was a lot of kerfuffle down there. I took the dogs out for a walk and couldn't get through. What has happened is terrible.'

Peter Burton, another local resident to Flowers Hill, said: 'We didn't see or hear anything until we heard the helicopters above.'

An elderly woman who asked not to be named, said: 'I find it astonishing.' Another neighbour said the woman lived at the mansion with her adult children.

One was reported as saying: 'It's horrible, I can't believe what happened. We rushed out to help but the police were already here and then ambulances arrived.

'We were told to go home and they cordoned it all off.'

Another resident said: 'I'd always wave over when I walked past, she is a lovely woman.

'When we saw all the police last night it was like a horror movie scene... they were running around all over the place.

'And then we heard another person had died at the train station. It's shocking for our little quiet village. So unusual.'

Officers were first called to a reported road traffic collision involving a car on the A340 Tidmarsh Road at the junction with Flower's Hill at around 5.45pm on Thursday.

Within the vehicle a 56-year-old woman had suffered a fatal stab wound and died at the scene despite receiving medical attention.

Shortly after, at around 6.15pm, Thames Valley Police and British Transport Police officers were called to a death on the railway track near Pangbourne - where an 18-year-old man died at the scene.

Neither victim has been formally identified but the next of kin for both have been informed and specially trained officers are supporting them.

Local residents said they had rushed to help the woman in the car but she died at the scene at the junction of Tidmarsh Road and Flowers Hill.

Police are investigating the deaths of two people in the village of Pangbourne, Berkshire

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, Head of the Major Crime Unit, said: 'We have launched a murder investigation after the death of a woman near Flower's Hill, Pangbourne, and the associated discovery of a deceased man at Pangbourne railway station.'

Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incidents.

Mr Brown added: 'Firstly, I would like to send my condolences on behalf of the force to loved ones of both at this extremely difficult time.

'We are in the very early stages of this complex investigation, but we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with either death.

'We are still investigating but are treating the two deaths as linked; we are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances of each. There is no wider threat to the public from these sad and tragic incidents.'

Villagers in Pangbourne have been left in shock by tragic events that began yesterday.

Forensic investigators also recovered a black-handled kitchen knife close to the train station at Pangbourne as part of the ongoing probe into the two deaths.

Officers were first called to a reported road traffic collision involving a car on the A340 Tidmarsh Road at the junction with Flower's Hill at around 5.45pm on Thursday

A crime scene investigator in a white suit entered a substation, opposite the Aston Martin dealership on Station Road, at around 11.30am today to photograph, swab and collect the blade.

The electricity company were also in attendance, and are thought to have turned off the power to allow police safe access. The area was cordoned off and watched over by two officers.

The knife was then placed into a knife tube and an evidence bag.

Officers, thought to be part of a specialist search team, attended the location after leaving the Flowers Hill property a short time prior.

One onlooker near the station said on Friday: 'There was a police presence here overnight after the sad incident on the railway. Now they've taped it off and are taking photos of a knife in the substation.

'Trains aren't stopping at Pangbourne today so I'm guessing this is why. It's very worrying if it's linked to that poor woman's death.'

A crime scene investigator wearing a white suit entered a substation, opposite the Aston Martin dealership on Station Road, to photograph, swab and collect the blade

Forensics were seen to recover a black-handled kitchen knife near Pangbourne station

Police said: 'After initial significant disturbance to the roads and railway network both scenes have been released and normal transport arrangements for both have resumed. I would like to say thank you to those affected for your patience.

'Members of the public are likely to see an increased police presence while we continue to investigate and we would advise anyone with any concerns to please speak to one of our uniformed officers.'

A British Transport Police spokesman previously said: 'Officers were called to the line near Pangbourne railway station at 6.11pm yesterday (4 January) to reports of a casualty on the tracks.

'Paramedics also attended and a person was pronounced dead at the scene.

'British Transport Police are working closely with Thames Valley Police to establish the circumstances leading up to their death.'

Officers are guarding a 2.5million home in Flowers Hill following the fatal incident, and specialist search officers were at the scene.

A police cordon is also still in place at the railway station. Thames Valley Police last night confirmed that they were dealing with two incidents in the area.

A spokesman previously said: 'Our officers are currently in Pangbourne dealing with two incidents.

The property being searched is a seven-bedroom freehold detached house spread over 5,748 square feet

'Road closures are in place on the A340 at the Flowers Hill and Tidmarsh Road junction following a collision involving a vehicle.

'A woman received medical treatment at the scene but sadly died.

'There has also been an incident on the railway line at Pangbourne Station.

'Because of these incidents, there are a number of road closures in place in the area, and trains are not running through the station.

'People are advised to avoid the area and to plan their journeys in advance to ensure they are not delayed.

'The exact circumstances of these incidents is currently unclear, but we will provide an update when we are in a position to do so.'

The property being searched is a seven-bedroom freehold detached house spread over 5,748 square feet. It was bought by current owners in 2014 for 1.95m and is now valued at more than 2.5m.

The police urged anyone with information about the deaths to call 101 or make a report on their website quoting reference number 43240005369.
Randy Roedema, the only Colorado cop convicted of killing Elijah McClain, has been sentenced to 14 months in jail.

Elijah McClain, 23, was stopped by police as he walked home from a convenience store in Aurora in August 2019.

McClain, massage therapist who volunteered to play violin to soothe animals in a local shelter, was placed in a neck hold by police officer Randy Roedema and given an overdose of ketamine by Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics.

The young man was taken to hospital where he died shortly after the encounter.

Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was convicted of homicide and third degree assault and two other officers, Nathan Woodyard and Jason Rosenblatt, were acquitted.

Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was convicted of homicide and third degree assault

Elijah McClain was fatally injured while being arrested in Aurora, Colorado, in August 2019. He died days later of his injuries

Aurora officer Randy Roedema (pictured) was convicted Thursday of criminally negligent homicide for the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain in 2019

Two Denver-area paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

O n Friday Colorado District Judge Mark Warner sentenced Roedema to 14 months in jail for the third-degree assault conviction, ordering that some of that time may be served as work release toward five weeks of community service.

The judge also sentenced Roedema to four years of probation on the conviction for negligent homicide.

McClain's case became a galvanizing force for racial justice protests that erupted across the world in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Local authorities in 2019 decided against criminal charges because the coroner's office could not determine exactly how McClain, a massage therapist, died.

Jared Polis, the governor of Colorado, ordered state Attorney General Phil Weiser's office to take another look at the case in 2020 and a grand jury indicted the officers and paramedics in 2021.

The killings of McClain, Floyd and others triggered a wave of legislation that put limits on the use of neck holds in more than two dozen states.

Police stopped McClain while he was walking home from a convenience store on August 24, 2019, following a suspicious person complaint.

Elijah McClain left, and right in hospital after he was fatally-injured while being arrested in Aurora, Colorado, in August 2019. He died days later of his injuries

Former officer Jason Rosenblatt (pictured left) was cleared of all charges by the Colorado jury

Police Officer Nathan Woodyard became the second officer to be acquitted for his role in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain

McClain was listening to music and wearing a mask that covered most of his face because he had a blood circulation disorder.

After an officer said McClain reached for an officer's gun - a claim disputed by prosecutors - Woodyard put him in a neck hold that rendered him temporarily unconscious.

Officers also pinned down McClain before Cooper injected him with an overdose of ketamine.

McClain's pleading words captured on police body camera video - 'I'm an introvert and I'm different' - struck a chord with protesters and people around the country.

Cichuniec was the senior officer and said it was his decision to use ketamine.

Prosecutors said the paramedics did not conduct basic medical checks of McClain, such as taking his pulse, before giving him the ketamine.

The dose was too much for someone of his size - 140 pounds, experts testified.

Prosecutors say they also did not monitor McClain immediately after giving him the sedative but instead left him lying on the ground, making it harder to breathe.

Sheneen McClain (pictured), Elijah McClain's mother, burst into tears and fled a Colorado courtroom back in September after she saw videos of her son pinned down on the ground

One year after his death, his mother, Shaneen McClain, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Aurora. A settlement has now been reached in that suit

A demonstrator carries an image of Elijah McClain during a rally and march in the summer of 2020

A makeshift memorial stands at a site across the street from where Elijah McClain was stopped by Aurora, Colorado

McClain's death gained widespread attention during last years protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis

McClain, 23, was described as a gentle and kind introvert who volunteered to play his violin to comfort cats at an animal shelter

In a statement released prior to the paramedics verdict, McClain's mother said that everyone present during the police stop of her son displayed a lack of humanity.

'They can not blame their job training for their indifference to evil or their participation in an evil action,' McClain wrote.

'That is completely on them. May all of their souls rot in hell when their time comes.'

Defense attorneys argued that the paramedics followed their training in giving ketamine to McClain for 'excited delirium' - a disputed condition some say is unscientific and has been used to justify excessive force.

The prosecution said Cooper lied to investigators to try to cover up his actions, telling detectives that McClain was actively resisting when he decided to inject McClain with ketamine, even though the body camera showed McClain lying on the ground unconscious.

It also disputed Cooper's claim that McClain tried to get away from police holding him down - and that he took McClain's pulse as he bent down to give him the shot of ketamine, which others testified they did not see.
The Telegraph newspaper group faces a potential probe carried out by the National Crime Agency over a report of 'suspicious financial activity'.

The NCA has been passed information concerning possible financial wrongdoing at the group ahead of its sale to Abu Dhabi-backed investors, according to The Times, quoting senior company sources.

Ofcom and the Government are also looking into the sale amid fears that the rulers of the United Arab Emirates could wield editorial influence over the 168-year-old British newspaper.

The crime agency declined to comment yesterday but it is understood it has seven days to decide what action, if any, to take as a result of the 'suspicious activity report'.

A set of independent directors was appointed after the Telegraph group was seized by Lloyds Bank from its owners the Barclay family over a 1.2billion debt.

Ofcom and the Government are also looking into the sale amid fears that the rulers of the United Arab Emirates could wield editorial influence over the 168-year-old British newspaper.

The crime agency declined to comment yesterday but it is understood it has seven days to decide what action, if any, to take as a result of the 'suspicious activity report'

If they have come across any financial activity that they know or believe to be suspicious they have a statutory duty to report it to the NCA.

Anyone can submit a report, and the NCA does not necessarily have to investigate it.

It is the latest twist in the battle for control of the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator magazine.

Their ownership was due to be transferred to the Gulf-backed RedBird IMI fund but Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer intervened amid concerns the papers might come under the control of an autocratic foreign state.

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The fund is a joint venture between the US private equity firm RedBird and International Media Investments, an Abu Dhabi entity controlled by Manchester City's owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who is the deputy prime minister of the UAE.

Despite the UAE providing 75 per cent of the funding, RedBird IMI insists it will remain a 'passive investor' with no influence over editorial decisions. There have been grave concerns about the sale from readers, MPs and many of the Telegraph's current and former journalists.

Yesterday the fund defended its takeover by promising 'total editorial freedom' for the titles enshrined in a legally-binding deal with the UK Government.

Jeff Zucker, a former president of CNN who is now head of RedBird IMI, said there would be 'cast iron' protections including an 'editorial trust board' which would oversee the Telegraph's independence, handle all disputes that arise and approve the appointment of an editor.

He said in a BBC interview: 'I can guarantee that journalists will be free to roam wherever they want. IMI has guaranteed they will not be involved in any way in the operation of these titles.'

He insisted it was an 'America-led' bid, despite three quarters of the funding coming from UAE, and he rejected the notion that a majority stake meant the sheikhs were 'buying influence and power'.

Mr Zucker said the deal was a straightforward business investment and added: 'Democracy needs journalism, and today journalism needs investment, and that's what we're here to provide.'

But former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'No newspaper title should come under the ownership of a foreign government. I would have the same objections if the French government decided they were going to buy the Telegraph.'

If Ofcom's findings derail RedBird IMI's plans, the independent directors who control The Telegraph would relaunch an auction, which previously attracted bidders including the publisher of the Daily Mail and Sir Paul Marshall, co-owner of GB News.
The Royal family is split over whether Prince Andrew should be cast out for good after his name appeared yet again in the latest tranche of papers connected to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.

The Duke of York, 63, was cast out of the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after the furore over his friendship with Epstein and a disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019.

However, Christmas Day saw Andrew join the family, including King Charles III, for the annual festive church service on the Sandringham Estate  a show of unity that baffled many, given that the release of new Epstein papers was imminent.

The latest tranche of documents features further claims Andrew inappropriately touched masseuse Johanna Sjoberg while a puppet that looked like him groped Virginia Giuffre; reports suggest some royals view the Duke as irredeemably 'toxic'.

Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault suit with Ms Giuffre, whom he claims he has never met, in 2022.

Royal insiders have suggested that Andrew will have no way of returning to frontline public life after the latest Epstein papers were released by a US district court

King Charles III attending the Christmas Day Service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, which Andrew was also permitted to attend

Sources told one newspaper that Prince William has deemed the Duke of York 'toxic' to the royal family

Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts (now Giuffre) and Ghislaine Maxwell are pictured in 2001 at Maxwell's London townhouse

Royal sources told the Mirror that the King continues to feel a 'sense of duty' to his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to ensure that Andrew is not 'cut adrift' from the rest of the family.

But the paper reports that Prince William has suggested the Duke should be banished from public life for good  but that little short of a criminal investigation will change Charles' stance on his brother.

A source said: 'This will haunt Andrew and the family forever. In William's view, (Andrew) should have no role with the family at all.'

Further to this, the Telegraph reports that the King is preparing to withdraw private funding for the security operation at the Royal Lodge  putting further pressure on Andrew to leave the house.

Buckingham Palace has declined to comment, but the paper reported Andrew will have to fund the multi-million pound security costs at Royal Lodge himself if he wants to stay in the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park.

Calls for Scotland Yard to launch a fresh investigation into Andrew have been growing in the days since the documents  which name Andrew at least 69 times  began to drop earlier this week.

The Metropolitan Police have said officers are not investigating allegations made against the Duke. However, anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has submitted a complaint to the force urging them to take action.

Labour leader and former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer said that, where 'credible allegations (have been) made of course they should be looked at'.

The Met said on Thursday: 'We are aware of the release of court documents. As with any matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention we will assess it.'

The newly unsealed documents relate to a Manhattan defamation case brought in 2015 Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, who acted as Epstein's 'madame'.

Andrew, who has spent years trying to rebuild his shattered public image, is mentioned 69 times in the new files, along with dozens of high-profile associates of the late paedophile financier.

They include a deposition from Jane Doe 3  who was later identified as Ms Giuffre  who claims she was forced to have sex with the duke on three occasions, including when she was 17.

She claims Epstein ordered she 'give the prince whatever he demanded', including 'an orgy with numerous other underaged girls' on the financier's Caribbean island Little Saint James.

Prince Andrew (pictured on Christmas Day at Sandringham last year) has always denied all accusations of sexual activity with Epstein's accusers, and denied any wrongdoing

Prince Andrew put his hand on Johanna Sjoberg's breast while a puppet that looked like him groped Virginia Giuffre, shocking court papers claimed. Pictured: Prince Andrew's depiction on Spitting Image

Jeffrey Epstein is pictured in March 2017 on the New York state sex offender registry

And in the latest release, Ghislaine Maxwell claimed she 'never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein' in an interview under oath  and denied gifting the Duke a Spitting Image puppet of himself.

In the evidence, known in the US as a deposition, the socialite described Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre's alleged meetings with the Duke of York as a 'tissue of lies'.

However, she appeared to corroborate the existence of a Spitting Image puppet that was described by Epstein 'victim' Johanna Sjoberg in her own deposition as being used to grope Virginia Giuffre while Andrew himself put his hand on her breast.

Ms Giuffre, nee Roberts, alluded to the puppet in her own deposition.

Andrew, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

This week, we reported that Andrew will likely have to be 'forced out' of the Royal Lodge he inhabits within Windsor Great Park amid suggestions that he is resisting efforts by his older brother to evict him.

Documents released this week include claims that the prince committed 'acts of sexual abuse' and took part in an 'underage orgy'.

A source said: 'When it comes to family, it is difficult. But this association is just never going to go away. And that means he [Andrew] has to.'
Munroe Bergdorf attended the British Fashion Awards, along with Kate Moss and a host of other celebrities, at the Royal Albert Hall last month.

She turned heads, even in such star-studded company, in a purple satin gown with corset-style bust, fishtail hem and fluted sleeves.

'I felt like a modern day Morticia Addams if she wore colour,' said Bergdorf - a model, writer and diversity campaigner - after the event. 'I felt extremely powerful, strong, sexy and in command of the moment.'

'Strikingly beautiful' is how one interviewer described her.

Anyone who saw her at the Royal Albert Hall or at the London premier of Beyonce's new film or any number of other red carpet functions but was unaware of who she was, might be surprised to learn about her previous life.

Munroe Bergdorf attends the British Fashion Awards, along with Kate Moss and a host of other celebrities, at the Royal Albert Hall last month

Her recently published memoir, highlighting the abuse and prejudice she has faced for much of her life, is the story, she says, of so many people whose gender does not align with their biological sex

She was also slammed for a string of offensive social media posts, including this tweet where she says suffragette women's rights pioneers were 'white supremacists'

Before using hormones to transition and undergoing facial feminisation surgery, Munroe Bergdorf was a young man called Ian who attended an all-boys school in Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire, where she excelled at sport.

Bergdorf, 36, who has never revealed the surname she was born with, is now a leading activist for trans rights and has regularly appeared on TV.

Her recently published memoir, highlighting the abuse and prejudice she has faced for much of her life, is the story, she says, of so many people whose gender does not align with their biological sex.

Her resilience and achievements (becoming the first trans person to appear on the cover of Cosmopolitan UK, for example) are hard to ignore.

Nevertheless, she has never been far from controversy; no more so than now following the latest entry on her CV: she has been chosen as the first 'UK Champion' for UN [United Nations] Women UK, a charity to improve the lives of women and girls.

No fewer than 17 women's rights groups, including Fair Play For Women, have signed a letter to the charity expressing their 'dismay and disappointment' at the appointment.

'The female population of the UK is more than 33 million yet you have ignored every one of us and chosen a male,' they wrote.

But their criticism goes beyond biology. Bergdorf, they say, is 'unsuitable in every regard'.

Fiona McAnena, from Fair Play For Women, said that while Bergdorf claims to be wanting to break down stereotypes, the way she presents is 'all about glamour, a male sexual fantasy of a woman'.

Before using hormones to transition and undergoing facial feminisation surgery, Munroe Bergdorf was a young man called Ian who attended an all-boys school in Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire, where she excelled at sport

Bergdorf, 36, who has never revealed the surname she was born with, is now a leading activist for trans rights and has regularly appeared on TV

She turned heads, even in such star-studded company, in a purple satin gown with corset-style bust, fishtail hem and fluted sleeves

'It is a highly sexualised, objectified image and exactly the stereotype most women would reject,' she said.

And there's more inciting their disapproval. Bergdorf has posed for Playboy magazine and taken part in a provocative photoshoot for the Bluebella lingerie company.

She also provoked outrage when she infamously dubbed the suffragettes 'white supremacists who were fighting for white women's rights' and is implacably opposed to anyone daring to articulate any differences between those born female (or male) and those who weren't but identify as such.

She once tweeted that women who wore pink hats in the shape of a uterus on a march in the US protesting against Donald Trump's alleged misogyny were a 'misguided symbol of women's equality' that she deemed 'reductive and exclusionary' to transgender people.

Of course, many of those who have spoken out against this woke orthodoxy, like JK Rowling, have been subjected to online abuse and death threats.

Indeed, Bergdorf herself contributed to the condemnation of Rowling, branding her 'dangerous' and a 'threat to LGBT people' and suggested no one should buy the new Harry Potter computer game Hogwarts Legacy.

'How can this person be a champion of women?' Ms McAnena asked. It's a question many ordinary people will be asking, yet given the world we now live in - epitomised by the United Nations which is dominated, to quote one commentator, by 'relentless Left-wing groupthink' - it is all too easy to understand.

The organisation was criticised for remaining silent for 57 days about the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists against women during the October 7 atrocity when 1,200 were killed and more than 240 kidnapped in an unprovoked attack on Israeli communities.

'I felt like a modern day Morticia Addams if she wore colour,' said Bergdorf - a model, writer and diversity campaigner - after the event

She has been chosen as the first 'UK Champion' for UN [United Nations] Women UK, a charity to improve the lives of women and girls.

The Munroe Bergdorf row, in other words, is just further proof of the UN's diminishing credibility in the eyes of critics.

What is undoubtedly true is that Bergdorf has undergone a remarkable physical transformation and is now unrecognisable from the 11-year-old who started at Bishop's Stortford High, among the best performing state schools in the country.

She was a brilliant swimmer, ranked 11th in the country at 50 metre backstroke, as well as being a gifted athlete who was the best high jumper in the school and a formidable middle distance runner.

In 2018 she posted a picture of herself as an 11-year-old, dressed in her school blazer and tie, who had just started at rugby-playing Bishop's Stortford, to hit back at trolls who had circulated the same photo online.

'Let me post it myself to remind those who think it is OK to call a child ugly - that it isn't - even if they are now an adult,' she wrote.

But behind the sporting prowess was a 'sad, uncomfortable, awkward and misunderstood child' (her words) who was ostracised by male peers (girls were admitted only in the sixth form) and relentlessly teased and picked on for being effeminate.

Even her team-mates shunned her. She has spoken about how, on the journey to competitions, 'the boys would all have fun together on the bus and I'd sit at the back'.

In her memoir, Transitional, published last year, she describes hiding in the library with two 'geek' classmates to escape abuse from the 'popular crowd'.

She tried to fit in, she says, by watching Match of the Day, but her bedroom wall was decorated with images of her idols, the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Beyonce and Madonna.

Many parents would struggle to come to terms with gender dysphoria. Hers were no different.

Bergdorf herself contributed to the condemnation of JK Rowling, branding her 'dangerous' and a 'threat to LGBT people'

She also suggested no one should buy the new Harry Potter computer game Hogwarts Legacy

The family, who remained close nonetheless, lived in Stansted Mountfitchet, a middle-class village in Essex, not far from Bishop's Stortford, where, she says, shopkeepers would guard the pick and mix counter when she came in and women held their handbags closer when she passed because she was one of the few black faces in the neighbourhood.

Munroe Bergdorf's white mother, originally from a humble background in Birmingham, had a senior job in financial marketing and her black Jamaican father, from a 'hypermasculine culture', was a carpenter. Both of them commuted to London so she spent the summer holidays with relatives in Wembley where she was mocked by her cousins for having a posh accent.

It was while studying English, at the University of Brighton, that she began experimenting with make-up and dressing as a woman.

After moving to London to take up a job in fashion PR, she began taking female hormones aged 24, and paying for cosmetic fillers and Botox, before having 'feminising' facial surgery in 2018 to reshape her chin and brow.

Two years ago, Bergdorf, in a killer red dress, graced the pages of a special edition of Cosmopolitan. The headline read: 'Meet our 50th anniversary cover star - the model fighting for equality (and against cancel culture).'

It was in February, a little over a year later at a Southbank Centre event for her book, that Bergdorf said she hoped people would boycott the new Harry Potter computer game.

There is a long list of women, apart from JK Rowling, who have been cancelled by trans extremists for their public stance on whether biological sex is transmutable.

Women's rights campaigner Maya Forstater (centre), of Sex Matters, has lashed out at the appointment of Ms Bergdorf. She is pictured with Caroline Ffiske, co-founder of Conservatives for Women (left) and Heather Binning from the Women's Rights Network

They include philosophy professor Kathleen Stock, who was hounded off the Sussex University campus by balaclava-clad fanatics, Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who decided not to attend her party conference after receiving threats, and tax consultant Maya Forstater, who lost her job due to her gender-critical views, to name but a few.

Forstater is the co-founder of Sex Matters, one of the 17 women's groups which expressed concern about Bergdorf being made 'UK Champion' for UN Women UK.

But then almost every role Bergdorf has performed over the past five or six years has ended in negative headlines.

What controversial comments has former L'Oreal model Munroe Bergdorf made? On all white people being racist: 'Honestly I don't have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people.' On the suffragettes: 'FYI - The Suffragettes were white supremacists who were fighting for WHITE women's rights - they specifically left black women out of the movement. 'It is not 100 years since women got the vote it's 100 years since WHITE women got the vote. Black women couldn't vote until MUCH later.' On homosexual Conservatives: 'Gay male Tories are a special kind of d**khead. It's actually quite astonishing.' Advertisement

In 2017 she was hired with dizzying fanfare to be the 'face of modern diversity' by cosmetics giant L'Oreal, but was dropped over Facebook messages responding to the violence of white supremacists in Charlottesville, USA, in which she said all whites were intrinsically racist.

In 2018, she joined the LGBT advisory board of the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn, but resigned after historic offensive posts made by her came to light.

She apologised after the posts became known and said they were 'juvenile jokes' made when she 'hadn't yet transitioned'.

In 2019, she was made Childline's 'first LGBT+ campaigner' but the NSPCC, which runs the counselling service, cut ties with her after it emerged she had previously invited children to contact her directly, via social media - in breach of safeguarding rules.

'You don't ask children to get in direct contact on the internet,' said Forstater. 'You just don't do that.'

Either way, UN Women UK knew all this yet still they appointed Munroe Bergdorf their first 'UK Champion'.

'I am incredibly proud to step into my new role,' she said. 'Working with the UN has been a personal ambition and dream of mine ever since I started working in the activism space over a decade ago.

'It's a responsibility that I don't take lightly. I will use this role to further advocate for the progress, safety, inclusion and empowerment of ALL women and girls, of all communities and identities.'

But, aside from everything else, Bergdorf is still a patron of the scandal-hit trans charity Mermaids.

In 2022 it emerged Mermaids, under former chief executive Susie Green, had been referring children to the now discredited Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock clinic in North London - even when their GPs refused to do so - and it is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission over its 'governance and management'.

The Tavistock itself, which was accepting three and four- year-olds, will shut this year following a damning independent review by a consultant paediatrician.

NHS England is considering introducing a minimum age of seven for future transgender clinics on the grounds that younger children are unable to communicate meaningfully with medical staff about self-identification issues.

But Mermaids - with Munroe Bergdorf as a patron - has argued that under-sevens should still be referred.

She was actually made 'UK Champion' for UN Women UK in November, but the appointment slipped beneath the radar until last week when the charity received the letter from the 17 women's groups.

'Munroe Bergdorf's well publicised activism is not pro-women,' they said. 'This person has objected to women making references to our female bodies.

'Yet many issues affecting women, such as FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), child marriage and forced marriage, reproductive rights, male violence against women and girls, rape as a war crime, pregnancy and maternity healthcare, and more, are intrinsically linked with our female biology.

'How can this person be a champion for women if these issues are deemed unmentionable?'

It's a question UN Women UK is yet to answer.
The California clothing designer was sentenced to 90 days behind bars for the death of Christine Hawk Embree, 35

The woman who killed a mother riding an e-bike with her 16-month-old daughter in California broke down sobbing in court before being sentenced to 90 days behind bars.

Christine Hawk Embree, 35, was riding an e-bike in Carlsbad, California, with her baby daughter Delilah when tragedy struck on August 7, 2022.

The mother and daughter were slammed into by a driver in a Toyota 4-Runner on Basswood Ave & Valley St - leaving Embree with serious injuries in critical condition.

Embree was rushed to hospital where she tragically died - while Delilah miraculously remained uninjured after the collision.

'Miraculously, Delilah was thrown clear of the accident, and with the help of a bicycle seat and helmet, came through unscathed,' a GoFundMe for Embree said.

The woman who killed a mother riding an e-bike with her 16-month-old daughter in California broke down sobbing in court before being sentenced to 90 days behind bars

The driver responsible was Lindsay Turmelle, 43, who was sentenced on Thursday afternoon to 90 days in county jail and 90 days of home detention for her reckless driving

Christine Hawk Embree, 35, was riding an e-bike in Carlsbad, California, with her baby daughter Delilah when tragedy struck on August 7, 2022

Embree was rushed to hospital where she tragically died - while Delilah miraculously remained uninjured after the collision

The mother (pictured here with her husband) and daughter were slammed into by a driver in a Toyota 4-Runner on Basswood Ave & Valley St - leaving Embree with serious injuries in critical condition

The driver responsible was Lindsay Turmelle, 43, who was sentenced on Thursday afternoon to 90 days in county jail and 90 days of home detention for her reckless driving.

After the horrifying collision which took place just a two minute drive away from her $1.3 million home, Turmelle stuck around on the scene.

In court on Thursday, Turmelle admitted to accidentally hitting and killing the mother.

Prosecutors claimed that Turmelle had been distracted at the time of the crash, but there was no evidence found to indicate that she had been on her phone.

Turmelle delivered a heartbreaking apology to family members of Embree who sat in the courtroom.

'I cannot imagine what this has been like for you. I pray for your comfort. I pray for you to heal,' she sobbed.

'I pray for your understanding and I've prayed for your forgiveness. I cannot compare what I am going through to what your family endures daily.'

Her touching apology brought many people in the courtroom to tears as they were heard audibly crying in the moment.

The Deputy District Attorney for the case read a letter aloud from Bob Embree - husband of the deceased.

Her husband intentionally didnt want to come to the court proceedings because he didnt want to see or hear the person who killed his wife.

In Mr. Embree's letter, he asked the court to sentence the Turmelle to a maximum of one year in jail.

Joseph Hawk, Embree's father, responded: 'If God and Christine have forgiven you why wouldnt I forgive you.'

A celebration of life was held for the Carlsbad mother on November 5, 2022, at which guests were invited to bring a favorite picture of Christine and a small rock to paint, an ode to her creativity

Her husband intentionally didnt want to come to the court proceedings because he didnt want to see or hear the person who killed his wife

In Mr. Embree's letter, he asked the court to sentence the Turmelle to a maximum of one year in jail

A celebration of life was held for the Carlsbad mother on November 5, 2022, at which guests were invited to bring a favorite picture of Christine and a small rock to paint, an ode to her creativity.

A GoFundMe was created to raise funds 'to help ease the burden of Bob and Delilahs shocking new normal.'

So far - $146,446 has been donated to Embree's husband and daughter - which went towards her memorial service and will also be used to support her daughter.

According to her LinkedIn, Turmelle works in the clothing design industry - including merchandising, sales and marketing, and has supposedly built a successful line of apparel.
Hillary Clinton's name has appeared in court documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for the first time, with a newly-published tranche requesting 'all communications' from her and 12 other people.

The former Secretary of State's surprise entrance on the Epstein stage - her husband has been mentioned multiple times, and was known to associate with the late pedophile financier for several years - came as lawyers asked whether the Clinton Foundation was bankrolling Maxwell.

Maxwell, the only person convicted for her role in Epstein's sex trafficking network, refused to answer.

Hillary Clinton was not known to be close to either Maxwell or Epstein and has never been pictured with either of them.

Her name comes up in a 2016 document filed by Maxwell's attorneys, relating to Virginia Roberts-Giuffre - an Epstein victim, who sued Maxwell for defamation in 2016.

Hillary Clinton's name is mentioned in a single line concerning Roberts-Giuffre's request for 'all communications with thirteen specific witnesses,' according to Newsweek.

Bill and Hillary Clinton are pictured together in June 2023 in New York City

Clinton is seen with Jeffrey Epstein inside the White House in 1993, at an event for donors to the White House Historical Association. Epstein attended the event after donating $10,000 to the fund. Ghislaine Maxwell is pictured beside Epstein

She does not feature anywhere else in the documents that have been released as of Friday.

Another document shows Roberts-Giuffre trying to assess how much Maxwell is worth, as part of the defamation case.

Roberts-Giuffre's legal team accuse Maxwell, the daughter of a Czech-British newspaper magnate, of refusing to release her financial records, and imply that she wanted to hide the source of her wealth.

'For example, Defendant has refused to comply with a discovery request seeking information about her connection to the Clinton Foundation, claiming that such a request is 'obviously intended to harass and embarrass' her,' the court documents state.

'Nothing could be further from the truth.'

Roberts-Giuffre's lawyers say that Maxwell intends to claim that she lied about meeting Bill Clinton.

They suggest that Maxwell could be trying to protect Bill Clinton, because his foundation supports Maxwell financially.

'It is Defendant who intends to argue at trial that Ms. Giuffre has made inaccurate statements about various interactions with former-President Bill Clinton,' said Roberts-Giuffre's legal team.

'Of course, if Defendant (or any of her organizations) is receiving funding from the Clinton Foundation, that would provide a clear motive for her to slant testimony on this subject.

'Ms. Giuffre is entitled to explore this clear possibility of bias by obtaining information of the financial connections between Defendant and the Clinton Foundation.'

There has never been any evidence that the Clinton Foundation was financing Maxwell, or any other private individuals.

Neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton are accused of any wrongdoing in connection to Maxwell and Epstein.

Bill Clinton travelled on Epstein's private jet four times, and said the flights were in relation to his work with the Clinton Foundation.

The former president, now 77, has long insisted that his connections to Epstein were on a professional basis.

He insisted in 2019 that during his four trips on Epstein's private jet, in 2002 and 2003, he was always accompanied by a retinue of staff and Secret Service agents.

But court documents from June 2016 - part of a defamation suit filed against Maxwell by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts - paint a different picture, showing them to be close personal friends, and Epstein accuse Clinton of 'liking them young.'

Roberts, in her filing, is seeking permission from the judge to force more people to sit for a deposition, to bolster her case.

Bill Clinton is pictured greeting Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein in the White House in 1993

Virginia Roberts, who was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000, when she was a 17-year-old working at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club

Roberts, in her June 2016 filing, argued that Clinton should be forced to sit for a deposition

Roberts - using her married name, Virginia Giuffre - argues that Bill Clinton was close to both Maxwell and Epstein, who died in jail awaiting trial in August 2019.

'In a 2011 interview, Ms. Giuffre mentioned former President Bill Clinton's close personal relationship with Defendant and Jeffrey Epstein,' the court document states.

'While Ms. Giuffre made no allegations of illegal actions by Bill Clinton, Ms. Maxwell in her deposition raised Ms. Giuffre's comments about President Clinton as one of the 'obvious lies' to which she was referring in her public statement that formed the basis of this suit.

'Apart from the Defendant and Mr. Epstein, former President Clinton is a key person who can provide information about his close relationship with Defendant and Mr. Epstein and disapprove Ms. Maxwell's claims.'

Clinton is mentioned 50 times in the first tranche of documents, released on Wednesday - almost 950-pages of evidence.

Another woman who claimed she was sexually abused by Epstein, Johanna Sjoberg, said in her deposition that Epstein told her 'Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.'

It is unclear how Clinton and Epstein met, but Roberts was not the only one to claim the pair were close.

Bill Clinton is pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in an undated photograph

On Wednesday, hours before the court documents were unsealed, Jeffrey Epstein's brother Mark, a New York-based property developer, said his sibling claimed to have information about Donald Trump and Bill Clinton which was so explosive it would derail the 2016 presidential election.

Mark Epstein, younger than Jeffrey by 18 months, said his brother never provided details.

Mark, 69, told The New York Post: 'Here's a direct quote: 'If I said what I know about both candidates, they'd have to cancel the election.' That's what Jeffrey told me in 2016.'

Hillary Clinton was not known to spend time with Jeffrey Epstein, but her husband was a friend from at least 1993.

Epstein and Maxwell were pictured in 1993 greeting Bill Clinton inside the White House, at an event for donors to the White House Historical Association. Epstein attended the event after donating $10,000 to the fund.

The pedophile financier made at least 17 visits to the White House, presidential logs show, and Bill Clinton also flew on Epstein's private jet - making trips to Europe, Asia and Africa in 2002 and 2003.

Mark Epstein said that flying with Bill Clinton was a key mistake of his brother's, because it suddenly shone a spotlight on his activities.

'Jeff first took Clinton and I think it was Chris Tucker and some other people to Africa  which was a mistake my brother made by doing that, because prior to that he was under the radar; nobody was looking at him.

'But when he flew Clinton there, it was like, 'Who's this guy flying Clinton?''

Bill Clinton's spokesman Angel Urena said in July 2019, when Jeffrey Epstein was arrested, that he 'knows nothing about the terrible crimes' that Epstein was accused of, and that Clinton had not spoken to Epstein 'in more than a decade.'

There is no evidence that Clinton ever visited Epstein's Caribbean island, Little St. James.
School inspections will restart later this month once staff have finished mental health training, Ofsted has announced.

The decision from Sir Martyn Oliver came as the watchdog also announced it would respond to the coroner's recommendations into Ruth Perry's death on January 19.

The inquest into the death of headteacher Ms Perry found that Ofsted inspections had 'likely contributed' to her suicide.

She took her own life after a report by the watchdog downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest rating to its lowest.

Its response will set out 'clearly how Ofsted will conduct inspections with professionalism, courtesy, respect and empathy', the watchdog said.

The decision from Sir Martyn Oliver came as the watchdog also announced it would respond to the coroner's recommendations into Ruth Perry's death on January 19

The inquest into the death of headteacher Ms Perry found that Ofsted inspections had 'likely contributed' to her suicide

Sir Martyn, His Majesty's Chief Inspector, said: 'Inspection plays a vital role in making sure that children and learners are getting the education and care they need and deserve. So we need to get back to that work as quickly as we can.

'But I've also been very clear that we must reflect on the findings of the coroner, learn from the tragic events of last year, and emerge as a better and more effective inspectorate.

'That means being trusted by parents and respected by the education and social care professionals we work with. '

Sir Martyn, His Majesty's Chief Inspector, said: 'Inspection plays a vital role in making sure that children and learners are getting the education and care they need and deserve'

Sir Martyn announced the restart date of January 22 after a series of meetings in his first week on the job, including with headteacher unions as well as with Professor Julia Waters, the sister of Ms Perry.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'The meeting gave us an opportunity to reflect on the concerns raised in the coroner's report following the inquest into the death of Ruth Perry, discuss how relations between Ofsted and the profession can be reset, give reassurance to leaders that the resumption of inspection will not simply be 'business as usual', and start to consider the need for the longer-term reforms.

'We look forward to continuing to work together constructively in pursuit of an inspection system that is fairer, less punitive and has the trust of school and college leaders.'

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: 'I am pleased that this meeting was more than a courtesy. I felt that for the first time in far too long Ofsted took seriously the concerns of NAHT members.'
The Pentagon has been criticized for not revealing that information for five days while the US plays key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was admitted to hospital on New Year's Day for unspecified complications following an elective surgery

The Pentagon has been criticized for keeping U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalization secret for five days, after he experienced complications following an elective surgery.

Austin, who is 70, sits just below President Joe Biden at the top of the chain of command of the U.S. military and his duties require him being available at a moment's notice to respond to any manner of national security crisis.

It is not clear whether Austin ever lost consciousness before or after he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year's Day.

The Pentagon Press Association, in a letter to Pentagon officials, criticized the Defense Department's secrecy, saying that Austin was a public figure who had no claim to medical privacy in such a situation.

'At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader,' it wrote.

Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on January 1, but the Pentagon waited five days to reveal that information

It comes as the US is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine

The Pentagon Press Association letter noted that even U.S. presidents disclose when they must delegate duties due to medical procedures.

The Pentagon did not say what the elective surgery or complications were, not the extent to which his duties were assumed by his deputy, Kathleen Hicks.

Those duties include being ready and available to respond to an incoming nuclear attack.

'He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today,' Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement on Friday.

Just a day earlier, Ryder held a televised news briefing that conveyed the sense of business as usual at the Pentagon, offering Austin's condolences to ally Japan following its New Year's Day earthquake, for example.

But the past week has been anything but normal for the Pentagon, with U.S. troops in the Middle East wrestling with the regional fallout from the unfolding Israel-Hamas war and carrying out a U.S. retaliatory strike in Baghdad on Thursday.

The way the Defense Department handled Austin's hospitalization stands in contrast to how the State Department dealt with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell's prostate surgery on Dec. 15, 2003.

The State Department spokesman at that time issued a statement in the morning making public that Powell, a retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and would remain there for several days before returning home.

It also said Powell would be on a reduced schedule while he recovered from the operation. The State Department's spokesman at the time, Richard Boucher, then offered details on Powell's surgery in his daily briefing.

Boucher, contacted by Reuters on Friday, said the key question regarding public disclosure was whether Austin was under anesthesia or was incapacitated.

'Was there any moment in the process where he could not function as secretary of defense?' he asked. 'If you are up and walking around and have your information and you have your aides in the next room and you can make split-second decisions... then there is probably not a public necessity to disclose.

'The only necessity is if you are going to be conked out,' he added.
The victim of Iowa's school shooting carried out by Dylan Butler has been identified as 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff.

Iowa's deadly school shooting at Perry High School on Thursday morning left one dead and five injured.

Dylan Butler, 17, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing Ahmir and injuring four students and the school Principal, Dan Marburger.

Law enforcement didn't initially reveal the identities of the victims - but it has now been revealed that Ahmir, a student at Perry Middle School, lost his life in the shooting.

Ahmir was shot three times by Butler and the manner of his death was ruled a homicide.

The victim of Iowa 's school shooting carried out by Dylan Butler has been identified as 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff

Ahmir was shot three times by Butler and the manner of his death was ruled a homicide

Dylan Butler, who is a senior at Perry High School, was named as the shooter. Hours before the shooting took place at 7.37am, Butler posted a TikTok of himself, posing in what appeared to be in the school bathroom, with the text: 'Now we wait'

Law enforcement didn't initially reveal the identities of the victims - but it has now been revealed that Ahmir, a student at Perry Middle School, lost his life in the shooting

The victim's mother Erica Jolliff said on Thursday that her daughter, a ninth grader, reported getting rushed from the school grounds at 7:45 am.

Distraught, Jolliff was still looking for her son Ahmir one hour later.

'I just want to know that hes safe and OK,' Jolliff said at the time. 'They won't tell me nothing.'

Classmates and those familiar with Butler claim that the shooter had snapped after being bullied, and that the final straw was when his little sister started getting picked on too.

Yesenia Roeder and Khamya Hall, both 17, said alongside their mother, Alita, that Butler, their classmate, had been bullied relentlessly since elementary school.

That escalated recently, they told AP, when his younger sister started getting picked on.

Officials at the school didn't intervene, they said, and that was 'the last straw' for the shooter.

'He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment,' Yesenia Roeder Hall, 17, said.

'Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no.'

Butler was armed with a pump-action shotgun and handgun - both of which are illegal for a 17-year-old to obtain in Iowa. He also had a rudimentary explosive device - which was undetonated and was later rendered safe by fire marshals.

The 17-year-old died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound by the time first responders arrived at the school, shortly after 7.40am. The ordeal triggered a mass evacuation of 1,785 students on their first day of classes after winter break. Cops have yet to provide a possible motive.

Butler posted the TikTok selfie with the song 'Stray Bullet' playing in the background.

In December, just weeks before the shooting, Butler posted another video on the same social media account of him sitting on children's playground equipment with a friend, pretending to be in a gun fight using sticks.

Butler gets 'shot' by the stick, and falls down the children's slide.

On Thursday morning, there were hundreds of emergency services at the scene - which is 25 miles northwest of Des Moines. Ambulances, police units, air ambulances, and firefighters were called to the school at 7.37am.

The Dallas County Sheriff's Office confirmed the shooting. The FBI Omaha Des Moines was on the scene, as was the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive.

Dylan Butler, 17, is pictured with his sister

Principal Dan Marbuger was among those shot and injured

In December, just weeks before the shooting, Butler posted another video on the same social media account of him sitting on children's playground equipment with a friend, pretending to be in a gun fight using sticks

County Sherriff Adam Infante said at a press conference at 11am that police officers arrived at the high school seven minutes after the first call was made.

The first responders found 'multiple gunshot victims' inside the school - and at a press conference at 3pm, police confirmed the number of injured was five.

One of the five people injured was the school's principal, Dan Marburger, who was rushed to hospital and is currently in surgery for his gunshot wounds.

The other four people injured were students. Of the five, one is in critical condition - although police did not confirm if this was the principal or a student.

Hours before the shooting took place at 7:37 am, Butler posted a TikTok posing in what appeared to be the school bathroom. The senior pulled an odd face, as a blue duffle bag sat on the ground of the stall. The post was captioned: 'Now we wait.'
A Colorado 17-year-old who allegedly shot and killed a young mother when he was just 14 appeared in court on Friday for the first time since a judge ruled he would be tried as an adult.

Remi Cordova would have faced a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted as a juvenile, but not he could be sent away for 40 years.

On Friday, a judge set his bail at $5 million in cash, meaning he is likely to remain in jail until his trial.

The teenager is accused of shooting dead Pamela Cabriales in February 2021.

Cabriales, 32, was driving home from dinner with a friend when her car stopped at a red light in downtown Denver, and potentially touched the back of the vehicle Cordova was traveling.

Remi Cordova was 14 when he allegedly shot and killed Pamela Cabriales in February 2021

Pamela Cabriales was driving home from dinner with a friend in Denver when she was shot and killed while stopped at a red light

Neshan Johnson, aged 18, was driving the car on the February 2021 night when Cabriales was shot and killed

His friend Neshan Johnson, 18, was at the wheel: both teenagers were known gang members, prosecutors said, and Cordova already had a criminal record.

Cordova got out of the car and retrieved an AR-15 rifle, then walked back to Cabriales' car at the red light and shot her in the head 20 times.

Cabriales, the mother of a six-year-old son, died five days later.

Johnson was sentenced in June to serve 35 years in prison.

The case against Cordova will be prosecuted by the chief deputy district attorney, Courtney Johnston - the wife of the mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston.

Cabriales' brother Alex said he was pleased that Cordova will be tried as an adult.

'I think the judges, regarding this case, are making the right decision,' he said, standing outside the courtroom on Friday, Fox 31 reported.

'They're doing their job. Our communities can be safer with him in jail.'

Alex's other sibling, Noel, was shot and killed in 1994 when he was 15, amid a row over petting a dog.

When Pamela was also murdered, he said: 'We've just been stripped of everything we love dearly. It's just a feeling of emptiness.'

Cabriales' brother Noel was shot and killed in 1994 when he was 15, after a row about a dog

Cabriales is pictured with her six year old son

Alex Cabriales said his sister Pamela was a beautiful person

Alex told 9News that he felt his parents, Mexican immigrants who did not speak much English, were let down when Noel was murdered.

'We were not treated fairly then,' Alex Cabriales said.

'There was no one there to guide them or explain to them what was going on. We felt like then it was just swept under the rug.'

Noel's killer was found guilty of manslaughter and served only seven years: Alex said he is now determined to get justice for his sister.

'My sister's life means nothing to that boy,' said Alex Cabriales.

'It was just a gang initiation to them.

Cabriales told CBS News he had been told the 14-year-old turned to the older teenager and asked: 'Can I bust on em'?'

Cabriales said that Johnson told Cordova: 'Do what you gotta do.'

He added: 'This was a person, a human being, a really good person and a 14-year-old boy decided her life was worth nothing.'

Alex said that he thought Cordova was 'a psychopath', and should not be free to roam the streets.

'There are some people you can rehabilitate,' he said. 'He's not one of them.'
A man from Mauritania revealed that he has waited 25 days for a bed - and admitted that the U.S. should close their borders because the situation is so dire

Mobs of migrants lined up in NYC's sub-zero temperatures in the hopes of securing a bed or some food

Mobs of migrants lined up outside a NYC processing center in freezing weather as some revealed they have been waiting a month for a bed.

The migrants had traveled from all over and ended up at a re-intake center for adult single migrants in the East Village.

A man from Mauritania revealed that he's been waiting 25 days to get a bed, while others have waited even longer - without being offered any food.

He revealed that the conditions inside the shelters are dire. 'Inside the shelter there are fights, people steal phones, people have knives and there is not enough food.

'They need to close the border as there are too many (people) now.'

Mobs of migrants lined up outside a NYC processing center in freezing weather as some revealed they have been waiting a month for a bed

The migrants had traveled from all over and ended up at a re-intake center for adult single migrants in the East Village

Swarms of migrants waited outside the former St. Brigid Catholic School all day on Friday in sub-zero temperatures with no blankets or warm clothing

A man from Mauritania revealed that he's been waiting 25 days to get a bed, while others have waited even longer (Pictured: Mauritanian migrant Moussa Thiam, 29)

The man revealed that homeless migrants are forced to sleep on the streets or the subway because there is nowhere else to go. 'People have to wait in line for a place in a warming site and it is not always possible.'

Groups of migrants waited outside the former St. Brigid Catholic School all day on Friday in sub-zero temperatures with no blankets or warm clothing.

Robert, 27, who migrated from Peru via Venezuela said his journey to the U.S. took three months, and he left a wife behind in Peru.

He migrated to find work, but has only been able to work one day since arriving - which earned him $150.

Robert revealed that, despite having his work permits, he can't score jobs because he never hears back from employers. He say that for every 20 jobs he applies for, he only gets two calls back.

Richard, 40, migrated from Venezuela to flee the repressive dictatorship in his country, where there was no food or opportunities.

He crossed from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso at the same time as the shelter fire which killed 39 in March.

Richard admitted that he slept for two weeks on the street in the Bronx because there was no shelter space available for him.

Robert, 27, who migrated from Peru via Venezuela said his journey to the U.S. took three months, and he left a wife behind in Peru. He migrated to find work, but has only been able to work one day since arriving - which earned him $150. Robert revealed that, despite having his work permits, he can't score jobs because he never hears back from employers. He say that for every 20 jobs he applies for, he only gets two calls back

Richard, 40, migrated from Venezuela to flee the repressive dictatorship in his country, where there was no food or opportunities. He crossed from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso at the same time as the shelter fire which killed 39 in March. Richard admitted that he slept for two weeks on the street in the Bronx because there was no shelter space available for him

The heartbreaking conditions migrants are facing all over the U.S. come after a record number of migrants crossed the U.S. southern border in December

There were 300,000 encounters in the last month of 2023, U.S. Custom and Border Patrol sources told Fox News. Between Dec. 1 and December 31, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border

A message is written on a white board as migrants wait nearby in line

People, including migrants, frantically search for the last bits of food which was being offered by the group Interfaith Community Services

Yesterday - staggering new footage exposed the severity of New York City's migrant crisis, with hundreds of people - mainly young men - lining up around the block for shelter in Manhattan.

The footage that emerged Wednesday shows the latest raft of migrants looking cold and miserable as they stood in a line that snaked around a building in the East 7th Street in the East Village.

One of the hundreds of men told a reporter that he is from Venezuela and had recently arrived to join up with other members of his family already in the Big Apple.

The alarming scene underscores Mayor Eric Adams' own recent admission that NYC - proudly touted as a beacon of the Democrats' 'Sanctuary City' policy - is now at 'breaking point.'

Hundreds of homeless expats, mostly young and middle-aged African men, were waiting in line outside a church on East 7th Street in Manhattan's East Village on Thursday, hoping to find a place to sleep.

Among them was Landry, 40, from Congo, who told DailyMail.com he spent his life savings of $9,000 traveling to the US, taking the difficult decision to leave his wife and 14-year-old son behind four months ago.

The military veteran had been hoping to land a job in construction but he's been unable to find work in the city and ended up sleeping on the streets in sub-zero temperatures after shelters ran out of space.

Conditions in Congo were 'terrible' according to Landry, with frequent fights between ethnic groups and oppressive laws - but he said life in the Big Apple has been 'even worse.'

'It's like prison here,' he said, speaking in French. 'It's negligence. We have no access to food, toilets, or anything. Animals live better here - pets in the street are treated better than us.

Migrants, wait in line for food from the group Interfaith Community Services next to Tompkins Square Park in the East Village

Migrants show their intake numbers as they wait in line outside of the former St. Brigid Catholic School

Mauritanian migrant Thiam, 30, stands in the sun to stay warm outside of the former St. Brigid Catholic School, which is being used as a re-intake center for adult single migrants

Migrants wait in line outside of the former St. Brigid Catholic School

4 A message saying '450,000 empty apartments in NYC' is scrawled on the floor as migrants wait nearby in line outside of the former St. Brigid Catholic School

The heartbreaking conditions migrants are facing all over the U.S. come after a record number of migrants crossed the U.S. southern border in December.

There were 300,000 encounters in the last month of 2023, U.S. Custom and Border Patrol sources told Fox News. Between Dec. 1 and December 31, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border.

It is the highest total for a single month ever recorded in history and it marks the first time migrant encounters have reached over 300,000.
The horrified family of the pilot killed when his aircraft crashed in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region watched on helplessly as he plunged to his death.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash on Little Hill Road in Beverley, about 130km southeast of Perth, at about 11am AWST on Saturday.

Grandfather John Willson, 69, was seriously injured in the crash and later died at the scene, close to the home he shared with his artist wife, Marlene.

His family are reported to have alerted emergency services after they saw his yellow ultralight aircraft crash into the nearby paddock.

He is understood to have taken off from a private runway on his property shortly before plummeting out the sky onto his neighbour's land.

John Willson, 69, was seriously injured in the crash and was later confirmed to have died at the scene, close to the home he shared with his artist wife, Marlene

A microlight aircraft has crashed in Beverley (above), in Western Australia 's Wheatbelt region

The pilot, understood to be the only person onboard the plane, was seriously injured (pictured, a map showing Beverley, WA)

It's understood he was the only person onboard the plane.

'John Willson of Beverley was a beloved member of his community and a keen aviation enthusiast,' his youngest daughter Hayley said after the tragedy.

'He leaves behind his wife Marlene, three daughters and four grandchildren.

'John was a brilliant musician and inspiration to his family.'

Police revealed some of the family witnessed the accident take place.

'Its a terrible situation for the family who were present at the time,' Wheatbelt Police Inspector Jason Beesley told The West Australian.

'The pilot was an enthusiast, it was a hobby for him, he commenced in the early 2000s and took an interest in ultralights and other aircraft.

'He was quite experienced. He had been up in the air earlier today on a couple of occasions - and then this eventuated, unfortunately, in his death.'

He added: 'On behalf of WA Police we are shattered this has happened to this family.

'Its not nice for anyone and there will be a great deal of shock for the wife and the family at the moment.

'We will support the family from our perspective and Im sure the community of Beverley will do the same thing.'

John Willson's family are reported to have alerted emergency services after they saw his yellow ultralight aircraft crash into the nearby paddock

Police said John Willson (pictured) was a keen aviation enthusiast who had been passionate about ultalights and other aircraft for around 20 years

A pilot controls a microlight aircraft by shifting its centre of gravity, according to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Such an aircraft might have a two or four-stroke engine.

Police officers, St John Ambulance crew and Department of Fire and Emergency Services officials attended the crash scene.

Recreation Aviation Australia has been notified of the death and police will prepare a report for the coroner.
Hundreds of people have made their way to the city centre for the first pro-Palestine protest of the year.

Dressed in red, green, white and black, the mass of Sydneysiders gathered at Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon, calling for a ceasefire and an end to Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

Many waved Palestinian flags or donned traditional Keffiyeh to show their support, as the conflict between the two nations enters its 92nd day.

'We are all Palestinian,' the crowd chanted back at organisers. 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.'

Hundreds gathered in Sydney on Saturday for the first pro-Palestine rally (above) of the year

Protesters in the Free Palestine March (above) called for a ceasefire and an end to Israel 's bombardment of Gaza

Free Palestine March participants (above) chanted 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'

NSW Police have said that the protest was peaceful and no arrests have been made

Dressed in red, green, white and black, the mass of Sydneysiders (above) gathered at Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon

NSW Police have said that the protest was peaceful and no arrests have been made.

It's the thirteenth week that people have made the trek into the city to call for an end to the bombing, which began on October 7 last year when militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel.

Israel responded in kind, launching a sustained bombardment of Gaza, a move that has attracted criticism worldwide as the Palestinian casualty list grows.

As of January 5, there have been at least 22,600 Palestinians killed, including 9,600 children and 6,750 women, with more than 57,900 injured. Thousands more are missing and presumed dead.

Israel's death toll stands at 1,139 people, with 8,730 injured.

After an hour of speeches from Australian Palestinian leaders and those who have had family caught up in the conflict, hundreds took to the streets of Sydney's CBD.

'One, two, three, four, we don't want your bloody war,' they chanted as they marched.

The rally (above) marked the thirteenth week that people have made the trek into the city to call for an end to the bombing

After an hour of speeches from Australian Palestinian leaders and those who have had family caught up in the conflict, hundreds took to the streets of Sydney's CBD

Many attendees (above) waved Palestinian flags or donned traditional Keffiyeh to show their support, as the conflict between the two nations enters its 92nd day

PM Anthony Albanese's role in supporting Israel came under attack from some protestors

An enormous Palestinian flag featuring messages of hope from protesters was also paraded through the streets.

Members of Sydney's Lebanese community made their presence known, waving flags and signs, after Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a drone strike in Beirut.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, though there are fears of an escalation in the war if Hezbollah responds.
The shock resignation of the head of the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Friday was not prompted by any plea deal ahead of his corruption trial next week, prosecutors have confirmed.

Wayne LaPierre, 74, said he was stepping down after more than 30 years due to 'health reasons'.

LaPierre's corruption trial has already begun with jury selection: opening statements will be heard next week.

But New York's attorney general, Letitia James, said that no plea deal with LaPierre had been reached, and the corruption trial will proceed as planned.

LaPierre and two other defendants are accused of violating nonprofit laws and using millions of dollars from the NRA to pay for extravagant lifestyles for themselves.

James is seeking to bar LaPierre from leadership roles, and intends on pushing for financial penalties from him and two other defendants.

A fourth defendant, Joshua Powell, a former top deputy to LaPierre, on Friday night reached a settlement with the attorney generals office. He agreed to pay $100,000 in restitution and to a permanent ban from serving as an officer at nonprofits operating in New York.

LaPierre's interim successor will be his spokesman, Andrew Arulanandam, the NRA's executive and head of general operations.

NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre (left) announced his resignation on Friday - just days before his New York corruption trial is due to begin. Andrew Arulanandam (right), his spokesman, will take over as interim CEO

The NRA chief cited health reasons for his resignation which was accepted at a board meeting in Irving, Texas

LaPierre, pictured at an NRA rally in 2022 with Donald Trump, is accused of diverting millions of dollars to pay for his lavish lifestyle

LaPierre, who made the surprise announcement during a board meeting in Irving, Texas, officially stands down on January 31.

'With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA,' LaPierre said in press release.

'I've been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever.'

NRA President Charles Cotton thanked LaPierre for his service.

'On behalf of the NRA Board of Directors, I thank Wayne LaPierre for his service. Wayne has done as much to protect Second Amendment freedom as anyone,' Cotton said.

'Wayne is a towering figure in the fight for constitutional freedom, but one of his other talents is equally important: he built an organization that is bigger than him.

'Under the direction of Andrew Arulanandam, the NRA will continue to thrive  with a renewed energy in our business operations and grassroots advocacy. Our future is bright and secure.'

The NRA has for years been in inner turmoil.

Prior to her election, James vowed to take on the NRA, which she branded a 'terrorist organization'.

She brought a lawsuit in 2020 accusing NRA chiefs of violating state and federal law and lining their pockets with millions of dollars.

LaPierre was reelected to his position in 2021 despite the ongoing civil case which claims he diverted millions to pay for trips and other lavish items.

The NRA board of directors reelected Wayne LaPierre as CEO of the group in 2021, despite multiple controversies facing the organization under his leadership

The NRA is still facing a corruption lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, (pictured) alleging its leadership diverted millions to fund a lavish lifestyle

In May 2021, the group made a failed bid to file for bankruptcy to move its organization from New York to Texas, which LaPierre admitted was to avoid the litigation.

But it was denied by federal judge Harlin Hale who argued that it had been filed in bad faith, and slammed LaPierre's conduct as 'nothing less than shocking'.

The gun rights group unsuccessfully attempted to stop the corruption probe from proceeding by arguing James, a Democrat, is politically motivated and has violated the First Amendment for trying to silence its speech because she disliked what it stood for.

But the appeal was unanimously rejected.

The NRA said it was 'well-known' that James had pledged to pursue the organization.

In March 2022, the group scored a major legal victory, when a New York court dismissed James' claims to dissolve the organization.

'With respect to the NYAG's allegations, the NRA Board of Directors reports it has undertaken significant efforts to perform a self-evaluation, recommended termination of disgraced 'insiders' and vendors who allegedly abused the Association, and accepted reimbursement, with interest, for alleged excess benefit transactions from LaPierre, as reported in public tax filing,' an NRA statement said.

LaPierre, pictured with wife Susan, claims the lawsuit from James is politically motivated after she vowed to go after the NRA prior to her appointment as Attorney General

LaPierre is pictured in 2012 with his wife Susan; the late Larry King, and his wife Shawn

LaPierre, in his statement on Friday, added: 'I am proud of the NRA's advocacy in New York and, through it all, determination to defend the Second Amendment. I can assure you the NRA's mission, programming, and fight for freedom have never been more secure.

'What makes the NRA unlike any other advocacy organization is the depth and experience of its professional team, the unwavering support of its members, and its fighting spirit.'

'I have enormous confidence in our board of directors, executive leadership team, and my long-time colleague Andrew Arulanandam.

'Andrew knows every facet of this organization and has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me in every arena imaginable. Andrew knows how to help the NRA win  he's been one of the key authors of our playbook for decades.'
Hundreds of people are still stuck in Afghanistan or other countries awaiting resettlement to the UK more than two years after the Taliban takeover, Lord David Cameron has said.

Almost two-thirds of people eligible to come to the UK under a scheme for those who directly supported the British and international community's efforts during the war are yet to be resettled.

There has been one case of someone being deported back to Afghanistan despite being on a scheme for vulnerable refugees.

When Taliban militants returned to power in summer 2021 after Western forces, including the US and UK, withdrew following a 20-year occupation, the British Government announced legal routes for those 'most vulnerable and at risk' to come to the UK.

They committed to welcome up to 20,000 people under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme (ACRS) but campaigners have criticised the process for being slow.

Hundreds of people are still stuck in Afghanistan or other countries awaiting resettlement to the UK more than two years after the Taliban takeover, Lord David Cameron (pictured) has said

Hundreds are still stuck in Afghanistan more than two years on from the Taliban takeover

The scheme is split into three pathways, with the third specifically for British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni  all of whom are deemed to have 'directly supported the UK and international community's efforts in Afghanistan'.

The Government initially put a cap of 1,500 places for this first stage of pathway three, but said that with eligible family members coming too, this would likely be exceeded.

There has been ongoing concern about eligible Afghans being stuck in other countries as they try to make it to the UK.

A full flight of 265 people supported by members of the UK Armed Forces on board an evacuation flight out of Kabul airport, Afghanistan in 2021

People eligible for resettlement to the UK wait at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan in 2021

The plight of some elite veterans, who fought alongside UK forces but were since threatened with being deported back to their home country from Pakistan, was raised last month in the House of Lords.

Pakistan had announced it was expelling Afghans who took refuge there as part of an ongoing crackdown on people without valid papers.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has given an update on those awaiting resettlement in the UK, including hundreds still stuck in Afghanistan.

In a letter to Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns, he said there had been two flights, one with 246 people on board, in December, meaning 'that almost all of the most vulnerable undocumented EPs (eligible persons) will have left Pakistan' before a deadline of December 31, 2023.

He added: 'Over a third of all those due to come to the UK under this first stage of ACRS pathway three will have got here before the end of the year.'

Afghan citizen granted sanctuary by the UK disembark a C-17 transport plane in Dubai. Some 138 people were scheduled to be on the flight, though it was not clear how many made it

An Afghan evacuation flight lands at an airport in the Midlands on August 18, 2021

He said: 'Plans are in place to bring the remainder of those now in third countries to the UK early in the New Year, leaving only those still in Afghanistan, of which our estimate is there are less than 700.'

He said that for those people their journey to the UK will depend on whether they can secure the necessary documentation to be allowed to leave Afghanistan, and visas for third countries, to cross the border.

On people being deported back to Afghanistan having fled, Lord Cameron said there had been one case under ACRS pathway two, which covers vulnerable refugees referred for resettlement to the UK by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

He said the Foreign Office was not aware of any deportations under pathway three or under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) which was set up for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan.

Lord Cameron said he was 'not complacent' about deportations, adding: 'We continue to work hard to try to ensure there are no further cases.'

Ms Kearns said this was a 'cross-cutting, complex area' and that Lord Cameron had provided 'some much-needed clarity on the current state of Afghan resettlement schemes and the remits and responsibilities in government'.

Afghan refugees arrive in the UK at a Midlands airport after being flown out of Afghanistan when it fell to the Taliban

Refugees make their way into the arrivals hall of an airport in the Midlands after being flown out of Afghanistan

She said there was 'finally' some 'movement in the right direction'.

But she added there remain 'serious concerns over the danger that eligible Afghans, including those who put their lives at risk for the UK, will be deported back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan' which she said would be a 'betrayal of the promises we made to them and would place them in substantial peril'.

She added: 'It remains the case that two thirds of the Afghans eligible for resettlement in the UK under the first stage of ACRS pathway three haven't been resettled, and this letter does not provide details on the Government's plans to evacuate them to the UK.

'The Foreign Affairs Committee will continue to scrutinise the UK's approach to the fallout from the Afghanistan evacuation, and advocate for those Afghans who made significant sacrifices on our behalf.'

Lord Cameron will appear before the Foreign Affairs committee next week for the first time since becoming Foreign Secretary.

Figures published in November, the latest available, showed that 1,110 Afghans arrived in the UK in the year to September under the legal routes created by the Home Office after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

Arrivals under the schemes were down from 5,346 in the year to September 2022.

Under the ACRS, 224 people were resettled in the UK in the year to September 2023, 96 of them aged under 18.

Some 886 arrived under Arap, of whom more than half (501) were under 18.
King Charles is preparing to stop paying for Prince Andrew's home security at Royal Lodge, it has been reported.

Pressure is mounting on the Duke of York as the unsealing of hundreds of pages of court documents connected to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues apace.

The latest tranche of papers, which have heaped fresh embarrassment on Andrew, claim the royal enjoyed daily massages and stayed in the 'blue room' at Epstein's Palm Beach lair.

Ghislaine Maxwell also claimed there was a Prince Andrew 'puppet' at Epstein's New York property after the royal was accused of using it to grope a young woman.

The duke, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, has also been accused taking part in an 'underage orgy'.

In a fresh blow to Andrew, The Telegraph has reported that he will have to fund the multi-million pound security costs at Royal Lodge himself if he wants to stay in the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park.

King Charles is preparing to stop paying for Prince Andrew's home security at Windsor Royal Lodge, it has been claimed. Pictured: The royal brothers pictured at their mother's Diamond Jubilee in 2012

Pressure is mounting on Andrew as legal papers related connected to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues apace. Pictured: Epstein and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell

The duke will have to fund the multi-million pound security costs at Royal Lodge himself if he wants to stay

The move will be seen as the monarch distancing himself publicly from his younger brother, who less than two weeks ago walked to church with the royal family on Christmas Day.

Buckingham Palace said it does not comment on security matters.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions, yesterday backed calls for Scotland Yard to launch an investigation into the claims made about Andrew.

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Moment Prince Andrew is filmed in bizarre exchange asking Sandringham crowds 'why they have their cameras out to video him' Advertisement

New revelations from the unredacted legal papers show how Epstein's former housekeeper claimed Andrew had daily massages when he allegedly spent 'weeks' at the paedophile financier's Florida home.

Juan Alessi, who worked at Epstein's Palm Beach residence, said both Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were friends with Epstein and the now convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

It comes after a source told the Mirror that Charles has told his brother he 'won't be abandoned'.

'Charles promised his late mother he would not abandon Andrew once she was gone and that remains the situation, unless of course he finds himself engaged in a criminal matter,' they said.

The duke greeted well-wishers outside church in Sandringham, Norfolk on December 25, with Sarah back in the royal fold and at his side. But he was caught demanding to know why fans who had stood in the cold to see the Royal Family 'have their cameras on'.

But as the New Year began, previous allegations Andrew sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre three times when she was 17 including during an orgy resurfaced in newly-published court documents.

He strenuously denies the claims, and in 2022 paid millions to Ms Giuffre to settle a civil case out of court, saying he never met her.

Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein are seen strolling in Central Park on December 5, 2010

Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts (now Giuffre) and Ghislaine Maxwell are pictured in 2001 at Maxwell's London townhouse

Prince Andrew (pictured with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson) has always denied all accusations of sexual activity with Epstein's accusers, and denied wrongdoing

Juan Alessi, who worked for Jeffrey Epstein as a housekeeper from 1991 until 2002, and testified during Maxwell's trial in 2021

The Metropolitan Police said no new investigation has been launched, but Mr Starmer said where 'credible' accusations are made they should be investigated.

Sir Keir said: 'I think wherever there's a complaint made it's inevitable that it should be looked at.

'I mean, we have to start with the victims here and look at what allegations have been made. I've seen the headlines on this, not the detail but frankly whoever it is, where there are allegations, credible allegations made, then of course they should be looked at.'

Republic - the anti-monarchist group - reported the duke to Scotland Yard and is calling for the accusations to be properly investigated in the UK.

During his video-taped interview under oath in 2009, Mr Alessi was questioned on the duke's relationship with Maxwell and Epstein.

Lawyer Katherine Ezell asked whether Andrew and Sarah ever had massages at the Florida home.

Mr Alessi replied: 'Prince Andrew did.

'I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I don't think she slept in there. I cannot remember.

'I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

'But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us.'

Ms Ezell then asked: 'Where would he sleep?'

Mr Alessi said: 'In the main room, the main guest bedroom. That was the blue room.'

The lawyer then said: 'And, so, when he would come and stay, during that time would he frequently have massages?

Mr Alessi replied: 'I would say, daily massages.'

Paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein's former home in Palm Beach, Florida, where it is claimed Prince Andrew would receive 'daily massages' on weeks-long visits

A room inside Jeffrey Epstein's home in Palm Beach, Florida, which Andrew is alleged to have visited several times

The master bedroom inside Jeffrey Epstein's home in Palm Beach  one of a number of photographs released by the FBI

Asked if it was sometimes more than one a day, Mr Alessi said: 'I can't remember if he had more than one, but I think it was just a massage for him. We set up the tables and...'

Ms Ezell interjected: 'Do you have any recollection of (Virginia Giuffre) coming to the house when Prince Andrew was there?'

Mr Alessi replied: 'It could have been, but I'm not sure.'

In a further interview under oath by an Epstein employee, who is labelled only as 'the witness' in the documents, they claimed Maxwell took the paedophile financier to England 'to introduce him to royalty'.

The staff member said there were 'many pictures' of the duke with Epstein in the property they worked at.

They also said they never saw the duke visit the property, but 'he called'.

In a resurfaced video-taped interview with Maxwell, the disgraced socialite said she did not know how Epstein met the duke and she insisted she did not introduce them.

Excerpts of Juan Alessi's deposition, which was given under oath in 2009 and has been released in the latest tranche of documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein

Maxwell admitted, however, that there was a Duke of York puppet in Epstein's New York apartment.

Andrew was accused by Johanna Sjoberg of groping her breast while posing with what is reported to have been a Spitting Image puppet of himself in Epstein's Manhattan home in 2001.

Maxwell said she did not recollect putting the hand of the caricature on Ms Sjoberg's breast.

'There was a puppet - not a puppet - there was a - I don't know how would you describe it really... a caricature of Prince Andrew that was in Jeffrey's home,' she said.

A US judge ordered hundreds of documents to be unsealed as part of Ms Giuffre's previously settled civil claim against Maxwell, which was filed in 2015.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

It was previously reported the duke was offered the much smaller Frogmore Cottage, which used to be home to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in a bid to relocate him from Royal Lodge.

But the duke was said to have signed a 75-year lease on the mansion in 2003.

The house was demolished in April 2021 after Epstein's death (pictured: the demolition in progress)

An exterior shot of Epstein's home at Palm Beach, which Andrew is alleged to have visited a number of times, receiving 'daily' massages

Andrew stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

He was cast out of the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. The duke strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the Royal family is said to be split over whether Andrew should be cast out for good.

Christmas Day saw Andrew join the family for the annual festive church service on the Sandringham Estate  a show of unity that baffled many, given that the release of new Epstein papers was imminent.

The documents last night also revealed how Maxwell, the disgraced socialite claimed she 'never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein'.

The deposition, from 2016, showed Maxwell describe Ms Giuffre's alleged meetings with the duke as a 'tissue of lies'.

In an exchange with Ms Giuffre's lawyer Sigrid McCawley, Maxwell was asked: 'Did you introduce him to Jeffrey?'

Maxwell responded: 'That would be another of Virginia's lies and the lies you perpetrate.

'I never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein at any time ever, so just add that the (sic) to long list of lies.'

Ms McCawley continued: 'Did Jeffrey know Prince Andrew?'

Maxwell replied: 'Clearly he knew him.'

Pressed on whether she knew how Andrew met Epstein, Maxwell said: 'I do not know (sic) Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.

'What I do know is that I did not introduce them.

'That is one of the many lies. Are we tallying all the lies?'

Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020 despite attempts by her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the Southern District of New York in June 2022.
The death toll from a horror multi-vehicle crash west of the NSW Blue Mountains has risen to three after a young girl died in hospital.

The girl was one of 15 people injured in a five-vehicle crash on the Great Western Highway at Wallerawang, 15km north of Lithgow, on December 30 that claimed the lives of two men.

An eastbound Isuzu D-max towing a motorcycle trailer collided with a westbound Toyota Hilux before the Toyota struck a Hyundai Tuscan, causing it to leave the roadway and trapping its occupants.

The Isuzu struck a Kia Carnival head on and a caravan-towing Nissan Patrol, travelling behind the Isuzu, struck the trailer.

The Isuzu driver, a 42-year-old man, and the Kia driver, a 49-year-old man, were trapped and died at the scene.

Fire and Rescue NSW Duty Commander Phil Vaiciurgis described the crash as 'a confronting scene of carnage' (pictured, paramedics with one of the injured)

The horror crash saw at least 15 people injured and killed two drivers, Mr McMahon and the 49-year-old male Kia driver (pictured, emergency services at the scene)

More than a dozen others were injured, including a 41-year-old woman and five children aged five to 15 in the Kia.

One of its passengers, an 11-year-old girl, had died at the Children's Hospital in Westmead, police confirmed on Saturday.

More than 80 rescue personnel including police, paramedics, Fire and Rescue NSW, Rural Fire Service, VRA Rescue and the State Emergency Service attended the crash scene.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
A child has died after they were run over by a ute at a busy lakeside holiday park in central NSW.

Emergency services were called to Fashions Mount Rd at Lake Burrendong, southeast of Dubbo, shortly after 11am on Saturday.

NSW Ambulance paramedics assessed the infant at the scene before they were airlifted to The Children's Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition.

A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed the child, who is understood to be one year old, had since died while in hospital.

A crime scene has reportedly since been established with police investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Emergency services were called to Fashions Mount Rd at Lake Burrendong, southeast of Dubbo, (pictured) shortly after 11am on Saturday

A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed the child, who is understood to be one year old, had since died while in hospital

More to come.
Kate Garraway was facing financial hardship while she was battling to care for her dying husband, MailOnline can reveal.

The presenter announced the death of her husband of 18 years Derek Draper on Instagram on Friday morning and said: 'Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life.'

Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas following a long battle with Covid. Kate cared for her husband Derek's every need while juggling television work and her radio show.

However, his illness was a factor in Kate's financial woes. The Good Morning Britain star liquidated one company she and husband Derek Draper owned in March last year.

Psychotherapy company Astra Aspera Ltd was shut down with 184,096.96 of debt. The closure landed her with a 716,000 tax bill. Another company, Praespero 100 Ltd saw its assets fall by 87,043 in 2022.

Friends have said heartbroken Kate is 'bearing up' after her husband Derek's death - as ITV told the star she could have 'as much time off as she needs'.

A friend of Kate's told the Mail: 'She is doing okay, she is bearing up and is being strong for her children.'

Kate Garraway was facing financial hardship while she was battling to care for her dying husband, MailOnline can reveal. Pictured: Kate and Derek on April 1, 2023

Kate Garraway with Her husband Derek Draper at the National Television Awards at the Royal Albert Hall on October 31, 2007

Friends have said heartbroken Kate is 'bearing up' after her husband Derek's death - as ITV told the star she could have 'as much time off as she needs'

Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway with husband Derek in their London home

Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas following a long battle with Covid

Psychotherapy company Astra Aspera Ltd was shut down with 184,096.96 of debt. the closure landed her with a 716,000 tax bill

Another company, Praespero 100 Ltd saw its assets fall by 87,043 in 2022

The cost of treating Derek also played into her troubles. Kate twice funded trips to Mexico for extreme courses of therapy to help her husband recover.

Kate told The Sun in March last year: 'Of course it's been tough financially.

'As anyone with a loved one who is seriously ill knows, the costs go through the roof in so many ways.

'You have to make changes to your home and it affects your ability to work.

'I had to take long periods off when Derek was first sick, and of course it affects the overall income for the family as he can no longer work.'

Kate who had two children with Derek, Darcey, 17, and their youngest, Billy, 11, said in her emotional Instagram post: 'I'm sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away.

'Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed.

Derek Draper in 2021 with his wife Kate and children Darcey and Billy after returning home from hospital, where he was Britain's longest suffering Covid patient. He has died age 56

Derek was diagnosed with coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and left in a life-threatening condition

Kate revealed she was holding her husband's hand when he died

'I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible'.

She added: 'As some of you may know he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.

'Sending so much love and thanks to all of you who have so generously given our family so much support. Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life.'

Derek was a former researcher for Blairite Peter Mandelson who became a New Labour spin doctor and later retrained as a psychotherapist after a series of political and lobbying scandals.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is set to write privately to Kate on behalf of the Labour Party.

The presenter announced the death of her husband of 18 years on Instagram on Friday morning

Kate Garraway faced financial hardship as a result of the high costs involved in caring for her husband Derek Draper, prior to his death at the age of 56

The presenter announced the death of her husband of 18 years on Instagram this morning and said: 'Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life'

'The strength of character and courage she's shown, quite simply, is indescribable.

'She would come into work, every single day, after three hours of broken sleep, plaster on a smile, and sit in make-up having her heartbroken, tear-stained face covered with studio make-up. It was truly remarkable.'

Tragically, Derek was among the first in the UK to fall seriously ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to an intensive care unit as the country entered lockdown in March 2020.

He was one of the country's longest-suffering Covid patients after being in hospital but never fully recovered after the virus left long-lasting damage to his organs and meant he needed round-the-clock care.

A source close to Kate, who works with her at ITV, told The Sun: 'Kate has been through hell and back - and, by virtue of her career, it's all been played out in the public domain.'

MailOnline understands that Derek passed away on Wednesday night in a North London hospital. Kate said that he died surrounded by family.

Derek had been plagued with health woes after contracting Covid in 2020 and suffered a cardiac arrest in early December, with Kate spending Christmas at hospital.

The heartbreaking turn of events came after it was reported Derek was 'in great spirits' and looking forward to Christmas with his family.

A source told The Sun at the time: 'It was sudden and a shock as he had been doing so well and was in great spirits, looking forward to Christmas at home with the family.

'This setback has been a huge blow for his family and all the people caring for him.

'Kate has been utterly incredible  by his side while being an amazing mum to Darcey and Billy, and trying to manage their expectations of a family Christmas.'

Derek had been plagued with health issues after becoming seriously ill with Covid in March 2020, when he was placed into a medically-induced coma and hospitalised for 13 months

In an Instagram post on Friday, Kate confirmed that Derek had died after suffering a heart attack before Christmas and thanked the medical teams who fought 'so hard to save him'

Derek was in and out of hospital after he fell seriously ill with coronavirus at the very start of the pandemic in March 2020, and was left with lasting damage to his organs.

Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and he became the longest-suffering coronavirus patient in the UK after spending 13 months in hospital, apart from Kate and their two children.

However, he was readmitted several times with numerous health issues, including kidney failure, brain inflammation and liver damage.

Following the devastating news of his death, Kate has been flooded with a huge outpouring of support as her celebrity friends have paid tribute to Derek.

Leading the messages of sympathy was her Good Morning Britain co-star Susanna Reid, who simply wrote: 'Our whole hearts are with you all while Alan Carr said: 'Oh Kate that's so awful. Sending you so much love and the deepest condolences.'

Sky News' Ian King paid a moving tribute to Derek during a live broadcast after learning about the death of his 'great friend'.

A crestfallen Ian, who studied at University of Manchester with 56-year-old Derek, paid tribute to his friend in an emotional statement on air.

He said: 'Derek was a sufferer with Covid right from the outset [and] very, very severely affected by that.

'[It's] awfully sad news  and very personal for me too because I was at university with Derek more than 30 years ago and I considered him a great friend. My condolences to the family.'

On GB News, Pip Tomson, who is a former Good Morning Britain colleague of Kate's, also choked back tears at the news.

'I just want to bring you some incredibly sad, breaking news that we've heard in the last few minutes,' she said.

'The husband of ITV presenter Kate Garraway  I'm sorry I worked with Kate for a long time so this is really difficult, such a strong woman  her husband Derek Draper who has been in a very serious condition after suffering Covid, he has passed away.'

Good Morning Britain presenter Ben Shephard also shared a message of support for his co-host and longtime friend Kate

Benshared a picture of Derek kissing Kate and wrote: 'On what has been the saddest of days @kategarraway I've been reminding myself of the wonderful times and memories we have all shared together'

Good Morning Britain presenter Ben Shephard also shared a message of support for his co-host and longtime friend Kate.

Ben, 49, shared a picture of Derek kissing Kate on the cheek and wrote on Instagram: 'On what has been the saddest of days @kategarraway I've been reminding myself of the wonderful times and memories we have all shared together.

'This is how I'll always think of Derek  bringing you so much joy, your smile says it all, the size of which is matched only by his love for you, Darcey and Bill. Sending all our love Kate to you and all the family.

'Also thank you to everyone who has reached out to me, I promise I will pass on your messages, I know they will bring Kate so much comfort as they have for the last few years.'
Rishi Sunak forced Boris Johnson to scale back the Rwanda migrant plan when he was chancellor and he was concerned about the cost, documents have revealed.

No 10 papers from March 2022 - a month before the Rwanda plan was announced by Boris Johnson - showed Mr Sunak wasn't convinced the plan would work.

The leaked documents suggested Mr Sunak felt 'hotels are cheaper' than reception centres to house migrants and that he was also concerned about the cost of sending asylum seekers to Africa and wanted to limit the numbers.

Mr Sunak, who became Prime Minister in October 2022, has made the Rwanda plan one of his top priorities despite a string of delays due to legal challenges.

The BBC said the documents revealed the 'chancellor wants to pursue smaller volumes initially' with 500 flown to Rwanda in the first year of the scheme, instead of the proposed 1,500.

AUGUST: A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat traveling from the coast of France and heading in the direction of Dover, Kent

DECEMBER: A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent

NOVEMBER: Migrants on a dinghy crossing the Channel escorted by the ship Apollo Moon

No 10 papers from March 2022 - a month before the Rwanda plan was announced by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson - showed Mr Sunak wasn't convinced the plan would work

They say he then proposed '3,000 instead of 5,000 in years two and three'.

He is described as believing the 'deterrent won't work' but Mr Johnson warned him that limiting the number of people would mean it is more likely migrants would take their chances in crossing the channel.

The documents, which say No 10 suggested Mr Sunak needed to 'consider his popularity with the base' over the Rwanda plan, said the then Chancellor was reluctant to fund 'Greek-style reception centres' at a cost of 3.5 million a day to house migrants in favour of hotels.

Mr Sunak has pledged to continue with the plan for migrant flights to Rwanda, despite a ruling by the UK Supreme Court that it was unlawful.

The BBC said a source close to the Prime Minister said he was 'always fully behind the principle of the scheme' but need to ensure money was 'appropriately spent' in his role as Chancellor.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC: 'The Prime Minister knew the plan was incredibly costly and wouldn't work, and resisted it while he was Chancellor.

OCTOBER: A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dungeness, Kent

NOVEMBER: A group of migrants being picked up by Border Force in rough conditions

OCTOBER: People believed to be migrants disembarking a ship in Dover

'But he is so weak he has now agreed to write cheques to Rwanda for 400 million without sending a single person there in a desperate attempt to shore up his leadership.'

Mr Sunak reiterated his support for the Rwanda plan on Tuesday, saying: 'I am focused on delivering on my commitment to stop the boats and get flights off the ground to Rwanda.'

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak claims victory over migrant claims backlog despite a record 51,000 asylum seekers granted the right to stay in Britain last year Advertisement

Mr Johnson told The Times: 'I am glad the prime minister is committed to delivering the Rwanda policy, which is the best way to stop this vile trade in people by the smuggling gangs.'

Senior diplomats have warned the Foreign Office that the longer that flights are delayed, the more officials in Kigali will question whether the scheme is sustainable.

It comes after Rishi Sunak announced earlier this month that his promise to process a mountain of more than 92,000 claims had been exceeded - with 112,000 cases 'cleared' last year.

It included 77,000 final decisions, of which 67 per cent saw the applicants granted asylum.

In all, 51,469 people were given permission to stay in Britain, the highest number since records began in 1984 and smashing the previous high of 33,460 set in 2002. It comes after the Prime Minister pledged in December 2022 to tackle the backlog of more than 92,000 cases which had been lodged before the end of June that year.

It comes after the Mail reported how end-of-year statistics showed small boat crossings were down by 36 per cent last year to 29,437.
Boy, 9, had been casually carrying it around

A young boy has narrowly escaped death after one of the world's most poisonous creatures was hiding inside an innocent-looking seashell he picked up at the beach.

Benaiah Tolley, 9, was snorkelling with his father and collecting shells at Point Peron in Western Australia last week when a blue-ringed octopus crawled out of one.

The boy had been holding the shell for around 20 minutes while the pair swam around before he got out of the water and showed it to his mum and sister.

After settling back down onto their towels, the tiny but deadly octopus emerged from one of the shells, shocking his father Jason Trolley.

One bite from a blue-ringed octopus is enough to paralyse and kill an adult within minutes and its venom is known to be 1,000 times more powerful than cyanide.

Benaiah Tolley, 9, was snorkelling with his father collecting shells at Point Peron in Western Australia last week when a blue-ringed octopus crawled out of one

Mr Trolley said that they had been planning on putting the shells back in the water until his daughter started 'freaking out' when the octopus crawled out.

'My daughter, who's 11, was sunbathing and looked down and saw the octopus crawling out of the shell toward her. [She] came screaming down the beach, I thought she'd seen a shark or something,' he told Yahoo.

Once Benaiah's parents realised what he had brought back with him, Mr Trolley scooped it up with some debris from the beach and returned it to the ocean.

'When I put it back into the water the blue colour on him lit up [and] we didn't go back in the water after that,' he wrote online after getting home.

Mr Trolley posted a warning to Facebook that parents should always keep an eye on what their children are playing with on the beach.

'We are not going to collect any more shells,' he wrote.

Others in the comments of the post were happy that a near-fatal outing turned into nothing more than a harmless lesson.

'All the more reason to take nothing but photos! Glad everyone is ok,' one person wrote.

'I never collect for this reason and also they're homes for many little critters,' another added.

'There was a post exactly like this a few weeks ago,' a third said.

Sightings of blue-ringed octopuses have been rising in Australia over the summer. Last month another boy in Perth was rushed to hospital after being bitten by one.

His father Jason Trolley posted a warning to Facebook that parents should always keep an eye on what their children are playing with on the beach

The boy had picked up a shell from the beach for his niece without noticing that one of the creatures was also hiding inside until it bit him.

Another incident involved a toddler who had one 'clinging' to his foot in a Fairlight rock pool in November on Sydney's north shore, and another at a rock pool in Bronte, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Surf Life Saving NSW has urged people to 'be careful when exploring rock pools' because of how small and good at camouflage blue-ringed octopuses are.
A terrified passenger on board a near-catastrophic Alaska Airlines flight revealed the moment she text her family 'I don't want to die' after a window on the jet blew out.

Emma Vu took to TikTok after surviving the horror Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday evening, which was bound from Portland to California before a cabin window blasted into the sky at 16,000 feet.

'In the moment I was so scared,' Vu said, as she showed her panic-stricken texts to her family reading: 'The masks r down; I am so scared right now; Please pray for me; Please I don't want to die.'

In an interview with 7News Australia, she added: 'I was more concerned with the plane dropping... I looked outside and it was going pretty smoothly, I think everyone freaking out inside made me freak out.'

One person was reportedly helped by paramedics but did not suffer serious injuries, while some passengers lost their phones and belongings as the depressurization of the cabin sucked items into the night.

Investigations have been launched by the National Transportation Safety Board, Alaska Airlines and Boeing, with the Boeing 737-9 MAX jet only going into service in November 2023.

The incident has sent shockwaves through the aviation industry and sparked urgent safety concerns, with Alaska Airlines grounding dozens of its Boeing 737-9 MAX jets for urgent safety checks following the emergency landing.

Reports indicate several other airlines and regulators are urgently looking into grounding their Boeing 737-9 MAX fleets, with critics pointing to several deadly crashes and systems failures involving the jets in recent years.

Passenger Emma Vu said she 'felt the entire plane drop' around 20 minutes into the horror Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday evening, which was bound from Portland to California before a cabin window blasted into the sky at 16,000 feet

Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5pm local time on Friday when a window blew out at 16,000 feet, ripping a child's shirt off

Vu revealed her final texts to her family pleading 'I don't want to die', and showed a selfie she took in the moment which she feared could be her last

The panic-stricken passenger said she has been left disappointed by the airlines' response, which she said was just snacks, drinks and a re-scheduled flight the next day

Shocking footage from inside the plane saw fliers sat in eerie silence shortly after the window exploded, as they looked out of a gaping hole of the fuselage with the twinkling lights of Portland below.

Vu said she was asleep when the devastating safety failure erupted out of the blue, when she 'felt the entire plane drop.'

'The masks dropped, and people are screaming,' she continued, next to a tearful selfie she took in the moment that she feared could be her last.

'I am so grateful for the ladies sat next to me... they were so sweet at calming me down, and the flight attendants were giving oxygen tanks to those who needed it more,' she said.

'But I was freaking out because my bag wouldn't inflate - and that's literally what they tell you in the safety thing, like don't worry you're still getting air flow... when you're in fight or flight you're not thinking about that.'

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'It was just so scary, no one knew what was happening, the pilot came on to tell everyone to put your mask on before you help others - literally word for word what they tell you in the safety training.'

'A toddler's shirt flew off, and their phone flew out the window,' she added. 'It was just so surreal.'

In audio from inside the cockpit, the pilot could be heard radioing for emergency help, saying: 'Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency! Aircraft is now leveling 12,000 in a left turn heading three four zero.

'We need a divert. We've declared an emergency. We are depressurized. We have 177 passengers on board and a seal is...18,900' the pilot can be heard explaining.

Another passenger, 20-year-old Elizabeth, told Oregon Live that the moment the window blew out 'sounded like your ears were popping like normally on a plane, but 10 times louder. I couldn't believe it was real.'

'We were all calm,' she said of her fellow passenger, 'but I did feel like I was about to cry, because who knows this could be my last few moments.'

Another passenger, Kyle Rinker, 29, said the plane became 'deathly silent. Nobody made a noise.'

Reports suggest that 26A, the seat next to the blown-out window, was not occupied.

The passenger included a picture another flier took of the blown out window, which was reportedly designed as an emergency exit but was used as a regular cabin window

A photo shows the blown out window. It is offered as a door on the aircraft. Alaska chose not to take this option - although the frame of the prospective door was entirely ripped out by the fuselage failure

The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online

In videos posted to social media passengers can be seen sitting calmly wearing oxygen masks as the plane returns to the runway

Vu shared this smiling selfie that she took just moments before her brush with death

After being woken up by the window being blown out, Vu revealed the panic-stricken text messages she sent her family, telling them: 'I don't want to die'

After the reality of the situation set in and the plane landed safely, Vu said she was left disappointed by the response of Alaska Airlines in helping the terrified passengers.

She said the airline only offered her drinks and snacks and a re-imbursed flight for the next day with more leg room, which she felt was 'really not enough' to make up for the ordeal.

Upon landing, she said the fliers 'stood in this really long Alaska line, and it did not move for like one to two hours.

'I even tried to call Alaska customer service to see if I could get ahead of the line, and it did not work out.'

Despite her brush with death, Vu said she decided to still get the free flight the next day to California, because 'I feel it really cannot happen twice.'

Upset with the response of the airline, she concluded: 'Alaska, would love some money, maybe some money for therapy, maybe another flight.'

Investigations have been launched to determine how the catastrophic failure was able to happen, with reports suggesting the jet had only recently been constructed and put into service.

The window that blew out was designed as an emergency exit, although the door was deactivated by Boeing before delivery.

It therefore appears from the inside of the cabin like a regular window seat, although from the outside the frame of the deactivated door remains visible. The area of fuselage that was ripped out aligns perfectly with that door frame, suggesting a possible structural failure.

The emergency exit doors are designed to open inwardly and cannot be pushed outwards, according to Airline Reporter.

The National Safety Transport Board said it was investigating the event and will post any updates when they are available.

Reports suggest that fortunately 26A, the seat next to what appears to have been an emergency exit with a window, was not occupied

The Alaska plane returned to Portland Airport less than an hour after takeoff

Alaska Airlines rebooked passengers on an 11 pm flight out of PDX, however one passenger said she was left disappointed by the airlines' response

Alaska Airlines says it is grounding 65 of its Boeing 737-9 MAX jets in response to the incident for urgent safety checks.

The airline's CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement the planes will only go back into its fleet after clearing precautionary maintenance procedures, which he expected to be 'in the next few days.'

The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.

In a statement late Friday evening, Alaska Airlines said: 'Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, experienced an incident this evening soon after departure.

'The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members.

'The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation.'

'We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.'

Boeing unveiled their 737 Max in 2015, and since its Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) approval in 2017 has become one of the most widely used aircraft in the world.

A year later it had its first crash: in October 2018 a 737 Max operated by Indonesian airline Lion Air crashed shortly after take off, killing all 189 on board.

Five months later, in March 2019, a second 737 Max - this one operated by Ethiopian Airlines - crashed again shortly after take off, killing all 157 on board.

Three days later the planes were grounded by the FAA.

It later emerged that Boeing staff, in internal messages, were cavalier about FAA regulations and critical of the Max's design.

One said it the aircraft was 'designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys.'

Wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-MAX plane is seen on March 11, 2019

A Lion Air Boeing 737-MAX crashed in Badung Bali in 2013 after it overshot the runway at Bali Ngurah Rai Airport

The 737 design dates back to the 1960s and Boeing was criticized for adding large engines to an old airframe instead of using a 'clean sheet design'.

Faults were discovered in the aircraft's MCAS, or Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System: the MCAS was found in both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air crashes to have erroneously pointed the nose down towards the ground, and the pilots were unable to override it.

In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion in fines in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to settle charges the company hid critical information about the Max from regulators and the public.

Boeing spent billions overhauling the systems and the planes returned to global skies in the fall of 2020, after being grounded for 20 months  the longest such action in aviation history.
A 'conniving' conman who stole 377,000 from friends with fake promises about big returns has been jailed for eight years.

Many victims trusted Darryl Evans with life savings, pensions and equity after he held himself out as a trustworthy financial adviser.

Evans, 62, even continued to offend after being arrested and questioned by police by making himself the executor of a will and paying the deceased's estate into his own bank account.

Sending the defendant to prison for eight years, a judge told Evans he was the most 'fundamentally dishonest' person he had encountered in his four decades as a barrister and judge.

The defendant showed no emotion during the hearing but busied himself making notes on the proceedings.

Swansea Crown Court heard that over the course of a number of years Evans took large sums of money off people he knew in the Pembrokeshire area and promised them big returns on their investments.

Many victims trusted Darryl Evans (pictured) with life savings, pensions and equity after he held himself out as a trustworthy financial adviser

He told more than two-dozen victims he was investing their money in algorithms or in high-performing companies - but such claims were a lie, and unemployed Evans was just using the cash to fund his lifestyle.

The court heard some of the victims gave the defendant tens of thousands of pounds in the belief he was investing their money wisely, with some people handing over their savings, parts of their pension pots, or were releasing equity from properties to invest.

The court heard two of his victims - brothers in their 70s - took a keen interest in the investments Evans said he had made on their behalf and would spend hours each day tracking their performance. When their supposed investments took off the pair believed they had become millionaires - a belief Evans cruelly allowed them to hold. But it was all a lie.

The court heard some of the victims recommended Evans to family and friends as he seemed to be getting good results. They have not only been left out of pocket but also feeling guilty that their loved ones were conned too.

In total Evans took just more than 377,000 from his victims. The whereabouts of the missing money remains a mystery.

When the scam came crashing down Evans claimed there were no records of the investments he had been making for his clients because the police had destroyed or concealed the documents. He also claimed many of the investors had given him money knowing he was putting it into a caravan park he was developing - even though he did not own the park and the council had refused planning permission for such a scheme.

Swansea Crown Court (pictured) heard that over the course of a number of years Evans took large sums of money off people he knew in the Pembrokeshire area and promised them big returns on their investments

Evans, of Green Court Crescent, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, had previously been found guilty at trial of 27 counts of fraud and theft when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Jim Davis, for Evans, said there was little he could say by way of mitigation as the defendant had maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings. The barrister said they were his instructions that there are now 'no funds'.

Judge Paul Thomas KC that in the 40 years he had been practising as a barrister and sitting as a judge in the criminal courts he had not come across anyone as 'fundamentally dishonest' as the defendant.

He said Evans had 'systematically conned people' out of money he knew they could ill-afford to lose and knowing that he 'could not or did not intend to repay them'.

The judge said during the trial Evans had stood in the witness box and 'lied with a fluency that at times was almost breath-taking' as he sought to avoid responsibility for what he had done and to cast aspersions on others, and he described the defendant as a 'ruthless and conniving'.

The judge said he would sentence Evans on the basis that he was refusing to say where the 377,000 had gone or what had been done with it. Evans was sentenced to eight years in prison, and will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

A proceeds of crime investigation will now be launched to try to identify where the money has gone. The judge commended the detective work that brought Evans to the dock, especially the work of lead investigator Dawn Jones, and noted that the defendant had 'hindered at all possible stages and all possible ways' the investigation.

Speaking after the sentencing Paul Callard, manager of Dyfed-Powys Police's economic crime team, said: 'What Evans did was a gross breach of his friends' trust.

He lied about his profession to gain their respect and confidence, before taking their money on the agreement it would be invested for their benefit. While they thought they would profit from this investment, Evans was keeping the money for himself - although despite a number of financial investigations there is no evidence to show what he was spending it on.'
Britain grants asylum to a greater percentage of migrants than most European countries, official figures have revealed.

Asylum application approvals have doubled since Brexit, soaring to 75.1 per cent in the year ending September 2023, up from 31.1 per cent in 2018, analysis of official data by The Telegraph shows.

Britain has now climbed from 26th to seventh in a league table of the highest initial approval rates out of 33 European nations. Approval rates are now more than double that of countries including France (30.6 per cent) and Sweden (32.2 per cent).

Estonia (97.7 per cent), Switzerland (87.1 per cent), Ireland (83 per cent), Portugal (81.9 per cent) the Netherlands (81.7 per cent) and Lithuania (80.2 per cent) are the only countries to rank above Britain.

Britain is also ranked significantly higher than EU countries such as Italy (46 per cent) and Greece (52.9 per cent), which have both battled with a rise in illegal crossings in the Mediterranean.

Asylum approval rates in Britain have soared to 75.1 per cent in the year ending September 2023. It means that Britain has now climbed from 26th to seventh in a league table. The graph shows a selection of the highest and lowest approval rates for countries in Europe

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is pictured onboard Border Agency cutter HMC Seeker during a visit to Dover last May amid his battle to 'stop the boats' crossing the Chanel

It's believed that one of the main contributing factors of Britain's rise in approval rates is down to not negotiating a new 'Dublin' returns agreement with the EU.

This has led to the UK rejecting fewer asylum seekers on the basis they have passed through a safe third country in Europe.

Ongoing conflicts around the world such as in the Middle East, central Asia and Africa has also caused a spike in asylum applications from those in countries such as Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan who are trying to escape.

Whitehall critics, however, argue that asylum decisions were being made based on 'over-cautious' case law which has an 'incredibly low' thresholds for approvals.

A source told the Telegraph: 'If there is the slightest chance that you were being persecuted in the country of origin, asylum caseworkers will grant them

'The asylum tribunals have case law which sets the threshold incredibly low and in a risk averse way that errs on the side of caution.

'The caseworkers in many respects are bound by guidance and this case law. What is the point of them flooding the tribunal with rejections that the tribunals are then going to overturn en masse.'

In stark contrast to Britain, Romania had the lowest approval rate at 14.4 per cent, with Cyprus (17.8 per cent), Malta (28.3 per cent), France (30.6 per cent), Iceland (30.9 per cent) and Sweden (31.4 per cent) following.

Whitehall critics argue that asylum decisions were being made based on 'over-cautious' case law which has an 'incredibly low' thresholds for approvals. Pictured: Migrants bound for Dover in a dinghy

Migrants are picked up by Border Force following a small boat incident in September last year

The migration observatory at Oxford University has put the decline in asylum refusals down to the fact many had travelled through safe countries before arriving in the UK.

Before Britain left the EU, the 'Dublin' agreement meant asylum seekers could be returned to to 'safe countries'.

The rate has also rocketed in the past year as the Government introduced schemes to clear a backlog of cases. Rishi Sunak announced in December last year that more than 92,000 cases in the backlog would be 'abolished' by the end of 2023.

One of the results of this policy has been the surge in cases approved, including some nationalities which were made eligible for fast-tracking.

The number soared as civil servants rushed to meet the Prime Minister's target, with 22,614 awarded from July to September last year. Previously, the number was between 4,000 and 6,000 per quarter.

Tory MP Tom Hunt: 'It concerns me that we seem to be granting refugee status much more liberally than many other countries.'

Mr Sunak is also desperate to get asylum seekers off to Rwanda. The original 140million scheme was signed almost 18 months ago and not a single deportee has yet left UK soil by air.

It was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court in November, which said that Rwanda was not a safe country as those flown there could be sent back to their country of origin - a process known as 'refoulement'.

A new treaty with Rwanda and a new package of emergency legislation  both designed to cancel out the Supreme Court's objections  are currently before Parliament.
A former model who worked as a pilot for sex predator Jeffrey Epstein pleaded the fifth at least 42 times during a deposition, including when asked questions about former president Bill Clinton and other of Epstein's associates.

Nadia Marcinkova invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to every question that appears in the partial transcript of the April 13, 2010 deposition, which was unsealed on Friday.

Those questions included 'Do you know Bill Clinton?' and 'Have you witnessed improper sexual activity between Jeffrey Epstein and minors, while he was in the presence of Bill Clinton?'

Marcinkova, a long-term assistant of Epstein and regular pilot of his so-called 'Lolita Express' private jet, has been accused in court filings of taking part in the convicted sex offender's abuse of underage girls.

Her lawyers insist she was a victim, and not an abuser or a recruiter in the financier's sex trafficking network, and she has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Nadia Marcinkova invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to every question that appears in a partial transcript of her April 13, 2010 deposition

Former president Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein's long-time friend Ghislaine Maxwell are seen on board Epstein's private jet, dubbed the 'Lolita Express', in 2002

The partial transcript of Marcinkova's deposition was unsealed as part of a flood of documents released in lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre against Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

In addition to Clinton, prominent people named in the documents include actor Kevin Spacey, magician David Copperfield and business executive Leslie Wexner. None was accused in the documents of wrongdoing.

Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking and other offenses in 2021, while Epstein died behind bars in 2019 while awaiting trial, in what officials ruled a suicide.

The new transcript shows Marcinkova putting up a wall of silence, responding with the single-word answer 'fifth' to every question posed by attorneys for Giuffre.

The Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution gives people the right not to incriminate themselves.

Those questions included: 'Generally, isn't it true that Jeffrey Epstein would fly from place to place for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with minors at his destination?'

Other questions probed the nature of Epstein's purported relationships with attorney Alan Dershowitz, Clinton's former national security advisor Sandy Berger, and French modeling scout Jean Luc Brunel.

The document is only an excerpt of eight pages from a much longer transcript, which runs at least 61 pages and likely much longer, and Marcinkova's responses to other questions are unknown.

Marcinkova is one of several women accused of acting as 'recruiters' for Epstein in lawsuits filed by the sex predator's victims.

Marcinkova pleaded the fifth at least 42 times, refusing to answer any question that appears in the newly unsealed partial transcript

Marcinkova was a long-term assistant of Epstein and regular pilot of his so-called 'Lolita Express' private jet

Epstein and Maxwell are seen speaking with then-President Bill Clinton at an event that took place in 1993 for donors to the White House Historical Association

She visited him 67 times in prison while he was serving 13 months in jail in 2008 for having sex with children.

Marcinkova says she is a victim. According to police documents from the 2005 Palm Beach inquiry into Epstein, he once bragged she was his 'sex slave' he had bought from her family in the former Yugoslavia when she was 15.

Other documents unsealed on Friday show that Epstein invoked his own constitutional right against incriminating himself about 600 times in testimony during the Giuffre suit, which settled in 2017.

In the September 2016 filing, Giuffre's lawyers said Epstein routinely answered 'Fifth' in a deposition that month to about 500 substantive questions they posed, and 100 substantive questions that Maxwell's lawyers posed.

Giuffre's lawyers said Epstein's refusal to answer extended to questions that posed no real risk of incriminating him, including whether he knew Maxwell, had in 2008 pleaded guilty in open court to a prostitution charge and was healthy enough to testify.

The questions to Epstein also included at least three about Epstein's relationship with Bill Clinton.

Lawyers for Epstein said in a subsequent filing, also released on Friday, that their client would have invoked the Fifth Amendment if called upon to testify at trial.

They cited among other reasons the 'burdens' he would face, and the expected 'media circus generated by Mr. Epstein's personal appearance.'
Majors, 34, broke down as he spoke out for the first time following his trial

Jonathan Majors has broken his silence for the first time since being convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, saying the aftermath of his high-profile trial 'has been hard.'

The actor, 34, wiped away a tear as he discussed the career-devastating trial, in a teaser clip for an interview with ABC's Good Morning America, airing on Monday.

'Why did you decide you wanted to talk now?' anchor Linsey Davis asked the disgraced rising star in the clip. 'Do you think you'll ever work in Hollywood again?'

Majors' future in Hollywood has been left in limbo following his conviction last month in New York for assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, 30. The guilty verdict led him to be dropped by Marvel while another much-anticipated film has been left uncertain.

He was also acquitted of two further counts of misdemeanor assault in the third degree with intent to cause physical injury and misdemeanor aggravated harassment in the second degree, at the same trial.

Jonathan Majors broke his silence in an interview with Good Morning America, and wiped away a tear as he admitted the aftermath of his guilty verdict 'has been hard'

The actor, 34, wiped away a tear as he was questioned over the high-profile trial, where he was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and acquitted on two further counts

Majors was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari (pictured together in September 2022) last month, leaving his promising Hollywood career in doubt

Here's a first look at @ABCNewsLive Prime anchor @LinseyDavis' exclusive interview with #JonathanMajors, his first interview since being convicted of assault, airing Monday, January 8 on @ABCNetwork's @GMA . pic.twitter.com/rsutt8EKu7  On The Red Carpet (@OnTheRedCarpet) January 5, 2024

The actor's bombshell interview with Davis is set to air on Monday, January 8 on Good Morning America, with additional segments expected to run on GMA3. An extended version of the interview will stream on Davis' ABC News Live program Prime that same day.

Notably, ABC News is owned by Disney, the same production house that owns Marvel Studios that unceremoniously dropped Majors from his recurring role in the Marvel Universe - Kang the Conqueror.

Viewers are only offered a short glimpse of Majors' reaction in the teaser clip, with the 34-year-old appearing anguished as he speaks out for the first time.

His conviction stemmed from a March 2023 incident with Jabarri in downtown Manhattan, when the two erupted in a furious row after she saw a flirty text message from another woman on his phone.

Jabarri testified that she was left in 'excruciating' pain after the movie star struck her on the head and broke her finger in the back of an SUV during the fight.

Surveillance footage also showed the two continuing the scuffle on the streets of Manhattan, where Jabarri was seen chasing Majors before more pushing and shoving.

In surveillance footage taken from the night of the assault in March 2023, Majors is seen repeatedly shoving Jabbari back into the SUV

The video, shown to court in December, shows Jabbari and Majors scuffling on the street after a fight

Majors had been set to spearhead the next chapter of the Marvel universe as 'Kang the Conqueror', however he was dropped by Marvel following his conviction

With Majors set to speak out for the first time since he was found guilty in December, it comes after Jabbari previously broke her silence over the ordeal.

She said she has been helped by a domestic violence charity throughout the controversy.

Jabbari's lawyer Brittany Henderson said jurors had delivered 'justice' by convicting Majors last month, and that her client hoped the case would 'inspire other survivors to speak out.'

Majors was only convicted of a misdemeanor and faces up to a year behind bars, although the consequences of his guilty verdict have already extended beyond the court.

As well as being publicly dropped by Marvel, Majors' much-anticipated movie Magazine Dreams has also been potentially left for the cutting room floor.

The actor was even tipped for an Oscar nomination by some movie critics for his role in the movie, which centered on a troubled bodybuilder.

The film was put on hold by Disney in the wake of the allegations against him, and the streamer now has a decision whether to stand by the movie or axe it entirely.

At his trial, a slew of damning evidence was shown to jurors, which also included an audio recording of Majors berating Jabbari during an argument for not living up to the standards of Michelle Obama and Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King.

In her testimony, Jabbari said that she felt excruciating pain as Majors twisted her fingers to grab his phone back after she took it from him

Evidence shown to court reveals Jabbari's swollen finger and marks to her neck

A cut behind Jabbari's ear was also shown to jurors at the blockbuster trial

A picture taken after one of the couple's fights in LA when he allegedly threw a candle at Jabbari, July 9, 2022

Prosecutors argued he carried out a 'cruel and manipulative pattern of abuse' against Jabarri, including texts urging her not to seek help because it might spark an 'investigation.'

Images shown to the court also included one with a large dent in the wall that Jabbari claimed was caused by Majors throwing a candle at her during a fight in Los Angeles.

Jurors heard conflicting arguments about whether Majors was the aggressor or a victim during the March 2023 argument and chaotic struggle inside the SUV.

Following four days of deliberations, Majors was found guilty of assault and recklessly causing physical injury - but was acquitted on charges of intent to cause physical injury.

Majors' lawyer Priya Chaudhry claimed the mix of guilty and not guilty verdicts meant jurors did not entirely 'believe' Jabbari's account, and he still hopes to clear his name.
A woman who was found knifed to death in a crashed car near her 2.5million mansion was a mother-of-three who would 'do anything' for her children, MailOnline can reveal.

Maya Bracken, 56, was tragically found dead inside a Lexus in the sleepy rural village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, at about 5.45pm yesterday.

Just minutes later, an 18-year-old man was killed by a train near Pangbourne in what police are describing as a 'linked' tragedy.

Ms Bracken's seven-bedroom detached house on Flowers Hill - which she had moved into after recently splitting from her husband - is being searched by officers as part of a murder probe.

A friend of Ms Bracken, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline today: 'Maya was a lovely lady, so kind and generous to people. She doted on all her children. She had twins, a boy and a girl, and another son. She'd do anything for them.

Maya Bracken (pictured), 56, was found dead inside a Lexus in Pangbourne in Berkshire, at about 5.45pm yesterday. She posted this picture on January 2

The property, a seven-bedroom detached house situated on Flowers Hill in the quiet rural village of Pangbourne, Berkshire, was searched by police yesterday

'They all spent Christmas and New Year together as a family. What's happened is horrific and so unexpected.

'She was from Indonesia originally but met her husband, Michael, in Hong Kong. He worked in the banking sector I believe.

'It was Michael who project managed building the house in Pangbourne. I'm not sure he ever lived there, though, as he and Maya split soon after the house was finished.

'She lived there with her three children and was quite a private lady. l believe they were boarders at a public school and the twins had gone to university.'

Another neighbour told The Sun: 'She was a very nice and kind woman who absolutely loved her children.

'They had previously all attended a boarding school. They were quiet but nice kids.

'It's so unexpected as they are such a lovely family. She was our friend.'

Ms Bracken had uploaded a beaming selfie inside her house on January 2, three days before her death. A friend had commented: 'Looking gorgeous as always.'

Officers were first called to a reported road traffic collision involving a car on the A340 Tidmarsh Road at the junction with Flower's Hill at around 5.45pm on Thursday.

Within the vehicle, police said a 56-year-old woman had suffered a fatal stab wound and died at the scene despite receiving medical attention.

Shortly after, at around 6.15pm, Thames Valley Police and British Transport Police officers were called to a death on the railway track near Pangbourne - where an 18-year-old man died at the scene.

A friend of Maya (pictured) told MailOnline: 'She doted on all her children. She had twins, a boy and a girl, and another son. She'd do anything for them.'

The friend revealed that Maya (pictured) was from Indonesia originally but met her husband, Michael, in Hong Kong

At around 11.30am yesterday, forensic specialists were seen to recover a black-handled kitchen knife near Pangbourne station

Police officers at Pangbourne station after a young man died at a railway track in the Berkshire town

Neither victim has been formally identified but the next of kin for both have been informed and specially trained officers are supporting them.

Neighbours in the area - known locally as 'millionaires' row' - have revealed their shock at what happened, with one describing the scene as police gathered at the scene as 'like a horror movie'.

There was a palpable sense of astonishment and grief among the nearby residents, who described Ms Bracken as a 'lovely' woman who 'kept herself to herself.'

One neighbour, who lives on Flowers Hill and who asked not to be named, said of the woman: 'She had been living there for a few years. She split up from her husband and has a big house.'

He added: 'Last night there was a lot of kerfuffle down there. I took the dogs out for a walk and couldn't get through. What has happened is terrible.'

Peter Burton, another local resident to Flowers Hill, said: 'We didn't see or hear anything until we heard the helicopters above.'

An elderly woman who asked not to be named, said: 'I find it astonishing.' Another neighbour said the woman lived at the mansion with her adult children.

One was reported as saying: 'It's horrible, I can't believe what happened. We rushed out to help but the police were already here and then ambulances arrived.

'We were told to go home and they cordoned it all off.'

Another resident said: 'I'd always wave over when I walked past, she is a lovely woman.

'When we saw all the police last night it was like a horror movie scene... they were running around all over the place.

'And then we heard another person had died at the train station. It's shocking for our little quiet village. So unusual.'

Local residents said they had rushed to help the woman in the car but she died at the scene.

Police are investigating the deaths of two people in the village of Pangbourne, Berkshire

Investigations continued at the house in Pangbourne today. The Reading Chronicle reports that two men, thought to be plain-clothes police officers, were seen entering the property on Saturday morning.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, Head of the Major Crime Unit, said: 'We have launched a murder investigation after the death of a woman near Flower's Hill, Pangbourne, and the associated discovery of a deceased man at Pangbourne railway station.'

Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incidents.

Mr Brown added: 'Firstly, I would like to send my condolences on behalf of the force to loved ones of both at this extremely difficult time.

'We are in the very early stages of this complex investigation, but we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with either death.

'We are still investigating but are treating the two deaths as linked; we are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances of each. There is no wider threat to the public from these sad and tragic incidents.'

Villagers in Pangbourne have been left in shock by tragic events that began yesterday.

Forensic investigators also recovered a black-handled kitchen knife close to the train station at Pangbourne as part of the ongoing probe into the two deaths.

Officers were first called to a reported road traffic collision involving a car on the A340 Tidmarsh Road at the junction with Flower's Hill at around 5.45pm on Thursday

A crime scene investigator in a white suit entered a substation, opposite the Aston Martin dealership on Station Road, at around 11.30am today to photograph and collect the blade.

The electricity company were also in attendance, and are thought to have turned off the power to allow police safe access. The area was cordoned off and watched over by two officers.

The knife was then placed into a knife tube and an evidence bag.

Officers, thought to be part of a specialist search team, attended the location after leaving the Flowers Hill property a short time prior.

One onlooker near the station said on Friday: 'There was a police presence here overnight after the sad incident on the railway. Now they've taped it off and are taking photos of a knife in the substation.

'Trains aren't stopping at Pangbourne today so I'm guessing this is why. It's very worrying if it's linked to that poor woman's death.'

A crime scene investigator wearing a white suit entered a substation, opposite the Aston Martin dealership on Station Road, to photograph and collect the blade

Forensics were seen to recover a black-handled kitchen knife near Pangbourne station

The property being searched is a seven-bedroom freehold detached house spread over 5,748 square feet

Police said: 'After initial significant disturbance to the roads and railway network both scenes have been released and normal transport arrangements for both have resumed. I would like to say thank you to those affected for your patience.

'Members of the public are likely to see an increased police presence while we continue to investigate and we would advise anyone with any concerns to please speak to one of our uniformed officers.'

A British Transport Police spokesman previously said: 'Officers were called to the line near Pangbourne railway station at 6.11pm yesterday (4 January) to reports of a casualty on the tracks.

'Paramedics also attended and a person was pronounced dead at the scene.

'British Transport Police are working closely with Thames Valley Police to establish the circumstances leading up to their death.'
An American soldier's mother and uncle were smuggled out of Gaza in a secret military operation after they were left hiding in a building with no food and drinking sewer water to survive.

Zahra Sckak, 44, and her brother-in-law, Farid Sukaik, both American citizens were safely rescued from Gaza Sunday night, a U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press under the condition of anonymity.

The covert operation was coordinated by the United States, Israel, Egypt, the U.S. official said on Wednedsay.

The secret military operation that involved the U.S. citizen and her family member from Gaza is the only known operation of its kind since the Israel-Hamas war began, the U.S. official added.

'The United States played solely a liaison and coordinating role between the Sckak family and the governments of Israel and Egypt,' the official said.

Sckak's husband, Abedalla Sckak, was unable to be saved when the building they were fleeing from was hit by an airstrike last month, killing him.

One of the couple's three sons, 24-year-old Spec. Ragi A. Sckak, serves as an infantryman in the U.S. military.

Zahra Sckak, 44, and her brother-in-law, Farid Sukaik, an American citizen were rescued from Gaza Sunday night during a covert military operation, a U.S. official confirmed, who spoke on anonymity, the Associated Press and military.com reported

The Sckak family of father Abedalla (far left) with his wife Zahra (far right) and their three young sons who are all American citizens. Abedalla was killed last month trying to flee a building he was hiding in with his wife who miraculously survived and was rescued on Sunday

A building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the city of Rafah on Wednesday in the Gaza

It remains unclear the condition of Sckack and Sukaik's health at this time.

There were few immediate details of the on-the-ground operation.

The official said the extraction involved the Israeli military and local Israeli officials who oversee Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and there was no sign American officials were on the ground in Gaza.

During the early days of the war, more than half of its residents escaped into Egypt through the Rafah crossing out of northern and central Gaza, but for the mother-of-three, she was trapped in the region as intense combat continued.

Sckack and Sukaik were pinned down in a building that was surrounded by Hamas fighters with barely any food and only sewage water to drink.

The grim conditions were revealed by a family member, a group of U.S.-based lawyers, and U.S.-based citizen groups, who advocated for their release.

Members from the Sckack family appealed several times to Congress and the Biden administration before their release this week.

Before the release of his mother and family member, Fadi Sckak, a Palestinian-American appeared on ABC News issued a plea for his loved ones release.

He spoke of the limited contact he has with his mother and said she has to go to the roof of the building just to get reception. He spoke of how afraid she is.

He also said his uncle suffers from a severe cardiac condition that requires surgery.

'I worry every waking moment for my mother's safety and can't bear to lose her. I already lost my father to this conflict.'

The son of Zahra Sckak spoke to ABC News about his mother who was trapped at the time in Gaza and uncle, an American citizen. The pair were safely rescued from Gaza Sunday night during a secret military operation

Abedalla Sckak, 56, was killed last month after being shot in the fighting in Gaza. He is the father of three American sons, including a U.S. service member

A cat is seen above the rubble of a building destroyed decimated by an Israeli airstrike

More than 300 United States citizens remain in Gaza, according to latest figures from The State Department.

As the humanitarian crisis escalates, and combat intensifies in the region making it nearly impossible for many still left behind to get to Egypt's border crossing out of Gaza.

Sunday will mark three months since Hamas infiltrated parts of Southern Israel during the massacre of 1,200 people and 240 taken hostage.

Since the unprovoked attack, Israel has aggressively countered with daily Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting to eliminate all of Hamas and the release of the remaining hostages.

More than 100 hostages were released during a temporary ceasefire but approximately 129 remain in captivity.

The vast majority of people who have made it out of northern and central Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt fled south in the initial weeks of the war. An escape from the heart of the Palestinian territory through intense combat has become far more perilous and difficult since.
One of murdered Reeva Steenkamp's best friends and confidants has slammed the decision to release her killer Oscar Pistorius after serving less than half his sentence.

Samantha Jonker, who was at school with the slain model and a life-long friend, said The Blade Runner 'had literally got away with murder.'

Ms Jonker, 39, who grew up with Reeva in the Eastern Cape town of Port Elizabeth, spoke out as anti-violence campaigners spoke out against the release of the former athlete who ran in the London 2012 Olympics.

She told MailOnline: 'What message is South Africa sending to allow a murderer such leniency in taking the life of a woman or child.

'He should be the one behind a locked door for the rest of his life. It should be a life for a life.

One of murdered Reeva Steenkamp's best friends and confidant, Samantha Jonker (pictured), has slammed the decision to release her killer Oscar Pistorius after serving less than half his sentence

Jonker (in white, circled top) was at school with slain model and life-long friend Steenkamp (in blue, circled bottom), said The Blade Runner 'had literally got away with murder'

Ms Jonker, 39, who grew up with Reeva in the Eastern Cape town of Port Elizabeth, spoke out as anti-violence campaigners spoke out against the release of the former athlete who ran in the London 2012 Olympics

'In prison, he was given his own private room with a television, his own private area to exercise in, he had privileges other criminals were never warranted.

'Why does one murderer get rewarded. He stole everything from her and her loved ones by the heinous choice he made that fatal day that will haunt me forever.

'He shot her not once, but four times through a locked bathroom door. I know my Reeva. If she was in a safe home, she would feel no reason to lock herself behind a door.

'I still sit and think about what she must have been feeling in that moment behind that locked door all alone.

'I remember Reeva every day. I have a picture of Reeva in my home that I look at every day.

'I listen to the same video of Reeva when I miss her and need to hear her voice. Her death has left a huge gap in my life and I cannot seem to forgive him for what he chose to do.

Reeva, who was 29, was shot dead by Pistorius on Valentine's Day 2013 inside his Pretoria flat. He gunned her down through a toilet door and claimed it was an accident as he believed an intruder had entered his home.

But after a year of protracted court hearings his conviction of culpable homicide was changed to murder. Instead of life, he was punished with a 13-and-a-half-year sentence.

Ms Jonker, 39, who is now based in Berlin, first met Reeva at the St Dominics Priory in Port Elizabeth at the age of 11.

Oscar Pistorius has walked away from jail on parole after nine years in prison

Pistorius shot Steenkamp through the locked bathroom door in his home in a gated community in Pretoria

She added: 'I remember the first day Reeva walked into my classroom. She lit up the room when she walked in.

'I fell in love with her in that moment. She sat down in the desk in front of me and that was her seat for the rest of our primary school years. We became best friends from that day on.

'She was so gentle, so kind, so loving, so supportive and understanding. I always found myself laughing her.

'I could share anything with her and never felt judged. I only felt loved. I remember this one day when we were about 11 or 12 years old. We were each others freshwater lifesaving partners and we had an exam on one of the coldest and rainiest days.

' I didnt want to go through with the exam. I was crying and Reeva kept motivating me to continue and pushed me to finish and we passed the exam together.

'After the exam we were sitting by the side of the pool on a bench in our towels. I was still upset and Reeva managed to take the situation and turn it around and the next minute we were both laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt and we both had tears streaming down our face from joy.

Pistorius has served the last nine years at the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria

'There is a saying, "a best friend is someone who can make you laugh, even when you feel like crying".

'Reeva was the bestest friend a girl like me could have ever ask for. Our friendship continued throughout high school and further on. Even though we lived apart, we always kept in contact. She never missed wishing me on my birthday.'

Anti-violence campaigners also hit out at Pistorius's freedom which has come with strict parole conditions.

Bulelwa Adonis of South Africa's Women for Change group said the fact that Pistorius had not admitted the murder proved that accountability had not been accepted by him on his release.

She told MailOnline: 'We are deeply saddened by his release.

'We are thankful that he did actually serve time time, because in our country, most predators don't serve any time whatsoever.

The South African won gold in the 4x100m relay at London 2012 Paralympic Games

At the London Paralympic Games, he also claimed gold in the men's 400m

In 2012 Pistorius became the 10th athlete to compete at both Paralympic and Olympic Games

'We are completely disheartened, to say the least, because our country has become a safe haven and we have adopted a mentality of leniency towards predators and anyone who commits gender-based violence or femicide.'

She said the fact that Pretorius had strict parole conditions imposed on him did not 'mean much to us.'

She added: 'At the end of the day Pistorius is somebody who took a life and the loved ones of Reeva will never get their time with her again.

'We actually have one of the best legislations in the world. Our rights and all of that is absolutely phenomenal. But it has no reflection on reality.

'In fact, reality is the exact opposite to say the least because gender-based violence and femicide are increasing.'

She revealed latest figures from South African police showed that last year 3,914 women were murdered during the 12 months before March 2023 and 12 women are murdered on a daily basis in the country.

'Those statistics alone paint a perfect picture of the reality here in South Africa. We are also known as the rape capital of the world and rapes are five times higher than the global average.

'Oscar is going to get help with anger management and rehabilitation, and all of these things, but I think accountability is a big thing which we stress on as an organisation and we do not think justice has been served in his case.'

Deeply-committed Christian Pistorius spent his second day of freedom hiding in his uncle Arnold's mansion which will be his home until the end of his sentence at the end of the decade.

He did not venture out as rain lashed the affluent Waterkloof neighbourhood outside Pretoria and has yet to be seen in public.

A neighbour said: 'Oscar needs some peace and quiet. He has been through a lot. I know he'll be reading his bible for much of his time.'

The gun-fanatic has been allowed out on parole until December 2029 and must adhere to a number of conditions set down by Atterridgeville Correction Services officials.

He has to undergo a course of anger management to help him cope with his fierce temper which prosecutors said led him to kill Reeva.

He is barred from drinking alcohol and handling any weapons and must inform his parole officers of his whereabouts and remain at his Uncle Arnolds home during set hours.

Pistorius has been banned from giving media interviews which will come as a further blow as major US talk shows were hoping to line him up as a star guest.

Pistoriuss successful bid to run in the London 2012 Olympics made him a huge star in America and a poster boy for Paralympians.

The Blade Runner may take a mundane job to fill his parole hours and the idea of the deeply religious man to be a preacher has also been mooted.

His wealthy uncle Arnold owns a successful real estate company called Twin Towers and has an office suite in a complex a few minutes from his home.

Arnold has promised law officials he will keep a tight check on The Blade Runner, who has prosthetic legs, and ensure he meets his bail conditions.
The husband of the January 6, 2021, rioter who was shot and killed by an officer has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the US government.

Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, age 35, was shot and killed inside the Capitol building by then-Lieutenant Michael Byrd of the US Capitol Police.

She died of injuries at Washington Hospital Center, and the examiner determined her death as homicide.

Her husband, Aaron Babbitt, has now filed a $30million lawsuit accusing the government of 'wrongful death, assault and battery and various negligence issues'.

Attorneys with Judicial Watch, a conservative legal activist group, filed the suit in California federal court on behalf of Aaron and his estate.

Lieutenant Michael Byrd shot Babbitt in the shoulder as she tried to climb through a window into the Speaker of the House's lobby during the riot by Trump supporters - she died later

Her husband, Aaron Babbitt, has now filed a $30 million lawsuit accusing the government of 'wrongful death, assault and battery and various negligence issues'

The couple were from San Diego and Ashli had traveled to Washington to participate in the rally that day.

The lawsuit claims that the officer 'breached multiple, applicable standards of care governing the safe use of a firearm; the perception and assessment of imminent threats; use of force levels and escalation/de-escalation of force; the perception and assessment of relevant facts; the use of warnings; firing backdrops and obtaining timely, appropriate medical aid, among other breaches to be identified through discovery.'

It also says that Ashli was unarmed and 'her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Byrd and other officers in the Speaker's lobby'.

According to the documents, she did not go to Washington as a 'part of a group for any unlawful or nefarious purpose.'

The lawsuit also says: 'Sergent. Timothy Lively, one of the armed officers guarding the lobby doors from the hallway, later told officials investigating the shooting, "I saw him . . . there was no way that woman would've seen that".

'Lt. Byrd, who was not in uniform, did not identify himself as a police officer or otherwise make his presence known to Ashli. Lt. Byrd did not give Ashli any warnings or commands before shooting her dead.'

According to Air Force records, Babbitt served multiple Middle East tours from 2004 to 2016

Kayla Joyce (left) was Ashli and Aaron Babbitt's live-in girlfriend.

According to Air Force records, Babbitt served multiple Middle East tours from 2004 to 2016.

She had shown her support for former President Donald Trump and promoted conservative activists and QAnon conspiracy theory movement leaders.

On the day of the storming, Ashli had allegedly walked to the Capitol peacefully for about on and a half miles.

Two undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers had followed closely behind her as she climbed the stairs to the West Terrace and entered the Capitol on the Senate side.

She had reached the Speaker's lobby when the shooting happened.

Court documents state that Byrd shot Ashli on sight as she raised herself into the opening of the right door sidelight.

He later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands, assessing her intentions, or even identifying her as female.

Video shows her on the floor after being shot in her shoulder and being surrounded by other witnesses.

After an internal investigation, Byrd was exonerated in August 2021.

A court date has not yet been issued.
Ghislaine Maxwell swam naked at Jeffrey Epstein's private island, where his recruits were made to massage her while she was undressed, according to newly released documents.

The disturbing deposition has alleged that the disgraced socialite was groped by Epstein while the girls she called her 'children' worked on her.

Johanna Sjoberg - who was recruited by Maxwell when she was a 20-year-old student - said she was paid 200 for every massage from the pair, which was increased by 100 when she did something sexual for Epstein.

In newly disclosed court documents Sjoberg paints a graphic picture of Epstein's island and the horrific practices of the evil pair who thought they were untouchable.

In further documents already revealed she has claimed she knew Virginia Giuffre was underage when she says she was forced in 2001 to have sex with Prince Andrew and claims she herself was groped by the Royal in in Epstein's Manhattan townhouse.

He has always denied all accusations of sexual activity with Epstein's accusers, and denied any wrongdoing.

The disturbing deposition alleged that the disgraced socialite was groped by Epstein while the girls she called her 'children' worked on her. Pictured: Maxwell massaging Epstein's feet on the Lolita Express

Johanna Sjoberg (pictured) said she was paid 200 for every massage from the pair, which was increased by 100 when she did something sexual for Epstein

Sjoberg's testimony was unsealed on Friday night - part of a trove of detailing Epstein's relationships, friendships and actions.

The documents are from a 2015 defamation suit filed by Roberts - now married as Virginia Giuffre - against Maxwell. The documents were sealed in 2017 and have been made public this week.

In her deposition in 2016 Sjoberg recalls giving between five and ten massages to Maxwell - in all of which the disgraced socialite was naked under a towel.

And in one she remembers Epstein coming in mid-massage and groping her subject - although Sjoberg says Maxwell, who she describes as 'funny', never behaved in a sexual manner towards her.

She said: 'I do recall an instance where I was massaging her and Jeffrey came into the room and he did something sort of sexual to her, whether it was fondling her or slapping her butt or something, and she brushed him off like she was embarrassed.'

And responding to a question about whether Maxwell was ever nude or topless by the pool, she added: 'I don't recall. She was nude when she went swimming in the ocean.'

Talking about the massages she gave Epstein, she added that she would perform them naked 'somewhere between 25 and 50 per cent' of the time.

Speaking about her time on the notorious island, she remembered photos being 'everywhere' - including a picture of Maxwell topless in her own bathroom.

In her deposition in 2016 Sjowberg recalls giving between five and ten massages to Maxwell - in all of which the disgraced socialite was naked under a towel

Epstein appears with his arm around Ghislaine as he takes a phone call in this evidence photo

A photo of Sjoberg herself hung in Epstein's master bathroom.

Sjoberg denied seeing any sexual images of underage women, but remembered 'staged' nude photos of a selection of girls, including her.

And in a bizarre moment, a lawyer had to confirm that a picture Maxwell had taken with the Pope was not one in which she was topless.

In disturbing descriptions, she further elaborated on the relationship between Maxwell and the girls on the island with them.

Sjoberg said the socialite 'went to bed and kissed us all on the head and called us her children.'

And she claims Maxwell repeatedly implied that having other girls around took the pressure off her 'sexually'.

She further confirms her description of victim Virginia Giuffre as being 'orphan-like'.

She continued: 'At the time I was getting an impression that she did not have a family or she had walked away from her family.

Sjoberg further revealed that she had agreed to take at least three girls to the island for Epstein, and Maxwell rewarded her financially for at least one of those. Pictured: Epstein with his hand on Maxwell's stomach

'And it seemed to me, you know, they had just sort of adopted her, not as a child, but they would take care of her.'

Sjoberg further revealed that she had agreed to take at least three girls to the island for Epstein, and Maxwell rewarded her financially for at least one of those.

One was a girl she had worked alongside in a restaurant, and another was a physical fitness instructor, who gave him two training sessions.

She said: 'I did bring one girl... that I had worked with at a restaurant. And I recall Ghislaine giving me money to bring her over; however, they never called her to come.'

Graphically describing the fitness instructor working with Epstein, she continued: 'At one point he lifted up her shirt and exposed her bra, and she grabbed it and pulled it down.'

She added: 'That was the conversation that he had told her that he had taken this girl's virginity, the girl by the pool.'

In previously released documents, Sjoberg testified that in May 2016, when she was a 20-year-old student at Palm Beach Atlantic University when Maxwell, a stranger approached her and offered her a job as a personal assistant.

Sjoberg began working for Epstein in 2001, and was immediately forced to perform sex acts.

Virginia Roberts (pictured) has been fighting for almost a decade for justice

Sjoberg said that she knew another of the young women in Epstein's orbit, Virginia Roberts, was underage.

Roberts had been recruited by Maxwell the year before, in 2000, while she was working as a locker room attendant at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

According to claims in the documents, Roberts and Sjoberg would go on to encounter a long list of famous faces - among them Prince Andrew. He has always denied all accusations of sexual activity with Epstein's accusers, and denied any wrongdoing.

Maxwell, the daughter of British media mogul Robert Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein. She is the only person to be tried and convicted for their role in the Epstein sex trafficking ring.

She was sentenced in June 2022, and is appealing her conviction.

Epstein socialized with Wall Street titans, royalty and celebrities before pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He took his own life in 2019 at age 66 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Sigrid McCawley, Roberts' lawyer, said some questions about who enabled Epstein have still not been answered.

'The unsealing of these documents gets us closer to that goal,' she said in a statement on Wednesday.
Police have arrested a number of activists following the first pro-Palestinian rally of 2024, which saw protesters stage a sit-in on Westminster Bridge.

The march, organised by the Free Palestine Coalition, made up of groups including Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK and the Black-Jewish Alliance, saw hundreds meet at St James Park before marching through Westminster to block the road.

Met Police officers moved in to seize sound equipment while the protest was still assembling at the royal park opposite The Mall, and imposed a Section 14 order under the Public Order Act 1986 limiting the protesters' assembly to 3pm.

The protest was announced with little notice, with police chiefs confirming they were not given any information on the proposed parade route. The force said it had to deploy additional officers to the capital to ensure it could 'respond quickly'.

The group announced a meeting location - a drinking fountain in St James's Park - at 10am on Saturday and protesters began to gather around midday. Several vans' worth of police officers were deployed on The Mall in response.

Metropolitan Police officers scuffle with pro-Palestine protesters at St James's Park on Saturday

A protester wearing what appear to be scrubs and a stethoscope flashes the peace sign as she is led into a police van by Met officers

A woman with a Palestinian flag and the phrase 'peace is a white man's word' painted on her face takes part in the demonstration

Protesters staged a sit-in at Westminster Bridge, forcing the Met to impose a dispersal order

Police imposed a kettle to limit the movement of protesters, preventing them from moving onto Westminster Bridge itself

A protester wears a mask of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his hands covered in red paint during the march

The Met said it had to dispatch large numbers of officers to the centre of London because details of the protest were not shared in advance (pictured: a police officer films the protest)

The protest is the first major pro-Palestinian rally of 2024 and saw activists call for a ceasefire in Gaza

The protest was organised by a coalition of campaign groups including Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK and the Black-Jewish Alliance

They then waved Palestinian flags and placards calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to UK arms sales to Israel, as they marched towards Parliament Square.

After several initial arrests were made by Metropolitan Police officers at the park, protesters then marched through Westminster before being stopped by officers next to Big Ben.

Many of the protesters then gradually joined a sit-in that was fenced off on three sides by a police cordon.

READ MORE: Israel outlines Gaza's future once war is over: 'Limited Palestinian rule', Hamas removed from power and Tel Aviv 'retaining security control' Israeli soldiers operate in a location given as Gaza in an image supplied by the IDF Advertisement

Footage shared on social media showed some scuffles between uniformed officers and protesters opposite the Elizabeth Tower.

The kettling prevented activists from advancing onto Westminster Bridge itself, and from proceeding down the Victoria Embankment.

Some actvists wore masks of leading politicians, including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UK PM Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden, and held up their hands as they were covered in red paint.

A Met Police spokesperson said: 'A large number of officers responded to a protest in central London this afternoon.

'Several groups, including Sisters Uncut and Black Lives Matter, met at St James's Park at around 12pm before marching to Parliament Square.

'Conditions were imposed under Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to prevent serious disruption and the group dispersed at around 3pm.

'Before the march, officers seized sound equipment from the group in St James's Park. Two women, aged 33 and 35, were arrested under the Royal Parks and Open Spaces Regulation 1997.

'Officers continue patrols in central London to respond to any further demonstrations.'

The force said in a post on social media that it had a 'duty to allow people to take part in legal protest'.

It worte on X: 'Some people are asking why we have imposed conditions rather than making arrests. We have a duty to allow people to take part in legal protest.

'When there could be serious disruption, we impose conditions to prevent this. Officers will make arrests if the conditions are not complied with.'

Central London has been a magnet for protests against the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, following the October 7 attacks that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis.

Smoke rises following an explosion in central Gaza as Israel continues to bomb the occupied territory following the October 7 attacks

Israel's near-ceaseless campaign of bombardment has forced thousands to move across the country (pictured: Palestinians leaving their homes in Deir Al-Balah earlier today)

The counter-offensive against Hamas has killed over 22,000 people (pictured: relatives of a 12-year-old boy, Mohammad Awad, grieve as they receive his body after he was killed in Israeli shelling in Khan Yunis)

Israel's counter-offensive, which has been almost ceaseless for three months, has killed 22,722 people as of Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials  almost one per cent of the Gaza Strip's estimated population of 2.3million.

With swathes of the territory already reduced to rubble, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on Saturday that 'Gaza has simply become uninhabitable'.

Critics of Israel's offensive claim the country is deliberately targeting civilian populations  a charge it denies, counter-claiming that Hamas is deliberately embedding itself and its infrastructure among civilian populations.

The country has outlined its vision for how Gaza will operate once the war against Hamas is over  with plans to depose the group from government amid a proposal of 'limited Palestinian rule'.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Turkey today to kick off his latest diplomatic mission in the Middle East, amid fears that the Israel-Hamas conflict could explode into a broader war across the region.

Hamas has been supported by other terror groups including the Lebanese outfit Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel from the bordering country in what it says is solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Former Harvard President Claudine Gay was on Christmas vacation with her family in Rome when she agreed to resign under pressure, according to a new report.

Gay, desperate for a breather after a barrage of criticism over plagiarism accusations and her tepid response to campus antisemitism, departed on the long-planned trip on December 22, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

On December 27, Penny Pritzker, the leader of Harvard University's governing board, called her and asked whether she felt there was a way forward with her in the president's chair, people familiar with the call told the Times.

Although the question was posed as open-ended, Pritzker's implication was apparently clear, and the phone call ended with Gay's agreement to step down.

It marked a stunning reversal after weeks of staunch public support for Gay from members of the Harvard Corporation, as the university's governing board is known, in the face of unfolding scandals.

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay was on Christmas vacation with her family in Rome when she agreed to resign under pressure, according to a new report

On December 27, Penny Pritzker (above), the leader of Harvard University's governing board, called Gay and asked whether she felt there was a way forward with her in the president's chair

The board members, also on their own Christmas vacations, faced a fresh barrage of criticism and input from friends and family members they encountered over the break, possibly playing a role in their decision, according to the Times.

As well, several board members had children studying at Harvard, and at least one worried that their children would be harassed by other students over their parents' board roles and controversy surrounding Gay.

The new report also reveals that in addition to their public statement declaring support for Gay on December 12, board members privately approached the president and asked her to help propose a turnaround plan.

Gay's staff crafted a proposal they dubbed the 'spring reset,' which involved having her make a slew of campus appearances, hold office hours, and launch task forces to address both antisemitism and Islamophobia.

However, according to the Times, before Gay could send her plan to the board, fresh scandal emerged in the form of plagiarism allegations on December 19.

When Gay then sent the proposal along, some board members took it as a sign that she did not appreciate the severity of the new allegations, which eventually included 40 instances of plagiarism in Gay's academic work.

Earlier this week, Gay spoke out in a New York Times op-ed saying that racial animus played a role in her ouster.

She revealed that she had received death threats and been called the n-word countless times since hitting the headlines in October.

A group known as 'Fire Claudine Gay' deployed a panel truck with an electronic billboard display outside of the Harvard Campus with a message protesting against Gay

Gay also cautioned that the campaign to remove her her was about more than one university and one leader.

'This was merely a single skirmish in a broader war to unravel public faith in pillars of American society,' Gay wrote. 'Those who had relentlessly campaigned to oust me since the fall often trafficked in lies and ad hominem insults,' she added.

But Gay did not use the word 'plagiarism' in her essay, only admitting that she'd misattributed quotes in her academic writings. Those allegations - which were ultimately leveled at half Gay's published work - are what are believed to have cost her her job at Harvard.

And she even hailed the work in question, calling it 'cutting edge', while claiming that she herself had published work which had 'spawned important research by other scholars.'

Gay wrote, 'On Tuesday, I made the wrenching but necessary decision to resign as Harvard's president. For weeks, both I and the institution to which I've devoted my professional life have been under attack.'

'My character and intelligence have been impugned. My commitment to fighting antisemitism has been questioned. My inbox has been flooded with invective, including death threats. I've been called the N-word more times than I care to count.'

She added, 'My hope is that by stepping down I will deny demagogues the opportunity to further weaponize my presidency in their campaign to undermine the ideals animating Harvard since its founding: excellence, openness, independence, truth.'
Despite the life-changing surgery coming out of the blue, she said she remains 'just so happy to be alive' with her family

A Kentucky nurse who woke up from a routine kidney stone surgery to find she underwent a quadruple amputation has offered a defiant update on her road to recovery.

Cindy Mullins, 41, a mother-of-two young boys, lost both her legs and arms after becoming septic when she was hospitalized for kidney stones last month.

In a GoFundMe set up to help her family with the 'overwhelming' costs of her therapy, an organizer for the fundraiser said she is 'one day closer to the finish line.'

Despite the life-changing surgery coming out of the blue, the mother said she is seeing the positive side after the procedure saved her life, telling LEX18: 'I'm just so happy to be alive. I get to see my kids. I get to see my family. I get to have my time with my husband. Those are minor things at this point.'

Cindy Mullins (right, pictured with her husband DJ and two young sons) has inspired many with her positive reaction to losing her limbs out of the blue, saying she is 'just so happy to be alive'

The mother-of-two shared a defiant update as she starts her road to recovery, saying she is 'one day closer to the finish line'

Mullins was seen grimacing as a therapist lifted her leg, in an update shared on the day she started her physiotherapy

Mullins has seen a wave of support following her brush with death, with many inspired by her positive outlook in the face of adversity.

After beginning physical therapy this week, she was seen in her latest update being helped by a nurse as she sat upright.

In another image, the mom grimaced as a therapist raised her leg, before she lay on her stomach with her amputated arms still wrapped in medical gauze and supports.

The fundraiser has given her supporters several glimpses into her agonizing rehabilitation, with a previous update from the day she started therapy on January 2 saying she was 'so excited' to get going.

The next day, a post read: 'Cindy had another great day of therapy. She also had a wonderful visitor that brought her some delicious sweets. Lets pray that every day gets a little bit better.'

As she says she is just thankful to get more time with her family, Mullins was also pictured being fed dinner by her young son and beaming as she was visited by friends.

The mom described the factors that led to her predicament as a 'perfect storm', beginning when she had kidney stones several weeks ago.

She went for treatment in hospital for the painful disease, but the kidney stone got infected that quickly led to Mullins becoming septic.

She was initially rushed to Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford before being transferred to U.K. Hospital in Lexington, where she was sedated for several days.

Upon waking up, she was stunned to find out that medics had no other choice but to remove her limbs to save her life.

Mullins has seen a wave of support following her brush with death, with many inspired by her positive outlook in the face of adversity

A GoFundMe has raised over $200,000 for the doting mom, which described her as a 'lovely, caring, brave and beautiful young lady who has recently experienced a life-changing tragedy'

Mullins shared a moving photo of her youngest son helping feed her

Revealing the moment she found out about the quadruple amputation, Mullins said: 'The doctor I used to work with, he kind of was like, 'This is what they had to do to save your life. This is what's happened.''

When asked how she was staying upbeat, Mullins said: 'I just said these are the cards I've been dealt, and these are the hands I'm going to play.'

She said she has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, and said there was at one time over 40 people waiting for her in the hospital.

'The calls and the texts, the prayers and the things people have sent. The little words of encouragement,' she added.

'I just can't fathom that people are doing things like that for me,' Mullins said while in hospital.

Her fundraiser has, at the time of writing, brought in over $200,000, and was set up a by her friend Heather Beshears who heaped praise on the doting mother.

'(Cindy) is a lovely, caring, brave and beautiful young lady who has recently experienced a life-changing tragedy that will leave her as a quadruple amputee,' she wrote.

'Cindy and her family will have to make a few adjustments to their home to accommodate Cindy's needs as well as her prosthetics and adaptive equipment.

The 41-year-old nurse is pictured being kissed on the cheek by her sister and friend. Mullins has been moved to Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, as she continues her therapy

Mullins was initially hospitalized only with kidney stones, but her condition worsened rapidly after the stones became infected and she was forced to undergo the dramatic surgery

'The costs of all of this can be overwhelming. We started this fundraiser because we want to support our hero Cindy, as well as her husband DJ who has been by her side every step of the way.

'Cindy and DJ have two young children who are missing their mom and dad terribly. Sometimes life is hard and there's no way around it.

'Cindy and DJ's world has come to a complete stop, but the world around them continues to move forward. Let's help ease their burden while they heal and get back to their lives. We hope to be able to allow Cindy to focus on her recovery.'

Mullins' sister Luci Smith previously thanked people for their 'support, love, prayers, cards, food and visits' and said that Mullins would soon transfer to Cardinal Hill for a few weeks.

She said: 'We would like to thank everyone again for all of the support, love, prayers, cards, food and visits (her favorite) You guys are amazing.

'In the next few days we will move to Cardinal Hill for a couple weeks and then come back for hopefully her final surgery.

'Each day is a blessing from God and we will continue to praise him for the miracles he has performed. Today she got to leave the room and we ventured outside for some fresh crisp air. Keep praying and she'll keep fighting until we are finally home.'
A serving Met Police officer has been charged with raping and choking a man in Islington on New Year's Day.

PC Andrej Sagaidak, who was working in his probation period and is attached to the local policing team in south-east London, was charged on Friday, 5 January.

He was charged with two counts of rape, one count of non-fatal strangulation and one count of causing actual bodily harm.

PC Sagaidak was suspended from duty after being charge, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The force has made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

A serving Met Police officer has been charged with raping and choking a man in Islington on New Year's Day (New Scotland Yard pictured)

PC Sagaidak appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court today, January 6 where he was remanded in custody ahead of an appearance at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, February 2.

Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, responsible for policing in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham said: 'This is a deeply concerning allegation and I know it will cause significant concern.

'We took immediate action when we received the report and the officer was suspended from duty following his arrest on Thursday.'

An investigation was launched after we received a report that a man had been raped by another man at a residential property in Islington on Monday, 1 January.

The officer was off-duty at the time of the alleged offence.

We continue to provide support to the victim and the investigation is ongoing.
Former President Donald Trump said Saturday at an Iowa campaign event that the Civil War was 'something that could've been negotiated.'

The quip came during an early afternoon campaign stop at a community college in Newton, Iowa.

And it happened after the conflict already tripped up one of his 2024 Republican rivals, former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, who was criticized for neglecting to mention slavery when a New Hampshire town hall attendee asked her the cause of it.

'The Civil War was so fascinating, so horrible,' Trump said. 'I'm so attracted to seeing it. So many mistakes were made. See there was something that could've been negotiated, to be honest with you, I think you could have negotiated that.'

He added that President Abraham Lincoln 'if he negotiated it, you probably wouldn't even know who Abraham Lincoln was.'

Former President Donald Trump claimed at an Iowa campaign event Saturday that Abraham Lincoln could have 'negotiated' and prevented the Civil War

'He would have been president ... but he wouldn't be "the" Abraham Lincoln, but that would've been OK,' Trump added.

Trump spent several moments remarking about the terrible death toll - estimated to be 620,000.

'So many people died. That was the disaster. If you got hit by a bullet in the leg, you were essentially going to die or lose the leg, that's why you had so many people - no legs, no arms ... because the infection, gangrene - it was just such, sort of a horrible time.'

He added that it was a 'vicious, vicious war' and a 'tough one for our country.'

A man dressed like Lincoln attended Trump's Saturday afternoon event.

The Civil War became a hot topic on the Republican campaign trail in the days following Christmas, when Haley was asked about its cause at a December 27 campaign event in New Hampshire.

'Well don't come with an easy question or anything,' Haley told the town hall attendee.

'I mean I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn't do,' Haley then answered.

A man dressed like President Abraham Lincoln attended former President Donald Trump's event Saturday afternoon in Newton, Iowa in which he suggested that the Civil War 'could've been negotiated'

Trump commented about the bloody conflict during a campaign event Saturday in Newton, Iowa, noting that if soldiers 'got hit by a bullet in the leg, you were essentially going to die or lose the leg'

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, asked the man for his opinion on what started the Civil War and he then commented that he found it 'astonishing' in 2023 that she wouldn't mention the word 'slavery.'

'What do you want me to say about slavery?' Haley then said.

The cringe-worthy response was almost immediately criticized, including by Haley's rivals.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an Iowa campaign stop shortly thereafter: 'You know, I noticed that Nikki Haley has had some problems with some basic American history.'

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called her comments 'dishonest' because she's trying to have it both ways with voters.

Haley continued to play clean up this week, saying she 'had black friends growing up' during her CNN town hall in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday.

Trump has paid more attention to Haley at his recent Iowa campaign events - as he traversed the state Friday and Satruday - but tended to focus on the fact that she said, at one point, that she wouldn't run for president against him.

The ex-president didn't elaborate on how Lincoln could have negotiated with the Confederacy - the southern states that left the United States over the issue of slavery - to avoid the 1860s conflict.

He made similar eyebrow-raising comments during an interview with conservative journalist Salena Zito in 2017.

During that Q&A session, Trump suggested that had President Andrew Jackson 'been a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War.'

Jackson, the country's seventh president, died more than a decade before the Civil War started.
Ukraine said it has seriously wounded a 'significant' Russian figure during an incursion by special forces troops into Vladimir Putin's Belgorod region.

The claim came from Kyiv military intelligence chief Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov.

'Not disclosing details, I can say that one of the very seriously wounded [in Russia's Belgorod region] was quite a significant personality,' he said.

'They immediately requested a helicopter to evacuate him directly to Moscow.'

He refused to reveal more details.

Ukrainian special forces troops on an incursion inside Russia's Belgorod region

A strike during an incursion inside Russia's Belgorod region

Kyiv military intelligence chief Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov said he could not corroborate earlier extraordinary social media claims that a missile strike on Sevastopol - in Crimea - had killed Putin's overall war commander General Valery Gerasimov, 68 (pictured)

Troops can be seen firing their weapons and planting explosives in a wooded area in footage taken from the excursion.

Budanov also said he could not corroborate earlier extraordinary social media claims that a strike, suspected to have involved Storm Shadow missiles, on Sevastopol in Crimea had killed Putin's overall war commander General Valery Gerasimov.

Ukraine hit a command post and believes high-ranking figures were hit - but there is no evidence that they included Gerasimov, 68, who is also first deputy defence minister.

Asked about the reports on Gerasimov being killed, Budanov said: 'Let's just say that I have no information to support this.'

Russia has not commented on the Gerasimov claims, which were spread widely on Friday.

But Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the South unit of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army battalion, said of the Sevastopol strike: 'There are many versions of who could have been hit there.

'I even heard the famous surname Gerasimov.

'This would be good news, but I think that it is unlikely to be the reality.

'But the fact that several high-ranking officers or generals of the Russian occupation army were hit in this command post is real.'

'Not disclosing details, I can say that one of the very seriously wounded [in Russia 's Belgorod region] was quite a significant personality,' Kyiv military intelligence chief Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov (pictured) said

Video showed the Ukrainian special forces firing on an incursion inside Russia's Belgorod region

Ukrainian special forces appear to be burying mines in the earth on an incursion inside Russia's Belgorod region

A target in the crosshairs during a Ukrainian special forces incursion inside Russia's Belgorod region

Ukrainian special forces troops on an incursion inside Russia's Belgorod region

A total of 15 Russian military personnel were killed in the Sevastopol command post hit on Thursday, Ukrainian sources claimed on Saturday, as cited by the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.

Ukraine's military claimed on Saturday that it had successfully attacked the Saki military airbase in the west of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

'Saki airfield! All targets were hit!' Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram. He also published a photo appearing to show the airfield, though it was not immediately possible to verify the image.

Russian officials did not comment on the alleged attack, but Russia's defence ministry said in the early hours of Saturday that it had successfully downed four Ukrainian missiles over the peninsula overnight.

Reports said ambulances were seen rushing to both the Sevastopol site and the Saki airfield after the strikes, which are suspected to have been Storm Shadow missiles supplied by Britain.

Asked about the reports on Gerasimov being killed, Budanov said: 'Let's just say that I have no information to support this'

Gerasimov - Putin's senior war commander and head of the Russian armed forces - has not been seen since December 29, when he presented military awards to 'military personnel who distinguished themselves during the liberation of Marinka' in occupied Donetsk region, Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov (R) attend an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board at the Russian National Defence Control Centre in Moscow, Russia, on December 19, 2023

Oleshchuk had previously praised the 'impeccable combat work' of his air crews in striking the Sevastopol command post at Yukharin Balka, where rumours had suggested Gerasimov was a victim.

Putin-appointed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said: 'It was the most massive [attack] in recent times.'

Budanov, 38, said of the previously unknown raid across the border into the Belgorod region: 'We are in an open war, and there's no reason to be surprised.

'Those who wage war on others sooner or later face it themselves.

'Ultimately, that's what's happening.'

RBK-Ukraine reported: 'Information began to spread on the Internet today that the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov was allegedly killed as a result of yesterday's strikes on Crimea.'

Yet there is no independent evidence that the general - a foe of slain warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin - was in Crimea, nor that he was hit in the Crimean strike.

It was reported that significant losses were inflicted and after a barrage of Ukrainian shelling in recent days, Russia has evacuated hundreds of residents from Belgorod city, showing that Putin is unable to properly defend a key regional centre.

Belgorod has been hit with near daily Ukrainian attacks over the last few days, the deadliest of which killed 25 people on December 30.

Later on Saturday, the ministry reported that its air defence forces had shot down six anti-ship missiles over the Black Sea.

Traffic was temporarily suspended for a third straight day on a bridge connecting the peninsula, which Moscow seized illegally in 2014, with Russia's southern Krasnodar region. It serves as a crucial supply link for Russia's war effort.
A defence chief has backed calls to build a new memorial which honours the Royal Navy's contribution to ending the slave trade.

Admiral Lord Alan West has thrown his weight behind a campaign spearheaded by Penny Mordaunt to create the first memorial to the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which seized vessels bound for the Americas and freed huge numbers of men, women and children.

The Leader of the House of Commons yesterday hit out at 'anti-British, grievance-based' attempts to rewrite history, and said the UK should not keep quiet about being the first nation to abolish the slave trade.

Former First Sea Lord (the highest ranking officer in the Royal Navy) Alan West has become the first military chief to back the campaign, telling MailOnline: 'There is a need for a lasting memorial to the West Africa Squadron and its achievements.

'Why does this dramatic long-forgotten aspect of our history matter so much? Because, despite all the criticism seemingly endlessly repeated today, we have many reasons to be proud of our history and of what the Navy and nation achieved.'

Admiral Lord Alan West (pictured) has thrown his weight behind an effort spearheaded by Penny Mordaunt who yesterday hit out at 'anti-British, grievance-based' attempts to rewrite history

A statuette of a Royal Navy West Africa Squadron sailor, made as a mock-up for the proposed memorial to the military group which fought the slave trade

Anti-slave ship the Black Joke had itself been used to carry slaves until it was captured and transformed by the Royal Navy. Pictured: A painting depicting the Black Joke's capture of Spanish slave ship the Almirante

The former Navy chief added: 'The Squadron played the leading role in ending the international slave trade and slavery around the world. For over a century, Britain stood at the forefront of the push to end both, losing the lives of many sailors, at huge financial cost and exerting much diplomatic pressure to achieve these goals.

'Yet, you would not know it today from the narrative from campaigners and activists keen to denigrate Britains history and to destroy our sense of identity in and through it.'

Writing in the Daily Mail (below) yesterday Penny Mordaunt said that, contrary to what many young people now believe, the UK was the first country to abolish the slave trade  and that many of our sailors paid the ultimate price in the process of ending it.

As a result, Ms Mordaunt is supporting a campaign to build the first memorial to the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which seized vessels bound for the Americas and freed huge numbers of men, women and children.

She wrote: 'This Royal Navy flotilla was the main actor in physically destroying the slave trade. Between 1807 and 1867, it freed more than 150,000 men, women and children destined for servitude in the Americas It captured over 1,600 vessels and more than 1,500 sailors lost their lives in the process. It was dangerous work.'

She also wades into the controversy over how Britain should deal with the legacy of slavery.

Statues have been taken down in recent years, schools and universities have removed the names of slave traders from their sites and the National Trust has drawn up a controversial list of 93 properties with links to slavery and empire.

King Charles has supported research into the monarchy's involvement in the slave trade, but is now facing demands for billions of pounds in reparations from slave-owning nations from Caribbean countries.

Ms Mordaunt  who played a starring role in his Coronation last year  writes : 'Yes, Britain had a role in the slave trade. Yes, people made money out of it. But let's be clear about something. We ended it. Our biggest contribution to the evil trade was to end it. We should honour those who gave their lives fighting to do that.' The West Africa Squadron was based in her home city of Portsmouth and patrolled the west coast of Africa.

Penny Mordaunt (pictured) is supporting a campaign to build the first memorial to the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which seized vessels bound for the Americas and freed huge numbers of men, women and children

The Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, freed more than 150,000 slaves over the course of six decades in the 19th century. Above: A painting by Reverend Robert Ross-Lewin - the chaplain on anti-slavery ship HMS London - showing Royal Navy sailors chasing a slaver ship near Zanzibar

Admiral Lord Alan West and Penny Mordaunt support creating the first memorial to the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which seized vessels bound for the Americas and freed huge numbers of men, women and children

At its peak its 36 ships, crewed by 4,000 men, were using up half of the Royal Navy's budget  equivalent to as much as 50 billion today. Many hundreds of sailors died.

Yet there is no memorial to their vital and dangerous work, prompting local historians to propose one and commission a design for it.

Ms Mordaunt will unveil a model of the memorial design in Parliament later this month.

It comprises three figures  a shackled woman, a naval officer of the time and a freed slave with broken shackles. The campaigners have set up a company to raise the 70,000 needed to make the full-scale version. Organiser Colin Kemp said: 'The slave trade was an appalling episode in our island's story, which has rightly been consigned to the history books.

'In highlighting the atrocious treatment of those who were enslaved, we should also highlight and honour the work of those who did so much to end this vile trade, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice.'

Click here if you'd like to contribute towards the memorial.

We must NOT allow our history to be rewritten, writes PENNY MORDAUNT

By PENNY MORDAUNT MP LEADER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

If there were a league table of self-deprecating nations, Britain would head it. It is part of our character that we don't like to shout about things.

We don't like show-offs. Perhaps because we are a nation so rich in its history and achievements that we feel we don't have to.

These days, it's not fashionable to be proud of our history, nor optimistic about our future.

Lord Roberts and other historians rightly remind us of the role of British history had in forming the world and how far-sighted our actions were. George III signed William Wilberforce's Slave Trade Abolition Act into law as early as 1807.

The government made the policy, but it was the Royal Navy that carried it out. The truth is, you can have whatever policy you like but if you can't carry it out, it's pointless.

Why is this relevant? Because the Royal Navy is still out there today implementing government policy across the globe.

Then, as now, the Royal Navy has a secret weapon  it's competence. Without competence, strategy, policy and technology is pointless. We talk too little about the dedication and professionalism of our Armed Forces, but their role in our history has been central.

PENNY MORDAUNT: The government made the policy, but it was the Royal Navy that carried it out. The truth is, you can have whatever policy you like but if you can't carry it out, it's pointless

Remembering moral leadership, back up by the Royal Navy matters because there's a new generation having its first encounter with historic facts. It's important that they are told the truth.

It's not our truth. Not the revisionist truth. It's the truth. But there are many who want to stop that. They push a narrow, anti-British, grievance-based narrative. They think they are being clever, but they are just being a friend to our enemies. They suggest we should be ashamed of our past or our Armed Forces. They want to rewrite our history in the bleakest way.

Most young people will have none of it. They remain interested and open-minded about history. However, a survey carried out by those seeking to further our historical knowledge found just one person out of 200 had even heard about our role in ending slavery. Equally troubling, most of those who answered did not know that we were the first country to abolish the slave trade, with half of young people mistakenly thinking it was the US.

The way we did it was one of our most remarkable achievements  the West Africa Squadron. This Royal Navy flotilla was the main actor in physically destroying the slave trade. Between 1807 and 1867, it freed more than 150,000 men, women and children destined for servitude in the Americas. It boarded and seized any vessel involved and freed their human cargo.

It captured over 1,600 vessels and more than 1,500 sailors lost their lives in the process. It was dangerous work.

It was expensive, too. At its height, it is estimated to have cost the Exchequer a staggering two per cent of the nation's GDP. That would be equivalent to the entire defence budget today.

No wonder academics Robert Pape and Chaim Kaufmann called it: 'the most expensive moral action in modern history'. Yet there is no memorial to the many sailors who lost their lives.

So now, we're putting that right. This is why I am backing the campaign to build the first memorial to these brave men. It is led by the businessman and campaigner Colin Kemp. The memorial has been designed, fundraising is under way and the plan is to unveil it later this year in Portsmouth, where the squadron was based.

Yes, Britain had a role in the slave trade. Yes, people made money out of it. But let's be clear about something else too. We ended it. Our biggest contribution to the evil trade was to end it. We should honour those who gave their lives fighting to do that. If we are to tell the whole story, then this remarkable initiative should have a higher profile.
The FAA has temporarily grounded a fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets in response to a near-catastrophic failure on an Alaskan Airlines flight on Friday night.

In a statement shared to X on Saturday, the regulator said it is requiring immediate inspections of certain jets before they can return to the skies.

The urgent inspections will affect approximately 171 planes in operation worldwide, and the FAA said 'safety will continue to drive our decision-making' as it assists an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

It comes after terrified passengers said they were left fearing for their lives after an emergency exit used as a cabin window blew out of the Alaskan Airlines flight from Portland to California at 16,000 feet.

The FAA has temporarily grounded almost all Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets in response to a near-catastrophic failure on an Alaskan Airlines flight on Friday night

The regulator announced the move in a tweet on Saturday

The FAA's decision to ground the fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 9's comes as several airlines and regulators have taken similar steps.

Alaskan Airlines quickly made the move after the almost-disaster in Portland on Friday, and CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement the planes will only go back into its fleet after clearing precautionary maintenance procedures, which he expected to be 'in the next few days.'

Other airlines are reportedly readying to make similar announcements.

China's national aviation regulator is also ordering an emergency meeting to discuss grounding the jets across the nation, according to Bloomberg.

According to aviation outlet The Air Current, the aircraft involved in the incident had come under scrutiny by officials just a day before the window blew out.

The outlet claimed that on January 4, an intermittent warning light appeared as it taxied to a terminal from a previous flight, which led the airline to remove it from extended range operations (ETOPS). Later that same day in a separate flight, the warning came back on.

The Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet involved in the incident had reportedly only gone into service in November 2023, and was practically new by aviation standards after reportedly undergoing less than 200 flights before the incident.

Terrified passengers have offered a glimpse on board the plane when it flew into a frenzy, as Emma Vu said she was asleep when she 'felt the entire plane drop.'

She took to TikTok after surviving the horror near-miss, revealing her panic-stricken texts to her family reading: 'The masks r down; I am so scared right now; Please pray for me; Please I don't want to die.'

'In the moment I was so scared,' Vu said.

'The masks dropped, and people are screaming,' she continued, next to a tearful selfie she took in the moment that she feared could be her last.

Passenger Emma Vu said she 'felt the entire plane drop' around 20 minutes into the horror Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday evening, which was bound from Portland to California before a cabin window blasted into the sky at 16,000 feet

Vu revealed her final texts to her family pleading 'I don't want to die', and showed a selfie she took in the moment which she feared could be her last

After being woken up by the window being blown out, Vu revealed the panic-stricken text messages she sent her family, telling them: 'I don't want to die'

'I am so grateful for the ladies sat next to me... they were so sweet at calming me down, and the flight attendants were giving oxygen tanks to those who needed it more,' she said.

'But I was freaking out because my bag wouldn't inflate - and that's literally what they tell you in the safety thing, like don't worry you're still getting air flow... when you're in fight or flight you're not thinking about that.'

'It was just so scary, no one knew what was happening, the pilot came on to tell everyone to put your mask on before you help others - literally word for word what they tell you in the safety training.'

'A toddler's shirt flew off, and their phone flew out the window,' she added. 'It was just so surreal.'

In audio from inside the cockpit, the pilot could be heard radioing for emergency help, saying: 'Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency! Aircraft is now leveling 12,000 in a left turn heading three four zero.

'We need a divert. We've declared an emergency. We are depressurized. We have 177 passengers on board and a seal is...18,900' the pilot can be heard explaining.

Another passenger, 20-year-old Elizabeth, told Oregon Live that the moment the window blew out 'sounded like your ears were popping like normally on a plane, but 10 times louder. I couldn't believe it was real.'

'We were all calm,' she said of her fellow passenger, 'but I did feel like I was about to cry, because who knows this could be my last few moments.'

Another passenger, Kyle Rinker, 29, said the plane became 'deathly silent. Nobody made a noise.'

Reports suggest that 26A, the seat next to the blown-out window, was not occupied.

A photo shows the blown out window. It is offered as a door on the aircraft. Alaska chose not to take this option - although the frame of the prospective door was entirely ripped out by the fuselage failure

The Alaska plane returned to Portland Airport less than an hour after takeoff

The window that blew out was designed as an emergency exit, although the door was deactivated by Boeing before delivery.

It therefore appears from the inside of the cabin like a regular window seat, although from the outside the frame of the deactivated door remains visible. The area of fuselage that was ripped out aligns perfectly with that door frame, suggesting a possible structural failure.

The emergency exit doors are designed to open inwardly and cannot be pushed outwards, according to Airline Reporter.

The National Safety Transport Board said it was investigating the event and will post any updates when they are available.

Boeing unveiled their 737 Max in 2015, and since its Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) approval in 2017 has become one of the most widely used aircraft in the world.

A year later it had its first crash: in October 2018 a 737 Max operated by Indonesian airline Lion Air crashed shortly after take off, killing all 189 on board.

A Lion Air Boeing 737-MAX crashed in Badung Bali in 2013 after it overshot the runway at Bali Ngurah Rai Airport

Wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-MAX plane is seen on March 11, 2019

Five months later, in March 2019, a second 737 Max - this one operated by Ethiopian Airlines - crashed again shortly after take off, killing all 157 on board.

Three days later the planes were grounded by the FAA.

It later emerged that Boeing staff, in internal messages, were cavalier about FAA regulations and critical of the Max's design.

One said it the aircraft was 'designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys.'

The 737 design dates back to the 1960s and Boeing was criticized for adding large engines to an old airframe instead of using a 'clean sheet design'.

Faults were discovered in the aircraft's MCAS, or Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System: the MCAS was found in both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air crashes to have erroneously pointed the nose down towards the ground, and the pilots were unable to override it.

In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion in fines in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to settle charges the company hid critical information about the Max from regulators and the public.

Boeing spent billions overhauling the systems and the planes returned to global skies in the fall of 2020, after being grounded for 20 months  the longest such action in aviation history.
Heartfelt tributes have been paid to a couple found dead at a property in Greenock, Scotland, as police launch a probe into the 'unexplained' tragedy.

The bodies of Neil McLaughlin, 57 and his wife, Alison, 53, were discovered by officers at the house in Banff Road in the Inverclyde town, at around 5.05pm on Friday, following a report of concern for the people inside.

Police Scotland Renfrewshire & Inverclyde said they are trying to establish what happened, but have not received information to suggest anyone else is involved.

After publicly naming the couple, friends, family and wider community members shared their tributes online.

One said: 'Can't believe it - the first lady I told I was pregnant to when I worked with her & the kindest sweetest soul you would ever meet! May they rest in peace.'

The bodies of Neil McLaughlin, 57 and Alison McLaughlin, 53, were found by police officers on Friday evening at a property in Banff Road, Greenock

Police Scotland is probing the 'unexplained' tragedy, though said there was not any information to suggest anyone else was involved. Pictured: Banff Road, Greenock

Another wrote: 'Thinking of their families and wee daughter and granddaughter. Yous will be missed by all who knew you both. Lovely couple RIP Neil and Allison xx '

A third described Mrs McLaughlin as 'a beautiful women with a beautiful heart of gold.'

Detective Inspector Gordon Smith said: 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Neil and Alison.

'We are providing their families with specialist support at this incredibly difficult time. They have asked for privacy.

'The deaths are currently being treated as unexplained and inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.

Police said they are supporting the families following the tragedy in Greenock, Inverclyde

'At this time we have no information to suggest anyone else is involved in connection with the deaths and there is no risk to the wider public.

'A police presence will remain in the area while our investigation continues and anyone with concerns should speak to officers.'

Police said that a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard appeared giddy as her husband, Ryan Anderson, twirled her like a princess in New York's Central Park as a camera crew caught the sweet moment on Friday.

The 32-year-old has been on a whirlwind trip in New York City doing the media circuit and attending some posh events with her husband, Ryan Anderson, whom she married in a jailhouse wedding in July 2022.

The former ex-con was released last week after serving an eight-year prison stint for the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, in June 2015.

One person who saw the happy couple in the park yelled out, 'Gypsy we love you!' as she waved and smiled.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the quaint town of Springfield, Missouri hordes of true crime tourists have descended on Gypsy's former home to catch a glimpse of the pink-shingled house where the murder took place.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, 32, is all smiles as her husband, Ryan Anderson twirls her around Central Park during a visit there on Friday

The 32-year-old has been on a whirlwind trip in New York City doing the media circuit and attending some posh events with her husband

Gypsy Rose married Ryan Anderson in a jailhouse wedding in July 2022

Anderson appeared to have stopped for snacks and refreshments for their stroll around Central Park

The former ex-con was released last week after serving an eight-year prison stint for the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, in June 2015

Gypsy Rose appeared giddy as her husband twirled her like a princess in New York's Central Park as a camera crew caught the sweet moment

One person who saw the happy couple in the park yelled out, 'Gypsy we love you!' as she waved and smiled

Some are disrupting the neighbors by driving fast down the residential street - at all hours of the day and night - or asking them where the house is since the wheelchair ramp was removed and the house was repainted blue.

One neighbor identified as Tonia told TMZ that she didn't want to share any information with the tourists to protect the mother and daughter who currently live in the home.

Others on the block were not pleased with the traffic and the chaos that has turned their once quiet street into a media circus.

Local Thomas Pengilly has described the ordeal as stressful and told the celebrity publication that the home should have been torn down.

He cautioned others to find better things to do in life than relive someone's trauma and pain.

Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a form of abuse that typically sees a guardian or caretaker inflicting harm upon their child or greatly exaggerating medical issues to gain sympathy.

She moved into the home with her mentally ill mother after it was donated by Habitat for Humanity after DeeDee falsely claimed that they lost their home during Hurricane Katrina.

The one story home was handicap accessible and had a wheelchair ramp so it was easy for Gypsy to get around.

Dee Dee Blanchard was found stabbed to death in her home in the summer of 2015 by Gypsy's then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn.

Godejohn committed the murder while Gypsy Rose reportedly hid in the bathroom.

He is serving a life sentence.

The pink-shingled home that Gypsy lived in with her Munchausen-by-proxy mother Dee Dee and where the June 2015 murder took place. The home that was built by Habitat for Humanity was donated to Dee Dee after she falsely claimed that she lost her home during Hurricane Katrina

A photo of Gypsy with her mentally ill mother DeeDee, who was accused of abusing her daughter for years while under her care

Gypsy (pictured) was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a form of abuse that typically sees a guardian or caretaker inflicting harm upon their child or greatly exaggerating medical issues to gain sympathy

She is pictured in a wheelchair next to her mother, who suffered from mental illness

Gypsy was released from prison early on parole.

Earlier this week, she appeared on 'The View' and on 'Good Morning America' where she admitted that she did not want to kill her mother, but believed it was 'the only way out' of her situation.'

Dressed in a low cut black mini dress, Gypsy and her husband walked the red carpet during the premiere of her new Lifetime show, 'The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard,' looking blissful.
This week, the FBI announced it was joining the search and Avery is now added to the national database for missing children

Police have said they have no idea she is and have been trying to follow leads for three months

Iowa police have yet not been able to locate a five-year-old girl who has allegedly been 'kidnapped' by her non-custodial mother.

Avery Lydia Doherty was reported missing to the Story County Sheriff's Office in October 2023.

Officials believe the child was taken by her mother, Esther Bender, who does not have legal custody of the child.

An Amber Alert was not issued when she disappeared as there was no vehicle description.

Avery Lydia Doherty was reported missing to the Story County Sheriff's Office in October 2023

Both parents were going through a lengthy custody battle and court documents show Brandon was petitioning for visitation rights

It is unclear who had custody of the child in the meantime

According to KCCI, father Brandon Doherty and Bender were going through a lengthy custody battle and court documents show Brandon was petitioning for visitation rights.

It is unclear who had custody of the child in the meantime.

After three months of no news, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced they were joining the search for the toddler this week.

Brandon also told the channel: 'At first, I even told officers "no way, I don't see her doing that" but like the more we go on. I'm starting to get some real dark thoughts.

'I sit in my daughter's room a lot and I talk to her. I pray a lot.

'Walk from my dart board through my house into my room where I have a mirror and it's just back and forth pace

'I just constantly ask God to give her a hug for me. I want to squeeze her so bad.'

Ames Police Public Information Officer Sergent Amber Christian said they 'honestly have no idea' where the mother and daughter are

Brandon said: 'I just constantly ask God to give her a hug for me. I want to squeeze her so bad'

Ames Police Public Information Officer Sergent Amber Christian told KCCI that the department continues to follow up on leads but they 'honestly have no idea' where the mother and daughter are.

'We honestly have no idea. Everywhere we have turned, everywhere we have looked into has not come up with any solutions. And so again, we do have a detective following up on anything that comes in. At this point, we dont know where they are

'At this point, we would just like Esther to let us know that Avery is OK, and by doing that, she needs to come forward and let us see Avery and have a conversation,' Christian said on January 2.

The investigation is ongoing and Avery has now been added to the national database for missing children.
Two supercar bandits who kidnapped a rich Lamborghini driver at gunpoint in Cheltenham and handcuffed a Ferrari owner's lover in front of his terrified little son have been jailed for 27 years.

In one case, a man was kidnapped at gunpoint by a robber who visited his house pretending to want to buy the victim's 164,000 Lamborghini.

In another, a Ferrari owner's frightened partner was threatened with an imitation gun while he was handcuffed and their young son managed to flee.

When they were sitting together on a sofa, Mohammed Ali pulled out the gun and pointed it directly at him, before a scuffle ensued and the victim's partner was dragged off, the prosecutor said.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Ali told a Lamborghini owner in Cheltenham he was 'worth 20m' but then pulled out a pistol on him, put him in handcuffs and ordered him to transfer 100,000 from his bank account.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Mohammed Ali (pictured) told a Lamborghini owner in Cheltenham he was 'worth 20m' but then pulled out a pistol on him, put him in handcuffs and ordered him to transfer 100,000 from his bank account

The victim was unable to do it as he did not have the funds so Ali instead managed to take 7,000, saying 'I thought you were a millionaire?' and 'is that all you've got?' before putting him in his car, driving him 76 miles to Stafford and abandoning him there.

In a victim impact statement, he said he has now resigned from his job and his relationship with his partner has broken down since the robbery last year.

Just two months after that offence, Ali and teenage co-defendant Muhamed Juwara carried out the exact same crime against a couple in Nottinghamshire who were selling their 170,000 Ferrari.

Jonathan Dee, prosecuting, said the Nottinghamshire robbery took place in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in September 2022.

He said Ali agreed to meet the seller at his home to discuss buying the Ferrari. He and Juwara, who met working at an Amazon warehouse, travelled from their homes in West Yorkshire with a plan to steal it from them.

The prosecutor said: 'When they were sitting together on a sofa, Ali pulled out the gun and pointed it directly at him and told Juwara "put the cuffs on him".

'Mr Juwara leapt on him and there was a scuffle. The victim's partner was dragged off by Ali who was still holding the gun.

'She had the chance to feel it and said "it's plastic" and she fought back reaching for a vase. Their nine-year-old son, who had been upstairs, ran off and Juwara shouted "the boy has gone".'

The prosecutor said evidence then proved that he had carried out the Gloucestershire robbery and kidnap two months earlier when that victim advertised his Lamborghini supercar on the same website.

Ali contacted him claiming to be worth 20m. He visited his house near Cheltenham and again pulled out an imitation gun, threatened to kill the victim and tied him up.

He then drove him to Stafford, some 76 miles away, and left him there.

Ali, 39, of Willow Brook Manor, Wakefield, pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Juwara, 18, of Bayswater Road, Leeds, pleaded guilty to robbery.

Mr Dee read out victim impact statements made by all three of the people who were robbed.

The Nottinghamshire man said: 'It has changed me as a person, I have stopped trusting people who come to my house and I can not see a future where this incident is not in my mind.'

Pictured: Muhamed Juwara. The prosecutor said: 'When they were sitting together on a sofa, Ali pulled out the gun and pointed it directly at him and told Juwara "put the cuffs on him". Mr Juwara leapt on him and there was a scuffle. The victim's partner was dragged off by Ali who was still holding the gun'

In her statement, his partner said: 'I feel increased anxiety and I'm jumpy around others. I genuinely thought I was going to die.'

The Gloucestershire man said the incident 'has had a profound effect' on his life.

He said: 'I was unable to feel safe in our own house and had to live in a hotel at first. I am now withdrawn and struggling with trust issues. I resigned from my job and my relationship broke down.'

Paul Addison, for Ali, said his client is married with a young child and he carried out the robberies after falling into debt, having borrowed money from 'unregulated' sources.

He said: 'It was a bad decision he made at a time when he knows he lost his moral compass.'

Esther Harrison, for Juwara, said her client had come to the UK via Africa and Europe. She added that he was living with his older brothers in Leeds and that his father lives in Spain.

She said: 'He was a hard-working young man who had a future but accepts he's put it at risk for a very long time.'

Ali received an 18-year prison sentence and Juwara was sent to a young offender's institution for nine years.

Judge William Harbage KC said: 'Whether it was the one offence or both offences you put the householders concerned through a terrifying and prolonged ordeal. In the Nottingham case you did not just put the one victim through an ordeal but his partner and child as well.

'In both cases it must have been the householder's worst nightmare to be attacked in their own home at gunpoint. The terror they felt can only be imagined.'

In a statement released when the pair were charged, Detective Inspector Paul Lefford, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'I'd like to commend the investigation team whose outstanding work and resilience achieved this result for the victims. It involved persistence and team work to give the best quality of service to the victim and to protect the public.

'I hope the excellent work in this case shows how seriously the force takes reports of robbery and how committed it is to reducing violence in our communities and protecting the public. Nottinghamshire Police will always investigate reports and work relentlessly to put suspects before the courts and seek justice for victims.'
Republican attorneys general from 27 states have filed a court brief supporting Donald Trump in his Supreme Court battle to remain on Colorado's 2024 presidential ballot.

In a 22-page 'friend of the court' brief filed on Saturday, the attorneys general called on the high court to strike down a Colorado court decision barring Trump under the 14th Amendment's insurrectionist ban.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on February 8, and its decision on Trump's eligibility to run for president will have far-reaching implications for the November election, after Maine acted separately to ban Trump on similar grounds.

In their brief, the Republican AGs argued that if allowed to stand, the 'Colorado court's decision will create widespread chaos.'

'Most obviously, it casts confusion into an election cycle that is just weeks away. Beyond that, it upsets the respective roles of the Congress, the States, and the courts,' the filing argues.

Republican attorneys general from 27 states have filed a court brief supporting Donald Trump in his Supreme Court battle to remain on Colorado's 2024 presidential ballot

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (left) and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (right) led the filing, which was joined by AGs from 25 other states

The brief argues that the Colorado court overstepped its authority in banning Trump from the presidency.

Beyond the Constitution's clear age, residency and citizenship requirements, decisions on who can serve as president rightly rests first with voters to choose a president, and then with Congress under the power of impeachment, the brief argues.

If the Colorado decision is allowed to stand, future presidential elections would devolve into battles waged in state court over candidate eligibility, the brief argued.

'Many Americans will become convinced that a few partisan actors have contrived to take a political decision out of ordinary voters' hands,' it states.

'The Court should act now to stop all these 'strange, far-reaching, and injurious results' from spinning out of control,' the filing stated.

The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether Trump can be kept off the ballot over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The court will be considering for the first time the meaning and reach of a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who 'engaged in insurrection' from holding public office.

The amendment was adopted in 1868, following the Civil War. It has been so rarely used that the nation's highest court had no previous occasion to interpret it.

The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether Trump can be kept off the ballot over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss

Colorado's Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, ruled last month that Trump should not be on the Republican primary ballot, marking the first time the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot.

Trump is separately appealing to state court a ruling by Maine's Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, that he was ineligible to appear on that states ballot over his role in the Capitol attack.

Both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state's rulings are on hold until the appeals play out.

Trump, speaking at a campaign event in Iowa, reacted to the Supreme Court's decision to hear the Colorado case by saying: 'All I want is fair. I just hope that they're going to be fair.'
Boris Johnson and his family braced the cold and very muddy footpaths today as they watched Morris dancing at a centuries-old Anglo-Saxon festival.

The former Prime Minister, 59, was seen alongside his wife Carrie Johnson and their young children as they enjoyed the celebration of Wassail Ceremony at the Jubilee Orchard in Brightwell cum Sotwell, South Oxfordshire.

Mr Johnson appeared cheery as he walked his terrier-cross dog Dilyn and carried one of his children on his shoulders alongside other locals.

Wearing a navy hat, grey coat, and blue trousers, paired with a green pair of wellies, he watched the historic tradition that takes place annually to bless orchards and ensure a good harvest for the next year.

During the ceremony members of the Armaleggon Morris danced as ceremonial cider was poured onto the roots of the trees, while others clattered pots and pans to warn off any evil spirits.

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson were seen on a family day out in Brightwell cum Sotwell in Oxfordshire today as they joined a traditional Wassail Ceremony

The traditional Anglo-Saxon festival is held in hope of a full harvest in the coming year. Pictured: A man participates in the Wassail Ceremony, wearing a crown and holding a bouquet of different leaves

During the ceremony the crowd are treated to a performance by Morris dancers, chants and traditional songs. Pictured: Members of the Armaleggon Morris dancers at the Wassail Ceremony in South Oxfordshire

The crowd also serenaded the tree with chants and traditional songs, while some locals used shotguns during the ceremony.

Other members of the community appeared dressed in traditional costumes. Some appeared to have their faces painted as if they were animals, while others wore crowns and different plans on their heads.

Traditionally the festival is meant to take place on the Twelfth Night, however, now the ceremonies can fall anywhere between late December and February, according to the National Trust.

No wassail ceremony is complete without trying the wassail drink, according to the charity, which is often a local cider blended with spices and honey.

It is not the first time the former leader of the Conservative Party has been seen out and about in his local community.

Last New Year's Eve he was seen welcoming in 2022 at a local pub, believed to be in Charlbury.

The former Prime Minister was seen walking his dog Dilyn while carrying one of his young children on his shoulders, alongside his wife Carrie

The Prime Minister was accompanied by his his terrier-cross dog Dilyn, who appears to have walked through some muddy puddles on the way to the festival

The couple joined locals as they marched on muddy foot paths to get to the ceremonial site

Surrounded by people in cowboy hats, Mr Johnson, rung in the New Year in what appeared to be a barn dance.

In September he was granted permission to build a pool in his grade-II listed property in the county, despite opposition from local officials.

Mr Johnson, who bought his 4million home in May, vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to get the 11-by-four metre project built after a holding objection from a government ecologist delayed proceedings.

South Oxfordshire District Council, however, went on to grant approval to building work at the Grade II-listed Brightwell Manor.

They said Mr Johnson will need to 'enhance' a nearby orchard to help compensate for any loss to biodiversity.
MAIL ON SUNDAY EXCLUSIVE Mr Brennan confronted a thief and then chased him for two miles as he fled... but was fined for his driving during the chase

A retired police officer described the criminal justice system as 'broken' yesterday after he was fined for pursuing a shoplifter in his car  while the offender escaped prosecution entirely.

Norman Brennan, 64, confronted the thief in the street and, when he turned and fled, followed him for nearly two miles before helping police arrest him. He then retraced the man's steps and found nine expensive bottles of wine hidden behind a block of flats in a backpack.

But instead of being commended for his public-spirited bravery, Mr Brennan was astonished to receive a 130 fine from his local council for briefly driving the wrong way down a one-way street during the pursuit.

This is despite policing minister Chris Philp previously urging members of the public to help curb shoplifting by making citizen's arrests if they see it happening.

The shoplifter, meanwhile, was neither fined nor cautioned. The manager of Sainsbury's Local on Twickenham Green, South-West London, decided not to press charges.

In a letter refusing his appeal against the fine, the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames told Mr Brennan that 'while I appreciate you were following an alleged shoplifter, you had no legal authority to enter this road'.

Norman Brennan confronted a thief and chased him for nearly two miles before helping police arrest him. He was later fined for going the wrong way down a one-way street

Mr Brennan, a retired policeman, gave chase to a shoplifter leaving this Sainsbury's Local in Twickenham, London. Sainsbury's did not press charges on the thief

Norman Brennan, right, in 2002 in New York on the anniversary of 9/11. He was among a UK contingent attending the one-year anniversary of the attacks

Mr Brennan told the MoS that at the time he was talking to a 999 operator on his hands-free and doing less than 5mph. He added that the 'farcical episode' makes a mockery of Policing Minister Chris Philp's appeal to the public to help tackle the shoplifting epidemic by making citizen's arrests when they see thieves stealing goods.

'What a complete waste of my time and an absolute farce,' he said. 'The only one being punished here is me. This was a rare situation in which everything was handed to the police and Sainsbury's on a plate  all the evidence and the culprit himself  but it still resulted in the guy walking free.

'Big supermarkets need to get serious about tackling shoplifting by declaring that they will take action. The police are in the middle of this, not really bothering because they know that on the rare occasions cases do get to court the offenders are let off with a conditional discharge or a small fine or a community order.

'The Government has promised a crackdown on this crime, which the police can't fulfil. It's all a big mess. The criminal justice system is broken, not fit for purpose.'

Mr Brennan, a former British Transport Police detective constable, has been honoured numerous times for bravery. Since retiring in 2009 he has been described as 'one of the best-known voices of British policing'. He set up the Victims Of Crime Trust, whose patrons include Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered toddler James Bulger.

And he launched Protect the Protectors, which successfully campaigned for police to carry side-handled batons, stab-resistant vests and CS spray.

The Mail on Sunday has led the way on exposing Britain's shoplifting scandal with a hard-hitting campaign calling for tougher action. We revealed how the crisis is costing stores 1billion a year.

Recalling the incident, Mr Brennan said he was in his car having a coffee one lunchtime last October when he heard a shout and saw a man in his 30s sprinting past with a backpack. 'I know the staff in Sainsbury's and saw one of them chasing him,' he said. 'I followed in my car, drove in front of him, jumped out and confronted him, but he turned and ran off behind a block of flats.'

Unable to pursue him on foot because of arthritic knees, Mr Brennan waited for the thief to reappear, then trailed him discreetly in his car to an industrial estate while speaking to a 999 operator who promised back-up.

Had he not turned into the one-way street, he said, he would have lost sight of the thief. 'I am an advanced police driver and was extremely careful when driving  or rather crawling  down this road.

Mr Brennan said that at the time he was talking to a 999 operator on his hands-free and doing less than 5mph

The former policeman said that this 'farcical episode' made a mockery of the government's appeal to the public to help tackle the shoplifting epidemic

Mr Brennan returned stolen wine bottles to the Sainsbury's, where he found the manager being interviewed by police

'I was staggered by the response from Richmond  cold and dispassionate and lacking any common sense. Surely they could have exercised discretion.'

When the police arrived, Mr Brennan told them where he believed the man was hiding and the man was arrested. Mr Brennan said that when he recovered the backpack most of the wine bottles were broken. He returned them to the store, where he found the manager being interviewed by police.

Since retiring, Mr Brennan has caught 29 shoplifters. Of the latest incident he said: 'The message seems to be that in today's Britain you can go into a supermarket and steal whatever you like, safe in the knowledge that even if caught by police you won't be punished.

'I've been left to spend hours appealing against this stupid fine  which has now gone up to 195.'

A police spokesman said: 'Officers responded to a report of shoplifting after a man stole several bottles of wine from a shop in Twickenham. He was detained nearby. Officers spoke with staff at the shop who did not wish to pursue the matter further.'

A spokesman for the supermarket said: 'The safety of our colleagues and customers is our highest priority. We are in contact with the police about this incident.'
A woman in her 40s tragically died as dozens of firefighters battled to save her from a blaze in Hackney.

London Fire Brigade and Metropolitan Police are now investigating the cause of the fire, which took hold in a ground floor flat in Nisbet House in Homerton High Street on Saturday morning.

Met Police said however that the cause of the blaze is not believed to be suspicious.

Around 30 firefighters were at the scene, following seven calls to emergency services at 8.23am on Saturday morning.

Crews from Homerton, Leyton, Stoke Newington and surrounding fire stations attended and brought the fire under control by 9.39am.

A woman in her 40s tragically died as dozens of firefighters battled to save her from a blaze in Hackney on Saturday morning

Around 30 firefighters battled the blaze, which broke out at a flat in Homerton High Street

In a statement, Met Police confirmed a woman in her 40s had died and said: 'Her next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

'An investigation is under way to establish the cause of the fire. It is not believed to be suspicious.'

A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said: ''Sadly a woman has died following a flat fire in Hackney.

'Six fire engines and around 30 firefighters responded to a fire on Homerton High Street, in a building of five floors.

'Part of a ground floor flat was damaged by the fire. A woman was found in the flat, and sadly pronounced dead at the scene.'
Ronald 'Butch' Cobren Jr. shot dead his new fiancee and her two daughters on December 14, police say

A retired US postal worker gunned down his fiancee and her two daughters - one of whom was pregnant - before turning the gun on himself in a grisly mass shooting in Ashland, Illinois.

The tragedy unfolded on December 14, with another unidentified man also reportedly shot in the home after gunman Ronald 'Butch' Cobren Jr. opened fire.

Police say he caused the bloodbath at the family's ramshackle home near Springfield, Illinois, with first responders initially arriving at the scene to find pregnant 19-year-old Autumn Bell dead from a gunshot wound.

As they moved through the home, officers found a man shot with life-threatening wounds, before they then discovered the bodies of Alaria Bell, 16, and Cobren's fiancee Christina Bell, 53.

Ronald 'Butch' Cobren Jr. is believed by police to have shot his new fiancee Christina Bell (pictured together), her two daughters dead, and injured an unidentified man, in a brutal mass shooting on December 14

Autumn Bell, 19, (left) and her sister Alaria, 16, (right) were both found shot dead in their home in Ashland, Illinois

The grisly scene concluded as police found Cobren dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with the unnamed male victim reportedly later telling investigators the name of the shooter.

The mass shooting rocked the small town of only around 1,200 people, and Cass County Sheriff Devron Ohrn told ABC7 that he personally knew all of those involved, including the gunman.

'Heinous acts of this magnitude rocks the core of any community,' Ohrn added.

Investigators said the tragic shooting unfolded following reports of a person being shot in the stomach.

EMS responded to the call, with paramedics first discovering Autumn dead from a gunshot wound.

Tragically, Autumn had shared images of her ultrasound on social media just a month before her death, celebrating the upcoming birth of her first child with her boyfriend.

Police quickly established that Cobren Jr. was the shooter, and said he was a longtime resident of the small community and was a retired US postal worker.

Investigators said he had recently become engaged to Christina Bell, and their social media accounts include several smiling selfies of the couple together.

The tragic shooting unfolded last month at the family's ramshackle home in Ashland, Illinois, around 20 miles from the city of Springfield

Investigators say Cobren and Bell were recently engaged, and their social media accounts show the couple in several smiling selfies

Officers initially arrived on the scene to reports of a man shot in the stomach, before they tragically found the bodies of Christina (right) and her daughter Alaria (left) in the home

Just a month before her death, Autumn shared an image of her ultrasound to social media as she celebrated the upcoming arrival of her first child

After the discovery of the family's bodies in their home, police say they found Cobren's car parked in nearby Jacksonville, Illinois, where the suspected gunman was deceased after seemingly turning the gun on himself.

Officials are yet to release any motive over the killings, and several law enforcement agencies including the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Division have launched an investigation.

Sherriff Ohrn said the shooting has shaken his community, and felt that in a small town there is a familiarity that 'breeds trust'.

'We will all get through this the Cass County way,' he continued.

'Offering support, care and remembrance. Be quick to lend a hand or a hug and be slow to criticize.

'Pray for the family and the many affected by these senseless acts of violence. Lastly, reach out if help is needed and always remember the victims.'

Autopsies are set to be conducted on Monday, and officials insisted there is no further danger to the community.

Cass County Sheriff Devron Ohrn (pictured) said the senseless shooting had 'rocked the core' of his community

Tributes have poured in for the victims in the tragic shooting, with Daniel Castle, a close friend to several members of the family, saying on Facebook he loved them 'with all of my heart.'

'I honestly also considered Autumn to be one of my best friends and I'm absolutely going to miss her for the rest of my life.

'Everyone here in Illinois has been so supportive and generous, so I'm posting to reach out to my friends and family out of state.

'Anything you can do - share, donate, pray if you're religious, and keep my friends, their family, those no longer with us, and those who never got the chance to be, in your thoughts.'

He added that the man who was shot 'saved lives' and is 'still fighting.'

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family recover and to pay for funeral costs, noting that 'this family has suffered an unimaginable tragedy'.

'Chrissy, Alaria, Autumn, and an unborn baby were tragically shot and killed. The family needs this community and surrounding communities to come together like never before and help them lay these three beautiful souls to rest.'
A fight has broken out among a crowd of 300 migrants waiting outside in the cold for shelter in New York City ahead of a major snowstorm which is set to hit the East Coast.

The incident began at around 8.30am outside the re-intake center in East Village when one man tried to sneak into the large line, eyewitnesses told The New York Post.

He was holding a cup of coffee and spilled it on to others while trying to cut in front before he was confronted by another migrant.

An argument quickly turned physical with the man allegedly punching the line-cutter who fell to the ground and others joined in.

The fight led to two police officers being injured as they tried to break it up and two men were then arrested.

A fight has broken out among a crowd of 300 migrants waiting outside in the cold for shelter in New York City ahead of a major snowstorm which is set to hit the East Coast

The incident began at around 8.30am outside the re-intake center in East Village when one man tried to sneak into the large line, eyewitnesses told The New York Post

Footage captured shows police officers urging the crowd to stand back in order to regain control of the situation.

'People were punching each other and fighting  a lot of people,' Samantha Hernandez, 27, from Mexico said.

'I think they were desperate about the situation  its very bad. Theres too many people, and theres not a lot of opportunities for us here.

'And [the city] treats us like animals.'

The police officers suffered minor injuries to their knees and face while trying to break up the fight.

They were taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to the NYPD. It is not clear if any migrants were hurt in the brawl.

The NYPD said the two men involved in the fight are in custody but are yet to be charged. DailyMail.com has contacted the police department for comment.

They were part of a crowd of more than 300 people who were desperately trying to find shelter before the snowstorm hits the East Coast.

The line for the East Village facility snaked around the building and some migrants revealed they have been waiting a month for a bed.

A man from Mauritania revealed that he's been waiting 25 days to get a bed, while others have waited even longer - without being offered any food.

He revealed that the conditions inside the shelters are dire. 'Inside the shelter there are fights, people steal phones, people have knives and there is not enough food.

A man was holding a cup of coffee and spilled it on to others while trying to cut in front before he was confronted by another migrant

An argument quickly turned physical with the man allegedly punching the line-cutter who fell to the ground and others joined in

The fight led to two police officers being injured as they tried to break it up and two men were then arrested

The men were part of a crowd of more than 300 people who were desperately trying to find shelter before the snowstorm hits the East Coast

'They need to close the border as there are too many (people) now.'

The man revealed that homeless migrants are forced to sleep on the streets or the subway because there is nowhere else to go. 'People have to wait in line for a place in a warming site and it is not always possible.'

Groups of migrants waited outside the former St. Brigid Catholic School all day on Friday in sub-zero temperatures with no blankets or warm clothing.

The lines have exposed the severity of New York City's migrant crisis, with hundreds of people - mainly young men - lining up around the block for shelter in Manhattan.

It comes as the Northeast of America braces for snowstorms with blizzard conditions starting this weekend until mid-January.

While many may expect fluffy snow, the National Weather Service has predicted snow, sleet and freezing rain starting Saturday afternoon through Sunday.

Parts of southern Connecticut, northeast New Jersey and southeast New York are predicted to receive four to eight inches of snow between 4pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday.

Mobs of migrants lined up outside a NYC processing center in freezing weather as some revealed they have been waiting a month for a bed

The migrants had traveled from all over and ended up at a re-intake center for adult single migrants in the East Village

Swarms of migrants waited outside the former St. Brigid Catholic School all day on Friday in sub-zero temperatures with no blankets or warm clothing

A man from Mauritania revealed that he's been waiting 25 days to get a bed, while others have waited even longer (Pictured: Mauritanian migrant Moussa Thiam, 29)

Heavy wet snow and flooding have been predicted in the boroughs of Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn and south Queens starting Saturday night.

The National Weather Service has advised New Yorkers not to drive through these regions.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts are expected to see the heaviest snowfall from the winter storm system, between six to 12 inches in some areas starting Saturday night.

The heartbreaking conditions migrants are facing all over the U.S. come after a record number of migrants crossed the U.S. southern border in December.

There were 300,000 encounters in the last month of 2023, U.S. Custom and Border Patrol sources told Fox News. Between Dec. 1 and December 31, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border.

It is the highest total for a single month ever recorded in history and it marks the first time migrant encounters have reached over 300,000.
A drive to put 'popular Conservative' policies and anti-woke measures at the heart of the next Election manifesto is set to be launched by Liz Truss and other top Tories.

The ex-Prime Minister will join Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel and Sir Simon Clarke to form a new 'Popular Conservatism' group, aimed at reconnecting Party members and stemming defections to Richard Tice's Reform UK.

The new 'PopCon' group will urge Rishi Sunak to go to the country later this year with policies that appeal to traditional Tory voters.

The Mail on Sunday understands this could include amending the Equality Act, which some Tory MPs blame for watering down transgender guidance to schools.

PopCon may also call for reforms to the Human Rights Act, amid claims it cripples the Government's strategy to remove illegal migrants to Rwanda.

Liz Truss, who resigned as Prime Minister in October 2022, is set to launch to 'Popular Conservatism'

The former Prime Minister is set to be joined by Conservative figured including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel and Sir Simon Clarke

Last night, Sir Jacob said: 'It is only right that we try to ensure that the manifesto Rishi Sunak presents to the electorate is something that will chime with what Conservative voters want.

'That way we can help the PM to be re-elected and save the country from the disaster of a Starmer-led socialist government.'

The move comes as Labour plots to ambush the Rwanda plan timetable by forcing a vote on the policy as the Commons returns from Christmas recess.

Mr Sunak is also facing reports that as Chancellor during Boris Johnson's premiership, he had doubts about sending migrants to the African country.

Last night, a No 10 source said: 'The PM was always fully behind the principle of the scheme as a deterrent. As Chancellor, it was his job to make sure it delivered and taxpayers' money was appropriately spent.'
A woman in her 90s has been pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan, five days after a major quake slammed the region, killing at least 126 people.

The woman in Suzu city, Ishikawa Prefecture, had survived for 124 hours after the 7.6 magnitude quake that hit the area on Monday.

Chances for survival typically diminish after the first 72 hours.

Images show a nighttime operation by emergency services, with several crew members hauling the elderly woman into an ambulance from a blue sheet in rainy conditions.

Many other dramatic rescues have been reported over the past few days as soldiers, firefighters and others joined a widespread effort.

Police officers use blue sheets as a woman in 90s is rescued alive from a collapsed house in Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024

An ambulance at the scene as a woman in her 90s is rescued from a collapsed house in Suzu, Ishikawa, Japan, 124 hours after the multiple earthquakes, on January 6, 2024

Among the 126 dead was a five-year-old boy who had been recovering from injuries he suffered when boiling water spilled on him during the earthquake on Monday.

His condition suddenly worsened and he died on Friday, according to officials in Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region.

Aftershocks threatened to bury more homes and block roads crucial for relief shipments.

Officials warned that roads already cracked could collapse completely. That risk was growing with rain and snow expected overnight and on Sunday.

Wajima city has recorded the highest number of deaths with 69, followed by Suzu with 38. More than 500 people were injured, at least 27 of them seriously.

The tremors left roofs on roads and everything beneath them crushed flat. Roads were warped, while in Wajima, fire turned a whole neighbourhood into ashes.

More than 200 people were still unaccounted for, although the number has fluctuated. Eleven people were reported trapped under two homes that collapsed in Anamizu.

In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

A woman in her 90s is rescued from a collapsed house in Suzu, Ishikawa, Japan, 124 hours after the multiple earthquakes, on January 6, 2024

Rescue workers carry the 90-year-old into an ambulance in Suzu, Ishikawa, Japan, on January 6, 2024

Fallen houses and rubble in the quake-hit city Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, on January 5, 2024

Cars and houses are seen damaged at the coastal area of the tsunami-hit Suzu city, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024

Vehicles sit piled up after being washed up by a tsunami in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture on January 3, 2024

Members of a rescue team search houses for survivors in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture on January 4, 2024, after a major earthquake struck the Noto region in Ishikawa prefecture on New Year's Day

Police officers check a collapsed building in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, on January 5, 2024, after a major earthquake struck the Noto region on New Year's Day

Traffic passes along a newly paved road next to a car which remains stuck in the old pavement in the city of Anamizu, Ishikawa prefecture, on January 6, 2024, after a major earthquake struck the Noto region on New Year's Day

Japan earlier received messages expressing sympathy and promises of aid from US President Joe Biden and other allies.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan was grateful for all the messages, including the one from North Korea.

Mr Hayashi said the last time Japan received a condolence message from North Korea for a disaster was in 1995.

Along Japan's coastline, power is gradually being restored, but water supplies are still short. Emergency water systems were also damaged.

Thousands of troops were flying and trucking in water, food and medicine to the more than 30,000 people who had evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities.
An Alabama man who was sentenced this week after being found guilty of paying his brother to kill his ex-wife was told to rot by his estranged children.

Jason Starr and his brother, Darin, were sentenced to life on January 5 after being found guilty of the 2017 murder of 38-year-old mother-of-four, Sara Starr.

Jason has also been ordered to pay a fine of $25,000. There is no parole possible in the federal court system.

At the time of the sentencing, one of his daughters said, 'F*** you, I hope you rot,' while another called him a coward and a loser.

According to WTVY, the children had been told of their mother's death while they were at school.

Sara Starr, a 38-year-old mother of two sets of twins and beloved fourth-grade teacher, was shot and killed in her driveway of her Enterprise, Alabama, home on November 27, 2017

Officials concluded that Jason did not want to pay Sara the money the court awarded her in their divorce settlement: $1,050 a month in child support and $1,500 in alimony

Four months after the court order, Jason sent approximately $2,600 to Darin, reportedly gave his brother a motorcycle and requested to kill his ex-wife

Acting United States Attorney Ross said after the sentencing, 'This premeditated murder devastated the victims family and the surrounding community.

'Jason and Darin Starr deserve to spend the rest of their lives separated from society for the terrible crime they committed.'

According to officials, Darin shot and killed the beloved school teacher in her driveway as she was leaving for work in November 2017.

Experts testified she died from two point-blank shotgun blasts fired as she walked from her Alabama home.

After the divorce, Sara was forced to live in her churchs parsonage and struggled to make ends meet. She was also always fearful of what Jason may do to her

In September 2023, a federal jury convicted Jason Starr and Darin Starr for committing their murder-for-hire scheme.

Officials concluded that Jason did not want to pay Sara the money the court awarded her in their divorce settlement - $1,050 a month in child support and $1,500 in alimony.

Four months after the court order, Jason sent approximately $2,600 to Darin, reportedly gave his brother a motorcycle and requested to kill his ex-wife.

Court records also revealed that the couple had a tumultuous relationship.

After the divorce, Sara was forced to live in her churchs parsonage and struggled to make ends meet. She was also always fearful of what Jason may do to her.

According to the victim's mother, Rhonda Whisler, she needed a dependable vehicle to transport the four children and get to work.

Attorneys for the brothers' plan to appeal against the decision in a few weeks.
A violent burglar, dubbed the Night Watcher, who has robbed a dozen wealthy homes of more than 10million in a series of frightening raids is believed to be linked to four more burglaries.

The shotgun wielding thug, whose campaign of terror included a raid on the Duke and Duchess of Richmond's home and violently beating up other home owners, is still on the run despite a six-year-old long manhunt by police.

Investigators believe the criminal could be a former soldier using military training to carry out the attacks without being caught.

Police, who have not spoken about the Night Watcher since 2019 after fearing he had escaped abroad, are now linking the fugitive to four more crimes, three reportedly taking place in Kent and one in London.

One of the attacks is said to have taken place in the capital in 2021, leaving two women hospitalised after he inflicted injuries upon them.

The Duke and Duchess of Richmond (pictured together in 2014 at the Goodwood Festival in Chichester) - then known as Lord and Lady March - are the most high-profile victims linked to the notorious Night Watcher

Susan Morris, then 61, was attacked by the criminal at her 3.5million home in Kingswood, Surrey in November 2017. She feared she was going to be raped and killed during the terrifiying ordeal

The Night Watcher - thought to be a former member of the military - has carried out a series of robberies on expensive properties in the South East between 2006 and 2022

The incident took place on the Keston Park estate in Bromley, South East London, according to the Mirror, while the other offences took place in the Tonbridge area in Kent, one occurring in 2020, one in 2021, and the third in 2022.

He began his tirade on home owners in the South East in 2006 but it was not until 2017 that police linked the individual cases.

The Night Watcher is known to spend weeks hiding in the grounds of his target addresses, noting every move of his potential victims, and during his crimes knows who will be at home and where in the property valuables and safes are located.

He strikes at night, ambushing owners with a shotgun and his face hidden under a balaclava. Victims are then beat-up and tied together with plastic cable ties while their homes are ransacked.

The most high-profile case was in January 2016 when he left the Duke and Duchess of Richmond tied up in their home as he robbed Goodwood House in Sussex after stealing jewellery and heirlooms valued at more than 700,000.

The noise of the break-in, which took place in January 2017, had woken up the Duchess, who went to investigate, before the robber pushed her back against the bedroom door.

When the Duke tried to rescue her, the burglar hit him on the head with a blunt instrument, causing an injury to his ear.

Goodwood House (pictured) was broken into in January 2016. The horrifying incident saw the the Duke and Duchess of Richmond tied up as the thief stole a number of expensive items

Amongst the items stolen from Goodwood House was a ring King Charles II - an ancestor to the then Earl of March - gave to a favourite mistress

The pair, left 'devastated' by the attack and theft', were only released when a member of staff arrived for work the next day.

Amongst the precious items stolen was a ring King Charles II - an ancestor to the then Earl of March - gave to a favourite mistress and an 1820 diamond tiara worth around 400,000.

Several high-value watches, including a Rolex and Girard-Perregaux, were also taken, along with emerald, diamond and sapphire rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

Susan Morris, then 61, whom the Watcher attacked in November 2017, feared she would be raped or killed during is attack at her 3.5million Surrey home.

She sat at her computer when the robber broke in yelling 'I want the jewellery, take me to the safe'.

Ms Morris was left with a broken jaw and lost a tooth as the Watcher beat her and bound her hands with plastic cables.

The victim said previously: 'When he was hitting me with the gun pointing at me, at that moment I did think, "this is it, it's all over".'

Ms Morris (pictured left with her husband Stephen; and with her injuries, right) was at her computer when the burglar pounced on her, yelling: 'I want the jewellery, take me to the safe'

Another item stolen from Goodwood House in 2016 was an 1820 diamond tiara worth around 400,000

Police previously said they thought the items had been stolen to be flogged overseas but none had surfaced.

Another incident took place in Sevenoaks in Kent in November 2016. Police then spotted a pattern of offending, linking the same person to robberies in Kingswood, Surrey, Maidenhead, Berkshire and at Goodwood House, West Sussex, two years earlier.

Regarding the most recent crime spree, Kent Police told the Mirror it was investigating a series of five burglaries. The force said they took place between November 2016 and January 2022.

On each occasion a force spokeswoman said a lone offender threatened victims before trying to steal cash and high value possessions, such as watches and jewellery.

Victims reported being threatened with firearms as well as being restrained with cable ties and ropes.

After reviewing CCTV, Kent cops are now working with other police forces where similar incidents took place.

MailOnline has contacted Kent Police.
Grant Shapps' teenage daughter dropped a module on Israel and Palestine at university after hearing 'anti-semitic chants' on campus that left her feeling unsafe as a Jewish student.

Tabytha Shapps, 19, said she felt intimidated by the controversial 'from the river to the sea' chants and 'end Israeli state terror' placards at pro-Palestine protests at the University of Leeds.

The second-year politics and economics student claimed that fellow students talked about 'Israeli apartheid and Israel's agenda as a genocidal state', which she says made her so uncomfortable she felt forced to drop the module.

Reports of anti-semitic incidents at British universities has been on the rise since the horrific October 7 attacks against Israel by Hamas.

This has forced many students to feel they have to conceal their religion by covering their kippahs (a religious hat worn by Jewish men) with caps and hide their Star of David necklaces.

The Defence Secretary's daughter Tabytha Shapps (pictured), 19, said she felt intimidated by the controversial 'from the river to the sea' chants and 'end Israeli state terror' placards at pro-Palestine protests at the University of Leeds

Her father Grant Shapps (pictured) says his daughter felt 'uneasy' over 'anti-semitic' chants

Ms Shapps said that she was impacted by a march through the Leeds campus on November 24, claiming that protesters soon started chanting 'anti-semitic and anti-zionist' slogans (the protest at Leeds University pictured)

The Defence Secretary's daughter Ms Shapps told The The Telegraph that she does not understand how Jewish students can 'feel safe on campus' when they hear 'anti-semitic' chants.

She said that her university was not being clear about the issue and said it was a 'scary time' for Jews.

The Leeds student, who visited West Bank city Ramallah last year, said that she does however understand the right to protest a pro-Palestinian viewpoint.

The institution said that it does have a 'legal duty to support free speech, anti-Semitism or Islamophobia of any kind will not be tolerated' and said that they do not support those who make others feel 'unsafe or unwelcome'.

Ms Shapps said that she was impacted by a march through the Leeds campus on November 24, claiming that protesters soon started chanting 'anti-semitic and anti-zionist' slogans.

Video shows protesters shouting 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', which some say insinuates the total destruction of Israel, as it means between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea - the borders of Israel.

The Government's independent counter-extremism Tsar has suggested the chant to be a call for genocide following the attacks against Israel where Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people.

Signs were also held aloft at the protest which said 'stop the war in Gaza, for a socialist intifada', which Ms Shapps told the Telegraph is linked to calls 'for the destruction of the Jewish homeland and its people'.

Talking about the class on Israel and Palestine she quit, Ms Shapps said she did it because of a peer saying Israel was an 'apartheid' and 'genocidal' state - and that she was the 'only Jew in the class' and thought 'what about... the 1,200 Israelis killed on October 7'.

Her mother Belinda voiced her concerns for her daughter's safety with the vice chancellor's office three times in November.

Ms Shapps' mother Belinda voiced her concerns for her daughter's safety with the vice chancellor's office three times in November

Video shows protesters shouting 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', which some say insinuates the total destruction of Israel, as it means between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea - the borders of Israel

But she says she was not able to get these across to the university chief and had to wait until December 4, when she received a 'generic' response which said that free speech was important and did not mention anti-semitism.

The email from interim vice chancellor, Prof Hai-Sui Yu, which was seen by The Telegraph said that higher education institutions should value 'academic freedom' and that Leeds was 'committed to enabling free debate' of a wide range of views, including controversial ones.

It said the university had a legal duty to make sure that freedom of speech is secured for members, students and speakers who are visiting, adding that this means that university space is not denied to those with specific views.

It added that freedom of expression was not without limits, as there are laws which protect national security and public safety - and that the university 'expects speakers and those taking part in protest activities to respect those values'.

The letter also noted that the protests in Leeds had not been authorised by the university or the students' union.

Ms Shapps' father Grant Shapps told The Telegraph that people 'rampaging' through campus chanting 'from the river to the sea' made his daughter 'uneasy' - adding the phrase is 'clearly an anti-semitic trope'.

A spokesman for the University of Leeds said: 'Whilst the university has a legal duty to support free speech, anti-Semitism or Islamophobia of any kind will not be tolerated and we do not support any views or actions which make others feel unsafe or unwelcome on campus.

'Our security teams are liaising with local police and the Community Security Trust to ensure our students feel safe, and we urge students to report any incident for investigation and action.

'The university is providing a wide range of support for students who are affected by the conflict and will continue to listen and respond to their concerns.'
She's already Zara Tindall's best friend, but now Dolly Maude is set to also become her mother's right-hand woman after being appointed lady in waiting to the Princess Royal.

The mother-of-four, who is an NHS midwife and famously helped deliver Zara's third child Lucas on a bathroom floor when the Royal's birthing plan went awry, is seen as a trusted confidante and is described as 'fiercely loyal and discreet.'

The 51-year-old also shares Zara's tongue-in-cheek sense of humour.

Last January, Mrs Maude turned up with her best friend at Cheltenham racecourse wearing a badge bearing the words 'Lady in Waiting'.

A Royal spokesman was later forced to clarify that this was actually a joke.

NHS midwife Dolly Maude, 51, left, is a close friend of Zara Tindall and is now set to become a lady in waiting to the Princess Royal

Sense of humour: Dolly Maude (left), turned up with her best friend at Cheltenham racecourse wearing a badge bearing the words 'Lady in Waiting'

A Royal spokesman was later forced to clarify that the badge worn by Dolly was actually a joke

But now the midwife is to have an official role under Princess Anne, The Telegraph revealed.

One of Mrs Maude's friends said: 'For the Princess Royal, it's a perfect fit because of their shared love of dogs and horses.

'She's not only extremely close to Zara, she also gets on brilliantly with the Princess. She's fiercely loyal and discreet. It's a great match.'

Buckingham Palace is expected to announce the appointment in the Court Circular on February 1, when Mrs Maude will be revealed as one of four newly appointed ladies-in- waiting to the King's sister, to replace others who have retired.

A lady-in-waiting has traditionally been the wife or daughter of a peer, but they can also be a cousin or close friend.

Buckingham Palace is expected to announce the appointment on February 1, when Mrs Maude will be revealed as one of four newly appointed ladies in waiting to the King's sister

They act as a companion on Royal engagements as well as helping with their day-to-day duties.

Mrs Maude is very much a part of the Tindall family, having been present at the births of all three of the couple's children and was maid of honour when the Princess Royal's daughter married Mike Tindall in 2011.

The former England rugby international has even described Mrs Maude as 'more important than I am', given her role in assisting Zara when she went into labour at their Gatcombe Park home with her son, Lucas, now two.

Shared love of horses: The pair were spotted at Ascot enjoying watching the racing in 2021

Trusted: Dolly has often been spotted looking after the Tindall's three children, including daughter Mia, pictured in 2015

Speaking about the birth, Mike told his The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast how Zara had experienced contractions the night before, so they organised childcare for Mia and Lena - but the little boy arrived so fast they didn't have time to make it to hospital.

He recalled: 'Fortunately Zara's friend Dolly is, she's actually more important than I am at making sure she's been at all three of my children's births, she was there and recognised that we wouldn't have got to the hospital in time, so it was run into the gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, towels down, brace brace brace!

'Fortunately the midwife that was going to meet us at the hospital wasn't that far away so she drove up, got there just as we'd assumed the position, and then the second midwife arrived just after the head had arrived!'

Zara with husband Mike Tindall, who has described Dolly Maude as 'more important than I am' after the trusted friend helped deliver their son, Lucas, in 2021

Mrs Maude was the perfect person to be there at the time, having qualified as an NHS maternity nurse in 2008.

She worked at a hospital in Sierra Leone in 2013, teaching staff basic nursing and theatre skills and has worked for NHS Gloucestershire for nearly 16 years.

The two families are close and Mrs Maude has often been spotted looking after the Tindall's children Mia, nine, Lena, five and Lucas, while attending equestrian events.

She herself has four children with husband Chris: Billy, 26, Nell, 24, Ted, 17 - who was a page boy to the Tindalls and is the godson of Zara - and Mary, 15.

As someone used to a busy schedule, Mrs Maude will now find herself in the service of the Royal Family's hardest working member, Princess Anne.

According to a recent analysis of public events and official meetings, Princess Anne carried out 457 royal engagements in 2023 - 32 more than King Charles.

The King ranked in second place, with 425 engagements, while his wife Queen Camilla came in fourth with 233.

Hard worker: According to a recent analysis of public events and official meetings, Princess Anne carried out 457 royal engagements in 2023 - 32 more than King Charles

The Duke of Edinburgh was third with 297 engagements.

These engagements included events such as the Coronation on May 6 and the King's state visit to France in September.

The Princess Royal and the King saw their workload increase in 2023, as they took on many of the duties and engagements previously conducted by Elizabeth II.

Prince William and Princess Kate undertook 172 and 128 engagements respectively, with the majority of day-to-day public commitments carried out by royals well into or approaching retirement.

The role of lady in waiting for the Princess Royal is also one that could potentially stretch over many decades.

It was previously revealed that out of her 11 ladies in waiting, two had been in her service for more than 50 years, three for more than 40 years, and five for more than 30 years.
Barack Obama recently had an off-the-books White House lunch with President Joe Biden to share his concerns and advice about his former running mate's campaign, according to a new report.

Obama grew 'animated' as he discussed the 2024 election and Donald Trump's bid to return to the presidency, and suggested Biden should restructure his campaign to be more agile, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The lunch meeting reportedly occurred in recent months, but has not been previously reported, and Obama does not appear in the White House visitor logs, which have exemptions for certain types of visits.

According to the Post, Obama suggested that Biden's campaign, which is headquartered in Delaware, needed to grow more nimble and be empowered to act without sign-off from the White House, where many of Biden's top advisors remain.

At a separate lunch last summer, Obama also shared his concerns that Trump is a more formidable opponent than many Democrats realize, citing his die-hard base of loyalists, a deeply polarized country, and support from conservative media outlets, sources told the Post.

Obama recently had an off-the-books White House lunch with Biden to share his concerns and advice about his former running mate's campaign. The two are seen above in 2014

Obama also reportedly shared his concerns that Trump is a more formidable opponent than many Democrats realize, citing his die-hard base of loyalists

Representatives for Obama and Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

With the GOP Iowa caucuses set to begin in nine days, Trump retains a commanding lead over his Republican rivals in polls.

Biden, 81, has the worst approval ratings of any modern president at this stage in his term, and is either neck-and-neck or trailing his likely Republican opponent in the polls.

'If the election were held tomorrow, President Biden would lose,' William Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP.

For months, Democrats have been clamoring for Biden's campaign to step up to the plate, as voter concerns mount about the economy and the age of America's oldest president.

Biden did just that on Friday as he kicked off 2024 with a campaign speech in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, delivering a ferocious condemnation of Trump.

The Democrat comparing his Republican rival to the Nazis and branded him 'sick,' a 'loser' and a threat to US democracy.

The question now is whether that strategy  identifying Trump as his main rival even before the Republican nomination process officially starts  will be enough to energize his base into the general election.

A furious Joe Biden called Donald Trump 'sick' and a 'loser' in his first campaign speech of 2024 saying 'we nearly lost America' on January 6

In a head-to-head matchup, Biden has seen a two-point lead turned into a three-point deficit

Until now Biden's strategy has focused on positive messages about the president's accomplishments -- particularly on leading the economy out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But 'they haven't really moved the needle so far,' said Galston, particularly as many Americans are still feeling the effects of high food and housing prices, whatever the improving government statistics say.

Migration through the Mexican border remains a major headache, while there is division in his party over his support for Israel's war on Hamas, and Republicans in Congress are blocking his bid for more funds for Ukraine.

Another major worry is that Biden has been hemorrhaging support among the Black and Hispanic voters who helped him to the White House in 2020.

But perhaps Biden's biggest vulnerability is his age: he has suffered a series of trips and verbal slips that Trump, just four years younger at 77, has repeatedly mocked.

Galston said Biden would have to wage a 'vigorous campaign,' including multiple trips to battleground states and presidential debates, to convince voters he was not 'doddering and senile.'

'If he can't wage a vigorous campaign I'm afraid that will simply validate the doubts,' he said.
Police found a man carrying a 'bag of knives' after four innocent people were injured during a stabbing rampage in Melbourne.

A woman in her 30s was left in a critical condition after being stabbed multiple times, while three people were left with serious injuries following a spate of 'random' attacks over three hours in the CBD and St Kilda.

Victoria Police Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Eyries said during the incident the alleged assailant likely used different types of knives in each separate attack.

Sgt Eyries said the 31-year-old Melton man had allegedly lunged at defenceless victims from behind in what police had labelled a series of 'cowardly' attacks.

The three-hour stabbing spree started outside Yankees Burger Bar on King St when a 24-year-old man was stabbed at about 10pm on Saturday (pictured)

A woman is fighting for life after she and the man she was with were stabbed while walking along Dandenong Rd in St Kilda East

'These people were going about their own business, it is extremely concerning,' he said.

Police were first alerted to reports of a 24-year-old Melbourne man being stabbed outside a burger store on King Street at about 10pm.

It is believed the man used public transport to travel to the southeast of the city where he approached a couple in their 20s along Dandenong Road just before 11pm.

A 31-year-old St Kilda East woman was stabbed multiple times and was rushed to hospital in a serious condition.

The 31-year-old Waverly man accompanying her suffered a number of injuries, including a significant laceration to his arm.

In a third incident, a 31-year-old English man was stabbed on Acland Street in St Kilda about 12.30am on Sunday. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening leg injuries.

Comprehensive police resources were used to identify the alleged offender, who was wearing a distinctive lime green windcheater and dark coloured cargo pants.

Officers were able to track a suspect to Balaclava Station within minutes.

In a third incident, a 31-year-old English man was stabbed on Acland Street in St Kilda about 12.30am on Sunday. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening leg injuries

Police were first alerted to reports of a 24-year-old Melbourne man being stabbed outside a burger store on King Street at about 10pm

The man attempted to flee, fleeing on foot before capsicum spray was deployed.

Sgt Eyries said police currently had the Melton man in custody and he would be medically assessed prior to interview.

Police believe the stabbings are unrelated and there are no links to terrorism, with Sgt Eyries adding he didn't know what the motive behind the attacks was.

Police are also investigating a fourth attack that happened earlier on Saturday night in Southbank.

A 28-year-old Mount Waverley man was stabbed in the leg and torso while walking under the underpass on City Road at 9.20pm.

He was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Following an increase of edged weapon related crime in Melbourne, Sgt Eyries said the public should have 'faith in the police'.

The use of everyday weapons that could be found in 'any kitchen' and used during the attacks overnight was of concern to Victoria Police, as they look to stamp out violent crime.

Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives are looking to speak with witnesses.
Prince Andrew was last night facing more humiliation after it was revealed that sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell was ordered to search her phone, computer and thousands of emails for his name along with the words 'sex toy' and 'erotic'.

Explosive court documents reveal how, following an order from a US court, Maxwell's lawyers were instructed to scour all her electronic devices for any mention of the Prince, other acquaintances of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and a string of sordid words.

These included 'Prince', 'Andrew', 'Duke', York', 'Royal', 'underage', 'massage', 'slave', 'sex', 'nipple' and 'dildo', according to the devastating legal papers.

Details of the hugely embarrassing search  part of a 2015 defamation case brought by Andrew's accuser Virginia Giuffre, nee Roberts, against Maxwell  are revealed in a trove of 130 documents, totalling more than 1,300 pages, which were released this weekend.

It is not known what the search uncovered, with Maxwell's lawyers claiming it was a 'wild goose chase'. The case was settled before it came to court.

Last night, a source close to the Duke of York told the MoS how Andrew had been left reeling by the lurid new claims.

'He doesn't have the emotional bandwidth to deal with this,' the source said. 'He has locked himself away in a room and has no idea how to respond. He's devastated.'

Prince Andrew pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell at Ascot in 2000. Maxwell is now behind bars after being convicted of child sex trafficking

Prince Andrew pictured walking with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein in New York's Central Park in 2011. Epstein died in jail in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges

The Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, where Andrew currently lives. Sources say the King is preparing to withdraw funding for private security at the house

In another day of astonishing revelations:

Scotland Yard was urged by a former chief superintendent to interview the personal protection officers who accompanied Prince Andrew on trips to meet Epstein

Epstein's 'house manager', Alfredo Rodriguez, was questioned under oath about whether Prince Andrew and Maxwell had 'a romantic relationship', legal files reveal;

Mr Rodriguez claimed that 'many' pictures of Epstein and Andrew posing together were displayed at Epstein's Florida mansion, where the financier abused hundreds of young girls;

King Charles is reportedly preparing to withdraw funding for security at his brother's 30-room Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge;

New emails reveal the panic that gripped Maxwell and her advisers after Andrew was first accused in court papers of abusing Giuffre;

Maxwell swam naked at Epstein's Caribbean island where his recruits were made to massage her while she was undressed, documents claim.

The furore surrounding Andrew, who is still eighth in line to the throne, shows no sign of abating after hundreds of documents were made public over three days.

The court files were sealed in 2017 but published after requests from media firms.

They included claims the Prince knew of Epstein's sex trafficking, committed 'acts of sexual abuse', enjoyed daily massages and took part in an 'underage orgy'. Andrew has vehemently and repeatedly denied all the allegations made against him.

Scotland Yard last week said it would not rule out investigating sexual assault claims about Prince Andrew, while the release of the court documents are believed to have strengthened the King's resolve that his brother will never be allowed to resume Royal duties.

A string of documents released in the early hours of yesterday disclosed a bitter legal battle between Giuffre and Maxwell's lawyers over a 2016 court order that a search should be carried out of Maxwell's 'electronic media'.

In a letter to Maxwell's legal team, Meredith Schultz, one of Ms Giuffre's lawyers, demanded that Maxwell's email and iCloud accounts be combed over, along with her computers, phones and tablets.

Ms Schultz then listed 368 words to search for, including Prince Andrew, his initials 'PA' and 'Clinton'  a reference to former US President Bill Clinton. There is no indication of any wrongdoing by Mr Clinton.

The list also includes words that are either sexually explicit or suggestive of abuse, including 'erotic', 'masturbate', 'servitude', 'juvenile', 'schoolgirl', and 'paedophile'.

Maxwell's lawyer Laura Menninger later objected to 'the vast number' of search terms, complaining that 'running a search on Ms Maxwell's devices of all 368 terms will take more than a week'.

She highlighted the difficulty of searching for common words like 'bed', 'lingerie' and 'bath' and the names of lawyers.

Ms Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with the Prince on three occasions when she was 17, including in a bath in Maxwell's townhouse in London in 2001. The claims have been repeatedly and strenuously denied by Andrew.

Ms Menninger complains in one letter that Giuffre had sent Maxwell 'on a costly, time-consuming and burdensome wild goose chase that has yielded not so much as a single goose feather. It is time to call off the hunt.'

The legal documents, however, do show that, to comply with the court order, 110 words were searched for  including Andrew's name and the sexually explicit words.

Documents included in the latest tranche of Epstein files show 'andrew', 'prince' and 'royal' were among the terms searched in Maxwell's emails (left). Tawdry terms referring to sex acts and paedophilia were also looked up (right)

Prince Andrew pictured with Victoria Giuffre (then Roberts) in London in 2001, alongside Ghislaine Maxwell

The search led to the discovery of about 9,000 documents and messages, though it is unknown if Andrew featured in any of them.

The latest cache of documents show Maxwell's constant efforts to find new women and girls to satisfy Epstein, including having threesomes with other women.

They also reveal how Tony Figueroa, Giuffre's ex-boyfriend, claimed Maxwell would call him to ask whether he had found girls to take to Epstein and how Giuffre, Maxwell and Epstein 'were all intimate together on multiple occasions'.

Figueroa was paid between $200 and $300 for each new girl he took to Epstein at the financier's $18million mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

In a separate deposition, Rodriguez told investigators that there were 'many pictures' of Andrew proudly on display at Epstein's mansion, dubbed 'the house of horrors'.

Meanwhile, in another document Johanna Sjoberg  who was recruited by Maxwell when she was a 20-year-old student  said she was paid 200 for every massage from the pair, which was increased by 100 when she did something sexual for Epstein.

In her deposition in 2016 Sjoberg recalls giving between five and ten massages to Maxwell  in all of which the disgraced socialite was naked under a towel.

Asked whether Maxwell was ever nude or topless by a swimming pool, Ms Sjoberg added: 'I don't recall. She was nude when she went swimming in the ocean.'

Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 of sex trafficking and procuring teenage girls for Epstein. The financier killed himself in jail several weeks after his July 2019 arrest for sex trafficking.

Prince Andrew did not respond to a request for comment.

Additional reporting by Daisy Graham-Brown and Sam Merriman.
The Chinese scientist who ran controversial experiments at the laboratory suspected of triggering Covid held a secret meeting with the US government to seek backing for a project that would go on to supercharge coronaviruses  shortly before the devastating outbreak started in her native Wuhan.

The June 2017 meeting at America's National Institutes of Health (NIH) held by Shi Zhengli  known as 'Batwoman' because of her work on sampling and sequencing the animals' viruses  will bolster fears of Western collusion in a Chinese cover-up after Covid resulted from a reckless laboratory experiment.

A new cache of documents, obtained by Freedom of Information campaigners and seen by The Mail on Sunday, reveal the extent to which the controversial work at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was supported, and often funded, by America.

They show that US researchers seeking funding for work to engineer 'spike proteins'  making it easier for the bat viruses to infect human cells  misled the authorities about the risks of the experiments in order to maximise the chance of receiving grants.

The documents, obtained by US Right To Know, a non-profit public health research group, include an order made by Chinese intelligence on January 3, 2020  two days after the world was first told about Covid  which decreed that its scientists should either share their samples with the government or destroy them 'on the spot'.

Shi Zhengli has denounced the idea of a lab leak as baseless, including claims that several of her colleagues in Wuhan were infected with Covid-19 before the outbreak emerged

Shi Zhengli, known as 'Batwoman' due to her work sequencing the animals' viruses, held meetings in 2017 with EcoHealth in 2017

Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit non-governmental organization that supports various programs on global health and pandemic prevention

The P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on April 17, 2020

Western intelligence agencies increasingly regard a lab leak in Wuhan as the most likely explanation for Covid, rather then the original theory that it was somehow spawned in a wildlife market in the city. The bombshell documents include emails sent by staff at EcoHealth Alliance  a now notorious health agency that has used US government money to sponsor bat virus experiments  ahead of the visit by Professor Zhengli.

Read More: The Mail reported in April 2020 the possibility of a lab leak origin theory Advertisement

Using the subject heading: 'Potential visit ... by our Chinese co-investigator', Peter Daszak, the $460,000-a-year head of EcoHealth, writes: 'Zhengli and I will do a double act, and we'll cover the work we're doing ... as well as the broadscale surveillance of bats for novel viruses'. Professor Zhengli became known as 'Batwoman' because of her virus-hunting trips to the bat caves of southern China, hundreds of miles from Wuhan, where her team collected more than 10,000 animal samples.

The sequencing of Covid-19 closely matched that found in those caves. Also invited to the meeting was Peng Zhou, an associate professor at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

After the meeting, Mr Daszak thanked the hosts by writing in an email that it was 'nice to have a chance to introduce our collaborators to you personally'.

EcoHealth also lobbied the Pentagon for funding for Zhengli to engineer high-risk coronaviruses by synthesising spike proteins with furin cleavage sites, that had been designed to bind to human receptors more easily, at the Wuhan Institute from December 2018, a year before the Covid-19 virus emerged.

In an email, Dr Ralph Baric, a coronavirus expert at the centre of concerns over gain-of-function studies, acknowledged that US researchers would 'freak out' if they knew novel coronavirus engineering and testing was being done in low-security Chinese laboratories, but disguised it to make the US government more 'comfortable' with the plan, which was intended to help with pandemic prevention.

Research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology before the Covid-19 pandemic into coronaviruses has drawn attention from abroad

EcoHealth says the documents are incomplete and the 'allegations are false based on misunderstanding of edits and comments on the document, and based on misleading out-of-context quotations and a lack of understanding the process by which federal grants are awarded'

The Covid-19 pandemic is believed to have first been detected at Wuhan's Huanan seafood market

Boris Johnson is among senior Conservatives who believe that the UK's Covid inquiry should examine the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic

That proposal was turned down by the US government, but critics say the plans laid out in the proposal serve as a 'blueprint' for how to create Covid. Professor Zhengli has denounced the idea of a lab leak as baseless, including claims by US intelligence that several of her colleagues at the institute were infected before the outbreak emerged.

'How on earth can I offer up evidence for something where there is no evidence?' she said when confronted with the claims. 'I don't know how the world has come to this, constantly pouring filth on an innocent scientist.'

Last year, the World Health Organisation announced that research into the source of the virus had been stalled owing to difficulties in conducting crucial studies in China.

In April 2020, The Mail on Sunday became the first mainstream media outlet in the world to reveal fears the virus had leaked from a Chinese laboratory, reporting that Cobra  the Government's secret emergency committee  was looking into intelligence on an alleged accident at Wuhan's Institute of Virology.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is among a growing number of senior Conservatives who believe that the UK Government's official Covid inquiry should be examining whether the virus's origins were natural or as a result of an accidental leak from Wuhan. A source close to Mr Johnson told the MoS last month: 'Boris thinks it is legitimate to ask how the virus spread and whether it was made or manipulated by humans.'

EcoHealth says the documents are incomplete and the 'allegations are false based on misunderstanding of edits and comments on the document, and based on misleading out-of-context quotations and a lack of understanding the process by which federal grants are awarded'.
The family of Reeva Steenkamp have reacted with outrage to reports that her Paralympian murderer Oscar Pistorius could be set to cash in on her death with a 1million tell-all book deal.

Pistorius, 37, was freed from prison earlier this week and is now living at home under strict parole conditions, which include a ban on drinking alcohol.

He was jailed in 2016 for shooting Ms Steenkamp through the bathroom door in his house on Valentine's Day 2013; sources claim he has since spent much of his time behind bars writing his memoirs.

Reports suggest that he could be set to turn the jail scribblings into a book, with as much as a seven-figure sum being floated for the rights to publish it.

But those close to Steenkamp's family say they are outraged at the suggestion that the killer athlete could be looking to capitalise on the brutal killing.

Oscar Pistorius competing at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. He has just been released from jail for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp

Reeva Steenkamp was gunned down through the bathroom door of Pistorius' home on Valentine's Day 2013

Her mother, June Steenkamp, says she has 'lost hope' that she will ever get a full explanation from Pistorius for his actions that day

'Oscar spent a lot of time writing. Some prisoners do this to show the parole board that they have accepted what they have done,' a source told The Sun on Sunday.

'There are already a lot of publishers that are interested. But publishing a book, and particularly making money out of it, has gone down very badly with Reevas family.

'They desperately want to get on with their lives but this will add to their grief.'

Ms Steenkamp's mother June said on Friday that she had 'lost hope' that Pistorius - nicknamed the Blade Runner because of his high performance carbon fibre running blades - would ever reveal the truth about what happened in February 2013.

She told MailOnline: 'My Christianity requires me to forgive. I forgave Oscar a long time ago. I forgive for my own sake, not for his.

'Forgiveness does not mean he must not pay for what he has done. Oscar did not only take Reeva's life when he killed Reeva in cold blood, he also took Barry and my life. Our joy, our future grandchildren.'

Any potential book deal could, however, be kiboshed by South African authorities.

Pistorius' strict bail conditions ban him from speaking to the media, and a book publishing deal could fall foul of those rules.

His other parole conditions include restrictions on when hes allowed to leave his home, a ban on consuming alcohol, and orders that he must attend programs on anger management and on violence against women.

He will have to perform community service, and meet regularly with parole officials at his home and at correctional services offices; he will also be subject to unannounced visits by authorities.

He is not allowed to leave the Waterkloof district without permission. He could be sent back to jail if he is in breach of any of his parole conditions.

It came as one of Reeva Steenkamp's best friends and confidants slammed the decision to release him from jail after serving less than half his sentence.

Samantha Jonker, who was at school with the slain model and a life-long friend, said The Blade Runner 'had literally got away with murder.'

Ms Jonker, 39, who grew up with Reeva in the Eastern Cape town of Port Elizabeth, spoke out as anti-violence campaigners spoke out against the release of the former athlete who ran in the London 2012 Olympics.

She told MailOnline: 'What message is South Africa sending to allow a murderer such leniency in taking the life of a woman or child.

'He should be the one behind a locked door for the rest of his life. It should be a life for a life.

One of murdered Reeva Steenkamp's best friends and confidant, Samantha Jonker (pictured), has slammed the decision to release her killer Oscar Pistorius after serving less than half his sentence

Jonker (in white, circled top) was at school with slain model and life-long friend Steenkamp (in blue, circled bottom), said The Blade Runner 'had literally got away with murder'

Ms Jonker, 39, who grew up with Reeva in the Eastern Cape town of Port Elizabeth, spoke out as anti-violence campaigners spoke out against the release of the former athlete who ran in the London 2012 Olympics

'In prison, he was given his own private room with a television, his own private area to exercise in, he had privileges other criminals were never warranted.

'Why does one murderer get rewarded. He stole everything from her and her loved ones by the heinous choice he made that fatal day that will haunt me forever.

'He shot her not once, but four times through a locked bathroom door. I know my Reeva. If she was in a safe home, she would feel no reason to lock herself behind a door.

'I still sit and think about what she must have been feeling in that moment behind that locked door all alone.

'I remember Reeva every day. I have a picture of Reeva in my home that I look at every day.

'I listen to the same video of Reeva when I miss her and need to hear her voice. Her death has left a huge gap in my life and I cannot seem to forgive him for what he chose to do.

Reeva, who was 29, was shot dead by Pistorius on Valentine's Day 2013 inside his Pretoria flat. He gunned her down through a toilet door and claimed it was an accident as he believed an intruder had entered his home.

But after a year of protracted court hearings his conviction of culpable homicide was changed to murder. Instead of life, he was punished with a 13-and-a-half-year sentence.

Ms Jonker, 39, who is now based in Berlin, first met Reeva at the St Dominics Priory in Port Elizabeth at the age of 11.

Oscar Pistorius has walked away from jail on parole after nine years in prison

Pistorius shot Steenkamp through the locked bathroom door in his home in a gated community in Pretoria

She added: 'I remember the first day Reeva walked into my classroom. She lit up the room when she walked in.

'I fell in love with her in that moment. She sat down in the desk in front of me and that was her seat for the rest of our primary school years. We became best friends from that day on.

'She was so gentle, so kind, so loving, so supportive and understanding. I always found myself laughing her.

'I could share anything with her and never felt judged. I only felt loved. I remember this one day when we were about 11 or 12 years old. We were each others freshwater lifesaving partners and we had an exam on one of the coldest and rainiest days.

' I didnt want to go through with the exam. I was crying and Reeva kept motivating me to continue and pushed me to finish and we passed the exam together.

'After the exam we were sitting by the side of the pool on a bench in our towels. I was still upset and Reeva managed to take the situation and turn it around and the next minute we were both laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt and we both had tears streaming down our face from joy.

Pistorius has served the last nine years at the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria

'There is a saying, "a best friend is someone who can make you laugh, even when you feel like crying".

'Reeva was the bestest friend a girl like me could have ever ask for. Our friendship continued throughout high school and further on. Even though we lived apart, we always kept in contact. She never missed wishing me on my birthday.'

Anti-violence campaigners also hit out at Pistorius's freedom which has come with strict parole conditions.

Bulelwa Adonis of South Africa's Women for Change group said the fact that Pistorius had not admitted the murder proved that accountability had not been accepted by him on his release.

She told MailOnline: 'We are deeply saddened by his release.

'We are thankful that he did actually serve time time, because in our country, most predators don't serve any time whatsoever.

The South African won gold in the 4x100m relay at London 2012 Paralympic Games

At the London Paralympic Games, he also claimed gold in the men's 400m

In 2012 Pistorius became the 10th athlete to compete at both Paralympic and Olympic Games

'We are completely disheartened, to say the least, because our country has become a safe haven and we have adopted a mentality of leniency towards predators and anyone who commits gender-based violence or femicide.'

She said the fact that Pretorius had strict parole conditions imposed on him did not 'mean much to us.'

She added: 'At the end of the day Pistorius is somebody who took a life and the loved ones of Reeva will never get their time with her again.

'We actually have one of the best legislations in the world. Our rights and all of that is absolutely phenomenal. But it has no reflection on reality.

'In fact, reality is the exact opposite to say the least because gender-based violence and femicide are increasing.'

She revealed latest figures from South African police showed that last year 3,914 women were murdered during the 12 months before March 2023 and 12 women are murdered on a daily basis in the country.

'Those statistics alone paint a perfect picture of the reality here in South Africa. We are also known as the rape capital of the world and rapes are five times higher than the global average.

'Oscar is going to get help with anger management and rehabilitation, and all of these things, but I think accountability is a big thing which we stress on as an organisation and we do not think justice has been served in his case.'

Deeply-committed Christian Pistorius spent his second day of freedom hiding in his uncle Arnold's mansion which will be his home until the end of his sentence at the end of the decade.

He did not venture out as rain lashed the affluent Waterkloof neighbourhood outside Pretoria and has yet to be seen in public.

A neighbour said: 'Oscar needs some peace and quiet. He has been through a lot. I know he'll be reading his bible for much of his time.'

The gun-fanatic has been allowed out on parole until December 2029 and must adhere to a number of conditions set down by Atterridgeville Correction Services officials.

He has to undergo a course of anger management to help him cope with his fierce temper which prosecutors said led him to kill Reeva.

He is barred from drinking alcohol and handling any weapons and must inform his parole officers of his whereabouts and remain at his Uncle Arnolds home during set hours.

Pistorius has been banned from giving media interviews which will come as a further blow as major US talk shows were hoping to line him up as a star guest.

Pistoriuss successful bid to run in the London 2012 Olympics made him a huge star in America and a poster boy for Paralympians.

The Blade Runner may take a mundane job to fill his parole hours and the idea of the deeply religious man to be a preacher has also been mooted.

His wealthy uncle Arnold owns a successful real estate company called Twin Towers and has an office suite in a complex a few minutes from his home.

Arnold has promised law officials he will keep a tight check on The Blade Runner, who has prosthetic legs, and ensure he meets his bail conditions.
Jeremy Hunt has said he will do 'everything' he can to speed up compensation for the hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongfully prosecuted.

The Chancellor added: 'We want to do this as fast as possible.'

The scandal, which stemmed from problems with the Horizon IT system, has been described as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in British history.

More than 700 Post Office managers were handed criminal convictions after the faulty accounting software made it appear as though money was missing from their branches between 1999 and 2015.

The scandal is subject to an ongoing public inquiry. A large number of victims wrongfully convicted are waiting to receive justice.

Paula Vennells, who oversaw the Post Office while it denied that there were problems with its IT system, said she is 'truly sorry'

Alan Bates with his partner Suzanne Sercombe, both former sub-postmasters whose lives were ruined after they were accused of stealing from the Post Office

Last year the Government said victims would be offered 600,000 each in compensation.

Minister's 'quiz over expenses' Pensions Minister Paul Maynard faces a potential expenses probe over allegedly misusing public funds. He has been accused of breaching the rules by using taxpayers' money for party political purposes. Last night, parliamentary expenses watchdog IPSA said it had referred the matter to its compliance officer. Mr Maynard reportedly said he believed his financial arrangements with IPSA over the 'ad-hoc' use of his constituency office were 'appropriate'. He will be 'seeking clarification' from the expenses watchdog and 'abide by any findings it makes'. by Brendan Carlin Advertisement

In total so far, about 138 million has been paid. Mr Hunt told the BBC yesterday: 'We want to do this as fast as possible. So we hear that message loud and clear, we will look into doing everything we can to speed up the payment of compensation.'

It comes as the Metropolitan Police confirmed for the first time that it is conducting a criminal investigation into the Post Office.

The scandal has been dramatised by ITV into a four-part series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office. Toby Jones plays Alan Bates, a former sub-postmaster who campaigned to expose the truth about glitches in the Post Office's IT system.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were bankrupted or jailed and at least four took their own lives.

The Horizon IT system was developed by Japanese tech giant Fujitsu, which continues to run the Post Office's systems. On BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday, the real Mr Bates called on the Chancellor to 'light a fire' under officials overseeing the compensation paid to Post Office branch managers.

Mr Hunt said: 'I heard that loud and clear. This is a horrific scandal. I had a wonderful postmaster in Farnham in my constituency who was appallingly wronged by this scandal and that's why I'm very pleased that we've set up this inquiry. We've already given out, I think, nearly 150 million in compensation. I want to do everything we can to speed up that process.'

Scotland Yard said it is 'investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions', for example 'monies recovered from sub-postmasters as a result of prosecutions or civil actions'.

Paula Vennells, who oversaw the Post Office while it denied that there were problems with its IT system, said she is 'truly sorry'. Fifty new potential victims contacted lawyers after the ITV drama.
A rallying cry for a memorial to recognise Britain's contribution to ending the slave trade was answered last night by Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft.

The military historian pledged 25,000 to a campaign to honour the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which once patrolled the Atlantic, seizing slave ships and freeing enslaved people.

The campaign to honour those who saved captives bound for the Americas was highlighted in the Daily Mail yesterday by Commons Leader and Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt.

Campaigners are seeking to raise 70,000 for a permanent statue honouring the squadron in Portsmouth, which served as its base in the 19th century.

'I am delighted to be able to support this worthy campaign,' said Lord Ashcroft, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. 'I believe passionately in the importance of highlighting episodes of gallantry by our Armed Forces.

Lord Ashcroft has pledged 25,000 to a campaign to honour the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which operated between 1807 and 1867

Campaigners are seeking to raise 70,000 for a permanent statue honouring the squadron in Portsmouth, which served as its base

Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt said that she was delighted to hear of Lord Ashcroft's contribution to the campaign

'For too long, Britain's role in helping to abolish the slave trade has been forgotten. It's time we remembered the part that our nation played on the global stage in this little-known chapter of British naval history. It's something we should all be proud of.'

The West Africa Squadron policed the coast of West Africa between 1807 and 1867 in search of slave traders. At its height in the 1840s and 1850s, the squadron employed 36 vessels and more than 4,000 men. It freed 150,000 people and captured 1,600 slave ships, but 1,600 British sailors lost their lives, with many dying from injuries sustained in combat with the slavers.

Writing in yesterday's Daily Mail, Ms Mordaunt said that, contrary to what many young people believed, the UK played a key role in dismantling the slave trade, adding: 'This flotilla was the main actor in physically destroying it.'

Ms Mordaunt told The Mail on Sunday she was delighted to hear of Lord Ashcroft's donation, adding: 'Many who established the campaign were researching their relatives who were part of the squadron. The memorial will mean so much to them.'

The campaign comes amid growing calls for the removal of artefacts with links to the slave trade. But almost nothing has been said about Britain's role in stamping it out.

The West Africa Squadron Memorial Fund was launched last year by Colin Kemp, 76, from Chichester. Award-winning sculptor Vincent Gray designed a statue, comprising figures of a shackled woman, a naval officer and a freed slave. Ms Mordaunt will unveil a model in Parliament this month.
XL Bully owners turned out in Manchester on Saturday to protest against the imminent ban on the breed that they say has turned their lives 'upside down'.

Owners of the crossbreed pups  the rehoming and breeding of which has now been outlawed  rallied in the city centre throughout the afternoon, waving signs that read 'don't bully our bullies' and others that called for the law to be rolled back.

Protesters also laid down roses that they said represented the lives of XL Bully dogs that had been euthanised in the run up to the ban on owning the canine without a licence that comes into effect on February 1.

A video shared on TikTok showed protesters walking along a road in the city with signs and roses. There were no XL Bully dogs visible in the clip and protesters left their dogs at home, according to local media reports.

Under legislation that came into effect at the end of the year, all XL Bully dogs must now be muzzled and on a lead at all times in public.

XL Bully owners gathered in Manchester on Saturday to protest the impending ban on owning the breed without a licence

Some owners brought a sign reading: 'Don't bully our bullies'. It also featured an appeal to Rishi Sunak to undo the legislation

The sign featured a manipulated image of Rishi Sunak in a dog muzzle and a call for him to end breed-specific legislation (BSL)

A similar protest also took place in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, with protesters gathering signatures for a petition against the ban

A woman stands with a sign that reads: 'It's not the dogs, it's the bad owners' as she protests against the impending legislation

Owners have until January 31 to apply for an exemption certificate in order to keep their pets.

Those who do not do so could have their dogs seized and could face a criminal conviction, for which they can be fined or jailed for up to six months.

Ashley Marie, who owns an XL Bully called Lady, said: 'I am 100 per cent affected by the new law. It has turned my life upside down.

'All over Christmas and New Year we've done nothing but worry. Two months is nowhere near enough time to prepare for any of this.

'It was brilliant to know there are many other dog lovers who see the real heart of the XL Bullies and how kind-natured they really are.

'Standing together made me see how many people really do care and how strong we are as people.'

She added: 'It's really upsetting taking away an innocent animal's freedom based on appearance and goes against everything we stand for as a country.

'It's not just us, we've had support from all over the world against this ban.'

The focal point of the protest for many was Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who they see as responsible for the new law that has slapped many dog owners with large bills and 'very little time' to implement the necessary changes.

More than 600,000 people have signed a UK Parliament petition calling for the ban on the breed  linked to up to 14 deaths since 2021  to be overturned.

Ashley continued: 'If I could say one thing to Rishi it would be: it is unfair to rip away a huge part of our families. These dogs are not to blame, it's a few bad owners.

'Please, please, from the bottom of all our hearts, bring back the dog licence to punish the owners instead of an entire loving breed of dog based on their appearance.

'That is what the 600,000 people who signed the petitions want. It's not just a dog, it's family, and they are most certainly not a danger to the public if kept on a leash at all times. We will do anything for our beautiful Bullys.'

The Manchester rally came as another protest was held in Southend-on-Sea, with protesters collecting signatures against the ban.

In Dover, a candlelit vigil was held for the XL Bully dogs that have already been euthanised ahead of the ban coming into effect

A woman lays down a flower in memory of the dogs that have already been put to sleep

The government introduced the ban on XL Bully dogs following a string of attacks, some fatal, in 2023

In Dover, a candlelit vigil was staged for the dogs that have already been put down on New Year's Day.

A manipulated image of Rishi Sunak with blood on his hands sat at the centre of the improvised altar.

Some are remaining defiant in the face of the impending ban. Dawn Janciauskas, who owns a private dog park in Bolton, is hiring out the facility for 10 an hour and said she has been inundated with demand from XL Bully owners.

She says the dogs can run free, unmuzzled and off the lead, because her facility is surrounded by six-foot high metal posts akin to those used in zoos for animal enclosures.

'I know some people won't agree with what I'm doing because of what has happened with some Bully dogs,' she said.

'I expect to get some flak but I believe it is the right thing to do. This park is very secure. I have 6ft fences which are the same as used in zoos to keep the animals in.

'Something needs to be done as these dogs have fallen into the wrong hands.

'But I have worked with animals all my life, and if you feed and feed an animal and you keep it caged up, there will be problems. They need exercise.'
Jeffrey Epstein's Florida mansion  dubbed the 'House of Horrors'  was filled with photographs of the paedophile with Prince Andrew.

Bombshell court documents released last week reveal the disgraced billionaire flaunted his relationship with the Duke of York by putting 'many pictures' of Andrew on display inside his $18 million mansion.

Scores of young women, some as young as 13, claim they were sexually assaulted and raped by Epstein at his 14,000 sq ft home at 358 El Brillo Way in Palm Beach  the hub of his global sex-trafficking web.

In a previously sealed deposition, released as part of a massive document dump, Alfredo Rodriguez, who worked as Epstein's 'house manager' between August 2004 and March 2005, said he realised his boss was close to Andrew 'because there were pictures with him together many pictures'.

He suggested some of the photos may have been taken during Epstein's visits to the UK where he attended private Royal events, including a 2000 'Dance of the Decade' party to celebrate Andrew's 40th birthday.

CLOSE: Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein and another guest at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in 2000

Epstein's $18 million Palm Beach mansion dubbed the 'House of Horrors'

Epstein and the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell  who is serving 20 years in a Florida jail for child sex-trafficking offences  were also guests of the Duke of York at the Balmoral estate in Scotland in 1999.

Rodriguez said: 'Mrs Maxwell took him to England to introduce him to the royalty.'

When asked by lawyers if he knew if Maxwell, 62, had once dated Andrew, Rodriguez replied: 'I don't know that.'

The revelation that Epstein's home was filled with private photographs of the Prince will be troubling for the Royal Family.

Only a handful of pictures of the two together have been seen by the public, including one taken in December 2010 as they strolled through New York's Central Park.

Andrew infamously told Emily Maitlis in his 'car crash' Newsnight interview that he had flown to the US to end his and Epstein's 11-year friendship, saying it was the 'honorable and right thing to do'.

Rodriguez, who died in 2015, aged 60, described seeing dozens of young women rotating through the door of the Florida home and described himself as 'a human ATM machine' because he was ordered to carry cash at all times to pay the women who 'massaged' Epstein.

His deposition was part of a trove of more than 1,300 documents released on Friday relating to a now-settled defamation case between Andrew's accuser Virginia Giuffre and Maxwell.

The Miami Herald successfully sued to make all the documents in the case public, a process which began last Tuesday and is expected to continue for two weeks.

In another shocking revelation it emerged last week that a 'smoking gun' picture of Andrew may exist.

Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein's alleged victims, claimed the Prince posed for a picture with a Spitting Image puppet of himself while allegedly grabbing her breast.

In a sworn witness statement, Ms Sjoberg said she met Andrew inside Epstein's Manhattan townhouse in 2001 alongside his accuser Ms Giuffre, known at the time as Virginia Roberts, and Maxwell.

Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell in New York, July 2, 2020

She said: 'Ghislaine told me to come upstairs and we went into a closet and pulled out the puppet, the caricature of Prince Andrew, and brought it down.

'There was a little tag on the puppet that said "Prince Andrew" on it and that's when I knew who he was.

'And they decided to take a picture with it, in which Virginia and Andrew sat on a couch. They put the puppet on Virginia's lap, and I sat on Andrew's lap, and they put the puppet's hand on Virginia's breast, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo.'

Last night a source said: 'If that photograph emerges it will be the final nail in Andrew's coffin.

'It can't be good for Andrew to know this smoking gun photograph is out there somewhere and could be made public any day.'

While the whereabouts of the picture is unknown, it may have been seized by the FBI during a raid on Epstein's eight-storey New York home in 2019.

But a source close to Maxwell yesterday angrily denied Ms Sjoberg's claim, saying: 'The picture doesn't exist. If it did exist it would certainly have been used in the criminal case against Ghislaine. And it wasn't. It's another lie.'

When approached last night, Ms Sjoberg politely declined to comment about the photograph.

Prince Andrew pictured walking with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein in New York's Central Park in 2011. Epstein died in jail in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges

Andrew has vehemently and repeatedly denied all claims against him. He settled a civil suit brought by Ms Giuffre in 2022 for a reported $12 million but made no admission of wrongdoing.

The dump of documents has been 'devastating' for the Prince, who friends say is 'totally tormented'.

Juan Alessi, Epstein's former butler, claimed Andrew 'spent weeks' at the Florida mansion and received 'daily' massages, while his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, also visited.

When asked if the couple had massages, Alessi replied: 'Prince Andrew did. I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I don't think she slept in there. I cannot remember. But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us.'

Alessi also described 'cleaning up' after Epstein and Maxwell had received massages.

He said the pair's sex toys were kept in a laundry basket in her wardrobe, adding: 'I would find things like a dildo put my gloves on, took it out and rinse its (sic) and put it in Ms Maxwell's closet.'

Witnesses have also testified there were photos of Epstein with former US President Bill Clinton and Microsoft founder Bill Gates on display, alongside pictures of partially clothed young girls and a nude photo of Maxwell on a beach.

The Duke of York was approached for comment.
Police are on the hunt for a driver who sped through a large puddle and soaked a family including a toddler in a pushchair.

All five family members, three of whom are disabled children, were drenched from top to bottom during the incident in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, on Tuesday.

The children's mother and grandmother described the motorist's behaviour as 'unbelievably callous', The Telegraph reports.

The family, who have requested to remain anonymous, were out for a stroll at around 2.20pm when a white car approached them.

The relatives were walking past a large puddle and the mother motioned 'stop' to the driver, who instead 'sped up' - splashing them completely.

All five family members, three of whom are disabled children, were drenched from top to bottom during the incident in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, on Tuesday

She said: 'My son is 6ft tall and he was drenched. The water went right over his head.

'My two-year-old granddaughter was screaming, "I dont like it". The pushchair was wet through.

'I was shocked more than anything. Its unbelievably callous.'

The woman said that two of the children are physically disabled and were distressed by the incident.

Splashing a pedestrian by driving through puddles next to a pavement can be deemed a criminal offence, with possible fines of up to 5,000 and nine points to a license, under the Road Traffic Act 1988.

If motorists are caught, they are likely to be handed a 100 fixed penalty notice and three penalty points.

Retired cop Julie Lancaster was shocked when she witnessed the incident Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, as Storm Henk drenched Britain earlier this week

Derbyshire Police state they are aware of the incident and efforts to trace the driver are continuing.

Elsewhere, shocking dashcam footage was shared yesterday showing a motorist driving through a puddle and callously soaking a binman trying to clear up after the festive period, leaving locals outraged and demanding police action.

Retired cop Julie Lancaster was astonished when she witnessed the incident in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, as Storm Henk drenched Britain earlier this week.

The 64-year-old former sergeant was driving home from the dry cleaners when she spotted the binman on the other side of the road collecting loose cardboard next to the puddle.
Israels Defense Forces will replace the Skylark 1 Miniature UAS with larger, more modern, VTOL capable platforms developed by Elbit Systems. The IDF operates the Skylark since 2008. The newest member of the family, the Skylark I eVTOL, weighs up to 20kg and is equipped with an electric motor for forward flight, and a VTOL kit for hover takeoff and landing. Designed to provide an organic airborne ISTAR capability for lower tactical echelons.

The company will supply the new drones to the Artillery Corps of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), under the with the Skylark 1 Transitional Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (STUAS) combined with through-life maintenance services for these new systems as well as other STUAS systems operated by the IDF Ground Forces (Skylark 1 & Skylark 3.)

Weighing up to 20kg, the new Skylark 1 eVTOL is a man-packed or vehicle-based platform offering the endurance and range of a fixed-wing STUAS with the capability to hover, take-off and land vertically. Combined with onboard analytical capabilities, the Skylark 1 eVTOL significantly expands the operations of tactical forces and enables fast deployment in order to organically perform Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions. Under the contract, Elbit Systems will replace the Skylark 1 with the new system that will be integrated with the operational fleet used by the IDF Ground forces.
Ministers are investigating claims that striking junior doctors have been boosting their pay by picking up lucrative work at hospitals in different areas.

This paper has uncovered evidence that shows junior doctors have walked out from their scheduled hospital shifts while carrying out higher-paying ones elsewhere.

Senior NHS sources have told The Mail on Sunday that they 'despair' of bringing the dispute to a conclusion while doctors are able to 'line their pockets' on strike days.

One said: 'Some of them just hop in the car and drive to another hospital trust where they earn more than they lose by striking.'

Junior doctors on the picket line outside University College London hospital on December 20

British Medical Association (BMA) picket outside University College Hospital on December 23 last year

Posting on the website Reddit, one doctor said: 'I've noticed that a few people are picking up locum shifts during strike days at another hospital.'

READ MORE: NOT SUCH A HAPPY NEW YEAR! NHS BRACED FOR LONGEST STRIKE IN ITS HISTORY Advertisement

It is lawful for NHS workers on strike to work for another trust, but they are not allowed to carry out the duties of striking workers.

Junior doctors were last year encouraged by the British Medical Association (BMA) to make back the salary they would lose from striking with locum shifts around the industrial action dates.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'There are rules about what locum work can and cannot be carried out during industrial action and they must be adhered to.

'Hospitals are under huge pressure from these strikes during one of the busiest times of the year for the NHS, and if there is rule-breaking on locum work during the strikes that is clearly wrong.'

The spokesman added: 'It's time the BMA junior doctors committee calls off the strike and comes back to the negotiating table.'
The book, titled 'The Algorithm', has pulled the current on how the hiring world is becoming a 'Wild West' where unregulated AI algorithms make decisions without human oversight

AI has taken over the job market by reading resumes and watching interviews to provide human executives with the best candidates, a new book has revealed.

The book, titled 'The Algorithm,' has pulled the curtain on how the hiring world is becoming a 'Wild West' where unregulated AI algorithms make decisions without human oversight.

Artificial intelligence decides who gets hired and who gets fired by monitoring everything from what people post on social media to their tone of voice in interviews, the book's author, Hilke Schellmann, told DailyMail.com.

Algorithms can now dictate not only who gets job interviews - but, thanks to continuous on-the-job monitoring, who gets promoted or fired (and they might even warn your boss if you are getting divorced).

Schellmann said the CEO of ZipRecruiter told him a few years ago that the tech was screening at least 75 percent of resumes.

'That was 2021; it's probably 100 percent now. We know that 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies already use AI tools in hiring,' she said.

Schellman said that it's inevitable that if you apply today, your resume will be screened by AI long before it's dealt with by a human - and offers tips on how to be seen in an AI-driven workplace.

AI tools recruiters use are unreliable, and even recruiters don't know how they work, adding that the AI-enabled job application process is rife with discrimination and 'blatantly weird' keywords are used, she explained.

Artificial intelligence is already deciding who gets hired and who gets fired by monitoring everything from what people post on social media to their tone of voice in interviews, the book's author, Hilke Schellmann, told DailyMail.com

The AI tools are often 'black boxes' where recruiters can't see how they work.

The tech can develop unusual ideas about a candidate's likelihood to succeed or predict success based on church attendance or different nationalities - forming a process riddled with discrimination.

That means, for example, that women or disabled people might find themselves discriminated against during the hiring process - but as people don't know which AI tools have been used, it's difficult for them to respond.

READ MORE: Moms are being rejected for jobs and labeled a 'liability' by AI resume-screening programs used by 99% of companies, report suggests Anti-aging treatments could be available in the NEXT DECADE - say scientists who believe the key lies in elephants and 'immortal jellyfish' that can repair their DNA Advertisement

'The vendors that build AI tools don't want to be scrutinized and are reluctant to talk about any problems, said Schellmann.

'They want to talk about it in glowing marketing terms, right? How wonderful it is to find the best people - but they don't want to open the black box for testing or transparency.

'The companies that use these AI tools also often don't want to talk about it because they feel like reputational harm from applicants being upset that AI is being used and that no humans are looking at their job application.'

And she said that machines do the bulk of rejections.

One former employment lawyer, Matthew Scherer, whom Schellmann spoke to, said the tools used are 'not ready for prime time.'

That is because the technology is 'very basic' and cannot fully predict real-world outcomes such as a person's success at a job.

Schellmann described many technologies used to sift resumes as 'snake oil.'

'We know it saves money. We know it saves labor, but we have not seen proof that it picks the most qualified candidates,' she said.

Many organizations are also using AI to assess recordings of video interviews - looking for issues such as the 'wrong tone of voice,' said Schellman.

'Unfortunately, this is mostly legal,' she continued.

'The European Union is a little bit more strict with General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] and other laws, but the United States is still the Wild West on this, except for some local laws that we see.

'There's one in Illinois where you must let people know that using AI and video interviews. But overall there isn't much regulation yet in this.'

AI tools used in interviews pull out 'biomarkers' (such as tone of voice or movements) that supposedly correspond to emotions.

'If you and I are talking, this tool can find out if you're anxious or depressed based on either tone of voice or when we see the facial expression. Yeah, and the intonation of the voice,' Schellmann said.

'What does it mean, a facial expression in a job interview?

'It doesn't make you good or bad at a job. We are using these technological signals because we can - but they don't often have a lot of meaning,'

Employers now also routinely scan social media networks such as X and LinkedIn using AI algorithms - looking for details such as references to songs with violent lyrics.

'That could mean you are labeled as a violent person and someone that shouldn't be hired,' Schellmann said.

Many companies do this as part of a hiring screening stage - but others continuously use such scans on employees.

'Some of these tools also find things like whether you're prone to self-harm,' revealed the author.

Algorithms can now dictate not only who gets job interviews - but, thanks to continuous on-the-job monitoring, who gets promoted or fired

'In the United States, that could be illegal because you're not allowed to ask people for medical conditions before they're hired.

'It's also a question: why would a company want to know if you're prone to self-harm? Like, is that actually helpful? Are they helping these people, their employees? Or are they punishing them?'

Companies use AI algorithms to assess people's personality based on their social media posts, analyzing language to assess what people are 'really' like, Schellmann said.

'Companies want to look under the hood of people, right? They want to know who you are before hiring you,' Schellmann explained.

Schellmann said that the ability to 'look under the hood' of people is something that organizations have craved for decades - leading them to rely on untested or bogus technologies such as handwriting analysis.

The same job is done by AI algorithms poring over videos of job interviews.

Organizations who want to hire someone who is a 'fast learner' (so they can adapt to a changing technological world) often rely on such technologies to predict who might be a good fit, Schellmann said.

But relying on personality (and on untested AI algorithms to deliver people with that specific trait) is a mistake, Schellman argues.

Schellman said, 'What we know from science is that personality is about five percent or so predictive of success in the job. So that's very, very little.

'We often overcome our personality. I'm quite shy, and I have to work on that. When I go to receptions and parties, I have to work on approaching strangers. We can overcome our personality at work and in other places.

'It's actually questionable, should we use it. But it's easy to use. It's super cheap. It's just an easy way to do it, and that's why they do.'
From some music lovers, nothing will ever replace the warm crackle of a vinyl record.

And recent figures suggest it isn't just Hi-Fi obsessives who are in love with this retro music format.

Recent industry data shows that sales of records have hit their highest levels since 1990, with 5.9 million LPs and singles being sold in 2023.

But while avid collectors might swear by vinyl's superior quality, is there any truth to the claims that music sounds better on vinyl?

MailOnline spoke to the experts to find out exactly what makes vinyl different from digital.

Music lovers may claim that vinyl sounds better, but there are actually quite a few drawbacks to this retro music format

What are vinyl records?

To understand why vinyl might sound different to digital, we first need to understand how vinyl works.

You can essentially think of records as miniature replicas of the original sound wave.

Music is recorded in the studio and once it has been edited and mastered it is sent electronically to a lathe which cuts the wave into a lacquer disk.

This is then coated with metal to form a stamp which is then used to press blobs of PVC into a finished record.

When it comes time to actually play the record, the stylus follows the grooves that have been stamped into the record and converts this to an electrical signal to be sent to the speakers.

This means that, in theory, the analogue sound wave as it was first produced by the musician should have been faithfully carried to your ears entirely intact.

Sales of vinyl records hit their highest point since the 1990s this year, driving the return of high street record stores like HMV

The best-selling vinyls of 2023 These are the top 10 best-selling vinyl albums in the UK in 2023: Taylor Swift  1989 (Taylor's Version) The Rolling Stones  Hackney Diamonds Lana Del Rey  Did You Know There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd Taylor Swift  Speak Now (Taylor's Version) Fleetwood Mac  Rumours Blur  The Ballad Of Darren Pink Floyd  The Dark Side Of The Moon Taylor Swift  Midnights Olivia Rodrigo  Guts Lewis Capaldi  Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent Advertisement

How does digital compare?

Digital music, on the other hand, can't reproduce the fully analogue signal found in a record.

Digital signals only use ones and zeros rather than continuous values, so it is like trying to replicate a smooth curve using only square boxes.

To capture music digitally, the sound wave is sampled, essentially measuring it at extremely small increments.

The advantage is that by digitally compressing this information, you can fit much more data in a digital format than you ever could on vinyl.

Adam Gonsalves, owner and senior engineer at Telegraph Mastering has mastered records for artists including Sufjan Stevens, Vampire Weekend, and Willy Nelson.

Mr Gonsalves told MailOnline that the result was like a pointillist painting made of many tiny dots.

'Every digital recording that you hear is a collection of many, many tens of thousands of samples of what was originally an analogue recording,' he explained.

'When you look at a pointillist painting, as you stand back it looks like a picture. Now, if you walk right up to it, you see individual dots not smooth brush strokes: those individual dots are the samples.'

Vinyl records have seen a massive resurgence this year, largely driven by the popularity of artists like Taylor Swift (left) and Olivia Rodrigo (right)

This change, from smooth brush strokes to tiny dots, is something that many record enthusiasts complain about.

Going from digital to analogue risks losing information that was present in the original recording, so some claim.

However, there might not be much scientific truth to this claim.

Thinking about making that smooth curve from square boxes, if you only had massive boxes then you really would struggle to get a good approximation of the shape.

But if you had boxes that were near microscopic, nobody would ever really be able to tell that the curve wasn't smooth after all.

While earlier digital recordings might have struggled to capture all the information of the original, that is far from the case now.

MP3-quality music is now sampled at a rate of 44.1kHz, meaning the sound is sampled 44,100 times per second, and 16 bits of data are recorded per sample.

Mr Gonsalves says that there are now digital formats that reach 'absurd and psychotic' levels of detail.

What is more, something called the NyquistShannon theorem states that for any signal, like a sound wave, a perfect reproduction is guaranteed given a fast enough sample rate.

This means that the rate at which MP3-quality music is sampled is more than enough to ensure a perfect reproduction of any analogue sound.

The surface of a CD as seen by an electron microscope shows how the analogue sound signal is broken up into a series of ones and zeros

What are the drawbacks of vinyl?

Digital music, given the right speakers, will produce a perfectly accurate reproduction of the original recording.

But there are also quite a few other advantages to going digital.

The dynamic range - the difference between the loudest and quietest parts - of digital is much greater than on vinyl.

Digital formats have a dynamic range of over 90dB compared with vinyl's 70dB.

Because decibels, a measure of loudness, are not a linear scale this means that digital has a range 10 times larger than that of vinyl.

And, as Mr Gonsalves explains, the physical construction of vinyl also creates a number of unique issues.

'Vinyl is the only consumer playback format where physical real estate is at issue,' he said.

'We only have 12 inches per side to fit the music so managing the way the grooves lay down on the disk and fit geometrically with one another is not trivial.'

This means that vinyl records are limited to about 40 minutes in length before the sound has to be tweaked and compromises have to be made.

When looked at under a microscope, vinyl records are made up of tiny grooves. If their geometry is too severe the needle can be knocked out of the track

Albums have to be mastered specifically for vinyl, which means they may not sound exactly the same as when they were originally recorded

What is audio mastering? Mastering music is the final stage of the recording process. After the track has been mixed it is sent to a mastering engineer to add the final touches that make it ready for release. This can include adjusting levels, adding stereo enhancement, or removing pops and clicks. Music has to be mastered differently for each format, this means a record will sound slightly different to a digital recording Advertisement

This usually involves managing very high or very low frequencies.

High-frequency sound waves contain a lot more information, which means the needle can miss some out, creating a hissy 'sibilance' on cymbals and other high-pitched sounds.

This is especially problematic towards the end of a side when the needle approaches the centre of the record.

Since the record is spinning faster near the centre, the needle picks up less information, meaning that tracks at the end of a side will actually sound worse than the start.

And, because vinyl is physical, there are limits on what can be recorded.

Very loud bass or effects that sweep dramatically from one speaker to another can simply cause the needle to jump out of the groove.

What are the upsides of vinyl?

Because of vinyl's physical limitations, mastering engineers like Mr Gonsalves have to adjust the music to fit the recording medium.

This means that, far from being a more faithful reproduction, vinyl actually encodes tweaks and changes into the sound.

It's for this reason that classical music and jazz fans often shun vinyl in favour of the CD's more faithful reproductions.

However, enjoying music isn't just about getting the most accurate reproduction of sound, and a few tweaks might actually work in vinyl's favour.

In 1954, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) developed a standard equalisation curve to help producers.

Musicians who recorded after 1954 like the Beatles, shown here recording at Abbey Road, benefited from a standardisation of record mixing put in place by the Recording Industry Association of America

The RIAA standard equalisation curve sets the standard for how loud different pitches will be on records and enables pre-amps to decode that curve in order to reproduce the music

This sets the volume for different tones on the record to stop the needle from jumping out of the groove and limit distortion.

Interestingly, as Mr Gonsalves explains, this curve actually maps closely to the way that humans hear.

The Equal Loudness Contour shows how sound needs to be a lot louder at the high and low ends of the audible spectrum to be heard as loudly as sounds in the middle.

Mr Gonsalves said: 'We don't hear in the way that digital audio is perfectly linear from top to bottom of the frequency spectrum.

'We hear logarithmically, so things that are in the centre of the frequency range we tend to hear better because that's what we're evolved to hear.'

Because the vinyl is pinned to something very close to that curve, it might not be accurate to the original master but does have a sound that some people may prefer.

The RIAA curve has a similar shape to the Equal Loudness Contour which describes how loudly humans hear certain tones, this potentially makes for a more aesthetically pleasing sound

Does it really matter?

All this technical detail about sound waves and sampling rates might be important for audio engineers, but does it really make a difference for the average music fan?

According to Michael Uwins, senior lecturer of Music & Audio Technology at the University of Wolverhampton - probably not.

Mr Uwins says that when he first started researching this question, what he and other researchers found was that there was really very little difference between the two.

'What you're really finding out is that some people can hear some things, and other people can hear other things,' he told MailOnline.

'We all have different hearing systems so that's in a way beside the point.'

Why then, do some people swear that vinyl sounds better even when, at the best, it only sounds indistinguishable from digital?

'The reason is the vibe,' Mr Uwins explains.

Ultimately, it might be that people simply prefer the ritual and occasion of listening to a record all the way through rather than hitting shuffle on a playlist

'The fact that you can hold it in your hand, look at the pictures and there is this ritual too it does seem to change the experience.

'It's like when you look at a plate of food and it looks good, that changes the perceived flavour of it.'

Research has even shown that when people are told the music they are hearing is from vinyl they report that it sounds more 'full', regardless of whether it is vinyl or not.

Participants told that the music was digital, meanwhile, reported that the music sounded clearer.

But, what Mr Uwins discovered was that when you asked vinyl fans why they prefer records it wasn't necessarily anything to do with the actual sonic signature being measurably better, it was just that they preferred it.

What it really comes down to is personal preference; either you enjoy the ritual of vinyl and all its inherent imperfections or you don't.

Just like the difference between painting with dots or painting with smooth brush strokes, neither is correct but both serve to convey the same artistic message.

Ultimately, as Mr Uwins puts it, 'beauty is in the ear of the listener'.
Congress has been promised fresh details this week on last year's shocking allegations of an illegal UFO crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program.

The charges, made by former high-ranking US intelligence official David Grusch, accuse both the US military and its defense contractors of stonewalling on evidence of crashed UFOs, recovered 'beings,' and even UFO-related deaths.

While Americans wait in anticipation for possible new details, a source with direct knowledge of standard operations inside the US Intelligence Community's Inspector General's office (IC IG) told DailyMail.com that the meeting will be 'only for show.'

'The IG, when he goes and briefs Oversight, his job, between you and I, is going to be to make them feel as though they're getting information,' this source said, 'and basically tell them nothing.'

Although some House Oversight members intimated last November that they have now acquired 'permission' to view the classified version of Grusch's formal IC IG complaint, this source said: 'I do not expect that to occur.'

This week's secret briefing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) will be conducted by the Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General (IC IG), headed by Thomas Monheim (above). An intel insider told DailyMail.com the hearing will amount to 'nothing'

While the Oversight hearing will be held at the 'Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information' (TS/SCI) level, inside a 'Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility' (SCIF), DailyMail.com understands that a direct look at Grusch's classified IC IG complaint is unlikely, despite comments made at a November 2023 (above) held by members of House Oversight

Grusch's allegations were first made in detail via this classified formal complaint, a 'Disclosure of Urgent Concern(s); Complaint of Reprisal' filed to the IC IG's office in May of 2022, according to The Debrief.

But this past June, Grusch made public the unclassified, broad strokes of his charges in an explosive series of interviews, first with The Debrief, then cable news channel News Nation and soon after in sworn testimony to the House Oversight Committee.

'I was informed, in the course of my official duties, of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program,' Grusch told House members last July.

'I made the decision, based on the data I collected, to report this information to my superiors and multiple inspectors general,' Grusch continued, under oath, 'in effect becoming a whistleblower.'

If he knowingly provided false material to the IC IG in his formal complaint, Grusch could face a fine of up to $10,000 for such a criminal offense under Title 18  1001 of the US criminal code, or worse, up to five years in prison (or both).

'Given the significant penalties for making false statements to an inspector general,' as ex-Defense Department official Marik von Rennenkampff wrote in The Hill, 'it is extremely unlikely that multiple high-level, highly-cleared officials would falsely claim to have first-hand knowledge of myths and rumors.'

Explosive charges, made by former high-ranking US intelligence official David Grusch (center) in the press and to Congress, have accused both the US military and its defense contractors of stonewalling on evidence of crashed UFOs, recovered 'beings,' and even UFO-related deaths

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna on the orchestrated attempt by the Intelligence Community to deny Congress access to David Gruschs ICIG whistleblower complaint.#ufox #ufotwitter #ufo #uap pic.twitter.com/zhZwa1Ap7O  UAP James (@UAPJames) November 30, 2023

But the classified details of that whistleblower complaint, while disclosed to cleared lawmakers on the House and Senate's intelligence committees, have yet to be made available to lawmakers with the House Oversight Committee.

DailyMail.com's US intelligence community insider said this is to be expected.

'The statute doesn't give their committee cognizance over David [Grusch]'s complaint,' this source said. 'Oversight, they have nothing to do with Intel.'

'The statute gives HPSCI [the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] and SSCI [the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence] cognizance,' this source explained in a telephone interview.

Attorney Daniel Sheehan says whistleblowers with knowledge of a classified UFO 'reverse-engineering' program have opted to testify to the Senate intelligence committee, in part over their reported mistrust of the Pentagon's dedicated UFO office and its first director Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick. Above, a page from the US Air Force's Project 1794, declassified in 2012

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Retired US Army Colonel says secret UFO projects should be made public by October 2030 - to beat America's rivals and get ahead of a 'catastrophic' leak The revelations came amid an invite-only UFO gathering at Stanford University. But, many speakers at the exclusive event expressed worry over the risk of social and economic upheaval. One former CIA scientist said that Washington insiders had deeply weighed both the positive and negative ramifications of declassifying America's top-secret UFO programs in 2004. They came to believe that the risks of UFO 'disclosure' were just too great. Advertisement

'So that's kind of an internal 'food fight' for Capitol Hill,' according to this intelligence community insider. 'That's not really our problem, you know? That's theirs  and they're very territorial.'

Nevertheless, Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna told assembled reporters late last November that plans were in place for she and other House Oversight members to finally review the classified details of Grusch's IC IG complaint.

'Referencing Grusch, I know that there were many questions in regards to what was happening with his current IG report,' Representative Luna said, 'and whether or not we were able to receive access to that information.'

'We were previously denied this,' Rep. Luna continued, stating, 'We have now received permission from him directly to go back into the SCIF to review that information.'

But while next week's Oversight hearing will be held at the 'Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information' (TS/SCI) level, inside a 'Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility' (SCIF), DailyMail.com understands that a direct look at Grusch's classified IC IG complaint is unlikely.

'I don't think there's going to be a whole lot to come out of this,' the anonymous IC IG insider told DailyMail.com.

'What I expect to occur  and I could be completely wrong  is you're going to see those people [House Oversight] walk out into the hallway and give a press conference saying that they're mad that they can't get access to it.'

Over the past year, a bipartisan group of Oversight Committee members, led by Tennessee Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, has sought more details on UFOs: activities that included last July's open hearing and a closed-door meeting this fall with representatives of the Department of Defense's own Office of the Inspector General.

Reps. Luna and Burchett have joined other lawmakers in what's been called the 'Congressional UAP Caucus,' in reference to the more contemporary term-of-art for UFOs: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).

Few from House Oversight or the UAP caucus, however, which includes reps Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Jaimie Raskin (D-Md.) and others, have gone into detail on the expected material to be covered in next week's top secret UFO hearing.

In fact, House Oversight has issued mixed messages on which day the event will be held, with the office of the Democratic Party's ranking committee member, Rep. Raskin, stating that the hearing will be held on Tuesday, January 9, 2024  and 'two sources familiar' stated to Axios that it will be held Friday, January 12.

For his part, Rep. Burchett, via a spokesperson, made no mention of plans to review Grusch's classified IC IG complaint, saying only that 'the event that is happening on January 12, 2024, will be a classified members-only briefing with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG), Thomas Monheim.'

'It is open to members of the House Oversight Committee, but if other House members or senators are interested, they may notify the Committee and would be welcome to attend.'

'David Grusch will not be in attendance,' Rep. Burchett's spokesperson told UFO researcher Douglas Dean Johnson. 'We do not have a SCIF scheduled for a briefing with David Grusch currently, but the UAP Caucus is continuing to push for one.'

House Oversight issued mixed messages on which day the event will be held, with the office of the Democrat's ranking committee member, Rep. Raskin, stating the hearing will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 9  and 'two sources familiar' stated to Axios that it will be held Friday, Jan. 12

A source with direct knowledge of standard operations inside the IC IG's office told DailyMail.com that Tuesday's meeting will only help lawmakers 'feel as though they're getting information.' Above, another page from the US Air Force's Project 1794, declassified in 2012

Whether it proves to be momentous or not, this week's classified hearing follows months of pitched backroom battles on the Hill over a bipartisan bill that would have formalized a 'controlled disclosure plan' to release the US government's allegedly long-held UFO secrets.

Top lawmakers, including Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Marco Rubio, and Senate Armed Services Committee member Mike Rounds, led the charge on the amendment  which ultimately passed Congress, albeit in a radically truncated form.

Ohio representative and UFO skeptic Mike Turner told News Nation the original 64-page bill was 'poorly drafted' complaining that 'no one has even raised it' with him.

But, in an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Grusch called out Turner, accusing him of 'blocking' the bill on behalf of his defense contractor donors.

The legislation was originally to be modeled on the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, passed in response to public debate following Oliver Stone's 1991 film about the daylight killing of a sitting US president.

The Classified Records Review Board, impaneled by the JFK records act, had successfully declassified and released 5 million documents, according to its former deputy director Thomas Samoluk in 2013.

But the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) 's work was stonewalled and remains incomplete, suggesting that even a robustly proposed UFO panel modeled on that board would have faced similar limitations.

Late in the debate on the Schumer-Rounds UAP Amendment, Reps. Luna, Burchett and others from the 'UAP Caucus' criticized the bill, with Rep. Burchett ultimately proposing an alternative amendment that was curiously only one page long.

Tennessee Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, who serves on the House Oversight Committee, led this past summer's open UFO hearing on July 26th - which he said had been undermined by Pentagon and US Intelligence Community efforts to 'continuously block things'

According to the DailyMail.com's well-placed US intelligence community source, who is intimately familiar with the policies and mandates of the IC IG's office, House Oversight's upcoming secret hearing will likely be marred by similar curiosities.

'I don't know what they're doing,' the source told DailyMail.com.

This source believes Attorney Thomas Monheim, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, will likely feel compelled to walk a tightrope between keeping multiple competing congressional committees satisfied.

'He's in charge of what he's going to tell them,' the source said.

'I would be very shocked if they hear the same things the Intel committees heard,' the source elaborated, 'not because he doesn't want to tell them  because they're Congress  but because HPSCI and SSCI have probably said to him, 'Hey! We are your committees of jurisdiction, not Oversight.''

The US intel community insider suggested that the House UAP caucus and others interested in transparency on UFOs and 'non-human intelligence' would be better served by redirecting their attention toward lawmakers on those intel committees.

'David [Grusch] briefed HPSCI and SSCI because that's what the statute allowed him to do,' the source told DailyMail.com

'David spent hours and hours and hours and hours with SSCI,' the source said. 'And then hours and hours and hours and hours with HPSCI.'

'All the staffers that he briefed were all cleared TS/SCI. They all had to have compartmented read-ins. It was a big deal.'

'It's not [House] Oversight that's going to do anything, you know? It's 'What is SSCI doing?' and 'What is HPSCI doing?'' the intel insider opined.

'Who's going to hold their feet to the fire?'

This story has been amended to include additional information on the proposed date of the classified House Oversight UAP hearing next week.

Have details about Tuesday's UFO hearing? Please get in touch with the author at matthew.phelan@mailonline.com or matthew.d.phelan@protonmail.com
The term 'international jet setter' might not immediately evoke images of dogs, yet it's exactly how to describe Kuma - a dinky hound who has been on around 250 flights.

This New York-based pug is better travelled than most people - and has become something of a travel influencer, attracting nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and 77,000 on TikTok.

His antics are documented online by proud owner Sid Henderson, who spoke to MailOnline Travel about his furry flight companion.

The 43-year-old travels frequently for his job in warehouse automation and brings Kuma with him.

'I started travelling with Kuma when he was a puppy, probably five months old,' Sid says.

The jet-setting antics of pug Kuma have won him over 170,000 followers on social media. Owner Sid Henderson, from New York, spoke to MailOnline Travel about his flight companion

The jet-setting pug began travelling when he was a puppy, and has since been on around 250 flights

The two mostly fly with Delta Air Lines from New York airports, including LaGuardia, Newark and JFK.

Sid says Kuma has visited 'basically everywhere' in the U.S, Montreal in Canada, and has even ventured as far as Seoul in South Korea.

He also has flown to several places in Europe, where he perused the streets of Paris and Porto and enjoyed the beaches in Lisbon.

How does Sid do it? It's surprisingly easy.

He says: 'I'm really discreet with him on the plane. I don't make a big deal that he's there, and he just sleeps.'

The seven-year-old pug fits into a small bag and slots underneath Sid's legs for the entire flight.

Kuma has visited several cities in Europe, including Paris, Porto and Lisbon (pictured)

Kuma is pictured here in Seagull Method Cafe in Lisbon, which Sid says is his 'favourite brunch spot'. He revealed that his pug has an amenable temperament while flying: 'I've never noticed any difference with him. He's just as happy'

Sid continues: 'At the end of the flight, I'll take him out, and usually people are like "I didn't know there was a pug on the plane".'

While some dogs may not take to the skies as easily as Kuma, Sid says: 'I've never noticed any difference with him. He's just as happy.'

Sid attributes this to Kuma growing up in a city. He explains: 'When you grow up in the city, there's so much craziness around, you get mellowed out a bit.'

Despite Kuma's calm temperament, Sid says he doesn't often take him on flights for longer than six or seven hours. That way, 'if something delays us for a couple of hours, he's still going to be okay'.

One thing to bear in mind when travelling with pets, Sid says, is to get to the airport early.

He says: 'You want to make sure that you have plenty of time to do all your things and have a little bit of extra time in case something slows you down.

'I let him run around and get rid of his energy first.'

Sid says that airport security searches Kuma for suspicious items before he heads to a 'pet relief' area for a bathroom break and to stretch his legs.

The seven-year-old pug fits into a small carry-on bag and slots underneath Sid's legs in plane cabins

Kuma mostly flies with Delta Air Lines and is checked by airport security before boarding

Kuma is pictured here at the Kimpton St Honore Paris

Although these aren't always easy to come by in international airports, Sid says outdoor smoking areas work just as well.

One of his favourite parts of owning a travelling pug, Sid says, is 'seeing a wave of smiles', when Kuma passes by.

From those travelling and waiting to fly, to cabin crew, pilots and airport security, Sid says that 'everyone's natural reaction is a smile'.

But while the reaction to Kuma's travels has been overwhelmingly positive, Sid says: 'Kuma doesn't care that he's in Paris or Korea, or anywhere else.

'He really just likes smelling new places.'

To see more of Kuma visit him on Instagram www.instagram.com/pugkuma.
She loves 'the freedom of traveling on a whim' with her husband of eight years

Would you delay having children to travel the world carefree for longer?

It is a topic that's gaining momentum on popular social media platforms such as TikTok, where videos asking the question have gone viral.

MailOnline Travel speaks to one global traveller who explains why she has already made the decision to prioritise exploring over parenting.

Australian-born Adriana Neptuna, who has been married for eight years, says she and her husband want to 'make the most of our 30s', experimenting and taking risks before they consider starting a family.

The award-winning blogger, who documents her travels on her TikTok and Wanderlicious website, has so far travelled to 44 countries and says she is 'not ready to give [travel] up yet' in the way she has come to know it.

Australian-born Adriana Neptuna, who has been married for eight years, says she and her partner (both pictured) want to 'make the most of our 30s', experimenting and taking risks before they consider starting a family

'I love the freedom of travelling to new locations on a whim, usually based on other travellers' recommendations,' she explains.

'If the weather changes for the worse or I don't love a location, I just pack up and leave. I imagine it would be harder to do with little ones in tow. I expect it would cost more too, which you would need to plan for more carefully.'

Adriana acknowledges that it is possible to travel as a family but suggests it can be 'harder with very young children if you're exploring remote regions' and places without family-friendly facilities.

As a full-time traveller and digital nomad, she says it may be easy for her to 'keep putting off having children' because her job involves moving around and her work would otherwise have to change.

From her experience, Adriana says she 'definitely' thinks it's a growing trend due to there being fewer expectations' to have children as soon as you got married and to settle down'.

She adds: 'That's no longer the case. The world is wide and there's so much to see. Through travel, you learn so much, not only about foreign cultures but about yourself too.

'I'm not sure I would have been mature enough to raise a family in my early 20s. I was too busy exploring.'

Adriana, who documents her travels on her TikTok and Wanderlicious website, has so far travelled to 44 countries and says she is 'not ready to give [travel] up yet' in the way she has come to know it. Pictured: Adriana and her husband in Bali

'I love the freedom of travelling to new locations on a whim, usually based on other travellers' recommendations,' explains Adriana, pictured left in Hue, Vietnam. She suggests it could be harder to travel 'with very young children if you're exploring remote regions' and places without family-friendly facilities. Pictured right: Adriana in Petra, Jordan

Despite her personal preferences, Adriana's message to parents-in-waiting is that it's 'best to have children when you feel the time is right for you'.

The travel enthusiast recalls experiencing different cultures from 'a very young age' as her parents moved a lot for work.

'I had lived in four different countries by the time I was 13 and found myself going to school in Australia, Poland, Dubai and then England,' she says.

'I realised that every country is completely unique but they all have similarities. Each country has delicious food, wonderful traditions, unusual customs, and overall, really nice people.'

Despite her personal preferences, Adriana's message to parents-in-waiting is that it's 'best to have children when you feel the time is right for you'. Pictured: Adriana at the Taj Mahal in India

She had her first taste of travel abroad on a trip to New Zealand to attend her aunt's wedding, where she also visited some geothermal hot springs.

'It was so cold outside it was snowy, but the ground was really hot,' she says.

'I remember warming up my hands by picking up the hot stones from the floor. How bizarre is that? The air was freezing cold, but the ground was hot. New Zealand is full of wonders.'

Reflecting on her love for travel, Adriana says her theory is that it 'makes you feel that same sense of wonder you get when you're a child'.

She adds: 'You're seeing things for the first time, trying new foods for the first time, you usually get completely lost along the way, but you end up creating some of the best memories.'

Adriana's world travels to date include 20 countries in Europe, two countries in Africa, six in the Middle East, one in North America, two in Oceania and 13 in Asia.

Reflecting on her love for travel, Adriana says her theory is that it 'makes you feel that same sense of wonder you get when you're a child'

These are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the Vatican City in Europe.

The remaining are Egypt and Morocco in Africa; UAE, Turkey, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and Bahrain in the Middle East; Mexico in North America; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, India and the Maldives in Asia.

Where is next on the list?

Adriana and her partner dream of visiting every country in the world and currently have their eyes on South America.

'I've never been to that continent and the wildlife, scenery, food and people really intrigue me,' Adriana says.

'I'd love to visit Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. I am also really keen to do more of Africa too, as I think it has some of the most beautiful places on Earth. But it's hard to know where to start.'

When asked how many more countries she might want to experience before starting a family, Adriana suggests between 20 and 25.

Adriana and her partner dream of visiting every country in the world and currently have their eyes on South America. When asked how many more countries she might want to experience before starting a family, she suggests between 20 and 25. LEFT: Adriana in Bali, Indonesia. RIGHT: Adriana in Hoi An, Vietnam

For now, she plans to continue travelling with her partner, who was able to leave his job to join her on the adventure.

But there are times when travelling full-time can affect relationships, she says.

'I'm lucky that my partner is travelling with me, but I don't get to see my friends from London as much as I would like to,' she adds.

'The friendships you make whilst travelling can also be fleeting. You meet people from all over the world and may never see them again. But the stories you have are well worth it.'

When it comes to starting a family, Adriana hopes to continue exploring the world, but likely in a different way.

'I think it will change the way I travel hugely, but that doesn't mean I still can't experience new places and cultures,' she continues.

'I will just have to get better at planning, I think.'

For more from Adriana visit www.tiktok.com/@wanderlicious.adri and www.wanderlicious.co.uk.
Chris Taylor has signed up to appear on the new Love Island: All Stars series, MailOnline can exclusively reveal.

The former Islander will be looking to find romance for a second time after meeting ex-girlfriend Maura Higgins, 33, when they both starred on the ITV2 show in 2019.

Maura dated co-star Curtis Pritchard, 27, before her friendship with Chris blossomed into a relationship, but the couple split in May 2021 after six months together.

While Chris, 33, hasn't gone public with a girlfriend since Maura, the star's career has gone from strength to strength, and he even landed a part in last year's Barbie movie thanks to Oscar winner Margot Robbie's fascination with Love Island.

The TikTok star played one of multiple Kens alongside the likes of Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa, 31, and Simu Liu, 34, as well as Ryan Gosling, 43, in the starring role.

Chris Taylor has signed up to appear on the new Love Island: All Stars series, MailOnline can exclusively reveal

The former Islander will be looking to find romance for a second time after meeting ex-girlfriend Maura Higgins when they both starred on the ITV2 show in 2019

The star's career has gone from strength to strength, and he even landed a part in last year's Barbie movie thanks to Oscar winner Margot Robbie's fascination with Love Island

A source told MailOnline that Love Island producers were very pleased to have signed Chris given his large fanbase and recent link with Margot and they can't wait to see who he will couple up with on the show.

They said: 'Chris is a great signing for the new series.

'His personality has really shone since he found fame on Love Island while when he was on the series as a late addition, he didn't have enough opportunity to really show the viewers what he's all about.

'Now he's a star in his own right on TikTok and Instagram, not to mention his role in the Barbie film and being mates with Margot Robbie.

'Chris is hoping he can find a girlfriend, he met his last one on the show, so there's nothing stopping him from doing the same during All Stars.'

Margot, who hosted a Love Island themed party to celebrate turning 30, met Chris at a film premiere afterparty where the two became better acquainted and she expressed her fondness for the show.

A year later, Chris was contacted about featuring in Barbie, later attending the star-studded European premiere in London with A-list guests including Dua Lipa, America Ferrera and Sam Smith.

Writing on Instagram, Chris said: 'This will sound made up but I'm in the actual Barbie film. No bloody idea how but here we are. I'm an actual Ken.

Maura dated co-star Curtis Pritchard before her friendship with Chris blossomed into a relationship, but the couple split in May 2021 after six months together

Maura is currently in a relationship with Chris Hemsworth body double Bobby Holland Hanton and therefore unable to appear on the upcoming All Stars series

The TikTok star played one of multiple Kens alongside the likes of Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa and Simu Liu as well as Ryan Gosling in the starring role

'Wish I had more to say about this, but I still think I've imagined it. Thank you to the person who made this happen, you know who you are, you glorious ray of human sunshine.'

Love Island: All Stars, presented by Maya Jama, begins on Monday January 15 and will see Islanders from the past date each other at a villa in South Africa.

The lineup reportedly includes TOWIE star Elma Pazar and 2018 Islander Georgia Steel while show legends such as Olivia Attwood are expected to make cameo appearances.

The All Stars series replaces winter Love Island, which was scrapped for a second time this year after it failed to match the same ratings as the summer season.
Brad Falchuk would 'never say no' to a Glee remake.

The 52-year-old writer co-created the hit TV series alongside Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, and Brad remains open to the possibility of reviving the show  but in a 'more modern way.'

Brad  who is married to Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow  told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I'm sure everything is always on the table, but is there a way to tell that story in a more modern way?

'So much of what Glee was about was really this transition from an old way of looking at representation to a new way. I'd never say no, but I wonder what the point would be  except it'd be a moneymaker.'

Glee centered on a glee club at a fictional high school in Ohio. The show  which was also plagued with tragedy and scandal  ran from 2009 until 2015, and it proved to be a huge hit with viewers.

Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk would 'never say no' to a remake of the legendary musical series

Falchuk, who met his wife Gwyneth Paltrow on the show, discussed the possibility of remaking Glee with The Hollywood Reporter; pictured 2019

Brad shared: 'None of us were prepared for that level of success.

'I was younger, it was a little overwhelming, and a lot of us got caught up in our egos. There was a feeling of scarcity. We were writing about high school, so it's very hard not to regress a little. It was a crucible.

'At the same time, we had so much fun and everyone got along so well. Things went to hell, and then everyone got along again. It was chaotic. I'd never want to go back there, and then I'll think, 'Gosh, I'd love to go back there.''

Brad also learned some important lessons from the success.

He said: 'The biggest learning from that show? Taking the ego out of everything and being an adult.'

Falchuk met Gwyneth on the show back in 2010 before striking up a romance with her years later and tying the knot in 2018. She has made numerous appearances on the musical show.

The beloved series starred Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, the late Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, the late Naya Rivera, Jenna Ushkowitz and more before it went off air in 2015.

During it's years-long run, the series scored numerous accolades, including multiple Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards.

In 2010, fans got to watch their favorite cast members live when the series embarked on a concert tour.

From 2010 to 2011, Glee Live! In Concert! hit the road with multiple members of the cast performing.

The series starred Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, and Naya Rivera

The beloved series starred Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Naya Rivera, Jenna Ushkowitz and more before it went off air in 2015

Falchuk's wife Gwyneth has made numerous appearances on Glee; pictured on season five

A potential Glee remake was also discussed by fellow showrunner Ryan Murphy, who seemed open to re-visiting the universe back in 2022

This certainly isn't the first time talks of potentially bringing back the show in some format have been raised.

A potential Glee remake was also discussed by fellow showrunner Ryan Murphy, who seemed open to re-visiting the universe back in 2022.

'Im at the phase now with that show, you know, where its like, well, theres been enough time. Like, maybe we should really re-examine it as a brand,' he said on Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz's podcast, And That's What You REALLY Missed.

'You know, should we do a reboot of it in some way? Should we do a Broadway musical of it in some way?'

'Like, its sort of like an interesting legacy that Im interested in doing in a positive way after sort of pausing for a while. But I dont know. I just love what it says and what it did. And there will never be in my life another Glee, anything close to it, in terms of me feeling so close to it.'

The cast have had mixed feelings about a possible Glee remake.

Grant Gustin  who played Sebastian Smythe  told E! News last year: 'That was some of the most fun I've ever had,' he explained. 'So, I would obviously, I would love it.'

Matthew Morrison, who played Will Schuester from 2009 to 2015, didn't have any interest in returning to the world of Glee.

'Not happening  not for me,' he explained to Page Six in 2019. 'It was such a moment in time  and it was a perfect moment  [but] theyve had shows that tried to recreate what we did, and none of them really worked.'

Still, Morrison and his former castmates have remained in touch. 'We are [all] very connected still,' Matthew told the outlet. 'Were very involved in each others lives  so that we can help support each other. Like if Darren [Criss] or Lea [Michele] have a show  then a bunch of us will show up.

Jayma Mays also said a reboot would have to be 'its own new thing' when weighing in on the concept in 2022.

The cast of Glee have had mixed feelings about returning for a remake

Chris Colfer (third from the left) said he couldn't be persuaded to return to the world of Glee

'I dont have the creative mind that a good writer would have to come up with something. But I think it would have to be its own new thing,' Jayma, who played Emma Pillsbury, told E! News.

Chris Colfer also said he couldn't be persuaded to return to the world of Glee.

'Glee was an incredible, life-changing experience,' Colfer  who played Kurt Hummel  told USA Today in 2019.

'I think the best thing to do here is quote Dolly Parton,' he said with a laugh. 'No amount of money can take from me the memories I have of then, but no amount of money can make me go back and do it all over again.'
Sebastian Stan was hard at work on Thursday as he continued filming his Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice in Toronto.

The 41-year-old Avengers: Endgame star was pictured on the chilly Canadian day as he shot what appeared to be a funeral scene held at a cemetery.

He was surrounded by tall headstones while standing next to his costar Maria Bakalova, 27, who was first pictured on set late last month.

Stan was made up with the unmistakable hair the former president is infamous for, while Maria sported a thick blond wig to play his first wife Ivana Trump, who died in 2022.

The screen stars were also joined for the scene by the Tenet actor Martin Donovan, 66, who was briefly glimpsed on set as Donald's father Fred Trump.

Sebastian Stan, 41, was dressed as Donald Trump with his infamous shaggy blond hair on a cemetery set in Toronto on Thursday while filming The Apprentice. He was joined by Maria Bakalova, 27, as Ivana Trump and Martin Donovan, 66, as his father Fred Trump

Stan was costumed with a classic black cashmere overcoat that reached down to his knees.

He wore it over a black two-piece suit with a white shirt and a black die, suggesting that he was paying his respects in the scene.

His shaggy blond wig was the biggest sign that he was playing Trump, and it was unclear if he also had any kind of facial prosthetics on to better get into character.

Maria looked elegant in a back fur coat with matching stockings and lustrous black heels.

Her blond hair was parted down the middle and styled in thick curls that rested on her shoulders.

It was a new look for the actress, who was pictured filming a street scene just days before Christmas while sporting a straight shoulder-length platinum blond hairdo.

The Bulgarian actress showed off an impressive resemblance to photos of Ivana Trump when she worked as a model in the '70s in her earlier on-set appearances. However, it wasn't clear exactly when the scene she and Sebastian were filming on Thursday was set.

Donovan was barely glimpsed in the scene, but he also had on a black overcoat.

Although he wasn't featured in the scene, The Apprentice will also feature Succession star Jeremy Strong as the disgraced  and eventually disbarred  lawyer Roy Cohn, who served as a mentor and fixer for Trump in the 1970s and '80s.

Production on The Apprentice began in late November.

The film follows Trump in the '70s and '80s as he attempts to establish his real estate empire on the back of his father Fred Trump's properties.

The Apprentice is being directed by the Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi, who shot the critically acclaimed Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider (2022).

Strong will be prominently featured as the younger Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn, who came to prominence  and initial infamy  as the chief counsel of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

He was later disbarred in 1986 for defrauding a dying client.

Stan was costumed with a classic black cashmere overcoat that reached down to his knees. He wore it over a black two-piece suit with a white shirt and a black die, suggesting that he was paying his respects in the scene

The film follows Trump in the '70s and '80s as he attempts to establish his real estate empire on the back of his father Fred Trump's properties; seen in 1990

Maria didn't require much in the way of makeup or prosthetics to get into character as Ivana Trump, who died in 2022 at age 73. The film appears to follow her from when she was a model in the 1970s through her marriage to Trump

Cohn, a gay man, died just weeks after his disbarment from complications of AIDS, though he had denied that he had the disease up until his death.

He was later fictionalized in Tony Kushner's iconic two-part play Angels In America, and later portrayed by Al Pacino in a film adaptation.

Maria broke out in the US with her hilarious and acclaimed role as Borat's teenage daughter which earned her an Oscar nomination, the first for a Bulgarian actress  and she followed that up by appearing in the critically approved horror satire Bodies Bodies Bodies.

She subsequently appeared in Judd Apatow's pandemic-era comedy The Bubble and voiced a character in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3.
Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix has sued her philandering ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval over the $2million Los Angeles area home they still love in together in attempt to move on.

The 38-year-old reality star is taking legal action against the 40-year-old Sandoval - who recently called out an LA bakery - as she filed a suit in LA Superior Court over their home in the San Fernando Valley according to documents obtained by DailyMail.com on Friday.

According to the documents, the former couple do not see eye-to-eye on how they are to split up the property.

They read that Ariana wants a 'partition by sale' which essentially means that she wants a judge to order them to sell the home in order to divide the proceeds.

What she is fighting against is a 'division in kind' which would allow each of them to retain their ownership interest in the property which could lead to one of them theoretically selling to a third party.

Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix has sued her philandering ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval over the $2million Los Angeles area home they still love in together in attempt to move on; they are pictured together in June 2022

The 38-year-old reality star is taking legal action against the 40-year-old Sandoval - who recently called out an LA bakery - as she filed a suit in LA Superior Court over their home in the San Fernando Valley according to TMZ on Friday

The pair had bought the home in the greater LA area for about $2million back in 2019.

However their nine-year relationship ended with 'Scandoval' which found Sandoval being involved in an affair with her 29-year-old friend Raquel Leviss (now Rachel).

This is quite a different tune to the one Ariana was singing back in August 2023 as she defended her choice to live with Sandoval five months after their split.

Just before that Bethenny Frankel had criticized their awkward living arrangement on her Just B podcast, the reality star stated that she will not 'f**k [herself] over' by making any rash decisions.

'I have never been someone who came from money. I know how quickly that goes away,' she explained. 'I'm taking care of myself.'

The TV personality went to on to say that she is 'not rich' and has a mortgage and other expenses.

'A lot of people on the internet seem to think I'm rolling in money right now. I have a lot of places where that money has to go before I get [it],' she continued.

Despite living with Sandoval, the actress made it clear that she keeps their interactions to a minimum.

The pair had bought the home in the greater LA area for about $2million back in 2019

The legal documents were obtained by DailyMail.com

According to the site, the documents show that the former couple do not see eye-to-eye on how they are to split up the property

They claim that Ariana wants a 'partition by sale' which essentially means that she wants a judge to order them to sell the home in order to divide the proceeds

What she is fighting against is a 'division in kind' which would allow each of them to retain their ownership interest in the property which could lead to one of them theoretically selling to a third party according to TMZ

'I have a pretty decent setup,' she said. 'My room is kind of like my little apartment I stay in my own little zone.'

Additionally, Madix said she keeps her door 'locked just in case' and sleeps 'easier at night not giving a f**k when he comes in that door.'

'Yes, we're in the same house, but I don't have to think about [him],' the former bartender told listeners.

Also back in August, the Buying Back My Daughter star explained why she has not moved in the comment section of one of her recent Instagram posts.

'I live in my home that I own while working with my lawyer and financial advisors to navigate the best path forward before uprooting my dog and my elderly cat and causing more trauma for the three of us,' she told a follower.

However their nine-year relationship ended with 'Scandoval' which found Sandoval being involved in an affair with her 29-year-old friend Raquel Leviss (now Rachel - pictured together in November 2022 during their affair)

This is quite a different tune to the one Ariana was singing back in August 2023 as she defended her choice to live with Sandoval five months after their split; they aer seen in February 2023

Open book: Earlier this week, the Buying Back My Daughter star explained why she has not moved in the comment section of one of her recent Instagram posts

'I live in my home that I own while working with my lawyer and financial advisors to navigate the best path forward before uprooting my dog and my elderly cat and causing more trauma for the three of us,' she told a follower (Madix and Sandoval's dogs pictured above)

Back in May Ariana had staged an elaborate publicity stunt in which she pretended to move out of the home

It may not have been April Fools Day but a scheming Madix enlisted the help of friends and even hired a U-Haul for her prank, exploiting the sensation of 'Scandoval' by moving boxes out of her house in full view of photographers

Back in May Ariana had staged an elaborate publicity stunt in which she pretended to move out of the home.

It may not have been April Fools Day but a scheming Madix enlisted the help of friends and even hired a U-Haul for her prank, exploiting the sensation of 'Scandoval' by moving boxes out of her house in full view of photographers.

The reality star sold the sham move to the hilt and even shaded Tom's fling partner Rachel in the process.

Madix is currently in a relationship with her new boyfriend, Daniel Wai.
Khloe Kardashian's first headshots, taken in 2001, showcase the beauty's incredible transformation over the years.

The stunning black and white photos, obtained by DailyMail.com on Friday, show the star at the age of 17 striking poses for her Hollywood calling card.

According to the photographer Mike Dronge, the mother of two was an aspiring model and actress at the time.

'She was unknown then and I got a call from someone asking if she could come in and get headshots because she wanted to be a model and actress,' he told DailyMail.com.

'I think she was by herself when she came,' he added. 'She was a cool, sweet kid and I was really impressed. It would have taken about 30 minutes in all. I think I used one strobe light as well as one roll of film.'

Khloe Kardashian 's first headshots, taken in 2001, showcase the beauty's incredible transformation over the years

The stunning black and white photos, obtained by DailyMail on Friday, show the star at the age of 17 striking poses for her Hollywood calling card; (left in 2001, right in 2023)

In the photo roll, Khloe flashed her megawatt smile while rocking a black tank top and dark jeans. Her brunette hair is streaked blonde and kept long and loose.

Dronge went on to say that although he had 'no idea who she was when she came in,' he was tipped off to her fame when it came time for the headshot payment.

'Afterwards, she gave me a check for $100 signed by Bruce Jenner and I knew who he was, so I was impressed. I cashed the check, but I wish I had kept it!'

Recent photos of Khloe compared to the 2001 headshots suggest that the star is committed to working on her health and appearance.

While many fans online suggest she may have had cosmetic procedures to alter her physical appearance, she's never been shy about delving into the narrative.

In March 2023, beneath one of Khloe's Instagram selfies, a fan asked, 'Do you miss your old face,' to which Kardashian shot back, 'No.'

During a reunion episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the Good American designer opened up about the impact of public scrutiny on her face and body, revealing its effect on her self-esteem.

'For me, everyone says, Oh my gosh, she's had her third face transplant, but I've had one nose job,' she said.

According to the photographer Mike Dronge, the mother of two was an aspiring model and actress at the time

'She was unknown then and I got a call from someone asking if she could come in and get headshots because she wanted to be a model and actress,' he told DailyMail

In the photo roll, Khloe flashed her megawatt smile while rocking a black tank top and dark jeans. Her brunette hair is streaked blonde and kept long and loose; (right in 2023)

'I think she was by herself when she came,' Dronge added

'And everyone gets so upset, like, why don't I talk about it? No one's ever asked me.'

Shes also been candid about her love for the photo editing app Facetune.

'Facetune is the best thing to bring to the table. Its life-changing,' she said during an appearance on Chelsea Handlers Netflix docuseries, Chelsea Does, in February 2016.

'Its the only way to live,' she continued. 'Its not real, you are presenting to the world what you want them to believe you are. Its amazing. I think our society nowadays is so caught up on getting validation from the social world that no one really knows, so they post these things.'

Trolls also accused Khloe of having surgery in April 2019.

'She was a cool, sweet kid and I was really impressed. It would have taken about 30 minutes in all. I think I used one strobe light as well as one roll of film'

Dronge went on to say that although he had 'no idea who she was when she came in,' he was tipped off to her fame when it came time for the headshot payment

'Afterwards, she gave me a check for $100 signed by Bruce Jenner and I knew who he was, so I was impressed. I cashed the check, but I wish I had kept it!'

While many fans online suggest she may have had cosmetic procedures to alter her physical appearance, she's never been shy about delving into the narrative; (seen in 2023)

In March 2023, beneath one of Khloe's Instagram selfies, a fan asked, 'Do you miss your old face,' to which Kardashian shot back, 'No.'

'Now my eyes are pulled back? Lol oh man... you guys are really reaching. but sure, whatever you want to believe. I'm good with whatever babe. much love sent your way,' she wrote on Instagram.

Meanwhile, Khloe is embarking on her journey as a beauty founder with the introduction of a new fragrance in 2024.

'In business, I don't look to loan my name out to someone,' she noted to WWD.

'I'm really hands-on and controlling, which I take as a compliment, and this was the right fit.'
Victoria Silvstedt showcased her age-defying figure in a strapless yellow bikini as she soaked up some sun during her holiday in St Barts on Friday.

The Swedish model, 49, flaunted her svelte physique in the brightly-coloured two piece and pinned her blonde locks loosely behind her face.

She showed off her toned figure and ample cleavage while preparing to settle on her sun lounger for a day at the beach.

Victoria wore a stylish pair of black rimmed sunglasses and teamed her beachwear with a pink lace cover-up.

The beauty has been enjoying some winter sun on the popular celebrity Caribbean island.

Victoria Silvstedt, 49, showcased her age-defying figure in a strapless yellow bikini as she soaked up some sun during her holiday in St Barts on Friday

The Swedish model flaunted her svelte physique in the brightly-coloured two piece and pinned her blonde locks loosely behind her face

She recently commanded attention in a semi-sheer white gown as she arrived at a New Year's Eve yacht party in St Barts.

Victoria looked nothing short of sensational in the plunging wrap dress which boasted a daring waist high split.

She was spotted carrying a pair of bronze metallic heels and toted her belongings around in a matching clutch.

Leaving her long blonde tresses loose in waves, Victoria completed her glamorous ensemble with a simple gold pendant necklace.

Taking to her Instagram, the TV personality posed up a storm as she had a Marilyn Monroe moment in the white dress.

She flashed her gorgeous smile as she twirled around displaying her toned legs through the split.

It comes after Victoria showcased her figure as she enjoyed a day at the beach during the lavish getaway.

The star appeared to be in great spirits as she was spotted larking around in the sea on Christmas Day.

She recently commanded attention in a semi-sheer white gown as she arrived at a New Year's Eve yacht party in St Barts

She looked nothing short of sensational in the plunging wrap dress which boasted a daring waist high split

She was spotted carrying a pair of bronze metallic heels and toted her belongings around in a matching clutch

Leaving her long blonde tresses loose in waves, Victoria completed her glamorous ensemble with a simple gold pendant necklace

Taking to her Instagram, the TV personality posed up a storm as she had a Marilyn Monroe moment in the white dress

The blonde beauty wore a gorgeous lace white cover-up, flaunting her toned long legs in the hip-high split detailing.

She couldn't wipe the smile off her face down at the beach as she was pictured giggling with friends and family.

Victoria, who has been in a relationship with businessman Maurice Dabbah since 2011, looked incredible in her beachwear attire.

The model also took to Instagram to share some sexy snaps during her festive trip as she posed in a racy red bikini.

The beauty and Maurice, who is dubbed one of the richest businessman in Sweden , are in a long-term relationship.

Maurice has 25 years of experience in international real estate investments and as a large real estate portfolios across New York and Europe.

He's a founding partner of Empire Resorts, which developed the Monticello Casino & Raceway.

Victoria, who spent a long break in the South of France this summer, enjoyed a lengthy stint in the spotlight after being chosen to represent her country in the Miss World pageant in 1993.

Victoria is in a long-term relationship with Maurice Dabbah, who is dubbed one of the richest businessman in Sweden (pictured in 2011)

After her pageant days, the Scandinavian stunner was spotted by Hugh Hefner and went on to become a Playboy Playmate.

Since her career rocketed, Victoria has modelled for some of the world's most prestigious fashion houses, including Chanel, Dior and Valentino.

Despite the glamorous veneer to her lifestyle as a young model, she revealed there was a dark side in a recent interview with Female First.

Victoria said: 'I started very young to model in Paris when I was 18, I remember like starving myself to fit into the clothes.

'It was an amazing experience but you know I did shows for Valentino, Chanel, so it was really prestigious.

'But it never felt like it was my thing, I'm not like a runway skinny model, I'm more curvy. It was torture, I put myself through starvation, you know torturing myself.

'To be a young girl as well, you cannot take criticism, everything that you hear is like "no no no" and then I went to Playboy and I could be bigger!'
Mark Labbett has revealed that his biggest concern is making sure host Bradley Walsh stays 'fit enough' to continue presenting.

The Chase star, 58, also known as The Beast, admitted that he and his fellow professional chasers keep an eye on the TV presenter so he doesn't overdo too much in work.

Mark claimed he has to make sure Bradley, 63, is fit because they have to film between 150-200 episodes a year - as well as the actor's other commitments.

Speaking to The Mirror, Mark said: 'Our biggest worry is Bradley being 63 now. Every month, were going, "You okay, Brad? Hows the health?" Wrap him in bubble wrap!

'Hes so damn popular youre more worried about what he signed up for now.'

Mark Labbett, 58, has revealed that his biggest concern is making sure host Bradley Walsh stays 'fit enough' to continue presenting

The Chase star, also known as The Beast, admitted that he and his fellow professional chasers keep an eye on the TV presenter (pictured) so he doesn't overdo too much

Last year, as well as hosting The Chase, Bradley hosted The Royal Variety Performance and is set to present the return of Gladiators alongside his son Barney next week.

While Bradley has decades of experience hosting high-profile television programmes, Barney has yet to anchor one.

Since 2019, Barney has appeared next to his father on their ITV series Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad, in which the pair take on challenges while travelling the world.

It comes after Mark and his new girlfriend Hayley Palmer may be packing up house and moving to Australia soon.

The lovebirds, who began their whirlwind romance earlier this year, are currently in a long-distance relationship as the British presenter, 41, works in London.

However, that may change soon as Hayley revealed she is eager to move to Australia to be with the Chase star, reported 7News in November 2023.

'I would love to come out to Australia. Mark and I have talked about it. I have been to Sydney and Manly Beach is my favourite,' she told the publication.

'So I really do hope to come out  that would be an absolute dream. I must put it on my vision board.'

Mark claimed he has to make sure Bradley, 63, is fit because they have to film between 150-200 episodes a year - as well as the actor's other commitments

Last year, as well as hosting The Chase, Bradley hosted The Royal Variety Performance (pictured) and is set to present the return of Gladiators alongside his son Barney next week

It comes after Mark and his new girlfriend Hayley Palmer may be packing up house and moving to Australia soon

She went on to say she is a 'huge fan' of Home and Away, which is filmed in Palm Beach, Sydney.

Meanwhile, Mark currently splits his time between Australia, England and the U.S as he stars on The Chase Australia and Master Minds, while also living in Rotherham so he can be close to his five-year-old son, whom he shares with ex-wife Katie.

With Hayley living in London, the two of them are currently committed to travelling approximately 3 hours to see each other when Mark travels to England.
Even the most discerning fashion eye would admit that Claudia Winkleman cuts a stylish dash on BBC show The Traitors.

But her much-admired wardrobe comes at a cost  well over 8,000 just for the first three episodes.

One of the standout items is a 749 navy and green coat, previously seen on the Princess of Wales, from British tweed brand Holland Cooper.

A 595 navy and grey argyle vest from British luxury brand Purdey London has sold out since it was seen in the first episode.

There was also a 480 khaki woolly jumper with yellow smiley faces on the elbows by Japanese menswear brand Kapital seen in episode two.

Kapital Jumper 480. Brora kilt 259. Dr Martens boots 180

Officine Generale coat 1,320. Brora jumper 185. Cordings trousers 179. Hunter wellies 125

The 51-year-old matched the bold knitwear with a 259 mohair kilt from Scottish brand Brora and 180 Dr Martens Chelsea boots.

Another look featured a 1,320 khaki cashmere-felt coat from the Parisienne clothing brand Officine Generale, a 185 patterned cashmere jumper from Brora, 179 tweed trousers from country brand Cordings and 125 green Hunter wellies.

The presenter last night slipped into a 2,175 black velvet Yves Saint Laurent blazer with a white pussy bow shirt from Self Portrait and 90 black velvet leggings from shapewear brand Commando. Her sharp collection also includes 125 grey fingerless gloves from Scottish cashmere brand Johnstons of Elgin.

Her clothes have attracted such attention fans have taken to social media to call for her stylist, Sinead McKeefry, to be handed a pay rise.

And there is more to look forward to. In an interview before it landed, Ms Winkleman described her favourite outfit of series two as 'so nuts', adding: 'I have never tried mushrooms but I assume this is what it is.'
Gypsy Rose Blanchard attended the premiere of her new six-part documentary series with her husband in New York City on Friday  marking their first-ever red carpet appearance.

Just over one week since getting out on parole, Gypsy, now 32, celebrated the release of The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard about her now-infamous life story.

She and her husband, Ryan Anderson, 37, both donned matching black ensembles at the premiere of the show  which follows her story of being imprisoned under horrific abuse as a child and later for her role in her mother's violent murder.

For one of her first public appearances, Gypsy  who spoke about orchestrating her mother Dee Dee in her first interview since her prison release on December 28, 2023  a long-sleeved, black minidress with lace details.

She also sported sheer, black tights and velvet sandal heels with a crystal-lined ankle strap.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard attended the premiere of her new six-part documentary series in New York City on Friday. Just over one week after her early prison release at age 32, she celebrated The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard about her now-infamous life story

She and her husband Ryan Anderson both donned matching black ensembles at the premiere of the show

Ryan  a Louisiana teacher she wed behind bars in July 2022  also wrapped his arm around Gypsy's waist as they posed for a couple's photo together.

Putting on a public display of affection, the pair were also pictured locking lips on the red carpet.

For the event, he donned classic black suit with a monochromatic plaid tie to coordinate with Gypsy's look.

Her new documentary tells her story of being a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy who suffered horrific abuse and made national headlines for her role in her mother's violent murder.

Most recently, Gypsy was seemingly catapulted to celebrity status as internet users followed her release.

Because of the limelight on her and her husband, she was forced to defend Ryan against trolls leaving negative comments on their respective social media pages.

While doing so, she chose to reveal some candid details about their sex life.

In the comment section of a recent selfie Ryan shared on Instagram, Gypsy told him to ignore the 'haters' before adding that her husband is 'rocking my world every night'.

Putting on a public display of affection, the pair were also pictured locking lips on the red carpet

For one of her first public appearances, Gypsy  who spoke about orchestrating her mother Dee Dee in her first interview since she was released on parole on December 28, 2023  a long-sleeved, black minidress with lace details

She also sported sheer, black tights and velvet sandal heels with a crystal-lined ankle strap

'Ryan, don't listen to the haters,' she began. 'I love you, and you love me.'

She continued about how they 'do not owe anyone anything' and that 'our family is who matters'.

'If you get likes and good comments great, if you get hate then whatever because THEY DON'T MATTER,' she added. 'I love you'.

'Besides, they jealous because you are rocking my world every night,' she wrote. 'Yeah I said it, the D is fire. Happy wife happy life'.

Ryan then pinned her comment at the top of his post and left another in response to hers.

'Who said I gave a damn about what these jealous people say anyway, haha...now come get it Baby...,' he wrote.

Back at the premiere, Gypsy posed for a photo with the executive producer of her documentary series Melissa Moore.

She also posed for photos with television personalities and celebrities excited to meet her and learn more about her story.

Back at the premiere, Gypsy posed for a photo with the executive producer of her documentary series Melissa Moore

At the premiere, Gypsy also posed for a photo with The Bachelor alum Nick Viall and his fiancee Natalie Joy

Gypsy also posed on the red carpet with comedian Claudia Oshry

They were later joined for a group photo with Oshry's husband Ben Soffer

At the premiere, Soffer donned a blue, patterned button-down with black pants while Oshry opted for an all-black chic ensemble

She was seen with The Bachelor alum Nick Viall and his fiancee Natalie Joy.

The pair put on a casual display in matching beige knit sweaters and loose-fitting pants at the premiere.

Gypsy also posed on the red carpet with comedian Claudia Oshry.

They were later joined for a group photo with Oshry's husband Ben Soffer.

At the premiere, Soffer donned a blue, patterned button-down with black pants while Oshry opted for an all-black chic outfit.

Gypsy also posed for a photo with podcast host and content creator Amanda Hirsch as the two showcased their black ensembles.

Gypsy also posed for a photo with podcast host and content creator Amanda Hirsch as the two showcased their all-black outfits

She bundled up in a oversize trench coat and sported leather booties as well as a crossbody bag with a gold chain strap

Gypsy was also seen posing for a snap with TikTok star Tefi Estefania Pessoa

Gypsy and Ryan were also seen posing for a group photo with Elaine Frontain Bryant, Rob Sharenow, Melissa Moore, Sharon Scott, Nicole Vogel and Brie Miranda Bryant

She bundled up in a oversize trench coat and sported leather booties as well as a crossbody bag with a gold chain strap.

Gypsy was also seen posing for a snap with TikTok star Tefi Estefania Pessoa.

Gypsy and Ryan were also seen posing for a group photo with Elaine Frontain Bryant, Rob Sharenow, Melissa Moore, Sharon Scott, Nicole Vogel and Brie Miranda Bryant.

Part one of her six-hour docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, premiered on Lifetime on January 5 and will be available for streaming the next day.
Paul Michael Glaser paid a touching tribute to his Starsky & Hutch costar David Soul, following his death at 80 on Thursday.

'I find it difficult to comprehend David's passing. Seems only yesterday that we were sharing loving insults on the phone,' the actor, 80, shared in a statement provided to DailyMail.com.

'It just takes time, I tell myself; saying good-bye to such a dear friend and important part of my life I suspect that I will let myself feel his loss, our loss, only gradually.'

'David was a brother, a friend, a caring man. We shall never see his like again,' he continued.

Paul then addressed David's widow Helen Snell, writing: 'I want to extend my condolences to dear Helen, whom he loved and cherished and who stood beside him through these difficult years. He could never tell me enough what she meant to him.'

Paul Michael Glaser (R) paid a touching tribute to his Starsky & Hutch costar David Soul (L) following his death at 80 on Thursday; They are pictured in a 1975 Starsky & Hutch promo snap

'I find it difficult to comprehend David's passing. Seems only yesterday that we were sharing loving insults on the phone,' the actor, 80, shared in a statement provided to DailyMail.com

'To all his sons and his daughter China, my deepest sympathies. And to all of you, our supportive and caring public who recognized a very special relationship and never stopped telling us. Thank you.'

He wrapped up the touching statement writing: 'We have all lost a dear friend who shall live on in our memories. David - rest in peace, brother. Love, Paul.'

The dynamic duo starred in the hit series together from 1975-1979.

The show followed two California detectives, Soul as Sergeant Kenneth Richard 'Hutch' Hutchinson, and Glaser as Hutch's partner, detective David Starsky.

The original series ran for four seasons on ABC, following the title characters, detectives who fought crime on the streets of the fictional Bay City, California in a bright red Gran Torino, with Antonio Fargas playing their informant, Huggy Bear.

In November, Soul wrote on Twitter that David 'is and will always be my best friend, my brother.'

In 2023 there were rumors of a Starsky & Hutch reboot with two female characters as leads. At the time Soul wondered why he and Paul couldnt do the reboot.

'Every article [about a reboot] mentions the "original" actors by name. So why not just reboot Paul and meas a couple of old farts solving piddly-a** crimes at the assisted living facility where we would now live? Who can do Starsky and Hutch better than him and me?' he asked on Twitter.

Glaser hilariously wrote back: 'If you're going to describe me as an "old fart," Please leave "old" out of it.'

'David was a brother, a friend, a caring man. We shall never see his like again,' he continued

The dynamic duo starred in the hit series together from 1975-1979

The show followed two California detectives, Soul as Sergeant Kenneth Richard 'Hutch' Hutchinson, and Glaser as Hutchs partner, detective David Starsky; Seen in a 1975 still

Last year there were rumors of a Starsky & Hutch reboot with two female characters as leads. At the time Soul wondered why he and Paul couldnt do the reboot, as he jokingly referred to them as 'old farts'

Glaser hilariously wrote back to David's comment: 'If you're going to describe me as an "old fart," Please leave "old" out of it'

In November, Soul wrote that David 'is and will always be my best friend, my brother' after a Twitter user suggested David shouldn't speak to him due to his views on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict

Soul died at the age of 80, it was announced on Friday morning.

The actor was on the 1970s TV series Starsky & Hutch before topping the charts with his hit Don't Give Up On Us.

His heartbroken wife Helen Snell said he had a 'valiant battle for life.'

'David Soul - beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother - died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family,' she said in a statement.

'He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend.

'His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.'

Others also shared their own notes.

Star Trek actor William Shatner shared on social media: 'Condolences to the family of David Soul. One of his early roles was on an episode of Star Trek Original Series.'

Supermodel Carol Alt told DailyMail.com: 'I grew up with the handsome David Soul starring in Starsky & Hutch. That show was a weekly staple thanks to David, who had real star power and a strong presence. I loved his character. Im very sorry to hear of his passing.'

Ben Stiller praised the late Starsky & Hutch star for 'defining 70s cool'.

Stiller, who starred in the 2004 film remake of Starsky & Hutch, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: 'Defining 70s cool. Rest in peace x.'

Soul died at the age of 80, it was announced on Friday morning. His heartbroken wife Helen Snell said he had a 'valiant battle for life'; Seen in 2020

Aside from his acting career, Soul also enjoyed a short-lived pop career, scoring a number one hit in the US and UK with catchy ballad Don't Give Up On Us Baby in 1976.

Further chart toppers would follow in 1977, with singles Going In With My Eyes Open and Silver Lady, but Soul's foray as a singer would end 12-months later with the release of It Sure Brings Out The Love In Your Eyes - his fifth and final single.

Other memorable film roles included that of a vigilante cop in Dirty Harry sequel The Enforcer and the lead as nostalgic writer Ben Mears in 1979 Stephen King adaptation Salem's Lot.

The actor lived in London with his PR wife Helen, his fifth marriage, after they met while touring the UK with a stage production of Ira Levin play Deathtrap in 2002.
Tammy Hembrow is racing down the aisle with her new fiance Matthew Zukowski.

The influencer and the Love Island Australia star became engaged just weeks ago and they're already planning their wedding.

On Saturday, Tammy shared a video to Instagram in which she asks her sisters to be her bridesmaids at the upcoming nuptials.

'Asked my sisters to be my bridesmaids. Such a special day and so lucky to have four amazing sissys' she wrote.

Fans were quick to question the speed at which the marriage is moving with many sharing their thoughts in the comments.

Influencer Tammy Hembrow is racing down the aisle with her new fiance, Love Island Australia star Matthew Zukowski. Both pictured

'How can someone fall in love so fast?... LOL maybe I'm too heartless' wrote one person.

'She just wants to proof everyones wrong about her engagement with a speedy wedding. shes really desperate' said another.

One more person commented: 'This seems so soon after just getting engaged. When is the wedding?'

Someone else said: 'Plot twist: she actually gets to get married this time!' while another chimed in, 'Didn't you do this last year with the last guy?'

On Saturday, Tammy shared a video to Instagram in which she asks her sisters to be her bridesmaids at the upcoming nuptials

'Asked my sisters to be my bridesmaids. Such a special day and so lucky to have four amazing sissys' she wrote

'I just dont understand why the quick engagement? Major red flags' questioned one follower.

Others were supportive, with one fan commenting, 'So special that you have such a great, supportive family to share these moments with'.

'All the negative comments are probably people who arent getting married anytime soon or miserable. This is the cutest thing ever' said another.

Tammy and Matt have only been dating three months but they are already ready to build a life together.

Fans were quick to question the speed at which the marriage is moving with many sharing their thoughts in the comments, but others were supportive

She recently made headlines when she posted a video to Instagram capturing the heartwarming moment Matt proposed to her while on holidays in the Maldives.

The footage showed the precious moment Matt got down on one knee at the beach and pulled out an engagement ring for Tammy.

Tammy has been engaged two times before. Her first time was with fellow influencer Reece Hawkins.

In November 2021, the fitness guru became engaged to restaurateur and former Ironman Matt Poole. The pair split in December 2022.
Shelly Horton has shared the shock and heartbreak she felt when her doctor told her she will need to have a hysterectomy.

The Talking Married host requires the surgical procedure, which removes a woman's uterus, due to severe perimenopausal symptoms and heavy bleeding.

'I'm shocked at how overwhelmed and teary I feel about it' the 50-year-old writes in her column for Nine Honey this week.

Shelly says that while she has never wanted children, she's still felt some 'grief' over losing the reproductive organ.

'I'm proudly childfree by choice, so I am furious this organ that I haven't ever needed gives me so much misery' she writes.

Shelly Horton (pictured) has revealed the shock and heartbreak she felt when her doctor told her she will need to have a hysterectomy due to her severe perimenopausal symptoms

'I've joked to friends I want to sell my uterus on eBay  "One uterus. Never used. Still in box!" Yet, just as I laugh, I also feel a mix of anger, sadness and a sense of betrayal by my own body' she writes.

Shelly stressed that 'a uterus does not define a woman' and added her story is a 'call to action for all of us to redefine womanhood beyond biological functions.'

The TV star also shared the news of her upcoming surgery to Instagram in recent weeks.

'Bit emotional about booking in for a hysterectomy. I know a lot of you say it's the best thing you've ever done. BUT I'm terrified of the recovery down time' she wrote in her caption alongside an emotional video.

Shelly wept as she broke the news, saying, 'I'm having a hysterectomy... I don't even know why I'm upset about that... I never had kids, I never wanted kids'

'Spiralling a little so would love advice!' she added, revealing that surgery was scheduled for April.

In the clip, Shelly wept as she broke the news, saying, 'I'm having a hysterectomy... I don't even know why I'm upset about that.

'I know it's the right thing to do. And for Christ Sake I never even used my uterus. I never had kids, I never wanted kids'.

Shelly went on to say that she was worried about the estimated 6-8 week recovery time and the pain she may be in, before asking her followers for advice.

The television personality later said she was met with 'a massive love bomb from my followers' after sharing her plans for surgery.

'I'm proudly childfree by choice, so I am furious this organ that I haven't ever needed gives me so much misery' she said

Horton has been open in the past about why she doesn't want to have children with her husband, and they are perfectly content to be raising a family that includes two dogs instead.

But the Australian journalist admitted she was rattled by an email from a troll which labelled Horton as an 'obese feminist' he would like to see 'get off TV'.

The full email read: 'I'm so happy you don't have kids, now just to get you off TV would be the best Christmas gift any man could ask for. Obese feminist is nothing to be proud of'.

What is perimenopause? Perimenopause means 'around menopause' and refers to the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years Women start perimenopause at different ages You may notice signs of progression toward menopause, such as menstrual irregularity, sometime in your 40s. But some women notice changes as early as their mid-30s Source: mayoclinic Advertisement

'Trolls don't normally worry me. I get messages like that a lot as do most women in the media,' she said the following day.

'But I've been working very long hours on some big new projects (plus a hell of a night at the Logies) so I was tired and he got under my skin.'

Shelly has recently touched on her suffering from anxiety and bouts of 'extreme emotions' as a result of perimenopause.

Perimenopause refers to the time when your body makes the transition to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years.

In May the usually bright and bubbly personality took to Instagram with a teary video admitting she felt overwhelmed and doesn't 'bounce back' as she used to.

Horton revealed when she first started experiencing symptoms of perimenopause she changed into a completely different person.

Her personality and 'go get them' attitude was replaced with waves of sadness and even an inability to get out of bed.

'I had a day yesterday and even though I have been on hormone replacement therapy and anti-depressants for a year, maybe even more , I just got overwhelmed,' she said recently.

'I have got a lot of work on and I am finding I just don't bounce from project to project like I used to,' the self-confessed workaholic added.

Shelly and her husband Darren Robinson have been together for over a decade and married in 2015.

She says the pair, who have two dogs but do not want children, keep their relationship healthy by never going to bed angry.

Shelly and her husband Darren Robinson married in 2015. Pictured together

'When I married Darren, I realised I loved him more than being right or winning,' Shelly told 9Honey.

'By saying sorry, and meaning it, you can diffuse the situation. It takes the emotion out of the fight and the sting out of the unkind words.

'We've even apologised to each other, said we still disagree but we love each other, and we'll discuss it again in a few days to come up with a solution.'

Shelly said arguments with her ex-husband during their marriage would 'last days' as neither would let the other win, which isn't healthy in a relationship.

And while she and Darren still bicker today, they know how to handle the situation.
MARCH 2020

Kate revealed she and Prince Charles had got 'relatively close' at the Prince's Trust Awards on March 11 - Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March.

She said: 'Around the 29/30 March, I came home came in and said [to Derek] 'god you look ill.'

'He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe,

'I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance'

Derek, 52, was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition.

APRIL

Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed 'mild symptoms'.

Kate said: 'Derek remains in intensive care and is still very ill. I'm afraid it remains an excruciatingly worrying time.

'I'm afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope.'

MAY

Kate said: 'The journey for me and my family seems to be far from over as every day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways this virus has more battles for Derek to fight.

'But he is still HERE & so there is still hope.'

That month, Kate and her family took part in the final clap for carers

She said: 'I'll never give up on that because Derek's the love of my life but at the same time I have absolute uncertainty'

JUNE

On June 5, Kate revealed Derek is now free from coronavirus but continues to fight against the damage inflicted on his body

JULY

On July 5, Kate revealed Derek has woken from his coma but he remains in a serious yet critical condition.

On July 8, she announced she would be returning to GMB, after being urged by doctors to 'get on with life' during Derek's recovery.

She added that Derek had 'opened his eyes' after waking from his coma, but has been told his recovery could take years.

On July 13, Kate returned to GMB for the first time since Derek was hospitalised.

On July 28, Kate revealed she'd paid an 'extra emotional' first visit to Derek, and admitted she's 'frustrated' by his slow progress.

AUGUST

On August 14, Kate reassured GMB viewers that Derek was 'still with us,' but it was 'a waiting game.'

On August 19, Kate revealed she celebrated Derek's birthday with their two children, and described the day as 'challenging' for her family.

SEPTEMBER

At the end of September, Derek reportedly becomes the longest surviving patient with coronavirus after spending 184 days in and out of intensive care.

Kate reveals Derek has lost eight stone during his battle.

The presenter announces she is returning to her Smooth Radio show so Derek can hear her voice.

OCTOBER

On October 30 Kate reveals that Derek has spoken for the first time in seven months, saying the word 'pain' to his wife, who watched on 'in tears' over FaceTime.

Kate says a day later that her husband no longer needs a ventilator to breathe.

NOVEMBER

Kate reveals her family car has been stolen in latest 'body blow' to her family life, as kind-hearted fans offer their cars to help.

She says she feels 'physically sick' at the prospect of facing her first Christmas without Derek.

DECEMBER

The GMB star tells viewers it is her dream to visit Derek on Christmas Day.

She also reveals she missed two weeks on GMB after her children were exposed to the virus, but thankfully she and the kids tested negative.

On December 17, Kate has an emotional conversation live on GMB with two nurses who treated Derek when he was first admitted to Whittington Hospital in North London.

On New Year's Eve she reflects on a 'calamitous' Christmas without Derek, as her house was flooded and she struggled to get a food delivery slot until her pal Emma Willis stepped in to help.

JANUARY 2021

Kate reveals she and her children got to visit Derek in hospital over the Christmas period, and it was the first time her family had seen him since he was hospitalised.

She also says she's banned from seeing him due to new restrictions introduced during the government's third lockdown.

FEBRUARY

Kate reveals she is unsure how much Derek will 'ever be able to recover' following warning from doctors that he may never wake from his coma

MARCH

Kate revealed that was in the process of adapting her home to suit Derek's needs when he is finally released from hospital, in the ITV documentary Finding Derek.

The programmed was praised by viewers for offering a heartbreaking look at the long-term effects of coronavirus.

Kate also revealed that Derek has 'no muscle left' since battling Covid

APRIL

Kate revealed that Derek was finally allowed to leave hospital, but would require round-the-clock care once he was returned home.

MAY

Kate revealed that despite now being home with his family, his communication abilities were 'minimal' and he 'couldn't really move'

DECEMBER

During an appearance on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, Kate revealed that Derek had said 'I love you' for the first time.

After celebrating Christmas, Derek was also pictured in a wheelchair during a trip to the pantomime with his family

JANUARY 2022

Kate revealed that Derek was 'very fatigued' and 'very weak' following the family outing, adding: 'I don't know what this year is going to bring.'

FEBRUARY

Kate offered a glimpse into the daily struggles of looking after her husband amid his battle with long Covid in the documentary Caring For Derek

She also revealed that Derek would die within three days if he was left alone to care for himself.

JULY

On July 6, Kate revealed that Derek had been re-admitted to hospital after suffering a 'downturn,' and in a later interview said she takes things 'day by day.'

On July 20, it was reported that Kate had pulled out of hosting Good Morning Britain to be at Derek's bedside after he took a 'very serious' turn for the worse.

Recalling the day, the presenter told The Sun: 'At one point Derek said to me, "This is it, this time. I am gone." It was just terrifying.

'His sepsis was gut-wrenching for all of us because it had gone undiagnosed until the point where it was about to take his life away again.'

JANUARY 2023

Kate became overwhelmed as she confronted former health secretary Matt Hancock over his handling of the pandemic and his decision to go on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here.

She then became tearful and looked up as she spoke about Derek, who has been unwell for approaching three years.

Describing public anger towards him, Kate added of his decision: 'This gives the impression you still don't get why they are cross. You still don't get why people are upset. They want to hold you to more account.'

APRIL

Kate revealed that Derek was once again receiving care in hospital, as she shared the emotional moment Sir Elton John dedicated a song to the 'inspiring' couple.

She shared the emotional moment Sir Elton John dedicated a song to the 'inspiring' couple, writing on Instagram: 'Yes Derek has been back in hospital this week & yes there's such a long road ahead but #eltonjohn & @davidfurnish you gave the kids & Derek a moment that we will never forget and has lifted their spirits again to feel anything is possible.'

It was also reported that Kate was planning a trip across the world for pioneering treatment in a 'final hope' to help her husband.

MAY

Kate reportedly faced a huge 716,000 tax bill after she was forced to close her husband's business two years after he became stricken with Covid-19.

The final total will be settled within the coming weeks, with friends insisting she will pay whatever is owed.

A friend told The Sun: 'The figures are terrifying and Kate is of course worried about all the financial pressures, but she has to trust the process.

'When it comes to an end, she is determined to pay back anything that's owed.

'It's no secret that Kate has been battling to keep her husband alive and working through some heartbreaking situations in her personal life in recent years.

'Sadly as well as the emotional stress of Derek's terrible illnesses the financial burden has also been crippling.'

DECEMBER

Derek was left fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack.

Kate held a 24/7 vigil by his bedside and cancelled all work commitments while the family 'prayed for a miracle'.

A source said: 'It was sudden and a shock as he had been doing so well and was in great spirits, looking forward to Christmas at home with the family.

'This setback has been a huge blow for his family and all the people caring for him. Kate is by his side 24 hours a day and is willing him on to win this latest battle for his life.

'Derek has fought so many times, and always, against all odds, come out the other side.'

JANUARY 2024

Kate announced on January 5 that Derek had passed away.

She said: 'Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed.

'I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible'.

MailOnline understands he passed away on January 3 in a North London hospital.

He is survived by wife Kate and their children Darcey, 17, and son William, 14.
Marty Sheargold is returning to his Triple M breakfast show after three months off the air for what has been described as a mental health break.

The radio personality will be back at the helm of the Marty Sheargold Show on Monday, January 15, a Southern Cross Austereo spokesperson confirmed on Friday.

Earlier this year, the 52-year-old officially announced an 'extended break' from work following an alleged incident at the AFL Grand Final.

Sheargold returned to the spotlight last year when he appeared in a photo posted by Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann showing the men enjoying a Christmas lunch.

'It's the inaugural Christmas lunch for the sexy bald man club #helloladies,' Anthony wrote.

Marty Sheargold (pictured) is returning to his Triple M breakfast show after three months off the air for what has been described as a mental health break

Lehmann has been filling in on The Marty Sheargold Show while Sheargold has been away.

Also pictured were Tom Gleeson, Adam Rozenbachs and Titus O'Reily.

Sheargold recently returned to his roots in stand up as he stars alongside comedians Mick Molloy, Lawrence Mooney, and Sam Pang for a special event called The Comedians at the Geelong Arts Centre in February.

According to a promo, the all-star show is a 'No holds barred, good old fashioned stand-up comedy.'

Sheargold returned to the spotlight last year when he appeared in a photo posted by Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann showing the men enjoying a Christmas lunch. Also pictured: Tom Gleeson, Adam Rozenbachs, Titus O'Reily

'Radio, television, film, podcasts, theyve done it all and now, they bring all the laughs to the stage.'

In November, Sheargold's show scored a ratings jump in his absence, enjoying a 7.2 percent audience share, up 1.4 percent from the previous survey.

The Marty Sheargold Show previously rated 5.8, placing it in eighth spot in the Melbourne breakfast radio market.

Sheargold's producer Loren Barry was in Sydney in October as one of the hosts of the ACRA Awards.

Sheargold recently returned to his roots in stand up as he stars alongside comedians Mick Molloy, Lawrence Mooney, and Sam Pang for a special event called The Comedians at the Geelong Arts Centre in February

She told The Herald Sun that Sheargold would be back, assuring the show's listeners that 'everything is fine'.

'He is just taking some time, he is just spending some time with his family, but we are all good,' Barry said.

'Everything is fine. We will be back.'

She also shone a light on the gruelling life behind the microphone, stating 'working in breakfast radio you just get really tired. It is a very tiring job'.

Marty also stars in the ABC sitcom Fisk, which was picked up by Netflix and has taken off in the UK and US.

SCA told the Daily Mail that they 'look forward to Marty returning in 2024.'
Georgia Fowler will soon welcome her second child.

And the heavily pregnant model was enjoying the summer holidays on Saturday as she did a bit of sunbathing.

The Victoria's Secret fashion model, 31, lazed about in a black swimsuit and sunglasses in a photo posted to Instagram.

She admitted that she had lost track of the day as she relaxed over her break, writing in her caption: 'What day is it'.

The beauty completed her look with a straw hat and bold gold necklace while wearing minimal makeup.

Georgia Fowler (pictured) will soon welcome her second child. And the heavily pregnant model was enjoying the summer holidays on Saturday as she did a bit of sunbathing

Georgia is expecting her second child with restaurateur husband Nathan Dalah, with whom she shares daughter Dylan, two.

The beauty announced in September she and Nathan are expecting a baby boy, who will be their second child.

She shared the exciting news alongside a stunning photo shoot in which she was seen cradling the couple's daughter Dylan, who they welcomed in September, 2021.

'Baby brother brewing,' she wrote in the caption.

Georgia is expecting her second child with restaurateur husband Nathan Dalah (left), with whom she shares daughter Dylan, two

2023 was a big year for Georgia and Nathan, with the lovebirds tying the knot during a gorgeous countryside ceremony in January.

They exchanged vows at Hopewood House in the township of Bowral, in the NSW Southern Highlands.

Among the attendees were the couple's fashion friends, including model Tahnee Atkinson, fashionista Rey Vakili and designers Sophie Coote and Nikki Campbell.

Also attending was Patrick Johnson, an 'Australian Tailor to the Stars', and his wife Tamsin Johnson, an interior designer.

2023 was a big year for Georgia and Nathan, with the lovebirds tying the knot during a gorgeous countryside ceremony in January
Hollyoaks viewers were left less than impressed when the identity of Rayne Royce's killer was finally revealed on Friday.

The social media influencer, played by Jemma Donovan, was murdered during a lavish pool party in September, leaving numerous suspects in the frame.

But in the latest episode it was discovered that her ex Romeo Nightingale (Owen Warner) was in fact the killer, after Rayne's glasses with a hidden built in camera captured the incriminating incident.

Fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to slam the reveal branding it 'boring' and 'anticlimactic' as well as some disappointed that Romeo had been made a villain after he was a victim of Rayne's abuse.

With one writing: 'After weeks of who killed Rayne. We get the most boring and predictable ending'.

Hollyoaks viewers were left less than impressed when the identity of Rayne Royce's killer was finally revealed on Friday

The social media influencer, played by Jemma Donovan, was murdered during a lavish pool party in September, leaving numerous suspects in the frame

While a second wrote: 'Even lamer than expected. I was expecting a twisty Rayne-is-still-alive'.

Someone else typed: 'Well that episode was more who killed Hollyoaks than who killed Rayne. Can't see Hollyoaks surviving the year'.

And: 'What a complete damp squib ending'.

Another commented: 'Very disappointing the writers did this. Romeo was a victim of Rayne's physical and psychological abuse. For the writers to make the male victim of a female character the killer is gross. it ruins and stereotypes male characters. very disappointing in the end of storyline'.

While a sixth wrote: No spoilers but I'm EXTREMELY disappointed with the reveal of who killed Rayne.

And a seventh added: ' Finally it's been revealed who killed Rayne and that storyline can get in the bin'.

In November it was announced Emma Rigby was making dramatic return to her role as Hannah Ashworth in the E4 soap after 13 years.

The actress, 34, played the character for five years before departing in 2010 and going on to bag a string of roles in Hollywood.

But in the latest episode it was discovered that her ex Romeo Nightingale (Owen Warner, pictured) was in fact the killer, after Rayne's glasses with a hidden built in camera captured the incriminating incident

Fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to slam the reveal branding it 'boring' and 'anticlimactic' as well as some disappointed that Romeo had been made a villain after he was a victim of Rayne's abuse

In snaps obtained by The Sun Emma can be seen on set reuniting with former co-star Kieron Richardson, who plays Ste Hay.

With the character decked out in designer clobber including pricey Balmain heels and a Prada bag.

During her original stint on the show actress Emma received praise for her perfomance including a harrowing eating disorder storyline which saw her win Best Actress at the British Soap Awards in 2008.

After heading to the states Emma appeared in 2013's The Counselor alongside Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz as well as Endless Love with Alex Pettyfer in 2014.

She also took on the role of The Red Queen in ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland as well as Prisoners' Wives, Ripper Street, Death In Paradise and Fresh Meat.
Amanda Holden looked radiant in a slew of sizzling social media snaps on Saturday.

The presenter, 52, flaunted her toned figure in a tiny gold bikini as she soaked up the sun during a work trip.

Amanda accessorised with a stylish pair of oversized sunglasses, while her blonde locks were styled in loose waves.

She was pictured perched on the side of the pool with her feet in while drinking an aperol spritz.

It comes after Amanda and pal Alan Carr returned for a second series of Amanda & Alan's Italian Job.

Amanda Holden, 52, flaunted her toned figure in a tiny gold bikini as she soaked up the sunshine on work trip

The presenter accessorised with a stylish pair of oversized sunglasses, while her blonde locks were styled in loose waves

Series one, which saw the pair transform a dilapidated Sicilian apartment which they bought for just 1 before selling it for charity, was born out of Amanda's desire to do something nice for Alan after his divorce.

Speaking about the show, Amanda wrote in the caption: 'Almost 3 million of you have already watched Series 2 of #ItalianJob over the last 24 hours so Im raising a glass to celebrate + say THANK YOU.

'Catch up (or binge watch!) the whole series on @bbciplayer this week or Episode 2 is on BBC1 next Friday. Raising money again for @bbccin & @comicrelief.

'PS - Another blooper for you here. Please let @chattyman & I know your favourite bits - we love reading all your messages! #AmandaAndAlan'

There was no sign of any bloating after Amanda joked she was battling a 'cheese baby' on Tuesday when she returned to the Global studios for her show on Heart FM.

The presenter wowed in a long sleeved figure-hugging white dress from Pretty Lavish.

There was no sign of any bloating after Amanda joked she was battling a 'cheese baby' on Tuesday when she returned to the Global studios for her show on Heart FM

While the dress accentuated her slim physique to perfection, Amanda confessed she was breathing in and had in fact allowed herself to indulge over the festive period.

Turning side on, she breathed out and held her stomach as she admitted she had a 'cheese baby'.

Taking to Instagram she announced: 'No I am not pregnant, that is a cheese baby.'

Amanda looked cosy as she paired the wool dress with off-white leather ankle boots.

Talking to her followers, she said: 'Morning, it's the second of January, I've said Happy New Year, but Happy New Year. We're back in work it feels super early but it's really nice to be back.

'It's difficult to know what to wear but I am in this gorgeous snuggly dress from Pretty Lavish. It is as you see it a gorgeous woolly dress.

Amanda rang in the New Year in style on Sunday as she joined her best pal Alan Carr for a wild party at Estelle Manor

The Britain's Got Talent judge shared a fun gallery of Instagram snaps documenting the night out, joined by her daughters Lexi, 17, Hollie, 11, and a group of their pals

It comes after Amanda rang in the New Year in style on Sunday as she joined her best pal Alan for a wild party at Oxfordshire private members' club Estelle Manor.

She shared a fun gallery of Instagram snaps documenting the night out, joined by her daughters Lexi, 17, Hollie, 11, and a group of their pals.

Amanda stunned in an eye-catching white dress with a feathered trim as she posed for snaps with her pal Alan.

The pair were also joined by actors Jane Wall and Scott Neal at the swanky country club.

Sharing the photos on New Year's Day, Amanda captioned the post: 'Happy 1st Jan.
Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington has reportedly demanded bosses hand over footage of her rehearsals with Giovanni Pernice after they clashed while working together.

Actress Amanda, 51, was paired with professional dancer Giovanni, 33, for last year's series but made a sudden departure from the show in October, citing 'personal reasons'.

It has now been said she wants to review the recordings as she seeks legal advice over his alleged behaviour towards her as she believes the footage could back up her claims.

After her departure, it was claimed Amanda struggled with Giovanni's 'militant approach to training', with her time on the show said to have been 'plagued by difficulties'.

A source has now revealed Amanda has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington has reportedly demanded bosses hand over footage of her rehearsals with Giovanni Pernice after they clashed while working together

The actress, 51, was paired with professional dancer Giovanni Pernici, 33, for this year's series but made a sudden departure from the show in October, citing 'personal reasons'

An on-set source told The Sun: 'The BBC have received a request for the footage they hold of Amanda and Giovanni. It is known as a data subject access request.

'There is a feeling that the recordings will lift the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes on Strictly. Things in rehearsals can become very tense.

'Giovanni is a perfectionist and he can be incredibly full-on.'

A friend of Amanda told the publication it has taken her months to recover from her Strictly experience.

'Amanda has been left broken and saddened by the whole experience. She has needed therapy and was left in shock by the behaviour she was exposed to,' they said.

They added: 'Everyone else was having a fabulous time, but she was really stressed by having to spend eight hours a day with Giovanni. She spent a lot of time crying and couldnt sleep or eat properly.'

The pal said Amanda found the negative response she got on social media for not mentioning Giovanni in her exit statement difficult.

But they insisted her family and friends had been there to support her.

It has now been said she wants to review the recordings as she seeks legal advice over his alleged behaviour towards her as she believes the footage could back up her claims

The BBC and a representative for Amanda declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Giovanni for comment.

Amanda was praised by the judges for her performances on the show but it was claimed she was struggling behind the scenes.

An inside source told The Telegraph: 'It could be that she didn't know what she let herself in for.

'He [Giovanni] was quite tough and she found that difficult. If she wasn't very well, that wouldn't have helped.

'She was with a partner that had a certain training style that she couldn't cope with. Whether that came to a head or whether there's something else going on I don't know.'

Giovanni's parents said the dancer 'was just doing his job' following Amanda's shock departure from Strictly.

Addressing the news at the time, Giovanni's father Piero and mother Rosalda admitted that their son 'trained for long hours but was just doing his job'.

Giovanni's parents said the dancer 'was just doing his job' following Amanda's shock departure from Strictly Come Dancing (pictured with his parents)

Speaking to The Sun, from his home in Italy, Piero said: 'We are surprised by the fact she left the show, because everything was going ok - we thought they could have won.'

He added: 'My son is a really nice, polite and respectful boy. He always had good results with different partners and he has never had problems with them.'

Giovanni's mother Rosalda explained: 'They have to train tough hours to get some results. Giovanni has just done what he had to do. He was just doing his job.'

Twinkle-toed star Giovanni was reportedly only given the news of Amanda's exit a few hours before the official statement was released.

A source told the Daily Star: 'Amanda didn't tell Giovanni she had decided to quit the show. The first he heard was a call from a producer.

'This has really annoyed him. He's barely heard from her for 10 days. She hasn't been replying to messages or telling him what's happening.

'He's been complaining about it to friends. He's frustrated. He is worried the drama will be damaging for his career and make him look bad.'

Giovanni has reportedly fallen out with a number of his former partners on the show.

Giovanni has reportedly fallen out with a number of his former partners. In 2016, ex Love Island host Laura Whitmore said she 'cried every day' and felt 'uncomfortable' while training with him (Laura and Giovanni seen on the show)

In 2016, former Love Island host Laura Whitmore said she 'cried every day' and felt 'uncomfortable' while training with him.

She later wrote for HuffPost UK in 2018: 'Im still not ready to talk in depth about my experience on the show.

'I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with and in the end I felt broken, I cried every day. And I really was broken, both mentally and physically, by the end.'

Giovanni was also said to have fallen out with Good Morning Britain star Ranvir Singh in 2020 and 'feuded' with Richie Anderson in 2022.

Amanda was reportedly not invited to perform during the Strictly Come Dancing final by show bosses.

While all the 2023 contestants who were eliminated from the show returned for one final performance together during the last episode last month, Amanda was notably absent.

A show source told The Sun: 'There was a lot of talk on set about Amandas notable absence from the finale.

'It seemed unfair that Nigel [Harman] was invited back and she wasnt.

'I imagine she was upset by the snub as it would have been nice to have seen her return for one last dance, especially as she was so popular on the show and well-liked by viewers.'

It comes after Amanda revealed that she was 'truly distraught' by her sudden Strictly exit

It comes after Amanda revealed she was 'truly distraught' by her sudden Strictly exit.

The star quit the show back in October, citing 'personal issues' as a catalyst for her early exit.

Taking to Instagram, Amanda opened up about her premature departure, just weeks after failing to return for the group dance in the final.

Amanda reposted a fan's comment on her Instagram Stories. The Strictly viewer wrote: 'I was truly distraught with her sudden departure from the show.'

The Sherlock star added her own caption: 'Thank you angel. So was I.'

Amanda did not return for the final which sees the past contestants of the series gather together for one last number.

Amanda reposted a fan's comment: 'I was truly distraught with her sudden departure from the show'. The Sherlock star added her own caption: 'Thank you angel. So was I'

But she did send a message of support to the three finalists on Instagram. Amanda shared a snap of the three couples standing with the glitterball trophy and wrote: 'Good luck tonight to these six beautiful humans.'

BBC bosses were said to be keen for Amanda to reunite with Giovanni to show there was 'no bad blood'.

However a source told The Mirror that: 'They [the BBC] wanted to position her as still very much part of the Strictly family, but Amanda's response to the invitation was she'd not be back.

'It's a shame, because her exit has been a sour note to the series this year.'

BBC declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

The publication added it has been 'difficult' and upsetting for Giovanni as he doesn't want people to see it 'as a reflection on him.'

While the pair sometimes 'clashed' Giovanni wishes her all the best.

The Sherlock star left the show in week five, initially citing medical reasons before later revealing personal issues on Instagram.

Amanda decided not to return for the final which sees all the past contestants of the series gather together for one last number

Amanda withdrew from her performance, before it was revealed she would not be returning.

On an episode of It Takes Two, the show confirmed Amanda's exit and released a statement that read: 'Amanda Abbington is unable to continue in Strictly Come Dancing and has decided to withdraw from the competition.

'The show wishes her all the best for the future.'

A montage of Amanda's best moments on the series was shown, before host Fleur East added: 'Amanda we are sending you all of our love'.

A Strictly insider told MailOnline at the time: 'This has been something that Amanda has been unfortunately having to consider making since late last week.

'It has been a devastating time for Amanda. Her Strictly journey has been plagued by difficulties but she just didn't think there was any other option.

'As hard as it has been, there was a chance they could have won.'

Giovanni and Amanda were said to have been at loggerheads for weeks, with screen star Amanda 'left shaken' by the pro's 'militant and aggressive' training style.

The actress noticeably snubbed the pro dancer from her exit statement which she posted on Instagram.

While the pair sometimes 'clashed' Giovanni, 33, wished Amanda all the best after her sudden exit

The actress noticeably snubbed the pro dancer from her exit statement which she posted on Instagram

She wrote: 'It is with deepest regret that I had to leave Strictly. I did not come to this decision easily or lightly but for personal reasons I am unable to continue'

She wrote: 'It is with deepest regret that I had to leave Strictly. I did not come to this decision easily or lightly but for personal reasons I am unable to continue.

'It was an absolute joy working with my fellow contestants, they are a beautiful, hardworking and talented group of people who I love and who I will miss seeing every Friday and Saturday and competing alongside.

'I want to thank the incredible Production team and everyone on Strictly who looked after me and who are so kind and caring. It's a wonderful bunch of people and I'll miss all of them.

'I'm so sad that I am unable to go any further. Thank you to everyone who voted and who sent wonderful messages and inspiring support. You are all amazing. Truly. Thank you. xxx'.
Cindy Morgan, the actress who scored her breakout role on screen with Chevy Chase and Bill Murray in Caddyshack, has died at age 69.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed her death to TMZ on Saturday, noting that she had died in the area.

A representative for the county later confirmed to the outlet that Morgan had died of natural causes.

Morgan was best known for her sizzling appearance in Caddyshack, as the bombshell Lacey Underall.

It's unclear exactly when she died, but it may have been several days before her body was discovered on December 30.

Cindy Morgan, the actress who scored her breakout role on screen with Chevy Chase and Bill Murray in Caddyshack, has died at age 69; pictured in 1982

According to the sheriff's office, Morgan's roommate called 911 on the 30th after she returned home from a holiday vacation and found that the actress wouldn't answer when she knocked on her door.

She opted to call police for help after noticing a strong odor that came from the room, and police discovered the body in the bedroom once they arrived.

So far, foul play is not suspected, though an investigation is reportedly ongoing.

In 2012, Morgan talked about Caddyshack and her audition for the part: 'Caddyshack was my first film and I'll say that the end product was so completely different, it was originally about the caddies.

'So at first, I had nothing to lose to audition. It was fun. All I did was focus on making the person sweat. Look 'em in the eye, do that thing many women know how to...'

She she also had a major roles in the sci-fi classic Tron (1982) as Lora, a computer programmer in the 'real' world, and Yori, her alter-ego in the film's computer-generated world.

Morgan also went on to appear in two different roles in the nighttime soap Falcon Crest for a total of three seasons.

The actress also appeared on CHiPs, The Larry Sanders Show, Amazing Stories, The Love Boat, The Fall Guy, Vegas and Matlock, among others.

While Caddyshack was her breakout role, it was not her first. She had a small part in 1980s American Gigolo starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton, per IMDb

Cindy was born in Chicago and after 12 years of Catholic schools she headed to Northern Illinois University where she was a DJ on the campus radio station.

After college she worked for a local television station in Rockford, Illinois where she was the weather girl and as a DJ on Chicago's WDSM.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1978 to try her hand at acting.

Morgan booked the role of the Irish Spring Girl in advertisements while she took acting classes.

She she also had a major roles in the sci-fi classic Tron (1982) as Lora, a computer programmer in the 'real' world, and Yori, her alter-ego in the film's computer-generated world (Pictured here in 2010)

Cindy played Lacey Underall, the sexy niece of the country club owner in Caddyshack

Caddyshack was her breakout role, which she achieved just two years after moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting

In a 2012 interview about the film she noted that the final film was much different than the script she auditioned for. (Pictured here with Bill Murray)

Morgan played a major role in Tron, the first computer-generated movie

She played Lora, a computer programmer in the 'real' world, and Yori, her alter-ego in the film's computer-generated world

Morgan also went on to appear in two different roles in the nighttime soap Falcon Crest for a total of three seasons (Pictured here in 1985)

The actress also appeared on CHiPs, The Larry Sanders Show, Amazing Stories, The Love Boat, The Fall Guy, Vegas and Matlock, among others (Pictured here in 1982)

In later years, Morgan appeared in several short films and worked as a voice over artist for video games.

Her last film role was in 2011 in Empty Sky and her last television appearance was in a 1994 episode of Under Suspicion.

Outside of acting, Morgan was passionate about her philanthropic work with veterans of the U.S. Military from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She worked to help alleviate the financial hardship those vets may be experiencing.

She also worked to raise funds for the Illinois Family Relief Fund, which helps the families of National Guard members, reservists and those on active duty.
Molly-Mae Hague shared more snaps from her luxury Dubai break with fiance Tommy Fury and daughter Bambi on Instagram on Friday.

The former Love Islander, 24, showed off her love for all things designer as she hit the beach with her 10,000 black woven Chanel handbag and white bikini.

She wore a baggy white shirt over the top of her two-piece and captioned the post: '...and breathe.'

Moving to her Stories, Molly-Mae shared a selfie in front of a lift as she changed into a figure-hugging red ruched dress for the evening.

Another Story featured Bambi, 11 months, but just her legs. Her outfit was baby pink and she wore dark pink slippers with the Brazilian flag.

Molly-Mae Hague, 24, shared more snaps from her luxury Dubai break with fiance Tommy Fury and daughter Bambi on Instagram on Friday

Moving to her Stories, Molly-Mae shared a selfie in front of a lift in the same outfit as earlier, but this time showing the gorgeous red dress she was also wearing

Tommy, 24, did not feature in this set of photos, but Molly-Mae has shared photos of him also on their trip.

The family is in Dubai on their way back from spending the New Year in the Maldives.

Molly revealed the luxury holiday was originally just supposed to be a romantic getaway for her and Tommy, as the pair struggle to find time to spend together just the two of them.

She confessed that since Bambi was born in January 2023, the couple haven't had any 'adult intimate nice quality time together', but still opted to bring Bambi along.

The family flew in first class and when they reached the Maldives, they stayed at the 4,300-a-night Ritz-Carlton, a global luxury hotel and resort chain.

Their waterfront pad featured a private pool, with a double bed sun lounger and a king-size bed overlooking the Maldivian sea.

It comes after the pair sparked worry among fans late last year following Tommy's wild nights out in Dubai.

Amid claims she was 'mortified' by his partying behaviour, Molly-Mae was spotted with and without her 600,000 engagement ring on and off on multiple occasions.

The former Love Islander showed off her love for all things designer as she hit the beach with her 10,000 black woven Chanel handbag and white bikini

Another Story featured Bambi, 11 months, but just her legs. Her outfit was baby pink and she wore dark pink slippers with the Brazilian flag

Tommy, 24, did not feature in this set of photos, but Molly-Mae has shared photos of him also (pictured in the Maldives for the New Year)

However it seems the couple have put all that behind them as they jetted off on the family trip.

Molly-Mae and Tommy met on the 2019 series of Love Island where they finished in second place to Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea.
Parents and businesses could benefit from two tax breaks due to be introduced before it is time to file taxes.

Experts are saying it will be worth holding off from filing returns until lawmakers finish negotiating.

Republicans want the restoration of some of Donald Trump's 2017 controversial tax cuts, which benefit businesses.

Democrats are willing to negotiate in exchange for one of their priorities - bigger child tax credits.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senate finance committee chair Ron Wyden and House ways and means chair Jason Smith are negotiating a $100billion bill.

Congressman Jason Smith (R-Mo) is negotiating a $100billion bill that could see Republican demands for tax cuts for business

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Or) is one the other side, negotiating for a Democratic demand for higher tax credits for those with children

Half of that amount is to cover restoring three tax breaks prized by Republicans and the other for raising child tax credits.

If the bills is passed by the end of the month it would allow Americans to benefit from the credits before filing taxes.

'Discussions are ongoing and we're continuing to make progress,' Ryan Carey, a Wyden spokesman, wrote in an email to The Washington Post. 'There's optimism on all sides, and the goal remains to get this done in time for changes in the Child Tax Credit to take effect in this upcoming filing season.'

Below is a summary of what the two sides want.... and if you want a guide to filling in your tax return DailyMail.com has one here.

DEMOCRATS HELP FOR CHILDREN

Child tax credit is worth a maximum of $2,000 per year per child and Democrats want it increased to $3,600.

It was beefed up in such a way in 2021 but the increase lapsed the next year after opposition from Republicans.

Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, backing the policy, said 'the reality is a world where parents are scraping by every single month  they can't afford the rent in this savage economy.'

REPUBLICAN BOOST FOR BUSINESSES

The three tax breaks that Republicans want would help businesses cut tax bills.

One, for example, would allow them to expense all spending on research and development right away.

Another, called 'bonus depreciation' meant that firms could deduct the full cost of new equipment, such as a computer or truck, as soon as they buy it. Previously, they needed to claim it back over several years as the gear depreciated.

Republicans and Democrats are working on a bill that would give both sides what they want. Republicans want rules that will lower what businesses pay, while Democrats want child tax credits for parents

WHAT DOES THE PRESIDENT THINK?

President Biden appears to back the bipartisan deal.

'The President strongly believes that any bill that is out there in Congress that certainly cuts taxes for big corporations must cut taxes for working people and families with children, especially to reduce child poverty,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a Thursday briefing as reported in Business Insider.

The Washington Post first reported on Thursday that a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, are negotiating a $100 billion bill
Interestingly, in post-conflict nations, many feel truth commissions and reconciliation processes haven't effectively addressed systemic issues

Appointing toothless commissions to investigate alleged crimes and conduct fact-finding is a recurring issue, with some commissions genuinely seeking the truth to implement comprehensive measures preventing recurrence, while others merely aim to buy time and conceal the truth. Regardless of intent, the plight of individuals remains unchanged until addressed, necessitating profound restructuring to mitigate the root causes behind violent social upheavals. Unfortunately, history has shown that democracy has not consistently triumphed. Politicians in post-conflict nations, the so-called liberal democracies, and most of their darling NGOs deliberately ignore democratically resolving the structural problems afflicting broken democracies, often treating victims as mere commodities.

Following nearly 15 years of persistent armed conflict, Sri Lanka has once again reached a pivotal moment with the introduction of a bill to establish the Commission for Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation, marking a significant stride forward. Though belated, this move is undeniably commendable. Against a backdrop of news stories sowing social phobia and fostering negativity among the general public, this development provides a glimmer of hope during precarious times.

The bill, presented as an act, outlines the establishment of the Commission for Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka, defining its powers and functions. It further emphasises the necessity of monitoring the implementation of the commission's recommendations to ensure accountability. Recognising truth-seeking as a fundamental right for all Sri Lankans, integral to their right to an effective remedy, the bill underscores the potential contributions of such mechanisms to national unity, peace, the rule of law, coexistence, equality with tolerance, respect for diversity, and reconciliation. The ultimate goal is to prevent disharmony and violence, securing the well-being of all Sri Lankans, including future generations.

The commitment extends to a national policy of truth-seeking and the advancement of national unity and reconciliation, reinforcing the State's assurance of freedom, equality, justice, fundamental human rights, and the independence of the judiciary as recognised under the Constitution. The Commission for Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation, to be headed by a chairperson and supported by established regional offices, shall be comprised of not fewer than seven and not more than twenty-one members.

According to the bill's stated objectives, the Commission is mandated to investigate, inquire, and provide recommendations regarding complaints, allegations, or reports related to damage or harm to persons or property, loss of life, or alleged human rights violations anywhere in Sri Lanka. These incidents must be connected to, or consequent to, the conflict in the Northern and Eastern Provinces during the period 1983 to 2009, or its aftermath. However, echoing the pattern of other commissions, it is underscored that the Commission's recommendations do not constitute a determination of civil or criminal liability for any individual.

This moment prompts me to reflect on the invaluable experiences I gained during my tenure at the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) as a communication consultant, under the distinguished leadership of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. She, with whom we have shared a memorable time in addressing the most sensitive issue in the country, struggled with serious structural degeneration caused by the malpractices of those who wielded power. Her remarkable efforts to bridge ethnic divides in the country were a clear demonstration of her commitment to fostering unity. She never hesitated to acknowledge and categorize any wrong political decisions, whether made by her or even her immediate family members, which I find truly inspirational.

ONUR was established with noble aspirations of achieving lasting peace. However, amidst political uncertainty, the initiatives of this national institute plunged into the abyss of eclipse. In those days, ONUR undertook comprehensive initiatives, addressing issues beyond the surface. We not only engaged with Colombo-based NGOs, which were merely challenging the prevailing narrative that often prioritised a select few while neglecting those in remote areas, but ventured into the North and East. It was remarkable to witness former Tamil Tigers expressing confidence in the central government's efforts and the state administrative mechanism to rebuild and reunite their familiesan aspect seldom highlighted.

Among ONUR's key projects was Sahodara Pasal, where around a hundred students from various ethnicities, attending different schools, spent a week together in one place. At an event in Kandy, three female students, representing Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim backgrounds, stood united against the rain, sharing a single hijab as a symbol of strength and diversity. Despite initial misconceptions, these students developed bonds transcending ethnic lines, hugging and crying at the program's end, pledging lasting friendships. Unfortunately, when I revisited ONUR three years later, the prioritisation of crucial social integration initiatives like Sahodara Pasal had waned. This neglect poses a risk of growing disparity and division, deviating from the path toward true unity and reconciliation.

The irony lies in the disillusionment of people in numerous post-conflict countries that established truth and reconciliation commissions, including Argentina, Guatemala, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Peru, Nepal, and even the much-praised South Africa. They harbour a collective sentiment that most truth commissions and reconciliation processes have failed to address their systemic issues. What prevails is an overarching politicisation, a malaise that transcends past truths and impedes their ability to break free. To truly escape their plight, they must depoliticise their tragic experiences, reclaim suppressed freedoms, and radically reshape their dismal reality. The key lies in inventing a new form of political solidarity that transcends national, ethnic, cultural, and religious identitiesa bold move to build bridges over mass graves and ruins. Deep and thorough reconciliation alone cannot achieve this, as it inherently aligns with the status quo, perpetuating existing power relations and ideological deadlocks that bear the true responsibility for the tragedy. Victims seek more than reconciliation; they yearn for recognition of their tragic fate, a political cause to emerge from victimhood. Humanitarian assistance, spanning from necessities to weaponry, proves inadequate; genuine liberation arises not from aid but from unwavering political solidaritya steadfast dedication to freeing them from a decade-long ordeal.

History paints a consistent narrative of conflicts as an inherent facet of human civilisation, profoundly shaping humanity's trajectory. Sri Lanka is not an exception. Svetlana Alexievich aptly notes war's enigmatic hold on the human experience and its enduring impact on societies. Despite its monumental significance, there's a tendency to downplay the seriousness of war. The grim and daunting nature of conflicts may tempt us to avert our gaze, but avoidance doesn't diminish their historical weight. Wars have consistently redirected the course of human history, both by forging new pathways into the future and closing down others.

Recognising the transformative impact of conflicts underscores the paramount importance of reconciliation. More than a mere talk show or commodity, reconciliation embodies a profoundly humanistic approach to our daily life engagement. It acknowledges the intricate aftermath of war, emphasising the imperative for societies to unite, heal, and carve a path toward more harmonious coexistence. Prioritising reconciliation signifies a commitment to understanding the human dimensions of conflict, nurturing empathy, rebuilding trust, and ultimately striving for a future that transcends the scars of the past. In this light, reconciliation isn't just a historical necessity but an indispensable element in shaping a more compassionate and interconnected world.

Genuine reconciliation drives national consensus, inevitably guiding the nation toward steadfast national intereststhe foundational principles of a truly national state. If our education system perpetuates religious and exclusivist ideologies, no matter how empathetic our discourse about victims of a conflict that ended 15 years ago, the seeds of hatred will persist, waiting to explodean ominous lesson from history.

(The writer is a Sri Lankan journalist and worked as a communications consultant for the Government of Sri Lanka. Views are personal)
Actor Konkona Sensharma says she has ideas for a series and a feature film but she will not go forward with them unless she is completely convinced.

The actor made a critically acclaimed debut as a director with the 2016 film "A Death in the Gunj", and followed it up with "The Mirror", an equally-praised segment in anthology series "Lust Stories 2" last year.

"I am trying to develop a series and I have an idea for a feature but I don't like to put any pressure on myself because if it does not turn out nicely, then I will be the first person to abandon it. My standards are quite high," the 44-year-old actor told PTI.

Sensharma said she would direct but not "very often".

"Imagine directing something you are not entirely convinced of and wasting everyone's time and money, the whole thing makes me shudder. In that sense, it is easier to act than to direct," she said.

Acting is where Sensharma wants to focus and she is looking for well-written characters, which are hard to come by. And the actor found one in Abhishek Chaubey-directed "Killer Soup".

In the Netflix crime show, Sensharma plays Swathi Shetty, an aspiring chef who wants nothing but the world to enjoy her paya soup. But an accident sets off a series of mishaps and hasty cover-ups that land her and her lover in hot soup.

Also starring Manoj Bajpayee, "Killer Soup" will premiere on Netflix on January 11.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is scheduled to travel to New Delhi next week and will co-chair the ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

Ambassador Tai will travel to India from January 12-14 and begin her trip with a meeting with Goyal. She is also scheduled to meet Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar later.

On January 13, Tai will meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration's engagement and commitment to fostering closer ties between the two countries.

Tai's visit marks the first trip to India in the new year by a senior Biden administration official.

Tai and Goyal will co-chair the 14th ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF). During this year's meeting, Tai and Goyal will discuss a broad set of issues to enhance the resiliency of the trade relationship, including agriculture, industrial products, services, and the protection of intellectual property, among other topics, a statement issued by the Office of the US Trade Representative said Friday.

Last year, Goyal and Tai had co-chaired the 13th ministerial-level meeting of India-United States Trade Policy Forum in Washington DC on January 11. During his January 9-11 visit to the US last year, Goyal had also met with CEOs, addressed the Indian community and held roundtable meetings with business leaders and think tanks in New York.

The 12th TPF Ministerial meeting was held in November 2021 after a gap of four years in New Delhi.

The Trade Policy Forum was established in 2010 and plays an important role in strengthening and expanding the bilateral economic and trade relationship.

Under the leadership of Tai and Goyal, the Trade Policy Forum has helped remove trade barriers and facilitate cooperation on key issues, the statement said.

The statement added that the United States-India trade relationship continues to grow stronger and benefit both nations throughout the past year as Tai and Goyal reached several "milestone" agreements that deliver crucial market access for American farmers and producers, and high quality products to Indian consumers.

These included a 70% reduction of the tariff on pecans, the removal of retaliatory tariffs on almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts, boric acid and diagnostic reagents, and commitments for additional tariff reductions on frozen turkey, frozen duck, as well as fresh, frozen, dried, and processed blueberries and cranberries.

The United States and India also reached agreements to resolve all seven of their outstanding World Trade Organization disputes.
State BJP Spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo, while hitting back at JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya, described the present Hemant Soren government as the most exploitative government of the poor in the history of Jharkhand. Pratul said that incidents of tribal and women oppression have increased to such an extent in this government that never before. This government was accused of a scam worth Rs 70,000 crore. The Chief Minister himself has a sword hanging over his membership because he did not think about the common tribals but grabbed the mining lease while he was the mining minister and Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister is seen playing the role of a fugitive by making excuses on the summons of ED. Pratul said that this news was widely published in the media that within the state ruling party, Chief Minister Hemant Soren wants to make his wife the Chief Minister. There is news in the political circles that the Chief Minister has asked his wife Kalpana Soren to become the Chief Minister. Gandey seat was vacated. But this step proved to be his political blunder. BJP State President, former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, in his letter to the Governor, citing the judgment of Mumbai High Court in Yashwant Rao vs Election Commission of India, had said that the date of one year, the counting will not be done from the day the vacancy occurs. Rather, the counting will be done from the day the new MLA is elected.

Pratul said that in this government, only those tribals who are relatives of the Chief Minister or close to him got development. Only their relatives or people of their inner circle got mining leases and land leases. Pratul said that Hemant Soren's tenure will be remembered as a dark chapter of Jharkhand. When the entire state machinery united and did a naked dance of corruption in the state.

Pratul said that the Hemant government, no matter what it shows on the outside, is deeply afraid from within. Because they know that the night of their doomsday has come when their crimes will be judged.

BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shah Dev today made a big attack on the state government and said that at the instigation of this government, officials are seen playing disco on guns. Even before this, two AK-47s of the Chief Minister's house guard were recovered from the house of big broker Prem Prakash, who was close to power. Pratul said that during the ED raid in the house of Sahibganj Deputy Commissioner Ramniwas Yadav, two bullets of .38 bore, 19 bullets of 9 mm pistol and 5 cartridges of .45 bore have been recovered. The bullets of these weapons all come under the category of banned weapons.
Chhattisgarh Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal on Friday said a probe will be launched for theft at the official residence allotted him.

He told reporters that he recently visited his residence allotted to him and found that items such as AC, telephone, lights, a bathroom mirror as well as taps and platforms in kitchen were missing.

Action will be taken against those involved, Jaiswal said, without naming anyone.

Jaiswals official residence was earlier allotted to Congress minister Shiv Kumar Dahariya, who demanded a public apology from Jaiswal over his statement.

The former minister said the Health Minister was trying to defame a Dalit leader. Before leaving the official residence, I had got an NOC from the all relevant departments, Dahariya added.
-Rampant corruption and irregularities are taking place in the mandis where the government is procuring paddy for the current Kharif season. While the farmers are being exploited, the concerned department Ministers statement in this regard has distressed the farmers community, alleged the Congress on Friday.

The Minister instead of curbing corruption is promoting it. A nexus between the millers and the administration is exploiting the farmers. In every quintal, farmers are being cheated of five to seven kilograms of paddy. The government is not procuring paddy in a systematic manner. Instead of the government procuring paddy, the millers are purchasing paddy in the mandis, stated a memorandum which was submitted to the Governor by a Congress delegation led by Kishan Congress chairman Amiya Kumar Pattanaik.
In a significant departure from its previous edition, the Congress is gearing up to embark on the second edition of Bharat Jodo Yatra, embarking on an ambitious journey covering 1,074 kilometres across Uttar Pradesh.

This strategic move is being viewed as a calculated effort to keep its alliance partner, Samajwadi Party, on edge, potentially influencing the forthcoming seat-sharing negotiations.

Scheduled to unfold over 11 days, the yatra will traverse 20 districts, specifically targeting areas where the Congress secured victories in 21 Lok Sabha constituencies during the 2009 elections. The meticulously chosen route is widely perceived as a means of exerting pressure on allies within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), with a particular focus on the Samajwadi Party.

Key locations on the route map within Uttar Pradesh include Varanasi, Prayagraj, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Lucknow, Bareilly, Aligarh and Agra. A closer examination reveals a deliberate alignment with the Lok Sabha constituencies that the Congress successfully clinched in the 2009 elections, encompassing significant areas such as Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Bahraich, Barabanki, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Dhaurahara, Kheri and Bareilly.

However, the yatra deliberately steers clear of the Bundelkhand and Kanpur regions where the Congress secured only four seats in the parliamentary elections held 15 years ago. This calculated route planning underscores a strategic focus on areas pivotal to the Congress historical electoral successes.

The first edition of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, spanning 136 days, was taken out under the INDIA blocs umbrella, commencing from Kanyakumari and concluding in Srinagar between September 7, 2022, and January 30, 2023. The yatras presence in Uttar Pradesh during the previous edition was limited to entering the state from Loni in Ghaziabad on January 3, passing through Baghpat on January 4, and exiting UP from Kairana (Shamli) to Panipat in Haryana on January 5.

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai highlighted the primary objective of the yatra, saying its goal was to instill hope and fight for justice among the distressed public.

Rai underscored the challenges faced by the people of Uttar Pradesh under the Bharatiya Janata Party rule, emphasising the hardships and distress experienced by the common citizens.

Responding to queries about potential pressure on the Samajwadi Party through the extensive yatra in Uttar Pradesh, covering seats won by the party in 2009, Rai clarified that the yatra transcends mere electoral politics. He described it as a broader initiative to build confidence among the people and inspire faith in the democratic process.

UP Congress general secretary (organisation) Anil Yadav asserted the partys claim on the seats, predating the yatra planning. He pointed out that in 2009, the Congress secured 21 seats and the Samajwadi Party won 23, making a compelling case for the historical strength of the party in the state.

The yatra, therefore, emerges as a multifaceted effort by the Congress to connect with the public, instill hope, and strategically position itself in the upcoming political landscape.
District Election Officer cum Deputy Commissioner Ranchi, Rahul Kumar Sinha, while organizing a review meeting related to the preparations for Lok Sabha Elections-2024 in the auditorium located at Collectorate Block-A today on Friday, gave many necessary guidelines to all the concerned officers. .

In the meeting, Electoral Registration Officer- cum Sub-Divisional Officer Bundu, Tamar Assembly Constituency, Sandeep Kumar Topno and Electoral Registration Officer Mandar cum Special Subdivision Officer Ranchi, Pradeep Bhagat, Sub-Electoral Officer Ranchi, Vivek Suman, District Public Contact Officer Ranchi, Dr. Prabhat Shankar and all the concerned officers and representatives of political parties (recognized) were present.

In view of Lok Sabha Elections-2024, AVM Demonstration Center and Mobile Demonstration Van will be run from 10 January to 19 February 2024 to make voters aware and familiarize them with AVM VV PAT. This mobile van will go to every polling station sector wise and AVM VV PAT will be demonstrated in every polling station for the voters, where voters can be aware of the complete process of voting. You can also put vote (dummy) in it. Dummy wallet paper will be used in the AVMs used for demonstration.

Personnel from the district have been deputed with mobile vehicles in each polling station. Also, instructions to the BLO, BLO Supervisor and Sector Officer, Sector Police Officer to be present in the polling center with the vehicle during the AVM demonstration were given to the concerned officer by the District Election Officer cum Deputy Commissioner, Ranchi. After the demonstration, all the vehicles will be kept at their designated place in the office of Sub-Divisional Officer Bundu for Tamar and Silli assembly, Bedo zonal office for Mandar assembly and AVM strongroom in Khijri, Ranchi, Hatia and Kanke assembly areas.

People can also see the complete functioning of EVM Demonstration Center (EDC) by watching the demonstration of AVM VV PAT in the office of Collectorate Block-A, B and Sub-Division Bundu.

While giving information to the representatives of all political parties (recognized) by District Election Officer cum Deputy Commissioner Ranchi, Rahul Kumar Sinha, it was said that the claim/objection date has been extended till January 12, 2024. By changing the claim/objection date by the Election Commission of India, it has been extended to 12 January 2024 and the date of final publication of the voter list has been made 22 January 2024. In which eligible persons can apply through their BLO and online to add their name in the voter list. Any kind of change can be made in this.

District Election Officer cum Deputy Commissioner Ranchi, Rahul Kumar Sinha requested representatives of all political parties to participate in the election so that fair elections can be conducted.
General Secretary cum spokesperson of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Supriyo Bhattacharya today fiercely attacked the BJP in a press conference at the state JMM office on Friday.



Bhattacharya said that BJP is continuously trying to defame and topple the Hemant Soren government elected by the people of Jharkhand. After facing defeat in the political battle, it is disturbing the government through Central investigation agencies.



He said that BJP is not politically capable of taking on JMM in Jharkhand, so it tries to create confusion among the public by leaving rhetoric every now and then. He said that the state government has conducted two JPSC examinations within three years. JMM thinks about the development of Jharkhand. But BJP always thinks about toppling the state government.



Bhattacharya said that BJP is making every effort to topple Hemant Soren government. But the government is in the secretariat today and is performing important tasks. The government is working to ensure that the state government's schemes reach the people. The BJP does not want the children of the tribal and Dalit minorities of the state to go abroad and study. When the government tried to take it forward everywhere, then these people got nervous and the state president of BJP started giving lectures and started giving information without any information. BJP is confident only that the Election Commission is theirs. BJP has informed about the phase and date of 2019 elections.



Supriyo said that it is up to the Governor to call a person and take oath, after which he will have to be elected from the Assembly within six months. To avoid confusion, we all met the Election Commission. According to one political party, non-BJP ruled states are being harassed.



BJP is harassing the government by deploying investigative agencies. In the state where there is no BJP government, they are being harassed. In this, apart from Bengal and West Bengal, efforts are being made to stabilise the state.



ED has taken action at 36 places in the state till recently, but in the press release, recovery of about Rs 36 lakh has been shown, but information about how much recovery has been done is not being given. This clearly shows that on whose instructions the action is being taken. .



Supriyo said that 2024 is a very decisive year, this year is important for the state for the festival of democracy. The month of May is coming, people are ready to answer, there should not be personal fights in politics, which BJP has been doing in this state, that is why these incidents are happening in the state. The state government is doing its work.
Conscious of the increase in the number of pilgrims expected to visit Ayodhya after the consecration ceremony of Ram temple there, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has requested the Civil Aviation minister to start air service from Dehradun to the temple city of Ayodhya. He has also requested the Railways minister to extend the Dehradun- Lucknow Vande Bharat train service to Ayodhya.

In a letter to the Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the CM said that the proposed Dehradun- Lucknow Vande Bharat train should be extended to Ayodhya. He said that after the installation of the idol of Ramlala in Ayodhya, large number of pilgrims from the State will visit the city to pay their obeisance to Lord Ram. In the letter written to the Civil Aviation minister the CM said that at present there is no direct flight from Dehradun to Ayodhya and in view of providing facilities to the pilgrims and tourists, a new air service should start from Dehradun to Ayodhya.
Within 24 hours due to protesting JDA (Junior Doctor Association) members Dr. Aruna Kumar, who was posted a day earlier in the Gynecology Department of Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, was removed within 24 hours she was sent back to the Medical Education Directorate.

Angered by Dr. Aruna's posting in GMC, 75 junior doctors who were on strike returned to duty on Friday. In their support, Juda from other departments also worked by wearing a black band.

Dr. Aruna was removed from the post of HOD and Professor in the junior doctor Bala Saraswati suicide case. Dr. Bala's family had accused her of torture. Some senior doctors had also written a letter complaining to the CM.

Dr. Aruna Kumar was posted as Professor in the Gynecology Department on Wednesday.

JUDA had given an ultimatum to cancel the posting order of Dr. Aruna Kumar by 2 pm today. There are 450 junior doctors in 28 different departments of the college.

JUDA's strike at GMC has ended after the removal of Dr. Aruna Kumar. JUDA has started assisting senior doctors.

Deputy CM and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla shared the order to remove Dr. Aruna Kumar by posting on social media.

JUDA had protested by tying a black band on Thursday. JUDA spokesperson Kuldeep Gupta said that they had written a letter to higher authorities other than the Dean to remove Dr. Aruna.

Actually they were angry with the posting of Dr. Aruna Kumar, who was the HOD of the Gynecological Branch, again in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Aruna was removed on August 5 after the junior doctor Bala Saraswati suicide case. Bala Saraswati (27) committed suicide on July 31. She was 14 weeks pregnant.

The extent of the torture of Dr. Aruna Kumar can be gauged from the fact that 8 senior doctors working with him have also demanded his removal from the Chief Minister, MPTA and Medical Education Department. Apart from this, three students have also left their degree.

Senior doctors working in the Women and Obstetrics Department of Hamidia wrote - Want to tell the truth about the former Head of the Department, Dr. Aruna Kumar. Being mentally tortured by this woman. She is a woman with a double personality. His working style is extremely dictatorial, destructive and full of vindictive tendencies. By creating fear, she has been getting seniors and juniors to execute her in negative ways. Whenever there is any crisis in the department, they misuse their position and power and make someone (faculty member) a soft target. She takes credit for the achievements of her department herself and presents it to the higher authority in favor of her. A message is sent to the rest of the subordinate faculty that if they do not become puppets as per their wish, then the career of that faculty will be spoiled.

The senior doctor has further written in the complaint - To save respect, faculty members have left their jobs during his tenure since 2005. No doctor wants to come to this department on vacant posts. Almost everyone's CR has been spoiled by them, which has been complained about many times in the past but due to their destructive nature, it has been ignored even by the authorities. Due to this tendency, even high officials have maintained silence.
The Enforcement Directorate has filed a fresh chargesheet before a special court in Raipur in a money laundering case investigation linked to alleged illegal betting and gaming through the Mahadev online app, the prosecution said on Friday.

The federal agency will share the second prosecution complaint (chargesheet) with authorities in Dubai to secure the deportation or extradition of the two main promoters of the app -- Ravi Uppal and Sourabh Chandrakar.

The two were recently detained in Dubai on the basis of an Interpol Red notice issued against them at the behest of the ED.

The agency is understood to have shared the contents of the first chargesheet with the UAE authorities, on the basis of which a non-bailable warrant was secured against the two.

The some 1,700-page fresh chargesheet was filed on January 1 and five accused, including alleged cash courier Asim Das, police constable Bheem Singh Yadav, and Shubham Soni, a prominent executive linked to the app, among others have been named as accused.

The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court is expected to take cognisance of the charge sheet on January 10.

Das and Yadav were arrested by the agency in November, just before the first phase of polling for the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh.

Soni, who had claimed to be the owner of the app, earlier issued a video statement and sent an affidavit to the ED claiming to have "proof" about kickbacks paid to politicians and their links for allowing the app to run any legal action.

The agency, in its first chargesheet filed before the special PMLA court in Raipur, had named Chandrakar and Uppal along with some others.

The ED alleged in the first chargesheet that Chandrakar got married at Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE in February 2023 and about Rs 200 crore was spent on the event in which private jets were hired to ferry his relatives from India to the UAE and celebrities were paid to perform.

The agency earlier said that the alleged illegal funds generated by the app were shared as bribes with politicians and bureaucrats in the state. The ED has summoned many celebrities and Bollywood actors for questioning.

The projected proceeds of crime in this case is about Rs 6,000 crore, according to the ED.

The agency had claimed in November that forensic analysis and statement made by Asim Das have led to "startling allegations" that Mahadev promoters paid Rs 508 crore to then Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel but added that these allegations were subject to investigation.

Baghel had called the charges an attempt to malign his image while the Congress called its "vendetta politics" of the Centre.

Das had later submitted before the special court in Raipur that he had been framed as part of a conspiracy and he had never delivered cash to politicians.
The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the State government to explain why the floating huts on the Tehri dam reservoir were functioning despite the license for their operation having expired. The division bench of acting chief justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and justice Vivek Bharti Sharma sought this information while hearing a public interest litigation against non-vegetarian food being served at a floating restaurant and waste from it and floating huts on the Tehri dam reservoir being dumped into the Bhagirathi (Ganga). The matter will be taken up for hearing next on January 8.

During the hearing on Friday, the State Pollution Control Board stated in its affidavit that the license of the floating huts had expired on March 31, 2023. The operator submitted an application on December 21, 2023 for renewal of the license. The pollution control board issued the license for operation of the floating huts on January 1 this year. Objecting to this, the petitioner stated that application for license renewal had to be submitted two months before expiry of the license which was not done by the operator. Based on the boards report, the High Court has asked the State government to submit its reply. Swargashram resident Navin Singh Rana had filed the public interest litigation stating that the State government gave permission for operating a floating restaurant and floating huts on the Tehri dam reservoir to encourage tourism. However, the permission was misused as some restaurants prepare non-vegetarian food and dump its waste in the sacred Bhagirathi river. The sewage from the floating huts is also dumped into the river, the petitioner stated. The petitioner has contended that such actions are hurting the sentiments of the followers of Sanatan Dharma. The petitioner had earlier written to the district magistrate, chief secretary and the Central government requesting that such activities be stopped. However, no action was taken. Due to this Rana had to move court.
In a twist to the AC compressor explosion case at the Hi-Tech Medical College Hospital in Bhubaneswar, a victim who was undergoing treatment in the ICU claimed that he is actually Dilip Samantray, who was earlier declared dead in the mishap.

The identity of Dilip, a native of Jatni in Khordha district, has become a cause of confusion. Another victim, believed to be Jyotiranjan Mallick, came out of ICU on Thursday following treatment and claimed that he is actually Dilip Samantaray, leaving the two families perplexed.

As per reports, the hospital declared Dilip Samantray dead on December 30 following the AC compressor blast during gas filling on December 29. There were four persons admitted to the hospital after the blast who worked for the AC repairing agency outsourced by the hospital.

A body which was almost completely charred in the blast was handed over to Dilip Samantrays family by the hospital on December 31 and the family performed his cremation. However, injured Jyotiranjan Mallik woke up from the ventilator on Thursday and claimed to be Dilip Samantray leading to confusion.

Hi-Tech hospital CEO Smita Padhi said, All the four persons who were initially injured in the compressor blast are not the employees of the hospital. They are the staffs of an outsourcing agency. A staff of that outsourcing agency had identified the injured after the blast.

A patient had died on December 30. We were told that he was Dilip Samantray. Following the procedure, we informed police. The family of the deceased identified the body and signed the inquest. Then, police performed all the required procedures before handing over of the body to their relatives, she claimed.

Out of the four, two are currently under treatment. One has been identified as Simanchal, and the other person is Jyoti Ranjan Mallik. Jyoti was on the ventilator. But after he came out of the ventilator, he claimed to be Dilip Samantray. While some people are convinced that he is in fact Dilip Samantray, his father claims he is Jyoti pointing to an identification mark on his leg. We are confused about who is who. So we have informed the police. They will know what to do next, Padhi added.

Asked about the hospital authorities claims, AC repair agencys employee Sanjay Sahu said, I knew three of them, not the fourth one. And I never identified them individually. It was utter chaos back then when the blast occurred. I just told the hospital authorities their names, did not tell them who is who. Even my mental condition was not right at that time.

Psychologist Amrit Pattajoshi who conducted the psychometric evaluation of the patient said, When Dilip Samantrays body was handed over to his parents, he had already sustained 95-per cent burns. His face was abnormally swollen. Identifying him was not possible. But his family members were overly emotional. They might have mistaken the body as Dilips.

Being said that, Jyotis family, particularly his father has been seeing him on the hospital bed from the last six days. They are sure that the man is in fact Jyoti. But when the ventilator was removed today, he claimed his name as Dilip Samantray. Sometimes when a patient receives trauma, stays in the ICU for a long time, they may become delirious because of psychosis, Pattajoshi said.

But when we called Dilips family to the hospital who are already mourning his death, the patient answered all the questions right. He even knows the answers which Jyoti cant possibly know, he added.

Dilips nephew Manoj Samantray, who had come to the hospital after being called by the authorities, said, I addressed him as Mamu and he replied to me exactly like my uncle Dilip Samantray. When we questioned him about his family, his wife, location of his in-laws and other things, he answered them accurately.

When the hospital handed over the body to us on December 31, it was completely covered in polythene. The body was charred beyond recognition. As the hospital gave it to us saying he was Dilip; so, we believed them and performed his last rites. But I now see that my uncle Dilip Samantray is alive and well, Manoj Samantray said.

It is particularly devastating for the Samantray family because Dilips wife Suna ended her life by hanging from a fan out of grief. She was depressed after hearing about her husband Dilip Samantrays death. She could not bear the grief anymore.
Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday called on Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia at New Delhi and discussed the proposed expansion of Kangra airport from 1376 meters to 3010 meters for the operation of A320 aircraft. He requested that necessary direction be given to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for starting expansion work and added that the state government will complete the land acquisition process.



The state government intends to construct heliports in district headquarters as well as in tribal areas, said Sukhu. He also urged to speed up the process for construction of 9 proposed heliports in the state in the first phase and added that these heliports are significant for boosting tourism in the tribal and remote areas as well as to provide emergency medical services and evacuation of local people and tourists in case if stranded in snow bound areas.



Sukhu also discussed operationalisation of Sanjauli heliport and requested to start additional flights from Chandigarh to Kullu to facilitate tourists. He added that at present three flights are operational for Shimla, four for Dharamshala but only one for Kullu which is not enough keeping in view the high number of tourist influx.



The Union Minister apprised that heliports for Rakkad, Palampur, Chamba and Reckong Peo were being considered under UDAAN and rest of the heliports would be considered under next phase. He also directed the officers of the Ministry to speed up the process of operationalisation of Sanjauli heliport. He assured of all possible support to the state.





CM calls on Union Power Minister on royalty in power projects



During his Delhi visit, Sukhu also called on Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy R.K Singh and held deliberations about protecting the interests of the state due to the revenue losses likely to be incurred due to deferred royalty in the power projects executed by SJVN and NHPC. He requested for free power as per the state's power policy and emphasized that these power projects should come back to the state after forty years.



The Union Minister agreed in principle that the state should get at least 12 percent minimum royalty and suggested a review of royalty and all other points of concern of the State Government by the team of officers from both sides with the Central Electricity Authority as an independent authority so that the state could get its fair share. He agreed for completion of the review by 20th January on the request of the Chief Minister.



Sukhu also requested for enhancing the installation of smart meters in the state in a phased manner besides enhancing the time limit for installation and not linking the same as a precondition for releasing funds by GoI for strengthening power infrastructure. The Union Minister agreed for the same. He also urged for fulfilling the announcements made by the Union Minister during his previous visit to tribal areas and also requested to release ten crores for two solar power projects of 400 kw each in Pangi for which the Union Minister agreed.
In another reshuffle of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers, on Friday, Bhopal Collector Asheesh Singh was shifted to Indore in the same capacity, replacing Illayaraj T. Officer Kaushlendra Vikram Singh will take over as the new Bhopal Collector.

Illayaraja T has been posted as the Managing Director (MD) of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC), taking over from the current Indore collector.

Anil Suchari, the Commissioner of Rewa division, has been removed from the post, and Gopal Chandra Daad has been posted as the new Commissioner for the Rewa division. Notably, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is currently on a visit to Rewa, where regional meetings are scheduled. The previous Commissioner for the Rewa division has been replaced ahead of the Chief Minister's visit.

Sanjay Gupta has been posted as the Labour Commissioner. He previously held the position of Secretary in the General Administration Department (GAD).

Shreekant Banot has been posted as the Labor Commissioner and will now handle the additional responsibility of urban and rural investment. Previously, he held the position of Secretary in the General Administration Department.

On Thursday, IAS Officer Deepak Kumar Saxena was appointed as the new Collector of Jabalpur, replacing Saurabh Kumar Suman.
Tension mounted in the Rugudi police station area of Keonjhar district on Friday when a man and his daughter were killed in a fatal road accident.

The deceased were identified as Ramsingh Munda (30) and his daughter Turi Munda (5) of Lasarda village under the Bolani police station.

The mishap occurred on the National Highway 520 near Rugudi police station, when they were returning to their village from Rugudi by a motorbike. A trailer ran over them, resulting in their death on the spot.

Later, police rushed to the spot, seized both the vehicles and sent the dead bodies to a private hospital in Joda for postmortem.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would visit Odisha ahead of the 2024 elections, informed Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra on Friday.

Twenty-one BJP leaders are set to visit a total of 21 parliament constituencies in Odisha for the 2024 elections. This was decided at a meeting held in Delhi recently. Modi, Shah and Yogi among the central leadership will make their visit to the State soon for the campaign accordingly, Mishra said.

According to reports, the preparations of the BJP are in full swing to strengthen the organisation for the 2024 elections in Odisha. The leaders are making political strategy to challenge the ruling Biju Janata Dal.

Meanwhile, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has been in Rourkela in the past five days for various programmes.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Friday released the draft of the Right of Way' policy for public feedback on fixed rates for setting up telegraph infrastructure like mobile towers and optical fibre cables and action to be taken in case of an installation violation.

The NDMC has framed a draft policy for underground and overground Telecommunication Infrastructure in areas under its jurisdiction. The draft has been uploaded on NDMC's website and the last date for the feedback submission is January 18.

"The policy has been framed in pursuance of the provisions of the Indian Right of Way Rules, 2016, which was notified by the Department of Telecom, Government of India as the RoW Rules, 2016 as amendment in 2023 to regulate underground and overground telecommunication infrastructure," an official said.

According to the draft policy, it intends to promote the installation of micro communication equipment that can be installed on any type of structure or building and in-building solutions (IBS) for places where there is poor connectivity and the objective is to strengthen the quality of mobile networks.

The draft states that any telecom service provider or infrastructure provider, registered or licensed with the Department of Telecommunications is eligible to seek permissions under this policy to make provision of the communication and connectivity infrastructure.

The policy states that any application for obtaining clearance for the existing unauthorised mobile towers shall be submitted within two months of issue of this policy, following which, the matter would be taken as per laid down procedure by the NDMC.

"Once the application is submitted within due time, the operation of the mobile tower shall not be discontinued till disposal of the application by the NDMC. However, the towers and poles installed without permission shall be liable for applicable charges as mentioned ...

Along with a penalty imposed at Rs 10,000 per month up to Rs 5 lakh," it said.

In case the NDMC declines clearance for any existing unauthorised mobile towers/telegraph lines, a dispute can be raised before the nodal officer appointed by the NDMC.

However, it said that the operation of the mobile tower/telegraph lines should not be discontinued for the time any dispute is filed and/or is pending before the nodal officer appointed by the Centre.

The draft policy also lays down the norms to be followed in case of any violations. The nodal officer will issue a show cause notice to the Telecom Service Provider (TSP) or Infrastructure Provider (IP) if any violation is noticed, with them having to reply within 15 days from the date of service of notice.

"If reply is not satisfactory, the applicant will be levied a penalty up to Rs.25,000," it said.

However, the draft said that sealing of mobile communication towers or disconnection of electricity may not be resorted to without the consent of the respective cell of DoT in case of any complaint to avoid disruption in mobile communication, which may take coercive action, not before 60 days of issuance of a mandatory notice, it an essential service.

However, if a disconnection of electrical power is required, the Electricity/Commercial Departments of the NDMC should ensure that a prior written notice of at least 30 days is given to the concerned IPs and TSPs to make alternate arrangements.
Banwarilal Purohit, Governor, Punjab and Administrator, UT on Friday handed over the first accidental insurance cover of Rs. 40 Lakh to the kin of a deceased employee of Municipal Corporation Chandigarh in a programme held at Rani Laxmi Bai Mahila Bhawan, Sector 38.



Addressing the beneficiaries and other employees of the MCC, the Governor said that the Municipal Corporation has set an example of good governance through this scheme which secures the future of the families of employees who lose their lives, by providing insurance coverage to each and every one of their employees whether regular, contractual or outsourced.

Anindita Mitra, Commissioner, MCC said that since November, 2022 when the agreement with the Punjab and Sind Bank was signed, as many as 50 employees have lost their lives. In 46 cases of natural death, a benefit of Rs. 2.50 lakh has been given to the families of the deceased. Two employees have lost their lives in accidents and today, a benefit of Rs. 40.00 lakh was being given to the kin i.e. to Prema Devi, wife of late Ram Bali, Gardner of horticulture wing, MCC and the remaining cases were under process.



She said that zero balance salary accounts of all category of employees i.e. regular, contractual, daily wagers, outsourced, such as door to door waste collectors, safaimitras, safaikarmacharis have been opened in the P&SB, which offered insurance scheme including in death case Rs. 40 lacs accidental coverage, total disability Rs. 40 lacs accidental coverage; Rs. 40 lacs for death due to animal bite, insect bite, snake bite.
In a move towards boosting the pharmaceutical sector and fostering economic growth, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday toured the JawaharLal Nehru Pharma City in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Expressing confidence in the immense potential of the pharmaceutical industry in the state, the Chief Minister extended a warm invitation to pharmaceutical companies to make substantial investments in Punjab. Emphasizing the dual benefits of economic growth for the state and expanded business operations for the companies, Mann highlighted the pivotal role such investments could play in positioning Punjab at the forefront of the pharmaceutical sector.

During his visit, Chief Minister engaged in detailed discussions with officials from the pharma city to explore the possibility of establishing a similar venture in Punjab. He stressed that the creation of a pharmaceutical city could be a game-changer, generating numerous employment opportunities for the state's youth.

At the same time, Mann assured that the State Government would actively investigate the feasibility of implementing such a project, demonstrating their commitment to the holistic development and prosperity of Punjab.

As part of the visit, the Chief Minister toured the pharmaceutical city, immersing himself in the operations of various pharma companies. Mann underlined the importance of such projects in shaping a dynamic and vibrant Punjab. The initiative aligns with the state government's vision to attract major investments, further diversify the economy, and solidify Punjab's standing in the pharmaceutical landscape.
A new chapter has unfolded in the ongoing tussle between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Manns government. The latest episode in this political drama revolves around the recent conviction of Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, creating a clash of convictions and legal interpretations that has once again brought the Governor and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government face to face.

The Governor, in a letter on Friday, penned his concerns to the Chief Minister Mann demanding a detailed report on the conviction of Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, specifically asking why the directions of the Supreme Court on the matter of conviction of an MLA have not been adhered to. At the same time, the Governor has also raised questions on the convicted Minister hoisting the national flag on Republic Day.

Emphasizing the seriousness of the issue, the Governor said: This is a serious matter involving non-compliance with the directions given by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court of India, in the case of Lily Thomas vs Union of India (2013), declared Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act unconstitutional. As per the operative part of the judgment, if a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of two years or more by a trial court, they stand divested of their membership.

The Apex Court also ruled against providing convicted lawmakers an extended protection period for filing appeals, emphasizing the immediate disqualification of legislators upon conviction. This decision aimed to maintain the sanctity of the democratic process and uphold ethical standards in governance by preventing individuals convicted of serious offenses from continuing to hold public office.

Going into the background of the matter, the Sunam court handed over two-year rigorous imprisonment to Arora on December 21, 2023, in a family dispute matter. The decision has yet not been stayed by a higher court. They have a 30-day time period to file an appeal.

The case was filed by his brother-in-law, Rajinder Deepa, in 2008, against Arora and others under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 452 (house-trespass) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt). The court of Sunam Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate Gurbhinder Singh Johal had convicted Arora and eight others in a 15-year-old case, sentencing all of them, including Aroras 85-year-old mother, to two-year imprisonment under section 452 and one-year imprisonment under section 323 of the IPC. Both sentences have to run concurrently.

Expressing concern over the lack of adherence to the Supreme Court directions regarding the conviction of an MLA, the Governor, invoking the Supreme Courts landmark judgment, asserted that this conviction should result in the automatic divestment of Aman Arora's membership from the Vidhan Sabha, as it meets the criteria laid out by the Apex Court.

The Governor, writing a letter to the Chief Minister taking serious note of a representation he received, pointed, As per the judgement of the Supreme Court of India in the case of Lilly Thomas vs Union of India, the members of legislative assembly (MLA) stand divested of their membership if convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than two years by a trial court.

The unfolding events surrounding Aroras conviction and his subsequent participation in Republic Day activities have prompted the Governor to question the intersections between legal obligations, political responsibilities, and ethical governance. The letter also noted that the representation received also raised a question of the National Flag hoisting by Arora on January 26.

The representation alleged that the act entrusting a disqualified legislator with the symbolic representation of the nation on a day as momentous as Republic Day not only undermines the sanctity of the legal system but also sends an unsettling message to the citizenry regarding the governments commitment to ethical governance.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), sensing an opportunity, has already entered the fray by demanding Aman Arora's immediate disqualification. SADs move added to the pressure on the government to address the matter swiftly and decisively.

In a letter, SADs legislator Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi referred to Arora's guilt on two counts and cited the Supreme Court's verdict in 2013 case, which declared a certain section unconstitutional. The SAD insisted that Arora should be disqualified as an MLA without further delay.

Elevated to the rank of a Cabinet Minister in the second cabinet expansion, two-time MLA Aman Arora is currently holding the New and Renewable Energy, Printing and Stationery, Employment Generation, and Training and Governance Reforms portfolios.
Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla has urged the people to take advantage of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra saying that those eligible must get Ayushman Card.

The Deputy CM Shukla said that good health is key all-round development. He informed that the nationwide initiative of Ayushman Bharat Yojana was started in 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet the health needs of the weaker sections. Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) aims at helping to reduce the cost of medical treatment.

Deputy Chief Minister Shukla gave instructions to the departmental officers to make efforts in this direction in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. It is noteworthy that more than 3 crore 71 lakh Ayushman Cards have been issued. So far, more than 16 lakh 88 thousand beneficiaries have received benefits under the scheme and got treatment for various diseases. So far, more than 1 lakh Ayushman Cards have been made in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.

Benefits to eligible families

Every eligible family gets free treatment facility up to Rs 5 lakh per year. The beneficiary has the facility of free treatment in any identified government or private hospitals across the country affiliated to the scheme. PM-JAY provides cashless access to health care services at the hospital itself to the beneficiary.

In case of hospitalization, free treatment of corona, cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, dengue, chikungunya, malaria, dialysis, knee and hip replacement, infertility, cataract and other identified serious diseases is done. Under the Chief Minister Covid-19 Treatment Scheme, eligible beneficiaries are also treated free of cost.

The beneficiaries can visit any empaneled public or private hospital in India to avail cashless treatment. The services include around 1670 procedures, covering all the costs related to the treatment. These include medicines, supplies, diagnostic services, doctor's fees, room charges, surgeon's fees, OT and ICU charges.
In a remarkable recognition of its dedicated educational outreach endeavors, SIGMA-oikos Jamshedpur of XLRI has been awarded the prestigious Community Impact Award by Oikos International. This esteemed accolade, chosen from a pool of over 40 project submissions spanning 20 countries, commends initiatives that significantly enhance people's lives while addressing crucial sustainability goals.

Oikos International, with a global presence in major cities such as Nottingham, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, and London, provides its chapters an international perspective, fostering global networks for collaboration. The award spotlights SIGMA-oikos Jamshedpur's unwavering commitment to creating lasting positive change in the community.

The Basic Learning Program (BLP) traces its origins back to 2007 when students participating in a rural immersion program identified a profound digital divide. This realization spurred the inception of BLP, designed to promote computer literacy among primary and secondary school children from less privileged backgrounds in Jamshedpur.

Over the years, the program has evolved to encompass Basic English and Mathematics. Every Sunday, classes are conducted on the XLRI campus for children from 14 nearby underprivileged districts, in collaboration with The Robin Hood Academy. Volunteers from XLRI's HR and BM batches lead these sessions, fostering a shared learning experience for both the children and the volunteers. The curriculum covers various topics, from basic literacy to sentence construction and spoken English, alongside digital literacy to keep pace with the evolving technological landscape.

Presently, the program accommodates 30 regular students, with plans for further expansion to include more age groups and subjects. Notable success stories include that of Rahul, a 9-year-old who, after a year with BLP, received a star performer award in English, transforming his previous weakness into a strength.

This achievement aligns with XLRI and SIGMA-oikos Jamshedpur's overarching goal of uplifting the community and sharing resources for a better future. The BLP specifically targets SDG-4 of Quality Education for All, aiming to bridge the resource gap for young, bright minds. The Community Impact Award serves as tangible proof of these impactful initiatives.

Moreover, events like Daan Utsav and the Social Entrepreneurship Conclave, held throughout the year, further underscore their commitment to societal betterment. Today, the Basic Learning Program stands as an integral part of XLRIs Sunday routine, seamlessly aligning with the institute's policy of "For the Greater Common Good."




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Uttar Pradesh continues to solidify its position on the global tourism map, achieving new milestones each year. In 2022, the number of tourists visiting UP was 31.85 crores, while in the first nine months of 2023, over 32 crore tourists, including a significant number of international visitors, explored Uttar Pradesh.

Among the various destinations in the state, Varanasi attracted the highest number of tourists, while Prayagraj and Ayodhya also witnessed the arrival of crores of visitors.

The year 2023 marked a significant milestone for Uttar Pradesh across diverse sectors. Achieving top positions in both central and state welfare schemes, the state also experienced notable progress in the field of tourism. From January to September 2023, the number of domestic tourists visiting Uttar Pradesh was 31,91,95,206, and 9,54,866 foreign tourists also explored the state.

Notably, Varanasi, in particular, witnessed the highest number of tourist arrivals. From January to September, a total of 8,42,04,814 tourists visited Varanasi, with 8,40,71,726 being domestic tourists and 1,33,088 being international tourists.

After Kashi, Prayagraj emerges as the second choice for tourists. A total of 4,49,95,996 tourists visited the Sangam city from January to September 2023. Among them, the number of domestic tourists was 4,49,93,289, while 2,707 foreign tourists also explored Prayagraj.

Similarly, Ayodhya secured the third position in terms of tourist arrivals. From January 23 to September 23, a total of 2,03,64,347 tourists visited Ayodhya. Among them, the number of domestic tourists was 2,03,62,713, while 1,634 were international tourists.

The highest number of tourists arrival was recorded between January and July, ranging between 5.56 to 5.80 crore.
Once again, the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra vehicle of the Central Government was attacked by unknown miscreants in the State on Friday.

This time, miscreants vandalised the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra vehicle meant to highlight the achievements of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre in Athagarh of Cuttack district.

Chakradhar Muduli, driver of the vehicle, claimed that he had gone to attend a programme at Sathilo panchayat when two miscreants came and attacked him and a worker with sticks. They also hurled stones at the LED screen and tore banners.

Muduli claimed that the miscreants chased them, following which they took shelter at the police station and lodged a complaint in connection with the incident.

It is for the third time that the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra vehicle has been opposed and vandalised by miscreants in the State. On January 3, a van was vandalised in the Dhamnagar area of Bhadrak district.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Vindhya region will witness its overall development. This region is poised to reach unprecedented heights of development. He was addressing the public meeting today at the inauguration programme of development works worth Rs 337 crore 90 lakh at NCC ground in Rewa.

Chief Minister Yadav highlighted the government's effort to implement decentralized system for development works. The government aims to bring development to every household ensuring that the benefits of beneficiary oriented schemes reach every eligible person.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav emphasised the government's focused effort to provide employment to every unemployed individual. In future, industries relying more on human resources will be established with focus on developing industries in districts having mineral resources through special subsidies.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that Lord Ram dedicated his entire life to human welfare. Even today the dream of Ram Rajya resides in the hearts of every person. Therefore, the need of food, clothing and shelter shall be fulfilled while promoting and preserving Sanatan culture.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav assured special consideration for dignity of the public. This government elected from the people is dedicated to serve the interest of the poor embodying the ideology of people's goverment. Therefore, it is government and administrative official's responsibility to respect the public. It will be ensured that the government's decisions are being followed through in divisional meetings as well.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that being overwhelmed by the welcome received through the Jan Abhaar Yatra, he has resolved to ensure development of entire Vindhya region. He said that development and public welfare works will be completed in Rewa on January 16. A center of Panini Sanskrit University is going to be established in Rewa. There will be no shortage of funds in this. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav announced to develop the farmers produce market of Rewa as an ideal market for the convenience of the farmers. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, everyone has resolved to transform India and put efforts in making India the greatest country in the world.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of construction works worth Rs 337 crore 90 lakh. This includes construction work of 40 roads. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav also dedicated works worth Rs 11 crore 36 lakh 40 thousand. These include two school buildings, eight barracks of Central Jail Rewa and six works of re-development of roads and construction of drains in Municipal Corporation Rewa.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav distributed benefits as a symbol to the beneficiaries benefited from various schemes. Under this, 43 scooters, 5 motorized tricycles and 16 tricycles were distributed.

On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing Smt. Pratima Bagri, Minister of State for Panchayat and Rural Development Radha Singh, MP Rewa Janardan Mishra, MP Satna Ganesh Singh were present.

The public meeting venue at the NCC ground was organised in an attractive and attractive manner with the aim of apprising the general public about the departmental schemes and programmes of Health, AYUSH, Forest, SRLM, Women and Child Development, Agriculture, Food, Industry and Trade Centre, Fisheries, Land Records and Banks.
Chhattisgarh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan said on Friday that everyone has an obligation to work towards the welfare of the brave sons of India.

All avenues should be explored to acquire more funding and launch more initiatives for the welfare of ex-servicemen and women.

Harichandan praised the efforts made by the Sainik Welfare Team in extending the benefits of welfare schemes to remote areas.

He said this at the 15th meeting of the Management Committee of the Chhattisgarh Sainik Welfare Board held at Raj Bhawan in Raipur. Chief Secretary Amitabh Jain was present.

At the meeting, the financial grant for the 'Putri Vivah Shagun' was increased to Rs. 55,100 from Rs. 51,000.

The prescribed age limit for orphan children was increased and the financial grant given to the children studying at Sainik School was increased to Rs 30,000 per year.
The opposition INDIA alliance partners will discuss seat-sharing in Jammu and Kashmir for the Lok Sabha elections when the polls are announced, senior Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir said on Saturday.

The people of J-K and Ladakh are ready to give all six seats to the INDIA alliance, said Mir, who is the Congress general secretary in-charge for Jharkhand and West Bengal.

"There are six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The INDIA alliance will sit together and decide on it," he told reporters in Anantnag.

"We are waiting for the elections, and the people of this region are ready to bring a change in Delhi and elect a strong, pro-people government that represents people under the Constitution," Mir said.
Hyderabad: The state government on Saturday resumed disbursement of Rythu Bandhu aid to farmers for the ongoing rabi season. Officials said that nearly 16 lakh farmers, owning one to two acres, would be covered in this phase, after 21 lakh farmers owning up to one acre were covered in the first phase last December.

Upon assuming office on December 7, 2023, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had directed the finance department to start transferring Rythu Bandhu amount of Rs 5,000 per acre to accounts of farmers on December 11.

Farmers started receiving the amount on December 12. Due to financial constraints, it took 20 days to cover 21 lakh farmers owning up to one acre.

The government planned to disburse the second phase of Rythu Bandhu from January 2, for those owning up to two acres. However, the CM directed the finance department to pay salaries and pensions to employees and retired staff on January 5 in all districts in one go, contrary to the previous regimes fragmented or phase-wise approach of paying salaries up to the fourth week.

As the phase-wise salaries were causing workers hardships, the Congress had promised to pay salaries and pensions on the first of every month in the run-up to the Assembly polls. Duly, the finance department mobilised nearly Rs 4,000 crore to pay salaries and pensions for staff and completed payments on January 5.

After the salaries were disbursed, the government immediately started disbursement of Rythu Bandhu from January 6 and directions were issued to the finance department to cover all 70 lakh farmers by the month-end.

During the last rabi season, the previous government started disbursement of Rythu Bandhu amount from December 28, 2022, and covered all 70 lakh farmers by January 31, 2023.
HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday said his government would soon unveil a mega master policy to achieve industrial growth across the state by 2050, and that the government would strive to reach the highest level of industrial growth hereon.

Speaking after a meeting with representatives of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association (BDMA) at the Secretariat, the Chief Minister promised a new friendly policy to invite investments in Telangana.

Reddy said there was no place for misconceptions or apprehensions with regard to industrial development, and that every rupee invested by industrials would be safeguarded and its value enhanced. He said that the new policy would dispel the misapprehension that the Congress focused only on the welfare of rural people and the development of villages.

Saying that industrial development must not be confined to the city alone, he said all regions of the state should grow like Hyderabad. He said the governments key objective was to expand industrial development to rural Telangana, for speedy development, on a par with cities and towns.

Reddy said that under the 2050 master policy, the state would be divided into three clusters: An urban cluster to be developed within the Outer Ring Road (ORR) limits, a semi-urban cluster between the ORR and Regional Ring Road (RRR) and a rural cluster in areas immediately after the RRR.

The Chief Minister said that the government had a clear vision for the promotion of the pharma industry, with Pharma Villages to be developed, instead of Pharma Cities, envisioned by the previous regime.

There are 14 radial roads on ORR, which have connectivity to 12 national highways. Pharma Villages of around 1,000 to 3,000 acres will be developed close to these radial roads and highways. The government will prepare plans to develop these industries with the required infrastructure and amenities like schools, and hospitals in a pollution-free environment.

Reddy said that food processing, sports, automobile and organic clusters, along with IT, pharma and health industries, will be established in Zaheerabad. He said Hyderabad had enormous potential for manufacturing defence equipment and specialised navy sector equipment, on which investors should focus. He said that a new solar power policy would also be introduced to incentivise investors to opt for renewable energy.

The Chief Minister said that elections, politics and development were separate issues and that they should be dealt with separately, with his governments main goal being transparent development with a vision.

He appealed to those responsible for spreading misconceptions that the Congress did not support industries to stop doing so, promising to be available round-the-clock to hold meetings with entrepreneurs and investors to make productive decisions. He appealed to investors not to come to a conclusion or take a decision in haste without a discussion with the government.

Estimating the number of unemployed in the state at 35 lakh, Reddy said the government did not consider them a burden, but considered them good human resources for upscaling industrial development.

Skill universities will be established to impart skills to the youth. They will help the educated unemployed youth to undergo skill development training and get jobs anywhere in the competitive world, he said.

Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari, CMO secretary V. Seshadri, IT and Industries secretary Jayesh Ranjan, CM special secretary Ajith Reddy and CII representative C. Shekhar Reddy were among those who took part in the meeting.
Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy made a courtesy call on former President Ramnath Kovind during his visit to the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on Saturday.

The CM reportedly apprised Kovind about various welfare programmes being implemented by the Congress government in the state.

At the same time, he also took suggestions for bettering governance and administration in the state.

It is pertinent to note that Revanth Reddy had earlier said that he would meet every Constitutional head or higher government official visiting the state and give due respect to their experience and services to the public.

According to information, Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan is on a visit to Pondicherry, as she is the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory.

She was expected to reach Hyderabad this morning but got delayed due to some official work.

In the meanwhile, Revanth Reddy would meet Ramnath Kovind and discuss about the political and social conditions in the state and the country.

In the wake of the CM's visit to Raj Bhavan, security has been heightened around the surroundings.
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the 5th largest bank in the world and the largest in the U.S. The current company is the result of a series of mergers that began in the earliest days of American banking history and include more than 1,200 original banks. The oldest predecessor is The Bank Of The Manhattan Company which was founded in 1799 by Aaron Burr. At the time, The Bank Of The Manhattan Company was the 3rd oldest bank in the U.S. and the 31st oldest in the world. The Chase Manhattan Bank, a precursor to JPMorgan Chase, was later formed when The Bank Of Manhattan Company purchased Chase Bank which was established in 1877.

JPMorgan & Co came to life in 1895 in order to finance the United States Steel Corporation. Itself a result of merger, the company also financed other early American businesses as well as aided the federal government by backing a bond offering. It wasnt until the year 2000 and after several more mergers that JPMorgan Chase & Co was born. It will be four more years before the merger with Bank One which is notable because it brings CEO Jamie Dimon into the picture.

JPMorgan Chase & Co was instrumental in aiding the US government during the 2008 financial crisis. It backed the accounts of several major banks including Bear Stearns and eventually took over their operations. Today, JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide with operations on every continent and in more than 60 countries.

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates through four segments that are Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). Services are available in branches in 48 of the 50 US states and around the world. Services are available via ATM, online, mobile, and telephone.

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Northern Irelands largest nursing union has announced strike action on January 18, joining other unions in a day of action.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will join other trade unions in industrial action in response to the failure to award a pay deal in line with colleagues across the UK.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has deemed January 18 a generalised day of action in response to the conclusion of talks on restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Unions representing health workers, midwives, radiographers, teachers and civil servants are among those who have said they will withdraw their labour for some length of time on the day.

In December, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris announced a 3.3 billion package conditional on the return of devolved government, which has not been functioning for nearly two years due to the DUPs boycott in response to post-Brexit trading arrangements.

That financial package includes a non-repayable reserve claim of up to 584 million for public sector pay claims.

The DUP declined to re-enter Stormont in December with party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson stating that talks on unionist concerns about trading arrangements would continue.

The RCN Northern Ireland Board met on Thursday to discuss the continued Stormont stalemate and said they concluded that their members patience has now been exhausted.

Rita Devlin, director of the RCN in Northern Ireland, said their members were the lowest paid in the UK and it was nothing short of immoral that the pay award had not been granted now that finances were available to do so.

What an indictment on how we treat health care workers and the value we place on them, she said.

Just this week our emergency departments, once again, have been struggling to cope with the numbers of very sick patients who need treatment. And who are we depending upon to meet that challenge?

Low pay is making it very difficult to retain nursing staff in the health service and we are not willing to tolerate this any longer. Patients and staff are suffering every single day due to the lack of political movement which not only affects pay but prevents the transformation of services that has been needed for years.

We have no choice but to take further action.

Briege Quinn, RCN Northern Ireland Board chairwoman said that in her 40 years of working in nursing she had never seen the situation so dire.

As nurses we must stand up for our patients and speak on their behalf, she said.

Nursing staff are being placed under unimaginable pressure which is resulting in their own ill health and emotional distress.

No nurse ever wants to take strike action but we cannot stand back any longer and accept the lack of any meaningful help and action to improve pay and the crisis facing health and social care in Northern Ireland.

We are not second-class citizens and refuse to be treated as such any longer.

Responding to the RCN announcement, a spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said:

The Secretary of States talks on stabilising the finances of a returning Executive with the four parties eligible to form the Northern Ireland Executive have now concluded.

The fair and generous package offered by the UK Government is worth over 3bn, including up to 584m to address public sector pay, and more than 1bn to stabilise Northern Irelands public services.

The Secretary of State has expressed his disappointment that a new executive was not up and running to take this offer and deliver it for the people of NI before Christmas.

However, this package is on the table and will remain there, available on day one of an incoming Northern Ireland Executive to take up.

It is now for the NI parties to come together, restore the Executive and begin to address the challenges facing the people of Northern Ireland, including public sector pay.
The Dundalk Democrat asked local TDs, councillors and senators from north and mid Louth to share their hopes, ambitions and predictions for the year ahead. In this article, Louth Sinn Fein TD Ruairi O Murchu shares his thoughts on 2024.

There is a scent in the air, as we move from 2023 into 2024, as untellable as the aroma created by a rain shower. You know what it is when you smell it but its almost impossible to put into words.

Political redolence has a name and its change, and, as the days grow imperceptibly brighter, the smell of change grows stronger.

In June 2024, the people of Louth will have their chance to have their say when the local and European elections take place.

Sinn Fein means to change the politics of this State and island and we need to start this at local level. To that end, we are fielding a record number of local election candidates in this constituency.

We are challenging ourselves to be ambitious and we are challenging voters in Louth to be ambitious to break the 100-year cycle of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail dominance in politics in this State.

In the North, there needs to be movement from Unionists on going back into the Executive, but the only real solution to the current and future impasses is Irish unity.

By voting for Sinn Fein in the local elections, it is the first step of a two-step ask from voters, the second of which will be a vote for our party in the general election, which could take place before the end of 2024. Before that, we need to get as many councillors elected as possible in Louth.

Just before Christmas last year, we were preparing for the funeral of Private Sean Rooney. In December 2023, we gathered again with his family for his first anniversary and while remembering him and his sacrifice, thoughts inevitably turned to his comrades in Lebanon who are now peacekeeping in a part of the world that has been devastated by Israeli aggression.

Nearby, in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll from ten weeks of Israeli onslaught is close of 19,000, with over 8,000 of those children. Ireland needs to put greater pressure on the international community which is losing all credibility.

There needs to be a durable ceasefire and Israel needs to be held to account and we need to work with others on the issue of sanctions. Palestinian statehood is the only long-term, peaceful solution for both Palestine and Israel.

As we turn into 2024, we remember that in March of this year, it will be four years since Covid 19 was found in Ireland and the world locked down. It will also be four years since 23 people died during a Covid 19 outbreak in Dealgan House Nursing Home in Dundalk.

Despite a couple of false starts, it is believed that the long-awaited inquiry will be announced early in 2024 and hopefully a mechanism will be given to the Dealgan families to get the answers they need.

In addition, work continues on a long-term, sustainable solution to the community heating system in Carlinn Hall. After a long process in 2023, the reports have been done and the work begins this year to finally solve this problem.

Health and housing will continue to dominate this year, with a chronic shortage of GPs, mental healthcare specialists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and dentists making life extremely difficult for many families.

I am glad to be a member of the cross-party Oireachtas group on autism and I will continue to advocate for those with disabilities and those who need better access to healthcare.

Meanwhile accommodation crisis impacts on all other issues. It may seem like its raining at the moment, it may even seem like its raining problems, but even the rain has a scent and it smells like change.
The Dundalk Democrat asked local TDs, councillors and senators from north and mid Louth to share their hopes, ambitions and predictions for the year ahead. In this article, Louth Labour TD Ged Nash shares his thoughts on 2024.

Hopes for 2024

The single most important social and indeed economic issue we face in Louth and across Ireland is our countrys utterly broken housing model. It dominates my constituency work.

We need 50,000 new units a year, not the governments modest 30,000 and war declared on vacancy and dereliction with penal taxes and levies.

Locally, I also want DkIT to take substantial and meaningful steps towards university status in 2024.

For North Louth I am also actively campaigning for improvements to the train services from Dundalk to Dublin to better serve local commuters.

Most of all, I want to see an immediate end to the savage war being waged on the innocent people of Palestine by Israel, the recognition of the State of Palestine and for a just and sustainable peace to emerge from this despicable carnage and unequivocal and practical international backing for a two-State solution.

I am a longstanding activist on Palestine having succeeded our current President Michael D. Higgins as the Chair of the Oireachtas Friends of Palestine group.

Ambitions for 2024

Apart from an all-Louth FAI Cup Final in October?

I am ambitious that Labour will grow our vote in Louth in Junes local elections and return more seats to Louth County Council. We have four Councillors in the Dail constituency at present and we want to make a breakthrough in Dundalk.

We are in discussions with potential candidates in North Louth and I believe there is an appetite for a centre-left, liberal and progressive alternative to the local establishment parties which include Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

In the local elections, my next ambition would be for the people of Louth to give divisive and hate-fuelled far-right candidates a decisive red-card.

I am also of course hopeful that my hard work locally and nationally will see our Dail seat retained in a general election which I am convinced will take place in the autumn of 2024.

Political predictions for 2024

In 2024, I think we will see greater co-operation between Labour and our close cousins the Social Democrats.

We will have a general election called in September or October against the backdrop of an economic slowdown.

As people cotton on to the fact that Sinn Fein isnt as radical, left-leaning and progressive as theyve been lead to believe, and as the Party continues to move confusedly towards the middle ground I predict they will continue to leak support in opinion polls as we get closer to the only poll that matters.

While I want Labour to be in government, the numbers only point to a Sinn Fein-Fianna Fail government. Far from being Irelands first left-led government this will amount to a recalibration of Irish nationalism, not a left-right cleavage in politics, and they will make very comfortable and natural bedfellows.
Dundalk Sub Aqua Search And Rescue have thanked everyone who donated to their annual bucket collection on New Years Eve.

The club said: Once again the people of Dundalk & surrounding areas have shown their appreciation of the work we do within our group, & with your help we'll continue in that work.

If you or family member/friends couldn't get to us today, but would like to donate, there are a number of options below.

All monies collected today, every cent and euro will go directly to the upkeep and maintenance of our equipment.

Dundalk Sub Aqua Search and Rescue Unit are a group of Volunteer scuba divers who train all year and train at different locations in Ireland.

They receive no funding from the government for our work and all their funding comes from donations and fundraising with the bulk of this coming from the bucket collection.

Dundalk Sub Aqua Search and Rescue Unit have been involved in numerous operations this year in Fermanagh, Dublin, Dundalk and Louth.
A Circuit Court judge who was convicted of the sexual abuse of six young men following a trial, which concluded just before Christmas, has resigned from the bench with immediate effect.

Gerard OBrien, aged 59, of Old School House, Slievenamon Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary had pleaded not guilty, at the Central Criminal Court, to one count of attempted anal rape and eight counts of sexual assault in relation to six complainants on dates between March 1991 and November 1997 at locations in Co. Dublin.

However, he was convicted by a jury which returned guilty verdicts following more than seven hours of deliberations.

Mr O'Brien was in his 30s at the time of the offending while the six complainants were then aged between 17 and 24.

During the trial, the court heard OBrien was appointed a Circuit Court judge in 2015 and had worked as a solicitor for over 20 years before his appointment.

In a brief statement, issued this Saturday evening, the Department of Justice confirmed that Judge O'Brien has now tendered his resignation.

"The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee T.D., has confirmed that Circuit Court Judge Gerard OBrien conveyed his resignation today (Saturday), effective from January 5. The resignation has been conveyed to the President in accordance with the requirements of section 6 (2) of the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act 1961."

The statement adds that the Minister will not be making any further comment prior O'Brien's sentencing hearing which has been set for March 4.
Helsing is part of the HIS consortium developing the AI backbone for the European Future Combat Air System (FCAS). Helsing operates alongside Schonhofer Sales and Engineering GmbH and IBM Germany. The FCAS initiative aims to integrate a new generation of manned fighters with a network of unmanned systems and highly connected aircraft. Helsings role is pivotal in providing the AI development infrastructure that will reduce pilot workload and enhance the operational capability of remote carriers and munitions. SS&E has expertise in real-time situational awareness, analytics, AI, and management of complex data and data formats, while IBM will provide secure cloud technologies for the program.

The AI backbone is not just a singular system but a foundational technology supporting the air forces cross-functional capabilities with AI. The AI backbone will integrate distributed edge AI capabilities embedded in each FCAS member, where data is collected, shared across the secure cloud, and orchestrated by AI algorithms to distribute a common operating picture and actionable decisions and commands to all players across the network. This proximity to data sources enables rapid, real-time analytics and decision-making, crucial for modern warfare where speed is a tactical advantage.

The AI backbone will also contribute to the Next Generation Weapons System National Research and Technology project, the 6th Generation air platform, part of the broader FCAS program. This project aims to develop technologies to give the German Air Force and its European partners an edge in AI capabilities.
TODAY marks the official end of the Christmas season.

Tradition dictates that January 6 is the day when women celebrate their own Little Christmas with each other, while the men take care of the chores - and the cooking!

This special occasion was intended as a well-earned break for the ladies of the house, after all the hard work of preparing and cooking for the family.

Lots of ladies like to book a night out on January 6. But if youre having the girls round at home this weekend to celebrate Little Christmas, I have a dish which will wow with its ease and price.

Chicken thighs are always an economical buy. These small joints with bone in from the top of the leg of the bird make a great casserole dish, because the bones add flavour to the sauce.

Im knocking up a frugal version of the classic French Coq au Vin this weekend.

Typically, this dish demands lengthy marinating of jointed whole chicken in Burgundy red wine made from Pinot Noir.

Ive used a generic French Pinot Noir, which is a much cheaper option. You can still achieve a good result with a couple of hours marinating beforehand, although the longer the better.

Most supermarkets have chicken thigh packs at great prices. You may even pick up free range thighs, as these are an offcut after portioning for the more popular and expensive chicken breast joints.

This weekends dessert is also in the French style.

For many, this is the last chance for a blow out before the New Year fitness regime begins in earnest. So lets make it a great one.

Im picking Creme Brulee as one of my all time favourite desserts. This one has crystallised ginger to offer a little touch of winter spice to warm things up.

Happy Womens Little Christmas!

Coq Au Vin

Ingredients (serves 4) 8 chicken thigh joints 2 garlic cloves, halved Few sprigs thyme and parsley 500mls red wine Olive oil Butter for cooking 300mls chicken stock 3 rashers streaky bacon, chopped 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 100g button mushrooms, halved if big 2 carrots, peeled and chopped Method Place chicken thighs in a bowl and add garlic cloves, herbs and red wine. Cover with film and leave in the fridge for up to two hours or as long as possible, turning the joints occasionally.

Remove chicken from wine marinade and pat dry with kitchen towel. Strain and reserve the marinade.

Heat oil and a knob of butter in a heavy bottomed skillet pan and fry bacon to brown.

Add shallots, garlic, mushrooms and carrots and cook till mushrooms are browning and carrots beginning to soften. Remove bacon and vegetables and transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish.

Add a little more butter to skillet to melt then add chicken pieces, cooking to brown all over. Remove to casserole with veggie mix.

Add flour to skillet and cook for a minute, stirring to scrape up the sediment.

Add marinade and stock and stir vigorously. Bring to bubbling.

Pour wine mix overchicken and veggies.

Add sprigs of thyme and season. Cover casserole with a lid and cook in the oven Gas 4 180C 350F for about 45 minutes or until chicken is tender and coming away from the bone.

Check seasoning and serve in warmed bowls with buttery mashed potatoes and greens of choice.

Ginger Creme Brulee

Ingredients (makes 6 small ramekins or 4 larger ones) 300mls cream 1 tsp ground ginger 2 large fresh free range egg yolks 2 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste 2 tbsp crystallised ginger, finely chopped 2-3 tbsp soft brown sugar to finish Method Heat cream very gently with ground ginger over low heat till just below simmering point. Dont let it boil.

Set aside to infuse and cool.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar till light and creamy.

Pour on the cooled cream and whisk together.

Sprinkle crystallised ginger into the bases of four ramekin dishes.

Pour over the cream mix to fill the dishes equally.

Place dishes in a roasting tray half filled with water and bake at Gas 4 350F 180C for 20 minutes or until the custard is just set but still a little wobbly in the centre.

Remove from oven, lift out of tray and cool and chill.

When ready to serve, sprinkle the top of each ramekin with sugar to cover.

Place under a pre-heated grill till sugar is melted and caramelised.

Remove and leave to cool till tops are set and crackly before serving.

WINE ACCOMPANIMENT

THIS is marinated with an economical country French Pinot Noir, but you can choose something a little more specific for the drinking part!

Im heading to New Zealand for the classic Oyster Bay Pinot Noir from the Marlborough region.

New Zealand have long mastered the art of Pinot, producing sensuous reds which have subtle fruit and a velvet brush of ripe plums and damsons. T his is a lovely wine for the Coq Au vin. Not cheap at 14 a bottle, but worth it for a special occasion like Womens Little Christmas!

From Supervalu stores now.

RECEIPT

MAIN DISH

Free range Chicken thighs pack of 6 x 2, 11.58

Pinot Noir French wine 750mls, 7.69

Mushrooms 250g, 79c

Garlic net 3 pce, 99c

Dry Cure Streaky bacon 250g, 2.99

Carrots 2kg, 1.95

Shallots 250g net, 99c

TOTAL: 26.98

DESSERT

500mls cream, 2.39

Eggs half dozen, 2.20

Brown sugar 500g, 80c

Ground Ginger 32g, 79c

Crystallised ginger 200g, 2.60

Total: 8.78

GRAND TOTAL: 35.76
WITH various elections due in Ireland, the UK and U.S this year, politics will take centre stage in many book releases.

There will be a lot of books which are examining the state of things at the moment, says Caroline Sanderson, associate editor of trade publication The Bookseller.

Notable UK political autobiographies include MP Nadhim Zahawis The Boy From Baghdad (HarperCollins, March 14), charting his journey from boyhood in Baghdad to Chancellor of the Exchequer, she predicts.

In other genres, celebrity memoirs featuring everyone from RuPaul to George the Poet, Jill Halfpenny, Earl Spencer and Tom Selleck will hit book shops, while new offerings from big name novelists including David Nicholls, Alex Michaelides, Marian Keyes, David Baldacci and Peter James should be flying off the shelves

Here are just some of the titles which may create a buzz in 2024.

Romance

Top choice: You Are Here, by David Nicholls (Sceptre, April 23)

For fiction, this is our biggest title at the moment, and very much along the same lines as his bestseller One Day, says Bea Carvalho, Waterstones UK head of books.

Its a love story which develops on the Coast to Coast footpath in the north of England, in which two single people who are introduced by mutual friends find themselves together on the most epic of walks.

Ones to watch: Irish author Colm Toibin, with Long Island, his long-awaited sequel to Brooklyn (Picador, May 23); TikTok star and best-selling novelist Emily Henrys joyful new novel, Funny Story (Viking, April 25), about a pair of opposites with the wrong things in common.

Thriller

Top choice: The Fury, by Alex Michaelides (Michael Joseph, Feb 1)

The best-selling author of The Silent Patient brings readers a locked room-style mystery set on a Greek island, featuring an unreliable narrator and a tale full of twists and turns. Its out in February, but Waterstones is predicting its also going to be a real staple of summer reading.

Salman Rushdie releases Knife in April

Ones to watch: All The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker (Orion, July 16), which is part missing persons mystery, serial killer thriller - and part powerful love story; Anthony Horowitzs new novel, Close To Death (Century, April 11), which sees an unpopular resident shot dead with a crossbow, while all his neighbours have the motive to kill him.

Historical

Top choice for fiction: Clear, by Carys Davies (Granta, March 7)

Set against the rugged backdrop of Shetland, this short, powerful, historical novel set in 1843 during the final stages of the Scottish Clearances, sees a minister dispatched to a remote Scottish island to clear the last remaining inhabitant, who has no intention of leaving. Its an unforgettable tale of resilience, change, and hope, from the award-winning writer.

Top choice for non-fiction: Empireworld, by Sathnam Sanghera (Viking, January 25)

Following on from his bestselling Empireland, the award-winning author and journalist extends his examination of British imperial legacies beyond Britain. Travelling the globe to trace its international legacies - from Barbados and Mauritius to India and Nigeria and beyond - he demonstrates how deeply British imperialism is baked into our world.

D-Day 80th anniversary

Top choice: Sword Beach, by Stephen Fisher (Bantam, May 23)

This book from the marine historian focuses on the untold stories of D-Days forgotten battle, providing fresh insight into one of the least well-known of the D-Day landings. Often overshadowed by the more famous American landing at Omaha, Fisher now shines a light on the capture of Sword Beach, which was crucial in securing the Normandy Landings, he says.

Fantasy

Top choice: House Of Flame And Shadow, by Sarah J Maas (Bloomsbury, January 30)

The third book in the Crescent City series, which has been described as Game Of Thrones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from the New York Times bestselling author. Shes a leading voice in the genre, our sales of that series are absolutely extraordinary and pre orders are enormous, says Carvalho.

One to watch: Jasper Ffordes Red Side Story (Hodder & Stoughton, February 6) is set in a world where your social status depends on which colours you can see.

Politics

Top choice: Head North, by Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram (February 22)

For the first time, the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, speak out about their experiences of modern British politics, and the fight for Northern voices to be heard. They offer a new vision for Britain which centres a Northern perspective and reimagines our country beyond the Westminster bubble.

Ones to watch: Keir Starmer: The Biography by Tom Baldwin (William Collins, February 15), taken from more than 100 hours of interviews with the man himself.

Debut

Top choice: The Cautious Travellers Guide To The Wastelands, by Sarah Brooks (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 16.99, June 20)

This intriguing fictional tale tells the story of a curious cast of characters on board the Great Trans-Siberian Express in the 19th century as they cross the Wastelands, a vast terrain that lies between Russia and China.

The Great Trans-Siberian Express, an impenetrable train built to carry precious cargo across continents, now also transports anyone willing to cross the irresistible Wastelands. It is thought to be completely safe... except something happened on the last journey.

Ones to watch: The Kellerby Code, by screenwriter Jonny Sweet (Faber & Faber, March 21), a manor house mystery and part-spin on the classic golden age thrillers with a mixture of crime and comedy and a nod to P.G. Wodehouse; The Fellowship Of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr (Orion, May 9), an uplifting and joyful debut about a bright young man finding his place in the world.

Real life

Top choice: Knife, by Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape, 20, April 16)

The bestselling author details for the first time the dramatic, traumatic events of August 12, 2022, when he was stabbed multiple times as he was about to give a public lecture in New York.

He uses the power of words to make sense of the unthinkable, in a gripping, personal and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art - and finding the strength to stand up again.
THE 13th protest rally in as many weeks calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is set to take place in Cork City centre this afternoon.

The demonstration, organised by Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign (CPSC), will commence at 1pm on Grand Parade.

According to the organisers, the event will hear speakers applaud South Africa for having referred Israel to the International Court of Justice on a charge or genocide in Gaza.

Speakers will also rebuke the Irish Government for failing to join the action, CPSC stated.

Israels campaign in Gaza has so far killed 22,400 people, 66% of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou MacDonald has called on the Irish Government to join South Africa in taking the case against Israel.

In welcoming the Sinn Fein intervention, Mr Carroll said the case will add to the international pressure for Israel to end its military offensive in Gaza.

South Africa launched the case last week at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, in the Netherlands, saying the magnitude of death, destruction, and humanitarian crisis in Gaza because of the Israeli military campaign against Hamas meets the threshold of genocide under international law.

South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its attacks in Gaza.

Speaking last Tuesday, Eylon Levy, an official in the Israeli prime ministers office, accused South Africa of giving political and legal cover to the October 7 attack by Hamas that triggered Israels campaign.

The state of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at the Hague to dispel South Africas absurd blood libel, said Mr Levy.
CORK TD Colm Burke has raised concerns about the number of people admitted to hospital this winter which he said has led to a huge demand for health services.

Raising concerns about the number of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases recorded in Cork recently, the Fine Gael health spokesman called on Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to initiate a health technology assessment for an RSV vaccine following recent advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee to put in place an immunisation plan for infants and older people.

RSV is a common winter virus with mild respiratory symptoms, but can lead to severe illness among infants, children aged under five years, and people aged 65 years and older.

While RSV-associated deaths among children in Ireland and other high-income countries are rare, the virus has been circulating at very high levels in recent months.

Raising the issue in the Dail recently, Mr Burke said: Respiratory viruses are reportable since 2012 and the figures are frightening. Last year, for the 2022 to 2023 winter months, 7,759 cases were reported; 2,231 of those were people over 60 years and over 636 ended up in emergency departments in our hospitals.

Across Europe, over 274,000 hospitalisations for RSV have been identified and there have been 20,000 fatalities over the last 12 months. The vaccine has been approved by the European Medicines Agency since June. The question now is whether we take a decision to make vaccines available.

There are two very vulnerable groups, namely those under two years and those over 65. There is a question about assessing cost and implementation, but it is also about saving lives. In real terms, it will save huge money because there would be fewer admissions to hospitals and fewer people needing to go to their GPs and requiring care.

In response, minister of state Ossian Smyth said both Mr Donnelly and the chief medical officer share these concerns about the high levels of RSV circulating in the community.

He confirmed that the Department of Health has asked the Health Information and Quality Authority to carry out a health technology assessment on an RSV immunisation strategy to determine whether infant or adult immunisation would provide the greatest benefit in reducing healthcare utilisation due to RSV infection and what would be the most cost-effective RSV immunisation strategy.
A CORK TD has called for the 6pm television advertising watershed for junk food and drinks to be extended to 9pm to help curb childhood obesity.

Colm Burke, TD, Fine Gaels health spokesperson, said that further restriction of the advertising of high-fat, high-salt, and high-sugar (HFSS) products, both on television and online, should be examined by the new media regulator, Coimisiun na Mean, to limit the exposure of harmful and unhealthy content to children.

Mr Burke said:

Overweight and obesity pose an increasing challenge in Ireland, with 60% of adults and 20% of children and young people living with them, conditions associated with multiple complications, including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, several types of cancer, and a poorer quality of life.

The lifetime cost of childhood obesity, including direct healthcare and societal consequences, is 4.6bn in Ireland.

The Fine Gael TD said, In an ever-increasing digital world, children are being exposed to the marketing and promotion of junk food and beverages, which is fuelling a widescale crisis that is threatening their health and wellbeing and that of future generations.

Current Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) rules restrict the televising of HFSS foods and drinks on childrens programmes before 6pm.

In 2021, the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) also introduced rules that restrict marketing communications for HFSS foods, when more than 50% of the target audience is under 15.

However, some stakeholders claim the existing regulations fall short from pervasive and sophisticated marketing methods employed by some food companies in targeting children with junk food and beverage products, said Mr Burke.

They state that children are still being exposed to junk-food ads during prime-time shows and past the 6pm watershed, when they are likely to watch TV with their families, he said.

The Irish Heart Foundation has cited research that young children are still likely to see 1,000 television advertisements a year for unhealthy foods, and that older children, who watch later in to the evening, probably view substantially more.

Coimisiun na Mean, the new media regulator, is responsible for regulating broadcasters and online media and takes on the work previously done by the BAI, Mr Burke said.

The establishment of Coimisiun na Mean, under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2023, provides for the creation of rules that may prohibit or restrict the inclusion in programmes of commercial communications relating to foods or beverages considered by the commission to be the subject of public concern in respect of the general public health interests of children those foods or beverages which contain fat, trans-fatty acids, salts or sugars.

Mr Burke said that he has been informed that the Department of Health is engaging with the commission on this issue.

I believe the commission should, therefore, consider extending the broadcast ban to 9pm and also examine the digital-media tactics employed by companies targeting children with their advertising through various social-media channels.

The views of parents and advocacy groups should also be listened to when it comes to protecting the health and wellbeing of children.
FORMER Cork City councillor Con OLeary who passed away this week has been remembered as a legendary Cork character in tributes led by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy.

A much-loved shopkeeper in Gurranabraher for over 50 years, Mr OLeary was elected to represent the citys former north-central ward as an Independent councillor in 1991 and 1999.

It is understood that Mr OLeary fell ill on Friday while holidaying abroad with family members and passed away in hospital a short time later.

Offering his condolences to the OLeary family, the Lord Mayor said: On behalf of the people of Cork, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to Cons family, his daughters Lorraine, Tina, Deborah and Aisling, and his grandchildren and friends.

Con was very active in Cork Corporation, and represented his constituents with much passion, regularly speaking up on several social issues which affected Cork citizens and pushing for positive change.

He said the Gurranabraher native will always be known as a legendary Cork character with much wit, but also as someone whose caring efforts benefitted Gurranabraher and the wider city.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin remembered Mr OLearys brilliant wit and his dedication and passion for his city which he said will be sorely missed.

He said he had very fond memories of serving with Con OLeary on Cork City Council in the early 90s.

He served his community with great commitment and generosity for half a century.

Independent councillor Mick Finn said Mr OLeary was the essence of what a councillor should be: rooted in and devoted to the community he served.

You couldnt say he was one in a million because he was utterly unique and had a style and substance all of his own, he said.

As well as being an astute, cute Corkman, he was also very funny and great company to be in.

Mr Finn offered his sympathies to his family, and those in the Gurranabraher and northside communities, and his colleagues past and present on Cork City Council.

While its often said, the Irish phrase - ni bheidh a leitheid aris ann - is entirely appropriate for Con, he said. A proud son of Cork, may he rest easy now, where the sun sinks by night in the land of the west.

Independent councillor Ken OFlynn described Mr OLeary as a beloved figure in the community and a cherished shop owner who will forever be etched in the hearts of those who knew him.

Known for having his fingers on the pulse of local affairs, Con was a true people person.

"His warm demeanour and common touch endeared him to many, transcending the boundaries between public service and personal connections. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family during this difficult time, he said.

Sinn Fein councillor Kenneth Collins, who knew the OLeary family well from a young age, said: Ive known Con all my life. I was taken aback when I heard the sad news that he passed away. He was a genuine guy who cared for people.

Con OLeary is an institution. He got a civic reception last year in recognition of his work. I proposed it to the Lord Mayor. His shop was 50 years in business last year and to stand up against the big multiples like Dunnes Stores, Aldi, Lidl, and Supervalu as a corner shop and to be in business for that length of time is a great achievement.
A young man who got a suspended nine-month sentence for a spate of shoplifting in Cork has had that sentence triggered now by more recent convictions for similar offences in Waterford.

Judge Mary Dorgan revoked the suspension on the nine-month prison term faced by 25-year-old Kevin Prout of no fixed address at Cork District Court.

Following submissions from defence barrister, Alan ODwyer, the judge agreed not to make the revoked sentence consecutive to the term Mr Prout was serving from the Waterford District Court case.

Mr ODwyer said the accused was sober for the first time in a long period and he asked the court to be as lenient as possible as the young man was determined to engage with rehabilitation services.

Earlier this week, on January 2 at Waterford District Court the young man got a ten-month sentence for three thefts, backdated to November 13 2023 when he went into custody.

That was for thefts carried out in Waterford last August.

The suspended nine-month sentence that had been hanging over Mr Prout from Cork District Court was imposed on him for eight thefts in July and August 2022.
CORK citys oldest and most iconic barbershop is nearing the end of an era following heartbreaking news of its pending closure.

Mick Moriarty is preparing to put The Baldy Barber up for sale in the coming days. His decision comes just weeks ahead of its 87th anniversary.

When you are awake at 2am in the morning worrying, its frightening, but Im lucky to have the support of my staff, Mick told The Echo.

Mick Moriarty outside the premises in Blackpool. Pic Larry Cummins

I have two people who have been coming into the shop for over 80 years which is heartbreaking. My staff told me not to be upset and they wouldnt blame me if I have to sell this place. That was last October.

They told me this, even though it meant losing their jobs. When you are hearing this from your own staff, you know its the right time to sell.

Im organising everything with the auctioneer at the moment and were expecting to have the for-sale sign up next week.

My hope is that a hairdresser will buy it and live above the shop.

Staff members Donncha O'Connell (25 years service) and Amy O'Donovan (2.5 years service) with 'Baldy Barber' Mick Moriarty in the chair at the premises. Pic Larry Cummins

The business in Blackpool village had been struggling to survive due to a significant loss of income in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Mr Moriarty said the real challenge was competing with barbers operating within the black market.

Mr Moriarty laments that revenue at his barbershop dropped by 40% last year.

He said he knew the time would come to shut his doors.

However, he had hoped to reach 90 years in business, as a tribute to his late father - the previous owner of the barbershop - Peter Moriarty.

The shop was originally located in Merchants Quay and dates as far back as 1937.

Mick Moriarty chatting with a customer in the premises in Blackpool. Pic Larry Cummins

Peter had worked there with his brother Michael [Micks uncle] during that period.

This year will mark Micks 58th - and last - year in business.

Mr Moriarty said it would take a miracle to save the Cork barbershop at this point.

I cant see it being saved, he said. "I would need 15k for that to happen  which is a lot of money for a small business.

Im very lucky to have had fantastic, loyal customers.

However, young people have moved on.

A lot of them will look for spots and sponsorship from you, but they forget to come back and support you.

Its the same with pubs.

I have heard a lot of people talking about pubs that could be closing shortly, he added.

Mick Moriarty with regular customers Mark (seated) and his father Conor Delaney who has been a customer for nearly twenty years, at the premises in Blackpool. Pic Larry Cummins

Mr Moriarty said that some barbershops are raising their prices to compensate for reduced clientele.

Its very hard to beat the black market now, he added. That has destroyed so much.

We charge 16 per haircut, including 1.90 VAT. Other barbers are charging an average of 20 for a haircut. I know of one place that is charging 27.

I always said that I would never overcharge a customer, which was part of my reason for closing.

Mick is known for supporting many of his customers through times of hardship.

Staff member Amy O'Donovan with customer Martin Dorgan in the chair at the premises. Pic Larry Cummins

I recently dealt with a customer who had fallen on hard times. He was roaring crying.

I told him that he didnt have to pay and he could always come back to me when he had a bit of work. Thats just the kind of place we are.

The Cork man pledged to honour any vouchers sold to customers at his barbershop.

There werent too many vouchers, but I will honour every single one of them.

The shop will take a while to sell so we still have that time.

The Baldy Barber has been at the centre of headlines for decades and went viral in 2017 for an inspiring act of kindness.

Fox News, in the U.S, even covered the story of how barber Donncha OConnell cut the hair of non-verbal teen Evan ODwyer in the car to ease his anxiety around the barbers chair.
Investigations are ongoing following a burglary at a premises in a Cork city suburb on Friday morning.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said: Gardai are investigating a burglary which occurred at a premises in Ballinlough, Co Cork ...[on]..., Friday, 5th January.

Investigations are ongoing.
(Photo: REUTERS / Alexei Nikolskyi / RIA Novosti / Kremlin)Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd L, first row) attends the Orthodox Christmas service at the Holy Face of Christ the Savior Church in the Russian southern city of Sochi January 7, 2014. Most Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar on January 7, two weeks after most western Christian churches that abide by the Gregorian calendar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered greetings to Orthodox Christians and all Russians on Christmas as celebrated according to the Julian calendar on Jan. 7.

"My sincere congratulations on Christmas. This holiday brings joy and hope to millions of believers, disseminates spiritual traditions among them," said Putin, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported.

Putin said the Christmas celebration, "unites around everlasting Christian values, centuries-old historical, cultural heritage of our people."

Putin said he appreciated the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations for their efforts in maintaining peace and unity in Russia and developing inter-religious and international dialogue.

State television channels showed a live broadcast of the Mass from Moscow's enormous and elaborate Christ the Savior Cathedral.

The church was demolished during Josef Stalin's dictatorship, but reconstructed after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, The Japan Times citing AP and Reuters reported.

RUSSIAN PATRIARCH KIRILL

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill conducted the ceremonies at the Moscow site before hundreds of worshippers, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as well as several other Russian government and parliamentary officials, Radio Free Europe said.

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill conducted the ceremonies at the Moscow site before hundreds of worshippers, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as well as several other Russian government and parliamentary officials.

Kirill also sent greetings to the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) via a video linkup from the Christ the Savior Cathedral.

Addressing Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov, he said, "You are our heroes. You represent Russia up there, in orbit," according to the TASS news agency.

The ISS crew also includes NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Joe Acaba, and Scott Tingle, as well as Norishige Kanai of Japan.

Orthodox Christians in Russia and most other Orthodox countries celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar on Jan. 7, two weeks after most Western Christian churches that use the Gregorian calendar.

FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY

This comes at the same time when Western Christians observe Epiphany to recall the three wise men who followed a star to Bethlehem find the baby Jesus .

Jan. 7 is a national holiday in Russia, as well as in Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine. The Armenian Orthodox Church celebrated on January 6.

In Egypt, the head of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, led midnight Mass in the cathedral of the nation's new administrative capital on Saturday.

The Christmas Eve service was attended by President Abdel-Fatteh el-Sisi, who is a Muslim.

Sisi told the packed cathedral outside of Cairo on the Orthodox Christmas Eve that "you are our family. We are one and no one can divide us."

His appearance at the cathedral along with Coptic Pope Tawadros II came as tens of thousands of soldiers and police were deployed outside churches in Egypt to secure against attacks by Islamic militants.

They have targeted Christians for the past two years in bomb attacks that have killed about 100 people.

In Bethlehem, Palestinians Christians, expressed anger at church land sales to Israelis, scuffling with Palestinian police, as they attempted to block the arrival of the Holy Land's Greek Orthodox patriarch for Christmas celebrations.

Demonstrators banged on the sides of police escort vehicles, but Patriarch Theophilos III managed to safely move in his limousine to the Church of the Nativity for the traditional Orthodox Christmas eve observance.
(Photo: REUTERS / Shamil Zhumatov)People watch as a woman takes a dip during Epiphany celebration at the Bolshaya Almatinka river bank in Almaty, Kazakhstan, January 19, 2014. Orthodox Christians celebrate the religious holiday of Epiphany according to the Julian calendar on January 19.

Christians around the world will mark a special feast on Jan. 6 with a series of celebrations for the Feast of Epiphany, Three Kings Day and Theophany, 12 days after Christmas is celebrated in many countries.

What is the Epiphany? Why is it also called Three Kings Day? And when do Christians celebrate it, the Independent newspaper asks.

Epiphany - also known as Three Kings' Day - is a Christian feast day which falls on Jan. 6, according to the BBC.

"It is a special date for many Christians as it's when people celebrate how a star led the Magi - also known as the Three kings or the Wise Men - to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born."

'Epiphany' derives from the Greek word meaning 'to reveal', as it is when the baby Jesus was 'revealed' to the world according to the BCC.

A common image of the Epiphany is of three men coming from afar to greet a new born baby, the King of Kings, Jesus in his humble abode.

The festival originated in the Eastern church, where it at first included a commemoration of Christ's birth. In Rome, according to Encyclopaedia Brittanica.

"In Rome, by 354 Christ's birth was being celebrated on December 25 (Christmas), and later in the 4th century the church in Rome began celebrating Epiphany on January 6."

Britannica says that in the Western church the festival primarily commemorates the visit by the Magi to the infant Jesus, which is seen as evidence that Christ, the Jewish Messiah, came also for the salvation of Gentiles.

While the East Jan. 6 it mainly commemorates the baptism of Jesus and celebrates the revelation that the incarnate Christ was both fully God and fully man.

For some in the Orthodox Church, which celebrates Christmas on the Jan. 7, Epiphany falls on Jan. 19.

According to the BBC, in some countries many families will take off Jan.,and exchange presents.

In Spain and Latin America, "El Dia de los Reyes" is just as important as Christmas Day itself.

In some countries many families will take off Jan. 6 and exchange presents.

In the Latin rite of the Catholic Church, Epiphany celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God, says Catholic News Agency.

It focuses primarily on this revelation to the Three Wise Men, but it also focuses on his baptism in the Jordan and at the wedding at Cana.

"In the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church, Theophany  as Epiphany is known in the East commemorates the manifestation of Jesus' divinity at his baptism in the River Jordan," says CNA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered airlines to temporarily ground some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes for safety inspections after an Alaska Airlines plane lost a cabin panel during a flight on Friday with about 180 people on board. The plane, which had only been in service since November, according to the New York Times, was able to safely land back at Portland International Airport in Oregon, where it had taken off from. There were no major injuries, though the Alaska division of the Association of Flight Attendants said workers described explosive decompression in the cabin and reported one flight attendant sustained minor injuries.

The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes before they can return to flight, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSBs investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.

Immediately following the incident, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci put out a statement saying the company would be grounding its fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft for what it expects to be a few days as it conducts safety checks. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections, Minicucci. The FAA order extends the grounding to approximately 171 airplanes worldwide that are either operated by US airlines or in US territory.

Minicucci also said that the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what happened with Flight 1282 and we will fully support their investigation. The plane had been on its way to Ontario, California. Reuters, citing FlightRadar24, reported that the blowout occurred at around 16,000 feet. In social media posts shared with Reuters and the NYT, passengers can be seen sitting right next to the gaping hole and the fully exposed sky.

Boeing's 737 Max was previously grounded for almost two years after fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. All 189 people on board the plane were killed in the 2018 crash in Indonesia, and another 157 died in the 2019 crash in Ethiopia. In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion in a settlement with the Department of Justice to avoid criminal charges over the crashes.
In November, a group of non-fiction authors filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI and Microsoft of using other people's intellectual property without permission to train the former's generative AI technology. Now, more non-fiction writers are suing the companies for using their work to train OpenAI's GPT large language models (LLM). Journalists Nicholas A. Basbanes and Nicholas Gage are accusing the defendants of "massive and deliberate theft of copyrighted works" by writers like them in a proposed class action lawsuit.

Professional writers "have limited capital to fund their research" and "typically self-fund their projects," they said in their complaint. Meanwhile, the defendants have "ready access to billions in capital" and "simply stole" the plaintiffs' "copyrighted works to build another billion+ dollar commercial industry," they allege. Using copyrighted works is a "deliberate strategy" by the companies, the complaint reads, and not paying writers give the defendants "an even higher profit margin." The plaintiffs added that the companies could've explored alternative financing options, such as profit sharing, but have "decided to steal" instead.

Basbanes and Gage are seeking "to represent a class of writers whose copyrighted work has been systematically pilfered" by the defendants. They're seeking up to $150,000 per infringed work in damages, as well as a permanent injunction "to prevent these harms from recurring." Basbanes is a "renowned authority on the history of books and book culture." Gage, according to the CNBC, had previously worked for the Times and The Wall Street Journal.

OpenAI is contending with a growing list of lawsuits filed by creatives accusing it of using their work without permission to train its LLMs, including one by fiction authors George R.R. Martin, John Grisham and Jodi Picoult. In late December 2023, The New York Times sued the company and its biggest backer, Microsoft, for using the newspaper's articles for AI training. An OpenAI representative told us at the time that both parties were engaged in "productive conversations" and that the lawsuit was unexpected.

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On 21 December 2023, a charter flight heading to Nicaragua from Dubai with 303 Indians on board was stopped in France on suspicion of human trafficking. The plane was stuck in France for four days as neither Nicaragua nor the United Arab Emirates agreed to host it. The Indian authorities then persuaded the passengers to come back home. The plane arrived in Mumbai on 26 December but with only 276 passengers. Twenty-five of the passengers had applied for asylum in France. The French authorities dropped the investigation of human trafficking on 27 December after the passengers told them that they had willingly boarded the flight and embarked on this journey.

Nicaragua, a Central American country, is geographically close to the United States (US) and has relatively lax entry policies for travellers from many countries that face visa restrictions elsewhere. Nicaragua serves as a convenient location for immigrants from India desiring to cross over to the US from its southern borders. The freezing environment of the USCanada border discourages many immigrants from attempting to illegally enter the US via Canada, however, that route continues to be relied upon. In January 2022, the dead and frozen bodies of four members of a family from Gujarat were found lying in Canadas Manitoba, just 12 metres away from the US border. This tragic incident exemplified the dire risks being taken by certain Indian individuals and families in their desire to reach countries like the US, the United Kingdom (UK), and Canada through illegal donkey routes.
Fresh attempts to regulate online intermediaries, such as Meta, Amazon, Netflix, etc, by the Indian government have emerged in the Digital India Dialogues held in March and June 2023. In the said consultations, the union minister of state introduced the basic tenets of the Digital India Act (DIA) which is set to replace the Information Technology (IT) (Amendment) Act, 2008. Some of the many highlights of the proposed regulations are the classification of intermediaries into nine categories and the proposal to formulate separate rules for each class of intermediaries. This is an interesting move, as the government hopes to holistically regulate different online intermediaries by formulating specific rules for them.

However, whether it is enough to deal with the issues within each class of intermediaries is a moot question. For instance, the efficacy of classifying all social media platforms into one category and framing common rules warrant a closer and deeper analysis. Examining the current regulatory expectations and its implementation by social media platforms points to some challenges that the government is likely to face as it moves ahead.
How Aadhaar Impacts the Delivery of Welfare

According to the Government of India, linking Aadhaar with the delivery of welfare schemes has saved nearly `2,73,093 crore till March 2022 due to, apparently, the removal of duplicate/fake beneficiaries and plugging of leakages, etc. What is the overall impact of Aadhaar on welfare delivery? We try to understand this through a case study of MGNREGA in Jharkhand. Surveying nearly 3,000 workers in eight villages in Jharkhand to assess both the costs and benefits of linking MGNREGA with Aadhaar, the paper focuses on its impact on errors of inclusion and exclusion.

The authors are grateful to an anonymous reviewer whose extremely detailed and insightful comments helped us immensely. The study has benefited immensely from the support of Jawahar Mehta, Pradeep Singh, Umesh Singh, and Anita Devi of Vikas Sahyog Kendra, Palamu, Anupa Toppo from the NREGA Sahayata Kendra, Latehar, thousands of workers and several MGNREGA functionaries in rural Jharkhand who welcomed, trusted, and spoke to them. The study was supported by the Digital Identity Research Initiative at the Indian School of Business. Jean Dreze provided inputs at various stages of the study.

Binod Kandulna (name changed) is a seasonal migrant worker from Gutuhatu village of Torpa block in Khunti district. For the last six years, Binod has worked in the brick kilns of Himachal Pradesh. He is the eldest child of his widowed mother. In 2019, Binod decided to return to his village permanently due to frequent health issues and his widowed mothers sickness. Upon coming back, he searched for suitable work in nearby villages and towns. Around the same time, a fellow villagers mango orchard plantation work was sanctioned under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Binod, like other workers, applied for work on the orchard through MGNREGA. However, when the muster roll (attendance sheet) was issued, he could not find his name on it. He could not think of a reason as to why this would happen and applied for work again. He did this several times. And yet, the muster rolls that came never had his name. After hunting desperately for work opportunities for over a year, the following lean season, Binod left for Himachal Pradeshonce again, leaving his widowed mother behind.

Why did Binod not find his name on the muster roll? We later found out that his name had been deleted from the familys job card on 7 July 2017 as it was claimed to be a duplicate card. Binod and his family were not informed about the deletion. He kept applying for work. The muster roll kept getting issued without his name, but he was not informed of the reason.
The NFU has formally complained to Ofcom following the broadcast of Channel 4's 'The Big British Beef Battle' as it contained a 'number of factual inaccuracies'.

The programme, which aired last month, called on the public to reduce their beef consumption as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It made various claims about livestock systems that were based on research on farming in the US, South America and Australia, where practices differ widely from those in the UK.

It also urged the audience to cancel the British countryside and British beef due to its climate impact.

The NFU said the controversial programme had breached three sections of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

Its new letter to the regulator comes after a separate letter of complaint was sent to Channel 4 and the producers of the show after it was first aired.

"Aside from containing a number of factual inaccuracies, a number of the claims made during the show were based on research on livestock farming that takes place outside of the UK," the NFU said.

"The letter of complaint has carefully scrutinised the broadcasting code and identified specific areas of the programme that we consider have breached it."

"In summary, it focuses on how the programme relied on and presented global statistics in a misleading way; failed to accurately represent the British beef industry, such that its representation was unfair; and failed to adequately represent alternative viewpoints."

Since its first airing at the start of December, the programme has already attracted more than 220 complaints to Ofcom, including from other industry organisations such as AHDB.

In a previous letter sent to Channel 4 and the producers of the show, the NFU urged them to portray British farming and food production in an accurate and informed manner.

The union also called for the industry to be included in any future productions that focus on farming and food production in the UK.
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An orderly transition to net zero by 2050 may boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by 7 per cent compared to current policies, according to the International Monetary Funds (IMF) statistics department, which recently posted on X (formerly Twitter) its insights into the complex economic landscape of 2023 through five key charts.

Transitioning to a lower-carbon future not only aligns with environmental goals, but also presents significant economic benefits, IMFs climate change indicators dashboard revealed.

The year 2023, anticipated as the warmest year on record, underscored the urgency for climate action, it noted.

An orderly transition to net zero by 2050 may boost global GDP by 7 per cent compared to current policies, said the IMF, which has posted on X its insights into last year's economic landscape. IMF also hinted at a potential annual decline in GHG emissions by 2023 end. The share of traditional reserve currencies in global reserve assets declined last year.

Though a low-carbon economy may lead to challenges, these can be mitigated by reinvesting carbon revenues and lowering employment taxes. Reducing emissions contributes to minimising the physical impacts of climate change, resulting in lower macroeconomic costs.

The worst drought in the Panama Canals history led to critical lows in water levels, reducing flows through the canal by 5 per cent as of October 13 last year, and leading to extended transit times for ships. Its ripple-effects hit ports in Asia, Europe and North America. Further disruptions and delays are anticipated this year as well.

The IMFs quarterly tracking of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions hinted at a potential annual decline in emissions by the end of 2023. This positive shift, with emissions not outpacing GDP growth since 2019, marks progress in improving global emissions intensities, though the journey to achieve the required 28 per cent reduction by 2030 remains significant.

The share of US merchandise goods imports from China declined to 14.3 per cent in August last year, with China falling behind the euro area and Mexico as the largest source of US imports. Imports from emerging and developing Asia, including Vietnam and India, rose to 12 per cent.

China also sourced a higher share of goods from emerging and developing Asia, while the share of its imports from advanced economies declined.

Non-traditional reserve currencies share in global reserve assets rose to 11 per cent in the third quarter last year. The share of traditional reserve currencies (US dollar, euro, British pound, Japanese yen) declined to 89 per cent. The rise in global trade using non-traditional currencies further propelled this shift.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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The 69th Hyundai Filmfare Awards in 2024 with Gujarat Tourism, will celebrate and acknowledge the most exceptional talents in the Hindi film industry. Ahead of the event, we're looking back to the moment when A.R. Rahman won the award for Best Music for Mani Ratnam's film Dil Se at the 44th Filmfare Awards.While accepting his award, AR Rahman said, "I would like to thank a few people for being the reason for this award...the almighty, Mani Ratnam, Gulzarji, Lataji, Sukhvinder, Udit, Sonu Nigam and all the musicians who participated in this."The 69th Hyudai Filmfare Awards 2024 with Gujarat Tourism is slated to be held on January 28, 2024, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The star-studded event assures an evening filled with glamour and excellence. You have the opportunity to be a part of this grand celebration, dedicated to honouring the best performances and cinematic achievements in the industry.Voting lines are open between January 1 to January 7, 2024. Cast your vote HERE
Naga Chaitanyas next, Thandel, has been generating significant buzz since its announcement. The movie, directed by Chandoo Mondeti, marks the third collaboration between Naga Chaitanya and the director, following their work together on the 2016 film Premam and the 2018 film Savyasachi.Check out the teaser here: In addition to Naga Chaitanya, Thandel stars Sai Pallavi as the female lead, marking their second collaboration after the 2021 film Love Story. The film's makers recently unveiled a sneak peek titled "Essence of Thandel," providing viewers with a preliminary glimpse into the movie, offering insight into the film's world and what audiences can anticipate.The 2-minute and 11-second video kicks off with Naga Chaitanya's character venturing into the sea. It then transitions to depict the character confined in a Karachi prison under mysterious circumstances. Despite attempts by police officers to intimidate him, Chaitanya's character remains unfazed, confidently praising India. The teaser concludes by providing a brief glimpse of Sai Pallavi's character leisurely strolling along the beach.Thandel is said to be inspired by true events involving the fisherfolk in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, in 2018. Reports indicate that Naga Chaitanya's role in the film will be that of a fisherman from the community.
On National Youth Day, also known as Vivekananda Jayanti (12 January), a United Nations report informs that half of the people on our planet are 30 or younger, and this figure is expected to reach 57% by the end of 2030. This survey itself underscores why the concerns of the youth must be amplified in policy-making and also storytelling. This National Youth Day, watch stories that take you into the heart of the aspirations, challenges, dreams and hopes of the young.

An overview:

Sir Sir Sarla (Teleplay)

This Zee Theatre teleplay is as much a coming-of-age tale about young love as about the clash between fantasy and reality. The story explores the feelings that Sarla, a naive student harbours for her professor. Though professor Palekar and she share an unspoken affinity for each other, the much older professor is unable to come to terms with his own feelings and steers Sarla towards a loveless marriage. The third angle of this story is his other student Phanidhar who admires the professor and resents him for the role he has played in his life by pushing Sarla away. Years later, when the three meet again, suppressed emotions bubble to the surface and Professor Palekar realises to what extent he has meddled with two young lives. Filmed by Suman Mukhopadhyay, this Makrand Deshpande teleplay stars him as the professor with Aahana Kumra, Sanjay Dadhich and Anjum Sharma.

12th Fail (Film)

This biographical drama produced, written and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra is like a huge dollop of inspiration for every young person who is struggling to break the cycle of poverty. Based on Anurag Pathak's book about Manoj Kumar Sharma who overcame countless setbacks to become an Indian Police Service officer, the film shows how a student from a marginalized section of society manages to succeed.

12th Fail starring Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Priyanshu Chatterjee has become a sleeper hit of 2023. This true story of grit and resilience revolves around not just Manoj but an examination system that is loaded against students from poor backgrounds. That Manoj still manages to crack a tough competitive exam like UPSC shows that the young can achieve any dream if they do not give up.

Jawaan (Film)

This massy high-octane action thriller is also a wake up call for the youth as it exhorts them to be aware of ground realities and do something positive for the country. Its protagonist who was born in a jail is named 'Azaad' to denote the unconquerable nature of the human spirit. He grows into a man with a mission and brings the nation's attention to its invisibilized citizens including debt ridden farmers, doctors in under-equipped hospitals among others. He also appeals to citizens to vote for the betterment of the country and its democracy. Much like 'Rang De Basanti', this film is a call for change and has struck a chord with the youth of the country.

Directed by Atlee, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan in a double role with Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi.

Dhak Dhak (Film)

'Dhak Dhak' is a film that feels like a breath of fresh air and is for the young and for the young at heart. Its two young protagonists are dealing with the prospect of a loveless arranged marriage and sexist trolling respectively. A middle-aged homemaker and a grandmother on the other hand are eager to free themselves from the weight of duties and expectations. As these four women from different age groups and social backgrounds ride their motorbikes from New Delhi to the highest mountain pass in the world in Ladakh, they get in touch with their authentic selves. This road movie with a difference shows that dreams can be dreamt and achieved at any age. Directed by Tarun Dudeja and produced by Taapsee Pannu, it stars Ratna Pathak Shah, Dia Mirza, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanjana Sanghi.

Dhumrapaan (Teleplay)

Directed for stage by Akarsh Khurana and filmed by Adhaar Khurana, this Zee Theatre teleplay gives audiences an insight into the suppressed angst and frustrations of young people caught in the grind of a draining corporate career. They meet in the smoking area of their office and air their thoughts over appraisals, interpersonal politics, relationships all the while dealing with their stress, fears and insecurities. The teleplay is a comedy about rat race but also talks about mental health and the manner in which young people cope with the pressures in their professions. It stars Shubhrajyoti Barat, Akarsh Khurana, Sartak Kakkar, Taaruk Raina, Sidharth Kumar, Lisha Bajaj and Ghanshyam Lalsa.
Gaurav Sareen is presently in a good space of mind personally and professionally and for all the good reasons. While the actor had a gala time enjoying Christmas and New year's Eve at New York, he's presently looking forward to the release date of his upcoming film 'Dashmi'. But hey folks, hang on as we have a new update. The film that was earlier set to release on January 12, 2024 has now got a new release date and it is 19th January, 2024. As the release day approaches, Gaurav whose excitement level rises higher and higher shares his thoughts and we quote,

"Well, right now, every day feels fresh and warm. Also, at the same time, there's always nerves before a new release. For me, this movie isn't just a new project but also a responsibility. Ramayan is a part of our culture and history and hence this is something that has to do with the pulse and emotions of the audience. I have done my best and so have my other team members. I am super excited and I genuinely can't wait for 19th January, which is now the new release date of the film to come out in cinemas so that my fans and admirers can enjoy the visual spectacle. I do get goosebumps about the release but it's a good and positive feeling. I urge everyone to watch Dashmi once it releases. Looking forward to your love and support."

Well, here's wishing the talented and handsome hunk Gaurav all the very best for this project. Stay tuned for more updates.
Indian Police Force Trailer: When it comes to action and blowing up cars, nobody can do it better than blockbuster director Rohit Shetty. The trailer of next chapter of his iconic copverse- Indian Police Force has been a rip-roaring success within fans and the fraternity applauding it immensely. The trailer was trending and garnered record breaking 60M+ views within 24 hours across all social media platforms. Rohit Shetty's digital director debut is nothing short of a mass entertainer with high-octane action sequences and power-packed performances. Featuring talented actors Sidharth Malhotra, Shilpa Shetty and Vivek Oberoi as a leading trio. Trailer of the series showcases a glimpse into the mission of these bravehearts , promising a big action spectacle. The audiences have gone gaga over the amazing stunts, thrilling visuals and the grand scale of action sequences in the show that brings out the true essence of Rohit Shetty's creation.

Industry friends of the team which include Karan Johar, Kiara Advani,Neil Nitin Mukesh, Shamita Shetty among others have praised the Indian Police Force team for beginning the year 2024 with a big bang.

Created by Rohit Shetty and directed by Rohit Shetty and Sushwanth Prakash, the series also features Shweta Tiwari, Nikitin Dheer, Rituraj Singh, Mukesh Rishi, Lalit Parimoo in pivotal roles. Indian Police Force is set to premiere exclusively on 19 January 2024 on Prime Video in India and across more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
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In a tragic plane crash accident, German actor, 'Indian Jones' fame Christian Oliver dies along with his two young daughters on January 5. The German-born US actor Christian Oliver and his two daughters died in a plane crash near a tiny private island in the eastern Caribbean, according to police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The crash occurred on Thursday just west of Petit Nevis island near Bequia as the plane headed for nearby St. Lucia, police said in a statement.

According to the available information, Christian Oliver was traveling with his 10-year-old Madita Klepser and 12-years-old Annik Klepser at the time. In addition to them, the plane's pilot Robert Sachs and three others have also lost their lives. However, what cause the plane crash is yet to be figured out, said the police reportedly.

Authorities said fishermen and divers in the area went to the crash site to help as the St. Vincent and Grenadines Coast Guard headed to the area. "The selfless and brave acts of the fishermen and divers are very much appreciated," police said.

Reportedly, the actor was enjoying his vacation with family where he also welcomed the New Year 2024. A couple of days ago, he posted a picture of a beach and wrote, "Greetings from somewhere in paradise! To community and love.. 2024 (here) we come! (Sic)"

Christian Oliver Filmography

Christian Oliver aka Christian Klepser appeared in more than 60 movies and many television series. He shared screenspace with George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Tom Cruise. The actor also appeared for two seasons in a German police show called 'Alarm Fur Cobra 11.' He also appeared throughout season two of the 1990s series 'Saved by the Bell: The New Class,' playing a Swiss transfer student named Brian Keller.
BAKERSFIELD, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 6, 2024 / Keith Galicia, a financial planner with decades of experience, recently announced the launch of his new brand, Prime Portfolio Planning. Prime Portfolio Planning offers comprehensive financial planning services in six areas: cash flow management, investment planning, retirement planning, tax management, risk management, and estate planning. The enthusiasm surrounding the launch is high.

"Our mission is to help clients make better informed financial decisions that help them achieve their goals," commented Galicia. "At Prime Portfolio Planning, we understand that true financial success encompasses not only wealth accumulation but also strategic wealth management, growth, and protection to create a legacy that can last generations."

According to Galicia, what sets Prime Portfolio Planning apart is its unwavering commitment to expertise and excellence. The team of highly qualified financial planners at Prime Portfolio Planning is well-versed in the complex economic landscape that successful individuals and business owners navigate. They hold themselves to the highest standards, ensuring their recommendations and strategies are carefully tailored to each client's unique situation.

As the owner of Prime Portfolio Planning, Keith Galicia is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and Certified Exit Planning Advisor. These internationally recognized certifications reflect her deep understanding of financial planning concepts and her ability to guide clients through crucial financial decisions.

The financial planning process at Prime Portfolio Planning ensures that recommendations are based on a thorough analysis of a client's financial situation, covering areas such as investment planning, retirement planning, tax optimization, and risk management. This comprehensive approach guarantees that clients receive holistic financial guidance.

For business owners, Prime Portfolio Planning offers the expertise of a CEPA-certified advisor. Whether contemplating a business transition or optimizing its value for a future sale, the CEPA process provides expert guidance through every step of the exit planning journey.

Prime Portfolio Planning's commitment to expertise, excellence, and a client-centered approach sets a high standard in the financial planning industry. Keith Galicia and his team invite successful individuals and business owners to embark on a financial journey that strives to secure their financial future and make the most of their hard-earned wealth.

For more information about Prime Portfolio Planning and its comprehensive financial planning services, please visit the website at https://www.primeportfolioplanning.com/



CA Insurance Lic. #0C70381

Media Contact

Organization: Prime Portfolio planning

Contact Person: Keith Galicia

Website: https://www.primeportfolioplanning.com/

Email: keith.galicia@primeportfolioplanning.com

Address: 15438 Lila Rose Ct, Bakersfield, CA, 93314

City: Bakersfield

State: California

Country: United States

SOURCE: Prime Portfolio Planning

View the original press release on accesswire.com
The endeavors of Momcozy, exemplified by initiatives such as the "Just Be a Cozy Mom" campaign and the Breastfeeding Support Program, are designed to offer tangible support for moms.

Video: https://youtu.be/jItEWiZSoJs

"Just Be a Cozy Mom"

One such initiative was our Mother's Day campaign, "Just Be a Cozy Mom," which launched in May as a departure from mere celebration to a global empowerment movement for mothers. A pivotal element of the campaign was our "Cozy Power by Momcozy" TV commercial. This powerful piece brought real mothers' voices and stories to the forefront, sparking a global conversation about the realities of motherhood.

A Summer of Support for Breastfeeding Moms

In July, we launched the Breastfeeding Support Program-a comprehensive initiative crafted to provide mothers with everything they need for a successful breastfeeding journey. This program offered accessible educational resources, convenient shopping solutions tailored for breastfeeding mothers and a community support system to connect moms with others on a similar path.

Continued Momentum in August

In August, recognizing the importance of breastfeeding in the early stages of motherhood and infancy, we collaborated with impactful charities and renowned celebrities.

Our community events created a space for mothers to connect and learn from each other. Additionally, our product giveaways brought more tangible support to breastfeeding moms to care for breastfeeding moms. We also launched the Cozy Case with a kneading lactation massager, nipple cream, and breastmilk storage bags to care for breastfeeding moms.

A Night of Laughter with Momcozy in November

In November 2023, Momcozy hosted a memorable comedy show in London, "Stand Up for Mums," as part of our commitment to the "Remove Breastfeeding Barriers" campaign.

Wrapping Up the Year with a Holiday Cheer

To conclude the year, Momcozy made a grand appearance at the Mini Market in Austin in December. This event attracted over 1,000 families for a boutique shopping experience with women and/or mom-owned vendors.

Acknowledging the stress of the holiday season, we created a peaceful retreat for mothers with our "Cozy Lounge" and "Cozy Courtyard," offering festive hot chocolate and treats. In later Christmas, Momcozy teamed up with artist mom Victoria Johnson to create illustrations, celebrating the essence of motherhood and the warmth of family. It is also combined with the Momcozy Christmas gift box.

Momcozy Stands with Moms

As we wrap up 2023, we reflect on how Momcozy has been more than just a brand, but a true companion for moms.

About Momcozy

Since 2018, Momcozy has been bringing the best in comfort to mothers with wearable breast pumps, nursing bras and other mom caring products. Endorsed by 3 million mothers in over 40 countries, Momcozy is a companion to women from pregnancy to early motherhood. With continuous innovation and a commitment to creating cozy designs born from love, Momcozy is growing in reach and impact to make moms' lives easier around the world.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240106009672/en/

Contacts:

Josefine Pan

pr@momcozy.com
Having entered the final month of this season, Bigg Boss 17 is just getting more and more dramatic as things inside the house get more heated up, especially after Abhishek Kumar got into a serious rift with Samarth Jurel and Isha Malviya. The incident which went way too far after Abhishek ended up slapping Samarth, left every housemate in shock. While Abhishek was later seen apologising to Samarth and Isha and even Bigg Boss, he was, however, eliminated as a punishment.

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In a promo shared by the channel, Bigg Boss can be seen asking Captain Ankita Lokhande to decide Abhisheks fate and this is when the former decides to evict him. Later, host-actor Salman Khan was also seen bashing out Samarth and Isha for intentionally provoking Abhishek and making comments on his mental health.

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Salman Khan schools Samarth Jurel on Bigg Boss

As a promo plays, Bigg Boss can be seen giving Ankita Lokhande an option to decide the punishment for Abhishek after the slap incident. Despite his requests, the Pavitra Rishta actress chooses to evict him from the show.

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Further, Salman can be also seen bashing other housemates for not trying to stop Samarth.

It was 100 per cent Abhisheks mistake. However, it was someone else who provoked him to such an extent. Putting tissue in his mouth, covering him up with a blanket, and commenting on his father, and his mental health. Was this right? Salman said while questioning the other housemates why no one tried to stop Samarth at that time.

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He also asked Isha how she would have reacted if it was done to her. To this, the actress said, I would have hit him.

As the video concludes, Samarth can be seen confessing that he knew the trigger points of Abhishek and used it against him, leaving Salman even more upset with him.

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In the meantime, while Abhisheks eviction has created rage among his fans, many came out in his support including celebrities like Riteish Deshmukh and Elvish Yadav. Calling it a very unfair eviction, fans have largely criticised Isha and Samarth and also demanded Abhisheks return to the show.
The global power tensions between the US and China, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Israel-Hamas war, and extreme job market fluctuations are likely to continue in 2024. Here are the big geopolitical and economic trends to watch out for in the year

The tensions between the US and China made the global economy shudder in 2023. The ramifications of the Ukrainian war echoed beyond the countrys border. In Africa, the coup detat in Niger and Gabon contributed to the global democratic retreat of recent years and the Hamas-Israel conflict has so far resulted in thousands of deaths .

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Such trends of global power tensions, open war, democratic decline, and extreme job market fluctuations are likely to continue in 2024. With this in mind, here are five global geopolitical and economic trends to watch out for.

Shift in control

As the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) organisation expands to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, its growing economic influence could dramatically change the global balance of power.

From January 2024 , BRICS will represent about 46.5 per cent of the worlds population, US$30.8 trillion (23.7 trillion), about a third of global GDP, and 45 percent of global oil production. A related economic consequence is that the BRICS expanded trade network can reduce their dependence on Western markets, particularly through preferential trade agreements and possibly the use of a common currency.

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For countries that have been sanctioned by the west, such as Iran , becoming a BRICS member increases their diplomatic options. This may make BRICS attractive to other sanctioned countries. The BRICS expansion can also enable members to strengthen their impact by pursuing their political and economic interests more easily. Challenging the west may not take the form of direct confrontation, but occur by gradually moving away from current institutions such as the IMF.

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General elections in various countries

The list of general elections in 2024 includes countries from all continents and the participation of billions of people. At the core is the US election, where former President Donald Trump is likely to be the Republican candidate. If re-elected, he may continue with his policy of global engagement abstention, as evidenced by his past willingness to disengage from Nato .

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Such a stance may weaken the global economic and political system and contribute to the rise of other countries searching for greater global clout. Another important aspect emerging from the cornucopia of general elections is the potential erosion of democracy. In the US, for instance, there is talk of a possible Trump dictatorship . In Russia, a win by President Vladimir Putin can see him remaining president until 2030, with the possibility of a further sixth term up to 2036 (or about 32 years in power).

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In other countries, such as El Salvador, some politicians are willing to circumvent their constitutions to be re-elected or to ban efforts to monitor elections, as is happening in Tunisia. Such practices are likely to weaken democratic institutions or constrain their development.

An increase in West Asian tensions

The Israel-Hamas war will continue to have repercussions beyond West Asia. The risk of further escalation of the conflict regionally has intensified after an air strike in Beirut. Some nearby states, for example, have strongly condemned Israels overall response to Hamas attack. Jordan called that response a  war crime  and Egypt a  collective punishment . The war is likely to compound regional uncertainty and instability.

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Some evidence suggests that increasing political instability will also affect the health of the regions financial institutions.

In turn, greater instability could increase refugee flows to the US and Europe. The latter will exacerbate the already tense political debate over immigration policy. The Israel/Gaza war is also likely to discourage investment in the Middle East and disrupt trade routes leading to increasing shipping costs.

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Chinas financial strains

Recently, Chinas economy has been described as a ticking time bomb as a result of slow economic growth, high youth unemployment, the property sector crisis, lower Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and weaker exports. Growth prospects are expected to remain structurally weaker with low consumer confidence and spending and declining external demand.

Lower internal Chinese consumption means lower demand for raw material and commodities which, in turn, will affect larger exporters such as Australia and Brazil.

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Multinational corporations are likely to experience some negative impact on their profits as relocation of production and supply chain diversification continue as a result of trade frictions and armed conflicts. This may have a knock-on effect , not only on their suppliers but also on their workforce in terms of salary growth, if not, downsizing and job losses.

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More generally, the increased risks for Chinas economy will hit global growth , according to the OECD .

Ageing populace

In 2022 , Japan, Italy, Finland, and Germany were among the countries with the greatest share of populations over 65 years of age, and by 2050, it is projected that the list will include Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. By 2050 the percentage of the worlds over-60 population will increase from 12 per cent to 22 per cent. At the same time, life expectancy is increasing. Such a population trend has implications for social security and other parts of the economy.

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Demands on governments and health providers to deliver greater volumes of care will grow because of potentially escalating risks of disease among the elderly. The ratio of workers to pensioners is falling, which is also putting pressure on the sustainability of current pension systems.

In addition, there is evidence that the ageing of the population affects labour productivity and labour supply. It can, therefore, have an effect on economic growth, trade, savings, and investment. All in all, 2024 could be another rocky year.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .
About 800 to 1000 people reportedly attacked ED officials during raids on the North 24 Parganas property of block-level Trinamool leader Shahjahan Sheikh. The agency said three of its officials were severely injured and that some of their belongings, including cell phones and wallets were stolen

Trinamool Congress leader and former chairperson of Bongaon municipality, Shankar Adhya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday as part of a probe into the ration distribution scam.

Adhyas home in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal was the focus of raids that began on Friday morning, and authorities reported that they had so far retrieved Rs 8 lakhs from him.

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Additionally, ED conducted a raid on Adhyas father-in-laws home.

Once more, a mob attacked the ED officials as they apprehended the TMC leader.

Before agency officials could escort Adhya out of the area, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) unit stationed there had to intervene and use a lathi charge.

State food minister Jyotipriyo Mallick has already been taken into custody in relation to the multi-crore ration distribution fraud.

Heres all we know about the massive attack on ED in Bengal.

A major attack on ED in West Bengal

Adhyas arrest comes a day after the ED raided over 15 locations in the state in relation to the ration distribution scam.

However, during an ED raid on block-level TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikhs property in the North 24 Parganas area, the ED and accompanying journalists were attacked by about 800-1,000 people, as per News18.

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Sheikh is regarded as Jyotipriyo Mallicks close aide.

When ED officials and central force troops arrived at Sheikhs home in the Sandeshkhali region early in the morning, a significant number of TMC supporters first gheraoed them and staged a demonstration. Later, they attacked the authorities and made them leave the area, according to an officer.

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ED was conducting searches on the three premises of Sahajahan Sheikh, Convenor of TMC, North 24 Parganas in case of PDS scam of West Bengal. During the searches. On one of the premises, ED team with CRPF personnels was attacked by 800-1000 people with an intention to cause death  ED (@dir_ed) January 5, 2024

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In its first reaction to the attack, the ED said the team was attacked by 800-1,000 people with an intention to cause death.

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The attack left three ED officers with serious injuries. The agency claims that the attackers also stole personal items from its employees, such as laptops, wallets, and cell phones.

According to NDTV which cited the agency, the mob assembled in less than 30 minutes after Sheikh refused to unlock the door, despite the teams best efforts to do so. There were also reports of stones being hurled at the staff.

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Other officers had to escape from the place of the incident without conducting search to save their lives as the mob became very violent and even chased the officials so as to deter the officials from performing their official duty, it added.

ED officers were forced to leave Sandeskhali in auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers after leaving their damaged cars there.

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Two sets of reports to be prepared

Two sets of reports about the mobs attacks on ED authorities during a raid are currently being prepared. The reports, according to the officials, would be submitted to their New Delhi office by Saturday, when their superiors will choose the next step.

We are preparing two sets of reports on Fridays attack on our team during the raid at Trinamool Congress leader Sahajahan Sheikhs residence at Sandeskhali in North 24 Parganas. We will include every detail of the attack, how we were forced to abandon the assignment and flee from the place, and the damage to our vehicles. We will also include photographs and video grabs of the attack, the official told PTI.

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Adhyas family claims he is being framed

Jyosna, Adhyas wife, claims her husband is being framed and has been arrested despite cooperating with authorities.

Yesterday they came in the morning; we cooperated with them, but at 12.30 night, they told us that they would arrest him because of Jyotipriyo Mallick. He has been framed, and these are false things, she said, according to News18.

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In the 12 hours of the raid at Adhyas in-laws residence and two close aides, the officials collected a few documents and bank details and also spoke to the locals. Up to 10 pm on Friday, search operations were carried out at two other locations, including an ice cream factory owned by a close aide of the TMC leader in Bongaon.

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We faced a lot of non-cooperation from the local residents. That is the reason it took so much time for us to complete the search operations, an ED official said.

Political row

The conflict widened rifts within the Opposition alliance and set off a centre-versus-state spat.

Governor CV Ananda Bose also strongly condemned the attack, stating that the state is not a banana republic.

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He also said, It is a ghastly incident. It is alarming and deplorable. It is the duty of a civilised government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. If a government fails in its basic duty, then the Constitution of India will take its course.

While TMC said that unruly elements attached with the central agencies provoked locals and referred to the incident as a BJP conspiracy, the BJP slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led government as a threat to national security and accused it of fostering lawlessness in Bengal.

Reacting sharply to the incident, BJP co-incharge in the state Amit Malviya wrote on X, This is how lawless Bengal is, adding, Continuance of the TMC government in West Bengal is a national security threat. He further said, Shahjahan Sheikh, in particular, is close to Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of CM Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Home Minister of Bengal. It is likely that several of those who came out to attack the probe agency officials are illegal migrants, who have been patronised by the local TMC leaders, to serve as their vote bank.

Yesterday, Mamata Banerjees spokespersons came out in full force to defend Shahjahan Sheikh, the criminal, who ordered attack on ED officials and media in Sandeshkhali.



In a public speech on 1st Jan 2024, Shahjahan claimed that CBI and ED wouldnt be able to even touch his pic.twitter.com/wARh0GDy3O  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 6, 2024

Malviya also criticised TMC for endorsing Sheikh, who was purportedly quoted as saying in a recent address that CBI and ED wouldnt be able to touch his hair.

BJP leader of Opposition Suvendhu Adhikari called the incident horrific, and added, The Law and Order Situation in West Bengal is in shambles.

Horrific. The Law & Order Situation in West Bengal is in shambles.



ED Officials & CRPF Jawans brutally attacked in Sandeshkhali; North 24 Parganas district, while conducting Raid at TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan's house.

I doubt that Rohingyas are present amongst the Anti National pic.twitter.com/XHboQsBVSX  Suvendu Adhikari    (@SuvenduWB) January 5, 2024

The BJP leader posted the speech video with the caption, Sheikh Shahjahan has all the trappings of Anubroto Mondal, Mamata Banerjees pet henchman, who is now in jail Shahjahan will meet the same fate, and soon.

In a public speech on 1st Jan 2024, Shahjahan claimed that CBI and ED wouldnt be able to even touch his hair He also asked everyone to pray so that he doesnt get angry or else he will break teeth of BJP workers and leaders, execute them after 2024 (since TMC controls Govt in Bengal) and rip skin off their bodies, he added.

On the other hand, TMC leader Shashi Panja, according to NDTV, speaking of the incident, said, We have heard that the locals of the area were provoked and, consequently, they retaliated. We have repeatedly said that we do not support any violence. We have no issues with any investigation but some people are deliberately trying to create a law and disorder. They are deliberately trying to frame a situation to defame Bengal.

According to TMCs Santanu Sen, the central agencys officials provoked the locals, causing them to respond in sort. He said, The officers of the Central investigation agency surrounded by the Central forces provoked the local people. Thats why there were counter-reactions continuously.

Santanu Sen #TMC Rajyosabha MP says that officers of Central agency provoked people which resulted incident in #Sandeshkhali . Also he raised question as why no raids in #SuvendhuAdhikary residence @SantanuSenMP @CNNnews18 pic.twitter.com/0DmcNvLieM  Kamalika Sengupta (@KamalikaSengupt) January 5, 2024

The nations citizens, according to Sen, are frustrated with the central agencies operations, which are monitored from Delhi.

The real fact is the people of India are frustrated watching this deep-rooted conspiracy engineered and monitored from Delhi daily and that too in the case of TMC in West BengalOn the contrary, the person whos posting all this on social media is topping the list of corruption. He was found taking money before the camera. His other family members are accused of corruption but no action was taken against them because they belong to BJP, he added.

With inputs from agencies
Bangladesh is set to hold general elections on Sunday. However, the main opposition party has called for national strikes this weekend and is pushing voters to join its boycott. They say there is no guarantee it will be free, fair, and inclusive under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas administration

Bangladesh is set to hold general elections on 7 January.

The Election Commission announced polling will be held in 299 constituencies out of 300 in the Muslim-majority country. As per the law, an election in one constituency was postponed after an independent candidate died of natural causes. This time, 5.1 per cent of the total candidates are women  the highest such share ever, Reuters reported.

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About 120 million registered voters will decide the fate of 1,896 candidates in the fray, as per CNBC-TV18. Approximately half of voters are women, and 15 million of them are first-time voters.

This year, ballot stations are opening amid an increasingly polarised political culture led by two powerful women; current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition leader and former premier Khaleda Zia.

Posing a new challenge to the ruling Awami League party, the main opposition party has called for national strikes this weekend and is pushing voters to join its boycott.

Lets take a closer look at why the Opposition has called for the election boycott.

Opposition calls for election boycott

According to AP, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), headed by Zia, and other opposition parties are boycotting the upcoming election, saying there is no guarantee it will be free, fair and inclusive under Hasinas administration.

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For those unversed, the BNP had boycotted the 2014 election but took part in the 2018 polls, as per Hindustan Times.

According to PTI, with the latest strike, the BNP aims to garner support for its non-cooperation movement against the Awami Party-led dispensation through the strike. It has urged people not to pay taxes and utility bills to press its demand for a non-party interim government for election oversight by amending the countrys Constitution.

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Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior joint secretary general in Zias party, urged people not to vote on Sunday while calling for strikes. The 48-hour hartal (general strike) will begin at 6 am on Saturday and end at 6 am on Monday, he said on Thursday night in a virtual press briefing as last-minute preparations were underway for the 12th general elections.

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The strike calls for the resignation of the illegal government, establishment of a non-party neutral government and release of all party leaders and activists from prison (Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, who were arrested over charges of violence), he added.

On Friday morning, Rizvi led more than 100 Opposition leaders and activists, holding sticks, marched in the Capitals Karwan Bazar area while chanting anti-government slogans. People will not accept this illegal election. People will not accept this election of looters, he said during the march.

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On the same day, a group of about 100 left-leaning political activists strode near Dhakas National Press Club, demanding the government halt a farcical election, the report said.

Zias elder son and BNPs acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, who has been in self-exile since 2007 in the UK, called the polls a sham that was meant to solidify Sheikh Hasinas leadership. In 2023, his party staged a months-long protest to call for Sheikh Hasinas resignation. During the protest campaign, at least 11 people were killed and thousands of his supporters were arrested.

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Speaking with AFP, Rahman said that it would be inappropriate for his party to contest in polls with a predetermined outcome.

Western nations, such as the US, which sanctioned Bangladeshi security forces in 2021 over claims of violating human rights, have called for democratic elections, but rights organisations have warned that the 170 million-people nation is on the verge of virtual one-party rule in response to the Oppositions call for a boycott, as per The Guardian.

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The opposition has consistently called for Hasinas removal and the appointment of an impartial caretaker government to supervise the poll. According to AP, the current government, however, claimed that was against the countrys constitution.

Hasinas critics claim that she is systematically suppressing the opposition by enforcing harsh security measures. More than 20,000 Opposition supporters, according to Zias party, have been taken into custody. The government claimed that numbers were exaggerated and refuted claims that arrests were made for crimes like arson and vandalism rather than because of political opinions.

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Sheikh Hasina seeks forgiveness

Hasina, who has been in power for 15 straight years  the longest-serving leader in the countrys history  addressed the nation in a last televised campaign speech, urging people to head to the ballot stations.

If I have made any mistakes along the way, I ask your forgiveness. If I can form the government again, I will get a chance to correct the mistakes. Give me an opportunity to serve you by voting for boat (the election symbol of her party) in the 7 January election, she said.

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With 302 seats, the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League secured a fourth term in the countrys general elections in 2018. The Jatiya Party, with just 26 seats, was elected as the opposition party. Voter turnout was 80 per cent back then.

According to CNBC-TV18, Hasina, in power since 2009, is credited with restoring Bangladeshs $416 billion economy and its garment industry during her tenure. Many also lauded her for providing refuge to about a million Muslims who were Rohingya.

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However, Bangladeshs economy was rocked by violent protests in recent times after a jump in the cost of living as the country struggled to pay for costly energy imports amid weakening domestic currency and depleting dollar reserves, Reuters reported.

Earlier on Thursday, Hasina, addressing a huge campaign rally at Fatullah near Dhaka, urged all to maintain peace across the country. Violence marred the campaigns that started on 18 December, leaving at least three people dead and others injured.

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Since the Russia-Ukraine war increased the cost of fuel and food imports, the economy has also slowed significantly, leading Bangladesh to request a $4.7 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last year, explained The Guardian.

Heightened security arrangements for the controversial election

The International Crisis Group, an independent think tank, stated that even though voter turnout was expected to be low, there was a high chance of political violence.

The election will not resolve Bangladeshs political crisis. Since the 2008 election that brought the Awami League to power, the country has not held a credible national election, The Guardian quoted Pierre Prakash, its Asia director, as saying.

Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal in a closed-door meeting briefed foreign envoys and chiefs of development agencies, including the United Nations, based in Dhaka about electoral preparations. Local media reported that some diplomats asked about how potential violence will be dealt with.

Nearly 1.6 million people  half of them security personnel  will oversee the election where 119.1 million registered voters are eligible to vote in more than 42,000 polling stations, the commission said.

Nearly 750,000 police, paramilitary, and police auxiliary personnel will be keeping a close eye on the polls. For the polls, the nation has also invited officials from the army, navy, and air force, as per CNBC-TV18.

Additionally, as is customary in Bangladesh during general elections, troops have been stationed throughout the nation to provide assistance as required, all while being supervised by magistrates.

The Election Commission said about 300 foreign observers, more than 70 of them are foreign journalists have been authorised to monitor and cover the election, according to AP.

How fair are elections in Bangladesh

The Sheikh Hasina-led party has also been accused of fielding dummies and asking voters to show up on election day.

According to Al Jazeera, a group of officials in plain clothes allegedly threatened Hasanul Islam Ador, an elected representative in the southern Coxs Bazar district, telling him to stop campaigning against Zafar Alam, an independent candidate running in the national election.

Alam now serves as an Awami League representative in parliament for Coxs Bazar. The party leadership asked him to run as an independent after he was unable to win his partys nomination for the current election. According to a recent Al Jazeera report, he is one of hundreds of alleged dummy candidates that the party is reportedly supporting in order to give the impression that the election is free and fair.

Zia, the BNP chairperson, has been debarred from politics and is effectively under house arrest to serve a 17-year prison term handed down by a court on two graft charges.

The 79-year-old ex-prime minister is now in a hospital with multiple health issues.

As a result of the election boycott, Hasina appears to be heading towards her fourth consecutive term in office.

With inputs from agencies
Iran has been known to be resilient and patient. It has chosen its own methods at extracting revenge, which do not necessarily involve direct military conflict

One of the deadliest conflicts in the West Asian region broke out when Hamas launched a surprise terror attack across Gaza into Israel in the early hours of 7 October 2023. As would have been expected, Israel regrouped and launched a ferocious counter-attack vowing to eliminate Hamas from the face of the Earth.

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Three months down the line, there is no signs of fighting coming to a close or a ceasefire despite best efforts of the international community including the UN. Estimates suggest that already more than 22,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza including 9,000 children.

Two issues have been of primary concern ever since the war broke out. Firstly, how soon will the war come to an end and with that hopefully, end of the crippling humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The second concern was if the conflict would spread across the region and more countries would join in.

On the first, Israel has dismissed all calls for an early end to the war stating that it is ready to fight a prolonged war in order to achieve its military objective of eliminating the Hamas threat forever. Although Israel had expected that with its military superiority and technical prowess, it would be able to hunt down and eliminate Hamas soon, it is, however, nowhere close to it.

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On 29 December 2023, The Israeli Chief of Staff of the Army was quoted stating that Israel does not have a magic solution to eliminate Hamas. Thus, despite enjoying limited military success and incurring significant losses, Israel is expected to continue its military operations for some time, at least.

The second concern is even trickier and dangerous. Till now, the conflict has been largely confined to the Gaza Strip. There have been exchanges of rocket attacks and even drone strikes in Syria and Lebanon where Hezbollah is active.

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There has also been an increase in violence in the West Bank too, mostly instigated by attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers on Palestinians. The latest entrant into the conflict was the Houthis who have blocked the passage of Israel flagged ships or ships carrying cargo bound from/to Israeli ports.

Despite the best efforts of the US, including deploying an Aircraft carrier led fleet, the Houthis are determined to attack Israel through attacks on its ships.

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In fact, on 26 December, while briefing Knesset lawmakers, the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, We are in a multi-front war. We are being attacked from seven fronts; Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), Iraq, Yemen and Iran. We have already responded and acted on six of those fronts.

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As the war prolongs, it is Israel which is enduring increasing casualties and economic costs. The rest of the Muslim countries around it wait and watch, without getting directly involved in the military conflict while the three H of Iran i.e. Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis are taking the fight to the Israeli defence forces. It is perhaps because of this realisation that Israel and its primary benefactor, the US have decided to increase the costs on the region, especially Iran, as it is considered the shadow and influence behind repeated attacks on Israel and the US in the region.

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Provocations and attacks on Iran

As a result, in the past week or so, there has been a spate of attacks on Iran and its assets in the region. A terror attack on 03rd January involving twin explosions at an event near the tomb of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Qassem Soleimani in the Iranian city of Kerman, killed almost 100 people, marking it as the worst terror attack since Irans Revolution in 1979.

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It may be recalled that Qaseem Suleimani was killed through a US drone strike in Iraq on 3 January 2020. On 2nd January, Hamass deputy leader abroad Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli strike in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, he was considered the de facto leader of Hamass military wing in the West Bank. The assassination of Arouri came barely a week after the killing of Irans most influential military commander in Levant, Seyed Radhi Mousavi, in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syrias capital Damascus on 25th December.

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Mousavi, a Quds Force general, is the most senior IRGC commander killed since Soleimani.

On 4 January, another blow was dealt when a suspected US drone attack killed Mushtaq Talib Al-Saidi, deputy commander of operations in the Iraqi capital for Harakat Al-Nujaba, a pro-Iran Militia group.

Earlier, on 18th December 2023, around 70 percent of Irans petrol stations had their services disrupted after a massive cyber-attack by the hacker group Gonjeshke Darande, which translates to Predatory Sparrow, linked to Israels Mossad.

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The terror strike on 3rd January is the latest attempt to provoke Iran to join the war directly. Iran has already dispatched its warship, the Alborz, on 1 January to the Red Sea, one day after the US Navy destroyed and sank three Houthi small boats. Irans President, in a public statement, has taken a pledge to avenge the death of its IRGC commander Mousavi.

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However, this is not the first time that Iran is under attack. There is a consistent history of attack on Irans assets in the recent past. Shortly after the assassination of Qaseem Suleimani, a cyberattack hit computers in Iran on 19 May 2020 that regulated maritime traffic at Shahid Rajaee port on Irans southern coast in the Persian Gulf, causing mass disruption and a huge traffic jam of ships that waited days to dock. On 27 November 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a prominent nuclear scientist and often called the father of Irans covert nuclear weapons program, was assassinated in a roadside attack about 40 miles east of Tehran.

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In a series of attacks in the year 2021, an explosion at Natanz Nuclear plant on 11 April 2021 hit the power supply for centrifuges and caused major damage. Shortly thereafter, on 23 June 2021, a suspected Israeli drone struck a facility in Karaj for manufacturing centrifuges for the nuclear program. All this while the nuclear deal talks had just restarted, after President Biden assumed office in January 2021.

Later, on 26 October 2021, a cyberattack disabled out the system at over 4,300 petrol pumps that allows Iranians to use government-issued cards to purchase fuel at a subsidised rate. Last year, on 28 January 2023, drones equipped with explosives struck a weapons factory in central Isfahan just before midnight.

Will Iran take the bait?

The attacks against Iran and its assets in the past week are a clear provocation that expect Iran to react. Islamic State (IS), which has often operated against Iranian groups in Syria, has owned up for the terror attack of 3 January. IS has been known to collaborate discreetly with the US in the past few years to specifically target Iranian interests and therefore this angle being responsible for the terror attack cant be ruled out too.

Iran has however, not been known to join battle directly, as has been seen through past instances despite serious provocations quoted above. Even at the height of the Persian Gulf crisis in June 2019 which brought the US and Iran closest to a direct conflict ever, Iran did not initiate any conflict.

To further assess this, there are four important factors to consider.

First, Iran has proxies and militias all over Levant which are ideologically and financially supported by it. These militia groups conduct operations to further Irans political and military agenda and so far, they have been very effective.

Second, Iran has been under continuous Western sanctions for many decades. Severe restrictions have been placed on sale of its crude oil and gas too. It would be unwise on Irans part to incur a huge military expenditure on a war during this sanction regime when the low cost option of fighting through proxies is working effectively.

Third, Iran has often been pitched against the entire Sunni Muslim world. Any conflict initiation on the part of Iran, if it does not include other countries of the region as well, may undo all the efforts at reconciliation in the past few years with the Arab world, especially the Saudi-Iran peace deal brokered by China in March 2023.

Last, Israel, the US and some countries in the Western world have been looking at opportunities for a military conflict with Iran so that Irans nuclear apparatus can be specifically targeted. Irans nuclear program is considered very close to the regime and has been a major rallying point for the country in the past decade or so. Iran would not want this to be jeopardised in any manner.

Iran has been known to be resilient and patient. It has chosen its own methods at extracting revenge, which do not necessarily involve direct military conflict. The last military conflict that Iran fought was the Iran-Iraq war 1980-88.

It is thus very unlikely that Iran would take the bait this time and launch a full scale military conflict. It is likely to continue targeting the US and Israel through its proxies in the region. However, will others stop provoking Iran any further? What are the red-lines beyond which Iran will not restrain itself? As this conflict prolongs, how is Iran going to posture itself further?

As the Israel-Hamas conflict progresses into the year, some of the questions will get progressively answered, hopefully with answers which do not escalate the ongoing conflict any further.

The author is Assistant Director, MP-IDSA. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_s views._

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Since years, China has entered in a vicious circle. To hide its shortcomings, Beijing plays more and more on two issues: Monitoring the Internet and social media within the country, and increasing its propaganda inside and outside the Middle Kingdom.

Remember June 2020, after the Galwan incident, Beijing first announced that the Chinese Army had not suffered any casualty (it was later revised to four soldiers killed), while it was known that at least 40 to 45 Chinese soldiers had died during the battle with the Indian troops.

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Of course, no one ever mentioned that it was Xi Jinpings birthday, but the propaganda took over: Qi Fabao, a regiment commander who was wounded during the confrontation, was decorated for his bravery, became a national hero and a torch bearer at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics; later, he even received a double promotion in the Xinjiang Military District. The high pitched propaganda for the new hero helped hide the real number of casualties.

But the issue is more general: How long can China continue to hide the truth from its own people, at a time when something happening in the remotest corner of the planet is immediately known everywhere (except in China or North Korea).

Recent examples of this vicious circle have come to light. On December 15, Voice of America noted that Chinas Ministry of State Security had published an article explaining that economic security is the foundation of national security and therefore economic threats must be dealt with to promote Chinas economic recovery and high-quality development of the economy. The Chinese State accused foreign critics of fabricating false narratives about Chinas economy to undermine market confidence and impede growth. [Beijing> vowed to crack down on illegal activities that jeopardise economic security. Only positive news would thereafter be tolerated in the Chinese press or social media.

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Voice of America further noted that platforms like Weibo warned bloggers to avoid pessimistic comments about Chinas economy or face severe punishment.

Chinese were told that downplaying the economy was a red line and those who dared crossing it would risk heavy penalties: This reflects the CCPs heightened sensitivity to dissent and its effort to control public discourse about economic issues, commented the US new agency.

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Katsuji Nakazawa, a senior correspondent with Nikkei, mentioned a statement issued on the WeChat account of the Ministry of State Security after the Central Economic Work Conference, which took place in Beijing: Various cliches that denigrate the Chinese economy have emerged. False theories about Chinas deterioration are being circulated to attack Chinas unique socialist system. Better write that China is doing exceedingly well economically; Nikkei believed that the statement hinted at a crackdown on negative opinions regarding Chinas economy: We need to mobilise the entire Chinese society to crack down on and prevent espionage.

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It is also strange that it was the Security Ministry that first announced the content of an economic conference; its job is to monitor security, not economy.

Another case

Bitter Winter, a human rights website reported about the closure of a Chinese magazine: Shut Down After 35 Years for a Cover Perhaps Lampooning Xi Jinping.

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Bitter Winter observed: Selected Essays was a well-known Chinese literary magazine: Although with a penchant for satire, it had survived for the remarkable time span of 35 years, passing through different periods, politics, and Presidents. But finally, even Selected Essays could not survive the censors of Xi Jinping.

The editors had crossed the line. The publication ceased in December; and though the editors confirmed that it was not a voluntary choice, the magazines phone line had been disconnected and the office was closed. What had they done wrong?

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The cover depicts a hand pointing the way forward and small human figures crawling on the arm before finally jumping into an abyss; their expression goes from enthusiastic to desperate. Bitter Winter said that it could be a general meditation on human foolishness, but censors became persuade it was a direct attack against Xi Jinping. The Chinese media often mention that Xi always indicates the way to the Party members and the population of China, if not to the whole world.

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An arm and a hand pointing the way forward can only belong to Xi Jinping, the Emperor who indicates the way.

Interestingly, Selected Essays was published by Jilin Peoples Publishing Company, a company which always prided itself for adhering to the correct political direction; in no way, was it an anti-CCP publication. But the cover offended the censors.

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Spreading propaganda outside

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australia has recently published a detailed report showing a coordinated inauthentic influence campaign originating on YouTube thats promoting pro-China and anti-US narratives in an apparent effort to shift English-speaking audiences views of those countries roles in international politics, the global economy and strategic technology competition.

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The campaign, named Shadow Play by ASPI, attracts an unusually large audience and is using entities and voice-overs generated by artificial intelligence (AI) enabling broader reach: It focuses on promoting a series of narratives including Chinas efforts to win the USChina technology war amid US sanctions targeting China.

According to ASPI, the Shadow Play campaign involves a network of at least 30 YouTube channels which have produced more than 4,500 videos which attracted some 120 million views and have 730,000 subscribers: Its potential to covertly influence public opinion on these topicsshould be cause for concern, wrote ASPI who sent their findings to YouTube/Google for comment.

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The latter immediately took down 19 YouTube channels from the Shadow Play network 10 for coordinated inauthentic behaviour and nine for spam.

YouTube indicated why they were removed; they were terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTubes policy for spam, deceptive practices and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations.

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Similarly, ASPI informed about the British artificial intelligence company, Synthesia, whose AI avatars were used by the network: On 14 December 2023, Synthesia disabled the Synthesia account used by one of the YouTube accounts, for violating its Media Reporting (News) policy. But it will not stop Chinese propaganda.

In other domains too

It is a vicious circle, because the propaganda campaign extends to all domains of life. On December 20, China Tibet Network quoted a Pandit (Lama) Dhondup, saying: Buddhism must conform to the times in order to continue.

Pandit Dhondup, a researcher of Chinas Higher Institute of Tibetan Buddhism is a Tibetan monk from Sakya Monastery in Central Tibet (now called Xizang by China). During a seminar on the Interpretation of Tibetan Buddhist Doctrines, Dhondup shared his thoughts on the significance and importance of the interpretation of Tibetan Buddhist doctrines.

Speaking for the Communist Party, the monk explained that China is entering the new era: Buddhism must be in line with the development of the times and the national conditions of China in the new era in order to continue.

He added that Tibetan Buddhism was an important part of traditional Chinese culture.

As a monk, he had taken the responsibility of promoting, spreading and inheriting for the excellent culture of the [Chinese> nation. He called for Tibetan Buddhism with Chinese characteristics.

A historical precedent

This new era reminds us of the end of the 1950s. Though today it is fashionable to speak of crimes against humanity, one of the greatest ones, known as the Great Leap Forward, began in China in February 1958 and resulted in the largest man-made starvation in human history. It continued for three years and it is estimated that between 40-50 million died of hunger in China during the years 1958 to 1961.

By initiating his Leap Forward, Mao Zedongs objective was to surpass Great Britain in industrial production within 15 years; every Chinese had to start producing steel at home with a backyard furnace. In agriculture, Mao thought that very large communes would cater for a many-fold increase in the cereal production to make China a heaven of abundance.

Introduced and managed with frantic fanaticism, it did not take much time before the program collapsed.

But while the people were starving, the propaganda continued to boast of bumper harvests.

In July 1959, one man raised his voice against the general madness and sycophancy. This was Peng Denhai, Defence Minister and old companion of Mao during the Long March. Marshal Peng, who was a simple, honest and straightforward soldier, wrote a long personal letter to Mao on what he had seen in the countryside and the misery of the people.

Mao immediately purged Old Peng for daring to criticise him (he was later killed during the Cultural Revolution).

Incidentally, Pengs lieutenant Xi Zhongxun, the father of the present emperor was also purged for several years; he had to pay the hard price for having taken Pengs side.

Will 2024 see Xi Junior recovering the memory of what happened to his father? It is doubtful.

The writer is Distinguished Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence (Delhi). Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_s views._

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The attendant and other passengers subdued the man and put flex cuffs on him until the plane landed in Amarillo. An FBI agent said in an affidavit that while officers were putting steel cuffs on Fagiana, he spit at officers and kicked one

An FBI agent recently released a report detailing how a man who had been accused of punching a flight attendant later kicked a police officer in the groin and spat on officers who were removing him from the plane in Texas.

Keith Edward Fagiana is accused of interfering with a flight crew; if found guilty, he could spend 20 years in prison. He is expected to appear in Amarillo, Texas, federal court for the first time on Monday.

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On Wednesday, Fagiana traveled with American Airlines from Fort Worth, Texas, to Bozeman, Montana. Instead, the plane was landed in Amarillo by the pilots.

On Friday, court documents that had been sealed revealed the FBI agents account.

A flight attendant told the FBI that another passenger complained that Fagiana was violently kicking their seat. The flight attendant said when he asked Fagiana to stop, the man swore at him, punched him in the stomach, then stood up and hit him three more times.

The attendant and other passengers subdued the man and put flex cuffs on him until the plane landed in Amarillo.

An FBI agent said in an affidavit that while officers were putting steel cuffs on Fagiana, he spit at officers and kicked one. They put a spitting mask on his face.

The agent wrote that Fagiana said he did not remember anything about the flight but admitted he had drunk some Captain Morgans  a brand of rum  at bars before the flight.

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It was not clear whether Fagiana has a lawyer; court records on Friday did not list one.

Video taken by another passenger captured the confrontation with the flight attendant.

Stop, stop, stop. What the (expletive) are you doing? the flight attendant yelled at a man hitting him.

Airlines reported more than 2,000 incidents of unruly passengers to the Federal Aviation Administration. That is down from a peak of nearly 6,000 in 2021, when far fewer people were travelling because of the pandemic.

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In one of the most serious cases, a California woman was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly US$26,000 in restitution for punching a Southwest Airlines flight attendant in the mouth and breaking her teeth.

(With inputs from The Associated Press)
The Biden administrations top diplomat kicked off his talks by meeting Turkeys Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul and was also scheduled later to meet President Tayyip Erdogan, a strong critic of Israels military actions in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to meet the leaders of Turkey and Greece on Saturday at the start of a week-long trip aimed at tamping down tensions that have surged across the Middle East since Israels war with Hamas began on October 7.

The Biden administrations top diplomat kicked off his talks by meeting Turkeys Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul and was also scheduled later to meet President Tayyip Erdogan, a strong critic of Israels military actions in Gaza.

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The talks in Turkey are also expected to cover Turkeys process to ratify Swedens membership of NATO, according to a senior State Department official traveling with Blinken.

US officials have been frustrated by the lengthy process but are now confident that Ankara will soon approve Swedens accession to the alliance after the Turkish parliaments foreign affairs commission backed the bid last month, said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

US lawmakers have held up the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until it signs off on the addition of Sweden to the alliance. Sweden, which along with Finland, applied to join NATO following Russias invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, would become the alliances 32nd member. Finland joined last year.

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Blinken will later travel to the island of Crete to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Fellow NATO member Greece is awaiting the approval by the US Congress of a sale of F-35 fighter jets.

Blinken will continue in the coming days to Arab states, Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he will deliver a message that Washington does not want a regional escalation of the Gaza conflict.

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The war began when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages.

Israels retaliatory offensive has killed 22,600 Palestinians, according to Palestinian officials, and the conflict has spilled into the West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.

Blinken also hopes to make progress in talks on how Gaza could be governed if and when Israel achieves its aim of eradicating Hamas.

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Washington wants regional countries, including Turkey, to play a role in reconstruction, governance and potentially security in the Gaza Strip, which has been run by Hamas since 2007, the official said.
On Saturday, Dhakas usually busy roads were largely deserted, although security forces patrolled in armoured vehicles. About 800,000 security officials will guard polling booths on Sunday, while some of the armed forces have fanned out nationwide to help keep peace

On the eve of Sundays general elections, polling booths were set ablaze in Bangladesh, while four people, two children among them, were killed in a train fire that the government described as arson targeting democratic values.

Fridays fire broke out at about 9 pm, injuring eight passengers as it spread to four compartments of the Benapole Express headed for the capital, Dhaka, at a time when the main opposition party is boycotting the polls.

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The timing of this tragedy, just a day before the election  shows an absolute intention to hinder the festivity, safety and security of the democratic processes of the country, Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said.

This reprehensible incident, undoubtedly orchestrated by those with malicious intent, strikes at the very heart of our democratic values, he added in a statement, vowing that authorities would bring the perpetrators to justice.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has asked people in the South Asian nation to shun the election and called a two-day strike nationwide from Saturday.

The eight people critically injured in the blaze are being treated in hospital, officials said. All eight, including two children, have burnt their respiratory tracts, said Dr Samanta Lal Sen of a state-run specialist burn hospital in the capital.

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Seven firefighting teams took an hour to subdue the fire in Dhakas area of Wari, fire official Shahjahan Sikder said.

The poll boycott by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is its second in three elections. The party says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas Awami League is trying to legitimise a sham vote to gain a fourth straight term.

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Hasina, who has refused BNP demands to resign and cede power to a neutral authority to run the election, accuses the opposition of instigating anti-government protests that have rocked Dhaka since late October and killed at least 10 people.

A senior BNP official, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, said Fridays express train fire was undoubtedly an act of sabotage and cruelty, while blaming the ruling party for it.

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Four people died last month in a train blaze set by protesters during a countrywide strike called by the opposition.

On Saturday, Dhakas usually busy roads were largely deserted, although security forces patrolled in armoured vehicles. About 800,000 security officials will guard polling booths on Sunday, while some of the armed forces have fanned out nationwide to help keep the peace.

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Police said unidentified arsonists also set fire to at least five primary schools, including four polling booths.

They are investigating fires in Gazipur, on the outskirts of Dhaka, suspected to have been set in the middle of the night by those aiming to disrupt Sundays election.

We have intensified patrolling and remain on high alert, said Gazipur police chief Kazi Shafiqul Alam.

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Arsonists also attacked polling booths in the northeastern districts of Moulavibazar and Habiganj, police said, with similar incidents reported elsewhere in the past two days.

Police in the coastal district of Khulna arrested two people on Thursday night accused of trying to set fire to a school. The following day, another bid to set fire to a primary school nearby was averted, said Saidur Rahman, police chief of the district.
Not only had the twice-impeached former president instigated the Capitol attack, but the tycoon and his followers were still embracing political violence ahead of the 2024 vote, said Biden

As he began his 2024 reelection campaign on Friday, US President Joe Biden launched the most severe attack he has yet to level against Donald Trump, charging the Republican with sounding like Nazi Germany and endangering democracy.

The 81-year-old Democrat branded his likely challenger in November a loser and sick in a speech on the eve of the third anniversary of the deadly January 6 Capitol attack by pro-Trump supporters.

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Hes willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power, Biden angrily yelled at his supporters, spitting out angry shouts in between his attacks on the candidate he defeated in 2020.

Not only had the twice-impeached former president instigated the Capitol attack, but the tycoon and his followers were still embracing political violence ahead of the 2024 vote, said Biden.

He calls those who oppose him vermin. He talks about the blood of Americans being poisoned, echoing the same exact language used in Nazi Germany, he added.

Biden chose a symbolic location for the speech near Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, the historic site where George Washington rallied American forces fighting their British colonial rulers nearly 250 years ago.

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He portrayed himself as a defender of Americas institutions, warning that if Trump won a second term in the White House then democracy itself was at risk.

Trumps assault on democracy isnt just part of his past. Its what hes promising for the future, said Biden.

- Sick -

Bidens full frontal attack on Trump came after criticism from some Democrats that the campaign has gotten off to a slow start.

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Biden lags behind Trump in some polls, and also has the worst approval rating of any modern president at this stage in his term of office.

The president has failed to convince voters the economy is improving, while migration remains a headache and US support for Ukraine and Israel remains divisive among voters.

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But perhaps Bidens biggest vulnerability is his age: as Americas oldest-ever president, he has suffered a series of trips and verbal slips.

Biden however warned that the biggest issue of all was Trump, saying that your freedom is on the ballot.

Today I make this sacred pledge to you that the defense, protection and preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, the central cause of my presidency.

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He accused Trump of being sick by laughing at a hammer attack on the husband of former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and called him a loser over the 2020 election.

Biden also lashed out at Trump for his love letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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- Threat to democracy -

The Trump campaign swiftly hit back.

Biden is the real threat to democracy by weaponizing the government to go after his main political opponent and interfering in the 2024 election, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told AFP.

The ex-president, himself on the campaign trail, added that Biden was fear-mongering.

Bidens record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption and failure Thats why Crooked Joe is staging a pathetic, fear-mongering campaign event in Pennsylvania today, Trump told supporters in Sioux Center, Iowa.

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Trump was impeached but acquitted over the January 6 riots. The 77-year-old now faces a criminal trial on charges of trying to subvert the 2020 election.

The US states of Colorado and Maine have also barred him from standing in presidential primaries on the grounds that he had engaged in insurrection over the Capitol events. Trump has challenged both rulings.

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Bidens campaign has however identified Trump as their likely opponent, even though the official battle for the Republican nomination doesnt even start until the Iowa caucuses on January 15.

His campaign push will continue Monday when the president visits a South Carolina church where a white supremacist shot dead nine Black parishioners in 2015.

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Analysts say the 2024 US presidential election remains a very tight race.

If the election were held tomorrow, President Biden would lose, William Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it was imperative to avoid a regional escalation in the Middle East, and warned Israel that nobody will win from a regional conflict'

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sounded the alarm on Saturday about Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict in a spillover from Israels war with Hamas.

Borrell, speaking during a visit to Lebanon, said it was imperative to avoid a regional escalation in the Middle East, and warned Israel that nobody will win from a regional conflict.

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He was commenting at a news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati following talks with top government officials to discuss events in and around Gaza, including the impact of the war and the situation at the Israeli-Lebanese border.

We are seeing a worrying intensification of exchange of fire across the Blue Line, Borrell said.

The current demarcation line between the two countries is known as the Blue Line, a frontier mapped by the United Nations that marks the line to which Israeli forces withdrew when they left south Lebanon in 2000.
The only person found guilty was the officer, Randy Roedema, who was the most senior member of the police department to arrive at the scene. He was found guilty in October by a jury of third-degree assault, a misdemeanour, and criminally negligent homicide, a crime

After hearing Elijah McClains mother refer to the former Colorado police officer as a bully with a badge who will always have blood on his hands, a court sentenced the man to 14 months in prison for his involvement in the young Black mans murder on Friday.

The only person found guilty was the officer, Randy Roedema, who was the most senior member of the police department to arrive at the scene. He was found guilty in October by a jury of third-degree assault, a misdemeanour, and criminally negligent homicide, a crime.

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Little attention was paid to the 23-year-olds death on August 24, 2019, but it attracted more notice the following year when widespread demonstrations over the Minneapolis police shooting of George Floyd rocked the country. McClains passing served as a catalyst for opponents of racial injustice in law enforcement.

Two paramedics were recently found guilty in a different trial of giving McClain an overdose of the anaesthetic ketamine after the police had placed a neck hold on him. March will see the paramedics sentencing.

Sheneen McClain, McClains mother, was furious with Roedema before Judge Mark Warner delivered the punishment because he showed regret but did not offer an apology.

Randy Roedema stole my sons life, she said. All the belated apologies in the world cant remove my sons blood from Randy Roedemas hands.

Protecting the community was the furthest thing from his mind the night her son was stopped walking home from the store, she said.

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She hugged a supporter and wiped tears as she sat back down.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber described how, in the last minutes of McClains life, he struggled to breathe through vomit yet still faced violence from Roedema who picked him up, slammed him down, and dug his knee into his back.

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The lack of compassion was all the more startling, Slothouber said, after he read all 76 letters friends, relatives and associates wrote in Roedemas support.

I dont know why that compassion and that care that his friends and his family, the people who served with him, talk about, was not there for Elijah McClain. But it clearly wasnt, Slothouber said.

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Roedema also spoke at the hearing, as well as his sister and former military colleagues. Roedema was a U.S. Marine who was wounded in Iraq.

I want the McClain family to know the sadness I feel about Elijah being gone. He was young, Roedema said.

Roedema said he wished the initial 911 call that reported McClain looking suspicious that night had never been made. But he didnt comment about anything he could have done differently.

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We all responded to that incident in a way that we were all trained to do. Needless to say, the situation had a horrible outcome that nobody intended or wanted to happen, Roedema said.

Roedemas sister, Kayleine Roedema, talked about how he helps her care for their mother without hesitation and continues to be a big brother who is relied upon by their whole family.

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It hurts me because I know him and I know better. Hes a loving husband and father, son and brother, cousin and friend. Its so hard for me to imagine how it could be beneficial for him to serve time in jail, Kayleine Roedema said.

Roedemas lawyer Don Sisson declined to comment on the sentence as he left court with Roedema and his wife. A deputy escorted them to their cars.

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McClain was stopped by police after a 911 caller reported that he looked suspicious. Another officer put his hands on McClain within seconds, beginning a struggle and restraint that lasted about 20 minutes before paramedics injected him with the ketamine.

Experts say the sedative ultimately killed McClain, who was already weakened from struggling to breathe while being pinned down after inhaling vomit into his lungs.

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Roedema helped hold McClain down while paramedics administered the ketamine. He was often visible in the body camera footage shown over and over to jurors, and he could be heard directing others how to restrain him.

I dont think anybody whos been involved in this case can unsee what was on the videos or what was depicted on those videos, Warner said before sentencing Roedema.

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Warner, who said he was shocked by what appeared to be indifference to McClains suffering after he was handcuffed, could have sentenced Roedema to up to three years in prison for his felony conviction but chose instead to give him four years of parole and for the felony and a jail sentence for the misdemeanor.

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Warner said that would lead to Roedema being behind bars longer since he would likely be paroled after about a year if he was sent to state prison. He also could have been eligible to be sent to a halfway house before that too, under prison rules.

The sentencing includes the option of work release. He must report to jail by March 22.

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Sheneen McClain called the sentence afterward a slap on the wrist. Roedemas attorney has said he will appeal the conviction.

The same jury that convicted Roedema acquitted former officer Jason Rosenblatt, whose lawyers stressed that he wasnt close to McClain when the ketamine was injected.

A different jury acquitted officer Nathan Woodyard a few weeks later, after he testified that he put McClain in a neck hold, briefly rendering him unconscious. Woodyard testified that he feared for his life after Roedema said McClain had grabbed for one of their guns. Prosecutors say the gun grab never happened.

Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were convicted last month. Cichuniec, the senior officer, was found guilty of the most serious charge faced by any of the first responders: felony second-degree assault. It carries a prison sentence of between five and 16 years in prison.

Though tragic, Elijah McClains death has brought about positive changes in Colorado, including laws barring police from directing ketamine to be used, requiring first responders to intervene if they see someone put in danger by other first responders, and requiring police to wear body cameras, Slothouber said.

Elijah McClains life mattered, he said.
Hezbollah reported on Saturday that it had achieved direct strikes with 62 rockets fired at an air surveillance facility atop Mount Meron

On Saturday, Lebanons Hezbollah militia launched dozens of missiles towards northern Israel, warning that the bombardment was in reaction to the targeted death, apparently by Israel, of a prominent commander from the affiliated Hamas organisation in Lebanons capital earlier this week.

The missile strike occurred a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared his organisation must react over the death of Hamas deputy political leader Saleh Arouri. Nasrallah stated that if Hezbollah does not revenge for Arouris death in its stronghold south of Beirut, Lebanon as a whole will be susceptible to Israeli attack.

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Even at the risk of intensifying the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Nasrallah seems to be advocating for a reaction to the Lebanese people. However, he did not specify how or when the militants would take action.

Hezbollah reported on Saturday that it had achieved direct strikes with 62 rockets fired at an air surveillance facility atop Mount Meron. About forty rockets were fired at the Meron region by the Israeli military, although they did not specify any bases. It claimed to have hit the rocket-firing cell.

The intensifying cross-border communications coincided with US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens commencement of a Middle East tour aimed at containing the 14-week-old Israel-Hamas conflict from extending throughout the area. On Saturday, Blinken was in Turkey for talks with the foreign minister and president of the nation. In three months, Blinken has made four trips to the Middle East.

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As international condemnation of Israels actions in Gaza has grown, American concerns about the outcome have also increased. Washington is also concerned about the recent surge in strikes in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq.
The Iran-backed rebels have staged weekly protests in Sanaa since the war began on October 7, but according to spokesman Mohammad Abdel Salam, Fridays event was the largest to date

In the rebel-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa, thousands of people marched in support of Gaza while yelling anti-Israeli and anti-US slogans.

In recent weeks, the Houthis have attacked over 20 merchant ships in the Red Sea, claiming that they are supporting the Palestinian people against Israels campaign against Hamas.

The Iran-backed rebels have staged weekly protests in Sanaa since the war began on October 7, but according to spokesman Mohammad Abdel Salam, Fridays event was the largest to date.

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Millions of people took part, he said on social media platform X.

A photographer who collaborates with AFP witnessed a flypast over the crowds by rebel helicopters and warplanes.

Aerial footage released by the Houthis Ansarullah Media Centre showed a sea of protesters flooding the capitals Al-Sabeen Square, carrying Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.

Allahu Akbar (God is greatest). Death to America. Death to Israel, they chanted.

The demonstrators also held up pictures of Houthi fighters killed Sunday in a US strike on rebel vessels in the Red Sea.

The US military said it had sunk three Houthi boats following attacks on a container vessel run by shipping giant Maersk. The rebels said 10 of their fighters were killed.

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We challenge you, America, to approach our coasts, Houthi supporter Abdulkarim al-Marwani told AFP as he took part in the protest.

We will make the sea, as we made the land, a graveyard for America and Israel. We will make the sea a sinking zone and an incinerator for America and Israel, he added.

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The attacks on shipping by the Houthis, who control much of Yemens Red Sea coast, have caused major disruption to a waterway that carries about 12 percent of global trade.

Twelve nations led by the United States jointly warned the Houthis on Wednesday of unspecified consequences unless they immediately halt their attacks.

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But Sanaa protester Hazaa Sarhan warned: Even if you unite the forces of the entire world and the forces of all the European countries, they will never intimidate us.

(with inputs from AFP)
The outpouring of support for Trump underlines the schisms in the aftermath of the tragic Capitol storming and raises the question of whose concept of government will win  or whether democracy will triumph at all

In their 2018 best-seller How Democracies Die, writers Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky discuss three guidelines that political parties ought to abide by. Reject the use of violence to seize power, accept the outcome of free elections, and sever relations with radicals.

Following the 2020 election, they write, just one US political party violated all three.

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The attack on the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, is commemorated on Saturday for the third time. The front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024 is none other than former President Donald Trump. He still wont accept that he lost to President Joe Biden earlier. He has indicated that he might pardon those people who have been found guilty of violent crimes, far from dismissing the rioters. Rather than rejecting radicals, he welcomes them to his rallies and refers to them as patriots.

And Trump now has the support of numerous Republican leaders who ran for their lives and sheltered from the rioters, including those who had previously opposed Trump. Several senior Republican leaders have backed his candidature.

The outpouring of support for Trump underlines the schisms in the aftermath of the tragic Capitol storming and raises the question of whose concept of government will win  or whether democracy will triumph at all.

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If our political leaders do not stand up in defense of democracy, our democracy wont be defended, said Levitsky, one of the Harvard professors whose new book is Tyranny of the Minority.

Theres no country in the world, no country on Earth in history, where the politicians abdicated democracy but the institutions held, he told The Associated Press. People have to defend democracy.

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The third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack comes during the most convulsive period in American politics in at least a generation, with Congress barely able to keep up with the basics of governing, and the start of the presidential nominating contests just over a week away.

Trumps persistent false claims that the election of 2020 was stolen  which has been rejected in at least 60 court cases, every state election certification and by the former presidents one-time attorney general  continue to animate the presidential race as he eyes a rematch with Biden.

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Instead, Trump now faces more than 90 criminal charges in federal and state courts, including the federal indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of conspiring to defraud the US over the election.

Biden, speaking Friday near Pennsylvanias Valley Forge, commemorated Jan. 6, saying on that day we nearly lost America  lost it all.

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While the Congress returned that night to certify the election results and show the world democracy was still standing, Biden said Trump is now trying to revise the narrative of what happened that day  calling the rioters patriots and promising to pardon them. And he said some Republicans in Congress were complicit.

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When the attack on Jan. 6 happened there was no doubt about the truth, Biden said. Now these MAGA voices  who know the truth about Trump and Jan. 6  have abandoned the truth and abandoned the democracy.

At a quieter Capitol, without much ceremony planned for Saturday, it will be the last time the anniversary will pass before Congress is called upon again, on Jan. 6, 2025, to certify the results of the presidential election  democracy once more put to the test.

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Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who led Trumps impeachment over the insurrection, said Bidens 306-232 electoral victory in 2020 remains the hard, inescapable, irradicable fact that Donald Trump and his followers have not been able to accept  to this day.

Raskin envisions a time when there will be a Capitol exhibit, and tours for visitors, to commemorate what happened Jan. 6, 2021. Five people died during the riot and the immediate aftermath, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police.

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All told,140 police officers were injured in the Capitol siege, including US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who died later. Several others died later by suicide.

One officer, Harry Dunn, has announced he is running for Congress to ensure it never happens again.

Trumps decision to reject the results of the 2020 election was the only time Americans have not witnessed the peaceful transfer of presidential power, a hallmark of US democracy.

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A giant portrait of George Washington resigning his military commission hangs in the US Capitol, a symbol of the voluntary relinquishing of power  a move that was considered breathtaking at the time. He later was elected the first US president.

Trump opened his first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign with a popular recording of the J6 Prison Choir  riot defendants singing The Star-Spangled Banner recorded over a phone line from jail, interspersed with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

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More than 1,200 people have been charged in the riot, with nearly 900 convicted, including leaders of the extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who are serving lengthy terms for seditious conspiracy.

Trump has called Jan. 6 defendants hostages and said there was so much love at the Stop the Steal rally he held near the White House that day before he encouraged the mob to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, assuring he would be with them at the Capitol, though he never did join.

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Allies of Trump scoff at the narrative of Jan. 6 that has emerged. Mike Davis, a Trump ally sometimes mentioned as a future attorney general, has mocked the Democrats and others for turning Jan. 6 into a religious holiday.

Republican Kevin McCarthy, who went on to become House speaker, had called Jan. 6 the saddest day he ever had in Congress. But when he retired last month he endorsed Trump for president and said he would consider joining his cabinet.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has said he would back whomever becomes the Republican Party nominee, despite a scathing speech at the time in which he called Trumps actions disgraceful and said the rioters had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election.

Asked about Trumps second-term agenda, GOP lawmakers brushed off his admission that he would be a dictator on day one.

Hes joking, said Trump ally Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

Just bravado, said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. Theres still checks and balances.

Levitsky said when he and his colleague wrote their earlier book, they believed that the Republicans in Congress would be a bulwark against Trump.

But with so many of the Trump detractors having retired or been voted out of office, We were much less pessimistic than we are today.
The 71-year-old founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party is incarcerated at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case and being tried under multiple other cases

The Pakistani government has declared that it will take legal action against a British media organisation for publishing a harsh article purportedly written by imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan. The government has doubted the publications editorial judgment and the veracity of the material.

The article, titled Imran Khan warns that Pakistan elections could be a farce, appeared in The Economist on Thursday.

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There are serious concerns about whether Pakistans scheduled elections on February 8 will go forward as planned after Khan reiterated in the article that he was engineered out of power in 2022 by the establishment at the behest of America and that there are unfair electoral conditions. The write-up has already been denied both by the Pakistan government and the US Department of State.

The 71-year-old founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party is incarcerated at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case and being tried under multiple other cases.

Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi on Friday said the government will be writing to the editor of the British publication The Economist in connection with an essay attributed to incarcerated Khan, the Dawn newspaper reported.

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We are writing to the editor of The Economist about an article purportedly written by Imran Khan," Solangi said.

It is puzzling and disconcerting that such an esteemed media outlet published an article in the name of an individual who is in jail and has been convicted, he said.

We believe it is critically essential to uphold ethical standards and promote responsible journalism, the paper quoted Solangi, a former journalist, as saying. We would like to know how the editorial decision was made, and what considerations were taken into account regarding the legitimacy and credibility of the content by The Economist, he said.

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We would also be interested to know if The Economist has ever published such ghost articles by jailed politicians ever from any other part of the world. If jailed convicts were free to write to the media, they would always use the opportunity to air their one-sided grievances, the minister said.

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Khan in his piece also reiterated his allegations about how a regime change brought about after US government pressure led to a vote of no-confidence against him and described the May 9 riots as a false-flag operation which was pre-planned. The Dawn newspaper also reported that while sources within Khans party were hesitant to comment on how the writing may have been relayed to the publication from inside prison, they had insisted that the words were indeed those of Khan. Some observers had expressed doubts over whether the article was indeed written by Khan but many noted that the tone and content of the article was consistent with his views.

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While expressing fears that the election scheduled for February 8 may not take place at all, the article in question Khan stated that even if they do, such polls would be a disaster and a farce since

(with inputs from PTI)
Saturdays action was smaller than previous mass marches but comes two days before the British parliament returns to work after its Christmas break. The protest was designed to push politicians to adopt a harder stance towards Israel

Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked roads outside the British parliament in London on Saturday, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and clashing with police who prevented them from marching across Westminster Bridge.

London, like other Western cities, has seen regular and sometimes large demonstrations calling for Israel to halt the bombardment of Gaza triggered by a surprise October 7 attack by Hamas militants that Israeli officials say killed more than 1,200 people. Palestinian health officials say 22,722 people have so far been killed in Israels bombardment of Gaza.

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Videos posted on social media showed police blocking protesters access to the bridge. Unable to fully access the bridge, where they had planned to unfurl banners, protesters instead occupied the surrounding roads.

Police said they had imposed a legal order limiting the location of the protests and that by 3 p.m. (1500 GMT) people had begun to disperse. Those who refused to comply with an order to leave could be arrested, police said.

Saturdays action was smaller than previous mass marches but comes two days before the British parliament returns to work after its Christmas break. The protest was designed to push politicians to adopt a harder stance towards Israel.

So far, Britain has stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire, with foreign minister David Cameron arguing that any such agreement could be unsustainable and may worsen violence without a plan for longer term peace.

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Most previous protests in London have been coordinated with police and remained largely peaceful but police said the organisers of Saturdays protests had refused to share details of their plans.
The rebels declared in a statement that the entire Kokang (Laukkai) region has become a land with no Myanmar Military Council anymore. Junta spokesman told local media that the military had decided to surrender after great consideration

Following weeks of intense fighting with junta troops, a rebel alliance in Myanmar has taken control of a strategic town near the countrys unstable northern border with China, both the alliance and the junta announced.

The group, known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance, declared on Friday that it had taken control of Laukkai town following the capitulation of the militarys regional headquarters.

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The rebels have been winning battles since October, and with the fall of Laukkai, they have mounted the biggest challenge to the military government in Myanmar since it was overthrown in a coup in 2021.

The rebels declared in a statement that the entire Kokang (Laukkai) region has become a land with no Myanmar Military Council anymore.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told local media Popular News on Saturday that the military had decided to surrender after great consideration.

The alliance comprises three groups with extensive fighting experience - the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Taang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army.

They were accompanied by people from the loosely organised Peoples Defence Force, supported by Myanmars parallel National Unity Government, suggesting that the rebellion is taking on an increased level of coordination and planning.

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Armed conflict between the military and rebel groups has surged in Myanmars north since late October. Neighbouring China, which has facilitated dialogue between the two sides, has called for a ceasefire.

The capital of Myanmars restive Kokang region, Laukkai has a reputation as a gambling den and a hub for online scam operations. China, a key junta ally that also has close relations with some ethnic Chinese militias along the frontier, has grown increasingly frustrated in recent months by the Myanmars junta lack of action on closing down the scam centres.

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At the start of the offensive, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said its key objectives included cleaning up the scam centres.

In late December, China urged its nationals to leave the Laukkai area, citing security risks.

Laukkai is a former headquarters of the MNDAA.

The surrender of Laukkai marks the first Regional Operation Command to fall, political analyst Ye Myo Hein said in a post on social media platform X.

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Myanmars military has over a dozen regional operation commands spread across the country.

(with inputs from Reuters)
The White House said late Thursday that Russia was using North Korean weapons and was also seeking missiles from its ally Iran, as it burns through stockpiles of key munitions

Following rounds of deadly Ukrainian attacks, Russian officials in the southern border city of Belgorod made an unusual offer on Friday to relocate concerned citizens.

Although the Kremlin has made an effort to keep things mostly normal at home, the recent attacks on Belgorod have made the crisis in Ukraine more relatable to Russians.

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Assuring terrified citizens that they may evacuate, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has taken the most drastic action of any large Russian city since Moscow gave the order to invade Ukraine over two years ago.

I see several appeals on social media where people write: we are scared, help us get to a safe place, Gladkov said in a video message.

Of course we will! We have already moved several families, he added.

His offer came the day after high-rise building glass was knocked out and at least two individuals were hurt by midnight shelling, which caused significant alarm among the locals.

Following the shelling, local officials early on Friday urged citizens to tape up their windows to keep blast waves from breaking thema precaution that is common throughout Ukraine.

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Less than a week ago, 25 people were killed by Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod, the worst strike on Russian civilians since the start of the conflict.

Relocate as long as necessary

Gladkov said residents would be transported to the towns of Stary Oskol and Gubkin, further from the border, where they would be housed in comfortable conditions.

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You will stay there for as long as necessary, he added, warning there would not be enough temporary accommodation to house everybody.

His announcement came hours after Kyiv said it could not confirm that Russia had fired North Korean missiles into Ukraine after Washington accused Moscow of using weapons provided by Pyongyang.

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The White House said late Thursday that Russia was using North Korean weapons and was also seeking missiles from its ally Iran, as it burns through stockpiles of key munitions.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described the deliveries as a significant and concerning escalation but Ukraine said it had no independent evidence.

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So far, we have no information that such missiles have been used, Ukraines air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told state media.

He said experts will study the wreckage, and then we can say whether this is a fact or not. I cant confirm it yet.

In the grinding war of attrition, Kyiv and Moscow have struggled to refill stockpiles of artillery shells, drones and long-range missiles.

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The Pyongyang-supplied missiles with a range of around 900 kilometres (550 miles) were fired by Russia in two attacks within the past week, Kirby said.

He said at least one of the North Korean-supplied missiles had landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region on December 30.

It is one of four regions that the Kremlin claimed to have annexed in September 2022 but still does not control entirely.

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Moscows forces then fired multiple ballistic missiles into Ukraine as part of a mass aerial attack on January 2, he added.

Russia rained down missiles on Ukraines two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, on that date. Ukraine hit back at the Russian border city of Belgorod, forcing schools to close.

Ukraine drone barrage

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Ukraine also released images on Friday of what it said was a Russian Kinzhal ballistic missile, which it claimed earlier in the week to have downed using the US Patriot anti-aircraft system.

Ukraines state emergency service published photographs on its Telegram channel showing a crane extracting the remains of a missile from the ground, which AFP was not immediately able to verify.

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Ukraine had said on Tuesday it had shot down 10 Kinzhal missiles Russia fired at the country.

Kinzhal missiles make up part of an arsenal of weapons that Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed were indestructible because of the speed at which they travel, up to 10 times the speed of sound.

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According to the British defence ministry, Moscow reserves these warheads for what it considers to be high-value and well-defended targets.

Meanwhile Ukraines air force said Friday that Russia had launched nearly 30 Iranian-designed attack drones overnight, but that 21 had been downed.

Russias defence ministry said its forces had earlier Friday repelled a Ukrainian attack over Crimea, shooting down 36 drones over the peninsula annexed in 2014.

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On Saturday it said its forces foiled another Ukrainian attack targeting the peninsula, and destroyed four aircraft-guided missiles shortly after midnight (2100 GMT).
S-300 missiles were used in a series of Russian attacks, with the main strike hitting the town of Pokrovsk and nearby villages. The town lies in Ukrainian-held territory, about 80 km northwest of Donetsk, the Russian held centre of the region

A Russian missile strike killed 11 people on Saturday in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region said.

Eleven dead, including five children  these are the consequences for now of strikes on Pokrovsk district, Vadym Filashkin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

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Pictures posted online by the governor showed rescue squads sifting through large piles of smouldering rubble in the dark as well as a burned-out vehicle.

Filashkin said S-300 missiles had been used in a series of Russian attacks, with the main strike hitting the town of Pokrovsk and nearby villages.

He said the attack showed Russian forces were trying to inflict as much grief as possible on our land.

Pokrovsk had been subject to Russian shelling on Friday.

The town lies in Ukrainian-held territory, about 80 km northwest of Donetsk, the Russian held centre of the region.
The riots in Brasilia exposed the violent differences ripping apart Brazil following Lulas close victory against Bolsonaro in October of last year. The disturbances immediately drew analogies to the Capitol takeover in Washington two years prior by supporters of Donald Trump

In an attempt to undermine his message of togetherness, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will gather prominent members of Brazils political class on Monday to commemorate the first anniversary of the far-right riots that shook the nations capital.

Tens of thousands of supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, Lulas defeated opponent in the election, stormed the presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court on 8 January 2023, trashing the buildings and demanding that the military remove Lula from office. The veteran leftist had only been back in office for a week.

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The riots in Brasilia exposed the violent differences ripping apart Brazil following Lulas close victory against Bolsonaro in October of last year. The disturbances immediately drew analogies to the Capitol takeover in Washington two years prior by supporters of Donald Trump.

Those differences become less pronounced now: The reaction to the riots and the election authorities decision in June of last year to prevent Bolsonaro from seeking office for eight years due to his criticism of the election systems legitimacy have left the far-right in disarray.

But analysts say deep-running fissures remain.

The riots strengthened belief in democracy in Brazil, whose young constitution only dates to the end of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, said political scientist Geraldo Monteiro, of Rio de Janeiro State University.

But people are still polarized, he told AFP.

Of the 2,170 arrested over the riots, 30 have been convicted so far, on charges including armed criminal conspiracy, violent uprising against the rule of law and an attempted coup, with sentences of up to 17 years.

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Bolsonaro, who was in the United States at the time, is under investigation for allegedly instigating the unrest.

He denies responsibility.

Democracy Unbowed

Lula, 78, will mark the anniversary addressing a ceremony at the Congress building, with attendees including the leaders of both houses, state governors, military commanders, foreign ambassadors and other honchos.

The event, dubbed Democracy Unbowed, will feature the presentation of a restored tapestry by iconic Brazilian artist and landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx, which was ripped from a wall in the Senate and torn during the riots.

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A replica of the constitution taken from the Supreme Court will also be symbolically returned.

Lula, who previously served two terms as president in the 2000s, has said January 8 left deep scars, but that democracy emerged victorious.

He will try to use the occasion to transmit a message of unity, said political scientist Andre Cesar, of consulting firm Hold.

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But there will be notable absences on the right, such as Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio Freitas, a former Bolsonaro minister touted as a possible presidential contender.

Opposition figures dont want to reinforce Lulas image as the great builder of national unity, Cesar said.

Patriots Day

Hardline Bolsonaro backers meanwhile stand staunchly by the January 8 protesters.

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The charges against them are pure political persecution, influential Evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, a close Bolsonaro ally, told AFP.

Have you ever seen a coup without weapons? Have you seen a terrorist attack without bombs?

In the buildup to the anniversary, calls circulated on social media to celebrate January 8 as Patriots Day and take to the streets to paralyze the country.

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However, authorities say they do not expect mass protests.

Analysts say January 8 has become the latest litmus test in Brazils culture wars, which have split the South American giant on issues such as gun control, LGBTQ+ rights and abortion.

Its moved beyond politics to become a question of identity, says Cesar.

Today, Brasilia, the ultra-modernist capital inaugurated in 1960, bears few signs of last years chaos. The invaded trio of glassy concrete buildings, designed by legendary modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer, have been repaired.

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Authorities have refrained from walling them off, maintaining the capitals founding ideal of a transparent city, albeit with fragile barriers, said urban planner Jorge Francisconi.
Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese military and political activity ahead of the January 13 presidential and parliamentary elections. It says China is exerting military and economic pressure in an attempt to interfere in the elections

Taiwans defence ministry accused China on Saturday of threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the island nations people with a recent spate of balloons spotted near or over the island, days before crucial Taiwanese elections.

The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February when the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon. China said the balloon was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray.

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Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese military and political activity ahead of the January 13 presidential and parliamentary elections. It says China is exerting military and economic pressure in an attempt to interfere in the elections.

China views the island as its own territory, a claim Taiwans government rejects.

Since last month Taiwans defence ministry has reported several instances of Chinese balloons flying over the sensitive Taiwan Strait. It said this week some balloons had flown over Taiwan island near major air bases.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said the balloons were a serious threat to international aviation safety given their flight paths.

We also express our condemnation of the Chinese communists disregard for aviation safety and its disregard for the safety of passengers on cross-Taiwan Strait and international flights, it said.

The ministry said its analysis was that the balloons were part of Chinas grey zone tactics against Taiwan in an attempt to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of our people.

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This was stronger than Taiwans previous assertions that the balloons appeared to be mostly for weather monitoring, driven by prevailing winds at this time of year.

Chinas defence ministry last week declined to comment on the balloons at a monthly news conference.

Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, told a campaign event on Saturday that China was using its warships, warplanes and fake news to divide Taiwan.

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I urge you all with your sacred votes to tell the world that Taiwan will not surrender to an authoritarian regime but will continue to choose democracy and freedom, Lai said, according to his campaign team.

In a separate statement on Saturday, Taiwans defence ministry said that during the previous 24 hours it had detected two more Chinese balloons, one of which briefly flew over the far northern tip of the island.

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Taiwan has complained for four years of stepped-up Chinese military action such as fighter jets regularly flying over the strait as part of a grey zone strategy attempting to wear down Taiwan with offensive actions that stop short of full-blown conflict.

The United States, Taiwans most important international backer and arms supplier, has watched with alarm as tensions over the semiconductor powerhouse island have risen.

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Asked about the balloons at a news conference in Washington on Thursday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said he could not comment.

We obviously support the democracy and the democratic institutions of Taiwan, and we want to see free, fair, open, transparent elections there, he said. And were certainly mindful that outside actors could try to interfere.

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China says the Taiwan governments repeated accusations of election interference are dirty tricks aimed at boosting the chances of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing detests, calling them separatists.

A Western security official, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said China was sending a very simple pre-election message to Taiwan with the balloons.

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We are watching you closely and you cant hide, the security official said.
The average prison sentence for a Jan. 6 defendant who was convicted of a felony after a contested trial is roughly two years longer than those who pleaded guilty to a felony

In the three years since the attack, hundreds of fans of Donald Trump who were accused of storming the US Capitol have been confronted with the same decision: either acknowledge their guilt and suffer the penalties, or take their chances in a trial in the hopes of earning a rare acquittal.

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Based on an Associated Press investigation of court records, individuals who wagered on a trial and lost have gotten much lengthier prison terms than those who admitted to taking part in the attack on January 6, 2021.

A well-established principle of the American criminal justice system is bolstered by the APs examination of sentencing statistics related to the Capitol Riot: entering a guilty plea and providing assistance to law enforcement will result in a significant reduction in sentence.

On one hand, the Constitution guarantees the accused a right to a jury trial. Its a fundamental constitutional right. But the reality is that if you exercise that right  youre likely to be punished more severely than you would have been had you pled guilty to the offense, said Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law professor and former federal prosecutor.

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Regarding the Jan. 6 incident, over 700 individuals have entered guilty pleas to federal charges, and over 150 others have chosen to have their cases tried in Washington, D.C. before a judge or jury. It should come as no surprise that the majority of cases have resulted in plea agreements; several rioters were seen on camera within the Capitol and subsequently boasted about their misdeeds on social media, making it impossible for their attorneys to put up much of a fight.

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The average prison sentence for a Jan. 6 defendant who was convicted of a felony after a contested trial is roughly two years longer than those who pleaded guilty to a felony, according to the APs review of more than 1,200 cases. The data also show that rioters who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors were far less likely to get jail time than those who contested their misdemeanor charges at a trial.

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Lawyers for some Jan. 6 defendants who went to trial have complained about what has long been described as a trial tax a longer sentence imposed on those who refused to accept plea deals. A defense lawyer made that argument last year after a landmark trial for former leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group convicted of seditious conspiracy.

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A judge sentenced four ex-Proud Boys leaders to prison terms ranging from 15 to 22 years. Prosecutors had recommended prison terms ranging from 27 to 33 years for a plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

After the sentencings, defense attorney Norm Pattis filed plea offers that prosecutors made before the Proud Boys went to trial. Prosecutors sentencing recommendations after the trial were three or four times higher than what they had estimated the defendants would face if they had pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy before the trial.

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Prosecutors persuaded the judge to apply a terrorism enhancement that significantly increased the range of prison terms recommended under sentencing guidelines. Pattis argued that the governments recommendations amounted to a trial tax that violated the Sixth Amendment.

In effect, the defendants were punished because they demanded their right to trial, he wrote.

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In the federal court system overall, nearly 98 percent of convictions in the year that ended Sept. 30 were the result of a guilty plea, according to data collected by the Administrative Office of the US Courts. Few criminal cases make it to a jury because defendants have a powerful incentive to plead guilty and spare the government from spending time and limited resources on a trial.

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But advocates for reform have long complained that plea bargaining is unfairly coercive and can even push people who are innocent to take a deal out of fear of a lengthy prison sentence if they take their chances at trial.

As of Jan. 1, at least 157 defendants have been sentenced after pleading guilty to felony charges for serious crimes related to the Capitol attack. They received an average prison sentence of approximately two years and five months, according to the APs data.

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At least 68 riot defendants have been convicted of a felony after trials with contested facts. They have been sentenced to an average of approximately four years and three months behind bars.

The APs comparison excludes 10 sentences for seditious conspiracy convictions because nobody who pleaded guilty to the same charge has been sentenced yet. The analysis also excludes convictions from over a dozen stipulated bench trials, in which the judge decided the cases based on facts that both sides agreed to before the trial started.

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The gap is similarly wide for a subset of felony cases in which a Capitol rioter was convicted of assault. The average prison sentence for 83 rioters who pleaded guilty to an assault charge was approximately three years and five months. The average prison sentence for 28 rioters convicted of an assault charge at trial was roughly six years and one month.

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The trend also applies to misdemeanor cases against Capitol rioters who didnt engage in violent or destructive behavior. Of 467 riot defendants who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, more than half avoided jail time. Meanwhile, judges handed down terms of imprisonment to 22 of 23 defendants who went to trial and were convicted only of misdemeanors.

After the first trial for a Jan. 6 case, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich sentenced a Texas man to more than seven years in prison after a jury convicted him of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun, helmet and body armor. Prosecutors had recommended a 15-year prison sentence for Guy Reffitt, but before the trial, prosecutors presented him with a possible plea deal that would have recommended less than five years in prison.

Reffitts attorney, F. Clinton Broden, said in a court filing that the governments 15-year recommendation makes a mockery of the criminal justice system.

One of the things when we talk about our democracy and our Constitution is this idea that you have a right to go to trial. Youre not sentenced to three times as high of a sentence if you go to trial, Broden said during the hearing, according to a transcript.

Justice Department prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler told the judge that the government wasnt seeking a trial penalty in any stretch of the imagination, adding, Its because of the defendants conduct here.

The judge said Reffitts sentencing guidelines range would have been roughly two years lower if he had accepted responsibility early and pleaded guilty.

Theres a cost for going to trial, and the guidelines make pretty clear what that cost is, Friedrich said.

The risks of going to trial also are illustrated by the case against Dr. Simone Gold, a leading figure in the anti-vaccine movement. Gold entered the Capitol with John Strand, a boyfriend who worked for a group that Gold founded.

Both were charged with the same crimes. Gold pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Strand went to trial and was convicted of five charges, including a felony obstruction charge.

US District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced Gold to two months in prison and sentenced Strand to two years and eight months behind bars. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of six years and six months in prison for Strand.

Strands lawyer, Stephen Brennwald, questioned why the governments sentencing recommendation for Strand was nearly 40 times longer than Golds prison sentence. Strand was following Golds lead on Jan. 6, the attorney argued.

It would stand to reason that Mr. Strand should receive a lesser sentence. After all, they both engaged in exactly the same conduct that day, though Dr. Gold was the reason that both of them went into the Capitol, Brennwald wrote in court papers.

The judge told Strand that he wasnt getting a trial penalty for exercising his constitutional rights. Unlike Gold, Strand didnt get credit for accepting responsibility for his conduct on Jan. 6.

And to the contrary, youve not accepted responsibility in a pretty remarkable way. You have professed not just that the government didnt prove its case, but you have professed your innocence numerous times, Cooper said, according to a transcript.
This is the second such aircraft malfunction in recent memory; in September 2023, following a G20 summit, Trudeaus departure from India was postponed by a few days

In order to resolve a maintenance issue with the aircraft that transported Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a visit to the Caribbean and allowed him to return home, Canada said on Friday that an aircraft was sent to Jamaica this week.

This is the second such aircraft malfunction in recent memory; in September 2023, following a G20 summit, Trudeaus departure from India was postponed by a few days.

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A spokesman for Canadas defense ministry stated, We can confirm that two Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challengers were in Jamaica supporting transport for the prime minister.

An inspection uncovered the maintenance issue on Tuesday, before Trudeaus departure date, the spokesperson added. A maintenance team and aircraft were sent to the island to restore the craft to service the next day.

Trudeau was able to return on the original plane, the spokesperson said.

(with inputs from Reuters)
Trump had two commit-to-caucus events: one in Mason Citys north central region and the other in the states far northwest near the South Dakota border. He will spend Saturday in Newton, in the centre of Iowa, and then go to Clinton, in the far east of the state

Former President Donald Trump warned his supporters not to be complacent in the midst of a commanding polling lead Friday evening, as he kicked off the race to the Iowa caucuses with his first rallies of the election year.

Ten days from now, the people of this state are going to cast the most important vote of your entire lives, Trump told several hundred supporters gathered in Sioux Center. He implored them to turn out on caucus night, warning, Bad things happen when you sit back.

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Trump had two commit-to-caucus events: one in Mason Citys north central region and the other in the states far northwest near the South Dakota border. He will spend Saturday in Newton, in the centre of Iowa, and then go to Clinton, in the far east of the state.

The visit took place the day before the third anniversary of the violent storming of the US Capitol by a mob of Trumps followers on January 6, 2021, when they were desperate to retain him in office following their loss in the 2020 election. Trump said that it will go down as one of the saddest things in the history of our country and denounced the treatment of people who were arrested for taking part in the riot, calling them hostages. He did not mention the date on Friday.

Due to their involvement, over 1,230 persons have been charged with federal offences, including felonies like seditious conspiracy and assaulting police officers.

At one point in Sioux Centre, Trump also inquired as to whether anyone in the pleasant room had not planned to vote for him, but he immediately issued a warning to those who did not want to raise their hands.

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Theyre going to say he incited an insurrection, he said to laughs.

And over and over, he repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen  the same lies that motivated the rioters.

Trump also spent much of the night lashing out at President Joe Biden, who earlier Friday delivered a speech warning that Trumps efforts to retake the White House pose a grave threat to the country and democracy.

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We all know who Donald Trump is, Biden said near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago. The question we have to answer is: Who are we?

Biden said Jan. 6 marked a moment where we nearly lost America  lost it all.

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Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden and other state and federal cases, continued to argue that it is, instead, Biden who poses the threat.

He is a danger to democracy, Trump charged in Mason City.

The former president and his campaign have spent months accusing Biden and other Democrats of using the justice system to damage their chief political rival. There is no evidence that Biden has influenced the investigations led by state officials or the Justice Department  which has also indicted his son, Hunter Biden, twice.

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Joe Bidens record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption, and failure, Trump told the crowd in Sioux Center. Thats why Crooked Joe is staging his pathetic fearmongering campaign event in Pennsylvania today.

Trumps team is hoping for a knockout win in Iowa on Jan. 15 that will deny his rivals an opportunity to seize momentum and set the table for him to lock up the nomination by the spring. They also hope to turn out a wave of new voters who have never caucused before in a show of strength ahead of an increasingly likely general election rematch against Biden.

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You have to get out and vote because it sets the tone. It even sets the tone, frankly, for November, Trump said in Mason City.

While he remains far ahead in Iowa and other early state and national polls, Trump also continued to lash out at his top Republican rivals, unleashing some of his most pointed attacks to date against former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has seen growing support in recent months following a series of well-reviewed debate performances.

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Trump tried to cast both her and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was once the only rival he criticized, as establishment pawns, alleging they would sell voters out. DeSantis, who has staked his campaign on Iowa, entered the race with sky-high expectations but has struggled to gain traction against Trump.

Sadly, the establishment losers and sellouts lagging far behind us in the Republican primary cannot be trusted on taxes, on trade, or anything else, Trump charged. Theyll betray you just like they betrayed me.

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Haleys campaign has been celebrating Trumps recent attention  including a new attack ad  arguing it reflects his growing concern that she is gaining on him.

DeSantis and Haley needled each other at their own events in Iowa Friday, with DeSantis leaning into his opponents flippant comment about the role of Iowa among the early-voting states. DeSantis, appearing with Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, hounded Haley for insulting Iowans by suggesting New Hampshire voters could correct the caucus results.

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Haley, who held morning and evening events in Des Moines, described the comment as good-natured ribbing among early-voting states. She is the former governor of South Carolina, which will vote third.

DeSantis, campaigning across central and northeastern parts of the state, also repeatedly told his crowds of about 100 people that Trump failed to follow through with his previous campaign promises and accused the former president of running a campaign all about himself.

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While Trump last visited Iowa before Christmas, his allies have been fanning out across the state, holding their own events on his behalf. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who are both considered potential vice presidential picks, have been working to get out the vote in recent days, as has his son Eric Trump.

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Trumps team has repeatedly argued that any margin of victory larger than 12 percentage points would be a historic win in an open caucus. Trump lost the state in 2016 to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz but ultimately won the nomination and the presidency.

This time, Trump is facing criminal charges across four separate jurisdictions. But those charges have only solidified his support.

Michael Grevengoed, 34, from Doon, Iowa, is planning to caucus for Trump on Jan. 15 and said he isnt concerned about Trumps legal woes.

Theyre brought against him, yes, and he may be indicted for them, but I dont think theyre legitimate reasons for him not to be president, he said.

In addition to his criminal charges, Trump is also facing efforts to remove him from the ballot over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The Supreme Court said Friday it would take up the question of whether states can bar him from the ballot.

Marj Wichers, who lives in Sioux Center and said her backseat was full of Trump gear she bought for her grandchildren outside the venue, criticized efforts to disqualify him.

Hes got to get back in there, said Wichers, after standing in line for four hours to attend the first event. If they dont want to put him on the ballot, Ill write his name down.

Wichers, 58, said she works the night shift so she might not be able to caucus on Jan. 15.

I think hes going to get in anyway, so Im not too worried about it, she said.
According to the state-run WAM news agency, the countrys Attorney General, Hamad al-Shamsi, stated that the 84 defendants are accused of setting up another secret organization to carry out violent and terrorist acts on state territory

The United Arab Emirates has confirmed it is holding a trial for 84 prisoners, a fact that was previously reported by critics when the country hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks last month.

The trial likely involves a well-known activist praised by international human rights groups.

According to the state-run WAM news agency, the countrys Attorney General, Hamad al-Shamsi, stated that the 84 defendants are accused of setting up another secret organization to carry out violent and terrorist acts on state territory.

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The statement didnt reveal the names of the suspects, but it mentioned that most of them are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group long seen as a threat to the UAEs ruling leaders.

Al-Shamsi said the accused all had a lawyer assigned to them and that after nearly six months of research, prosecutors referred the accused to trial. The statement said the trial was still going on.

In December, the trial was first reported by the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, a group run by an Emirati  also called Hamad al-Shamsi  who lives in exile in Istanbul after being named on a terrorism list by the UAE himself. That group said 87 defendants faced trial. The different numbers of defendants reported by the UAE and the group could not be immediately reconciled.

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Among those likely charged in the case is Ahmed Mansoor, the recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015. Mansoor repeatedly drew the ire of authorities in the UAE by calling for a free press and democratic freedoms in this federation of seven sheikhdoms.

Mansoor was targeted with Israeli spyware on his iPhone in 2016 likely deployed by the Emirati government ahead of his 2017 arrest and sentencing to 10 years in prison over his activism.

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During COP28, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch held a demonstration in which they displayed Mansoors face in the U.N.-administered Blue Zone at the summit in a protest carefully watched by Emirati officials.

Another person likely charged is activist Nasser bin Ghaith, an academic held since August 2015 over his tweets. He was among dozens of people sentenced in the wake of a wide-ranging crackdown in the UAE following the 2011 Arab Spring protests. Those demonstrations saw the Islamists rise to power in several Mideast nations, though the Gulf Arab states did not see any popular overthrow of their governments.

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The UAE, while socially liberal in many regards compared with its Middle Eastern neighbors, has strict laws governing expression and bans political parties and labor unions. That was seen at COP28, where there were none of the typical protests outside of the venue as activists worried about the countrys vast network of surveillance cameras.

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(with inputs from The Associated Press)
In a country where LGBT persons already risk social exclusion and jail sentences of up to two years if found guilty of same-sex offences, the remarks intensified a crackdown on sexual minorities

The president of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, called on his people to stone homosexual individuals last week. The United States stated on Friday that it was worried by his remarks.

In a country where LGBT persons already risk social exclusion and jail sentences of up to two years if found guilty of same-sex offences, the remarks intensified a crackdown on sexual minorities.

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The United States is deeply troubled by President Ndayishimiyes remarks targeting certain vulnerable and marginalized Burundians, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

We call on all of Burundis leaders to respect the inherent dignity and inalienable rights, including equal access to justice, of every member of Burundian society.

The comments regarding stoning were not directly included in the statement.

Uganda enacted a bill in May that carried the death penalty for certain same-sex crimes. A number of measures have been put in place by the US, such as travel bans and Ugandas exclusion from tariff-free trade agreements.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become one of the most vocal opponents of Washingtons backing for Israel as well as the extent of the death and damage occurring in Gaza throughout the Muslim world

The top diplomat from Washington will speak with Turkeys unpredictable leader on Saturday about the Gaza conflict before travelling to Crete to allay Greek concerns over the impending transfer of US fighter planes to Ankara.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched down in Istanbul late on Friday, beginning the first part of a tour that would see him visit five Arab states, Israel, and the West Bank.

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With concerns growing that the conflict may spread to large portions of the Middle East, Blinken is on his fourth crisis trip since the Israel-Hamas war began three months ago.

Before Hamas gunmen stormed Israel, murdering some 1,140 people and starting a retaliatory onslaught that, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, has killed 22,600 lives, the most of them women and children, Istanbul served as a base for Hamas senior officials.

After some of the Hamas leaders were shown on camera rejoicing over the bloodiest attack in Israels history, Turkey demanded that they depart.

However, since then, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become one of the most vocal opponents of Washingtons backing for Israel as well as the extent of the death and damage occurring in Gaza throughout the Muslim world.

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Erdogan has said that the US is supporting the genocide of Palestinians and likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.

He has also rebuffed US pressure to cut off the suspected flow of funding through Turkey to Hamas and defended the group as legitimately elected liberators fighting for their land.

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The US State Department on Friday announced $10 million rewards for information about five alleged Hamas foreign operatives  three of them believed to be based in Turkey  thought to be helping finance the Iran-backed group.

Turkey this week countered by detaining 34 people suspected of planning attacks against Palestinians and spying for Israels Mossad intelligence agency.

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NATO and F-16s

Erdogan began to tone down his most strident comments after US President Joe Biden last month called the Turkish leader for the first time since the war broke out.

The call helped push along NATO member Turkeys glacial progress in accepting Sweden into the US-led defence organisation in the wake of Russias war on Ukraine.

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A parliamentary committee approved Swedens application in late December.

Blinken will hope to win assurances in talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Erdogan that a vote by the full chamber will happen soon.

Approval from all NATO states is required for new members to join the defence bloc.

NATO has already doubled the length of its border with Russia when Turkey relented and accepted Swedens neighbour Finland into the alliance last year.

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Erdogan has been able to use Turkeys veto power to impel Sweden into taking a tougher stance with Kurdish group in Stockholm that Ankara views as terrorists.

He has also been trying to make Swedens approval conditional on the US delivering 40 US F-16 fighters jets and nearly 80 modernisation kits for Turkeys ageing air force.

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Bidens administration officially backs the sale, but has been unable to overcome resistance in Congress from lawmakers who express alarm about Turkeys position on Sweden and its human rights record, as well as past military standoffs with historic rival Greece.

We have made clear that we do not believe the sale should be linked with Swedens NATO accession, but there are members of Congress who have a different opinion and they have linked the two, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said this week.

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Blinken will travel to the Greek island of Crete on Saturday evening for talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Greece has fiercely resisted the US jet sales because of its longstanding territorial disputes with Turkey in the energy-rich eastern Mediterranean region.
Unification Minister Kim Yung Ho told channel KBS in the interview that the US Congress had already resolved the issue in a defence measure that it just enacted. This was broadcast on Saturday

Even if former US President Donald Trump wins reelection, the US is unlikely to reduce its military presence in South Korea, the countrys minister in charge of affairs pertaining to neighbouring North Korea stated in a televised interview.

Unification Minister Kim Yung Ho told channel KBS in the interview that the US Congress had already resolved the issue in a defence measure that it just enacted. This was broadcast on Saturday.

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One of the concerns many people have is the issue of any withdrawal of US troops from Korea if Trump is re-elected, Kim said.

However, Kim noted that the National Defence Authorization Act passed in December stipulates that the US administration needs legislative consent before reducing the 28,500 soldiers stationed in South Korea.

He continued by saying that any political shifts in the US will be mitigated by fortifying connections between the US, South Korea, and Japan.

Strengthening military and economic cooperation was the agreement reached by US President Joe Biden, the leaders of South Korea, and Japan at Camp David last August.

In response to a query about a Politico story that said Trump was thinking about allowing North Korea to maintain its nuclear arsenal and providing financial incentives to cease producing additional bombsa claim the president has dismissed as fake newsKim made the remarks.

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Recognising North Korea as a nuclear power means that South Korea will have no choice but to develop nuclear weapons, and Japan (also), Kim said, when asked about the views of some US experts.

These analysts argue that North Korea should be recognised as a nuclear state and call for disarmament talks.

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Neither the United States or South Korea can accept the prospect of recognising North Korea as a nuclear state, since that would trigger a domino effect leading to the collapse of the Non-Proliferation Treaty framework, Kim said.

The neighbours remain technically in a state of war since the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Saab rolled out the newest member of the Gripen family of fighter jets  the Gripen E. Saab defines the new fighter as revolutionary because it combines advanced technology and operational effectiveness in an affordable package that no other fighter aircraft can. Defense-Update takes a look at what the new fighter jet can do.

Based on the proven Gripen C/D platform, the Gripen E (also referred to as Gripen E/F) is designed as a multi-role fighter designed to perform air/air, air/ground and aerial recce with the same aircraft on a single mission. Compared with previous Gripen models (C/D) the new version has increased range and mission endurance. Its redesigned airframe operates at higher weights and is configured for maximum takeoff weight of 16.5 tons, allowing Gripen E to carry more fuel and weapons. The aircraft has 10 hardpoints and carries additional pylons to increase weapon capacity.

The integration of a powerful (98 kN) and efficient GE F414G engine provides a higher level of thrust. Digital fly-by-wire and canards are providing the high aircraft agility while the excess power delivered by the new engine sustains high speed (Mach 2) and super-cruising capability, a unique feature for a fighter jet of this size.

Saab is developing the single-seat version of the aircraft  Gripen E  for the Swedish Air Force and the Brazilian Air Force. Brazils Embraer is responsible for the development of a two-seater variant (Gripen F). The Brazilian Air Force plans to operate six such aircraft.

Since the Gripen A/B and C/D fighters currently fly with several NATO air forces, Gripen E is also designed to be NATO-interoperable and is tailored for the future Network Centric Warfare (NCW) environment. Such capabilities comprise advanced data communications, dual data links, satellite communications and video links. A formation of Gripen E will be able can share tactical and logistical information including the position, fuel and weapon status of each aircraft. Besides, the pilot can communicate two ways with every networked element, in the air, on the ground or at sea through the secure and multi-frequency data links, using line-of-sight or satellite links.

Advanced sensors available on board add new capabilities to air/air and air/ground warfighting capability, these include the Leonardo Selex ES-05 Raven Active Electronic Scan Array (AESA) Radar and Infrared Search and Track (IRST) adding passive tracking and target acquisition capability to the Gripens tactics portfolio. The antenna uses a swash-plate solution that gives the radar an area coverage of  100.

The Skyward IRST (also built by Selex) can operate in synch with the radar, to provide visual target identification from a long distance, or function as passive radar, enabling Gripen E pilots to track and engage targets without giving away their positions. The sensor is looking forward over a wide sector, registering heat emissions from other aircraft, helicopters, objects on the ground and sea surface.

The third sensor on board is the electronic countermeasures system, that can operate with active (Missile Approach Warning  MAW) and passive (Radar Warning Receiver  RWR) sensors, detecting hostile radar emissions that paint the Gripen from a distance, or missiles closing in from afar, guided by radar signals. The EW system couples with active countermeasures, including chaff, flares and expendable decoys such as the BriteCloud, as well as RF jammer pod and anti-radiation missiles that could be integrated in the future, to defeat such threats.

These sensors are combined with cockpit instrumentation to provide the pilot with situational picture, using comprehensive display systems that include Helmet Mounted Display (which also combines night vision), Head-Up Display (HUD) and Wide Area Displays (WAD) to be integrated into the Gripen NGs destined for the Brazilian Air Force. This combination of displays delivers the ability to detect and destroy a wide variety of targets, even at night or in poor weather conditions.
State Council calls for further developing silver economy

Xinhua) 09:16, January 06, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council on Friday held an executive meeting to evaluate the development of the silver economy, as well as hear a report on ensuring the payment of migrant workers wages.

The meeting, presided over by Premier Li Qiang, emphasized that expanding the silver economy is an important measure to actively respond to the aging population and promote high-quality development that will benefit both the present and future.

According to the meeting, it is necessary for the government to effectively fulfill its responsibility to secure basic needs, strengthen basic livelihood protection for senior people, and increase the supply of basic public services.

It stressed the importance of using market mechanisms, fully utilizing the role of various business entities and social organizations, and better meet the multi-level and diverse needs of the senior people.

It is necessary to continue to improve relevant policies and measures, focusing on solving the most pressing issues of great concern, such as home care, medical treatment, and health care for the senior people, the meeting said.

During the meeting, it was recommended that the government should optimize services and improve administrative efficiency, focus on major issues raised by the people and enterprises, strengthen coordination and cooperation, take the initiative to reform and innovate, and further optimize service processes using digital technology and other means.

The meeting called for resolving several important issues every year, such as promptly copying and promoting positive experiences and practices, persisting in implementation, and continuously enhancing the people and enterprises' sense of fulfillment.

The meeting pointed out that the Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 10, is the busiest time for migrant workers to negotiate their wages. The government must ensure that migrant workers are paid and firmly crack down on acts of intentionally defaulting on their wages.

It is necessary to improve the long-term mechanism for dealing with wage defaults, strengthen regular monitoring, evaluation, inspection and supervision, and promote the implementation of various systems and policies to ensure the payment of wages to migrant workers, according to the meeting.

The meeting also decided to submit the draft amendment of the Accounting Law and the draft energy law to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for review. At the meeting, a draft interim regulation on the management of carbon emissions trading was also adopted.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)
Saturday Night

Partly cloudy skies early followed by increasing clouds with showers developing later at night. Low 43F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the first time since the October 7 attack
Dennis received bachelor's degrees in communication and political science with a TAG degree in Spanish from The University of Akron in Ohio. He grew up in Ohio with 2 sisters and two brothers, one being his fraternal twin. He and his wife have 3 dogs: Duke, Bacio, and Cal. Dennis currently covers natural resource and environmental issues for The Daily Sentinel
Trump's businesses received '$7.8mn' from foreign states during his term

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 4:35 PM

Donald Trump's businesses have received at least "$7.8 million in payments" from foreign governments during the term of the former US president in office, according to a Congressional report.

House Democrats released a 156-page report titled White House for Sale on Thursday, showing Trump's companies had received the money from foreign officials from China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey and the Democratic Republic of Congo - among some 20 countries.

The foreign countries' representatives had paid money to Trump's hotel and real estate businesses during his presidency, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee wrote in their report.

The report shows during his tenure, Trump was "determined not only to keep this well-branded global corporate empire going but also to seize a new and unprecedented opportunity to make it ever more lucrative for himself and his family."

The committee said such revenue from overseas governments violated a US constitutional ban on "foreign emoluments."

"As President, Donald Trump accepted more than $7.8 million in payments from foreign states and their leaders, including some of the world's most unsavory regimes."

"Saudi Arabia paid at least $615,422 in prohibited emoluments to former President Trump's businesses over the course of his term in office from just (the Trump World Tower) and the March 2018 stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC," the report stated.

"Former President Trump has also boasted about the continued willingness of the Saudis to do business on terms highly favorable to him."

"We know about only some of the payments that passed into former President Trump's hands during just two years of his presidency from just 20 of the more than 190 nations in the world through just four of his more than 500 businesses."

In the meantime, Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, separately faces a civil fraud trial in New York over claims that his real estate businesses fraudulently inflated the value of their assets.

The ex-POTUS is to go on trial in Washington in March for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and in Florida in May on charges of mishandling top-secret government documents.

Trump also faces racketeering charges in Georgia for conspiring to upend the election results in the southern state after his 2020 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.

The twice-impeached former president on January 3 filed an appeal against a decision by Maine's top election official disqualifying him from the state's Republican presidential primary ballot in 2024.

Trump's legal team is expected to file an appeal to a similar ruling from Colorado's Supreme Court. The appeal of the Colorado ruling may force the US Supreme Court to weigh in directly on his 2024 election prospects. In this regard, legal experts say the move will likely pull the court's nine justices into a political firestorm.

"I'm sure the (Supreme) Court would prefer to stay out of these questions," said NYU Law Professor Richard Pildes. "But I think the fact that you now have two state systems that have reached the conclusion that he should be disqualified from the ballot, it makes it hard to see the court being able to stay out and not provide an ultimate answer to that question."

The present assemble of the US Supreme Court's judges, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices who were appointed by Trump during his presidency, is in favor of him and the Republican Party, prompting states to apply their own standards of eligibility for office and possibly ignore an unfavorable court ruling, inflicting irreparable damage on the already disfigured US democracy.

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Exchange of Lists of Prisoners between Pakistan and India

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Today, Pakistan and India exchanged, through diplomatic channels, the lists of prisoners in each other's custody.

The simultaneous exchange of lists took place in pursuance of the Consular Access Agreement of 2008. Under the agreement, both countries are required to exchange the lists of prisoners in each other's custody on 1st January and 1st July, every year.

The Government of Pakistan handed over a list of 231 Indian prisoners in Pakistan (47 civilian prisoners and 184 fishermen) to a representative of the High Commission of India in Islamabad.

The Government of India shared the list of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails to an officer of Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi. According to the list, there are a total of 418 Pakistanis in Indian jails (337 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen).

The Government of India has been urged to release and repatriate all those Pakistani civilian prisoners and fishermen, who have completed their respective sentence and whose national status stands confirmed. A request for grant of consular access to missing defence personnel of 1965 and 1971 wars, and special consular access to 77 civil prisoners has also been made.

Islamabad

1 January 2024

1/2024

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Secretary Blinken's Call with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Peters

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

January 4, 2024

The following is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke today with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters. Secretary Blinken congratulated Deputy Prime Minister Peters on assuming his new role and reiterated the United States' commitment to strengthening the U.S.-New Zealand partnership. The two leaders discussed how our nations will bolster security in the Indo-Pacific region. Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to facilitating an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, inclusive, and resilient. The Secretary also thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for New Zealand's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity as it defends itself against Russia's war of aggression.

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UNHCR and Islamic Development Bank collaborate to support education, health care, and livelihood opportunities in Afghanistan

UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

04 January 2024

Responding to Afghanistan's deepening humanitarian crisis, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), in its capacity as the trustee of the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund (AHTF), have signed three crucial agreements aimed at bolstering access to education, health-care services, and livelihood opportunities in the country.

The agreements were signed at the headquarters of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by the Special Advisor to the President of the Islamic Development Bank and Coordinator of the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund, Eng. Muhammad Jamal Al-Saati, and UNHCR's Senior Advisor and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Representative, Khaled Khalifa.

Through these agreements, UNHCR will implement several projects to support education programmes, such as building 16 integrated schools for boys and girls, and creating information and inquiry points to enhance and ensure access to education for more than 30,000 school-age children. In addition, it will improve and expand the health-care service network in more than 34 regions by establishing eight health-care centres, benefiting more than half a million people from returnee, displaced and host communities. The agreements will also allow for the implementation of programmes to enhance vocational skills and facilitate livelihood opportunities through traditional crafts, such as beekeeping and wool spinning.

During the signing ceremony, Khaled Khalifa expressed his gratitude for the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and praised the partnership with IsDB and AHTF. "The decades-long conflict in Afghanistan has had a devastating impact on all aspects of people's lives, leaving more than two-thirds of Afghanistan's population in urgent need of assistance," he said. "With this generous contribution from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Fund for Development - through AHTF - UNHCR will be able to provide critical services in several vital sectors, including health, education, and livelihoods. We are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and AHTF for this much-needed support."

For his part, Eng. Mohammad J. Alsaati said: "The signing of these three agreements totalling $10 million is another major milestone of AHTF's journey towards its goal to help and support the vulnerable in Afghanistan through the formulation and approval of high-impact projects. These agreements with UNHCR reflect our commitment to assisting the crisis-affected Afghan population."

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is worsening due to a combination of conflict, natural disasters, climate shocks, and the recent economic downturn, with approximately 28.3 million people now in need of humanitarian assistance. These projects aim to improve and support Afghanistan's service infrastructure to enhance access to health care and education and to enable livelihoods as a sustainable means to address daily life challenges.

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Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences hosts IAMD dialogue with USEUCOM

The shift in mindset is a positive step forward for the Swedish Armed Forces and demonstrates their commitment to ensuring the safety and security of the country and its allies.

By U.S. European Command Public Affairs , United States European Command Stuttgart, Germany Jan 05, 2024

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences recently hosted a pivotal event last year, bringing together esteemed dignitaries, including two former Sweden Ministers of Defence, the Swedish Chief of Operations, and former Ambassadors who have played significant roles in shaping our shared security landscape.

Underscoring Sweden's dedication to addressing evolving security challenges in anticipation of joining NATO, the Academy organized a dialogue on Integrated Air & Missile Defense (IAMD) with the Swedish Armed Forces and Academy members, and the United States European Command (USEUCOM).

"Strategic dialogues, such as this discussion on IAMD, enhance our common understanding and enable joint interoperability," stated Colonel Brian Green, United States Air Force, Senior Defense Official/Defense Attache, Sweden. "This event highlights USEUCOMs continued dedication to re-enforcing partnerships to deter adversaries and improve multinational collaboration. Coupled with the Defense Cooperation Agreement, exercising a shared vision of IAMD integration through the Arctic Challenge Exercise demonstrates United States and Swedish interoperability and our shared commitment to transatlantic security."

Brandon Eickhoff who supports USEUCOMs plans, policy, strategy, and capabilities directorate, relayed the critical importance of missile defense and global cooperation in the face of evolving threats. Emphasizing on the need for readiness, interoperability, advanced technologies, and the strength of alliances.

The pressing challenges posed by adversaries, especially in the realms of drones and long-range strike capabilities, were candidly discussed. "Interoperability knows no borders and is vital for effective defense. With missile defense, we undermine a potential foe's confidence before a single interceptor is fired," said Eickhoff, which highlighted the need for a robust deterrence strategy.

The event highlights USEUCOMs dedication to advancing transatlantic partnerships and addressing evolving security challenges. Amid an unpredictable security landscape, the call for global unity in missile defense resonates as nations navigate these challenges. Demonstrating a collaborative spirit, the United States is committed to offering foreign military sales and security cooperation opportunities, including the development of complementary technologies such as counter drones and hypersonic defenses.

Former Minister of Defence Peter Hultqvist noted, "Engaging in strategic IAMD activities, such as the Arctic Challenge Exercise (ACE), sends a strong signal of deterrence to our adversaries regarding our security policy. By participating in exercises like ACE, we are demonstrating our ability to defend against potential threats in the Arctic region, which can help deter our adversaries from taking aggressive actions."

"Today, the Swedish Armed Forces described a needed shift in their doctrine," emphasized Lt Gen Carl-Johan Edstrom, Swedish Chief of Operations. "The current doctrine of "Engage, Contain, and Defeat: Alone" must be replaced with a new more offensive mindset that emphasizes the importance of working together. This change comes after conversations with NATO and USEUCOM and will ensure that tomorrow's defense, including IAMD, can "Protect, Generate Force, and Defend: Together."

"This new approach to IAMD will enable a safer Sweden and a stronger NATO. By working together, the Swedish Armed Forces will be better equipped to defend against potential threats and protect the country's citizens. The shift in mindset is a positive step forward for the Swedish Armed Forces and demonstrates their commitment to ensuring the safety and security of the country and its allies." said Lt Gen Edstrom.

Hultqvist's endorsement of strategic IAMD activities and Edstrom's call for a new doctrine emphasizing collaboration signify a positive step forward in ensuring the safety and security of nations, fostering cooperation, and building a more secure future for all.

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PLA extends patrol to maritime, aerial joint exercise in S.China Sea as US, Philippines scale down patrol amid tensions

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Published: Jan 05, 2024 04:24 PM

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) extended its two-day routine patrol in the South China Sea into a third day of joint exercises on Friday, in a move experts said displayed China's determination and capability in safeguarding national sovereign security and maritime rights, as the US and the Philippines reportedly scaled down their joint patrol in the region.

The PLA Southern Theater Command on Friday organized a regular maritime, aerial joint exercise in waters in the South China Sea, the PLA Southern Theater Command said in a press release on Friday.

It closely followed a two-day regular patrol by naval and air forces of the PLA Southern Theater Command in the South China Sea from Wednesday to Thursday, when the command vowed to have its troops on high alert to resolutely safeguard national sovereign security and maritime rights, and bring any military activity that upset the situation or create tension in the region under control.

At the same time as the Chinese patrol, the Philippines and the US also conducted a two-day joint patrol in the South China Sea from Wednesday to Thursday, the second such operation held between the two countries since November last year and which was scheduled to see the participation of four Philippine naval vessels and four US warships including an aircraft carrier, according to a Wednesday report by Reuters.

Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Friday that the PLA Southern Theater Command's joint exercise is a routine one not targeted at any specific event or a third country.

Through the exercise, the PLA forces can test the performance of its weapons and systems, enhance the troops' operational capabilities, increase the interoperability among different military services and branches, as well as get a better understanding of the combat environment, Chen said.

While the PLA conducts such normal operations in the region regularly, it does not always publicize them, Chen said, noting that the purpose of publicizing this exercise is to display the Chinese military's determination and capability in safeguarding its rights and interests in the South China Sea.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Friday that China is unequivocal when it comes to safeguarding its national sovereign security and development interests.

"We need to bolster management and control over our sovereign territories through law enforcement and military operations," Song said.

Experts said that the US has been inciting the Philippines to provoke China over islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and the PLA's announcement of the exercise to enhance combat preparedness in the South China Sea should also be viewed against this background.

Under the guise of humanitarian resupplies, the Philippines has repeatedly sent vessels carrying illegal building materials in attempts to reinforce a warship that has been illegally grounded on Ren'ai Jiao (also known as Ren'ai Reef) since 1999 in order to permanently occupy the Chinese reef, breaking its promise made to China that it would tow away the ship.

Those attempts were blocked by China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels using legitimate and professional restriction measures.

Scaling down

While the joint patrol by the Philippines and the US was scheduled to be a large-scale one, the actual operation was seen as scaling down significantly.

Analysts said that the US' scaling down of the operation was likely because of seeing China's determination and capability, since a military conflict with China does not benefit US interests, and it is in the best interest of the Philippines to return to the path of resolving the dispute through dialogue.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on Thursday that the Philippines-US "maritime cooperative activity" was supposed to run from Tuesday to Thursday, but it was delayed for 24 hours due to "operation requirements" from the US side.

Then on Wednesday, only one US destroyer arrived, with two other US warships and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier not showing up due to "operational necessity," while a scheduled photo exercise and gunnery exercises were also canceled, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, noting that the Philippine and US Navy warships were shadowed by a frigate and a destroyer from China.

The USS Carl Vinson showed up on Thursday, when it hosted a visitor embark for the armed forces of the Philippines, according to the Pentagon's Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

Song said that the US wants the Philippines to be a proxy in containing China, but does not want to fight for the Philippines.

The US knows that there are no benefits to have a military conflict in the South China Sea with China, and that is why it backed down, Song said, noting that the US only takes its own interests into consideration, while its ally's interests are expendable.

The assumption that the US could fight China in the South China Sea for the Philippines does not stand, as it is a tacit understanding that a war between China and the US would likely not be just a regional war, but likely an all-out conflict that could become a destructive one that is unbearable by the whole world, experts said.

China is always devoted to safeguarding regional peace and stability, and has been exercising restraint in managing and controlling maritime disputes, another Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Friday.

The CCG's restriction measures taken against the Philippines' trespassing vessels as well as the PLA's patrols and drills are restrained moves aimed at safeguarding national sovereign security and maritime rights, and they also made China's determination and capability clear to the trouble-stirring forces, so as to avoid misjudgment, misunderstanding and accidents, the expert said.

"China is a peace-loving country, but no matter who the opponent is, China will resolutely safeguard its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests," the expert said, urging the Philippines to return to talks to resolve the dispute.

The Philippines has no choice but to return to the track of dialogue after its provocations failed to come to fruition, Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with China Central Television, said on Friday, citing an anonymous source.

China is always committed to resolving differences through dialogue and consultation and making joint efforts to maintain maritime stability, but we will not turn a blind eye to the Philippines' repeated provocations and harassment, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defense, at a regular press conference on December 28.

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The situation in the Red Sea

Government of Norway

News story | Date: 05/01/2024

'We are facing a very serious situation in the Red Sea. For the first time, ballistic anti-ship missiles have been used against civilian vessels. These are very advanced weapons systems. The indiscriminate attacks by the Houthi movement are unacceptable. Crews and innocent parties are exposed to mortal danger and suffer great economic and material losses', said Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.

Norway has one of the largest merchant fleets in the world.

'Ensuring freedom of navigation at sea is of great strategic importance for the global economy and for Norway. Within the framework of Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG) and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), Norway contributes up to ten staff officers to the international effort to secure civilian shipping in the Red Sea', said Minister of Defense Bjrn Arild Gram.

Norwegian authorities are in continuous contact with the Norwegian Shipowners' Association and other relevant actors. To help reduce the level of conflict, Norway is in contact with the Houthis.

'It is important to avoid a regional escalation of the war in Gaza. We have a wide network of contacts in the region and use this network and diplomatic channels in the region to prevent further spread of the conflict. Hence, it was not within our inclination to support the statement released by the US authorities regarding the situation in the Red Sea on 3 January', said Foreign Minister Eide.

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Hezbollah pledges response to al-Arouri's assassination

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 5, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Secretary General of Lebanon's Hezbollah Resistance Movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has promised revenge for the assassination of deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri by the Israeli regime.

The assassination of Saleh al-Arouri will not go unanswered and unpunished, Nasrallah said on Friday, adding that all of Lebanon will become exposed if no response is given to the Israeli killing of al-Arouri.

He made the comments in a ceremony three days after al-Arouri, one of the most senior members of Palestine's Hamas Resistance Movement, was killed in an Israeli drone strike in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut, Lebanon.

Hezbollah operations

The Hezbollah chief also spoke about the military operations his movement has been conducting at the border in southern Lebanon in support of Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza. Those operations began on October 8, a day after the Israeli regime unleashed its war on Gaza.

According to Nasrallah, Hezbollah has conducted more than 670 operations since October 8, repeatedly targeting 48 "border positions of the Israeli occupiers."

He said that the operations have forced the Israeli regime's military forces to retreat and left a large number of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles destroyed.

The regime however hides the real number of its casualties and facts regarding the material damage inflicted on it, Nasrallah said.

Yemen Red Sea operations

The Hezbollah secretary general also spoke about the military operations, which Yemeni armed forces have been conducting on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea over the past several weeks in support of Palestinians in war-hit Gaza.

He said that Yemen has now become part of international equations and has revealed the true nature of the US through its operations.

Nasrallah also said that more Yemeni groups are now supporting the operations, and therefore, the US should realize that millions of Yemenis would stand up against it in case of any aggression against their country.

Nasrallah made that comment in reference to a US move last month to form an international coalition to confront the Yemeni military operations.

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Hamas urges int'l bodies to counter forced migration of Palestinians by Zionists

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 5, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called on international bodies to confront the forced migration of Palestinians by the Zionist regime.

Hamas issued a statement on Friday, calling on the international community to counter the decision of the occupying Zionist regime to force hundreds of Palestinians out of Quds and the occupied territories of 1948.

It added that Hamas calls for measures to prevent the occupying Zionist regime from committing the crime of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

Most Palestinians displaced from their homeland after the Nakba Day, when the Zionist regime proclaimed its illegal existence on May 15, 1948, have ended up in neighboring Arab states.

Arab leaders have maintained that any latter-day move aimed at forced expulsion of Palestinians would be absolutely unacceptable.

The Israeli regime waged a bloody war against the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas carried out a retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity for its atrocities against Palestinians.

Close to 23,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israel's onslaught so far.

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Palestinian government rejects Israeli regime's post-war Gaza vision

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 9:16 PM

The Palestinian government has strongly rejected an Israeli scheme referred to as the regime's post-war Gaza vision, indicating that it is not open to the so-called "day after plan" for Gaza outlined by the Israeli regime war minister.

In a statement cited on Friday by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Palestinian presidency said it is committed to seeing an end to Israel's occupation and to a future Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, under the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative.

The Palestine government "unequivocally [rejects] any plans that go beyond these parameters," it said, according to the Wafa report.

On Thursday, Yoav Gallant released his "day after plan" for the Gaza Strip that would turn governance of Gaza over to unnamed "Palestinian bodies," while giving the Israeli regime security control over the Palestinian land.

This is after the Israeli forces complete their brutal months-long attacks against the besieged territory.

Gallant's scheme is part of a "vision for phase three" plan passed on to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet on Monday.

The scheme calls for a civil administration of the Gaza Strip to be handed over to unspecified "Palestinian bodies" while the Israeli regime forces maintain armed control and the ability to carry out military raids and attacks within the Strip after the war.

Under the scheme, the Israeli war machine will continue its genocidal war on Gaza until it has secured the return of the hostages taken by the Hamas resistance movement on October 7 in a surprise operation named Al-Alqsa Storm, dismantled its "governing capabilities" over Gaza, and removed any remaining threats in the Palestinian region, AFP reported.

Meanwhile, the United States has suggested a new roadmap for the failed two-state solution, saying the Gaza Strip be governed by a "revitalized" Palestinian Authority, based in the occupied West Bank.

Media reports say Gallant's plan is contrary to what the Americans envisage in Washington's version of the so-called "day after concept".

"The Americans have based their ideas on the fact that the PA would take over control or administration of Gaza," according to Mike Hanna, reporting for the Qatari Al Jazeera news agency.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza, the Zionist forces have killed at least 22,438 Palestinians and injured more than 57,614 Gazans, while still more are missing and presumed dead buried under the rubble in the region which is under "complete siege" by the Israeli regime forces.

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Israel conceals 'heavy losses' as Hezbollah operations 'very exhausting': Nasrallah

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 6:29 PM

The secretary general of Lebanon's Hezbollah says Israel is concealing the "heavy losses" it has suffered in the war on the southern Lebanese border as the resistance movement's operations against the occupying regime are "very exhausting."

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made the remarks in a televised speech on Friday as he addressed a memorial ceremony for late Hezbollah official Mohammad Yaghi (Abu Salim) in Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek.

Nasrallah also offered his condolences on the martyrdom of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy head of the Hamas politburo, in an Israeli drone strike in southern Beirut as well as the martyrdom of scores of Iranians in Daesh-claimed twin bomb attacks in the southern city of Kerman.

"The killing of Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri will undoubtedly not go unanswered or unpunished, the decision lies in the hands of the field and it will undoubtedly be implemented," Nasrallah warned.

The Hezbollah chief also said remaining silent about such a "grave violation" would expose all of Lebanon to greater harm than any potential risks from responding in the battlefield.

Nasrallah pointed to Lebanon's war in its southern areas with Israel since early October and said the resistance movement had carried out hundreds of anti-Tel Aviv operations in support of Palestinians and their resistance groups in Gaza.

"Since October 8, we have entered into the battle with the Israeli enemy all along more than 100 km on the southern front," the Hezbollah chief said. "The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon carried out more than 670 operations within three months, and 48 border sites were targeted more than once."

Nasrallah said the Lebanese resistance movement also targeted the technical and intelligence equipment in the north of the occupied territories and "completely destroyed" them.

Stressing that a large number of Israeli vehicles and tanks were also destroyed along the border, Nasrallah cited reports by Israeli health officials that the real death toll was "three times" higher than what the occupation army discloses and there are over 2,000 Israeli casualties in eight hospitals in the north.

"What is happening at the southern border was described by one of Israel's former war ministers as a humiliation," the Hezbollah leader said. "Severely affected by its heavy losses, the enemy does differentiate between the dead or the wounded, and this is part of its policy of general secrecy about its losses."

Nasrallah underlined that "The operations were very exhausting for the enemy, who exercised secrecy over its great losses."

Nasrallah pointed out that one outcome of the fighting on the southern front was the displacement of Israelis from northern settlements, reversing the historical trend where Lebanese people were displaced during multiple wars.

"This displacement is expected to exert psychological, political, and security pressure on the enemy's cabinet, along with increasing anxiety on the northern front," he added.

Nasrallah also emphasized that the ongoing battle in the south provided a "historic" opportunity for the full liberation of Lebanon.

"We find ourselves at a historic juncture presenting a unique opportunity to fully liberate every inch of our land and establish an equation that safeguards our country's sovereignty, an opportunity initiated by the blessings of the Lebanese front," he said.

"The resistance's operations along the southern border confirm deterrence equations with the Zionist enemy, and the chance to establish an equation preventing any encroachment on Lebanon's sovereignty," he added.

Since October 8, the day after the Israel onslaught against Gaza started, the frontier between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied territories has seen deadly exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah movement.

Reports say Israel has repeatedly used US-supplied internationally-banned white phosphorus munitions in its attacks on Lebanon.

Iraq should seize opportunity to get rid of US occupation

Elsewhere in his speech on Friday, Nasrallah referred to a historic opportunity for Iraq to rid itself of the American occupation, given the ongoing strategic defeat faced by the United States and NATO in Ukraine.

"The underlying motive is the support for Gaza, and the US administration is apprehensive about it, grappling with a predicament in Ukraine," he said of the recent Iraqi military operations against American troops in response to US attacks on the country's resistance groups.

"An advantageous outcome of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq opening a front in support of Gaza is the genuine prospect for Iraq to liberate itself from the American occupation."

Nasrallah also called on the Iraqi government, parliament and people to unite in dismissing the criminal occupiers who are complicit in atrocities in Gaza, Palestine, and Lebanon.

The Hezbollah leader hailed Baghdad's courageous stance on Operation al-Aqsa Storm and called for the expulsion of American forces from Iraq, stressing that Iraq does not need Americans to combat Daesh.

Yemen 'part of international equation'

Meanwhile, Nasrallah touched upon the issue of Yemen's retaliatory strikes against Israeli-owned and -bound ships in the strategic Red Sea, saying, "The silent and negligent regimes were surprised by what the Yemenis did in the Red Sea."

The secretary general of Hezbollah commended the leader of Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, and the government in Sana'a for their steadfastness and support for Palestinians in Gaza.

"A significant national achievement is that the Sana'a government has evolved from being an internal faction to becoming a pivotal component of the international equation, compelling the world to reckon with it despite attempts to marginalize it," Nasrallah said.

"Yemen's message today is a message to the United States, stating that it is not facing the Ansarullah movement, but rather tens of millions of Yemeni people whose entire history is inflicting defeats on aggressors."

Nasrallah also underlined that "Yemen is becoming more prominent in the Arab and Islamic world, and in the eyes of its friends and enemies, by taking its position on Gaza."

"Those who underestimate the actions of the axis of resistance today are those who have not provided anything since the beginning of the aggression on Gaza to cover up their failure," he added.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 22,438 Palestinians and injured more than 57,614 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under "complete siege" by Israel.

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Lebanon files complaint to UNSC over Israel assassination of Hamas official

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 5:38 PM

Lebanon has lodged an official complaint with the United Nations Security Council over Israel's assassination of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in the capital Beirut.

The document, dated January 4, says the regime of Israel fired six missiles in the attack on Tuesday that led to the martyrdom of six people, including al-Arouri, who used to serve as the deputy head of the Political Bureau of the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian Hamas resistance movement.

According to the document, the attack on Lebanon's soil was "the most dangerous escalation since 2006."

"The attack specifically targeted a densely populated residential zone, constituting a clear violation of Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its civilian population and aviation."

The appeal urged the Security Council to put pressure on Tel Aviv to cease its escalations and take decisive action to halt further aggression against Lebanon, according to the country's National News Agency.

On Thursday, the Israeli military launched yet another attack on several areas along the border in southern Lebanon with artillery fire, killing nine members of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement.

Since October 8, the day after the Israel onslaught against Gaza started, the frontier between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied territories has seen deadly exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli military and the Hezbollah movement.

The fighting has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands from the northern part of the Israeli-occupied territories, which have been pummeled by rocket fire and shelling carried out by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian groups.

More than 140 Hezbollah fighters have lost their lives since the beginning of the conflict, while some 11 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.

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US military buildup in Red Sea 'serious' threat to intl. shipping: Yemen

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 8:25 AM

Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement has cautioned that the US militarization of the Red Sea in an attempt to serve the Israeli regime will pose a serious threat to international shipping in the strategic waterway.

Ansarullah made the statement on Friday after the United States, which has over the past weeks been spearheading a maritime coalition in the Red Sea under the pretext of safeguarding the transit of vessels in the area, claimed that the Yemeni forces and the popular resistance movement were targeting international ships and jeopardizing the security of the Red Sea.

The United States and the coalition members warned Yemen's Armed Forces of "consequences" if they continued their missile and drone attacks against ships en route to Israeli ports in support of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Ansarullah said the Yemeni armed forces never attacked international ships and that the security and safety of international maritime transport in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait was guaranteed by them.

"The US claim and the statement of 12 countries regarding the [Yemeni] threat to international shipping is not true. This threat stems from the militarization of the Red Sea by the United States to serve the Israeli regime and encourage the regime to continue its crimes against Gaza," the resistance movement said in a statement.

"The Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and its genocidal crimes against Palestinians, which has entered the fourth consecutive month, should have forced the so-called international community or the UN Security Council to stop such massacres by the Israeli regime," it added.

Ansarullah categorically censured the Israeli aggression against the besieged territory and said it has so far killed more than 22,000 Palestinians, injured tens of thousands of others, and "destroyed everything in Gaza."

"The bloody events that have been taking place in Gaza for the past three consecutive months would not have been possible without the support of the United States and the complicity of Western countries with the criminal Zionist regime and encouraging it to continue its crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip," Ansarullah said.

Underlining that the regional countries cannot remain idle in the face of Israel's genocidal war in Gaza and its suffocating siege on the Palestinian territory, the resistance movement said, "The Yemeni armed forces have carried out their missile, drone and naval operations to target the ships of the Israeli regime or the ships that move towards the ports of occupied Palestine."

The statement said the US and its allies should know that their "evil alliance" will not prevent Yemen from continuing to support the oppressed people of Gaza by carrying out military operations against the ships of the Israeli regime or the ships that move towards the occupied Palestinian ports.

"Any attack on Yemen calls for a large-scale response, and Yemen does not accept any threat to its security and stability, and rejects the claim of the United States and its allies that Yemen is a threat to international shipping in the Red Sea," Ansarullah said.

"The alliance of the United States and its allies was formed to support the Israeli regime and protect the ships of this regime, which is a real threat to the security and safety of international shipping and the security of the entire region," the movement added, stressing that the coalition should bear the consequences of its escalation in the strategic waterway.

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine's struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory's Palestinian resistance movements carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

The relentless Israeli military campaign against Gaza has killed at least 22,438 people, most of them women and children. More than 57,614 individuals have been wounded.

Reports revealed that Israeli shipping companies have already decided to reroute their vessels in fear of attacks by Yemeni forces.

Yemeni forces have also launched missile and drone attacks on targets in the Israeli-occupied territories after the regime's aggression on Gaza.

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Jan. 4: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 7:15 AM

By Press TV Website Staff

Resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against Israel and its Western backers amid the regime's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed the lives of more than 22,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women.

The operations carried out by the Palestinian and regional resistance groups on Thursday, January 4, are as follows:

Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on Jan. 4:

Destroyed three Merkava tanks, west of Al-Maghazi in central Gaza and the other north of Khan Yunis city.

Shelled Israeli military forces and their vehicles in Khan Yunis city with mortars.

Detonated a powerful explosive device among an Israeli infantry force inside a building, leading to casualties, north of Al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

Detonated an anti-personnel explosive device within a fortified Israeli force in the Al-Maghraqa area in central Gaza.

Targeted an Israeli military gathering in Bureij camp with heavy-caliber mortars.

Destroyed two Merkava tanks with 'Al-Yassin-105' shells in Al-Mahatta and Al-Katiba areas in Khan Yunis city, southern Gaza.

Shelled Israeli regime forces in Al-Maghraqa north of Al-Nuseirat camp with mortars.

Pounded an Israeli military gathering in Khan Yunis city, southern Gaza, with mortars.

Targeted an Israeli military gathering and a military vehicle in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City with an RPG, causing casualties.

Targeted an Israeli military force in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City with mortars.

Al-Quds Brigades' operations on Jan. 4:

Destroyed two Israeli military vehicles with RPGs, east of Al-Bureij camp, in central Gaza.

In a joint operation with Al-Qassam Brigades, targeted a gathering of Israeli regime forces in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City with mortars.

Engaged in clashes with Israeli military forces in the central Khan Yunis city.

Palestinian Mujahideen Brigades' operations on Jan. 4:

Targeted a fortified Israeli military force in the Al-Shati area, west of Gaza City, with an anti-personnel explosive device.

Shelled Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles with short-range rocket barrages in central Gaza City.

Martyr Omar Al-Qassem Brigades' operations on Jan. 4:

Engaged in clashes with Israeli regime forces, east of Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi camps, and detonated an explosive device southeast of Al-Bureij camp on Israeli military vehicles, causing deaths and injuries

Targeted Israeli military vehicles in the Mahata area in central Khan Younis with RPGs, and confirmed a direct hit on one of the vehicles, causing casualties.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on Jan. 4:

Targeted an Israeli military vehicle with an RPG, in the east of the Al-Bureij neighborhood.

Engaged in clashes with Israeli forces in central Khan Younis city, using machine guns and RPGs.

Al-Nasser Salah Al-Din Brigades' operations on Jan. 4:

Shelled a gathering of Israeli occupation forces and their vehicles in Khan Younis city with four heavy-caliber mortars.

Hezbollah's operations on Jan. 4

Eastern sector:

At around 11:10 local time, Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Al-Manara site were targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 11:20 local time, Israeli soldiers in Metulla were targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 16:00 local time, spy equipment of the regime was targeted at the Miskaf site, leading to complete destruction.

At around 16:00 local time, Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Al-Marj site were targeted.

Western sector:

At around 9:00 local time, Israeli regime soldiers were targeted in Shtoula.

At around 11:00 local time, the Al-Jardah site was targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 18:30 local time, Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Shomera Barracks were targeted.

Iraqi resistance's operations on Jan. 4:

Attacked a US military base at Al-Rukban camp in Syria using suicide drones, leading to casualties and material damage.

Attacked a US military base in the Al-Omar oil field in Syria using suicide drones, leading to casualties.

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UN 'very disturbed' by Israeli ministers' calls for Palestinians to migrate from Gaza

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 7:11 AM

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said that he was "very disturbed" by Israeli calls for Palestinians to leave the besieged Gaza Strip, stressing that international law prohibits their forcible transfer.

Israel's far-right so-called "national security" minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for promoting "a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza's residents" and the construction of Israeli settlements in the strip.

His remarks came a day after far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich also urged the return of settlers to Gaza. Smotrich said Israel should "encourage" Gaza's 2.4 million people to leave.

"Very disturbed by high-level Israeli officials' statements on plans to transfer civilians from Gaza to third countries," Turk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.

He noted that "international law prohibits forcible transfer of protected persons within or deportation from occupied territory."

A day earlier, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said the forcible transfer of Gazans is an "act of genocide."

"Forcible transfer of Gazan population is an act of genocide, especially given the high number of children," he said, warning other states not to be part of such a move.

"Congolese or other states' officials will be guilty of aiding and abetting genocide if they agree to any transfer of population," Rajagopal said on X.

That came as media reports said Israeli officials have held clandestine talks with the African nation of Congo and several others for the potential acceptance of displaced Gazans.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 22,438 Palestinians and injured more than 57,614 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under "complete siege" by Israel.

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Several soldiers injured in drone strike on US-occupied base in eastern Syria: Report

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 6:52 AM

Several US service members have been reportedly injured in a drone operation against a military base in Syria's eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr as anti-US sentiments continue to rise in the region amid Washington's support for Israel's war on Gaza.

Several sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic-language service of Russia's Sputnik news agency that the strike against the facility at the al-Omar oil field on Thursday night resulted in casualties and infrastructural damage.

They added that US military helicopters could be seen taking off from the base and heading northwards to transport the injured to other bases and field hospitals belonging to the US military.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, in a statement published on its Telegram channel claimed responsibility for the drone strike on the US military base.

The group noted that the airstrike was carried out in retaliation for US support of Israel's bloody war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The development came shortly after another combat drone struck the US military base in the al-Rukban region of southeastern Syria.

The US House of Representatives on November 2 passed a standalone $14.3-billion military assistance package for Israel. The legislation, however, is yet to clear the Senate.

Washington, which has backed Tel Aviv's ferocious attacks on Gaza as a means of "self-defense," has also been casting its veto against the United Nations Security Council resolutions that called on the occupying regime to cease its aggression.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship, since Palestinian resistance movements launched their surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the regime on October 7.

At least 22,438 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed. Another 57,614 individuals have sustained injuries as well.

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Israel struck Gaza with 65k tons of missiles, bombs: Report

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 3:01 AM

The Israeli regime has reportedly dropped more than 65,000 tons of missiles and bombs on the Gaza Strip during its ongoing genocidal war against the coastal sliver.

Gaza's Government Media Office (GMO) provided the information in a report on Thursday.

The "occupation aircraft dropped over 45,000 missiles and giant bombs, some of them weighing two thousand pounds of explosives, during the comprehensive genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, deliberately targeting entire residential areas," it said.

"The weight of the explosives dropped by the [Israeli] army on the Gaza Strip exceeded 65,000 tons, which is more than the weight and power of three nuclear bombs like those dropped [by the United States] on the Japanese city of Hiroshima [in 1945]," it added.

More than 24,200 people, most of them women and children, have died throughout Gaza since October 7, when the regime launched the war against the Palestinian territory in response to an operation staged by its resistance movements.

The GMO said that "two-thirds of the bombs and missiles are unguided and imprecise, commonly known as dumb bombs."

It pointed out that the use of such bombs indicated the regime's deliberate, indiscriminate, and unjustified targeting of civilians.

The report documented the Israeli military's deployment of around nine types of internationally banned projectiles against civilians.

Despite targeting Gaza with the whopping amount of explosives, the regime has stopped short of realizing any of its stated goals, including bringing about forced displacement of the territory's population to neighboring countries and obliterating the Gaza-based resistance movement of Hamas.

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Philippines hits back at China, says joint patrols with US not 'provocative'

The activity, held within its territory, is its 'sovereign right,' Manila said.

By Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews 2024.01.05 -- The Philippines on Friday defended its joint South China Sea patrols with the United States against a Chinese claim that they were "provocative," saying the maneuvers took place within its territorial waters and were consistent with international law.

But Manila remains open to "diplomatic discussions" with China, Filipino National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said, a day after the Philippine and U.S. militaries completed a second joint patrol in the disputed waterway.

"We wish to clarify that the joint maritime activities between the Philippines and the United States were clearly conducted within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and are consistent with international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), so how can they be deemed provocative?" Ano said in a statement.

"The Philippines is merely exercising its sovereign right to engage in such activities within its territory."

On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin had called the Philippine-U.S. patrols "irresponsible," saying they were "detrimental to management and control of the maritime situation and related disputes."

Other nations must respect "efforts of countries in the region to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea," he said.

The Philippine national security adviser said Manila was committed to maintaining regional peace.

"Our joint patrols with the United States and potential future activities with other allied countries shows our mutual commitment to a rules-based international order and for promoting peace and stability of the region," Ano said in a statement.

The national security adviser said Manila wanted to maintain a cordial rapport with all countries.

"The Philippines remains open to diplomatic discussions with China and reaffirms its commitment to fostering good relations with all nations," Ano said. "We believe that through peaceful dialogue and adherence to international law, we can achieve a resolution that serves the best interests of all parties involved in the region."

In 2016, the Philippines won a landmark ruling in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that threw out China's expansive claims in the South China Sea. Beijing, however, has ignored the ruling and carried on with its military expansionism in the strategic waterway, including building artificial islands.

As was the case with the first round of joint patrols, which were launched in late November, this week's patrols took place in the waters and skies of the Philippines' EEZ.

The first joint sea and air patrols between the two allies, a three-day program, was meant to demonstrate bilateral muscle-flexing in the face of perceived Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

Those maneuvers involved three navy ships and three fighter-jets from the Philippine military, and one littoral combat ship and an aircraft from the American side.

The governments of both nations have been allies since they signed their Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951.

Message that 'Philippines is not alone'

On Friday, Filipino military spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the second patrol, a series of operations held Wednesday and Thursday, required "complete coordination between Philippine and U.S. assets to enhance the operational capabilities and interoperability of both forces."

For the activity, the Philippine military sent four ships, a multi-role helicopter, and an anti-submarine helicopter, while the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, deployed an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, and its strike group that included a cruiser, and two destroyers.

Maritime security expert Ray Powell, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, said the joint activity increased "Manila's leverage" internationally.

"These exercises send the message that the Philippines is not alone in the West Philippine Sea, but must be considered by potential adversaries as part of a network of military allies and partners," Powell told BenarNews on Friday.

Two weeks earlier, the Philippines said it intended to expand multinational patrols in the South China Sea. He said France, Canada, India, the U.K. and New Zealand had expressed an interest in joining such patrols.

All these nations support the 2016 arbitration court's ruling that invalidated China's sweeping claims to the sea.

In recent months, China has been harassing Filipino forces delivering supplies to its forces at its military outpost in Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal. Last month, a civilian-led convoy carrying Christmas gifts to forces there was forced to turn back after a Chinese ship shadowed it relentlessly.

Jeoffrey Maitem in Davao City, southern Philippines, contributed to this report.

BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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The Azadi Briefing: Conditions For Afghan Journalists Worsened In 2023

By Abubakar Siddique January 05, 2024

The Key Issue

Afghan journalists complain of growing restrictions amid mounting Taliban repression during the past year.

Journalists inside the country told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that access to information and censorship is tightening as they face torture, beatings, arrests, and threats.

"Freedom of expression faces grave challenges," said a journalist who requested anonymity. He added that the Taliban often prevented them from publishing critical stories.

A woman journalist in western Afghanistan said that the Taliban barred her from doing her job.

"It was the worst year for journalists," she told Radio Azadi. "I was repeatedly thrown out of press conferences just because I am a woman."

The Taliban has banned women from showing their faces on television. It has also shut down radio stations run by women.

The Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC), an Afghan media watchdog, has documented 168 cases of violence and intimidation against journalists. These include instances of censorship, lack of access to information, detentions, conviction, torture, and threats.

Afghanistan is now one of the seven most dangerous countries for journalists globally, according to the global media watchdog Reports Without Borders.

In March, a bomb attack claimed by Islamic State-Khorasan, a Taliban rival, killed three journalists and injured 20 more.

Why It's Important: Since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, press freedom has dramatically declined in Afghanistan. It flourished while the pro-western Afghan republic existed from 2001 to 2021.

Despite early Taliban promises to allow media freedom, its hard-line government has tortured, threatened, and detained scores of journalists.

The once vibrant Afghan media was dramatically diminished after the Taliban closed independent print and electronic media outlets. Television and radio stations as well as newspapers also shut down after losing international funding.

In draconian efforts to control the free flow of information, the Taliban has denied visas to foreign correspondents and banned some international broadcasters.

Hundreds of Afghan journalists went into exile after the Taliban's return to power. Many were harassed or fled out of fear of persecution by the Taliban.

What's Next: The Taliban is shaping a media environment that only serves its interests.

Even the independent media outlets still working inside Afghanistan are increasingly unable to publish or broadcast anything critical of the Taliban. At the same time, the group appears to be determined to replace journalism with propaganda.

Without access to the country, international media too will find it difficult to do in-depth reporting about Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

What To Keep An Eye On

The February 8 parliamentary elections in Pakistan appear to be under increasing threat from Islamist militants along the country's western border with Afghanistan.

On January 3, former lawmaker Mohsin Dawar survived an assassination attempt in North Waziristan. He leads a secular Pashtun political party, the National Democratic Movement, which opposes the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban groups.

On the same day, a candidate of the Islamist Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-), Qari Khairullah, survived a roadside bomb attack in Bajaur. North Waziristan and Bajaur are districts in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

These were the latest in the growing number of attacks on the February 8 parliamentary elections being held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of Pakistan. The region is bearing the brunt of attacks by Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan. The TTP shares ideological and organizational ties with the Afghan Taliban.

Why It's Important: The TTP's campaign has already poisoned Islamabad's relationship with its erstwhile ally, the Taliban.

Since October, Pakistan has repeatedly shut border crossings with Afghanistan and expelled more than half a million Afghans to try to pressure the Afghan Taliban.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/azadi-afghan- journalists-conditions-worsened-2023-siddique/32762760.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Kosovo Allows Uncovered Serbian License Plates In Move To Improve Relations

By RFE/RL's Balkan Service January 05, 2024

Kosovo's government has decided to cancel a decision to put stickers on vehicles with Serbian license plates to hide their origin following a move by Belgrade last month to allow vehicles with Kosovar license plates to move freely in its territory from the beginning of this week.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government said late on January 4 that canceling the requirement to put stickers over the part of license plates showing a car was from Serbia "is an act of good neighborliness and comes after full recognition of the number plates of the Republic of Kosovo by Serbia."

Vehicle license plates became a flashpoint over their display of national symbols. Until now, vehicles from either Kosovo or Serbia could cross the border only if they placed stickers to hide the symbols.

Serbia decided on December 25 to allow all vehicles from Kosovo with Republic of Kosovo license plates to cross freely, a move the EU welcomed as a "positive step."

Serbia in 2011 agreed to recognize Kosovar license plates and vice versa after a European Union-mediated deal, but the decision was never fully implemented.

Kosovo last year pulled back from a controversial decision to penalize drivers who did not swap vehicle license plates issued by Serbia for those issued by Pristina.

The EU has mediated talks since 2013 aimed at normalizing relations between the two neighbors, who share a 366-kilometer border. But lingering resentments are high, and officials on both sides have been reluctant to abandon nationalist rhetoric in pursuit of a breakthrough.

Ethnic cleansing and other atrocities during fighting in the 1990s left many areas ethnically homogeneous, although ethnic Serbs predominate in northern Kosovo and ethnic Albanians are a majority in a few communities in southern Serbia. Belgrade refuses to recognize an independent Kosovo.

Two recent outbreaks of violence in northern Kosovo -- when ethnic Serbs clashed with NATO peacekeepers in May followed by a deadly cross-border assault on Kosovar police by commando-style gunmen in September -- have underscored the risk to regional stability posed by ongoing Albanian-Serb enmity.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-serbia-license-plates- stickers/32762608.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Tajikistan's Media Landscape In Its 'Worse State' Since Independence, Watchdog Says

By RFE/RL January 05, 2024

The media landscape in Tajikistan is in its "worst state" since the Central Asian nation's civil war in the 1990s as the country's authoritarian president, Emomali Rahmon, establishes himself as an "absolute power with no tolerance for dissent," a media watchdog said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on its annual report released on January 4 that seven journalists in Tajikistan were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on dubious charges in 2022 and 2023 as the government's crackdown on the media intensified.

Four journalists - Abdullo Ghurbati, Zavqibek Saidamini, Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda, and Khurshed Fozilov - received sentences of seven to 7 1/2 years; while Khushom Ghulom received eight years; Daler Imomali 10 years; and Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva 20 years in prison - developments seen by many as a deeply chilling escalation in the years-long constriction of Tajikistan's independent media, the report said.

The cases against the journalists have been widely seen as government retaliation for their work, according to the report, titled In Tajikistan, Independent Media Throttled By State Repression.

The CPJ said that Tajikistan's media environment was relatively diverse more than a decade ago, when authorities allowed some criticism and debate, as long as local media avoided reporting on the president and his family.

Now, only two significant independent media voices remain in Tajikistan: the privately owned news agency Asia-Plus and Radio Ozodi, as the Tajik Service of the congressionally funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is known, the report said.

Both Asia-Plus and Radio Ozodi face harassment and threats, and their websites have long been subjected to partial shutdowns, it added. Asia-Plus has been forced to reduce its political coverage following a threat from authorities to close down its operation.

Four RFE/RL journalists were attacked in Dushanbe after interviewing Mamadshoeva immediately before her arrest, and the authorities' threat of closure against Asia-Plus was issued over its coverage of anti-government protests in the restive Gorno-Badakhshan region in the country's east.

Other media outlets either avoid political topics entirely in fear of the government or barely function due to a lack of funding, the report stated.

The government uses various levers - such as the tax authorities or law enforcement agencies -- to put pressure on the media, the CPJ said, citing local sources.

One journalist who wished to remain anonymous was quoted by the CPJ as saying that the authorities "can make it known to a [financially] struggling outlet that it will be hit with huge tax fines, or its management will face criminal charges, and it's advisable just to lay things down."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, several local journalists also told the CPJ that they often opt for self-censorship to avoid possible retaliation from the authorities.

They also noted that Tajik journalists have become "demoralized" following the government's intensified attacks on the media in 2022. There's been an uptick in Tajik journalists fleeing their country or leaving the profession, while young people are reluctant to choose journalism as a career, they added.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-media-landscape- committee-to-protect-journalists/32761778.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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U.S. Puts Baku On Religious Freedom Watch List As Commission Takes Dim View Of Belarus Law

By RFE/RL January 05, 2024

The United States has put Azerbaijan and three other countries on a watch list for engaging in or tolerating "severe violations of religious freedom" after Baku took over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on January 4 that Azerbaijan joins the list along with the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam.

The designation comes after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) pointed to concerns about the preservation of Christian religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh. The takeover by Azerbaijan in September prompted virtually the entire population of 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.

The commission also voiced alarm over regulations on religious practice in the Muslim-majority country under President Ilham Aliyev, including a requirement that all religious groups be registered and their literature approved by an official body.

Blinken said in addition to the State Department's "special watch list," there are 12 "countries of particular concern" -- Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. There was no change in this list from the year before.

In a separate statement on January 4, the USCIRF, which makes recommendations but does not set U.S. policy, complained about a setback to religious freedom in Belarus.

It said a law signed on January 3 by authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka tightening the activities of religious organizations retains the most regressive provisions of the country's 2002 religion law and imposes more undue restrictions on religious communities.

The legislation requires compliance within a year and sets guidelines for religious organizations' activities to help those with addictions and provide social services for the elderly and disabled.

"Instead of repealing its highly restrictive religion law enacted over two decades ago, which did not meet international human rights standards, Belarusian officials have doubled down and implemented a more repressive religion law that grants the government unbridled control over religious communities and their affairs," said USCIRF Chairman Abraham Cooper.

The final text has not been published, but the draft version bars people deemed to have participated in extremist activities from leading religious groups.

Cooper said the restrictions mean religious communities "will face the daunting choice of practicing their religion or belief 'illegally' or submitting to a brutal regime that uses indiscriminate force and intimidation against its own people."

Blinken said advancing the freedom of religion "has been a core objective of U.S. foreign policy ever since Congress passed and enacted the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998."

He said governments must end abuses such as attacks on members of religious minority communities and their places of worship. He also called for an end to lengthy imprisonment for peaceful expression and calls to violence against religious communities.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/religious-freedom-azerbaijan- belarus-united-states-report/32761553.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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US Navy Pays Lockheed $1.15Bln More to Build New Maintenance Sites For F-35

Sputnik News

20240105

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Navy has awarded a more than $1.15 billion contract extension to Lockheed Martin to create more maintenance and sustainment sites to ensure the operation of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleets of the US armed forces, the Department of Defense announced in a press release.

"Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $1,153,427,771 cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price-incentive-fee modification (P00007) against a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract," the release said on Thursday.

The contract extension increases the ceiling to provide site activation and hardware requirements, to include site activation events and training devices, as well as contract management, planning and readiness reviews for the aircraft, the most expensive in history.

"Additionally, this effort provides production readiness requirements and production engineering for training device production lines in support of F-35A, F-35B and F-35C aircraft initial sustainment activities for the Air Force, Marine Corps, [and] Navy," the release said.

Most of the work on the contract will be performed at Lockheed Martin facilities in Orlando, Florida (82.5%) and Fort Worth, Texas (14.3%) over the next five years and is expected to be completed in December 2028, the Defense Department said.

Overhaul of Nuclear Attack Submarines

The US Navy is paying a Virginia shipyard an additional nearly $284 million to complete the engineering overhaul of a nuclear attack submarine, the Department of Defense announced in a press release.

"Huntington Ingalls Industries [of] Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia was awarded a $283,939,994 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-15-C-4301) for completion of the USS Columbus (SSN 762) engineered overhaul," the release said on Thursday.

Work on the project will be performed in Newport News, Virginia over the next two years and is expected to be completed by December 2025, the Defense Department said.

The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC will oversee work on the project, the Defense Department added.

 Sputnik

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Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

Department of Public Information . News and Media Division . New York

5 January 2024

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Stephanie Tremblay, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

** Gaza

Well, good afternoon everyone, thank you so much for your patience, and happy Friday.

I have a few notes for you, then I will hopefully be able to answer all your questions.

So, let me start with a statement from Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. He says that three months since the horrific attacks of 7 October, Gaza has become a place of death and despair.

He said the humanitarian community has been left with the impossible mission of supporting more than 2 million people, even as its own staff are being killed and displaced, as communication blackouts continue, as roads are damaged and convoys shot at, and as commercial supplies vital to the survival of people there are almost non-existent. So, that statement is being emailed out by OCHA [Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] and is available also on their website.

And we have a bit more of an operational update. His Office today tells us that we and our partners continue to do all we can to meet the massive needs in Gaza.

However, they say the current response is only meeting a fraction of people's needs.

On the food security front, our partners continue to do all they can to support people in Gaza but they are constrained by security risks and mobility constraints.

Yesterday, we had quite a few numbers from the World Food Programme for what they were able to achieve in recent days. Now I can tell you that in December the World Food Programme reached more than 975,000 vulnerable people with food aid across Gaza and the West Bank.

And for its part, UNICEF has been delivering vital supplies to the Gaza Strip, including vaccines, medical supplies, hygiene kits, ready-to-use infant formula, and other items.

** Peacekeeping

And now I have a trip announcement for you from our UN Peacekeeping colleagues. The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, will begin a visit to the three peacekeeping missions in the Middle East tomorrow. The visit is one that he conducts regularly but, on this occasion, the mission is taking place during challenging times, as you know. His priorities are to express his solidarity and support for peacekeepers, troop-contributing countries, and other partners, as well as the communities that we serve.

He will also engage with various political and security actors to discuss the activities of the missions.

Mr. Lacroix will arrive in Syria on 6 January  and that is tomorrow  to meet with UN Disengagement Observer Force leadership and peacekeepers. He will also meet senior Government officials in Damascus.

And then on the 9th  that is I believe Tuesday  he will travel to Beirut where he will meet Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, and other officials to update them on the operations of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon  better known as UNIFIL. He will then head to Naqoura in southern Lebanon to meet with the Lebanese Armed Forces, UNIFIL leadership and peacekeepers. And during the last leg, Mr. Lacroix will visit the UN Truce Supervision Organization headquarters in Jerusalem and will also meet with Israeli Government and military officials, and as you can imagine, we will keep you updated on this mission as it evolves.

** Food Price Index

I have now something that we do typically every month, I have the Food Price Index. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today that the benchmark for world food commodity prices declined in December compared to the previous month, with the sharpest drop in international sugar quotations.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 118.5 points in December, down 1.5 per cent from November and down 10.1 per cent from December 2022.

For 2023, the Index was 13.7 per cent lower than the average value over the preceding year, with only the international sugar price index higher over that period.

** Senior Personnel Appointment

And to conclude today, I have a senior personnel appointment for you. So today, the Secretary-General is appointing Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar of Colombia as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus.

The Secretary-General has asked Ms. Holguin to assume a good offices role on his behalf to search for common ground on the way forward and to advise him on the Cyprus issue.

Ms. Holguin brings extensive diplomatic experience at the highest levels, including as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia from 2010 to 2018.

And there is a lot more about this, about her, online.

** Questions and Answers

Associate Spokesperson : And now I am ready for you. James, please, go ahead.

Question : Yes. I wanted to ask about the proposal that's come from the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of how Gaza should be governed after the conflict. A proposal of full Israeli sovereignty, then rather confusingly also multinational task force with Western and Arab nations, I'm not quite sure which Arab nations would serve, and then local Palestinians in charge of civil affairs. What's the UN's reaction to this proposal?

Associate Spokesperson : So we understand that this at this point is as you just rightly pointed is a proposal. It's not a plan that has been sanctioned, approved by the Government. Our position is clear and remains unchanged. And on this, let me reiterate a few points that the Secretary-General has made directly and repeatedly. First, I can reiterate his call first and foremost for a humanitarian ceasefire, an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. I can also reiterate that we stand firmly against any forced displacement. And let me just quote a little bit from what he said to you here before Christmas. He said, as difficult as it might appear today, the two-State solution in line with UN resolutions, international line, previous agreements, is really the only path to sustainable peace.

Question : Well, yeah. Alright. Okay. Well, a full Israeli security zone in Gaza is a retreat from a two-State solution. It's going backwards because although Gaza was blockaded, it didn't have Israeli forces in it. So does he think this is a step backwards?

Associate Spokesperson : He stands firmly for work to resume for the two-State solution there.

Question : And would UN officials, UN monitors, he's floated the idea of UN monitors, but also you've got UN humanitarian people, particularly UNRWA, operating in Gaza. Would the Secretary-General be happy to have them operating in Gaza at a time when Israel maintained full security control? It's that particular bit I'm trying to get out. Is that acceptable to the United Nations?

Associate Spokesperson : You know, at this point, you know, this is really, it's not a sanctioned plan. It's a proposal. I don't want to speculate on things that may or may not happen. You know, for us, as the Secretary-General said, repeatedly, really, what is important is really to work towards the two-State solution, to have first the humanitarian ceasefire, to try to find a way to address the immense and growing needs of the population there. To facilitate the aid of humanitarian delivery, to release all the hostages, and to resume work seriously towards a two-state solution. I won't speculate on things that may or may not happen. Yes, Edie.

Question : The Israelis continue to state that there is enough food in Gaza and to blame the United Nations distribution system for failing to get food to the 2.3 million people in the territory. What is the UN's response to these continuing claims?

Associate Spokesperson : Every day, here at this briefing, we highlight what we are able to achieve, what aid we are able to bring in, what are the impediments, what are the challenges. I think, you know, to quote the Secretary-General again on this, he said: "It's a mistake to quote the effectiveness of the humanitarian operation in Gaza based only on the number of trucks. An effective aid operation in Gaza requires security. It requires staff who can work in safety. It requires good logistical capacity and the resumption of commercial activity." And until this is met, I think the challenges will remain. Today, Martin Griffith's statement, once again, emphasizes the challenges that the UN and partners are faced with to really address the desperate needs of people there. Do we have other questions? Do we have someone online? I don't think so. On that note, well, happy Friday, everyone. Thank you.

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Nearly 600 attacks on healthcare in Gaza and West Bank since war began: WHO

5 January 2024 - Hospitals and other vital medical infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank have been attacked nearly 600 times since war erupted in the enclave in response to the Hamas-led terror attack in southern Israel, the UN health agency said on Friday.

Some 613 people have died within health facilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October last year - 606 in Gaza and seven in the West Bank - and more than 770 have been injured, according to latest data on healthcare attacks from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Condemning the continuing fighting and bombardment, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that the "ongoing reduction of humanitarian space plus the continuing attacks on healthcare are pushing the people of Gaza to breaking point".

Children in the Gaza Strip face a deadly triple threat to their lives, as cases of diseases rise, nutrition plummets and the escalation in hostilities approaches its fourteenth week.

Thousands of children have already died from the violence, while living conditions for children continue to rapidly deteriorate, with increasing cases of diarrhoea and rising food poverty among children, raising the risk of mounting child deaths.

Hundreds of facilities hit

WHO's online platform covering attacks on healthcare indicated 304 attacks in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. The attacks affected 94 health care facilities (including 26 hospitals damaged out of 36) and 79 ambulances.

In the West Bank, 286 attacks caused seven deaths and 52 injuries. Some 24 health facilities were affected along with 212 ambulances.

'Nightmare' conditions for children: UNICEF

The head of the UN Children's Fund UNICEF said in a statement on Friday that children in Gaza "are caught in a nightmare that worsens with every passing day".

Catherine Russell noted young lives are "increasingly at risk from preventable diseases and lack of food and water. All children and civilians must be protected from violence and have access to basic services and supplies."

Cases of diarrhoea in children under five rose from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week starting 17 December, equivalent to 3,200 new cases of diarrhea per day.

She said the significant increase indicated child health in Gaza is "fast deteriorating". Before the escalation in hostilities, an average of 2,000 cases of diarrhea in children under five were recorded per month.

Relief effort stymied

A statement released on Thursday by Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for aid coordination office OCHA, echoed repeated concerns by humanitarians that the speed and volume of relief is being continually hampered by conditions on the ground.

"The UN and our humanitarian partners are committed to and continue to do all they can to meet the growing needs in Gaza. However, the operating environment and response capacity continues to be hindered by security risks, mobility constraints, delays and denials", Ms. Kaneko said.

"Multiple inspections, long queues of trucks and difficulties at crossing points continue to hamper operations. Inside Gaza, aid operations face constant bombardments, with aid workers themselves killed and some convoys having been shot at.

The OCHA official made clear other challenges include poor communications, damaged roads and delays at checkpoints.

"An effective aid operation in Gaza requires security, staff who can work in safety, logistical capacity and the resumption of commercial activity."

142 UNRWA staff killed

Meanwhile, the UN agency providing help to Palestinians, UNRWA, said that the total number of staff killed since the beginning of hostilities stands at 142.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees also reported that since 7 October last year, up to 1.9 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some multiple times.

This number represents over 85 per cent of the population of the Gaza Strip, UNRWA said, adding that families have been forced to move "repeatedly in search of safety".

Nearly 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) now shelter in 155 UNRWA facilities across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip.

This figure includes 160,000 in the north and Gaza City according to data last revised shortly after the escalation began.

Another 500,000 people "are in close vicinity of these installations and receiving assistance" from UNRWA, the UN agency said in an update.

IOM launches $69 million appeal

The UN's migration agency IOM launched an urgent appeal on Friday for $69 million to support its response to rising and critical humanitarian needs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The appeal also covers neighbouring countries affected by the ongoing hostilities in Gaza.

In a statement, IOM said that hundreds of thousands of civilians need aid desperately. But getting help to them continues to be hampered by "long clearance procedures for humanitarian aid trucks at the border (and) the intense ground operation and fighting".

"Frequent disruption" to communication networks has also prevented humanitarian aid coordination, the UN agency said "along with insecurity, blocked roads and scarcity of fuel".

Outside Gaza, IOM noted that deteriorating security situation along border areas between Israel and Lebanon has forced some 76,000 people from their homes in southern Lebanon.

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USS Normandy transits through the Strait of Gibraltar

US Navy

05 January 2024

The Ticonderoga-class guided missile destroyer USS Normandy, a part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) transited the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 5, 2024.

Normandy entered the 6th Fleet area of operations in June 2023 to support the Ford CSG on its inaugural deployment.

Normandy and the Ford CSG worked extensively with regional allies and partners over the course of deployment to demonstrate the U.S. and NATO commitment to maritime security in Europe and Africa. In addition to conducting air defense exercises to increase interoperability with allies, Normandy and the Ford CSG provided a persistent stabilizing force in the Eastern Mediterranean following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas.

"Transiting the Strait of Gibraltar is a time-honored rite of passage for military and civilian mariners alike," said Lt. Donald Luchau, ship's navigator. "The Strait guards access to the Mediterranean Sea, one of the most significant operating areas for the U.S. Navy. With its close proximity to land, and high traffic density, bridge watch standers are tasked with the highest levels of bridge resource management, ship-handling, and navigation to undertake this important milestone."

The strait is 7.7 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point with heavy traffic consisting of ferries, merchants and fishing boats from both continents.

"I have served onboard Normandy for seven years and this will be my tenth time crossing through the Strait," said Fire Controlman (AEGIS) 1st Class Calvin Espich. "Even though I have done it so many times, I always come up topside to watch the view."

The Ford CSG is currently on an 8-month deployment to support maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is comprised of its flagship and namesake, the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8), Destroyer Squadron Two (DESRON-2), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG-60), and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Ramage (DDG 61), USS McFaul (DDG 74), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116). The squadrons of CVW-8 embarked aboard Gerald R. Ford are the "Tridents" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9, the "Spartans" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70, the "Bear Aces" of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 124, the "Ragin' Bulls" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 37, the "Blacklions" of VFA-213, the "Golden Warriors" of VFA-87, the "Tomcatters" of VFA-31, the "Gray Wolves" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 142, and the "Rawhides" of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40.

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USS Gerald R. Ford Transits the Strait of Gibraltar

US Navy

05 January 2024

From U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

The U.S. Navy's largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), and embarked staff from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12, transited the Strait of Gibraltar and exited the Mediterranean Sea after conducting operations in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, Jan. 5, 2024.

Since June, Ford has conducted training, exercises, and operations in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility in support of maritime stability and security in defense of U.S., Allied, and partner interests.

"Throughout our time in the Mediterranean, the ship and crew both performed remarkably. Our sailors breathed life into the ship's advanced technologies to demonstrate the extraordinary capabilities Ford-class carriers will provide to future generations," said Capt. Rick Burgess, commanding officer of Ford. "At the height of our readiness and proficiency, we were called to the Eastern Med, and proved to be the right ship at the right time to answer our nation's calling. The Gerald R. Ford is everything our nation hoped it would be, and more."

The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the busiest waterways in the world, with approximately 300 ships crossing the Strait every day. Completing this transit and entering the Atlantic Ocean is a major milestone and one of the last scheduled operations of Gerald R. Ford's 8-month deployment.

Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy's capacity to project power on a global scale. Ford-class aircraft carriers introduce 23 new technologies, including Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, Advanced Arresting Gear and Advanced Weapons Elevators. The new systems incorporated onto Ford-class ships are designed to deliver greater lethality, survivability and joint interoperability with a 20% smaller crew than a Nimitz-class carrier, paving the way forward for naval aviation.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is conducting a scheduled deployment in U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, demonstrating the commitment and power projection capability of the Navy's globally deployed force. The GRFCSG provides an inherently flexible naval force capable of deploying across combatant commands to meet emerging missions, deter potential adversaries, reassure allies and partners, enhance security and guarantee the free flow of global commerce. In total, the GRFCSG is deployed with more than 5,000 Sailors across all platforms ready to respond globally to combatant commander tasking.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group consists of Carrier Strike Group 12, Carrier Air Wing 8, Destroyer Squadron 2, USS Normandy (CG 60), USS Ramage (DDG 61), USS McFaul (DDG 74), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116).

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations. Our persistent presence in Europe is in accordance with our international commitments and agreements and is necessary to reassure our Allies and Partners of our commitment to collective defense.

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Adm. Kilby Assumes Role as Vice Chief of Naval Operations

US Navy - Press Release

05 January 2024

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti welcomed Adm. James Kilby as the 43rd Vice Chief of Naval Operations in a ceremony at the Pentagon, Jan. 5.

Kilby most recently served as the deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Forces in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a native of Pound Ridge, New York, and a 1986 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He has commanded at unit and strike group levels and is the recipient of the Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale Award for inspirational leadership.

"Adm. Kilby is an exceptional leader who is truly committed to our Sailors and meeting the needs of the Fleet," said Franchetti. "His extensive operational experience combined with his deep requirements and force development expertise will help accelerate change across the force. I am thrilled to have him on board as we lead the Navy through this decisive decade, and I am grateful that he and his family continue to serve the Navy."

Kilby was promoted to the rank of admiral prior to the assumption of office.

"I am honored and humbled to assume this position at such a critical time for our Navy and our nation," said Kilby. "I am excited at the opportunity to support our CNO to ensure the Navy remains the most capable and powerful maritime force in the world."

His biography and photo can be found here: https://www.navy.mil/Leadership/Flag-Officer-Biographies/BioDisplay/Article/2236251/admiral-james-kilby/

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Blinken Begins Middle East Tour in Turkey for Gaza Talks

By VOA News January 05, 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Saturday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, during Blinken's latest trip to the Middle East and Europe aimed at ramping up diplomatic efforts over the Israel-Hamas war and preventing an expansion of the conflict.

His weeklong visit, which will also take him to Israel, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, is his fourth trip to the Middle East since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.

The tour will largely focus on preventing an expansion of the conflict in Gaza to the West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.

The Middle East has been a tinderbox since Iran-backed Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people while taking about 240 people hostage, Israel said. Some of the hostages have been released, with about 130 still in Gaza.

Israel's response has killed more than 22,600 Palestinians, a large percentage of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Neither side differentiates between combatants and civilians.

Blinken also will reaffirm calls for increasing humanitarian aid in Gaza, the State Department said.

Fears of a widening conflict grew this week after a presumed Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, that killed a senior Hamas official.

On Friday, the leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah said his group must retaliate over the strike.

"We cannot keep silent about a violation of this seriousness," said Hassan Nasrallah, according to The Associated Press. He said the cost of staying quiet is "far greater" than the risks of retaliating.

Hamas and security officials in the region attributed the strike that killed Saleh al-Arouri to an Israeli drone, although Israel has not directly acknowledged responsibility.

In the southern Gaza areas of Khan Younis and Rafah, as well as parts of central Gaza, more than 100 targets were struck, including military positions, rocket launch sites and weapons storage facilities, Agence France-Presse quoted the Israeli military as saying.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have evacuated to southern Gaza, where most have been reduced to living in squalor without access to food, clean drinking water or working toilets.

Israel's defense minister announced Thursday plans for a new stage in its ongoing war in Gaza, including a more targeted strategy in the territory's north. There has been no official acceptance by the Israeli government of the defense minister's plan.

The announcement comes amid rising international pressure, including from the United States, to transition to less intense combat.

Some material for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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UN Aid Chief: Gaza War Must End

By Margaret Besheer January 05, 2024

United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that three months into Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, the territory has become uninhabitable and aid workers are left with the "impossible mission" of supporting more than 2 million people.

"This war should never have started. But it's long past time for it to end," Griffiths said in a statement on the conflict's three-month mark.

"We continue to demand an immediate end to the war, not just for the people of Gaza and its threatened neighbors, but for the generations to come who will never forget these 90 days of hell and of assaults on the most basic precepts of humanity."

The war, sparked by Hamas' October 7 terror attack inside Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw some 240 others taken hostage, has led to a dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 60,000 injured. Hamas is a U.S.-designated terror organization. The U.N. says 1.9 million others have been displaced.

"It is time for the parties to meet all their obligations under international law, including to protect civilians and meet their essential needs, and to release all hostages immediately," Griffiths said.

He said humanitarians are working in challenging and dangerous conditions.

"The humanitarian community has been left with the impossible mission of supporting more than 2 million people, even as its own staff are being killed and displaced, as communication blackouts continue, as roads are damaged and convoys are shot at, and as commercial supplies vital to survival are almost non-existent."

At least 142 staff members from the U.N. agency that assists Palestinians, UNRWA, have died in the conflict, many with their family members.

Children caught in 'nightmare'

The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, said Friday that the intensifying conflict, malnutrition, and the spread of diseases threatens more than 1.1 million children in Gaza.

"Children in Gaza are caught in a nightmare that worsens with every passing day," Catherine Russell, UNICEF's executive director, said in a statement.

She underscored that children and families continue to be killed and injured, and their lives are increasingly at risk from preventable diseases and lack of food and water.

"All children and civilians must be protected from violence and have access to basic services and supplies," she said.

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Diplomatic Spats in East Africa Spark Conflict Fears

By Mohammed Yusuf January 05, 2024

The Horn of Africa is facing two diplomatic crises. Somalia recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia and Sudan recalled its ambassador from Kenya. Both countries complain of alleged interference in their internal affairs and threats to their sovereignty.

Experts warn that the two diplomatic crises, one between Kenya and Sudan, the other between Ethiopia and Somalia, could threaten the stability of East Africa.

Sudan's government, led by the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, General Abdel Fatah al-Burhan, expressed its displeasure with Kenya after the government there gave a warm welcome to Burhan's rival, the leader of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

Kenya received Dagalo Wednesday as part of its efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the nearly nine-month-old Sudan conflict.

Angered by the move, Sudan's government recalled its ambassador from Nairobi.

Al-Burhan sees Kenya as favoring Hemedti in the conflict and has called for Nairobi not to be part of mediation efforts spearheaded by regional bloc IGAD.

In the other crisis, Somali leaders were angered by the agreement this week between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland. The deal would give landlocked Ethiopia access to the sea and allows it to establish a military base in Somaliland, which Somalia considers part of its territory.

To protest the deal, Mogadishu recalled its ambassador from Addis Ababa.

The head of the Horn Institute for Strategic Studies, Hassan Khannenje, explained what the latest diplomatic spats mean for a region that has a history of border disputes and conflicts.

"For Sudan, it complicates efforts to mediate that conflict, considering Kenya has been a key player in the IGAD quartet," Khannenje said. "It also opens another area of potential conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia, considering that just in the recent week, Mogadishu had made efforts to restart the reconciliation talks with Hargeisa. What that does is it torpedoes all those efforts and sends the entire region into a tailspin with regard to diplomacy."

Both Somalia and Sudan have long struggled with internal divisions and conflict, which have displaced millions.

Nasong'o Muliro, an international relations and diplomacy lecturer in Kenya, said some foreign powers, including countries in the Gulf, are fueling the potential conflict between the African countries.

"So many foreign actors are at play in the region, and it's creating alliances that are now also degenerating into inter-state conflicts because the Horn of Africa was basically suffering from internal conflict, but now, we see a spike of inter-state conflicts whether they are armed, but then they are conflict between states," Muliro said.

Muliro said countries like Kenya and Ethiopia should not be taking advantage of the weak central governments in Sudan and Somalia to engage local leaders and pursue their own interests in those countries.

"We are seeing a situation where the tradition that has been there of engaging the government of the day, no matter how weak it is, but now it's almost changing," Muliro said. "We are looking at Hemedti and Burhan and in any case, Africa should be behind Burhan but you can see that the states are selectively almost recognizing Hemedti."

The African Union and other international actors are calling for de-escalation of tensions and respect for each nation's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

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Vietnam's 'Bamboo' Diplomacy Hailed for Balancing Between US, China

By Ha Nguyen January 05, 2024

Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has hailed improved relations with the U.S. and China as significant gains in the country's "bamboo" diplomatic strategy of balancing ties with superpowers.

Last year, Vietnam hosted U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping little more than three months apart, moving closer in relationships with the top two powers  both of which want to court Vietnam, according to experts interviewed by VOA.

Between these two moves, Vietnam elevated Japan to one of its six comprehensive strategic partners, along with the U.S. and China.

When addressing the 32nd National Diplomatic Conference on December 19 in Hanoi, Trong said Vietnam's diplomatic tradition is deeply ingrained with the essence of Vietnamese bamboo, which has "firm roots" and "flexible branches," reported VCCI News.

Vietnamese diplomacy, according to the party leader, should be adaptive and flexible, aligning with the core tenets of "firm in objectives, flexible in strategies and tactics."

"Flexible" for balancing

The idea of "bamboo diplomacy" was first coined by Trong in 2016 following his reelection to lead Vietnam's Communist Party for the second time. Vietnam has actively pursued this diplomatic approach to navigate rising global tensions since 2021.

The policy is exemplified by Vietnam's careful balancing act. It shares concerns with the U.S. over Beijing's growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea, but it has significant economic links with China.

Following an unprecedented double upgrade of its relationship with the U.S. in September, Vietnam committed to developing a "shared future" with China in December.

"In a world where great powers are constantly competing, and in a world with an uncertain future, it is evident that Vietnam has created certain successes, especially in maintaining and keeping the balance between two great powers who are competing so fiercely," Hoang Viet, a Ho Chi Minh City Law University lecturer and international dispute expert, told VOA.

Lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, who is following Vietnamese politics while living in exile in the U.S., said that after their upgrades with Hanoi, the U.S. and Japan "are reassured that Vietnam is not too inclined toward China, while the Chinese side is affirmed that Vietnam continues to be in the orbit in the name of friendship with big brother China."

Hoang Viet, also an expert on China's South China Sea expansion, said Vietnam had to accept participation in a "community of shared future" with China so as not to upset Beijing and maintain the diplomatic space to establish deeper cooperation with the U.S., Japan and other Western countries for economic development purposes.

"Vietnam was most afraid of adverse reactions from China when it comes to upgrading relations with the U.S. and Japan," said Hoang Viet. "The U.S. had pushed Vietnam for the relationship elevation for a long time, and Vietnam had to choose a right time for it. Otherwise, it will face anger from China."

During Xi's visit, Hanoi and Beijing signed 36 cooperation documents in areas such as infrastructure, trade and security. They also published a joint declaration outlining broad pledges.

Carl Thayer, a professor at the University of New South Wales, branded the declaration as "window dressing," saying Vietnam is "giving lip service" to Chinese ideas like its Belt and Road Initiative and its "Community of Shared Future."

"It doesn't cost [Vietnam] anything," Thayer, an expert on Vietnam, told VOA. "They are not making a firm stand, and they're giving the impression that they are supporting, or at least not opposing."

Trade is an important part of Vietnam's balancing strategy. The United States, a former enemy of Vietnam, has become its greatest export market for goods, while China is its largest import market.

Following the establishment of new relations with the U.S. and China, Vietnam, as an increasingly strategic player in global supply chains, is projected to see a large influx of foreign capital.

Jensen Huang, CEO of chipmaker Nvidia, visited Hanoi last month and told domestic media that he aimed to set up a base in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian country is seeing a wave of Chinese firms arriving.

Neutral in a polarized world

Although bamboo diplomacy has served Vietnam well in the face of superpowers' competition for influence and investment, analysts have warned of limits to Vietnam's neutral approach.

"Bamboo diplomacy is really about Vietnam maintaining its autonomy and independence and not becoming aligned," said Thayer. "But now the world is more polarized than ever, and it's going to make it more and more difficult, I think, to stay out of it."

Vietnam's White Paper 2019 stated that the country is pursuing a nonaligned policy known as "Four No," which means no military alliances; no siding with one country against another; no foreign military bases; and no use of force or threat to use force in international relations.

Vietnam chose to refrain from condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and voted against suspending Russia, Hanoi's largest arms supplier and longtime ally, from the U.N. Human Rights Council.

"Vietnam, in the sense, will lose some credibility by not speaking out on human rights issues," Thayer said, adding that "the case of Russia and Ukraine was a prime example."

According to Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Hawaii-based Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, the growing chasm between the West on the one hand and China and Russia on the other, will make this approach ever trickier for Vietnam.

"'Bamboo diplomacy' won't provide a sustainable way for Vietnam to cope with the vagaries of Cold War 2," Vuving told VOA, adding that Vietnam needs "a new 'safety net' suitable for the new conditions of the times."

Similarly, Vu Duc Khanh, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who follows Vietnamese politics, questioned whether Vietnam could retain neutrality in the face of increasingly fierce competition between superpowers.

"The war in Ukraine has changed the entire strategy of countries like Finland, Sweden and Denmark," Khanh said.

Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while Denmark, a founding member of NATO, signed a defense basing agreement with the U.S. last month.

On the same note, Thayer said he believed "Vietnam is going to find it's hard" if the wars in Ukraine and Gaza intensify the competition between the U.S. and China.

Other potential stumbling blocks

"The Biden administration could be replaced by Trump's. Or the American Congress might get angry with Vietnam on particular issues. Or Vietnam's position will be an impediment to improving bilateral relations with the United States," said Thayer.

According to Hoang Viet, Vietnam is watching to learn these lessons against the backdrop of its confrontation in the South China Sea with China.

"For now, Vietnam, as well as Southeast Asian countries, are trying not to take sides as long as it's possible for them," said Hoang Viet. "Vietnam will maintain this policy until they cannot do it anymore."

Last month, General Secretary Trong anticipated that global and regional dynamics would be "complex and unpredictable."

He warned that "in a multipolar, multicentered world, strategic competition among major nations is inevitable, with heightened risks of conflict and confrontation posing significant challenges for developing countries."

He urged Vietnamese diplomats to keep a careful eye on the situation to make accurate forecasts and "be persistent yet flexible" in diplomacy.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 05 January 2024 - Day 680

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that over the last week, ground combat has continued to be characterised by either a static front line or very gradual, local Russian advances in key sectors.

In the north, near Kupiansk, Russia's Western Group of Forces continues to conduct a large scale but inconclusive offensive operation. In northern Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine has maintained a stable front line in the face of small-scale Russian attacks around Bakhmut. In central Donetsk, Avdiivka is still heavily contested, while Russian forces have consolidated late December 2023 gains around Marinka, which saw them finally advance to the western edge of the town after nine years of combat in the area.

In southern Ukraine, Russian airborne forces have highly likely made minimal progress in a renewed attempt to dislodge the Ukrainian bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnipro around the village of Krynky.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of January 5, there were 56x combat engagements. Russian forces launched a total of 3x missile and 16x air strikes, 12x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

Also, on the night of January 5, 2024, the Russian occupiers launched yet another attack on Ukraine, using 29x Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs. The Ukrainian Air Defense destroyed 21x Russian drones.

The operational situation in eastern and southern Ukraine remains difficult.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group. Certain units of the armed forces of Belarus continue their missions in the areas bordering Ukraine.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. Russia continues its sabotage and reconnaissance activities, shelling Ukrainian settlements from the territory of Russia and increases the density of minefields along the state border of Ukraine. Around 15x settlements, including Popivka (Chernihiv oblast), Znob-Trubchevs'ka, Seredyna-Buda, Marchykhyna Buda, Vovkivka (Sumy oblast), Hatyshche, Bochkove, and Dvorichans'ke (Kharkiv oblast), came under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Kup'yans'k axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 7x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Syn'kivka (Kharkiv oblast). The invaders fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Dvorichna, Syn'kivka, Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, and Berestove (Kharkiv oblast).

Lyman axis: Russian forces did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations. The Russian adversary fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Nevs'ke, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Tors'ke, Verkhn'okam'yans'ke, and Spirne (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 3x attacks near Klishchiivka and Andriivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces attempted to break through the defense of Ukrainian troops in that area. More than 10x settlements, including Vasyukivka, Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, Andriivka, and New York (Donetsk oblast), came under artillery and mortar fire.

Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 3x Russian attacks in the vicinities of Novobakhmutivka, Avdiivka, and 16x more attacks near Pervomais'ke and Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to improve its tactical position in that area. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Novokalynove, Berdychi, Avdiivka, Vodyane, and Pervomais'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Mar'inka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to hold back the occupiers near Mar'inka, Pobjeda, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces made 15x unsuccessful attempts to break through the defense of Ukrainian troops in this area. Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Maksymil'yanivka, Mar'inka, Novomykhailivka, and Kostyantynivka were under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Shakhtars'ke axis: Russian forces did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Urozhaine, and Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Zaporizhzhia axis: Russian forces did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations. More than 15x settlements, including Levadne, Malynivka, Hulyaipole, P'yatykhatky, and Kam'yans'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast), came under artillery and mortar fire.

Odesa operational-strategic group, Kherson axis: Zolota Balka, Ivanivka, Sadove, Kherson, Blahovishchenske, Veletens'ke, Kizomys (Kherson oblast), and Solonchaky (Mykolaiv oblast) came under Russian artillery fire. Also, Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Chervonyi Mayak (Kherson oblast).

Russian forces do not abandon their intention to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnipro River. For instance, during the day of January 5, Russian forces attempted 10x unsuccessful assault operations, but the Ukrainian troops continue to hold their positions and inflict significant losses on the Russian forces.

During day of January 5, the Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes on 5x concentrations of Russian troops.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 1x command post, 1x ammunition depot, and 1x artillery system of the Russian invaders.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in the period from 30 December 2023 to 5 January 2024, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out 41 group and one massive strikes with high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles on decision-making centres, objects of the Ukrainian military industrial complex, military airfield infrastructure, arsenals, and fuel bases.

Attacks were also carried out against the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, nationalist formations, and foreign mercenaries.

All the assigned targets have been engaged.

Over the past week, units of the Zapad Group of Forces have repelled 18 attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kupyansk direction.

Air strikes and artillery fire defeated the enemy's manpower and equipment close to Ivanovka, Berestovoye, Vishnyovoye, Kupyansk, Peschanoye, Petropavlovka, Sinkovka, Terny, Timkovka (Kharkov region), Novosyolovskoye and Stelmakhovka (Lugansk People's Republic).

The enemy's losses amounted to more than 485 troops, six tanks(including one Leopard-2), 11 armoured fighting vehicles, 24 motor vehicles, seven Olkha and Czech-made Vampire MLRS launchers, as well as eight field artillery guns.

In addition, three ammunition and fuel depots of the AFU were destroyed.

In Krasny Liman direction, the Tsentr Group of Forces in cooperation with Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery has repelled four attack launched by the enemy.

Clusters of manpower of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit close to Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic), Torskoye, Grigorovka (Donetsk People's Republic) and Serebryansky forestry.

The enemy's losses totalled over 690 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, two tanks, 11 armoured fighting vehicles, 24 motor vehicles, and five field artillery guns.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces supported by aircraft and artillery have repelled nine attacks launched by the enemy.

AFU's losses over the past period in this area amounted to more than 1,990 troops killed and wounded, four tanks, 17 armored fighting vehicles (including two Bradley IFVs), 64 motor vehicles, and 26 field artillery guns.

In South Donetsk direction, the Vostok Group of Forces has repelled five attacks launched by the enemy.

Air and artillery strikes hit Ukrainian Armed Forces units near Vodyanoye, Makarovka, Paraskoviyevka, Staromayorskoye, Ugledar, Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic) and Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses in this direction were more than 950 troops, 12 armoured fighting vehicles, 27 motor vehicles, and 17 field artillery guns.

In Zaporozhye direction, the Russian troops repelled the enemy's attack north of Novoprokopovka (Zaporozhye region).

Moreover, the AFU's military personnel and hardware were hit by fire near Verbovoye, Orekhov, Kamenskoye, Lukyanovskoye, Novodanilovka, and Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses were more than 350 troops, one tank, 15 armoured fighting vehicles, 18 motor vehicles, and eight field artillery guns.

In Kherson direction, the Dnepr Group of Forces in cooperation with the artillery defeated the enemy's manpower on the right bank of the Dnepr River close to Tyaginka, Ivanovka, Sadovoye, and Tokarevka (Kherson region).

As a result of the Russian troops' actions, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 225 troops killed and wounded in this direction.

In addition, the following were eliminated: one tank, two armored fighting vehicles, 28 motor vehicles, 14 boats, one Buk-M1 SAM launcher, 11 field artillery guns, one electronic warfare station, and one ammunition depot.

During the week, 13 Ukrainian servicemen surrendered (including eight people in Kupyansk direction).

Over the past period, Missile Troops and Artillery, Operational-Tactical Aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles of the Russian Groups of Forces destroyed: three HIMARS and Olkha MLRS launchers, one S-200 SAM launcher, one radar of the S-300 SAM system, one ST-68 radar station for detecting and tracking low-altitude targets, as well as two U.S.-made counter-battery radar stations.

Russia's air defence units have shot down one Su-27 aircraft and one Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force during the past week.

In addition, eight Storm Shadow cruise missiles, 14 Tochka-U tactical missiles, three S-200 converted surface-to-surface systems, 107 HIMARS, Olkha, and Vampire MLRS systems, three HARM anti-radar missiles, and 253 unmanned aerial vehicles were eliminated.

In total, 565 airplanes and 264 helicopters, 10,459 unmanned aerial vehicles, 447 air defence missile systems, 14,483 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,200 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 7,639 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 17,100 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.





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CDC urges public to get XBB vaccine for fast changing COVID-19

ROC Central News Agency

01/05/2024 07:56 PM

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) People should get at least one shot of the XBB vaccine due to the evolution of COVID-19 subvariants, Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended on Friday.

In an interview, CDC Deputy Director General Lo Yi-chun (caez) cited new American research showing that even with the disease's rapid viral mutations, people who are vaccinated will be marginally more protected from the virus than those unvaccinated after half a year.

"Like flu vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines need to be updated as the strain evolves," Lo said.

"Adults who have not received the XBB vaccine are as vulnerable to developing mild symptoms and being hospitalized as those who have not received a single shot of the vaccine after six to nine months from their last COVID-19 vaccine."

The American study found that adults who get the XBB vaccine are more protected from being hospitalized and developing mild symptoms by 63 percent and 58 percent than others, the CDC said in a statement issued Friday.

According to data compiled by the CDC, 901,000 individuals had been vaccinated against the XBB subvariant as of Friday. Only about 161,000, or 18 percent, were in the 18-49 age group.

The number suggests that many people in that age range believe they do not need to get the XBB vaccine because they have been vaccinated before, the CDC said.

The CDC strongly recommends that adults get the XBB vaccine to reduce their health risks and medical costs associated with the winter pandemic.

Considering the onset of a cold air mass this week and the ongoing election campaigns as well as New Year celebrations, the CDC said respiratory tract infections were likley to escalate, adding that it had already observed a notable increase in COVID-19 complications.

The pandemic is expected to peak no sooner than the second half of January, and the number of cases reported by hospitals could hit 18,000-20,000 a day by then, the CDC said.

A total of 462,800 shots of the Novavax XBB vaccine have arrived in Taiwan and will be available nationwide from Jan. 9. People who have not had the XBB vaccine yet can choose between Moderna and Novavax, the CDC said.

The vaccine can be accessed at around 3,000 hospitals across the island, including 1,665 of them that do not require an advanced booking. People can visit the CDC website (https://gov.tw/eU4) for further details.

(By Tseng Yi-ning and Chao Yen-hsiang)

Enditem/ls

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Iranian cleric says Daesh created, backed by US, Israeli regime

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 5, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, Tehran's Friday Prayers Imam, has criticized the US and the Israeli regime for creating and supporting Daesh (ISIS), the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the latest terror attacks in the Iranian city of Kerman.

Addressing worshippers in Tehran on Friday, the cleric said that Daesh was created by the US. He made the comment in reference to a campaign speech by former US President Donald Trump in 2016 when he accused his predecessor of co-founding the terror group.

Ayatollah Khatami said that Daesh has been supported by the Israeli regime, arguing that members of the terrorist groups were transferred to Israeli hospitals when they were injured during battles with government forces in Iraq and Syria.

The cleric's comments came a day after Daesh claimed responsibility for the Wednesday twin explosions in Iran's southeastern city of Kerman. Dozens were killed and many more were wounded in the blasts that happened during a ceremony to mark the fourth assassination anniversary of Iran's top commander General Qassem Soleimani.

General Soleimani, who played a crucial role in defeating Daesh in West Asia, lost his life in a US drone attack near Iraq's capital Baghdad on January 3, 2020.

4194**9417

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Ukraine De Facto Became NATO's Testing Ground for Digital Warfare Against Russia - Moscow

Sputnik News

20240105

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry shared with Sputnik key insights into the US-backed cyber war against Russia being waged from Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine has de facto become a NATO ground for testing methods of fighting Russia in the digital space, Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has told Sputnik.

"Indeed, in the past two years, the domestic information infrastructure has become the target of regular computer attacks. Most of them are carried out from the territory [of Ukraine] or in the interests of [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelensky's regime," Lyukmanov said.

He added that "the Kiev authorities, who in the West pose themselves as victims of 'Russian cyber aggression,' boast of sabotage against Russia using information and communication technologies."

In November 2023 alone, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for several cyberattacks on Russian information resources, Lyukmanov said.

"This country has de facto become a NATO testing ground for the methods of warfare in the digital space," Lyukmanov said, adding that "the entire information security sector of Ukraine has been handed over to the external management of Western curators."

Ukrainian "Army" of IT-Scammers Threatens Europe

Russia has repeatedly warned Western countries that Ukraine's US-backed "IT army" would become a problem for Europeans, and this is what exactly has happened as there are more than 1,000 "call centers" in Ukraine that are engaged in the extortion of money, Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has told Sputnik.

"As for the 'IT army,' we are talking, in fact, about a bunch of hackers and telephone fraud, who are mainly engaged in trivial theft. According to our data, there are more than 1,000 'call centers' on the territory of Ukraine engaged in the extortion of money. We have repeatedly warned Western countries that the "IT army" created in spite of Russia and supported by the United States would sooner or later become a problem for ordinary Europeans. After all, this is what exactly has happened," Lyukmanov said.

The Russian official recalled that Hungarian authorities said in November 2023 that most of the funds stolen in Hungary "as a result of crimes using information and communication technologies and telephone fraud end up in Ukraine," adding that "the geography and scale of criminal activity of these 'fighters for independence' is much wider and is not limited to Europe."

Western Information Security Funds Embezzled

Anglo-Saxon countries send their special services' cyber units to Ukraine to train their hackers engaged in activities against Russia, and the majority of Western funds provided to Ukraine for information security are being embezzled, Artur Lyukmanov, the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has told Sputnik.

Lyukmanov said Ukraine's entire information security sector has been handed over to the external management of Western curators.

"Cyber units of special services and armed forces of Anglo-Saxon countries are sent there [to Ukraine] to train and coordinate hackers engaged in activities against Russia. Substantial technical and financial assistance is provided for this, which, of course, is mostly embezzled. We have no doubts that a significant portion of the budget of the US Cyber Command, which has bloated to a record $13.5 billion, will be spent at the Ukraine direction," Lyukmanov said.

A Sputnik

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Belarus Recalls Ambassador To Sweden Over Naming Of Envoy To Belarus's Democratic Community

By RFE/RL's Belarus Service January 05, 2024

Minsk has recalled its ambassador to Sweden over the appointment of Sweden's former ambassador to Belarus to serve as Stockholm's representative to the Belarusian democratic community abroad.

Sweden in turn recalled its representative in Belarus to Stockholm for consultations, the Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed to RFE/RL's Belarus Service on January 5.

"The temporary charge d'affaires of Sweden in Minsk is currently in Stockholm for consultations," the press service of the Swedish Foreign Ministry told RFE/RL.

Work at the Swedish Embassy in Minsk continues as usual, the ministry said, adding that the Belarusian ambassador to Sweden is currently "in Minsk for consultations."

The diplomatic clash occurred after Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom appointed Christina Johannesson, Sweden's former ambassador to Belarus, to be the Swedish representative to the Belarusian democratic community abroad. Johannesson's responsibilities include relations with Belarusians in exile, cooperation with the democratic forces, and strengthening international ties.

With the appointment, Sweden joined France, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland in naming special representatives for relations with democratic Belarus.

On the same day he announced the appointment, Billstrom was asked in an interview with RFE/RL whether he recognized Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya as the elected president of Belarus.

"We recognize her as a person who won the elections and who by right should have become the inaugurated president of Belarus," he said on November 6.

Diplomatic sources in Minsk told RFE/RL that this raised the ire of Belarusian authorities, who recalled Ambassador Dzmitry Mironchyk from Stockholm. It was unclear when Mironchyk left. They also demanded that the head of Sweden's diplomatic mission in Minsk, Eva Sundqvist, return to Stockholm for consultations.

The press service of the Swedish Foreign Ministry also informed RFE/RL that, after the appointment of Johannesson to the Belarus Democratic Community, the Swedish Foreign Ministry held negotiations with Belarusian representatives.

The press service said it had "no concrete reactions to share" about the negotiations.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-recalls-ambassador- johanneson-democratic-community/32762953.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Maldivian President Muizzu to pay first state visit to China

Global Times

India urged to abandon Cold War mentality when assessing China's cooperation with South Asian nations

By GT staff reporters Published: Jan 05, 2024 09:19 PM

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu is set to embark on his first state visit to China next week, with great expectations of bolstering pragmatic cooperation between the two nations, particularly within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. While India is closely monitoring this visit, analysts have urged it to refrain from adopting a zero-sum mind-set or Cold War mentality when assessing China's collaborations with South Asian countries.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Muizzu will pay a state visit to China from January 8 to 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday.

This visit is President Muizzu's first state visit to a foreign country since he took office. President Xi will hold a welcome ceremony and banquet for President Muizzu and the two heads of state will hold formal talks and jointly attend the signing ceremony of cooperation documents, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press conference on Friday.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, will also meet with President Muizzu, according to Wang.

The spokesperson noted that over the past 10 years, China-Maldives relations have developed deeply, the two sides have achieved fruitful results in jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and practical cooperation in various fields, and the traditional friendship between the two countries has continued to deepen.

"Currently, China-Maldives relations stand at a new historical starting point. I believe that through this visit, the two heads of state will make strategic plans for the development of China-Maldives relations and push bilateral relations to a new level," said Wang.

This visit to China highlights Muizzu's willingness to strengthen practical cooperation with China, particularly in docking the Maldives' national development strategy with China's BRI, Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Friday.

As the former minister of Housing and Infrastructure and former mayor of MalA City, Muizzu has witnessed the substantial changes brought by the BRI projects to local residents in the Maldives, and he is a participant as well as an advocate for more concrete cooperation between the two countries, said Qian, noting that during Muizzu's visit, the two sides are also expected to sign documents on the economy, people-to-people exchanges and climate change.

Indian media has been closely monitoring information on Muizzu's journey to China even before China's formal announcement on Friday, noting that he will be the first democratically elected president of the Maldives to visit China before India.

They also noted that since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 2008, every Maldivian president has chosen India as their first destination after assuming office, making Muizzu's decision to defy this "tradition" noteworthy. Following his inauguration in November, Muizzu paid an official visit to Turkey and also attended the COP28 summit in Dubai.

After the presidential election in the Maldives, certain Western and Indian media outlets depicted Muizzu's victory as "a blow to India." Qian noted that the US and the West are keen on witnessing rivalry between India and China, as it could potentially provide them with additional chances to seek geopolitical advantages.

It is crucial to understand that Muizzu's foreign policy should not be perceived as "pro-China" or favoring any specific nation, as his amicable stance toward China is founded on the tangible accomplishments of bilateral collaboration, according to the expert.

Some Indian media labeled Muizzu as a "pro-China" president, but whoever is elected president of Maldives serves the interests of the country, and Maldives will not tilt against India and toward China. As a small country, Maldives hopes to cooperate with India, China, and all other countries in the world, Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of International Relations at Sichuan International Studies University, told the Global Times.

However, India sees South Asia as its sphere of influence and shows little respect for some countries' sovereignty. It wants to exclude other countries, especially China, from developing friendly and cooperative relations with Maldives, said Long.

Viewing itself as the regional boss is also the underlying reason for India's strained relations with some countries in South Asia, Qian said.

Moreover, some forces within India still view the development of China's relations with countries like the Maldives in South Asia as a "zero-sum game" between China and India. They believe that China's strengthened cooperation with other countries in India's "backyard" represents the loss of India's traditional influence, and this kind of Cold War mentality is outdated and highlights the narrow-mindedness of some Indian politicians and media.

India should adopt a more open-minded approach to China's cooperation with other Asian countries, said Qian.

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Certain countries spread 'genocide' rumors on Xinjiang, while turning blind eye to humanitarian tragedy in Gaza: Chinese FM

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Jan 05, 2024 07:13 PM

Certain countries are obsessed with spreading rumors of the so-called ethnic genocide and forced labor in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, while turning a blind eye to the current humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, which fully exposes their hypocritical double standards, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on a Friday press conference.

More and more foreign friends have visited Xinjiang, sharing their authentic experiences, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin when asked to comment on the remarks of Moiz Farooq, an executive editor of Daily Ittehad Media Group, who visited the Xinjiang region as a member of the Pakistani media think tank delegation in December 2023.

Farooq said in an interview that he saw the happy and fulfilling lives of the Muslim population in the Xinjiang region. "I saw Muslims there who were free to enjoy and practice their religion," said Farooq as quoted by Al Jazeera. "It is the agenda of the West to show the worst of Xinjiang and I now know that the stories are not true because I have seen how happily they are living."

According to Wang, there have been over 4,300 foreign guests from countries and international organizations, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Egypt, France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation who visited the Xinjiang region in 2023.

The foreign guests included government officials, religious figures, experts and scholars, media reporters, and ordinary people, Wang said. They listened to religious personnel preaching in mosques and Islamic seminaries, saw the protection and inheritance of the Xinjiang region's culture in the streets and alleys, learned about the region's production and development in factories and fields, and witnessed the happy lives of people of all ethnic groups in ordinary households.

Not just Farooq, Wang said other delegates such as guests from Japan and France also expressed their witness of peaceful and harmonious life of the local people, pointing out the claim of the so-called genocide of religion, language and culture, as well as forced labor were nonsense.

Wang emphasized that seeing is believing and the door of the Xinjiang region is always open. "China sincerely welcomes more friends from all countries to visit the Xinjiang region in person, to personally experience the beauty, harmony, prosperity, and stability of the region," Wang said.

In late December, Global Times reporters paid a visit to the Xinjiang region together with 15 representatives from Pakistani media and think tanks. The journalists and scholars told the Global Times that one of the most impressive aspects for them during a five-day on-site visit was the development of Muslims in the Xinjiang region and the religious freedom they enjoy. They called for more people who have misunderstandings about Xinjiang to visit the region.

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Top Party leadership hears series of annual work reports

People's Daily Online

By Mo Jingxi (China Daily) 08:43, January 05, 2024

A key meeting underlined on Thursday the need to uphold the Communist Party of China's overall leadership and focus on the most important political issue of advancing Chinese modernization as this year is a crucial year for fulfilling the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and delivered an important speech.

During the daylong meeting, the top Party leadership heard a series of work reports from leading Party members groups of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, as well as from the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.

The CPC Central Committee has been hearing their reports every year since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, as an important institutional arrangement to uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The meeting's participants said this arrangement has proved to be conducive to the Party's overall leadership in coordinating all sides as well as maintaining the Party's solidarity, unity and ability.

The participants commended the five state bodies' work in the past year and acknowledged their contributions to the country's socioeconomic development, the statement said, adding that progress has been made in all aspects of their work.

The Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee was also commended for ensuring the implementation of the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, as well as for improving Party regulations and guiding the work and reform of various organizations.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on January 5, 2024

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2024-01-05 23:23

Reuters: The White House said on Thursday that North Korea recently provided Russia with ballistic missiles and launchers for use in Moscow's war against Ukraine. Given that China is a member of the Security Council at the United Nations, what is its position on this weapons transfer in light of China's many calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine?

Wang Wenbin: I do not know of the cooperation you mentioned. China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We hope all parties will work on ways for deescalation and create the conditions for working towards a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

AFP: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired artillery shells into waters off the western coast of the Republic of Korea (ROK) today. Residents of Baengnyeong island and Yeonpyeong island were ordered to evacuate. Is China for or against DPRK's move?

Wang Wenbin: We noted that the ROK and the US have recently conducted large-scale joint drills in the DPRK-ROK border region, and the DPRK conducted artillery drills this morning. We are following the developments on the Korean Peninsula closely. Recently, antagonism between relevant parties has risen, with tensions running high on the Peninsula. As a neighboring country, China stands for keeping the Peninsula peaceful and stable and resolving the issues of the Peninsula through dialogue and consultation. Under the current circumstances, we hope that relevant parties will exercise calm and restraint, refrain from fueling tensions and avoid further escalation to create conditions for the resumption of meaningful dialogue.

Xinhua News Agency: China has announced Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's state visit to China. Could you share with us the program and China's expectation for the visit?

Wang Wenbin: This is President Mohamed Muizzu's first state visit to a foreign country since he took office. President Xi Jinping will host a welcome ceremony and a welcome banquet for President Mohamed Muizzu. The two heads of state will hold talks and attend the signing ceremony of cooperation documents. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji will meet with President Mohamed Muizzu respectively.

China and the Maldives boast time-honored friendship. In the past 52 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have treated each other with respect and supported each other, setting a fine example of equality and mutual benefits between countries of different sizes. In 2014, President Xi Jinping paid a historic state visit to the Maldives. The two sides agreed to build a future-oriented all-around friendly and cooperative partnership. Over the past decade, the relations between China and the Maldives have deepened and achieved fruitful outcomes of practical cooperation in various fields, including Belt and Road cooperation, and deepening traditional friendship. The relations between China and the Maldives now stand at a new historical starting point. We believe that through this visit, the two heads of state will provide strategic guidance for the bilateral relations to reach a new height.

TRT: The Republic of South Africa filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice and requested an interim injunction on the ground that Israel violated the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide with the actions it committed in Gaza since October 7. TArkiye also welcomes this application. What's China's views regarding this application?

Wang Wenbin: We noted the application. The ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict has killed more than 22,000 people in Gaza already, most of whom were civilians. The daily civilian death toll remains above one hundred. This must not continue. We oppose any action that violates the international law. We urge parties to the conflict to implement the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, carry out full ceasefire at once and stop the collective punishment against the people of Gaza.a

AFP: I got a question on Donald Trump. A report by the Democrats in the US Congress was published yesterday. It claims that Chinese entities spent over USD 5.5 million at properties owned by Donald Trump. The report says that all that happened while Donald Trump was the US President. Is that true?

Wang Wenbin: I do not know about those claims. We urge relevant US politicians to stop buzzing about China.

CCTV: In a recent interview, Moiz Farooq, an executive editor of Daily Ittehad Media Group who visited Xinjiang of China along with a delegation of Pakistani media and think tanks last month, said that he saw the Muslims there enjoying happy lives and religious freedom and the so-called human rights atrocity in Xinjiang claimed by the US and some western countries cannot hold water. What is your comment?a

Wang Wenbin: We noted relevant reports. Xinjiang is visited by more and more people from around the world these days, who would then share their trips. We prepared some slides about their experience.

In 2023 alone, Xinjiang received nearly 400 delegations and groups that consist of over 4,300 visitors from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Egypt, France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other countries and international organizations. Some of them are government officials, diplomats, religious figures, experts, scholars, journalists and ordinary travelers. They visited many places there. They listened to clergies giving sermons at mosques and the Islamic institutes and visited cultural heritage sites to see how Xinjiang's traditional culture is protected. They went to local factories, businesses and farms to learn about Xinjiang's production and development, and visited ordinary households where they saw the happy life of people of various ethnic groups.

Japanese tourists who traveled to Xinjiang said that they witnessed the happy life of Xinjiang people and began to know that many ethnic groups live side by side in the region and they are united like pomegranate seeds. A Pakistani journalist said that everywhere he went in Xinjiang, he could see people living a normal, peaceful and contented life, and what he saw in Xinjiang is different from the horrifying reports he had read about. Maxime Vivas, a French writer who visited Xinjiang for the third time last year, said that tranquility and harmony can be seen everywhere in the region. He questioned where the accusation of religious, language and cultural extinction came from and asked, "if the Chinese government were demolishing mosques and restricting the freedom of religious belief, then why have they trained over 3,000 clergies every year?" A French scholar said that using forced labor does not make sense in a country that owns 40 percent of the world's invention patents.

Seeing is believing. People are not blind to the truth. For certain countries, they are comfortable telling lies about genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang, but it takes them forever to acknowledge the humanitarian tragedies in places such as Gaza. This is plain hypocrisy. Xinjiang will keep its door open to the world. We sincerely welcome more friends from all countries to visit Xinjiang and see its charm, harmony and prosperity for themselves.

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Retracted study was based on unethically collected Uyghur DNA samples, experts contend

Witness says that the Chinese government forced Uyghurs and other minorities to register biometric data.

By Irade for RFA Uyghur 2024.01.05 -- The recent retraction of an academic journal article that discussed the genetic information of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China's northwestern Xinjiang region has raised questions and concerns about ethical standards in scientific research, as people familiar with the study believe that genetic samples were obtained under duress.

In June, Elsevier, a Dutch publisher, announced the retraction of a scientific article published in 2019 in its journal "Forensic Science International: Genetics." The retraction was attributed to the failure to meet necessary ethical approvals in scientific research, The Guardian reported.

The deleted study, entitled "Analysis of Uyghur and Kazakh populations using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel," was authored by Chinese and Danish researchers in ArAmqi.

It involved the collection of blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghurs and Kazakhs, which were then tested using genetic sequencing technology developed by the American biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific.

The article's authors claimed that their findings could help police in using genetic sequencing techniques to identify suspects in cases.

"A clear knowledge of the genetic variation is important for understanding the origin and demographic history of the ethnicity of the populations in Xinjiang... [which] may offer an investigative lead for the police," the article said.

In the redaction notice, the journal said that an investigation revealed that those who collected the samples did not obtain the necessary ethical approval.

Forced collection

Yves Moreau, a professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium, has raised the concern that the Chinese government forcibly collects and arbitrarily uses genetic information from Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. He told Radio Free Asia's Uyghur Service that he had been critical of the 2019 study for a considerable period of time before it was finally deleted.

"The article that was retracted ... That's a case that has been open for a very, very long time," said Moreau, who added that he is working toward getting journals to reevaluate numerous articles, many on the same subject.

Moreau had also taken issue with a similar study published in the June 2022 issue of "Forensic Science Research," a journal acquired by the Oxford University Press in 2023. That article detailed a study sponsored by China's Ministry of Justice that analyzed the genetic information of Uyghurs based on blood samples collected from them.

The retracted 2019 article and the 2022 article was written by the same authors, Claus BArsting, Niels Morling, and Xalmurat Ismailjan (Halimureti Simayijiang) from the forensic genetics department at the University of Copenhagen.

Ismailjan is known to have ties to China's public security agencies and is listed as being jointly affiliated with Xinjiang Police College, The Guardian report said.

Experts like Moreau contend that the blood samples utilized in both studies were obtained from people who had no choice but to participate.

Moreau was reluctant to take on the 2022 article, he said, because one of editors-in-chief of the journal was from the Institute of Forensic Science of the Chinese Ministry of Justice.

"So I thought, well, if I'm going to write a letter asking for ethical re-evaluation of an article in that journal, I'm not going to get much of an answer," he said.

But when the journal was acquired by Oxford University Press, he was able to raise the issue with that institution, he said.

"Now I can write to Oxford University and tell them, ... you know, you were actually publishing this journal for the Institute of Forensic Science of the [Chinese] Ministry of Justice," said Moreau.

In an email sent to Irene Treacy, vice chancellor of the University of Oxford, Moreau noted that "such consent should be given voluntarily, and he does not believe that the Uyghurs consented to [biometric data collection] voluntarily."

After Mr. Moreau raised the issue, the editorial departments of the University of Copenhagen and the editor departments of the aforementioned journals replied via email that they would investigate the matter, he explained.

Coerced samples

Witnesses have observed coerced genetic data collection both inside China's secretive "reeducation camps" in Xinjiang and also outside of the camps.

Qelbinur Sidiq, who currently lives in the Netherlands, said she saw samples collected from blood, as well as collections of fingerprints and retina scans. She said she herself was made to give all three in 2016.

"Blood samples and DNA sequencing are mandatory, whether you are inside the camp or outside. There is an order where authorities instruct you on when to go to which hospital for the collection of your blood sample and DNA," she said. "There is no freedom or choice to refuse."

Sidiq said that the police inform residents through the chat platform WhatsApp as to when they must appear at a specific hospital for collection.

"Participants are given one week, and the notice explicitly states that failing to participate will result in severe consequences," she said. "As a result, there is no freedom or choice in the matter, and individuals are unable to inquire about their results. Asking for the result of the blood sample is not an option."

Duarte Nuno Vieira, the co-editor-in-chief of "Forensic Science Research," denied the journal had received financial support from China's Ministry of Justice, according to the Guardian report.

Journals have a responsibility to evaluate the ethics of the studies that appear in articles they publish, Maya Wang, associate Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, told RFA.

"Given the brutality of the collection process, I believe it is important for such journals to check and review research articles on samples taken from Uyghurs and Tibetans by Chinese police agencies," she said. "It is unlikely these journals not know the background of such articles."

In 2021, Professor Yves Moreau initially uncovered similar articles published by Chinese researchers about Uyghurs in the American journal Molecular Genetics and Genome Medicine. Following his investigation into the matter, eight members of the editorial board of the journal resigned.

Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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China's Patriotic Education Law Further Cracks Down on Religious Freedom

By Lin Ganfeng January 05, 2024

China's new and sweeping Patriotic Education Law, which targets all types of education including religious teaching, officially went into effect on January 1. Church leaders say they are already struggling to adapt to the new guidelines.

State media have said the Patriotic Education Law aims to target all levels of society, including schools, churches and international institutions.

According to the law, the Chinese government encourages religious groups, schools and places of religious activities to conduct patriotic education, aiming to strengthen national awareness among clergy and believers and guide religions to align with socialist society.

Late last month, on Christmas Eve, China's top political adviser, Wang Huning, delivered a stern message to Christian leaders, urging "strict" management of religious affairs and unwavering allegiance to the Communist Party's vision for Christianity.

Wang outlined a clear vision for the future of Christianity in China, insisting that religious leaders must "adhere to the direction of Sinicization of Christianity."

Churches already are raising questions and concerns about how they will comply with the new law.

Some churches are being cautious

In its bid to comply, U.S.-based Christian rights group China Aid said that one Christian church in the northeastern city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, changed its Sunday worship activities from performing gospel songs to performing patriotic songs and dances and telling patriotic stories of the Chinese Red Army's Long March during the Chinese Civil War.

Pastor Guan, who has worked in the southern city Guangzhou for many years, told VOA that he and his believers have always supported the rule of the Communist Party and love China because they believe this is God's arrangement. What they object to is the party's request that they preach false doctrines that are not in line with the Bible. Guan requested that only his surname be used for security reasons.

Guan was expelled from Guangzhou last summer and can live only in another city in Guangdong Province to continue his preaching work.

"We live under Chinese laws and regulations. We have not committed any crime. Our 'sin' is not following the Sinicization of Christianity and not sacrificing faith to safeguard the leadership of the Communist Party," Guan said.

Last month, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Guangzhou released a video on how to report illegal religious activities and said those who provide clues and assist in investigating unlawful religious organizers could receive rewards up to 10,000 yuan, roughly $1,400.

The local official Catholic churches in Henan Province have explicitly prohibited young people under 18 from entering churches to participate in Mass and priests from hosting activities such as youth training classes and summer and winter camps.

Officials would impose heavy fines of up to 838,000 yuan, roughly $117,700, on those who hold Sunday school, according to the Christian Post, an online news site based in the United States.

Harassment and jailing

Pastor Mu began preaching in Beijing more than 20 years ago, through family gatherings. He and his church have been unwilling to register under the government's Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which supervises Protestant churches. Mu asked that only his surname be used for security concerns.

Mu has been under government surveillance for more than 20 years. The church he worked for had to move several times due to harassment by the authorities. He told VOA that some of his church colleagues were recently arrested by authorities and are still in jail.

Chienyu Shih, a researcher at Taiwan's Society of Central Asian Studies, said Chinese leader Xi Jinping has always viewed Christianity as a tool used by foreign countries to influence China.

"They believe that Christianity is the spokesperson of European and American countries," Shih said. "Through Christianity, European and American ideas, whether social values or political views, arouse reactions from the Chinese people and even generate dissatisfaction and resistance among the common people toward the Communist Party, which is not what they want.

"Therefore, they must cut off Chinese people's foreign connections through the Sinicization of religion."

Shih said the Chinese Communist government has made so many big moves against Christianity mainly because it has no confidence in itself and is worried that other countries will use religion to challenge its legitimacy. He said the party's control over religion is bound to become tighter this year.

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China steps up financial support for housing rental market

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Jan 06, 2024 12:52 AM

China's central bank and top financial regulator on Friday issued a guideline on stepping up financial support for the housing rental market, vowing to offer more innovative credit products and services for housing rentals and to expand financing channels for the housing rental market.

The guideline from the People's Bank of China (PBC) and the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) is the latest effort by Chinese policymakers to stabilize the real estate market, by both defusing risks and meeting housing needs for key population groups such as young workers.

The guideline contains a total of 17 measures in four areas. Financial support will focus on key areas and weak links in the housing rental market, mainly in large cities, and will focus on addressing housing difficulties for groups such as new urban residents and young workers.

The guideline aims to offer financial support for various entities to build, renovate and operate long-term rental housing, revitalize exiting housing inventory, and increase the supply of affordable and commercial rental housing.

Among the main measures, the guideline, which was sent to the PBC and the NAFR's local branches and various types of banks, calls for an increase in credit support for housing rental development and construction. Commercial banks are being encouraged to extend loans for entities, including real estate developers, for developing and constructing rental housing projects. The standard loan term would be three years and will not exceed five years.

On the purchasing side, the guideline also encouraged commercial banks to extend loans for entities that purchase housing rental for employees. The term for such loans cannot exceed 30 years and the amount should not exceed 80 percent of the property value.

China has made stabilizing the real estate market a top priority for economic work in 2024. The tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference held in December called for active and prudent efforts to defuse risks in the property sector, address the reasonable financing needs of real estate enterprises, and accelerate the development of a new model for the real estate sector.

Also on Friday, following a national central bank meeting, the PBC vowed to actively support the stable and sound development of the real estate market, strengthen monitoring, and take various credit policies to meet the reasonable financial needs of various types of real estate companies.



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North Korea fires 200 shells into sea off western coast

Move comes after Kim Jong Un and daughter tour ICBM launcher factory

By Lee Jeong-Ho for RFA 2024.01.04

UPDATED on Jan. 5, 2024 -- North Korea launched some 200 artillery shells into waters off its western coast on Friday near the inter-Korean maritime border of the Northern Limit Line, or NLL, according to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The area is near South Korea's Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands.

The shells fired between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Seoul time caused no casualties to civilians or military personnel in the South, the JCS said in the statement. In response, Seoul directed residents on the islands to seek shelter, as it informed its plans to conduct "naval fire" drills by its troops later in the afternoon.

The North's Korean People's Army, or KPA acknowledged in a statement what they called a "live-shell firing drill," but denied that the intent was to scare residents of the islands.

"The claim of the military gangsters of the Republic of Korea that the KPA fired naval artillery shells into the waters north of [Baengnyeong] Island and [Yeonpyeong] Island, a so-called buffer zone in the West Sea of Korea, is a far-fetched assertion to mislead the public opinion, and their evacuation and firing in return are also a trite method to throw the responsibility for the escalating tension on the KPA's drill," said the statement, which was published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. "The direction of naval live-shell firing doesn't give even an indirect effect on [Baengnyeong] and [Yeonpyeong] islands."

The artillery barrage came as U.S. and South Korean military forces began their first joint drills for this year on Thursday, involving the U.S. Air Force asset, Rivet Joint, a reconnaissance aircraft designed for intelligence collection.

But State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States "harbors no hostile intent" against Pyongyang and called on it "to refrain from further provocative, destabilizing actions and return to diplomacy."

"In particular, we encourage [North Korea] to engage in substantive discussions on identifying ways to manage military risks and create lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula," Miller said.

He added the United States was seeking to "coordinate international responses" to the repeated missile launches and was working with Japan and South Korea "about how to best engage" the North.

On Nov. 23, 2010, the North shelled Yeonpyeong island, killing four South Korean residents and injuring 19, while causing severe damage to the entire island. South Korea returned fire shortly afterward in an incident that caused inter-Korean relations to sour sharply.

'Respected child'

Hours before the shells were fired, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un and daughter Ju Ae visited an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, mobile launcher vehicle factory, a move seen by an expert that signals a strong commitment to ramp up the production of these vehicles.

Kim and his "respected child" Ju Ae "conducted an on-site guidance at an important military vehicle production factory," the report said Friday.

Kim and the daughter, accompanied by major ruling party officials including the powerful sister Kim Yo Jong, observed "various military vehicles produced at the factory, gaining a detailed understanding of their production status," KCNA added.

Photos released by KCNA show the North Korean leadership standing before mobile launch vehicles, which could be equipped to launch its latest ICBM, the Hwasong-18.

The use of transporter erector launchers, or TELs, complicates the ability of the United States and its regional allies to carry out pre-emptive strikes, as these mobile platforms offer enhanced concealment and mobility for missile deployments.

"This factory holds an extremely important position and plays a pivotal role in the historic endeavor of bolstering our national defense," said Kim Jong Un, as cited by KCNA.

"In the current grave situation, where we must be more resolutely prepared for military confrontation, the contribution of this factory to our defense capabilities is of paramount importance," he said.

North Korea must also further modernize its military capability, he added.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul and advisor to South Korean administrations, said that Pyongyang is determined to show that its stance on nuclear confrontation with the U.S. is a deeply serious commitment rather than mere rhetoric.

"Kim Jong Un's display of ICBM mobile launcher vehicles signals a strong commitment to ramp up the production of these vehicles, in step with the increased manufacturing of nuclear missiles," Yang said, adding that the interdependence between missiles and their launchers is "akin to that of a thread and needle" - each crucial to the other's operation.

"Historically, North Korea relied on importing missile launch vehicles. However, through domestic production and customization, it has significantly improved the mobility, stealth, and quick deployment of its missile arsenal," said the pundit.

Baekdu bloodline

The expert also noted the significance of Ju Ae accompanying the leader, saying her presence at military facilities underscored a specific symbolic message.

"It indicates that the commitment to bolstering national defense will persist, adhering to the doctrine that fortifying defense is a duty of the Baekdu bloodline," Yang said.

The Baekdu bloodline, named after North Korea's highest mountain Baekdu, refers to the lineage of North Korea's ruling Kim family, as the hereditary leaders of the country.

The nominee to be the next head of South Korea's spy agency said Thursday that he sees Ju Ae as the "probable successor" of North Korea, marking the first time the agency has officially indicated her possible succession of power.

Radio Free Asia reported in November last year that the daughter received a new official title "Morning Star of Korea" - an apparent and deliberate parallel to the country's founding leader Kim Il Sung.

The daughter, born in 2013, has started making public appearances since November 2022, accompanying Kim Jong Un in North Korea's various high-profile occasions, including his visiting of missile launching sites.

Updated with comments from the U.S. State Department. Edited by Taejun Kang, Elaine Chan Malcolm Foster, and Eugene Whong. Alex Willemyns contributed reporting.

Copyright 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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North Korea launches artillery shells towards South's border islands

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 11:17 AM

North Korea has launched over 200 rounds of artillery shells from its west coast towards the South's Yeonpyeong Island, prompting the south to give evacuation orders to island residents, according to Seoul's military.

"The North Korean military conducted over 200 rounds of firing today from around 09:00 to 11:00 (1200 to 0200 GMT) in the areas of Jangsan-got in the northern part of Baengnyeong Island and the northern areas... of Yeonpyeong Island," a defense ministry official said at a briefing on Friday.

The artillery shells did not breach South Korean territory as they fell within the buffer zone separating the two nations.

Hours after the reported barrage, South Korean marines on the border island conducted live-fire artillery drills, Yonhap news agency reported.

As a "preventative measure", the locals residing on the islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong were instructed to find refuge as a result of an undisclosed "circumstance".

"We are making the evacuation announcements at the moment," a local district official at the Baengnyeong Island told AFP, adding that he had been told the South Korean military would conduct a naval drill shortly.

The South Korean military stated that the firing resulted in no harm to civilians or the military, affirming that all the shells landed on the northern side of the sea border.

"This is an act of provocation that escalates tension and threatens peace on the Korean peninsula," said Lee Sung-joon, a spokesperson for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The defense ministry in Seoul said in a statement, "We sternly warn that North Korea bears full responsibility for this escalating crisis and strongly urge them to immediately cease these actions.

"Our military closely tracks and monitors the situation in close coordination with the United States, and will take appropriate measures in response to North Korea's provocations," the statement added.

Earlier in 2010, Pyongyang targeted Yeonpyeong island with a barrage of 170 artillery shells, which led to the killing of four people including two civilians, what was seen as the first North Korean attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean war.

The most recent occurrence transpired months subsequent to North Korea's complete suspension of a military agreement with South Korea, which was initially intended to enhance bilateral relations.

In December, In an attempt to thwart Pyongyang, the United States deployed a nuclear-powered submarine to the port city of Busan in South Korea this month. Additionally, it conducted joint drills with Seoul and Tokyo, involving its long-range bombers.

The North has described the deployment of Washington's strategic weapons, such as B-52 bombers, in joint drills on the Korean peninsula as "intentional nuclear war provocative moves", as relations between the North and South are seeing their new lows in decades.

China advocates for "restraint"

China has urged all parties involved to exercise "restraint" and maintain "calm" following reports that Pyongyang launched an artillery attack near two Seoul islands.

"Under the current situation, we hope that all relevant parties maintain calm and restraint, refrain from taking actions that aggravate tensions, avoid further escalation of the situation, and create conditions for the resumption of meaningful dialogue," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.

"We are paying close attention to developments and changes to the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Wang added.

"Confrontations between relevant parties have intensified recently, and the situation on the peninsula continues to be tense.

"As a neighbor of the peninsula, China has always advocated maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula and resolving peninsula issues through dialogue and consultation."

Both, the North and the South nations claim the entire Korean Peninsula and outlying islands ever since the peninsula was divided in 1945.

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'Iranian security forces are gathering info on perpetrators of Kerman attacks'

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 5, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said that the country's security forces are gathering information regarding the perpetrators of the Kerman terror blasts that killed 89 people on Wednesday.

"Our security forces are assessing details and completing information regarding the organizers of the attacks and those who carried them out", Amirabdollahian said on Friday as he spoke with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry on the phone.

The top Iranian diplomat also emphasized the need for the international community to combat terrorism seriously.

Sabry, on his part, strongly condemned Kerman's terrorist attacks and expressed the sympathy and sadness of the Sri Lankan people and government over the tragedy.

He said that Sri Lanka stands with the people and government of Iran.

In a separate phone talk, Qatar's Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani also extended his condolences to Amirabdollahian over the deadly attacks.

Amirabdollahian and Sheikh Al Thani also discussed the Gaza war as well as the security situation in the Red Sea in the wake of Yemeni attacks on shipping in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The two, among other things, also discussed the negative impacts of the Israeli regime's assassination of top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri on the ongoing negotiations over the Gaza war.

Al-Arouri was killed on January 2 in an Israeli drone attack on Hamas' office in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

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Iran Interior Ministry official says both Kerman blasts were suicide bombings

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 5, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Political Affairs Majid Mirahmadi has said that both explosions, which killed dozens of people in Kerman on Wednesday, were suicide bombings.

Mirahmadi told IRNA on Friday that two bombers blew themselves up and remains of their bodies were found at the site of the blasts.

He confirmed that 89 people, including 13 Afghans, were killed in the twin blasts.

The interior ministry official specified that 36 men and 53 women were killed in the tragic event, from whom 9 were children and 30 were 18.

Mirahmadi also said that some people have been arrested in connection with the attacks in 5 cities in 5 provinces. The detailed report on the arrests will be issued by security bodies in the coming hours, he added.

The Daesh terror group claimed responsibility for the blasts that happened while large crowds of people had gathered near the resting place of Iran's top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani to mark his fourth assassination anniversary.

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Iran armed forces to determine time, place of Kerman attacks' revenge: Pres. Raisi

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 5, 2024

Kerman, IRNA -- Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has said that the time and place of reaction to the recent tragic terrorist attack in Iran's Kerman will be determined by the Iranian Armed Forces.

Addressing the people participating at funeral of the people who were martyred in a terrorist attack in the southern city of Kerman on January 3, President Raisi said on Friday that the enemy has observed and seen the magnitude of Iran's power many times, noting that the enemy once again will feel the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran in response to the recent tragic case in Kerman.

Regarding Iran's revenge for the heinous terrorist attack in Kerman, Raisi gave an assurance that "the Iranian Armed Forces will determine the time and location" of the reaction.

Elsewhere in his remarks, President Raisi referred to Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, highlighting that the end of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm would be the end of the Zionist regime.

President Raisi described the victories of the Resistance as a result of the support, management, and actions of martyr General Qassem Soleimani; however, Palestine, Hamas, and Hezbollah should be appreciated.

The Americans plan to establish another Israel in the region was foiled by General Soleimani and the Resistance forces, he said, adding that that's why the Americans, the Zionist regime, and its agents in the region hold grudge against General Soleimani.

The Wednesday's twin blasts at an event held in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of late commander Lt. General Soleimani resulted in the tragic loss of at least 89 lives and left scores more injured, with some in critical condition.

Daesh (ISIS) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday.

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Xi sends condolences to Iranian president over serious terror attacks

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:08, January 05, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a message of condolences to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi over the serious terror attacks in the country.

Xi said he was shocked to learn that serious terror attacks have taken place in Iran's Kerman, causing heavy casualties.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi expressed deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the injured and the bereaved families.

Xi stressed that China opposes all forms of terrorism, strongly condemns terrorist attacks and firmly supports Iran's efforts in safeguarding national security and stability.

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Pakistani FM extends condolences to Iran over terrorist attack

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:58, January 05, 2024

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has extended his country's condolences to Iran over the deadly terrorist attack in the country, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

In a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday, Jilani expressed solidarity with the people of Iran at the moment of grief on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan, the ministry said in a statement.

The Pakistani foreign minister termed terrorism as a common threat to both Pakistan and Iran which needed to be countered by effective measures, it added.

At least 84 people were killed and 284 others injured in the bombings in Kerman on Wednesday, according to Iran's interior minister.

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Deaths of twin bombing attacks in Iran rise to 89

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:57, January 05, 2024

TEHRAN, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of a twin terrorist bombing in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman rose to 89, the official news agency IRNA reported on Friday.

The rise was caused by a number of those injured in the attack succumbing to their wounds at the hospital, the report quoted an informed official as saying.

Among the dead are 12 children, 33 women and 12 Afghan nationals.

The twin bombing occurred when a memorial event for Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was being held in Kerman on Wednesday. A total of 284 people were injured.

The Islamic State on Thursday claimed responsibility for the deadly blasts, saying that two of its suicide bombers used explosive belts in the "operations," the report said.

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Iran's Intelligence Ministry: 11 terrorists involved in Kerman attacks arrested

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 6:41 PM

Iran's Intelligence Ministry has announced the arrest of 11 terrorists suspected of involvement in the January 3 bomb attacks in the southeastern city of Kerman.

In its Friday statement, the ministry said the security apparatus detected the initial signs of the role of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the bombings right after the tragic acts of terror were carried out.

According to the statement, two terrorists conducted the bomb attacks, one with a Tajik nationality. There has been no precise information yet about the identity of the second.

The ministry said security forces detained two terrorists on Thursday for providing support to the bombers in their hideout in Kerman's suburbs.

Nine members of the terrorists' support team have also been identified and arrested across six provinces of Iran, the ministry said.

Operation equipment has also been discovered in the hideouts of the terrorists, including two explosive vests, two remote control devices, detonators, thousands of bullets used in the explosive vests, wiring prepared for the vests and quantities of explosive raw materials, the ministry said.

The terrorist explosions were carried out near the burial site of Iran's late anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of his martyrdom. The blasts left 89 people, including 76 Iranians and 13 Afghans, dead and wounded 286, some of them in critical condition.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the heinous act in a statement posted on their affiliate Telegram channels. It said two of its members had detonated their explosive belts among the crowd.

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Iran arrests a number of suspects linked to Kerman terrorist blasts: Minister

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 2:31 PM

Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has announced the arrest of a number of suspects in connection with the terrorist bomb attacks of January 3 in the city of Kerman, where over 80 people were killed.

Speaking to reporters in the southeastern city on Friday, the minister said Iranian security forces had found "solid clues" leading to the whereabouts of the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks.

Vahidi said Iran's intelligence and security forces have full control over the issue.

"All the elements involved in the terrorist incident will be definitely identified and arrested," the Iranian minister stated.

On Friday, Iranians held a mass funeral for the victims of the bombings.

A top military commander pledged during the event that the security apparatus will find the criminals behind the carnage "wherever they are."

76 Iranians and 13 Afghans were among the dead. The explosions were carried out near the burial site of Iran's late anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of his martyrdom.

In a statement a few hours after the bombings, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the perpetrators will face a fitting punishment and a harsh response.

The Daesh Takfiri terrorists claimed responsibility for the heinous act in a statement posted on their affiliate Telegram channels. Daesh said two of its members had detonated their explosive belts among the crowd.

Meanwhile on Friday, Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mir-Ahmadi said security forces had arrested individuals in five cities and five provinces in connection with the terrorist attacks. He said detailed information on the matter will be announced.

Mir-Ahmadi noted that the attacks were carried out by two terrorists who were killed after detonating themselves.

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Terrorist bombings rooted in Zionist grudge against Gen. Soleimani: Raeisi

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 11:40 AM

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says the cause of the terrorist bombings in Kerman can be traced back to the grudge that Zionists hold against top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani as he jeopardized the plans to establish another Israel in the region by creating and backing Daesh terrorist group.

He made the remarks on Friday while addressing a funeral ceremony of the victims of two Wednesday terrorist blasts, claimed by Daesh, which killed at least 89 people and wounded scores at a memorial for Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the southeastern city of Kerman, four years after his assassination by the United States.

Noting that the Israeli regime was established with the purported aim of defending Jews and by misusing the name of Jews, Raeisi said "The enemy wanted the puppet group of Daesh to rule in Iraq and Syria under the name of Islamic Caliphate."

He attributed the security of West Asia to Gen. Soleimani, saying "Qassem Soleimani and the regional forces thwarted the US plan to create another Israel in the region ... this is why the Zionist regime is holding grudge against the name, path, and pilgrims of Haj Qassem."

Raeisi also noted that Qassem Soleimani strengthened the resistance in the region and left Israel surrounded by powerful forces that could thwart its expansionist plans.

The US role in the establishment of Daesh terrorist group has also been highlighted by some American politicians, both Democratic and Republican.

Back in August 2016, Donald Trump, then-Republican presidential nominee, also stated that Daesh was honoring then-US president Barack Obama as "He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder! He founded ISIS."

"I would say the co-founder would be 'Crooked' Hillary Clinton," he hastened to add, criticizing the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, which according to him, left behind a void for Daesh terrorists to fill.

Also back in March 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted that the US created Daesh, blaming Washington for crimes perpetrated by the terrorist group and influx of millions of refugees to Europe. "The police are corrupt. We created ISIS (Daesh). We drove two million refugees up into Europe and destabilized democracy for a generation in Europe. They called it Brexit," he said then.

The US invaded Iraq in 2003 under the false pretext that the country possesses Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The invasion marked the start of the American war machine on Iraq and the wider West Asia region. A few years later, it also invaded Syria with the excuse of fighting Daesh terrorists.

Daesh - also referred to as ISIS -- began a brutal terror campaign in 2014, overrunning vast swathes of Iraq in lightning attacks.

Iraq declared victory over the terrorist group in December 2017 following a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign in which the PMU (known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha'abi) - assisted by Iranian military advisers -- played a major role.

Still, Daesh's remnants keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq and Syria while they have been increasingly active in Afghanistan in the past years, especially since the US's irresponsible withdrawal of forces from the war-torn country.

Iran to respond at appropriate time, place

Elsewhere, Raeisi warned that Iran's armed forces will retaliate for the recent terrorist attacks in the city of Kerman at the appropriate time and place.

"I assure the people that the initiative is in the hands of our forces and that the time and the place will be determined by our forces," he said.

"The enemy has seen and experienced the power of the Islamic Republic many times and I assure [you] that the enemy will see the power of the Islamic Republic concerning the latest cases."

'Desperate' Israel Killing innocent children

Referring to Israel's aggression on Gaza that began more than three months ago, the Iranian president said that Israel has failed to defeat the Palestinian resistance despite its limited military capacities, adding that the Tel Aviv regime is "desperate" and that's why it is "killing innocent children."

"Palestine is the real winner and the Zionist regime has been defeated in the field," the Iranian president said.

Raeisi also stressed that it is due to the efforts of Qassem Soleimani that anti-Israel operations are currently conducted by the axis of resistance.

"Although Hezbollah, Hamas, and the resistance front must be praised, the role played by Haj Qassem in these achievements has been very huge."

"The end of [Operation] al-Aqsa Storm is the end of the Zionist regime."

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 22,438 Palestinians and injured more than 57,614 others.

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Iran holds mass funeral, vows to find terrorists 'wherever they are'

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 11:24 AM

Iranians held a mass funeral for the victims of twin terrorist bombings in Kerman with a top Iranian military commander pledging to find the terrorists behind the attack "wherever they are."

Thousands of people along with high-ranking Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raeisi, attended the funeral in the southern Iranian city.

The terrorist attack left at least 84 people dead and 285 others injured at a ceremony that was held to honor anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani four years after his assassination by the United States.

Other than Kerman, other cities across the country hosted rallies following Friday prayers where people condemned the terrorist attack and supporters of terrorism while chanting slogans against the US and the Israeli regime.

Addressing the ceremony in Kerman, chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami said that the members of the terrorist outfit involved in the recent bombing attack in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman will be identified and brought to justice "wherever they are."

Calling Daesh the US policy outcome in the Islamic world, Salami said the terrorist group sought to "draw a new map," and establish a caliphate in the Muslim world but was defeated thanks to General Soleimani's sacrifices.

"Daesh has vanished and there is no trace of them on the political map of the world and they are lost and lodged in the kennels," the IRGC chief said.

"They can only act as agents and mercenaries of America and Zionism," he added. "But we give them this warning; if you are brave enough, fight us, why are you killing defenseless women and children?"

Salami also underlined that such crimes are a reflection of the severe defeats that have been inflicted on the global arrogance and its regional and internal agents in recent years.

"We will find you wherever you are!" he said of terrorists.

"Note that you cannot get away from divine punishment by disappearing, and even if you live for a thousand years, we will find you... we will take revenge of all our martyrs from our enemies."

Pointing to the crowds of people paying homage to General Soleimani and attending his burial site even after the bombing attacks, Salami said, "This is not a nation that will kowtow to the enemy with martyrdom. We heard the Leader's order and we will continue to fulfill it."

In a statement on Wednesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the perpetrators of the twin terrorist attacks in Kerman will face a fitting punishment and a harsh response.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the heinous act in a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels and said two of its members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd that had gathered at the cemetery.

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Several Suspects in Terrorist Attack in Iran Detained - Interior Minister

Sputnik News

20240105

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Several people involved in the deadly terrorist attack in the Iranian city of Kerman have been detained, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Friday.

"Intelligence systems were able to find good leads. A number of people involved in the attack have been detained, and information about them will be announced later by the security services," Vahidi was quoted as saying by Iranian news agency IRNA.

According to the latest official figures, 84 people were killed and 284 wounded on Wednesday by two explosions at the cemetery in Kerman where a crowd had gathered for a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of Soleimani's assassination by US forces.

According to reports, two Daesh* militants detonated their explosive belts in the crowd.

Previous reports said that two bags with explosives were remotely detonated at the entrance to the cemetery.

Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Thursday, citing an informed source, that at least one of the blasts in Kerman was caused by a suicide bombing. The source said that evidence, including CCTV footage, showed that the first explosion was definitely caused by a suicide bombing carried out by a man.

The source also told the news agency that an investigation was underway to identify the bomber, whose body was ripped apart by the explosion, adding that an investigation into the causes of the second blast was also underway.

Later on Thursday, Daesh has claimed responsibility for the deadly terrorist attack on a morning procession for prominent Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in the Iranian city of Kerman

The Iranian government declared Thursday a day of national mourning for the victims, and the country's president, Ebrahim Raisi, who had postponed his planned visit to Turkey to deal with the issue, said the masterminds and perpetrators of the terrorist attack would be identified by security forces and law enforcement agencies and brought to account.

Soleimani, who commanded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020. Washington claimed he had been involved in organizing the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad on December 31, 2019. In response, Iran launched strikes on US bases in Iraq, including the al-Asad Airbase.

* Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries

A Sputnik

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Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Sends Message of Sympathy to Iranian President

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, January 6 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un , president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, sent a message of sympathy to Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on January 5.

In the message, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un , on behalf of the DPRK government and people and on his own behalf, expressed deep condolences and sympathy to the Iranian president and, thorough him, to the Iranian government and people and the bereaved families and victims, upon the news that heavy casualties were caused by recent terrorist bomb attacks in Kerman Province of Iran.

Reaffirming the consistent stand of the DPRK government opposing all sorts of terrorism, the message sincerely hoped that stability would be brought to the bereaved families and victims as soon as possible. -0-

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PM: Iraq decision to end US military presence 'irreversible'

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Jan 5, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani has said that his country has decided to end the military presence of the US and the American-led international coalition on Iraqi soil, stressing that the decision is irreversible.

Al Sudani was speaking in Baghdad on Friday at a ceremony to commemorate the fourth martyrdom anniversary of Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani and deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The two were assassinated in a US drone strike near Iraq's capital Baghdad in January 2020.

The Iraqi prime minister said that his country's main stance is to end the military presence of the US and the international coalition it leads, emphasizing that Baghdad's stance remains unchanged.

He said that the Iraqi government is working to set a date to begin talks on the issue, noting that the 2020 attack, which killed General Soleimani and al-Muhandis, dealt a blow to all rules regarding ties between Baghdad and Washington.

Al Sudani also said that the PMU is an inseparable part of the Iraqi army.

Back in 2020 and following the assassination of General Soleimani and al-Muhandis, the Iraqi parliament approved a law calling for the withdrawal of American forces from the country amid growing anti-American sentiments in the Arab country.

The US formed an international coalition in September 2014 to fight Daesh terrorists in Iraq and Syria. The move however has been facing growing criticism over its little success to uproot the terrorist group.

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Iraqi government prepares to end presence of US-led coalition 'permanently': PM

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 January 2024 2:58 PM

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani says his government is forming a committee to prepare arrangements for the permanent dissolution of the occupying US-led coalition's mission in the country.

Sudani made the announcement in a statement on Friday, a day after a drone strike on the headquarters of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, in eastern Baghdad killed three people, including a commander of the Nujaba resistance movement.

"Government is setting the date for the start of the bilateral committee to put arrangements to end the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq permanently," the Iraqi prime minister's office said in the statement.

The committee was reported to include representatives from Baghdad and the occupation coalition.

"We stress our firm position in ending the existence of the international coalition after the justifications for its existence have ended," Sudani was quoted as saying in the statement.

The deadly US attack on Thursday raised the ire of Iraqi resistance groups which called on Baghdad to end the presence of the coalition in the country. A group of Iraqi lawmakers also demanded the expulsion of the US ambassador.

In a strongly-worded statement, the Iraqi premier denounced the United States for the drone strike and stressed that the "attack was a dangerous escalation and a violation of Iraq's sovereignty."

There are roughly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of, what Washington claims to be, a fighting force against Daesh. The US has maintained its presence, although, the Arab countries and their allies defeated the Takfiri terrorist group in late 2017.

According to US officials, over 118 attacks against American troops in Iraq and Syria have been reported since mid-October as anti-US sentiments are running high across the region over Washington's firm support for the Israeli onslaught against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Iraqi resistance forces have targeted major US-occupied military bases in Syria and Iraq, warning the United States against funding and supporting Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

Washington has also vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions that called on the occupying regime to cease its aggression.

The Israeli aggression has so far killed at least 22,438 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and wounded 57,614 others.

The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

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China's top diplomat sums up enlightenment brought by China-U.S. ties

Xinhua) 09:18, January 06, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday talked about the enlightenment brought by the development of China-U.S. relations, saying that peace is the most fundamental cornerstone of the bilateral ties.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a reception commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in Beijing.

Wang said China-U.S. relations have gone through twists and turns, which has brought important lessons, adding that "no conflict or confrontation" between the two major countries is in itself the most important peace dividend for mankind.

Noting that cooperation is the most correct choice for China and the United States to get along, Wang said win-win cooperation is the most essential feature of China-U.S. exchanges.

He said the high level of bilateral trade and two-way investment deeply reflects the highly complementary economic structure of the two countries and their deep connection in the global industrial chain and supply chain. Artificial decoupling and blocking incurs more losses than gains.

Wang also put forward several propositions on implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state in San Francisco.

He called on both sides to adhere to mutual respect and establish correct understanding as soon as possible, stressing that China has no intention of replacing or overriding anyone, let alone seeking hegemony. China is committed to building stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relations on the basis of mutual respect.

Both sides should uphold peaceful coexistence, especially in effectively managing differences, Wang said, voicing opposition to practices of resorting to confrontation, sanction or engaging in power hegemony and zero-sum game just because of differences.

Wang said both sides should continue to make full use of the mechanisms restored or established in the fields of diplomacy, economy, finance, commerce and agriculture to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

David Meale, Charge dAffaires at the U.S. Embassy in China, addressed the reception. He extended on behalf of the U.S. side congratulations on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the U.S., saying that the U.S. side is willing to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and promote the steady development of U.S.-China relations.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)
Ethnic army overruns junta command center in Myanmar's Kokang region

Hundreds of junta troops surrender to the MNDAA without a fight.

By RFA Burmese 2024.01.05 -- Ethnic rebels have overrun a key military command center in northern Myanmar, taking control of the city of Laukkai and accepting the surrender of hundreds of soldiers, in what analysts called a stunning blow to the junta's grasp on power in the region.

Fighters with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, stormed the junta's Kokang regional command center, the largest base in northern Shan state near the Chinese border late on Thursday, prompting soldiers in the facility to lay down their arms, despite the military's attempt to defend the facility from afar with artillery fire and airstrikes.

Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University who writes commentaries to Radio Free Asia, called the MNDAA's occupation of the Laukkaing Regional Operation Command "a significant development" in the conflict between the military and anti-junta forces.

"This was the regional operational command headquarters, and that [the military] surrendered in the end without a shot being fired is both very significant and telling that the regime could not support them beyond airstrikes," he said in comments emailed to RFA.

The MNDAA seized control of the facility in Kokang's capital Laukkai despite military assets that included heavy weapons, armored vehicles and a vast stockpile of arms and ammunition, as well as soldiers from the junta's 55th Division. The division was recently mobilized to contend with an ethnic offensive that has made significant gains in Shan state since its launch in late October.

A source close to the command of the junta's Laukkaing Department, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, confirmed to RFA Burmese on Friday that the MNDAA is now in complete control of Laukkai.

There are seven military battalions under the Regional Operation Command in Laukkai, and sources estimate that up to 2,000 soldiers and pro-junta militia fighters were based there.

The MNDAA, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army together are known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armies, which launched Operation 1027 against the military in late October and has since reportedly captured 10 townships in northern Shan state and seized control of more than 200 junta camps.

On Friday, the Three Brotherhood Alliance claimed that "around 2,389 troops and their families" had surrendered to its forces following the attack on the Laukkaing Regional Operation Command, without providing a breakdown of the figures, in a post to the social media platform X.

Troops withdraw to Lashio

A source with knowledge of the situation, who also declined to be named, said that following the surrender junta troops and their family members were sent to Lashio, the largest city in northern Shan state and the headquarters of the military's Northeast Command, located some 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of Mandalay. Further details were not provided.

Videos of junta soldiers surrendering to the MNDAA quickly made the rounds on social media, and a resident who lives near the border with China identified the location as Laukkai.

"The videos show junta soldiers handing over their arms and surrendering before leaving by car with their family members," the resident said. Some of the soldiers were allowed to leave using their motorbikes, while their families were transported by trucks and private cars."

Members of pro-junta channels on the social media platform Telegram claimed that the military had not entirely evacuated the Laukkaing Regional Operation Command, and that family members and injured soldiers from the base's medical facility were taken to Lashio with the assistance of area charity groups.

Telephone and internet services have been cut off in the region, making it difficult to obtain information about the situation there.

Neither the military nor the MNDAA have issued an official statement about the surrender in Laukkai, and attempts by RFA to contact spokesmen for both factions went unanswered Friday.

Junta under pressure in Kokang

The junta has been under pressure to arrest members of the Kokang region administration for their suspected involvement in online scam syndicates and had recently replaced Myint Swe, the chairman of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, as the region is officially known.

It was unclear whether the shake up had any bearing on the recent fighting and the junta's readiness to defend the base in Laukkai.

The MNDAA made several moves in the lead up to Thursday's seizure.

On Oct. 27, the date of the launch of Operation 1027, the ethnic rebels blocked all routes leading to Laukkai and on Dec. 5 seized a military outpost located just over 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Laukkai Regional Operation Command. The MNDAA also occupied the villages of Yan Long Keng and Tar Shwe Htan near Laukkai, essentially surrounding the operation command base.

A military observer in Shan state told RFA that while the military carried out airstrikes and artillery attacks to defend the base, it was unable to deploy reinforcements or send military supplies to troops inside the facility, who surrendered without putting up a fight.

"In my opinion, the decision to surrender was made solely by the Regional Operation Command," said the observer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. "They might have discussed a possible retreat of the military forces, after which arms and equipment were handed over to the MNDAA."

Aung Myo, a former military officer and a political commentator, noted that the Regional Operation Command in Laukkai was a base camp, which limited the junta's ability to respond to the attack.

"The operational command, which also housed families, was not a combat position on the frontlines," he said. "Even though the soldiers could have fought back, they had to consider the security of their family members. It was a poor military strategy to establish the base there in the first place."

An earlier attack by anti-junta forces on the base on Nov. 12 resulted in the surrender of 129 soldiers and 262 of their family members.

Shortly after the surrender of military forces in Laukkai on Thursday, the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched an attack on Hopang township in the Wa Self-Administered Region, located around 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) away from the town of Chinshwehaw in Shan's Laukkaing township, according to a resident. The MNDAA had taken control of Chinshwehaw after the launch of Operation 1027.

"Armed clashes started around 3:00 a.m., after which [anti-junta forces] carried out a search of the area for policemen, soldiers, militia fighters and members of online scam gangs," the resident said.

A resident of nearby Pang Long township said that on Friday, members of the United Wa State Army - Myanmar's largest ethnic army that in November had vowed to remain neutral amid Operation 1027 - occupied Pang Long and Hopang under MNDAA protection. The two townships are connected to UWSA territory.

'No control of northern Shan'

Abuza, of the National War College, called it wise for the MNDAA to allow an orderly withdrawal of junta troops from Laukkai to Lashio on Thursday, which he said "seems to be the SAC's new defensive perimeter," using the junta's official name, the State Administration Council. "They are acknowledging that they have no ability to control northern Shan State."

"It will be interesting to see if the Three Brotherhood Alliance now moves on Muse, which would give them substantial control over border trade with China," he added. Muse sits opposite the town of Ruili in China's Yunnan province and is a major hub for commerce between the two countries.

Abuza noted that the loss of the base in Laukkai would lead to "a significant loss of revenue" for the junta, including its ability to pay for border guards forces, and suggested that the MNDAA will move quickly to hunt down scam operators and individuals on China's wanted list "to prove to Beijing that they are a legitimate partner worthy of support."

Junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing personally led the military's occupation of Laukkai as regional commander in 2009, seizing the city from an outnumbered contingent of MNDAA soldiers without firing a shot.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Myanmar anti-junta groups claim capture of military camp in Shan state

A platoon commander has also been captured, the resistance forces say.

By RFA Burmese 2024.01.05 -- Myanmar anti-junta armed groups, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and Mandalay People's Defense Force, say they have seized a junta military camp at a village in northern Shan state.

The Mandalay PDF announced that the combined forces launched an attack this week on the camp at Than Bo village, taking control of it on Wednesday and capturing a platoon commander.

During the battle, both sides suffered casualties, the PDF stated, without giving details.

The seized camp comes under the junta's Central Region Military Command and has between 50 and 100 forces, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, said on Friday.

RFA was unable to reach junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment.

The Mandalay PDF is currently participating in Operation 1027 led by the anti-junta Three Northern Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the TNLA. That offensive has dealt the most severe military setback to the junta since it seized power in a February 2021 coup.

The TNLA and Mandalay PDF have managed to block the Mandalay-Nawnghkio-Gote Twin road, connecting the Mandalay region and northern Shan state. This has led to regular clashes between the junta and resistance groups in the Nawnghkio township.

Since the launch of Operation 1027 two months ago, the Three Brotherhood Alliance has reportedly captured 10 townships in northern Shan state and seized control of more than 200 junta camps.

Attacks are continuing around the cities of Hseni and Kutkai in northern Shan state.

Edited by Taejun Kang and Elaine Chan.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Myanmar's Annual Amnesty Criticized for Including Few Political Prisoners

By Ingyin Naing January 05, 2024

In what has become a customary move to mark Myanmar's Independence Day on January 4, the military junta announced a mass amnesty, releasing nearly 10,000 prisoners. The action, however, was criticized by political and human rights activists who said it lacks political significance, with less than 100 political prisoners among those granted amnesty.

Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner and co-founder of the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, or AAPP, a Myanmar human rights monitoring group, expressed concerns about the release's impact on public safety.

In a statement to VOA, he said, "As usual, only a few political prisoners were released. It is customary to release them on big days like this. Among those released are usually only criminals. This is a concern for public safety. This release has never contributed to national reconciliation and peace. If it is a true act of service, all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, must be released unconditionally."

Over the past three years, the military junta has announced 12 amnesties, resulting in the release of nearly 90,000 prisoners. However, according to AAPP's list, 5,800 political prisoners have been released, less than 7% of the total.

According to AAPP's latest statement, from the February 2021 coup until January 3, 25,730 people were arrested by the military council. Currently, 19,930 people remain incarcerated, with 8,457 of them sentenced to prison terms.

Myanmar's ruling military leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, pardoned 9,652 prisoners Thursday, on what a statement referred to as "humanitarian and compassionate grounds."

The general also pardoned 114 jailed foreigners, who the government said will be deported. While the identities and nationalities of the foreign prisoners were not disclosed, the junta said the pardons were made for the sake of bilateral relations and on humanitarian grounds.

Selective release among detained NLD leaders

Among those freed by the mass amnesty were two high-profile members of the National League for Democracy, or NLD a Dr. Hla Myat Thwe, former minister of social welfare in the Ayayarwady Region during the NLD government, and Dr. Ye Lwin, ousted mayor of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city after Yangon. Nearly 2,000 NLD party members, including other top leaders, remain imprisoned.

Sithu Maung, Myanmar's youngest lawmaker and an NLD member, expressed his views from a liberated area controlled by ethnic armed groups. Speaking with VOA via Zoom on Thursday, he said, "Without the release of the party's top leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, the junta's so-called amnesty was completely absent with its political will and willingness to solve the problem."

Suu Kyi, the 78-year-old Nobel laureate, remains sentenced to 27 years in prison on various charges brought by the military, including election fraud, coronavirus restriction violations and corruption.

Maung said the Independence Day celebration are "devoid of political substance, emphasizing the ongoing challenges in a country under military control."

Since the coup in February 2021, the junta has arrested 1,910 NLD members, with at least 1,269 still in detention, according to a report by the NLD's Human Rights Documentation Team in October.

Maung pointed out that the international community, as per United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2669, encourages the release of Suu Kyi and her political associates. The current situation, he argued, "falls short of international expectations for a genuine resolution."

A bittersweet liberation

Outside the infamous Insein Prison in Myanmar's old capital, Yangon, the families of freed prisoners waited for their loved ones to be released. Videos and photos of the scene show tearful reunions as mothers, fathers, sons and daughters embrace after years of imprisonment in a prison known for its inhumane conditions.

Photojournalist Kaung Sett Lin, a member of the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency, or MPA, like many released on Thursday, could be seen waving from the window of a prison bus before rushing to hug his family.

Kaung Sett Lin and a fellow photojournalist, a woman named Hmu Yadanar Moh Moh Tun, were arrested on December 5, 2021, while covering a coup protest in Yangon.

Both journalists were seriously injured during the incident, with Kaung Sett Lin suffering a broken back and leg, as well as serious head and eye injuries. Hmu Yadanar reportedly received serious head injuries from being hit by a military vehicle during the arrests. Reports at the time said that five protesters were killed during the incident when the military opened fire on the crowd.

Despite Kaung Sett Linn's early release, his female colleague remains imprisoned, having received a 10-year sentence.

J Paing, the chief editor and co-founder of the MPA, expressed mixed emotions about the release of his colleague. "It's good news that he was freed," Paing told VOA on Thursday. "However, after being released, there are those who have reposted opinions on the military junta's lobby channels expressing a desire for him to be rearrested. We are, therefore, worried about him."

The Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, has called for the release of all detained journalists in Myanmar.

Critics of the junta say that mass pardons often involve those who have already served most of their sentences, and there have been instances of rearrest shortly after release.

Research by the VOA Burmese service indicates that approximately 40 journalists are still held in prisons across Myanmar, even after the recent mass pardon.

Among them is VOA Burmese contributor Sithu Aung Myint, sentenced to 12 years in prison by the junta. Sithu Aung Myint had contributed fact-based news analysis to a VOA Burmese weekly program until his arrest in August 2021.

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Annual Exchange of Lists of Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India, inter alia, provides that both countries shall inform each other of their nuclear installations and facilities, falling within its definition, on 1st January of each calendar year. Signed on 31 December 1988, the Agreement entered into force on 27 January 1991.

Pursuant to Article-II of the Agreement, the list of nuclear installations and facilities in Pakistan was officially handed over to a representative of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, today. Simultaneously, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs also handed over the list of India's nuclear installations and facilities to a representative of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

The two countries have been exchanging the lists since 1st January 1992.



Islamabad

1 January 2024

2/2024

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South Korea Orders Evacuation on Yeonpyeong Island Over North's Shelling - Reports

Sputnik News

20240105

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - South Korea has ordered civilians of Yeonpyeong Island, which borders North Korea in the north, to evacuate to shelters amid "apparent signs of a military provocation" by Pyongyang, South Korean news agency reported on Friday, citing officials.

The emergency evacuation order was issued at 12:02 p.m. local time (03:02 GMT) and repeated at 12:30 p.m. local time (03:30 GMT) on Friday at the request of the South Korean military, the report cited the local county office as saying.

"We announced the evacuation after receiving a call from a military unit saying it was carrying out a maritime strike on Yeongpyeong Island as it has a situation with a North Korean provocation," the official was quoted as saying.

Earlier it was reported that the North Korean military fired 200 artillery shells into its own territorial waters near South Korean islands of Baengnyongdo and Yeonpyeong.

No civilians or South Korean military personnel were reportedly injured, and the shells fell north of the de facto maritime border.

The shelling came in the wake of reports that the US and South Korean militaries were conducting "decapitation drills" - in other words, training to assassinate North Korean leaders, including Kim Jong Un himself.

A Sputnik

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Secretary Blinken's Call with Outgoing Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Park

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

January 5, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with outgoing Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Park Jin and congratulated him on his successful tenure as Foreign Minister. The Secretary thanked Foreign Minister Park for his leadership in addressing security challenges on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific region, and around the world, including Russia's brutal war against Ukraine. As events celebrating the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK Alliance conclude, Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Park further re-emphasized the importance of the Alliance and a shared commitment to deepening our nations' ties.

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Russia's Remote-Controlled Armored Vehicles Pave the Way to Futuristic 'Robot Wars'

Sputnik News

20240105

As the weapons fielded by Russia in the Ukrainian conflict zone continue to dazzle and dishearten Moscow's adversaries, it seems that a new Russian unmanned combat vehicle may soon undergo testing in battlefield conditions.

CEO of Russia's defense industry conglomerate Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, announced last week that the new remotely-controlled BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle may soon be subjected to a trial by fire in the Ukrainian conflict zone.

The new Sinitsa module developed by Rostec subsidiary High Precision Systems essentially allows a BMP-3 to be controlled from a specialized control station or even a computer tablet.

Chemezov also suggested that 2S25M self-propelled anti-tank guns may also be fitted with similar remote control modules.

Commenting on this development, retired Russian Army colonel and veteran military analyst Viktor Litovkin told Sputnik that the BMP-3 is an infantry fighting vehicle and not a "ground drone" of some kind, noting that its remote-control capabilities have been already repeatedly demonstrated at the annual ARMY military expos.

He further pointed out that BMP-3 is a relatively expensive piece of hardware as compared to drones.

Litovkin also voiced his skepticism about the prospects of outfitting the 2S25M anti-tank guns with remote-control systems, arguing that such weapons are relatively cumbersome and require a human gunner to be fired with precision.

Meanwhile, military journalist and deputy chief editor of "Literary Russia" newspaper Aleksey Borzenko suggested that while the efforts to outfit armored vehicles with remote-control capabilities do highlight the drive to "optimize warfare," it is too early to talk about "tracked drones" as a lot of related systems are still in development.

He did argue, however, that many other countries besides Russia, such as the United States, are currently working on implementing similar technologies.

"Everything is heading towards robot wars, figuratively speaking," Borzenko said. "When soldiers won't be waging war directly but instead would sit behind computers fight wars like it were video games."

A Sputnik

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Fresh indictment of South Koreans sparks war of words between DPP, KMT

ROC Central News Agency

01/05/2024 09:52 PM

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) The latest probe by South Korean authorities into alleged submarine technology leaks to Taiwan has sparked a spat between lawmakers of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and main opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

Several South Korean and international news outlets on Friday reported that two former employees at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (now Hanhua Ocean) had been charged by the South Korean National Police Agency for allegedly stealing the blueprint of the Daewoo DSME1400 submarine and passing it to Taiwan.

President Tsai Ing-wen () introduced Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine (IDS), the Narwhal, at a CSBC shipyard in the southern port city of Kaohsiung in September last year.

Shortly after news about the indictments broke, KMT Legislator Ma Wen-chun () demanded that the Defense Ministry promptly investigate whether any Taiwanese nationals were involved in the alleged technology leaks.

If the news was true, the IDS program approved under former president Ma Ying-jeou () and carried out by the Tsai administration would be a "major international scandal," the lawmaker said.

She called on the ministry to determine if the IDS project contractor CSBC Corp was responsible for any wrongdoing in this case.

Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han () cited the report published by the Korea Economic Daily on Friday, which said that the South Korean authorities acted on a tip-off by a Taiwanese lawmaker, which Hung linked to Ma Wen-chun.

Ma Wen-chun's office previously confirmed that Ma had delivered an audio recording that was allegedly of a discussion between then Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy consultant Kuo Hsi () and a South Korean engineer to the Korean Mission in Taipei, asking the South Korean authorities to investigate the matter.

Ma said she reported the issue to South Korean authorities because she believed that some of the practices adopted by Kuo in his dealings with the South Korean engineer constituted fraud against Taiwan's government.

Hung said Taiwan could not obtain core technologies for producing weapons from overseas because China had been dissuading other countries from sharing those technologies with Taiwan.

This forced Taiwan to pull out all of the stops to obtain the technologies, but Ma Wen-chun seemed to have taken China's side and acted against Taiwan's national interests, Hung said, citing motions filed by Ma at the legislature from 2016 to 2023 that sought to freeze a total of NT$9.8 billion (US$316 million) and slash NT$7.5 billion in funding for the IDS program.

Ma and Kuo have accused each other of leaking confidential information.

The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office is looking into allegations of treason made against the two.

(By Wang Yang-yu, Lin Chiao-lien and Sean Lin)

Enditem/cs

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Lithuania's Foreign Ministry summons a representative of the Russian embassy in Vilnius, voices a strong protest over Russia's missile and drone attacks on Ukraine

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2024.01.05

On 4 January, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania summoned a representative of the Russian embassy in Vilnius and expressed a strong protest over Russia's one of the most massive missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in recent days since the beginning of Russia's wide-ranging war against Ukraine.

Over the past few days, Russia has fired more than 500 missiles and Shahed drones at Ukraine, targeting primarily the country's civilian and critical infrastructure. Most of these missiles were shot down by the Ukrainian military. However, many missiles and drones have achieved their terrorist goals by killing many Ukrainian civilians, destroying several residential buildings, and hitting maternity and other hospitals, houses of prayer, schools, shops, and commercial warehouses.

Lithuania strongly condemns Russia's war against Ukraine, including these acts of brutal aggression, and calls on Russia to stop its deadly attacks immediately. The Russian political and military leadership responsible for the crime of aggression against Ukraine must inevitably bear the legal responsibility. Those who carry out missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and their inhabitants, civilian and critical infrastructure, are committing war crimes under international law and must also be held to account. Russia will also have to compensate Ukraine and its people for all the destruction and loss during this illegal war.

Lithuania also calls on the international community to step up its military support to Ukraine, helping it to adequately defend itself against Russian military aggression and to pursue an even more principled policy towards Russia and its representatives based on their comprehensive international isolation and strict international sanctions.

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Interview: Russia Bets It Can 'Outlast The Attention Span Of The West' To Defeat Ukraine

By Vazha Tavberidze January 05, 2024

Professor Peter Roberts is a senior associate fellow at the U.K.-based Royal United Services Institute, a think tank focused on defense and security. His research centers around contemporary conflict and the way wars are fought. In an interview with RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Roberts says the West's preferred way of fighting today -- massive overwhelming force meant to achieve a quick victory -- is not working in Ukraine where Kyiv's military is bogged down in a war of attrition with invading Russian forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is betting on a conflict that could drag on for years, Roberts says, and "outlast the attention span of the West." For Ukraine, whose fighters are more "adept," according to Roberts, much will depend on the country's ability to step up its own military production, with its Western partners playing a role.

RFE/RL: How much has the Western way of war evolved since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022? What has been learned?

Peter Roberts: It's an interesting question. The Western way of war is a concept that many people have held to be fixed, that it was about maneuver, that it was about expeditionary warfare, about high technology, that it was about speed and tempo, air power, [and] precision. And I think that's an idea that held sway through most of the Western powers since probably the 1980s.

But if we look back to 2003, 2004, that was probably the high point and the end of that concept. Thereafter came a series of very difficult engagements for the West, a series of lessons which they could, should have, perhaps some of them did learn, about the idea that maneuver, time, and speed didn't necessarily work that way, particularly with the enduring campaigns they experienced over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And one thing I think that Ukraine has brought out very strongly is the return to conventional high-end warfare that, in a sense, was largely forgotten after Korea and Vietnam: long, protracted, grizzly fighting.

The idea that it could be fast was a very selective approach from the West that said: Hey, we can make wars happen swiftly, quickly, and with good ends. And Ukraine has [prompted] many Western allies and indeed, their militaries to say: Oh, we need to go back to an industrialized scale of readiness and preparation, of training of manpower, of capabilities. And not forget some of those conventional arms that many in the West wanted to sacrifice, so that they could invest in cyberspace and all that new technology that was thought to be battle-winning but really hasn't delivered.

RFE/RL: So, the old saying that the boys will be home by Christmas is now further from the truth than ever?

Roberts: It is. And I think there's a real dilemma in Western militaries because they are geared and prepared to fight short, sharp wars, high technology wars. And they're also facing this dilemma that that's not how the enemies are fighting. And I think the fact that the enemy gets a vote has largely been forgotten in Western military mindsets.

RFE/RL: Was it because the odds were so much in the West's favor?

Roberts: Absolutely. And although the odds were always in the West's favor, you could see these lessons coming out in Iraq and Afghanistan.

You had in Afghanistan an alliance that was unmatched across history in terms of military capability, that had more computing power than the rest of the world, that had intelligence and analysis, that owned the air and had the most sophisticated technology [in] generations...and yet they were beaten. And they were beaten by a force of 5,000-10,000 fighters, who were riding around on horseback, building bombs in mud huts, and fighting with World War II weapons.

So, this idea that the Western way of war, as they envisaged it for 30 years, could endure and would still succeed was deeply flawed and problematic. And yet very few people accepted that. There were huge amounts of denial, and there still is denial.

For all the announcements after Ukraine that Germany would rearm, that the U.K. would invest more money, you see very few states living up to it. Poland perhaps; Sweden; a few of the Nordic states, certainly the Baltic states; but very few [of] the big [European military] powerhouses -- the U.K., France, and Germany -- have lived up to the political rhetoric straight after Ukraine.

And I think that therein lies one of the key problems: They can't seem to convince their populations or themselves that they're at a moment where they need to really invest.

RFE/RL: The vaunted combined arms maneuver -- the West's go-to in the later wars -- prior to the counteroffensive was widely advocated and it was thought that Ukraine should have been able to achieve that on the battlefield. If it could, then success would follow. We saw little of this and, in fact, Ukraine's commander in chief of its armed forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, pointed that out in a recent interview with The Economist and admitted the war is at a stalemate. Why?

Roberts: The combined arms maneuver is only a way of fighting, right? So, it puts together -- instead of fighting as dismounted infantry or just an artillery battle -- you fight with all the arms together: engineering, artillery, infantry, plus airpower, plus long-range strike initiatives. The difference, I think, is that the West expected to use maneuver far more; to move forces around the battlefield to attack an enemy's will and cohesion to fight. And Ukraine did that on several occasions. The Ukrainian general staff did a brilliant job of attacking Russian command and control. They did an excellent job of severing supply lines and of attacking their deep areas. And that's where we saw success in the counteroffensive late last year.

But -- and this is the reality -- the problem is that it requires...a very good understanding of [its] adversary -- which Ukraine has -- but I'm not sure the rest of the West does. And secondly, the geometry, the geography of a country that allows you to be able to do so. Now, while the battle lines in Ukraine are enormous -- you know, hundreds, thousands of kilometers long -- the reality is that it is not the [type of] ground that allows you to use that kind of maneuver warfare to punch through with an armored fist and then to make huge gains

The mountains, the rivers, the lay of the land, the weather, the farmland, the fields, hedgerows, all prevent that kind of maneuver. And then there's the fact that Russia has done a very good job -- and you can't deny this -- has done a very good job of building defensive arrangements that prevent a breakthrough, which means that you are now fighting for ground as General Zaluzhniy said, 100 yards (91 meters) at a time. It's back to the World War I sort of movements going to and fro.

That's not to say that advances can't be made, that you can't defeat the adversary. It just means that we go back to a timeline the West doesn't like, which is a long, slow, grinding, unpleasant time frame full of death and destruction with bloody battlefields that really make unpleasant fighting conditions, if fighting conditions can ever be pleasant, right? But it's a really difficult thing conceptually for many Westerners to get their heads round. They want a single punch with an armored fist to break through fences, break out the other side, and then spread out and defeat the Russians. And that's a very traditional Western approach. I just don't see that there is a way to bring that to fruition, to make that happen right now.

RFE/RL: I've seen that described as Hollywood-like warfare. How fair is that in the description?

Roberts: Well, Hollywood popularized it, I think there's a romanticized notion that this is what can happen on every battlefield. The reality is it can happen and has happened on battlefields. The Germans used it very well in the blitzkrieg ("lighting war" during World War II); they used it in the Ardennes Forest. And the same way the Americans have used it very successfully in World War II, [and] indeed going through to 2003. I mean, there's lots of examples where it works, but it depends on having a number of things in place to make it work. And the Ukrainian battlefields don't have that geography, that topography, that geometry, that allows it, that kind of warfare, to happen.

So, I think, in a sense, there was an expectation for a Hollywood war: a fast, quick win using this methodology. I just don't think that the context of the war has allowed it to happen for a whole variety of reasons. But the number one [reason ]... is geography.... [The] Ukrainian General Staff have been pretty clear about this. They have been under huge pressure, not just from their own politicians and society, which one would expect, but also from Western generals and Western governments to make some kind of amazing breakthrough, as if this was suddenly possible.

The key is that context differs for every single fight that you go into. No two are the same, no battle is the same. And because the enemy is also adapting, battles themselves are dynamic. Day five is not the same as day one when you're fighting a battle. They are very different because both sides are adapting to the adversity, the ground around them, the battlefield is changing.

So, the doctrine should be an overarching set of ideas that gives you the flexibility to outthink your opponent in many of these ways.

At times, however, you come to a stalemate; both sides are fighting at their best with the equipment they have; there is nothing that's going to change it in the short term. And that's where you end up with a protracted struggle and a protracted fight and indeed with frozen conflicts if they go on for a long time.

So, if you look at Georgia from 2008, [it is] largely a frozen conflict. Russia invaded, annexed, took a piece of their sovereign territory in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and has held on to them in a frozen conflict. It is not going to give them back, it is building military bases, it is reinforcing and resupplying. And we have to be very careful that we don't allow this sort of position to harden in Ukraine.

RFE/RL: Speaking of Russia, let's speak about what can be said about the Russian way or rather, the [Russian] culture of war? And what are some of the biggest differences between it and the West in that respect?

Roberts: Essentially, the Russian General Staff was as seduced by a Western...shock-and-awe approach, that Western way of war that we talked about. And indeed, their lightning raid -- or attempted raid on Kyiv at the start of the war -- was exactly that. It was a lightly armored special forces convoy, supported by air power and armor, that was to take key areas, decapitate the government, and effectively sever the snake and [replace the] regime. This is hugely familiar to anyone who's lived in the West. So, they tried desperately to make that happen. And Ukraine put in superb reactions...to hold them off and defeat them.

What I think saved the Russian offensive in many ways was the fact that...part of that plan was to fix in place and hold in position the majority of Ukrainian military in the east of the country with artillery and large-scale Russian military and arms deployment. That ended up in an artillery war, a very Russian way of war: long, slow, monotonous, very attritional, uncaring, less reliant on command and control, less reliant on thinking, more reliant on sheer weight of firepower on mass, on destruction, and no thought to the consequences. And that, in many ways, symbolizes the Russian way of war, as it has been successful but enormously wasteful.

But listen, war is never efficient, but the Russian way of doing it is enormously wasteful, firing 60,000 rounds a day. It held in place the Ukrainian military that was there, and then made those huge incursions into Ukraine, taking enormous amounts of land, but then being held off by Ukraine's dogged defense and brilliantly executed. It's hard to think in history of a better executed way that any nation has lost ground slowly to an adversary and wore them down to hold up at that line that they got before the first counteroffensive took place.

So, the Russian way of war is a long-term game. It's [over] five [or] 10 years, very successful historically, [an] attritional fight to exhaust the enemy. It's not about beating them. It's not successful when it tried to do regime change -- perhaps the West hasn't been either. It's more about how it's been able to take them down, being able to exhaust the enemy to the point at which they want to give up. And this is exactly where Russia is working now. It's working at the infrastructure. It's hitting the centers of population; it's hitting the electricity supply; it's hitting water; it's hitting gas -- all these things that make life acceptable during wartime, the Russians are now eroding away. That's where they're attacking whilst holding the line. This is how they hope to bring Ukraine to its knees.

RFE/RL: Combined with attempts to outlast the West and Western resilience, I suppose?

Roberts: This is why Russian and perhaps Chinese ways of conducting war have been more successful than the West's because they have a longer-term view. We know that there is a real problem with the next U.S. presidential election, particularly if [former U.S. President Donald] Trump retakes office again. His relations with the Russians probably mean much less support for the Ukrainians. The Europeans don't have enough firepower, support arms, war stocks, or production capability to match what the U.S. has been giving.

And so, there's a real timeline problem here. And the West has a short attention span. The support from February until November in 2022 has died away. And we see very little of that continued support going on now. We see the Poles, once the hardest of allies for Ukraine, holding up supplies with trucker strikes on the Ukrainian border, preventing hundreds of lorries of supplies of ammunition of food and water, of all the things that Ukraine needs to sustain its fight, those being denied and delayed access back in their homeland.

So, there are enormous problems. Time is really on the Russian side, as it is for the Chinese. And that's one of the things that Russia understands. It's willing to throw away lives, it's willing to throw away money, it's willing to throw away lots and lots of things. But it knows that if it can outlast the attention span of the West in political terms, in societal terms, then it will eventually be able to take Ukraine, and Georgia, and the rest of the Caucasus.

RFE/RL: You mean in its entirety?

Roberts: Indeed, I think if Putin and the Russian people are successful in Ukraine, I think we will see them push further in Georgia. And whether they actually annex [territory] or just become the major power broker across the Caucasus, I wouldn't be surprised by any of those moves.

RFE/RL: Being Georgian, I would be surprised if there was another incursion of Russia into Georgia. I was a bit surprised when you said Russia might be able to take the whole of Ukraine.

Roberts: I think it's going to be a really close-run thing. If the West wasn't as distracted, I think it might be impossible. But I think there are a variety of things that are playing against Ukraine that make this a really difficult fight.

First, is the potential election of Trump and the end of U.S. support for Ukraine -- that might happen sooner than we wish.

Second...the political timeline for the West and their loss of interest [in Ukraine] is coming.

Thirdly, I think that the sanctions against Russia have not been effective. And I don't think that there has been an uprising of the global community, toward Ukraine.

So, you look at those who are applying sanctions on Russia, and those who are supplying arms to Ukraine, they're effectively the same group of countries; that's less than 15 percent of the world's population. So, none of the global south, none of South America, very few in Asia, are providing Ukraine with those arms.

So only one-fifth of the world stands behind Ukraine. Now that's not by [gross domestic product], that's by population, I accept that. But I think with that, without the support of the global south and the wider international community, Russia is seeing itself as having pretty much a free rein.

And [Moscow], in its own mind, sees itself as a place where it is pitted once again [as] a Russian Federation of some kind, versus NATO. And I think Putin certainly understands that the arrival of Trump back in power -- which I'm sure he'll be doing everything he can to assist -- does not bode well for Ukraine and plays directly into Putin's hands in the longer term.

On the other hand, you've got to look at Ukraine. They are better fighters. They are more technologically adept. They have plans in hand to use their technological capabilities in a far more sophisticated way. They are continuing to make gains, they are not just accepting a line of control, and they are continuing to push. They now outnumber the Russians by seven to one in some places. They've taken huge losses. But they've started not only rebuilding, but they've started mass manufacturing, and have arrangements now with Western Arms suppliers to start producing inside Ukraine. And I think this is probably going to be the secret: Who can outproduce themselves fastest? And we know from the history of Ukraine's military industrial complex that once they get geared up, they will be unstoppable.

And so, it's a question of Ukraine in the longer term against Russia and what they can produce. And I very much hope that we will see a slow but gradually increasing pace of Ukraine's military advances to kick the Russians out...The best Ukraine can do at the moment is to do exactly as it's doing and keep fighting and fighting hard. The gains made [with] the crossing of the River Dnieper were superb and a great time just to show the world the fight [had] not ended here. It might not have grabbed headlines but has been really important.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-war-western-attentin- span-tavberidze-interview-roberts/32762998.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Russian Air Defense Systems Destroy Ukrainian Neptune Anti-Ship Missile Over Black Sea

Sputnik News

20240105

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian forces have been carrying out increasing drone and missile strikes against Russian territory lately, with most of these attacks targeting civilian infrastructure.

Russian air defense systems have destroyed Ukrainian anti-ship missile Neptune over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"On January 5, 2024, at around 12:30 Moscow time [09:30 GMT], the Kiev regime's attempt to carry out a terrorist attack using the Neptune anti-ship missile at objects in Russian territory, was prevented. The Ukrainian missile was detected and destroyed over the northwestern part of the Black Sea by the air defense systems on duty," the Defense Ministry said.

The ministry further noted that the Russian military destroyed eight Storm Shadow cruise missiles, 14 Tochka-U tactical missiles, three S-200 missile systems, 107 rockets for HIMARS, Olkha and Vampir MLRS, three HARM anti-radar missiles and 253 unmanned aerial vehicles in a week.

The R-360 Neptune missile weighs 870 kilograms and can carry a warhead weighing 150 kilograms. Its launch range is up to 280 kilometers, its speed is about 900 kilometers per hour. The Ukrainian Armed Forces regularly try to strike Russian territory with Neptune missiles, but Russian air defenses intercept and destroys the shells.

Enemy Losses in South Donetsk Direction

Russia's Armed Forces inflicted sustainable damage to Ukrainian troops and equipment in South Donetsk direction.

According to Ministry of Defense, enemy losses amounted to up to 950 soldiers and 12 armored vehicles.

The ministry specified that the armed forces thwarted five Ukrainian attacks in the area, adding that artillery and aviation inflicted damage to Ukrainian troops near several cities, including Ugledar.

Enemy Losses in Kherson Direction

Russia's Armed Forces destroyed up to 225 Ukrainian troops in Kherson direction, as well as tank, Buk air defense system and ammunition depot.

In addition, the Russian Army destroyed two armored vehicles, 28 automobiles, 14 boats, 11 artillery guns and a radio-electronic warfare station.

High-Precision Strikes on Ukrainian Military Infrastructure

Russia's Armed Forces conducted 41 strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure, including defense firms, air bases, ammunition depots, and fuel storage facilities, as well as locations housing troops, including foreign mercenaries.

The strikes were conducted with high-precision weapons and drones.

A Sputnik

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Germany Sends Ammo for Leopard Tanks, Marder Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine

Sputnik News

20240105

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Germany has supplied another batch of military assistance to Ukraine, including ammunition for Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Skynex air defense system and other equipment, the German government said.

"Delivered military support to Ukraine: ... ammunition for LEOPARD 2 A6, 90 infantry fighting vehicles MARDER with ammunition and spare parts ... IRIS-T SLM missiles, 1 air defence system SKYNEX with ammunition, 8 air surveillance radar TRML-4D, 44,970 rounds 155mm ammunition," the German government said in a statement on Thursday.

Berlin's military shipment to Kiev also included 16 mine clearing tanks Wisent 1, 14 bridge-laying tanks Beaver with spare parts, 212 drone detection systems, 56 ground surveillance radars Go12, 358 vehicles, including trucks, mini-buses, all-terrain vehicles, and 305 assault rifles MK with 47.85 million rounds of ammunition for firearms, the statement read.

Germany's arms exports increased by 40% in 2023 and reached a record 11.71 billion euros ($13 billion) as of mid-December 2023, the DPA news agency reported, citing the German Economy Ministry. More than a third of approved arms exports, or 4.15 billion euros worth of weapons, were intended for Ukraine, followed by Norway with 1.2 billion euros, Hungary with 1.03 billion euros and others, the news agency reported.

Western countries, including member states of the European Union, have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict.

In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.

Moscow also repeatedly stressed that any Western military equipment used by Ukraine would eventually be decimated by Russian Armed Forces.

A Sputnik

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The President of Ukraine had a phone talk with the President of TArkiye

President of Ukraine

5 January 2024 - 21:01

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone talk with President of the Republic of TArkiye Recep Tayyip ErdoAYan.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to TArkiye and Recep Tayyip ErdoAYan for unflagging support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state.

Both sides noted substantial progress in security cooperation between the countries over the past year and agreed on extensive prospects for its development.

The Head of the Ukrainian state said that Ukrainian-Turkish cooperation has already yielded tangible results in the high-tech sector, particularly in establishing joint defense enterprises and collaborative defense production. The Presidents agreed to continue contacts between the countries at various levels to strengthen this cooperation.

The conversation placed significant emphasis on security in the Black Sea. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that despite Russia's attempts to disrupt peaceful navigation, Ukraine remains a guarantor of global food stability. After the launch of the alternative grain corridor, over 14 million tonnes of cargo have passed through it.

The President of Ukraine emphasized that our state is ready to keep working to improve the security situation in the Black Sea, commending the efforts of TArkiye, Bulgaria, and Romania in demining activities and expressing readiness to join them.

The Head of the Ukrainian state thanked Recep Tayyip ErdoAYan for supporting the Peace Formula, especially TArkiye's leadership in implementing the Food Security point. Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited the Turkish Republic to send its representative to the upcoming meeting of national security and political advisors to state leaders and to participate in the preparation for the Global Peace Summit.

The recent prisoner swap was noted by both sides. The President of Ukraine said that further swaps, and the release of political prisoners and Crimean Tatars illegally held by Russia, and the return of abducted children remain extremely important. He sought TArkiye's assistance in these matters.

The leaders also agreed shortly to hold a Ukraine recovery forum in TArkiye.



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Ukraine's No. 1 Priority: Delivery of Air Defense Systems and Missiles

By VOA News January 05, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday Ukraine's No. 1 priority is delivery of additional air defense systems and missiles because many Ukrainian locations have been subjected to Russian shelling and missile and drone attacks.

Speaking in his daily address, Zelenskyy also said support packages "for our warriors," consisting of artillery, electronic warfare equipment and drones are also a top priority.

Zelenskyy said Russia is trying to break Ukraine's spirit by threatening the destruction of its energy sector which the president described as "the foundations of our life."

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily intelligence report on Ukraine that ground combat over the last week has maintained a static front line for Ukraine but has also included some loss. In central Donetsk, the ministry said, Avdiivka is "still heavily contested," but Russian forces in Marinka have finally advanced to the western edge of town "after nine years of combat in the area."

Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, the ministry said Russian airborne forces have "highly likely made minimal progress" in dislodging the Ukrainian Bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, near the village of Krynky.

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US Running Out of Money for Ukraine

By VOA News January 05, 2024

In a stark warning Friday, President Joe Biden's top budget official said time is running out for lawmakers to replenish U.S. aid for Ukraine, with the decision bogged down in Congress over budget negotiations on immigration, where a deal has so far been out of reach.

Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said there is no avenue to help Ukraine aside from Congress approving more funding for Kyiv as it tries to repel Russia in a war that is now nearly 2 years old.

While the Pentagon has some limited authority to help Kyiv, without new funding from Capitol Hill, "that is not going to get big tranches of equipment into Ukraine," Young said Friday.

The U.S. sent a $250 million weapons package to Ukraine late last month, but without additional U.S. aid, Young said, Kyiv may have difficulty paying its civil servants and functioning amid Russia's barrage.

"I'm very concerned that it's not just the United States' resources that are necessary for Kyiv to stop Putin. It is: What message does that send to the rest of the world? And what will their decisions be if they see the United States not step up to the plate?" Young said Friday to a group of journalists.

Missile and drone attacks

Russia's Defense Ministry said that Russian air defense units intercepted and destroyed Ukrainian guided missiles over Crimea early Saturday.

It also reported that air defense units had downed drones from a series of Friday night attacks over the Crimean Peninsula and the western part of the Black Sea.

Air raid sirens blared Friday in Sevastopol, Crimea's largest city. Traffic was interrupted for a second day on a bridge connecting the peninsula, which Moscow seized illegally a decade ago, with Russia's southern Krasnodar region. The bridge is a key route for Russia's military supplies.

In the southern Russian border city of Belgorod, officials offered to evacuate residents who were seeking greater safety.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video message Friday that officials have moved several families.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to hit more targets on the Crimean Peninsula and inside Russian border regions this year, alarming Russians as President Vladimir Putin seeks reelection in March.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, officials said Friday that military defenses downed 21 of 29 Shahed drones launched by Russia in an attack overnight Thursday.

The drones were shot down across six regions on southern, central and western Ukraine, according to Ukraine's air force.

North Korean missiles

Russia hit Ukraine with short-range ballistic missiles sourced from North Korea, senior Kyiv official Mykhailo Podolyak said Friday on the social media platform X, supporting an earlier such assertion by the White House.

"There is no longer any disguise ... as part of its outright genocidal war, the Russian Federation for the first time struck at the territory of Ukraine with missiles received from ... North Korea," Podolyak wrote.

He did not provide evidence for the missiles being from North Korea, but the governor of the northeastern region of Kharkiv said the region had been struck by missiles fired by Russia that were not Russian made.

In a statement Thursday, Washington cited declassified intelligence affirming Podolyak's claims.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby called it a "significant and concerning escalation" relating to Pyongyang's support for Russia. He said the U.S. would raise the matter at the U.N. Security Council and impose additional sanctions on those collaborating to facilitate arms transfers.

Moscow has denied the accusations.

The U.S. has previously blamed Pyongyang for supplying Russia with weapons, though this is the first time U.S. intelligence has shared details about ballistic missiles a self-guided rockets that can reach targets 900 kilometers away.

Static front line

Ground combat over the past week has maintained a static front line for Ukraine but has also included some loss, the British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily intelligence report on Ukraine. In central Donetsk, Avdiivka is "still heavily contested," the ministry said, but Russian forces in Marinka have finally advanced to the western edge of town "after nine years of combat in the area." Russian troops have been trying to take the town since seizing Crimea in 2014.

Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, Russian airborne forces have "highly likely made minimal progress" in dislodging the Ukrainian Bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, near the village of Krynky, according to the ministry.

Some material for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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NEW YORK, Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CHPT) between June 1, 2023 and November 16, 2023, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), of the important January 29, 2024 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased ChargePoint securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the ChargePoint class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=20727 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 29, 2024. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) ChargePoint was experiencing higher component costs and supply overruns for first generation direct current (DC) charging products; (2) as a result, ChargePoint was likely to incur impairment charges; (3) as a result of the foregoing, ChargePoints profitability would be adversely impacted; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, defendants positive statements about ChargePoints business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the ChargePoint class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=20727 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

-------------------------------

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

lrosen@rosenlegal.com

pkim@rosenlegal.com

cases@rosenlegal.com

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New York, Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Urinary Catheters Market size is projected to increase by USD 2.44 billion between 2023 and 2028, and register a CAGR of 7.63%, according to Technavios latest market research report estimates. The escalating need for antimicrobial-coated urinary catheters significantly drives the Urinary Catheters Market. This growth owes to their efficacy in reducing infections associated with catheterization. From Foley to intermittent, indwelling to urethral catheters, this demand spans various types. Catering to bladder dysfunction and urinary drainage, these catheters, including suprapubic ones tailored for males and females, exemplify a significant shift towards advanced solutions ensuring patient safety and care. This report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Buy the report now

Urinary Catheters Market 2024-2028: Segmentation

Product Internal Urinary Catheters External Urinary Catheters

Gender Male Female

Geography North America Europe Asia Rest Of World (ROW)



The internal urinary catheters segment is expected to experience notable market share growth during the forecast period. These catheters have hollow and partially flexible tubes and are designed to address urinary incontinence. There are two primary types of catheters: Foley or indwelling catheters and intermittent catheters. Indwelling or Foley catheters can remain in the bladder for varying durations, depending on the patient's condition.

Detail Insights on the impact of each segment and make informed business decisions, download the sample report now

Urinary Catheters Market 2024-2028: Company Analysis and Scope

To help businesses improve their market position, Technavio provides a detailed analysis of around 25 companies operating in the market. Some of these companies include Adapta Medical Inc., Amsino International Inc., B.Braun SE, Bactiguard Holding AB, Becton Dickinson and Co., Boston Scientific Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., Coloplast AS, ConvaTec Group Plc, Cook Group Inc., Cure Medical LLC, Go Medical Industries Pty Ltd., Hollister Inc., J and M Urinary Catheters LLC, Manfred Sauer GmbH, Medi Globe Technologies GmbH, Medtronic Plc, Ribbel International Ltd., ROCAMED, and Teleflex Inc.

The report also covers the following areas:

The urinary catheters market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate. The rising geriatric population with urinary incontinence will offer immense growth opportunities. However, the complications and risks associated with urinary catheters will hamper the market growth.

Urinary Catheters Market 2024  2028: Market dynamics

Leading trends influencing the market

The market landscape for Urinary Catheters witnesses a notable trend with the emergence of female external catheters, contributing to market growth. These catheters, including antimicrobial and closed system ones, focus on infection prevention. Tailored for addressing urinary incontinence and various urological disorders, they cater to geriatric urology and neurogenic bladder conditions. This trend showcases a proactive shift in healthcare, emphasizing patient comfort, and innovative solutions in the urinary catheters segment.

Significant Market Challenges

The Urinary Catheters Market faces a substantial hurdle in its growth trajectory due to stringent regulations surrounding medical devices. Compliance requirements impact the manufacturing of silicone catheters, latex catheters, polyurethane catheters, and hydrophilic catheters, including those designed for urinary retention and pediatric use. Regulatory constraints on disposable catheters and overall urology devices pose challenges, necessitating meticulous adherence to compliance standards, thereby influencing the market dynamics for urinary catheters and related medical devices.

Download the sample report now for information on the Urinary Catheters Market challenges.

Urinary Catheters Market 2024-2028: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2024-2028

Detailed information on factors that will assist urinary catheters market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the urinary catheters market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the urinary catheters market

Analysis of the markets competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of urinary catheters market vendors

Download now to uncover successful business strategies deployed by Companies of urinary catheters market - Download Latest Free Sample Report in Minutes

Related Reports:

Electrophysiology Catheters Market: The global electrophysiology catheters market size is estimated to grow by USD 2,249.07 million at a CAGR of 8.73% between 2022 and 2027.

Cardiovascular Catheters Market: The cardiovascular catheters market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.97% between 2022 and 2027. The cardiovascular catheters market size is forecast to increase by USD 6.97 billion.

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, Technavios 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 Technavios 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.

Attachment
Dublin, Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Traffic Signal Recognition Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Traffic Signal Recognition Market has shown a remarkable performance, valued at an impressive USD 450 million in 2022, and is anticipated to surge at a consistent CAGR of 4.7% by 2028. The market is characterized by innovation and the growing need for sophisticated traffic management solutions. Traffic signs play an integral role in ensuring road safety and minimizing accidents, which leads to the increased demand for Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) systems.

TSR technology, which uses cameras to detect and recognize road signals, presents itself as an advanced driver-assistance feature, ensuring the reduction of road mishaps by keeping drivers informed about traffic regulations. As the development of autonomous vehicles gains momentum, TSR systems are becoming an essential feature in this new era of mobility, solidifying their place as a cornerstone of vehicular technology.

Steady Growth Propelled by Safety Needs and Autonomous Driving

The urgency to improve road safety continues to drive the TSR market forward; TSR technology aids in significantly reducing accidents by providing accurate, real-time signal status.





The evolution of autonomous driving technologies creates a high demand for reliable TSR systems that help vehicles navigate complex road scenarios independently.





A surge in the adoption of advanced driver assistance systems bolsters market expansion as TSR systems become an integral feature, prioritizing driver and road safety.

Overcoming Variability and Adapting to Change

Variability in traffic signal infrastructure across different regions poses a challenge for TSR systems. However, ongoing improvements in adaptive algorithms and learning techniques continue to enhance the capability of these systems to function accurately in diverse settings.

Market Trends Indicate Integration and Technological Synergy

Integration with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems underlines the trend towards increased vehicular safety features, propelling the TSR market growth.





Enhanced Machine Learning and AI Algorithms are revolutionizing TSR systems, improving their performance in accurately recognizing and adapting to various traffic conditions.





The symbiosis between TSR technology and Smart City Infrastructure signifies a trend that aligns with the global push for smarter, safer, and more efficient urban mobility.

Regional Market Dynamics

The North American region leads the pack in the TSR market, while Europe's focus on stringent safety regulations contributes significantly to the market's expansion. These regions are instrumental in driving innovation and application of TSR systems due to regulatory support and advanced vehicle safety standards.

Segmental insights reveal that passenger vehicles hold the highest market share, with luxury and economy vehicles underpining the growth within this sector. This is a reflection of the increased consumer demand for vehicles equipped with cutting-edge safety technology, and the market is responding accordingly.

The TSR market's ascendance indicates a resilient and evolving industry, poised to make significant contributions to road safety, vehicle technology, and traffic efficiency. Its integration into the fabric of advanced automotive systems signifies an important step towards safer and more intelligent transportation networks globally.

For in-depth regional analysis, segmentation, and the detailed profiles of leading market players, the latest market research publication offers insights that can help stakeholders in strategic planning and investment decisions.

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Continental AG

Robert Bosch GmbH

DENSO Corporation

Toshiba Corporation

HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA

Mobileye Corporation

Ford Motor Company

ZF Friedrichshafen AG

Magna International Inc.

As the Traffic Signal Recognition Market marches forward, players ranging from vehicle manufacturers to tech innovators can take advantage of new opportunities for growth and development, contributing to an era of safer, smarter, and more connected road transportation systems.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y9rm1k

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alaska Energy Metals Corporation (TSX-V: AEMC, OTCQB: AKEMF) (AEMC or the Company) is pleased to announce that further to its news release on November 20, 2023, it has filed its National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report, dated January 5, 2024, on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com for its 100% owned Eureka Property, Nikolai Nickel Project in Alaska, USA.



The Independent Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and technical report were prepared by Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 regulations.

Furthermore, AEMC is pleased to announce that it has engaged Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. to complete an updated MRE for its Eureka Property. The updated MRE will incorporate the eight diamond drill holes (totaling 4,138 meters) drilled during the companys 2023 exploration program and historical drilling, purchased in August 2023 , that fall within a reasonable search distance for estimation and pass data verification procedures. The work will start immediately.

Alaska Energy Metals President & CEO Gregory Beischer commented: Based on historical drilling, we have been able to document over 1.5 billion pounds of nickel in an Inferred Resource. With the drilling our company executed in summer of 2023, the metal inventory should significantly increase. We are planning an aggressive drilling program in 2024 to expand the bulk tonnage resource further, and to explore for high-grade deposits.

Table 1  Nikolai Project Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE)

Effective November 20, 2023

Inferred Mineral Resource Tonnes and Grade Area

Mineralized Zone

NiEq Cutoff

Tonnes

Base and Battery Metals PGM and Precious Metals Total Ni Cu Co Pt Pd Au Ni Eq* (%) (MT) (%) (%) (%) (g/T) (g/T) (g/T) (%) Eureka East Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 88.6 0.24 0.08 0.02 0.056 0.124 0.012 0.35 Eureka West

Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 182.8 0.21 0.05 0.02 0.036 0.071 0.013 0.28 Eureka Zone 3 (EZ3) >= 0.200 48.2 0.23 0.02 0.01 0.031 0.021 0.004 0.27 Total EZ2 + EZ2 + EZ3 >= 0.200 319.6 0.22 0.05 0.02 0.041 0.078 0.012 0.30 Inferred Mineral Resource Tonnes and Metal Content Area

Mineralized Zone

NiEq Cutoff

Tonnage

Base and Battery Metals PGM and Precious Metals Total Ni Cu Co Pt Pd Au Ni Eq* (%) (MT) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) (tOz) (tOz) (tOz) (Mlbs) Eureka East Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 88.6 471 165 34 160,373 353,993 34,359 676 Eureka West

Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 182.8 841 189 65 210,018 415,335 79,036 1,135 Eureka Zone 3 (EZ3) >= 0.200 48.2 240 19 16 48,816 32,694 6,495 287 Total EZ2 + EZ2 + EZ3 >= 0.200 319.6 1,552 373 115 419,138 802,003 119,915 2,098

CIM definitions are followed for classification of Mineral Resource.

Base case cutoff grade is 0.20% Ni calculated from a Ni price of US$23,946/tonne (US$10.9 US$/lb), surface mining cost of US$2.50 per tonne, and processing costs US$25.00 per tonne.

Mineral Resource are reported from within an economic pit shell whose extent has been estimated using a Ni price of US$23,946/tonne (US$10.9 US$/lb) and mining cost of US$2.50 per tonne, from a Ni equivalent grade calculated from Ni, Cu, Co, Pt, Pd, and Au, Ni recovery of 60% and 50% for other metals, fixed density of 2.80- and 45-degree constant slope angle.

Equivalent grade formula is Ni EQ = Ni/1 + Cu/2.7309 + Co/0.5321 + Pt/0.0008 + Pd/0.0004 + Au/0.0004

Metal pricing used to calculate Ni EQ is based on observation of monthly metal pricing for the past 24 months up to end-October 2023 with Ni at US$23,946/tonne (US$10.9/lb) (World Bank), Cu at US$ 8,768/tonne ($US4.0/lb) (World Bank), Co 45,000 US$/tonne (US24/lb) (Trading Economics), Pt at US$970/toz (World Bank), Pd at US$1,700/toz (Kitco), and Au at 1,855 (World Bank). Totals may not represent the sum of the parts due to rounding.

The Mineral Resource estimate has been prepared by Derek Loveday, P. Geo. of Stantec Consulting Services Inc. in conformity with CIM Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Best Practices guidelines and is reported in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators NI 43-101. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserve.

QUALIFIED PERSON

Mr. Derek Loveday, P. Geo. of Stantec Consulting Services Inc. is the independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has prepared, or supervised the preparation of, or has reviewed and approved, the scientific and technical data pertaining to the MRE and technical report. Mr. Loveday declares he has read this press release and that the scientific and technical information relating to the resource estimate are correct.

Gabriel Graf, the Companys Chief Geoscientist, is the qualified person, as defined under National Instrument 43-101 guidelines, who reviewed and approved the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

For additional information, visit: https://alaskaenergymetals.com/

ABOUT ALASKA ENERGY METALS

Alaska Energy Metals Corporation is focused on delineating and developing a large polymetallic exploration target containing nickel, copper, cobalt, chrome, iron, platinum, palladium, and gold. Located in central Alaska, the Nikolai Nickel project is located near existing transportation and power infrastructure, the project is well-situated to become a significant, domestic source of critical and strategic energy-related metals for the American market. The Company is also exploring the Angliers Nickel project in Quebec.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Gregory Beischer

Gregory Beischer, President & CEO

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Gregory A. Beischer, President & CEO

Toll-Free: 877-217-8978 | Local: 604-638-3164

Sarah Mawji, Public Relations

Final Edit Media and Public Relations

Email: sarah@finaleditpr.com

Some statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation), including, without limitation, that the Company (a) complete an updated resource calculation, and b) execute further drilling in 2024. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If the Company updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.



Class Period: May 3, 2023  Nov. 1, 2023

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Jan. 9, 2024

Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/PAYC

Contact An Attorney Now: PAYC@hbsslaw.com

844-916-0895

Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) Securities Fraud Class Action:

The litigation focuses on whether Paycom knew and should have disclosed challenges associated with the ongoing transition to its new payroll solution, Beti, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

After Paycom delivered its 3Q 2023 results, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on PAYC over 40%, from $320.00 to $190.00 in a research note dated Nov. 1. Stifel Nicolaus similarly downgraded PAYC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target from $400.00 to $160.00 on Nov. 1.

Apart from analyst downgrades, Paycom and its executives face a securities class action brought by investors. The complaint there alleges that Paycom misrepresented and concealed that: (1) Paycoms Beti product led to cannibalization of the companys other services and revenues; (2) Paycom knew but did not disclose the cannibalization problem and did not warn of cannibalization as a general risk; (3) as a result of cannibalization, Paycom missed its expected 3Q 2023 revenue and would have to revise its expected FY 2023 revenues; and (4) the cannibalization issue resulted in 2024 year-over-year revenue growth sharply lower.

Investors learned the truth on Oct. 31, 2023, when Paycom reported its Q3 2023 financial results, including disappointing Q3 revenues, and guided for Q4 2023 and 2024 revenues that were significantly below consensus estimates. At the earnings call, Paycom CFO Craig Boelte explained that Paycoms growth is being curbed by cannibalization, noting that clients have been cutting down spending on some services and other purchases because Beti has made them nonessential.

In response, the price of Paycom shares crashed $94.28 lower (or 38%) on Nov. 1, 2023.

If you invested in Paycom and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firms investigation, submit your losses now 

If youd like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the Paycom case and our investigation, read more 

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Paycom should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email PAYC@hbsslaw.com.

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.

Attorney advertising.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers of Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) common stock between February 9, 2022 and October 31, 2023, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), have until January 9, 2024 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Paycom class action lawsuit. Captioned Caloto v. Paycom Software, Inc., No. 23-cv-11086 (S.D.N.Y.), the Paycom class action lawsuit charges Paycom as well as certain of its top executives with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A previously filed complaint, captioned Ventrillo v. Paycom Software, Inc., No. 23-cv-01019, is pending in the Western District of Oklahoma.



If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Paycom class action lawsuit, please provide your information here:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-paycom-software-inc-class-action-lawsuit-payc.html

You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchez of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at jsanchez@rgrdlaw.com.

CASE ALLEGATIONS: Paycom provides cloud-based human resources and payroll functions for small to mid-sized companies. In July 2021, Paycom officially rolled out a new application called Beti, which stands for Better Employee Transaction Interface, as an enhancement to Paycoms then-existing payroll offerings.

The Paycom class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Paycom had been relying upon a significant, but undisclosed, amount of one-off payroll correction fees to fuel its outsized revenue growth; (ii) increased adoption of Beti by Paycoms payroll customers was cannibalizing the fees Paycom had previously been charging to correct common payroll mistakes and to provide related services; and (iii) the increased Beti adoption was decreasing Paycoms gross profit margins.

On August 1, 2023, Paycom announced its gross margin for the second quarter of 2023 declined from 84.2% to 83.2%. Paycom further projected revenue guidance for the third quarter of 2023 between $410 million to $412 million, below market expectations. On this news, the price of Paycom stock fell more than 19%.

Then, on October 31, 2023, Paycom disclosed that increased Beti adoption had been cannibalizing the one-off fees Paycom had previously been receiving for correcting payroll errors and that Paycom had been relying on those additional payroll correction fees to support its past outsized revenue growth. On this news, the price of Paycom stock fell more than 38%.

The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud. You can view a copy of the complaint by clicking here.

THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Paycom common stock during the class period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Paycom class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Paycom class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Paycom class action lawsuit. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the Paycom class action lawsuit.

ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller is one of the worlds leading complex class action firms representing plaintiffs in securities fraud cases. The Firm is ranked #1 on the most recent ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering more than $1.75 billion for investors in 2022  the third year in a row Robbins Geller tops the list. And in those three years alone, Robbins Geller recovered nearly $5.3 billion for investors, more than double the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs firm. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs firms in the world and the Firms attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever  $7.2 billion  in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/services-litigation-securities-fraud.html

Attorney advertising.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.

Contact:

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101

J.C. Sanchez, 800-449-4900

jsanchez@rgrdlaw.com
Scottsdale, January 5, 2024 - TriStar Gold Inc. (TSXV: TSG) (OTCQB: TSGZF) (the Company or TriStar) advises its U.S. resident shareholders that it has moved the trading of its common shares from the OTCQX to the OTCQB trading platforms. The Toronto Venture Exchange will remain the primary platform for the trading of TriStar shares.

The Company has undertaken a detailed review of the trading of its common shareholders on the OTC platforms and has determined that the majority of its United States resident shareholders still trade their Company's common shares on the Toronto Venture Exchange and a move from the OTCQX to the OTCQB will realize significant cost savings.

About TriStar

TriStar Gold is an exploration and development company focused on precious metals properties in the Americas that have the potential to become significant producing mines. The Company's current flagship property is the Castelo de Sonhos gold project in Para State, Brazil. TriStar has completed a pre-feasibility study and is now advancing permitting while evaluating optimization options. The Company's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol TSG. Further information is available at www.tristargold.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY:

Nick Appleyard

President and CEO

480-794-1244

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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements under Canadian securities legislation which are not historical facts and are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects" or "it is expected", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements about the Company's ability to complete the current drilling program, the results of further exploration target identification and the anticipated ongoing effects of the COVID-19 virus. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's reasonable expectations and business plan at the date hereof, which are subject to change depending on economic, political and competitive circumstances and contingencies. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause a change in such assumptions and the actual outcomes and estimates to be materially different from those estimated or anticipated future results, achievements or position expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's plans to change include changes in demand for and price of gold and other commodities (such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; changes or disruptions in the securities markets; legislative, political or economic developments in Brazil; effects of the COVID-19 virus on all aspects of the Company's business, the need to obtain permits and comply with laws and regulations and other regulatory requirements; the possibility that actual results of work may differ from projections/expectations or may not realize the perceived potential of the Company's projects; risks of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in development programs; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration, mining or development activities; the speculative nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves and resources; and the risks involved in the exploration, development and mining business. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/193299
Edmonton, January 5, 2024 - Altiplano Metals Inc. (TSXV: APN) (WKN: A2JNFG) ("Altiplano" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") for gross proceeds of $600,000. The Offering consisted of 6,000,000 units (the "Units") at C$0.10 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one (1) common share and one (1) non-transferable share purchase warrant (the "Warrants") of the Company.

Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one (1) additional common share at a price of C$0.12 per share for two years from the closing date of the Offering provided that if the closing market price for the Company's common shares is equal to or greater than C$0.20 per share for a period of five (5) consecutive trading days at any point during the term (the "Acceleration Clause"), then the Company may deliver a notice that the Warrants must be exercised within thirty (30) days from the date of delivery of such Notice, otherwise the Warrants will expire at 4:30 p.m. (Vancouver time) on the thirty-first (31st) day after the date of delivery of the Notice.

Altiplano has paid finders' fees of $26,280 in cash and 252,000 finders' warrants, issued on the same terms as the Warrants in the Offering, and all such finders' fees were paid in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. All of the securities issued pursuant to this Offering will have a hold period expiring four months and a day after the closing date. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used primarily for the Company's Farallon Project and El Penon processing facility in Chile, and for general working capital purposes.

Options

The Company has also granted incentive stock options to various directors, officers and consultants to purchase up to 3,900,000 common shares of the Company on or before January 5, 2029, at an exercise price of $0.10 per share.

About Altiplano

Altiplano Metals is a growing gold, silver, and copper company focused on the Americas. The Company has a diversified portfolio of assets that include an operating copper/gold/iron mine and a state-of-the-art operating copper/gold and iron processing facility in the final stages of completion. Altiplano is focused on creating long-term stakeholder value through developing safe and sustainable production, reinvesting into exploration, and pursuing acquisition opportunities to complement its existing portfolio. Management has a substantial record of success in capitalizing on opportunity, overcoming challenges and building shareholder value. Altiplano trades on the TSX.V under the symbol APN and the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol A2JNFG.

Altiplano is part of the Metals Group of companies, managed by an award-winning team of professionals who stand for technical excellence, painstaking project selection and uncompromising corporate governance, with a proven ability to capitalize on investment opportunities and deliver shareholder returns. www.metalsgroup.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

/s/ "John Williamson"

Chairman

For further information, please contact:

Alastair McIntyre, CEO

alastairm@apnmetals.com

Tel: (416) 434-3799

Jeremy Yaseniuk, Director

jeremyy@apnmetals.com

Tel: (604) 773-1467

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the (TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify any historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the issuer is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The Farellon mine was previously in production dating back to the 1970's with a reported historical production (to a depth of 70 m) yielding approximately 300,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.5% copper and 0.5g/t gold. This material was processed locally and sold to ENAMI. Altiplano is relying upon past production records, underground sampling and related activities and current diamond drilling to estimate grade and widths of the mineralization to reactivate production. The decision to commence production on the Farellon deposit is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability and there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks of failure associated with any production decision. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/193399
Guam Police Department spokesperson Officer Berlyn Savella said on Saturday teams were out canvassing areas looking for the suspects involved in the fatal shooting of a Korean tourist Thursday.

Two suspects are being sought in the killing of a Korean citizen who was on Guam celebrating a retirement with his wife before being fatally shot Thursday night.

We continue to ask the communitys assistance with any information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects, Savella said.

As of 4 p.m. Saturday no arrests had been made in the case.

Guam Visitors Bureau is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Tumon shooting that left one Korean tourist dead, President and CEO Carl Gutierrez said.

You catch one you get the other, he said.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, the Guam Visitors Bureau, and the Guam Police Department are asking anyone with information about the killing, which occurred outside of Gun Beach, to come forward.

Anyone with information should call GPD at (671) 475-8615 or (671) 475-8617. Residents can also call Guam Crime Stoppers at 671-477-HELP (4357) or visit guamcrimestoppers.org.

Guam Crime Stoppers offers up to $1,000 in cash as a reward for information that leads to an arrest and a grand jury indictment.

Leon Guerrero, in a special message posted on her social media, said she spent a good amount of time Friday with the wife of the victim.

I consoled her. I hugged her. I cried with her. I prayed with her. Knowing as a wife and a mother some of the pain that she is going through, the governor said. I ask our people of Guam to send our condolences and sincerest sympathy for the family.

She asks anyone who can help with the investigation to quickly put the perpetuator in jail to give justice to the family and allay the fears of the community.

Guam remains a safe place and we are doing everything we can to keep it safe not just for our people, but our visitors, Leon Guerrero said.

She said the tragedy that occurred contradicts one of the most significant qualities that we, the people of Guam, take pride in on our islandthe sense of safety and community.

Its one of the most beautiful aspects of Guam and what truly sets us apart from any other place in the world, the governor said.

The senseless act of taking a lifewhether they are a resident or a visitor deeply affects our community and requires action, she added.

I want to assure the island that acts of violence such the incident that took the life of a Korean visitor will not be tolerated and we are utilizing all resources available to find the criminals involved, Leon Guerrero said.

Details

Around 8 p.m. Thursday night, the couple was walking up the hill from Gun Beach in Tumon towards The Tsubaki Tower hotel, when a dark-colored SUV approached them from behind, Chief of Police Stephen Ignacio said on Friday.

At that point, the passenger exited the vehicle brandishing a firearm and demanded for their belongings. A struggle ensued, and at which point the suspect discharged a firearm causing a gunshot wound to the victim, Ignacio told members of the media.

The man was transported to the Guam Regional Medical City, but died Friday morning from his wounds.

A thorough description of the driver and gunman was not yet available, as the area where the shooting happened was very dark, Ignacio said.

We are pouring in all of our available resources to ensure that we do conduct a thorough investigation, he said, adding that the perpetrators should turn themselves in.
Department of Public Works Director Vince Arriola on Friday told senators that some public school students dont get dropped off until 7 p.m. after each school day and DPW incurs $40,000 in additional overtime costs for bus drivers  a result of bus driver shortage made worse by double sessions at the Guam Department of Education.

Arriola shared all these details during a hearing Friday at the Guam Congress Building.

John F. Kennedy High School, Simon Sanchez High School, Okkodo High School and F.B. Leon Guerrero Middle School are in double session.

The double sessions allow the students from Simon Sanchez and F.B. Leon Guerrero to attend class in person while their schools remain shut down.

But this leaves these students getting out of school hours after most other schools have finished for the day.

We are using bus drivers from different satellite stations to make sure these children are at school on time and at home at the earliest, Arriola said.

The double sessions mean bus drivers are working overtime to make sure students are picked up and dropped off after regular school hours.

This isnt ideal as DPW also struggles with having enough bus drivers to man the buses that are needed to take students to school, officials said.

DPW Deputy Director Linda Ibanez said supervisors are also being pulled in to drive students.

Not sustainable

The $40,000 per pay period overtime cost is not sustainable, education oversight chairman Sen. Chris Barnett said.

He asked Arriola about who has been paying for the overtime costs.

Arriola said so far, DPW is paying for the overtime, but he is going to speak to GDOE about paying those costs.

My position is the double sessions werent caused by DPW. Ive gotta work with DOE and see if theyve got the funding to reimburse us. The way I see it, I think they should, he said.

Barnett said hes concerned that as more schools open up, its going to create more routes for bus drivers. He also asked what capacity DPW has to meet those needs.

7pm to get dropped off

Arriola said to handle the load, DPW has augmented the school bus drivers from Barrigada and Yona to make sure the kids are getting picked up and dropped off on time.

The real concerning one there is the afternoon session. Afternoon session gets out at 5. Right now, the earliest the last child gets home is at 7. And were really trying to bring that down shorter. Its a tough situation were in, he said.

The traffic at 5 p.m. to get out of JFK has led to DPW trying to work the traffic lights to help get the buses out onto Marine Corps Drive and theres probably 20 buses coming out of Tamuning school at that time, he added.

Ibanez said there was a third boot camp for new bus drivers. DPW picked up 11 bus drivers from the first two boot camps and a continuous announcement helped them get another eight drivers, she said.

Were trying to increase our manpower capacity, but at the same time were seeing a mass exodus with retirement for the school bus drivers, Ibanez said.

She said its a balancing act and theyve pulled in leaders and supervisors to help with the double sessions and thats also why the overtime has increased.

DPW continues to try to get more bus drivers through the Guam Department of Labors boot camp, and the ongoing job announcement.

Barnett said those looking for a job should apply not only because $40,000 in overtime per period is not good financially, but also because of the impact on the current bus drivers.

I just think about the bus drivers. Theyre working hard. Theyre being stretched thin, and I just feel for them and I commend them for their service, he said.
Several senators in a Friday letter to Sen. Chris Barnett voiced concerns that the Legislature could close if a resolution isnt passed.

Barnett on Saturday said the Legislature is business as usual.

The staff of the Legislature continues to work hard for the people of Guam, he said.

Vice Speaker Tina Muna Barnes, Sens. Frank Blas, Jr., Dwayne San Nicolas, Roy Quinata and Joe San Agustin signed a letter to Barnett to address concerns.

We write to you today in hopes that the potential failure of Resolution 285-37 will not result in an unnecessary, unwarranted and unjust closure of the islands legislative branch of government, the letter states.

The senators said they were made aware of concerns that the current Standing Rules for the 37th Guam Legislature would terminate all employees appointments Friday, but a careful reading of other provisions should allay those valid worries about the branch potentially shutting down.

The Standing Rules has a section that all appointments to positions in the 37th Guam Legislature will expire on Jan. 5, 2024. The year was a typo that can be fixed through a resolution.

Barnett said the resolution is circulating and on the Committee on Rules agenda.

Paperwork has been prepped for processing in the meanwhile, he said.

It will be seamless, he said.

The resolution will help the Legislature not have to do all the paperwork, but Barnett said there was never any threat of a shutdown.

The rule doesnt supersede nor does it terminate the authority given in the Standing Rules to immediately reappoint senatorial and central office staff, the letter states.

None of us need to rush to fix an uncorrected mistake made a year ago. We need not act with a proverbial gun to our head, as the threat of a shutdown, while understandable, has no basis in reality, the letter states.

The senators asked that Barnett accept and process all appointments transmitted to him as the Standing Rules prescribes.
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front-row taxi ride.




Haiti - Economy : Nearly 250 executives left the banking sector and Haiti in 2023





Ronald Gabriel, the Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) expressed concern about the drain of skills in the Haitian banking system.



He confirmed that president of 250 executives have already left the banking sector and Haiti in 2023. Departures motivated not only by insecurity, but also by the search for opportunities abroad, offering better living conditions in particular in Canada and the United States.



Governor Gabriel stressed "[...] The massive movements of Haitian citizens have serious repercussions on the economy, because they take with them sums of money that could be invested locally. Furthermore, it creates an intellectual vacuum in universities and institutions, depriving the country of qualified professionals."



Faced with this situation, he underlined the urgency of addressing these complex challenges and finding solutions to stem the brain and capital drain that are hampering Haiti's economic development.



TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : Guy Philippe sends a message to the Dominican Republic





Former Senator-elect Guy Philippe, in a virtual interview with host Ariel Lara of the RDN vision show, sent a message to the Dominican authorities and the Dominican people, affirming that the two Nations had many points in common and must learn to live in Peace.



"Haiti and the Dominican Republic must live in Peace

... we must help each other [...]" he stressed that there were politicians on both sides of the island who do not want this unity between the two peoples, for political reasons.



Philippe expressed his interest in achieving understanding between the citizens of the two countries and affirmed that he will work to ensure that Dominicans and Haitians live in peace and harmony.



Asked by Ariel Lara about his allies to face the serious crisis that Haiti is going through, Guy Philippe replied that he only had the determined support of the Haitian people and that it was the only thing he needed to confront the groups politicians, who want to maintain chaos to serve their personal interests.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41367-haiti-insecurity-guy-philippe-promises-to-solve-the-gang-problem-in-90-days.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-41349-icihaiti-ouanaminthe-we-can-build-as-many-channels-as-needed-dixit-guy-philippe.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41326-haiti-petit-goaveguy-philippe-on-the-place-d-armes-dalivered-a-revolutionary-speech.html



S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Scandal at Petit-Goave Town Hall

Petit-Goave Town Hall once again splashed by a scandal. 10 million gourdes intended for sanitation work in the town for the 2023 end-of-year celebrations would have been distributed to relatives of the Interim Municipal Commission. Marthe Noel Jocelyn, the deputy mayor denies any involvement



PNH North West : 2023 assessment

1,225 arrests were made by the Haitian National Police in the North-West department in 2023, revealed Leonel Joseph, the Departmental Director of the Haitian National Police (PNH). Among those arrested are 33 gang members and 5 kidnappers. 27 individuals belonging to gangs were fatally injured and 17 firearms, including 6 homemade, were seized.



Boston : A Haitian-American President of the city council

Ruthzee Louijeune, daughter of Haitian immigrants, was elected new President of the Boston City Council. Louijeune is the third black woman to hold this position, after Andrea Campbell and Kim Janey. She succeeds Councilman Ed Flynn of South Boston.



Clerks, the strike continues

Martin Aine, President of the National Association of Haitian Clerks (ANAGH) announces the continuation of the strike started on December 12, 2023 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41201-haiti-news-zapping.html . The clerks are demanding better working conditions and demanding the application of the agreement concluded between the Ministry of Justice, ANAGH and the Union of Clerks of Haiti. Martin Aine denounces "the contempt of the Minister of Justice, Emmelie Prophete with regard to the demands of the clerks." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39277-haiti-justice-the-minister-prophete-discussed-with-the-representatives-of-the-striking-clerks.html



14th anniversary of the 2010 earthquake

The Embassy of Haiti in Spain is organizing a commemoration mass on the occasion of the fourteenth anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which will take place on Friday, January 12nd at the Parish of Most Saint Christ de la Sante, rue Ayala 12 in Madrid (Spain), at 7:15 p.m. Please confirm your attendance by sending an email to amb.espagne@diplomatie.ht or by calling 915752624.



Justice : Claude Joseph, Jacques Edouard Alexis and Cholzer Chancy expected at the Prosecutor's Office

Former Haitian Prime Ministers Claude Joseph and Jacques Edouard Alexis, as well as former deputy Cholzer Chancy, are summoned Monday January 8, 2024 by Judge Al Duniel Dimanche, responsible for investigating the case of corruption and misappropriation of materials at the National Center Equipment (CNE).



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has strongly urged the UK Government to leverage its influential position as a key ally of Israel to demand an immediate halt to the ongoing "indiscriminate attacks" in Gaza. Yousaf condemned the UK Government's persistent refusal to call for a ceasefire as "shameful," especially in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, including children.

Ten weeks into the conflict following Israel's invasion of Gaza, the situation remains dire, with the United Nations reporting up to 1.9 million internally displaced people in Gaza. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees has highlighted a looming famine risk for 40% of Gaza's population, driven by "catastrophic hunger." According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, Gaza is facing a severe food security emergency exacerbated by the ongoing hostilities.

Yousaf emphasized the failure of diplomatic efforts to bring about a resolution, highlighting the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire. He critiqued the Israeli government's actions as excessive and beyond legitimate response to the Hamas attack on October 7. Yousaf also expressed deep concern over comments made by an Israeli Government Minister advocating for the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, a stance he believes should be universally condemned.

The First Minister called on the UK Government to assert that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as other Israeli ministers and military commanders, should be held accountable for the immense civilian casualties and the potential deaths from starvation and disease if Israel does not cease its attacks and allow sufficient aid into Gaza.

Furthermore, Yousaf stated that Hamas leaders must also be held responsible for their attacks against Israeli civilians. He criticized the UK Government's talk of a sustainable ceasefire, noting it has made no difference on the ground, as the situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. Yousaf urged the UK Government to use its voice and influence to end the violence, both through direct engagement with the Israeli government and indirectly through the United States.

HT
The International Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) Finland, in collaboration with the Sumud - Finnish Palestine Network, has issued an urgent appeal to Finland's UN Ambassador and national leadership. The appeal, pertaining to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing scheduled for January 1112 in The Hague, urges Finland to promptly submit an intervention declaration in the lawsuit initiated by South Africa against alleged war crimes in Gaza.

This move comes as a group of high-ranking UN experts warn of a potential "genocide in progress" in Gaza, urging the international community to take all necessary measures to prevent further atrocities. The ICJ hearing presents a historic opportunity for Finland to address Israeli war crimes and fulfill its international legal obligations to prevent the continuation of such crimes and ensure accountability.

The appeal, accompanied by the ICJ's press release regarding South Africa's challenge filed on December 29, 2023, highlights the urgency of the situation and the role Finland could play in shaping international responses to these serious allegations.

HT
YEREVAN, JANUARY 6, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan has addressed a congratulatory message on the occasion of Christmas.

The message reads:

"Dear compatriots,

I heartily congratulate you on Christmas. Christmas is one of the most beloved holidays of our people, also symbolizing the victory of goodness, light and peace.

May the light of the Epiphany shine in our hearths and hearts, strengthening our hope and faith in a happy and bright future!

I wish all of us family warmth, health and peace for our country.

Christ is born and revealed. Great news for you and for us!
Senior executives who leave Wipro cannot join 10 rival firms for one year starting from their last day at the IT major. This is because of a non-compete clause in their contract that bars them from joining any of these companies immediately after leaving the software firm. Representational Image

This is as per the lawsuit filed by the Bengaluru-based giant against ex-CFO Jatin Dalal, who joined rival Cognizant, and from whom the Rishad Premji-led company is seeking 25.15 crore (plus 18% interest per annum till the full payment is made) in damages for his actions.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Which are these 10 companies?

These are: Accenture, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, DXC Technology, HCL, IBM, Infosys, TCS, and Tech Mahindra. Each of these names, claims Wipro, was mentioned in Dalal's contract, yet he joined a direct competitor, where he arrived as CFO in September last year, months after resigning from Wipro.

Dalal joined Wipro in 2002, and became its CFO in 2015; in 2019, he was given the additional responsibilities as its President. In such senior roles, therefore, he would be privy to confidential information in relation to the companys strategy and business,' the lawsuit says.

Mohd Haque, Wipro's former Senior VP who also joined Cognizant, too has been sued by his previous employer.

Other senior level exits from Wipro

Last year, the IT major saw multiple top executives depart; of these, however, only Dalal and Haque got sued. Other key leaders who said goodbye were COO Sanjeev Singh, iDEAS business head Rajan Kohli, Americas 1 CFO Kamini Shah, Americas 2 CFO Nithin V Jaganmohan, India head Satya Easwaran, VP Gurwinder Sahni, and Ashish Saxena, who headed its manufacturing the high-tech business unit.

Stephanie Trautman, the company's chief growth officer, resigned last month.
Hyundai Creta facelift's safety equipment details and feature list have been confirmed ahead of the car's January 16 launch in India. 2024 Hyundai Creta will come with a redesigned exterior and interior.

As pioneers in democratizing technology and setting safety benchmarks, Hyundai Motor India presents the new CRETA  an epitome of innovation that redefines the SUV landscape. With a plethora of revolutionary tech and safety features, the new CRETA will delight customers with a superior and futuristic experience, Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India, told HT Auto.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Safety equipment

For passenger safety, the 2024 Creta gets 6 airbags, all-wheel disc brakes, Electronic Stability Control, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, and much more. Significantly, the model comes equipped with Level 2 ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) with as many as 19 features.

Additionally, the South Korean auto giant says that it has reinforced crash members, floor, side sill, and crash, to ensure both an improved structural rigidity and energy absorption of the bodyshell.

Features

The company has equipped the upcoming SUV with features such as a 26.03 cm multi-display digital cluster, a Blind View Monitor, panoramic sunroof, dual-zone climate control, 8-Way power drive seat, and ventilated seats.

The aforementioned 26.03 cm infotainment system will have more than 70 features, in addition to an in-built navigation, multi-language support, and Bose sound system.

What was already known?

The facelift will be offered in seven variants, namely E, EX, S, S(O), SX, SX Tech, and SX(O). On the powertrain front, there will be three different engine options (petrol and diesel).

Bookings

These are already available and can be made by paying a sum of 25,000. Bookings can be made online, and at Hyundai's dealerships.
Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday said he has directed healthcare officials to ramp up testing further and take samples of all those who are exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Rao held a meeting on Friday and announced that a Covid-19 helpline will also be launched on Saturday. Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao. (ANI Photo)

ALSO READ | Karnataka logs nearly 300 fresh Covid cases, four deaths

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

It has been suggested to make Covid tests mandatory for all Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). The minister held a meeting with senior health officials today at Vikas Soudha in Bangalore and said that a large number of Covid tests is being done in the state, A statement from the health department said.

ALSO READ | Amid Covid surge, Leh makes masks compulsory in public places

More than 7,000 tests are being conducted every day. The Covid positivity rate is at 3.82 percent. It has not come down yet in the state. A downward trend in Covid has already started in the state of Kerala. Therefore, it has been suggested to keep a close watch on those who are Covid positive, The minister said in the statement.

It is recommended to carry out compulsory covid screening especially if individuals are showing symptoms of ILI. Earlier only one in 20 of these cases were subjected to a covid test, He added. He further stated that all private and government hospitals have henceforth been instructed to conduct Covid tests for all ILI patients.

ALSO READ | Amid water shortage and Covid, Karnataka looks at 2024 with new hope

Officials also indicated that Karnataka will start seeing a decreasing trend in Covid cases from next week onwards. Technical Advisory Committee met yesterday and gave some guidance. I have instructed the authorities to adopt them, Rao said.

Karnataka saw nearly 300 fresh Covid cases on Friday, along with four deaths.
When Nikhil Jain, a social media marketing professional from Mumbai, lost his Airpod while vacationing in Kerala, he knew that his case was more for the sleuths of the social media than the police. Picture of the airpods recovered by Nikhil.(X/Niquotein)

His faith in social media was not misplaced.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

In just a day, with the help of X (formerly Twitter) members, Jain managed to track down the person who took the expensive earphones to his house in Goa and convinced him to give them back. Now, two weeks later, he finally managed to collect his device from a Goan police station.

The incident happened inside a national park in Kerala, I left my Airpod in a bus there. I waited for the bus to come back and realised that someone took them. There was no signal inside, so I had to leave the area to track the device. And when I finally did, it was already on the move, and was in another national park about 40km from where I was. But the next day I could track it to a hotel nearby, Jain told PTI.

Jain said he then approached the hotel along with the Kerala police, but they could not do much as the location did not pinpoint to any exact room and the hotel authorities refused to help further citing client privilege.

READ | Apple to overhaul AirPods with new low- and high-end models, USB-C headphones

So, I watched my device travel through Mangalore to Goa. When it stayed put in Goa, I figured the person is from there, said Jain, co-founder of Stonks Studio, a social media content agency.

On December 21, 2023 Jain (@niquotein) posted on X along with location coordinates: I recently lost my new airpods in kerala and this ** person is travelling with it. the person is in south goa since 2 days, so Im guessing they live there. does anyone here live around dr. alvaro de loyola furtado road in south goa? rt for reach, etc (sic). **

The sleuths from X took over. Within minutes, user @ItsMeAshwin12 posted the picture of the house with the help of Google Street Map along with the message, Airpods are in this house, Twitter, do ur thing and go get them (sic).

While most jumped into the conversation to discuss technical details of tracking Airpods, a day later, the X post reached a target close enough  the neighbours relative.

Edward Mascarenhas (@Kooledd) posted on December 22, 2023: My relatives stay exactly there and I sent them the deets. They mentioned their neighbors did go to Kerala recently (sic).

He then followed it up with another post: So they got in touch with them and they mentioned theyll drop it off at Margoa police station (sic).

READ | Woman accidentally swallows Apple AirPod thinking it is vitamin

By December 22 evening, the device was at Margoa police station, Jain told PTI.

Jain said he then called the police station. They confirmed that the device was indeed with them, added Jain.

Now, the only thing remaining for him was to collect it. Many from X, of course, volunteered. But my friend and former colleague, Sanket (@iamsexified) chipped in, saying he will be going to Goa in a few days, so I decided to wait for him to collect the device, said Jain.

Finally, last night, Jain posted in X, with a picture of Sanket triumphantly holding the device: CAN U BELIEVE!!? thank u to angel sanket, goa police, kerala police, twitter, find my feature, twitter and everyone who replied to this tweet! what a beautiful story. what a community-like feeling. world is so big and yet small (sic).

The original post, which saw 1.2 million views, became a target for some new-age guerrilla marketing too. Within a few hours of the post, Ather Energy (@atherenergy) jumped in with an offer: Theres a fully charged, mission-ready Ather 450X waiting for you at Margoa. Over and out.

A Bengaluru-based bakery went a step further to cash in on the buzz. It quickly opened X account, @bitesofben48552, on the same day, and posted its offer: Weve just joined @X to inform you that were dispatching a package of quick bites to ensure youre fueled for your crucial mission. Hopefully, were not late. Kindly share your address, and well deliver it from Bengaluru to your doorstep.

Jain said although he or Sanket did not use any of these offers, the thought counted. It made me feel good about the entire incident. Although initially I was pissed off with the person who walked away with my Airpod, I am grateful that they went to the police station and handed over the device. They could have easily chucked it somewhere and that would have made it a lot more complicated, said Jain.

As if to prove his point, another X user, Ritesh Ambastha (@riteshambastha) posted: Ive lost the Airpod in the house Im living in; and its been 3 months Im looking for it. I wish you the best (sic).

Jains story is also proof that persistence pays. X user Himanshu Gupta (@himanshu_gg), recalls how he too lost one of his buds in Kerala while he was travelling in July last year, but didnt think to mobilize X to get it back then. Although, he posted in X with the coordinates when it happened, he just gave up with a I knew I will loose it someday, but not like this (sic) and instead started canvassing for some hidden gems to visit in Kerala from X users.

Jain said he kept at it because he kept thinking what a story it would be to tell his children if he did find them through X. It worked out in the end. And I am happy and grateful, said Jain. EOM/
A 12-year-old girl was allegedly lured by a woman and then gang-raped by a man and three minors, in north Delhis Sadar Bazar on January 1. The matter was reported to police on Thursday after which all the five accused were held, police officials aware of the matter said on Saturday. According to a senior police officer, the incident was reported to them by the victim, a resident of Bawana and who is a waste picker. (Representational image)

Deputy commissioner of police (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said that a case under section 376D (gangrape) and other relevant sections was registered immediately.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Read more: Neighbour rapes 15-year-old girl in Punjab's Ludhiana, held

Police identified one of the suspects as Suresh Kumar, 38, who sells tea at the Sadar Bazar slum cluster and the woman as Beauty (who goes by single name), a resident of the same locality. Both of them have been arrested, while the three minors, aged 12, 14 and 15 years, have been apprehended.

According to a senior police officer, the incident was reported to them by the victim, a resident of Bawana and who is a waste picker. She allegedly told police that she picks waste in Bawana with a group of people regularly. On January 1, when she was alone at Sadar Bazar, Beauty came to meet her, the officer added.

She knew Beauty, who earlier used to live in Bawana and also picks waste for a living. She lured the minor to the place where the suspects were waiting. The four then raped her in an isolated place, the officer said.

After the incident, the girl managed to clean herself up and boarded a train to Bawana. Beauty had threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone. For two days, she remained quiet. On Thursday, she again came to Sadar Bazar to pick waste. She met her cousin who lives in the locality and confided the incident in her, the investigator said.

The cousin then informed the minors parents, both labourers, and all of them went to the police station.

Police said that a team was immediately constituted and all suspects were nabbed within hours of the matter being reported. We suspect that accused gave Beauty some money to bring a girl for them. She spotted the victim and lured her to them, the officer said.
New Delhi [India], January 6 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought time to file a reply on the applications of Lalu Prasad Yadav and others seeking a supply of documents in the alleged land-for-jobs case. HT Image

Counsel for CBI submitted that the previous IO has been transferred therefore they need time.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

After hearing the submission, CBI Special Judge Vivek Gogne listed the matter on January 15 and directed both IOs to appear before the court.

The Court also said that because of the direction passed by the Delhi High Court, this case is to be expedited. No further adjournment will be given.

On December 20, 2023, the Rouse Avenue court sought a reply from CBI on an application moved by accused persons including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and Tejaswi Yadav, seeking a supply of documents filed along with the charge sheet.

Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and Tejaswi Yadav are arrayed as accused in land for the Job Scam.

This case is at the stage of scrutiny of documents after the filing of the charge sheet.

On October 4, the court granted bail to former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri Devi and others in relation to a fresh chargesheet in an alleged land for job scam case.

According to the CBI, this is the second chargesheet in the Designated Court against 17 accused including the then Union Minister of Railways, his wife, son, then GM of West Central Railways(WCR), then two CPOs of WCR, private persons, private company etc. in a case related to land for job scam case.

The CBI filed a chargesheet in an alleged land-for-job scam case case against former Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav including Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and others.

CBI had registered a case on 18.05.2022 against the then Union Minister of Railways and others including his wife, two daughters and unknown Public servants and Private persons.

It was alleged that the then Union Minister of Railways during the period 2004-2009 had obtained pecuniary advantages in the form of transfer of landed property in the name of his family members etc., in lieu of appointment of Substitutes in Group "D" Post in different Zones of Railways.

It was further alleged that in lieu thereof the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members sold & gifted their land situated at Patna in favour of the family members of said Minister and a private company controlled by his family members, which was also involved in transfer of such immovable properties in the name of said family members.

It was also alleged that no advertisement or any public notice was issued for such appointments of substitutes in Zonal Railways, yet the appointees who were residents of Patna were appointed as Substitutes in different Zonal Railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.

Searches were earlier conducted at multiple places including in Delhi & Bihar etc, said CBI.

During the investigation, it was found that the then Union Minister of Railways with intent to acquire the land parcels situated at the places where his family was already owning land parcels or the places that were already connected to him entered into conspiracy with associates & family members and allegedly derived a design to grab the land of various land owners by offering/providing group D employment in Railways, CBI said.

The accused had allegedly collected applications and documents of such candidates through associates and then sent those to West Central Railway for processing and providing jobs in Railways and the General Managers of West Central Railways under the influence /control of the accused accorded approval for the engagement of candidates.

For providing jobs in Railways, they allegedly devised an indirect way wherein the candidates were engaged firstly as Substitutes and subsequently, were regularized. A hard disk containing lists of candidates (who were engaged) was also recovered during searches.

It was further alleged that a land parcel was purchased in the name of a private company at 10.83 Lakh in 2007 and subsequently, the said land along with some other land parcels purchased by the said company, were brought into the ownership/control of his wife & son of then Union Minister of Railways by way of transfer of shares at 1 lakh only.

At the time of transfer, the company allegedly owned land parcels purchased at a total cost of Rs1.77 crore(approx) and it was transferred for a mere Rs.1 Lakh(approx) only, however, the market value of the lands was much more.

Earlier, a chargesheet was filed on 07.10.2022 against 16 accused. The investigation is continuing, CBI informed the Court. (ANI)
SOFIA, JANUARY 6, ARMENPRESS/BTA.Hundreds of men took part this year in the traditional men's horo dance in the cold waters of the Tundzha River in Kalofer, Central Bulgaria, on Saturday. The Epiphany cross was thrown into the river by Father Dimitrii after a liturgy in the St. Archangel Michael church.

In line with tradition, the cross was handed over to one of the youngest members of the choir, 3-year-old Dimitar from Kalofer. His family wished all Bulgarians health and prosperity and urged them to keep traditions alive.

Then, as they do every year, the men of Kalofer entered the river, dressed in folk costumes, accompanied by a bagpipe and a drum. During the ritual, the men sang folk songs and waved the Bulgarian flag.

Thousands of people flocked to Kalofer from all over the country on Saturday, some of them also entering the waters of the Tundzha. As a rule, guests must wait for local participants to get out of the river.

The ritual of throwing a cross into a river took place across Bulgaria and a couple of hundred men raced to save it.

(This information is being published according to an agreement between Armenpress and BTA.)
Dense fog continued to shroud the capital at upper levels of the atmosphere, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting Delhi is likely to record cold day conditions for a third consecutive day. (Representative Photo)

The IMD classifies it as a cold day when the maximum temperature is 4.5C or more below normal, with the minimum temperature also being below 10C. It is a severe cold day when the maximum temperature is 6.5C or more below normal.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 12.5C on Thursday, seven degrees below normal and Delhis lowest maximum in two years. The last time it was lower was on January 25, 2022, when it was 12.1C. This meant it was categorized as a severe cold day.

Delhis maximum on Friday was 14.6C, five degrees below normal, with it being placed in the cold day category. Forecasts for Saturday show the maximum is likely to be around 15-16C.

In terms of minimum temperature, Delhi recorded a low of 8.9C on Saturday morning, which was two degrees above normal. It was 9.4C on Friday.

Marginal relief is expected only from January 8 onwards, with an approaching western disturbance bringing warmer winds and eventually, chances of light rain on January 9 and 10, IMD officials said.

The approaching western disturbance should impact Delhi by January 9, with light rain forecast on the day. Warmer winds will also raise mercury slightly, said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

The persistent cold over the last few days also saw Delhi recording its highest ever peak power demand for the winter months on Friday. The State Despatch Load Centre (SLDC) data showed Delhi recorded a peak of 5,559 MW at 11:05 am on Friday, the highest ever for Delhi in the winter months. The previous winter peak was 5,526 MW, which was recorded last winter, on January 6, 2023.

Meanwhile, Delhis air quality remained in the very poor category, but improved in comparison to Friday. Delhis average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 316 (very poor) at 10 am on Saturday. It was 333 (very poor) at 4 pm on Friday.

Forecasts by the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi  a forecasting model under the ministry of earth sciences, said Delhis air quality should remain very poor till January 8.

Delhis air quality is likely to remain in the very poor category from January 6 till January 8. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows air quality is likely to remain in the very poor to poor category. There is a possibility of rain on January 9, EWS had said in its daily bulletin, issued on Friday evening.
Srinagar, Jan 6 (PTI) Party leaders in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday questioned the administration's decision to lease out electricity from the Ratle Power Project in Kishtwar to Rajasthan, pointing out that the Union Territory is itself facing a "severe power crisis". HT Image

Ratle Hydro Electric Power Corporation Limited (RHPCL), a joint venture between the NHPC Limited and JKSPDC, has entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Rajasthan Urja Vikas and IT Services Limited for 850 MW sourcing from the project in Kishtwar.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said supplying electricity to Rajasthan from the Ratle Project would "rob" the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"At a time when J&K is facing a severe power crisis never witnessed before our hydro electric resources are being outsourced to other states. Yet another decision that will rob people of basic amenities with an intention to collectively punish the inhabitants of J&K," the PDP chief posted on X.

The agreement has been signed for off-take of power for a period of 40 years from the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the project and as per power allocation to be notified by the Union Ministry of Power.

The PPA was signed in Jaipur on January 3 in the presence of senior officers of the RHPCL and Rajasthan Urja Vikas and IT Services Limited.

Meanwhile, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said the decision to lease out electricity to Rajasthan was puzzling.

"At a time when the entire Jammu and Kashmir is facing an acute electricity crisis, especially in its rural areas, the reported leasing out of electricity from Rattle Power Project Kishtwar to Rajasthan is quite puzzling," Bukhari said in a post on X.

He said the J-K administration should come clear on the facts.

"The J&K administration has off and on come on record claiming that it has been buying the power supply from other states to meet the demands in the Union Territory, while at the same time leasing out its own supply to another state is beyond comprehension. Urge the J&K admin to come clear on the facts," Bukhari's post added.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 6 (ANI): The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Mumbai Crime Branch has secured its first arrest in connection with the 15,000 crore Mahadev betting app case, police said on Friday. HT Image

As per police, a 27-year-old man, identified as Dixit Kothari, has been arrested in the matter.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As per officials, an FIR was filed by Matunga Police last year, and the case was transferred to the crime branch, leading to the formation of the SIT.

The Mahadev Online Book Betting app is learned to be an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of Benami bank accounts. The Directorate of Enforcement is probing the matter under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Meanwhile, authorities in Dubai last month "restricted the movements" of Saurabh Chandrakar, one of the two Mahadev online betting app promoters.

Chandrakar is believed to be the mastermind of a betting syndicate.

This move comes nearly two weeks after the other promoter of the Mahadev App, Ravi Uppal, was detained in Dubai by the local police.

Uppal is facing a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate. He is named as accused in the case in which allegations of kickbacks were made against outgoing Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

As per officials, Dubai Police detained Uppal following a Red Corner notice issued against him at the behest of the Enforcement Directorate.

Sources said that Dubai authorities conveyed to Indian officials soon after the arrest of Uppal and showed their willingness to deport him as he is wanted in India for his alleged involvement in money laundering worth nearly 6,000 crore.

Red Corner notices were issued against Uppal and Chandrakar, the other promoter and mastermind of the illegal betting syndicate, who is also in the UAE, in October this year. A Red Corner notice was issued against both the accused after the Enforcement Directorate had moved a special court in Raipur and obtained a non-bailable warrant against them.

After the arrest of Uppal, it was then learnt that Chandrakar may be arrested soon.

The development comes months after a lavish wedding held this February in the United Arab Emirates caught the attention of the Enforcement Directorate, as the entire money--around 200 crore spent on the bash--was paid entirely in cash.

At his wedding held in Ras AlKhaimah, Chandrakar hired private jets to ferry family members from Nagpur to the UAE and paid celebrities from the film industry to perform, according to the ED.

The ED said Chandrakar and Uppal, who hail from Bhilai in Chattisgarh, are the two main promoters of the Mahadev betting platform and run their operations from Dubai. They had created an empire for themselves in that country.

The agency had recently conducted searches at 39 locations across Raipur, Bhopal, Mumbai and Kolkata and seized illegal assets worth 417 crore. ED has also earnestly taken up investigation abroad.

A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court at Raipur has also issued non-bailable warrants against the suspects. (ANI)
The flight operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines had landed at Vatry near Paris on December 21 after which French authorities intervened to probe a human trafficking angle. The flight, with 276 passengers, landed in Mumbai on December 26. HT Image

While the flight that landed in France had 303 Indian passengers, 27 sought asylum in the European nation and stayed back.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Speaking about the probe, Sanjay Kharat, Superintendent of Police, CID-Crime and Railways, who is investigating the case, said details of 15 immigration agents suspected to be involved in the case have been gathered.

"There were 66 persons from Gujarat on board. The CID Crime has recorded their statements. They are now back in their native villages in the state," Kharat told reporters.

These 66, including some minors, are mainly from Mehsana, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Anand districts.

"The CID has been probing the role of immigration agents in this case. Based on the leads and information we have gathered, we will be filing an FIR soon. We have got names and other details of some agents from Gujarat and other parts of the country. A probe is underway to find out how they sent people to Dubai and further to Nicaragua with the aim of illegal entry into the USA," the SP said.

The documents these agents used, the money they collected and the kind of visas used are all part of the probe, he said, adding that 15 agents have been tracked and are being questioned.

The Gujarat CID had earlier said the passengers, most of whom had studied till Class VIII and XII, had paid 60-80 lakh each to enter USA illegally after reaching Nicaragua via Dubai.

The Gujarat CID has also written to the Central Bureau of Investigation for help in collecting details of agents who had got these passengers Dubai visas, bank details of payments made, as well as details of how the visas for Nicaragua were obtained from Dubai.

Nicaragua has become a popular destination for those seeking asylum in the US.

As many as 96,917 Indians attempted to enter the US illegally in the financial year 2023, according to US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) data.

Flights to third countries where obtaining travel documents is easy are known as 'dunki' flights.
An IndiGo flight (6E 338) en route from Pune to Lucknow was compelled to make an emergency landing at Nagpur Airport on Saturday. The incident unfolded when a 26-year-old passenger, Mohd Ahmed Ansari, experienced sudden chest pain mid-flight. Responding to the medical emergency, the flight diverted to Nagpur, successfully landing at 4:30am. Responding to the medical emergency, the flight diverted to Nagpur, successfully landing at 4:30am.(REUTERS)

Also read: Patna-Delhi IndiGo flight makes emergency landing moments after take-off

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Local airport authorities reported that Ansari was expeditiously transported to KIMS Kingsway Hospital, where he is currently receiving medical care. Aejaz Shami, the deputy general manager (Communication) at the hospital, provided reassurance that the patient is now stable and under observation.

Abid Ruhi, the director of the local airport, confirmed the unscheduled landing, citing the passengers serious ailment. After an hour of medical attention, the flight resumed its journey to Lucknow. The timely response and coordination between the airline and local authorities ensured the passenger received prompt medical assistance, allowing the safe continuation of the flight.
A young Iranian woman, who arrived in India for her wedding shopping, died after one of her relatives allegedly attacked her during a scuffle among them at their rented accommodation in Sector 116, Noida, late Friday night, officials said on Saturday. Four suspects, all Iranian nationals, have been taken into custody. (Representational image)

Officials said four people have been taken into custody, and the Iranian Embassy in Delhi has been informed about the incident.

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Also read: Iran hangs 'child bride' for murder of husband, 18 women executed this year

Police received the information at the Sector 113 police station about a woman being stabbed late Friday night.

According to additional deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Manish Mishra, a team immediately rushed to the house in Sector 116 and found that the call was made by Firoz (45), a native of Tehran. He revealed that his daughter Zeenat (22) had been stabbed.

The woman was rushed to the hospital where she was declared brought dead on arrival by the hospital authorities, said the officer.

Firoz has been running a garment business in India for one-and-a-half years. His daughter Zeenat had come to India on a tourist visa about 4-5 months ago. As she was set to get married this year, she was here for the wedding shopping.

Firozs relatives - Emran Hashmi and Aslam -- also live in the same building with their families, on the upper floors. On Friday, Firoz had a scuffle with Emran and Aslam during which Zeenat intervened to stop the fight. But Emran who had a knife, stabbed in her neck, said Shavya Goyal, assistant commissioner of police, Sector 3, Noida.

Four suspects, all Iranian nationals, have been taken into custody.

We have informed the embassy and have initiated legal proceedings in the case. A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code is being registered against eight people, and four have been taken into custody so far. The body has been handed over to the family following an autopsy, said Goyal.
The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Saturday ordered all schools in Noida and Greater Noida to observe holiday for students up to Class 8 till January 14 in view of the prevailing dense fog and cold weather conditions. School students watching Migratory birds at Surajpur wetland, in Greater Noida, India, (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

Issued by District Basic Education Officer Rahul Panwar, the order stands applicable to all schools recognised by the state board, CBSE, ICSE, IB and others.

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"In compliance with the instructions given by District Magistrate Maneesh Kumar Verma in view of the dense fog and extreme cold, all the board (CBSE/ICSE IB, UP Board and others) affiliated schools (from Class nursery to 8) running in the district Gautam Buddh Nagar, will observe holiday till January 14," it stated.

"The order should be strictly followed," Panwar added.

Meanwhile, District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) Dharmveer Singh said the timings for Classes 9-12 will be 10 am to 3 pm during this period.

The minimum temperatures in parts of western Uttar Pradesh has dipped to single-digit figures. The minimum temperature in Gautam Buddh Nagar was recorded at 9 degrees Celsius on Saturday and is expected to hover between 9 and 13 degrees Celsius over the next six days.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a cold wave and fog warning for western Uttar Pradesh, which includes Gautam Buddh Nagar.

Cold wave conditions, along with fog, is predicted for Saturday and Sunday, followed by thunderstorms, lightning, squall and fog on Tuesday, the IMD said in a sub-divisional warning.
Sculptures made by Tripura artists would be installed to beautify various populated locations of Prime Minister Narendra Modis poll constituency, Varanasi, Union minister of state for culture Meenakshi Lekhi said on Friday. Union minister of state for culture Meenakshi Lekhi with an artist at Lalit Kala Akademi in Agartala (Twitter/@M_Lekhi)

Lekhi made her remarks during her visit to the Nazrul Kalakshetra Art Gallery in Agartala, where a 45-day-long sculpture workshop started last month. The minister is on a two-day visit to Tripura.

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Happy to visit the Lalit Kala Akademi in Agartala where local artists are creating sculptures to be installed in Hon PMs constituency - Varanasi, she posted on X.

We take pride in our countrys traditional civilization, culture and heritage. The sculptures that are made by the state artists will be installed at different places in Varanasi in future. This is the first time, such initiative has been taken, Lekhi while speaking to the media at the event.

A total of 50 sculptures are being made in the workshop organised jointly by the North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC) and Lalitkala Akademi. The event was sponsored by the ministry of cultural and the ministry of railways.

Lekhi said that people across the country would be drawn towards the Northeast, including Tripura, through sculptures made by the artists.

Nearly 10 crore (100 million) people visit Varanasi yearly. The Tripura artists creative arts would reach the people across the globe through the installation of these sculptures, said the minister as she stressed developing the tourism infrastructure by highlighting significant tourism spots like Chhabimura, Unakoti etc.

Earlier in the day, the Union minister interacted with the self-help groups of the Unakoti district in Tripura.
The Pune crime branch arrested eight suspects in connection with the murder of gangster Sharad Mohol (40), who was charged with multiple homicides, extortion, and other serious offences. Among them were Sahil Polekar (20), Vitthal Gandale (34), and Namdeo Kangude (35) who often accompanied Mohol as his bodyguards. Pune crime branch arrested eight suspects in connection with the murder of gangster Sharad Mohol (40). (HT PHOTO)

On Friday morning as well, Polekar and two others were accompanying Mohol. After celebrating the gangsters marriage anniversary, they had lunch and decided to visit Dagdusheth Ganpati temple. As the suspects always accompanied Mohol as his bodyguards, there was no room for suspicion.

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As Mohol stepped out of his house, the trio shot him dead. The incident was captured in CCTV cameras installed in the area.

The incident took place in the Sutardara area of Kothrud when the trio fired a total of four bullets of which three hit Mohol.

The footage showed that after shooting the gangster, the trio fled the spot while Mohol was lying in a pool of blood. Thats when Mohols other two aides took him to a private hospital on Karve Road.

Later, Polekar and two others were joined by five other suspects Amit alias Amar Maruti Kangude (24) and Chandrakant Shahu Shelke (22) from Parvati; Vinayak Santosh Gavahankar (20) from Paud; Ravindra Vasantaro Pawar (40) from Nandgaon and Sanjay Rambhau Udan (43) from Bhusari Colony, Kothrud  in two cars in which all of them fled. However, police nabbed all the accused within hours.

Pawar and Udan are practising lawyers at Shivajinagar court and members of the Pune District Bar Council.

The role of others arrested in the case is being investigated, said officials.

Namdeo and Polekar are on record criminals and have cases pertaining to body offences and extortion registered against them in the past.

According to police officials, more than a decade-old dispute pertaining to land with Mohol had the assailants still sulking within. The land is located in Mutha village and belongs to Polekar and Namdeo.

Ramnath Pokle, additional commissioner of police (crime), said, The assailants live in the same locality where Mohol also lived. For almost a month, Polekar deliberately started visiting Mohols office. After gaining confidence, he executed the murder plan along with his maternal uncle Namdeo and distant relative Gandale.

Pokle further said the investigation so far has revealed that it seems that Polekar hatched Mohols murder plan long ago because he had purchased firearms three to four months back to be used for the gangsters murder.

Police investigation further revealed years ago, that Mohol had had a heated argument with the trio about the said land and had physically assaulted Namdeo.

In order to take revenge, they hatched a cold-blooded plan. In a short period, Kangude and Gandale gained the confidence of Mohol and became his close aides and worked as his bodyguards.

After the incident, Mohol was rushed to the Sahyadri Hospital where he underwent surgery and later shifted to another hospital. Doctors declared him dead while undergoing treatment at around 3:15 pm, according to police.

Meanwhile, after analysing CCTV footage, Pune city police formed nine teams. In the evening police got a tip-off that the accused were heading towards Satara and their car was traced at Khed Shivapur toll plaza.

On the same day, late in the night police arrested eight individuals from Kikavi near Shirwal on Pune-Satara Road and seized two cars, police seized three pistols, three magazines and five rounds.

All accused were produced in court on Saturday with heavy police bandobast deployed on court premises.

The court granted police custody to accused Pawar and Udan till January 8 and the other accused were granted police custody till January 10.

A case has been registered at Kothrud police station under sections 302, 307, 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 3, 25 of the Arms Act and sections 37(1), (3),135 of the Maharashtra Police Act.
Cameron Diaz has denied having any association with the Jeffrey Epstein case in a statement to ET, claiming she had not even met him. Her name had emerged alongside names of other Hollywood celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Campbell as several court documents related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were unsealed. Also read: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz among Hollywood stars named in Jeffrey Epstein court documents Cameron Diaz had no association with Jeffrey Epstein.

Cameron's statement

Cameron's representative told ET in a statement, "Cameron never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor was she ever in the same place as him or had any association with him whatsoever, regardless of the fact he may or may not have mentioned her name or implied that he knew her."

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How did Cameron's name came up

According to ET, Cameron Diaz' name came up in a deposition by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg, whose testimony was part of a 2015 defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell. Johanna had claimed that Jeffrey bragged about his close bond with celebrities like Cameron Diaz and many others. Johanna had said in that deposition that she never met Cameron and Jeffrey was simply "name-dropping" after hanging up phone calls.

AP reports more than 130 additional court files were unsealed on Friday in a lawsuit involving Jeffrey Epstein, providing yet more detail about the late millionaire financier's sexual abuse of underage girls and interactions with celebrities. The latest round of documents included excerpts of testimony from people who worked for Jeffrey, copies of phone messages he received  including one from Harvey Weinstein  and lots of legal memos from lawyers discussing who could potentially have been called as a witness if the lawsuit ever went to trial. Lots of the records covered material that has been the subject of many past news stories about Jeffrey and his victims.

The records are all related to a defamation lawsuit that one of Jeffreys victims, Virginia Giuffre, filed in 2015 against the millionaire's girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was accused by multiple women of helping Jeffrey recruit underage victims. The suit was settled in 2017. Ghislaine was later prosecuted and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

(With AP inputs)

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A resurfaced interview has shed some light on the night Princess Mary and Prince Frederik met, disputing the fairytale narrative that it was just a chance encounter at a pub.

Over the years, the fateful meeting has been reported as the two meeting by chance at Sydney's Slip Inn pub, with Mary having no idea who the Crown Prince was.

However, in a resurfaced interview, Mary's friend Amber Petty who was a bridesmaid at the royal couple's 2004 wedding pointed out that it wasn't a locking eyes over the bar at a crowded pub moment  the two actually met at a 'exclusive private dinner party'.

The Daily Mail reported that during a 2021 interview with Sunrise, Amber said the meeting was at a 'small' dinner during the Olympics, attended by a group of royals who were visiting Australia.

Princess Mary and Prince Frederik met in 2000. Photo: Getty

"I'm sorry to break everybody's hearts, but it's not always about randomly bumping into princes in pubs," she said.

"It wasn't just a random meeting... it was an organised small dinner during the Olympics and Mary happened to be invited and most of the guests happened to be royals."

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Frederik's brother Prince Joachim, Prince Nikolaos of Greece, and future King Felipe of Spain were all also in attendance at the dinner.

In 2003, a woman named Beatrice Tarnawski claimed she was the one who invited Mary to the private dinner, after meeting her through another friend who shared a flat with Mary.

Beatrice Tarnawski met Bruno Gomez-Acebo, the nephew of the then-King of Spain, who asked her to then assemble a group of friends to join them for dinner.

"Bruno wanted to go out and asked me to assemble a group of my friends, one of whom was Mary," she told The Sunday Mail newspaper.

Story continues

"We went to the Slip Inn in at The Rocks where Mary and the other girls were waiting. When we walked in, Mary was one of the first girls near the door and Frederik introduced himself and said 'Hi, I'm Fred.'"

Mary has previously said when she first shook hands with Frederik, she didn't know he was the prince of Denmark.

"Half an hour later someone came up to me and said, 'Do you know who these people are'?" Mary revealed in an interview about meeting the heir to the Danish throne.

The rest is history, with the two maintaining a long-distance relationship before Mary moved to Denmark in 2001.

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Meryl Streep attended the Palm Springs Film Awards recently and was all praise for Greta Gerwigs Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling-starrer Barbie. The actor and director had previously worked together for the 2019 film, Little Women. Meryl took to the stage and spoke about the satirical comedy that was the highest-grossing film of 2023, with $1.4 billion tickets sold. (Also Read: Golden Globe Awards 2024: When and where to stream live) Barbie released in July and Meryl Streep believes it saved Hollywood(Warner Brothers/REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)

Saved our jobs

Billie Eilish and Finneas became the first songwriters to win the Chairmans Award for What Was I Made For? from Barbie. Meryl took to the stage after their win and said, I just want to say to Billie and Finneas that you have delivered the Barbie love bomb. Youve saved the movies last summer and all of our jobs. Youve delivered joy to countless generations and genders of people. You should surf that wave, kids, until youre old and deserve to be jaded like me.

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Barbie makes it big after Top Gun

Steven Spielberg had similar praise for Tom Cruises Top Gun: Maverick last year. When the ET director ran into the actor at the Oscars nominees luncheon, he thanked him for keeping movie theatres alive post the Covid-19 pandemic. You saved Hollywoods a** and you might have saved theatrical distribution. Seriously, Top Gun: Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry, he said.

Barbie nominations

Barbie is nominated for nine Golden Globes, apart from 18 Critics Choice Award nominations. The soundtrack has earned 12 Grammy nominations, with What Was I Made For? shortlisted for in the Best Original Song category at the Oscars, apart from Dua Lipas Dance The Night and Ryans Im Just Ken.

No sequel

Despite the films massive success, theres no sequel in the works because the film was made as a standalone feature. However, there are a whopping 14 films based on Mattel toys in the works. Films based on American Girl Doll, Barney, Christmas Balloon, Hot Wheels, Magic 8 Ball, Major Matt Mason, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Polly Pocket, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Thomas The Tank Engine, Uno, View Master and Wishbone are in development, according to Variety.

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Diljit Dosanjh has two reasons to celebrate today. Firstly, he turns 40. Secondly, he's released a new single and music video on the occasion. Love Ya has his vocals and the video features him with Bollywood actor Mouni Roy. (Also Read: Dunki Drop 6 Banda: Shah Rukh Khan's visuals and Diljit Dosanjh's voice is the crossover we were waiting for. Watch) Diljit Dosanjh and Mouni Roy in Love Ya.

Love Ya

Diljit took to his Instagram handle on Saturday and shared the music video of Luv Ya. He wrote in the caption, Lao ji birthday gift (Here's the birthday gift) (red heart with ribbon emoji) LOVE YA. Eh v Pakka Ho Geya Hun Try Karunga Har Saal Tuanu Gift Milda Rave (It's certain that I'll keep trying to give you a gift every year). (Love eyes emoji) Jadon Tak Rab Ne Chayeya (As long as God wishes) (emojis). Video out now on YouTube (red heart with ribbon emoji)."

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In the video, Diljit is seen chilling at a party before he spots Mouni Roy dancing in the crowd. They're both twinning in all-white avatars. Later, they romance each other sitting in a vintage car. The second half of the video sees them twin yet again, this time in traditional all-black, as they continue to romance each other and shake a leg on the music.

The track is written and composed by Sagar with additional Music credits to Hunny Bunny and a special thanks to Jaani. The music video is directed by Sneha Shetty Kohli, best known for helming popular music videos of Naagin and Genda Phool.

Mouni wishes Diljit

Mouni Roy took to her Instagram handle on Saturday and wished Diljit a happy birthday. She shared stills from the music video and wrote, This very special song is out now on a special day (black heart emoji). Happiest of birthdays @diljitdosanjh May you continue conquering the world with your talent & winning the hearts of everyone you cross paths with your warmth. Love ya x.

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Ahead of the release of Arun Matheswarans Captain Miller on January 12, the makers released the films trailer. Starring Dhanush in the titular role, the film also boasts of a star-studded cast, including Priyanka Mohan, Shiva Rajkumar, Sundeep Kishan, Vinoth Kishan, Nassar, and Edward Sonnenblick. (Also Read: Aishwarya Ragupathi harassed at Captain Miller pre-release event) Dhanush in a still from Captain Miller

The trailer

The 2-minutes-54-second long trailer gives a glimpse into the world of Captain Miller. The trailer shows that the film is set in a pre-independent India where the British are in control and Dhanushs character is considered a criminal, a dacoit.

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Dhanush plays Easa, a local rebel leader fighting against the colonisation of his village. A dialogue that hints at what his character will be like is when he says that his behaviour depends on the other persons. Theres a treasure in his village that the locals safeguard, but the British want to loot.

The film

Apart from Dhanushs character, the trailer also gives a peek of the supporting roles. Shiva, Priyanka, Sundeep and Vinoths characters are shown. The trailer gives enough information without giving away too much. Captain Miller will see music composed by GV Prakash Kumar, cinematography by Siddhartha Nuni and editing by Nagooran Ramachandran. The script for the film was penned in 2018, but its only in 2020 that Dhanush said yes to the project. The film is set in the 1930s and the title is inspired by Tom Hanks Saving Private Ryan (1998).

The shoot

Captain Miller went through extensive pre-production before going on floors in 2022. Shooting took place outdoors in places like Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and more. The films team also ran into controversy when it was rumoured that they shot at the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve without sufficient permission. A petition was filed against the team for blasting explosives by the residents of Tenkasi. Filming was finally wrapped up by November 2023.

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Ram Charans upcoming drama with National Award-winning Uppena director Buchi Babu Sana seems to be shaping up well. After Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar revealed recently that he has been roped in for the project, the team made an exciting announcement on music composer AR Rahmans birthday. (Also Read: Happy Birthday AR Rahman: Check out his evergreen Hindi songs) Ram Charan's next film with see music by AR Rahman(Instagram)

Birthday wishes

Welcoming Rahman on-board the project and wishing him on his birthday, Ram wrote on X, Happy Birthday @arrahman sir, wish you health and happiness always. The makers also announced the news officially on Saturday that the Oscar Award-winning composer has been roped in to score the music. Buchis debut film Uppena had good music and fans have high expectations from this project too. Other cast and crew details are yet to be be announced.

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Rahmans return to Telugu

Rahman boasts of a massive discography, scoring iconic numbers in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, English, Persian and Mandarin. While a lot of the composers songs in Tamil have also been dubbed into Telugu or he was roped in for a remake, its rare for him to compose for a Telugu project that will be dubbed in other Indian languages.

He only scored the background for Nippu Ravva in the 90s before composing for Super Police, Gangmaster, Naani, Ye Maaya Chesave, Komaram Puli and Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo in the language. So in a way, the yet-to-be-titled project marks his return to Telugu cinema after years.

Upcoming work

Ram is currently shooting for Shankars maiden Telugu project, Game Changer. The film also stars Kiara Advani in the lead role and features an ensemble cast in key roles. Shooting for the film is in progress and the film is expected to hit screens sometime this year. After wrapping up shooting for that, he will commence shooting for Buchis film.

Rahman has numerous films lined up in Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Arabic. He is also composing for Dhanushs upcoming film, Imtiaz Alis Chamkila and Mani Ratnams Thug Life.

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The White Lotus is all set to return for the third season and details about the cast and setting have started unfolding. The first season of the show, which aired on HBO in 2021, was set in Hawaii, while the second season was shot in Sicily and debuted in 2022. (Also Read: The White Lotus season 3 to be set in Asia, creator Mike White hints at focus on 'death and spirituality') Natasha Rothwell, who featured as spa manager Belinda Lindsey in The White Lotus Season 1, will reprise the character in the third chapter.

Here are five things to know about the Emmy Award-winning show created by Mark White:

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Star cast

As per a latest report by Variety, the third season of HBO's dark comedy series will feature actors Leslie Bibb (Iron Man, Jupiters Legacy), Dom Hetrakul (Bangkok Dangerous, The Outrage), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter franchise, The Death of Stalin), Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Parker Posey (Best in Show, The Staircase), and Tayme Thapthimthong (Farang, Skin Trade).

Setting

Each season of the show revolves around the dynamics between the guests and employees of a fictional resort chain, called White Lotus. "The series will begin production in and around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok, and will follow a new group of guests at another White Lotus property," HBO said in a press release.

Returning characters

Emmy Award-winning actor Jennifer Coolidge was the only actor to reprise her role in the second season. However, since her character died at the end of Season 2, she would naturally not be returning for the third one. However, Natasha Rothwell, who featured as spa manager Belinda Lindsey in the first season and shared screen space with Jennifer, will reprise the character in the third chapter.

Plot

Creator Mike White didn't divulge too many details about the plot of Season 3. However, he did hint at the theme of the third season in the Unpacking S2 E7 recap video. I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus, Mike said.

Release date

While there's no clarity around the release date of Season 3 yet, HBO did mention in a press release that the new season will go on floors in February. Will we see another White Lotus season this year? Time will tell.

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In the realm of hospitality, crafting an enchanting ambiance is paramount to delivering guests an unforgettable experience. A potent tool in the hotelier's arsenal is the art of colour. By harnessing the magic of hues in hotel decor, one can effortlessly evoke various moods and emotions, thereby transforming spaces into alluring havens., we delve into the psychology of colours and explore how savvy hoteliers can strategically use colour palettes to curate distinctive palettes that cater to every mood. A captivating and lively range of colours, dominated by bold hues can infuse the space with a tangible sense of excitement and dynamism.

1. Energetic and vibrant

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A captivating and lively range of colours, dominated by bold hues like electric blue, sunny yellow, and lively coral, can infuse the space with a tangible sense of excitement and dynamism. By strategically incorporating these tones in public areas such as lobbies and lounges, a vibrant and social atmosphere is fostered, encouraging guests to connect and engage with one another. The energetic ambiance created by this palette is ideal for guests seeking a lively and vibrant stay filled with enthusiasm and meaningful social interactions.

2. Serene and tranquil palette

In order to cater to guests seeking ultimate relaxation and tranquility, a hotel can adopt a serene and tranquil palette. Incorporating soft and calming hues like pastel blues, gentle greens, and creamy neutrals throughout the rooms and common areas can transform the space into a serene sanctuary, encouraging guests to unwind and rejuvenate during their stay. This soothing atmosphere is well-suited for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and wish to experience a peaceful retreat within the hotel premises.

3. Timeless elegance with neutral tones

For hotels aiming to create a timeless and sophisticated ambiance, a palette featuring neutral tones like beige, taupe, and ivory is an excellent choice. These classics never go out of style and exude a sense of understated elegance that appeals to a wide range of guests, including business travellers and couples seeking a romantic getaway. To elevate the overall design, tasteful accents of metallics or muted jewel tones can be integrated, adding a touch of opulence to the neutral backdrop.

4. Eclectic and bohemian chic

For boutique hotels and trendy establishments, embracing an eclectic palette can be a thrilling and daring choice. Combining a mix of bold and contrasting colours, along with unique patterns and textures, the space emanates a bohemian chic vibe, inviting guests to explore their creative selves. This artistic and free-spirited atmosphere encourages a sense of individuality, empowering guests to embrace their creativity and indulge in an unconventional and inspiring stay.

5. Nature-inspired palette

Drawing inspiration from the beauty of nature, a hotel can create a harmonious and welcoming atmosphere through a nature-inspired palette. Deep forest green, warm terracotta and sandy beige can be used to bring the outdoors inside, establishing a solid connection with the natural world that promotes a sense of well-being. Guests will feel enveloped by the tranquillity and groundedness of nature, providing a nurturing and comforting stay.
A Bangladeshi cargo ship that sank in the Ganges delta at the height of the pandemic-induced lockdown three years ago has resurfaced to haunt authorities in West Bengal, threatening the years first major religious festival, the Gangasagar Mela. The Bangladeshi vessel sank on April 9, 2020. (HT Photo)

The reason  the capsized vessel has hastened siltation in the Muriganga river, a distributary of the mighty Hoogly in the Sunderbans region, precipitating the birth of a riverine island, or char, which is now blocking the shallow stretch of water boats take to ferry nearly four million pilgrims to the confluence point of the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal.

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Experts say that unless the ship, MV Dhrubo Rupanti, is removed, the accumulating silt would eventually choke the Muriganga river, turning its gushing flow only into a tidal creek.

This year suddenly a char has surfaced. We havent noticed any char in that area in the last two to three decades. The siltation took place because of a Bangladeshi ship that had sunk a few years ago. Additional dredging machines have been deployed this year to create alternate channels. The ship couldnt be removed all these years, said Bankim Chandra Hazra, state Sunderban Affairs ministers.

The issue  first flagged about a month ago came up in an administrative meeting held by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on December 27 to take stock of preparations for the Gangasagar Mela, scheduled between January 8 and 17.

Siltation has been going on and now it has developed into a char. Wont other vessels bump into that sunken ship? Anytime an accident may take place, the CM asked bureaucrats at the meeting.

Massive siltation is going on, centering around that capsized vessel on the riverbed. It came to light two to three months ago when the silt started to surfaced above the water level and took the shape of a char  a riverine island, blocking the channel which boats take to ferry pilgrims and tourists to Ganga Sagar, said an official present in the meeting, requesting anonymity.

The Gangasagar Mela is celebrated at the southernmost tip of Bengal, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Ganges, around Makar Sankranti in the second week of January every year. Considered the largest religious fair in eastern India, the Mela is organised in a corner of Sagar, a large weather battered island that is separated from the mainland by the Muriganga, one of numerous distributaries the Hoogly splits into as it approaches the ocean.

On April 9, 2020  two weeks into a nationwide Covid-19 lockdown  a Bangladeshi cargo vessel carrying fly ash, named MV Dhrubo Rupanti, sunk after it suffered an engine failure and hit an electric post between Sagar and Kachuberia jetty on the mainland.

The ship was on its return journey to Bangladesh carrying fly ash. This falls under the Indo-Bangla Protocol Route which is used by cargo vessels. There have been multiple accidents on this route.

There were 10 crew members, who were rescued and brought to Sagar and quarantined in a local hospital. They were treated for nearly a year before being sent back to Bangladesh. As waves upon waves of the pandemic crashed ashore, little thought was paid to the hulking mass of iron and steel.

Now, however, officials have woken up to the problem.

Hardly any time is left for the Ganga Sagar mela. The capsized ship cant be removed before the mela. We have started heavy dredging so that two alternative channels in the Muriganga may be opened to ferry pilgrims to Sagar. Two dredging machines, each with a capacity of removing 500 cubic metre of silt in one hour, have been deployed, said Prabhat Kumar Mishra, principal secretary of state irrigation department.

Officials said that bureaucrats from all departments, and officers from the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, were present in the December 27 meeting.

The chief minister requested the Indian Navy if it could help. But the navy said that it doesnt have the infrastructure to remove a capsized ship. They informed that there were specialised salvage companies both in India and abroad to do that task, said a top bureaucrat.

Experts said that if the ship is not removed, siltation would continue and ultimately threaten the river.

The ships fly ash, which has heavy metals in it including lead and cadmium, got mixed with the water. This might have had some effect on local biodiversity. If the ship is not removed, the river may remain navigable only during the highest tide and boats wont be able to take that route during most of the time. In the future, it may also get cut off and exist just as a tidal creek, said Tuhin Ghosh, director of the school of oceanographic studies at Jadavpur University.

For now, with little time left, officials are racing against time to put stop-gap arrangements in place. The area has been cordoned off with buoys which are visible at night, and removal of the ship put off till after the mega event.

Sometimes it is best to leave it as it is because it wont be cost effective to remove the ship, said a third official.
Absence of a law that makes adultery an offence cannot provide individuals with a blanket immunity of marrying another person secretly during the subsistence of their first marriage, the Delhi high court said, adding that it was crucial to legally protect those partners who have committed to the sanctity and values of marriage. Delhi high court said it was crucial to legally protect those partners who have committed to the sanctity and values of marriage.

The court was of the view that insisting the victim spouse to provide evidence regarding performance of the ceremonies of a second marriage for the offence of bigamy was dangerous for the society and the partner.

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The gravity of the offence of bigamy, which mandates the solemnization of a previous valid marriage and the conduct of a spouse to get married to another person during the lifetime and existence of the first valid marriage is both dangerous for society and for the victim spouse, a bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said on Wednesday.

Also read: Make adultery, non-consensual gay sex crimes, says House panel

To be sure, a five-judge constitution bench in 2018 had struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code that made adultery an offence only with respect to a man who has a relationship with a wife of someone else, declaring it to be unconstitutional and violative of right to equality of women in treating them as chattel (property) and inferior to their husbands. In 2020, the top court had held that its decision of stubbing down the archaic law from the criminal statute book did not require any reconsideration.

The bench in the verdict made public on Friday noted that such insistence should not be used as a tactic to evade legal consequences since a second marriage during the subsistence of the first would generally be a clandestine marriage and had the capability of producing difficulties in proving whether the persons followed all the rituals or married by any other legally accepted form.

The judge in the 32- page ruling also said, The mere inability of one partner, either a wife or a husband, to prove performance of Saptapadi qua the second marriage at the summoning stage should not be misused as a loophole to evade legal consequences. In any case, it cannot be expected that the husband of a wife will get married for the second time, during the subsistence of earlier marriage, after informing her first wife or in her presence so that she can collect evidence of his second marriage and the ceremonies performed therein.

The lady had approached high court against sessions courts 2019 order of quashing the summons issued by the Magistrate in a case filed by her against her husband under section 494 (bigamy) of the Indian Penal Code.

She had alleged that her husband married another woman in 2015 in the presence of local priests and their family and a daughter was born out of the said marriage. The lady in her complaint further stated that even the duos (husband and the second woman) neighbours and security guard acknowledged them as a married couple and the daughters birth certificate named her husband as the girls father.

The city court while quashing the summoning order held that though it was mandatory to provide proof of solemnisation of second marriage in accordance with essential religious rites for establishing bigamy, the lady had failed to provide oral or documentary evidence regarding her husband and the other woman performing Saptapadi around the sacred fire. The city court had further ruled that evidence in the form of photographs or some documents showing parties to be in a relationship akin to marriage was not sufficient to even proceed against the accused adding that mere living in a live-in relationship with the person was not sufficient to attract the offence.

The lady appearing through advocate Malavika Rajkotia submitted that the lower court had erred in holding without even trial that there was no evidence as the court had ignored the photograph of the second marriage and birth of a child from that wedding which was a pivotal piece of evidence.

The husband appearing through advocate Giriraj Subramanian however submitted that the lady had only made bald and vague allegations regarding her husband marrying another woman by a local pundit but failed to disclose details about the same.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is set to execute a key manoeuvre on Saturday, where it will command thrusters to fire and position the Aditya L1 spacecraft, India's first space-based solar observatory, into its designated orbit approximately 15 lakh kilometres away from Earth. Aditya L1 to enter final orbit on Saturday.(ISRO)

Hindustan Times Digital spoke to Manish Purohit, a former ISRO scientist and founder of NIMBUS Education, to understand the intricate details of the Sun mission. Purohit has expertise in critical space missions like Chandrayaan-2 and Mangalyaan.

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Here's the edited excerpt:

During Aditya L1's 127-day journey, what were the crucial milestones and challenges encountered?

 On September 19, Aditya L1 undertook a manoeuvre to beat Earth's gravity and leave its sphere of influence to move towards the Lagrangian point.

 On October 6, Aditya L1 adjusted its course using onboard thrusters to ensure it stayed on the right path to the L1 point.

 As the solar probe moved away from Earth, it required constant observation. For that, the ISRO got help from ground stations from the European Space Agency which kept track of its position and speed.

 Specialised software played a key role, in making sure Aditya L1's movements were calculated and precise. This ensured that important events, like placing Aditya in the Lagrangian point 1 halo orbit at 4 pm, were well-planned.

ALSO READ: What is Lagrange point, where ISRO's Aditya-L1 will be positioned to study Sun?

What's ISRO's game plan to get Aditya L1 into its final orbit at 4 pm Saturday?

Let me draw a comparison with Chandrayaan 3 to provide a clearer understanding. On July 14, when Chandrayaan 3 was launched, it orbited the earth to elevate its orbit, similar to what we did for Aditya L1.

Chandrayaan 3 commenced its journey to the moon on July 31, a phase known as translunar injection. By August 5, we received confirmation that Chandrayaan had been captured by the moon's gravity. On this pivotal day, we manoeuvred to change the spacecraft's orientation.

When moving away from earth, thrusters at the back propel the spacecraft forward. However, when aiming to be captured by another celestial body's gravity, we perform a 180-degree flip, bringing the thrusters to the front to slow down the spacecraft. This standard procedure was applied in Chandrayaan 3 and our Mars Orbiter Mission.

Tomorrow, the same manoeuvre will be repeated for the Aditya L1 probe, but it should be noted that there is no celestial body to catch it but a void around which it has to orbit. Also, unlike the intense 17 minutes of terror during the lunar landing, this manoeuvre will last only a few seconds.

The crucial thing here is that since the last firing of our liquid apogee motor a couple of months ago, the motors are currently in a hibernated state due to the cold space environment. The key is to ensure that when commanded, the motors wake up promptly, fire for the intended duration, and execute the manoeuvre precisely at the crucial moment. This requires precision to avoid overdoing, underdoing, or mistiming the motor firing.

So, when Aditya L1 reaches its special halo orbit, is everything pretty smooth sailing from there, or are there still some challenges to deal with?

 Once Aditya L1 is placed in the halo orbit, it faces unique challenges due to the complex 3D nature of this orbit. Unlike typical orbits, the halo orbit is highly convoluted as it revolves around the dynamically moving L1 point, which is itself in motion along the earth-sun line. This adds complexity as Aditya orbits a point that is not stationary but shifts with earth's movement around the sun.

 The L1 point represents an unstable equilibrium, akin to standing on a hill where a slight push can lead to descent. Continuous monitoring is essential due to this instability. Aditya L1's thrusters play a crucial role in maintaining the spacecraft's attitude and orbital control, ensuring it stays in the halo orbit.

To counter the instability, control moment gyros are employed, similar to those used by the International Space Station for orientation. These gyros help balance the spin, contributing to altitude and orientation maintenance. The spacecraft's software continuously monitors these parameters, with ground stations providing crucial information about its position and orbital details.

Collision avoidance is another challenge. Aditya L1 must navigate its orbit to prevent collisions with other missions or spacecraft, requiring meticulous planning and execution. These complexities highlight the intricate dance of orbital dynamics that Aditya L1 must master to fulfil its mission successfully.

What's the scenario if Aditya L1 doesn't make it to its intended orbit on Saturday?

Think of it like Russia's Luna 25 where a glitch in the firing of motors caused a lunar crash landing. Now, while Aditya L1 won't be crash-landing on anything as there is nothing. if we overshoot or undershoot that sweet spot in the expected orbit range, trouble brews.

ALSO READ: Crashed Russian mission Luna 25 left crater on moon, NASA images show

We might miss the gravity capture by the L1 point, throwing us off the desired orbit. If we can't slow down properly, we risk ending up in a higher orbit. The consequence? More fuel burnt, and with fuel being most important for mission life, that's not something we want.

A precise journey means more fuel for future operations. A little extra propellant allows us to experiment, as we did with Chandrayaan-3's propulsion module, which can make a big difference in future missions.

What is the biggest outcome we are hoping to see from Aditya L1 mission?

Well, it's all about understanding space weather. You see, space weather has a say in how things work on Earth. Considering the surge in satellite missions like Starlink and others, spacecraft are becoming a huge part of our daily lives, from disaster warning systems to earth observation and city planning.

ALSO READ: Centre's new call on internet spectrum a big win for Elon Musk's Starlink, here's how

Now, imagine this: if the sun decides to throw out some high-energy radiation or particles, being stationed at the L1 point gives us a heads-up about an hour before it hits earth. It's like having an early warning system. The better we understand the sun, the more prepared we are for such situations. But that's not all  Aditya L1's mission isn't just about warnings; it's also about showcasing our space exploration capabilities and lending a helping hand to academia with some valuable data.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday urged the Mohan Yadav government to take action in the case pertaining to the disappearance of 26 girls from an illegal children's home in capital Bhopal. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.(ANI file)

"The case of the disappearance of 26 girls from a children's home operating without permission in Parwalia police station area of Bhopal has come to my notice," Chouhan said in a post on X.

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"Considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter, I urge the government to take cognisance and take immediate action," he added.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered at Parwaliya Sadak Police Station in Bhopal under sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 naming an individual named Anil Methew, the manager of the children's home, as an accused, ANI reported.

Out of the 68 girls registered at the home, between 6-18 years of age, 26 have been reported missing, the FIR stated, adding that the home was not being operated under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and was unregistered.

National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chief Priyank Kanoongo has written to the Madhya Pradesh chief secretary regarding the matter.

In a post on social media X, Kanoongo alleged that the children kept in this illegal shelter home are forced to practice Christianity.



An illegal children's home run by missionaries was inspected by me along with the chairperson and members of the state children's commission. The coordinating NGO had been working as child line partner like a government agency till recently. The children are being kept in the home that is running operations without license. The children are aged between six and 18 and majority of them are Hindus, Kanoongo added.



With a lot of difficulty, the police registered an FIR. Unfortunately, the officials of Madhya Pradesh's women and child welfare department want to run child helpline on contract with the help of such NGOs, the NCPCR chief added.
China's police chief holds video call with Myanmar Union Minister for Home Affairs

Xinhua) 09:34, January 06, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong had a video call with Myanmar Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Yar Pyae on Friday.

Wang said that China has always viewed and developed China-Myanmar relations from a strategic height, and is willing to work with Myanmar to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, comprehensively deepen cooperation in law enforcement and security.

Wang also expressed China's willingness to collaborate with Myanmar to crack down telecom and online fraud, cooperate on key cases, maintain security and stability in border areas, safeguard Chinese personnel and projects, and continue to promote the building of a China-Myanmar community with a shared future.

Yar Pyae said that Myanmar is willing to deepen law enforcement and security cooperation with China and make every effort to safeguard security and stability in the border areas between the two countries.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)
A young boy's innocent mistake could have cost him his life with parents now being warned not to pick up shells on beaches.

Benaiah Tolley, 9, was snorkelling with his father at Point Peron in Western Australia last week and had been collecting shells in the water when suddenly out crawled a deadly blue-ringed octopus onto their towel.

"He was carrying it around in his hand for, he reckons, about 20 minutes while we were in the water. Then we got out to show the girls, my wife and my daughter [who were on the sand]," Benaiah's father Jason Trolley told Yahoo News Australia.

"We put the shells on a towel and went back into the water. My daughter, who's eleven, was sunbathing and looked down and saw the octopus crawling out of the shell toward her."

The boy had been collecting shells when a blue-ringed octopus crawled out of one and onto their towel. Source: Jason Trolley

One of the most venomous creatures on the planet

The venom of a blue-ringed octopus  called tetrodotoxin  is known to be 1,000 times more powerful than cyanide on humans  capable of killing up to 26 adult humans. According to The Australian Museum, the species uses "extremely powerful venom" to kill its prey including crabs and small fish.

A single bite from a blue-ringed octopus is enough to paralyse a human within minutes and can often lead to death, so people are advised to stay clear at all costs.

Jason said his daughter, 11, "came screaming down the beach" telling them to get out of the water. "I thought she'd seen a shark or something," he said.

"So we hopped out and she told us an octopus was coming out of the shell, and then my son, who'd been holding it, started freaking out."

Aussies warned not to collect seashells

Thankfully, no one was injured thanks to the kids' mum, a nurse, who "calmed the situation down". Jason said his son was "very lucky" nothing came of the situation, but took to Facebook to warn others.

Story continues

"Went snorkelling with the boy and he collected a shell and it had this little guy in it," he posted in a WA-based group. He said they "are not going to collect any more shells" after their close call.

"All the more reason to take nothing but photos! Glad everyone is ok," one person said in response. "I never collect for this reason and also they're homes for many little critters," another said.

The family was snorkelling at Point Peron in Western Australia. Source: Google Images

Expert warning to beachgoers

The incident follows several sightings at beaches across Australia this summer. Last month, a Perth teenager was rushed to hospital after pocketing a shell for his niece, but he hadn't realised a tiny critter was inside it and he was bitten.

In November, a Sydney toddler had one "climbing' on his foot while in the rock pool at Fairlight. And in September, after a sighting at a rock pool in Bronte, Sydney, a spokesperson for Surf Life Saving NSW urged people to "be careful when exploring rock pools".

"Blue-ringed octopuses are small and well camouflaged but they have enough venom to kill 26 adults within minutes," he warned.

Meanwhile, a viral video last year showed one being handled by an unwitting Aussie. Ian Tibbetts, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland told Yahoo News Australia the social media trend showing people handle these creatures is "alarming stupidity".

"Someone might die doing this," he warned at the time.

Surf Life Saving NSW warned anyone bitten by a blue-ringed octopus to call Triple-0 immediately and apply a pressure bandage to the site. "If breathing difficulties and paralysis occur, CPR may be necessary until help arrives," the spokesperson told Yahoo.

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Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday hit out at All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal over his remarks allegedly asking Muslims to stay at home between January 20 and 26. Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh(ANI)

BJP does not hate Muslims. We work with the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'. Former litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, Iqbal Ansari has been invited for the 'consecration' ceremony of Ram temple and he will also participate in the prayers. People like Badruddin Ajmal, Owaisi spread hatred in society. BJP respect all religions, Singh told ANI.



Ajmal had said,""We will have to be cautious. Muslims should not travel by train from January 20 to January 25. The Ram idol will be placed in Ram Janmabhoomi, the entire world will witness this. Lakhs of people will come. BJP's plan is big."



"During this period, we should not travel by train and should stay at home. BJP is the biggest enemy of the Muslims. BJP is the enemy of our life, our faith, our Azaan..." Ajmal said at an event in Barpeta in Assam.

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The Ram temple's consecration ceremony in Ayodhya will be held on January 22. Several VVIP guests including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, saints and celebrities will attend the grand event.



PM Modi had visited Ayodhya wherein he inaugurated the Maharishi Valmiki International Airport and the revamped railway station.

Our government is determined to connect the holy city of Lord Shri Ram, Ayodhya, with the whole world. In this series, along with declaring the airport here as an international airport, the proposal to name it 'Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhya Dham' has been approved, the prime minister had posted on social platform X on Friday.



According to an ANI report, the Bharatiya Janata Party has announced plans to live stream the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram temple on the booth level across the country. The BJP workers have been instructed to set up large screens for the live telecast of the event at the booth level.

This initiative aims to provide a means for the common people to witness the consecration ceremony.
Challa Srinivas Sastry is traversing the Ayodya-Rameswaram route, covered by Lord Rama during 'Vanavas' (exile) in reverse. He said he wanted to undertake the journey in the reverse order touching all the Shiva Lingas established by the Lord en route and began his trudge on July 20. HT Image

Sastry has already covered several places such as Puri in Odisha, Trimbak in Maharashtra and Dwaraka in Gujarat.

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He said he would be covering a distance of nearly 8000 km by foot, carrying on his head the footwear that he would hand over to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath upon reaching the holy city.

Sastry said he has been following the map "found out" by Dr Ramavatar, a retired Income Tax Department official who did research for 15 years on the passage that Lord Ram followed during Vanavas.

"My father participated in Karseva in Ayodhya. He was a strong devotee of Lord Hanuman. His desire was to see the Ram temple built in Ayodhya. As he is no more, I decided to fulfill his desire," Sastry told PTI.

Sastry said he has donated five silver bricks so far as part of his contribution to the Ram temple after the Supreme Court verdict in 2019.

"I am currently carrying gold-plated 'padukalu' (footwear) made with 'panch dhatu' (five metals) to be given to Lord Shri Ram, he further said.

He is about to reach the destination in less than two weeks.

Sastry, however, had to break his march for a brief period as he had to go to the UK in between and later resumed his walk from where he stopped in Tamil Nadu.

With five others, he is currently in Chitrakoot in UP and about 272 KM from Ayodhya, Sastry said. He is hoping to reach the destination in about 10 days.

Sastry, who covers 30 to 50 km a day, said the value of the article he is carrying was about 65 lakh, some of which was donated by others.

Founder of the Ayodhya Bhagyanagar Sitarama Foundation in the city, he has plans to settle down in Ayodhya permanently and intends to construct a house there.

A grand Ram Temple in the Lord's birthplace will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22.

One of Sastry's sons, Challa Pavan Kumar is the first blade runner in India and won several medals, he said. Sastry said he had worked with several film studios as a sound engineer.
New Delhi: Civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday asked airlines to conduct a one-time inspection of all the Boeing 737-8 aircraft in their fleet after an Alaska Airline flight made an emergency landing after one of its doors blew open mid-air on Friday. An Alaska Airline flight made an emergency landing after one of its doors blew open mid-air on Friday. (X)

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-9 Max, was flying from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. The airline had grounded all its B737 Max 9 for checks.

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While India doesnt have B737-9 Max aircraft in its fleet, currently there are 43 B737 MAX planes in the fleet of various airlines in India. These include 22 of them with Akasa Air, 13 with SpiceJet B737 and eight with Air India Express.

DGCAs statement issued on Saturday clarified that Boeing had not shared inputs so far.

The statement said, Pursuant to the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737 -9 Max aircraft, there have been no inputs /guidance from Boeing so far. None of the Indian air operators have Boeing 737-9 Max as part of their fleet yet.

However, as an abundant precautionary measure, DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet, the DGCA said.

We do not have any 737-9 Max in our fleet. SpiceJet will adhere to the DGCA directive on the Max-8, a SpiceJet spokesperson said.

We are aware of the incident in the USA, involving Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on 5 January 2024, and are heartened to read that the aircraft landed safely and that all passengers and crew are safe. For us at Akasa Air, safety is of utmost importance. We pride ourselves in pursuing the highest global standards of safety. Even though the incident has occurred with another airline in the USA, we are in contact with the aircraft manufacturer and regulators to proactively monitor developments and will follow any guidance issued by them. We can confirm that, at present, Akasa Air does not have any 737 Max-9 aircraft in its fleet which was the aircraft type involved in the incident, said a spokesperson of Akasa.



An Air India Express spokesperson said,""We are aware of the recent incident involving a Boeing aircraft of Alaska Air. The aircraft involved is a different variant from the B737-8 operated by Air India Express. We are in touch with Boeing for more information regarding this, as well with our regulators and will comply with any advisory. Our unwavering commitment to the safety and security of our guests and crew remains paramount."

Last week, the aircraft manufacturer issued a recommendation to inspect all the B737 Max fleet, after an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance.

In a statement issued on December 29, Boeing said the issue identified on the particular airplane has been remedied. The issue identified on the particular airplane has been remedied. Out of an abundance of caution, we are recommending operators inspect their 737 MAX airplanes and inform us of any findings. We have informed the FAA and will continue to keep them aware of our progress, their statement said.
The body of ex-model Divya Pahuja was lying in room number 111 at a Gurugram hotel when a police team visited the hotel after receiving a phone call, but it returned after checking room number 114, news agency PTI reported citing police sources on Friday Ex-model Divya Pahuja

Pahuja, 27, who was a former model, was taken to Hotel City Point on Tuesday by five people and allegedly shot dead inside room number 111, the report claimed.

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While Pahujas body is yet to be recovered, a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), which will be led by assistant commissioner of police crime Varun Dahiya, was formed on Friday to probe the case, police said. The team will work under the supervision of deputy commissioner of police crime Vijay Pratap Singh.

Divya Pahuja's murder: What we know so far

The PTI report, citing the sources, said Abhijit Singh, the main accused hotel owner, told the police said Pahuja was shot dead in the hotel at 5pm on Tuesday.

Abhijit Singh then called Anup, to whom the hotel was given on lease, for help but Anup informed the police about the murder at 9pm.

After receiving the call, a police team reached the hotel and returned after checking room number 114, while Pahujas body was lying in room number 111, the report said.

Taking advantage of this, Abhijit Singh asked his friends Balraj Gill and Ravi Bandra for assistance in disposing of the body. In a CCTV camera footage, Abhijit Singh can be seen fleeing the hotel in a blue BMW car with her body in the boot, the police sources said.

Around 11pm, Anup again called the police, on which the police took a serious note. After examining the CCTV camera footage, the murder was revealed but by then the accused had already fled with the body.

The police have recovered the luxury car from Patiala in Punjab.

Pahuja, a resident of Baldev Nagar in Gurugrams Sector-7, was out on bail after spending nearly seven years in custody in connection with dreaded gangster Sandeep Gadoli's death.

Police said Pahuja had purportedly been blackmailing Abhijeet Singh, 56, since her release.

On Wednesday, police arrested three people in connection with the murder  Abhijeet Singh, and his employees Hemraj, 28, who goes by a single name, and Om Prakash, 23.

On Thursday, DCP Vijay Pratap Singh said they have identified two more suspects  Balraj Gill and Ravi Bandra. "They are still on the run, the DCP said.

The body of Pahuja remained missing, while the DSP added that the car did not contain the body but did have several bloodstains, and forensic teams have collected evidence, and the Gurugram Police has been informed about the development.

(With inputs from Karam Prakash and PTI)
A team of officers from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attempting to raid the house of a local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader in West Bengal was attacked by a hundreds-strong mob on Friday morning, triggering a Centre vs state row and deepening cracks within the Opposition alliance. HT Image

At least three ED officers sustained injuries after they were chased by the mob and pelted with bricks and stones at Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district while trying to search the premises of Shahjahan Sheikh, the local TMC convener, in connection with a multi-crore ration distribution scam.

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Three officers have suffered grievous injuries as the mob has marched towards ED officials with an intention to cause death other officers had to escape from the place of the incident without conducting search to save their lives as the mob became very violent, ED said in a statement.

The agency  which already arrested state food minister Jyotipriyo Mullickin October in connection with the case  said that the mob comprising 800-1,000 people attacked ED officials and 27 accompanying paramilitary personnel with sticks, stones and bricks, while shouting slogans against the agency and the central government. ED vehicles were also badly damaged, the statement added. Sheikh is an associate of Mullick.

We are taking legal opinion, said a senior ED official, adding that the Union home ministry was informed of the incident.

The unprecedented attack prompted a wave of condemnation, with state governor CV Ananda Bose summoning chief secretary BP Gopalika, home secretary Nandini Chakraborty and director general of police Rajiv Kumarseeking a report on the matter.

The sole responsibility for the wanton violence lies with the (state) government. If government fails in its basic duty then the Constitution of India will definitely take its course. As governor, I reserve all my constitutional options for appropriate action at the appropriate moment, Bose said in a video message.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said law and order was coming apart in the state on chief minister Mamata Banerjees watch. Addressing reporters in Delhi, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, The ED officers, who were carrying out an investigation, came under attack by TMC goons and Rohingyas, who infiltrated Bengal. Jungle Raj is prevailing in West Bengal under the very nose of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Union minister of state for home Nisith Pramanik termed the incident an attack on the Constitution and the nations federal structure. I condemn what happened in Sandeshkhali. No issue could be more contemptuous than attacking a central agency going to a state. Its not just an attack on the team of a central agency but on the entire Constitution, he said.

He found surprising support from the Congress, an ally of the TMC as part of the 28-party Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

Senior Congress leader and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that he would not be surprised if any official is murdered in the state in the future. After the attack by goons of the ruling government on ED officials, it is clear that there is no law and order in the state. Today, they were injured, tomorrow they can be murdered. Such a thing would not come as a surprise to me, he said.

The TMC dismissed the allegations, saying that the officials of the central agency incited locals leading to the situation.

The central agency went for a raid without informing police or the state government. Is this an example of following the norms of federal structure, TMC leader Shashi Panja said. She also criticised the governor for his biased statements and dared the opposition to implement Presidents Rule and topple a democratically elected government.

ED had registered a Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in April 2022 based on five FIRs registered by the West Bengal government between 2020 and 2022 in various police stations in Nadia district against siphoning of government food grains. On October 14, 2023, ED arrested businessman Bakibur Rahaman who allegedly siphoned off rice and wheat, meant to be supplied to ration distributors, to sell them in the open market. Bakibur had close ties with Mullick. The state food minister was arrested on October 27.

State police detained a few persons for questioning. None were arrested till Friday evening. We didnt receive any official complaint from ED. A few persons have been detained for interrogation. None have been arrested, said Joby Thomas SK, superintendent of Basirhat police district.

Later in the day, ED said it will file an FIR in the case of attack on its officers, according to a report by news agency PTI. It will also seek strengthening of the security cover to its officials and offices present in the state, the PTI report said.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta high court asked while hearing a separate case why the governor was not declaring that the constitutional machinery in the state had collapsed.

The attack further ratcheted up tensions between the central and state governments, and underlined the contradictions within the INDIA bloc at a time many opposition parties have accused the Centre of using federal agencies to target political opponents. Sheikh, who was earlier with the Left Front, joined the TMC in 2013 and contested the 2023 panchayat polls. He is a zilla parishad member and is known for his hold in the brick kiln and fishery business in the area.

As part of its ongoing investigation, an ED team reached Sheikhs house around 7:10 am on Friday and found the house locked from the inside.

ED officials said they called the family members several times but didnt receive a response. As officers with the assistance of CRPF personnel were trying to get the door opened, even by trying to contact the concerned person. His mobile location at that time indicated that he was inside this house, the agency statement said.

Around half an hour later, the ED team was confronted by a mob of around 800-1000 people marching with weapons such as lathis, stones, bricks in their hands.

There were eight of us in team. Me and another officer were injured in the head. We somehow managed to flee. I lost contact with the others, said a second ED officer, requesting anonymity. The agency said the mob snatched and stole the personal and official belongings of ED officials such as mobile phones, laptop, cash and wallets.

TMC leaders are being harassed for nothing. ED and CBI are carrying out BJPs orders. This is a conspiracy. Why would they come without giving any notice? said a member of the mob.

Police said they had no information about the raid.

ED officials didnt inform us that they were going to conduct a raid. At around 8:20 am, Sandeshkhali police station received an email that ED officials were going for a raid. We came to know much later that the raid started around 7 am. By the time we received the email, the incident has already happened, said an IPS officer, requesting anonymity.

Moreover, even though the email was sent to Sandeshkhali police station, the incident took place under under the jurisdiction of Najat police station. The local police got the news from villagers and rushed to the spot, the officer quoted above said.

A local villager who witnessed the incident said ED officials were dragged out and beaten up, and some had to run for their lives. Top ED officials in Kolkata rushed to the hospital to gauge the situation and sent a preliminary report to headquarters in Delhi. The other teams were asked to return from the spots.

Simultaneous raids were also carried out at the residence and offices of another local leader Shankar Adhya and his relatives in the same district. That operation passed off without any untoward incident.
Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday criticised All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Badruddin Ajmal for purportedly urging Muslims to remain indoors from January 20 to 26. BJP does not hate Muslims. We work with the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'. Former litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, Iqbal Ansari has been invited for the 'consecration' ceremony of Ram temple and he will also participate in the prayers. People like Badruddin Ajmal, Owaisi spread hatred in society. BJP respect all religions, Singh told ANI. Ajmal reportedly asked Muslims to refrain from travelling via trains and to stay home from January 20 to 26 due to the upcoming Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya during that timeframe. Dig deeper Union minister Giriraj Singh(File photo)

More news on this: Carrying gold-plated footwear for Lord Ram, Hyderabad devotee on a divine walk to Ayodhya Dig deeper

Former Babri litigant gets invite for Pran Pratishtha, says Ayodhya will remain land of harmony Dig deeper

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday evening conducted searches at nine locations, which included the corporate headquarters of Religare Finvest Limited and RHC Holdings. This action is part of their investigation into alleged money laundering, involving the illegal transfer of over Rs. 2,000 crores from Religare Finvest Limited (RFL). Individuals familiar with the matter revealed these details on Saturday. The searches reportedly extended into the early hours of Saturday, resulting in the recovery of several potentially incriminating documents and the identification of substantial "proceeds of crime." Dig deeper

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Latest News

How is European Space Agency supporting ISRO's Aditya L1 solar mission? Dig deeper

Winter chill, fog prevails in north India; Mount Abu shivers at 4C Dig deeper

India News

No invite for Ram temple event yet, what next for Uddhav Thackeray? Ex-CM says Dig deeper

Shahjahan Sheikh: Meet Trinamool's Bhai  alleged mastermind behind attack on ED officials in Bengal Dig deeper

Global Matters

Bangladeshs main opposition party started a 48-hour general strike ahead of country's general election. Voting would start Sunday and last for eight hours across the country in over 42,000 ballot stations as ballot boxes have been sent over in preparation for the vote, the election commission said. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former premier Khaleda Zia, are boycotting the election. Ailing Khaleda Zia is currently under house arrest. Dig deeper

Lifestyle and Health

As the 81st Golden Globe Awards approach, excitement mounts to witness the winners across various categories. Taking place on January 7, 2024, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, this star-studded event, produced by Dick Clark Productions, Ricky Kirshner, and Glenn Weiss, promises a glamorous celebration of excellence in film and television. Beyond the accolades, the global event sparks anticipation for a dazzling display of fashion on the red carpet, leaving fashion enthusiasts eagerly awaiting the stylish ensembles that their beloved celebrities will showcase. Dig deeper

Sports Goings

The BCCI senior men's selection committee led by chairman Ajit Agarkar, on Saturday, announced a 13-member India A squad for the red-ball home series against England Lions. The tour will begin with a two-day warm-up game, starting on January 12 and will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium Ground 'B', Ahmedabad. The first four-day match, commencing on January 17 will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The Mens Selection Committee named a 13-member India A squad for a 2-day warm-up fixture & the first multi-day match against England Lions. India A will play a total of 3 multi-day matches in the tour, BCCI said in a release. Dig deeper

Thats all we have at this hour in our evening briefing. Catch you tomorrow morning.
United States President Jimmy Carter on January 1, 1978, said that the worlds two largest democracies  India and the US  were bound together by a common firm belief in basic moral values and respect for the human spirit. US President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd at Connaught Place, New Delhi, during a state visit on January 1, 1978. (SN Sinha/HT Archive)

Speaking at a civic reception given to him at the Ramlila Grounds in Delhi, Carter said he wanted the other peoples of the world to benefit from our consultations, our friendship, our standard of moral values and our hope for world peace.

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Earlier, President Carter was accorded a warm and colourful welcome at Delhi airport, as a million-strong crowd lined the route of the state drive cheering as the motorcade sped towards Rashtrapati Bhavan. Commenting on the popular response, President Carter said it was beautiful.

On arrival at Ramlila Grounds at 4.30pm, Carter and has wife, Rosalyn Carter, were received by Prime Minister Morarji Desai, members of his Cabinet, and Delhi mayor RK Gupta, who then introduced the councillors to him.

True to his style, Carter began by wishing a Happy New Year to everybody. I bring you warm New Years greetings from the people of the United States, he said.

In a speech that was translated into Hindi as he spoke, Carter said he was moved and pleased by the size and warmth of the welcome. It was a stirring testimony to the common values which had always bound together the Indian people and the people of America, he added.

The American President said he was pleased to be with the mayor and Prime Minister Desai, whom he knew to be a man of uncompromising dedication to personal and also public morality.

Both he and I share with the people of India and the people of my country a deep religious faith, he said.

He said his familys interest and love for India was deep because of his mothers years of service here and because at her love for the Indian people.

Being here with my wife fulfils a longstanding ambition of mine to visit your great country and your great people, he said. Our creed and our religions differ in some ways; but we agree that all faiths be granted equal respect. Both nations are certain that a concern with matters of morals and the spirit is closely connected with the strength of our own democratic political systems, he said.

My own nation is built on firm and fundamental beliefs, the US President said. We believe that governments exist to protect the freedom and the wellbeing of the people.

Carter said the people of the US and India must work together for these human rights to be able to build a world of justice.

PM Desai, in his speech, said India had the privilege of welcoming an American President after an interval of 18 years.

With this visit, Desai said he hoped that unbreakable bonds of friendship would be established between the two countries.

Desai said he welcomed President Carter not only because he was the President of a big country but more se because of the firmness with which he stood up to his principles and worked for them, not letting anybody hinder him in his task

Two basic problems existed in the world, PM Desai said. These were the atom bomb and the atmospheric pollution due to the industrial advancement.

He was happy at the occasion that Carter wanted to solve these problems and minimise their harmfulness. Desai said atomic weapons should be done away with and atomic energy used for the welfare of the people. He was happy that Carter also stood for the same thing.

Desai said the US President had been working along these lines and assured him of Indias sympathy and support. He said the two nations should work together to build a society in which no differences existed.

Mayor RK Gupta, in the civic address, said that the sea of humanity that had gathered to welcome Carter was a proof of the goodwill of the Indian people towards the United States.

You have raised your voice against exploitation and atrocities bred through racial discrimination. We see in you a champion of peace, friendship and cooperation in the world, Gupta said.

He also presented an ivory replica of the Qutab Minar to the US President.

President Carter said, I know I will feel at home here because of the things the United States and India have in common. We are very glad to renew our friendships, establish new ones and respond to wards your heart-felt welcome and also return your wish that we both together and the entire world can have a good new year and the world at peace.

I am glad for the op opportunity to learn in person, about the largest democracy on earth and renew our friendship and establish new ones. I am delighted to begin my own new year with visit India, President Carter said.

Carter said he had been in correspondence with PM Desai and felt he was a personal friend. I know your Prime Minister to be a man of great courage and rectitude we will have much to talk about. Both our nations require co-operation and consultation, day to day and every year which we serve.

In a reference to his mother Lillian Carter, who worked as a Peace Corps volunteer many years ago at Vikhroli, President Carter said she had been deeply moved by her experiences and had told him about the warmth and friendship she had received here.
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh high court on Friday directed the Oberoi Group to hand over possession of the iconic Wildflower Hall to the state government within two months. Wildflower Hall was once the residence of Lord Kitchener, a former commander of the British Army.

Rejecting a review petition filed by the East India Hotels (EIH), a part of the Oberoi Group, a single-judge bench of justice Satyen Vaidya allowed the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) to take over the hotel built across 22 acres at Chharabra on the outskirts of Shimla.

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On November 17 last year, the high court had transferred the ownership of the 86-room five-star resort to the state government but stayed its ruling the next day, when HPTDC reached Chharabra along with a heavy police force to take control of the hotel.

Since, the award grants right to the state to resume and take possession of the property immediately on non-compliance of the obligation by claimant No. 1 [EIH] within the stipulated period... it is free to resume and take possession of the property immediately, the court said in its order on Friday.

Advocate RK Sood, the counsel for Oberoi group, said they will challenge the high court ruling. We will move Supreme Court against the HC order, he said.

HT reached out to government officials for a reaction but could not get one immediately.

The hotel -- once the residence of Lord Kitchener, a former commander of the British Army -- was gutted in a fire on April 5, 1993, and later handed over to the EIH for running as a joint venture.

An agreement was signed between the state government and EIH on October 30, 1995, to incorporate a joint venture company -- Mashobra Resorts Limited -- for rebuilding and operating the hotel within four years. The firm had to pay a fine of 2 crore per year for any delay on its part to make the hotel functional, according to the agreement.

But the state contended that EIH violated the terms of the agreement and didnt pay the fine and dues that were accumulated. In 2002, the government cancelled the agreement with the company.

In November last year, state industry minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said the hotel owed the state government nearly 120 crore. Hotel Wildflower Hall used to be the property of Himachal tourism. An agreement was made with the Oberoi group of hotels, and there was a partnership. But in the last 25-30 years, they have not given anything to the state government in terms of revenue or equity, he said.

A clause in the agreement said that the pact would be automatically terminated if the project was not commercially opened in six years.

Retired Supreme Court judge RP Sethi, who was appointed as the sole arbitrator in the dispute, ruled that the joint venture agreement was legally valid and binding on all parties and recorded that the relationship between the disputing parties was damaged beyond repair and parting of ways was the only solution.

EIH had filed a plea against this ruling but it was rejected in October 2022.

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The Madras high court on Friday ordered an interim stay on the Enforcement Directorates (ED) summons to three Tamil Nadu contractors in an alleged illegal sand mining case, days after it granted similar relief to five district collectors in the matter, according to a person aware of the developments. According to ED, which began its probe in September, the sale value from illegal sand mining in the state in 2021 and 2022 amounted to  4,730 crore, as against the states recorded revenue of  36 crore.

A division bench of justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan granted the stay while hearing separate petitions filed by the contractors  A Rajkumar, Shanmugam Ramachandran and K Rethinam  against the ED summons issued to them in December under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

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The judges have granted an interim stay on the operation of summons, a special public prosecutor representing ED told HT on condition of anonymity.

The detailed order of the court is yet to be released.

According to ED, which began its probe in September, the sale value from illegal sand mining in the state in 2021 and 2022 amounted to 4,730 crore, as against the states recorded revenue of 36 crore.

On November 17, ED summoned the district collectors of Ariyalur, Karur, Vellore, Thanjavur and Trichy for information on the matter and asked them to appear in person on various dates with their Aadhaar cards.

On behalf of the collectors, the state government moved the high court and sought quashing of the summons, calling it unreasonable and in violation of the PMLA and the Constitution.

On November 28, the high court stayed the summons but allowed the federal agency to proceed with its probe.

In their petition, the three contractors said they were issued the summons even though they were not named in the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR)  equivalent to a first information report (FIR)  filed by ED last September.

The contractors also said that the summons issued last December did not specify if they were to be questioned as suspects or witnesses.

The trio further cited the relief that was granted by the high court to the five district collectors, who were also summoned by the federal agency.

In the court, ED has argued that the probe is in its early stage and the three contractors must cooperate with the federal agency.
Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday called upon the people to herald a new era in the state by voting out the draconian regime of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu addresses public meeting at Kanigiri in Prakasam district on Friday. (HT Photo)

Naidu kickstarted the partys election campaign with a massive rally under the banner of Raa-Kadaliraa (Come, Move on) at Kanigiri in Prakasam district. The former chief minister will address a series of 22 rallies in as many parliamentary constituencies till January 29.

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The rallies are being held in coordination with Jana Sena Party headed by popular film star Pawan Kalyan, who will also be joining Naidu in some places.

Addressing the Kanigiri rally, the TDP chief slammed Jagan and accused him of showing hell to the people of the state in the last five years. Let us all take a pledge at the beginning of the New Year that we shall drive away this mad rule and herald a new era in the state, he said.

Naidu said Andhra Pradesh had all the potential to become No. 1 state in the country, as it had all the resources and tremendous skilled human resources. But there is no democracy in the state. The youth are scared of the government. It is time we shall put an end to this rule in the coming elections and restore the pride of the Telugu land, he said.

Stating that the living standards of the people had gone down drastically in the last five years of the YSRCP regime, the TDP chief said the chief minister was hoodwinking the people in the name of crediting money into the accounts of the poor people with a click of the mouse.

He is giving 10 with one hand and looting 100 with another hand. He has no vision to develop the state, create wealth and provide employment, Naidu said and appealed to the people to vote for the TDP to develop the state on all fronts.

Senior YSRCP leader and former minister Kodali Venkateshwar Rao alias Nani said the people of the state would not get carried away with the hollow rhetoric of Naidu and his adopted son Pawan Kalyan.

The TDP chief has no credibility as he had never implemented the promises he had made in the past. The people, especially the OBCs, are solidly behind Jagan and they would vote him to power for the second successive term, Nani said.
A viral video showing three women wearing bikinis in a Bali supermarket has been slammed as proof that tourists still arent getting the message while on holiday in a country that's increasingly cracking down on unruly and inappropriate behaviour.

It seems like the penny hasnt quite dropped for many people, despite what the authorities are trying to do in Bali, Joseph Cheer, a professor of Sustainable Tourism and Heritage at Western Sydney University, told Yahoo News Australia in response to the clip.

This idea that you can just walk around the main street in your bikini I think was one that Bali kind of tolerated. But they've moved from tolerating behaviour to now demanding appropriate behaviour, which I think is important.

The three young women were filmed wearing only bikinis while food shopping in Bali. Source: Facebook

In the recording, the trio of tourists can be seen queuing up to pay for their groceries at a Seminyak store while only wearing swimwear. Now Ive seen it all, the woman videoing the scene wrote alongside the clip.

These three shopping in Bintang in g-string bikinis. You should have seen the looks of horror on peoples faces. Where was security, she continued.

Commenting on the Facebook post, the woman said the British girls had no respect for Bali and its peoples culture.

Their behaviour made a lot of staff in Bintang uncomfortable and shoppers were looking at them shocked, she said. I let them know what they were doing was wrong and got told to f*** off, that I was jealous of their bodies.

She added that her daughter also tried to tell the girls to cover up and learn about Indonesian culture, but they argued with her as well. If they cared they could easily have covered themselves up. They didnt. Instead, they continued walking around shopping while people looked at them in disgust.

Balis tolerance for tourists is over

The problem, according to Professor Cheer, is that for a long time, tourists have been given a free for all and allowed to do whatever they want in Bali, which has always exercised a very faithful adherence to Hinduism.

Story continues

From an Australian perspective Bali was always one of those places that young people went to as a right of passage to establish their worldviews or to get their travelling licence, he said.

But it's like any country. When people travel for the first time they really don't know how to behave properly, especially if you've got a group. The overriding intention is to have a lot of fun, but sometimes that fun comes at the expense of what is the right thing to do in a particular place.

Authorities are growing increasingly frustrated with unruly tourists and Balis tolerance for tawdry behaviour officially coming to an end.

As the tourist numbers have grown, the pressure on local people to continue to be welcoming and understanding of tourist behaviour has come stretched, as you would expect, explained Professor Cheer, who is also the Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council for the Future of Sustainable Tourism.

Tourists are increasingly being caught doing the wrong thing in Bali. Source: Facebook/Instagram

Bali is trying to shift away from the tourism model of group travellers coming on package tours, like for hens nights, bucks nights and schoolies, to what they refer to as higher quality tourists, the professor said. This means tourists who are interested in the culture, food and people, "not just sitting by the pool getting blind drunk and going to a club in Kuta."

But its going to take some time, he admits. This wont be the last we hear of this behaviour," he said. "But the more they crack down on it, the more it will work to change perceptions in place.

Tougher penalties are needed

In 2019, a photo of a woman wearing a g-string bikini in a shop in Bali sparked debate after it was shared online. And last year, a social media influencer outraged locals and upset officials in Bali after she was photographed naked by a sacred 700-year-old Balinese tree. A Russian influencer was deported a year earlier for doing the same thing.

While Balinese authorities are increasingly cracking down on antisocial behaviour  with a list of tourist dos and donts, a hotline to dob in misbehaving travellers and a special task force to monitor foreigners activities  Professor Cheer said they need to keep up the pressure.

There are penalties in place, but with the enforcement of penalties I think there has been some kind of resistance because you don't want to suddenly have it spread across the world that Bali is not a welcoming place to go to anymore, and it could have an inadvertent impact on what they're trying to do," he said.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

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BRS working president K T Rama Rao on Saturday hit out at the Congress government in Telangana over Formula E cancelling the Hyderabad E-Prix slated for February 10. Rao, a minister in the previous BRS government, termed the move poor and regressive saying it hampers the city and country's global image. The second Formula E race in India was slated to be held on February 10. (Getty Images)

"Events like Hyderabad E-Prix enhance the brand image of our city and country across the world. We had put in a lot of effort and time to bring Formula E-Prix for the first time to India," Rama Rao said on social media platform X.

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The BRS government had taken the initiative to use the Formula E Race as an occasion to also conduct a week-long electric vehicle (EV) Summit attracting enthusiasts, manufacturers and startups to showcase Hyderabad as an attractive investment destination, he noted.

Formula E has announced the cancellation of the Hyderabad E-Prix, alleging a contract breach by the new Telangana government.

"The cancellation comes following a decision by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department (MAUD), under the control of the Government of Telangana, not to fulfil the Host City Agreement signed on October 30 2023," Formula E said in statement on Friday.

The inaugural electric race in the country was held in February last year in Hyderabad. The second Formula E race in India was scheduled to be held on February 10.

Last week, Formula E issued a statement stating that it is seeking urgent clarification from the new Congress government in Telangana on fulfilling the contractual obligations under the agreement and how it could impact the race.

The host city agreement was signed on October 30, 2023. Formula Es senior executive team met with the new leadership of Telangana government immediately following elections earlier this month. Discussions have been ongoing since then, the statement said.

A spokesperson for the Hyderabad E-Prix earlier said that despite discussions in December, there has been no response from the Congress government, and time constraints make it increasingly unlikely for the event to proceed. The spokesperson had suggested that chief minister A Revanth Reddy, who opposed the race last year, may not prioritize the Formula E event.
New Delhi: EAM S Jaishankar (left) with his Nepal counterpart FM NP Saud (Twitter/@DrSJaishankar)

India will provide a financial assistance package of Nepali 1,000 crore or $75 million for rebuilding infrastructure damaged by an earthquake that hit western Nepal in November last year, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Friday.

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Jaishankar provided details about the aid package for reconstruction in quake-hit areas in Jajarkot while jointly inaugurating the new central library of Tribhuvan University, built with Indian assistance, with his Nepalese counterpart NP Saud.

He said he told Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal about India extending the financial assistance package during a meeting on Thursday. We shall continue to stand by the people of Nepal and contribute to the efforts of the government of Nepal in this regard, Jaishankar said.

The two foreign ministers also jointly inaugurated other reconstruction projects taken up in Nepal following the earthquakes of 2015 and 2023. This included 25 schools, 32 health projects and a cultural heritage project.

Nepal had given priority to post-earthquake reconstruction in the housing, education, health and cultural heritage sectors to which India contributed $1 billion to these efforts. This amount includes a grant of $250 million and a line of credit of $750 million.

Jaishankar said an India-backed project to build 50,000 houses had been completed in November 2021, while all 71 reconstruction projects taken up in the education sector with grant assistance too had been completed.

India was saddened by the casualties and devastation caused by the quake in western Nepal last November and began providing emergency relief within 48 hours. Five tranches of aid have been provided so far, including essential items and prefabricated houses handed over on Thursday, he said.

Physical, digital and energy connectivity have become a cornerstone of the expanding collaboration between the two sides, and Indian support for Nepals education sector, including scholarships and capacity-building programmes, will empower more youngsters, Jaishankar said.

I assure you that we are committed to extending our steadfast support and work with the same earnestness to further realise the potential of the relationship for the full benefit of the people of the two countries, he said.

The Indian side is also committed to redefining relations with partners in the neighbourhood, especially Nepal, and the ideals of sabka saath, sabka vikaas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas will help take the neighbours along in Indias development journey, he added.

Saud lauded Indias substantial financial support for Nepals reconstruction efforts after the earthquakes of 2015 and 2023, especially to rebuild houses and educational and health facilities.

The overall development cooperation from India has deepened the age-old connection of culture, history and humanity that our two countries share, Saud said, adding that the assistance has had a transformative impact in sectors such as highways, railways, hydropower, health sciences and energy connectivity in the form of a petroleum pipeline.

As two close neighbours sharing many development opportunities, we grow together, we prosper together, Saud added.
New Delhi The opposition INDIA group of parties will meet in the next 10 to 15 days to fill some positions, including a convener, in the run up to the Lok Sabha election, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Rahul Gandhi, and KC Venugopal(ANI)

The meeting is being planned amid a growing tussle within the opposition bloc for the post of convener. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is considered as a candidate.

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When asked who is the possible convener, Kharge said, You are asking like Kaun Banega Crorepati . When we meet, it will be decided under what process which posts would go to which leader. It will be done after 10-15 days. So far, everyone has agreed to all the decisions. We are working unitedly and there is no problem.

Also read: AAP unreliable': Congress takes '40% leaders in jail' jibe amid INDIA bloc rift

Kharge also announced that the Congress will appoint 500 observers for the 543 Lok Sabha seats as a part of the partys poll preparations, in case allies disagree with the party on seats. Congress has not yet decided on how many seats it will fight alone, the party president said.

We have already finalized 500 observers. They will go and assess in each parliamentary constituency. Since the INDIA alliance is here, negotiations will happen. But we are trying to put our efforts everywhere, he said. Today we are thinking we will get A seat and suppose our alliance partner doesnt agree and offers us C seat. Therefore, we are putting 500 observers in each constituency.

Hours later, a Trinamool Congress leader emphasised that unless seat- sharing is done, no other issue should be discussed. Trinamool leaders have indicated that they might push for other leaders as the convener, which is considered a powerful position in an alliance.

From June 23, it has been 200 days since we formed the alliance. The seat- sharing has to be the first item on the agenda. In the spirit of coalition politics, we are waiting patiently, said a Trinamool lawmaker from the Rajya Sabha, who is involved in the process. Unless seat- sharing is finalized, no other agenda should be discussed.

The talks on sharing seats will be wrapped up by the third week of January, Congress leaders indicated. In an interview to HT, Salman Khurshid, a member of the national alliance committee of the Congress, said talks will start with the Aam Aadmi Party for Delhi and with Janata Dal (United) on Sunday.

The Congress alliance committee led by Mukul Wasnik are doing their best and are meeting every two days, on alternate days, to finalise what is to be done and where we have to demand seats, Kharge said.

Our team is first holding preliminary meetings with our people, including PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) chiefs and CLP (Congress legislative party) leaders. Then they will speak to leaders of other states. Whatever comes out from such talks, it will be decided on what they (other parties) want and what we want and it will be decided then, he said.

A section of the INDIA alliance, meanwhile, claimed that appointing conveners or other posts might not be an easy task as parties have reservations about certain individuals. In the last meeting, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal pitched Kharge as the prime ministerial face, a move that irked Nitish Kumar.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is scheduled to carry out a key operation to switch on Aditya L1s engine on Saturday, aiming to successfully position the solar probe into its intended orbit. Aditya L1

Unlike the Chandrayaan 3 mission, where the Vikram lander touched down on the lunar south pole, Aditya L1 will not land on the Sun. Instead, it will revolve at the first Lagrange Point in the Earth-Sun system. This point is located 15 lakh km away from Earth. Remarkably, the 15 lakh km distance represents only 1 per cent of the total 15 crore km separation between Earth and the Sun.

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Follow here: Aditya L1 live updates

Has any probe touched the Sun?

In December 2021, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASAs Parker Solar Probe achieved the unprecedented feat of flying by around the Sun.

This marked the first time in history that a spacecraft using other celestial bodies navigated through the Sun's upper atmosphere, the corona, collecting samples of particles and magnetic fields. The Parker Probe ventured to a distance of approximately 78 lakh km from the Sun's surface during this groundbreaking mission.

Subsequently, the probe has been engaged in a series of loops within a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun. With each orbit, it steadily approaches closer to the Sun, transmitting a wealth of observational data that continues to contribute valuable insights.

Also read- Interview | 'Aditya L1 won't crash-land but ': Expert on challenges in entering final orbit

Why is a direct flyby of Sun challenging?

It takes 55 times more energy to go to the Sun than it does to go to Mars, said a NASA report.

Our planet moves swiftly, approximately 1,07,826 km, predominantly sideways compared to the Sun. To reach the Sun, cancelling this sideways motion is crucial, the report added.

The Parker Solar Probe, skimming through the Suns atmosphere, only needs to reduce its sideways motion by 85,295 km to reach its destination. This task is challenging, requiring the use of the powerful Delta IV Heavy rocket. Additionally, the Parker Solar Probe undergoes Venus's gravity assists, utilising Venus orbital energy well to shed sideways speed. These gravity assists draw the Parker Solar Probes orbit closer to the Sun, achieving a record approach of just 61.6 lakh km from the Suns visible surface on the final orbits, the NASA report explained.

While shedding sideways speed to approach the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe gains overall speed, propelled by the Suns intense gravity. According to NASA, it is set to break the record as the fastest human-made object, reaching 6,92,023 km on its final orbits, expected in 2025.

To provide perspective, this speed is fast enough to travel from New Delhi to Lahore in just two seconds!
The participation of women in the judiciary is not only a constitutional imperative but also a necessary step to achieve the goal of robust, transparent, inclusive, effective and credible judicial process, Supreme Court judge BV Nagarathna said on Friday, emphasising that having more women on the bench can contribute to a more effective space for the delivery of justice in India. Justice Nagarathna calls for a more inclusive, diverse Indian judiciary

Delivering the 28th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture in the national capital, justice Nagarathna maintained that there is an urgent need for all organs of the state, institutions engaged in the regulation and growth of the legal profession and institutions engaged in legal education to work within their mandate to make the Indian judiciary more inclusive and diverse.

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According to the judge who is poised to take over as the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in 2027, having more woman as judges would contribute significantly to improving the quality of judicial review and adjudication.

I will only point to three reasons for this. First, (it) is the matter of the credibility and legitimacy of courts; second, (it) is about the language and vocabularies of judgments and third, (it) is the administration of courts and the need for different experiences to ensure courts become more gender-neutral spaces, said justice Nagarathna.

Speaking on the topic The role of the judiciary in the empowerment of Indian woman, the judge cited a spree of landmark top court judgments that marshalled womens fights for equality, equal opportunity, dignity and autonomy. She said that the judiciarys role as the protector of fundamental rights is not limited to checking state action but also in some circumstances, initiating a transformative social dialogue as a part of transformative constitutionalism.

The Indian judiciary has played a yeomans role in the noble national endeavour for gender equality, said justice Nagarathna, adding the institutional role of the judiciary in this quest has three distinct, yet intersecting dimensions.

First, she pointed out, the judiciary has subjected gender-biased laws, policies and norms to constitutional scrutiny. Thus, the courts  as guarantors of equal protection -- have played a critical role in ensuring that non-discrimination and fairness emerge as the central governing principle of state policy in all spheres of public life, said the judge.

Second, justice Nagarathna added, the judiciary has amplified special laws and policies enacted for women by accentuating the constitutional intent, thereby assuming the role of affirmative action enabler by reading up statutes which protect and preserve womens rights and striking down those laws which discriminate against women.

Third, the judiciary has crafted creative remedies to redress systemic injustice and exploitation of women and taken up the role of an initiator of societal reform and transformation,she said, further underlining the pivotal role of the States affirmative action.

Equality would be reduced to a mere slogan in the absence of persistent and targeted state action for the empowerment of women, said justice Nagarathna, lamenting that despite social reform and progress, the social structure remains biased against women.

Such bias is pernicious that it afflicts women from womb to tomb...Affirmative action to enhance the representation of women in all spheres of public life is a bounden duty of all organs of the State. The cornerstone of the constitutional mandate of affirmative action are the provisions for equitable representation of women in the political realm, and most importantly in local self-governance institutions.

She added that India can take heart from the fact that the enlightened commitment of the Parliament and the political executive to its constitutional mandate is manifest in special laws such as the 1994 Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act and the 2005 Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, and that fact that the country has the largest number of elected women representatives in the world.

Sounding the right notes on gender equality within homes and in society, justice Nagarathna cautioned that a condescending attitude towards women in the family is the cause of the cracks and, domestic violence and infidelity are the outcome of the emerging cracks.

Personally speaking, I find cultural norms that see women as inferior to men to be highly unscientific, irrational and inefficient. I would like to emphasise that it is high time that the institution of marriage and family is protected and sustained in our country and that its very sustenance is dependent upon happiness, comfort and well-being of women and everybody in the family must make concrete efforts towards that objective, said the judge.

Just as the erosion of the proper and just function of an organ of the State can have damaging consequences on the entire structure of governance, justice Nagarathna said, the erosion of the identity of women, in whatever capacity in the family, is bound to cause eventual breakdown of family and marriage.

Referring to some Supreme Court judgments that acknowledged the value of a woman homemakers worth in monetary terms, she said that grant of due value and recognition to household work is another frontier of gender justice where the judiciary has been leading a transformative conversation.

Property is one of the important endowments or natural assets to accord opportunity, right to equal status and dignity of person. Equal property rights can promote greater social equality between men and women. This can help to reduce harmful gender norms that contribute to domestic violence, such as the belief that men have the right to control women, said justice Nagarathna.

Former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur, acting chief justice of the Delhi high court, justice Manmohan and eminent jurist Fali S Nariman were also present at the event.

Nariman, who was the guest of honour, expressed his regret over the lack of dissent in the latest decision upholding abrogation of Article 370. My regret in Article 370 judgment is that there was no dissent. Dissent is not just a safety valve but an assurance to the general public that the highest court is in robust health, he said.

Justice Sunanda Bhandare was an eminent judge of the Delhi high court who died in November 1994 during her service. The lecture series was instituted by her husband and former Odisha Governor Murlidhar Bhandare, and her two children.
Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday gave his assent to an ordinance amending the state Goods and Services Tax (GST) law with regard to gambling, people familiar with the matter said. Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday gave his assent to an ordinance to amend GST law. (ANI)

The 50th GST Council meeting had fixed 28% GST on gambling at casinos, horse racing and online gambling stipulating that the tax will be levied on the face value of the bet. The amendment to the GST Act was later notified by the central government following which the Kerala government promulgated the Ordinance bringing changes to the state GST law.

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The governors assent to the Ordinance comes in the backdrop of the frosty relations between the CPM-led LDF government and the Raj Bhavan over various issues, including university appointments and allegations of party-sponsored protests.

However, in an indication of a possible thaw in the ties between the two highest offices of the state, governor Khan said Friday that there was no rift between him and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Speaking to reporters briefly in Thiruvananthapuram, the governor said, There is absolutely no rift. I am doing my legal duty, my statutory duty.

At the same time, he rejected reports of the Raj Bhavan not getting an invite to the Christmas feast hosted by the chief minister. Invitation is there in the Raj Bhavan, go and see it. Why should I explain (why I didnt go?) Its for you to find out. You ask me questions but you dont ask questions there. That is your problem, he said.

Governor Khan also hit out at CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat who had suggested to him to fight the 2024 elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. He shot back, Has she ever fought any election? I would like to treat those comments with the contempt that they deserve.

The first Kerala assembly session of the New Year is likely to start on January 25 with the governors policy address on the first day.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is scheduled to start on January 14 from Manipur, will focus on basic social, political and economic issues of the country, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday. Kharge also launched the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra logo and tagline Nyay Ka Haq Milne Tak. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi.

"We are going to begin the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' from January 14. Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, this yatra will begin from Manipur's Imphal and will pass through 15 states of the country before concluding in Mumbai. This yatra will cover 110 districts, 100 Lok Sabha seats and 337 assembly seats," said the Congress president at a press conference.

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Taking to social media X, Rahul Gandhi said, We are coming back among our own people, against injustice and ego  by raising the slogan of justice.

I swear on this path of truth, the journey will continue until I get the right to justice, Rahul Gandhi added sharing a video featuring the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him earlier.

The yatra will cover a distance of over 6,700 kilometres in 67 days, state Congress spokesperson Dhananjay Thakur earlier said.

The yatra is expected to reach Chhattisgarh after February 16-17 and it will cover seven districts in five days in the state, where tribals comprise around 32 per cent of the population, Thakur said.

The Congress considers satyagraha a strong weapon to fight for public rights and Bharat Jodo Nyay Padayatra will prove to be the biggest and transformative satyagraha of the country since after independence, he said.

According to political experts, the Congress looks to boost the morale of party workers in Chhattisgarh through the yatra ahead of the Lok Sabha elections since the party suffered a shock defeat in the recent assembly polls in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in Chhattisgarh by winning 54 seats in the 90-member assembly, while the Congress emerged victorious on 35 seats, down from 68 in 2018. The Gondwana Gantantra Party managed to win one.

Earlier, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had claimed that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra would prove to be as transformative for politics as Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday assured that the much-debated question of who will lead the INDIA bloc as its convenor will be answered in the next 10-15 days. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge during the launch of logo and anthem for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, in New Delhi, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024.(PTI)

When asked about the rumours that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's name was being considered for the convenor post, Kharge said, That question (who will be INDIA bloc's convenor?) is like Kaun Banega Crorepati? It will be decided in the next 10-15 days when we hold a meeting. Don't worry about it.

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Nitish Kumar quit the NDA more than a year ago and formed a new government upon joining the 'Mahagathbandhan' that includes Congress, RJD and three Left parties. Kumar then vowed to bring all parties opposed to the BJP together to take on the Narendra Modi-led BJP juggernaut in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

He recently took over the reins of the party after Rajiv Ranjan Singh, aka Lalan Singh, stepped down as JD(U) national president at the national executive meeting in New Delhi. Senior party leader K C Tyagi asserted that the Bihar chief minister was the ideological convener and ideological prime minister of INDIA, grabbing the attention of allies and adversaries alike.

Two ministers in the Bihar government, Madan Sahni and Ratnesh Sada, later said that Kumar deserved to be the prime ministerial candidate, and not merely the convenor of the INDIA coalition.

"Our leader has made it clear that he does not desire for himself any fancy-sounding designation in the coalition. But, since a response is being sought on the buzz that he may be made the convener, I would say why not make him the prime ministerial candidate", Sahni told reporters.

Sahni, who holds the crucial social welfare portfolio in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, also said, "All parties seem to agree that the JD(U) president is the most experienced and capable leader in the coalition. If he is given prominence, it will galvanize voters of Bihar and may also enthuse people elsewhere, who want a credible alternative to the BJP".

Sada, who holds the SC and ST welfare portfolio, said "Nitish Kumar is a leader who has endeared himself to the socially weaker sections in Bihar and elsewhere. He got the caste census done and followed it up with a hike in reservations, demonstrating that he meant business and was not paying lip service to the downtrodden".
Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday lashed out at the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in the state. He alleged that democracy was conspicuously absent in Bengal, and Banerjee appears to be heading a government akin to that of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh(ANI)

"There is nothing like democracy in West Bengal. There seems to be a Kim Jong-Un government there. Adhir Ranjan has said that it would not be new even if there was a murder. This is Mamata Banerjee's democracy," he said to the reporters.

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A team of the probe agency was attacked and its vehicles damaged in Sandeshkhali village of North 24 Parganas district when it arrived to raid the house of block level functionary of the TMC, Shahjahan Sheikh and Shankar Adhya, and their relatives in connection with alleged ration scam.

Sajahan is considered to be a close aide of state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick who was arrested in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution scam.

A huge number of TMC members and supporters gheraoed the ED officials upon their arrival and were roughed up. The officers were forced to leave their damaged vehicles behind and take autorickshaws and two-wheelers to safety.

West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose also condemned the attack on the officers calling it as alarming, deplorable and a ghastly incident.

"It is a ghastly incident. It is alarming and deplorable. It is the duty of a civilised government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. If a govt fails in its basic duty, then the Constitution of India will take its course. I reserve all my constitutional options for appropriate action. This pre-election violence should find an early end, and this is the beginning of that end." he said.

"Bengal is not a banana republic. The government should stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy," he added.

Meanwhile, the Congress, the partner ally in the INDIA bloc with TMC, also came down heavily on the latter by demanding the President's rule in the Banerjee-ruled state.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, in-charge of West Bengal, said there is now law and order in the state. He said it won't surprise him if officials are murdered in the TMC-ruled state.

TMC, however, reacted to the Congress' dig and said that the Congress leader is the agent of BJP. "Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is an agent of BJP," TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.

BJP's state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar wrote to union home minister Amit Shah demanding an NIA probe into the incident.

(With inputs from agencies)
Ajay Shrivastava, a lawyer from Delhi, bought two pieces of land owned by family members of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in an auction for over 2 crore in Mumbai on Friday. Four properties were auctioned in Ibrahim's ancestral Mumbake village in Khed tehsil, Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. (File)

The auction, conducted by the competent authorities under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, included four properties in Ibrahim's ancestral Mumbake village in Khed tehsil, Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra.

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Notably, two properties received no bids, while the other two garnered three and four bids respectively.

The highest bid, amounting to 2.01 crore, was placed on land measuring 170.98 square meters (survey no. 617, Hissa No. 13-B) having a with a reserve price of 15,440. Another piece of land, survey no. 842 (Hissa no. 13-B), measuring 1730 square meters, fetched a bid of 3.28 lakh against a reserve price of 1,56,270.

The auction was held at Aayakar Bhavan in south Mumbai, housing the offices of the Income Tax department.

Who bought both the properties?

Ajay Shrivastava bought both pieces of land. Shrivastava had previously acquired another piece of land from the gangster's family in an earlier auction.

He expressed his intention to establish a Sanatana Dharma School at the newly acquired properties. As per ANI, Shrivastava is a Shiv Sena leader.

He said, I have purchased the two plots, and I brought the land parcels at such whopping prices as I believe in astrology and the plots survey number matched with my birth date. Also, I own an adjacent plot purchased in the last auction. I want to develop Sanatan Dharma School at the said plots. I didnt bid for the other two plots as they dont have proper roads to reach them.

Shrivastava added that he aimed to convey to the public that Dawood's influence was no longer prevalent. Anyone who works against the country will face the consequences, leading to the seizure and sale of their properties, which individuals are willing to buy. The lawyer also mentioned his acquisition of the gangster's industrial unit in Tardeo in 2001, although he is still awaiting possession of the property.

In 2001, the auction was conducted by the Income Tax Department, but the problem with the department was that they did not offer the possession of the property and I am still fighting for that in the court. The case is pending in high court. In 2020, I took Ibrahim's bungalow situated in Ratnagiri in the auction and there I founded Sanatan Pathshala in the line of madrassas. Under the trust, I have built an educational institute there and its construction will start soon, Shrivastava told news agency ANI.
A young fisherman has died after being attacked by a great white shark while he was diving for scallops.

Victor Alejandro Soto Garcia, 21, was bitten by the four-metre predator which, according to reports, bit a chunk of flesh from the side of his body and chomped off one of his limbs.

Garcia was free diving at a depth of about eight metres near Yavaros Port in the Mexican state of Sonora when he was attacked at around 1pm on 29 December.

The young man was diving near Yavaros Port in the Mexican state of Sonora when he was attacked by a shark. Source: Jam Press

The young man's companions managed to rescue his body from the water while the marine animal was still prowling the area. They attempted to resuscitate the mauled man in their boat, but his injuries were too severe and he quickly passed away.

Community urged to carry out 'necessary safety measures'

Red Cross paramedics confirmed his injuries led to the fishermans death. Oscar Ruiz Valdez, director of Civil Protection in Sonora State, urged the local fishing community to carry out all necessary safety measures to prevent a similar incident from taking place in the future.

The 21-year-old died from severe injuries. Source: Jam Press

The young man was not wearing his shark repellent bracelet at the time of the attack. Such repellents emit electrical pulses that disrupt a shark's ability to hone in on their prey or give off a smell they find unappealing.

The official highlighted that a shark repellent bracelet could have saved his life if he had been wearing it at the time. An investigation into the victims death is ongoing.

Several shark attacks in Australia this summer

It comes after a teenage boy was mauled while surfing near Ethel Beach in South Australia last week. The 15-year-old was visiting the area with his father when the fatal incident occurred.

Meanwhile, another surfer was bitten by a shark at about 4.30pm on Christmas while surfing at Old Bar on the Mid-North Coast of NSW. The bite was almost deadly as it was just a few centimetres from the young male's femoral artery.

Story continues

A day earlier, on Christmas Eve, a 46-year-old father was bitten by a shark on his ankle off Wedge Island, WA after falling off his board and "straight into" its mouth. The man, who was holidaying with his family, was left with more than 20 puncture wounds and had to race 2.5 kilometres back to shore with his injury.

with Jam Press

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A team of officials from the Enforcement Directorate was attacked by a mob for the second time in a row within a span of a few hours in West Bengals North 24 Parganas after they arrested a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader late on Friday night for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore ration distribution scam in West Bengal. BJP workers protest against the attack on ED officials, in Kolkata on Saturday. (ANI)

A team of the federal agency arrested TMC leader Shankar Adhya, a former chairman of the Bongaon municipality in North 24 Parganas and a close associate of arrested state food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, from his residence.

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Adhya was questioned and his house was searched for around 17 hours before he was arrested. A special court sent him to 14 days judicial custody on Saturday, said an ED official.

Also read: ED on Bengal violence: '800-1000 attacked to cause death'

When the ED team, accompanied by central force personnel, was leaving Adhyas house in the early hours of Saturday after arresting him, a mob attacked them. Even though none was injured, a vehicle of the federal agency was damaged when the mob pelted stones. Central force personnel chased the mob with their lathis to disperse them.

Earlier on Friday morning, an 800-strong mob attacked a separate ED team when agency officials went to search the house of a TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh, who is also known to have close links with Mallick, at Sandeshkhali in the same district around 80km away. The Indo-Bangladesh border passes through the district.

Three ED officers were injured when they were attacked at Sandeshkhali during a raid and had to be rushed to the hospital on Friday. The mob snatched official and personal belongings including laptop, wallets and cash, said the ED official.

A senior police officer said that none could be arrested till Saturday evening. A few persons have been detained for questioning. Police have registered three FIRs.

One FIR was registered against the ED on the basis of a complaint lodged by the caretaker of Shahjahans house in which he alleged that the agency officials tried to enter the house without proper documents. A second FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint lodged by the ED. A third FIR was suo motu registered by the police against unknown persons for attacking officers of the central agency, said an officer.

The ED is learnt to have sent a written complaint on email to the Director General of Police in West Bengal and to the superintendent of police of Basirhat district in connection with the attack on its officials at Sandeskhali. It was also learnt the federal agency issued a lookout notice against Shahjahan Sheikh.

An ED statement issued on Friday night had stated that Shahjahan was present in the house when the federal agency went looking for him and was attacked by the mob. Agency officials also claimed that Shahjahan tried to cross over to Bangladesh.

The attempt failed because as there is election in Bangladesh, security along the international border has been heightened by border guarding agencies of both countries. A lookout notice has been issued against him and sent to all airports in India, said an ED official.

The ED had earlier claimed that they first came across the name of Adhya in a document seized from Mallicks daughter.

On Saturday when Adhya was produced in the Bankshal court, the ED told the court that the ration distribution scam was worth at least 10,000 crore and around 2,700 crore has already been invested in foreign countries including the United Aran Emirates.

I would just request the investigating agency with folded hands that they should take the probe in the right direction. They shouldnt frame me in false cases, Adhya told reporters after being produced in the court.

This has triggered a political slugfest in the state with the ruling Trinamool Congress and its arch rival the Bharatiya Janata Party trading barbs.

He (Shahjahan) has nowhere to hide. On Friday he was planning to flee to Barisal in Bangladesh. But we have a friendly government there. So, there is nothing to worry. He would meet his fate, Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA, told reporters.

The proceeds of crime of various scams are being sent out of the country through Bangladesh and then Dubai. It then comes back to the state. The attack on ED revealed how desperate the TMC was to suppress things, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress MP, told the media.

The ED should mend its ways of functioning. Incidents may take place if they secretly go somewhere without informing the local administration. The local police should be involved, said Saugata Roy, TMC MP.
In the serene town of Bilimora in the Navsari district of Gujarat, an ordinary demolition in July took an unforeseen turn. During the gradual dismantling of an old house, a surprising discovery unfolded  a treasure trove of at least 240 colonial-era gold coins seemingly emerged from the timeworn walls. However, the coins soon went missing.

The Navsari police have so far arrested six individuals, including the contractor overseeing the demolition, for allegedly stealing the British-era coins, which bear an engraving of King George V and weigh 7.98 grams each. They are believed to have been minted in 1922.

The arrested accused labourers from Madhya Pradesh's Alirajpur district, central figures in this unfolding drama, stumbled upon the missing 240 sovereigns on January 18, estimated to be worth an astonishing 1.11 crore during the demolition process. On December 31, the police recovered 199 gold sovereigns from the houses of two accused.

These gold coins have set in motion a series of events in the past year, leading to arrests, the suspension of cops and even igniting a significant tribal-led protest amid Madhya Pradesh's state elections. The accused in one state were the victims in another.

From discovering a treasure to victims of a theft

In December 2022, Ramku Bhaydiya (47) and Bajri Bhaydiya (24) stumbled upon the coins while working in a house in Navsari district. They allegedly pocketed 240 coins and returned home to their village in Sondwa, Madhya Pradesh and buried these in their house. But word about the coins somehow spread.

A complaint was filed by Ramku on July 21, alleging that four plainclothes police officers from Madhya Pradesh had barged into her house on July 19, dug out the gold and took it away. Ramku presented one coin that she was left with to the cops as proof. The Madhya Pradesh police investigated the matter however they could not recover the sovereigns and the case seemed stuck.

Hawaben Balia, the house owner, currently resides in the UK and got wind of the theft when one of the accused approached one of her relatives. They approached the relative after news broke about how police officers robbed four labourers who found coins in a house in Gujarat. The individual tried to resolve the matter by offering money, urging the relative not to report the finding to the authorities, according to the FIR.

The British-era coins, which bear an engraving of King George V and weigh 7.98 grams each. They are believed to have been minted in 1922.(Maulik Pathak)

Tribal protests and state elections thicken the plot

Acting on a tip-off, the Madhya Pradesh police arrested the accused police officers in the Alirajpur town area. The theft case was reported to the Sondwa police station on July 21, leading to the suspension of Inspector Vijay Devda and three constablesSuresh Chauhan, Rakesh Dawer, and Vijendra Singh. They were on duty at the Sondwa police station when the theft happened. Sambhu Singh, the brother of Ramku Bhaydiya, filed the complaint, accusing the four of stealing 240 gold pieces hidden underground at his sister's house on July 19.

Meanwhile, tensions started brewing as the arrested labourers, belonging to a tribal community, accused the police of mistreatment and failure to register their complaints. "Pressure mounted on the police as tribals demanded action against the accused cops, charged under Sections 392 (robbery) and 380 (theft). A group of tribals surrounded the police station in Sondwa and demanded action. The protests came in the middle of state elections in Madhya Pradesh. An investigation was carried out and the four policemen were suspended and put behind bars where they remain, said an official aware of the matter.

In the complaint filed on October 21, 2023, Hawaben Balia alleged the labourers and the contractor were involved in the theft of gold sovereigns found in the cavity of the wall of their ancestral house while demolishing it. Acting upon the complaint, the Navsari police began investigating the matter. It was soon revealed that the individuals accused of stealing the coins in Gujarat were the same complainants in Madhya Pradesh who had reported the theft of these coins. Due to the political turmoil and the tribal protests in Madhya Pradesh, the Gujarat police decided to take a slower approach to the matter.

The elections were going on and we had to be careful that any step the Gujarat police took would not create a political stir. After all, the tribals represent about 20% of the states population, said an official from Gujarat police.

Also, the terrain was geographically tough, with two of the accused Ramku and her juvenile son residing in a house at the bottom of a hill and Raju and his wife Banjari living atop it. They would escape every time the Gujarat police tried to contact them.

After election results were declared on December 3, the Gujarat police sent multiple teams to the area. They found that Ramku had renovated her house, got a new borewell and bought a new bike. One of Raju's relatives had claimed that he would soon buy a new car, all indications that the two had run into sudden wealth.

Among those apprehended on December 26 include Valsad-based Sarfaraz Karadiya (44), along with Ramku Bhaydiya (47), her juvenile son, Raju Bhaydiya (28) and his wife Banjari Bhyadiaya (24). Karadiya held the position of the contracted demolisher responsible for the house, while the others were engaged as labourers. All labourers are residents of Baida in Madhya Pradesh.

The Gujarat police apprehended the accused from Madhya Pradesh and secured their remand, along with the arrested contractor until January 3. The law enforcement faced resistance from a mob in the village when attempting to make the arrests.

An unclear solution to a moving puzzle

The case has been like a moving puzzle. Raju was the first to confess that he had 174 coins. He kept going back and forth in his statement initially. Ramku told the police that she was in possession of 25 coins from the loot. The juvenile accused has been sent to the juvenile justice board, said Sushil Agrawal, superintendent of police, Navsari.

On December 31, the Gujarat police recovered 24 gold sovereigns and 175 gold sovereigns from the houses of Ramku and Raju respectively.

On January 3, the police made another arrest, this time of an individual named Mukesh Bhaydiya, Raju's brother, who had assisted the accused in selling the coins to a jeweller in Madhya Pradesh. "We have recovered the remaining 41 coins out of the 240, for which the jeweller had given an advance of 6 lakh to them. They had struck a deal of approximately 20 lakh with the jeweller," according to Agrawal.

The accused have been charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 114 (abettor present at the spot when the offence is committed). Agrawal said that they have sought the help of experts to assist them on this issue about the ownership of the gold.

The Gujarat police are investigating the involvement of the accused cops from Madhya Pradesh and plan to question them in the near future. Agrawal said that the possibility of additional recovered coins from the house in Bilimora is not being ruled out.

A group of police officials from Madhya Pradesh recently visited Bilimora to question the arrested individuals. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Madhya Pradesh police strongly believe that the golden coins, suspected to be stolen by the suspended cops, are different from the 240 coins recovered by the Gujarat police.

Furthermore, one of the suspects, Ramkuben, handed over one coin to the Madhya Pradesh police, increasing the total number of coins in police possession to 241.

During the questioning by the Gujarat police, it was revealed that Ramkuben faces difficulty in counting beyond 50. An official involved in the investigation stated, "When Gujarat police gave her regular coins to count, we observed that she would create piles of 10 and couldn't count beyond five such piles. This raised suspicions that she might not be sure about the total number of coins that fell from the ceiling during the demolition."
Bengaluru: A sessions court in Karnataka on Friday granted conditional bail to a 50-year-old man, who was arrested last week in connection with a case of rioting during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in 1992. Hubballi: Undated photo of Srikanth Poojari who had taken part in the Ram temple agitation. Karnataka police has arrested Poojari on charges of indulging in violence during the movement. (PTI Photo)(PTI01_01_2024_000348A) (PTI)

Hubballi additional district and sessions court judge Parameshwara Prasanna B granted the relief to Srikanth Poojari, a Kar Sevak or Hindu religious volunteer, who is expected to be released by Saturday, his counsel Sanjeev Badasaka said.

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We had argued (on Thursday) why it took 31 years for police to arrest him and based on that, the court granted conditional bail to Poojari, Badasaka said.

The conditions laid down by the court were not known till the time of filing this report.

We are yet to get a copy of the order but Poojari will be released by tomorrow (Saturday) evening, Badasaka said.

Poojari was arrested on December 29 for his alleged involvement in violence after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, evoking sharp reactions from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that accused the ruling Congress in the state of pursuing a policy of hatred against Hindu karyakartas.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah, however, accused the BJP of politicising the matter and said his government will not indulge in politics of hatred. Hubballi police also said Poojari faced 16 cases, including charges of rioting and causing harm, in the past 31 years.

According to people aware of the details, during the hearing of the bail plea, the defense told the court that Poojari has been residing at the same place in Hubballi for the last 40 years, attending court proceedings regularly and cooperating with the police.

Poojaris counsel also said that he was already acquitted in a majority of the cases filed against him and had obtained bail in a few others, and was not evading the law.

This is good news for us and we thank everyone who supported us. We are very relieved now, Poojaris son Manjunath said after the court order.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru police detained leader of opposition R. Ashoka, for the second consecutive day, as he held protests near Freedom Park against Poojaris arrest along with party workers.

Attacking the state government, Ashoka said: Siddaramaiah, you blatantly lied that Poojari has 16 cases against him. Sri Ram will never pardon you. Among the 16 cases against Poojari, 15 have seen logical conclusions.

He added: There are only two possibilities. Either Siddaramaiah has lost control of his administration while invisible hands are misguiding him or he has willfully reopened the case to provoke the Hindu activists ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Mandir.

The much-awaited consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple will be held on January 22.

Reacting to the court order, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said: We respect the courts decision. The law will take its course.
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 6 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work done by the Central government for over last nine years, stating that "Modi Ki Guarantee" means good governance and people-centric schemes. HT Image

Jaishankar was addressing the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

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"Five years as a minister and five years before that have been the most satisfying years for me. It is because I have seen a complete change in how the government performs. I am also looking to see how the bankers perform. If you look at the change in the government, it is something that has gone through every part. The bureaucracy is more sensible, bankers are more friendly towards customers and every public-dealing organisation today is looking at people very differently. That is how 'Viksit Bharat' will be created," he said.

"Today, 'Modi ki guarantee' is something that is believed not only in the country but also in the world. 'Modi ki guarantee' means good governance and people-centric policies. This means that if someone is in trouble abroad, whether it is somebody who goes to Saudi Arabia or the UAE or students in Ukraine, PM Modi is there for them. This is a big difference that has happened in the last 10 years," added the Union Minister.

Speaking on the central government's public welfare schemes, Jaishankar said, "In these ten years, I have had the great fortune of working very closely with the Prime Minister as his cabinet member. These have been very difficult years, too. During COVID, we sat together and discussed how to respond to it. I have actually seen many of the schemes, whose results we are seeing today, from the start. I have seen it since the first meeting, when someone raised a concern. But 'Modi is Modi', he strives to find a solution."

"The last ten years have seen every need addressed in some form. If you have health issues, there is 'Jana Arogya Yojna'. For people who want to start their business but lack resources, there is 'Mudra Yojna'," he added.

S Jaishankar further said, "I am very happy, as we are close to completing ten years of the 'Modi Sarkar'. This has only begun now. This work has to go on if you want to create 'Viksit Bharat'. The rest of the world is actually talking about us. They ask what has changed in India. I tell them what has changed in India is 'vision'. This vision is now the talk of the world. There is a great deal of respect for India."

The resolution of the 'Viskit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' is to develop India in every way by 2047.

Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is being undertaken across the country with the aim of attaining saturation of flagship schemes of the government by ensuring that the benefits of these schemes reach all targeted beneficiaries in a time-bound manner. (ANI)
New Delhi: The total proceeds of crime, or PoC, in the Young Indian-Associated Journals Ltd case, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), is 988 crore, according to documents from the federal investigation agency. This includes real estate and other assets worth  755 crore, shares worth  90 crore, and rent of  142 crore earned since 2010-11. (HT Archive)

This includes real estate and other assets worth 755 crore, shares worth 90 crore, and rent of 142 crore earned since 2010-11, according to the provisional attachment order issued by ED in November, details of which have been accessed by HT. According to the provisional attachment order AJL, the parent company of National Herald, formed in 1937, acquired most of the assets as freehold or on long-term lease given by central and various state governments for running the newspaper business.

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For instance, the Herald House at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi was given to the company on perpetual lease for 4.89 lakh while the Bandra property owned by AJL was acquired for 1.39 crore. In 2010, Young Indian (YI), in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi own 38% each, acquired AJL.

The 142 crore is the rent earned by AJL from these properties after the company was acquired by YI, since taking control over by AJL by YI in Financial Year 2010-11, ED has stated.

Asserting that by taking over AJL, YI took complete control over the formers properties in Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, Panchkula, Lucknow and Patna,an officer at the agency who asked not to be named said, citing EDs attachment order that the accrued benefit to YI includes right to enjoy all the benefits embodied in the commercial assets held by AJL at several prominent locations in the country proportionate to YIs shareholding in AJL.

Explaining why rent is part of the calculation of PoC, this person added: The rent generated from the properties after they were obtained from the criminal activity relating to the scheduled offence would also be proceeds of crime, more so, since the criminal activity was undertaken to enjoy the fruits of the proceeds of crime, rent being one such benefit.

The federal agency has claimed that it found documents during its searches on August 2, 2022, which reveal that while AJL showed advance rent of 58.79 crore in its balance sheets advance rent ...amounting to 36.91 crore was not found to be genuine. It added in its attachment order that there were no rent agreements, and few parties stated they had paid rent on the directions of senior Congress leaders and that some of the money received was from shell entities.

ED has also said that the rent received in the past has majorly been utilised in the development of commercial spaces, particularly in Mumbai, to fully exploit the business potential, according to attachment order.

Certain dubious transactions were found related to the properties in AJLs books, a second officer in the agency claimed. There are instances where AJL properties have been transferred or sold or mortgaged or third-party rights were created, added this person who asked not to be named.

Citing the example of a property in Bhopal, the agency said the Bhopal Development Authority (BDA) allotted land measuring 1.14 acre in MP Nagar in the city to AJL for 30 years through a lease agreement in 1981 for printing of newspapers. But, in 2007, AJL sold portions of the building to various persons before the leases expiry.

Similarly, AJL mortgaged a plot it owned in Panchkula with Syndicate Bank to avail a loan for construction of a building in Bandra, Mumbai. This evidence creation of third-party rights by availing mortgage facilities from bank, ED said in its attachment order, adding that if not attached, all these properties may be transferred (to someone else).

The Congress has denied the charges and described the case as a witch-hunt.

Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, lawyer and member of parliament and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member told HT on Friday: Its a strange case of no transfer, no money flow, no money laundering, and yet a 100% not-for-profit company which can neither pay dividends nor pay salary or remuneration to its directors is being hauled up falsely and for political reasons. Additionally, it is also a strange case where cheating is alleged with not a single complainant even alleging that he or she has been cheated or how.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed a private complaint in a Delhi court in 2012 levelling allegations that Gandhis used party funds to purchase AJL and that 90.21 crore was transferred from the All India Congress Committee to AJL at zero interest. The court took cognizance of his complaint in 2014 based on which ED filed a money laundering case in 2021.

The Congress has claimed the amount was against AJLs debt, and that it was converted into equity.
INS Chennai, the guided missile destroyer that intercepted the hijacked vessel MV Lila Norfolk and rescued 21 crew members, was able to do so simply because it had been deployed strategically by Indian naval planners, and for the very purpose, people familiar with the matter said. Indian Navy destroyer in the Gulf of Aden.

On Friday, in a daring operation, Indian marine commandos intercepted, then boarded the hijacked ship, and rescued the crew.

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INS Chennai, the people cited in the first instance said, was among the warships deployed off the African seaboard, south of the Red Sea, and in the Arabian Sea, by naval planners under direction from the Narendra Modi government, since October 2023.

Also read: First video of Indians rescued by Navy from pirates-hijacked ship surfaces: Bharat Mata ki Jai

New Delhi has always been clear that it is committed to keeping sea lanes safe from Somali pirates, an objective that has expanded in recent weeks to deal with the challenge posed by Houthi militia against commercial shipping in north Arabian sea.

Thanks to the proactive action taken by the Naval Headquarters, front-line guided missile destroyers INS Kochi and INS Kolkata are now deployed off the Gulf of Aden. Besides, destroyers Murmogao, Chennai, and frigates Talwar and Tarkash have been deployed off the Straits of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman under the Operation Sankalp of the Indian Navy. Destroyer Visakhapatnam along with tanker INS Deepak are deployed off the Duqm port in Oman.

It is understood, given the gravity of the situation in the Arabian Sea, that the Indian Navy is now planning to move a guided missile frigate and an off-shore patrol vessel from Eastern Command to the Western seaboard to ensure that commercial shipping and merchant tankers are not targeted by asymmetric forces backed by players in West Asia as the Israel-Hamas conflict escalates and widens.

HT learns that soon after the October 7 terror attack by Hamas, the Indian Navy moved two ships to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on October 8 and 9. The Red Sea unit was withdrawn on October 25 but two warships belonging to Kolkata and Visakhapatnam class were deployed in the Gulf of Aden to defend against possible missile attacks by the Houthis.

All Indian warships carry missiles, long-range guns and helicopters. In addition, India has also deployed a multi mission Boeing P 8 I and unarmed Predator drones over the Arabian Sea for enhanced surveillance.

When South Korean tanker MV Ruen was hijacked off the coast of Somalia on December 14, the Western Navy tasked INS Kochi to trail the ship from December 15 to 18 with the destroyer evacuating an injured crew member from the hijacked ship to Salalah port in Oman.

In an effort to augment forces against pirates and increase maritime domain awareness, the Indian Navy deployed INS Kolkata in the Gulf of Aden.

It was INS Mormugao that first responded to the distress call from MV Chem Pluto, which was hit by Iranian Shahed 136 drone on December 23 off the coast of Dwarka. The ship was escorted safely to Mumbai harbor where it is currently undergoing repairs.

While India is not part of the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian, aimed at protecting the Red Sea shipping lane, the Indian Navy has been at the forefront to of providing maritime security to commercial traffic and take action against Somali pirates off the coast of Socotra islands in Yemen and off the African eastern seaboard.
The Noida police have so far sealed properties worth 200 crore linked to scrap metal mafia and gangster Ravi Kana and his gang in the Delhi-NCR region. On Wednesday, the Noida police sealed a bungalow worth over  70-crore in South Delhi gifted by the gangster to his girlfriend Kajal Jha, Live Hindustan reported on Friday. Picture of Kajal Jha whose property was sealed by Noida police along with photos of Noida police personnel outside the sealed bungalow.(X/Ghaziabad 365)

Earlier, the police team raided and sealed property worth 100 crore linked to the gangster Ravi Kana.

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Who is Kajal Jha, girlfriend of gangster Kana whose property was sealed by Noida police

Kajal Jha, the girlfriend of Ravi Kana, initially met the gangster while reaching out to him for employment. However, Jha eventually became a crucial member of his gang. She assumed a key role in managing the financial records for all of his undisclosed properties. Kana had gifted a three-storey bungalow worth over 70 crore in South Delhi's posh New Friends Colony to Jha which was sealed by the Noida police on Wednesday.

Prior to the police raid on Wednesday, Kajal Jha and her associates hastily left the luxury property to avoid being apprehended. As per law enforcement, Ravindra Nagar, alias Ravi Kana, leads a 16-member gang engaged in the unlawful acquisition and trade of rebar and scrap material. Kana, originally a scrap dealer, amassed wealth by running the gang that illicitly obtained and sold scrap material while extorting businesses in the Delhi-NCR region.

Kana is the brother of Harendra Pradhan, another gangster from the Greater Noida area who was killed by a rival gang in 2014. Kana took over the reins following his brother's death. Kana even received police protection due to threats on his life.

As of now, 11 cases, involving charges such as kidnapping and theft, have been filed against Ravi Kana and his associates, according to Saad Miya Khan, a senior police officer in Greater Noida. Law enforcement has already apprehended six members of the gang.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his alleged absence and indifference towards the violence in Manipur. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Kharge said that the PM has time for photo sessions but not to visit Manipur. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge (File Photo)

Kharge's comments come in view of Modi's recent visit to Lakshadweep on January 2 where he inaugurated several developmental projects. After his visit, PM Modi shared pictures of him going snorkelling to explore the undersea life and taking early morning walks on the pristine beaches of the union territory. In one of the pictures, he was also seen sitting on a chair by the beach.

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Unfortunate incidents took place in ManipurPM Modi either went to the beach, had a photo session swimming, went for photos at the ongoing temple construction site, or went to Kerala and Mumbai. He goes everywhere, you can see his photos everywhere...Just like the 'darshan' of God first thing after waking up. But why did this great man not go to Manipur?" Kharge questioned.

Reacting to this, BJP leader and union minister Giriraj Singh hit back at Kharge saying the Congress has done nothing but spread confusion across the country. They did political tourism by going to Manipur. Union Home Minister and Prime Minister are resolving the issues in Manipur. During their (Congress) regime, Manipur burned for 6 years. We have brought this under control. They should not confuse people, he said.

Incidents of violence in Manipur have been on the rise since May 3 last year when clashes broke out during a tribal solidarity march in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. According to reports, over 180 people have been killed in the clashes, while several hundred have been injured. Thousands of people have also been displaced in the northeastern state.

Kharge's attack on Centre

Meanwhile, Kharge continued his attack on the central government over the new labour laws and criminal laws, saying they are signs of dictatorship. On the ongoing Enforcement Directorate's (ED) searches in several locations, Kharge said, BJP is blatantly misusing agencies such as ED, IT dept to threaten opposition leaders.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on a petition challenging the ban on manufacturing, storage, sale and distribution of halal-certified food products but refused to protect halal certification providers against any coercive action. The Supreme Court of India. (File)

A bench of justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while dealing with a petition filed by Halal India Private Limited, an internationally recognised halal certification provider which challenged the UP governments order of November 18, 2023 and also a criminal case lodged against it at Lucknow just a day prior to the order imposing ban. The ban was applicable within the state of UP and did not apply to exports.

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The bench posted the matter after two weeks after senior advocates Raju Ramachandran and Sidharth Agarwal appearing for Halal India and Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra sought ban on the order claiming it was intended against Muslims and apprehended similar bans in other states. Ramachandran urged the court to pass an order directing no coercive action in connection with the Lucknow FIR but the bench said, We will consider it afterwards on the next date.

The petition filed by advocate Ejaz Maqbool said, The UP notification selectively prohibits the citizens of this country who are followers of Islamic culture and values from consuming food and using materials which are halal certified/permissible in accordance with Islamic culture and values.

Stating that the notification ought to be set aside for classifying persons based on religion, the petition termed it manifestly arbitrary as it does not bring certifications for Jain, Satvik and even kosher (for Jews) within its purview, indicating that the notification singles out one certification on the basis of religion. In Islam, halal signifies products or food items which the Muslims are allowed to consume and use as per the holy Quran, Sharia laws and the Hadith, which from the basis of Islam.

This has a pan-India effect having an impact on right of consumers of halal products and ramifications of such ban in other states, Agarwal said. Pursuant to the UP order, the petitioners pointed out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka has demanded a nationwide ban on halal certification. Union Rural Development minister Giriraj Singh even wrote a letter demanding such ban to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The petition said, The widespread impact of the notification and the ban on manufacture, sale, storage, and distribution of halal certified products has instilled fear in the populace all across India. The notification and FIR have had nationwide repercussions that have particularly affected the Islamic community and have created apprehension that the practice initiated by UP may be replicated by other states, intensifying the pervasive fear.

The FIR against the petitioner accused them of fostering social animosity with the UP police registering a case for promoting enmity, cheating, forgery, extortion, criminal conspiracy among other offences registered under the relevant provisions of 120-B, 153-A, 298, 384, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 505 of the Indian Penal Code. The petitioner claimed the case against them was without any iota of truth or evidence.
Aussies are quick to jump at the chance to win a life-changing sum of money, so when a multi-million dollar jackpot comes around, up to half the country's adult population ensure they snap up a ticket or two, according to lottery officials.

And while lottery numbers are drawn at random, meaning each one has an equal chance of being drawn, some believe choosing their lucky number could give them the best chance of winning.

At least that's the case for one woman who attributes a single digit to scooping a whopping 50 lottery wins in her lifetime, all within the region of about $100,000. Paulinha Leite believes you simply must "play to win" and recently won a share of her country's mega A$1,000,000 jackpot.

Influencer Paulinha Leite claims she's won the lottery 50 times. Source: Jam Press

The influencer is best known for competing on Big Brother Brazil and while she didnt secure the crown for the 11th series of the reality show, reckons she's much better luck with the lottery  and it started as a young girl.

"All the draws, everything that involved luck, I always won. That's been the case since I was little," she said. "That's where the family's internal joke came from: Paulinha was born 'facing the Moon'."

Eagle eye for 'magic numbers'

The 36-year-old, who has 841,000 followers, lives a lavish life with her winnings and credits having an eagle eye for magic numbers. Paulinha says shes vigilant of numbers and takes extra notice of everyday digits including birthdays, telephone numbers and addresses. The influencer says its paramount to remain positive before receiving results.

While some Aussies pay attention to the lottery's 'hot' and 'cold' numbers  referring to the digits that have, historically, been drawn the most and least amount of times  Paulinha says she has her lucky number 4 to thank.

Story continues

If gambling is a problem for you go to Gambling Help Online or call 1800 858 858.

with Jam Press

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The Supreme Court on Monday will deliver judgment on petitions challenging the Gujarat governments decision to prematurely release 11 convicts serving life in prison for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and various other heinous crimes committed during the 2002 riots. Bano was 21 and five months pregnant when she was gang raped as she tried to flee with her family to safety during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan will pronounce its decision after it had reserved orders on petitions filed by Bano and others on October 12. The court had directed the Centre and state government to submit the original files containing the decision-making process that freed the convicts in August 2022.

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Also read: SC quizzes Gujarat on selective use of policy for Bilkis Bano convicts early release

Bano was 21 and five months pregnant when she was gang raped as she tried to flee with her family to safety during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The 11 convicts also killed seven members of her family, including her three-year old daughter. The trial of the case was shifted from Gujarat to Mumbai and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigated the case. In 2008, a special court in Mumbai sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment. This decision was upheld by a division bench of the Bombay high court in 2017.

The top court had in March last year issued notice on a public interest litigation filed by former Communist Party of India MP Subhashini Ali and others, and later other petitioners, including Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, challenged the remission. The Gujarat government objected to the right to bring an action to court of the petitioners to question the remission. This was rendered moot when Bano approached the top court in November 2022 against the remission.

The petitions raised a legal challenge to the grant of remission by alleging that the Gujarat government wrongly considered the premature release of the 11 convicts under a 1992 remission policy. This policy was later revised by the state government and the latest policy did not entitle gang rape convicts for remission. Further, the petitions argued that since the trial shifted to Mumbai, the state government, while deciding remission under Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, had to consider the opinion of the presiding judge of Mumbai court.

They also pointed out that the grave and heinous nature of the offences was not considered by the state-appointed advisory committee that recommended their release. It was also argued that being an offence investigated by CBI, the state government was required to take the Centres consent.

The state government and the convicts rebutted the arguments by pointing out to a May 2022 judgment by the Supreme Court, which directed the Gujarat government to decide the remission of one of the convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, under the 1992 remission plea within two months. This triggered action by the state government to consider the release of all convicts under the 1992 policy, the state submitted.

The state took the opinion of the presiding judge of Godhra court on June 3, 2022, and formed a jail advisory committee, which considered the opinion of the local police, jail superintendent and the trial court judge to recommend release of the prisoners on August 10, 2022.

Bano told the court that she was not informed about the remission and came to know of it from the media. She prayed to the court that grave injustice was done to her family and the convicts did not deserve any mercy as they showed no remorse. Other petitioners also highlighted the fact that the trial court sentence against the 11 convicts had imposed fines as part of punishment that stood unpaid at the time of their release. At the fag end of the hearing last year, the convicts deposited the fines with the trial court in Mumbai. The petitioners pointed out that this was an afterthought and an admission on their part that their release was illegal.

During arguments, the court was urged to consider laying down guidelines for consideration of remission. The arguments by the petitioners was led by advocate Shobha Gupta for Bano and senior advocates Indira Jaising, Vrinda Grover, Aparna Bhat, Nizam Pasha among others for the petitioners. They argued that remission cannot ignore the constitutional norm of dignity of women in a case where the accused were driven by communal hatred.

The petitioners further pointed out that the grant of remission was an arbitrary exercise of power even as the Gujarat government led by additional solicitor general SV Raju argued that the remission was routine.

On the part of the convicts it was argued by advocate Sidharth Luthra and Rishi Malhotra, among others, that they do not belong to influential backgrounds and have already been out for a year now. They submitted that criminal justice system is reformative, which seeks to integrate prisoners into society. They further pointed out that they merited remission as they crossed the threshold limit of having undergone a minimum of 14 years in prison and their conduct in jail was material for considering their release rather than nature of their crimes.
Indias top police and intelligence brass on Friday began annual deliberations on a host of internal and external security issues, with a focus on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), deepfakes, security at Indias borders, unauthorised people staying in the country, and a road map for the implementation of three new criminal codes, people familiar with the matter said. Union home minister Amit Shah and other officials at the DGPs/IGPs Conference 2023 in Jaipur on Friday. (Amit Shah/X)

The discussions were held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and national security adviser Ajit Doval.

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Inaugurating the three-day director generals of police (DGPs)/inspector generals of police (IGPs) conference at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, Shah asked the chiefs to train officers from SHO (station house officer) rank to DGP level and upgrade the technology from police stations to police headquarters for the successful implementation of the three criminal laws.

The government plans to notify the laws  Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to replace the Indian Penal Code, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure, and Bharatiya Suraksha to replace the Evidence Act  by Republic Day, and implement them across the country in phases by the year-end.

The home minister highlighted that 2023 marked the start of Amrit Kaal (25-year period leading to 100 years of Independence in 2047) and stressed on two important developments during this period  the formulation of the New Education Policy (NEP), and the enactment of three new criminal laws, replacing British era laws  according to a statement by the ministry of home affairs.

Shah, the ministry said, mentioned that the new laws are focused on the delivery of justice instead of punishment, and that their implementation will transform the criminal justice system as a modern and scientific one.

He stressed on the need to train police from SHO to DGP level and technology upgradation from Thana to PHQ level for the successful implementation of new laws, the ministry added. He also spoke on the need to link databases and adopt an AI-driven analytical approach for tackling emerging security challenges, it said.

Organised by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) annually, the DGPs/IGPs conference has become a catalyst for Modi governments national security policy for past 10 years. Since 2014, Modi has attended each conference, brainstorming with the chiefs to come up with ideas to tackle challenges ranging from insurgency to radicalisation of youth to modernising the security establishment. Acknowledging this, Shah said that this conference over the years has emerged as a think-tank, facilitating decision-making and formulation of new security strategies.

He pointed to the overall improvement in the security scenario in the country since 2014, especially the reduction of violence in the three critical hot spots  Jammu & Kashmir, the North-East, and Left-wing extremism in some states. He emphasised on uniformity of structures, size and skill of counter terror mechanisms across the country, the statement said.

Sharing details of discussions, officials who didnt want to be named, said three broad topics  emerging challenges in border management and the role of police and interagency coordination; measures to check fraudulent identity documents; and development of a futuristic prison infrastructure  came up on Friday.

The officials said that, like every year, progress on previous years conferences agenda items will also form part of discussions from January 5 to 7.

An officer said that DGPs of states were directed to sensitise district police officers in their jurisdiction about problem of overstaying foreigners, besides the creation of a database of foreigners staying illegally in the country.

The states have also been told to identify individuals or groups that provide support to overstaying foreigners, and review voter lists to see if such people have obtained Indian identity cards, the officer said.

The DGPs were also asked to ensure that hotels routinely fill C-forms  a mandatory foreigners registration form.

On the cybersecurity front, the meeting will discuss the threat from China-backed entities to cripple Indias critical infrastructure, officers said. The status of a scheme launched by the home ministry to have cyber commandos in every district to counter cyberthreats will also be taken up, they added.

The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) had said in a release on Thursday that the conference will discuss wide range of policing and internal security issues, including cybercrime, technology in policing, counterterrorism challenges, left-wing extremism, prison reforms, among others.

A crackdown on pro-Khalistan elements (PKEs) and gangsters operating from foreign soil, extradition of wanted persons, and leveraging technology to locate organised crime syndicates and cyber criminals is also going to be discussed, said one of the officials cited above.
Shahjahan Sheikh, the alleged mastermind behind the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials during a raid in West Bengal on Friday, rose to become the uncrowned king of the state's fisheries belt. LocaL TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh

The ED sleuths were conducting a raid at Shahjahan Sheikh's residence, as part of a probe into a ration distribution scam, when his supporters became violent, leaving at least three ED officials injured and their vehicles damaged.

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The attack on the ED team was widely criticised by political parties, including the INDIA bloc ally Congress, but the ruling Trinamool Congress refuted the charges and accused the ED officials of inciting the locals.

While the BJP termed the attack as "a direct assault on the federal structure", the Congress demanded the President's Rule. Governor CV Ananda Bose said the state government's duty is to quell "barbarism, and emphasised that West Bengal is not a banana republic.

President of the Sandeshkhali TMC unit, Shahjahan Sheikh's political trajectory peaked when he secured a zilla parishad seat last year.

Who is Shahjahan Sheikh?

Shahjahan Sheikh, 42, is popularly known as "Bhai", who started as a small-time worker in the fisheries of the Sandeshkhali block in North 24 Parganas near the Bangladesh border, news agency PTI reported.

The eldest of four siblings, Sheikh began as a worker in fisheries and brick kilns in Sandeshkhali.

In 2004, Sheikh entered politics as a union leader in brick kilns. He later joined the local CPI(M) unit, maintaining his presence despite the changing political landscape in West Bengal.

Known for fiery speeches and organisational skills, Sheikh caught the attention of Trinamool Congress leadership in 2012, PTI added.

Under the leadership of the then TMC national general secretary Mukul Roy and North 24 Parganas TMC district president Jyotipriyo Mullick, Sheikh joined the party and quickly ascended in power, becoming a close associate of Mullick.

Since then, Sheikh's trajectory in the corridors of power has been unstoppable, raising eyebrows.

In 2018, Sheikh gained prominence as the deputy head of the Sarberia Agarhati gram panchayat.

Sheikh, known as 'Matsa Karmadhakshya' (in-charge of fisheries) for North 24 Parganas, oversees the district's fishery development, reflecting his influential standing in both political and economic spheres.

Sheikh is also a go-to figure for conflict resolution in the area, mediating family disputes and land disagreements.

His younger brothers are active TMC workers managing his business, including land dealings, PTI reported.

According to leaders from the local TMC and opposition, Sheikh commands both respect and fear in the region. "To some, he is a messiah; to his detractors, he is a terror. He carries a Robin Hood image in the area," said a local TMC leader.

Despite involvement in criminal cases, he has played an important role in curbing child trafficking, earning recognition for his efforts in making Sarberia Agarhati gram panchayat a 'Child-Friendly Gram Panchayat' in 2019, the report said.

In the aftermath of the violent clashes between BJP and TMC workers in Sandeshkhali post-Lok Sabha elections in June 2019, resulting in deaths on both sides, Sheikh found himself implicated in a murder FIR filed in connection with the incident.

(With inputs from PTI)
Bengaluru: A single-judge bench of Karnataka high court on Friday referred a batch of petitions challenging the withdrawal of sanction given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to probe an alleged disproportionate assets case against deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, to the chief justice for placing before a larger bench of his choice. Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar addresses Congress leaders and workers during a protest over the suspension of opposition MPs from Parliament during the Winter session, in Bengaluru, Friday, Dec. 22, 2023. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak) (PTI12_22_2023_000116B) (PTI)

Justice Krishna Dixit also issued notices on the petitions to the state government and Lokayukta, which was handed over the case for investigation on Wednesday, and directed the latter not to proceed with its probe until the final hearing.

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The court said the enormity of the questions in the case called for a comprehensive examination by a larger bench. I am afraid because of the enormity of the questions, in deciding the enormity of such a large issue, I think a division bench is required, justice Dixit said.

After considering the arguments presented by the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned advocate general representing the State, I am of the opinion that the papers should be placed before the Honble Chief Justice, as per section 8 of the Karnataka High Court Act, for deliberation by the bench of his choice. This will ensure a conclusive resolution of the matter at the level of this court, the judge added.

The court said that it concurs with the petitioners viewpoint that, if constituted at the discretion of the chief justice, the bench can expedite the proceedings and treat the matter with urgency.

The single-judge bench was hearing two petitions  by CBI and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal  against the state governments decision to revoke consent for a probe by the federal agency in the case against Shivakumar.

CBI has accused Shivakumar of accumulating disproportionate assets worth over 74 crore between 2013 and 2018.

On November 23, the state government said the previous B S Yediyurappa-led BJP governments sanction accorded to CBI for a probe was not in accordance with law. The then chief minister did not get permission from the speaker (to hand over the case to CBI). This is in violation of the rules that require the speakers permission before giving the sanction to CBI, state law minister HK Patil said.

Subsequently, the government withdrew its consent granted to CBI, which began its probe in March last year, on November 28, preventing the central agency from filing its charge sheet in the case.

As CBI counsel Prasanna Kumar submitted that the Lokayukta has been handed over the investigation by the state and it has filed an FIR, the court directed that the anti-corruption ombudsman should not proceed until the final hearing of the petitions.

Shivakumar hit out at CBI for moving the high court: They want to harass me. The government has taken a stand and referred the matter to the Lokayukta. After withdrawing (from probe) too, they issued notices to those associated with me. It clearly shows that this matter is politically-motivated, he said.

There is a limit to harassment. I know who is behind this. But the clock will turn. I dont know what they want but I am ready. I have been put behind bars. You saw how people supported me. I will fight for justice, he added.

HT reached out to Yatnal for a response but did not get one immediately.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that the state government will build a state guest house near the grand temple of Lord Ram being built in Ayodhya. According to an official release from the Chief Minister's Office, "Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the state government will build a state guest house near the grand temple of Lord Ram being built in Ayodhya." Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami (File Photo)

It is noteworthy that, as a result of the special efforts of the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, the Uttar Pradesh government has allotted land for the state guest house in Ayodhya, said the CMO.

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"A total of 4700.23 square metres of land has been allotted by the Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Council in Ayodhya for the state guest house of Uttarakhand, where the guest house will be constructed by the Uttarakhand government," it added.

Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday that the party will perform a 'Maha Aarti' at the bank of the Godavari River in Maharashtra's Nasik on the Ram Temple consecration day on January 22.

Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony.

A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahotsav.

A 1008 Hundi Mahayagya will also be organised, in which thousands of devotees will be fed. Several tent cities are being erected in Ayodhya to accommodate thousands of devotees who are expected to arrive in the temple town for the grand consecration event.
2023 began with a town sinking. Joshimath, a pilgrimage stop nestled deep in the Himalayas, at an altitude of over 6,000 ft, saw its houses and roads develop cracks as parts of it sank. There were several explanations for this. Some pointed to the town coming up on landslide debris. Others blamed its location, next to a geological fault line. Still others said the rocks beneath the town allowed rain and snow melt to seep in, creating hollows that destabilised it.

Then there were the dams. A large hydroelectric project lies close to Joshimath. In 2009, a tunnel-boring machine employed in this project punctured an underground aquifer, releasing enough water to fill 5,000 large aircraft. As the water escaped, some posited, the land over it collapsed, almost like a slowly deflating balloon. Others blamed the blasting and deforestation undertaken to build roads and houses. When intense rain then fell on the bald and unstable slopes, it dragged the land downward. Joshimaths fate was sealed.

Its a story with two lessons. The first is that our path of development needs to be revisited. The second lesson emerged later: the real problem is that our attention span is tiny.

No worries, the planet replied, Ill send more reminders. As the year progressed, halfway around the world, a great change was underway. For three years, the planet had enjoyed a relative breather from scorching temperatures, thanks to a back-to-back La Nina climate pattern. That was ending. Over the next few months, an El Nino climate pattern developed, warming the world and changing global rainfall patterns.

In India, the El Nino made the monsoon more temperamental. Early signs were visible in late-April, far from the headlines, where the summer crop of tomatoes was struggling to cope in climate that was too hot and dry. By mid-May, heatwaves wracked cities and farms.

Since 1971, most of the heat trapped within the planetary system  about 90%  has been held by the oceans. Such heating makes ice sheets melt, and seas rise and become more acidic. Hotter seas birth more powerful cyclones. Indeed, the World Meteorological Organization categorised Cyclone Mocha, which displaced 1.7 million people in mid-May, one of the most intense cyclones ever observed in the Bay of Bengal.

A landslide prompted by incessant rain in Shimla destroys a section of railway track, in August. (PTI)

On the other side of the planet, Canada was burning. And how it burnt. More than 18.5 million hectares of forest ablaze, with the smoke plumes spreading out across hundreds of kilometres. In early June, New York overtook New Delhi to become the worlds most polluted city, as the smoke turned its skies an apocalyptic orange.

Firefighters from around the world converged in Canada to battle the flames, a heart-warming sign that we are all in it together. But through the year, East Africa battled intense floods, in relative obscurity and somewhat alone. Which raised the question: Are we really?

Closer to home, the monsoon arrived a week later than usual. Then, Biparjoy (meaning Disaster in Bangla) flooded parts of Gujarat. July brought more floods, in Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. The Yamuna rose and displaced more families. The Red Fort was inundated. Himachal Pradesh was deluged; several districts set all-time records for intense rainfall. Homes, lives and crops were carried away in a muddy avalanche.

Some of Joshimaths lessons were relevant.

***

July has always seen tomato prices spike, because thats when India must depend on smaller harvests from its cooler regions. Last year, Karnatakas crop was hit by a vicious pest attack (thanks to heat and unusual rains) and Himachals crop was partly washed away. So, prices rose and rose. There was bawling and theft, as people hijacked trucks of tomatoes.

As August rolled around, floods hit Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand again. Lest you forget, said the planet. News of farmer suicides began trickling in from Marathwada to Punjab. By October, a glacier lake burst open and flooded Sikkim and the fires began to burn again, as farmers cleared the stubble to plant their winter crop, turning Delhi noxious.

Every year, its a predictable circus. All is quiet. Then by October, the chatter begins. By early November, the drama peaks, then ebbs away. The wealthy hide in shuttered rooms with air purifiers, while poorer lungs are left with little to protect them.

Why would any politician risk valuable political capital by taking tough action when we are far more interested in actor Matthew Perry and gangster Atiq Ahmed? Incentives matter. Our tiny attention span does not help.

As November progressed, Chennai turned fearful eyes towards the swollen skies. On Saturday, December 3, people were asked to stock up and hunker down. By Monday, the neighbourhoods of Pallikaranai, Velachery and Madipakkam had flooded. After all, they had been lakes and marshlands, designed to capture runoff from intense rain.

Weather models had suggested that the rain would be at its most intense for a couple of hours on Monday afternoon. But the low-pressure system caused by Cyclone Michuang stayed put for a few hours longer than predicted, and opened the skies over Chennai. Areas that typically dont flood, flooded. Almost no one was spared. But the wealthy were rescued. The middle-class had food. But in several neighbourhoods, people went without clean water, food or working toilets for days. The so-chipper-you-want-to-punch-someone-in-the-nose hashtag of #ChennaiHelps did not trend this time. Predictably, when calamity becomes an annual affair, the milk of human kindness can run dry. A couple of weeks later, the south of Tamil Nadu was deluged, with several parts getting more than their annual rainfall in a day. This is the new climate we must prepare for.

Meanwhile, far away in the desert city of Dubai, thousands congregated for the annual United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP). The irony, as others have noted, was that this COP  the planets attempt to stave off climate disaster  was hosted by a country that lives and breathes oil. The jaded press celebrated the creation of a loss-and-damages fund  money from developed countries to pay poorer nations for climate damage and losses. Less spoken-about was the fact that the amount paid into the fund was not much more than what Tamil Nadu had asked for, to counter the damage inflicted by one flood, in one city.

Yet, on the sidelines of the official negotiations, there was palpable energy  deals were made, projects funded, partnerships forged, ideas discussed  suggesting that real, scalable action could come to pass.

That brings me to hope. In 2023, India landed on the moon. Solar and electric vehicles entered the mass-market phase, unthinkable just a few years ago. Thats the beauty of enterprise. It can move fast, but needs policy to set the guardrails. Climatech is now the It Girl of start-up investing. Last year I saw over a thousand people converge at a climatetech conference in Chennai. If we can overcome greenwashing and craft policy to build resilience, that hope might even translate into meaningful action. If.

It is possible. One story made me very happy. Two years ago, I wrote of how a good mahua liquor could help save forests, our frontline climate warriors. Mahua flowers are collected by tribal women in a way that risks both their lives and the health of the forest with little reward. So much mahua rots, and tribal families make very little money. But Mond, a branded mahua liquor, produced to exacting standards by tribal women being paid steady wages, is flying off the shelves. Tasting such a liquor on a recent trip to Madhya Pradesh was sweet in more ways than one.

There is also good policy emerging to protect lakes, including the launch of first-ever water body census of India.

Will hope blossom further in 2024? That depends. Will our political leaders believe that setting climate-resilient policy will win them votes in a vital year? Maybe. Maybe not.

After all, we forgot Joshimath. And Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, the smoke and Chennai. This reality blunts hope. And yet, climate models suggest that the El Nino pattern could persist until early summer, making for a hot and dry pre-monsoon season and chances of more reminders of our climate negligence. Maybe that will keep up the pressure for good policy.

Let me end with a personal story. Our factory was deluged in the south Tamil Nadu rains. But we had desilted and cleaned the water channels along most of the campus earlier that year. This meant a quick mucking out of one channel outside our factory made the water drain quickly away.

Which shows that, amid the gloom, lies a simple truth: True change is wrought most profoundly by how we act. By what we choose to do; buy (and not buy); and what we vote on.

This is sobering but empowering. And thats the trade-off we must navigate in 2024.

(Mridula Ramesh is a climate-tech investor and author of The Climate Solution and Watershed)
One of the key markers of a bona fide music nerd is an obsessive fascination with genres. Its not enough to know that one likes a song or artist. One must know what musical lineages they draw from; how they fit into a complicated, amorphous and often arbitrary web of music categories.

As a music-obsessed teenager with a broadband connection, I spent hours arguing with strangers on bulletin boards about which Sonic Youth albums counted as no wave and which were alternative rock. I wrote manifestos about how Green Day werent real punk. And yet, as I look at some of the esoteric-sounding genres thrown up by this years Spotify Wrapped, I find myself wondering if maybe weve taken it all a bit too far.

Drift phonk, dark deepspy, POV: indie they sound like random words mashed together, but these are among the thousands of sub-genres and micro-genres in use today. Spotify, for instance, sorts the 100,000 new tracks uploaded to the platform daily, into more than 6,000 overlapping categories.

Beyond the sounds they claim to represent, these tags tell an interesting story of artistry and perception. Take slung, a genre of emo-rap verse overlaid on aggressive, blown-out distortion and speaker-rattling bass. It has a handful of practitioners and a few thousand fans, most of them on SoundCloud.

Other micro-genres attain enough critical mass to get mainstream attention. Hyperpop  a maximalist, surrealist and internet culture-obsessed reimagining of pop music  became so popular thanks to artists such as AG Cook and 100 gecs that the Atlantic said it could become the countercultural sound of the 2020s.

As new artists use new technology to express themselves in new ways, the nicher the tag, the better. It helps them stand out, the micro-genres acting as tiny listening rooms on platforms such as SoundCloud, Discord and TikTok. And so the world of micro-genres is mutating, fragmenting and multiplying, evidenced by the fact the number of categories on Spotify has more than quadrupled in seven years; it stood at less than 1,500 in 2016.

Music micro-genres have been around since at least the 1970s, emerging as cheaper recording technology and the do-it-yourself scene led to a boom in music.

The older macro-genres  rock, pop, rap, jazz  were too broad to capture the full diversity of styles and sounds found in an average record store at this time, or represent the diverse fandoms they had birthed. So music critics  usually writing in the independent music press  began coining new terms. Such as freakbeat (a retrospective micro-genre coined by English music journalist Phil Smee, to define the crossover between 1960s R&B, beat and psychedelic music) and hauntology (Mark Fishers apt term for music that evokes cultural memory and historical aesthetics).

These terms became not just marketing classifications but social ones; markers of a specific community or subculture, with its own aesthetic and set of rules.

In todays era of ubiquitous music-making technology, open digital platforms and effortless experimentation, new terms are vital once again. And genre-making is no longer the preserve of the label or critic. A small group of loosely connected artists  or sometimes even a single song  can generate so much online discussion that it becomes the locus of a small online community, linked by a shared interest in this particular approach to sound, instrument or aesthetic.

Some adopt ironic names such as crabcore and shitgaze, never dreaming that they will draw the attention of music critics and bloggers trying to feed the internets ravenous appetite for content. This can have interesting consequences.

Chillwave, for instance, was one of the first digital micro-genres to go mainstream. The name started out as an ironic joke. Carles, the pseudonymous writer of satirical music blog Hipster Runoff, coined it in 2009 to refer to the music of acts such as Neon Indian and Washed Out  dream-pop infused with a love for cheesy old synths, vintage drum machines and sepia-tinged summertime imagery. The term was meant to parody the amateurish, minutiae-obsessed style of the hipster music blogs of the time.

Missing the irony entirely, many of these blogs picked up the tag, at which point mainstream publications began to conduct fawning profiles of the micro-genres leading artists.

How does one ensure that a new genre name sticks? It cant be a reaction to just one band: there have to be at least three bands that you can build a legitimate argument around. But be ridiculous and be obvious, a 24-year-old Carles would tell Wired two years later.

Anyway, the joke eventually soured. By 2014, chillwave was disavowed by its leading artists, and had become something of a cringe reminder of the excesses of the music blog era.

Even when the tag doesnt start out as a joke, it can be hard to sustain a micro-genre in the glare of the mainstream. An influx of musical tourists can drive out its original community  which often came together over a shared love of weird, non-mainstream, outsider music. What usually follows is a flood of low-quality copycats who dilute the aesthetic. The bubble bursts, and the community moves on in search of the next quirky sound.

Hyperpop  the biggest micro-genre since chillwave  cemented its place in mainstream popular culture once Spotify launched a playlist of that name in 2019. Then an Atlantic article called it the countercultural sound of the 2020s. Six months later, in mid-2021, British hyperpop artist Charli XCX announced that the micro-genre was dead. In 2022, 16-year-old hyperpop star glaive said he was working to kill the movement. It had become a parody of itself, fans agreed on Reddit. The same backlash that had slain tags such as chillwave, witch house, seapunk and vaporwave had claimed another.

It is easy to see this as failure, as a boom-bust cycle of one-hit wonders. But perhaps thats an artefact of older, pre-digital ways of thinking about music and genre. Perhaps its better to think of micro-genres as capturing a specific moment in internet culture. The names and aesthetic must change, but theyre all manifestations of the same radical idea: that music has the potential to include anyone (a sentiment never more true than now). Viewed from that perspective, blog house and dream plugg become different iterations of a truly democratic, continually evolving sound. Micro-genres die, but the micro-genre lives on.
The long journey of the Three Wise Men to the Rhineland begins with the history of the Roman Catholic Church  and an emperor's mother, who was an avid collector of holy relics. In the year 313, Emperor Constantine the Great, ruler of the Roman Empire, issued the Edict of Milan, a declaration that legalized Christianity across the Roman Empire. (Also Read | Earth's Rotations Day 2023: Date, history and significance of the day) According to Christian tradition, the Three Wise Men followed the Star of Bethlehem to find Jesus. (DW/Dmitry Rukhlenko/Imagebroker/picture alliance)

Many Romans renounced the gods of antiquity and embraced the new faith. Among them was Helena, the emperor's mother. She also embarked on finding all possible places and objects that had something to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

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In Jerusalem, she allegedly discovered his grave and also the cross on which he is said to have died. During her search for relics, she is said to have found the grave of the Three Wise Men.

Magi on the ox cart

Christians from all over the world revere them as the "Three Wise Men from the East" who followed the star of Bethlehem to Jesus' manger and paid homage to him as the newborn son of God.

Although the three visitors are popularly referred to as kings, in the Bible they are rather described as wise men, in some translations astrologers or magi  priests specialized in the study of the stars.

But whether they were kings or not, the relics were valuable enough for the emperor's mother to bring them to Constantinople (now Istanbul). But Helena didn't get to enjoy her find for long: The emperor gave it to the Milanese bishop Eustorgius, who embedded it in a marble sarcophagus and had the reliquary transported to Italy on an ox cart.

At the end of the arduous, almost 2,000-kilometer (1,250-mile) journey to Milan, the exhausted animals are said to have collapsed just outside the city gates. According to legend, that precise location is where Eustorgius built a basilica to keep the remains of the Three Wise Men.

Saints as spoils of war

And the bones lay there for over seven centuries, until Emperor Frederick I, known as Barbarossa, besieged Milan in 1162. At his side was the Cologne Archbishop Rainald von Dassel, who was not only a man of the church, but also imperial chancellor and military leader for Barbarossa.

When the Italian city finally fell, von Dassel asked for the Three Kings' remains as spoils of war.

"The archbishop was certainly aiming to gain prestige for Cologne," says Matthias Deml, press spokesperson for the Cologne Cathedral Builders' Works, adding that such important saints from biblical times had an inestimable value for pilgrims.

'An incomparable treasure'

When the archbishop entered Cologne with his troops on July 23, 1164, the city's residents cheered them enthusiastically, celebrating their precious cargo  which von Dassel described at the time as "an incomparable treasure, more valuable than all gold and precious stones."

"The amazing thing is that there were no sources about the existence of these relics before 1162," Deml told DW. "When they arrived in Cologne, however, they became world famous, because Dassel advertised everywhere he went that he was now in possession of the bones of the Three Wise Men."

However, that marketing strategy turned the transport of the remains into a risky journey; the relics would have been worthwhile loot for any prince. It is said that different tricks were used to deceive potential robbers, such as nailing horseshoes on backwards to avoid being tracked, or declaring the remains to be plague corpses, carried over the Alps in tin coffins.

A legend created by a monk from Hildesheim

None of the stories about how Helena or Bishop Eustorgius came into possession of the relics were ever officially documented, nor were the archbishop's precautions to protect the remains on their journey to Cologne.

The first documents about the remains date back to their celebrated arrival in Cologne.

According to Deml, a Carmelite monk named Johannes von Hildesheim wrote down the legend of what happened to the Three Kings after their biblical apparition.

In his telling, the Magi did not want to separate after visiting Jesus' manger. One day, Thomas the Apostle came by to visit them, and told them about Christ's life and impact, and ordained them bishops.

The monk then also included a "miracle" in their burial story: The deceased eldest king, Johannes von Hildesheim wrote, moved to the side of the grave to leave space for the second one when he also died. And both of them slid aside for the youngest of the three when the grave was opened again to bury him next to his companions.

To thank the monk, the Archbishop of Cologne bequeathed the saints' finger bones to the city of Hildesheim. "And this was not a small, insignificant part of the body, because the Three Kings used their index fingers to point to the Star of Bethlehem," Deml explained.

Before Johannes von Hildesheim's writings on "the Wise Men from the Orient," it was around the year 500 that their names  Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar  first appeared, along with an interpretation of their role in the story. According to the Catholic Church, they each represented one of the continents that were known 2,000 years ago  Africa, Asia and Europe  and symbolized the idea that the whole world would adore Jesus.

Pilgrims flock to Cologne, hoping for miracles

In any case, the precious relics ended up in the Romanesque cathedral of the city of Cologne. Philipp von Hochstaden, the successor to von Dassel, who died on another campaign in 1167, commissioned a golden shrine. It was made by one of the most artistic goldsmiths of the Middle Ages, Nicholas of Verdun.

Every day, countless pilgrims flocked to the Shrine of the Three Kings. In the morning, a door in the shrine would be opened to allow the saints' skulls to be seen. Persuasive clergymen took plaques, coins or even printed silk fabrics from the believers, which they would hold onto the shrine to turn them into so-called "contact relics." These were believed to help against things like epilepsy, house fires, feverish illnesses, robbers, pirates and more, Deml said.

A new cathedral was needed

Emperors and kings also travelled to pay their respects to the Three Kings. It didn't take long before the old Cologne cathedral could no longer accommodate the hordes of pilgrims from all over Europe.

So in 1248 the people of Cologne began building a new, more fitting church.

Its completion took an impressive 632 years. The cathedral was not completed until 1880.

'A matter of faith'

The Three Wise Men have survived the centuries unscathed, although of course the question has repeatedly been asked over time: Are those really the remains of the Three Wise Men?

"It certainly isn't a blatant forgery," says Matthias Deml. The shrine was opened in the 19th century and the bones were found to be wrapped in old, valuable silk fabrics from Palmyra (today's Syria), which date back to late antiquity.

"So whoever is in the Shrine of the Three Kings, they have definitely been revered for many centuries," points out Deml. "Whether they are the Magi is ultimately a matter of faith."
It was the monsoon of 1718, at a Jesuit mission. The youngsters were studying under Michele Bertoldi (1662-1740), a senior Italian missionary who would spend most of his life here. His specialty was helping young people who were interested in Christianity prepare to act as guides to others in their community.

More than 300 years later, the text he framed to help them  handwritten in Tamil on strips of dried palm leaf  would turn up in an Armenian monastery in Venice, found and identified only because a Tamilian scholar from Delhi wouldnt stop knocking on the monasterys doors.

When the PhD scholar Tamil Bharathan TK, 27, was finally allowed to examine the manuscript  which he had heard about, then briefly seen on a visit  he still didnt know what he was looking at. Because Bertoldi had signed it as Gnana Pragasa Swami, his adopted Tamil name.

When this code was finally cracked, it would reveal a network that encompassed St Ignatius Loyola of Spain, Armenian seafaring traders in Tamil Nadu, universities set up by those traders in Venice, and a network of Italian-led missions in south India.

***

It all began, Bharathan says, when he was invited by the Venice-based Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies to participate in a 21-day seminar on Greek palaeography (the study of ancient and medieval handwritten texts), in July.

After each days sessions, he found himself with time on his hands, and decided to explore sites that might help in his PhD research (a comparative study of ancient Tamil and Greek texts). A fellow scholar put him in touch with Margherita Trento, a historian of early-modern south India and an associate professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, in Paris.

A network of Armenian traders had once connected the Veneto region very directly with south India, she told him. She had even got a brief glimpse of a Tamil manuscript on San Lazzaro degli Armeni, a small island near Venice home to an Armenian Mekhitarist monastery. It might be worth exploring, she said.

Tamil Bharathan TK.

Bharathan called up a map. The island was a short ferry ride away. I landed on a day when it was being visited by a group of Italian tourists. The administration staff at the entrance didnt speak English. But I requested, largely in gestures, and finally got permission to visit the library, he says. Inside, he asked about a Tamil manuscript, and was shown one from erstwhile Madras, in Pali. There were no others, he was told. He spent hours scouring the shelves. And then he saw it on a shelf, mis-categorised as a 13th-century Indian papyrus work.

I was thrilled! I was just able to take a picture of it before I had to leave. The monastery was shutting for the day. The last boat from the island was about to leave too.

Bharathan didnt know it then, but it would be desperate days before he saw the book again. He returned to the island twice, but the monastery wouldnt let him access the manuscript; it was a rare work and they didnt know who he was. He finally returned a third time, with an authorisation letter from JNU. And I was granted permission, he says.

***

The manuscripts 180 slender, long leaves, held together by thread, were in entirely the wrong order, so Bharathan simply photographed them as quickly as he could, over two and a half hours. He still didnt know what the book was.

Later, studying the photographs, he found the preface. Gnana Muyarchi written by Gnana Pragasa Swami, it read.

Gnana is wisdom; muyarchi is practice. The book was an adaptation of The Spiritual Exercises, a book of meditations devised by the 16th-century Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Bharathan checked with other scholars, spoke to Trento, and it was confirmed: Gnana Pragasa Swami was Bertoldi.

He arrived in Goa in 1697 and would spend most of his life in the village of Avoor, south of Tiruchirapalli. He was among the most significant promoters of the practice of spiritual exercises for Tamil Catholic teachers in training, Trento says.

In her 2022 book, Writing Tamil Catholicism: Literature, Persuasion and Devotion in the Eighteenth Century, which draws on letters written by Bertoldi and documents from Jesuit archives, as well as a close reading of the Tamil text, she notes that the Gnana Muyarchi marks the first such record of the practice of Ignatius of Loyolas Spiritual Exercises in the mission, even though missionaries must have done them in the 17th century too.

The Gnana Muyarchi was used for centuries, in fact, and was reprinted several times, as late as the 19th century, by the Mission Press in Puducherry.

The location of this manuscript brings to light the importance of Armenian networks in the early-modern period, Trento says.

Nivedita Louis, a Chennai historian, points to how early settlers among the seafaring Armenian traders, such as Samuel Moorat and his father-in-law Edward Raphael, had close ties to Mekhitarist monks. Moorat bequeathed his property to the Mekhitarist Order, which used it to set up a college in Venice. It was later amalgamated with a college established in 1836 by Raphael. There was continuous exchange between Madras and Italy, including through these colleges. The manuscript may have reached Italy in this way, Louis says.

In the next phase of their study, Bharathan and Trento plan to examine the text for clues to how missionaries of the 18th century studied and used the Tamil language; framed poetry in it; and preached evolving practices such as the Ignatian exercises.

Bharathan has also submitted a report on the manuscript to chief minister MK Stalin. I am hoping the government will help with digitisation and further research on it, he says.

He is in touch with monastery officials too. They were astonished to learn of the specific language on the leaves, he says. They are happy to let me access it further, for scholarly work, he adds, laughing.
Its a new year and hope springs anew, that 2024 will bring a slew of movies that dazzle, transport and entertain. Here are a few that Im looking forward to.

First, theres Merry Christmas, due for release next week. The combination of director Sriram Raghavan and stars Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi is mouth-watering in itself. The trailer gives us two strangers meeting on Christmas Eve. Romance ensues and then some sort of hell breaks loose. Srirams last film was the deliciously twisted Andhadhun (2018), so the bar is high.

The trend of A-list women actors going out on a creative limb promises to yield exciting results in 2024. Last year, we had Kareena Kapoor Khan collaborate with Sujoy Ghosh on Jaane Jaan (about a single mother who will do anything to protect her daughter from the shadows of her troubled former life). This year, the actor goes a step further with The Buckingham Murders, in which she plays a British policewoman battling with a personal tragedy. (This was the opening film at the 2023 Jio MAMI festival, but is due for a theatrical release this year). We will also see Alia Bhatt in Vasan Balas prison-break thriller, Jigra.

Im intrigued by Laapataa Ladies, the second film directed by Kiran Rao. Its about two young brides who disappear during a train journey. The teaser promises a rollicking ride and I love that title. Theres also Mr & Mrs Mahi, in which Janhvi Kapoor reunites with Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl director Sharan Sharma, and stars alongside Rajkummar Rao.

The great American film critic Gene Siskel used to have a basic test that asked: Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch? Truth be told, I would happily watch a documentary of the Kalki 2898 AD actors having lunch because the cast includes Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Rana Daggubati and Disha Patani. There are reports that Dulquer Salmaan might feature too. Whats thrilling is the ambition. Writer-director Nag Ashwin is creating a futuristic world that promises to be a first of its kind for Indian cinema.

From Pa Ranjith, theres Thangalaan, which is Tamil for Protector of the People. The film is set in colonial India and features an unrecognisable Chiyaan Vikram as head of a tribal community labouring in the Kolar gold fields. The visuals released so far are absolutely electric.

There will be a slew of sequels in 2024. Rohit Shetty is back, doing what he does best: testosterone-fuelled films brimming with stars and action. Singham Again features Ajay Devgn, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan. For added allure, there is Tiger Shroff, and Deepika Padukone as Shakti Shetty, who Rohit describes as Lady Singham. Im excited.

Sukumars Pushpa 2: The Rule is the other highly anticipated sequel out this year. Allu Arjun returns as the sandalwood smuggler who rises through the ranks. The sequel will hopefully have more of Fahadh Faasil as the unhinged cop Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat.

Im also excited about Stree 2, directed by Amar Kaushik. A headless man plays a key role! I cant wait to see where Amar will take the story.

Theres L2: Empuraan, the sequel to Lucifer, starring the legend Mohanlal and directed by another superb actor, Prithviraj Sukumaran. Prithviraj also features in the rebooted Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, alongside Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff. Thats an intriguing combination.

Diljit Dosanjh, a favourite of mine, will star in Imtiaz Alis Amar Singh Chamkila, which tells the story of Punjabs legendary rockstar. This will be an AR Rahman musical. Whats not to love?

Actor-writer-director Rishab Shetty will also return, with Kantara: Chapter 1, a prequel to his 2022 blockbuster. It looks spectacular.

Theres Aavesham by writer-director Jithu Madhavan, starring Fahadh Faasil as a gangster. For me, Faasil is the gold standard of acting. I will watch anything hes in.

But before all these, we have Fighter with Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor. Im hoping this one, directed by Siddharth Anand, is the desi answer to Top Gun. I think it might also set the limit for how much beauty and superstar charisma can be squeezed into one movie. All in all, it looks set to be a film feast through the new year.
A backpacker has detailed the terrifying moment he was allegedly "robbed at knifepoint" while on holiday in Vietnam, just one day after arriving in the country as part of his three month trip.

Tom Anderson had planned to travel around Asia, starting in Bangkok and then Thailand before the 27-year-old arrived in Vietnam on 21 December. But tragedy struck the next day following a night out with friends when he was on his way back to his hostel.

Anderson claims he spotted a fellow traveller on the street who appeared drunk, so he decided to walk her home. Minutes after dropping the woman off, he claims he was attacked by two "big" strangers wearing "masks and sunglasses".

British tourist Tom Anderson says he was attacked by two strangers while holidaying in Vietnam. Source: Jam Press

"I was on my way back to the hostel and went down a dark alleyway, and these men came up to me and told me to give them my cash," Anderson from the UK said. "I could feel the tip of the knife in my back and thought what the f**k. I was really scared".

"I only had 50,000 dong on me (approx A$5.70) so they told me to get my card out and took me to an ATM where forced me to make several withdrawals until my card was finally declined."

Authorities 'couldn't help'

The British man said he went to the police to report the incident but as he had been drinking and couldnt remember the exact address of the ATM or street hed gone down, "they couldnt help me" he said.

Anderson, who also holds US citizenship, visited the UK embassy in Vietnam on multiple occasions, but due to the holidays, claims he has not been able to speak to anyone yet.

The British man claims he was 'robbed at knifepoint' and made to take out cash from the ATM. Source: Jam Press

Hes now focusing on trying to reach his banks in Britain to report the incident and hopefully be able to get his money back. According to Tom, the victims came away with around A$380 to $560 (200 to 300).

Story continues

"I went to the police afterwards but they couldnt help me. didnt know which street it was or if there were cameras," he explained.

"I also went to the UK embassy, but the security guard told me it was closed. There isnt much I can do to get my cash back but Im trying to figure out if my insurance will cover it.

"For now, Im relying on friends and strangers to help by taking out cash and then I send them the money through my online bank, as my cards dont work.

"Thinking back now, it was really terrifying, though I dont feel scared walking around after what happened because I was stupid and walking alone late at night."

Jam Press

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Panic attacks, which are frequent and unexpected symptoms experienced by patients with panic disorder, include overwhelming fear, sweaty palms, shortness of breath, and a rapid heartbeat. It may be possible to develop more potent treatments for panic disorder by mapping out the brain's areas, neurons, and connections that mediate these panic episodes. A crucial brain route that mediates symptoms of panic disorder: Study(Unsplash)

Now, Salk researchers have begun to construct that map by discovering a brain circuit that mediates panic disorder. This circuit consists of specialized neurons that send and receive a neuropeptide - a small protein that sends messages throughout the brain - called PACAP. What's more, they determined that PACAP and the neurons that produce its receptor are possible druggable targets for new panic disorder treatments.

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The findings were published in Nature Neuroscience.

ALSO READ: 7 tips and tricks to stop a panic attack shared by therapist

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"We've been exploring different areas of the brain to understand where panic attacks start," says senior author Sung Han, associate professor at Salk. "Previously, we thought the amygdala, known as the brain's fear center, was mainly responsible -- but even people who have damage to their amygdala can still experience panic attacks, so we knew we needed to look elsewhere. Now, we've found a specific brain circuit outside of the amygdala that is linked to panic attacks and could inspire new panic disorder treatments that differ from current available panic disorder medications that typically target the brain's serotonin system."

To begin sketching out a panic disorder brain map, the researchers looked at a part of the brain called the lateral parabrachial nucleus (PBL) in the pons (part of the brain stem), which is known as the brain's alarm center. Interestingly, this small brainstem area also controls breathing, heart rate, and body temperature.

It became evident that the PBL was likely implicated in generating panic and bringing about emotional and physical changes. Furthermore, they found that this brain area produces a neuropeptide, PACAP (pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide), known as the master regulator of stress responses. But the link between these elements was still unclear, so the team turned to a mouse model of panic attacks to confirm and expand their proposed map.

"Emotional and stress-related behaviors have been associated with PACAP-expressing neurons in the past," says co-first author Sukjae Kang, senior research associate in Han's lab. "By mimicking panic attacks in the mice, we were able to watch those neurons' activity and discover a unique connection between the PACAP brain circuit and panic disorder."

They found that during a panic attack, PACAP-expressing neurons became activated. Once activated, they release PACAP neuropeptide messenger to another part of the brain called the dorsal raphe, where neurons expressing PACAP receptors reside. The released PACAP messengers activate those receptor neurons, thereby producing panic-associated behavioral and physical symptoms in the mice.

This connection between panic disorder and the PACAP brain circuit was an important step forward for mapping panic disorder in the brain, Han says. The team also found that by inhibiting PACAP signaling, they could disrupt the flow of PACAP neuropeptides and reduce panic symptoms -- a promising finding for the future development of panic disorder-specific therapeutics.

According to Han, despite panic disorder's categorization as an anxiety disorder, there are many ways that anxiety and panic are different -- like how panic induces many physical symptoms, like shortness of breath, pounding heartrate, sweating, and nausea, but anxiety does not induce those symptoms. Or how panic attacks are uncontrollable and often spontaneous, while other anxiety disorders, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are more memory-based and have predictable triggers. These differences, says Han, are why it is critical to construct this panic disorder brain map, so that researchers can create therapeutics specially tailored to panic disorder.

"We found that the activity of PACAP-producing neurons in the brain's parabrachial nucleus is inhibited during anxiety conditions and traumatic memory events -- the mouse's amygdala actually directly inhibits those neurons," says Han, who is also the Pioneer Fund Developmental Chair at Salk. "Because anxiety seems to be operating conversely to the panic brain circuit, it would be interesting to look at the interaction between anxiety and panic, since we need to explain now how people with anxiety disorder have a higher tendency to experience panic attack."

The team is excited to explore PACAP-expressing neurons and PACAP neuropeptides as novel druggable targets for panic disorder. Additionally, they are hoping to further build out their map of panic disorder in the brain to see where the PACAP receptor-producing neurons in the dorsal raphe send their signals, and how other anxiety-related brain areas interact with the PACAP panic system.
Kenya said Friday it had welcomed the first batch of foreign tourists who arrived under a simplified entry system it hopes will encourage more visitors. The government's immigration services department said the "maiden visa-free arrivals" landed in Nairobi from Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and more were expected to touch down in coming days. (Also Read | Iran, Thailand allow visa-free entry to Indian passport holders; list of places to travel without visa in holiday season) Kenya's President William Ruto had recently announced that holidayers visiting the African country will no longer require a visa starting January.(Freepik)

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said visa requirements would be waived for all travellers to Kenya regardless of nationality.

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Under the new system, travellers apply online for an electronic travel authorization (ETA)and pay a $30 "processing" fee.

"Right now... all countries around the world including Africa, Asia, America, Australia, and all over the world, are able to come in visa-free," he said at the launch of the scheme at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Last year, President William Ruto announced that Kenya would become a "visa-free country" and existing requirements would be waived come January.

Even so, as recently as last Tuesday the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority warned the new ETA system was "in the process of development and implementation."

The number of tourist arrivals in 2022 rose to 1.54 million, still below pre-pandemic levels, according to tourism ministry figures. (Also Read | 2024 Long Weekends: Best places to travel in India on your long weekends in 2024. See detailed itinerary)

Kenya Tourism Board chair Francis Gichaba voiced hope in November that the figure could top two million in the latest financial year, surpassing the 2019 figure of 1.9 million.
On Tuesday evening I was packing in preparation for driving the next day to Lucknow. Gillian and I were planning to attend the wedding of a close friend. Then a journalist friend, also hoping to go to the wedding, rang to tell us to rethink our plan. The roads are a shambles, he said, there is a strike by transport drivers. With the new highways, it should not take more than six hours to drive to Lucknow from Delhi. I have just managed the same journey but it has taken us hours because of all the obstacles we had hit with trucks blocking the fast roads and the diversions we had to make.

After a meeting with the Union home secretary, the All India Motor Transport Association (AIMTC) decided to end the nationwide truck drivers protests against the new hit-and-run law. The government assured members of the transport body that the new laws have not been implemented yet and will only come into force after consultation with AIMTC. The transport body said that the truck drivers strike would end soon and all the drivers must resume operations. The nationwide protest led to chaos in several states as people indulged in panic buying, fearing that stocks would dry up. Many petrol pumps ran out of fuel as people queued up to get supplies amid uncertainty over the drivers protest. What was particularly strange about this strike was that it didnt appear to be hitting the Capital Delhi.

Coincidentally, in the same days newspaper, I read a government spokesman saying the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be released before dates for elections were announced. The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government, aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants. Notably, the Act will provide citizenship to non-Muslim migrants including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and others. The implementation of the CAA, which has been delayed for over four years, necessitates the formulation of its associated rules. On December 27, 2023, Union home minister Amit Shah asserted that the implementation of the CAA cant be halted as it stands as the law of the land. Between April 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, 1,414 individuals from non-Muslim minorities were granted Indian citizenship. This Act will give citizenship to everyone from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who faced problems because of their religion provided they were not Muslims. It was passed four years ago and the date for announcing the rules has been extended several times.

Two years ago, the government went one step further after one year of agitation by farmers and announced that they would be repealing the controversial farmers laws. The farm Bills were approved by Parliament in September 2020. The laws would have deregulated a system of government-run wholesale markets, allowing farmers to sell directly to food processors. However, farmers feared that this would result in the end of government-guaranteed price floors, thereby reducing the prices they would receive for their crops. This inspired protests against the new laws.

On January 12, 2021, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the farm laws and appointed a committee to look into farmer grievances related to the laws. In a televised address on November 19, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government would repeal the laws in the upcoming parliamentary session in December. On December 1, 2021, the laws were formally repealed.

All this uncertainty about legislation concerning a government that prides itself on its decisiveness could be that for all its apparent arrogance, it does overestimate its power. It could also mean that the government does not care about respecting the law and the Constitution. All these incidents represent a breach of the Constitutions spirit if not its letter. It is, of course, possible that the government has simply discovered a way of implementing the law by just delaying things.

If so, then a more vigilant and vigorous media could act as an effective check against this tendency. Unfortunately, this is not the case today as large sections of the media are content to remain passive, even indifferent.

The views expressed are personal
India's first-ever solar mission  Aditya L1  achieved a significant milestone on its journey towards the Sun, entering the Halo orbit of the Sun-Earth system around Langrage point 1 (L1) on Saturday. The spacecraft will now continuously observe the Sun without any occultation or eclipses, as stated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Using its seven instruments, it aims to explore unanswered questions about our dynamic and turbulent star. A graphic representation of ISROs Aditya L1 mission.

The spacecraft is carrying seven payloads designed to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors.

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Now, let us delve into the crucial role played by the European Space Agency during Aditya L1's journey since its launch on September 2 via PSLV-C57 by ISRO.

How has ESA been helping with Aditya L1?

The European Space Agency (ESA) has been actively assisting the Aditya-L1 mission in two key areas: providing deep space communication services and validating critical flight dynamics software in collaboration with ISRO, according to ESA official website.

Ramesh Chellathurai, ESA Service Manager and Cross-Support Liaison Officer for ISRO, said,For the Aditya-L1 mission, we are providing support from all three of our 35-metre deep space antennas in Australia, Spain and Argentina, as well as support from our Kourou station in French Guiana and coordinated support from Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK.

ESA highlighted the importance of communication in space missions, emphasising that without ground station support, obtaining scientific data, ensuring spacecraft safety, and determining its whereabouts would be impossible.

ESA stands as the primary provider of ground station services for Aditya-L1, committed to supporting the mission from launch through various phases, including the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase, the journey to L1, and enabling the transmission of commands and receipt of scientific data from Aditya-L1 during routine operations for multiple hours each day over the next two years.

Why is L1 point crucial?

When a large celestial body orbits another, their gravitational interplay creates five points of gravitational equilibrium (means gravitational pull of large mass being equal to the centripetal force of the smaller mass), called Lagrange points. These spots allow spacecraft to linger without excessive fuel consumption. According to NASA, Lagrange points are named in honour of Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange.

Five Lagrange points in the Sun-Earth system(source: ESA official site)

Of these five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The first Lagrange point, L1, resides about one per cent of the distance from Earth to the Sun. Positioned between them, it offers an unobstructed, perpetual view of the Sun, making it an ideal spot for solar missions like Aditya-L1.

L1, however, falls into the category of unstable Lagrange points. Precisely anchoring a spacecraft at L1 presents significant challenges.

Instead, spacecraft manoeuvre into an orbit around L1, treating this point as if it were an invisible planet. However, due to the inherent instability, even minor trajectory deviations can rapidly escalate. Thus, these spacecraft require station keeping manoeuvres approximately every month to maintain their correct orbit.
Sam Altman-led OpenAI, and Microsoft  its largest investor  have been sued by two non-fiction authors, who alleged in their lawsuit that the companies simply stole their copyrighted works to build a billion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) system. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left) and Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft (File Photo/AFP)

The AI leader and the Satya Nadella-led tech giant are already under a New York Times(NYT) lawsuit; the daily has accused them of using millions of NYT articles to train their automated chatbots.

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What does the latest lawsuit say?

Authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, who moved a Manhattan federal court on Friday, claim that OpenAI's system relies on being trained by ingesting massive amounts of written material,' including books written by the two former journalists.

Basbanes and Gage said that OpenAI and Microsoft are no different than any other thief' and stated in their suit that they seek to represent a class of writers whose copyrighted work has been systematically pilfered' by the companies.

Estimating the size of that class to be tens of thousands of people, the suit sought damages of up to $150,000 for each of the duo's work that was infringed.

What OpenAI has done with copyrighted work without permission is pretty outrageous. It is just like a homeowner arguing that they should not have to pay for insulation, plumbing, and other material hidden behind the walls of a house, because it is not visible, their lawyer Mike Richter, the son-in-law of Basbanes, told CNBC.

OpenAI already sued by

In September last year, the San Francisco-based creator of ChatGPT, was sued by as many as 17 renowned American non-fiction authors, among them, George RR Martin, whose novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, was adapted into HBO's award-winning series Game of Thrones.'

They too accused the AI firm of copyright infringement.
A window shattered on an Alaska Airlines plane flying from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, causing a loss of cabin pressure and forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing back at Portland International Airport on Friday evening. Shattered window on Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737 MAX prompts safe landing. Photographer(X)

The incident occurred on Alaska flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX that had been certified by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in November 2023, just two months before the flight, according to FAA records available online.

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Passengers on board the plane told KPTV that they heard a loud bang and saw a hole in the wall of the plane, where a window had blown out at an altitude of 16,000 feet. A child sitting near the window was reportedly pulled by the suction, and his shirt was torn off. Some passengers also lost their phones, which were sucked out of the plane. A seat next to the window was also blown out due to decompression.

ALSO READ| Jeffrey Epstein list: Court doc reveals Prince Andrew spent 'weeks' at Epstein's residence

The planes oxygen masks dropped down, and many passengers used them as they waited for the plane to return to the airport. The plane was carrying 174 passengers and 6 crew members.

No injuries have been reported so far.

Alaska Airlines acknowledged the incident on X and said they would provide more details as they become available.

Videos shared on social media showed passengers wearing oxygen masks and sitting calmly as the plane landed safely. The hole in the wall of the plane was clearly visible, with the lights of Portland shining through.

The Boeing 737 Max is one of the most popular aircraft models in the world, but it has also been plagued by safety issues and controversies. In 2018 and 2019, two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max killed a total of 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The crashes were linked to a faulty system called MCAS, which pushed the nose of the plane down without the pilots control.

ALSO READ| Lululemon in damage control mode as founder slams yoga wear inclusion thing

The 737 Max was grounded worldwide for 20 months, the longest suspension in aviation history, while Boeing faced investigations and lawsuits. In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle criminal charges that it hid crucial information about the MCAS from regulators and the public.

One Boeing employee said in an internal message that the 737 Max was designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys.

Boeing made changes to the MCAS and other systems and the 737 Max was cleared to fly again in late 2020. The incident on Alaska Flight 1282 raises new questions about the safety and reliability of the 737 Max.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken should try to end Israel's "aggression" in Gaza during his current Middle East tour. The top US diplomat arrived in Turkey at the start of a trip which includes planned visits to Israel and the occupied West Bank. He will also visit several Gulf states in his fourth regional tour since fighting began with Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, most of them civilians. The visit would focus on getting more aid into the Gaza Strip, US said. Israel-Hamas War: Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.(AFP)

Ismail Haniyeh said, in a video message, that he hoped Blinken had "learned the lessons of the last three months" during which Israel has bombarded Gaza. US support for Israel "has caused unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people in Gaza", he said.

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"We... hope that he will be more focused this time on ending the aggression" as well as "the occupation of all Palestinian lands", the Qatar-based Hamas chief said, urging regional leaders due to meet Antony Blinken to tell him that stability in the Middle East was "closely linked to our Palestinian cause".

Israel's bombarding has killed at least 22,722 people, most of them women and children, in Gaza.

What Turkey said on Blinken's visit?

Turkish said that it discussed the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Sweden's NATO accession process with Blinken as it held two hours of talks with in Istanbul. Blinken will also meet Turkey president Tayyip Erdogan at the start of a trip, an official said.

What Israel said on Gaza war?

Israel military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Israeli forces were maintaining a "very high state of readiness" along the border with Lebanon.

The army continues to fight ... in the north, centre and south in Gaza, he said.
Bangladeshs main opposition party started a 48-hour general strike ahead of country's general election. Voting would start Sunday and last for eight hours across the country in over 42,000 ballot stations as ballot boxes have been sent over in preparation for the vote, the election commission said. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former premier Khaleda Zia, are boycotting the election. Ailing Khaleda Zia is currently under house arrest. Bangladesh Elections: Dhaka University students hold a rally along a roadside in the capital.(AFP)

Why is BNP boycotting the election?

The party said that they can't guarantee the fairness of the elections under prime minister Sheikh Hasina who is seeking to return to power for a fourth consecutive term. The party has vowed to disrupt the election, calling for strikes and urging people to join the boycott.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

What has the BNP said on Sheikh Hasina?

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, BNP joint secretary general, said that his party wants Sheikh Hasina to resign, calling the election skewed.

The government is again playing with fire. The government has resorted to its old tactics of holding a one-sided election, he said.

Have their been incidents of violence in Bangladesh during campaigning?

Campaigning has been marred with violence with at least 15 people killed since October, Associated Press reported. Earlier, an apparent arson fire on a train in the capital Dhaka killed four people. A police official said the people who wanted to disrupt the election were definitely behind it.

What Bangladesh's foreign minister said?

A.K. Abdul Momen said that the timing of the attack, just a day before the election, was to hinder the democratic process.

"This reprehensible incident, undoubtedly orchestrated by those with malicious intent, strikes at the very heart of our democratic values, he said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to win a fourth straight term and the fifth overall for her Awami League-led alliance in a general election on Sunday boycotted by the main opposition party and marred by violence ahead of the vote. A student holds a placard of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as they celebrate the formation day of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of Bangladesh Awami League, at the University of Dhaka.(REUTERS)

Voting will begin at 8 a.m. (0200 GMT) and end at 4 p.m. (1000 GMT). Counting will start soon after the end of voting, with initial results expected by early Monday.

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Rights groups say the country of 170 million is headed for virtual one-party rule, after the boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and some of its smaller allies.

The United States and Western nations, important customers of its garment industry, have called for a free and fair election - the country's 12th since independence in 1971.

About 120 million voters will choose from nearly 2,000 candidates for the 300 directly elected parliamentary seats. There are 436 independent candidates, the most since 2001.

The BNP says the Awami League has propped up "dummy" candidates as independents to try to make the election look credible, a claim the ruling party denies.

The BNP, which also boycotted the 2014 poll but took part in 2018, has asked people to shun the poll and called a two-day strike nationwide from Saturday.

Hasina, who has refused BNP demands to resign and cede power to a neutral authority to run the election, accuses the opposition of instigating anti-government protests that have rocked Dhaka since late October and killed at least 14 people.

With the ballot outcome all but assured and high risk of violence, turnout could be low on Sunday.

Violence erupted on the eve of the election, with a passenger train fire, which the government called arson, killing at least four people while several polling booths and institutions were set ablaze around the country.

Troops have fanned out across Bangladesh to maintain peace while nearly 800,000 police, paramilitary and police auxiliaries will guard polling booths on Sunday.

In her last 15 years in power, Hasina, 76, has been credited with turning around Bangladesh's economy and the garment industry. But critics have also accused her of authoritarianism, human rights violations, crackdowns on free speech and suppression of dissent.

Her main rival and two-time premier, BNP leader Khaleda Zia, is effectively under house arrest on corruption charges the opposition says have been trumped up.

Khaleda's son, Tarique Rahman, is the acting chairman of the party, but he is in exile, facing charges that he denies.

The economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war pushed up prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout of $4.7 billion last year. (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly and Ruma Paul; editing by Giles Elgood)
Blinken's fourth visit in three months comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza, including in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq, that have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful US push to prevent a regional conflagration in the weeks after the war began, and growing international criticism of Israel's military operation. HT Image

Blinken was meeting on Saturday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Turkiye and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease soaring tensions, speed up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin in earnest to plan for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble by three months of intense Israeli bombardments.

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The immediate difficulty of Blinken's task was underscored just hours before his talks with Erdogan as Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel, warning that the barrage was just an initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanon's capital earlier this week.

Meanwhile, stepped-up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have disrupted international trade and led to increased efforts on the part of the US and its allies to patrol the area and respond to threats, including possibly taking direct action against the group at its bases in Yemen.

The Houthis have carried out at least two dozen attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza just since December 19, which have further heightened tensions and raised risks for the global economy.

In Istanbul, US officials said Blinken would be seeking Turkish buy-in, or at least consideration, of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multi-national force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

Turkiye, and Erdogan in particular, have been harshly critical of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

In addition, officials said, Blinken will stress the importance the US places on Turkiye ratifying Sweden's membership in NATO, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon. Sweden's accession to the alliance is seen as one critical response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

From Turkiye, Blinken will travel to Turkish rival and fellow NATO ally Greece to meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his residence on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Mitsotakis and his government have been supportive of US efforts to prevent the Gaza war from spreading and have signalled their willingness to assist should the situation deteriorate further.

Greece has also shown patience in waiting for the delivery of advanced US fighter jets as the issue of Sweden's accession to NATO is worked out with Turkiye.

Blinken will end his Saturday in Jordan, which apart from Israel has been the secretary's most frequent stop on his recent Middle East tours. Jordan will be the first Arab nation on Blinken's current tour, and will be followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Blinken will then visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

We don't expect every conversation on this trip to be easy, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said shortly before Blinken departed Washington late Thursday.

There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead. But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head-on, and he's prepared to do that in the days to come.

As well as pressing Israel for dramatic increases in humanitarian aid to Gaza, a shift toward less intense military operations and a concerted effort to rein in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Jewish settlers, Blinken will be urging reluctant Gulf Arab nations to work with the US on the future of Gaza. (AP) PY PY
The Finger Lakes Drug Task Force arrested three and seized more than 800 grams of cocaine, as well as other substances, in the culmination of an investigation in Auburn on Friday.

Rashan C. Ingram, 33, was the subject of a months-long investigation by the task force for allegedly possessing, selling and distributing narcotics and illegal synthetic substances in Cayuga County. Search warrants were then obtained for him, his home in Auburn, two vehicles he used, a "stash house" and a third residence he allegedly used to traffic narcotics, the task force said in a news release.

Executing the search warrants on Friday, the task force found and secured 801 grams of cocaine, 71.1 grams of cocaine base ("crack"), 27 grams of dimethylpentylone ("molly") and more than $2,000.

Ingram was arrested and charged with first degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class A-1 felony) and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class B felony). Danielle Ray, 38, was also arrested on the same charges, and Alicia M. Warner, 34, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a class A misdemeanor) and violating Public Health Law on imitation controlled substances (a class A misdemeanor).

Ingram, who is on parole for a charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon until 2028, was transported to the Cayuga County Jail for centralized arraignment proceedings along with Ray on Saturday morning. The Cayuga County District Attorney's Office requested they be remanded to the custody of the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office until court proceedings. Warner was processed on her charges and released with an appearance ticket for court proceedings that will also be prosecuted by the district attorney's office.

The task force, comprised of members of the Auburn Police Department, New York State Police and Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, was assisted by the Auburn Police Department's Gun Involved Violence Elimination Team in the investigation. Anyone with additional information on the case is encouraged to call the task force at (315) 282-7540.
A British Airways flight attendant collapsed in front of passengers just as the plane was about to take off from London's Heathrow Airport on New Year's Eve for Hong Kong. The 52-year-old flight attendant collapsed in the back of the aircraft as the plane's door were locked and passengers were sitting in their seats. It was reported that a passenger trained in first aid tried to save the man but the flight attendant died at the scene. The flight was later cancelled due to a "medical emergency". Ground staff near a passenger aircraft, operated by British Airways Plc, at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, in London, UK.(Bloomberg)

"Sadly, despite the best efforts of our crew, a patient was pronounced dead at the scene," the London Ambulance Service said while British Airways said, Our thoughts are with our colleagues' family and friends at this difficult time.

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This is the second British Airways flight attendant to die in recent weeks after another crew member was found dead in his hotel room on December 23 in between flights, Fox News reported.

"Crew are frantic. These were two healthy people who suddenly dropped dead. There were no reported underlying health issues. The crew were family men, and leave devastated families in shock and disbelief. It has been a traumatic festive period for BA's flying team. Everyone is deeply upset," a source told The Sun about the deaths.

Meanwhile, last year a 73-year-old woman aboard a British Airways flight suffered a heart attack mid-air. In June 2023, a British man also died on a flight from London to New York after suffering an asthma attack.
For the second time since September last year, the official aircraft carrying Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a visit abroad broke down forcing the deployment of a standby plane. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.(Reuters)

In September last year, while in New Delhi to attend the G20 leaders summit, Trudeau had to stay back in the capital for an extra day-and-a-half due to trouble with the plane. This time, however, he returned to Ottawa from a family vacation at a luxury resort in Jamaica after a technician managed to repair the original plane on which he had travelled.

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Trudeau left for the resort on December 26 and returned on Thursday. He was accompanied by family members including Sophie Gregoire, from whom he separated in 2023.

The outlet CBC News reported on Friday that the Department of National Defence had to send a second plane to Jamaica after the as the first aircraft that transported the Prime Ministers party became unserviceable after arrival.

Both planes were CC-144 Challengers operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The second aircraft brought a maintenance team to repair the first aircraft, and remained in the area as a back-up for the Prime Ministers departure, if necessary, the report quoted a DND spokesperson as saying.

The problem with the original plane was discovered on January 2 and a maintenance crew despatched to Jamaica the day, and it managed to return it to serviceability.

The outlet National Post had reported earlier that while Trudeau had originally stated he was bearing the cost of the trip, the PMO later clarified it was at no cost courtesy family friends.

Earlier, last September, a Royal Canadian Air Forces CC-150 Polaris was despatched to Delhi after a technical snag with the original flight prevented Trudeau from leaving as scheduled.

As a fallback measure a technician with a replacement part had also been sent to Delhi. That proved the solution to the Canadian PMs travel woes.

As the Canadian Government scrambled to get its leader back, yet another fallback option was a Challenger aircraft that will sent to collect the Canadian Prime Minister and his entourage if neither the original plane nor the replacement were available for that purpose.

The aircraft currently being used then by Trudeau is 36 years old and has caused problems earlier. In October 2016, it returned to Ottawa half an hour after taking off. Trudeau was then travelling to Belgium.

That plane was out of service for 16 months and a backup was grounded in London in December 2019 when Trudeau was there for a NATO summit.

The planes involved in the Jamaica trip were newer, and had only been acquired in 2020.
Police have identified a vehicle that may have been involved in the shooting at the residence of the son of the president of a local temple in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on December 27. A photo of a vehicle of interest that may have been involved in the shooting targeting the residence of the president of a temple in Surrey on December 27. (Surrey RCMP)

In a release on Friday, the Surrey detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that its General Investigation Unit has been working to advance the investigation and a vehicle of interest has been identified.

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The vehicle is believed to be a blue, 4-door hatchback, Mitsubishi Mirage GT or SE between the model years 2017 and 2019, the release stated.

Surrey RCMP spokesperson Corporal Sarbjit Sangha asked for assistance from the public, calling for anyone who had witnessed the vehicle or had information about it to contact them.

The incident occurred in the early hours of December 24, with nearly a dozen shots fired at the residence of the son of Satish Kumar, president of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey. Police responded at around 8 am.

Kumar is convening a community forum in Surrey on Saturday to address the issue. The community is shaken and the forum is to discuss what is going on with extortion and driveby shootings in our region, he said. He said politicians including British Columbias Attorney General Niki Sharma, MPs, MLAs, Surreys Mayor and members of law enforcement are expected to participate at the forum.

Extortion attempts have become rampant in the Metro Vancouver region, with businesspersons receiving threatening letters, believed to be from gangs with links to India, particularly Punjab.

At the same time, the temple headed by Kumar has also been targeted multiple times by pro-Khalistan elements last year. The Surrey temple has come in the crosshairs of the Khalistani elements twice in recent times, with posters targeting Indias seniormost diplomats pasted to its gate and walls. One person, as yet unidentified, was arrested by the Surrey RCMP in August. However, temple members were unwilling to link that friction to the firing at this time.

The temple had hosted a Consular camp organised by Indias Consulate in Vancouver on November 26 and members had countered a protest called by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ.

SFJs protest was linked to the killing of its principal in the province Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in Surrey. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had stated in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were credible allegations of a potential link between Indian agents and Nijjars murder.

While Kumar said the firing at his sons residence could be an extortion attempt, he said neither of them had been contacted for that purpose prior to or after the incident. We dont know what the motive was and no one has taken responsibility, he said.
Israel bombed Gaza on Saturday as the United Nations warned the Palestinian territory has become "uninhabitable" after three months of fighting that threatens to engulf the wider region. An Israeli tank is seen inside central Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. (Reuters)

AFP correspondents reported Israeli strikes early Saturday on Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter from the fighting.

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Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, with the UN warning of a deepening humanitarian crisis as famine looms and disease spreads.

Abu Mohammed, 60, who fled to Rafah from the central Bureij refugee camp, told AFP Gaza's future was "dark and gloomy and very difficult".

With much of the territory already reduced to rubble, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that "Gaza has simply become uninhabitable".

The UN's children's agency warned that clashes, malnutrition and a lack of health services had created "a deadly cycle that threatens over 1.1 million children" in Gaza.

Israeli forces were continuing "to fight in all parts of the Gaza Strip, in the north, centre and south", military spokesman Daniel Hagari said late Friday.

Hagari said Israeli forces were maintaining a "very high state of readiness" near the border with Lebanon following the killing of a top Hamas commander in a strike in Beirut.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike, but a US defence official told AFP that Israel carried it out.

The war in Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented attack on Israel launched by Hamas on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The militants also took around 250 hostages, 132 of whom remain in captivity, according to Israel, including at least 24 believed to have been killed.

In response, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that have killed at least 22,600 people, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

- Fighting rages -

AFP correspondents reported Friday that Israeli strikes had hit the southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah as well as parts of central Gaza.

A hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah reported that 35 people had been killed there.

The Israeli army said its forces had "struck over 100 targets" across Gaza in the previous 24 hours, including military positions, rocket launch sites and weapons depots.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said it had recorded 162 deaths over the same period.

A fighter jet bombed the central area of Bureij overnight, killing "an armed terrorist cell", the army said, after what it described as an attempted attack on an Israeli tank.

And a number of Palestinian militants were killed in clashes in Khan Yunis, a city that has become a major battleground, the army said.

Troops also uncovered tunnels under the Blue Beach Hotel in northern Gaza that had been used "by terrorists as shelter from where they planned and executed attacks", according to the army.

AFPTV footage on Friday showed entire families, seeking safety from the violence, arriving in Rafah in overloaded cars and on foot, pushing handcarts stacked with possessions.

"We fled Jabalia camp to Maan (in Khan Yunis) and now we are fleeing from Maan to Rafah," said one woman who declined to give her name. "(We have) no water, no electricity and no food."

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported renewed shelling and drone fire in the area around Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis after seven displaced people, including a five-day-old baby, were killed while sheltering in the compound.

"We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe due to the spread of epidemics, with the hospital overcrowded with displaced people," said a spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, meanwhile, slammed a proposal by two Israeli ministers to resettle Gazans outside the territory.

"It's not up to Israel to determine the future of Gaza, which is Palestinian land," Colonna told CNN on Friday.

- Diplomatic push -

Top Western diplomats were in the region as part of a fresh push to raise the flow of aid into the besieged territory and calm rising tensions.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Turkey on Saturday where he was due to discuss the Gaza war with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Blinken will also visit several Arab states before heading to Israel and the occupied West Bank next week.

During his visit, Blinken plans to discuss with Israeli leaders "immediate measures to increase substantially humanitarian assistance to Gaza", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell travelled to Lebanon on Friday for talks on "all aspects of the situation in and around Gaza", including escalating tensions with Israel.

Germany's top diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, was also due to travel to the region, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

She plans to discuss "the dramatic humanitarian situation in Gaza" and tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border, spokesman Sebastian Fischer said.

The war in Gaza and almost daily exchanges of cross-border fire between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group since October 7 have raised fears of a wider conflagration.

Those fears grew this week following the killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri in Hezbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel on Friday that the group would swiftly respond "on the battlefield" to Aruri's death.

Israel's military said Friday that its fighter jets had conducted fresh strikes against Hezbollah targets just across the border.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday at least 22,722 people had been killed in the besieged Palestinian territory since war with Israel erupted on October 7. For weeks, Israeli forces have been engaged in heavy urban fighting in northern Gaza and in the southern city of Khan Younis(Bloomberg)

The ministry said in a statement that it had recorded 122 deaths over the past 24 hours, while a total of 58,166 people had been wounded in the Gaza Strip in nearly three months of fighting.
The death toll from a series of earthquakes in Japan on January 1 jumped up to 100 on Saturday, as the search for survivors under collapsed buildings continued for the fifth day amid the aftershocks. The number of deaths had reached 98 earlier in the day, but two more deaths were reported in Anamizu. Meanwhile, as of Saturday, the number of missing was accounted to 211 in the Ishikawa region of Japan's main Honshu. Police officers conduct a search operation at a burnt market in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan.(AP)

Fifty-nine of those killed were in the city of Wajima and 23 were in Suzu, while the others were reported in five neighbouring towns. More than 500 people have been injured, at least 27 seriously, news agency AP reported citing Ishikawa officials.

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Around 23,800 households were without electricity in the Ishikawa region and over 66,400 households were without water supply. While over 31,400 people were evacuated and have been staying in 357 government shelters, AFP reported.

The earthquakes, including a powerful one with a magnitude of 7.5, jolted the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa on New Year's Day, causing buildings to collapse and triggering tsunami alerts till eastern Russia.

On Friday, thousands of rescuers raced against the clock to free many more people still trapped under rubble.

"I was relaxing on New Year's Day when the quake happened. My relatives were all there and we were having fun. The house itself is standing but it's far from livable now... I don't have the space in my mind to think about the future," a survivor, Hiroyuki Hamatani, told news agency AFP.

The United States has announced $100,000 aid on Friday, including blankets, water and medical supplies, and also promised for more help if required.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended his condolences to Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida over the loss of lives in the deadly earthquake.

"I express my deepest condolence to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives. We stand in solidarity with Japan and its people affected by the disaster," PM Modi said.

"As a special strategic and global partner, India values its relationship with Japan, and is ready to extend all possible assistance at this hour," he added.

On Wednesday, Kishida said that the government has opened a sea route to deliver aid and that some larger trucks were now able to reach some of the more remote areas.

Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year and most cause no damage, with strict building codes in place for more than four decades. The country is haunted by a massive 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

(With inputs from agencies)
King Charles is deeply regretful about a decision that was made regarding Prince Andrew, according to a royal commentator. Former Sun royal editor Charles Rae talked about Prince Andrew following the unsealing of bombshell Jeffrey Epstein files- documents relating to the paedophile financier which included evidence of a woman who claimed Prince Andrew touched her inappropriately. Earlier, Buckingham Palace said that the allegations are categorically untrue. Prince Andrew has always maintained he is not guilty of any wrongdoing. Jeffrey Epstein Files: Britain's King Charles attends the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church.(Reuters)

Charles Rae said the new information is likely to make King Charles regret his decision to invite Prince Andrew to Sandringham on Christmas.

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The King is in a difficult position in so much as I think he made a mistake at Sandringham. That wasnt an official royal outing, it was a family outing. He should have told Andrew not to turn up. I think he may well regret that decision," he said.

It was also reported that King Charles sought to remove the Duke of York from Royal Lodge and wishes to move him into Frogmore Cottage, a decision Prince Andrew has so far resisted.

Charles Rae told GB news, The King has tried to kick him out of the royal residences before. That has reached a stalemate. The King will try again to oust him from Windsor Lodge. He will still have to have a house and I suspect it will be Frogmore Cottage, which is Harry and Meghans former home. Andrew is a very arrogant man and he loves to keep his royal trappings. He has got nothing left apart from riding his horse. The King is going to have to sit down and have a review of Andrews future in terms of the Royal Family. He wont be kicked out, but he will certainly be curtailed in many ways.
Myanmars military government has acknowledged that it withdrew its forces from a key city on the northeastern border with China after it was taken over by an alliance of ethnic armed groups it has been battling for months. An alliance of ethnic armed groups in northeastern Myanmar has reportedly achieved one of the main goals it set when it launched an offensive last October by taking control of Laukkaing.(AP)

The fall of Laukkaing late Thursday is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmars military government since the ethnic alliance launched an offensive Oct. 27. It underlines the pressure the government is under as it battles pro-democracy guerrillas in the wake of a 2021 military takeover as well as ethnic minority armed groups across the country.

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Ethnic armed organizations have battled for greater autonomy for decades, but Myanmar has been wracked by what amounts to civil war since the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking nationwide armed resistance by pro-democracy forces.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance that took Laukkaing is composed of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Taang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army. The MNDAA is a military force of the Kokang minority, who are ethnic Chinese.

Photos and videos on social media showed a vast amount of weapons that the alliance claimed to have captured.

Laukkaing is the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, which is geographically part of northern Shan state in Myanmar.

Myanmar government spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told the Popular News Journal, a pro-army website, on Saturday that the military and its local commanders relinquished control of Laukkaing after considering many aspects, including the safety of the family members of the soldiers stationed there.

He said the military also took into consideration Myanmars relationship with China, which is just across the border from Laukkaing. China, which has good relations with both the military and the ethnic alliance, has been seeking an end to the fighting.

Beijing protested after artillery shells landed in its territory on Wednesday, wounding five people. Zaw Min Tun said the alliance had fired the shells and that it tried to blame the military in order to damage its relationship with China.

A statement posted by the alliance on social media late Friday declared that the entire Kokang region had become a Military Council-free area, referring to Myanmar's ruling junta.

Read more: British Airways attendant dies in front of passengers just before take off

It said 2,389 military personnel  including six brigadier generals  and their family members had surrendered by Friday and that all were evacuated to safety.

Video clips circulating on social media purportedly showed the soldiers and their family members being transported in various vehicles. The Shwe Phee Myay News Agency, an online news site reporting from Shan state, reported that many of them were taken to Lashio, the capital of Shans northern region, under an agreement with the MNDAA for their repatriation.

It's unclear whether the Three Brotherhood Alliance will try to extend its offensive outside of Shan state, but it has vowed to keep fighting against military rule.

The alliance cast its offensive as a struggle against military rule and an effort to rid the region of major organized criminal enterprises. China has publicly sought to eradicate cyberscam operations in Laukkaing that have entrapped tens of thousands of Chinese nationals, who have been repatriated to China in recent weeks.

But the offensive was also widely recognized as an effort by the MNDAA to regain control of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone by ousting a rival Kokang group backed by the military government from its seat of power.

Peng Deren, the MNDAA commander, said in a New Years speech published by The Kokang, an affiliated online media site, that the alliance had seized over 250 military targets and five border crossings with China. He said more than 300 cyberscam centers were raided and more than 40,000 Chinese involved in the operations were repatriated.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal roles in 2020 after which their relationship with the royal family deteriorated. The father-son have not talked to each other since, it was reported as Prince Harry levelled charges against the royal family. In Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's six-part Netflix series, the Duke of Sussex accused King Charles of lying during an important meeting regarding his decision to move to United States. In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry claimed that his father put his own interests before anyone. King Charles-Prince Harry: King Charles attends the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church.(Reuters)

Although, King Charles has remained almost silent on the situation. But when the monarch visited the University of East London's Stratford campus in east London for its 125th anniversary, he was asked by a man about Prince Harry. As he shook hands with the crowd, one man shouted, "Bring back Harry please, can you please bring him back please, Sir?."

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The King appeared to not hear the man and then asked him, "Who?"

The man replied: "Harry, your son" to which King Charles heartbreakingly replied, "It would be nice" as he quickly moved on.

Earlier it was reported that Prince Harry called his father to wish him a happy birthday as King Charles celebrated turning 75 on November 14.

The monarch was also reportedly still open to hearing from Prince Harry, his dear boy, it was reported and there was an open invite for him and Meghan Markle to meet whenever he's in the UK.

However, Prince William's wife Princes of Wales Kate Middleton who had been reportedly acting as a mediator between her husband and Prince Harry has renounced the role of the peacemaker to focus on "healing" after the multiple swipes by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a royal expert claimed.
Prince Andrew is facing severe repercussions after being named in Jeffrey Epstein's court documents. King Charles is reportedly set to stop his brother's private security funding, forcing him out of his current residence, the Royal Lodge. The Duke of York has resided at the royal property on the grounds of Windsor Castle since 2004. He had signed a 75-year lease agreement ahead of moving into the estate, which belonged to the Queen Mother up until her death in 2002. FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the Royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain December 25, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo(REUTERS)

King Charles to stop Prince Andrew's private security funding

The recent unsealing of documents linked to the paedophile sex trafficker has tarnished the image of Prince Andrew. However, a source told the Daily Mail that these current findings could crystallize the king's decision to solve the Andrew problem.

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When it comes to any public role for his brother, there is no way back, the insider told the outlet. There has always been an agreement that Andrew would be permitted to attend private and family events, as is his right. But not public or official ones. That has not changed, the source added.

ALSO READ: Jeffrey Epstein list: Prince Andrew participated in an underage orgy on Epstein's private Island

Prince Andrew currently shares the 31-room Windsor mansion with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. Moreover, the Duke of York has denied King Charles' requests to move into a smaller Frogmore Cottage, which once belonged to Harry and Meghan. When it comes to family, it is difficult. But this association is just never going to go away. And that means he [Andrew] has to, the source added.

Additionally, the king is also set to scrap Prince Andrew's private funding for the security operation at the royal residence, according to Telegram. As per the outlet, should Prince Andrew choose to stay at the Royal Lodge, he must pay millions to fund his security costs.
Ian Phillips has been endorsed by two top Cayuga County Democrats in his bid to challenge Assemblyman John Lemondes in the 126th Assembly District.

Auburn Mayor Jimmy Giannettino and Cayuga County Legislature Chair Aileen McNabb-Coleman are supporting Phillips, D-Auburn, for state Assembly.

"From his tireless work to support our schools and his advocacy for policies that support working and middle-income residents, Ian's record of results shows he's exactly what we need to combat the divisive rhetoric and lack of action in Albany," Giannettino said.

McNabb-Coleman added, "The extremism at every level of government is reducing our ability to solve problems and hindering our ability to support good-paying jobs, quality schools, affordable communities and our shared values. I've known Ian for years and I know he'll fight for our families and for commonsense solutions."

Phillips, a political organizer for New York State United Teachers and president of the Auburn school board, launched his Assembly campaign this week. He is one of two Democrats in the race. Gregg Eriksen, a former Skaneateles village trustee and town board member, is also vying for the party's nomination.

Lemondes, R-LaFayette, is running for a third term representing the 126th district, which includes parts of Cayuga and Onondaga counties. He was first elected in 2020 to succeed the late Gary Finch. He won reelection in 2022.

Republicans hold an enrollment advantage in the 126th district, with GOP voters outnumbering Democrats by 4,400.
The European Union foreign policy chief on Saturday warned against a regional conflict that would involve Lebanon, as border clashes intensified nearly three months into Israel's war with Hezbollah ally Hamas. Israel-Hamas War: European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell speaks.(AFP)

"It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East. It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict," Josep Borrell said during a press conference in Beirut with Lebanon's foreign minister.

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"I am sending this message to Israel too: nobody will win from a regional conflict," he added.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the war.

But a strike that killed Hamas's deputy leader in Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold on Tuesday intensified fears of a wider conflagration. The Lebanese group on Saturday said it retaliated by launching dozens of rockets at a northern Israeli base.

"I think that the war can be prevented, has to be avoided and diplomacy can prevail," Borrell told reporters.

Earlier Saturday, Borrell met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) commander Aroldo Lazaro and the influential speaker of parliament Nabih Berri.

His visit is part of a diplomatic push to avoid further regional escalation, especially on the Lebanon-Israel border, and call for a solution to the Gaza war.

"Diplomatic channels have to be open to signal that the war is not the only option but it is the worst option," he said.
Lululemon has distanced itself from its founder and former CEO Chip Wilson's comments on the apparel company's move to expand its product line to a wider market. In an interview with Forbes, Wilson chided Lululemon for what he called the whole diversity and inclusion thing and said the people in the company's new ads look "unhealthy, sickly and not inspirational". A Lululemon store at the Polaris Fashion Place mall in Columbus, Ohio, US.(Bloomberg)

Theyre trying to become like the Gap, everything to everybody, Wilson said. And I think the definition of a brand is that youre not everything to everybody Youve got to be clear that you dont want certain customers coming in.

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The firm was quick to distance itself from Wilson's remarks and said, Chip Wilson does not speak for Lululemon, and his comments do not reflect our company views or beliefs.

"Chip has not been involved with the company since his resignation from the board in 2015 and we are a very different company today," the company added.

This is not the first time Wilson has made such controversial remarks, which were widely criticized for being insensitive and body-shaming. In a 2013 interview with Bloomberg, Wilson said Lululemon's leggings "actually don't work" for some women's bodies.

"Frankly some women's bodies just don't actually work for [the pants]," Mr Wilson told Bloomberg when asked about the criticism of the company's yoga pants. "It's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, how much they use it," he added.

These comments led to his resignation from the company's board, and he sold a portion of his stake in Lululemon.
An armed alliance of ethnic minority groups in Myanmar claimed late Friday to have captured a northern town notorious for online scam operations in another blow to the embattled junta. For months, people have been fleeing Laukkai town, located in a district bordering China that is run by a military-aligned militia(AFP)

The military is facing its biggest threat since seizing power in a 2021 coup after three armed ethnic groups -- known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance -- launched a sweeping October offensive in northern Shan state.

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Since November people have been fleeing Laukkai town, located in a district bordering China that is run by a Myanmar military-aligned militia and notorious for gambling, prostitution and online scams run out of compounds staffed by thousands of people, many trafficked.

The alliance -- made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) -- said the town was now under their control.

"All members from the Myanmar Army's Military Operational Command in Laukkai were disarmed and Laukkai became a clean area where there are no more members of the Myanmar Army," the alliance said in a statement.

It added that scores of junta soldiers, including some officers, had been captured and disarmed.

The junta has not commented.

TNLA Brigadier-General Tar Bhone Kyaw confirmed Saturday that the MNDAA had taken Laukkai.

"It is their land, they got it back now," he told AFP.

"Their people will not have to stay anymore under the military regime," he added.

Online scams

Laukkai is the latest town to fall to the alliance alongside vital border hubs, damaging trade between China and Myanmar's cash-strapped junta.

Leader Min Aung Hlaing made a name for himself in 2009 when, as a regional commander, he expelled the MNDAA from the town.

The military installed a militia that got rich producing drugs and selling a potent cocktail of gambling and sex to visitors from across the Chinese border.

While China is a major arms supplier and ally of the junta, relations have been strained in recent months over the junta's failure to crack down on online scam operations that Beijing says target Chinese citizens.

On Saturday, state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that Min Aung Hlaing had met with Chinese vice foreign minister Sun Weidong in the capital Naypyidaw.

The two "exchanged views on efforts to forge peace and stability in the border region between Myanmar and China", it said.

The uptick in fighting near Laukkai prompted Beijing to ask citizens to leave the area last month.

Analysts say China maintains ties with ethnic armed groups in northern Myanmar, some of whom share close ethnic and cultural links with China and use Chinese currency and phone networks in the territory they control.

The alliance's offensive has galvanised other opponents of the junta and clashes have spread to the east and the west of Myanmar.

More than half a million people have been forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

Dozens of armed ethnic minority groups have battled Myanmar's military since independence from Britain in 1948.

Some groups want greater autonomy while others simply want the right to run the lucrative trade in jade, drugs and timber in their territory.
North Korea conducted a new round of artillery drills near the disputed sea boundary with South Korea on Saturday, officials in Seoul said, a day after the North's earlier exercises prompted South Korea to respond with its own drills in the same area. This general view shows a village of Yeonpyeong island, near the 'northern limit line' sea boundary with North Korea.(AFP)

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the North fired more than 60 rounds near the western sea boundary on Saturday afternoon. It said South Korea strongly urges North Korea to halt acts that heighten tensions.

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The Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korea will take corresponding military steps if North Korea continues artillery drills that pose a threat to South Korean nationals. It said South Korea will overwhelmingly deal with any provocations by North Korea.

On Friday, North Korea fired about 200 artillery shells near the area, prompting South Korea to conduct its own firing drills in response. South Koreas Defense Ministry said troops on two border islands fired artillery rounds south of the sea boundary. Local media said South Korea fired 400 rounds.

Ahead of the South Korean drills, South Korean authorities asked residents on five major islands near the western sea boundary to evacuate to safe places due to worries that North Korea would fire back. The evacuation order was lifted a few hours later.

Both Koreas have abandoned a 2018 deal they struck during a brief period of rapprochement. The agreement called for a halt in live-fire exercises in front-line buffer zone. But rising animosities over the North's missile tests and its first military spy satellite launch and other issues have left the military agreement in tatters.

The Koreas poorly marked western sea boundary was the site for bloody naval skirmishes between the Koreas in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The Norths alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship killed 46 South Korean sailors in March 2010, and the Norths artillery bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island killed four South Koreans in November 2010.
Pakistani Muslim cleric was gunned down in broad daylight on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad, police said. Masood Rehman Usmani's funeral was held after unidentified gunmen shot and killed him and wounded his driver near Ghauri town, according the Islamabad police. No one claimed responsibility for the attack but the police said that they were using CCTV footage to track down the attackers. They will be arrested and brought to justice, the police said as authorities in Islamabad stepped up security by deploying additional police. Some embassies also advised their nationals to avoid visiting the area where the funeral for Masood Rehman Usmani was held. Cleric Masood Usmani is seen.

Who was Masood Rehman Usmani?

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Masood Rehman Usmani was a deputy secretary at his Sunni Ulema Council, which emerged after Pakistan outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba extremist group.

Authorities said that it is still unclear who was behind the killing of Masood Rehman Usmani. Mourners at his funeral were seen chanting slogans against Shiites and neighbouring Iran.

Heavy police force is present at the spot [where the incident took place], the Islamabad Police said, adding, The suspects are being traced with the help of CCTV cameras. Soon they will be arrested and brought to justice.
Stinging caterpillars have become a big problem for Paris just weeks after a over bedbugs in France's capital. Pine processionary caterpillars travel in single file and have arrived three months earlier than usual because of unusually mild temperatures in Paris. Parts of the city have reportedly been infested by the insects. These caterpillars measure up to 4cm in length, live in groups and weave silk nests in pine and oak trees. The insects do not bite but their hair are like microscopic needles or harpoons that detach from their bodies. This happens when they feel threatened and travel with the wind, the French health and safety agency, said. A view of Paris.

The hair contain a toxic protein that can cause blisters on the skin. It can also cause many allergic reactions in adults as well as can be fatal for pets. In 2022, processionary caterpillars were designated by France as harmful to human health.

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A homeowner in the northern department of Yveline said that he was forced to cut down the tree which he had planted 20 years ago after finding caterpillars in it.

I couldnt believe it. They came down from my pine despite the trap I set. They are devouring my tree and I am afraid for my dog," Emmanuel told Le Parisien.

In final larval stages, the caterpillars also descend along the trunk to bury themselves in the ground and transform into a chrysalis.

Its an invasion, Jean-Marc Pommier, the mayor of Bonnieres-sur-Seine said, adding, People are calling the town hall. We have entire neighbourhoods affected, we see trees covered with these horrible garlands.

Earlier, Paris reported a major bedbug invasion that worried locals and tourists about travelling through the city.
Two podcasters who called for the deaths of Prince Harry and his son Archie received a prison sentence in London as the court called the duo dedicated and unapologetic white supremacists" who encouraged terrorism. Court said that Christopher Gibbons and Tyrone Patten-Walsh used racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic and misogynistic views on their Lone Wolf Radio podcast. On the show, the pair said the white race was likely to be genocided unless steps were taken to fight back and said that race traitors would be hanged. The podcasters targeted Prince Harry for his interracial marriage as Meghan Markle is biracial. Christopher Gibbons, left and Tyrone Patten-Walsh. (AP)

Christopher Gibbons said Prince Harry should be prosecuted and judicially killed for treason as he called Archie a creature that should be put down. The 40-year-old was sentenced to eight years in prison while Patten-Walsh, 34, was given a 7-year term.

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The evidence demonstrates that you desire to live in a world dominated by white people purely for white people. Your distorted thinking is that the white race has ceded too much influence to Blacks and Asians, to Jews and Muslims, to gays, to white liberals and to white people in mixed-race relationships, the court said.

The podcasters started Lone Wolf Radio which had 128 subscribers and around 9,000 views of its 21 episodes in June 2020. They also praised right-wing extremists who carried out mass murders in Norway, Christchurch, New Zealand and Charleston, South Carolina and posted images of a Nazi executing a Jewish man.

The police said that material they disseminated is exactly the kind that has the potential to draw vulnerable people  particularly young people  into terrorism.
Amid resistance to some Vatican policy by more conservative factions of the Catholic church, Pope Francis on Saturday cautioned the faithful against fracturing into groups based on our own ideas." Pope Francis (AP)

He issued the call to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies in his homily in St. Peter's Basilica during Epiphany Day Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday.

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Francis also warned against basking in some elegant religious theory instead of finding God in the faces of the poor.

Last month, Francis gave permission for priests to bless couples outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships, as long as the blessing was pastoral and not liturgical or part of some religious rite.

Some bishops who view Francis as a dangerous progressive immediately rejected such blessings. That prompted the Vatican earlier this week to issue a statement stressing that the blessings don't constitute heresy and there were no doctrinal grounds to reject the practice.

Francis in his Epiphany homily didn't cite the pushback against his same-sex blessings policy. But he deviated from the written text of the homily to cite the need to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies.

Read more: North Korea fires 60 rounds of artillery near Yeonpyeong Island

Francis said the Church needed to ensure that "our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance.

We find the God who comes down to visit us, not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life," especially in the faces of the poor, the pontiff said.

The pontiff, who turned 87 last month and who battled health problems last year, held up well during the Epiphany ceremony, which included singing of Christmas hymns. At the end of the 90-minute service, an aide wheeled Francis down the basilica's center aisle. The pope has a chronic knee problem and uses a wheelchair to navigate longer distances.

He has dedicated much of his nearly 11-year-old papacy to encouraging attention to marginalized people, including the poor. While the Church teaches that homosexual activity in sinful, Francis has made efforts to make LGBTQ Catholics feel welcome.
Kharkiv region prosecutor's office provided evidence that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea after senior adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia hit Ukraine this week with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time amid war. Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, said the missile hit the city of Kharkiv on January 2. It was visually and technically different from Russian models, he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets Russia's President Vladimir Putin (Reuters/File)

"The production method is not very modern. There are deviations from standard Iskander missiles, which we previously saw during strikes on Kharkiv. This missile is similar to one of the North Korean missiles," he said showing the remnants.

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The missile was slightly bigger in diameter than the Russian Iskander missile. Its nozzle, internal electrical windings, and rear parts were also different.

That is why we are leaning towards the version that this may be a missile which was supplied by North Korea, he said without sharing the missile's exact model name.

Russia attacked Kharkiv with missiles this week, killing two people and injuring over 60 in one of its biggest missile and drone strikes.

North Korea has been under a United Nations arms embargo as Security Council resolutions ban countries from trading weapons or other military equipment with North Korea.
As Iowa Republicans are all set to cast their votes in the 2024 primary season on January 15, Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has targeted the Republican presidential candidate, Nikki Haley, by comparing her to the former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is a staunch Trump ally and has garnered significant ground among voters, accused former UN Ambassador Haley of insulting Iowa caucus-goers like she said Clinton did. (Reuters/ File photo)(Reuters/ File photo)

Greene, who is a staunch supporter of ex-US President Donald Trump and has garnered significant ground among voters, accused former UN Ambassador Haley of insulting Iowa caucus-goers like she said Clinton did. She added that Iowans are now angry and feeling insulted as Haley declared Iowa as not smart enough, not good enough.

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"Nikki Haley is basically Hillary Clinton. She declared Iowa as not smart enough, not good enough, and that New Hampshire will have to correct their mistake," Greene wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. The Iowans I've been talking to are insulted and angry. All she has is the media because the media hates Trump!

Greene calls Nikki Haley a birdbrain, MAGA crowd cheers

Greene has been campaigning for Trump, the frontrunner of the GOP Republican primary, in Iowa. In the clip shared on X, Greene can be seen addressing a MAGA crowd and hitting out at former president's top challenger Haley for harsh comments about Iowa during a rally in New Hampshire, where Haley hopes to prevent Trumps run for one more term after his anticipated victory in the Iowa caucuses later this month.

Nikki Haley was in New Hampshire. And she said that in New Hampshire, they're going to have to correct what Iowa does. Wow. So what does she think about Iowa? What does she think about Iowans?" Greene said.

The crowd laughed and cheered her one-liners when Greene mocked Haley, saying -- "How Hillary Clinton of her." That wasnt very good. That wasnt very smart but, you know, birdbrains, whatever.

Comparison between Nikki Haley and Hillary Clinton

While addressing the crowd at a rally in New Hampshire on Wednesday, South Carolina governor Haley said, You know, Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it, and then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home.

Clinton was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, when it was revealed that she made some private comments about Iowa caucus-goers in 2012. Hillary, in an email sent to journalist Sidney Blumenthal in January 2012, termed caucuses as creatures of the parties' extremes. In 2015, a judge asked to make Clinton's work-related emails public, following which, the State Department released the email in the month of November.

Greene has been taking active part in political rallies to promote Trumps candidacy and gain massive support of the voters. She has even expressed her desire to be on the list of running mates but hasn't been too assertive about it. Trump recently cleared that he would prefer a conservative woman such as Greene or Governor Kristi Noem (R-SC) as his running mate.


Passengers aboard an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 were jolted from their seats Friday afternoon when a window abruptly shattered, letting in cold air and debris. The plane, en route from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California was at cruising altitude when the incident occurred. After the incident, Alaska Airlines released a statement. They confirmed that all 171 passengers and 6 crew members landed safely. The airline citing that they emphasize safety as a top priority is investigating the incident. Further details will be provided as the investigation progresses. Shattered window on Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737 MAX prompts safe landing. Photographer(X)

Read more: Alaska Airline's Boeing 737 aircraft's window blows out mid-air, makes emergency landing

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Alaska Airline responds to mid-air emergency

Within minutes of the news breaking, causing chaos on the internet and families rushing to find information about their loved ones, the airline released a statement reassuring that the situation is under control. They said, The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members. The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation. We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.

What happened inAlaska Airline's Boeing 737 aircraft

A window broke in the middle of the flight, leading to a drop in cabin pressure and making the pilot perform an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on Friday evening. This incident happened on Alaska flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX.

According to eyewitnesses who spoke to KPTV, there was a loud thud and a hole appeared in the plane's wall when the window shattered. This happened when the plane was flying at 16,000 feet. Fortunately, the seat near the window was empty, but a child sitting nearby was reportedly pulled by the suction. So far no injuries have been reported. Some passengers also lost their phones, which were sucked out of the plane. The oxygen masks in the plane dropped enabling passengers to breathe. The aircraft was carrying 174 passengers and 6 crew members.

The Boeing 737 Max is one of the most popular aircraft models in the world, but it has also been plagued by safety issues and controversiesRead more
A spine-chilling incident occurred on Friday when a part of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 planes body and a window blowout in the air, forcing the flight to make an emergency landing in Oregon. Witnesses detail gut-wrenching moments in the sky.(X)

One of the passengers on board captured a shocking image of the damage and shared it with a local media outlet. The photo revealed a large hole in the side of the plane, near the passenger seats, from where the shine of Portland is peeping.

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The airline did not confirm if anyone was hurt in the incident. It said it was looking into the cause of the problem. Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, experienced an incident this evening soon after departure, the airline said in an email to The Associated Press.

ALSO READ| Alaska Airline responds to its Boeing 737 Max's mid-air emergency, 'we are investigating'

The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 174 guests and 6 crew members.

4,876 Meters high

The airline added that it would provide more details as they become available. The flight took off from Portland at 4:52 p.m. and returned shortly before 5:30 p.m. FlightAware, a website that tracks flights, showed that the plane reached an altitude of 16,000 feet before descending rapidly.

A child was almost sucked out

Other photos from the passenger showed that a significant portion of the planes body was missing. Passengers reported the occupied seat next to the window was sucked out. A child was almost sucked out due to decompression who was sitting near the window.

ALSO READ| Alaska Airline's Boeing 737 aircraft's window blows out mid-air, makes emergency landing

Passengers were using oxygen musk

Videos capturing the incident have swiftly circulated across the internet, depicting passengers securing their oxygen masks and fastening seat belts after an emergency was declared mid-flight.

Many passengers lost their phones due to suction.

The plane involved in the incident was a Boeing 737-9 MAX, a model that was certified by the FAA just two months ago, according to online records. The National Transportation Safety Board said on X that it was investigating the event and would post updates when they are available.
A drug promoted by former US President Donald Trump to cure COVID-19 has been linked to nearly 17,000 deaths, according to a new study. During the COVID pandemic, Trump urged Americans to take hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an anti-malaria medicine that is also often used to cure rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, claiming that he himself had been taking the miracle drug. Former US President Donald Trump(AP/File)

After the outbreak of coronavirus, scientists suggested that HCQ could be effective in treating the deadly virus. On March 28, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug for an emergency use authorisation and started clinical trials.

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While one scientist called the HCQ a "magic bullet" against coronavirus, Trump highlighted the "miracle" recovery made by a COVID infected woman after using the drug.

"The nice part is, it's been around for a long time...if things don't go as planned, it's not going to kill anybody," the ex-US president said during a COVID Taskforce briefing. In a tweet on March 21, 2020, he said that "FDA has moved mountains" and that the drug would be put to use "immediately" as an antidote to curb Covid transmission.

However in June 2020, the FDA revoked the emergency use authorisation of the drug as several studies, including one by New England Journal of Medicine, found HCQ had no benefit on COVID and led to significant surge in the risk of death. The FDA revoked the emergency use authorization on June 15, 2020.

Drug usage linked to increased risk of death

A new study conducted by French researchers has found that nearly 17,000 people across six countries may have died after being prescribed hydroxychloroquine while hospitalized with the illness from March to July 2020 during the first wave of COVID. The research published in the February issue of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy shows that increase in the number of deaths was driven by side effects like heart arrhythmia and muscle weakness.

The countries studied were the US, Turkey, Belgium, France, Spain, and Italy.

The US reported the highest numbers of deaths with 12,739, followed by Spain (1,895 deaths), Italy (1,822 deaths), Belgium (240 deaths), France (199 deaths), and Turkey (95 deaths).

The scientists analysed various studies that tracked hospitalisations due to COVID-19 and exposure to the drug and risk related to it.

The researchers said that the number of deaths could be much higher as their study only looked at only six countries between March and July 2020.
The unsealed documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case continue to shed light on the complex web of people he entangled in his abusive network. New court documents reveal the devastating effects of his alleged crimes. Nicknamed the Russian Rapunzel, a budding top model, as per the bombshell document revealed, took her own life just two years after visiting Epstein's 'paedophile island' when she was a minor. Ruslana Korshunova, a rising Kazakh-Russian model at the time, is mentioned in Epstein's flight records for his private Boeing 727,(MEGA)

Ruslana Korshunova jumped to her death after visiting Epsteins island

Ruslana Korshunova, a rising Kazakh-Russian model at the time, is mentioned in Epstein's flight records for his private Boeing 727, known as the 'Lolita Express.' The model who featured in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Vera Wang, and Nina Ricci perfume jumped to her death 2 years after returning from Epsteins private island Little St James in the US Virgin Islands where she went with her friends.

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Also read: Jeffrey Epstein list: Girls would get $200m, Hillary Clinton named and other 10 big revelations

Allegedly, the Kazakh-Russian model, who was just beginning her career, jumped from her ninth-floor balcony, according to NYPOST. Her ex-boyfriend, speaking to the publication, revealed that she had internal struggles and kept her problems "bottled up." Ruslana reportedly joined the extreme self-help group in Russia, days before her death.

Just a few weeks prior to Epstein's 2006 arrest and subsequent conviction for having sex with minors, Korshunova paid a visit to the financier's controversial island. The plane used for these trips was called the Lolita Express and was reportedly used to transport young girls to the island with wealthy and influential men.

Virginia Giuffre on Ruslana Korshunovas death

Virginia Giuffre, one of the victims of the island and the most outspoken among them, also accusing Prince Andrew, was asked about Ruslana Korshunova's death. She was questioned if she had any knowledge of the model. Back in 2011, Ruslanas then-PR manager over email asked, I think it's a long shot you would recognize her, but read the article I attached and then look at the pictures and see if you recognize her.

I am so sorry to hear the news of Ruslana, and my condolences are with her family and friends, she continued I can say that I have never had any meetings with her, sorry not to be of any help there.

Later it was revealed that the model left a message for her family and friends stating how much she missed home and citing problems in her love life.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison last week after serving eight years in prison for her mother's murder. The 32-year-old Missouri woman recently opened up on reaching the breaking point after facing years of abuse at the hands of her mother, Claudine Dee Dee Blanchard. On Friday, Gypsy told Good Morning America that despite plotting to kill her mother, she didn't want her dead. Gypsy Rose Blanchard recalls contemplating her mother's murder, says she 'didn't want her dead'

Claudine was stabbed to death in 2015 by Gypsy's then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. Gypsy convinced Nicholas, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison, to kill Claudine. She supplied him with a kitchen knife and hid in the bathroom while Nicholas killed Claudine.

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I dont believe my mother was a monster. She had a lot of demons herself that she was struggling with, Gypsy told GMA. Reflecting on her decision to plot her mother's murder, she said, I didnt want her dead. I just wanted out of my situation, and I thought that was the only way out.

In 2016, Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, she got an early ticket out of jail after serving 85% of her decade-long term. During the interview, she admitted to having a lot of regrets. Gypsy also said that she doesn't have any excuses for what she did.

When asked about how she feels about getting a shorter term than Nicholas, who is incarcerated for Claudine's murder, she said, Well, Im sure that we both have a lot of regrets. All I can really say is that I did my time, [and] hes doing his time for his part. And I wish him well on his journey.

According to experts, Gypsy's mother showed signs of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological illness which caused her to project her daughter with false medical issues. Claudine forced Gypsy into a wheelchair and convinced her that she was a patient of leukaemia and muscular dystrophy. She also lied about her actual age, removed her teeth and hair, and fed her through a tube in her stomach.

The case gained medical recognition after Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. At the time of Claudine's murder, Gypsy was addicted to painkillers. Both, she and her ex-boyfriend, were high at the time of the murder. Gypsy, who is now sober, told the ABC interviewer, I dont blame drugs. I dont blame anything. I dont make excuses.
The third set of court papers have revealed shocking allegations against Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who is accused of taking part in an underage orgy on the private island of his former friend and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew denies accusations of sexual encounter with Virginia Giuffre. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo(REUTERS)

The court documents are part of a defamation case brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epsteins main victims, against his ex-girlfriend and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking in 2021. The case was settled in 2022, but the documents were unsealed by a US judge in January 2024.

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According to the papers, an unnamed girl, referred to as Jane Doe 3, was forced to have sexual relations with this Prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations. She claims that Epstein instructed her to give the Prince whatever he demanded and that Maxwell facilitated Prince Andrews acts of sexual abuse by acting as a madame for Epstein.

ALSO READ| Jeffrey Epstein list: Court doc reveals Prince Andrew spent 'weeks' at Epstein's residence

The locations where the alleged abuse took place include London, New York and Little St James, Epsteins Caribbean island, where the girl says she was involved in an underage orgy with the prince and other girls.

The allegations have been previously reported by the media, but they have gained new attention after the release of the new set of court documents.

The Duke of York has always denied any wrongdoing and said he has no recollection of ever meeting Virginia Giuffre, who also accuses him of sexually assaulting her on three occasions.

No new case on Prince Andrew, old cases are under investigation

The release of court documents about the late sex offender this week did not prompt a new investigation into allegations involving Prince Andrew, British police said on Friday.

Police are under mounting pressure to investigate renewed allegations of sexual assault, vehemently denied by the duke.

The MPS stated that no new inquiry had been initiated. We are aware of the release of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein, the MPS said.

ALSO READ| Jeffrey Epstein list: Hillary Clinton named in the paedophile's list

As with any matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention we will assess it.

The Duke of York, lost most of his titles and official royal duties because of the scandal surrounding his friendship with Epstein.

Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's ex-wife also visited Epstein's mansion

Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's EX-wife REUTERS/Chris Radburn(REUTERS)

The court papers also shed new light on the relationship between Prince Andrews ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

The documents include the testimony of Juan John Alessi, who worked as a house manager for Epstein in Palm Beach, Florida, for about ten years in the 1990s.

ALSO READ| Not Bill Clinton, Jeffrey Epstein tried to snap the nib of Vanity Fair

Mr Alessi said that he saw Ms Ferguson, the Duchess of York, visiting Epsteins mansion in Florida at least once, along with Prince Andrew, but only for a short time. He also said that Prince Andrew received massages while staying there and spent weeks with Epstein.

Ms Ferguson, who divorced Prince Andrew in 1996 but remained close to him, has faced criticism for her association with Epstein, who once gave her 15,000 to help pay off her debts. She later regretted the transaction and called it a gigantic error. She also visited Epstein in New York in 2010, when he was under house arrest for having sex with underage girls.
Days after bizarre claims that aliens had touched down in Florida went viral on social media, Miami police dismissed the rumors, saying "there were no aliens, UFOs, or ETs." On Monday night, over sixty police vehicles descended upon the Bayside Marketplace in downtown Miami.(X)

Putting speculations to rest, police said: "No aliens, UFOs, or ET's. No airports were closed. No power outages."

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The rumors began when a video surfaced on the internet that purportedly showed a huge figure walking outside Bayside Marketplace, a downtown Miami shopping center, as dozens of police cruisers with flashing lights encircled it.

However, police claim that the blurry, close-up footage, which was recorded from multiple levels above, is not at all unearthly.

Its a shadow of a person walking. If you look at the beginning of the clip, you can see the person at the bottom of the shadow, Officer Michael Vega said in a statement, The New York Post reported.

"If there was any creature, myself and other officers would have our handgun, rifle, and shotgun out while we hide behind our cars," the statement added.

Also Read: North Carolina man recounts UFO sighting that left him with a feeling of dread: Felt like there was a higher power

Heavy police presence at Miami mall raised suspicion among social media users

On Monday night, over sixty police vehicles descended upon the Bayside Marketplace in downtown Miami in order to break up a brawl between group of teenagers who were reportedly hurling fireworks at each other in the open-air shopping mall.

Local station WPLG-TV reported that four juveniles were taken into custody in relation to the incident. According to the arrest reports, the teenagers were "causing panic" and "causing a riot inside the mall".

Meanwhile, several people contacted 911 at 8:30 pm (local time) to report what they believed were gunshots, but they were actually loud fireworks. This led to the arrival of dozens of police officers at the two-story mall located at 401 Biscayne Blvd.

The heavy police deployment to address the case raised suspicions among the social media users. Those who analysed the footage of the Miami mall incident formed the theory that an alien "creature" was the true cause of the disruption.

However, police later informed that the real reason behind their massive presence at the mall was in response to reports that over 50 juveniles possibly armed with sticks were fighting in the mall.

Also Read: US hiding information on alien craft, says ex intelligence officer

Miami mall aliens: Social media launched a speculation frenzy

Following the incident, some said on social media that the surrounding airports were closed, while others stated they lost Wi-Fi or power. Miami Police later verified that all of these claims were false.

10ft Aliens/Creatures (caught on camera?) fired at inside and outside Miami Mall, media silent, cops are covering it up saying kids were fighting with fireworks, yet all these cop cars, & air traffic stopped that night except for black military choppersand no media coverage, one user wrote on X.

"I zoomed in on one of the Tiktok videos about the Miami mall creature, so you can see the gray creature walking in between these police cars and the building," wrote another user on the platform.

Im not sure what part of this story bugs me most: the fact that we actually live in a world where something like this can happen  or that something like this can happen in our world or that not a single new media has broke the story, not at all, a woman said on TikTok.
After Iowa school shooting tragedy, former US President Donald Trump extended his condolences to kin of the victims, stressing that "we are with you as much as anybody can be". Terming the incident "terrible" and "horrible", Trump surprisingly urged the Iowa residents to get over it and move forward. Former President Donald Trump (AP)

I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa, Trump said during a campaign rally at Sioux Center, Iowa.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Its just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But have to get over it, we have to move forward, he added.

The mass shooting occurred on Thursday, January 4, few days before the January 15 Iowa caucuses, claiming the life of a sixth grade student. As many as seven people, including students and school staff members, sustained injuries in the incident, authorities said in a statement.

The suspected shooter, identified as 17-year-old student Dylan Butler, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.

Also Read: Who was Iowa school shooter Dylan Butler? Family describes gunman as kindest person who was bullied in school

Trump's move forward remark draws criticism

Meanwhile, social media users said that Trump was incredibly insensitive to ask Iowa residents to move forward. One of the X users said, Trump doesnt care about parents of murdered children because Trump doesnt consider them real people.

Iowa shooting tragedy: Nikki Haley calls for mental health reform

Trump's GOP rivals campaigning in the state also weighed in on the matter Thursday, with many extending their condolences and calling for mental health reform.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for mental health reform following the deadly school shooting in Perry, Iowa. We have to deal with the cancer that is mental health. We have to, she said.

Also Read: Vivek Ramaswamy torches knee-jerk gun control policy after Iowa school shooting: Stop the guns, thats the problem

After the news of shooting broke out, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy posted a call for prayers on X (formerly Twitter). He also said that guns were not the problem, but the symptom of a deeper crisis in the society.

Meanwhile in an interview, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suggested that shooting are "more of a local and state issue."
In 2002, Jeffrey Epstein stormed into the office of Vanity Fairs editor-in-chief, Graydon Carter, in an effort to stop the magazine from exposing his sexual crimes  which it ultimately did not. Jeffrey Epstein's Vanity Fair office visit aimed at silencing truth.(Vanity Fair archive)

The magazine had been working on a profile of Epstein, the notorious paedophile financier with powerful connections, and had interviewed two of his accusers, sisters Annie and Maria Farmer, who had revealed his depraved behaviour.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Maria Farmer, then a 25-year-old art student, had been hired by Epstein as an art scout. She recounted to reporter Vicky Ward how Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell had molested her at the Ohio mansion of billionaire Les Wexner, the owner of Victorias Secret, in 1996. Maxwell had even held her hand during the assault.

ALSO READ| 2011 email suggests Bill Clinton threatened Vanity Fair not to write about his good friend Jeffrey Epstein

Annie Farmer, who was only 16 at the time, had also been abused by Maxwell, who had groped her breasts and taught her how to massage Epsteins feet.

The Talented Mr. Epstein

Despite their harrowing testimonies, the Farmers allegations were omitted from the final version of the article, which ran in March 2003 under the title- The Talented Mr. Epstein.

The reason for the omission became clear on Friday, when a trove of previously sealed court documents was released, showing that Epsteins most famous victim, Virginia Giuffre, had accused former president Bill Clinton of trying to intimidate Vanity Fair into silence.

In an email, Giuffre wrote, When I was doing some research into VF yesterday, it does concern me what they could want to write about me considering that B. Clinton walked into VF and threatened them not to write sex trafficking articles about his good friend J.E.

Ward and Carter both denied that Clinton had ever visited the magazines office. This categorically didnt happen, a spokesperson for Carter, who left Vanity Fair in 2017, quoted to the New York Post.

Guess who just appeared in Graydons office?

Ward, who now runs Vicky Ward Investigates, said, I never heard about Bill Clinton coming into the office. I think that Jeffrey Epstein got conflated by the time it reached Virginia.

Jeffrey Epstein, while the piece was going through fact-checking, appeared in the office. A fact-checker named Mary Flynn emailed me and said that Jeffrey Epstein was standing in Graydons office.

ALSO READ| Jeffrey Epstein list: Third set of documents connected to notorious paedophile released

The email reads, Bless you  guess who just appeared in Graydons office? Jeffrey Epstein.

Epsteins visit was part of his aggressive campaign to prevent the truth from coming out in Vanity Fair.

The magazine also dropped the ball on Epstein in 2007, when he was first investigated by federal authorities for preying on underage girls, according to John Connolly, a writer who spoke to The Post in 2020, before his death in 2022.
Israeli investigations revealed that Hamas is using Chinese weapons including assault rifles and grenade launchers to wage war in Gaza as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) uncovered stockpiles of hi-tech supplies- rifles and cartridges for M16s and communications equipment like listening devices and tactical military radios. Tel Aviv is determining how the equipment made it into Hamas hands amid concerns. Israel-Hamas War: Chinese president Xi Jinping.(AP)

This has come as a big surprise as before the war, relations were very good, but we have found massive amounts of Chinese weaponry and the question is, did it come directly from China to Hamas or not? The Telegraph quoted an Israeli intelligence source as saying.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

This is top-grade weaponry and communications technology, stuff that Hamas didnt have before, with very sophisticated explosives which have never been found before and especially on such a large scale", the source told.

The weaponry included intelligence and communications equipment and could have been used by Hamas to launch surprise attacks on Israeli on October 7 when some 1,140 people were killed and hundreds of others taken hostage.

Then, China's foreign minister Wang Yi said Israels actions went beyond the scope of self-defence and demanded that it stop imposing group punishment on Palestinians.

Dr Patrick Bury, a defence expert from the University of Bath and a former Nato analyst and infantry officer, said, The question of course is did the Chinese know it was going to Hamas or did it come through a third party like Iran? Youre talking about what is essentially modern professional infantry kit. There is some serious kit here even though its not heavy weaponry. The grenade launchers are a lethal support weapon in particular. The lethality of Hamas fighters can be raised significantly from this kind of equipment.

If its a large quantity, its most likely a state actor involved, and that state actor is highly likely to be Iran. It could be stuff that was purchased by Iran off China and found its way to Hamas. There are other potential actors but much less likely, he said, adding, China will not like the Iranians doing this with their kit. Its not a good look if its a massive haul and trust will become an issue.
 Read the full article on Motorious

What a remarkable twist!

In what unfolded like a scene from a classic car lover's dream, a stolen 1967 Camaro has been miraculously recovered and returned to its rightful owner in rural Kansas. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, led by Sheriff Ron Wade, turned the tide in what seemed like a hopeless case of vehicle theft.

The story began with a distressing incident between the evening of October 26 and the morning of October 28 in Cherryvale, Kansas. A maroon 1967 Camaro, distinct with its flat grey primed driver front quarter fender, was reported stolen, casting a cloud of despair over the car's owner and the local community.

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Sheriff Wade, understanding the sentimental and historical value of such a classic vehicle, issued a public appeal on October 28, hoping to gather leads. The department's determination paid off remarkably. By Thursday, in a turn of events that has warmed the hearts of car enthusiasts and locals alike, deputies located the cherished Camaro.

The recovery of the car was not just a victory for the owner but a testament to the dedication of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. The Camaro, more than just a mode of transportation, represents a piece of automotive history and personal sentiment, making its return all the more significant.

While the details surrounding the recovery remain sparse, and authorities have not yet reported any arrests or additional details, the story's happy ending has resonated with the community. It serves as a reminder of the perseverance of law enforcement and the enduring legacy of classic cars in the hearts of their owners. The reunited Camaro and its owner now continue their journey together, thanks to the diligent efforts of Sheriff Wade and his team.

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CHATSWORTH, Calif.AVN Media Network is pleased to announce the seminar program for the 2024 Adult Novelty Expo (ANE) in Las Vegas.

Trade attendees will once again have the chance to hear from leading experts in the industry in a series of educational seminars at ANE set for Jan. 25-27.

The seminars are open to all registered trade attendees of the AVN Show and will be held in the show hotel.

To register for the AVN Novelty Expo, visit NoveltyExpo.com. Buyers are eligible for free trade badges to ANE.

The schedule is as follows:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25

12 noon - 1 p.m.



TranSales  Increasing Awareness and Catering to the Growing Trans Buyer

In order to cater to the increasing number of trans buyers, stores find when they are better educated about this growing demographic, increased sales will follow. With a focus on the FTM community (female to male), we will discuss with well-known transpersons about the current products on the market and where they see the market for these unique items in the future.

2 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Understanding BDSM and All Those Terms!

As retailers, we often hear the umbrella term BDSM but do you really know what it stands for? How is your company embracing the kink community? When do you reach the point of your safe word with the level of kink products you carry in your store? We will deep dive into the rich terminology of the kink community and offer selling tips to gently, and safely, introduce buyers into the depths of the wonderful world of kink.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26

12 noon - 1 p.m.



No More Hairy Palms! The Evolution of Strokers

With the technical advancements in penis-owning pleasure, stroking the fires have reached incredible new levels of sensation. Within a very short time span, penis pleasure has grown from using simple, hand-held, textured strokers to gizmos that vibrate, heat, twist, and more. Learn about the latest designs and improvements to this increasingly complex area of retail growth.

2 p.m. - 3 p.m.



Do You Think It Designs Itself? Hear From Popular Adult Toy Designers

Just when you think you cant reinvent the sex-toy wheel, along comes yet another creative invention to increase pleasure for all. Learn what goes into designing new products and what drives these people to continue to stay on top of new trends in the industry. When you attend this workshop, you may learn whats coming up next before anyone else does!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27



12 noon - 1 p.m.

You Wanna Put That WHERE?! 30 Years in the Novelty Biz from the 2024 AVN Hall of Fame Inductee Kim Airs

Join Kim Airs as she shares everything about the sex-toy biz from her 30 years in the industry. Even when you think youve seen it all, Kim hysterically entertains you with tidbits youve never heard and demonstrations youve never seen. From personal experiences and having worked in all aspects in the adult retail biz for decades, she proudly walks the walk and talks the talk and loves every minute of it!
Roundup: Turkiye seeks cooperation with China on electric cars, battery production

10:17, January 06, 2024 By Burak Akinci ( Xinhua

ANKARA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye is seeking to cooperate and learn from China's expertise on electric vehicles (EVs) and battery technologies, a move that will broaden the economic cooperation between the two nations, experts said.

Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir, accompanied by business representatives, held meetings with Chinese officials and visited eight Chinese cities during a visit to China in December 2023.

Kacir engaged with prominent automotive and battery manufacturing companies, including GAC AION, Chery, Zeekr, BYD, SAIC, Fararis and Huawei.

He highlighted China's role as a pioneer in transforming the automotive industry and said he was particularly impressed by China's growing technology in EVs and touted China as a role model in this field for his country.

"Chinese automotive companies have surpassed the world in innovative technologies, enabling them to export electric vehicles to global markets," the Turkish minister told the semi-official Anadolu Agency.

Kacir pointed out that China has heavily invested in high technology and become one of the world's leaders in advanced technologies.

The minister said that battery technologies constitute "an integral part" of electric vehicle production and that he wanted to "make Turkiye into a production base for electric vehicles and batteries."

Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies and a Turkish expert on China, hailed China's "huge progress" in EV production.

"Chinese companies have become very dominant not only in the Chinese market but also in the global market," he told Xinhua, adding that Chinese EV makers are focusing on technology development and lowering the costs to manufacture competitive cars.

"Chinese EV makers are searching for global openings for the coming years, and in that regard, the developing markets are very important for these companies," Colakoglu said, emphasizing that Turkiye is a target for collaboration.

As Turkiye is a part of the European Union's customs union, forming joint ventures to produce EVs and batteries for the Turkish domestic market and also the European market would be a "win-win situation" for Chinese and Turkish companies, according to this expert.

As part of its efforts to attract investment in the electric vehicle sector, Turkiye had previously invited EV manufacturers to invest in the country, with a specific focus on engaging Chinese firms.

In 2022, Turkiye marked its entry into the EV industry with the launch of its domestic EV brand, Togg, aligning with the country's carbon-neutral goals for 2053 and its increasing investments in renewable energy sources.

Togg and Chinese energy conglomerate Farasis are in active cooperation and have joined hands for the construction of the first battery factory in northwest Turkiye.

Emre Ozpeynirci, an influential automotive industry expert from Istanbul, said that the investment from China, which has become an automotive manufacturing powerhouse in a matter of years, can act as a catalyst for boosting Turkish nascent electric vehicle industry.

Ozepeynirci also urged his country to take action to facilitate imports and investments from China, saying China's know-how as one of the industrial leaders "would open the way for Turkiye, sitting at the intersection of Europe and Asia."

China has become Turkiye's third-largest trading partner, with the total value of goods traded between them reaching 38.55 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 and China's direct investment in Turkiye exceeding 2.4 billion dollars by the end of 2022, according to Chinese statistics.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)
Chicago, IL (60637)

Today

Cloudy skies. A few flurries are possible. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 29F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

Cloudy. High near 45F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 31F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Part-time Athens Town Justice E. Timothy Mercer should be removed from office for misappropriating court funds, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct determined in a ruling announced Friday. Mercer said no vouchers or checks were made out to him or his company and he fully cooperated with the commission from the beginning.
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So, what is the Lexus LBX? Fortunately, youll always be able to remember one version of its identity at least because the name LBX is a handy mnemonic, or near-mnemonic  Lexus Breakthrough X-over (ie SUV/hatch crossover). Its thus the smallest, cheapest vehicle to wear a Lexus badge, and the first to feature a three-cylinder engine.

It shares much of its engineering with the Toyota Yaris (Lexus being the companys upmarket brand), and its a petrol hybrid  of course, because Toyota dont really buy into the EV revolution. (There will be no all-electric battery powered LBX, in case you were wondering).

The LBX looks especially good with Elegant Blue paintwork and exquisitely stitched tan seats (Sean OGrady)

You can get a version that mimics four-wheel drive, but basically this is your standard sort of compact SUV, with an electric motor at the back, but it seems pretty futile.

This is urban transport that can hold its own over long distances too, and with a genuinely luxurious/premium feel to it. Its a fine package: The Audi Q2, Mercedes-GLA and Mini Countryman are its posh rivals.

The stylists have obviously spent a great deal of effort on getting all the detailing right (Sean OGrady)

Its a lovely car, in fact, and somehow, within the usual conventions of these types of cars, of which there are now a great number, theyve imbued it with some personality and distinctiveness of its own.

I like the youthful chubby proportions combined with some mature abilities (for some reason it reminds me of Luke The Luke Littler), and the stylists have obviously spent a great deal of effort on getting all the detailing right. Hence, the precisely cut honeycomb grille with no surround that merges into the bumper; and the generally flawless fit and finish  lining up to the best traditions of Toyota group build.

The precisely cut honeycomb grille with no surround merges flawlessly into the bumper (Sean OGrady)

In choice of construction materials, a slightly longer wheelbase, and a more expensive kind of bipolar battery, the Lexus designers have built premium features into the car that go well behind the usual cosmetic upgrades.

Theres quite a range of trim-levels and colour options, and, for what its worth, it looks especially good with Elegant Blue paintwork and exquisitely stitched tan seats.

For safetys sake the LBX is kitted with all the latest autonomous driving features, plus an e-latch that tries to prevent you opening the door if the car senses a vehicle or bike coming up on the side  an excellent idea.

The Lexus LXB has to be the most cosseting car around for its size (Sean OGrady)

Audible speed limit warnings are also now fitted on all new cars, which some folk will find irksome and nannying but might well save you from a speeding ticket, or worse.

The doors, by the way, feature the trendy idea of an electric button release rather than a traditional handle (though there is one concealed in the door pocket in case of failure). Another novelty is that you can forget about the car key  in a good way.

An e-latch will prevent you from opening the door if the car senses approaching cars or bikes (Sean OGrady)

Lexus say that the LXB can be opened and started using a new smartphone app-based digital key. You dont even have to take your phone out of your pocket or bag  just having it on your person gives you access. The app can be shared with up to five users and its compatible with both Apple and Android devices.

I didnt have the chance to test this, so youll have to take that claim at face value. I can foresee problems with it

With Lexus you get quality, reliability and an enviable reputation for excellent customer service (Sean OGrady)

But none of that is really the point of the LXB, which is to be the most cosseting car around for its size (given that smaller vehicles are always going to be inherently more choppy).

The synthetic leather seats, for example, are especially sumptuous, and then there is the Hey Lexus voice recognition software (OK for the basics). As a self-charging hybrid (ie a petrol car with regenerative braking that can deliver short bursts of electric-only propulsion) if you drive it gently enough around town you can travel in silence.

THE SPEC Lexus LBX Premium Plus Price: 34,495 (as tested; range starts at 29,995) Engine capacity: 1.5l petrol, 3-cyl, 1-sp auto + elec motor Power output (bhp): 134 Top speed (mph): 106 0 to 60 (seconds): 9.2 Fuel economy (mpg): 59 CO2 emissions (WLTP, g/km): 108

On the other hand, as with every hybrid, if you find yourself having to put your foot down on the motorway or up a hill, youll find the traditional hybrid whine  where increasing the engine revs via the continuously variable transmission generates more noise than acceleration. Its fairly minimal though, and usually the three-cylinder engine emits a nice quiet thrum.

I noted that if you use your phone and Google maps to navigate then you dont get the relevant instructions to show up on the virtual head up display, and that the screen map disappears when youre at a junction the display switches to camera mode (for safety), but these are minor niggles, to be fair.

Dynamically, its quite satisfactory and class-competitive, though the steering feels a bit remote. I guess its more worth mentioning that you obviously get Toyota levels of quality and reliability thrown in, and that Lexus dealers have long enjoyed an enviable reputation for excellent customer service.

You can open the boot and even start the car using a new smartphone app-based digital key (Sean OGrady)

But the lovable little LXB comes with a snag  a premium price tag, starting at about 30,000 and topping out nearer to 45,000 if you go a bit mad with the options  so you will need to be well-padded financially if selecting that.

Something for The Luke to spend his darts winnings on, then.
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Greta Gerwig has opened up about her and her now-husbands decision to have their wedding at city hall.

Last month, the director and Noah Baumbach, who share two children together, tied the knot after dating for the 12 years. At the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala Thursday 4 January night, Gerwig spoke to ET about why now was the right time to say I do.

We wanted to do it, we kept waiting for a moment to make a big wedding, but suddenly we were like: Well do a big wedding at some point, but lets just do it, she told the outlet.

And we were like: Lets go to city hall, and lets go to Billy Joel, added Gerwig.

The couple met on Baumbachs Greenberg and went on to work together on films like Mistress America and Frances Ha, which they co-wrote, Baumbach directed, and Gerwig acted in.

Not only have Gerwig and Baumbach collaborated on films such as Frances Ha, Mistress America, and 2022s White Noise, but they also co-wrote the years biggest blockbuster film, Barbie. In 2020, they became the first couple to compete at the Academy Awards in the same categories - Best Picture, Lead Actress, and Supporting Actress - for Baumbachs Marriage Story and Gerwigs Little Women.

Speaking to the Guardian, the mother of two referred to the film director as her favourite person to work with. She described herself as an extrovert, whereas hes an introvert.

His opinion matters the most to me, she said I love making him laugh. Its the best feeling. When he watches a cut and something makes him really laugh, Im, like: Got it!

Gerwig added: I fling myself at life, he kind of takes his time. You know, underneath it all, we both just love movies and art.

Back in December 2019, Baumback spoke toVogue about his favourite part of working alongside his partner.

I think the pleasure of writing for us is that it seeps into everything, he told the outlet. Id show her a cut of my movie, and then a few months later, Im watching her movie.

I dont want to sound sickeningly happy, but its a truly great thing to watch someone you love make something and love the thing they make, Baumbach added. I dont know how else to say it without saying great a lot.

Baumbach was previously married to and shares a child with Jennifer Jason Leigh, while he shares four-year-old son, Harold Ralph Gerwig Baumbach, and a second son they quietly welcomed in 2023, with Gerwig.

In an interview with Elle UK published in July, Gerwig announced that she and her partner of 12 years quietly welcomed their second child together. The little guy is sleeping through the night, she said. But Im still doing that thing where I wake up, every hour to 90 minutes, and just hover. You just keep wanting to look at that baby. So Im slightly in a twilight state.

Despite her tiredness, Gerwig described her baby as a little Schmoo, adding: I dont know if you can tell energy from this picture, but thats very much his energy. Hes a wise little baby.
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Gregg Wallace has made a plea for more funding for autistic childrens education during an appearance on QVC.

The food broadcaster and MasterChef judge appeared on the classic home shopping channel on Saturday (6 January) to promote a rose plant named after his four-year-old son, Sid.

Sid was diagnosed with severe autism in 2022.

Gregg Wallace (Getty Images)

During the broadcast, Wallace, 59, explained that 5 from every sale of the Little Sid Rosebush supports the charity Ambitious About Autism, which directly helps young children with autism, because finding education for them is not easy.

Let me tell you, were very fortunate, we got [Sid] into a local special needs school, but autistic children do not fit in well with mainstream education, we do need extra funding, Wallace said.

Describing the red flower to the audience, Wallace added: Its a beautiful fragrance, to me it smells a little bit like vanilla and honey, but the flower itself is the same colour as Sids favourite.

Wallace shares Sid with his wife, Anne-Marie Sterpini, whom he married in 2016.

The Little Sid Rose has been created by British breeders Harkness Rose Company, and 5 from every sale is being donated to the charity for autistic children and young people.

In June 2023, the former Saturday Kitchen host spoke candidly about his reaction to finding out about Sids autism.

You go through a period of almost like mourning. Like, my God, I havent got the child I thought I had, he told The Times.

I wanted to kick a rugby ball about with him and teach him about knights and castles. His mum and nonna would have wanted to teach him how to cook and make his bed and his clothes.

His grandpa would have wanted to be out with him with a boomerang and an air rifle and building a treehouse. So were missing out. I dont think hes missing out, he added.

Wallace also previously fronted the BBC Two show Inside The Factory, and told Gaby Roslins show on BBC Radio London that his departure was influenced by Sid needing additional support with his education.

Earlier this week, Wallace recalled a special moment that he shared with Sid over the festive period on ITVs Lorraine, and says that he and Sterpini have seen marked improvements in their son since he started school.

He told presenter Lorraine Kelly: It was the first time he ever opened his presents, played with them and interacted with family.
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A husband cried over the results of a heart-shaped cake he ordered for his wife.

Lewis Kelly - one-half of the influencer couple account @andreaandlewis - had a frustrating experience when he ordered a birthday cake for his wife Andrea Camila, only to find that it was far from what he imagined.

In a video posted on both of their Instagram and TikTok accounts, Kelly showed viewers the cake he ordered for his wifes 24th birthday and his shocked reaction. The influencer wrote in the videos overlaid text: I feel like I just ruined my wifes birthday.

He was visibly in tears over the cake he purchased, which he first showed a reference picture from Pinterest of what he was expecting: a trendy heart-shaped pastel pink cake with Victorian-inspired piping. But then in the last seconds of the clip, he showed viewers what he actually got: a messily-piped, hot pink cake with gold leaf, metallic candy balls, and inedible butterfly decorations that were not at all in line with his vision.

$145 down the drain, Kelly wrote in the caption. The ONLY thing she asked for today was a cute cake & now theres nothing I can do.

Since he posted on both platforms, Kelly has garnered over 31 million views on Instagram and 3.8 million on TikTok, with viewers taking to the comment section to lift the influencers spirits and offer him their advice.

Aww no dont cry, shell know your intention, shell be happy just to be with you, one viewer commented, while another added: Its the effort that counts.

either you made it and thats the sweetest thing ever... or you need to ask for a refund lol, another said.

DONT CRY ITS CUTE!!!! wrote one user, to which someone joked, Dont lie to that man .

You tried and thats okay! a viewer wrote. Maybe if you get some flowers and decorate around the cake itllcheer it up so to speak?

In a teary-eyed, follow-up video, Kelly explained to viewers, I just feel like I let my wife down, like literally she didnt ask for any presents. She didnt ask for anything. She just wanted a cute aesthetic cake to take pictures with, thats all she wanted on her birthday.

However, Kelly found one silver lining in the cakes adorable strawberry candle - which clearly replaced two candles that were inexplicably removed: The strawberry candle is cute  shes gonna like that.

The influencer reportedly purchased the cake in Puerto Rico, where the couple spends six months out of the year living with Camilas family.

In Puerto Rico, a lot of business is done by word of mouth. You usually hire someone who knows someone who knows one of your family members, Kelly told Today, explaining that he reached out to a local baker that a family friend recommended to him. I had never tried their cakes before but we had no idea it would turn out like that!

The cake - which was carrot cake flavoured - was meant to be a sweet callback to one of the tiers of their wedding cake since their first wedding anniversary will be on 13 January.

I wanted the experience of our wedding to be relived through the birthday cake unfortunately that didnt quite happen, he added. I picked up the cake in the evening so I didnt really get a proper look at it until I got home that night. I didnt want to examine the cake too much in the bakery because it felt awkward.

But Kelly ultimately let this setback get him down, as the influencer posted an update on 26 December 2023 sharing that hed decided to make the most of the hand that was dealt to him. He showed that he had made a replacement cake for his wife using a cake and decorations he bought from the local grocery store.

Andrea initially loved the (original) cake! She thought I made it, so she thought the effort was cute since I know nothing about baking/decorating cakes, Kelly revealed, noting that she was shocked when he told her that hed bought the original cake from a professional baker. She honestly had a great laugh about the whole thing.
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The Metropolitan Police has declined calls to open an investigation into Prince Andrew after new documents related to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contained references to the former royal.

In the documents, Prince Andrew was accused of groping a young 20-year-old while at Epsteins house in New York, as well as sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre when she was 17 on three separate occasions.

While the majority of the allegations against the former royal contained within the unsealed 1,200 pages are not new, it has been suggested that at least one accusation is fresh.

The Duke of York has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said it has no intention of opening a case.

We are aware of the release of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein, the statement read. As with any matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention we will assess it. No investigation has been launched.

In one filing in the latest document, a woman named as Jane Doe #3, who is believed to be Giuffre, alleges she was forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations: in London [at Ghislaine Maxwells apartment], in New York and on Epsteins private island in the US Virgin Islands [in an orgy with numerous other underaged girls].

Prince Andrew stepped down from public life after public anger over his friendship with Epstein. He settled the sexual assault case filed against him by Giuffre for an undisclosed sum.

The Duke of Yorks spokesperson has been approached for comment.
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A Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with rape and strangulation while working his probationary period.

PC Andrej Sagaidak, who is attached to a local policing team in south-east London, was charged with two counts of rape, one count of non-fatal strangulation and one count of causing actual bodily harm on Friday. He was suspended from duty following his arrest on Thursday.

An investigation was launched after the force received a report that a man had been raped by another man at a home in Islington on Monday. The officer was off-duty at the time of the alleged offence, said the force.

Sagaidak appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Saturday where he was remanded in custody to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday.

The Met said its investigation is ongoing and the victim continues to be supported. It added that a mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, responsible for policing in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham said: This is a deeply concerning allegation and I know it will cause significant concern.

It comes after another serving Metropolitan Police officer appeared in court on Friday and denied a charge of causing a male to engage in penetrative sexual activity, which he allegedly committed 10 years ago when he was a Met special constable.

Sergeant Elliot Butler, 31, of Romford, Essex, who is attached to the Central East Command Unit, spoke to confirm his name and enter a plea when he appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court on Friday. He has also been charged with attempted rape but has yet to enter a plea.
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Prince Andrews royal status would not protect him from criminal prosecution in the US over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, a leading lawyer has warned  but it is unlikely he would ever be extradited.

Top criminal defence lawyer Duncan Levin, who previously served as an assistant US attorney, said there is nothing barring the federal government from arresting Andrew, the Duke of York, if he sets foot on US soil after sexual assault allegations resurfaced in court documents.

While an arrest of that magnitude would require sign off from the highest levels of the Department of Justice, recent cases against former US President Donald Trump show that no-one is above the law, Mr Levin said.

But he believes it is unlikely the US federal government wouldn ever seek to extradite the royal  who denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Levin told The Independent: Theres nothing barring the federal government from arresting Prince Andrew.

Prince Andrew (REUTERS)

If I were advising Andrew I would want him to be aware of the possibility of arrest in the US. That possibility might be enough to stop him coming here.

Our system of justice doesnt place anybody above the law  as we have seen with the prosecution of Trump. A prince, a king, a queen, a president  none of that matters in the US.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (U.S. Department of Justice)

The comments come amid fresh calls from anti-monarchy group Republic for criminal probes into sex assault allegations against Andrew, 63, which resurfaced in a tranche of newly released US court documents known as the Epstein files.

The royal has been named 70 times in the sensational papers which were unsealed by a New York judge, once again shining a light on his links to the disgraced paedophile billionaire.

The trove of interviews and transcripts include allegations that the Duke of York had an orgy with underage girls and touched a womans breast while posing with a Spitting Image puppet of himself during his friendship with the disgraced financier.

It comes after Andrew in 2022 paid millions to settle a US civil case brought by Virginia Guiffre, who alleged she was sexually assaulted by the Duke on three occasions when she was 17, including in London in 2001, after being trafficked by Epstein. Andrew has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

A photo allegedly showing Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell (US District Court - Southern Dis)

The duke denied he slept with Virginia Roberts Giuffre on three separate occasions when questioned by Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis (PA)

The royal has not faced any criminal investigation either at home or in the US.

The Metropolitan Police said in 2021 they were taking no further action over the allegations, while he is understood to have never submitted to an FBI interview over his links to Epstein.

But following the release of the court papers, which formed evidence in a settled defamation case brought by Guiffre against Epsteins madam Ghislaine Maxwell, there have been renewed calls for him to face justice.

Anti-monarchy group Republic this week announced they had reported Andrew to police, complaining no serious criminal investigation into the allegations has ever taken place.

Their chief executive Graham Smith said: The question many people will be asking is simple: if the accused were anyone else, do we believe they wouldnt have been investigated and prosecuted?

While US attorney Spencer Kuvin, who has represented some of Epsteins victims, insists the royal still has questions to answer.

Andrew still refuses to fully account for his time with Epstein and has failed to speak with US investigators about what he knows. British police need to do their duty and reopen their investigation into his conduct, he told the Mirror.

On Friday the Met said it will assess any new and relevant information after the papers were made public, but said no investigation into the Duke has been launched.

Prince Andrew (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Why wasnt he extradited over Virginia Guiffres sexual assault case?

Ms Guiffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew in a federal court in New York in August 2021, however - crucially - the claim was civil and not criminal. You cannot face extradition for a civil case.

She said she was the victim of abuse and sex trafficking at the hands of Epstein, who lent her out to other powerful men, allegedly including Prince Andrew. She accused Andrew of sexual assault on three occasions when she was 17 - once at Maxwells house in Belgravia, once at Epsteins New York mansion and a third time at Epsteins private island Little St James, in the US Virgin Islands.

In March 2022 he agreed a settlement worth millions with his accuser, ending the case. The out-of-court settlement accepted no liability and Prince Andrew has always strongly rejected claims of wrongdoing

Will there be a UK criminal probe?

The Metropolitan Police announced in October 2021 it had closed a review of claims made in Ms Giuffres US civil sexual assault suit against Prince Andrew and was taking no further action.

In August 2022, the force said it would was taking no further action on allegations against Epstein himself, adding that any further investigations into human trafficking by the sex offender will be focused on activities and relationships outside the UK.

A spokesman said: In the absence of any further information we will be taking no further action. As with any other matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention we will assess it.

After the latest Epstein files were made public, they added that they will assess any relevant information but said they were not investigating Andrew.

A spokesman added: We are aware of the release of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein. As with any matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention we will assess it. No investigation has been launched.

Will there be a US criminal probe?

Since his links to Epstein were exposed, Andrew has came under intense pressure to cooperate with an FBI investigation into the financier, who died awaiting trial in a New York prison.

In 2020 US attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman took the extraordinary step of announcing from the steps of Epsteins Upper East Side mansion in New York that prosecutors and the FBI had repeatedly contacted the Duke of Yorks lawyers to follow up on a previous pledge that he was willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency.

However no such interview has ever taken place, The Independent understands.

US lawyer Mr Levin said, depending on the evidence, in principle the US federal government could pursue charges against Andrew or arrest him if he ever returns to America, but it is unlikely they would seek to extradite him.

He added: It depends on evidence. A lot of time has passed. If convicted they are serious crimes.
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Firefighters are battling a huge fire that broke out on a busy high street full of shoppers.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) sent around 70 firefighters to the basement of a falafel takeaway on Acton High Street.

Smoke was seen billowing down the packed high road as power outages were also reported in the area at 11.50am on Saturday.

One man fled the fire that started an end of terrace restaurant with flats above. Around half of the propertys basement is currently alight.

The cause of the fire is not yet known but firefighters said they got it back under control by 2pm.

Cllr Hodan Haili posted on X that the fire broke out at the fish shop on the high street.

He added: Grateful for the swift response and hard work of our Met police and Fire Service.

It came as power had been knocked out in the area with Scottish and Southern Electricity Network engineers en-route to fix the issue.

The utility company said they expect to have the power back on by 4pm.

A spokesperson for LFB asked people to avoid the area while they respond and added that traffic will be heavily impacted.
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Hundreds of people who have been promised sanctuary in the UK are still stuck in Afghanistan more than two years after the Taliban takeover, Lord Cameron has said.

The foreign secretary told MPs in a letter that fewer than 700 people eligible to come to the UK under a scheme for vulnerable refugees are still in the Taliban-run country. There has also been one case of an Afghan, who had been granted UK relocation and was waiting in Pakistan, who was deported back to Afghanistan by the Pakistani authorities, he revealed.

The Independent has previously revealed that an Afghan interpreter who served with the British army was deported back to the Taliban from Pakistan while waiting for his application for help to be processed. In this case, the UK government agreed to grant his relocation only after he had been forcibly returned to Afghanistan. He later managed to return to Pakistan.

Foreign secretary Lord Cameron has oversight of one pathway of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, which is specifically for British Council teachers and contractors, embassy security workers, and young scholars on the Chevening programme.

Lord Cameron said the Foreign Office had started evacuating Afghans from Pakistan to the UK (PA)

Despite promising to bring 1,500 people to the UK on this route, the government has dragged its heels and left many hundreds of these Afghans stranded in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.

Chair of the foreign affairs committee, Alicia Kearns, raised concerns about the schemes with Lord Cameron in a December letter, writing: The government is far below its targets in processing and resettling eligible Afghans to the UK; why is this the case? And what are you doing to ensure the processing times are significantly accelerated?

Lord Cameron replied saying that two flights had been charted to bring the Afghans from Pakistan to the UK in December. The first plane, which arrived on 13 December, brought 246 people, he said, and the second took off a week later. Almost all of the most vulnerable undocumented Afghans will have left Pakistan by the end of December, Lord Cameron promised.

But he admitted that hundreds still remain in Afghanistan, and yet others in Iran.

The Independent previously revealed that British diplomats had warned the government that Afghans eligible for sanctuary in the UK but trapped in Pakistan and Iran could not be kept safe.

The government was forced to start bringing the Afghans over from Pakistan after the authorities started deporting undocumented Afghans from the country. Prime minister Rishi Sunak  along with the home secretary, defence secretary and foreign secretary  was facing multiple legal challenges from Afghans left in limbo over the governments failure to relocate them.

The Ministry of Defence finally granted an Afghan interpreter (pictured) eligibility to relocate to the UK days after he was deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan (Supplied)

Lord Cameron said that plans are in place to bring the rest of the 1,500 Afghans eligible for relocation under the Foreign Office pathway to the UK. But stressed that it will be difficult to predict how quickly those in Afghanistan can be brought to safety.

He told Ms Kearns: It depends partly on them securing the necessary Afghan documentation for the Taliban to allow them to leave, and partly on securing visas from third countries such as Pakistan to allow them to cross the border.

Referring to those trapped in Iran, he added that FCDO staff at the Tehran embassy were working to get them out as quickly as we can. Two other Afghan pathways for UK resettlement are also being operated by the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office.

Tory MP Ms Kearns said: Two years since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban  and up against a hard and fast-approaching deadline from the Pakistani Government  it appears we are finally seeing some movement in the right direction.

There are still serious concerns over the danger that eligible Afghans  including those who put their lives at risk for the UK  will be deported back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. This would be a betrayal of the promises we made to them and would place them in substantial peril.
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Jeremy Hunt is under fire as it emerged that his key Budget promise to expand free childcare in 2024 is fast unravelling amid chaos over funding arrangements.

The chancellor had announced a major extension of free care for this spring in a bid to win back voters  but experts say the sector has not been given enough cash or support to deliver his pledge.

With the Tories hoping for a boost in the run-up to this years general election, eligible working parents of two-year-olds have been told they can claim 15 hours a week of free childcare from 1 April.

However, council bosses have warned that the funding will not be in place for nurseries by then  with cash-strapped providers facing a huge crisis over the number of children places they can offer.

Experts say many families could miss out at the last minute  with some parents telling The Independent they have already been told by their local nursery they cannot offer Mr Hunts flagship policy.

Critics laid the blame squarely on Rishi Sunaks government  saying Mr Hunt and fellow ministers had not backed up their ill-thought-out policy with enough financial support.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt during a visit to Busy Bees Battersea Nursery in south London (PA)

Labour shadow childrens minister Helen Hayes said the Tories childcare offer to voters in the election year has fallen at the first hurdle.

The frontbencher said the government had squeezed the timeline for funding confirmation, adding: By failing to plan for delivery, their promises on childcare have been set up to fail.

The Liberal Democrats said there was a huge crisis looming  with the prospect of some nurseries collapsing  unless the government comes forward with proper funding guarantees.

The partys education spokesperson Munira Wilson said: How does this government expect to roll out expansion of childcare when the amount they invest in childcare services is a fraction of whats needed?

The Department for Education (DfE) says local authorities have until the end of March to confirm how much they will pay nurseries for extra places.

But childcare under the programme is set to begin on 1 April  meaning many parents may not receive confirmation about a place until weeks after they want to start.

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are under pressure to deliver wider free childcare before an election expected later in 2024 (Getty)

One expert said parents may even be forced to abandon their returns to work at the last minute if do not get the free childcare they expect.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: This chaos is the fault of the government. The government introduced this new childcare system, they are responsible for funding it. It is an ill-thought-out policy.

Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Associations children and young people board, said: Unfortunately, information for local authorities and providers has only recently been made available by central government, and this means they are having to work within a challenging timeframe to ensure arrangements are in place to expand before the start of the April rollout.

A mother-of-one living in Northamptonshire told The Independent her local nursery has just warned parents they will not be offering Mr Hunts flagship policy and will stop providing the funded places for three-year-olds they previously offered.

The Independent recently revealed thousands of nurseries had been forced to close their doors amid staff shortages and a lack of funding, sparking warnings that Mr Hunts Budget pledge to offer 30 hours of free childcare for under-fives from 2025 was doomed to failure.

A lot of people are pinning their hopes upon this materialising. I dont think the government have grasped the danger of making false promises to parents who cant keep their head above water. Sarah Ronan

The Early Years Alliance said eligible parents who apply for the scheme through the government website will be given a code to take to a childcare provider who will then notify them if they have spaces available.

Mr Leitch said: You may qualify for your entitlement but that does not guarantee you a place. It is a huge assumption that you would automatically be given a place. If you are, it may not be the hours you are looking for.

Alternatively, you could be placed on a waiting list until a space becomes available. This code is then useless  it is a bit like telling someone you can have this free food in a supermarket but then seeing empty shelves when you arrive.

Mr Leitch, whose organisation represents nurseries, preschools and registered childminders among others, said they have encountered parents who have been on waiting lists for 18 months.

Waiting lists are likely to grow and grow, he added. Parents desperate to return to work will have to abandon their plans and take stock of what to do next. Even if providers have the funding for spaces, the fact is that they may well be struggling to recruit adequate people.

Mr Leitch argued that Mr Hunts new measures are an example of announce first and do the thinking afterwards.

The expert noted the childcare sector is already struggling to provide the 30 hours of free childcare per week in term time for three- and four-year-olds in England that was rolled out by ministers in 2017.

Mr Sunak and education secretary Gillian Keegan visit Busy Bees nursery in Harrogate (PA)

Lauren Ellis, a teacher, said her fantastic local nursery has been pushed into a position where they can no longer offer any funded places.

It is a nationwide issue, the 35-year-old said. It is not their fault. If the funding had come in, it would have halved my childcare costs. It is another government promise which looks great on the face of it and is a great headline. It looks great going to an election but it is completely flawed. There is a lot of confusion among parents and they cant plan ahead or plan for other children.

Ms Ellis said her mortgage had shot up to an extortionate rate for their small two-bedroom house, and childcare was their second highest outgoing.

We have cut down on holidays, she added. We now have no chance of going abroad. Buying new cars  no chance. Also on takeaways and our own clothes shopping.

Sarah Ronan, director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, said she has spoken to parents who are delaying having children until the new offer is rolled out.

A lot of people are pinning their hopes upon this materialising, Ms Ronan added. I dont think the government have grasped the danger of making false promises to parents who cant keep their head above water.

If the funding had come in, it would have halved my childcare costs. It is another government promise which looks great on the face of it and is a great headline. It looks great going to an election but it is completely flawed. Lauren Ellis

She urged local authorities to tell providers rates for the new free-hours policy as quickly as possible  explaining services will remain unsure if they can deliver the scheme and how many places they have available until they know the rate.

Ms Ronan added: The government has run this sector into the ground. The government has knowingly underfunded the sector.

Recent figures from the schools inspectorate Ofsted revealed that 3,320 of the 62,300 nurseries and childminders caring for under-fives in England had shut their doors in the past year alone, leaving 17,800 fewer childcare places available.

The number of nurseries and early years services for under-fives has plummeted by a quarter in recent years, from 84,970 in 2015-2016 to 63,207 in 2022-2023.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry has estimated that implementing the governments expanded childcare plans will cost 8.9bn rather than the 4bn ministers have allocated to fund the increase in places.

Responding for the government, a DfE spokesperson said: We are rolling out the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever, and are confident in the strength of our childcare market to deliver 30 free hours of childcare for working parents from nine months old up to when they start school.

Our data shows the number of early years staff and places increased in 2023  but we know there is more to be done. Thats why we are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to increase hourly funding rates and have allocated 100m in capital funding for more early years and wraparound places and spaces.

They added: We published our 2024-25 hourly funding rates in November and encourage local authorities to update providers on initial budgets as early as possible ahead of the first phase of the rollout in April.
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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked Westminster Bridge on Saturday while calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The Free Palestine Coalition (FPC), made up of grassroots organisations including Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK and the Palestinian Youth Movement, staged a sit-in after a march in their first major demonstration of the new year.

The location of the demonstration had been kept secret before a meeting point  a drinking fountain in St Jamess Park  was announced at 10am with protesters gathering around midday.

Protesters painted their hands red and wore masks with the faces of politicians (Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

The Metropolitan Police issued a statement on X saying: Officers have attempted to speak with the organisers, however they have not shared any information with us about their proposed route.

This has an impact on how we plan our policing response and means more officers have to be deployed to central London to ensure we can respond quickly.

Police officers attempted to break up the gathering at the drinking fountain in St Jamess Park.

After several arrests were made there, protesters marched through Westminster before being stopped by officers next to Big Ben.

A large unit of officers appeared to remove the protest leaders as they announced the demonstration would be marching to its next location, which the coalition had not yet announced.

The group also called for an end to UK sales of arms to Israel (Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

The remaining protesters pushed back against the officers, who had formed a wall along Birdcage Walk. They chanted: Shame on you and Who do you serve, who do you protect?

Eventually, the protesters continued towards Westminster Bridge but were prevented from getting onto it by several dozen officers.

Many of the protesters then gradually joined a sit-in that was surrounded on three sides by the police.

Protesters argue with police who formed a cordon on Westminster Bridge (Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

One demonstrator said: Demanding a ceasefire is the bare minimum our government must do  it is necessary to end the daily massacres of Palestinians and the further destruction of hospitals, schools, mosques, churches and 70 per cent of all the homes in Gaza.

A recent YouGov poll showed that 76 per cent of Britons support a ceasefire.

A spokesperson for the protesters said: The FPC has chosen this date, in advance of Parliament returning, to send a strong signal to the UK Government that Palestine is a political priority and that there can be no business as usual.

The Met Police said on Saturday afternoon: All protesters have now left the area around Westminster Bridge. Officers remain on duty in central London and are ready to respond to any further demonstrations.
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Prince Andrew's former wife Sarah Ferguson visited Jeffrey Epstein's mansion in Florida at least once, according to court documents released on Friday.

Juan 'John' Alessi, who worked at Epstein's home in Palm Beach for about ten years in the 1990s, testified in 2009 that he had seen Ms Ferguson visiting the house alongside the Duke of York, though only "for a short time".

If true, the claim adds new detail to the relationship between the Duchess of York and the disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

Mr Alessi's testimony was first made public years ago, but his reference to Ms Ferguson appears to have gone unnoticed until this week when they were reproduced as part of a torrent of newly unsealed court documents.

The files contain more than 100 mentions of Andrew, who has been accused of sexual assault but strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

The Independent has asked Ms Ferguson for comment via her charity Sarah's Trust.

Ms Ferguson, who divorced from Andrew in 1996 but has remained close ever since has long been criticised for her association with Epstein.

The well-connected financier once gave her 15,000 to help pay off her debts, in a transaction which she later called a "gigantic error".

Last May, The Daily Mail reported that Ms Ferguson had visited Epstein in New York City in February 2010, while he was still under house arrest for having sex with underage girls.

In his testimony, Mr Alessi said that both the Duchess and Duke of York were "friends" of Epstein's and had also visited his Florida home together.

Asked if they ever received massages while staying there, Mr Alessi said: "Prince Andrew did. I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time.

"I don't think she slept in there. I cannot remember. I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

"But Prince Andrew, yes  Prince Andrew spent weeks with us."
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Swear words like f*** and s*** have become so commonplace in the UK that they are used merely to emphasise points rather than cause offence, a linguistic expert has said.

It came as BBC Radio 4 presenter Mishal Husain stunned Today listeners when she said the word s*** seven times in one minute during an interview with James Cleverly, the home secretary.

There was the time it was reported [that] you had called a government policy bats***, there was the personal place you referred to in parliament that was a s***hole, said Husain, 50, who has hosted the show for a decade.

Husain and Cleverly clashed on the airwaves (Getty)

While Cleverly, 54, did not deny calling the Rwanda scheme bats***, he hit back at claims he used the derogatory term to describe Labour MP Alex Cunninghams Stockton North constituency in the House of Commons last November.

You didnt use the word s***hole in parliament? Husain challenged Cleverly, who reiterated: No, I didnt.

The car-crash interview continued with Husain challenging Cleverly saying: You used the word s*** didnt you.

Yes I did, but the point is what you just accused me of is very, very different and completely wrong, he replied.

Dr Robbie Love, an English Language lecturer at Aston University, said Brits now swear casually for comic effect, to express surprise, and show solidarity with peers as well as to abuse someone.

He said: Swearing, as with all language use, is entirely context-dependent and context-specific. Its what you do with the word and the various functions that informs the perception of how acceptable it is.

On Husain, he said: Rather, shes referring to the word that [Cleverly allegedly] used and asking whether he said it. In that context, I would argue that its more likely to be considered acceptable, than if she suddenly said at the end of the story, Well, that was a load of s***, wasnt it?

He told The Guardian that it might have been part of a strategy from the interviewer to rattle the home secretary adding he didnt believe anybody would genuinely be offended by the context used.
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The wife of Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager who pushed for the resignation of Harvards president amid plagiarism claims, now faces similar plagiarism allegations.

Neri Oxman, a former MIT professor, admitted to plagiarising her own dissertation in an X post after Business Insider found instances of her lifting sentences from and neglecting to cite other researchers.

Dr Oxman wrote that she had received four paragraphs in question from the outlet regarding her 2010 paper. For each of the four paragraphs in question, I properly credited the original sources author(s) with references at the end of each of the subject paragraphs, and in the detailed bibliography end pages of the dissertation, she wrote.

However, she added, I did not place the subject language in quotation marks, which would be the proper approach for crediting the work. I regret and apologize for these errors.

Following the initial accusations, Business Insider reported finding 28 additional examples of plagiarism in her work  including allegedly lifting passages from Wikipedia. The publication noted sections of her dissertation that appeared to be more or less taken verbatim from numerous Wikipedia entries without proper attribution.

The allegations arrived days after Claudine Gay stepped down after pressure from lawmakers and Mr Ackman, a Havard alum. Dr Gay had faced intense scrutiny following her appearance at a Congressional hearing regarding her response to antisemitism on campus in the wake of the Hamas attacks.

Mr Ackman suggested she was hired because she met the DEI offices criteria, but his efforts ramped up following the discoveries that she plagiarised portions of her PhD dissertation.

Mr Ackman wrote a scathing 4,000-word post on X about the universitys diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. He also addressed the Harvard boards response to the plagiarism allegations against her.

He wrote, When the Board finally publicly acknowledged some of Gays plagiarism, it characterized the plagiarism as unintentional and invented new euphemisms, i.e., duplicative language to describe plagiarism, a belittling of academic integrity that has caused grave damage to Harvards academic standards and credibility.

Following Business Insiders report, the hedge fund CEO took to X to defend her through a series of questions.

He remarked on the timeline, How can one defend oneself against an accusation of plagiarizing Wikipedia for a dissertation written 15 years ago in 2009? Ms Gays dissertation was written in 1997.

Mr Ackman then asked about Wikipedia: Isnt the whole point of Wikipedia that it is a dynamic source of info that changes minute by minute based on edits and contributions from around the globe?

He then asked whether the website is copyrighted, and added, Has anyone (other than my wife) ever been accused of plagiarism based on using Wikipedia for a definition of a word?

The Independent has reached out to Mr Ackman and Dr Oxman for comment.
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Billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein once told one of his victims that Bill Clinton likes them young, according to dramatic testimony revealed in court documents unsealed for the very first time.

Dozens of Epstein associates were unmasked on Wednesday after a judge ordered the unsealing of court documents in a now-settled lawsuit brought by abuse victim Virginia Giuffre against Epsteins accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell .

Among the hundreds of pages of filings, another victim Johanna Sjoberg spoke about what she knew about Mr Clintons ties to Epstein as part of a 2016 deposition that also made allegations against Prince Andrew.

Under sworn testimony, she said that Epstein had told her the former president liked girls young.

[Epstein] said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls, she testified.

When asked if she knew Mr Clinton was a friend of Epstein, she said: I knew he had dealings with Bill Clinton. I did not know they were friends until I read the Vanity Fair article about them going to Africa together.

However, Ms Sjoberg testified that she never met Mr Clinton, never saw him on Epsteins Caribbean island and never saw him being flown in a helicopter by Maxwell.

In total, Mr Clintons name appears at least 73 times in the first batch of documents released on Wednesday.

There is no indication that the former president is involved in any wrongdoing and is not accused of any crime.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Clintons representative for comment.

Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Clinton pictured together (Netflix)

His spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday that it has now been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein and denied that the former president ever had any knowledge of Epsteins crimes.

Flight logs have previously revealed that Mr Clinton flew on Epsteins private jet in 2002 and 2003 to destinations outside the Caribbean.

Ms Giuffre has claimed she once met Mr Clinton on Epsteins Caribbean island.

Several more documents  and names  are expected to be released over the coming days.

Ms Giuffre filed the defamation lawsuit against Maxwell in 2015, after she accused her of lying about the years-long abuse she had suffered at the hands of Epstein and some in his inner circle.

The suit was settled in 2017 but was placed under a protective seal  with the identities of those named in the filings kept under lock and key.

The Miami Herald sued for the release of the sealed documents while Maxwells legal team sought to block it.

Around 2,000 pages of documents were first unsealed in 2019, with further documents released over the following years.

But, this current trove of documents remained sealed  and the names of hundreds of people associated with the dead paedophile were kept secret, known only as Jane and John Does.

Epsteins Caribbean island Little St James (PA)

Then, in a landmark ruling last month, US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the trove of documents could be released and the names unsealed in full after 1 January.

While the federal judge ordered the names of several Epstein victims to remain anonymous, she said that there was no legal justification to keep the names of Epsteins associates redacted as John and Jane Does.

This has now paved the way for several famous figures to find themselves tied to the notorious disgraced financier.

Many have previously been connected to Epstein in media reports, lawsuits and Maxwells trial testimony.

Some of the documents have already been released in part or in full as part of other court cases, the judge said.

An individual being named in the documents does not necessarily mean they are accused of any wrongdoing.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.

Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking in 2021 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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Former president Bill Clinton faces renewed public scrutiny after being identified multiple times in the newly unsealed court documents detailing the associates of late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Clinton is described as a close personal friend of the disgraced financier, though he is not accused of any illegal activity, and reportedly did not take the bait when introduced to underage girls, according to the documents.

Clintons name appears almost 100 times so far in the material, tranches of which were released on Wednesday and Thursday, alongside other high-profile figures including Prince Andrew and Donald Trump.

Testimony from alleged Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg claimed that the financier once told her that Clinton likes them young  referring to girls.

However, fellow Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre said that although Clinton spent time on Epsteins private island of Little St. James, in the US Virgin Islands, there was no evidence he was involved in wrongdoing.

Ms Giuffre claimed that she flew there with the former president in a helicopter piloted by Epsteins former girlfriend and partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell. I only met Bill [Clinton] twice but Jeffrey told me they were good friends, her testimony read.

The former president faces renewed public scrutiny after being identified multiple times in the newly unsealed court documents (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

We all dined together that night. Jeffrey was at the head of the table. Bill was at his left. I sat across from him Ghislaine was at Bills left and at the left of Ghislaine there were two olive-skinned brunettes whod flown in with us from New York.

Id say they were no older than 17, very innocent-looking Maybe Jeffrey thought they would entertain Bill, but I saw no evidence that he was interested in them.

She added that Epstein and Maxwell seemed to have a very good relationship with Clinton and that the trio had told blokey jokes around the dinner table.

But in later testimony, Ms Giuffre claimed that the former president attempted to threaten magazine Vanity Fair into not writing about Epsteins alleged sex trafficking.

In Thursdays tranche of documents, Ms Giuffre said that Mr Clinton had walked into the magazines office and pressured them not to write about his good friend J.E.

The alleged incident was described in a May 2011 email to journalist Sharon Churcher, then working for The Mail on Sunday, discussing the best way to publicise Ms Giuffres claims against Epstein.

When I was doing some research into VF yesterday, it does concern me what they could want to write about me considering that B Clinton walked into VF and threatened them not to write sex-trafficking articles about his good friend JE, Ms Giuffre wrote.

Clinton was described as having a very good relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein (VIA REUTERS)

Ms Giuffre did not say where the information she alleged came from.

But a spokesperson for Vanity Fairs former editor Graydon Carter told The Daily Telegraph that the incident categorically did not happen.

Sources who worked at the magazine around that time also told Insider that it never happened, and the journalist whose story was supposedly at issue also cast doubt on the incident when it was first reported by Gawker back in 2007.

Some former Vanity Fair journalists have previously claimed that Epstein himself put pressure on Mr Carter not to investigate his misdeeds, though Mr Carter has also disputed this.

The Independent has asked Mr Clinton and Mr Carter for comment.

Shortly before the documents were released this week, Clinton was seen visiting Mexico with his wife, Hillary Clinton.

The former president has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Simply being included in these documents does not indicate any wrongdoing related to Epstein or anyone else.

A spokesperson for Clinton said in 2019: President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.

This story was amended at 5:06pm Eastern Time on 5 Jan 2024 to add new details about Giuffres claim regarding Vanity Fair.
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New batches of unsealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents continue to reveal a number of high-profile individuals whose names appeared multiple times in various materials, including footnotes.

Among them are two former US presidents  Donald Trump and Bill Clinton  and Prince Andrew, all three of whom have been pictured with and known to associate with the disgraced financier in the past.

Other names include lawyer Alan Dershowitz, magician David Copperfield, Michael Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

However, being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

This undated trial evidence image obtained on 8 December 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein (US District Court for the Southern District of New York)

Ghislaine Maxwell

Unsurprisingly, Epsteins partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell is one of the names that features the most, appearing over 1000 times in the first five batches of documents.

The British socialites name appears in full hundreds of times, due to the files being part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against her, though the name Maxwell appears still more, sometimes in reference to legal matters and footnotes.

References to Maxwell were made throughout the documents, with various other witnesses being asked about her involvement with Epstein in their separate testimonies.

Much of the information in the third and fourth tranches of evidence, released on Friday, was taken from Maxwells own despositions. They included questions over her interactions with Prince Andrew and Ms Giuffre as well as with former president Bill Clinton and others.

She is currently serving 20 years in prison, having been convicted sex-trafficking underage girls in June 2022.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson

Prince Andrew has been named more than 100 times accross all sets of documents. The Duke of York was named 67 times with his Royal title in the first batch, though he also appears multiple times as simply Andrew in multiple other instances, including Maxwells deposition.

Testimony concerning the dukes alleged conduct is detailed in the documents, much of which he has previously denied.

Evidence from Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg, claimed the duke touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaires Manhattan apartment in 2001.

Andrews name also cropped up in testimony about his now-notorius alleged visit to Tramp nightclub in London, which became a focal point of his 2019 sit-down television interview with journalist Emily Maitlis.

During the interview the duke claimed he has a peculiar medical condition whereby he cannot sweat  in response to Ms Guiffres claims he was perspiring in the club.

Andrew has always strongly denied the allegations against him, while Buckingham Palace previously said all accusations made against the duke are categorically untrue.

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is also named  having reportedly visited Epsteins New York mansion with her then-husband, Andrew, according to testimony from former Epstein employee Juan Alessi.

Andrew was also mentioned in the latest batches of documents, released on Monday and Tuesday, the latter of which contained deposition from Epstein himself.

The disgraced financier was asked whether he had attempted to blackmail Andrew after his alleged sexual encounter with Ms Giuffre, who claimed she was paid $15,000 to have sex with the duke.

He was asked whether he had told Ms Giuffre that she had to give him a full report on the details of what men like Prince Andrew did to her so that you would have blackmail material you could use. Epstein pleaded the fifth amendement to the majority of the questions.

He was also quizzed on what he knew about Andrews sexual preferences, and on whether Ms Giuffre had recounted specific behaviour that Prince Andrew requested before sexual intercourse.

Former US President Bill Clinton arrives prior to a tribute service for former US First Lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 28, 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

Bill Clinton

Clintons name was mentioned 83 times in the first two batches of documents, though the number is now well over 100 also. Both he and Andrew are known to have been associated with Epstein previously.

Part of the testimony from Ms Sjoberg alleges that Epstein once told her that Clinton likes them young  referring to girls.

In the days leading up to the unsealing, it was reported that Clinton would be referred to more than 50 times in the redacted documents, having been given the pseudonym John Doe 36, according to the New York Post.

Many of the references to the former president were reportedly believed to stem from Ms Giuffres early attempts to compel him to testify against Epstein and Maxwell.

The second batch included evidence that claimed the former president had ridden in Epsteins private helicopter with Maxwell and Ms Giuffre and attempted to threaten Vanity Fair into not writing about Epsteins alleged sex trafficking.

Ms Giuffre claimed that Clinton had walked into the magazines office and pressured them not to write about his good friend J.E, the documents stated.

Shortly before the documents were released Clinton was seen visiting Mexico with his wife, Hillary Clinton, whose name now also appears in the documents.

In the latest batch, released on Monday, Epstein victim Sarah Ransome, also detailed the alleged sexual relationship between an unnamed friend and the former president. She testified that her friend had to have sexual intercourse with Clinton in Epsteins New York Mansion just off 5th Avenue on numerous occasions.

Clinton denies this and any wrongdoing and none of the individuals Ms Ransome made the allegations against have been formally accused or charged with any crime in connection to Epstein.

In the deposition, Ms Ransome testified that her friend later came forward to report what happened to the police in 2008 but said that nothing was done and she was made to feel like a dirty whore and a liar.

A couple of months later, her friend was allegedly approached by Special Agents Forces Men sent directly by Hilary (sic) Clinton herself, in order to protect her presidential campaign in 2008, Ms Ransome testified.

They heavily intimidated her, ruffled her up (luckily she took photos as evidence) and was then forced to sign a confidentiality agreement which ensures that she can never come forward publicly implicating her husband, she testified.

Ms Ransome went on to testify that the friend was given a substantial payout directly from the Clinton Foundation to keep her quiet.

Clinton also appeared during questioning of Epstein, who was asked about their relationship and whether they had taken international trips together.

In her testimony, Maxwell said that categorically, definitively, absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, when I was present or any other time that I am aware of, was President Clinton ever on that island, referring to Epsteins private island of St Little James.

I do not believe he went to that island ever ever, that is an absolute fabrication and an absolute flat out lie, she said.

Donald Trump

Clinton is not the only former commander-in-chief to appear in the documents. Donald Trump was named a handful of times in several batches, the latest of which contain allegations from Ms Ransome.

Ms Ransome testified that her unnamed friend was one of the many girls that had sexual relations with Donald Trump  including at Epsteins New York townhouse.

She confided in me about her casual friendship with Donald. Mr Trump definitely seemed to have a thing for her and she told me how he kept going on about how he liked her pert nipples, she testified. She then described in graphic detail how Mr Trump allegedly caused pain to the victims nipples  and claimed she saw the resulting injury firsthand.

I also know she had sexual relations with Trump at Jefferys NY mansion on regular occasions as I once met Jen for coffee, just before she was going to meet Trump and Epstein together at his mansion.

Jeffrey Epstein (left) and Donald Trump (right) (Getty Images)

A Trump spokeperson told The Independent: These baseless accusations have been fully retracted because they are simply false and have no merit.

In part of testimony released in the final batch of documents on Tuesday, Ms Giuffre said in a deposition that she never saw Mr Trump participate in the sexual abuse of minors.

Other mention of Mr Trump, while not accusing him of wrongdoing, appeared to illustrate the good relationship he had with Epstein.

In part of testimony from another victim Johanna Sjoberg, it was claimed Epstein once called up the former president and visited one of his casinos after his private plane was diverted to Atlantic City in New Jersey.

Ms Sjoberg said that while travelling on the plane with the disgraced financier the pilots had said that they were unable to land in New York as planned.

Jeffrey said, Great, well call up Trump and well go to -- I dont recall the name of the casino, but -- well go to the casino, the testimony read. Elsewhere, Ms Sjoberg was asked if she ever gave Mr Trump a massage, to which she replied no.

Several more mentions of Mr Trump were made in the documents released last Friday, when Mr Alessi testified he had driven Maxwell to the former presidents Mar-A-Lago home.

Mr Alessi also said that Mr Trump would sometimes come round for dinner at Epsteins home but ate with Mr Alessi in the kitchen. Mr Trump did not get massages at the Palm Beach house because he had his own spa, Mr Alessi said.

Richard Branson

The UK billionaire had previously appeared in Maxwells notorious little black book, details of which emerged during her trial in 2021. This did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.

Mr Bransons name appeared again in the documents released on Monday, alongside Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, in Ms Ransomes testimony. She testified that an unnamed friend had sexual intercourse with Clinton, Prince Andrew and Richard Branson on separate occasions.

Ms Ransome testified under oath that these encounters had been filmed by Epstein  and that she herself had later seen the sex tapes. She said that the footage clearly identify the faces of the men.

A spokesperson for Mr Branson responded to email claims by citing a 2019 New Yorker article which stated that Ms Ransome had admitted to fabricating the sex tape claims to draw attention to Epstein.

A Virgin Group spokeswoman said: In a New Yorker report published in 2019, Ransome admitted that she had invented the tapes.We can confirm that Sarah Ransomes claims are baseless and unfounded.

We categorically reject all allegations made by Sarah Ransome. In 2016, Ms Ransome retracted her claims and then in 2019 after settling her claims with Epstein and Maxwell, she also admitted to The New Yorker that the tapes had been invented. The allegations are baseless and unfounded, the statement read.

The actions of Jeffrey Epstein were abhorrent and we support the right to justice for the many victims impacted by his abuse.

Les Wexner

The final batch of documents, unsealed on Tuesday, contained claims from Virginia Giuffre that she was trafficked to former Victoria Secrets CEO Les Wexner.

The allegations emerged in a 2016 deposition by Ms Giuffre and is the first time that Mr Wexner has been accused of having sex with underage girls.

In the documents, Ms Giuffre claimed that she was trafficked to have sex with Mr Wexner between three and ten times during the time that she was recruited by Epstein and Maxwell. Ms Giuffre said that she was instructed by Maxwell to wear lingerie for Mr Wexner - which Maxwell went on to categorically deny in her own deposition.

When asked why she had said in a previous interrogation by police that she didnt believe Mr Wexner would say the truth, Ms Giuffre said that it was because he had done things that were wrong.

He participated in sex with minors, Ms Giuffre elaborated.

A spokesperson told Business Insider: Mr Wexner was unaware of, and was never a participant in, any of the abhorrent behavior engaged in by Epstein against Epsteins victims, that Mr Wexner had never met Ms Guiffre, and that any claims to the contrary were not true.

The Independent has also reached out to L Brands group for comment.

David Copperfield

US magician David Copperfield was named six times in the first set of documents, having also reportedly had dined with Epstein on occasion.

File: Magician David Copperfield attends the 2018 Footwear News Achievement Awards at IAC Headquarters on December 4, 2018 in New York City (Getty Images)

Part of one exhibit read: David Copperfield was at a dinner at Epsteins and there was another girl present who looked young and Johanna [Sjoberg] asked what school she went to and Johanna did not recognize the school name as being a college and she said it was possible it was a high school aged girl.

Johanna said Copperfield questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls.

Copperfields relationship with Epstein has previously been noted, including in a 2019 article from The New York Times, which described Maxwells role in acquiring young girls for the disgraced financier.

Hollywood stars

Other big Hollywood names have also appeared throughout different tranches of the documents, though mostly just once or twice during Ms Sjobergs testimony.

She is asked about meeting guests at Epsteins residence, including Star Wars creator George Lucas  who is mentioned once  and actor Kevin Spacey, who is mentioned twice. Ms Sjoberg says she does not remember meeting either man.

She also does not remember meeting British supermodel Naomi Campbell, who is named once in the documents. Other big indsutry names included Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz.

Diazs representative told The Independent: Cameron never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor was she ever in the same place as him or had any association with him whatsoever, regardless of the fact he may or may not have mentioned her name or implied that he knew her.

Reps for DiCaprio and Blanchett also denied any involvement with the paedophile.

Late King of Pop Michael Jackson is also named twice, after Ms Sjolberg is asked if she met anybody famous while with Epstein. She said she did meet Jackson.

On Friday, Spacey was mentioned again as well as comedian Chris Tucker  both of whom were alleged to have been potential passengers during a ride on Epsteins private jet.

In the final batch of documents other famous names appeared including super-model Heidi Klum and Bianca Jagger, wife of The Rolling Stones frontman, Sir Mick Jagger.

Alleged Epstein victim Sarah Ransome claimed in a 2016 deposition that she had contacted human rights activist Ms Jagger for help.

Alan Dershowitz

Epsteins lawyer Alan Dershowitz is also named hundreds times, though in some places this is simply in footnotes referring to legal matters.

However in other material it is claimed that the former Harvard Law School professor was one of several powerful individuals that Epstein made young women have sexual relations with on numerous occasions.

Ms Sjoberg is also asked about having sexual relations with Mr Dershowitz specifically, in the back of a limousine, during her testimony. She denies this happened.

Mr Dershowitz was previously accused by Ms Guiffre of sexual abuse, claiming that she was trafficked by Epstein to him for sex. Mr Dershowitz has vehemently denied all claims.

Prior to the unsealing of the documents, he said that he wanted every last document and piece of paper relating to Epstein to be publicly released  asserting that it will prove that he did nothing wrong.

Sharon Churcher

British journalist Sharon Churcher made over 300 appearances in the second tranche of documents, released on Thursday  her first appearance in the documents.

Ms Churcher was the sole source of regarding the original Epstein story from Giuffre, according to the response filing. Maxwell also claimed she helped Virginia Giuffre concoct sexual assault allegations against the Duke of York.

In one document from 2016 Maxwells lawyers made submissions that Ms Churcher should be compelled to give evidence as part of the case.

She was actively and personally involved in changing those stories over time and in the creation and addition of new salacious details about public figures, including the fabrication of Alan Dershowitzs alleged sexual relations with Plaintiff, the document said.

References to Ms Churcher were made in later batches, during parts of Ms Guiffres deposition.
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Donald Trump occasionally came to Jeffrey Epsteins house for dinner but did not sit at the table, instead dining in the kitchen with one of the disgraced financiers former employees, newly unsealed documents claim.

The former president, who had a residence in Palm Beach near to Epsteins, would visit for meals but did not have massages there because he had his own spa.

There is no indication that Mr Trump committed any wrongdoing and he has not been charged with involvement in Epsteins crimes.

Despite his publicly documented relationship with the late paedophile, Mr Trump has only been named a handful of times in the court documents, which were made public this week.

In the latest batch of documents, three of which were unsealed on Friday, former Epstein employee Juan Alessi made reference to Mr Trumps visits.

Asked if the former president ever stayed at Epsteins residence in Palm Beach, Mr Alessi replied: No, never He would come, have dinner. He never sat at the table. He [would] eat with me in the kitchen.

There is no indication that Mr Trump committed any wrongdoing and he has not been charged with involvement in Epsteins crimes (Getty Images)

When asked if Mr Trump ever had a massage at the house, Mr Alessi replied: No. Because hes got his own spa.

Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epsteins alleged victims, also testified that she had never given Mr Trump a massage, but supported evidence that the pair were friendly.

In part of her testimony, Ms Sjoberg claimed Epstein once called up the former president and visited one of his casinos after his private plane was diverted to Atlantic City in New Jersey.

Ms Sjoberg said that while travelling on the plane with the disgraced financier the pilots had said that they were unable to land in New York as planned.

Jeffrey said, Great, well call up Trump and well go to -- I dont recall the name of the casino, but -- well go to the casino, the testimony read.

Prior to the financiers arrest, Mr Trump had described Epstein as a terrific guy. Hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it  Jeffrey enjoys his social life, he told New York Magazine in 2002.

Mr Trump distanced himself from Epstein when he was arrested in 2019. At the time the former president claimed they had not spoken in about 15 years.
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Having once described Jeffrey Epstein as a terrific guy, it was perhaps unsurprising that Donald Trump was among the high-profile people to be named in the first batch of unsealed court documents containing information on associates of the late paedophile.

Prior to his stint as commander-in-chief, Mr Trump was known to have met the disgraced financier on multiple occasions, having been pictured with him at events  though their relationship had ups-and-downs after a reported falling out in the 1990s.

Along with his ex-wife Marla Maples and children Tiffany and Eric, the former president flew on Epsteins private jets multiple times, first appearing on flight logs in 1993. He also spoke of his friendship with him, telling New York Magazine in 2002 that he has known Jeff for fifteen years.

Hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it  Jeffrey enjoys his social life, he told the magazine.

Mr Trump is named in the documents four times. However, there is no indication that he has committed any wrongdoing and he has not been charged with involvement in Epsteins crimes.

Prior to his stint as commander-in-chief, Mr Trump was known to have met the disgraced financier on multiple occasions, having been pictured with him at events (Getty Images)

In testimony included in the documents, Johanna Sjoberg, an alleged victim of the financier, claimed Epstein once called up Mr Trump and visited one of his casinos after his private plane was diverted to Atlantic City in New Jersey.

Ms Sjoberg said that while travelling on the plane with Epstein, the pilots had said that they were unable to land in New York as planned. Jeffrey said, Great, well call up Trump and well go to -- I dont recall the name of the casino, but -- well go to the casino, the testimony read.

Ms Sjoberg testified that she and Ms Giuffre went to Mr Trumps casino. However, she testified that she has never met Mr Trump and never gave him a massage or engaged in any sexual relations with him.

Epstein and Mr Trump were friendly in the 1990s, with prosecutors for Ghislaine Maxwell  Epsteins alleged former girlfriend and accomplice  describing the pair as partners in crime. Footage from November 1992 showed Mr Trump partying with Epstein at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Despite this closeness both previously said they suffered a falling out  the reasons for which are unknown. It happened before Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.

But when Mr Trump embarked on his 2016 presidential campaign, Epstein said he thought he could win and reportedly later boasted that he knew several people in Mr Trumps elite circle and several potential cabinet members.

Mr Trump and Epstein reportedly fell out in the 1990s (EPA)

Last year, a new report revealed that Epstein had arranged several meetings with people close to Mr Trump during his 2016 campaign. Emails and schedules reviewed by the Wall Street Journal showed he invited real estate investor Thomas Barrack and billionaire Peter Thiel, both Trump campaign backers, to gatherings with former Russian United Nations Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.

Despite this alleged rekindling of their associations, Mr Trump once again distanced himself from Epstein when Epstein was arrested in 2019. At the time the former president claimed they had not spoken in about 15 years.

I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you, he said.

A Trump spokesman told the WSJ in a statement that none of these people were Trump campaign officials, and in fact President Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.

Mr Trump also reportedly enjoyed a close relationship with Maxwell, who was convicted of sex-trafficking in 2021, and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. Numerous photographs showed Mr Trump socialising with Maxwell out on the town in New York, at Anand Jons September 2000 fashion show, and another with Melania Trump and Epstein at Mar-a-Largo the same year.

Following her arrest in 2020, he told reporters he wished her well, adding: her boyfriend was either killed or committed suicide in jail. Shes now in jail. Yeah, I wish her well.

Mr Trump has not responded directly to being named in the documents on Wednesday. Instead, on Thursday morning he took to his social media platform TruthSocial to post a barrage of unrelated posts including endorsements for his presidential campaign and attacks on US author E Jean Carroll.

Despite his personal silence, some of Mr Trumps supporters celebrated the fact that the trove of documents released on Wednesday did not accuse him of any illegal activity.

His son, Donald Trump Jr, tweeted: The left is so much more upset that Trump isnt on the Epstein Island list than they are with the actual democrat elite pedophiles who are on the list & who took part in child molestation.

Several X users mocked Don Jr for appearing to ignore his fathers mention in the documents and his connections to the late financier. But he is on the list, came one simple reply.
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Randy Roedema, the former Colorado officer convicted of killing 23-year-old Elijah McClain has been sentenced to 14 months in jail, an Adams County District Judge ruled on Friday.

Judge Mark Warner said he made the decision after considering the 41-year-old former cops good character, his indifference during the incident and whether he can be rehabilitated.

The officer had no criminal history and previously served as a Marine in combat. A jury found Mr Roedema guilty of third-degree assault and criminally negligent homicide in October.

Speaking of officials who responded to the scene in August 2019, Prosecutor Duane Lyons said, They were trained. They were told what to do. They were given instructions. They had opportunities, and they failed to choose to de-escalate violence when they needed to, they failed to listen to Mr McClain when they needed to, and they failed Mr McClain.

A 911 caller reported the unarmed massage therapist after they spotted him walking home from a convenience store in Denver while listening to music and wearing a ski mask on 24 August 2019. The caller reportedly referred to the 23-year-old as seeming sketchy.

When officers encountered the man, they put him in a neck hold and paramedics that later arrived on the scene injected him with ketamine, which sent him into cardiac arrest. He died days later on 30 August 2019. A coroner found that the mans death was likely due to ketamine toxicity.

Mr Roedema, who held a senior role, heard Mr McClains shoulder pop after placing him in a hammer lock. He was later suspended.

Two paramedics and three officers, including Mr Roedema, were indicted over the roles they played in Mr McClains death.

The paramedics, Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper, were convicted of criminally negligent homicide late December. Jason Rosenblatt, another officer who was arrested for his involvement in the case, was found not guilty of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault.

The third officer, Nathan Woodyard, was found not guilty of reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Prosecutors asked for Mr Roedema to be handed three years behind bars, while the mans attorneys asked that he escape prison time, citing his military record.

Officials originally considered charging Mr Roedema with reckless manslaughter, but ultimately decided against it.

Speaking to Mr McClains family during proceedings, the former official said, I want the McClain family to know the sadness I feel about Elijah being gone. He was young.

He continued: I often think about what happened on that evening Elijah was taken to the hospital. I cannot help but to contemplate all the different scenarios that could have taken place that evening that may have resulted in a different outcome.

Mr McClains mother, Sheneen McClain, called the man a bully ahead of his sentencing on Friday. Peace officers are not supposed to be murderers, she said. But that is what Randy Roedema became.

She added: Prison is the only accountable justice that Randy Roedema deserves.

In October 2021, Mr McClains family reached a settlement with the city of Aurora for $15m.

In a statement following the agreement, a representative for the mans father, LaWayne Mosley, said, nothing will bring back his son Elijah, who he loved dearly, but he is hopeful that this settlement with Aurora, and the criminal charges against the officers and medics who killed Elijah, will allow his family and the community to begin to heal.
 [ waterfowl ]  2024-01-06 01:33:52 .

Location : Pier 17, South Street Seaport, Manhattan, NYC  She : Cathay Pacific Stewardess, savvy globetrotter. He : Financial Auditor, lowest rung of the corporate ladder. Food & Drinks : Shared a dozen raw oysters and a bag of steamed softshell clams. She had a glass of white wine; he had a bottle of Samuel Adams. Conversation : mostly about traveling experiences.  A little side trip : After lunch, he drove her to his favorite spot on the Jersey shore - Barnegat Lighthouse on Long Beach Island. They enjoyed a carefree afternoon. As the song goes : Getting to know you; getting to know all about you...  And that's how it all started. After all these years, they're still having fun, and she is still the one. Their song : We've been together since way back when

Sometimes I never wanna see you again

But I want you to know, after all these years

You're still the one I want whisperin' in my ear You're still the one I wanna talk to in bed

Still the one that turns my head

We're still having fun and you're still the one I looked at your face every day

But I never saw it 'til I went away

When winter came, I just wanted to go (wanted to go)

Deep in the desert, I longed for the snow You're still the one that makes me laugh

Still the one that's my better half

We're still having fun and you're still the one You're still the one that makes me strong

Still the one I wanna take along

We're still having fun and you're still the one (yes, you are) Ooh

Ooh Changing, our love is going gold

Even though we grow old, it grows new You're still the one that I love to touch

Still the one and I can't get enough

We're still having fun and you're still the one You're still the one who can scratch my itch

You're still the one that I wouldn't switch

We're still having fun and you're still the one You are still the one that makes me shout

Still the one that I dream about

We're still having fun and you're still the one You are still the one

You're still the one

We're still having fun and you're still the one.

>>> 









>>> Still the One








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Convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has reacted to the long-anticipated release of a trove of court documents naming several of the dead paedophiles associates.

Maxwells attorneys Arthur Aidala and Diana Fabi Samson released a statement on Wednesday night, after the filings began to be unsealed, in which she continued to insist her innocence and vowed to plough ahead with her appeal.

Ghislaine Maxwell took no position on the Courts recent decision to unseal documents in Giuffre v. Maxwell as these disclosures have no bearing on her or her pending appeal, they said in the statement, shared with The Messenger.

Ghislaines focus is on the upcoming appellate argument asking for her entire case to dismissed. She is confident that she will obtain justice in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

She has consistently and vehemently maintained her innocence.

The trove of documents released on Wednesday are part of a defamation lawsuit brought against 62-year-old Maxwell back in 2015 by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre  documents which years later a judge has finally ordered must be unsealed.

Ms Giuffre filed the suit after Maxwell accused her of lying about the years-long abuse she had suffered at the hands of Epstein and some in his inner circle.

Undates photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (VIA REUTERS)

The suit was settled in 2017 but was placed under a protective seal  with the identities of those named in the filings kept under lock and key.

The Miami Herald sued for the release of the sealed documents while Maxwells legal team sought to block it.

Around 2,000 pages of documents were first unsealed in 2019, with further documents released over the following years.

But, this current trove of documents remained sealed  and the names of hundreds of people associated with the dead paedophile were kept secret, known only as Jane and John Does.

Then, in a landmark ruling last month, US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the trove of documents could be released and the names unsealed in full after 1 January.

While the federal judge ordered the names of several Epstein victims to remain anonymous, she said that there was no legal justification to keep the names of Epsteins associates redacted as John and Jane Does.

This has now paved the way for several famous figures to find themselves tied to the notorious disgraced financier.

Among the names revealed in the first batch of the filings released are former president Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Donald Trump.

In a newly-unsealed deposition, Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg spoke about what she knew about Mr Clintons ties to Epstein.

[Epstein] said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls, she testified.

An undated photo shows Ghislaine Maxwell massaging the feet of Jeffrey Epstein (VIA REUTERS)

However, Ms Sjoberg testified that she never met Mr Clinton, never saw him on Epsteins Caribbean island and never saw him being flown in a helicopter by Maxwell.

There is no indication that the former president is involved in any wrongdoing and is not accused of any crime.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Clintons representative for comment. His spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday that it has now been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein and denied that the former president ever had any knowledge of Epsteins crimes.

The documents also reveal previously revealed allegations brought by Ms Sjoberg against Prince Andrew.

In 2001, Ms Sjoberg claims the duke touched her breast while they were sitting on a couch inside Epsteins Manhattan apartment.

Andrew has always strongly denied the allegations against him, while Buckingham Palace previously said all accusations made against the duke are categorically untrue.

Several more documents  and names  are expected to be released over the coming days.

Epsteins island of Little St James where much of the abuse took place (REUTERS)

An individual being named in the documents does not necessarily mean they are accused of any wrongdoing.

Maxwell, 62, is currently behind bars in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, serving 20 years for her part in Epsteins sex-trafficking ring.

She was convicted in December 2021 of six counts of enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking of a minor, and three counts of conspiracy related to the other counts.

At her high-profile trial, prosecutors described how Maxwell and Epstein ran a decade-long pyramid scheme of abuse from 1994 to 2004  grooming young girls before sexually abusing them.

Several victims testified in court how Epsteins former girlfriend preyed on vulnerable underage girls and groomed them to hand them to the late financier to abuse. The victims testified that Maxwell both enabled Epstein in his abuse and took part in some of the abuse herself.

Maxwell is appealing her conviction and continues to profess her innocence in Epsteins crimes.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.
 Close Which big names are on Epsteins list?

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Over the past week thousands of pages of court documents relating to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, have been made public after US judge Loretta Preska ordered the release of filings in a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell.

The documents named scores of prominent figures including, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Victorias Secret boss Les Wexner. Being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

The final batch of documents, released on Tuesday, included depositions from Ms Giuffre, Maxwell and Epstein.

In Epsteins deposition, he was questioned about his campaign of abuse of young and underage girls. He pleaded the Fifth over 1,000 times.

In Maxwells deposition, she was confronted with disturbing messages left for Epstein  one of which referenced what appeared to be code for procuring an underage Russian girl for Epstein. She is two times eight years old. Not blond. Lessons are free and you can have your first today if you call, it read.
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Thousands of pages of court documents are being publicly released for the first time, revealing the names of individuals who associated with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, magician David Copperfield and several Hollywood celebrities have all found themselves on the so-called Epstein list.

Their names in the filings dont indicate any wrongdoing or any involvement in Epsteins crimes.

In fact, some of them have no known connection or association whatsoever to the man who for years ran a horrific sex-trafficking ring, but are merely in the documents as part of questions put to victims as to whether they ever met several famous faces.

That said, some new revelations and details about Epsteins campaign of sexual abuse  and allegations against some of his circle  are detailed in the unsealed documents.

To date, two batches of documents have been released.

In the first, unsealed on Wednesday, previously known allegations resurfaced against Prince Andrew.

Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg claimed in a deposition that Andrew put his hand on my breast. The duke and Buckingham Palace have previously strongly denied all allegations by Epstein victims.

Ms Sjoberg also testified that Epstein once told her that Mr Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.

Undated photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (VIA REUTERS)

However, Ms Sjoberg testified that she never met Mr Clinton, never saw him on Epsteins Caribbean island and never saw him being flown in a helicopter by Maxwell. There is no indication that the former president is involved in any wrongdoing and is not accused of any crime.

His spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday that it has now been nearly 20 years since President Clinton last had contact with Epstein and denied that the former president ever had any knowledge of Epsteins crimes.

In the second trove of documents, Mr Clintons name resurfaced once again  with Ms Giuffre once claiming in an email that the former president had threatened Vanity Fair not to publish a story about Epstein.

Masses more documents are yet to come over the coming days and weeks, bringing with them potentially damaging claims.

But why are they being released now?

These thousands of pages of documents arent new.

They are part of a defamation lawsuit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell back in 2015 by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.

Ms Giuffre filed the suit after Maxwell accused her of lying about the years-long abuse she had suffered at the hands of Epstein and some in his inner circle.

The case went through the courts for two years  and dozens of individuals sat for depositions and gave testimony on both sides  before the suit was settled in 2017.

At the time, a judge placed the filings under a protective seal  with the identities of those named in the filings kept under lock and key.

But, The Miami Herald  whose investigative reporting first exposed Epsteins crimes  sued for the release of all of the sealed documents.

Around 2,000 pages of documents were first unsealed in 2019, with further documents released over the following years.

But, this current trove of documents remained sealed  and the names of hundreds of people associated with the dead paedophile were kept secret, known only as Jane and John Does.

Maxwells legal team sought to block it for years  before finally giving up the fight in 2022.

Virginia Giuffre with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell at Epsteins townhouse (US District Court - Southern Dis)

Then, in a landmark ruling in December, US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the trove of documents could be released and the names unsealed in full, saying that there was no legal justification to keep the names of Epsteins associates redacted as John and Jane Does.

She also argued that much of the information is already available publicly, having been revealed through other lawsuits, criminal cases or media reports.

The judges ruling thereby paved the way for the release of the documents  and the names and ties of those linked to the notorious disgraced financier unmasked.

Individuals named in the documents were given 14 days to appeal, before the documents were to be unsealed in full from 1 January.

Two individuals asked for their names to remain under seal.

The first, known only as Doe 107, claimed that she lives in a conservative country and could be at risk of physical harm if her name is revealed. The judge granted her an extension until 22 January to provide evidence for this.

The request from the second individual, Doe 110, is still under review.

The federal judge has also ordered the names of several Epstein victims to remain anonymous.

But, beyond this, all documents were ordered to be released. All redacted names unredacted. And all revelations made public.
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Jeffrey Epstein told his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that she could offer a financial reward to friends of his accuser Virginia Giuffre if they could help prove her allegation that Stephen Hawking had engaged in an underage orgy was false.

Newly released court documents reveal that the paedophile financier sent an email in 2015 showing that he was happy to issue a reward to counter her allegations, shortly after Ms Guiffre had filed a civil claim in the US.

The email, sent to disgraced British socialite Maxwell, read: You can issue a reward to any of Virginias friends, acquaints, family that come forward and help prove her allegations are false. The strongest is the Clinton dinner, and the new version in the Virgin Islands that Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy.

Stephen Hawking at a conference in the Caribbean held by Jeffrey Epstein (Supplied)

The Cambridge professor had previously visited Epsteins private Caribbean island in 2006 as part of a conference funded by the multimillionaire, and pictures show him at a barbecue on Little St James. This occurred months before Epstein was first charged with child sex offences, which included procuring a minor for prostitution.

Professor Hawking, who died in 2018 aged 76, is one of more than 170 people who have been named after a US judge ordered that documents relating to Epstein could be made public.

The first tranche of documents, in which high-profile figures such as the Duke of York and former US president Bill Clinton featured heavily, was released on Wednesday evening.

Also published among the court documents as part of Ms Giuffres civil claim against Maxwell was the transcript of the socialites videotaped evidence given under oath.

During her interview, known in the US as a deposition, Maxwell claimed she could only recall Prince Andrew visiting Epsteins island once.

Documents containing the names of 170 of Jeffrey Epsteins associates are being made public (Reuters)

Andrew stepped down from public life following the furore over his friendship with Epstein, and paid millions to Ms Giuffre  a woman he claimed never to have met  to settle a civil case that alleged sexual assault.

The prince was cast out of the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. He strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

Asked whether any girls under the age of 18 were present on the one occasion on which she recalled Andrew being on the island, Maxwell replied: There were no girls on the island at all. No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house.

Girls meaning, I assume you are asking, underage, but there was nobody female outside of the cooks and the cleaners.

Former US president Bill Clinton features heavily in the documents released so far (Netflix)

Other documents indicate that Maxwell sent an email in January 2015, shortly after a civil claim had been filed against her, in which she described herself as out of my depth.

She added: I have already suffered such a terrible and painful loss over the last few days that I cant even see what life after press hell even looks like  statements that dont address all just lead to more questions... what is my relationship to Clinton? Andrew on and on.

One website on which the documents were being released on Wednesday evening crashed within minutes, warning that the server might be overloaded  prompting a tweet from Ms Giuffre that read: We broke the website.

The deposition of a woman named Johanna Sjoberg was also published as part of the documents.

She previously claimed, while giving testimony in May 2016, that Andrew had touched her breast while sitting on a couch in Jeffrey Epsteins Manhattan apartment in 2001.

Epstein sent an email to Ghislaine Maxwell saying he was happy to issue a reward to Virginia Guiffres friends (Via Reuters)

The incident is alleged to have taken place when Ms Giuffre and Ms Sjoberg were at Epsteins house off Fifth Avenue in New York.

Ms Sjobergs deposition made reference to a puppet being placed on Ms Giuffres breast at the same time  believed to be Andrews Spitting Image puppet.

Buckingham Palace previously said the allegations were categorically untrue.

During the same interview, Ms Sjoberg also said that Epstein had told her that former president Bill Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.

Ms Sjoberg said: I knew he had dealings with Bill Clinton. I did not know they were friends until I read the Vanity Fair article about them going to Africa together.

Epstein was found dead in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges (US Department of Justice)

Asked if Epstein had ever talked about the former president, Ms Sjoberg said: He said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.

In 2019, Mr Clintons spokesperson said he knew nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to and that the pair had not spoken in over a decade.

The spokesperson also said Mr Clinton had never been to Epsteins island  called Little St James  or to his ranch in New Mexico or his house in Florida.

Another former US president, Donald Trump, also featured in Ms Sjobergs deposition. She said Epstein had called him and visited one of his casinos after his private plane was diverted.

Maxwell has been jailed for 20 years and plans to appeal her sentence in November (PA)

Ms Sjoberg said: Jeffrey said, Great, well call up Trump and well go to... I dont recall the name of the casino, but... well go to the casino.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020, despite numerous attempts by her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court of the Southern District of New York in June 2022.

The socialite indicated her desire to appeal shortly after her conviction, with her lawyers claiming that the allegations against her were premised on faded, distorted and motivated memories.

Her appeal is currently scheduled to be heard in November.
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Donald Trump Jr has been mocked after he celebrated what he apparently interpreted to be his fathers absence from newly-unsealed court documents revealing the names of Jeffrey Epstein associates.

The former presidents son took to X on Thursday morning to hit out at critics following the release of the first batch of filings on Wednesday night.

The left is so much more upset that Trump isnt on the Epstein Island list than they are with the actual democrat elite pedophiles who are on the list & who took part in child molestation, he wrote.

That tells you all you need to know about todays democrat party & their leaders!

Social media users were quick to school Don Jr about the contents of the records  which featured his fathers name four times.

As part of a 2016 deposition, Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg testified that the first time she flew with Epstein, he called Mr Trump to make a pit stop at his casino in Atlantic City.

Ms Sjoberg said they were travelling, together with fellow Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, from Palm Beach to New York but stopped at Atlantic City for a few hours because of a storm.

Epsteins Little St James island (REUTERS)

We, as we were flying, Jeffrey said, Why dont you go sit in the cockpit to check out the 12 landing? So we were sitting there, and the pilots told me to go back and tell him that we cant land in New York and that we were going to have to land 16 in Atlantic City, Ms Sjoberg testified.

Jeffrey said, Great, well call up Trump and well go to -- I dont recall the name of the casino, but well go to the casino.

Ms Sjoberg testified that she and Ms Giuffre went to Mr Trumps casino.

However, she testified that she has never met Mr Trump and has never given him a massage.

Mr Trumps ties to Epstein have been well documented prior to the latest unsealing of filings.

He has been pictured with him at events and flight logs show that he flew on the paedophiles private jet multiple times.

There is no indication that Mr Trump has committed any wrongdoing and he has not been charged with involvement in Epsteins crimes.

Several X users mocked Don Jr for appearing to ignore his fathers mention in the documents and his connections to the late financier.

But he is on the list, came one reply.

Isnt your dad on the flight logs also? His name is clearly on page 18. This tells you everything you need to know about MAGA and their leader, one person wrote.

An undated photo shows Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (VIA REUTERS)

Your dad was in the flight logs and has 90+ public pictures with Epstein but do go on, chimed in another.

While some people leaped to agree with Don Jr, another person added: Why dont you tell the truth for once?

Dozens of Epstein associates were unmasked on Wednesday after a judge ordered the unsealing of court documents in a now-settled lawsuit brought by Ms Giuffre against Epsteins accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Ms Giuffre filed the defamation lawsuit against Maxwell in 2015, after she accused her of lying about the years-long abuse she had suffered at the hands of Epstein and some in his inner circle.

The suit was settled in 2017 but was placed under a protective seal  with the identities of those named in the filings kept under lock and key.

The Miami Herald sued for the release of the sealed documents while Maxwells legal team sought to block it.

Around 2,000 pages of documents were first unsealed in 2019, with further documents released over the following years.

But, this current trove of documents remained sealed  and the names of hundreds of people associated with the dead paedophile were kept secret, known only as Jane and John Does.

Then, in a landmark ruling last month, US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the trove of documents could be released and the names unsealed in full after 1 January.

While the federal judge ordered the names of several Epstein victims to remain anonymous, she said that there was no legal justification to keep the names of Epsteins associates redacted as John and Jane Does.

This has now paved the way for several famous figures to find themselves tied to the notorious disgraced financier.

Several more documents  and names  are expected to be released over the coming days.

An individual being named in the documents does not necessarily mean they are accused of any wrongdoing.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.

Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking in 2021 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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Dramatic new footage, introduced as evidence ahead of the sentencing of a Capitol rioter, shows the tense standoff that took place at the entrance to the chamber of the House of Representatives on 6 January 2021.

As rioters hurled insults and angry, false claims of election fraud, two Republican members of Congress confronted them through the broken glass in the cellphone footage shot by rioter Damon Beckley.

Law enforcement officers are also shown pointing their firearms at the mob trying to breach the main door to the chamber.

The footage was released to the media following a request by NBC News.

Reps Troy Nehls of Texas and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma spoke with the rioters. Both lawmakers voted against certifying the 2020 election, won by Joe Biden.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Mr Nehls says in the video.

Were coming in one way or another! a rioter responds.

"Ive been in law enforcement in Texas for 30 years, and Ive never had people act this way," the congressman says. Im ashamed!

A rioter responds that he is ashamed of my congresspeople.

At another point in the video, a rioter shouts at the officers and congressman through the broken glass that theres going to be a bigger Civil War and a lot of bloodshed if the election isnt overturned in favour of then-president Donald Trump.

The stand-off at the door to the House of Representatives chamber on 6 January 2021 (Getty Images)

I drove fourteen hours to get here and stood in the cold for three and a half hours to find out that Mike Pence is a f***ing traitor, man. And I voted for that f***ing dude, Beckley says in the video.

He couldve done the right thing and certified those legislators, electors, and we wouldnt be standing here with a nine-millimetre pointed at me right now!

They can only kill so many of us," says one rioter.
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Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday warned of an all-out attack on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights by Republicans and former president Donald Trump and stressed the importance of Black voters in her and President Joe Bidens electoral prospects.

Ms Harris, who travelled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to address the African Methodist Episcopal Churchs Seventh District Womens Missionary Society, recalled how Americans had shown up to vote in the middle of a global pandemic just over three years ago.

It is because of you that Joe Biden is President of the United States and I am the first black woman to be Vice President of the United States. And so Im here of course to say thank you for your work and your leadership and your vision for what is possible for our nation, she said, adding later that it was because of people like those in the crowd of 1,232 who came to see her that she was in a position to address the needs of Black and rural South Carolinians on issues such as maternal mortality and the availability of high-speed broadband internet.

She also hailed the voters who put her and Mr Biden in the White House for giving them the ability to replace lead pipes across the country, safeguarding childrens health and safety, to invest more than $7 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and to appoint more Black women to the federal bench than any previous administration.

Because of your faith in the promise of America, we together can move our country forward, she said.

But Ms Harris, who was met with boisterous applause from the crowd as she recalled her and Mr Bidens successes, warned attendees that their administrations fight for progress is still being challenged by those who are trying to pull us backward in this moment.

She cited Republicans efforts to restrict voting rights in the wake of her and Mr Bidens 2020 victory over Mr Trump, often by changing the law to make the process of voting more arduous.

Capitol Riot Arrests (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

They have the gall to pass laws to ban drop boxes, to limit early voting, to make it illegal to offer food and water to people who stand in line for hours simply to exercise their civic duty and right  whatever happened to love thy neighbour? she asked, adding that the GOPs hypocrisy knows no bounds

Ms Harris rattled off a listed numerous GOP efforts to restrict rights, zeroing in on actions states have taken since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year and laws enacted in states such as Florida to regulate how history is taught in public schools.

In states across our nation, extremists pass laws that criminalise doctors and punish women who seek basic reproductive health care. We see extremists ban books and attempt to erase, overlook and even rewrite the dark parts of Americas history, she said. And all of this  and refuse to pass reasonable gun safety laws, to keep our children and places of worship safe.

The Vice President asked attendees to imagine the split screen between her and Mr Biden, and the Trump-led Republicans who want to ban books instead of assault weapons and infringe on other rights.

They think government should tell a woman what to do with her body, we trust women to know what is in their own best interest, and women trust us to protect their fundamental freedoms. We fight to protect the sacred freedom to vote while they try to silence the voice of the people, she said.

Ms Harris noted that she was speaking on the three-year anniversary of the day that a riotous mob of Mr Trumps supporters had stormed the US Capitol to prevent certification of her and Mr Bidens 2020 election win.

The Vice President asked her audience to remember where they were that day, and reminded them that the mob, acting at the best of the then-sitting president, had used brutal force and fear to try and overturn the results of a free and fair election and overrule the votes of millions of Americans.

She also warned that Mr Trump and his allies are still trying to whitewash the facts of that day.

On that day, we saw violence, chaos, and lawlessness. But some so-called leaders still try to mislead and gaslight by claiming it was a peaceful protest  can you imagine  like we werent watching! she said, adding that the same extremist leaders  including Mr Trump  now say that the riot, which resulted in the deaths of multiple police officers, was led by great patriots.

She asked: Is that how you define who loves our country?

Ms Harris said the events of that day were a reminder that America still [has] far to go and Americans still have work to do, and asked the missionary society members that American democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.

In this moment, our nation once again needs your leadership as you have done for generations, to defend our most sacred ideals. To continue to organise, energise and make your voices heard, she said.

And at this moment in history I say, Let us not throw up our hands when its time to roll up our sleeves because we were born for a time such as this and we love our country, we believe in the principles upon which we were founded and guided by our faith. We are prepared to fight for all that we know is right and hold dear, she continued. And I know that when we fight, we win.
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Ron DeSantis was grilled on gun control in Iowahours after a shooting in the state killed a middle school student on the first day of classes in 2024.

Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who attacked Perry High School, killing one sixth-grader and injuring five others on Thursday. Butler was also found dead on the scene after the shooting.

Appearing on CNNs town hall on Thursday, the Florida governor was asked, in light of the recent Iowa shooting, how he would address gun violence in schools.

He was asked by host Kaitlan Collins about the recent proposal by state senator Jonathan Martin to eliminate the statewide three-day waiting period to buy a rifle or shotgun and if he supported the movement.

Mr DeSantis turns from the host and addresses the audience, saying, I think the background checks should be instant.

The shooting at Perry High School in Iowa killed one sixth-grader (Getty Images)

He said that anyone who has a criminal conviction is a felon or has mental health adjudication will ping on a background check.

Collins returned to her original question about whether he supports the three-day waiting period to be removed.

Are you okay with eliminating it, she asked, to which DeSantis replied, echoing himself I think it should be instant background checks.

Law-abiding citizens exercising their rights shouldnt have to be on a mandatory waiting period, he said.

Instant checks will do the job.

While Mr DeSantis did not give a yes or no answer, the proposal to eliminate the period has alarmed many across the state who fear this could make it easier for people to instantly access weapons, The Tampa Bay Times reports.

The bill proposes the wait to be removed, except for handguns.

If this policy is changed, it will undo a law that was put in place after the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida, which saw the massacre of 17 staff and students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The gunman, 18-year-old Nikolas Cruz, carried out one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.

This prompted the introduction of the three-day waiting period and changed the minimum age from 18 to 21 in Florida.

The governor also talked about other preventative methods for gun violence, citing how the Iowa shooting may have been carried out by someone with serious problems.

Weve done everything like school resource officers, help with hardening, but also help identify students that are exhibiting really problematic behaviour, DeSantis said, according to CNN.

Were getting more information about what happened in Perry, but it seems like this student had some serious, serious problems.

He also spoke to NBC on Thursday, sending his support to Iowa, but said dealing with shootings is more of a local and state issue when asked about any changes he would make to federal law that would reduce shootings.

At a caucus event, Mr DeSantis was questioned again about what he would do about gun violence if he took office as president, naming the recent tragedy in Iowa.

While he didnt give a precise answer, he said when crime happens some of these prosecutors are not prosecuting and more people need to be held accountable.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has also weighed in on the gun control debate after the shooting in Iowa.

While in Iowa for a campaign event on the day of the shooting, the event was cancelled and was turned into prayer and open conversation.

Mr Ramaswamy criticised any call for stopping guns in the US and said that the real ailment at the heart and soul of our nation is the loss of purpose.
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While campaigning in Iowa on Friday  one day after the Perry, Iowa high school shooting occurred  Donald Trump offered his deepest sympathies to those affected just before telling the crowd we have to get over it.

Speaking at Sioux Center on 5 January, the former president said: To the entire community, we love you, we pray for you, and we ask God to heal and comfort really the whole state and the pain that you have. This is something thats very unique to your state.

Thats just horrible, so surprising to see it here, but we have to get over it, Mr Trump said. We have to move forward.

But immediately following the dismissive comments, the 2024 frontrunner emphasised, To the relatives and to all of the people that are so devastated right now to a point they cant breathe, they cant live, we are with you all the way. Were with you and we love you and cherish you.

Mr Trumps remarks happened just a day after a 17-year-old opened fire at Perry High School as students were returning from holiday break. The shooting resulted in the death of one sixth grader and injured five other victims. The gunman took his own life.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds released a statement following the incident, calling it a senseless tragedy which has shaken our entire state to the core. She added, Our hearts are heavy today and our prayers are with the Perry community.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also described the shooting as senseless. She said, Were just a couple of days into the new year and were talking about another shooting, and that is heart-wrenching and that is heartbreaking.

During his campaign rally, Mr Trump also touched upon January 6. A day before the third anniversary of the Capitol attack, he falsely claimed that Antifa and the FBI were leading the charge in the riot.
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The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear Donald Trumps appeal of a Colorado court decision that found him constitutionally ineligible for the presidency for his actions surrounding the attack on the US Capitol on January 6.

A historic ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court in December disqualified the former president from appearing on 2024 presidential ballots, teeing up a politically explosive case at the nations highest court, where three of the justices were appointed by Mr Trump.

The Supreme Court will now review the Colorado courts ruling that Mr Trump is ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding public office.

The case  Trump v Anderson  follows more than a dozen lawsuits challenging Mr Trumps eligibility to appear on 2024 ballots under the provisions of the 14th Amendment.

Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments on the Colorado case on 8 February, according to a court notice one day before the three-year anniversary of the Capitol assault.

The case is among at least two major constitutional questions surrounding Mr Trumps intersecting campaign and legal battles that are headed to the high court.

After initially rejecting a request to hear the case before appeals court judges had a chance, the justices are likely to review whether Mr Trump has presidential immunity from charges connected to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

That immunity question will be heard by a three-judge federal appeals court panel next week, and a likely appeal of that decision is expected to land right back at the Supreme Court.

A mob loyal to Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021 while Congress convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. (AP)

On 19 December, Colorados highest court determined that President Trump did not merely incite the insurrection.

Even when the siege on the Capitol was fully underway, he continued to support it, they continued. These actions constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection.

The top elections official in the state of Maine has similarly ruled that Mr Trump is ineligible to appear on the states ballots in 2024, making Maine the second state to reach that conclusion.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who received three separate challenges to Mr Trumps ballot eligibility, was obligated to hear those challenges and decide on them.

In her decision on 28 December, she said she did not reach this conclusion lightly and recognised the unprecedented nature of the case.

The events of January 6, 2021 were unprecedented and tragic, she wrote. They were an attack not only upon the Capitol and government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law. The evidence here demonstrates that they occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing president.

The Constitution, she said, does not tolerate an assault on the foundation of our government.

Mr Trumps attorneys have also appealed that decision to Maines superior court, claiming that the process was infected by bias and pervasive lack of due process and is arbitrary, capricious, and characterized by abuse of discretion and unsupported by substantial evidence on the record.

House Democrats have urged Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, left, to recuse himself from a case involving Donald Trumps ballot eligiblity, citing his wife, Ginni Thomas, right, who promoted false election claims. (REUTERS)

The 14th Amendment was among a suite of civil rights amendments enacted in the volatile aftermath of the US Civil War to block Confederates from entering a government they fought a war against while enshrining equal protection under the law to all citizens, including formerly enslaved people.

Section 3 of that amendment effectively enshrined what President Abraham Lincoln had declared before Congress after the first shots of the war were fired in 1861.

A question of whether the American experiment could survive against an internal attempt to overthrow it remained in dispute, according to Lincoln, and it is now for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry an election can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets, and that when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided there can be no successful appeal back to bullets; that there can be no successful appeal except to ballots themselves at succeeding elections.

Section 3s authors argued during congressional debate that the rules apply to anyone who took an oath of office, including the president, which attorneys for Mr Trump and right-wing legal analysts have disputed, by pointing to language that he is neither an officer under the United States nor an officer of the United States.

In their appeal to the Supreme Court, Mr Trumps attorneys argued that the question of eligibility to serve as President of the United States is properly reserved for Congress, not the state courts, to consider and decide.

By considering the question of President Trumps eligibility and barring him from the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court arrogated Congress authority, they wrote.

Attorneys for Mr Trump also argued that the presidency sits outside the scope of Section 3, that the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 was not an insurrection and that Mr Trump in no way engaged with it.

A group of House Democrats have urged Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from the Colorado case, arguing that his impartiality is reasonably questioned by substantial numbers of fair-minded members of the public following false election claims from his wife Virginia Ginni Thomas during the 2020 election, and the financial incentive it presents for your household if President Trump is re-elected.

Those elements are disqualifying, they wrote on 4 January.

A 4-3 ruling from Colorado Supreme Court justices on 19 December determined Donald Trump is disqualified from public office under the 14th Amendment. (via REUTERS)

A lawsuit filed last September by a government watchdog group on behalf of a group of Colorado voters argues that Mr Trump had failed Section 3s test, rendering him constitutionally ineligible to appear on any Colorado ballot as a candidate for federal or state office.

Following a trial, Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace found that not only did Mr Trump incite the attack on the Capitol in an effort to block the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election, but he also engaged with it.

Mr Trump acted with the specific intent to incite political violence and direct it at the Capitol with the purpose of disrupting the electoral certification, she wrote.

Her ruling, however, stopped short of disqualifying the former president.

But after arguments on appeal to the states highest court in December, Colorado justices wrote in a 4-3 majority opinion that Mr Trumps direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary.

Two parallel criminal cases  one in a state court in Atlanta, Georgia and another at the federal level in Washington DC  have charged the former president with engaging a criminal enterprise to unlawfully overturn the results of the 2020 election, culminating in his refusal to stop the mob from breaking into the halls of Congress to do it by force.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the 15-year-old killed in Friday high-speed crash in Billings.

The fundraiser names the teen as Gavin McCombs, a student at West High School. It was created by family member Brittnie Donaldson and by Sunday morning had raised more than $13,000.

"Gavin was taken from us all too soon," she said.

"He was kind to everyone, funny as a whip and could sleep like it was his job," she added. "But he was always there when needed."

A memorial at the scene of the crash on King Avenue West continued to grow on Sunday with balloons, flowers, pizza and a poster board signed by friends.

He is the fifth teenager in three weeks to be killed in a high-speed crash in Billings.

McCombs was traveling with three other teenagers at a high-rate of speed on King Avenue West Friday night when the crash occurred, Billings Police said.

Two of the victims in the 8:40 p.m. crash were ejected from the vehicle, police said. The 15-year-old was found dead at the scene on the 3100 block of King Avenue West. The three other injured teens were transported to area hospitals.

The teenagers were headed eastbound when the driver lost control and left the roadway causing the vehicle to roll, Police Lt. Matt Lennick said Saturday morning.

Traffic on the busy avenue was closed for several hours.

Witnesses at the Western Empire Emporium said they watched a silver passenger car traveling at high speed eastbound on King Avenue hit a concrete median and begin rolling. Debris littered the roadway for two blocks.

On Dec. 16, four teens were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in hit a large metal billboard pole on Minnesota Avenue in downtown Billings.

In that crash, an 18-year-old boy, a 17-year-old boy and two 14-year-old girls were killed. Police say speed and failure to wear seatbelts likely contributed to the severity of the crash.

A week before that crash, two Billings men were killed in a head-on crash in the Heights.

A few days earlier, a 19-year-old man was killed when the truck he was driving went off the highway near Molt.
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An Australian couple were forced to pay more than 2,500 to fly to London after they mistakenly used a nickname on one of their plane tickets.

Phil and Kate, from Brisbane, bought two return tickets to London for 4,800 Australian dollars on a travel website named StudentUniverse.

But as they tried to board the flight they were pulled aside and reprimanded because Phil had booked his wifes ticket under Kate, but the name on her passport reads Katherine, Australias Nine Network reported.

It was an administrative error  I think I married Kate in church and not Katherine, Phil said.

Virgin initially told the aggrieved couple that they could alter the booking for a small administrative fee.

But with just minutes to take off booking agent StudentUniverse told them they would need to cancel Katherines ticket and buy a new one under the correct name at a cost of AU$4,700 (2,468).

They didnt have time  that was their reasoning  to issue a name change on the ticket. But they had time to sell us a new ticket, Phil told the programme adding he felt exploited by the fee being charged.

Katherine added: I begged them on the phone: Please, you cant do that. Thats all our holiday money gone in a flash.

A StudentUniverse spokesperson told Business Insider it could only go along with cancellation policies set by airlines.

In this instance, name changes were not permitted, meaning the only option was to cancel and rebook the ticket. As we were only made aware by the customer of their error within 3 hours of the flight departure, this led to further airline imposed charges which could have been avoided by acting earlier, they said.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has kicked off his latest urgent Middle East diplomatic mission in Turkey, as fears mount that Israels war against Hamas in Gaza may explode into a broader conflict.

Blinkens fourth visit in three months comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza, including in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq, that have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful U.S. push to prevent a regional conflagration in the weeks after the war began, and growing international criticism of Israels military operation.

Blinken was meeting Saturday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease soaring tensions, speed up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin in earnest to plan for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble by three months of intense Israeli bombardments.

The immediate difficulty of Blinkens task was underscored just hours before his talks with Erdogan as Lebanons Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel, warning that the barrage was just an initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanons capital earlier this week.

Meanwhile, stepped-up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels have disrupted international trade and led to increased efforts on the part of the U.S. and its allies to patrol the area and respond to threats, including possibly taking direct action against the group at its bases in Yemen. The Houthis have carried out at least two dozen attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza just since Dec. 19, which have further heightened tensions and raised risks for the global economy.

In Istanbul, U.S. officials said Blinken would be seeking Turkish buy-in, or at least consideration, of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multi-national force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory. Turkey, and Erdogan in particular, have been harshly critical of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

In addition, officials said, Blinken will stress the importance the U.S. places on Turkey ratifying Swedens membership in NATO, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon. Swedens accession to the alliance is seen as one critical response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

From Turkey, Blinken will travel to Turkish rival and fellow NATO ally Greece to meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his residence on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Mitsotakis and his government have been supportive of U.S. efforts to prevent the Gaza war from spreading and have signaled their willingness to assist should the situation deteriorate further. Greece has also shown patience in waiting for the delivery of advanced U.S. fighter jets as the issue of Swedens accession to NATO is worked out with Turkey.

Blinken will end his Saturday in Jordan, which apart from Israel has been the secretarys most frequent stop on his recent Middle East tours. Jordan will be the first Arab nation on Blinken's current tour, and will be followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Blinken will then visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

We dont expect every conversation on this trip to be easy, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said shortly before Blinken departed Washington late Thursday. There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead. But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head-on, and hes prepared to do that in the days to come.

As well as pressing Israel for dramatic increases in humanitarian aid to Gaza, a shift toward less intense military operations and a concerted effort to rein in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Jewish settlers, Blinken will be urging reluctant Gulf Arab nations to work with the U.S. on the future of Gaza.
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Indias first mission to observe the Sun from space achieved an important landmark on Saturday, with the Aditya-L1 spacecraft reaching its destination about one-tenth of the way between the Earth and our nearest star.

Ive safely arrived at Lagrange Point L1, 1.5 million km from my home planet. Excited to be far away, yet intimately connected to unravel the solar mysteries, Isros Aditya-L1 account posted on X.

The spacecraft successfully entered into a halo orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1) at 4pm India time (10.30am GT) on Saturday, prime minister Narendra Modi announced.

At L1, the spacecraft will be able to maintain its position relative to the Sun and Earth without expending energy, held in perfect balance between the two celestial bodies gravitational fields.

India creates yet another landmark. Indias first solar observatory Aditya-L1 reaches its destination, Mr Modi posted on X.

It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions. I join the nation in applauding this extraordinary feat, he added.

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched from Indias main space centre Sriharikota on 2 September, just days after Isro made history by landing a probe on the Moons south pole.

The L1 vantage point, which is about 1.5 million km from Earth, will allow the satellite to maintain an uninterrupted view of the Sun and study solar winds and other processes on the stars surface.

Isro plans to keep the spacecraft trapped in orbit in the L1 point, only occasionally performing manoeuvres to hold it in place if required.

ISRO & SpaceX Join Forces For GSAT-20 Satellite Launch

The probe carries with it seven scientific payloads developed by Isro and a number of domestic research institutes, including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune.

Using data from the payloads, scientists will study the Suns different layers including its photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost corona layer, providing insights into the effect of solar radiation on satellites in orbit.

Previous studies have shown that energy particles emitted by the Sun in the form of solar storms can hit satellites circling Earth, sometimes causing communication blackouts.

Since various forms of radiation do not reach the surface of the Earth, they cannot easily be studied by instruments on the planets surface.

However, such studies can be carried out in space, using satellites far outside the Earths atmosphere.

So far, Isro has performed several health checks on the payloads aboard the Aditya-L1 mission spacecraft and found them to be in optimal working condition.

Saturdays manoeuvre comes following a year of several successful missions by Isro, including the launch of the countrys first dedicated probe to study black holes.
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A lightweight carbon-composite fibre was dubbed a game changer for the Airbus A350 when it first entered the sector in the 2010s. Airbus called the carbon-fibre skin more burn-through resistant than a metallic equivalent.

But dramatic images of a Japan Airlines Airbus burning from nose to tail immediately after it collided with a coast guard jet on a Japanese runway has aviation experts both stunned and worried about the safety challenges of new composite materials.

This is the first time the most modern passenger jet known to humankind was tested in an accident, demonstrating the endurance of its body made of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) and potentially providing vital technological insights into the aviation industrys favourite jet.

Six experts from the Japan Transport Safety Board reached the spot at Haneda airport in Tokyo to examine what remained of the aircraft on Wednesday as photos showed the severely damaged A350s wings as the only identifiable pieces remaining of the planes charred and broken fuselage.

Aerial footage of Japan aircraft wreckage reveals extent of deadly plane fire

Its a stark image, but Airbus suggests the endurance of the fuselage may actually be to thank for giving the Japan Airlines cabin crew precious time to evacuate all passengers.

Jon Ostrower, the editor-in-chief of The Air Current, an aviation analysis and reporting service, calls the massive collision the first real test for [this] modern aircraft. He says the incident is the first in commercial aviation history where an aircraft body made out of carbon fibre has been subjected to a major real-world fire.

The accident will provide a massive trove of data on how the material can withstand flames, he says.

The premier commercial passenger aircraft is assembled at Airbuss final assembly line in Toulouse and its sections are manufactured at different sites around Europe, officials from the top-tier aerospace corporation said.

An employee works at the Airbus A350 assembly site, in Colomiers near Toulouse, south-western France (AFP via Getty Images)

Over 70 per cent of the total airframe, which was left exposed on the Haneda tarmac on Monday, is made from advanced materials including composite materials, titanium and modern aluminium alloy, an Airbus spokesperson tells The Independent.

Officials at Airbus say they are not comparing the endurance and performance of different aircraft designs at the moment when an investigation is underway. But extensive tests have shown that composite structures offer a similar level of fire resistance and protection as aluminium, they said.

The materials are significantly lighter, but just as robust as previously used metals. The aircraft has brought a step-change to the long-laul market, with a reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions of around 25 per cent compared to similar sized previous generation types, the spokesperson says.

Tests by Airbus show the fuselage can also endure lightning strikes, bird hits, in-flight hail, uncontained engine failure, corrosion, fatigue of plane and of course fire.

Exteriors of an Airbus A350 seen at an assembly site in Colomiers near Toulouse, south-western France (AFP via Getty Images)

Aviation experts like Ostrower also point to how the aircrafts carbon fibre structure was reacting to fire. This is really something. Look at how the A350s structure is reacting to fire. We havent seen anything like this with carbon fibre since the B-2 crash in Guam in 2008  and the first time in modern commercial aviation, he says on social media platform Twitter/X.

In a separate post, he added that its hard to overstate how important of a moment this is in modern aircraft design.

Almost 400 people aboard that A350 and all got out safely after sustaining heavy damage. A lot of analyses and small scale tests on carbon fibre just got a massive trove of new data, he said.

Alex Macheras, an independent aviation expert and consultant, said the fact the accident saw the complete loss of an Airbus A350 yet not a single death among those on board was extraordinary.

Crucially, in the immediate aftermath of the collision, the fire seemed to be contained in the left wing area due to firewalls made of materials which become combustible at much higher temperatures to prevent flames spreading, long enough for the almost 400 people on board to safely evacuate the aircraft, he says.

The aircraft, produced amid bitter competition from rival Boeing and its 787, entered commercial service in 2015. Airbus, which has sent specialists to help Japanese and French officials investigating the accident, said the plane in question was delivered to Japan Airlines in late 2021.
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A passenger has died on a Jet2 plane, forcing the flight to divert.

The man is said to have been found dead inside the toilet on Tuesday after fellow travellers noticed the door had been locked for a while and alerted staff.

The flight, which was supposed to be travelling from Tenerife to Manchester, was forced to land in Cork in Ireland instead.

One passenger said all those on board were very upset by the devastating incident and accused the crew of being dismissive.

They told the Mirror: My husband reported someone had been in [the] toilet a long time and he thought he was dead. Tragically he was right. He informed the crew who were dismissive towards him.

The customer added that those on board consequently did not land in Manchester until around five hours after their scheduled arrival time. They said the plane should have landed in Manchester at 8.30pm.

However, the diversion to Cork and the wait for another plane meant the passengers arrived in Manchester at roughly 1.30am instead.

A spokesperson for the airline told The Independent: Flight LS918 from Tenerife to Manchester diverted to Cork Airport on Tuesday 2nd January, due to a customer requiring medical attention. Regrettably, we can confirm that the customer sadly passed away, despite the best efforts of our highly-trained crew who intervened as soon as they became aware. This was an extremely difficult situation for our crew and we would like to thank them for their efforts. Our thoughts are with the customers family and friends at this very difficult time.
The grassroots group Mothers Against Genocide rallied outside RTEs headquarters in Dublin on Saturday, 6 January.

The group, made up of families against the conflict in Gaza, were protesting the language that the Irish broadcaster uses in their coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

Weve come here to protest today against RTEs coverage of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank, said Naomi Sheehan, spokeswoman for the group.

At no stage have RTE named this as a genocide, which is what it is. That has been confirmed by international experts now.

Mrs Sheehan grew emotional as she talked about the 108 pairs of shoes the group had laid out, one for every journalist killed in the course of the conflict.
Pro-Palestine supporters attended a demonstration in Central London on Saturday, 6 January, that led to scuffles between protesters and police.

A large crowd can be seen gathering at the drinking fountain in St Jamess Park, waving flags and chanting as they began their demonstration.

Scuffles reportedly broke out as Metropolitan Police attempted to break up the protest by leading multiple ringleaders away from the area.

Protesters pushed back, forming a human wall across Birdcage Walk and chanted at police, saying: Who do you serve, who do you protect? according to PA.
Dashcam footage captures the moment two shoplifting suspects attempted to flee arrest by ramming into a police car in Connecticut.

A video shared by the East Haven Police Department shows smoke rising from the suspects vehicle as it continues smashing into cruisers.

Two more police cars arrive to box in the driver, identified as Nelson Vidro.

Both he and his passenger, Nadine Inorio, were then pulled from the smoking car and taken into custody.

According to the East Haven PD, at the time of arrest, Vidro had 18 arrest warrants issued.
Mr Kelly said the first investment by Silicon Docks Ventures will be to put 250,000 into a startup. As this is in stealth mode, details will not be announced until later in the year. He is planning to work with an established American venture-capital fund, acting as its office in Ireland.

Our mission is to enable great technology companies to be founded and funded in Ireland, and to then scale up here using the resources and skills we now have in abundance, Mr Kelly told the Irish Independent.

While Dublin now has an ecosystem of developers and AI experts due to hosting tech giants such as Google and Meta, he believes it needs a venture capital base to mentor the next wave of founders.

As a real-estate professional I have seen billions of euro invested in the built environment in Ireland, and I now want to unlock and guide some of this capital into the technology environment, he said.

Venture capital is all about finding and supporting great people. I have felt this support over the years and I now want to pass this on.

Mr Kelly said the first 20m fund would be made up of limited partners from family offices in Ireland  essentially wealthy people who have sold their companies and who are interested in investment opportunities.

We are looking initially to target SaaS [software as a service] companies building enterprise software products in the business-to-business space, Mr Kelly said. This is based on my experience in building Emex, which we plan to list later in 2024.

Emex Software is an SaaS company that was co-founded by Kelly and Richard Wall in 2010. It helps companies manage their risk, and work with their employees to improve safety.

A son of Paddy Kelly, the family was among the best-known property developers during the boom, and were involved in the rejuvenation of Smithfield in Dublin.

After the crash Simon Kelly wrote the book Breakfast with Anglo, describing how they borrowed over 1bn to invest in property and eventually lost control of their empire. However, they dealt with their debts and were among the developers who successfully exited Nama.

In a blog posted on New Years Day, Simon Kelly said he believes the secret talent hidden within the tech multinationals can be the spark for the next phase of creation.

Irish people have helped to build these companies, and in return, they have built a highly-trained workforce of new talent for the next wave of startups. In 2023 we received over 20bn in corporate taxes from these US companies, but the real hidden gem might be the people  the future startup founders, he wrote.

While Enterprise Ireland can provide seed funding of up to 100,000 for startups, he believes many companies that could have been great died because they missed the next step, which is proper venture capital.

This is the seam that I now want to mine, he said.

I see a future where there are thousands of Irish-based technology companies competing in the world, and winning and delivering massive returns to founders, and LPs [limited partnerships] and GPs [general partners] in the venture capital firms that choose to focus and build here.
Alaska Airlines announced late Friday that it is temporarily grounding its fleet of 65 MAX 9s until all are inspected.

This follows a serious incident on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 earlier in the evening when a piece of the fuselage blew out at 16,000 feet leaving a large hole and decompressing the passenger cabin.

The plane made an emergency landing back in Portland 20 minutes after taking off from there on a flight that had been destined for Ontario, Calif.

All 171 passengers and six crew were safe, with only some minor injuries, Alaska said. Fortunately, no passenger was seated by the opening.

In a statement, Alaska Air Group CEO Ben Minicucci said the MAX 9s would be grounded and inspected to ensure safety.

Following tonights event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft, Minicucci said. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections.

We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days, he added. I am personally committed to doing everything we can to conduct this review in a timely and transparent way.

Scant details about the incident were available Friday night, as authorities with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration had just begun to review the damaged aircraft. Information about a possible cause has yet to be provided.

All passengers and crew deplaned at Portland International Airport. Alaska sent a new jet to take them to their destination, though some chose not to go, and Minicucci said the airline is offering whatever support is needed.

My heart goes out to those who were on this flight  I am so sorry for what you experienced, he said in the statement. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants.

We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead, he added.

Photos of the planes interior shared on social media showed a large hole in the planes side. Oxygen masks dangled from the ceiling showing that the passenger cabin had depressurized.

The neat rectangular hole that appeared in the fuselage was located at the position where Boeing fits a plug to seal a door opening that is not used as a door by most airlines and by no U.S. carriers.

An emergency exit door is installed in that location only for jets going to low-cost carriers like Ryanair who cram in additional seats that require an extra emergency exit. Otherwise, the hole is sealed with a plug and from the inside it is covered by a sidewall so that to a passenger it looks like a normal window, not a door opening.

This plug, halfway between the over-wing exit and the door at the rear of the plane, is present only on the largest versions of the 737.

Its fitted on the previous generation 737-900ER and the same design is on the 737 MAX 8-200, the high density version for low-cost carriers, as well as the MAX 9 and MAX 10.

It is not present on the MAX 7 or MAX 8.

Online FAA records show this specific MAX 9 was almost new. Boeing delivered the jet to Alaska on Oct. 31.

Flightaware data shows Flight 1282 was the aircrafts third flight of the day and second take off. It had flown from San Diego to New York overnight and then on to Portland earlier in the day.

There is no immediate explanation as to why the plug blew out. Photos and videos made by passengers inside the jet show clean metal brackets where the plug would be latched, with no visible breaks, deformations or tears in the metal.

Flight data provided by flight tracking company Flightaware shows that six and a half minutes into the flight, having climbed to an altitude of 16,000 feet and with the plane traveling at a speed of 444 miles per hour, the pilot descended rapidly.

It appears thats the moment when the plug blew out and passengers saw a gaping hole, felt a rush of air leaving the cabin, and saw the oxygen masks drop from the ceiling.

Aboard the plane, It was deathly silent. Nobody made a noise, 29-year-old passenger Kyle Rinker said in a text message to The Oregonian/OregonLive. You could feel the plane shake a little because of the air pressure difference.

The Flightaware data shows the crew descended to 10,000 feet within four minutes then turned back toward Portland and continued their descent.

The flight that had taken off at 5:07 p.m. landed back at Portland at 5:27 p.m.

The airline will be investigating the accident.

We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available, Minicucci said.

In a statement, Boeing said it is working to gather more information.

Boeing said its technical team stands ready to support the investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation and said in a post on X that it would post updates when they were available.

The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation, Alaska said in a statement

The FAA did not immediately respond to an email request for information.

The 737 MAX is the latest version of Boeings signature narrowbody jetliner. Alaska had recently transitioned to an all-Boeing fleet and relies heavily on the MAX, which has been in service since 2017 and has accumulated over 6.5 million flight hours globally. (The airlines $1.9 billion proposed purchase late last year of Hawaiian Airlines would add Airbus planes to its roster.)

MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 saw all versions of the plane grounded. The investigation that followed showed that a flawed flight control system in the plane was the primary cause of both tragedies.

In late December, Boeing informed airlines and the FAA of a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system of Boeing 737 MAX airplanes and required inspections of specific tie rods that control rudder movement for possible loose hardware.

In 2018, a woman died after a damaged engine on a Southwest Airlines 737 hurled shrapnel at the fuselage and broke a cabin window beside the passenger.

Fridays emergency landing was Alaska Air Groups second significant flight safety incident that ended with a plane landing at Portlands airport.

In October, an Alaska-owned Embraer E175 jet operated by its regional carrier Horizon Air diverted to Portland after authorities say an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot attempted to shut off the planes engines. The Alaska Airlines pilot, who was riding in a jump seat on the flight deck, currently faces state and federal charges related to the incident.

Seattle Times reporter Taylor Blatchford contributed to this report, which includes information from The Associated Press and Seattle Times wire services.
Derry Girls star Siobhan McSweeney has revealed how when she broke her leg filming Graham Nortons drama series in Co Cork she ended up in a care home for the elderly.

The 44-year-old actress  who played St Michael in the hit TV series  broke her leg in 2021 near Aherla in Co Cork while filming Nortons Holding series.

When she was discharged from hospital the producers rewrote the remaining scripts so her injury would not be seen on camera.

But they also took the unusual decision to move her into a care home for the elderly so she could get 24-hour care in the locality.

I had the best time, Cork woman Siobhan told the Radio Times.

I had sausage and chips on a Tuesday night, there was regular sing-song.

Theres negativity about those spaces because were scared of ageing and we dont want to think about it happening to us and we dont want to think about it happening to us, but I saw the passion of the people that work in these places, who are paid naff all.

Every couple of days Id be wheeled out to film a scene for Holding. Kathy Burke was the director and she was just brilliant. She said Whatever she needs. They worked their socks off to help me get through it.

Her leg break was part of an annus horribilis for the star, having also lost her father the same year, a mystery disease and her house burning down.

Every day I thought I havent died, brilliant, keep going, she recalls.

But eventually enough bad things happened that I asked for help. All the horrible stuff that happened has taught me that I have a great support network: the best friends and family in the world.

She adds that meditation helped keep her going.

Its not easy, like anything in life, she reflects. You can be doing intermittent fasting on Monday and be face-down in a pizza by Tuesday. But I have stuck with meditation, and it has helped me immensely.

I believe life is for living. So, what if youre tired or your leg hurts? Just get up and dance and have as many experiences as you can.

Siobhan has since gone on to present The Great British Pottery Throw Down.

When people see me on telly, they see me at my best because Im having fun and Im interested and curious, so they- think Im like that all the time. I can assure you, Im not, she stresses.

Im judgemental and I can think badly of people. I can sniff out a lie.

I can be argumentative and chippy and bossy. I have no patience whatsoever when it comes to snobbery. Like, Im a telly fan.

If youre snobby about stuff, Ill deliberately, provocatively go the other way.

She won a BAFTA award last Summer for Derry Girls, and stunned at the ceremony by wearing a sizzling low cut red vinyl outfit.

My cleavage looked amazing, she smiles. I knew I was turning heads. Wearing vinyl is certainly not what anybody expects a size 18-20 woman to be wearing and that gave me perverse pleasure.

Im a plus size woman, like the average woman in this country.

I get hundreds of messages saying, Im your size, would you wear that?.

I make sure everything I wear is from the high street: everybody should have access to these clothes. Weve been told our bodies are disgusting.

Were fed a lie that only white, nubile, unlined, uncurved bodies are deserving of love and sex and sensuality. I did feel sexy. I am sexy.
Tanya Sweeney: Dermot Bannon is back for more Room to Improve, but it all lands a bit differently amid the cost-of-living crisis

Nations favourite renovation show returns for a 15th series on Sunday

ARCHIVE: 'Daniel's not exactly flaithiulach' - Dermot Bannon reveals Donegal crooner is not splashing the cash in home revamp

Tanya Sweeney Sat 6 Jan 2024 at 03:30

God, its like the Leaving Cert coming around again, my husband said of the next series of Room To Improve that is incoming on Sunday nights  and hes not entirely wrong.
University Hospital Galway has some of the highest numbers of patients waiting over a year for outpatient clinics

Patients are in pain for longer depending on where they live and what hospital waiting list they are on, in what has become a postcode treatment lottery, official figures reveal.

The waiting list for inpatient treatment at St James's Hospital in Dublin 8 for orthopaedics procedures, for example, such as a hip operation, shows 308 are in a queue for over a year.

This compares to an orthopaedics list of 158 for a year or more in Galway University Hospitals and 38 in Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin.

For patients who need an eye procedure, such as cataract surgery, there is a list of 305 waiting more than a year in University Hospital, Waterford compared to 174 in Galway and just 14 in University Hospital Limerick.

Patients needing urology procedures wait longer in the Mater Hospital, with a list of 195 of over 12 months, compared to just two in University Hospital Limerick.

The variation also applies to waiting times to see a specialist with hospitals Galway, Tallaght, Beaumont, Cork and Waterford having the highest patient numbers waiting for various outpatient clinics for over a year.

The disparity is linked to a range of factors, including some hospitals prioritisation of emergency department patients for a bed and availability of particular specialists, as well as the volume of referrals.

It comes as the number of patients coming onto waiting lists continues to rise due to population increase and ageing.

Health officials say despite a significant increase in the numbers being added to waiting lists, nearly 190,000 more patients were treated to the end of November last year for planned care, compared to 2022.

The longest waits have been cut, and numbers beyond the 10 to 12 week target set out in Slaintecare have reduced by 10pc.

At the end of November, 84,287 were on an inpatient or day case list, 23,379 needed a gastrointestinal scope and 580,555 were in line for a first outpatient consultation.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly wants more investigation into what officials call the "productivity puzzle".

"While we have had significant investment in our hospitals since 2016, the increase in activity has not matched the increase in resources," said Department of Health officials.

Professor Rob Landers, president of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, said: There is nothing to suggest we wont be in the same position come December 2024 due to bed and theatre capacity.

Donegal GP Dr Denis McCauley said he has found it particularly difficult to get a neurologist for some of his patients either publicly or privately.

"People are telling us what they cannot do rather than what they can do," said Dr McCauley, vice president of the Irish Medical Organisation.

There are difficulties with access to some adult psychiatric services, as well as child and adolescent mental health care for particular young patients, he added.

Moves are now under way to offer private appointments to patients waiting a long time on public waiting lists in the north-west, including across the Border, he added.

Meanwhile, waiting lists for children in the main children's hospitals in Dublin are particularly high.

Patients in other queues can go under the radar.

Prof Marcus Kennedy, a respiratory physician and president of the Irish Thoracic Society, revealed pulmonary function tests (PFTs), or breathing tests, are crucial in making an accurate diagnosis of lung conditions such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and to determine the severity of practically every other lung disease. This is a test that should be available as quickly as possible based on clinical need  for urgent cases, ideally on the same day.

COPD describes a group of lung conditions including bronchitis and emphysema. It affects approximately 500,000 in Ireland but only 200,000 are diagnosed.

Prof Kennedy said: Unfortunately, waiting lists at pulmonary function laboratories around the country can range from months to years and are continuing to severely impact patient care.

"There were delays before the HSE recruitment embargo was put in place and now its only making a bad situation worse, undoing a lot of the hard-won progress made in recent years where there has been an increase in the number of respiratory physiology courses and places available.

Equally, if posts are not filled as they become vacant, and cover is not put in place for colleagues going on maternity leave, access to these vital tests is further exacerbated. The Irish Thoracic Society is therefore calling for an urgent lifting of the recruitment embargo, in particular, for frontline roles, so that patients requiring a pulmonary function test can be seen in a timely manner.

Some 443m was allocated in 2023 to the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund for extra public and private activity to tackle waiting lists and enable longer-term reform. The funding targeted from Budget 2024 is around 407m.
Burn them all, every f***ing factory, building and nursing home concern grows over rise in anti-immigrant arson calls

Explicit posts on social media urge the torching of facilities allegedly earmarked for housing migrants

Vile social media posts call on arson attacks on potential accommodation sites

Conor Feehan Sat 6 Jan 2024 at 03:30

Calls to burn down immigrant centres, and even the homes of those supplying them, are being regularly touted on social media as concern grows over the number of fires that have engulfed buildings being prepared for asylum seekers and the homeless.
Dublin City won an EU award last year for smart tourism, surpassing 29 other cities based on innovation and commitment to sustainability.

Dublin City Council has officially launched its designation as the 2024 European Capital of Smart Tourism.

Dublin City won an EU award late last year for smart tourism, surpassing 29 other cities based on innovation and commitment to sustainability.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge was lit up with the European flag last night in recognition of the award.

Dublin was previously shortlisted for the award in 2021 and is one of the only cities in Europe to develop a Smart Tourism Programme of this kind.

Minister for Tourism and Culture Catherine Martin said: I congratulate everybody concerned with Dublins designation as European Capital of Smart Tourism in 2024.

This is a wonderful achievement that underscores the City Councils commitment to ensuring that Dublin is a world-class sustainable, accessible, and cultural destination.

Dublin is our capital and is the gateway destination for many of the visitors to our Island. Its wonderful to see the great work that our local authorities and tourism agencies are undertaking being recognised like this.

I know it will serve to inspire other areas to strive for excellence in sustainable tourism practices that deliver better environmental, social, and economic outcomes for all.

This programme will involve facilitating various events, engagements, and activities that will focus on gearing towards the best practices in sustainable tourism.

Representatives from other leading tourism destinations in Europe will come to Dublin during the year to collaborate, learn, and share ideas.

One of the biggest focuses this year will be to encourage more collaboration between Dublin and other EU cities.

"We are delighted that Dublin has been awarded the 2024 European Capital of Smart Tourism. This designation is a recognition of our commitment to deliver a greener, more accessible, inclusive, and innovative Dublin, for both our visitors and locals, Richard Shakespeare, Chief Executive of Dublin City Council said.

Our Smart Tourism programme, which was established in 2019, has been sharing, collaborating, and learning from some of the best cities in Europe and embedding this best practice in our own work through our new Tourism Strategy 2023-2023.

We will proudly use this designation as a platform to deliver an innovative approach to tourism for Dublin."
Founder of Hinch Distillery, Dr Terry Cross OBE with his son, Patrick Cross, and James Nesbitt. (Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye)

Actor James Nesbitt has joined up with the Ballynahinch-based Hinch Distillery for a new business endeavour.

The Irish whiskey and gin producer established its brand in 2019, and opened its 15m Co Down site in 2021.

Together, the Coleraine celebrity and Hinch have said they hope to promote Northern Irelands rich heritage and craftsmanship.

Hinch Distillery founder Dr Terry Cross said: We are delighted to welcome James Nesbitt to the Hinch Distillery family. His passion for our craft and commitment to Northern Irelands talent perfectly aligns with our values.

This partnership is not just about endorsements; its about shared passion and vision and an appreciation of all the good things to come out of Northern Ireland.

Nesbitt is set to be actively involved in the companys initiatives and will help to connect with the brands audience.

Im thrilled to be joining forces with Hinch Distillery, said the Bloodlands star.

As a proud Northern Irish man, I have always admired the dedication and craftsmanship that goes into creating Hinch Irish whiskeys and Ninth Wave Irish gins. This partnership is an opportunity to celebrate the best of our region and its iconic brands.

Sitting on the outskirts of Belfast, Hinch produces a variety of whiskeys and its own Ninth Wave Gin, which have a presence in more than 30 markets internationally, including the United States, despite being under five years old.

Hinch also recently invested to increase its production from 500,000 to 1.2 million litres of pure alcohol a year by the end of 2023.

It has earned a place on the tourism map here with its guided distillery tours and hospitality offering, including the recent addition of a dog-friendly cafe.

Nesbitt is the latest famous face to join the local alcohol business, which has become a lucrative move for household names worldwide.

Actors Jean-Claude Van Damme and Liev Schreiber have also entered the Irish whiskey category with new brands, while Conor McGregors Forged stout have Proper Twelve whiskey lines have also become well-known on the market.
OBrien was convicted at the Central Criminal Court last month of sexually assaulting six young men between 1991 and 1997 when he worked as a teacher at a Dublin Secondary school.

He was also convicted of attempted rape of one of the six men.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed today the judge had resigned from the bench and this has been conveyed to the President as required under the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act.

Ms McEntee had been seeking advice from the Attorney General about options open to the Government and the Oireachtas in the wake of OBriens conviction.

OBrien, from Thurles, Co Tipperary, is to be sentenced in March.

His trial heard how one of the complainants said they had searched OBrien online and found out that he was a Circuit Court judge, which became one of the reasons why he made a complaint to Gardai.

Four of the complaints were pupils or former pupils of OBrien.

OBrien had pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted rape and eight counts of sexual assault which related to the six complainants.

Ms McEntee said she will not comment further on the matter prior to the court finalising the case by sentencing.

The case is adjourned until March 4.

During the trial Mr Justice Alexander Owens said he would have put OBrien into custody, however, due to his suffering from phocomelia, he remanded OBrien on continuing bail.

Phocomelia is a rare condition that can affect the upper and lower limbs. OBrien is missing both hands and one foot.
Ross Lake House Hotel in Co Galway was due to accommodate refugees before it was burnt down

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has strongly condemned criminal acts of arson and asked anyone with information either on past incidents or about possible upcoming threats to contact gardai.

In a statement this afternoon, Ms McEntee said she has been in regular contact with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and has reassured him that any resources required will be made available.

"People need to understand these are very serious crimes which carry heavy prison sentences and those who have carried them out will be brought to justice, she said.

"An Garda Siochana is doing everything possible to investigate recent acts of arson. I understand they are making good progress in their investigations and I encourage anyone with any information in relation to any of the incidents to contact them.

The Minister said it is clear that a group of people in society are intent on sowing division and fear through intimidation.

I repeat that there can never be justification for such acts, regardless of circumstances or alleged motivation, she said.

"An Garda Siochana and IPAS continue to work closely together to ensure effective policing plans are in place wherever there is an identified operational need.

Where accommodation centres are being established, IPAS notifies and engages with local communities through their Community Engagement Team in advance.

Gardai are continually monitoring emerging threats, including monitoring social media activity, and stepping up policing responses as necessary.

Both Department and I are fully committed to the fight against racism and bigotry and strongly condemn the actions of those who abuse and attack others because of their own prejudices. Ireland is a diverse and tolerant country, and such behaviour is not acceptable.

This comes as gardai conducted searches at four properties in the Roscahill area of Oughterard, Co Galway, this morning.

They were conducted by members attached to Galway Divisional Crime unit supported by the National Bureau of Crime Investigation.

A garda spokesperson said the focus of the operation was to gather evidence in relation to the arson of Ross Lake House Hotel on December 16.

A number of exhibits were seized during these searches and they will be subject to analysis which will determine the next stages of the investigation, they said.

An incident room, under the direction of a Senior Investigating Officer, is in place in relation to this large scale investigation, which has resulted in 229 investigative tasks being conducted and 145 statements taken, to date.

The investigation team would like to thank the local community for their support to date and are appealing for anyone who may have information regarding this incident to contact them.

In particular, members of the community in the Roscahill, Oughterard and surrounding areas who may be able to assist Gardai are asked to come forward.

Gardai can be contacted at Clifden Garda Station on 095 22500, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

All information received will be treated in a confidential and sensitive manner.
A man has been arrested after striking a garda with a his van in Dublin City

A man has been arrested after striking a garda with a van in Dublin City centre before speeding off.

The incident happened on Spencer Dock, in the north-inner city, shortly before 2pm this afternoon leading to a garda pursuit.

Its understood two gardai on beat patrol had stopped a Mercedes van and were interacting with the driver when the vehicle sped off.

One of the gardai was hit by the vehicle as it drove away, with sources saying the garda was not seriously injured and that he was "glanced" by the van.

The man's colleagues were notified and an alert was put out for the suspect vehicle. Following a pursuit this afternoon the van was located in the Ashbourne area of Co Meath.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested for road traffic offences, including dangerous driving, and was brought to a Dublin garda station for questioning.

A garda spokesman said that the injuries sustained by the injured member are non-life threatening.

The spokesman said: "A male Garda member was struck by the vehicle during this incident.

"The vehicle failed to remain at the scene and was later located in Ashbourne, Co. Meath where it was brought to a stop and the driver was arrested.

"The male Garda Member is receiving medical treatment for non-life threatening injuries.

"The arrested male is currently detained a at a Garda Station in the DMR (Dublin Metropolitan Region). "

Gardai added that investigation into the incident are ongoing.
Tanaiste Micheal Martin has called recent comments by members of the Israeli government utterly unacceptable and inflammatory after two ministers suggested that Palestinians should be resettled outside of Gaza.

Earlier this week, Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir said that they believed Palestinians in Gaza should be encouraged to emigrate from the region.

Criticising the comments, Mr Martin said that Gaza is Palestinian land and an important part of the future of the country.

The recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory, the Tanaiste said.

Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.

People carry the dead body of a woman killed in an Israeli strike on a house at Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Mr Martin also said the international community must redouble efforts to end the current conflict in Gaza.

As the war enters its fourth month, the Tanaiste said the need for an immediate ceasefire was more urgent than ever and that recent events have shown the potential for escalation.

The need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access is more urgent than ever.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation. A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world, Mr Martin said.

He urged parties in the area to avoid escalation and said that countries could not allow the continuation of suffering and death in the region.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation, Mr Martin said.

The Tanaiste said focus should not be solely on the achievement of de-escalation in the area, but that steps needed to be taken in order to achieve a two-state solution.

Our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole, he said.

This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality, he added.

The Tanaiste also addressed the recent attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Houthis in Yemen, and said those actions were having a serious impact on global trade.

The Houthis, who support Hamas have attacked ships in the Red Sea after the outbreak of the war on October 7 claimed they were targeting ships bound for Israel.

Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe, Mr Martin said.

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected, he added.
Operation delay leaves child with rare condition facing life of pain

Aoibhs mother says her life has been improved by surgeon Connor Green, and she can now walk with an aid

The mother of a little girl with a rare, life-limiting limb condition has said her daughter faces life in a wheelchair unless she gets access to her surgeon now.

Eavan Rooney said two-year-old Aoibh, who was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, will deteriorate unless her paediatric consultant surgeon, Connor Green, returns to work at Temple Street Childrens Hospital and continues to treat her.

Mr Green is considered by many to be the only paediatric surgeon in Ireland trained in complex orthopaedic conditions.

However, he has been at the centre of the spinal surgery crisis in Temple Street, after it emerged non-medical-grade spring devices were implanted in children under his care.

He has not performed surgery in a year and has been on leave from the hospital for the past eight months after being referred to the Irish Medical Council (IMC).

Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) commissioned two reviews of operations on 17 children with spina bifida and found a significant number suffered complications after surgery.

Connor Green discussed the innovative new technique with colleagues

A third review is continuing into the use of the unauthorised springs, as well as governance and oversight at Temple Street.

Ms Rooney, from Co Monaghan, has joined hundreds of other parents whose children are in the surgeons care. Under the group name of OrthoKids Ireland, they have called on the IMC to expedite Mr Greens referral.

We couldnt straighten her out. She had clubbed feet and her hips were significantly dislocated.

When Aoibh was born, we were told she might not even be able to actually sit, never be able to stand or walk, but Connor [Green] completely changed the trajectory of her life for the better, she said.

Saying Aoibhs condition was not detected during pregnancy, she added: It was a shock to everyone. Only her head moved. Her arms, elbows, shoulders, wrists were all stuck rigid. She had multiple joint contractures.

We couldnt straighten her out. She had clubbed feet and her hips were significantly dislocated.

With the help of Connor and the aid of a walker, Aoibh has been able to walk into creche three days a week, stand, play, get up and down and swim.

But as she grows, her body will always want to go back to how it was born. She has a life-long disability and needs regular monitoring and input from someone like Connor.

He had listed Aoibh for surgery around now, but obviously he is not at work. So currently, Aoibh is not achieving developmentally in terms of what she should be. This is because Mr Green is not at work, and thats a real problem for us.

Eavan Rooney (centre) with her two children, Leo (4) and Aoibh (2)

If Aoibh doesnt see Connor in the next few months, she is going to completely deteriorate. It could be the difference between Aoibh being in long-term pain versus being in no pain at all. That is where we are.

This is causing huge mental stress and turmoil for our family, our wider family, and it has put Aoibhs whole future on hold.

They are deteriorating on a daily basis, they are suffering pain on a daily basis. Its not right and its not fair.

Her future is diminishing day by day and it is absolutely heartbreaking. My message to Childrens Health Ireland and to the minister for health would be to do the right thing by our children. They are disabled, but they are no less than any other child and they deserve to have the same opportunities as any other child.

While Mr Green is not working, these opportunities are being dismissed on a daily basis. They are deteriorating on a daily basis, they are suffering pain on a daily basis. Its not right and its not fair. This is a childrens rights issue.

The Dail heard last September that Mr Green wrote a letter to the head of CHI in 2020 in which he discussed experimental techniques in surgeries for young scoliosis patients.

Professor Damian McCormack at Temple Street Childrens Hospital. Photo: David Conachy

He stated that the families of the children involved were informed about the off-label and experimental techniques using devices not designed for this purpose.

Last October, Prof Damian McCormack, lead paediatric orthopaedic consultant at Temple Street, publicly defended Mr Green. He claimed the use of the unauthorised springs had been flagged at CHI management meetings.

In response, CHI chief executive Eilish Hardiman told members of an Oireachtas Health Committee that she had no recollection of receiving Mr Greens letter in 2020, or about discussions involving the use of non-approved springs.

Addressing politicians in 2021, Mr Green and Mr McCormack claimed services for children with orthopaedic conditions were inadequate and chaotic and that these childrens futures were being destroyed.
Thousands of people demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as they took part in a pro-Palestine rally in Belfast.

In Dublin, a smaller demonstration outside RTEs headquarters saw 108 pairs of shoes laid out in a display activists said was to signify the number of journalists killed since the conflict began in October.

The rally at Belfast City Hall came after supporters of the Palestinian cause marched through the city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Protesters carrying Palestine flags and placards criticising the Israeli regime were among the large crowd that gathered outside the gates of the landmark building to hear a series of speeches.

108 pairs of shoes for each journalist killed in Gaza are laid out as Mothers Against Genocide protest outside RTE in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

The addresses were interspersed with chants and songs voicing support for the Palestinian people and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Among the speakers was Mark McTaggart, who is northern secretary of the INTO teaching union and also spokesman for the Trade Union Friends of Palestine group.

He reflected on the numbers of students and teachers who have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest  education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the north who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety, he said.

Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people across in Palestine.

Mr McTaggart also encouraged people to actively boycott Israeli goods and companies.

People take part in a pro-Palestine march and rally at Belfast City Hall (David Young/PA)

The protest at RTE HQ in Donnybrook in Dublin was organised by the group Mothers Against Genocide.

One of those taking part was sustainable development scientist Naomi Sheehan.

She said Irelands national broadcaster should be referring to Israels actions in Gaza as genocide.

Its hard to even speak about this because it is so emotional, this is like witnessing the worst human rights atrocities of our times, she said.

Its a silent genocide and we are hearing a deafening silence in terms of assigning appropriate accountability to the forces who are enabling this genocide.

Both Belfast and Dublin have also witnessed pro-Israeli demonstrations since the conflict began in October.

Saturdays pro-Palestinian protests were staged after Tanaiste Micheal Martin warned that a widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world.

Mr Martins comments came as Hezbollah in Lebanon claimed it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli observations posts after it blamed Israel for a strike on Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official during the week.

The Tanaiste also rejected suggestions coming from some Israeli ministers that large numbers of Palestinians should be relocated out of Gaza.

Mr Martin further expressed concern about the situation in the Red Sea where commercial ships have been attacked by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

The minister for foreign affairs said the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was more urgent than ever.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

He also stressed the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation, he said.

A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

The Tanaiste added: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe.

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected.

This trajectory must be reversed. The international community, including parties in the region, must, in the first instance, redouble efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.

But our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole. This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality.

In that context, the recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory. Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.
Well never have another Sinead OConnor unless Irish radio gets its act together  Just 3pc of top tracks on airwaves are by Irish women

Artists join call for gender equality to help pave path for next generation

RuthAnne, who has worked on songs for One Direction and Britney Spears, says lack of radio support for female artists should be addressed. Photo: Redferns

Maeve McTaggart Sat 6 Jan 2024 at 03:30

Irish female artists are urging radio stations to address the gender gap on the airwaves before the country loses its next generation of stars.
A cool and cosy winter weekend in New York

Winter is a chilly time to visit the Big Apple, but it can be cheaper, less-crowded and the ideal time to tour Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan on a flying visit

Concert venue Pier 17 in Lower Manhattan

Aoife Rooney Sat 6 Jan 2024 at 03:30

New York in winter may be chilly, but its pretty unbeatable with the right itinerary. Post-holiday frenzy, theres a small but perfect window of a few weeks where the city seems to reset after its busiest time of year.


As Larry Summers rather pithily summed up in an article last autumn on Russias invasion of Ukraine: Bank robbers should not expect banks to honour their safe deposit boxes. 

The former US treasury secretary and adviser to Democratic presidents Clinton and Obama continues to call for a new funding source to support embattled Kyiv: seizing Russian foreign assets, worth an estimated 300bn, which are now frozen for the most part in the EU.
Comment

When the last brew of Harp Lager left the Carrick Road site in 2013 there was the obvious concern about the loss of jobs at the brewery.

Equally though there was a deal of interest in the future of the massive brewery site that had grown in stature and importance to the town from 1959 when the lager was first brewed on the site.

Various suggestions were propagated for the site, including converting some of the buildings such as the large red brick store house, into apartments, but in the main, it was hoped that the site would again be a source of employment and generate wealth for the town.

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Few saw the prospect of the brewery being converted into a distillery, except one man, John Teeling, the academic and businessmen, who has developed or overhauled a wide range of businesses over the years and who broke Irish Distillers monopoly which existed in the Irish whiskey industry.

He bought the site in 2013, renamed it Great Northern Distillery, and from a tentative start, it has grown into a very successful business, with profits surging in the year to April by 27 percent to 26.9m.

In the process the company copper-fastened its position as the top supplier to Irelands burgeoning whiskey industry.

The company reported a 22 percent increase in sales in the year to last April to 54.4m. through the supply of malt and grain bulk whiskey to independent whiskey makers, styling itself as a one-stop from brand owners and buyers to create their own unique spirit.

Aside from supplying whiskey, it blends, casks and warehouses and arranges bottling for brands.

It is hard to believe that the former Harp site produces a million bottles of spirit a week, and is the largest independent distillery in the country.

The vast bulk of that whiskey distilled in Dundalk is exported to Europe, and according to John Telling there are 700 Irish whiskeys on sale.

The Great Northern distillery may not provide the lucrative employment seen in the Harp Lager years, but it is still a very valuable asset to the town thanks to the foresight of one man.
The Wicklow Avoca Scout Group have appealed for new members for their Cub Section.

The Wicklow Avoca Scout Group have appealed for new members for their Cub Section.

The Wicklow Avoca Scout Group have appealed for new members for their Cub Section.

The Wicklow Avoca Scout Group have appealed for new members for their Cub Section.

The 14th Wicklow Avoca Scout Group are encouraging third and fourth-class boys and girls aged 9 to 11 to join in the adventure of their Cub Section.

Assembling in the Avoca Community Hall every Monday evening from 7.45 p.m. to 9 p.m., the Cub Section provides local children with fantastic opportunities for personal growth and social development through learning by doing and working as a team.

Challenge, adventure and a sense of freedom are all present in close contact with nature and away from everyday home life, engraining Cubs in their community and supporting young people to become active citizens and to work to create a better environment.

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Detailing the benefits of Avocas Cub section, Scouting Ireland Development Sporting Officer Dermot Moore said: In Avoca Scouts, there are a lot of activities planned, but the way the Cubs works is the kids give the feedback as to what activities and badge work theyd like to do for the year, and then we put it together in six-week cycles.

The Wicklow Avoca Scout Group have appealed for new members for their Cub Section.

Its a great way to do it, and it allows them to come up with their own little adventures. In our system, the adults and the children work together and try to cover outdoor activities, adventures, and challenges that they want to do and suit them.

If it was just coming from us, they would get bored very quickly, but if theyre buying into it, it becomes interesting, and they get ownership of it and come up with little ideas  it boosts their own independence.

We have a group already operating in Avoca, but were just a little short on numbers after people moved off and different age groups grew up, Dermot continued.

The Wicklow Avoca Scout Group have appealed for new members for their Cub Section.

We will be looking for adult volunteers in the New Year as well, both in Wicklow and at a national level.

Im hoping to start a new scout group, possibly in the Tinahely area, which is something Im looking to start in the near future.

Well have to get the adults on board before we can open a group and start taking on kids, but Ive already put the feelers out, and hopefully well be getting the wheels in motion before the end of January.

To volunteer or register your Cub, contact Dermot on 086 8554262, email dermotmoore35@gmail.com or visit the Avoca Scouts Facebook page.
Sculptor Con Gent with some of his exhibits at Wicklow Library

An artist and his student joined forces in December to give Wicklow Library a memorable exhibit of recycled and wooden sculptures.

Conleth Gent and his student Andrew Halada are both from Glencullen, Co Dublin. Conleth is a multi award-winning sculptor who works mainly in a wide variety of locally sourced woods. The pair first met when Andrew began attending one of the classes Conleth teaches.

Andrew started taking some of my classes and I could see straight away that he was a great talent so I invited him to exhibit alongside me, explained Conleth.

Wooden Sculptor by Conleth Gent.

Andrew mainly uses recycled, reused and repurposed materials for his art, including a recycled piano which he totally repurposed.

"In many ways its a symbol of the circular economy and how things shouldnt just be thrown out when they can be repurposed and reused. We held a joint exhibition in Glencullen, which proved very successful and was Andrews first ever exhibition.

The exhibition in Wicklow Library last month featured 18 pieces created by Conleth and 14 created by Andrew, and it drew large crowds from its inception on December 12 to its end on December 28.

Lady with a cigarette by Andrew Halada

Wicklow Library was a lovely setting and it was only Andrews second ever exhibition. We had a great launch night and we received lovely positive responses from everyone, added Conleth.
Palestinian misery finds little sympathy in Israeli public discourse

People carry the dead body of a woman killed in an Israeli strike on a house at Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Nearly three months of war have left Gaza in ruins. Israels quest to eradicate militant group Hamas after it carried out its deadly October 7 attack looks far from finished, no matter the skyrocketing death toll for Palestinians.
David Soul outside the Dorchester Hotel ahead of the UK premiere of 'Starsky and Hutch' in London in 2004. Photo: Yui Mok

David Soul, who has died aged 80, was best known for his role as the blond, blue-eyed detective Ken Hutchinson in Starsky and Hutch, the American police drama that became a Saturday-night staple in the late 1970s.

Starring opposite Paul Michael Glaser as Starsky, the leather-jacketed vegetarian and bookish Hutch quickly established himself as a favourite with women. Whether tearing around in their customised Ford Torino, annoying their long-suffering boss, or exchanging gossip with the streetwise Huggy Bear, Starsky and Hutch brought a complementary insouciance  not to mention a love of chunky knitwear  to the crime-busting escapades that propelled them to the top of the ratings.
LATEST | US officials order grounding of Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners after Alaska Airlines plane has window blown out in mid-air

Plane forced to make emergency landing after window blows out mid-air

Audrey McAvoy Sat 6 Jan 2024 at 19:30







US federal officials have ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of its fuselage.
Kolkata: Shree Cement Limited has announced a revamp of its corporate brand identity and launched multiple brand offerings, with Bangur as the master brand, a press release said.

"The new Bangur brand identity is anchored on the idea of Build Smart  a core philosophy capturing the companys consumer proposition, organizational philosophy, and national ambition," read the release.

The Bangur master brand has been unveiled with a new advertising campaign, with noted Bollywood actor Sunny Deol being brought in as the brand endorser, the company said.

Speaking on the occasion, Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director of Shree Cement Ltd, said, The launch of Bangur as the master brand is in sync with our strategy of assessing and responding to evolving customer sentiments and growing aspirations.

The intent is to position Bangur as the companys umbrella brand, with a refreshed and discernible brand identity. Through this makeover, we aim to connect better with our customers, providing them unique experiences with differentiated products.

The launch of the new brand identity was announced in a glittering event organized in New Delhi.

Bangur Cements updated brand logo symbolizes its evolution with a contemporary design mirroring its forward-thinking approach, the company said.

Enhancements have been introduced across the product range, showcasing innovation and advancements addressing the evolving needs of discerning customers, it said.

Bangur Magna, a premium offering of a superior product with a highly differentiated pack appearance, was launched.

A new advertising campaign featuring Bollywood actor Sunny Deol to be deployed across TV, digital, outdoor, print and retail, was launched.
In image ED officials fleeing Bengal's Sandeshkhali after mob attack on them/ courtesy: Videograb

New Delhi/IBNS: Giving chilling details about the attack on its officials in Bengal's Sandeshkhali during a raid, allegedly by supporters of a Trinamool Congress leader, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said the mob consisted of 800-1,000 people and that there was an "intention to cause death".

In a shocking incident, the ED officials were attacked, beaten up and forced to flee, abandoning their raids by a section of activists from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas.

The TMC activists reportedly have allegiance to Shahjahan Sheikh, a block-level leader of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas on Friday.

The agency said three of its officials were severely injured and that people in the mob robbed its personnel of their belongings, including mobile phones, wallets and laptops.

On one of the premises, the ED team with CRPF personnel was attacked by 800-1000 people "with an intention to cause death as these people were carrying weapons such as lathis, stones and bricks".

ED was conducting searches on the three premises of Sahajahan Sheikh, Convenor of TMC, North 24 Parganas in case of PDS scam of West Bengal. During the searches. On one of the premises, ED team with CRPF personnels was attacked by 800-1000 people with an intention to cause death  ED (@dir_ed) January 5, 2024

The injured ED officials are treated in a hospital for treatment.

While the Trinamool Congress called the incident "a BJP conspiracy" and claimed "unruly elements attached with the central agencies provoked locals", the BJP has called the continuance of the ruling party's government in the state "a threat to national security."

The agency said Sheikh refused to unlock the door and while the team was trying to get it open, the mob gathered within half an hour. It alleged that stones were also thrown at the personnel.

The ED, probing the alleged statutory ration distribution scam following a Calcutta High Court order, went early on Friday to raid the house of Shahjahan Sheikh at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas.

The ED officials, after finding the collapsible gates of the TMC leader's house locked from inside, tried to break it open.

Seeing the ED officials, who were escorted by the Central armed forces, were trying to break open the locks, the TMC activists immediately attacked the central investigation officials, who finally abandoned the raid for their safety.

The ED officials said they were safe and abandoned the raid for fear of being attacked.

The probe agency has been raiding the premises of two block-level leaders and their relatives since Friday morning, they said.

Aiming Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, who is the leader of the opposition in West Bengal, posted on X, "Due to Mamata Banerjee's assurance and encouragement, criminals like Sheikh Shahjahan have assembled Rohingya to work as his henchmen and establish a reign of terror."

You @MamataOfficial, are the main reason for today's ghastly attack on the ED Officials and CRPF Jawans.

Instead of upholding the Constitutional norms, respecting the Federal Structure and abiding by the Judicial directions, you have time and again tried to instigate your unruly pic.twitter.com/3QuxNbGxtc  Suvendu Adhikari    (@SuvenduWB) January 5, 2024

Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose also condemned the attack and said, "It is a ghastly incident. It is alarming and deplorable. It is the duty of a civilised government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. If a government fails in its basic duty, then the Constitution of India will take its course."

Kolkata Press Club condemns the attack



Kolkata Press Club condemned the attack on the media personnel during the episode.

"The media was attacked on Friday morning while collecting news of the central agency's search at the house of a local political leader in Sarberia of North 24 Parganas. A group of miscreants attacked to obstruct their work. Journalists were beaten on the street," the Press Club said in a statement, condemning the attack.

"The job of journalists is to gather news. It is their constitutional right. No one has the right to launch an attack on them to prevent that work. Press Club Kolkata is determined to continue the fight to protect the rights of journalists," it said.
Photo Courtesy: X videograb

Dhaka: At least five people were killed in Bangladesh after a massive fire erupted in a passenger train on Friday.

Police suspect the train was set ablaze by arsonists amid continued unrest ahead of national elections boycotted by the opposition, news agency AFP reported.

According to media reports, the Benapole Express train, which caught fire, was packed with passengers.

Private broadcaster Somoy TV said some Indian citizens were also traveling on the train, according to the report.

"We have recovered five bodies," police commander Khandaker Al Moin was quoted as saying by AFP.

The report cited witnesses, who said that the fire started in the train at Gopibagh, in an old part of Dhaka close to the capital citys main rail terminal.

A rescuer told private broadcaster Somoy TV that hundreds of people rushed to rescue passengers out of the burning train.

While many people were pulled out, the task grew difficult as the fire spread quickly, he said.

"We suspect the fire incident was an act of sabotage," police chief Anwar Hossain told AFP, without giving more details.

The previous month, the police and government accused the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of being involved in another train fire, resulting in four fatalities.

BNP rejected the allegation, stating that it was blamed unfairly as part of the governments plan to muzzle the opposition voices.

Bangladesh will elect a new government in national elections scheduled on Sunday but the BNP and dozens of other parties have boycotted, describing the election process as a "sham" vote.

Bangladesh has been witnessing relentless anti-government protests, with thousands of opposition activists demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a protest campaign last year, leading to their arrest.
Photo courtesy: UNI

New Delhi/UNI: The Indian Navy evacuated all 21 crew members including 15 Indians onboard the cargo vessel MV Lila Norfolk in the North Arabian Sea on Friday.

According to the Indian Navy, "Sanitisation by MARCOs has confirmed the absence of the hijackers."

It further said, "The attempt at hijacking by the pirates was probably abandoned with the forceful warning by the Indian Navy MPA of interception by Indian Naval warships."

However, INS Chennai is in the vicinity of MV and is rendering support to restore power generation and propulsion and commence her voyage to the next port of call, the Indian Navy said.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Navy foiled an attempt to hijack a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier by approximately five to six unknown Armed men.

After receiving a message from the vessel, the Indian Navy launched a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and diverted INS Chennai to assist the vessel.
Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from X video

Kolkata/UNI: Trinamool Congress leader and former chairman of Bongaon Municipality in North 24 Parganas Shankar Adhya was on Saturday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from his home after a marathon interrogation, official sources said.

The ED arrested Adhya in the wee hours on Saturday after about 17 hours of interrogation in the alleged ration distribution scam.

Adhya was also known as a close associate of arrested forest minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, a former food minister.

The scam was allegedly committed during Mallick's stint as food minister between 2011-2021, sources said.

#WATCH | North 24 Parganas, West Bengal: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former Bongaon Municipality Chairman Shankar Adhya, in connection with a ration scam case. pic.twitter.com/heorEuBBjb  ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2024

Sources said the ED would produce Adhya before a special court for judicial process later in the day after a mandatory medical test.

Adhya's arrest happened hours after another ED team was bashed up by a section of TMC supporters at Sarberia, Sandeshkhali, also in North 24 Parganas on Friday.

Sources said the West Bengal police has detained ten suspects in this connection.

Sources said the ED waited for hours to get a response as the collapsible gates of Sahjahan Sheikh were locked from inside.

Subsequently the central probe agency tried to break open the gates.

Seeing this, the TMC supporters allegedly began beating the ED officials in presence of the Central armed forces, who were outnumbered.

Two of the ED officials were wounded in the attacks, one of them got head injuries, sources added.

The media persons who were covering the event, were also roughed up and their cameras damaged.

Press Club, Kolkata, condemned the attacks.
Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/ShareAlike 4.0 International

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice on a plea that challenged the UP government's notification that puts a complete ban on the sale, storage and distribution of Halal-certified products in the east Indian state.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh Government on the plea filed by Halal India Private Limited and Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra challenging the ban imposed by the Uttar Pradesh Government in November last year, reported India Today.

The petitioner contended that the ban violated the citizens' fundamental rights and undermined established certification processes.

Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal and Raju Ramachandran told the bench that the ban has wide ramifications, including interstate trade, and said as quoted by India Today, "This ban has a pan-India effect and affects a community across the country and therefore has national implication. There is an immediate effect on interstate trade and industry, and on the consumer."

The bench declined to pass any interim relief into the matter.

The bench said the matter will be considered at a later stage.
Photo Courtesy: Screengrab of viral video from X page

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday issued a directive to Indian air operators, directing them to immediately conduct a one-time inspection of emergency exits on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently in operation within their fleets, media reports said.

This directive came after an incident in an Alaska Airlines flight, carrying 174 passengers and six crew members, which had to make an emergency landing due to the mid-air blowout of an exit door and an adjacent unoccupied seat, reported India Today.

An Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a window blew out mid-air.



The Boeing 737-MAX 9 had 174 passengers and six crew members aboard and was recently delivered to the airline.



I don't think the 737 max is meant to be in the air pic.twitter.com/hLBhkIDMaC  Easily distracte (@shehzadkazmi) January 6, 2024

Despite the incident on the Alaska Airlines flight, Boeing has not provided any specific guidance, said the report.

The aerospace company said it was aware of the situation, adding that it was ready to support the investigation through its technical team.

The affected aircraft, where the exit door and seat malfunction occurred, is a recently manufactured plane that completed assembly just two months ago and obtained certification in November 2023, according to the report.

Following the incident, Alaska Airlines took the precaution of temporarily grounding its entire fleet of Boeing 737-9 aircraft.

CEO Ben Minicucci stated that each aircraft would undergo comprehensive maintenance and safety inspections before being returned to service.

Flight 1282 and our next steps with the Boeing MAX-9: https://t.co/LFxJvQYNcA pic.twitter.com/oemRokr1tz  Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) January 6, 2024

In a related development from last week, Boeing urged airlines to inspect all 737 MAX airplanes for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system.
Image Credit: Screen grab of video posted on X by @BJP4Bengal

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a lookout notice against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan Sheikh, who has been missing since yesterday after an ED team was attacked on the way to raid his residence in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal in connection with the public distribution system (PDS) scam, media reports said.

The ED reported on Friday that its officials were attacked by a crowd of around a thousand people who charged towards them "with an intention to cause death."

The agency's investigators were assaulted by a mob, allegedly comprising Sheikh's supporters, as they were en route to search his home in Sandeshkhali.

The ED officials had planned to conduct raids at the residence of the TMC leader in relation to the irregularities in the ration distribution system.

According to sources, the Trinamool leader tried to escape to Bangladesh but failed due to strict surveillance at the border by the Border Security Force and Bangladesh Rifles in view of Bangladesh's general elections scheduled for Sunday, reported NDTV.

The central investigative agency suspects that Sheikh and his family are currently in hiding somewhere the state.

The agency's team visited the residence of the Trinamool leader as part of its investigation into a ration distribution scam.

Sheikh is known to be a close aide of state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who was arrested last year in connection with a multi-crore ration distribution scam.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) reported that three of its officers sustained "grievous" injuries during a mob attack on its search team in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas district.

The crowd snatched the personal belongings of ED officials such as mobile phones and wallets.
Khalistan

In a recent interview, Indias External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar expressed concern over the growth of Khalistani extremism generated out of Canada, blaming the Canadian political landscape for providing space for separatists to propagate their radical ideology.

This issue has persisted for over four decades, with little progress towards mitigating the threat posed by Khalistani extremists.

Canadas historical complacency and apparent lack of understanding regarding the vacuity and irrationality of the Khalistan project raise serious questions about the nations commitment to fostering positive international relations.

At the peak of the Khalistani insurgency, Canadas then Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Allan J. MacEachen, visited India in 1983. During the visit he mentioned that Canada had no interest in directly or indirectly encouraging the so-called Khalistan movement and also assured that his government would not allow political asylum for individuals from India.

Despite these assurances, the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985 revealed the continued existence of Khalistani terror networks in Canada. The tragic incident resulted in the loss of 329 lives, including 268 Canadian citizens. Surprisingly, Canada seems to have forgotten the lessons from this tragedy, as it continues to grapple with the consequences of its lenient approach towards Khalistani elements.

The case of Gerald Vincent Bull, the Canadian engineer assassinated in 1990, highlights the inconsistency in Canadas response to threats emanating from its soil. While Bulls assassination, linked to his involvement in the Supergun project, did not strain relations between Canada and Israel, the presence of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a known Khalistani terrorist, in Canada sparked tensions with India. Nijjar, who fled India in 1997 on a fake passport and had been identified as a most-wanted terrorist, in the list handed over by the then Punjab Chief Minister to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2018.

In the current diplomatic standoff between India and Canada surrounding Nijjars death, and glorification of terrorists like Talwinder Singh Parmar underscores the persistent threat of Khalistani extremism. Parmar, a naturalized Canadian citizen and a key suspect in the Air India bombing was later gunned down in 1992. His association with Pakistan ISI and their shared objective of destabilizing Punjab raises serious concerns about the nexus between a section of Canadian Sikhs and foreign elements aiming to exploit regional conflicts.

Despite these alarming developments, Canada seems unmoved by the threat posed by Khalistani terrorists. The Canadian governments indifference to Kill India posters circulated by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and its lenient stance on a tableau glorifying the assassins of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi raises questions about the nations commitment to curbing extremist activities on its soil.

For over four decades, no remotely viable proposal for Khalistan has surfaced.

There are also no takers in Punjab, and in the Sikh diaspora, for the theocratic idea of Khalistan, further underscoring the vacuity of the idea. Canada, with its strong research agencies, should be more discerning in its approach, refraining from providing space to Khalistani extremists whose success could ultimately ruin global peace and prosperity, as well as domestic security. It is imperative for Canada to reassess its relationship with Khalistani extremist groups, considering the potential damage to bilateral ties and regional stability. The time for Canada to act responsibly and address this issue head-on is long overdue.

(Photo and text courtesy: Khalsavox.com)
Photo Courtesy: Christian Oliver Instagram page

Hollywood actor Christian Oliver and his two daughters died after his plane crashed into the water off the coast of a Caribbean island on Thursday, media reports said.

Oliver was 51.

The actor featured in movies like Speed Racer and Valkyrie.

The owner and pilot of the plane, identified as Robert Sachs, also died in the crash, reported Deadline.

According to authorities, the single-engine plane took off Thursday afternoon from J.F. Mitchell Airport in Bequia, a tiny island and part of the Caribbean nations of St. Vincent and Grenadines and was headed to nearby St Lucia when it crashed, the news portal reported.

The actor's daughters were identified as Madita Klepser, 12, and Annik Klepser, 10.

Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced difficulties and nose-dived into the ocean, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said in a statement as quoted by Deadline. Fishermen and divers from Paget Farm went to the scene of the incident in their boats to render assistance.

Officials said all four bodies have been recovered.

The cause of the crash is currently being investigated.

From 2002 until 2004, Oliver co-starred in 28 episodes of the German action TV series Alarm fur Cobra 11.

The actor recently finished filming the final sequence of his latest movie Forever Hold Your Peace.

Director Nick Lyon wrote on Instagram: " Rest In Peace my friend @christianoliverofficial."
Photo Courtesy: X page vidieo grab

At least four people died after an intercity train caught fire in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on Friday.

Police suspect it was a planned attack.

The Benapole Express was travelling from Jessore, the western city located close to India, to Dhaka.

According to reports, Benapole Express caught fire at 9.05 pm in Gopibagh area of the city.

The identities of the deceased persons are not known so far.

Seven firefighting units brought the blaze under control at 10:20pm, Rakibul Hasan, duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence told Dhaka Tribune.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) Mahid Uddin said the attack on the train was planned.

We cannot say for sure who carried out the arson attack but it is sabotage for sure, he was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune while talking to the journalists in the capitals Gopibagh at around 11:30pm.

A day before, Hasinas one-party election in Bangladesh, a train was on fire in Dhaka killing 5 people. Despite the deployment of millions of Army & other armed forces personnel, how could such arson happen?? pic.twitter.com/TuTnLBDqTc  Sheikh Jaber Hossain Leon (@leon__sheikh) January 6, 2024

Such behaviour towards common people, children and women are inhumane," he said.

He feared people who committed the crime might have disguised themselves as passengers.

According to reports, five compartments of the train were gutted.

The incident happened just a day before Bangladesh votes in the national polls.

Seven-member probe body formed

Bangladesh's Ministry of Railways, meanwhile, formed a seven-member committee to probe the fire.

The committee has been ordered to submit its report within three working days, Siraj-ud-Daula Khan, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Railways, told Somoy TV.



Bangladesh polls

Bangladesh will vote in the national elections on Sunday.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and several other political parties have boycotted it.

The BNP launched a violent street campaign marred by arson attacks and vandalism to oust the government, Somoy TV reported.

The political outfit even called for a 48-hour general strike from Saturday (Jan 6) morning to Monday (Jan 8) to discourage voters from voting.
Photo Courtesy: Ali Wazir X page

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) Chief Manzoor Pashteen was re-arrested on Thursday just days after he was granted post-arrest bail on Tuesday by a court in Pakistan.

According to reports, he was re-arrested soon after he was released from Adiala jail.

The PTM chief was taken into custody by the Jhelum police, who drove him away to an undisclosed location, sources told Dawn News.

Earlier, the capital police, after completing the judicial remand, presented the PTM chief before the senior civil judge, and the court, after hearing the argument, approved the post-arrest bail of Pashteen, the Pakistani newspaper reported.

The PTM chief earlier posted on X: "Despite the passage of 24 hours #ManzoorPashteen was not presented in a court of law. No one can question the unaccountable ruling junta who had established "state of exception". Abductions & enforced disappearances & are hallmarks of Pakistan. #ReleaseManzoorPashteen."
Photo Courtesy: M. Sarjov X page

Family members of Taj Muhammad Sarparah, a Baloch businessman who was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani intelligence agencies in Karachi, are currently on a five-day sit-in demonstration in front of the British Prime Ministers residence at 10 Downing Street in London, media reports said.

The protest is aimed at drawing attention to the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, reported ANI quoting The Balochistan Post.

Taj Muhammad Sarparahs wife, children, relatives, and Baloch political activists based in the UK will continue their protest till January 7.

Ibra Taj, Daughter of forcibly abducted Taj Muhammad Sarparah is urging the @10DowningStreet and @UN to help the families of Baloch missing persons in search of their loved ones.



It is to be noted that the family of Taj Muhammad Sarparah have started a sit-in protest outside pic.twitter.com/xK1t7Po1kp  Hakeem Baloch (@HakeemWadhela) January 4, 2024

Salia Marri, the wife of the missing Taj Muhammad Sarparah and niece of Baloch national leader Baba Khair Bakhsh Marri, was quoted as saying by ANI that she has been actively working against the illegal detention and forced disappearance of her husband in Pakistan for the past four years.

She expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of help from Pakistani authorities and the failure to present her husband before the court.

She said did not get help from Pakistani authorities.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

The Canadian government has issued a travel advisory to Pakistan for its citizens due to the 'unpredictable' security situation in the South Asian country.

"Exercise a high degree of caution in Pakistan due to the unpredictable security situation," read the advisory issued by the Canadian government.

"There is a threat of terrorism, civil unrest, sectarian violence and kidnapping," the advisory said.

"Avoid non-essential travel to the city of Karachi, due to violence and the risk of terrorism," the advisory said.

The Canadian government said there is a threat of terrorism in Pakistan.

"The security situation is fragile and unpredictable. Several terrorist groups are present and operate across the country," the advisory said.

"In the formerly Federal Administered Tribal Area (FATA) and in the province of Balochistan, attacks are frequent and are often directed at security and military forces," it said.

Pakistan is witnessing an uptick in terrorist attacks in recent months.

In the advisory, the Canadian government also instructed its citizens to avoid travel to areas within 50 kilometres of the Afghanistan border and within 10kms of the borders of China, India and Iran.
Photo Courtesy: Screengrab of viral video from X page

A passenger airline made an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon on Friday (January 5, 2023) after a section of its fuselage blew open mid-air.

The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 returned to Portland 35 minutes into its flight to California after an outer section, including a window, fell, reported BBC.

The airline major said the aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members.

"We are investigating what happened and will share more as it becomes available," Alaska Airlines posted on X.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said: "Following tonights event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft."

Ben Minicucci said each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections.

"We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days," he said.

He said: "We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available. The NTSB is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation."

He praised the crew for handling the situation.

According to reports, the flight reached a maximum altitude of 16,325 feet before it was diverted safely to the airport.
After spending almost a week at an undisclosed beach location, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor along with their daughter Raha have landed back in Mumbai. As the family was spotted at the airport, fans got another glimpse of the tiny tot. Her adorable smile is making fans' hearts melt into a puddle of mush.

Ranbir holds Raha Kapoor in his arms as they return from vacation

Once again, fans are wondering who she looks like - Kareena, Karisma, Alia, Ranbir, or Rishi Kapoor.

"She looks like Alia," a user said. Another user disagreed and said, "She looks like Rishi kapoor". A third user said, "Looks like Kareena," while a fourth one added, "Kareena was right, she is looking like her father."

"Omg she is so beautiful like a doll," said another Instagram user. "Damn man is anyone can tell that he is Indian, he looks like it someone from Hollywood," commented another fan.

Raha made her debut with the paparazzi on December 25, 2023.



As the couple arrived for Christmas lunch, they showed the first glimpse of their daughter to the world.

Twitter

In an interview with Pinkvilla last year, Ranbir said that his favourite moment of Raha was the 'first time she smiled'.

Furthermore, he added. "Now I kiss my daughter a lot before I sleep. But usually what I do is, I use my nasal drops before I sleep."

Months ago, Ranbir had revealed that he loves showing off her daughter his daughter to everyone. He said this in a new interaction with fans over Zoom. He also joked Alia might 'kill him' if he showed Raha's pictures over the call. "I will show you at the end of this chat. I will show you a picture of hers. But you have to keep it a secret because my wife will kill me otherwise," he said.

Twitter

In another interaction with Spotify India, Ranbir Kapoor revealed his daughter loves listening to music. "Now since Im a new father, my daughter is one now, she has understood that something happens on the phone that I have to kind of use my fingers and Spotify pops up and all her favorite tracks need to be played. It is actually the Cocomelon playlist."

For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
The Indian Navy's warship INS Chennai on Friday rescued the crew of a merchant vessel after its attempted hijack in the Arabian Sea by pirates.

INS Chennai was diverted from her Anti Piracy patrol on Friday after MV Lila Norfolk sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations portal saying five to six unknown armed personnel had boarded it on January 4.

REUTERS

How Indian Navy reacted

Moving quickly, the Indian Navy warship intercepted the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, which had been hijacked about 460 nautical miles off Somalia.

The vessel was continuously monitored using maritime patrol aircraft P8I and Predator MQ9B drones.

"The aircraft overflew the vessel early Friday morning and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew," it said "The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring the safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries," the Navy said.

AP

Pirates abandoned plan after Navy's warning

All the crew members had been hiding in a safe room on the vessel since last evening when the pirates boarded the cargo ship.

The navy said all 21 crew on board, including 15 Indians, had been evacuated.

Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said frontline warship INS Chennai intercepted the cargo vessel at 3:15 pm and that MARCOs commandos "sanitised" it.

"Sanitisation by MARCOs commandos has confirmed the absence of the hijackers. The attempt of hijacking by the pirates was probably abandoned with the forceful warning by Indian Navy's maritime patrol aircraft of interception by naval warship," he said.

BCCL

Rescued ship resumes journey

After sanitising, the vessel, which was chartered by miner Anglo-American, left the Acu port in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday carrying iron ore, the company said in a statement.

"The entire crew is safe, and the ship is on its way to its destination, scheduled to arrive on Jan. 12," it said, without detailing the volume of iron ore the ship was carrying.

The vessel was destined for Khalifa bin Salman in Bahrain, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey.

Marine Traffic

India to step up vigil in Arabian Sea

Following the incident, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar issued directives to the Indian warships operating in the Arabian Sea to take the strictest possible action against the pirates.

Earlier, the Navy had deployed three warships in the Arabian Sea to deter attacks on merchant ships in the region.

On December 23, Liberian-flagged vessel MV Chem Pluto, with 21 Indian crew members, was the target of a drone attack off India's west coast.

Indian Coast Guard

Besides MV Chem Pluto, another commercial oil tanker that was on the way to India came under a suspected drone strike in the Southern Red Sea on the same day. The vessel had a team of 25 Indian crew.

In another incident, Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen was hijacked on December 14 by pirates.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Advocate Ajay Shrivastava, a Delhi-based lawyer who became the successful bidder for two of the four ancestral properties belonging to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, said he will establish a school there.

In the auction held on Friday, the two properties in Mumbake village in Khed tehsil of Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district were sold for over Rs 2 crore.

BCCL

Shrivastava bid for two properties

The first piece of land bearing survey no. 617 (Hissa No. 13-B), measuring 170.98 square meters, received the highest bid of Rs 2.01 crore, while another piece of land, bearing survey no. 842 (Hissa no. 13-B) and, measuring 1730 square meters, fetched the highest bid of Rs 3.28 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 1,56,270.

Advocate Shrivastava was the successful bidder for both of them, while two more properties that were put up for auction remained unsold.

ANI

Why did he purchase the properties?

While the successful bidder's name was not officially revealed, Shrivastava has acknowledged that he has purchased the two properties.

The lawyer said that he plans to establish a school there in the future.

Shrivastava further revealed that he has already established a 'Sanatan Dharma pathshala' at another luxury property of Dawood, which he purchased in another auction in 2020.

First bid in 2001

He had also bid for a string of shops linked to the underworld don in 2001, which are still caught in a legal tender.

"In 2001, the auction was conducted by the Income Tax Department, but the problem with the department was that they did not offer the possession of the property, and I am still fighting for that in the court. The case is pending in high court. In 2020, I took Ibrahim's bungalow situated in Ratnagiri in the auction, and there I founded Sanatan Pathshala in the line of madrassas. Under the trust, I have built an educational institute there, and its construction will start soon," Srivastava said.

BCCL

The properties linked to one of India's most wanted terrorists were seized under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act.

Dawood, the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, is believed to be living in Pakistan.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Commentary: Working together to steer China-U.S. relations forward

Xinhua) 10:38, January 06, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The year 2024 marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. It is time for both sides to take stock and use the experience gained to further the steady development of the most important bilateral relationship.

Over the past 45 years, the China-U.S. relationship has gone through ups and downs and moved forward on the whole. History has already proven and will continue to prove that mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are the right way for China and the United States to get along.

The most fundamental reason why China and the United States were able to break the ice and establish diplomatic relations is that both sides adhered to the principle of mutual respect and seeking common ground while shelving differences.

Today, the two countries still differ in many aspects, but it does not hinder both sides from seeking common ground while respecting differences to develop bilateral relations. There is no necessity or possibility for both sides to change each other. Instead, they should respect each other's social system and development path, core interests and major concerns, and the right to development.

History has proven time and again that cooperation benefits both China and the United States, while confrontation hurts both. Bilateral trade surged from less than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 1979 to close to 760 billion dollars in 2022; two-way investment increased from almost zero to over 260 billion dollars; and 284 pairs of sister provinces, states and cities were set up. The two countries have also carried out cooperation on various international and regional hotspots and global issues.

Allowing competition or zero-sum game to define bilateral relations will only lead to high tension and ultimately damage the interests of the two countries and the world as a whole. China and the United States have had differences in the past and present, and there will continue to be differences in the future. The key is to manage them in a constructive way.

At the summit meeting in San Francisco, President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden reached over 20 deliverables in such areas as political affairs and foreign policy, trade and finance, people-to-people exchange, global governance, and military and security. They fostered a future-oriented San Francisco vision, which points the way forward for bilateral relations.

China and the United States, as the largest developing country and developed country respectively, should draw wisdom and strength from history and implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state to promote the stable, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)
Iqbal Ansari, a litigant in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, has been invited to the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

The invitation was hand-delivered to him at his house in Kotia Panjitola near the Ram Path.

The invitation cover bears his name in Hindi -- "Shri Iqbal Ansari Ji, Ayodhya (Awadh Prant)". It was delivered to him by a representative of the temple trust.

ANI

Who is Iqbal Ansari?

He is the son of Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the dispute, who died at the age of 95 in 2016, after which Iqbal started pursuing the case in court.

Ansari was also the first to receive the invitation card for the 'Bhoomi Pujan' of Ram temple in Ayodhya in 2020. He was also seen welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited Ayodhya on December 30.

#WATCH | Ayodhya, UP: Iqbal Ansari, former litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, showered flowers on the convoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/DsNv8MrJWw  ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2023

What Iqbal Ansari said

Ansari confirmed that he will attend the pran pratishtha on January 22.

"Because, we have been visiting 'Math-Mandir' earlier also, and today also we visit... I was invited to the 'bhoomipujan' ceremony too, and now 'pran pratishtha' is going to take place, and I have been invited to that (function) as well. I will go to the event," he said.

Ansari, who is in his late 50s, said that there is brotherhood and unity among the Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya, and there is no unease among various communities.

BCCL/ FILE

"I am happy that the idol of Lord Ram is going to be installed... Ayodhya is the land of Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian harmony, and it will always remain intact," Ansari told ANI.

"The Supreme Court gave a verdict, and Muslims across the country respected it. There was no protest or demonstration anywhere. There were no protests or demonstrations anywhere in the country. Today, there is no rift between Hindus and Muslims," he added.

BCCL

More than 6000 invited for consecration

Invitation cards for the grand consecration ceremony of 'Ram Lalla' on January 22 have been sent to invitees nationwide. These invitation cards have been sent out by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to more than 6,000 people.

More than a lakh devotees are expected to descend on the temple town on the occasion of 'pran pratishtha' on January 22.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has reportedly negotiated with several publishers to license their content to train its AI.

According to Bloomberg News, OpenAI is talking to dozens of publishers about striking deals to license their articles, and they are progressing well.

REUTERS

Why OpenAI wants deals with publishers

The multi-year licensing deals will allow OpenAI to tap into the vast content library of the likes of Politico, The Associated Press, The New York Times and more to train its AI models.

Ever since it exploded into the scene, ChatGPT and its parent company, OpenAI, have been accused of misusing the works of others to train its AI model and violating the intellectual property rights of the creators.

REUTERS

Flurry of lawsuits

On Friday, two nonfiction authors had filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its largest stakeholder, Microsoft, accusing them of misusing their work to train the artificial intelligence models.

In a proposed class action, Writers Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage told the court that the companies infringed their copyrights by including several of their books as part of the data used to train OpenAI's GPT large language model.

REUTERS

NYT vs OpenAI and Microsoft

Earlier, several other fiction and nonfiction writers, including comedian Sarah Silverman and "Game of Thrones" author George RR Martin, had sued tech companies for using their work to train AI programs.

Last week, NYT had sued OpenAI and Microsoft for using its journalists' work to train AI applications.

The Bloomberg report noted that if NTY wins the lawsuit, it will pose an existential threat to OpenAI as the company may be forced to pay billions in compensation and also destroy any of its training data that includes work from the newspaper.

REUTERS

According to The New York Times, "If Microsoft and OpenAI want to use our work for commercial purposes, the law requires that they first obtain our permission. They have not done so."

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
For a considerable amount of time, optical illusions have captured the attention of online users, resulting in viral trends that test our perception and mental faculties.

The newest trend making headlines on social media is an optical illusion that asks viewers to identify three hidden bananas among a sea of minions.

Global internet users have been drawn to this perplexing riddle, which has increased shares, comments, and attempts to decipher the visual code.

It's Easy To See The Minions, But It's Hard To Spot Three Bananas In This Optical Illusion

Credit: Dudolf

More than 168,000 people follow Gergely Dudas, sometimes known as Dudolf, on Facebook, where he posts peculiar seek-and-find riddles.

He shared his most recent mind-bender on social media and his well-read blog.

In less than 46 seconds, only the most perceptive people have been able to identify all three bananas.

Before time runs out, how many can you find?

The cartoonist from Hungary said that after seeing the most recent Minions film, he was inspired to create the brain teaser.

"It took me around three or four days to complete this puzzle, which was also perhaps the longest time I've spent sketching one! Posted by Dudolf on Facebook.

However, I'm incredibly pleased with the outcome, and I think you will be too.

via GIPHY

More than 2,600 people liked the post and acknowledged in the comments that they had trouble finishing the challenge.

Here Is The Answer!

The amusing emotions on the minions' faces and the strange objects they are clutching will easily divert your attention.

Try looking more closely around the heads of the minions for anything that can be mistaken for ears if you're having trouble solving the challenge.

After you believe you have located all three bananas, proceed to the bottom of the page to compare your estimates with the accurate responses.

There are three bananas in the picture: one on the right, one in the upper middle, and one on the bottom left.

Credit: Dudolf

What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.



For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
A Chieftain of the Labour Party, Faduri Joseph, on Friday, demanded the Presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, to account for the campaign funds received during the 2023 elections.

INFORMATION NIGRIA learnt that the party had launched an official website to promote Obiss campaign and solicit funds ahead of the poll.

It was gathered that Nigerians in the diaspora moved to raise $150m from Obis supporters in the diaspora, and N100bn from those in Nigeria.

However, Joseph, a former presidential aspirant of Labour Party, in an open letter to the leadership of the party on the 2023 election, via his media Director, Rev. Emmanuel Olorunmagba, in Kaduna on Friday, said that Obi rendering account of the campaign funds was a sign of good leadership.

READ MORE: Were All Prisoners In Poorly Governed Nigeria  Peter Obi

He said: Since many Nigerians all around the world supported the Labour Party and its presidential candidate financially, by now one would have expected the party and most importantly the presidential candidate in the person of Peter Obi to release the report of the support the party got from many Nigerians both home and abroad. How much we received and spent, and what we have left; if any, to plan for the next election.

It is imperative to sit down and look through the lenses of 2023 and see what we did wrong. Where we lack strength and how to work on these lapses for future elections because if we dont look and examine inwardly, how we got it wrong in the 2023 election, then we will repeat the same mistakes in future elections and get the same result.

Our candidate cannot claim to be an alternative to corruption but refused to come out clean to Nigerians and the party of how much kindhearted Nigerians donated, both home and abroad to support the movement and the new Nigeria agenda for the world to trust and believe us next time.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has disclosed that youths in Borno State have resorted to drinking fermented human urine, preserved over 10 days, and other detrimental human excrements as an alternative to hard drugs.

The State Commander of the NDLEA (Narcotics), Iliyasu Mani, made the revelation in a Friday statement in Maiduguri.

According to him, abuse of psychoactive substances is prevalent among the youths, adding that they also take other unusual substances such as lizard dung, camel urine, Lipton soaked in gin, and mentholated spirits mixed with soft drinks.

Mani furthered that the youths also inhale toilet fumes and gutter dirt in their quest to get intoxicated.

His words: Let me state categorically here that these new psychoactive substances that are commonly abused today include Cannabis Sativa, skunk, cough syrup with codeine, Ice, Tramadol, Rohypnol, Diazepam, Pentazocine, rubber solution, glue, gutter dirt, toilet fumes, lizard dung.

READ ALSO: Police Nab Eight Suspects In Connection With Plateau Killings

Others include Lipton soaked in gin, camel urine, Mentholated spirit in soft drinks, 10-day-old human urine, and so on.

He said the Command, under his watch, had fought a hard battle against drug abuse but unfortunately, the issue of substance abuse is even getting challenging, especially with the involvement of young teens in the abuse of new psychoactive substances, especially women.

Despite all these, we must not lose our hope as the agency has strengthened its efforts towards prevention strategy through the establishment of remodeled counselling/rehab centre within the premises of Borno State Command, the NDLEA commander added.

He said the Command, under his watch, had seized 4.5 tonnes of illicit substances and arrested 863 suspects.

Of those arrested, he said 53 had been convicted while 736 were undergoing counselling.
Following a temporary suspension of payments, federal civil servants have started confirming the receipt of their October 2023 wage awards.

Recall that the payment of N35,000 wage award was an agreement reached between the Federal Government and the Organized Labour as part of the moves to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal on fuel.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had declared during his Independence Day speech that low-grade workers in the Federal Civil Service would be awarded a wage of N25,000.

The amount was then increased to N35,000 following discussions with the labour unions.

The government, in a memo signed by the Chairman, National Salaries Wages and Income Commission, Ekpo Nta, stated that the payment of the wage award would begin to take effect from September 1, 2023.

READ ALSO: Subsidy Removal: Gov. Uzodinma Raises Minimum Wage To N40,000 For Imo Workers

Information Nigeria understands that the government only paid the wage award for September  which was confirmed by workers in Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

However, a senior civil servant told Punch, that some civil servants had started receiving the wage award for October 2023.

In my agency, we received the arrears for October 2023 and nothing else was paid again. The wage award for November and December was not paid; it (the one paid) is only for October 2023. Remember they owed us the sum of N10,000, he said.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General, Bawa Mokwa, however said all civil servants would receive their wage awards as soon as possible.




Former Governor Jolly Nyame of Taraba State has said his four-year experience at the Kuje medium correction facility moulded him into a better leader.

Nyame who was the Governor from 1999 to 2007, spoke at a thanksgiving service that took place at the secretariat of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Jalingo, the state capital, on Friday.

According to him, if given another opportunity, he would be a better leader to the people of Taraba.

I learned a lot while in Kuje Prison and the hospital. If given another opportunity to lead the people of Taraba State, I will do better because of the experience I have gained, he said.

In April 2022, at a council of state meeting, former President Muhammadu Buhari pardoned 159 inmates, including Nyame, who was jailed for fraud in 2018.

READ ALSO: No Room For Celebrations Until We End Insecurity  Tinubu Tells Service Chiefs

The decision was criticised by Nigerians who viewed it as a setback to the nations fight against corruption.

A few months later, Nyame was released from the correctional facility in Kuje area council area of the federal capital territory (FCT).

At the time, he was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for diverting public funds to the tune of N1.64 billion.

He was pardoned by the former president on the grounds of age and ill health.

Prior to the pardon, his sentence had been reduced to 12 years in 2020, following a ruling by the Supreme Court which affirmed the judgment of the court of appeal on the matter.
Bode George, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has once again decried the state of the nation, with all that has bedeviled it.

The founding father of the PDP particularly who lamented the deepening security crisis in the country, warned against politicising the situation of the country and the plight of the citizenry.

According to him, Nigeria is on the verge of collapse, adding that there is widespread anger and hunger in the land.

George posited that Nigerians were ready to give Tinubu time as he had a lot of work to do.

Speaking on Channels Televisions Politics Today on Friday, he said, The state of our nation has been completely in a shambolic situation, it is perpetual despair and despondency. There is hunger in the land and there is anger in the land; the insecurity has gone beyond control.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Lauds Funke Akindeles Box Office Feat, Contribution To Creative Industry

So, when you look at all those things; we are all Nigerians and I listened to his (Tinubu) New Year speech and I also listened to what Chief Osoba said, this is not the time to play politics, it is our nation. He (Tinubu) has a hell of a job to do and I have listened to him. He has these eight objectives for the year, national defence, internal security, and job creation; the man who left who was my oga did a woeful job, he did not do well at all; they belong to the same party.

So, we all Nigerians will give him a chance, let us see how he is going to handle it. Bola Tinubu, God will guide him  he is in the hottest seat in the whole of Africa today because for every 10 Africans 6 are Nigerians, brilliant people. So nobody can pull any wool over our eyes, I pray for him, I pray for our country
Yihui Xie, well-known in the R community as the creator of R packages such as R Markdown, knitr , blogdown , and bookdown , has been laid off from Posit, where he worked as a full-time software developer. Xie announced the layoff, which happened at the end of December, in a blog post this week. He said he would continue working as a part-time contractor for Posit to maintain some of his packages.

"I was quite surprised but only for a short moment," he wrote. "I fully respected Posit's decision and quickly accepted the conclusion that my contribution no longer deserved a full-time job here."

Some R users reacted with shock. "Absolutely devastating news. I would not have accomplished what I have accomplished in the last decade without Yihui's work on knitr , research software engineer Zhian N. Kamvar posted on Mastodon. If you've ever encountered a website, report, or book built with RStats in recent memory, you have Yihui to thank. Until he gets a new position, he's looking for sponsorship" on GitHub.

As of this afternoon, Xie had more than 150 GitHub sponsors. (Disclosure: This list includes me; I used his bookdown package when writing my book Practical R for Mass Communication and Journalism.)

Xie's departure after 10 years at Posit is another signal that the company, formerly RStudio, is focusing on products that offer interoperability between R and Python. An example of the company's recent shift is the Quarto open source technical publishing platform, announced in 2022, which is language-agnostic and equally supports both R and Python, as well as Julia and Observable JavaScript.

The company said at the time that Quarto was the next generation of R Markdown, although R Markdown would not go away. However, users were told to expect that cool new features would be targeted at Quarto.

The month before Xie was let go, Python pandas creator Wes McKinney joined Posit, also a signal that the company was serious about broadening its focus beyond R. McKinney said at the time that he would "advocate for the needs of the PyData ecosystem in Posits work as well as continue advancing critical open-source initiatives."

Xie's packages like R Markdown and knitr were a key attraction for many R users, easing the task of presenting the results of data analysis in engaging ways. His work also aimed to "make R and reproducible research more accessible", Xie said. His xaringan R Markdown extension, for example, was an R implementation of the remark.js JavaScript library, allowing for interactive slide presentations of R-based analysis.

Xie said Posit has "generously provided funding for me to continue, as a contractor, to support and extend knitr , rmarkdown , and various packages in this ecosystem. I look forward to continuing my collaboration with the Posit team on our shared areas of interest." The DT package is not among the packages being maintained, however. Xie said that Posit plans to find a new maintainer for that one.

"The end of a relationship often does not imply anything wrong or a failure of either party," Xie wrote. "Instead, it can simply indicate a mismatch, which is normal."
A bartender shows wristbands, a photo backdrop, and other items mailed to Misconduct Tavern in Philadelphia, Pa., by Chris Despres. Bar owners and consumers say Despres sold tickets for a bar crawl, never showed up, and has not provided refunds to ticket holders. Read more

Some New Years Eve revelers who signed up for a Center City bar crawl that didnt happen were still waiting to get their money back on Friday.

Eventbrite, an online platform for event listings, told at least one woman that she would be receiving a refund for the $60 she spent on a ticket, while other customers were encouraged to contact the organizer, whom they say they have been unable to reach.

The Philadelphia NYE Bar Crawl was billed as the citys #1 New Years Eve bar crawl the last eight years on its event page, and advertised no cover charges at at least six bars, drink vouchers, and other perks. But owners and managers of four bars listed as stops on the crawl told The Inquirer this week that they never agreed to participate, or only did so with parameters by which organizer Chris Despres, of Massachusetts, did not abide.

Philadelphia is at least the fourth city where there have been reports of issues with events run by NYE Bar Crawls and Despres. Last New Years, ticket holders in Raleigh, N.C., lost as much as $70 each when organizers became unreachable the day of the crawl, and bar owners in Birmingham, Ala., said they had never spoken with event organizers. This years St. Louis crawl was canceled after its legitimacy was questioned by a longtime bar owner.

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Meanwhile in Philadelphia, more details have emerged this week after The Inquirers initial report about the crawl.

Misconduct Taverns managing partner Nicholas Mezzina said his Locust Street pub was listed as the crawls check-in location, despite managers and public relations staff repeatedly telling Despres they did not want to be the place where participants signed in.

Last month, a package arrived at the bar from Despres, with a return address of Methuen, Mass. It contained wristbands, a large photo backdrop, and other party decor, Mezzina said, and Despres sent a text to Mezzinas PR person asking for $700 to cover the cost of the materials. In text messages and phone calls, Despres vacillated between saying he was sending people to Misconduct to work at the check-in table, standard practice for third-party bar crawls, and asking if Misconduct had employees who could run it, according to Mezzina and screenshots of text messages reviewed by The Inquirer.

When no one from the crawl showed up on New Years Eve, and would-be participants were told their tickets couldnt get them anything, all the managers, we were all like, we feel so bad. This is awful, Mezzina said. This guy is just robbing people.

Struggling to get refunds

In the days before New Years, Regan Young, a 24-year-old teacher from Manayunk, had decided to attend the crawl with some friends, a celebration before a friend deployed to the Middle East.

When they arrived at Misconduct and learned the event wasnt happening, we were kind of bummed out, she said.

But we made it work, she added. We just had to spend a little more than we would have liked to  about $75 to $100 per person at other nearby bars.

Young was relived on Thursday to receive an email from Eventbrite, saying the refund she requested was approved. The money should be back in her bank account in seven business days, according to the email.

Meanwhile, Madeleine Coutts, 23, of Fairmount, received two emails from Eventbrite Thursday. One, in response to her reporting the event, read in part: After careful review, we have taken the next steps deemed necessary per our Terms of Service. The event listing has been unpublished and is no longer available on our system.

Another email, in response to her refund request, instructed her to contact the organizer directly. Coutts said she and her friends have tried contacting Despres via phone and email, and have received no response. They believe he blocked their numbers.

On Tuesday, The Inquirer briefly spoke to Despres, who said he was affiliated with the crawl and trying to figure out exactly what went down. Since then, he has not returned additional calls, texts, and emails seeking further comment, including whether he will refund customers.

Eventbrite said in a statement Friday that it encourages customers to report any events with which they are concerned.

In a situation where an event is canceled and consumers are unable to receive a refund directly from the organizer, ticket holders can submit a refund request directly to Eventbrite for review at eventbrite.com/attendee-refund-request.

At least one bar-crawl ticket holder, 22-year-old Gia Mee, said her group received a refund after reporting the charge as fraudulent to their credit card company.

It was unclear Friday whether the latest incident involving NYE Bar Crawls would result in any additional repercussions: A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office said it had not received any complaints about the Philadelphia event. The Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office did not return requests for comment.

Bars deal with fallout

On an already-chaotic night, the New Years Eve bar crawl issue presented yet another challenge for bar and restaurant employees. Some owners and managers said their businesses are still reeling from the bad PR that accompanied their unapproved association with the event.

Any time your name is attached to something and something bad happens, it reflects poorly, said Joe Crouse, owner of Drinkers Pub, which was among those listed as a stop on the crawl despite Crouses requests not to be involved.

Harry Jamison, general manager of a.kitchen + bar, said he hated having to turn away guests who had seen a.bar on the Eventbrite page and were understandably upset that it wasnt participating.

But Jamison said he would never have signed off on such an event. His small space isnt conducive to crowds, he said, as staff require every patron to have a seat.

I can assure that we have never agreed to be part of any bar crawl at a.bar, at least in the three years that Ive been in my position, Jamison said in a statement. To the best of my memory, Ive never spoken with any organizers about any bar crawls.

Mezzina, of Misconduct, said hed advise customers to be wary of bar crawls that arent based in the city where the event is occurring. If a group doesnt need to bar hop, bar owners and managers said, the safest bet is to buy tickets for events being held by a bar or restaurant, not a third party.
Phase two of renovations at the Philadelphia Film Center includes updating the street-level entrance of the theater. Read more

The Philadelphia Film Society (PFS) is looking to raise funds toward a $1.2 million renovation project at the Philadelphia Film Center, which could begin as soon as this summer.

Its something weve wanted to do for a long time, said CEO and executive director Andrew Greenblatt.

The PFS has already completed the first phase of the renovation at the Film Center, at 1412 Chestnut St., which included installation of a new projector and converting the Black Box Theater into a multifunctional screening room. The renovation, which started in 2019 and concluded in 2020, also added a lobby bar, and upgraded the HVAC system in the main level.

The next phase of the project is expected to cost $1.2 million, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program is matching $500,000 in contributions towards the renovation.

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God willing, we will start this year, said Greenblatt. It is about making sure that we have that match, obviously  that is the only way we can start this year, he said.

The renovation includes updating the street-level entrance of the theater, adding digital film posters outdoors to communicate programming, and improvements to accessibility such as upgrading ADA-compliant doors and adding a new lift. The upgrades will also include relocating the box-office space away from the lobby, an expanded concession area, and improvements to the lobby bar area.

Work is expected to take around three months and could take place between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as the Film Center has historically had a lower attendance during the summer, says Greenblatt.

Although he didnt share exactly how much has already been raised toward the project beyond the matching grant, its not a lot, he says. Were on the way but weve got much [farther] to go.

While the number of members is higher than its ever been, donations, particularly corporate ones, are down from where they have been historically for the organization  a trend across the arts nonprofit sector, says Greenblatt.

Last year, the Film Center, along with the two other PFS theaters, PFS Bourse Theater and PFS East Theater, had almost 144,000 attendees combined, up from almost 78,000 the prior year, according to Greenblatt. Ticketing revenue is not 100% where we want it to be, but were pretty happy with it, he said.

The PFS took over the Ritz at the Bourse in 2021, a year after it shuttered. The film society has since installed new projectors and sound systems. The theaters carpeting, concessions area, and escalators were also updated.

In 2022, PFS took over the Ritz East which had closed during the pandemic, adding new fixtures to the theater and updating the restrooms.

The PFS is also looking to renovate those theaters, which could cost $250,000 each, and could include new seating and updated projectors at PFS East Theater and upgrades to the escalators and lighting at PFS Bourse Theater.

But Greenblatt says the focus right now is on the Film Center.

People have shown time and time and time again they want to be in theaters, they want that experience. Theres nothing like it, said Greenblatt. Comedy is never as funny as when people around you are laughing with you.  And most importantly, you cant push pause.
Eagles' Jalen Hurts takes the field with the offense against the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 31. Read more

The Eagles regular season is almost over. After a 10-1 start, the Birds collapsed, going just 1-4 over in their last five games and losing control of the NFC East with a New Years Eve loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Theres still a chance for the Eagles to capture the top seed in the NFC East with a win on Sunday against the New York Giants  but it requires the 4-12 Commanders to beat the Cowboys. Both games kick off at 4:25 p.m., so the Birds wont know ahead of time whether theyre still in it or not.

If the Eagles choose to rest their starters for the playoffs, that could dramatically change their odds of beating the Giants, the only team theyve beaten in their last five games. The Birds are currently 5.5-point favorites on FanDuel.

Will the Eagles head into the playoffs on a high note? Heres what the experts from the local and national media are saying ...

Inquirer beat writer predictions

All of our beat writers are picking the Birds against the Giants on Sunday. Heres some of Jeff McLanes prediction...

Its tough to predict a game in which one team may not end up playing at full strength, but Ill hold my nose and pick the Birds. A win here may not matter in terms of their seeding, but it could in terms of their dwindling chances in the postseason. Prediction: Eagles 31, Giants 24 Jeff McLane

For the rest of Jeffs prediction and to hear what our other beat writers are expecting on Sunday, check out our full predictions here.

National media predictions

Heres what those around the country think about the Eagles chances at delivering a win on Sunday ...

ESPN.com: Dan Graziano is backing the Birds this week against the Giants. NFL.com: All five experts are picking the Eagles to win. CBS Sports: All eight experts are picking the Birds to win on Sunday, but just two think theyll cover the spread. Sports Illustrated: Its all Eagles so far. Each of the seven writers on the MMQB crew is backing the Birds. The Ringer: Sheil Kapadia picks against the spread, and hes picking the Giants to cover, especially since the Eagles might yank their starters if the Cowboys go up big. Yahoo! Sports: Frank Schwab picks against the spread  and he does not trust the Eagles. The Athletic: No ones picked the Giants to win outright yet, and that doesnt change at The Athletic. All 12 writers are picking the Birds to win. USA Today: Five more predictions, five more picking an Eagles win. Pro Football Talk: Both Mike Florio and Chris Simms are picking the Eagles to win and stabilize their game before the playoffs. Bleacher Report: Two panelists picked the Giants to cover the spread but the panel consensus is an Eagles win. Sporting News: Bill Bender is predicting a get-right game for the Birds against the Giants in a win.

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 READ MORE: Haason Reddick is seeing more coverage snaps under Matt Patricia: Im willing to do it to win

Local media predictions

Bergen Record: We have the first two experts picking the Giants straight up! Five of the seven writers at the Record are picking the Birds to win this week. NJ.com: All five writers are picking the Eagles to win this week.

The Eagles will visit the New York Giants in the regular-season finale on Sunday. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
The 122-year-old pipe organ at Glen Foerd mansion will play again this weekend. Originally installed in the home by former owner Robert Foerderer in 1902, the organ had been inoperable for the last 25 years.

Now thanks to a $425,000 grant from the Wyncote Foundation and a yearlong restoration, the old organ is back in action  with some upgrades, too. On Saturday, local organist Mark Loria will play a free concert to celebrate the organs rebirth.

For years, Glen Foerd executive director Ross Mitchell had dreamed of repairing the organ, which sits in the stairwell of the Gilded Age mansion. But other housekeeping repairs like the roof and furnace came first. Mitchell frequently told the instruments story to visitors: Foerderer had the organ, built by Philadelphias C.S. Haskell company, installed for his wife, Caroline, but he died before hearing her play it.

Knowing that philanthropist Frederick R. Haas was an organ enthusiast, Mitchell reached out to see if he might be able to assist with bringing Glen Foerds broken-but-historic instrument back to life.

Haas said yes, and through his foundation gifted Glen Foerd the funds for the extensive restoration. He connected Mitchell with organ repairman Charles Kegg, whose team of organ builders dismantled the instrument and brought it to Ohio in early 2023.

The whole mansion, every floor was covered with pipe organ parts for like a week, said Mitchell.

The instrument was reinstalled last month, featuring a new digital interface that can make the organ play itself. Loria, the principal organist for the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, will perform works by Bach, Florence Price, Nico Muhly, Buxtehude, and others for the grand opening concert.

The music can be heard throughout the mansion so guests will be invited to walk around while they listen. Mitchell also plans to host monthly organ recitals, including a Valentines Day themed concert in February.

The Pipe Organ Grand Opening & Recital featuring Mark Loria will be on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. at Glen Foerd, 5001 Grant Ave., Phila., 215-632-5330 or glenfoerd.org.
The health department confirmed on Friday the sixth measles case in Philadelphia since mid-December. Read more

A measles outbreak in Philadelphia has expanded to six confirmed and three suspected cases, city health officials said Friday.

This includes two confirmed cases in children who were exposed at a day-care center in Northeast Philadelphia, according to the Department of Public Health, which says they were infected after a city resident diagnosed with measles violated quarantine rules. The three suspected cases are also children from the daycare.

People who are vaccinated are not at risk from exposure.

The measles outbreak began last month when an infant was hospitalized at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. It took two days before the infant developed the rash characteristic to measles, and by that time other patients were infected. They included an infant who was too young to get vaccinated, an unvaccinated older child, and the older childs unvaccinated parent.

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 READ MORE: Health department warns of measles cluster among unvaccinated residents that originated with CHOP patient

The person who broke quarantine rules exposed people in multiple locations, including at a Center City building with Jefferson Health offices and the Multicultural Education Station Day Care at 6919 Castor Ave in late December.

The two cases confirmed Friday were the first infections known to have spread outside of CHOP. Both children were hospitalized to treat the measles, the health department said.

Measles is a highly infectious virus that spreads through breathing in droplets or touching infected surfaces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illness can be especially dangerous for children under 5, pregnant people, and those with weakened immune systems.

Here is what you need to know about measles and this cluster:

What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles symptoms appear up to two weeks after an exposure, according to the CDC. Initially, measles presents like a regular flulike illness: patients may have a high fever, runny nose and red, watery eyes.

After two or three days, small white spots may appear inside the mouth.

Three to five days after the symptoms begin, the rash commonly associated with measles breaks out. The rash usually begins on the face with small red spots that spread to the neck and body.

When do babies get their measles vaccine?

The MMR vaccine provides protection against measles, mumps and rubella.

The CDC recommends that children receive the first dose of the MMR when they are 12-15 months old.

People who are vaccinated are not at risk of exposure. An unvaccinated person exposed to measles should isolate for 21 days.

For additional information about where to get children vaccinated in Philadelphia, visit the health departments website.

Is measles deadly?

A measles infection can lead to respiratory failure, inflammation of the brain, and death.

Of every 1,000 children who are infected with measles, between one and three will die, according to the Department of Health.

Before the measles vaccines was available, 400 to 500 people died of the virus each year in the United States.

Where and when were the exposures?

The department is contacting people potentially exposed to measles on the following occasions:

Jefferson Health building at 33 S. Ninth St. on Dec. 19 between 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Multicultural Education Station Day Care at 6919 Castor Ave on Dec. 20 and 21. CHOP emergency department on Dec 28.

In addition, the department is investigating suspected exposure at:

St. Christophers Hospital for Children emergency department between the night of Dec. 30 and midafternoon Dec. 31. St. Christophers Hospital for Children inpatient unit 5 North between Dec. 31 and Jan 3. Nazareth Hospital emergency department on Dec. 31 and Jan 2.

The health department wants unvaccinated people in any of the locations identified for known or possible exposures, and who are not otherwise immune to measles, to contact their health provider as soon as possible. That includes children under 15 months who typically have not yet had the MMR vaccine.
Hayley Williams of Paramore at the Corona Capital festival in Mexico in 2022. Read more

Update: Since this article was published, Paramore announced two more international tour stop cancelations. But the band also revealed its involvement in a Talking Heads tribute album produced by A24 Films.

For weeks, Paramore fans have expressed concern that the band is breaking up.

Seriously, theyre freaking out a bit.

The rumors that date back to before Christmastime were initially sparked by the band going dark on social media  scrubbing all of its posts and even its website.

But new clues suggest the band is just going through some changes. We explain.

What was Paramore up to this past year?

Paramore has had a big year in 2023. The bands sixth studio album This Is Why was well received, debuting at the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 in February.

The album is up for two Grammys, including Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Rock Album.

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The band went on international tours both as the headlining band and in support of Taylor Swifts massive Eras Tour. On TikTok, videos of the bands frontwoman Hayley Williams pulling fans onto the stage to sing the bridge of Misery Business went viral.

Williams also expanded her haircare brand, Good Dye Young, and celebrated the opening of her own colorful and LGBTQ+-friendly hair salon in Nashville.

How did the Paramore breakup rumors start?

Following their late 2023 tour dates in Melbourne, Australia, the band went on to wipe its social media presence.

On Instagram, all of the groups posts were removed and its profile photo was swapped out for a plain gray avatar.

Perhaps the most jarring to fans, a click on the bands link-in-bio, Paramore.net, leads users to a blank page with a 404 error.

On Thursday, the band also announced it was canceling its upcoming iHeartRadio ALTer EGO performance, citing unforeseen circumstances.

What have fans been saying?

Oh, its full-on doomsday over here. Fans have been freaking out that this is the end for Paramore and that all of the groups future tour dates  including its slated international shows opening for Taylor Swift  are canceled.

The rumors continued to swirl when a line in Rolling Stones UK print edition from December said that indie artist Maisie Peters was snapped up as support for Swifts European Eras tour next year. As noted by Variety, that sentence has been removed from the web version, but has caused fans to speculate if Rolling Stone knew something about Paramore that wasnt yet public.

Neither the band nor Swifts camp has suggested any changes to the Eras Tour lineup.

Still, the freakouts even inspired a satirical article from Hard Times  a parody site similar to The Onion but focused on punk and hardcore music  about the breakup rumors.

What clues suggest Paramore is still together?

First off, we know Swift  the Berks County native  is a machine when it comes to touring.

As it stands, Paramore is slated to open up for Swift at all 48 of her United Kingdom-Europe tour stops. Williams and Swift are old friends through the music industry, coming up in the scene around the same time.

A significant change to the Eras Tours international leg, which is slated to begin in September, such as the only opening group canceling, would surely inspire more headlines.

Regarding the Rolling Stone mention of Peters opening for Swift, Peters tweeted on Friday afternoon that she was not opening for the Eras Tour.

Its also worth noting that Paramore has pulled stunts like this before! The band has previously archived its social media pages  as has Williams  ahead of new album releases and big announcements. In fact, the group did the same just before This Is Why dropped.

But the most concrete piece of evidence we have to date is new intel from Variety citing unnamed sources close to the situation.

What does Variety say is happening to Paramore?

According to Variety, the band going dark on social has to do with becoming a free agent, ending its 20-year deal with Atlantic Records. Its unclear, in that case, who took Paramores site down.

Paramores relationship with Atlantic Records over the years has been murky at best.

Williams was initially recruited and signed as a solo artist, according to some accounts. And in 2020, she debuted a solo album under the label before Paramore picked up from an indefinite hiatus between the groups fifth album After Laughter in 2017 and sixth studio in 2023.

The labels structure caused some strife over the years, according to former band members. In a since-deleted blog post, former bandmate Josh Farro (and brother of current bandmate Zac Farro) said the band didnt understand why Williams was the only one signing a contract back in the bands early days.

Variety also added that Paramore canceling its iHeartRadio festival set next week came down to a simple scheduling conflict. And that the groups future 2024 tour dates were still on.

Has Paramore said anything?

Its been quiet. The most public statement the band has made since scrubbing things on social was its announcement about canceling its iHeartRadio performance.

Notably, Williams has also scrubbed her personal Instagram account.

Bandmates Farro and Taylor Yorks Instagram profiles are still live and populated, but neither has posted recently.

Whens the next public Paramore event that could happen?

The Grammy Awards take place on Feb. 4 and Paramore is up for two awards. Its unclear if the bandmates will be in attendance or not.

From there, the bands next performance is slated for March 23 at Lollapalooza Brasil.
Officials stand outside the burned duplex along the 800 block North 23rd Street in Fairmount in January 2022. Read more

Family members of eight people killed in a devastating fire in Philadelphias Fairmount neighborhood in January 2022 have sued the Philadelphia Housing Authority, alleging that the agency violated the victims constitutional rights by allowing overcrowding in the unit and neglecting for years to fix inoperable smoke detectors.

The complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Friday  two years to the day since the fire killed 12 people, including three sisters and their nine children  and alleges that the PHA knew of the overcrowding and nonfunctional smoke detectors that permitted the early-morning blaze to spread through the four-bedroom unit on North 23rd Street without warning.

The complaint marks the second lawsuit filed by the Kline & Specter firm against the housing authority on behalf of the familys estate. Last year, the firm sued PHA and a California-based lighter company for negligence in Philadelphia municipal court.

Over the past year through the process of investigation and discovery we have uncovered facts giving rise to not only negligence claims, but also civil rights violations which we now will pursue in this additional lawsuit in federal court to obtain full justice for the tragic losses of life in this avoidable tragedy, said Tom Kline, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.

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The fire, one of the citys deadliest in decades, began after a 5-year-old boy playing with a lighter accidentally ignited a Christmas tree on the homes second floor, officials said. Flames and smoke quickly rose to the third floor. Firefighters declared the blaze under control about an hour later, but it already claimed the lives of the 12 people: Rosalee McDonald, 33; Quintien Tate-McDonald, 16; Destiny McDonald, 15; Dekwan Robinson, 8; JKwan Robinson, 5; Taniesha Robinson, 3; Tiffany Robinson, 2; Virginia Thomas, 30; Shaniece Wayne, 10; Natasha Wayne, 8; Janiyah Roberts, 3; and Quinsha White, 18. The 5-year-old boy and a father to four of the children survived, as did five occupants in the duplexs lower unit.

 READ MORE: Remembering those lost in the Fairmount fire

A PHA spokesperson said that the housing authority hadnt received notice of the new filing, but that PHA intends to vigorously litigate this matter in a court of law and not in the press.

The lawsuit alleges that PHA was aware that more than eight people were living in the 1,600-square-foot unit, surpassing federal occupancy standards, but did not move the 14-member family to a larger home, despite their repeated requests.

Following the fire in 2022, PHA president and CEO Kelvin Jeremiah said the housing authority doesnt kick out family members ... who might not have other suitable housing options. He also said the unimaginable loss of life has shaken all of us at PHA.

Vanessa McDonald  whose three daughters and nine grandchildren were killed  moved into the unit in 2011 with five of her children and grandchildren, and over the years, their family grew and continued to live in the apartment. For the decade the growing family lived in the PHA-operated home, the unit consistently received failing scores from federally required inspections, the lawsuit said, and the residents were repeatedly subjected to rodent and bug infestations, severe overcrowding, lack of operable smoke detectors, and overall deplorable and unsafe living conditions.

 READ MORE: PHA knew for years about overcrowding in home of Fairmount fire victims but didnt move them

The lawsuit also alleges that inoperable smoke detectors was a persistent issue in the unit for years. In the weeks leading up to the fatal fire, the lawsuit says, PHA representatives visited the property at least three times, falsely reporting that the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors were functioning.

On Dec. 30, 2021, six days before the fire, two PHA maintenance workers attempted to repair the detectors but couldnt, eventually removing them from the ceilings and walls, the lawsuit alleges. They then falsely marked on a quality-check form that the detectors were working, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also names the citys Department of Human Services, alleging that a social worker from the agency was aware that the homes smoke detectors were not working. According to the lawsuit, two weeks before the fatal fire, the social worker told the family she would return with working smoke detectors, but did not.

DHS did not immediately return a request for comment.

The tragedy drew national attention to the public housing shortage, and in the months following the fire, the U.S. House passed a bill requiring hardwired or tamper-resistant smoke alarms in public housing. Last year, the city unveiled a memorial to the 12 family members killed in the blaze, paying tribute to their memory through photos, toys, stuffed animals and poems.
Kiko Hall, a friend of Sircarr Johnson Jr., stands at the crime scene at 60th and Walnut Streets, just as the sun was about to rise, he is wearing a hat and sweatshirt designed by Johnson, July 5th, 2021. Sircarr Johnson Jr., 23, was killed in a triple shooting at a July 4th cookout he had at his store Sunday night. Salahaldin Mahmoud, 22, was also killed, and a 16-year-old girl was injured by the gunfire. Read more

A 22-year-old Philadelphia man who admitted to taking part in three shootings in one night that left two people dead and five others wounded was sentenced to 22 to 50 years in prison Friday. The killings were part of a bitter yearlong gang war that gripped West Philadelphia with fear.

Common Pleas Court Judge J. Scott OKeefe sentenced Jalen Mickens to 17 to 40 years in prison for his role in fatally shooting Salahaldin Mahmoud, 21, and Sircarr Johnson Jr., 23, at a July 4, 2021, barbecue at Johnsons store on the corner of 60th and Walnut Streets. Johnson was throwing the barbecue as a way to show his appreciation for the community that had supported his clothing business, Premiere Bande. Two others were wounded.

It was the third shooting Mickens participated in that day. Three others were wounded in the first two shootings.

Mickens was additionally sentenced to 5 to 10 years for a charge of conspiracy, to be served consecutive to his sentence for the two third-degree murder charges.

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After Mickens, who was part of one of the gangs, was sentenced, friends and family of Johnson and Mahmoud expressed anger and disappointment that a harsher prison term was not imposed on the man who killed their loved ones. The justice system, Mahmouds mother, Lennora said, had failed them.

The outcome was devastating, she said Friday afternoon. So I have no trust in the justice system.

The deaths of Johnson, who was well known in his community and would often participate in coat drives and other charitable events, and Mahmoud, a family man who held two jobs, shattered the West Philadelphia community, which had been dealing with near-daily gun violence due to an ongoing gang feud in their neighborhood. On that night, more than 100 shots were fired at the partygoers.

For 11 months starting around December 2020, at least 53 people were shot and at least 16 people were killed as a result of the two gangs violent back and forth.

That summer day that left Mahmoud and Johnson dead was part of a gang feud between two West Philadelphia-based groups, 02da4 and 524, who had traded volleys of gunfire after 02da4 blamed the rival gang for the death of one of their own.

The feud originated, prosecutors said, when Frank Tooley Smith, the uncle of 02da4 member Anthony Pistol P Lacey-Woodson, was fatally shot in December 2020. The group blamed 524 for the death.

Lacey-Woodson was with Mickens the night of the July 4 murder, prosecutors said. He has also been charged with multiple counts of murder, conspiracy, and related crimes. His case remains ongoing and will go to trial, prosecutors said.

Prior to the sentencing, Mickens, wearing a red jumpsuit, turned slightly to face his friends and family and the families of the two men he had killed. He apologized.

Im sorry to the families thats here, said Mickens. I cant go back and change everything that happened that day.

But Mickens apology was not accepted nor did it provide comfort to Mahmoud. Facing Mickens, she told him he would always be remembered as a murderer, who took away her son.

Before Mickens was sentenced, Mahmouds mother spoke fondly of her son, who came from a loving Sudanese family, she said. After graduating Strayer University, he worked two jobs as a pharmacy technician and tow truck driver, she said.

We dont feel that justice was served, Lennora Mahmoud said Friday afternoon. We suffered for three years just to get that little sentence.

The victims shot and killed that day in 2021 were not doing anything wrong, said Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Palmer. Johnson and Mahmoud were not members of any gang and were hit by stray bullets intended for someone else, he said.

Mickens lawyer, William Davis, portrayed his client as a young man from a good family who had gotten wrapped up with the wrong people.

Mickens mother, Tara Rhodes, apologized to the victims families, in disbelief that she was standing in a courtroom and advocating for leniency for a prison term for her son.

He was on his way to Temple, not to state prison, said Rhodes.

But Palmer said Mickens became part of the group willingly, joining a gang outside of the neighborhood where he lived and bragging about the people the group killed in text messages.

He wasnt pulled into anything, said Palmer. He chose to be a part of this.

In comments made after the sentencing, District Attorney Larry Krasner said the sentence was the result of a deep-dive investigation and called on more forensic resources and tools such as wiretaps for future investigations. The outcome of the case would hopefully serve as a message that Philadelphia residents would be protected, no matter where they lived, said Palmer.

This case should show that we are going to support those who do the right thing and that in Philadelphia there is a right to have a barbecue, to have a block party, regardless of what neighborhood you live in, Palmer said.

Shortly before Mickens was sentenced, Sircarr Johnson Sr. recalled the night his son was killed as a day of celebration abruptly turning into one of fear, panic, and tragedy.

After helping his son acquire a business license for his clothing store and setting up the barbecue to celebrate the community that patronized it, Johnson Sr. remembered hearing the fireworks that came with the Independence Day festivities. Soon, he realized there had been gunshots and noticed that somebody had fallen to the ground, apparently shot, he said.

In the commotion, he fell, Johnson said, and his son, who was by his side, fell on him. As he rushed to get up and flee to safety, he assumed his son would get up with him, but he remained on the ground. Johnson had to carry his son for the first time since he was a little boy.

Soon, he realized his son had been shot.

My son got shot standing right next to me, Johnson said.

Thats my whole world, he added. Everyone thinks Im crazy. But I miss my son.
President Joe Biden speaks at the podium at the Montgomery County College in Blue Bell Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, a day ahead of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack. Read more

President Joe Biden framed his reelection bid as a sacred cause, to save democracy, striking one of the most urgent notes of his 2024 campaign as he compared his position to General George Washington ushering troops through the winter at Valley Forge in their battle for freedom nearly 250 years ago.

Biden used the timing of the address  a day before the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack  to call out extremism and frame the race as a battle for basic freedoms and one to protect democracy.

He called Jan. 6 a day forever seared in our memory because it was on that day that we nearly lost America, lost it at all. He drew a contrast between Washingtons decision to leave office at the height of his power with former President Donald Trumps failed attempt to remain in office after his electoral defeat.

Trumps assault on Democracy isnt just part of his past, Biden said. Its what hes promising for the future. Hes being straightforward. Hes not hiding the ball.

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The speech at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell was heavy-on-history and often foreboding in its retelling of the Capitol attack and Trumps alleged role in inciting it. The president sought to raise the stakes for democracy on the ballot this year.

And it was a more forceful denunciation of Trump than Biden has delivered so far this election cycle. While hes criticized Trump at fund-raisers and in campaign events before, his tone was notably sharper, more offended.

What a sick , Biden said, catching himself before cursing, as he recounted a speech in which Trump mocked a violent attack on U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosis husband. I think hes despicable, seriously.

Biden made no mention of the possibility of another opponent though the November election is more than 300 days away and Republican voters begin the process of picking their candidate in Iowa Jan. 15. The caucus will be an early test of Trumps hold on the GOP base.

And while the speech was heavily focused on Trump, he avoided any mention of the 91 felony counts the former president is facing or the challenges to his ability to appear on state primary ballots.

Before the speech, the president and first lady visited the site of Washingtons encampment at Valley Forge, where they toured the founding fathers small stone headquarters and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Memorial Arch.

A park ranger showed the couple the inscription on the arch, a quote from a letter by Washington that reads naked and starving as they are we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery.

Biden has repeatedly chosen the Philadelphia region as the backdrop for big speeches related to threats to democracy as he seeks to win the critical battleground again this year. Montgomery County, where first lady Jill Biden grew up, is part of a swath of blue suburbs that Democrats hope will help propel them to victory again in 2024.

The speech in the key county kicked off what the campaign has touted as an aggressive January and February schedule for the 81-year-old president, who will give a second speech Monday in Charleston, S.C., at a historic church that was the site of a mass shooting in 2015.

Trump is spending the anniversary of Jan. 6 in Iowa, where he has a string of events planned.

Our countrys going to hell. You dont mind me using that horrible word, dont you? he said from Iowa on Friday, just hours after Bidens speech. We have a man whos grossly incompetent dealing with nuclear war.

His campaign released a new TV ad on the day of Bidens speech slamming the president on the economy, a polling weakness for Biden, who made no mention of his legislative record on stage Friday.

The soul of America has been crushed under the weight of Joe Bidens failures, Republican National Committee spokesperson Rachel Lee said. While families cant pay their bills, children are dying from fentanyl overdoses, terror suspects are crossing the open southern border, and Americans are still being held hostage by Hamas, Biden wants to further divide Americans with polarizing rhetoric to distract from his catastrophic policies.

Memory of Jan. 6 hangs over campaign

Both men have continued to talk about Jan. 6 but in very different ways.

Trump has praised people convicted of attacking the Capitol, describing them as victims of political persecution. An early rally featured footage from the day and a Jan. 6 prison choir. Hes compared their situation to the legal cases against him which he argues are the result of antidemocratic attacks from political opponents.

Biden is conversely pinning his hopes of uniting his party in large part around anger over Jan. 6 and what the day has come to symbolize. He made it the subject of a 60-second TV spot out this week in Pennsylvania and other battleground states. And in his speech on Friday, he noted that more than 140 police officers were injured that day and that the Justice Department has secured hundreds of convictions against rioters.

You cant be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American, Biden said of Trump.

He blasted Republican officials for changing their tone about Jan. 6, saying they had made their choice. And he added, Now the rest of us, Democrats, independents and mainstream Republicans, we have to make ours.

Some recent polling suggests a growing number of Republican voters are less inclined to blame Trump for the attack on the Capitol. Trumps GOP primary opponents have said theyd pardon people convicted of crimes related to the attack, if elected and that theyd pardon Trump if hes convicted in any of the cases hes facing.

Bidens fragile coalition

Bidens popularity among Black, Hispanic, and younger voters has declined compared to 2020 and hes facing a rift within his own party on the war between Israel and Hamas.

A group of about 35 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside of Bidens speech Friday, calling on the president to support a cease-fire in Gaza.

But Biden had already won over the crowd of invited guests in heavily Democratic Montgomery County. The Philadelphia suburbs delivered big numbers for him in 2020, which hell need again  along with gains in other parts of the state and among demographics where polls show hes losing support.

Part of the strategy is to highlight remarks Trump makes that might otherwise fly under the radar  particularly anti-immigrant tirades or when he has compared himself to dictators. And Bidens speech included frequent quotes and mentions of some of Trumps most controversial comments.

Look at the authoritarian leaders and dictators he says he admires, Biden said. I wont walk through them all it would take too long.

Attendees said the stake Biden laid out resonated.

Donald Trump has a very real chance of winning, and its going to take every single person coming out and voting, whether we are in love with Joe Biden, or were settling, said Hans van Mol, president of the Pennsylvania Young Democrats.

State Sen. Maria Collett, who represents the 12th District, which includes the community college venue, said her biggest fear surrounding another Trump win would be that he would put people who dont agree with him in peril.

We have heard Donald Trump threaten violence against people that are not supporters of his. I believe it to be true, she said. And I think that we are not just in the fight for democracy, we are in the fight for the goodness and the soul of our country.

Staff writer Jesse Bunch contributed to this article.
However, the appellate court found in May that the exclusion of damages caused by hostile or warlike action by a government or sovereign power in times of war or peace requires the involvement of military action.



The exclusion does not state the policy precluded coverage for damages arising out of a government action motivated by ill will, it found.



The courts stance has proved somewhat controversial among the insurance and legal communities.



The original decision, on which the appellate court ruled last May, had been criticized by Kennedys partners Joshua Mooney and Julia Selby as looking backward to a century past.
I used to live in a flat with black mould. It was fairly contained on a wall near one hall, behind some coats and old rucksacks.

My wife and I werent delighted about it. We complained about it frequently. It was ugly and embarrassing, and when visitors came wed make a point of lamenting its presence loudly. Oh, that? wed say, God, its awful, we hate it.

When they said we should get it removed, we agreed and said we really should tell our landlord.

Inevitably, however, by the time theyd left, wed tell ourselves that there wasnt really much we could do about it.

We lived in a rented house and our landlord would likely have to make root and branch structural changes, that would have been disruptive if they even happened  which was unlikely.

Past experience had taught us that petitioning him to change things, while taking up plenty of effort and energy on our part, hadnt ever really yielded any results.

Besides, the mould was hidden away in its own small patch of the flat  making it so easy to ignore, that weeks or months would go by without us thinking about it at all.

I was reminded of it this week while talking to English friends about Britains honour system. If youre not aware, at the turning of each year a flurry of gongs are issued to over 1,000 Brits.

There are the rankings you may be more familiar with: Knights, Dames, OBEs and CBEs, etc.

But there are also military honours and a full suite of additional titles  the Order of Bath, the Royal Victorian Order, The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George  which are less well known, but number into the hundreds by themselves.

All of these are separate from the crowns Birthday Honours, which are released in June, and which  taken with the January ones  total about 2,000 laurels passed from crown to subject each calendar year.

On its face, theres  arguably  something quite nice about the idea in principle.

Thousands of people  a fair few of whom appear to be everyday citizens whove committed their lives to public service or charity work  get official recognition from the state for their actions, along with a little medal and perhaps a trip to the palace for a swish little do.

Even if one might quibble with the imperial trappings of an award stylised as being from the British Empire herself, or the broader blasphemy that such hard-working and useful members of society are bestowed this honour by hereditary monarchs  whose singular lifetime achievement will always be the fact that they were born  many of those awarded very much deserve recognition for their work, and their pride and delight at receiving such accolades should not be discounted.

Usually  however  the big-ticket announcements are for celebrities, politicians, high-ranking executives, and other public figures.

This week saw Dame Jilly Cooper and Sir Michael Eavis ennobled, while Wetherspoons boss and diehard Brexit advocate Tim Martin proved one of the most divisive knights this year.

More controversial by far, however, were Liz Truss resignation honours  a separate grouping again, Im sorry  which were pushed out at the same time, and served to stretch the limits of anyones goodwill.

The former prime minister served just 49 days in the job, before resigning in disgrace for crashing the economy with unfunded tax cuts, and spent the last three weeks of her premiership in a race to the death with a supermarket lettuce  which she lost.

Despite this, she retained the right to hand peerages to donors and allies, including former Vote Leave chairman John Moynihan  who has donated nearly 600,000 (695,000) to the Conservative Party and 53k (61,400) to Truss office alone last year.

He joined his former chief executive of Vote Leave  and Ms Truss deputy chief of staff  Ruth Porter, who can now all sit in the House of Lords together and pass legislation that affects ordinary Brits for the rest of their lives.

This is  sadly  par for the course, as Junes release of Boris Johnsons own honours included peerages for the 31-year-old Conservative party political director Ross Kempell and 30-year-old parliamentary assistant Charlotte Owen, whose service in government was described by one Downing St insider as extraordinarily junior.

Baroness Owens example is instructive, since it speaks to where the frontiers of Britains tolerance might lie  with one government source calling it impossible to defend, even as somebody who broadly thinks the current peerage system is right.

And therein lies the rub. Every time such egregious acts of cronyism are committed, there is a mild uproar. But nothing is done, changed, or amended out of some sense that the system currently in place is there for good or ill. That its here and going nowhere.

That an entire catalogue of lifelong honours can and should  be handed to cronies and bag men, according to the whims of those in power whove profited from their association.

That a system of direct material reward for services rendered to those already in power must be not only accepted, but sustained and codified in the legislative branch of a world power.

That ordinary, working people will receive baubles of ribboned tin for lives dedicated to public service, while those who worked to make their lives harder every day will be given seats in the House of Lords.

Of course, when I say all of this, my English friends agree, more or less. They think its terrible too. But what is there to do?

The kind of root and branch structural changes it would take dont bear thinking about. And it will, of course, be quickly forgotten. Over a lifetime, you get used to the stench of mould.
A new icon

The worlds largest cruise ship is being unveiled this month as Royal Caribbeans Icon of the Seas hits the high seas.

The impressive vessel has capacity for nearly 10,000 passengers and crew and is billed as part all-inclusive resort, part theme park it will have the largest water park at sea with six waterslides and seven pools.

Sailing the Caribbean waters, it is set to be the best family cruise around.

The famous United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., United States

Living history

Washington DC is marking the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 2024 with an interesting programme of events and activities that focus on the citys significance in the movement.

With its Smithsonian museums and wineries close by, it is also a perfect starting point for a thrilling road trip that takes in the beaches, mountains and cities of the Capital Region of DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Mix nature and history with some of the areas National Parks and Civil War sites and come home with a whole new understanding of American history.

Main facade of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Spain.

Deal of the Week

7-night Camino trip, 575

Crossing the sweeping plains of Galicia in Northern Spain, along dusty tracks and through eucalyptus forests, the Camino Frances is the most famous of all the Camino de Santiago routes, with six sections to choose from.

Your pilgrim walk will take you through medieval towns like Palais De Rei, Portomarin and Sarria en route to Santiago de Compostela.

The package includes accommodation, daily breakfast, daily luggage transfers, and walking notes.

Camino passports and emergency support. Departing various dates in 2024, flights are not included.

Clontarf Castle

Castle in the city

A castle stay in Dublin is a cinch with Clontarf Castle, just 15 minutes from the city centre.

The cosy 12th-century castle hotel is offering a Midweek Castle Retreat which includes an overnight stay with breakfast the next morning and a box of chocolates on arrival.

Minutes from Clontarf seafront and majestic Bull Island with Dollymount Strand, its available to book Sunday - Thursday, from 209 based on two people sharing.

Emirates

Happy meals

Business Class passengers flying between Dublin and Dubai with Emirates can now order their meal before flying.

The new pre-flight service allows you peruse menus and select your preferred main course choice before you fly.

This can be done from 14 days to 24 hours in advance of your flight departure, helping cut down on food waste.

Menus can be viewed at emirates.com or on the Emirates app. Dublin-Dubai Business Class return flights from 3,425.
Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae has hit back at claims about his wealth, saying his businesses are struggling and that it is "absolute rubbish" to say he is one of the richest TDs in the country.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Examiner, he says he owes a substantial amount of money to the banks and insists he has every right to speak for working-class people.

Mr Healy-Rae said he is continuously in debt.

The Kilgarvan native would not say how many properties he owns but the latest Dail records, published in 2023 for 2022, show he has around 20 properties across The Kingdom, including his private residence.

The majority are rental properties, including student accommodation, homes, apartments, farmhouses, and B&Bs, and also include vacant premises.

For subscribers: Senior Political Correspondent Ciara Phelan spent two days with the Healy-Raes in Kilgarvan last year. Read her full account here.

He also has 104 acres of farmland and forestry and lists his occupations as postmaster, farmer, service station and plant-hire owner. The TD has shares in the New York Times company. He has also received over 500,000 to date from the Government for accommodating Ukrainians at one of his properties.

Mr Healy-Rae said it is a nonsensical statement to say he cannot be a voice for the working class when he owns multiple properties and businesses.

He insists it is absolutely rubbish that he is one of the wealthiest TDs in the Dail.

I have a shop that employs 17 people and that shop was really, really struggling the last number of years.

It has lost money," he said. "Its a convenience shop, its a petrol station, so it's struggling to pay its bills, pay wages, and keep the door open.

Ive a plant-hire [company] and if I wasnt sitting here in a suit, Id be up on a digger driving a machine... again, a very tough and competitive business to be at.

Accounts for Black Cap & Company Ltd, the firm that operates the fuel station and is co-owned by Mr Healy-Rae, show it recorded a loss in 2022 of 99,867.

In March 2023, accounts filed by his Roughty Plant Hire Ltd firm showed accumulated profits increased to 692,609.

However, the outspoken TD said he has never in his life been out of debt.

Id have a good share of property, right? But I owe an awful lot of money to banks.

"Ive an awful lot of obligations. To run a thing like that, it takes a lot of money and its just like any business," he said.

The obligations that are there today and the costs that are involved today, it isnt as though you have all this money, thats not true.

Michael Healy-Rae says he is continuously borrowing from banks to reinvest. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

He said he is continuously borrowing from the banks to reinvest.

When youre a politician and when youre farming, at contracting, when youve property and a small business like a petrol station... any of the people that come to you with problems, sure any problem they come to me with, arent you after having it yourself already? he said.

When put to him that he has never been on the breadline or faced being homeless, like many people who come to him for help, Mr Healy-Rae said when he began working, he slept in a caravan without electricity and water while working in forestry, cutting timber.

Any person that would give the impression that I was born with some silver spoon in my mouth, something is wrong, he said.

TD Danny Healy-Rae says he is not a millionaire and does not discuss business with his brother Michael. Picture: Dan Linehan

Meanwhile, his brother, TD Danny Healy-Rae, has seen his business boom, with his own plant-hire company enjoying a record year in 2022 to return profits of 1.12m.

However, speaking from his pub in Kilgarvan, he said he is not a millionaire and also revealed that despite their close relationship, he does not discuss business with his brother.
Locals in Blanchardstown had thought 2023 was going to end as it had been all year  quiet.

We were all patting ourselves on the back, saying Thank God there [were] no murders this year  then this happens on Christmas Eve, one source said.

The this was a reckless gun attack in a popular local restaurant. It left the gunman dead after he was overpowered by people inside Brownes Steakhouse and fatally injured and, some 11 days later, a victim shot in the attack passed away.

Jason Hennessy Snr, aged 48, a father of four, was shot in the neck by Tristan Sherry, who was brandishing a machine gun.

Jason Hennessy Snr was shot in the neck by Tristan Sherry, who was brandishing a machine gun. File picture: Collins Courts

Both gardai and locals said it could have been even worse.

It was completely reckless and with the type of gun he was using he could have shot anyone, said one source.

It is not clear whether Mr Hennessy, or other people he was eating with, was the intended target.

It is thought that in recent years he had become deeply involved in a violent gang, which is based in the Corduff area of the sprawling West Dublin suburb.

His involvement might have followed a serious assault he suffered at the hands of one of the leaders.

With an address in Sheephill Ave in Corduff, Mr Hennessy was awaiting trial for charges of money laundering.

It is still not clear what was the motive behind the shooting and gardai are investigating if the shooting was part of a long-running feud between the Corduff gang and a rival outfit in neighbouring Finglas.

The motive behind the shooting at Browne's Steakhouse is still unclear and gardai are investigating whether it was part of a feud between the Corduff gang and a rival outfit in Finglas. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

That feud, at its height in 2018 and 2019, has abated in recent years.

Last year it was quiet, really, the last 18 months have been quite good, said one informed source.

Why there was a peace, of sorts, is not clear, with some saying the Finglas gang was fighting other feuds in the Finglas area.

Members linked to the Finglas gang who were living in Blanchardstown also moved away from the area.

Sources also point to complex relationships between the two areas, with members of one gang having family in the other area. There are even reports that a relative of one of the gang leaders was dating someone from the other gang.

This begs the question, why, if the shooting is linked to the feud, did the peace suddenly end?

Detectives will also examine whether there was a personal motive or dispute behind the attack or if Sherry was acting on behalf of a separate gang altogether.

Various sources said the leaders of the Corduff gang  two particularly violent individuals  had many enemies.

They are very aggressive and extremely violent and regularly beat fellas to a pulp, said one source.

If you got on the wrong side of them theyd burn out your sisters or mothers house.

Sources said the leaders of the gang started throwing their weight around in a serious way around 2018.

They were coming to the fore then and were muscling into Finglas and Flashys area, said one source.

Mr Flashy is a nickname for the leader of the Finglas gang.

They stood outside his local chipper in Finglas and took pictures of themselves eating chips, like to say here we are and putting it up to him. They used social media a lot, calling out the other side and slagging them off.

Locals said the Corduff gang asserted itself aggressively in Blanchardstown, though there was some internal fighting during the 2018-2019 period, when they were also feuding with the Finglas gang.

They [Corduff gang] set themselves up as kingpins and were putting it up to the lads in Finglas, said a source.

Videos were uploaded of various shootings, including one, from February 2019, of a gunfight between members of opposing factions on the streets of Corduff.

The internal feud is thought to have been linked with another reckless shooting, in April 2019, when a gunman opened fire outside the local school in Corduff. Luckily, no one was injured.

The Corduff gang 'set themselves up as kingpins and were putting it up to the lads in Finglas', said a source. Picture: Maxwells

The gangs had access to firearms and local gardai scored a major success when they caught the muscle for the Corduff gang with a sub-machine gun.

In April, the Finglas gang carried out a brazen attack at the local garda station, attacking a man with a machete.

In subsequent years, the Corduff gang deepened its control of the Blanchardstown market, dominating supply in Corduff and adjoining Mulhuddart and, on the other side of the M50, in the Hartstown, Blakestown, Huntstown, and Whitestown areas.

They have taken control of this area and are running things, said one source.

Another source agreed: Theres no other group in Corduff. The internal stuff has been put to bed, as much as you can tell.

Sons of Mr Hennessy are known to gardai and have clocked up a number of convictions, particularly Jason Hennessy Jnr, aged 26.

In 2018, he was given a two-year suspended sentence after he was convicted, aged 18, of attacking a man in Dublin city centre with a hammer.

In April 2022, he was jailed for four months after he spat in the face of a young female garda during a road traffic check involving a relative of his.

His brother Devon, aged 27, pleaded guilty in 2020 to assaulting a man outside Blanchardstown District Court in a volatile incident that required 15-20 gardai to calm it down.

Serious security concerns

Gardai have serious security concerns surrounding the funerals of Mr Sherry and Mr Hennessy in the coming days and weeks.

What will make the funerals more volatile is if they involve young men on scramblers and motorbikes tearing up and down roads nearby and outside the church grounds.

One source said: If you assume some sort of display with motorbikes at either or both funerals, if the gardai ignore that and the images are uploaded onto social media, videos of bikes doing wheelies and taking over an area, that will put the Garda Commissioner and the Justice Minister under pressure, but if gardai do intervene, you could have other problems.

I reckon the funeral for Mr Hennessy is probably going to be a huge display, a show of strength. The [leaders] are brazen, they are capable of doing anything, even on the day.

"They are very volatile. They dont have cool heads and sit back and wait to take revenge. Its going to be messy.

A second source agreed and said the pub receptions for the funerals could be where people decide to act.

Youll have guys drinking, getting coked up [taking cocaine] and getting tooled up [armed] and doing something stupid and anyone could get hurt.

Garda resources in the Dublin West Division have been hit hard recently, including the pulling of members, on overtime, to police the city centre, and the transfer of members to specialist divisional units and regional task forces.

Senior officers are likely to request two to three public order units for the funerals, with one visible on the days, and another on standby.

They will be backed up by armed support units, which have already increased patrols in the area, and road policing jeeps, all in a bid to keep a lid on things.
An aircraft was forced to divert to land at Cork Airport after a passenger died on board.

The tragedy happened on Tuesday on a Jet2 plane, which was en route to Manchester from Tenerife.

It is understood that passengers found the deceased man in the toilet during the flight after they discovered that the door had been locked for an unusually long period.

When they alerted the airline staff, they managed to get the door open before the emergency services were contacted and the aircraft had to land as soon as possible.

The plane was travelling from Tenerife to Manchester but was forced to land at Cork Airport instead.

A spokesperson for the airline told the Irish Examiner: Flight LS918 from Tenerife to Manchester diverted to Cork Airport on Tuesday 2nd January, due to a customer requiring medical attention.

"Regrettably, we can confirm that the customer sadly passed away.

"Our thoughts are with the customer's family and friends at this very difficult time.

It is being reported that the plane did not land in Manchester until around five hours after its scheduled arrival time.

It should have landed in Manchester at 8.30pm.

However, the diversion to Cork and the wait for another plane meant the passengers arrived in Manchester at roughly 1.30am instead.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said that a "group of people" in Irish society are committing criminal arson attacks on properties as a means of "sowing division and fear through intimidation."

Ms McEntee said that An Garda Siochana are doing "everything possible to investigate recent attacks of arson around the country".

On New Year's Eve, an arson attack was carried out on a building in Ringsend in Dublin which had been earmarked for housing members of the homeless community.

False rumours had circulated online that asylum-seekers would be housed at the vacant Shipwright pub, but the Dublin Region Homeless Executive has confirmed it was for homeless families.

On December 16, a hotel in Roscahill, Co Galway - which had been due to house 70 asylum seekers - was .

Nobody was inside the Ross Lake House Hotel when it was set alight, but substantial damage was done to the property.

A screengrab of a video showing the blaze at Ross Lake House in Galway. Picture: Twitter/X

To date, gardai have gathered more than 140 statements and seized a number of exhibits as part of the investigation into the fire.

Earlier this week, gardai in Tipperary launched an investigation into a suspected arson attack on a former primary school. The fire at the disused school in Fethard broke out at around 9.20pm on Wednesday.

In a statement, gardai said they were "aware of possible misinformation, disinformation and rumour in relation to the use or proposed use" of the derelict building.

A spokesperson for the Department of Integration said it "had neither considered nor examined" the property in Fethard for use as accommodation.

Speaking this afternoon, the Justice Minister strongly condemned "these criminal acts of arson."

People need to understand these are very serious crimes which carry heavy prison sentences and those who have carried them out will be brought to justice.

Ms McEntee said there could "never be justification for such acts, regardless of circumstances or alleged motivation."

She also said has been in regular contact with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, and had reassured him that "any resources required will be made available" to him.

"An Garda Siochana is doing everything possible to investigate recent acts of arson," the Minister said.

"I understand they are making good progress in their investigations and I encourage anyone with any information in relation to any of the incidents to contact them."

She also said gardai were "continually monitoring emerging threats", including monitoring social media activity, and "stepping up policing responses as necessary".

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. File Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

"I also ask anyone with information either on past incidents or about possible upcoming threats to contact their local gardai."

Ms McEntee said that An Garda Siochana and the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) have been "working closely together to ensure effective policing plans are in place wherever there is an identified operational need".

"Where accommodation centres are being established, IPAS notifies and engages with local communities through their Community Engagement Team in advance," she said.

Ms McEntee added that she and her department were "fully committed to the fight against racism and bigotry and strongly condemn the actions of those who abuse and attack others because of their own prejudices."

She added: "Ireland is a diverse and tolerant country, and such behaviour is not acceptable."
A plan is to be drawn up to improve traffic flow, streetscapes, footpaths, and to tackle dereliction in one of the souths premier tourist towns amid concerns it is looking tired.

Cork County Council officials are to draw up the plan in response to pleas from local public representatives who expressed concern that Kinsale, which is the southern gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way, is losing tourism and economic investment.

Fine Gael councillor Kevin Murphy told a meeting of the Bandon/Kinsale Municipal District Council that he was a bit embarrassed about the current state of his hometown.

The town needs a major uplift. Tidy Towns has been on to me on numerous occasions about the upkeep of the town.

"Theyre doing massive work but a number of them are talking about retiring and they need help. Its a magnificent tourist town but it is harmed by dereliction and wear and tear. We (the council) need to increase our outdoor workforce, Mr Murphy said.

Fine Gael councillor Marie OSullivan, who owns a restaurant/cafe in the town, said Kinsales basic infrastructure is not being maintained and more money needs to be put into public realm upgrades.

The town is looking tired and it needs a bit of TLC. The 2009 traffic plan is out of date as 400 new homes have been built since then. Thats a further 800 cars. Theres traffic gridlock in the summer, she said.

Independent councillor Alan Coleman said the last time the town got a facelift was when its wastewater system was upgraded between 2009  2011 when there was "little money around to carry out public realm improvements".

It's the gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way and the flagship tourist location in the south along with Killarney. We need a major review of the public realm in Kinsale. If we dont have a good plan for Kinsale we wont get investment in Kinsale.

Fianna Fail councillor Gillian Coughlan maintained that the first thing on a "wish list" should be a relief road, which would help relieve gridlock in the town centre.

Mr Murphy added that the council also needs to dredge the harbour as well.

Municipal district officer Brian Dunne said he and his officials would draw up a project list and prioritise what work could be done.

He added that officials are having challenges" trying to identify the owners of some derelict properties.
Circuit Court Judge Gerard O'Brien has resigned, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has confirmed.

Mr O'Brien, 59, from Thurles in Co Tipperary, was last month convicted of the sexual assault of six young men, some of whom were former students at the school in Dublin where he was a teacher.

The four-week trial heard that the alleged offences occurred on dates between March 1991 and November 1997 at locations in Dublin. He was in his 30s at the time of the alleged offences, while the complainants were then aged between 17 and 24.

Sentencing in the case was adjourned to March 4 when victim-impact statements are expected to be heard.

In a statement this afternoon, Mc McEntee said Mr O'Brien's resignation was effective from Friday, January 5, 2024.

"The resignation has been conveyed to the President in accordance with the requirements of section 6 (2) of the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act 1961," she said.

Mc McEntee added that she would be making "no further comment on this matter prior to the court finalising the case by sentencing, which is adjourned to 4 March."
Thousands of people demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as they took part in pro-Palestine rallies in various locations across the island of Ireland.

Belfast and Cork saw two of the largest protests on Saturday.

In Dublin, a smaller demonstration outside RTEs headquarters saw 108 pairs of shoes laid out in a display activists said was to signify the number of journalists killed since the conflict began in October.

The rally at Belfast City Hall came after supporters of the Palestinian cause marched through the city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Protesters carrying Palestine flags and placards criticising the Israeli regime were among the large crowd that gathered outside the gates of the landmark building to hear a series of speeches.

108 pairs of shoes for each journalist killed in Gaza are laid out as Mothers Against Genocide protest outside RTE in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

The addresses were interspersed with chants and songs voicing support for the Palestinian people and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Among the speakers was Mark McTaggart, who is northern secretary of the INTO teaching union and also spokesman for the Trade Union Friends of Palestine group.

He reflected on the numbers of students and teachers who have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest  education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the north who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety, he said.

Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people across in Palestine.

Mr McTaggart also encouraged people to actively boycott Israeli goods and companies.

People take part in a pro-Palestine march and rally at Belfast City Hall (David Young/PA)

In Cork, hundreds attended a demonstration organised by The Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Similar demonstrations have taken place in the city every weekend since the conflict erupted.

The protest at RTE HQ in Donnybrook in Dublin was organised by the group Mothers Against Genocide.

One of those taking part was sustainable development scientist Naomi Sheehan.

She said Irelands national broadcaster should be referring to Israels actions in Gaza as genocide.

Its hard to even speak about this because it is so emotional, this is like witnessing the worst human rights atrocities of our times, she said.

Its a silent genocide and we are hearing a deafening silence in terms of assigning appropriate accountability to the forces who are enabling this genocide.

Cities on the island of Ireland have also witnessed pro-Israeli demonstrations since the conflict began in October.

Saturdays pro-Palestinian protests were staged after Tanaiste Micheal Martin warned that a widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world.

Mr Martins comments came as Hezbollah in Lebanon claimed it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli observations posts after it blamed Israel for a strike on Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official during the week.

The Tanaiste also rejected suggestions coming from some Israeli ministers that large numbers of Palestinians should be relocated out of Gaza.

Mr Martin further expressed concern about the situation in the Red Sea where commercial ships have been attacked by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

He also said the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was more urgent than ever.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

He also stressed the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation, he said.

A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

He added: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe.

We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected.

This trajectory must be reversed. The international community, including parties in the region, must, in the first instance, redouble efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.

But our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole. This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality.

In that context, the recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory. Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.
Some area Catholic churches have temporarily shelved their Holy Communion wine cups to help keep seasonal viruses at bay.

Citing an increase of various illnesses in our community, priests of the family of Catholic parishes in the Town of Tonawanda and cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda agreed this week to suspend distribution of wine in the chalice during Holy Communion.

The move was temporary and will be revisited as we get through this time of year when illnesses seem to rise, the priests said in a joint statement posted on Facebook.

We know many devoutly receive from the cup, but this is for the health of the community, the Facebook post noted.

The suspension applies to six parishes that make up Family #18: St. Amelia, St. Andrew Kim Mission and St. Christopher in the Town of Tonawanda; St. Francis of Assisi in the City of Tonawanda; and St. Jude the Apostle and Our Lady of Czestochowa in the City of North Tonawanda.

Churches reopen with roped-off pews, masks, singing discouraged St. Gregory the Great is the biggest Catholic parish in the Buffalo Diocese, but the Rev. Leon Biernat says while many parishioners were enthusiastic about returning to the building worship, others were not due to worries about the coronavirus.

It had been brought up to me by a couple parishioners  are we considering it? said the Rev. Michael Lamarca, pastor of the family of parishes.

Lamarca said he mentioned it Wednesday at a weekly meeting with fellow priests and it was unanimous right off the bat that weve all noticed more and more people getting sick.

Theres just so much out there, so we said, Lets just do it temporarily and well revisit it as we get through flu and Covid and RSV season,  he added.

The Buffalo Diocese has not issued a directive and, so far, has left it up to pastors to decide. A diocese spokesman said officials were not aware of the communal wine chalice being removed for public health reasons at other parishes across the eight counties of the diocese.

Catholics believe bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the celebration of the Eucharist, and Holy Communion  reception of the Eucharist  is a central sacrament of the faith. The ritual dates back centuries.

Catholics obliged to attend Sunday Masses again, beginning this weekend Bishop Michael Fisher and three other bishops in the state this weekend lifted dispensations from obligatory Mass attendance that had been in place since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Body of Christ, in the form of an unleavened bread wafer, will continue to be offered at Communion in the Tonawanda parishes, and Catholic teaching promotes that receiving either the body or blood of Christ is as if receiving both.

Offering the Blood of Christ in the form of wine in a shared cup was halted during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the behest of bishops, the practice began returning to most parishes by fall 2022.

The rim of the communal chalice is wiped with a cloth after each recipient. It receives a wash in soapy water after the Mass.

Withholding the chalice during high respiratory virus season is a quite reasonable way to reduce some risk of disease transmission, said Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Respiratory viruses such as Covid-19, flu and RSV spread through respiratory droplets and secretions, and oral secretions potentially have infectious particles, he said.

Removing the chalice also can help limit exposure to norovirus, an extraordinarily infectious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea and can peak in the winter, Russo said.

On the other hand, assuming the person handing out Holy Communion is not infected, receiving it in wafer form should present little risk, he said.

The bigger concern is crowded churches with poor ventilation, said Russo, who recommended that people with high-risk conditions wear masks to cut down on exposure to airborne viruses.

This applies not just to church, he said, but any venue thats indoors, particularly if the ventilation is poor, if its crowded and other people arent wearing masks and youre high-risk. That would be a setting where you would want to wear a mask to protect yourself. Masking isnt perfect, but its not bad. Its better than no mask.

Lamarca said he wasnt sure exactly when the shared cup would return.

We didnt want to put a timeline on it, he said, because we wanted to see how things play out.
Ring of Kerry

Taxpayers footed a 2,639 phone bill over 3,636 calls to a premium phone line for RTE reality TV show Celebrities Go Wild which saw Michael Healy-Rae crowned the winner in 2007.

Celebrations didnt last long after it emerged over 3,000 calls to the show came from within Leinster House  at a time when Jackie Healy-Rae, Michaels father, was a TD.

An investigation was launched by a Dail committee into how a Dail phone was used over a few days in October 2007. At the time of the series, Michael was a Kerry county councilor competing among eight contestants tackling various physical challenges in Connemara.

Jackie Healy-Rae insisted he knew nothing about the calls, vehemently denied he made them, and called the controversy a big hullabaloo over nothing.

A statement from the Oireachtas confirmed that in 2007 a spike in calls to a 1513 number was brought to their attention by their telecoms service provider and as a result, all calls to that number were blocked.

Michael Healy-Rae TD under the famous sign of his father Jackie in his home village of Kilgarvan, Co Kerry. Picture: Dan Linehan

God controls the weather

In 2016, Danny Healy-Rae hit the headlines during a discussion on climate change in the Dail.

I believe God above is in charge of the weather and we here cant do anything about it, he said during a debate which was attended by Green Party TDs Eamon Ryan and Catherine Martin.

He had just been elected a TD for the first time that year and his comments attracted attention both here and abroad.

In 2021, Danny also complained about planes peeing down on top of us and said commercial aircraft are doing more damage to the planet than Irish farmers ever could.

Call in the army to Killarney National Park

In 2017, Michael Healy-Rae stood up in the Dail and called on former Fine Gael minister Michael Ring to call in the army to tackle rhododendron.

The rhododendron situation in Killarney National Park is gone so bad now minister, nothing short of calling in the army is going to put it right, he told the Dail. Were losing the war with regard to the rhododendron, were losing the war to the deer that are after taking over completely, he added.

The call for the army to fight off the aggressive plant drew headlines internationally, making news in Britain and the US.

Michael vs Micheal

It was a Cork vs Kerry affair in the Dail in October 2020 when an explosive row erupted between Michael Healy-Rae and Micheal Martin when Mr Martin alluded that the Kerry TD was seeking to gain political advantage by telling people outside Mass he could get them on a bus for a cataract procedure.

Mr Martin told the Dail: Its been a game-changer for yourself electorally, in terms of the number of people on buses.

I was reliably informed that Deputy Healy-Rae approached people outside Mass to say: I can get you on the bus if you want a cataract.

Mr Healy-Rae exploded, labelling the Fianna Fail leader a disgrace and accusing him of being at the bottom of the barrel. You should take that back, youre a disgrace, he shouted.

Danny Healy-Rae. Picture: Dan Linehan

Is it ever going to stop?

Is it ever going to stop, Ceann Comhairle? Every single day. Are you ever going to do anything about it? Labour TD Alan Kelly said after he was interrupted while speaking in the Dail by the sound of Danny Healy-Raes 20-year-old Nokia phone.

They wont ring you anyway, Danny hit back, resulting in laughter in the Dail and calls from the Ceann Comhairle for matters to proceed but not until Michael also jumped to his brothers defence and said to Mr Kelly: Whod want to ring you because youd do nothing for anyone, only here yapping.
Jackie Healy-Rae, former TD

Colourful politician Jackie Healy-Rae was a Fianna Fail member of Kerry County Council for decades, but broke with the party in 1997 when he failed to get a nomination to contest the general election in the Kerry South constituency and he previously said he was betrayed by the party.

He won a Dail seat as an Independent and held it until 2011 when he retired.

Deputy Jackie Healy-Rae is hoisted high by supporters after a full recount in the 2002 general election. Picture: Don MacMonagle

He was best known for his one-liners in the Dail, and the funding he secured for his support of the minority Fianna Fail-led governments resulted in improved infrastructure across Kerry.

At the age of 83 in 2014, Jackie passed away, with his wake held in the Healy-Rae pub as hundreds of mourners queued for hours to pay their respects.

Michael Healy-Rae TD

Michael Healy-Rae was elected at the 2011 general election when Jackie retired and had also spent time on Kerry County Council.

The father of five, aged 56, says one of the things thing he is proud of so far in his political career but something that he never received credit for was his campaigning to introduce changes to the registration-plate system for cars in 2012.

He says there is no place for a third Healy-Rae in the Dail at this time and he will continue to divide the constituency with his brother Danny to ensure they are both returned to the Dail.

Of his children, son Ian runs his plant-hire business, Kevin is a DJ, Rosie is a postwoman, and Juliette runs the shop with Michael's wife Eileen.

Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae Jnr

Michael's son Jackie, aged 28, was first elected to Kerry County Council in 2019.

Michael Healy-Rae and son Jackie erect posters on the Wild Atlantic Way. Picture: Don MacMonagle

He admits he felt pressure to win the seat as he did not want to be the first Healy-Rae to lose an election in over 20 years. He has ambitions to become a TD in the future.

Like his father, he says his ice-cream shop in Killarney, which opened in 2021, is struggling and may not reopen its doors.

He was convicted of an assault which occurred in 2017, which he denied.

Danny Healy-Rae

Known also for his one-liners, Danny Healy-Rae was elected a TD at the 2016 general election and was previously a member of Kerry County Council.

The father of six, aged 70, says he is hell-bent on contesting the next general election despite local speculation that he may not run again.

He says his proudest political achievement is arranging to bring busloads of people for cataract surgery to Belfast.

His sons Johnny and Dan run the plant-hire firm, while a third son Patie is an engineer. His three daughters Maura, Theresa, and Elaine are teachers.

Johnny Healy-Rae

Danny's son Johnny was first elected as a councillor in 2011 and is seeking re-election in the upcoming local elections.

The 38-year-old says he believes the family are their own biggest critics but are all very similar and aligned in their views, particularly on immigration. He says the family does not apologise for representing the people of Kerry at a national level.

Johnny Healy-Rae, second left, on his co-option to Kerry County Council in 2011, with his uncle Michael, grandfather Jackie, and father Danny. Picture: Don MacMonagle

He runs the plant-hire business with his brother Dan and says there are up to 70 people employed, including subcontractors.

He is passionate about infrastructure, particularly roads, and about access to healthcare.

Maura Healy-Rae

The eldest daughter of Danny, Maura Healy-Rae was co-opted onto Kerry County Council in 2016 to fill the seat her father vacated when he was elected to the Dail.

The 32-year-old also teaches at a school in Bandon, Co Cork. She appears to be more keen on becoming a TD than her brother, but not until her father departs.

She says there is no sibling rivalry with Johnny and they work well together and are reliant on one another. She says like any other family, they disagree and she may not say things like her father does, but adds that she admires how he speaks and said he has been a huge support to her.
More than 160,000 young women received free contraceptive products between January and September last year as the States programme rolled out.

While advocates and health workers welcomed the radical scheme, they have called for it to be extended to all women of reproductive age, not only those aged 17 to 31, as of January 1.

How things have changed since the Dail heard contraception described as  the quare things almost 50 years ago.

A TD, speculating then about the potential fallout for pharmacists selling these products, said: There may be the attitude: 'So-and-so handles the quare things but the others who are nice, decent people will not'.

The scheme saw 448,326 packs of contraceptive pills dispensed, in addition to 26,146 packs of transdermal contraceptive patches, in those nine months.

Some 8,467 contraceptive implants were dispensed, 5,018 contraceptive injections, and 4,097 vaginal rings. Some 899 copper coils were dispensed, according to figures provided by the Department of Health.

Women can also access the morning-after pill, with 6,697 pharmacy consultations on emergency contraception taking place.

It is not possible to directly compare these numbers, as items such as some coils can last up to 10 years while pills are dispensed in monthly packs.

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: 'Women dont come in in fear anymore.' Picture: Moya Nolan

Today, pharmacist Laura Dowling provides contraception without fear of judgement.

Ms Dowling, known as the Fabulous Pharmacist on social media, was the 2022 Pharmacist of the Year. She feels there is little to no stigma surrounding contraception within suburban Dublin.

Women dont come in in fear anymore, she said.

The fact that it's free and widely available and the fact that people can get the emergency contraception as well, it means that there is less of a taboo. And then I suppose the more we talk about it, the more it just becomes easier and easier for people [to access].

The Dublin-based pharmacist does, however, still notice embarrassment around the morning-after pill.

Often older women are much more embarrassed than younger girls when asking for this she has seen, although she emphasises: Theres absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about."

Side-effects

She also sees negative medical side-effects for many women, but these can be dealt with when talking about concerns is becoming more normalised.

"One of the side-effects of the contraceptive pill would be that it can reduce libido, she cautioned.

I find that ironic that something that you're taking because you want to have sex and enjoy it and not get pregnant is on the other side reducing your libido.

She explained: I would have had ladies that went on the pill from when they first became sexually active at the age of 17 or 18, staying on throughout their entire 20s, and only when they went to try for a baby that they actually realised that they had a libido.

They really wanted to have sex at certain times of their cycle, which is normal.

However, she feels side-effects are a small price to pay for an unwanted pregnancy, depending on everyone's situation.

Women are encouraged to approach contraception with an open mind and to almost be a little bit of guinea pig for themselves see what works and what doesnt, she said.

Financial barrier removed

Dr Ciara McCarthy, a GP in Blackpool in Cork City, said there was no longer a financial barrier to accessing contraception.

Dr Ciara McCarthy, a GP in Blackpool in Cork City, said while doctors always offered these products, the financial barrier is gone now.

Some women are still a little surprised to see the cost of their consultation is also covered, I think there is more knowledge the products are covered, she said.

What it has meant for us in our discussions is we are no longer having to factor in the cost of certain methods, ruling in or ruling out certain methods, because the barrier of cost has been removed.

Dr McCarthy, who is also HSE and Irish College of General Practitioners clinical lead for womens heath, said up-front costs of long-acting reversible contraceptives such as coils or implants were definitely a barrier.

A coil could cost over 200 to buy and have inserted, for instance, with many women opting for the contraceptive pill instead as this could be paid for monthly.

When you look over the duration of use and divide the total cost by three or five years, depending on the method, the long-acting methods are actually more cost-effective, she said.

[A copper coil] is far more effective than the morning-after pill.

The really great thing about it is if it is fitted for emergency contraception, the woman can actually leave it in for five to 10 years depending on what coil it is, to give her long-term reliable contraception as well.

The scheme is limited to women aged between 17 and 31, having expanded this week.

Women do require access to contraception from the time they become sexually active until menopause, she said of the ICGPs stance.

While we are really delighted women aged 17 to 31 can access contraception free of charge, we would like to see the eligibility expand over the coming years to encompass all women of reproductive age.

Women can also access help through the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and Well Woman clinics.

IFPA director of advocacy and communications Maeve Taylor said the scheme was groundbreaking, with an overwhelmingly positive reaction from its clients.

It has given doctors the certainty that anyone covered by the scheme can avail of the method of contraception that best suits them at their stage of life, without having to worry about its cost, she said.

However she is also concerned about age limits.

Age barriers

Age-restricted access is inherently inequitable, she said.

It leaves too many people of reproductive age in precisely the position the policy aims to address; higher risk of unintended pregnancy because they cannot afford the most effective means to prevent it.

Contraception is as important for women over 31, she said, as younger women.

Teens can see a catastrophic impact on their lives from an unintended pregnancy, she warned as one example, while women in relationships may wish to plan their family size.

The IFPA was glad to see funding to include 16-year-olds in the scheme in Budget 2023. However, this hasnt happened yet, she said.

The minister for health has said that the scheme cannot be extended to under 17s without specific legislation. More than a year later, no bill has been introduced.

She called on the Government to remove the legal barriers relating to age.

The extension of the scheme to guarantee access to free contraception to everyone of reproductive age would be visionary and transformative, she urged.

Cost should never a barrier to contraception use by anyone who wants to avoid unintended pregnancy.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: The minister for health has stated his ambition to expand the scheme, with the aim of providing coverage, in due course, for all those who may need it.

Catholic attitudes

While Irish attitudes to contraception have changed in recent decades, this is not the experience of every young person contemplating these products.

One young woman said she had not yet availed of the free scheme by visiting her family GP in a rural Munster town.

I wouldnt go to my mother to say that I had sex, never mind talk about contraception, she said.

In her experience, older Catholic attitudes that the purpose of sex is solely for reproduction remain held by some people.

While she does not share her familys beliefs, their attitudes towards contraception have discouraged her from visiting their GP.

She described how she sees a still strong taboo surrounding casual sex and contraception within rural areas where she and many of her friends live.

Even my cousins, who have been in long-term relationships for years, are not allowed to sleep in the same bed as their boyfriends when theyre visiting home, she said.

Most country mothers are coming around to the idea that this is happening but mine has a bit to go yet.

It is understood some women prefer to order oral contraceptive pills from online pharmacies instead.

Dr Ciara McCarthy said doctors offer these products in a non-judgemental fashion for patients.

Now its free, its hopefully more accessible to young women, she said.

I think there is a lot of stigma still, and we talk about breaking down barriers but that is bit by bit. Its about trying to encourage women and make them feel comfortable.

She advised anyone with similar concerns to see if they could talk to a different GP in the practice who does not treat the patients family.

They might be more comfortable talking to a female GP so they can ask to see someone else, she said.

In some practices, the practice nurse may offer some of the contraceptive consults, and if again if they would really prefer not to see someone in their own practice, they can choose to attend another GP practice.

Women can contact any practice for access to the free programme, but she cautioned: The limiting factor there will be that many practices are closed to new patients because they are at capacity".

However, she said in smaller towns with fewer female GPs, informal arrangements often exist for inter-practice referrals.

In larger areas there is also the option of Irish Family Planning Clinics or Well Woman clinics, she said.

Free access in North

Isobel Walsh, 24, tested multiple contraception methods before deciding what worked best for her.

Now living in Palmerstown, Co Dublin, she is from Tyrone and began her contraception journey there aged 16, saying this was around the time of her first proper romantic relationship.

Isobel Walsh: 'Providing young people with free contraception and quality sex education goes a long way towards enabling them to develop safe and enjoyable sex practices.' Picture: Moya Nolan

This meant she had access to the free contraception scheme provided by the UK from the start.

She said this led to avoiding any guilt or awkwardness arising from her parents having to pay for her contraception each month.

Stressing over the accessibility of contraception was something that never crossed my young mind, she said.

And I wish the same for young people in the Republic who are just starting to get to grips with sex and sexual health.

Her journey began with a contraceptive pill before switching to an implant, saying this was for ease of use and its fuss-free nature.

She recalled a hellish start to this, however, with feelings of exhaustion, heightened emotions, and constant spotting for a few months. These side-effects, however, soon subsided.

Reflecting on her doctor appointments, Ms Walsh remembers an air of awkwardness coupled with nerves, as she navigated her sexual health for the first time.

Im not sure how much of that can be attributed to my own or the GPs stigma about contraception, she said, saying in hindsight she was also herself lacking in confidence and ability to self-advocate about her sexual health at the time.

Now benefiting from the Irish scheme, she feels providing these products for free helps people her age develop safe attitudes to sex.

Providing young people with free contraception and quality sex education goes a long way towards enabling them to develop safe and enjoyable sex practices which will stand to them for the rest of their lives, she said.
Every year as the turkey turns cold, the State papers are released to cast an eye on the past. So it was this year, and from the various files fell a few nuggets that told lots, not just about the past, but the present.

Publication of the State papers came in the week after the Irish Government announced it was going to the European Court of Human Rights to prevent the UK from enacting its Troubles-related amnesty legislation.

The new law is designed to prevent any further prosecutions in relation to killings during the Northern Troubles. Most observers view it as an attempt to ensure no more British soldiers are charged with illegal killings. This is opposed by all parties right across the North, who see the new law as denying justice to relatives of people who were murdered.

One element of the 30-year-long violence that has received heightened interest in recent years is that of collusion. It has emerged British security services aided and abetted loyalist gunmen to kill nationalists in far more cases than was previously thought. Sometimes the targets were involved with the Provisional IRA. Others were not but simply considered expedient for one reason or another.

Francisco Notarantonio was murdered in his bed by loyalist paramilitaries in October 1987.

One such case was that of Francisco Notarantonio, a Belfast man of Italian extraction. He was murdered in his bed by loyalist paramilitaries in October 1987. Credible allegations emerged that Mr Notarantonio was targeted after security services passed his name onto the loyalist paramilitary entity, the UDA.

At the time, the UDA had planned to murder Freddie Scappaticci, a leading IRA figure, who was also a British agent using the codename Stakeknife. The British diverted the UDA from this in order to protect Scappaticci.

Instead, they pointed the loyalists towards the innocent Mr Notarantonio on the basis he and Scap were both of Italian extraction. The plot was cold, twisted, and indicative of the willingness of a sovereign state to collude and even orchestrate the murder of its own citizens, including in this case a man who was completely innocent. Scapaticci was uncovered as a British agent in 2003.

State papers released last week show officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs met members of the Notarantonio family in 2001, who were attempting to uncover the truth about their fathers murder.

A senior police officer confirmed in late 2000 that Stakeknife was a real person and had colluded in the death of an innocent Belfast man, according to a memo as reported in The Irish Times.

This was done ostensibly to prevent himself from being unmasked. The innocent man referenced was Mr Notarantonio.

Scappatticcis role in the IRA was to torture and execute informers. He is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of at least 33 people in this respect. Some of those who died were not informers at all and in most cases, Scapatticci is understood to have told his British handlers about an imminent execution.

An investigation into Scappatticcis activities reported last month that criminal cases would not now be brought against a number of individuals, including former British security personnel and former members of the IRA.

In light of what is emerging about the level of depravity deployed by the British forces, it is entirely proper that the Irish Government tries to halt the amnesty legislation.

Bad and all as the Brits were, their actions need to be seen in light of what they were up against. The Provisional IRA was fighting to impose a 32-county socialist Republic on the island. Their tactic was to kill anybody whose death might advance that cause and spread terror through bombing public spaces.

Contrary to the retro republican chic line that is put about today, they were not defending nationalists in the North. Nationalists accounted for more than 400 of the 1,700 deaths for which the Provos were responsible.

By the early 90s, the end was in sight for the Provos redundant cause. A ceasefire was in the offing. One of the State papers released over Christmas was a British government memo dating from December 1993 which assessed the mood within the Provos for an end to the killing.

Caroline Moreland, a 34-year-old Catholic single mother of three, was murdered by the IRA in 1994.

It concluded there was close to a 50/50 split among what were classified as volunteers over whether to call a halt. The delicate balance within the Provos, as evidenced by the memo, gives further ballast to a theory around one of the most shocking killings committed at the time.

Caroline Moreland was a 34-year-old Catholic single mother of three living in Belfast in 1994. She allowed her house to be used for Provo meetings and in June of that year, the security services found an Armalite there.

They [the special branch] told me that I would go away for at least 25 years and that my children would be taken off me and put in care of social services. It was at this point I agreed to work for them, Ms Moreland related in a subsequent tape recording.

In early July she was arrested by the IRA and taken to the border where she was questioned for 15 days. Some reports suggest she was tortured.

As former IRA man Richard ORawe describes in his recent book on Stakeknife, Ms Morelands fate was in the balance. A ceasefire was imminent. She had agreed to work for the British under severe pressure and did so for a matter of weeks. What would be the point of killing her? ORawe quotes veteran journalist Ed Maloneys thesis on the decision on whether she should live or die.

Her fate was debated at a meeting in July of the IRAs army council, where the chairman at the time was Martin McGuinness. There was no disagreement about her fate. She would die for the moment of weakness because to let her go would send a wrong message to an IRA grassroots already uneasy about the talk of ceasefires and sell-outs.

Her body was found on July 17 near Roslea in Co Fermanagh, six weeks before the ceasefire. The hard men had to be shown that the leadership wasnt going soft and killing a young woman at this late stage of the conflict was the perfect example. Her life was putty in the hands of the Provos, just as Mr Notarantonios was for the security services.

The British are anxious there be no more prosecutions against people responsible for deaths like that of Mr Notarantonio. Sinn Fein has no interest in seeing anybody prosecuted for deaths like that of Ms Moreland.

Both entities could do much to alleviate the pain of the bereaved but their respective priorities dont allow them to do so.

In that light, it is difficult to take seriously Sinn Feins opposition to the amnesty legislation. They want to ensure there is no amnesty for British soldiers, but somehow believe that killing done by the Provos was justified and should not be subject to criminal prosecution.
This Nollaig na mBan lets not settle for one day, instead lets make 2024 Bliain na mBan.

The coming months will provide us with a unique chance through constitutional change to finally do away with the archaic notion that women belong in the home.

This year, voters will also be given the opportunity to increase female representation at local and European level and most likely in national politics.

While substantial progress towards true equality through a series of polls is within our grasp, we must also use our privileged positions to scream for those who have not been afforded the same democratic rights as us and have been left voiceless.

We must, with all our might, speak up for those women who through conflict, famine or gender-based violence have been forever silenced.

Across the world, women suffer. Over the past three months we have watched through screens mothers grieving for their babies, we have stopped scrolling to view bereft children left orphaned by the continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

This country has also welcomed 100,000 Ukrainians, the majority of whom have been women and children, who have fled their homes since the outbreak Russias war.

Other conflicts have bubbled under the surface, not gaining the same attention, and war has displaced millions of families.

A Palestinian woman carries the body of her grandchild killed in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in December. Photo: AP/Hatem Ali

In Yemen, for example, mothers watch as their children face the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. An alarming 80% of the population is now in need of assistance, including 12.9 million children.

The presence of women in positions of leadership is directly related to increased levels of security and stability and greatly reduces the likelihood of violent conflict emerging. Research has shown that womens participation in conflict prevention and resolution can improve outcomes before, during, and after war.

It is for this reason that the UN Security Council adopted a resolution in the year 2000 which urges member states to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.

But just 20% of peace agreements contain references to women, girls, and gender, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan US think tank specialising in foreign policy and international relations.

The analysis of 1,860 peace agreements brokered between 1990 and 2019 also found that just 6% contain at least one provision that specifically addresses violence against women.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said:

Gender equality is not an option, but an imperative to achieve a fair, just world.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York in September, she said one of her key priorities is to increase womens representation across government, academia, law enforcement, and other fields by using a combination of affirmative action and professional competence.

Change comes dripping slowly and the pace of achieving gender balance in politics, even in open and flourishing democracies, has been frustrating. The number of women in political leadership roles, both in government and in parliament is increasing worldwide, but it remains very low in some countries.

The most recent Women in Politics Map, published by the UN, reveals that women serve as the head of government in just 19 of the 193 member states of the United Nations. Fewer than a third of UN countries have ever had a woman leader, according to a Pew Research Center analysis published last March.

UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous, said: This data tells us that women are still the minority of Heads of State and Government. They are still deeply under-represented in government leadership, at less than one in four Cabinet Ministers, with men continuing to dominate critical portfolios such as the economy, defence, and energy.

Full democracy needs the equal participation of women in all its processes. Yet, continued violence and threats  online and offline  against women leaders, candidates, and voters blight the potential for their voices and knowledge to bring the change that is so urgently needed for economic and social recovery. The world cannot afford to continue this injustice. We need a paradigm shift that brings true equality.

But some women, including our two former and outstanding Presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, have broken through into leadership roles.

As a child you were taught women should be seen not heard, Silveria E Jacobs, Prime Minister of Sint Maarten told a UN event in September.

And yet I am here.

Former presidents Mary McAleese (left) and Mary Robinson (right) with President Michael D Higgins on the 75th anniversary of role of the President of Ireland in 2013. File photo: Niall Carson/PA

While gender quotas at a national level have resulted in improved representation over recent elections, after the last election this country ranked 98th in the world for womens representation in national parliaments, falling behind countries such as China and Iraq.

Since 1918, 130 women have been elected to the Dail, compared to 1,211 men.

At local level, just 23.9% of councillors are women. Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown is an outlier after its electorate returned a 50-50 split in the 2019 elections. However, in Longford just two of the 18 elected county councillors are women.

In June, the electorate will be given a chance to make their local authorities more diverse and more reflective of the areas they live in.

But for political parties convincing women to stand in the first place has been a challenge, especially in an online era where vile comments are almost expected.

At a recent Oireachtas Committee Womens Collective Ireland, CEO Miriam Holt said women at the grassroots are not getting beyond representation on local school boards and community group volunteering roles which she said is becoming a stagnant route.

In a telling sign of where some opinion still lies, Fianna Fail senator Ned OSullivan said not all women are feminists, activists, or political animals.

No matter how hard you try, theres only a certain element of people of the female gender, no matter what incentives are placed in their way or what opportunities are given to them, who will actually opt to run for election at local or national level, he said, before adding that, without minimising the difficulties faced by women, politics is not easy for anyone.

The comments drew criticism from National Womens Council (NWC) leadership officer Ciara McHugh who said it is wrong to assume that some women are not political animals.

She said:

The issue is not that women are not interested, the issue is that the system is set up in a way that excludes them.

Before Junes elections, voters will be asked to decide on two referendums, the first to remove the reference to a womans place in the home and the second to amend the Constitution which currently links the family with marriage.

I think these are both pieces of work that everyone has recognised needed to happen, theres been talk about changing the provision of women in the home for 30 years, Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman told the Irish Examiner before Christmas.

The National Womens Council said the votes, due to be held on March 8, International Womens Day, aim to close a dark chapter of our past.

The current wording never led to any positive supports for women and was at the heart of cruel, discriminatory policies such as the marriage bar which forced women out of their careers once they got married, Orla OConnor, Director of NWC said.

As a result, women missed out on opportunities. They had to curtail their dreams and ambitions and many are still facing inadequate pensions and income in older age because of it.

This years elections and referendum can provide another step along the road. Let 2024 be the year where the crawl towards real gender equality and female advancement gains real pace and breaks into a stride towards the finishing line.

A true Bliain na mBan.
Today is writer Maeve Brennans birthday. She would have been 107. Today is also Nollaig na mBan, and it feels like a particularly special Womens Christmas gift that this woman, so long forgotten, will be celebrated at her childhood home with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque.

Another writer Sinead Gleeson, a long-time champion of Brennan and indeed so many other female writers, will join Dublin Lord Mayor Daithi de Roiste this morning to pay tribute to one of the finest writers of the 20th century.

(On an aside, a special doff of the cap to Dublin City Council which has recently celebrated the lives of a number of women with plaques.)

Maeve Brennan lived at 48 Cherryfield Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin, from 1921, when she was four years old, until she moved to America with her family in 1934.

The house would later act as her memory palace, to use author Kate Bolicks evocative phrase, when she began writing. Its four walls, or a version of them, are identifiable in dozens of her stories.

HISTORY HUB If you are interested in this article then no doubt you will enjoy exploring the various history collections and content in our history hub. Check it out HERE and happy reading

I re-read one of them, The Eldest Child, this week as a Nollaig na mBan tribute to a woman who was, at one time, much better known in New York than she was at home.

She was in her early twenties when she began to make a name for herself as a copy editor at Harpers Bazaar magazine and later as a staff writer at The New Yorker.

She assumed the pen-name The Long-Winded Lady for a column that offered wry observations about life in the metropolis.

It gained much praise and an appreciative following.

American novelist John Updike put it beautifully when he wrote that Maeve Brennan was sharp-eyed as a sparrow for the crumbs of human event, the overheard, the glimpsed and guessed-at.

That description captures so well the guessed-at strange delirium of grief suffered by Delia Bagot in The Eldest Child.

Little wonder Sinead Gleeson, editor of The Long Gaze Back, decided to include it in her 2015 anthology of Irish women writers.

As Gleeson explains: That story is  the one I included in the Long Gaze because it talks about a subject  sudden infant death  that no one was writing about back then [in the 1960s].

"And it not only shows the grief, but also the anger of it, the rage at such a loss. Its perfectly judged and balanced.

Sinead Gleeson has long been a champion of Maeve Brennan; she included Brennan's short story, The Eldest Child, in 'The Long Gaze Back' her 2015 anthology of Irish women writers. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins

It is, she says, a devastating story with a remarkable line about how, after the babys death, people carried on as if nothing had happened  as though when they tidied the baby away they had really tidied him away.

New mother Delia Bagot was told it was Gods will and people went about their everyday lives as if what had happened was finished; as if everything had come to a natural end.

But nothing had ended for the babys mother. It is extraordinary to read how Maeve Brennans character succeeds in reclaiming a space for her lost baby, and ultimately herself.

Left alone to wail and thrash against her loss, she finds a way of carving out a space  a female space, it seems to me  where she would not lose sight of the trace her first-born left behind during his three days on earth.

She would insist on his life, rather than let others frame his existence as something lost.

It might be better not to talk, yet she was very anxious to explain how she felt, Brennan writes.

Words did no good. Either they did not want to hear her, or they were not able to hear her. What she was trying to tell them seemed very simple to her.

"What had happened could not come to an end, that was all. It could not come to an end. Without a memory, how was the baby going to find his way?

Even now, when the impact of sudden infant loss is more talked-about if not necessarily appreciated, The Eldest Child has something really important to say.

It shows how one woman pushed her way out of the shroud of silence to create a space for herself and her baby.

The outside world conveniently tidied him away, but she found a way of celebrating his life.

That story resonates so powerfully today, for so many reasons.

It is Epiphany, the Christian feast day commemorating the arrival of the three wise men to the infant Jesus. It is also, as Ive said, Maeve Brennans birthday, and Nollaig na mBan.

Pleased though am I about that happy coincidence, its highly unlikely that Maeve Brennan even knew about Womens Christmas, much less celebrated it.

Her early memories of Ireland were much more likely to be of her parents involvement in the armed fight for Irish independence.

Brennan's parents' Easter Rising involvement

Her mother Una (nee Bolger) and father Robert Brennan both took part in the Easter Rising in 1916. Maeves father was in prison in England when she was born in 1917. He was often on the run when she was a child.

Those are most likely the early memories she brought with her when her father was appointed to the legation in Washington in 1934 by then-taoiseach Eamon de Valera.

Also, Nollaig na mBan was much more of an event in southern Ireland. I say that as a Kerrywoman who loved it as a child because it meant the celebration continued.

We went next door and dipped again into the box of Quality Street which, miraculously, was still yielding more than the duds.

It also meant that we stopped for a brief moment to enjoy a female space.

As a teenager, I joined my mother in considering it mean-spirited and patronising to relegate women and their celebrations to the tail-end of Christmas, but Ive come to love it again.

In recent years, it is inspiring to witness a revived Nollaig na mBan develop into something that is much more expansive and hopeful.

It can be whatever youd like it to be, although all celebrations seem to focus  in one way or another  on the female space.

How fitting then, that Maeve Brennans presence will today be reinscribed in the space where she spent her childhood.

Happily, the celebration doesnt end there because, on January 25, The Long-Winded Lady, a collection of Maeve Brennans columns originally written for The New Yorker from 1954 to 1981, will be published by Peninsula Press, with an introduction by Sinead Gleeson.

That would make a very nice Nollaig na mBan gift if you were looking for one.
The premier antique fair in the United States, The Winter Show in New York, will offer an extraordinary variety of vetted antiques from around the world spanning 5,000 years from antiquity to today. The annual extravaganza at the Park Avenue Armory will bring together 65 renowned international dealers in fine and decorative arts from January 19-28.

Established in 1954 it has consistently addressed the shifting role and value of art, antiques and design. New European exhibitors this year include Galerie Nathalie Motte Masselink (Paris) with Old Master drawings, Galerie Leage (Paris) with objects and furniture from the 18th century in a shared stand with Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz (Paris) and Peter Harrington (London) specialising in rare books, manuscripts, and works on paper.
Lebanons Hezbollah militia has fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel, warning that the barrage was its initial response to the killing  presumably by Israel  of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut earlier this week.

The rocket attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group must retaliate for the killing of Saleh Arouri, the deputy political leader of the allied Hamas group.

Mr Nasrallah said that if Hezbollah does not retaliate for Mr Arouris killing in its stronghold south of the Lebanese capital, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack.

Saleh Arouri (Mohammad Austaz/Hamas Media Office/AP)

He appeared to be making the case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, but he gave no indication of how or when the militants would act.

Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had launched 62 rockets towards an air surveillance base on Mount Meron and scored direct hits.

The Israeli military said about 40 rockets were fired towards the area of Meron, but made no mention of a base. It said it had struck the cell that fired the rockets.

The escalating cross-border exchanges came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a Middle East trip to prevent the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 14th week, from spreading across the region.

The funeral of Saleh Arouri in Beirut on Thursday (Hussein Malla/AP)

He is in Turkey on Saturday for meetings with the countrys president and foreign minister. It is Mr Blinkens fourth Middle East trip in three months.

International criticism of Israels operations in the Gaza Strip has been mounting, while the US is increasingly worried about the end game.

This comes in addition to Washingtons worries about a recent increase in attacks in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq.
Eleven people have been killed by Russian shelling in Ukraines partially occupied Donetsk province, officials said.

Regional governor Vadym Filashkin said five children were among the dead and eight further people were wounded in the attack on the Pokrovsk district.

Meanwhile, Ukraines military claimed it successfully attacked the Saki military airbase in the west of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

Saki airfield! All targets were hit! Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram. He also published a photo appearing to show the airfield, though it was not immediately possible to verify the image.

Russian officials did not comment on the alleged attack, but Russias defence ministry said in the early hours of Saturday that it had successfully downed four Ukrainian missiles over the peninsula overnight.

A volunteer clears the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged yesterday by Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, during the week (AP)

Later on Saturday, the ministry reported that its air defence forces had shot down six anti-ship missiles over the Black Sea.

Traffic was temporarily suspended for a third straight day on a bridge connecting the peninsula, which Moscow seized illegally in 2014, with Russias southern Krasnodar region. The span is a crucial supply link for Russias war effort.

In Russia, local officials in Belgorod  25 miles from the border with Ukraine  said an air target was shot down on approach to the city.

Ukrainian attacks on December 30 in Belgorod killed 25 people, officials there said, with rocket and drone attacks continuing throughout this week.

As Russians prepared to celebrate Orthodox Christmas, Christmas Eve masses in Belgorod were cancelled due to the operational situation, mayor Valentin Demidov said.
When Lancaster Police Officer William Delano arrived at a crash scene 22 months ago, he saw an injured man sitting on the ground about 10 to 15 feet from an Infiniti sedan engulfed in flames.

The man on the ground, Ryan Stencel, told Delano he hadnt been driving, and he didnt think anyone else was in the car, Delano testified Thursday in Erie County Court.

Police subsequently determined that Stencel had been behind the wheel when the car hit a tree on Warner Road at about 11:30 p.m. March 2, 2022, a crash that caused the cars gas tank to ignite.

After firefighters extinguished the flames, authorities found two women, both 19, dead in the car.

Stencel, 19 at the time of the crash and now 21, faces two criminally negligent homicide charges in the deaths of Molly Kaminski and Makenzie Mycek.

Delano was the sole witness to take the stand during an evidentiary hearing before Erie County Judge Kenneth Case to determine whether statements Stencel made at the crash scene were considered legally voluntary and would be admissible at trial. Case said he would announce his decision Feb. 16.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin March 21.

Defense attorney Brian Melber suggested during cross-examination that his client may have suffered an injury in the crash that caused him to be confused or disoriented. Delano acknowledged that Stencel may have had a concussion or been in shock. The officer testified that Stencel had burns on his arms.

Stencel, who was arraigned on an indictment on the two charges in February, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 25% to 30% of his body, Melber said.

If convicted, Stencel faces a maximum of four years in prison.

Prosecutors accuse Stencel of acting with substantial and unjustifiable risk.

The crash happened on Warner, between Greenbriar Drive and Pheasant Run Lane. When Delano arrived as the first officer on the scene, there were neighbors and bystanders standing nearby, he testified.

Stencel was still on the ground when Delano said he asked him what happened and if anybody else was in the vehicle.

He told the officer he was unsure, Delano said. Stencel also told him he did not think there was anybody in the vehicle.

The officer tried to check to see if anyone else was inside, but was pushed back by the flames and heat.

I tried to break the window with my flashlight, he said. It was just burning way too hot.

Stencel was moved about 20 feet to a porch, where emergency responders evaluated his condition. After being assisted to his feet, he walked to the porch on his own, Delano said.

While on the porch, Delano asked Stencel if he had used drugs or alcohol prior to the crash.

He stated no, Delano said.

The officer said he did not observe anything that would make him think Delano had used drugs or alcohol before the crash.

Stencel was taken to Erie County Medical Center after he also told Delano the car wasnt his and he wasnt the driver of the vehicle, the officer testified.

The position of police and prosecutors is that Stencel was not in custody when he answered Delanos questions at the scene.

Just prior to Thursdays hearing, Case ruled that prosecutors may not use toxicology results from after the crash showing THC in Stencels blood, unless they also had a toxicologist who would testify the drug in his system had some effect on his ability to operate a motor vehicle.

Assistant District Attorney Paul J. Glascott, chief of the DAs Vehicular Crimes Unit, told the judge that prosecutors could not produce such a witness.

Without the additional testimony, Case said he didnt believe the mere presence of THC was relevant, and also that it would be highly prejudicial if introduced.

The level of THC found in Stencels blood was not revealed in court Thursday.

Whether a driver is impaired by marijuana cannot be determined solely by the amount of the drug in their system.

New York State does not set a numerical legal standard for the amount of THC  the main psychoactive component of marijuana  in a persons blood that allows them to be considered impaired.

The judges ruling on the toxicology report extended to reported statements on the same issue made by Stencel at ECMC.

Stencel remains out on bail.
DALLAS  The family of former U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson said Thursday that the trailblazing Texas congresswoman, who died last weekend at age 89, passed away after getting an infection and accused a Dallas rehabilitation facility of neglect.

Johnson, who was the first registered nurse elected to Congress, died Dec. 31 at her Dallas home. Les Weisbrod, her family's attorney and Johnson's longtime friend, said at a news conference that her death was caused by an infection in her spine that developed after she was left in her own feces at Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation following back surgery.

Weisbrod said he has given notice to Baylor Scott & White Health System and Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation that the family intends to file a lawsuit for medical negligence over her death.

In a statement Thursday, Baylor Scott & White Health called Johnson "an inspiration to all," and said they are committed to working with her family and attorney.

Weisbrod said it's a case that Johnson herself asked him to pursue weeks ago after she began suffering from complications from the infection.

"I thought it was going to be a case for the pain that she went through and the additional procedures she went through and the medical bills and that she was going to recover," he said. "And so it's very distressing for me that she succumbed to this."

On Sept. 21, her son found her lying in her own feces and urine at the rehabilitation facility, according to a news release from Weisbrod's office. Kirk Johnson said at the news conference Thursday that he went to the facility after his mother called to tell him she was getting no response from the call button. He said he arrived about 10 minutes later.

"Deplorable," he said. "She was being unattended to. She was screaming out in pain and for help."

The news release said that when Kirk Johnson couldn't find any nurses on the floor, he went to the administration office and the CEO accompanied him to his mother's room. When they arrived, staff members were cleaning up the feces.

The news release said Eddie Bernice Johnson's orthopedic surgeon noted in his record that Johnson had some complications after the operation after being found in bed sitting in her own feces and three days later she began having "copious purulent drainage from the low lumbar incision."

The surgeon performed a surgical repair on the infected wound, and she was moved to a skilled nursing facility on Oct. 18 and went home on hospice care mid-December, the news release said.

The news release said that laboratory wound culture reports showed organisms directly related to feces.

Johnson served in the House for three decades, leaving office last January after repeatedly delaying her retirement. Johnson, who was the first Black chief psychiatric nurse at Dallas' Veterans Affairs hospital, became the first Black woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and she also led the Congressional Black Caucus.

Today in history: Jan. 5 1914: Henry Ford 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross 1933: Golden Gate Bridge 1943: George Washington Carver 1949: Harry Truman 1998: Sonny Bono 2004: Airports 2011: John Boehner 2012: Barack Obama 2017: Donald Trump 2017: Gretchen Carlson 2018: Peter Martins 2018: Rose Bowl 2021: Georgia 2021: Kenosha 2022: Grammy Awards 2022: Kyrie Irving 2022: Novak Djokovic returns to the tennis court
1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.


Saturday, January 6, 2024 - CCTV footage showing the moment 34-year-old John Matara fled after killing Pastor Kanyaris younger sister, Scarlet Wahu, at an Airbnb apartment in South B has emerged.

In the footage, the suspected killer is seen getting into a lift after stabbing Wahu and leaving her lying in a pool of blood.

After getting into the lift, a man standing next to him gets suspicious after spotting his blood-stained clothes.

Matara alights from the lift on the ground floor and continues raising more suspicion from other tenants.

He looks disturbed and in a hurry.

He even steps on a ladys toes as he escapes.

He quietly leaves the apartment after committing the heinous murder.

The gateman is said to have contacted Florence Ngina, the owner of the Airbnb where Matara had checked in with Scarlet, informing her that a tenant had been spotted leaving the house with blood-stained clothes.

Florence rushed to the house and found it locked.

She used spare keys to gain access and found Scarlets body lying in a pool of blood.

She reported the matter at South B police station.

Matara was tracked using his phone number and arrested while undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

Watch CCTV footage of the murder suspect fleeing.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Saturday, January 6, 2024  An Israeli news anchor was spotted with a gun live on air while presenting from the studio amid fear of another Hamas attack.

Lital Shemesh, a presenter for right-wing Israeli broadcaster Channel 14, was pictured on Tuesday, January 2, sitting behind her anchor desk with a gun tucked into the waistband of her trousers.

Shemesh's gun is right next to her microphone receivers while she is sitting on the edge of her presenter chair.

Her most recent social media post showed her practising her shooting skills on a gun range as she called for people to 'get your guns out'.

She also posted several pictures of herself reporting from the frontlines as well as in her soldier's uniform.

The journalist and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) reservist has previously spoken about fighting Hamas.

'The entire country is being recruited to fight this war against terrorism, to fight this war against Hamas,' Shemesh told Fox News shortly after the October 7 attack.

'We haven't seen a slaughter like this in Israel in the 75 years of Israel's existence. This is a second holocaust for us.'

This comes as fears of another Hamas offensive have been rising after the terror group killed 1,140 people, most of them civilians, during their October 7 attack, according to a tally based on official Israeli figures.
Tesla recalls over 1.6 mln cars in China

Xinhua) 10:48, January 06, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Electric carmaker Tesla has announced a recall involving more than 1.6 million of its vehicles in China due to safety risks, China's top quality watchdog said on Friday.

The recall, effective immediately, affects 7,538 imported Model S and Model X vehicles manufactured from Oct. 26, 2022 to Nov. 16, 2023, according to a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation.

Defects in the cars may cause car doors to unlock during a collision, thereby posing a safety hazard, the statement said.

The carmaker's Beijing branch has promised to provide over-the-air software updates for the recalled cars to address the issue. The updates will be free of charge.

The recall also includes nearly 1.61 million imported Model S, Model X, Model 3, and domestically-manufactured Model 3 and Model Y vehicles produced between Aug. 26, 2014 and Dec. 20, 2023.

According to the statement, when the automatic assisted steering feature is activated in these vehicles, drivers might misuse the combined assisted driving function, increasing the risks of a collision.

Tesla's Beijing and Shanghai branches will use over-the-air technology to update these cars with newly-developed features that help fix the problem, said the statement.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)


Saturday, January 6, 2024  Judge Mary Kay Holthus of the Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, took a beating on Wednesday, January 3, as she sentenced a man for felony battery.

While handing 30-year-old Deobra Redden his sentence, the convict broke free and viciously took her down to the ground.

Redden's attorney had reportedly asked Holthus to give his client probation, but she wasn't budging.

After Holthus made a comment about him needing to "get a taste of something else," Redden leaped over the bench and attacked her, causing chaos in the courtroom.

Multiple people, including the bailiff, quickly stepped in to subdue Redden as screaming and fighting continued, some even landed punches on Redden before the madness came to an end.

Sources told 8 News Now that Judge Holthus hit her head, but was alright after the scary ordeal.

Redden has reportedly had a number of run-ins with the law, and even been before Judge Holthus in the past. He was previously arraigned before the judge to face destruction of property charges, and he also served a year in prison on a separate domestic battery charge.

He also pled guilty in November to threatening to bust a man's kneecaps in April, and causing substantial bodily harm. Holthus issued a bench warrant for his arrest in December after he missed a court appearance.

Watch the video below


Friday January 5, 2024  Kenyans now risk being banned from working in Nigeria over allegations of possessing fake academic papers.

This is after the Nigerian Government announced that it was halting the evaluation of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.

Following the suspension which affected 45 universities in the two nations, Nigeria added that it would be extending the suspension to Kenya, Uganda and Niger.

This was communicated by Nigerian Education Minister Tahir Mamman who vowed to clean the education system in his country.

The sanctions were instituted after an investigative journalist acquired a degree from a university in the Benin Republic after studying for less than 60 days.

Immediately after earning the degree, he used the certifications to apply and get deployed for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

We are not going to stop at just Benin and Togo. We are going to extend the dragnet to countries like Uganda, Kenya, even Niger here where such institutions have been set up, Mamman announced.

He explained that the reason for extending the suspension to Kenya and other countries was to weed out certificates from rogue institutions.

If along the line, we can trace that there are people already in the system.

For instance, if a particular institution or operator has been operating, say in the last 10 years, we will check if we can get records of Nigerians who attended that institution," the Education Minister explained how Nigeria was tackling the case of fake certificates.

An investigation showed that Nigerians were acquiring doctored academic papers from foreign countries, among them Kenya, and used them to acquire job opportunities back home.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Saturday, January 6, 2024  A 49-year-old man has been arrested after a gunman opened fire outside a packed Liverpool cinema filled with families watching the new Wonka film.

Merseyside Police confirmed the arrest after a major incident was declared following reports of shots being fired at three separate locations on Wednesday night. No-one was injured in any of the incidents.

The man from Fazakerley was taken into custody by Armed Response Officers shortly before 5 am.

The man, who was arrested on suspicion of possession of a Section 1 firearm with intent to endanger life and robbery at 4.46am, remains at a police station in Merseyside.

When officers attended the property in Fazakerley, the man became 'aggressive and a Taser was deployed', a police spokesperson said.

Officers were first called to newsagents in Norris Green, Liverpool at 8.30pm last night to reports that a man had entered the shop and threatened the store assistant.

He is said to have demanded cash before firing a gun and leaving the store empty-handed. The staff member was unharmed but left 'extremely distressed' by the incident.

Families inside the cinema were plunged into lockdown as armed police were scrambled to the scene, before later being evacuated.





Around 90 minutes later, gunshots were heard at a property on Malpas Road, police said. No-one was injured in any of the incidents.

Witness Craig Moorhead, 35, from Garston, had been watching Wonka with his daughter and her friend, both 14, when shots were reportedly fired at the cinema.

Mr Moorhead heard police at the back of the cinema as the film ended, and when he went into the foyer discovered the building had been locked down, the Echo reports.

After being kept in the cinema for 45 minutes, police escorted small groups to their cars after getting past a line of armed police, he said.

Assistant Chief Constable Jenn Wilson, said: 'I can report that a 49-year-old man has been arrested following three firearms discharges in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas last night.

'Thankfully incidents like this, involving a single offender in three separate shootings in close proximity and quick succession, are extremely rare and this is the first time we have had to deal with an incident of this nature on the streets of Merseyside.

'The shocking and distressing impact these incidents will have had on the shop assistant, the staff at the Showcase Cinema and those filmgoers who found themselves in a lockdown situation in the complex after shots were fired outside the cinema and the residents of Malpas Road cannot be underestimated.

'Officers were on the ground immediately following the first incident and were able to respond swiftly to the subsequent discharges, and a male was identified, located and arrested on suspicion of all three discharges within 13 hours.'

She added that high visibility patrols will remain in the area throughout the day, continuing: 'Firearms have no place on our streets and we are committed to arresting those involved in gun crime and taking firearms off our streets.

'I would appeal to anyone who has information about those involved in gun crime, or who knows were weapons are being stored to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 so we can further reduce the harm caused by these weapons in our communities.'

A spokesperson for Showcase Cinemas said: 'We are aware of an incident at our cinema and surrounding area in Liverpool.

'The safety and welfare of our staff and customers is always our number one priority and we can confirm no one was injured.

'We would like to thank our team members and the local police for their swift responses to this active investigation.'


Saturday, January 6, 2024  The shooting yesterday, Jan. 4, at Perry High School, Iowa, left one student dead and five others injured.

The shooter has been identified as a 17-year-old student of the school.

The teen opened fire at the high school before classes resumed on the first day after the winter break, killing a sixth-grader and wounding five others as students barricaded in offices, ducked into classrooms and fled in panic.

The suspect died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation official said. Authorities said one of the five people wounded was an administrator, later identified by his alma mater as Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger.

Authorities identified the shooter as Dylan Butler, 17, and provided no information about a possible motive.

Two friends and their mother who spoke with The Associated Press said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied for years.

Authorities said Butler had a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun. Mitch Mortvedt, the state investigation divisions assistant director, said during a news conference that authorities also found a pretty rudimentary improvised explosive device and rendered it safe.

The suspects motive is being investigated and authorities are looking into a number of social media posts he made around the time of the shooting, Mortvedt added.

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said federal and state investigators are interviewing Butlers friends and analyzing Butlers social media profiles, including posts on TikTok and Reddit.

Shortly before Thursdays shooting, Butler posted a photo on TikTok inside the bathroom of Perry High School, the official said. The photo was captioned now we wait and the song Stray Bullet by the German band KMFDM accompanied it. Investigators have also found other photos Butler posted posing with firearms, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Sisters Yesenia Roeder and Khamya Hall, both 17, said alongside their mother, Alita, that Butler was bullied relentlessly since elementary school, but it escalated recently when his younger sister started getting picked on, too. His parents brought it up to the school, they said, and that was the last straw for Butler.

He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment, Yesenia Roeder Hall, 17, said. Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no.

Perry High School senior Ava Augustus said she was awaiting a counselor in a school office when she heard three shots. Unable to flee through a small window, she and others barricaded the door and were ready to throw things if necessary.

And then we hear Hes down. You can go out, Augustus said through tears. And I run and you can just see glass everywhere, blood on the floor. I get to my car and theyre taking a girl out of the auditorium who had been shot in her leg.

Three gunshot victims were being treated at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, a spokesperson said. Others were taken to a second hospital, a spokesperson for MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center confirmed.

Mortvedt said one person was in critical condition but the injuries didnt appear to be life-threatening, and the others were stable.

Hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight prayer vigil Thursday evening at a park where hours earlier, students had been brought to reunite with their families after the shooting. Bundled up against freezing temperatures, they listened to pastors from many faiths and heard a message of hope in both English and Spanish.

A post on the high schools Facebook page said it would be closed Friday and counseling services would be available for students, faculty and others in the community.

This senseless tragedy has shaken our entire state to its core, Gov. Kim Reynolds said.


Friday January 5, 2024 - Azimio Leader Raila Odinga and former President Uhuru Kenyatta are still bosom friends despite their different stance on the dialogue report.

This was revealed by National Assembly Leader of Minority, Opiyo Wandayi, who allayed fears of a fallout between Raila and Uhuru over the bipartisan report.

The Ugunja lawmaker maintained that the two Azimio principals are still united despite reports of a fallout over the National Dialogue Committee alias the bipartisan report.

He revealed that Uhuru had yet to reject the report despite his key allies, led by Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, opposing the report partially adopted by Raila.

Further, Wandayi noted that the varying opinions among their members were typical, akin to what is observed within families.

"I cannot speak on behalf of Uhuru, but there is nowhere where I have heard him say that he opposes the NADCO report. If there is any, then you should tell me. So, people should stop forcing differences where there are not.

"We are united under Raila, but that does not mean that we will not have divergent views on it," Wandayi stated.

On allegations that Azimio failed to meet its target during the dialogue, Wandayi insisted that the exercise was successful, insisting that only one of the demands was not met.

He stated that the Raila-led coalition attempted to have the Kenya Kwanza regime bring down the cost of living but to no avail.

Differences among Azimio leaders emerged after the NADCO report was released in November 2023.

While the report was largely adopted by ODM and the Wiper Party of Kalonzo Musyoka, other allies such as Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua and Jubilee Party opposed the report.

According to the report's opponents, Kenya Kwanza hoodwinked Azimio into ratifying the report as it did not address taxation and the cost of living.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Friday January 5, 2024 - President William Ruto has threatened to expose a section of Judicial officers accused of perpetuating corruption and sabotaging his agenda.

In a statement to Kenyans, Ruto, through State House Spokesperson, Hussein Mohamed, insisted that it was his duty to expose and hold a section of judicial officers enabling graft, accountable.

"Corruption, whether within the Judiciary, the Executive or the Legislature and, indeed, among the general public must not find refuge behind the shield of judicial independence. It is our duty to expose and hold accountable those who engage in corrupt practices whoever they maybe and wherever they are," Hussein stated.

We are back to the clamour for Judiciary reforms last witnessed during President Mwaki Kibaki's tenure when it was said: Why pay for a lawyers services when you can pay a judge? We must never allow the return of such impunity in Kenya, he added.

While defending the new push to expose corrupt judicial officers, Hussein indicated that the President would be protecting the Constitution and protecting the citizens from judicial misconduct.

At the same time, Hussein dismissed sentiments raised by the Law Society of Kenya condemning the President's sentiments.

Hussein, however, insisted that Ruto was a firm believer in judicial independence citing various reforms instituted by the Head of State since assuming power.

We, however, agree with the Law Society of Kenya that Executive impunity is unacceptable. However, legislative impunity, by its own measure, is also unacceptable and so is judicial impunity, he stated.

Ruto has attracted criticism following his remarks against the Judiciary.

The Head of State vowed to soldier on with his Affordable Housing agenda and Social Health care plan which have all been challenged in court.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Saturday, January 6, 2024 - Controversial city preacher, Victor Kanyari, has broken his silence after his younger sister Scarlet Wahu was murdered at an Airbnb apartment in Nairobis South B estate.

Kanyari said he spent the festive season with his sister.

They met on Christmas Day and also spent time together on December 31st at home.

Little did he know that she would later be murdered in cold blood.

He expressed profound grief over the loss and highlighted that she was doing well in life before her sudden demise.

I am heartbroken; she was doing so well in life.

We last met on Christmas, and on December 31, we spent time together at home.

We had not seen the man before.

We learned about him after her death.

This is so tragic for us, the family, and even her friends. May her soul rest in peace, Kanyari said.

Wahu checked into an Airbnb apartment in South B on Wednesday night while in the company of a man identified as John Matara, who is the main suspect in the murder.

He stabbed her to death and fled early on Thursday morning.

Police tracked him using his phone number and arrested him as he was receiving treatment at the Mbagathi Hospital, seven kilometres from the scene.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Friday January 5, 2024 - President William Ruto has bowed to Azimio Leader, Raila Odingas ultimatum to release funds for school capitation.

In a statement from State House Spokesperson, Hussein Mohammed, it was reported that the National Treasury had released Ksh 31.34 billion in preparation for schools opening next week.

Ksh 4.74 billion of the total sum was disbursed to the State Department for Basic Education towards the facilitation of free primary education for Term 1.

Additionally, the State Department was further given Ksh 7.6 billion as capitation for Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).

Hussein Mohammed explained that the rest of the money would be used for school examinations and invigilation fees (Ksh 2.8 billion) and free day secondary education (Ksh 16.2 billion).

In his statement on Tuesday, Raila had accused Ruto of managing the education sector through lies remarking that the total money owed to schools from the Financial Year 2022/2023 was Ksh 18 billion.

"As schools await opening, head teachers are struggling to meet the basic resourcing needs of their schools," Raila had stated.

Raila further remarked that Ruto had lied to parents by stating that the Kenya Kwanza administration had increased allocations to the education sector and enhanced capitation for all learners.

"The Government must release all the monies owed to schools. It must also release capitation at the approved rate of Ksh22,244 per child for the financial year 2023/2024," Raila issued an ultimatum.

"We urge all Parents Teachers Associations and school Boards of Management across the country to rise to the occasion and demand full-end equitable sharing of education funding. We will support such demands."

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Friday January 5, 2024 - President William Ruto has escalated the war against the Judiciary and the Law Society of Kenya.

This is after he declined to give in to CJ Koomes and LSKs warnings and instead reiterated that the Judiciary harbours rogue elements out to sabotage his legacy.

The President further dismissed the Law Society of Kenya's complaints that the Executive was hindering the course of justice through intimidation of the Judiciary.

Ruto, in a statement issued by State House Spokesperson, Hussein Mohammed, remarked that it was unfair to accuse him of impending independence of the Judiciary considering he had appointed Judges who had earlier been denied their appointments by the former administration.

"However, legislative impunity, by its own measures, is also unacceptable and so is judicial impunity," he castigated the LSK and Judiciary.

Ruto added that as the Head of State, it was his constitutional obligation to protect Kenyan citizens from judicial misconduct perpetrated by corrupt officers colluding with vested interests.

"Corruption must not find refuge behind the shield of judicial independence," he remarked adding that there is a duty to expose and hold accountable those who engage in corrupt practices.

In defence of his attack on the Judiciary, Ruto pointed out that in December, independent institutions were prevented from charging suspects of corruption.

He added that while the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) together with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were discharging their constitutional mandate, those efforts were frustrated by the circumnavigation of the criminal justice system.

Ruto vowed to continue advocating for a just judicial system insisting it was part of his promises to the electorate.

His statement was issued moments after Chief Justice Martha Koome called out perceived judicial intimidation by the Executive and urged judges and judicial officials to carry on with their work without fear of reproach or coercion.

LSK also threatened to carry out nationwide demonstrations against Ruto next week.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Friday January 5, 2024 - The Government has announced that it was postponing President William Rutos directive on Visa-free entries to Kenya to a yet to be announced date.

In a statement to Kenyans, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) noted that the alternative entry application model, the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system was yet to be fully developed.

As such, travelers visiting the country will still be required to apply for a Visa through Kenyan Embassies, as has been the norm.

Following the presidential directive that Kenya will be a visa-free country from January 2024, an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system is in the process of development and implementation."

All travelers coming to Kenya from countries that require visas shall continue applying for visas in the usual manner until the government communicates the change program to the ETA system," Officials at KCAA confirmed.

The ETA system, according to Government Spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura, is meant to control the influx of visitors once the visas are scrapped.

Travellers will be charged Ksh 4,600 during the application for the permit, an amount lower than Ksh 7,600 for a single-entry visa.

ETA systems also provide an extra layer of security and enhance efficiency in that they cut off unnecessary delays, facilitating the free movement of people across borders. Kenya is also expected to leverage Integrated border management systems at airports to curb illegal movements.

Nonetheless, details on how the authorities will monitor activity and deny entry to travelers who pose a threat to the country's national security are yet to be revealed.

President William Ruto, on Jamhuri Day, announced that Kenya was moving towards becoming a Visa-free country, whereby all international visitors would be granted access to the country.

While making his statement, Ruto said that the move aligned with global aspirations to facilitate seamless travel between countries and boost the local Tourism industry.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Saturday, January 6, 2024 - A young Kenyan man is trending after he pit up a distressing post on Facebook threatening to take his own life after his girlfriend dumped him.

He was hoping to marry her but she rejected his marriage proposal in the presence of her parents.

He fell into depression after their relationship ended, prompting him to have suicidal thoughts.

He has been battling depression in vain after his relationship with Edith crumbled, despite doing everything possible to make her happy.

He urged whoever will fall in love with Edith to give her love and attention.

Give Edith the love I gave her. Give Edith the attention I gave her. Call her after 10 minutes to know how she is doing like I used to, he wrote.

Check out this viral post and photos





The Kenyan DAILY POST


Friday January 5, 2024 - The High Court has ordered the Inspector General Japhet Koome to allow Busia Senator, Okiya Omtatah, to record a statement over alleged death threats issued by President William Ruto.

Justice EC Mwita issued the orders today in a case filed by Omtatah on December 29, 2023.

It is hereby ordered that the pleading be served, read part of the court order.

Furthermore, Justice Mwita of the Milimani High Court directed IG Koome to file a response within 14 days of being served with the notice.

The matter will be mentioned before the court on January 24, 2024, for further directions.

Omtatah claimed that he was chased away by police officers at Nyanchwa Police Station on December 19th after attempting to accuse Ruto of issuing death threats against opponents of the Housing Levy.

After a failed attempt to convince the officers to allow him to record a statement, he headed to Mosocho Police Station, where he was once again chased away.

He thus turned to the Judiciary as a last resort in his effort to seek legal redress and pressure the police to grant him his rights.

In the notice filed in court, Omtatah alleged that Ruto made death threats and harmful remarks against him and other stakeholders during a ceremony in Mosocho, Kisii, on December 16.

Ruto warned that he would not relent in his quest to achieve his legacy because he received a sword from his predecessor that gives him the power to handle individuals opposing the housing levy.

"You know I was given a sword. Do you think it's for cutting vegetables? It's for dealing with all these crooks here. I will uproot them completely, and Kenya will move forward," Ruto stated.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Saturday, January 6, 2024  The U.S. military has confirmed a drone strike in Baghdad killed an Iraqi militia leader blamed for attacks against American forces in the country, according to a senior U.S. official.

It comes as growing regional tensions from the conflict in Gaza threaten to spread across borders, igniting a regional war in the Middle East.

The Popular Mobilisation Force (PMF) said its deputy head of operations in Baghdad Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi was killed in the strike.

The group is linked to Iraq's armed forces, but the government in Baghdad has only limited control over its activities.

The American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike targeted a leader of Harakat al Nujaba, a Shia militia that forms part of the PMF, without naming the individual.

Iraq's foreign ministry condemned the attack.

'Iraq reserves its right to take a firm stance and take all measures that deter anyone who tries to harm its land and security forces,' it said.

Iraqi police sources and witnesses said a drone fired at least two rockets in eastern Baghdad at a facility used by the Iraqi militia group al-Nujaba.

The Iran-backed organization was designated a terrorist group in 2019 by the Trump administration.


Wednesday, January 3, 2024  A YouTubeDJ is feared dead after he leaped from a cruise ship into the sea following a row with his girlfriend on what should have been a dream trip.

Carlos Alberto Mota Candreva, 32, had posted videos to his social media pages from the ship as it sailed from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro along Brazils South Atlantic Ocean coast.

Carlos had booked for the two-day New Year trip with model agency boss Vitoria Barbara Momenso, 27.

In one of his Instagram posts, Carlos told his followers: Still here at the Port of Santos, we are waiting to leave.

Lets see what it will be, theres a party tonight. My suitcase hasnt arrived at the cabin door yet. Were here, enjoying it.

A few hours later, Carlos reportedly threw himself more than 200 feet into the ocean after an angry row with Vitoria over their two-year romance.

According to local media, Carlos wanted an exclusive and official relationship with Vitoria, who wanted to stay casual.

Crew members on the New Years Eve On The High Seas cruise raised the alarm after Carlos disappeared in the early hours of December 30.

Vitoria told local media: He thought he couldnt see me with someone else, that he couldnt handle it.

She revealed that Carlos stormed off and came back telling her she was making a fool of him before jumping into the sea.

Vitoria said: I was very shocked. I just froze.

I cant eat, Im trying to eat, but its not going down.

I will definitely have to go to therapy. Im going to be traumatised for the rest of my life.

His sister, 44-year-old Christiane Mota da Silva, told local media: I lost my best friend, my confidant, my partner.

I have a feeling of emptiness. My eyes dont close, only tears come out. The feeling is that they took the best part of me.

Cruise operators MSC Cruzeiros confirmed that a passenger was reported missing while the vessel was sailing to Angra dos Reis, an island paradise on the way to Rio.

They said in a statement to local media: A thorough search was carried out on board and it was confirmed that the guest intentionally jumped overboard.

The incident was immediately reported to the competent authorities and the Coast Guard released the ship to continue its journey.
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Medicine, for many of us, has been a calling. Since I was a child, I knew I would be a doctor, and I did everything in my power to make that dream come to fruition. Nearly 13 years of education, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, years of lost income and retirement savings, countless hours away from family and loved ones, and a disregard for personal passions and hobbies were needed to ultimately reach this zenith. Here I sit today, a board-certified physician and surgeon, with the job I always wanted.

But was it all worth it?

Many would argue that at times, yes. But sadly, more often than not, physicians like myself express genuine regret in having pursued this arduous path.

More than half of physicians (53 percent) report burnout, with female doctors reporting significantly higher rates of burnout than their male colleagues. It pains my heart to hear that 13 percent of physicians have felt suicidal as a result of this.

However, one contributor to burnout that is not spoken about enough is patient mistreatment of providers. In speaking with many colleagues, many of us in health care have felt we are victims of patient bullying and verbal/emotional abuse. We endure unnecessary commentary from patients about our appearance, race, ethnicity, years of experience, among other things. Workplaces mandate public posting of all patient comments and reviews that physicians have to read and process. Other times, physicians are forced to read letters of complaint written by patients sent to patient relations and patient advocacy departments, attacking physician quality of care with threats of litigation. The statistics regarding litigation in medicine are staggering  the American Medical Association found that in 2022, nearly 1/3 (31.2 percent) of U.S. physicians reported being previously sued. In addition, they found that the longer a physician is in practice, the higher their exposure to risk, and that nearly half of physicians (46.8 percent) over 54 years of age have been sued. The reality that we as physicians will more likely than not get sued looms above us. We cannot do anything but accept it as reality and feel helpless. These outlets have amplified the power of the patient voice, and the negative, disparaging voices sadly drown out the thankful, positive ones.

So I ask all of you, where has the physician voice gone in this landscape of health care? Patients have an abundance of outlets to relay their thoughts and concerns with abandon, but why do we as physicians remain silenced? How do we protect ourselves and retain our love for medicine in a world that is so quick to point fingers and denigrate us while all we are trying to do is take the best care of our patients? How do we formally voice our concerns over patient abuse and disrespect to defend ourselves? How do we hold patients accountable for their behavior just as we are held accountable for the values of the Hippocratic oath we took when we first put on our white coats?

No physician walks into a patient room or an operating room desiring to incite harm. They apply hours of training and expertise in striving to provide the highest quality of care to their patients with an inherent desire to take care of others. Yet our patients forget that we too are human. Patient expectations and entitlement have become unreasonable. We are no longer viewed as physicians but as a service industry that is at the beck and call of our customers.

I urge you all to sit back and think about how we as physicians can advocate for ourselves. Where can we find resources to advocate for ourselves? How can we reinvigorate the patient-physician relationship without fearing retaliation and litigation during every patient encounter?

I worry that if we lose our voices, we will very soon lose valuable clinical talent as many of us will choose to leave clinical medicine for other ventures. Burnout is an epidemic that we will not escape if this continues. And sadly, the ones who will suffer are the patients who bullied us from the start.

Nandini Venkateswaran is a physician.
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Between state budget battles, uncertainty over the University of Wisconsin systems building priorities, more closed branch campuses and a looming budget shortfall, 2023 was a busy year for Wisconsins public university system.

Dont expect 2024 to be any quieter.

Many of the headlines that dominated 2023 will be back in 2024, albeit in slightly different forms. Instead of the will-they-or-wont-they of the UW Board of Regents approving a deal with the state Legislature, the focus will shift to seeing whether the Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers approve crucial aspects of that deal, including UW-Madisons new engineering building and $32 million returned to the UW system budget to implement its workforce development plan.

And you can expect the sagas of long-standing issues with the UW system  anticipated budget shortfalls, enrollment and the future of the branch campuses  to continue as well. Here are five things to keep an eye on in 2024.

Implementation of the deal

It was the story that dominated December: UW system President Jay Rothman, along with UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, struck a deal with legislative Republicans to get much of what many felt had been unfairly withheld, such as UW system staff pay raises already approved in the budget process and the engineering building that seemed like a slam-dunk decision to in growing Wisconsins economy.

In return, the UW system agreed to reclassify a third of its diversity, equity and inclusion employees under the systems student success umbrella and to eliminate any questions on admissions applications that refer to diversity, an initiative Rothman announced earlier this year with job applications.

But the deal hinges on lawmakers approving many provisions that require legislative and governor approval. Certain aspects, such as all of the state borrowing required to build or renovate UW system buildings, are expected to come forward as bills in January and need to be approved by the end of February. Other aspects, such as a new Minnesota student tuition reciprocity agreement and guaranteed admissions for a certain percentage of the states top high school students, at one point have been standalone bills introduced this session.

Since the deal was struck between Rothman and Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, its unclear whether the deal will be executed to the letter. The deal prompted significant outcry from legislative Democrats after it was announced earlier this month, and at least one Republican indicated he was unhappy with the deal following a vote on approving the withheld pay raises for UW system employees, stating that it didnt go far enough to eliminate DEI.

Steep budget shortfalls

As the majority of the UW systems universities were projected to have a combined $58 million budget shortfall by June 2024, many have undergone cost-cutting measures.

Some of the universities, such as UW-Platteville, are looking to close entire budget gaps within the year, despite Rothman requiring all of the universities to reduce spending by the end of fiscal year 2028. Others, such as UW-Oshkosh, already have made deep cuts. Oshkosh eliminated nearly one in six jobs in October. But universities will still wrestle with budget shortfalls this year.

For years, UW system universities were draining money from reserve accounts to make ends meet. While Rothman has said the UW systems fiscal situation is not surprising, given decisions made by legislators to keep state aid relatively flat or deal UW system deep cuts during the past decade, the use of reserves is also unsustainable.

Enrollment projections

Last fall was the first in nearly a decade the UW system was able to increase its enrollment. Whether it can continue to reverse a longstanding downward trend has yet to be seen. Already, the system is implementing strategies it has lacked at a systemwide level for years.

The system is poised to automatically offer admission to eligible Wisconsin high school juniors to the majority of its campuses starting this summer, with the hopes of expanding its reach. More than 200 high schools or districts have signed on to the program, including the majority of Dane County schools.

The UW system also is pursuing private dollars to keep its tuition-waiver program for low-income students alive for a second cohort. At the same time, UW-Milwaukee, which has the largest percentage of students receiving the UW systems tuition waiver program, is planning to launch its own promise program, expected to eventually cost $7 million a year.

Enrollment growth is a vital part of the UW systems financial stability, as state aid has either stagnated or decreased in the past decade.

Re-envisioning branch campuses

With the UW system effectively closing three branch campuses in the past two years, administrators are pressed to figure out a sustainable plan forward for the remaining branches.

Rothman has said plans to end classes are driven by enrollment, not finances, and has said the UW system needs to come up with a new model for its branch campuses.

After announcing the closure of UW-Platteville at Richland in November 2022, Rothman said he was tasking the chancellors who oversee branch campuses with determining paths forward for each of them.

Since branch campuses merged with the UW systems four-year institutions in 2018, some have been able to stabilize enrollments by creating a one university, many locations approach, where branch campuses have curriculum tailored to community needs or can offer the same bachelors degrees as the main campus.

Workforce development

The UW systems workforce development plan, although not yet approved by legislative Republicans, is set to strengthen its focus on industries that are clamoring for new workers.

Those areas are computer science, especially in the area of artificial intelligence; health care; business and finance; and engineering. Through that plan, the UW system could recoup $32 million the Legislatures budget-writing committee held back in an effort to pressure the UW system to eliminate its DEI staff and programming.

UW-Parkside would create the Center for AI and Business and UW-Stout would establish a cluster hire program, where faculty are hired as a group, to integrate artificial intelligence into five of its departments. Other campuses, including UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay and UW-Whitewater, also would offer new degrees in artificial intelligence, robotic automation or both.

At other campuses, nursing and other health care programs are slated to expand. UW-Parkside plans to establish a nursing program independent of its current collaborations with other colleges; UW-Platteville and UW-Superior would leverage their connections with technical colleges to build undergraduate nursing programs.
Stuff reports:

A statement Wednesday signed by the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, germany, italy, Japan, Netherlands, new zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom gave the Houthis what a senior Biden administration official described as a final warning. Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews, the countries said in the statement. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region's critical waterways.

The US has intercepted 61 missiles. Without their actions, that waterway would be unusable.

Radio NZ further report:

Minister of Defence Judith Collins says it was important to join in condemning attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea because New Zealand is so dependent on supply lines. This week, New Zealand and 11 other countries issued a final warningto the Iran-backed Houthis, who have carried out more than 20 attacks on boats in the key trade route, that they would face consequences if they did not cease hostilities. Yemen's Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for Hamas amid the war with Israel. Collins would not be drawn on what those consequences could be, but she said New Zealand must stand with its allies who believed in free access to these shipping lanes.

We are more dependent than almost any other country on shipping supply lines. Nice to see the Government backing the US in this area.

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Bob Arp, the former principal of Lakeview High School said he remembers two qualities Columbus native Travis Koester had when he was in high school in the '90s.

"He was obviously a young man that had an interest in music and a young man with an entrepreneurial spirit," Arp said.

That interest and spirit recently brought Koester his newest album, "Mister Travis," which released on Jan. 5. Arp said those qualities seem to have carried through.

"Those two things have done well for him in what he's doing now," Arp said. "I knew at that time he was considering a career in music and would be doing something like he is now."

Koester spent years in Columbus, attending Lakeview, where he met his wife, before graduating in the late 1990s. A few years after graduating, the couple moved to Lincoln and a few other cities, sometimes for his music. He's since been in several music groups before starting his current solo career.

"I was in a lot of bands, starting at 15-years-old. When I picked up the guitar, I started learning it fast, started a band and played in a few others," Koester said.

"Mr. Travis," Koester said, walks between electric blues and acoustic blues in terms of style.

"It's the middle of the road between Texas and Chicago blues. They're different styles and I'm probably in the middle of that, influenced from guys I've played around, things I've heard. I've explained this album as a roller coaster between electric and acoustic blues," Koester said.

Koester said the album also mixes his experiences with those of others, and includes some instrumental tracks. Some songs have a deep meaning, and others  such as "The Girl Can Cook," about his wife's cooking  are simpler. As for the instrumentals, they're just something he enjoys writing.

"I kind of just go with the flow, most of the time it's personal experience, sometimes I write about other people when I hear stories, or I hear someone say a line and I go 'uh huh, there we go,'" Koester said.

Koester said he found blues music early in his music career after trying some other music styles.

"I was drawn to it shortly after I started, I was learning guitar and I was playing in some bands, doing the rock thing, some grunge, but that wasnt really what I was looking for," Koester said.

Koester said he listened to Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Sky is Crying" and that influenced his musical tastes from there.

"It blew me away and that rabbit-holed. Back then you had to find CDs to play to find out who you were. I fell in love with a lot of vintage blues, everything from Elmore James, who played slide guitar to Buddy Guy, Clapton and things like that," Koester said.

While he used to do some live shows, Koester said he's been focusing more on studio music in recent years for several reasons. He's put out approximately one album a year, he said, between writing, playing and producing. No matter what, they all stick to his style of blues.

"It's always been a part of what I do, what I play, it's always had a hand in it somewhere. I just love the roots of it. That's a part of it I've found a lot of people don't realize but once you do, it's a pretty cool thing," Koester said.

"Mister Travis" is available on traviskoester.com, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.
According to previous KOMU reporting, the DNR said its field staff documented the odor violation by the basin on Wednesday Nov. 15 and issued the City of Moberly a violation notice the next day, Nov. 16, giving the city 30 days to submit a plan to reduce the smell.
Nebraska would become the fourth state where condemned prisoners could be suffocated to death by forcing them to breathe pure nitrogen gas under a bill introduced at the Legislature on Thursday.

Sen. Loren Lippincotts proposal (LB970) would require the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to develop a protocol for nitrogen hypoxia in addition to the existing method of lethal injection, which was last used in 2018.

While nitrogen hypoxia has never been used as a means of carrying out the death penalty in the U.S., and despite recent warnings from the United Nations' watchdog for human rights, Lippincott said he believes it would be effective.

That is a very humane way of putting a person to death, the Central City lawmaker said in a phone interview.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, three states  Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi  have all authorized using nitrogen gas to execute prisoners, largely because obtaining drugs for lethal injections has become increasingly difficult.

Only Alabama has developed a protocol for actually carrying out executions using the method, however, and plans to be the first to do so later this month.

In those states where nitrogen hypoxia is available, inmates are given the choice between that method and other procedures on the books, but under Lippincotts proposal the method for executing death row inmates would be made by the state.

We would leave that choice up to the leadership of the prison, said Lippincott, who has 17 co-sponsors for his bill. Hopefully, they will be open to any suggestions the prisoner would have.

Death penalty opponents in Nebraska and elsewhere say nitrogen hypoxia remains untested and could inflict serious suffering for the prisoner, potentially in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Alex Houchin, the development coordinator at Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said the new method being adopted is an attempt to sanitize state executions for backers.

"We're lying to ourselves if we think there's a clean way to kill somebody," Houchin said. "We're trying to sanitize it as not as violent as it is."

The Human Rights Council, a branch of the United Nations, said on Wednesday it had concerns about forcing the condemned prisoners to breathe pure nitrogen.

"We are concerned that nitrogen hypoxia would result in a painful and humiliating death," the UN said, adding there was "no scientific evidence to prove" that nitrogen hypoxia would not cause "grave suffering."

An Alabama inmate named Kenneth Smith, who was sentenced to death for a 1988 murder-for-hire of a 45-year-old woman, is currently slated to become the first death row prisoner to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia later this month.

Alabama officials previously attempted to execute Smith in November 2022, but could not place an IV line for the lethal injection. Following the failed execution, the state set a new date for Smiths death in November 2023, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Smiths attorneys have objected to what they described as a novel and experimental method of carrying out an execution, likening their client to a test subject for an untested execution method.

Alabamas protocol for executing prisoners, released in 2023, requires nitrogen to be administered for 15 minutes or five minutes following a flatline indication on the EKG, whichever is longer.

Others have raised concerns about the safety of the procedure for staff, medical professionals, spiritual advisors or witnesses, should the mask delivering the nitrogen not be correctly sealed or have leaks.

Houchin said the shift to using nitrogen for executions has come as pharmaceutical companies have limited the availability of certain drugs like sodium thiopental for those purposes.

"People who make pharmaceuticals, generally speaking, make them to help people," he said, adding the same kinds of objections have started emerging surrounding nitrogen.

Nebraska remains one of 27 states where the death penalty is still on the books, but the state has only carried out one execution in nearly a quarter century.

Only four death row inmates have been executed in the last half century; three of those were by electric chair before the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 2008.

In 2015, the Legislature abolished the death penalty in Nebraska, overriding a veto from then-Gov. Pete Ricketts to do so, but voters reinstated it at the ballot box a year later.

Two years later, in 2018, the state executed Carey Dean Moore by lethal injection for the killing of two Omaha cab drivers in 1979, but its stockpile of drugs has since expired.

Aubrey Trail, who was sentenced to death in 2021 for the murder and dismemberment of 23-year-old Sydney Loofe, filed a petition last week seeking to force the state to carry out his sentence, saying he was not interested in languishing on death row for years or decades.

Nebraska effectively does not currently have a method to carry out the sentence it handed down to the 56-year-old, nor to the 10 other people currently on death row.

In July, the Department of Correctional Services confirmed to the Journal Star the state does not have any lethal-injection chemicals in its possession.

Lippincott, who said a constituent in his central Nebraska district brought nitrogen hypoxia to his attention, said he believes in the death penalty for capital crimes and that the state should carry out the sentence it imposes.

The argument for it is very, very straightforward, he said.

Co-sponsors of Lippincotts bill include: Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island; Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston; Lincoln Sen. Beau Ballard; Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon; Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood; Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara; Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams; Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard; Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering; Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue; Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte; Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth; Sen. John Lowe of Kearney; Sen. Fred Meyer of St. Paul; Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil; Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue; and Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar.

The inmates on Nebraskas death row and their crimes Raymond Mata Jr. Jose Sandoval Jorge Galindo Erick F. Vela Jeffrey Hessler John L. Lotter Roy L. Ellis Marco E. Torres Jr. Anthony Garcia Nikko Jenkins Patrick Schroeder Aubrey Trail
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Variably cloudy with snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A few flurries are possible. Low 27F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Occasional snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 90%..

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Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 26F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A few flurries are possible. Low 26F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
The labor dispute that has pitted Gov. Jim Pillen against thousands of state employees took another dramatic turn Thursday, when the union representing those employees took further legal action against the state.

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees filed a petition Thursday asking a judge to enforce a previous order from a state's Commission of Industrial Relations, which in December granted the union's motion for temporary relief from Pillen's executive order that broadly ended remote and hybrid work for state employees.

The commission said that state employees could continue operating under their prior work arrangements while commissioners considered the union's petition to force the state to negotiate Pillen's order to return to work.

But NAPE alleged Thursday that some state departments had ignored the CIR's ruling, instead contacting employees in the wake of the commission's order and notifying them that their previously agreed-upon hybrid or work remote arrangements had been terminated, according to the union's petition, filed in Lancaster County District Court.

NAPE included in its petition memos from executives in Nebraska's health and revenue departments in which the directors told employees who had worked remotely that they would be required to return to their physical worksite in mid-January.

NAPE accused the state of "willfully and contumaciously" violating the CIR's order. And the union asked a judge to hold the state in contempt over the violations.

"The CIRs order is clear and unambiguous," Justin Hubly, NAPE's executive director, said in a news release. "Its shocking that the state would simply ignore the commissions order. The state has left us with no option but to go to court to enforce (it)."

It's unclear when a judge might schedule a hearing or issue an order in response to the petition, though Hubly said he expects a judge to consider the union's motion in "an expedited manner."

Thursday's filing marks the latest development in the public labor dispute, which started when Pillen in November issued a surprise executive order mandating state employees to return to the office this month with few exceptions.

Pillen, whose office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday afternoon, has said he "doesn't believe in (working) from home."

Pillen's administration refused to bargain over the issue, though, saying the state's contract with its labor force gives the governor authority over employees' worksites.

The union then filed its petition with the CIR in mid-December in an attempt to force bargaining, leading both sides to a hearing before the commission where NAPE asked the commissioners to delay the implementation of the governor's directive until they ruled on the union's demand to bargain.

Days before Pillen's order was set to take effect, the CIR granted the union's motion for temporary relief  a ruling that applied only to NAPE members who had a remote or hybrid work agreement in place.

But, in at least two state departments, even those employees are being made to work in the office, the union said Thursday.

For his part, Pillen has maintained that he intends to bring the state's entire workforce back to the office because, he said, "face-to-face engagement is the most effective way" to ensure efficiency.

"I believe I was elected to be governor to make sure that we have tremendous return for what everybody does, and the best way that happens is when you're at work face to face," he said in November.

Photos: Nebraska Legislature gavels in for first day of 2024 session
In the latest episode of TVING's original series, 'Transit Love 3', Song Da-hye of BESTie and her ex-boyfriend Seo Dong-jin's enduring love story takes center stage, reigniting the debate over celebrity sincerity and past controversies surrounding the couple.

The Love Story Unveiled: Idol Dreams and Dating Struggles

The program delves into the couple's intertwined journey, revealing that both Song Da-hye and Seo Dong-jin aspired to become idols and initially met at a music academy. Their dreams, however, led to their expulsion from the same agency when their relationship became public knowledge.

Seo Dong-jin, reflecting on the pivotal moment, shared, "The company confronted us, demanding one of us to leave due to a dating ban. Despite the significance of our dreams, we ultimately left together, marking a significant sacrifice in both our lives."

READ ALSO: BESTie Dahye's Ex-Boyfriend Revealed on 'Transit Love 3' - 'Must not have been easy for...'

A 13-Year Love Odyssey with Financial Hurdles

Over the course of three separate periods spanning from December 2010 to June 2023, the duo became the longest-serving couple in 'Transit Love' history. However, financial challenges hindered their journey, creating an emotional backdrop for the audience.

Dongjin & Dahye were trainee at the same company. They got caught dating. Company called them & asked one of them to go out from the company. Dongjins dream & Dahye are important for him. So he decided to give up and out from the company #TransitLove3 pic.twitter.com/YpHiioUUf5  Kookie (@goldenjk7_) January 5, 2024

Tears and Regrets on Air: The Emotional Reunion

During the broadcast, Song Da-hye tearfully expressed her deep regrets even before Seo Dong-jin appeared. The emotional reunion prompted candid confessions, with Da-hye admitting, "I couldn't sever ties with him. This opportunity gave me the confidence to speak up, and I missed him dearly."

Seo Dong-jin added, "Our relationship spanned over 13 years, and severing ties unilaterally felt like cutting off a significant part of my life."

Shifting Public Sentiment: From Criticism to Sympathy

As the couple's intricate story unfolded, viewers who initially criticized celebrities on dating programs began to empathize.

Recollections of past interviews emerged, with other BESTie members revealing that the group received no settlement, shifting public sentiment towards sympathy for the couple facing economic hardships.

Particularly among female viewers, Seo Dong-jin's sacrifice for love resonated deeply. One viewer remarked, "Their story goes beyond celebrity publicity; it's a genuine and heartbreaking narrative." The unfolding saga became a poignant reflection on the challenges real couples face amid economic difficulties.

With the emotional reunion after four months, audience interest peaked regarding the possible outcomes for the couple. The saga of BESTie's Da-hye and Seo Dong-jin continues to captivate viewers, offering a compelling glimpse into the intersection of love, sacrifice, and real-world challenges.

YOU MIGHT BE ALSO INTERESTED IN: BESTie's Dahye Injured Falling Down Stairs, Group Comeback Postponed

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Cassidy Jones.
ENHYPEN member Jake has apologized for purchasing Starbucks after a fan called him out on Weverse. Want to know why? Keep on reading for all the details.

ENHYPEN Jake Apologizes For Purchasing Starbucks

On January 5, Jake replied to a post left by an ENGENE (ENHYPEN's fandom name) to apologize for buying Starbucks.

The fan urged Jake and the other ENHYPEN members to stop buying and consuming drinks from Starbucks, claiming that the billion-dollar company funds the genocide in Gaza, Palestine. The fan then asked Jake to apologize and do further research concerning Starbucks' stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: [WATCH] ENHYPEN Heeseung's Livestream CRASHED by Obsessive Fan Onslaught

In response to this, Jake acknowledged his mistake and apologized, saying that this mistake would not happen again. He also thanked the fan for going out of their way to educate him.

The company has recently garnered flak for allegedly being pro-Israel, leading many to boycott the company.

FOR YOU: TC Candler's '100 Most Handsome Faces of 2023': BTS V, ENHYPEN Ni-ki, More

Starbucks has since come out with a statement claiming they are not pro-Israel and that they do not have any political affiliations. Despite that, Starbucks sued Workers United after the union posted pro-Palestinian messages on social media.

Starbucks has also denied funding for the genocide in Gaza. The company has no branches in Gaza or Israel.

In the past, other celebrities have earned backlash after being seen with Starbucks cups.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION: Jeon Somi's Biggest Fansites Close Down - Why Are They Disappointed With Idol?

In December 2023, Jeon Somi posted a get-ready-with me video, and at the very beginning, she is seen sipping from a green Starbucks cup. The backlash against Somi was immense, with several of her biggest fanbases and fansites closing down.

Twitter Error

Though Somi did not respond to the matter, she silently took down the video from her TikTok account.

Korean Internet Users React to Jake Apologizing for Buying Starbucks

Following Jake's apology, many took to social media to express their thoughts on the matter.

Some people thought it was inevitable that Jake had to respond. ENHYPEN's fan base consists largely of international fans. As the conflict in Gaza has become an issue that affects people all around the world, some have considered it their responsibility to touch on the matter.

Some comments read,

"Since ENHYPEN is popular overseas, they can't just let it slide and not address it."

"He is kind. He seems innocent."

"I hope the company lets it slide."

"I wish he didn't have to address it, but it looks like he has a lot of international fans. This is a sad situation."

Others, however, believed Jake should not have addressed it. This is because now that he has apologized, fans may expect him to apologize for every little mistake he makes. This may lead others to be more critical of Jake and invite more hate.

Some comments read,

"Why would he answer them like that?"

"He shouldn't have addressed it."

"I pity him."

"I just feel bad for him; I hope they stop hating on him."

"If you respond to things like this, they will expect you to respond even more next time."

What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comments below!

READ MORE: ENHYPEN Fans Explodes Over Alleged Slogan 'Theft' by New HYBE Boy Group- Here's Why

KpopStarz Owns This

Written by Alexa Lopez
Bank of Spain Collaborates with Cecabank, Abanca, and Adhara Blockchain for CBDC Tests

Spains central bank, Banco de Espana, has revealed its selected collaborators for the testing phase of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative, a year after issuing a call for collaboration.

Out of 24 applications received over the past year, Bank of Spain has chosen three collaborators. The resolution, published on January 3, disclosed partnerships with Cecabank, Abanca, and Adhara Blockchain for the upcoming six-month pilot of the wholesale CBDC. Cecabank and Abanca are Spanish entities, while Adhara Blockchain is headquartered in the United Kingdom.

The testing phase will involve simulating the processing and settlement of interbank payments using a single tokenized wholesale CBDC. It will also explore the exchange of various wholesale CBDCs issued by different central banks. The consortium of Cecabank and Abanca will use the wholesale CBDC to settle a simulated tokenized bond as part of the experiment.

Its important to note that the Spanish CBDC program is distinct from the digital euro project, which would cover all economies in the eurozone if implemented.

Spain has been actively engaging with the cryptocurrency market, with recent efforts to implement the European Unions Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and provide insights into the characteristics and potential applications of the digital euro.

ECB and Bank of Spain Continue Work on Digital Euro, Emphasizing Benefits of Digitalization in Payments and Economy



In October, the Bank of Spain published a text explaining the nature and uses of the digital euro. The bank claimed that the physical cash format does not allow for the exploitation of all the advantages offered by the growing digitalization of the economy and society. However, the digital euro will make electronic payments a vital piece of the financial system.

The European Central Bank (ECB) also shared a link to the landing page dedicated to basic information about the digital euro. It promises to deliver an easier life and a stronger Europe.

Earlier in October, the governing council of the ECB announced the beginning of the preparation phase for the digital euro project. It will last two years and focus on finalizing rules for the digital currency and selecting possible issuers.

According to the project calendar published in the text, the preparation phase will finish by 2025. However, a final decision on issuing a pan-EU CBDC is yet to be made.

Spanish Population Shows Limited Enthusiasm for Digital Euro, Surveys Indicate Reluctance Among Majority



Despite these regulatory strides, there appears to be limited enthusiasm for the digital euro among the Spanish population.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Bank of Spain, only a fifth of respondents expressed willingness to integrate the pan-European Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) into their regular payment methods. In contrast, a majority of 65% indicated reluctance, raising questions about the widespread acceptance of CBDCs in the Spanish financial landscape.

Another recent survey reveals limited interest among Spaniards in adopting the digital euro, with only 20% expressing openness to using it alongside regular payment methods.

In recent years, Spain has experienced significant transformations in its cryptocurrency landscape, reflecting shifts in adoption trends, regulatory strategies, and technological advancements.

The number of officially registered cryptocurrency companies operating in Spain witnessed a notable increase of approximately 56% in 2023. This surge included both domestic firms and international platforms securing licenses as virtual asset service providers to operate within the country.

On a global scale, discussions around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) continue, with Russia preparing to launch the first CBDC pilot involving 13 banks and real customers. Central banks worldwide are actively exploring CBDCs, marking pivotal developments in the realm of stablecoin projects.

While Spains CBDC collaboration showcases initiative, the backdrop of public skepticism and ongoing global CBDC explorations underscores the challenges in the evolving landscape of digital currencies.
Actor Randeep Hooda, who is all set to portray freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in the movie Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, on Saturday, flagged off the Swatantraveer Savarkar Mukti Shatabdi Yatra from Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, On January 6, 1924, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was released from the jail. "Today is a very historic day, as today it has been 100 years since Savarkar Ji was released from jail and he was kept under house arrest in Ratnagiri and was in district arrest. The day he left from this jail, he first went to Bombay and then went to Ratnagiri, where he remained in the Restricted Movement for the next thirteen years," Randeep told ANI. Swatantrya Veer Savarkar Teaser: Randeep Hooda Called Out on Twitter for Claiming Savarkar Inspired 'Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and Khudiram Bose'.

He added, "He is such a great freedom fighter for our country, about whom people know very little. I hope that through my movie, people will know more about him. If you read about him in detail, you will come to know that his contribution to the country was very big. Whatever wrong concepts people have about him, watch the movie once and read about him, then decide." Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born on May 28, 1883, in the Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin Hindu family of Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in the village of Bhagur, near the city of Nashik, Maharashtra. He was a freedom fighter, an activist and a writer. He was a leading figure in the 'Hindu Mahasabha.' Savarkar started participating in the freedom movement while still a high school student and continued doing so while attending Fergusson College in Pune.

He got active with groups like India House and the Free India Society while studying law in the United Kingdom. He also published books that promoted revolutionary methods for achieving total Indian independence. The British colonial authorities outlawed one of his works, The Indian War of Independence, which was about the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny or the First War of Independence. Like Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, Khudiram Bose, Madanlal Dhingra, and many others, Veer Savarkar also served as an inspiration. However, according to director Sandeep Singh, he was misunderstood by many people throughout history, and the film will reveal the truth about him and his efforts. Swatantrya Veer Savarkar: Randeep Hoodas Directorial Stirs Controversy for Distorting History, Subhas Chandra Boses Grandnephew Condemns Claims (Watch Videos).

Directed and co-written by Randeep Hooda with Utkarsh Naithani, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is produced by Anand Pandit Motion Pictures and Randeep Hooda Films with Legend Studios and Avak Films. Pavitra Rishta fame Ankita Lokhande will be seen opposite Randeep Hooda in the film.
The Cologne Cathedral houses the Shrine of the Three Kings, a reliquary, which tradition says, holds the bones of the Biblical Magi. But how did they get there?The long journey of the Three Wise Men to the Rhineland begins with the history of the Roman Catholic Church  and an emperor's mother, who was an avid collector of holy relics.

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In the year 313, Emperor Constantine the Great, ruler of the Roman Empire, issued the Edict of Milan, a declaration that legalized Christianity across the Roman Empire.

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Many Romans renounced the gods of antiquity and embraced the new faith. Among them was Helena, the emperor's mother. She also embarked on finding all possible places and objects that had something to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

In Jerusalem, she allegedly discovered his grave and also the cross on which he is said to have died. During her search for relics, she is said to have found the grave of the Three Wise Men.

Magi on the ox cart

Christians from all over the world revere them as the "Three Wise Men from the East" who followed the star of Bethlehem to Jesus' manger and paid homage to him as the newborn son of God.

Although the three visitors are popularly referred to as kings, in the Bible they are rather described as wise men, in some translations astrologers or magi  priests specialized in the study of the stars.

But whether they were kings or not, the relics were valuable enough for the emperor's mother to bring them to Constantinople (now Istanbul). But Helena didn't get to enjoy her find for long: The emperor gave it to the Milanese bishop Eustorgius, who embedded it in a marble sarcophagus and had the reliquary transported to Italy on an ox cart.

At the end of the arduous, almost 2,000-kilometer (1,250-mile) journey to Milan, the exhausted animals are said to have collapsed just outside the city gates. According to legend, that precise location is where Eustorgius built a basilica to keep the remains of the Three Wise Men.

Saints as spoils of war

And the bones lay there for over seven centuries, until Emperor Frederick I, known as Barbarossa, besieged Milan in 1162. At his side was the Cologne Archbishop Rainald von Dassel, who was not only a man of the church, but also imperial chancellor and military leader of Barbarossa.

When the Italian city finally fell, von Dassel asked for the Three Kings' remains as spoils of war.

"The archbishop was certainly aiming to gain prestige for Cologne," says Matthias Deml, press spokesman for the Cologne Cathedral Builders' Works, adding that such important saints from biblical times had an inestimable value for pilgrims.

'An incomparable treasure'

When the archbishop entered Cologne with his troops on July 23, 1164, the city's residents cheered them enthusiastically, celebrating their precious cargo  which von Dassel described at the time as "an incomparable treasure, more valuable than all gold and precious stones."

"The amazing thing is that there were no sources about the existence of these relics before 1162," Matthias Deml told DW. "When they arrived in Cologne, however, they became world famous, because Dassel advertised everywhere he went that he was now in possession of the bones of the Three Wise Men."

However, that marketing strategy turned the transport of the remains into a risky journey; the relics would have been a worthwhile loot for any prince. It is said that different tricks were used to deceive potential robbers, such as nailing horseshoes on backwards onto the horses' hooves, or declaring the remains as plague corpses, which were carried over the Alps in tin coffins.

A legend created by a monk from Hildesheim

None of the stories related to how Helena or Bishop Eustorgius could have come into possession of the relics were officially documented, nor the archbishop's alleged precautions to protect the remains on their journey to Cologne.

The first documents about the remains date back to their celebrated arrival in Cologne.

According to Matthias Deml, a Carmelite monk named Johannes von Hildesheim wrote down the legend of what happened to the Three Kings after their biblical apparition.

In his telling, the Magi did not want to separate after visiting Jesus' manger. One day, Thomas the Apostle came by to visit them, and told them about Christ's life and impact, and ordained them bishops.

The monk then also included a "miracle" in their burial story: The deceased eldest king, Johannes von Hildesheim wrote, moved to the side of the grave to leave space to the second one when he also died. And both of them slid aside for the youngest of the three when the grave was opened again to bury him next to his companions.

To thank the monk, the Archbishop of Cologne bequeathed the saints' finger bones to the city of Hildesheim. "And this was not a small, insignificant part of the body, because the Three Kings used their index fingers to point to the Star of Bethlehem," explains Matthias Deml.

Before Johannes von Hildesheim's writings on "the Wise Men from the Orient," it was around the year 500 that their names  Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar  first appeared, along with an interpretation of their role in the story. According to the Catholic Church, they each represented one of the continents that were known 2,000 years ago  Africa, Asia and Europe  and symbolized the idea that the whole world would adore Jesus.

Pilgrims flock to Cologne, hoping for miracles

In any case, the precious relics ended up in the Romanesque cathedral of the city of Cologne. Philipp von Hochstaden, the successor to the Archbishop of Dassel, who died on another campaign in 1167, commissioned a golden shrine. It was made by one of the most artistic goldsmiths of the Middle Ages, Nicholas of Verdun.

Every day, countless pilgrims flocked to the Shrine of the Three Kings. In the morning, a door in the shrine would be opened to allow the saints' skulls to be seen. Persuasive clergymen took plaques, coins or even printed silk fabrics from the believers, which they would hold into the shrine to turn them into so-called "contact relics," which were believed to help against many evils, such as epilepsy, house fires, feverish illnesses, robbers, pirates and more, explains Matthias Deml.

A new cathedral was needed

Emperors and kings also traveled to pay their respects to the Three Kings. It didn't take long before the old Cologne cathedral could no longer accommodate the hordes of pilgrims from all over Europe.

So in 1248 the people of Cologne began building a befitting Gothic church.

However, its completion took an impressive 632 years. The cathedral was not completed until 1880.

'A matter of faith'

The Three Wise Men have survived the centuries unscathed, although of course the question has repeatedly been asked over time: Are those really the remains of the Three Wise Men?

"It certainly isn't a blatant forgery," says Matthias Deml. The shrine was opened in the 19th century and the bones were found to be wrapped in old, valuable silk fabrics from Palmyra (today's Syria), which date back to late antiquity.

"So whoever is in the Shrine of the Three Kings, they have definitely been revered for many centuries," points out Deml. "Whether they are the Magi is ultimately a matter of faith."

This article was originally written in German.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2024 01:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) An 18-year-old youth from Uttarakhand was arrested in Delhi's Rohini Sector 23 with two illegal firearms and live cartridges, police said on Saturday.

They said Pradeep Singh, who dropped out after class 8th, was inspired by the Lawrence-Goldy Brar gang and wanted to become like them.

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A police officer said Singh came in contact with the Lawrence-Goldy gang via social media platforms and they provided him with the firearms and asked him to wait for the further directions.

He was arrested from Rohini's Sector 23 with two illegal firearms and half a dozen of live cartridges, the officer said.

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During interrogation, Singh told police that he was unemployed.

He said that from Uttarakhand, he went to his relative's place in Rajasthan where he studied till class eighth. Then, he went to Haryana and stayed with his friends.

"On reading stories of Lawrence Bishnoi and Godly Brar, he started surfing them on social media. He came in contact with their gang members and told them that he wanted to join their group," another police officer said.

Police said Pradeep is further being interrogated about his plan.

Brar is a key member of the Bishnoi gang.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guwahati, Jan 6 (PTI) AIUDF chief and MP Badruddin Ajmal on Saturday asked Muslims to avoid travel during the period coinciding with the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya later this month to avoid "any untoward incident".

He has urged the followers of Islam to 'stay at home and pray to Allah' during the period, terming the BJP "their biggest enemy".

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Addressing a meeting in Barpeta, Ajmal asked the Muslim population 'not to travel' from January 20 to 25, when the consecration ceremony will take place.

"The Ram idol will be installed and during that period, lakhs and lakhs of people will be going there in cars, trains, buses, special trains, flights.

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"The BJP has big plans. I urge our Muslim brothers not to travel from January 20 to 24-25," the Dhubri MP said.

Lashing out at the saffron party, Ajmal alleged that it is the enemy of Muslims' lives, faith, prayer, madrasa, masjid, 'purdah' of our mothers and sisters, Islamic laws and talaq."

Later talking to reporters, Ajmal maintained that he has given the appeal for the Muslims to not travel to avoid any untoward incident.

"For the sake of peace and harmony, I have appealed to our Muslim brothers not to travel by train during the period," he said.

He added that a repetition of the times of the Ayodhya mosque demolition should be avoided, and it is with that intention he has given the appeal.

"There can be no problem if people do not travel for three-four days," the AIUDF chief added.

More than 60,00 people are expected to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be present.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lucknow, January 6: The Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order), Prashant Kumar, on Friday said that an advisory has been issued for police personnel who will be deployed in Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple later this month. The police personnel engaged in the Ayodhya inauguration on January 22 should not use smart phones, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple on January 22. Many VVIP guests from the country and abroad are expected to come to the temple town to attend the event. Preparations are underway in full swing for the event, which is expected to be attended by thousands of dignitaries and people from all sections of society. Ram Temple Inauguration: Kangana Ranaut Receives Invitation for Consecration Ceremony in Ayodhya, Shares Invite Card on Insta!

Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony. A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahautsav. A 1008 Hundi Mahayagya will also be organised, in which thousands of devotees will be fed. Several tent cities are being erected in Ayodhya to accommodate thousands of devotees, who are expected to arrive in the temple town of Uttar Pradesh for the grand consecration. Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony: Ram Bhajans To Be Played Till January 22 in All UPSRTC Buses Travelling to and From Ayodhya

According to the Sri Ram Janambhoomi Trust, arrangements will be made for 10,000-15,000 people. Local authorities are gearing up for the anticipated surge in visitors around the grand ceremony and are in the process of implementing enhanced security measures and making logistical arrangements to ensure a smooth and spiritually enriching experience for all attendees.

(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, Jan 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Monday its verdict on the petitions challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had on October 12 last year reserved its verdict after an 11-day hearing on the petitions, including the one filed by Bano.

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While reserving the judgement, the apex court had directed the Centre and the Gujarat government to submit by October 16 the original records related to the remission of sentence of the 11 convicts.

While hearing the matter in September last year, the top court had asked whether convicts have a fundamental right to seek remission.

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During the earlier arguments, the apex court had observed that state governments should not be selective in granting remission to convicts and the opportunity to reform and reintegrate with society should extend to every prisoner.

Besides the petition filed by Bano contesting the remission granted to them by the Gujarat government, several other PILs, including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma, have challenged the relief.

TMC leader Mahua Moitra has also filed a PIL against the remission and their premature release.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots.

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15, 2022.

(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, January 6: Bharatiya Janata Party charged the Congress with corruption after the Enforcement Directorate named former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and party veteran Bhupesh Baghel in a supplementary chargesheet in connection with the Mahadev betting app case. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "For Congress party CM never meant chief minister, it only meant corruption minister. Prime Minister Modi gave a RuPay card and Congress gave a 'Bhupe card'."

He accused the Congress of treating Chhattisgarh as an ATM and engaging in widespread corruption during its tenure. "For the Congress party, Chhattisgarh was only an ATM and they were looting with both hands. Rs 500 crore bribe paid to former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has been established and the proof has come out," Poonawalla stated. Poonawalla claimed that a person nabbed during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections in November 2023 revealed how money was being paid to the close aides of Bhupesh Baghel. Mahadev Betting App Case: ED Names Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel in Supplementary Chargesheet Over Rs 508 Crore Bribe

"We have seen how during the election this money was being sent to Bhupesh Baghel and it was caught red-handed. The person who was caught has also spoken of how this money was being paid to the close aides of Bhupesh Baghel," he added. "Now Congress party should tell us, will they continue to defend corruption?" Poonawalla questioned. Bhupesh Baghel Under ED Radar: Enforcement Directorate Alleges Mahadev Online Book Promoters Gave Rs 508 Crore to Chhattisgarh CM, Says Probe On

The ED named Baghel in a supplementary chargesheet filed before the special court for PMLA cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at Raipur, Chhattisgarh on January 1, 2024. The chargesheet is related to allegations of receiving bribes amounting to approximately Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev App.

(This is an unedited and auto-gener
Lucknow, Jan 7 (PTI) The BSP will organise public meetings in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh on January 15 to take stock of the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The party also plans to launch the 'Behan Ji' app on the occasion of her birthday (January 15). The party intends to connect youth workers with this app, made on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'NaMo' app.

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BSP's UP unit chief Vishwanath Pal told PTI on Sunday, "This time on behen Mayawati's birthday, the party is organising public meetings in all 75 districts of the state. In these public meetings, the people of the state will be given information about the various public welfare schemes of the BSP."

He said that the party is fully prepared for the Lok Sabha elections to be held in the next two-three months and is organising these public meetings to energise its workers for the elections.

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When asked whether the party would make any electoral understanding with the 'INDIA' bloc for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Pal said, "Only behen ji (Mayawati) will take any decision in this regard. We are just workers. All the decisions in the party are taken by behen ji."

On a question that Mayawati had earlier said she would contest the Lok Sabha elections alone, Pal said, "If our leader has said that our party will contest the elections alone, then all of us party workers will contest the elections alone with full strength and will win."

The BSP's state unit president claimed the party is fully prepared to contest elections on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

BSP chief Mayawati had announced in July last year that her party would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections alone. She had also criticised the NDA as well as the 'INDIA' bloc and alleged that none of them were "friendly" to Dalits and oppressed classes.

Meanwhile, sources said the party will also hold a show of strength at district levels on Mayawati's birthday. In this, the popularity of the contenders for the Lok Sabha constituencies will be assessed based on their ability to gather crowds.

The BSP and the SP had formed an alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BSP was the bigger gainer with 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP had won five seats.

On being asked whether he would attend the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony to be held at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Pal said, "I was born in Ayodhya and am a resident of that place. Since childhood, my mother used to take me in her lap and go to the Ram Janmabhoomi for 'darshan'.

"Therefore, it is useless for you to ask me whether I will go to 'Pran Pratistha' or not. When I stay in Ayodhya, I will go for 'darshan' whenever I feel like."

He said he is against any kind of politics being done on the Ram Temple issue. He said no political party should do politics of religion.

A senior party leader said that Akash Anand, Mayawati's nephew, has become "very active" after she declared him as her successor.

According to sources, Akash can get the 'Behan Ji' app launched by Mayawati on January 15.

The objective of this app will be to connect such youths with the party, who agree with the party's ideology but do not know much about its policies.

At present, the BSP has only one MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

(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], January 6 (ANI): An active gang member and sharpshooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang from the national capital's Rohini area, an official of the Special Cell of Delhi Police said on Saturday.

The 18-year-old gangster has been identified as Pradeep Singh, a resident of Pauri Garhwal, in Uttarakhand.

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Two semi-automatic pistols of .32 bore with nine live cartridges have been recovered from his possession, police said.

The official further said that gangster Virender Partap alias Kala Rana recruited him through Instagram and further connected to him through Bhanu Rana on the Signal App, and prepared him to commit criminal activities in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

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He was tasked with committing criminal activities in Delhi.

According to Special Commisioner of Police (Special Cell) HGS Dhaliwal, a specific information was received about the movement of Pradeep Singh, a key member and sharpshooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in Sector 23, Rohini.

Acting swiftly on the information, a dedicated team of Special Cell, swung into action, and a trap was laid in Sector 23, Rohini, and the accused, Pradeep Singh, was apprehended. A criminal case under the appropriate sections of law has been registered against him in this regard.

Singh is a resident of Pauri Garhwal, Uttrakhand and his father runs a grocery shop in his native village. When he was 3 years old, his parents sent him to their relatives in Bikaner, Rajasthan where he studied up to Grade 8 there.

Subsequently, he came to his native place and further studied up to Grade 11.

In 2022, he left his studies and came to live with his friend in Gurugram, Haryana. He would watch the reels of gangster Virender Pratap alias Kala Rana on Instagram and get inspired by his criminal activities. In August 2023, he started following Kala Rana on Instagram and sent him messages saying that he was willing to join his gang for fame. Thereafter, in September 2023, he started communicating with Bhanu Rana through the Signal App on the directions of Kala Rana.

According to police, on December 30 last year, Bhanu Rana tasked him to commit a targeted crime in Delhi along with other associates in the next 7-8 days. Bhanu Rana also told him that some more people would meet him in Delhi and that the details of the target would be shared later. Further, the accused received a consignment of weapons at Sector 24, Rohini. On January 3, this year he was nabbed when he arrived in Rohini, to meet the other members of the gang. (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], January 6 (ANI): Amid the glare of central probe agencies on leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress over alleged misdeeds, a team of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) was attacked and its vehicles damaged in Sandeshkhali village of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal on Friday morning.

According to sources, the ED sleuths were on their way to raid the homes of some local TMC leaders in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam when they came under attack.

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The ED team was in the process of raiding the houses of former Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya and local TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan in connection with the ration 'scam' case when a group of unidentified persons pelted their vehicles with stones, smashing the window panes.

A local TMC strongman, Sheikh Shahjahan is the Fisheries and Animal Resources Officer of North 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad as well as the party's block president of Sandeshkhali 1.

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Two officials of the agency sustained injuries in the incident, according to sources.

A member of the raiding ED team told ANI, "Eight people came to the spot. They attacked three of us and also stoned our vehicles."

Significantly, TMC old-timer and former Food and Civil Supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick has already been arrested in connection with the alleged ration scam.

The attack on the ED team drew outrage from the BJP, which gunned for the ruling TMC over the 'collapse' of law and order under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The party's state president Sukanta Majumdar wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, voicing alarm over the incident and demanding an NIA probe.

"I am writing to bring to your attention a distressing incident that occurred today, on the 5th of January 2024, in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. An Enforcement Directorate (ED) team conducting a raid faced a violent attack by a group of 100-200 villagers in the village of TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh," Majumdar wrote to Shah.

He urged the Home Minister to personally intervene in instituting an NIA probe into the incident.

"Given the severity and nature of this attack, I earnestly request your immediate intervention in the NIA (National Investigation Agency) investigation into this incident. Such an investigation is crucial to ensure the safety of law enforcement personnel carrying out their duties and to uphold the rule of law in our country," Majumdar added.

This was the first such incident of ED officials, probing ongoing cases in the state, being targeted.

Coming down heavily on the Mamata government, a furious Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said he would explore 'constitutional options' to put an end to the vicious cycle of violence in the state.

Governor Bose also summoned the Home Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) to Raj Bhavan in the aftermath of the attack on the ED probe team.

Terming the attack as 'ghastly', the Governor said, "It was a ghastly incident. It was alarming and deplorable. It is the duty of a civilised government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. If a government fails in (discharging) its basic duty, then the Constitution of India will take its course. I reserve all my constitutional options for appropriate action. This pre-election violence should find an early end, and let this be the beginning of that end."

Several state BJP leaders, too, condemned the incident while lashing out at the TMC regime.

BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar said democracy and the rule of law hold no meaning in West Bengal and the prevailing state of affairs makes for a fit case for the imposition of President's Rule in the state.

"Democracy has fallen apart in Bengal, which is why an ED team was attacked with such impunity. Forces working against the country seem to be nesting in Bengal and gaining in strength. Illegal firearms and explosives are recovered every day but the government remains unmoved. I believe that the time has come to remove this government democratically and, till that happens, President's Rule should be imposed on the state. Once that is done and the rule of law is restored, things will automatically improve and no one will dare attack central agencies here," Sarkar told ANI.

BJP MP from Darjeeling, Raju Bista, called it an attack on the 'Constitution of India'.

"This wasn't just an attack on an independent agency but on the Constitution of India. It has yet again drawn the spotlight on the prevailing law and order situation in West Bengal. The only way to save the state is to impose President's Rule," Bista said.

BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao said a "systematic, planned and orchestrated campaign" was afoot in the state against government institutions.

"There is an illustration of a systematic, planned and orchestrated campaign against the government institutions, be it the ED, CBI or IT. Attack on government agencies and institutions cannot and should not be tolerated in a democracy. Such parties (like TMC) cannot be called responsible. The BJP condemns this attack," he said.

However, the TMC MP Santanu Sen alleged that the officials of the federal agency 'provoked' locals, which led to a violent reaction from them.

"The officers of the central investigating agency, surrounded by central forces, provoked residents, who responded," Sen said.

He claimed further that people across the country were 'frustrated' and fed up with the targeting of Opposition leaders by central agencies, adding that it was 'monitored from Delhi'.

"The reality that stares at us is that the people are frustrated and fed up watching this deep-rooted conspiracy engineered and monitored from Delhi daily unravel itself in Bengal and elsewhere. The person (Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari) who is raising a storm on social media over this incident, is topping the charts on corruption. He was caught on camera accepting a bribe. His family members, too, are accused of corruption but no action has been taken against them as they belong to the BJP," Sen claimed.

TMC leader and spokesman Kunal Ghosh, too, said that the attack on ED officials was the result of 'provocation'.

State minister Shashi Panja said the BJP was trying to "influence central agencies" to secure its larger political goals.

"The BJP has time and again tried to make the central investigating agencies function as per their dictates. If they truly want to arrest persons accused of corruption, they should go after Suvendu Adhikari first. He was seen taking wads of cash on camera. However, the moment he joined the BJP, the agencies went cold on him. What happened today was the fallout of local BJP workers provoking TMC supporters. They (BJP) fear the INDIA alliance and Mamata Banerjee," Panja said.

However, Congress, a partner of the TMC in the INDIA bloc, came down heavily on the ruling party, with its state chief and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury saying that there was no law and order in Bengal.

Speaking to media persons, Chowdhury said he wouldn't be surprised if a central official was 'murdered' in the state someday.

"After this brazen attack on ED officials by goons prospering under the patronage of the ruling TMC, it is clear that there is no law and order in Bengal. Today, they were injured. Tomorrow, they could even be murdered. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened," the Congress leader 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)
Udhagamandalam (TN), Jan 6 (PTI) A three-year-old girl died after being fatally attacked by a leopard in Gudalar in the district on Saturday, police said.

The leopard attacked the girl who was playing in a tea estate at Thondialam in Pandalur this evening. She succumbed while the villagers were rushing her to the government hospital at Pandalur, police said.

Also Read | Delhi Fire: Blaze Erupts in Forest Near Modi Mill Flyover, Traffic Affected on Mathura Road (Watch Video).

Enraged over the recurring attacks by wild animals in the area, the people resorted to a sudden road blockade on the Gudular-Pandalur road demanding appropriate action by Forest officials.

According to a Forest official, the department had laid traps at six locations to capture the leopard on the prowl. "Our team fired tranquilizer shots at the animal. We will capture it soon," he said.

Also Read | Delhi Weather: National Capital Witnesses Third Consecutive Day of Chilling Cold, Air Quality Remains 'Very Poor'.

It would be very challenging to capture the leopard if people resorted to road blockade agitation or ventured into forest areas, he added.

Today's incident has caused apprehension among the people in the area.

Police and forest department staff from Gudalur and Pandalur have stepped up vigil in the area.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], January 6 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh government has approved the creation of three police stations in the Una, Solan and Kangra districts of the state to provide people with quick assistance in crimes and to strengthen law and order in the state.

"The Government of Himachal Pradesh has conveyed its approval for the creation of three police stations, PS Tahliwal in District Una, PS Sayari in District Solan and PS Rehan in District Kangra (PD Nurpur)," a Police Department press release said.

Also Read | Delhi Weather: National Capital Witnesses Third Consecutive Day of Chilling Cold, Air Quality Remains 'Very Poor'.

It mentioned an additional 66 posts of various ranks for the police stations.

"Forty-six posts for PS Tahliwal, 13 for PS Rehan and 7 for Police Station Sayari. With the creation of the above three police stations, quick assistance will be ensured to thegeneral public in any emergent situation and additional police presence can deter crime andimprove response times to emergencies, making the area safer for residents," it said.

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The Police Department expressed its gratitude to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhufor the creation of three new police stations in the state.

"These sanctions for the three new police stations will strengthen law and order in the state," the release 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)
Standing Committee of Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee hears reports of five leading Party members groups and Secretariat

Xinhua) 10:57, January 06, 2024

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- On Jan. 4, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a day-long meeting. The meeting heard work reports from the leading Party members groups of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The meeting also listened to a work report from the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting and delivered an important speech.

It was noted at the meeting that since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee hears reports annually on the work of these five leading Party members groups, and a work report of the Secretariat of the Central Committee. This is an important institutional arrangement to uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership. It has been proven that this arrangement makes it possible for the Party to exercise overall leadership and coordinate the efforts of all sides, and maintain its unity and ability. It is conducive to allowing full play to the strengths of our socialist system with Chinese characteristics. This is the first time since the 20th CPC National Congress for the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to hold such a meeting. It is meant to consolidate and improve this arrangement.

It was noted at the meeting that since the 20th CPC National Congress, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the five leading Party members groups have firmly upheld the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and earnestly studied and implemented the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress. They have performed duties with a focus on the overall work of the Party and the country, intensified self-reform efforts, fulfilled the responsibility of exercising full and rigorous Party governance, contributed to economic development and social stability, and made new achievements in all fields of their work.

It was noted at the meeting that since the 20th CPC National Congress, under the leadership of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee has taken a proactive approach, earnestly performed its duties, and done a lot of work in implementing the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, strengthening the framework of Party regulations, and guiding the development and reform of people's organizations.

It was stressed at the meeting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and is a critical year for achieving the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan. These five leading Party members groups must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deeply understand the decisive significance of the affirmation of Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and the affirmation of the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, become more conscious 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, and strengthen confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. They must uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and uphold the CPC Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. They should comprehensively implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the Second Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and adhere to the highest political principle of the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee. They should never forget our original aspiration and founding mission, forge ahead with brave initiative and effective action to advance Chinese modernization, which is of utmost political importance. They should, under the unified command of the CPC Central Committee, do a good job in making concerted efforts to promote the implementation of the strategic deployment of the 20th CPC National Congress, and make greater contributions to building China into a strong country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

It was emphasized at the meeting that for the new year, the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee should, in accordance with the arrangements and requirements of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and its standing committee, fully implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee. With focus on its own range of work, the Secretariat should strengthen its sense of political responsibility, fulfill its duties, improve its capability to deliberate important issues and get things done, prioritize key areas, ensure sound implementation of relevant policies and continue to fulfill the tasks assigned by the CPC Central Committee.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)
New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with ministers of his government on Saturday to discuss preparations for the 2024-25 budget, the government said in a statement.

The chief minister asked his ministers to ramp up preparations for the budget and fix priorities of their departments within a week so that they could be firmed up in the next meeting, the statement added.

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The budget is expected to focus on education, health, water, electricity and infrastructure. The feedback of stakeholders will be take on the budget proposals and good ones will be incorporated, the statement further said.

A meeting of the minister and officers chaired by the chief minister will be held next week in which the budget priorities will be finalised, it said.

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Kejriwal directed Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Education Minister Atishi to prepare plans of new initiatives to make health and education model of the Delhi government, according to the statement.

Water supply, roads and urban development issues were also discussed in the meeting. The chief minister also held discussions over funds required for different schemes in the budget.

Atishi, who also holds the finance portfolio, will present her first budget which will be the 10th of the Kejriwal government. The previous budget was themed "clean beautiful and modern Delhi" and total allocations of Rs 78,800 crore were made in it. --

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 6 (ANI): UP Prison Minister Dharmveer Prajapati on Saturday said that live streaming of Ram Temple consecration ceremony on January 22 will be done at all jails in Uttar Pradesh. Even prisoners will be able to watch the live telecast of the event.

UP Prison Minister Dharmveer Prajapati said, "There are more than 1.05 lakh prisoners right now. They too are citizens of this country. To ensure that they do not remain away from this occasion, live streaming will be done at all jails in the state."

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He further said that all the prisoners are not professional criminals.

"When some incident happens they become criminals. So that they do not remain isolated during the holy occasion of consecration, this arrangement is being done," he added.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced plans to telecast the grand consecration ceremony of Shri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya live on the booth level across the country.

The ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 22, 2024. As per party sources, BJP workers have been instructed to set up large screens for the live telecast of the Shri Ram Consecration at the booth level.

This initiative aims to provide a means for the common people to witness the consecration of Shri Ram Lala."This way, the general public can have darshan of Shri Ram Lala and witness the consecration ceremony," the source mentioned.

Additionally, BJP workers are encouraged to engage in social work on a personal level."Workers may choose to distribute blankets, organize community feasts ('bhandar'), or contribute through donations in terms of food or fruits to help those in need," the sources added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple on January 22. The event has garnered significant attention, with several VVIP guests from India and abroad receiving invitations to participate in the auspicious occasion in Ayodhya.

Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony. (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], January 6 (ANI): In a monumental milestone, over 10 crore people have participated in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in a short span of just 50 days, according to an official statement.

Incidentally, the number of participants in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is higher than the entire population of some of the major countries, like Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and South Africa. The massive support for the yatra demonstrates the steadfast dedication of citizens to build a Viksit Bharat, the statement said.

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"This staggering number indicates the profound impact and unmatched ability of the Yatra in uniting people across the nation towards a shared vision of Viksit Bharat," said the statement released by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday.

Since its launch on November 15, 2023, over 7.5 crore individuals have pledged their "Sankalp" - a commitment to building a Viksit Bharat by 2047 - showcasing the electrifying effect of the Yatra amongst the citizens within a matter of weeks, the statement said.

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"From Anjaw in Arunachal Pradesh to Devbhumi Dwaraka on Gujarat's western shore, to scaling Ladakh's icy peaks and gracing Andaman's turquoise shores, the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra now embraces all regions, reaching communities at the farthest corners of the country," it said.

The Yatra with the aim to ensure that welfare schemes reach the grassroots level and directly benefit the people has instilled a spark of enthusiasm and hope across India's vastness, it added.

The statement further mentioned that the transformative impact of the Yatra is evident in the distribution of over 1.7 crore Ayushman Cards, screening of more than 2.2 crore citizens at Health Camps, and empowering over 7.5 lakh beneficiaries through the PM SVANidhi scheme, fostering financial independence.

More than 33 lakh new PM KISAN beneficiaries have been enrolled during the yatra. Over 87,000 drone demonstrations have been held that provide technological assistance to farmers, it said.

"The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is more than just a march; it's a powerful call to action reverberating across the nation. The efforts made today to bring about change, promise a prosperous future ahead. This movement aims to empower each citizen of the country and make a bold resolution to bring India closer to its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047," said the official statement.

"It emphasizes that the journey towards a developed India isn't an individual effort but a collective endeavour involving people from all walks of life," the statement added.

The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra was launched by the Prime Minister on November 15 in Khunti, Jharkhand but the launch of the Yatra was delayed in some states as the model code of conduct was enforced due to assembly elections in five states. The BJP formed governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, while in Telangana, Congress dethroned the KCR government. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Gautam Buddha Nagar (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 6 (ANI): The Noida police busted a racket supplying narcotics substances to the students of a leading private university and other educational institutions located in Noida and Delhi, said officials in a statement.

Noida's Sector-126 Police station busted the racket in which five accused, including a student of the said private university, were apprehended for supplying narcotic drugs and a huge quantity of local and foreign drugs were recovered from their possession.

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The value of the seized narcotics substances in the international market is around Rs 10-12 lakh, said police.

"Just a few days ago, a gang of boys who studied in universities over here was caught in Noida. They used to supply Ganja and OG type of drugs to the university students. During further investigation into the matter, today five people have been arrested in the same sequence, who are also students." said ADCP Noida, Manish Mishra.

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"A good quantity of Ganja and OG have been recovered from them which are of very high quality and their market value is also very high. Necessary legal action is being taken against the apprehended accused," he added.

The ADCP further mentioned that th accused were residing in Baraula village where they had taken a room and used to do wrapping of the narcotics items to be supplied.

"Our team is investigating thoroughly and the place where the narcotics substances were wrapped has been sealed," he said.

"Wherever there are other resources, through their social media, through their WhatsApp chats, and on the basis of whatever evidence has come in our electronic and manual interrogation, we are trying to connect more links," he added.

As per the information from the police, the recovered narcotics substances include Shillong ganja weighing around 12.7, 90 gram of charas, 5 gram of foreign ganja OG whose price in the international market is around Rs 10-15 lakh,

Apart from the narcotics substances, seven mobile phones, one electronic weighing scale, one motorcycle and one scooter used in the supply and delivery have also been recovered by the Noida police.

The racket was exposed after the Noida police conducted a check on the basis of the received secret information on January 6.

Describing the modus operandi of the racket, the Noida police in an official statement said that the accused used to supply narcotics to one of Noida's leading private universities and schools and colleges located in Noida.

The statement further mentioned that the leader of the gang, Sachin, sourced Shillong ganja from a person named Chintu. Another arrested member of the gang, Sagar, is a college student from Delhi who used to stay connected with the students of different universities and educational institutions through different social media platforms and the drugs were delivered as per the demand received on these social media channels.

The gang had hired its own riders for the delivery and supply of the drugs. Accused Sagar and Nishant also worked as riders for the delivery and supply of drugs. Apart from this, the gang was also using a logistics supply app to supply the narcotics substances.

The availability of foreign drugs was supplemented by the accused, Chetan, who is a fourth-year student of the Hotel Management course in Noida. He used to buy foreign drugs, OG and Charas, and sell them to the students of educational institutions.

A large number of mobile numbers of students and chats related to the delivery and supply of drugs have also been recovered from the mobile phones of the arrested accused, said police.

Accused Sagar hails from Nepal, Sachin from Mainpuri and Harsh is from Bihar, said police in the statement, adding that the accused rented a separate room and packed the drugs in small parcels in wrappers of e-commerce companies.

During further interrogation of the accused, the name of another person who supplied drugs, Anit Som, has also come to light.

The accused Chintu and Anit Som will be apprehended soon, said police. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Sriganganagar (Rajasthan) [India], January 6 (ANI): The bypolls for the Karanpur Assembly seat in Rajasthan concluded on Friday, with the Election Commission reporting a total voter turnout of 80.50 per cent.

The Rajasthan polls were initially conducted for 199 out of 200 assembly seats on November 25, with the elections in the Karanpur constituency being postponed due to the demise of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

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Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that 80.50 percent voter turnout was recorded in the Karanpur Assembly constituency, where Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Surendra Pal Singh was in fray against the Congress' Rupinder Singh on Friday.

He said that 418 Form 12D for postal ballots for absentee voters like senior citizens, PwD (persons with disability), and essential services voters, were approved by the Returning Officer.

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"Out of them 402 (284 above 80 years of age and 118 PWD) exercised their franchise as seven voters remained absent during home voting and nine voters died," the official added.

Counting for the votes will be done on January 8.

The BJP's nominee, Singh, has already been inducted into the Rajasthan cabinet after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the assembly polls, bagging 115 of the 199 seats where the elections were held.

Results for the 199 seats in Rajasthan came last month. Congress came a distant second with 69 seats.

A first-time MLA from Sanganer, Bhajan Lal Sharma, took the oath as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in Jaipur on December 15.

The oath of office was administered by Governor Kalraj Mishra.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with BJP National President JP Nadda, were among the dignitaries at the swearing-in ceremony.

Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa were also sworn in as deputy chief ministers of the state. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 6 (ANI): Routine flights at Ayodhya's Maharishi Valmiki International Airport will begin within a week and the number of flights at the airport will also increase, said an airport official on Saturday.

As per the information from the airport officials, more flights are being started by the airlines as they receive the passenger footfall.

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"180 passengers are coming from Delhi and the same number of passengers are going to Delhi. It is an IndiGo flight to Delhi. After that, there are two non-scheduled flights to Delhi. There is only one commercial flight from IndiGo. Within the next week, the routine will begin. After today, there would be more flights on January 10," said the airport Assistant General Manager (AGM), Vinod Kumar.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey who also landed at the Ayodhya airport on Friday praised the airport's beauty and cultural representation.

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"The airport is very beautiful. It has been constructed as per India's cultural and spiritual pride," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in the temple city of Ayodhya after inaugurating the Ayodhya Railway Station on December 30.

The pilot in command of the inaugural IndiGo flight, Captain Ashutosh Shekhar, welcomed all passengers on board, calling it a proud moment.

"We are grateful and blessed for the opportunity given by IndiGo to command the inaugural flight to Ayodhya. This is a proud moment for us and Indigo. We hope your journey with us is safe and pleasant," Shekhar said.

The Airports Authority of India undertook the development of Ayodhya Airport as per the MoU signed with the Government of Uttar Pradesh in April last year. The state-of-the-art airport has been developed at a cost of more than Rs 1450 crore.

The airport's terminal building has an area of 6,500 square metres and is equipped to serve about 10 lakh passengers annually. The facade of the terminal building depicts the temple architecture of the upcoming Shri Ram Mandir of Ayodhya.

The interiors of the terminal building are decorated with local art, paintings and murals depicting the life of Bhagwan Shri Ram. (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], January 6 (ANI): Amid speculations of seat-sharing among the INDIA bloc partners ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that at first, their team will take inputs from their party leaders in various states and then, after coming to a conclusion, they will discuss their demands with their alliance partners.

"At the preliminary level, our team will first meet every leader; they will ask our leaders--those who are PCC presidents, CLP leaders, or senior leaders in every state. After observing these and getting a perception, we will sit together and discuss our demands," the Congress chief said speaking at a press conference in Delhi on Saturday.

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Kharge said that to finalise seat-sharing between their partners, the party has formulated a committee, who are meeting every alternate day. The Congress chief said that they are engaging in all sorts of formalities to put forward their demand before the alliance partners.

"We have constituted a committee. A six-member committee is working. The Convenor is Mr Mukul Wasnik and Mr Gehlot is there, Bhupesh Baghel is there, P Chidambaram is there, Salman Khurshid is there...They are doing their best. We had one meeting already at my residence and they are meeting every alternate day to finalise what is to be done, where we have to demand, and where they will demand. They are doing all the formalities," Kharge said.

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The Congress president said that the party is focusing on all 500-plus constituencies and has appointed parliament observers for the same.

"We are working in all 500 constituencies. We have already finalised 500 parliament observers. They will go to each parliamentary constituency. When we negotiate with INDIA alliance in each state, then the exact number will come out," Kharge said.

Explaining the motive behind such an all-out action when Congress has agreed to formulate a seat-sharing formula, Kharge said that they are putting their efforts everywhere in case their alliance partner disagrees with any particular seat.

"We are trying to put our efforts everywhere because suppose today we are thinking we are getting 'A' seat, suppose our alliance partner disagrees and asks us to take 'C' seat. Therefore, we are putting all 500 observers in each constituency," he said.

Kharge also added that the INDIA alliance will decide on the posts after a meeting in 10-15 days.

"In 10-15 days when we will meet we will decide who will take which post. Everyone of us are together and we are working unitedly. There is no problem in that," he said.

On being asked whether the Congress has chalked out calculations on seats while embarking on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Kharge said, "Our work is to give justice and for that purpose we do not need to calculate on seats. We aim to make everyone aware on our way."

When asked about having meetings with their alliance partners on the sidelines during the Yatra, Kharge said, "This is an agitation....You can give us justice by getting ridding rid of them (BJP) in the 2024 elections. We have decided to hold 7-8 meetings with our coalition group. We will announce the places once we finalise them."

Speaking on attending the Ram Janmaboomi temple inauguration on January 22, the Congress chief said, "I have received the invitation. I will decide what I will do." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Noida, Jan 6 (PTI) A 22-year-old Iranian woman in Noida was allegedly killed in knife attack during a domestic fight between her family and relatives, police said on Saturday.

Four women members from the other side were taken into custody by the police, as an investigation into the case has been launched and Iranian Embassy in Delhi informed about the matter, a senior officer said.

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The incident took place Friday night in Sector 116 where the families live in rented accommodations in the same building but on different floors. The father of the woman is into textile business and stays in Noida, the officer said.

"Last night, the local Sector 113 Police Station received information about a woman getting injured in Sector 116. The police immediately reached the spot and found out that Firoz, a native of Iran, was staying there with his family on rent. Their relatives Imran Hashmi and Aslam also lived with their families on the second and third floors of the same house in rented accommodations," Additional DCP (Noida) Maneesh Mishra said.

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"A dispute broke out between them last night over an issue, during which Hashmi attacked Zeenat, the daughter of Firoz, with a knife. She suffered injuries in the knife attack after which she was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her dead," Mishra said.

Police have filed an FIR against those involved in the episode, he said, adding, all agencies concerned have been informed about it and documents of those involved in the case are being checked.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Noida-3) Shavya Goyal said the exact cause behind the scuffle which led to the incident was yet to be ascertained.

"When inquired, the relatives said they would have arguments frequently but yesterday it escalated to the level of a fight. However, neither side has clearly stated yet what caused this argument," Goyal told PTI.

The officer said four women members --? Sehra, Zareena, Seerat and Farshid -- from the accused side have been taken into custody and further legal proceedings in the case are underway.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dhaka, Jan 6 (PTI) Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Saturday said that the voting set for Sunday's general election lacked completeness since a major opposition party was not participating but his office has taken all steps to continue the constitutional continuity.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the country's main opposition party led by former prime minister Khalida Zia is boycotting the January 7 election amid violence and has called for a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government".

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The BNP is demanding an interim non-party neutral government to hold the election.

The demand was, however, rejected by the government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the chairman of the ruling Awami League.

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"The universality of the election has not reached the expected level," Awal said in a nationwide televised address as the day-long voting for the 12th Jatiya Sangsad starts at 8 am on Sunday.

The election commission chief said disputes over the institutional arrangement frustrated the expected election participation this time but Bangladesh's political leadership must take sincere initiative for a permanent settlement of the disagreements for future, if not today.

Yet, he said, the election could not be called non-participatory or uncompetitive as 28 political parties and 1,971 candidates were contesting in 299 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies.

The BNP has boycotted the polls, saying elections under Prime Minister Hasina's government would not be fair and credible and asked it to quit letting a non-party caretaker government run the elections.

Media tally suggested violence in the run-up to the elections killed at least 15 people in the past three months since October 28, 2023, when trains, buses and trucks were torched in clandestine attacks.

Awal, a former lower judiciary judge who later served as the top law ministry bureaucrat, said the parties which boycotted the polls previously committed just to carry out their campaign peacefully discarding any violent means.

But acts of sabotage and violence became visible amid announced general strikes and transport blockades. Trains, other transports and election centres have been torched, he said, without naming any party but added that the incidents worried the election commission.

Yet as part of inviolable constitutional responsibility I am requesting the people to cast your votes defying all your worries, concerns and unease to exercise your franchise, he said.

Awal said over 800,000 law enforcement personnel, including Army troops, were deployed to maintain peace and order while his office simultaneously engaged some 3,000 executive and judicial magistrates to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections.

More than 119 million people are registered as voters but voters appeared to be disinterested in exercising the franchise due to lack of competitiveness.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Sofia (Bulgaria), Jan 6 (AP) Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers dived into the wintry waters of rivers and lakes across Bulgaria on Saturday to retrieve crucifixes cast by priests in Epiphany ceremonies commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ.

The legend goes that the person who retrieves the wooden cross will be freed from evil spirits and will be healthy throughout the year. After the cross is fished out, the priest sprinkles believers with water using a bunch of basil.

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The celebration of Epiphany, or the Apparition of Christ, as Bulgarians call it, began in the capital, Sofia, with a water-blessing ceremony. Senior Orthodox clergy said prayers for the prosperity of the people and blessed the colours of representative army units  a tradition abandoned in 1946 and re-established in 1992.

The most attractive Epiphany ceremony was held again in the small mountain city of Kalofer in central Bulgaria, where dozens of men wearing traditional white embroidered shirts waded into the Tundzha River to perform the traditional slow mazhko horo, or men's dance.

Also Read | Bangladesh General Election 2024: Countrys First Transgender Candidate Anowara Islam Rani Leads Way to Inclusivity.

Up to their waists in the freezing water and holding each other by the shoulders their dance chain meandered for half an hour through the rocky river bed. Inspired by bass drums and bagpipes and by a sip of homemade plum brandy, the dancers were waving national flags and singing folk songs.

Apart from the unique river dance, the event in Kalofer stands alone with the tradition that the man who retrieves the cross hands it to the youngest participant who receives the blessing for good health.

Epiphany marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas, but not all Orthodox Christian churches celebrate it on the same day.

While the Orthodox Christian churches in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania celebrate the feast on January 6, Orthodox Churches in Russia, Ukraine and Serbia follow the Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany is celebrated on January 19, as their Christmas falls on January 7. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 6 (ANI): The Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ) has strongly condemned the harassment of female journalist Fatima Razzaq who was covering Baloch protesters in Islamabad, as reported by the Balochistan Post.

The international organisation CPJ stated that five plainclothes gunmen forcibly detained a female journalist while she was waiting for her bus in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.

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"The accused (Police) kept Fatima Razzaq in custody at gunpoint for forty minutes and asked her various questions about the activities of the Baloch Yakjetti Committee (BYC) in Islamabad and harassed her," the CPJ said in a statement.

According to the statement, the persons demanded the journalist's camera, which the journalist refused to hand over. Then they took the mobile phone of the female journalist and started looking for things and then damaged the mobile phone, Balochistan Post reported.

Also Read | Bangladesh Train Fire Video: Four Killed, Many Injured After Passenger Train Travelling From Town Bordering India Set on Blaze.

Further, the organisation has demanded the government ensure the safety of journalists so that they can cover the protest without fear or hindrance.

Notably, during the coverage of the Baloch Yekjetti Committee's sit-in protest against the "Baloch Genocide" in Islamabad, a female journalist, Somaiyah Hafeez, was also detained by the Islamabad police.

Additionally, several other journalists were under severe criticism by the government authorities, as reported by the Balochistan Post.

Senior Pakistani journalist and columnist Hamid Mir posted on social media that another journalist, Somaiyah Hafeez, was also arrested by Islamabad police the same day.

Earlier, as the seven-day ultimatum given by the Baloch Yekjehti Committee (BYC) ended on Wednesday, Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch announced that a protest camp would be set up in front of the United Nations (UN) offices, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

Moreover, social media activist Fazila Baloch took to her social media X, stating that despite Mahrang Baloch facing prison and being tortured, she never gave up and stressed, "She is true leader."

"They wanted to control her voice, but she returned in millions. She herself faced prison, torture but she never gave up, as a human she is a real activist & As a Baloch she is true leader. Brave daughter of Balochistan Dr Mahrang," Fazila Baloch said.

https://x.com/IFazilaBaloch/status/1743372575902990813?s=20

The decision of the Islamabad High Court after increased police activity around the Baloch protest camp sparked concerns about a potential crackdown.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mahrang Baloch said that the seven-day deadline given to the government for the recovery of missing persons had ended, however, relevant authorities have not given any response.

Meanwhile, in the wake of ongoing protests in Balochistan, a complete shutterdown strike on Wednesday was observed in multiple areas of Pakistan against the extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances of Baloch people, the Yakjethti Committee said on Wednesday. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dhaka [Bangladesh], January 6 (ANI): Ties between India and Bangladesh is built on very strong foundations and these relations over the years have moved from strength to strength, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said on Saturday.

In an interview with ANI, Masud Bin Momen said that he would like to see more progress in connectivity and other joint projects between the two countries.

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He noted that the good results in the upcoming elections in India and Bangladesh will further strengthen the relationship between the two nations.

"India and Bangladesh relationship is built on very strong foundations starting from 1971 and the sacrifices of the Indian soldiers and the Indian population in general. And over the years, these relations have moved from strength to strength and recently there are so many at so many levels, cooperation and our relationship has blossomed that it cannot be said in one go, " the Bangladesh Foreign Secretay said

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"One thing I would like to see is more progress in connectivity and also projects, joint projects with mutual economic benefits and already some of the foundations have been laid. Therefore. I think with good results in the upcoming elections both in Bangladesh and subsequent in India, these various connectivity related projects will further be strengthened," he said.

Bangladesh is set to hold elections on January 7. On Thursday, Bangladesh Prime Minsiter Sheikh Hasina had urged people to exercise their voting rights in Sunday's election to prove that democracy prevails in Bangladesh.

Noting that the economic ties between India and Bangladesh has flourished in recent times, Masud Bin Momen said Bangladesh would like to fully utilise potentials of the complementaries of the two economies. He said that Matarbari deep sea port which is being built with the help of Japan will open up new possibilities for the northeastern states of India, Bhutan and Nepal.

He said, "The economic relationship, between the two countries has also flourished in recent times in terms of higher volumes of trade from both sides. So, we would like to, fully utilise the potentials of the complementarities of the two economies and also, northeast India, as you know, is, having, you know, accessibility issues, to the Bay of Bengal."

"We are building this Matarbari deep sea port with the help of the Japanese. So this could open up new possibilities, not only for north east Indian States, but also for Bhutan and Nepal, which are also landlocked. So I would like to say that or I'd like to see that in the coming years, we will have a lot of these, avenues, not only explored, but, actual implementation, will be done," he said.

Highlighting Sheikh Hasina's zero tolerance policy on terrorism, the foreign secretary said," ...Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with her zero-tolerance policy on any kind of terrorism and her promise not to let any inch of Bangladesh land used for any forces to our neighbours- India and also Myanmar...So, we are very steadfast in that context. That benefited some of the northeastern states in terms of stability and also we see progress. But we would like to go to the next level...."

The Bangladesh foreign secretary said that there needs to be some sort of continuity in terms of policies and programs related to economy. He noted that Bangladesh's economy has remained very consistent in the last 15 years under Sheikh Hasina's term as Prime Minister.

Speaking about importance of stable government for country's economy, Momen he said, "I mean, you know, for any economy to, to move in a particular trajectory. The policies and the programs in the economic areas, need to be, there need to be some sort of continuity. If you change policies, you know, with the change of, governments, then sometimes, the economic progress is also hampered.

"But we have seen in the last 15 years, with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, at the helm of affairs, our economic progress has been very, very consistent, and our poverty reduction programs has really been successful, but also in the social areas like women's empowerment, health sector, and, I mean, hardcore economic areas, you can quantify," he said.

"But, you know, some of these other, softer areas we have also done you know, tremendous progress, you know, if you take it, like, for example, inclusivity, so that, our growth has been also inclusive. And, you know, inequality has been, kept in check. and, especially, mainstreaming the women, women's forces, have also been very, very, visible, in the last few years," the Bangaldesh diplomat said.

He noted that all these policies have yielded positive results and Bangladesh has graduated from a LDC group to a developing country group. He stressed that they need to continue with these policies to see this progress moving forward.

Speaking about Bangladesh's foreign policy, Momen said, "And also in the foreign policy area, our father of the nation's, dictum of, friendship to all and, malice towards none. Also paying off in these difficult times, in the geopolitical, you know, arena. We see a lot of tension, a lot of, rivalry and, are being also played out in our region."

"But, Bangladesh has so far managed in navigating these difficult times by, with the help of this dictum. So that, you know, whatever relationship, we need to pursue with the different countries. We are doing that and making others understand our, our situation. And and they all understand. And therefore, so far, I would say that, we are managing it well," he said.

Highlighting the importance of India-Bangladesh ties, the foreign secretary said, "Of course, with India...it's based on a totally different foundation and level. It is not comparable, with any other countries. So I hope, that this can be maintained and already reciprocated by the current Indian government, Prime Minister Narendra Modiji has, time and again, mentioned the swarnadhyay golden chapter of the relationship, which is a model for any other regions. So we'd like to see more of it."

Earlier in December, Sheikh Hasina promised to maintain cooperation and friendly relations with India if she is re-elected in the parliamentary polls. The reaffirmation came as she unveiled the manifesto of the ruling Awami League party for the general elections scheduled for January 7. Hasina underlined that if her party secures victory, Bangladesh will persist in its development collaboration with all nations, highlighting the commitment to fostering positive diplomatic ties and cooperation.

Specifically mentioning India-Bangladesh ties, the manifesto states, "The long-standing problem of demarcation of land boundaries and exchange of enclaves with India has been resolved. This achievement has encouraged continued multilateral cooperation and friendly relations with 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)
Washington, Jan 6 (AP) Speaker Mike Johnson is inviting President Joe Biden to deliver his annual State of the Union address on March 7.

In a letter sent to the White House on Saturday, Johnson, R-La., extended the formal invitation for Biden to speak to a joint session of Congress. Johnson said he was inviting Biden in this moment of great challenge for our country.

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This will be the first State of the Union for Johnson as speaker, who traditionally sits behind and to the left of the president during the address to Congress. This year's speech will offer an opportunity for Biden to detail his broader vision and policy priorities as he campaigns for reelection in November.

Notably, Biden's address is scheduled for after a pair of critical deadlines to avert a government shutdown.

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Funding for federal agencies that oversee programs for veterans, and on transportation, housing, agriculture and energy, is set to expire January 19. Funding for the rest of the federal government, including the Pentagon, State Department and Homeland Security, will run out February 2.

In last year's State of the Union, Biden repeatedly declared that he would finish the job" on critical parts of his agenda that remained incomplete, such as capping insulin costs for all Americans, taking more aggressive actions on climate change, banning so-called assault-style weapons and pushing for higher taxes on corporations and the rich.

It was also his first State of the Union in front of a divided Congress, and some House Republicans interrupted and jeered at Biden, particularly when he spoke about efforts from some GOP lawmakers to cut Medicare and Social Security. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad, Jan 6 (PTI) Shocked at a resolution passed by the Senate seeking a delay in the February 8 general elections and displaying a rare unity, all major political parties in Pakistan on Saturday demanded no change in the schedule.

A petition for contempt proceedings was also filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday against the Senate chairman and its members after the resolution was adopted to postpone the elections despite the top court order to hold the polls on the scheduled day.

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The developments come less than 24 hours after the Senate on Friday approved a non-binding resolution seeking a delay in the general election, citing cold weather and security concerns leading to an increase in the political uncertainty ahead of the planned polls.

The Dawn newspaper reported that demanding that the Supreme Court (SC) take immediate notice of the resolution passed by the Senate, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Barrister Gohar Khan said: A resolution of 14 senators based on their personal opinions, has no legal or binding force in the constitutional process of holding general elections.

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He also saw the attempt by some political parties to delay the polls by using the floor of the Senate as tantamount to (an) attack on Constitution and democracy and claimed that those scared of the elections had violated the sanctity of the upper house of parliament by passing an unconstitutional resolution.

The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) seemed to be in a Catch-22 situation after the passage of the Senate resolution, since it was not opposed by the sole party Senator, Behramand Tangi, in the House at the time of voting, leading the party to distance itself from his stance and vowing to seek explanation from him.

Later at a press conference, PPP's Senator Sherry Rehman made it clear that the party wanted timely elections and it had special directives from chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to clear the air after the passage of the resolution.

The PPP leader also tried to downplay the impact of the resolution, saying that it did not carry any weight as the house failed the meet the quorum requirements for such a move.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), too, categorically declared that it wants no delay in the February 8 polls, saying that it was making preparations for the elections, as per party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb's post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

The Jamaat-e-Islami emir, Sirajul Haq, said people could not be deprived of their fundamental right to elect their representatives via transparent elections and said the resolution was a conspiracy against the country and democracy.

Postponing elections due to unrest in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be tantamount to surrendering arms to those spreading unrest, he added.

Meanwhile, caretaker Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi, who was present in the Senate when the resolution was passed, said he did not get a chance to present his arguments over the resolution.

However, he made it clear that there were no directives from the prime minister or the federal cabinet regarding a delay.

According to Article 218(3) of the Constitution, the Election Commission of Pakistan is empowered to conduct elections, give a date or change the date for elections, Solangi said, adding, We cannot interfere in the affairs of a constitutional body.

On Saturday, a lawyer, Ishtiaq Ahmed, in his petition urged the apex court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, and the senators who supported the resolution.

Emphasising the need for legal action against the chairman and the members involved, Ahmed contended that the resolution passed by the Senate falls within the purview of contempt of court.

Express News channel reported that the application has been officially submitted to the Supreme Court, urging a thorough examination of the constitutional validity of the Senate's decision.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, DC [US], January 6 (ANI): United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai will travel to New Delhi on January 12 to co-chair the 14th Ministerial-level meetings of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.

US Trade Representative Tai will be in New Delhi from January 12 to January 14.

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On her first day of the visit, Tai will meet with Piyush Goyal, following which she will co-chair the 14th ministerial-level meetings of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Piyush Goyal.

The United States-India Trade Policy Forum was established in 2010 and plays an important role in strengthening and expanding the bilateral economic and trade relationship.

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Moreover, under both ministers' leadership, the Trade Policy Forum has helped remove trade barriers and facilitate cooperation on key issues.

During this year's meeting of the Trade Policy Forum, Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal will discuss a broad set of issues to enhance the resiliency of the trade relationship, including agriculture, industrial products, services, and the protection of intellectual property, among other topics. Later, Ambassador Tai will meet with India's Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar. On January 13, Ambassador Tai will meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration's engagement and commitment to fostering closer ties between the two countries. The United States-India trade relationship has continued to grow stronger and benefit both nations throughout the past year as Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal reached several milestone agreements that deliver crucial market access for American farmers and producers and high-quality products to Indian consumers.

These included a 70 per cent reduction of the tariff on pecans and the removal of retaliatory tariffs on almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts, boric acid, and diagnostic reagents.

Moreover, it included commitments for additional tariff reductions on frozen turkey and frozen duck, as well as fresh, frozen, dried, and processed blueberries and cranberries.

Furthermore, the US and India have also reached agreements to resolve all seven of their outstanding World Trade Organisation disputes.

Additional details on Ambassador Tai's schedule will be provided at a later date.

Earlier in November, Piyush Goyal visited the US and met with US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) in San Francisco.

The two leaders held talks on the IPEF and trade pillars. The IPEF seeks to strengthen economic engagement among partner nations with the goal of advancing growth, peace and prosperity in the region, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

India and the US are natural partners and have trade complementarities, long-standing strategic and economic relationships, and people-to-people contact, and both are vibrant democracies too.

The two nations are also collaborating under other frameworks, such as QUAD and I2U2 (India-Israel, UAE-US). Regular exchanges at the leadership level have been an integral element of the expanding bilateral engagement. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Noida/New Delhi, January 6: Intensifying its crackdown on scrap metal mafia and gangster Ravi Kana and his associates operating in the Delhi-NCR region, Noida Police raided and sealed a luxurious Rs 100-crore bungalow in south Delhi's New Friends Colony, believed to have been gifted by Kana to his girlfriend and key accomplice, Kajal Jha. Jha, who initially sought employment from Kana, rose to prominence within the gang, assuming a crucial role in managing the accounts of the gangster's benami properties.

The police raided the property on Wednesday, prompting Jha and her associates to flee. The three-storey bungalow was sealed by police as part of their ongoing efforts to dismantle the scrap mafia network, said a senior Noida Police official. Ravindra Nagar, aka Ravi Kana, who has over a dozen cases registered, leads a 16-member gang involved in the illicit procurement and sale of rebar and scrap material. Who is Kajal Jha? Know About Gangster Ravi Kanas Girlfriend Whose Rs 100 Crore South Delhi Bungalow Has Been Raided and Sealed by Police

The gang, allegedly involved in extortion from businesses across Delhi-NCR, has amassed considerable wealth, with Kana reportedly transforming from a scrap dealer into a millionaire. In addition to the property seizures, the Noida Police has been actively apprehending members of Kana's gang. On Friday, two members identified as Rashid Ali and Afsar Ali were arrested from the P-3 roundabout, bringing the total number of arrested gang members to six. Gangster Ravi Kana's Alleged Girlfriend Kajal Jha's Rs 80 Crore Bungalow Sealed by Police in Delhi

Ravi Kana, who inherited leadership following the demise of his brother Harendra Pradhan, a gangster killed in 2014, has been operating under police protection due to persistent death threats. A viral video captured Kana entering a wedding event, surrounded by a contingent of policemen, highlighting the challenges faced by law enforcement in curbing the influence of the scrap mafia in the region.
Delhi, January 6: To date, the Noida police have sealed properties valued at over Rs 200 crore that are connected to the Delhi-NCR-based gangster Ravi Kana and his scrap metal mafia. The criminal gave his lover Kajal Jha a 100-crore South Delhi bungalow, which was raided and sealed by the Noida police as part of their intensified campaign against the scrap mafia.

After approaching the mobster in quest of a job, Ravi Kana's girlfriend, Kajal Jha soon joined his gang and quickly rose to the position of most significant member. Managing the books for all of his benami properties fell under her purview. A three-story home in South Delhi's exclusive New Friends Colony, valued at about Rs 100 crore, was gifted to her by Kana. Kajal Jha and her friends left the premises to avoid being arrested on Wednesday, January 6, before the police conducted a raid on the opulent residence. The cops later sealed the residence. Gangster Ravi Kana's Alleged Girlfriend Kajal Jha's Rs 80 Crore Bungalow Sealed by Police in Delhi.

Police claim that a 16-person gang led by Ravindra Nagar, popularly known as Ravi Kana, is engaged in the unlawful buying and selling of rebar and scrap metal. According to reports, Kana, a scrap dealer, made millions of dollars by forming a gang to buy and sell scrap after extorting companies in the Delhi-NCR area.

The 2014 murder of Harendra Pradhan, a fellow Greater Noida gangster, by a rival gang was the brother of Ravi Kana. Ravi Kana took over the leadership following his demise. In addition, he had police protection following threats of death. Previously, Kana was seen entering a wedding celebration in a widely shared video while being accompanied by many police officers. Rajasthan: Gangster Vikram Gurjar Alias Laden Flees After Police Intercepts Car in Jaipurs Sanganer Area, Girlfriend Arrested.

According to the police, a total of 11 cases have been filed against the criminal and his colleagues thus far, including ones involving allegations of kidnapping and theft. Thus far, six gang members have been taken into custody. The gang has searched and shut a number of the scrap godowns it utilised in Noida and Greater Noida. Together with his girlfriend and other gang members, Kana is currently at large.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2024 01:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has said that most of the children and pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are not able to meet their basic nutrition needs.
The death toll in the Japan earthquake has crossed 100, with more than 200 people still missing. According to local authorities, rescuers are racing against all odds to free survivors from the rubble in the aftermath of the quake that hit Japan on New Year's Day. On January 1, a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa and its vicinity, thereby raising concerns of escalating damages as rescue and search efforts intensify. Japan Earthquake: Death Toll Climbs To 82 With 51 Persons Missing Amid Ongoing Rescue Efforts in Ishikawa.

Death Toll Climbs To 100 in Japan Earthquake

100 people confirmed dead in Japan earthquake, more than 200 still missing - Kyodo  BNO News (@BNONews) January 6, 2024

Rescue Operation Still Underway

The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas in central Japan on New Year's Day hit 100 on Saturday, with more than 200 still unaccounted for, local authorities said. https://t.co/YlxAGE3BpD  The Japan Times (@japantimes) January 6, 2024

(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.)
London, January 6: During his tenure as the British Chancellor Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had doubts whether the governments scheme of sending migrants to Rwanda would stop channel crossings, documents seen by the BBC suggest. According to No 10 papers from March 2022, Sunak was not convinced of the plans effectiveness, which was launched in April 2022 by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In addition, he was also concerned about the cost of sending asylum seekers to Africa and wanted to limit the numbers, The Evening Standard reported, citing the BBC. The then Chancellor felt hotels are cheaper than reception centres to house migrants, and was reluctant to fund Greek-style reception centres at a cost of 3.5 million pounds per day, the documents revealed. UK PM Rishi Sunak Faces Byelection Challenge After Ex-minister Quits

But when he became the Prime Minister in 2022, the Rwanda Bill became the core of his policy to stop the boats -- one of five key priorities, which Sunak set out to achieve. Under the plan, anyone who arrived in Britain illegally after January 1, 2022, faced being sent to Rwanda, some 6,400 km away. In a big setback to his government last year, the UK's Supreme Court rejected plans to send migrants to Rwanda as unlawful as it would put them at risk.

Stating that the ruling "was not the outcome we wanted", Sunak said that his "commitment to stopping the boats is unwavering". Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC that as a Chancellor, Sunak resisted the plan as he knew it was incredibly costly and wouldnt work. But he is so weak he has now agreed to write cheques to Rwanda for 400 million pounds without sending a single person there in a desperate attempt to shore up his leadership, Cooper said. Social Media Ban in UK For Under 16? Rishi Sunak Mulls Curbing Social Media Use for Under-16s, Says Report

The revelations by the documents come as Sunak grapples with a new crisis after a Conservative MP pledged to stand down "as soon as possible" over a new legislation. The announcement from former Energy Minister Chris Skidmore means the Conservatives will have to defend two seats which could easily swing to Labour in upcoming by-elections.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2024 12:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Manhattan, January 6: Tony Figueroa, a man entangled in Jeffrey Epsteins scandalous world, revealed in a 2016 deposition that he was paid $200 for each girl he brought to Epsteins mansion, regardless of whether they engaged in activities with Epstein. Figueroa also acknowledged that Epstein had three-way sexual encounters with his girlfriend Virginia Roberts Guiffre and Ghislaine Maxwell, according to recently unsealed court documents.

According to a New York Post report, Figueroa testified that Epstein would directly call him to inquire about getting more girls. He became part of Epsteins scheme to procure young girls due to his relationship with Virginia Roberts Guiffre, an accuser at the time. He stated that most conversations involved either asking about Guiffres whereabouts or requesting him to bring girls. Who Was Ruslana Korshunova? Know About Top Russian Model Who Died by Suicide Two Years After Visiting Jeffrey Epstein's Paedophile Island in United States.

He further disclosed that Guiffre, Maxwell, and Epstein would often engage in activities together. They would frequent clubs to find girls to bring back for Epstein. Figueroa also confirmed that they used strap-on sex toys during their intimate sessions. Jeffrey Epstein Documents Reveal Prince Andrew Allegedly Had Orgy With Underaged Girls on Epstein Island.

In contrast, Maxwell, in her depositions, denied any knowledge of such activities and even asked the interviewing lawyer to define a sex toy, claiming she lacked sufficient knowledge to answer their questions. Lawyers representing Guiffre later complained that Maxwell was evading basic questions.

Figueroas deposition was among the 73 documents released on Friday, shedding more light on how Epstein used his connections to the rich and famous to recruit victims and conceal his crimes. These documents are part of a defamation lawsuit brought against Maxwell by Guiffre in 2015, which has since been settled.

The documents also revealed search terms used by Guiffres attorneys to search Maxwells devices, including names of victims and high-profile individuals. The documents, previously redacted to hide names, have started to be unsealed, with more expected to be released on Monday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2024 08:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is running for reelection despite the El Salvador Constitution mandating that this is not allowed. However, he has publicly rejected an "indefinite tenure" as he stepped down from office to continue his reelection bid for the 2024 presidential elections.

According to Dominican Today, Bukele is currently actively campaigning for reelection despite the constitutional prohibitions, as he received the backing of the El Salvador Supreme Court, which he has stacked in his favor.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that Bukele could seek a second term in the upcoming February 4 election should he step down six months before the election. He has done so already, stepping down from his duties as president last December, six months before the election.

Despite finding a loophole thanks to a Supreme Court stacked in his favor, Bukele stated that he does not want to be in power forever as concerns from other countries and critics within El Salvador grow about him ruling the country for the rest of his life.

Bukele was asked if he would change the constitution so he could run indefinitely. To this, the El Salvador president flatly answered that no, he would not.

Despite concerns about his dictatorial nature and hold on power by running again, Nayib Bukele remains very popular in El Salvador, enjoying a 90% approval rating for his war against the gangs, cracking down on notorious organizations like MS-13 and Barrio-18.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Extending Influence Outside Country With Reelection Bid

While Bukele is not actively acting as the president anymore, actively campaigning, he is also extending his reach to other countries around the world, with his profile rising all over Latin America.

During a 2-hour forum on X, he accused foreign critics of his controversial policies, which include the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, of trying to keep El Salvador and other developing nations down.

READ NEXT: El Salvador Authorities Dismantle Migrant Smuggling Ring

The Associated Press reported that Bukele also declared El Salvador to be the "safest country in Latin America, just a few years after it was listed as one of the world's deadliest." He also pointed out that many in his country were willing "to overlook the erosion of checks and balances in exchange for safe neighborhoods."

With El Salvador hosting not just the e Miss Universe competition in November but also the Central American and Caribbean Games in July, he has boosted his country's international image and touted just how safe El Salvador has become.

Nayib Bukele Still Projected To Win Reelection Bid Despite Constitutionality Question

Bukele's gang crackdowns may have raised the eyebrows of the international community and various human rights organizations, but it has become a popular move to many in El Salvador who have lived in fear of the various criminal gangs plaguing the country.

Because of these crackdowns, which rights groups are saying also victimize innocent civilians often mistaken for gang members, Bukele has sky-high popularity.

Risa Grais-Targow, a director at Eurasia Group, told the Financial Times that Bukele is so popular in El Salvador that she "wouldn't be surprised if this election effectively turns El Salvador into a single-party state."

Bukele not only holds the presidency in El Salvador, but he has also stacked Congress and the Supreme Court with his own loyalists.

READ MORE: El Salvador: Military and Police Surround Town To Root Out MS-13 Gang Members

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Investigating El Salvador's gang crackdown and forced disappearances | Fault Lines Documentary - Al Jazeera English
Nicholas Rossi, a 36-year-old American fugitive accused of orchestrating his own death to evade rape charges in Utah, has been successfully extradited from Scotland to the United States, according to The Guardian.

Nicholas Rossi's extradition marks the culmination of a complex legal battle and ongoing controversies surrounding his identity.

Rossi, also known as Nicholas Alahverdian in the US, is wanted in Utah for an alleged rape incident dating back to 2008.

In addition to the charges in Utah, Rossi faces complaints related to domestic violence in Rhode Island.

The American fugitive was traced to a Covid ward in Scotland, where he had been hiding, prompting authorities to initiate extradition proceedings.

Scotland police confirmed the completion of Rossi's extradition Friday, stating that they had assisted partner agencies in this lengthy legal process.

The extradition follows a November 2022 court ruling that affirmed Rossi's identity, dismissing his claims of being an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight.

READ NEXT: Jan. 6 Proud Boys Defendant Faces 10 Years in Prison

Challenges in the Legal Battle

Nicholas Rossi, known to use multiple aliases, has consistently contested the charges against him, maintaining that the entire case is a result of mistaken identity, per BBC.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court received evidence that the tattoos and fingerprints of the individual matched those of Rossi, leading Sheriff Norman McFadyen to confirm his identity as the American fugitive in November of last year.

Despite this confirmation, Nicholas Rossi maintained that he had received the tattoos while unconscious in the hospital, suggesting an attempt to frame him.

Sheriff McFadyen dismissed this explanation as "fanciful," emphasizing that Rossi's multiple name changes were "consistent with someone with something to hide."

Despite numerous disruptions during court appearances and sacking his own lawyers on multiple occasions, the legal system confirmed his identity as Nicholas Rossi in November 2022.

Rossi's disruptive behavior in court, including claims of torture in prison and arriving in a wheelchair with an oxygen mask, has added complexity to the legal proceedings.

The American fugitive, Nicholas Rossi, lost his final appeal in December as Scottish ministers approved an order allowing his extradition to the US to face the pending charges.

Details of Allegations and Extradition Process

Rossi, also known as Nicholas Alahverdian, had been found guilty of sexual imposition and public indecency during his time as a student at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio, in 2008.

The charges stemmed from an alleged attack on a former girlfriend, where he was accused of pushing her onto a couch and engaging in non-consensual intercourse despite her pleas.

Scottish Justice Secretary Angela Constance signed the order approving Rossi's extradition in September.

Rossi left Scotland on a private flight from Edinburgh Airport, landing in Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon.

The Utah County Sheriff's Office, anticipating Nicholas Rossi's arrival, expressed the significance of fingerprinting him as part of the booking process, particularly given his assertion of being Arthur Knight.

Former Utah prosecutor David O. Leavitt, who sought the American fugitive's extradition, acknowledged the efforts of law enforcement agencies worldwide and emphasized the pursuit of justice for the victims, The Providence Journal reports.

"Today marks a pivotal moment in pursuing justice as the responsibility shifts to Utah County. The victims deserve no less; the world will be watching," Leavitt said.

Nicholas Rossi's extradition is expected to shift responsibility to Utah County, where he will face the pending charges.

Additionally, officers in Essex have been investigating the American fugitive in connection with a non-recent allegation of rape reported in April 2022. He remains on bail in connection with this investigation.

"We assisted partner agencies with the extradition of a 36-year-old man," a Scotland Police said.

READ MORE: Iowa School Shooting

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Fugitive Nicholas Rossi back extradited to the United States - From STV News
Germany-born actor Christian Oliver, whose real name is Christian Klepser, died in a plane crash off a Caribbean island that is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines territory along with his two young daughters.

The actor, best known for his roles in "Speed Racer," "Valkyrie," and "The Good German," was aboard a small plane when it crashed into the sea after leaving J.F. Mitchell Airport in Bequia, a tiny island and part of the Caribbean nations of St. Vincent and Grenadines. They were supposed to go to St. Lucia.

According to Deadline, his two daughters, Madita Klepser, 12, and Annik Klepser, 10, were among the dead, as was the owner and pilot of the plane, identified as Robert Sachs. Oliver was 51.

"Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced difficulties and nose-dived into the ocean," the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force told the media in a statement. "Fishermen and divers from Paget Farm went to the scene of the incident in their boats to render assistance."

Local Divers and Fishermen From St. Vincent and the Grenadines Recovered Christian Oliver's Body

Soon after the crash, the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard responded. With the help of local divers and fishermen from Paget Farm on the tiny island of Bequia, they managed to recover all four bodies, including Christian Oliver.

The SVG Coast Guard revealed that they have now recovered all four victims "from the aircraft/sea" and have been transported to the country's main island, St. Vincent. Post-mortem examinations of their bodies are expected within the coming days, according to the BBC.

READ MORE: Venezuela and Guyana Leaders Meet in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Amid Essequibo Tensions

The actor's representatives have released a statement that said their "thoughts and prayers are with him, his two daughters and his family."

Currently, the cause of the crash is still being determined by officials in the Caribbean country. However, the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority has stated that an investigation has been launched and that they are "currently in the process of gathering information to assist in the investigation."

The "Speed Racer" star was in the Caribbean for a vacation with his two daughters. He is also known for his work as a detective in the popular German action series "Alarm for Cobra 11," as well as working with acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh in the critically acclaimed film "The Good German."

Christian Oliver, 2 Daughters Were in Bliss During Caribbean Vacation Before Tragic Deaths

It was supposed to be a New Year vacation for Oliver's family, with the actor proudly showing off vacation photos taken from the island of Petit Nevis, a private island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

"Greetings from somewhere in paradise!" the 51-year-old "Speed Racer" actor wrote. "To community and love ...2024 her [sic] we come !"

According to E! News, this would be the actor's final post on social media before he and his daughters tragically passed away in the plane crash. It showed a photo of people enjoying the holiday on the island.

READ MORE: US Navy Bribery Scandal: Fat Leonard Arrested in Venezuela While Trying to Flee to Russia

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Speed Racer Actor Christian Oliver Dead at 51 - Entertainment Tonight
UPDATE: Lehigh Valley weather: Communities declare snow emergencies as storm arrives (PHOTOS)

The snowfall total forecast for a winter storm expected to hit the Lehigh Valley today with a quick blast of snow has increased slightly to 3 to 6 inches, with the potential for up to 12 inches of snow in the Poconos.

Snow totals have come up a bit in areas where snow is expected, the National Weather Service said in its forecast update early Saturday. In the southern Poconos and northern New Jersey, up to a foot of snow is possible, especially at higher elevations.

The arrival of the storm remains on track for early afternoon.

The heaviest of the precipitation will fall from late afternoon and early evening into after midnight, the weather service said.

The forecast for the northern half of New Jersey calls for snow and sleet with the potential for 6 to 12 inches of snowfall in northwestern counties on Saturday afternoon and evening, while the southern half of the state may see some light snow before a transition to rain.National Weather Service and AccuWeather

The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings in New Jersey for Sussex and Warren counties, along with winter weather advisories for Lehigh, Northampton and Hunterdon counties. Nearby Berks and upper Bucks counties also are under winter weather advisories.

A period of snowfall rates near 1-inch per hour is possible in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley later this afternoon and early this evening, the weather service said.

The forecast in New Jersey calls for 8 to 12 inches in Sussex County and 6 to 8 inches in Warren County.

The forecast for the northern half of New Jersey calls for snow and sleet with the potential for 6 to 12 inches of snowfall in northwestern counties on Saturday afternoon and evening, while the southern half of the state may see some light snow before a transition to rain.National Weather Service and AccuWeather

AccuWeathers snowfall forecast map aligns closely with the weather service predictions, with a zone of 3 to 6 inches of snow expected across the Lehigh Valley and higher amounts of 6 to 12 inches to the north.

Gusty winds could also be a concern, the weather service said.

By late this afternoon, east winds will increase to 15 to 20 mph with 20 to 30 mph gusts, the weather service said.

The forecast for the Lehigh Valley calls for 4 to 6 inches of snow from a quick-hitting winter storm. The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and advisories. National Weather Service and AccuWeather

Current warnings, watches, and advisories:

Winter storm warnings:

Warren County: 1 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. Heavy snow with accumulations of 6 to 8 inches expected.

Sussex County - 1 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. Heavy snow with 8 to 12 inch accumulations expected.

Winter weather advisories:

Lehigh and Northampton counties - 1 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. 3 to 6 inches of snow expected.

Hunterdon County - 1 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. 3 to 6 inches of snow expected.

Another storm could hit the Lehigh Valley with heavy rain on Tuesday. National Weather Service and AccuWeather

Powerful storm Tuesday

Weather service forecasters are increasingly concerned with another brewing storm for Tuesday that could bring significant flooding, rain, and damaging winds to the Lehigh Valley. Widespread rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches are expected with 4 inches of rain possible in some spots.

An even greater concern is that the heavy rain could combine with melting snow from todays storm to cause flooding.

The warm rain event next week will likely bring a rapid meltdown of the existing snow cover on the ground beneath that is still wet from prior storms in December, AccuWeather meteorologist Dean DeVore said. In turn, flooding of urban areas, small streams, and even along some of the major rivers is a strong possibility in the region.

Another strong storm may brewing for Friday as well, the weather service said.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local weather news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
A group of people waited overnight outside a hotel in County Mayo that is due to house up to 50 male refugees in the coming days.

At its peak, close to 100 people gathered outside JJ Gannon's hotel in Ballinrobe to protest against the proposed accommodation of up to 50 international protection applicants at the hotel, which closed in 2012.

The property had been mooted to house Ukrainian refugees back in September after refurbishment works took place throughout the summer.

However, local representatives were informed on Thursday that the Main Street hotel would be used to house 50 male international protection applicants from Monday, January 8.

Protesters began to assemble at Main Street from approximately 7pm onwards after Cllr Michael Burke publicly announced the development on his Facebook page on Friday afternoon.

The Fine Gael councillor, alongside fellow local representatives Damien Ryan (Fianna Fail) and Patsy OBrien (Independent) all addressed the gathering, which dwindled to less than ten people as the night progressed.

The event was policed by at least three gardai, one of whom told The Mayo News that there had been no incidents at the protest that evening.

A garda squad car also patrolled the area throughout Friday evening.

Parts of the demonstration were also live streamed via social media while a number of cars blew their horn in approval while passing by the demonstration.

Michelle Marie Smith, a local businesswoman who helped organise the gathering, told The Mayo News that the demonstrators would stand there as long as we have to to prevent the hotel being used as refugee accommodation.

Ms Smith, who has made social media posts in the past criticising Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, said the gathering had been a great success.

The demonstrators, who erected a gazebo at the front of the hotel and lit an outdoor fire for heat, received soup and sweets during Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Gatherers were also invited to sign a petition voicing their opposition to the development.

Two men, who said they were there in a work capacity, were refused entry to the hotel by protestors when they arrived after 2am on Saturday morning

The community spirit here has been fantastic, but at the end of the day, this on the Main Street of Ballinrobe, there is a play school two doors down, we have kids going to school here and the businesses here need to be protected, because these foreign nationals will come in with 38 euro a week. What are they going to do and where are they going to go? They have no facilities here for them, said Ms Smith, who said the demonstrators were not part of any particular party or organised group.

The town is just not able to have the capacity. There is12 rooms in that hotel taking in 50 males so even for a humanitarian basis, we wont allow it and we will stand here for as long as we have to make sure it doesnt happen.

Ms Smith, who is originally from Armagh but has lived in Mayo for 23 years, voiced concerns  echoed by other women who spoke to The Mayo News at the demonstration  regarding how the proposed accommodation would affect public safety.

At least one other property in Ballinrobe is being used to accommodate refugees, including accommodation above Art ONeills bar on Abbey Street.

In 2022, a total of 1,289 living in the Ballinrobe town area were of an ethnicity other than White Irish - some 41 percent of the population.

Ms Smith said that she had no problem with people coming into the country if they are going to contribute to our society.

After it was pointed out to Ms Smith that the town already has a sizable migrant population, she said: We know where these people were from because they are actually working and they are contributing to the town. What we dont know about these 50 men is where they are coming from, who they are, what are their criminal backgrounds, if they have any and why are we helping 50 males only?

The whole humanitarian thing was meant to be about helping families flee troubles from Ukraine. We are not getting that. We are getting 50 males that we know absolutely nothing about and my daughter will not walk down here during the day or at night time until this is put a stop to.

Ms Smith also rejected the suggestion by Cllr Burke that the move was set in stone.

Cllr Burke told the gathering on Friday that county councillors had absolutely no input into the allocation of international protection applicants to communities.

I will take back the message that Im getting clear and loud tonight, Cllr Burke said.

According to information provided to Cllr Burke by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth, the JJ Gannons hotel is owned by Tom OConnor, who has been offered a one-year contract by the department.

The property is leased to Sunnyhill Explorer and Banandel Ltd. The latter company will run the site on a 24/7 basis and has experience of managing IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Service) centres.

There will be at least seven staff members on site during the day, including a general manager for five days a week and a duty manager at other times. There will be a minimum of two staff on duty on any given time, including three-night porters between 8am and 8pm and two cleaning staff from 8am to 2pm.

International protection applicants resident IPAS accommodation will receive an allowance of 38.80 per week and will be entitled to medical cards.

A total of 190 IPAS centres have been utilised across 26 counties since January 2022.

Cllr Damien Ryan said he stood in solidarity with those in attendance and called for people to relay their concerns to national representatives.

Cllr Ryan said there had been no prior contact with local county councillors regarding the use of the building for international protection applicants until they received an email from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth on Thursday.

National policy is whats dictating whats going on at local level. I certainly have concerns and reservations. I think the public at large embrace a level of acceptance with genuine refugees. I think what has infuriated the public here is 50 males going into a building with no collaboration, no communication, Cllr Ryan told the gathering on Friday evening.

Robeen-based Independent councillor Patsy OBrien told The Mayo News that he would seek a full meeting of Mayo County Council on the matter of immigration.

Citing recent protests over the proposed housing of international protection applicants in Clare, Cllr OBrien said that liaison officers should be appointed to engage with communities which are due to accommodate refugees.
A proposal to accommodate 50 male international protection applicants in a hotel in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo has been scrapped.

Local county councillors Damien Ryan and Michael Burke have stated that a lease between the Department of Children, Equality, Disabilities, Integration and Youth and the owner of JJ Gannons hotel had been withdrawn.

Protesters assembled outside the hotel on Friday evening after Cllr Burke announced on social media that 50 men would be moving into the 12-bedroom hotel from Monday, January 8.

The gathering, which numbered almost 100 people at its peak, was addressed by Cllr Burke, Cllr Ryan (Fianna Fail) and Independent councillor Patsy OBrien, as well as other locals.

A number of men and women who spoke to The Mayo News outlined various concerns about the proposal; including the presence of a nearby playschool, the safety of local people and the extra demand on local facilities.

In a statement on Facebook today (Saturday), Cllr Burke said that the lease for the current proposal had been withdrawn.

I am delighted with this announcement and its a good result for all the people that turned out last night and has been in contact with me over the past 24 hours, the Fine Gael councillor said.

Cllr Ryan stated that the proposal had been reversed following behind the scenes negotiations and thanked those who showed up to the protest outside the hotel on Friday evening to give us a strong hand in these deliberations.

The property, formerly owned by the Gannon family but now owned by Tom OConnor for a considerable length of time, has been vacant since it closed in 2012.

Speaking to locals this afternoon, Cllr Burke said he had 100 percent confidence that the former proposal would not be going ahead.

I can stand firmly behind the conversation Ive had with him this morning and other conversations Ive had with other people in high political office, said Cllr Burke on a video streamed live on Facebook.

Cllr Burke added that Mr OConnor withdrew from the lease off his own bat, not from any political pressures.

Mayo County Council had indicated to The Mayo News in September that discussions were taking place to use the hotel to accommodate refugees from Ukraine.

A group of people waited at the front of the hotel throughout Friday night and Saturday morning.

An outdoor fire and a gazebo were set up while fuel and food were supplied to the protestors, who had organised a rota to keep someone constantly stationed at the hotel.

Two men, who said they were there in a work capacity, were refused entry to the property when they arrived after 2am on Saturday morning.

A constant garda presence was maintained around the hotel since the protests began on Friday evening.

The Department of Children, Disabilities, Equality, Integration and Youth has been contacted for a statement on the matter.
A call has been made for businesses impacted by road projects to be supported.

Naas councillor Bob Quinn cited the Kilcullen Road in Naas as an example.

The road is being narrowed as cycle lanes and footpaths are provided and the work is likely to continue until the end of next March.

Read more Kildare news

He told a Naas Municipal District meeting that Kildare County Council should engage with the National Transport Authority to outline any business supports that could be made available to enhance the customer experience.

KCC engineer Donal Hodgins said KCC meets with the NTA every three months and can discuss the issue with them.

He said the next meeting will take place before the end of next March.

He also said that there had been a lot of positive feedback from businesses.

However, Cllr Bill Clear urged that some attention be given to the Refillz business at Kilcullen Road suggesting that it had been badly impacted by the works.
Met Eireann has confirmed the country will experience the first major cold snap of 2024 in the coming days with subzero temperatures setting in.

Forecasters say Ireland will experience "a respite from the recent wet and windy weather as high pressure builds from the Azores over the weekend and becomes established over Ireland into next week, bringing cold, clear and generally calm conditions with little precipitation."

Met Eireann meteorologist Liz Coleman explained: Its going to feel much colder than it has recently, with daytime temperatures in the low single figures and nighttime temperatures falling below zero in most areas.

"Widespread frost is expected with some ice, although generally dry conditions will limit ice formation to mainly areas of standing water or run off. Nevertheless, do take care while out and about.

"While it will be cold, it will be mainly dry with sunny spells as the high pressure will prevent any significant rainfall."

Liz said: There will be showers at times in the north and west over the weekend and in the east through next week but rainfall amounts will be low. So a lot of dry weather in the forecast.

Liz continued: The cold temperatures coupled with near calm conditions means fog will also be a feature of our weather, particularly over the weekend. Dense fog patches are likely on Saturday and Sunday night.

"With little wind to clear the fog, it may linger into the daytime in some areas leading to tricky travelling conditions. Our forecasters will be monitoring the situation and will issue warnings as required."

Met Eireann further said: "Current indications suggest that high pressure will be in control of our weather until next weekend when the models show a breakdown to more unsettled, but still cold weather. Although there is a lot of uncertainty that far ahead in the forecast."
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Celebrations and events have been taking place across the country this Saturday to mark Nollaig na mBan.

Traditionally, the twelfth and final day of Christmas, January 6, has been known in Ireland as Nollaig na mBan or Womens Christmas or Little Christmas.

According to RTE's brainstorm, as a reward for their hard work over the Christmas season, it was a day off from all house work for women and traditional roles were supposed to be reversed in the home: men did the womens work in the house while women rested and gathered together informally.

The custom was that women made social calls to the homes of their friends and neighbours and enjoyed tea and the last of the Christmas cake.

Na mna



My grandmother & my great grandmother bringing home the turf, Conamara, 1939.#NollaignamBan pic.twitter.com/qrmogcYLBt  Mairead (@MaireadNiChuaig) January 6, 2024

Nollaig na mBan Shona daoibh - spent the day out canvassing in Inniscarra and celebrating with the Cork Green ladies! #NollaignamBan #12thdayofChristmas @CorkGreens @greenparty_ie pic.twitter.com/D8y2Okwmzn  Harriet Burgess (@Harriet_Burgess) January 6, 2024

Lighting candles on #nollaignamban for all who have endured Christmas with an abusive partner, frontline heroes who worked long shifts, the homeless, the carers, the vulnerable and the lonely

In solidarity that they will survive and rise & 2024 will be a better one #NollaigNamBan pic.twitter.com/mRPteqla7j  Norah Casey (@NorahCasey) January 6, 2024

Our picture gallery features some of those who attended a special Nollaig na mBan celebration lunch at the Woodlands House Hotel in Adare, County Limerick.

The event was organised by Limerick IFAs farm family committee.
James Gilmartin is a new Independent candidate for the Manorhamilton Electoral Area and speaking to the Leitrim Observer, Mr. Gilmartin outlined some of the reasons why he decided to run this year.

Mr. Gilmartin, married with three young children, who teaches at second level locally says he "passionately believes in the importance of encouraging young people to achieve their full potential".

He farms on land that has been in his family for seven generations and is an active member of Leitrim Sustainable Agricultural Group and currently a national Farming for Nature Ambassador.

As a suckler and sheep farmer, he believes in robust support for this sector which is the backbone of the rural economy in North Leitrim. Strong representation to voice concerns at council level is needed to deliver for this sector with improved conditions via support structures such as the Sheep Welfare Scheme and Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme to be targeted at national level.

Mr. Gilmartin continued: "One of the reasons I decided to run was because both as a farmer and as an Agricultural Science teacher locally I am acutely aware of the particular challenges that farmers face in this part of the world and how a one-size-fits-all approach to agriculture cannot work.

"Ive farmed all my life with my Dad, aged 92, and I currently run the farm with my extended family. The small family farm is a keystone in this area and needs protection. It's about making agriculture more prosperous for young men and women alongside those currently farming - to make it not only a viable career but also one to aspire towards in this wonderful part of the world."

James and his father Jimmy Gilmartin at the Castle Street Band Commemoration, Manorhamilton last year.

Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, he continued that working as a teacher, "you are aware that you have to create the environment where young people can put down roots in North Leitrim". He stressed that rural one-off housing is vital as well as sufficient housing within our towns and villages.

"Its about joining the dots where we create the employment opportunities for young people to stay and start families of their own alongside providing them with the opportunities to build, buy or renovate a home for them and their families.

Proper infrastructure such as reliable transport services and high speed broadband will further create the suitable conditions to work and live in our area.

He also pointed out that the retail sector and small and medium sized enterprises are also in need of support. They play a vital role both in employment and in a thriving community oftentimes having to compete with much larger corporations who can absorb increasing costs more easily.

Alongside financial incentives he feels it is of huge importance to create towns and villages that are "amenable, accessible and well serviced by transport services in getting people into our town centres and creating that sense of community",

Having been actively involved in Local Sport all his life, Mr. Gilmartin is also passionate about creating new facilities alongside improving current ones with the aim to further develop a resilient and vibrant community.

Two other important groups that he is keen to support are the very young and the elderly. Children in their formative years need to be looked after both through time appropriate access to Assessments and Services and through proper Childcare Provision.

On the other end of the scale, Carers are another critical service within the community, Mr Gilmartin personally adding that his elderly father and mother "created a great life for us and made a sustained community effort themselves, they need to be looked after; in general elderly people who have contributed to society in the area need to have access to Homecare and Home Help. If we didn't have carers we'd be in dire straits".

Following on from this he also stressed the importance of supporting local family-run nursing homes, "They are an extremely important part of communities and also require proper support and incentives to survive. The net result of losing them would be new bigger nursing homes being built in large urban centres which will have numerous detrimental effects including the distance to travel for regular family visits.

Mr. Gilmartin is more recently involved in a selection of local community groups which were formed to counteract the threat of extractive industries on the land. He is currently Chairperson of Treasure Leitrim.

He feels North Leitrim has been targeted by outside interests whose only concern is to make a profit from the land without contributing to the local community, oftentimes leaving environmental destruction in their wake. He highlights the fact that large swathes of North Leitrim under Sitka Spruce Forestry are actually owned by multinationals and private investment funds who exploit the system to plant the land using State Aid.

This drives up the price of land, causes huge environmental impact and decimates communities. Small family farms and young farmers in particular cannot survive with this unfair competition, and if elected he will strive to counteract this most devastating threat to the communities of North Leitrim.

Following on from this, Mr. Gilmartin has worked strongly against the imminent threat of Gold Mining in the area. "Ireland is very much underdeveloped for mining and in the last three years Prospecting Licences (PL) have been given out like confetti by the Minister of Environment",

He said that the necessity to source our own minerals is the main reason given by those in power for these licenses but the actual reason is completely profit driven. In the main the companies who apply for these licenses are searching for gold and silver.

The mining process involved in extracting these metals is "extremely toxic and environmentally unsound" and if it was allowed to occur in this region it would have devastating adverse consequences for generations to come. He noted that 27 percent of Ireland is under Prospecting compared to just 3 percent of the UK.

"They come in; try to make as much money as possible from the area and then leave it in rag order and move on."

Mr. Gilmartin stressed that he is not "anti-anything" and that his motto is:

"When you fight against something you focus on what you hate, when you fight for something you focus on what you love".

As a proud Leitrim man who is very grateful to be born, raised and to live in this unique area James is excited to be putting his name forward as a new Independent Candidate in the upcoming local elections for Leitrim County Council.
Helen McEntee has insisted those responsible for arson attacks on buildings proposed for housing asylum seekers will face justice.

The justice ministers comments came as gardai carried out a series of searches as part of an investigation into a deliberate blaze at a disused hotel where international protection applicants were set to be accommodated.

The property at Rosscahill in Co Galway was badly damaged in the fire in December.

The arson attack at the Ross Lake House Hotel happened days before it was due to accommodate 70 asylum seekers.

It was one of a series of recent incidents of criminal damage at properties that have been earmarked as accommodation for refugees or asylum seekers.

A former pub in Ringsend in Dublin was set alight on New Years Eve amid speculation it was going to be used to house international protection applicants, even though it was actually due to be used for homeless accommodation.

On Thursday, gardai said they were investigating suspected criminal damage by fire at an unoccupied building in Fethard, Co Tipperary.

In a statement on Saturday, Ms McEntee said: I strongly condemn these criminal acts of arson.

People need to understand these are very serious crimes which carry heavy prison sentences and those who have carried them out will be brought to justice.

I have been in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner (Drew Harris) and I have reassured him that any resources required will be made available to him.

Meanwhile An Garda Siochana is doing everything possible to investigate recent acts of arson. I understand they are making good progress in their investigations and I encourage anyone with any information in relation to any of the incidents to contact them.

I also ask anyone with information either on past incidents or about possible upcoming threats to contact their local gardai.

It is clear that a group of people in society are intent on sowing division and fear through intimidation. I repeat that there can never be justification for such acts, regardless of circumstances or alleged motivation.

In regard to the fire at the Ross Lake House Hotel, gardai said they carried out four searches at properties in the Rosscahill area on Saturday morning.

The operation was conducted by Garda members attached to Galway Divisional Crime unit, supported by the National Bureau of Crime Investigation.

Gardai said a number of exhibits were seized and they will be subject to analysis that will determine the next stages of the investigation.

The Garda described the investigation to date as large scale, with 229 investigative tasks having been conducted and 145 statements taken.

Gardai reiterated their appeal for anyone with information about the attack to come forward.

Ms McEntee said the Garda and the International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas) continued to work closely together to ensure effective policing plans were in place wherever there is an identified operational need.

Where accommodation centres are being established, Ipas notifies and engages with local communities through their Community Engagement Team in advance, she said.

Gardai are continually monitoring emerging threats, including monitoring social media activity, and stepping up policing responses as necessary.

Both my department and I are fully committed to the fight against racism and bigotry and strongly condemn the actions of those who abuse and attack others because of their own prejudices.

Ireland is a diverse and tolerant country, and such behaviour is not acceptable.
Neven Maguire is back with a new seven-part series of his popular Food Trails programmes, returning to Portugal following his highly enjoyable visit in 2022. This year his travels take him from Porto in the North of Portugal, to the Atlantic island of Madeira.

Locations that Neven visits include Porto, Coimbra, Obidos, Lisbon, Sintra, Cascais and Madeira. Throughout the series, Neven meets some of Portugals most renowned chefs and unique artisan food and drink producers.

His visits include a trip to a tropical fruit farm accessed by cable car, cooking with a chef who uses 25 year-old oysters, a tasting at a steam powered rum distillery; and exploring a banana plantation with its own banana museum.

Neven also heads to Quinta das Lagrimas, the setting for Portugals own real life Romeo and Juliet story. He takes a tour of Bordallo Pinheiro, perhaps Portugals most famous decorative ceramics producer, discovers the spectacular Palacio Nacional da Pena, and also enjoys some traditional Fado music.

Neven enjoys local cuisine at contemporary restaurant Vinum in Porto.

Each week Neven shares one of his own recipes, inspired by his Portuguese Food Trails.

He says: I was delighted to return to Portugal which is an extraordinary country to explore as a chef, and also as a tourist. From Porto to Coimbra, Sintra, Lisbon and Madeira, I discovered the distinct artisan food and drink of each region, and learned recipes from some of the countrys most talented chefs.

Not only did we discover even more uniquely Portuguese produce, we met some incredible people who were exceptionally kind and welcoming wherever we travelled.

In this new series we also ventured from mainland Portugal to the island of Madeira, a totally new experience for me, with a subtropical climate and cuisine.

Throughout the series, Ive tasted delicious food and drink, learned new cooking techniques and tips, and visited spectacular tourist attractions. Travelling through Portugal has been an enriching experience, and Im looking forward to sharing it.

Programme One: Porto

In the first of seven episodes, Neven visits the historic city of Porto in Northern Portugal.

He climbs the Clerigos Tower, the citys most famous landmark. Built in 1763, the Clerigos Tower is 75 metres tall and involves a steep ascent of 200 steps. At the top, guide Mario Almeida is on hand to give Neven an overview of this National Monument.

Another of Portos landmarks is the Majestic Cafe which is over 100 years old and renowned for its signature dish, a unique recipe for French Toast, paired with Port which chef Manuela Pinto shares with Neven.

On his previous visit to Porto, Neven explored Grahams Wine Lodge, one of the citys most acclaimed Port producers. This time he focuses on food at the companys contemporary restaurant Vinum, which specialises in local and Basque Country cuisine.

Here Neven enjoys Grilled Game Sausages with Peppers, and a traditional Kale, Potato and Chorizo Soup; a dish popular throughout Portugal.

In Portugal, visitors can stay in converted palaces, castles and monasteries known as Pousadas. There are thirty six pousadas in the country, and Neven visits Portos Palacio do Freixo, an ornate 18th century palace which is now a hotel. He meets chef Tony Salgado and learns a recipe for a Porto version of Cataplana, a Portuguese fish stew. Tony also serves a Strawberry Gazpacho with Tomato and Basil Sorbet, and a Port Wine Pudding served with Citrus, and interestingly, Finely Chopped Pork Rinds.

Neven Maguire with chef Tony Salgado at the Palacio do Freixo.

In the oceanside suburb of Foz Do Douro, Neven calls in at Tavi one of Portos best bakeries where he learns how to make a typical Portuguese Christmas Cake, although it is eaten and sold all year round.

Nevens own recipe this week is Beef Kebabs with Avocado and Red Pepper Salsa.

All of Nevens recipes in this series were filmed on the spectacular island of Madeira at the Quinta Das Vinhas estate and vineyard, which has been owned by the same family since 1685.

Neven's Portuguese Food Trails is produced and directed by David Hare for InproductionTV and is sponsored by FLOGAS
INSPIRE MEDICAL SHAREHOLDER ALERT BY FORMER LOUISIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Reminds Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit Against Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. - INSP





NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until February 20, 2024 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE: INSP), if they purchased the Company's shares between May 3, 2023 and November 7, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

What You May Do

If you purchased shares of Inspire and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-insp/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by February 20, 2024 .

About the Lawsuit

Inspire Medical and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On November 7, 2023, post-market, the Company disclosed disappointing financial results for 3Q 2023, including "a decline in prior authorization submissions for patients seeking Inspire therapy," as well as problems with its highly touted "Acceleration Program" requiring "some corrective action."

On this news, shares of Inspire Medical plummeted approximately 20%, from a closing price of $161.74 per share on November 7, 2023, to a closing price of $129.95 per share on November 8, 2023.

The case is City of Hollywood Firefighters' Pension Fund v. Inspire Medical Systems, Inc., No. 23-cv-03884.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients ? including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors ? in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

[email protected]

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 960

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

5 january 2024 at 22:45

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Yemen's warring parties have committed to a new ceasefire and agreed to engage in a United Nations-led peace process to end the war, the UN envoy for Yemen said Saturday, December 23. The announcement by UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, marks the latest step to end the deadly nine-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

It follows recent meetings by Grundberg in Saudi Arabia and Oman with Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's Saudi-backed presidential council and Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the chief negotiator of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Grundberg said he "welcomes the parties' commitment to a set of measures to implement a nation-wide ceasefire... and [to] engage in preparations for the resumption of an inclusive political process," according to a statement by his office. The envoy "will now engage with the parties to establish a road map under UN auspices that includes these commitments and supports their implementation," the statement added.

Yemen has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention in support of the beleaguered government the following year. A UN-brokered ceasefire that took effect in April 2022 brought a sharp reduction in hostilities. The truce expired in October last year, though fighting largely remains on hold.

Grundberg will now "engage with the parties to establish a roadmap under UN auspices" that includes these commitments. It includes commitments to pay civil servants' salaries, open routes into the rebel-blockaded city of Taez and other parts of Yemen and resume oil exports, according to the statement.

"Yemenis are watching and waiting for this new opportunity to provide for tangible results and progress towards lasting peace," Grundberg said. "The parties have taken a significant step. Their commitments are, first and foremost, an obligation to the Yemeni people."

Red Sea attacks

The agreement comes amid a flurry of attacks by the Houthi rebels on key shipping lanes in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is fighting Hamas militants. The Houthis have pledged to attack Israel-linked vessels or ships heading to Israeli ports unless an end is brought to the Israel-Hamas war that started on October 7.

They have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant vessels involving more than 35 different countries, according to the Pentagon. The attacks by the rebels are imperiling a transit route that carries up to 12% of global trade, prompting the United States to set up a multinational naval task force to protect Red Sea shipping.

Read more Subscribers only The challenges facing the new anti-Houthi coalition in the Red Sea

The latest agreement also coincides with a push by Saudi Arabia to extricate itself from the conflict, despite slim hopes of a lasting peace. The oil-rich monarchy gave a signal this year by resuming ties with Iran, which backs the Houthis against the Saudi-supported government in a proxy war. The Saudi-led intervention's stated aim was to protect civilians from Huthi attacks, restore the government and stop Yemen becoming a safe haven for Iranian-backed forces.

Eight years in, the rebels control swathes of the country and command an impressive arsenal of weapons that they have used to attack Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, another coalition member.
A Turkish-made Aksungur drone at the Paris Air Show on June 20, 2023. GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP

"Everywhere I go in Africa, everyone talks to me about drones," boasted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his last tour of the continent in late 2021. Since then, the three countries he visited  Togo, Angola and Nigeria  have joined the less and less exclusive club of states that have equipped themselves with Turkish Aksungur and Bayraktar TB2 combat aircraft. The latter, with a 12-meter wingspan and a flight time of 27 hours within a 150-kilometer radius, carries 4 laser-guided missiles. In just a few years, it has become the showcase of the Turkish defense industry abroad. And it is now spearheading that industry in Africa.

Like China and Israel, its two main competitors in the African combat drone market, Turkey is benefiting from the growing appetite of the continent's militaries for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Since 2019, Ankara is said to have sold more than 40  figures are not public  to around 10 countries on the continent. Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali acquired several Bayraktar TB2 models in the space of 10 months. In 2022, Senegal announced that it was also in the fray for one. The Chadian army has acquired four Anka attack drones from another Turkish manufacturer.

"Turkey uses the sale of its drones as a gateway to Africa. It is not looking for an immediate return on investment but sees it as part of a very long-term political project," said Aurelien Denizeau, a researcher specializing in Turkey at the Institut libre des relations internationales et des sciences politiques (ILERI, Free Institute of International Relations and Political Science). UAV exports serve broader diplomatic objectives and open economic and political partnerships, including soft power. In Ethiopia, for example, the informal delivery of Bayraktar TB2s to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government in 2021 was accompanied by the closure of a dozen schools affiliated to Hizmet, the movement of the preacher Fethullah Gulen, Ankara's bete noire.

A modest customer

In Africa, however, Ankara faces competition from Beijing. China markets its Wing Loong and CH4 armed UAVs, which are equivalent in capacity and cost to the Turkish models, in some 10 African countries. In particular, they are now active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A major consumer of Chinese drones, the United Arab Emirates is discreetly exporting them to the continent to support allied forces, as was the case in Libya and Ethiopia.

Iran has also sold a number of UAVs to Ethiopia during the Tigray war and to General Abdel al-Burhan in the current conflict in Sudan. Finally, Israel  although a discreet player on the continent  exports a large number of surveillance aircraft, notably to help its Moroccan ally in its operations against the Polisario Front in Western Sahara.

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A court in Istanbul has ordered 15 of 34 people detained on suspicion of spying for Israel be held in prison awaiting trial, Turkey's justice minister said late Friday, January 5.

The suspects were arrested Tuesday for allegedly planning to carry out activities that included "reconnaissance" and "pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping" foreign nationals living in Turkey.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said in a social media post that 26 suspects were referred to the court on a charge of committing "political or military espionage" on behalf of Israeli intelligence. 11 were released under judicial control conditions and eight were awaiting deportation.

Read more Turkey detains 33 alleged Israeli spies

Israel's foreign intelligence agency Mossad is said to have recruited Palestinians and Syrian nationals inside Turkey as part of the operation against foreigners living in Turkey, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The agency cited a prosecution document as saying the operation targeted "Palestinian nationals and their families... within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

One suspect allegedly collected information about Palestinian patients recently transferred to Turkey for health care. Turkey has accepted dozens of Palestinian patients from Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The suspects were detained in raids on 57 addresses in Istanbul and seven other provinces. Weeks earlier, the head of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency said his organization was prepared to target Hamas anywhere, including in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel of "serious consequences" if it pressed ahead with its threat to attack Hamas officials on Turkish soil.

Turkey and Israel had normalized ties in 2022 by reappointing ambassadors following years of tensions. But those ties quickly deteriorated after the Israel-Hamas war, with Ankara becoming one of the strongest critics of Israel's military actions in Gaza.

Read more Subscribers only Turkey's Erdogan is no longer mediator in Israel-Hamas war

Israel initially withdrew its diplomats from Turkey over security concerns and later announced it was recalling its diplomats for political reasons, citing "increasingly harsh statements" from Turkish officials. Turkey also pulled out its ambassador from Israel.

Erdogan's reaction to the Israel-Hamas war was initially fairly muted. But the Turkish leader has since intensified his criticism of Israel, describing its actions in Gaza as verging on "genocide." He has called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be prosecuted for "war crimes" and compared him to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Erdogan, whose government has hosted several Hamas officials in the past, has also said the militant group  considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union  is fighting for the liberation of its lands and people.
The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday, January 5, to put back in place a near-total ban on abortion in the western state of Idaho while it hears an appeal against the law. The conservative-dominated court, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, scheduled oral arguments in the Idaho case for April. Idaho has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, allowing the procedure only if a pregnant mother is at imminent risk of death.

The Biden administration sued Idaho arguing that its law conflicts with a federal law that requires hospitals that receive government Medicare funding to provide emergency room medical care, including abortion, in situations that are serious but not necessarily life-threatening.

Read more Subscribers only Abortion rights prove again to be winning electoral issue for US Democrats

"Nothing protects a physician from arrest or criminal prosecution under Idaho's law, and a physician who provides an abortion in Idaho can avoid criminal liability only by establishing that 'the abortion was necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman,'" the Justice Department said. "Beyond care necessary to prevent death, the law provides no defense whatsoever when the health of the pregnant patient is at stake," it added.

A federal judge in Boise, the Idaho capital, issued a preliminary injunction in August 2022 blocking the state law on the grounds it put doctors in a difficult position. The US Supreme Court ruling overturning the constitutional right to abortion left states free to create their own laws around the procedure.

A Texas woman was recently forced to leave the state for an emergency abortion after being prevented from terminating her potentially life-threatening pregnancy. Texas physicians found guilty of providing abortions face up to 99 years in prison, fines of up to $100,000 and the revocation of their medical license. Under Idaho's "Defense of Life Act" someone who carries out an abortion may be subject to five years in prison.

Read more Subscribers only Donald Trump distances himself from Republican rivals on abortion

In a statement, President Joe Biden said the Supreme Court decision "allows Idaho's extreme abortion ban to go back into effect and denies women critical emergency abortion care required by federal law." He added that the court's overturning of the federal right to abortion last year "has enabled Republican elected officials to pursue dangerous abortion bans like this one that continue to jeopardize women's health, force them to travel out of state for care, and make it harder for doctors to provide care."
ITS appearance is like no other lighthouse in Ireland, as the rock is only visible at low tide, the tower and dwelling house give the impression that the building is floating on water exclaimed a writer in the Irish Independent in 1933.

Notifying the public of its intention to construct the lighthouse, the Ballast Office in Dublin advised that it will be a fixed light of natural appearance  bright as seen from the channel, over the top of the attached dwelling the tower is circular.

Built between 1847 and 1855, the lighthouse on Beeves Rock has been safely guiding shipping in the Shannon Estuary ever since.

As early as 1813, Limerick Corporation granted a lease of 999 years to the Ballast Office for the purpose of erecting a beacon or tower on Beeves Rock for the safety and protection of shipping accessing Limerick Port.

Such an installation was required as shipping was often driven up on the rocks as was the case in May 1824 when the Nelly of Glasgow met such a fate.

The ship was reported to be full of water. A few years later another tragedy occurred when a sailboat crashed into Beeves Rock with the loss of several persons, some of whose bodies were never recovered. Similarly, in January 1828, the Johns, a turf boat, was wrecked beside the Rock leading to the loss of three brothers.

Such a list of tragedies led to the need for a more permanent structure on the Rock to prevent needless losses both to life and property.

In 1829, following calls by Thomas Steele Esq., the Chamber of Commerce endorsed plans to erect a lighthouse on Beeves Rock.

Steele (17881848) was an engineer and political activist, born in 1788 at Derrymore, Co. Clare.

He took a keen interest in the commercial affairs of Limerick and was widely known for his efforts to increase trade in the city by encouraging the development of maritime infrastructure, publishing, in 1828: Practical Suggestions for improving navigation on the Shannon. The value of the essay was recognised by the London Institution of Civil Engineers.

Aside from natural disasters associated with Beeves Rock, violent attacks on shipping were not rare occurrences. For example, in January 1831, the ships, the Susan and the Olive, were attacked by two small boats when sailing out from Limerick Port.

The attack, which happened at Beeves Rock resulted in the mainsail of the Olive being perforated by gunshots.

The boats crew boarded both ships and demanded arms and ammunition, when neither were forthcoming, they violently attacked the crews before returning to their boats. The Limerick Chronicle described the attack as a most daring outrage.

As the century wore on, shipping continued to be lost at Beeves Rock including the Cicero of Liverpool in 1837, and the Abigail of the same city in 1843.

The Limerick Bridge Commissioners discussed the advantages of erecting a tower on Beeves Rock in 1845, but a member of that body, Harvey Todhunter argued that a lighthouse would be better placed on Scattery Island.

Once again, a decision was adjourned. Finally, in 1847 the Chamber of Commerce announced that a lighthouse on Beeves Rock is to be immediately built, some twenty years after Thomas Steele had suggested it.

In August, Steele visited the site just as work commenced, there he met George Halpin (1779-1854) who designed the lighthouse.

Halpins other lighthouses include Balbriggan, Fastnet, Haulbowline, Old Head of Kinsale, Poolbeg, Valentia Island, Wicklow Head and Youghal.

During the building of the lighthouse, a vessel making its way down river observed several people stranded on the Rock. The captain directed that a boat be lowered, and the people rescued.

It transpired that five families had ventured out to retrieve seaweed in the hope of selling it to raise funds to feed themselves.

They had been cut off by high tides and strong winds. The families were put ashore at Tarbert after receiving food and water by the crew of the Erin go Bragh.

This story serves as a reminder of the tragedy of the Great Famine.

The tender for building the lighthouse was awarded to William Charles Burgess. The cost was in the region of 6,000 (approximately 500,000 in todays money).

Burgess was a prolific builder, and his other projects included the workhouses in Kildysart, Co. Clare, Glenties, Co. Donegal, and Mitchelstown, Co. Cork.

He was originally from England. His timber yard was situated in Upper Cecil Street.

By October of 1848, Burgess had begun drawing stones to the Rock in advance of building works scheduled for May 1849.

In August of the same year, a group of individuals led by George Halpin and William Charles Burgess did a tour of lighthouses on the Shannon including Loophead, Carrigaholt, Kilcredaun, Tarbert, and Beeves Rock which was in a very forward state of completion.

Burgess also owned Lansdowne Cottage on the North Circular Road, later rebuilt and now known as Derravoher and part of Villiers School grounds.

On 23 December 1850, the Beeves Rock lighthouse was declared completed. William Charles Burgess died on 13 March 1857.

Beeves Rock was automated in 1933.

It has been under the authority of the Limerick Harbour Commissioners since 1981 and continues to guide vessels away from dangerous rocks that have claimed the lives of sailors for many centuries.

Dr Paul OBrien lectures at Mary Immaculate College.
AN APPLICATION by a woman with special needs to vacate her pleas of guilty to giving false evidence in the Circuit Court and High Court in a personal injuries case has been refused.

Judge Tom ODonnell said it is an extremely unusual application and only the second time that one has come before him.

The application was made by Pat Whyms BL, on behalf of the woman who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions.

John OSullivan BL, instructed by State Solicitor Padraig Mawe, opposed the application at Limerick Circuit Court.

Mr OSullivan said a personal injury case in relation to a road traffic incident in Limerick in 2015 was rejected in the Circuit Court. It was then appealed to the High Court, sitting in Ennis, where it was also rejected.

The court heard the woman is a person of special needs and was intimidated and coerced by a man referred to in court as Mr X.

Mr OSullivan said the woman was interviewed by gardai.

She admitted she was not in the vehicle. She was charged with giving false evidence in the Circuit Court and High Court. She pleaded guilty to the two charges when she was arraigned in this court on May 16, 2022, said Mr OSullivan.

Mr Whyms called two clinical psychologists, who carried out evaluations on the applicant, as witnesses.

Both men said she showed minimal understanding of the court system and expressed the opinion she was unfit to plead.

Answering questions from Mr OSullivan, they both said she had told them she had made false claims regarding being in the vehicle at the time of the road traffic collision.

Mr Whyms, in summing up, asked Judge ODonnell to vacate his clients pleas of guilty.

It is at the discretion of a judge. On the occasion that she pleaded guilty she was not fit to plead. The balance of justice favours the application, said Mr Whyms, who cited case law.

Mr OSullivan said exceptional circumstances are required to vacate a plea. He said from the tenor of the evidence of both expert witnesses there are grounds for substantial mitigation but it falls short of the threshold required to vacate a plea.

She admitted making false claims. Yes, she did wrong while under pressure from a third party (Mr X) and was under an enormous amount of stress.

There was no change of circumstances - she was instructed by the same counsel and solicitor at the time of the pleas. The balance of evidence is she understood the charges. It doesnt mean that somebody who has cognitive difficulties doesnt understand the charge. Her pleas of guilty were voluntary, said Mr OSullivan.

Judge ODonnell said it is an extremely unusual application and only the second time that one has come before him.

I have listened very carefully to the doctors. I would have to say I am not convinced the pleas should be vacated, said Judge ODonnell.

The judge noted that one clinical psychologist saw her two years before she made the pleas and the second psychologist did his evaluation five months after she gave the pleas.

From the reports I have, the accused understood what she did was wrong and admitted what she did was wrong. I dont think there is enough evidence for her pleas of guilty to be vacated. I am going to refuse the application, said Judge ODonnell.

The applicant was remanded on continuing bail. The case was put into a call-over date in 2024.

Judge ODonnell ordered that the womans name not be disclosed by media in attendance.
MEN EMPLOYED by Limerick City and County Council are paid an average of almost 4% more than their female counterparts, new figures have revealed.

Limerick City and County Council has published its gender pay gap report for 2023 which shows that on average, males are paid 3.88% more than females.

However, the report shows the median rate of pay for females is 5.61% higher than the median rate of pay for males.

Employers with more than 250 employees in Ireland are now required to publish their gender pay gap data - the difference in the average hourly wage of men and women across a workforce.

The latest council report includes an analysis of pay during the 12 months leading up to June 30, 2023.

Limerick City and County Council employs a workforce of nearly 1500 employees.

According to the 21-page report, nearly two thirds (59%) of the workforce at the local authority are male compared to 41% being female.

Of those employed by the council, 86% are in full-time positions while 14% work part-time.

Commenting following the publication of the gender pay gap report, Dr Pat Daly, chief executive of Limerick City and County Council welcomed the improvement in the mean gender pay gap figure when compared to 2022.

Issues of gender pay differences are important, not only to the workplace but also to wider society. Local authorities are at the forefront of delivering services to our citizens. Our organisation is a place where all employees have the same opportunities for recognition and career development and are treated fairly and equitably at work.

Dr Daly says he and his senior management team will examine what the gender pay gap figures can tell them about the organisation and that this will help inform future action plans.

We will work with our colleagues across the sector to share best practice and will continue to monitor these trends over time and look forward to next years figures, he stated.

Our organisation is a place where all employees have the same opportunities for recognition and career development and are treated fairly and equitably at work. We continue to be committed to addressing workplace barriers to equality and creating an open and inclusive workplace community. Many equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives and supports are already in place, and we will continue to work in this area, he added.
WE MAY be less than a week into 2024, but already jostling for position ahead of Junes local elections has started.

Expect canvassers and candidates to be eagerly knocking at your doors in the coming months - if they havent started doing so already - as Limerick gears up to go to the polls on Friday, June 7.

Already, the vast majority of party tickets have been filled and with 40 seats up for grabs, competition will be intense across the city and county.

In the Metropolitan District, there are 21 seats on offer, across three seven-seater wards.

Elsewhere, in County Limerick, there are three municipal districts - Adare-Rathkeale and Newcastle West, both with six seats, and Cappamore-Kilmallock which will return seven councillors.

In three of these areas, the retirement of local political big beasts has left the contests wide open.

In Adare-Rathkeale, former mayor, councillor Kevin Sheahan will step down after almost 40 years in local politics, opening up an intriguing battle in his home town of Askeaton.

Here, another ex-first citizen, councillor Michael Sheahan of Fine Gael, has taken the decision to move from the City East LEA, an area he has been elected in since 2009 to Adare-Rathkeale, and the town he grew up in.

Fianna Fail is running Ger Ward, who is based close to Askeaton, alongside Adare-based councillor Bridie Collins and Trina ODea from Croom.

In the south of the county, Mayor Gerald Mitchell caused surprise in local political circles in November by announcing he would retire from politics after a decade on council.

A big vote-getter in Hospital, the move has caused his own Fine Gael party something of a headache, as its two candidates (for Cappamore/Kilmallock), Noreen Stokes and Greg Conway are based in Pallasgreen and Kilmallock respectively.

The pair came agonisingly close to being elected in 2019, and will be hoping Cllr Mitchells decision will boost their chances.

Fianna Fail is running veteran Kilmallock councillor Mike Donegan again, alongside Al Fitzgerald, based in Knocklong and Caherconlish man Dinny Hourigan.

Another former mayor stepping down in the summer is James Collins, a polltopper in 2019 and a Fianna Fail general election candidate the following year.

Although he would never publicly admit it, fellow City West councillor Daniel Butler - a neighbour of councillor Collins in the Raheen/Dooradoyle area - will be aiming to head the poll - he came within 60 votes of doing so five years ago.

Councillor Butler insisted: My focus is to keep working hard over the next six months, and whatever that leads to, it leads to. I never think about votes. I'm happy to put the work in and hopefully get a result. Whatever happens after that is out of my control.

In City West - a constituency which stretches from the city centre to the green fields of Patrickswell and Ballybrown - Fine Gael will run three candidates - sitting councillors Daniel Butler and Dan McSweeney and making a political debut, Michael MacCurtain, who works for Limerick Chamber.

So far, Fianna Fail has picked just one candidate - Esther Aherne from Patrickswell.

But its anticipated more will be added in the weeks to come.

Unlike with some smaller local authorities, no single party has been able to seize an overall majority since the establishment of a single authority for Limerick city and county.

Its led to Fine Gael and Fianna Fail teaming up, and carving up most jobs among themselves.

Councillor Conor Sheehan, who is standing again for Labour in City North hopes this stranglehold can be broken after June.

Politics is becoming much more splintered. Maybe on the next council, you might need three, maybe four parties to control things. I personally think that having two large parties carving everything up between themselves is not a good way to do business, he said.

Councillor Sheehan said Labour may run a candidate in rural Limerick for the first time in a decade at the local election.

Otherwise, its a case of as you were with councillors Joe Leddin (City West) and Elena Secas (City East) on the partys ticket.

Given their position in the national opinion polls, Sinn Fein would be fancied to take seats across Limerick, with the party running candidates in each ward, and more than one in some areas.

One of these places is in Cappamore-Kilmallock, where councillor PJ Carey of Kilmallock was elected - admittedly to his own surprise - as an Independent in 2019.

Hes since joined Sinn Fein and will be joined on the party ticket by Audrey Byrnes from Murroe.

Five years ago, however, Sinn Fein was expected to build on the six council seats it won in 2014.

However, in a disastrous showing, it only emerged with two councillors.

The showing was considered bizarre given its performance at the general election just eight months later.

We need to get our vote out, and we did not get our vote out in the 2019 local election. Thats not even up for debate, said Senator Paul Gavan, who will fly the Sinn Fein flag in the European election taking place on the same day as the local authority poll.

One of the key messages we want to bring to the electorate is that if they want to see change at national level, the local election is a beginning to that change. Local councillors elect the Seanad. If we dont change the make-up of local government in Limerick and across the State, we wont get the change we want from a new government after that.

There is one familiar face back in the running for Sinn Fein - Malachy McCreesh in City West, who narrowly lost his seat in 2019.

At the time he was eliminated, he said he would likely not run again, but hes since had a change of heart.

Another candidate who is putting his name before the public again is Michael Ryan, a former principal of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Janesboro.

In 2019, he hoped to capitalise on this by running in City East for the Aontu party.

Now, having moved back to his home parish of Pallasgreen, he will try his luck with the same party in the Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal district.

Irelands newest political party, Independent Ireland will be hoping to make a breakthrough, in Limerick and elsewhere, at this summers election.

Limerick TD Richard ODonoghue, who is the director general of the upstart group is keeping tight-lipped about who they could run.

However, he admitted that meetings were held with prospective candidates at the Woodlands House Hotel in Adare before Christmas.

Already confirmed to be in its number is Independent councillor Frankie Daly, who will fly their flag in the general election.

He topped the poll in City North with almost 400 votes to spare in 2019.

There will be a lot of work done into the new year, and I would hope that sometime early in the new year well be launching the party officially then, said Mr O'Donoghue.

Well launch our candidates then. I dont want to pre-empt anything. But we are talking to everyone. We want to talk to people who want to make a difference and rebuild counties.

It remains to be seen if any of the sitting independents - many of them formerly of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail - will join up with Independent Ireland.

Fianna Fail TD and Minister of State Niall Collins said while he's not underestimating the challenge of former party members, now Independents, he added: There are challenges everywhere. Everybody is a challenge. We just concentrate on our own candidates, on their campaigns and what they can do for their communities.

The Social Democrats, which made its local breakthrough in 2019 with the election of Elisa ODonovan in City West, are running three candidates.

Councillor ODonovan is joined by Shane Hickey-OMeara in City North and Donnah Vuma in the City East Local Electoral Area.
Women's Christmas or Nollaig na mBan is marked on January 6 annually, and is unique to Ireland in many ways.

Some sacred traditions have been passed down from generations before, with the day being known as the official end of Christmas and the start of new beginnings.

Also known as Little Christmas, the day has religious ties as it represents the Christian belief as the day which the three wise men went to Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus Christ.

Traditionally, the day would have seen women get together and have a day off for the conclusion of the Christmas season, relieving them of their housework and looking after their family.

Superstition surrounds the day, as it is considered unlucky in Ireland to take down the Christmas tree and decorations before the twelfth day of Christmas, January 5.

While many mark the day by simply decluttering and taking down the decorations after Christmas, other unique traditions were practised for many years passed.

In some parts of the country, mothers rubbed the tail of a herring across the eyes of their children to give immunity against disease for the rest of the year.

It was also believed that one should have the floor swept and have a bucket of clean water ready before going to bed that night, and that the water from that bucket should never be used in the morning.

On a sinister note, Women's Christmas was also associated with the Irish death divination customs. One ancient tradition was that a "cake" of mud or clay was made and candles named for the family members in the house were placed into it. The order in which the candles burned out indicated the order in which the owners of those candles would die.

By the mid 20th century, the traditions and practising of rituals for Nollaig na mBan had largely died out, but remains celebrated in some rural parts of the south, mainly in Munster.
A widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world, the Tanaiste has warned.

Micheal Martins comments come amid warnings of retaliation from Hezbollah in Lebanon after it blamed Israel for a strike on Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official.

Mr Martin also expressed concern about the situation in the Red Sea where commercial ships have been attacked by Houthis rebels from Yemen.

Ahead of the four-month anniversary of the Israeli/Hamas conflict, Mr Martin said the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was more urgent than ever.

He also stressed the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation, he said.

A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

The Tanaiste added: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe.

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected.

This trajectory must be reversed. The international community, including parties in the region, must, in the first instance, redouble efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.

But our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole. This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality.

In that context, the recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory. Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.
The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, has moved to strongly condemn recent criminal acts of arson at properties which had been earmarked to house asylum seekers.

In a strongly-worded statement, issued this Saturday she said people need to understand these are very serious crimes which carry heavy prison sentences and those who have carried them out will be brought to justice.

"I have been in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner and I have reassured him that any resources required will be made available to him. Meanwhile An Garda Siochana is doing everything possible to investigate recent acts of arson. I understand they are making good progress in their investigations and I encourage anyone with any information in relation to any of the incidents to contact them."

There have been a number of recent arson attacks at locations across the country in recent weeks - sparking concern among gardai and the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) which is responsible for the provision of accommodation and related services to people in the International Protection process.

In her statement, Ms McEntee appealed to anyone with information either on past incidents or about possible upcoming threats to contact their local gardai.

"It is clear that a group of people in society are intent on sowing division and fear through intimidation. I repeat that there can never be justification for such acts, regardless of circumstances or alleged motivation. An Garda Siochana and IPAS continue to work closely together to ensure effective policing plans are in place wherever there is an identified operational need.

Where accommodation centres are being established, IPAS notifies and engages with local communities through their Community Engagement Team in advance," she said.

Gardai, she added, are continually monitoring emerging threats, including monitoring social media activity, and stepping up policing responses as necessary.

"Both my Department and I are fully committed to the fight against racism and bigotry and strongly condemn the actions of those who abuse and attack others because of their own prejudices. Ireland is a diverse and tolerant country, and such behaviour is not acceptable."

Earlier this Saturday, gardai investigating an arson attack at the Ross Lake House Hotel in Oughterard, Co. Galway just before Christmas, carried out searches at four properties in the Roscahill area.

An incident room, under the direction of a Senior Investigating Officer, has been established for what has been described as a "large scale investigation".

To date, 229 investigative tasks have been conducted and 145 statements have been taken.
Frontdesk, a proptech startup that managed over 1,000 furnished apartments across the US, laid off its entire 200-person workforce on Tuesday. Reason? Their attempts to raise more capital had failed, sources were quoted by TechCrunch as saying.

ALSO READ: Layoffs in 2023: Paytm's parent company, One97 Communication, hands over pink slip to over 1000 employees

Frontdesk CEO Jesse DePinto had reportedly fired all the employees on Tuesday afternoon during a two-minute Google Meet call". According to one employee who had attended the virtual meeting shared details of the meeting with TechCrunch.

ALSO READ: Tech layoffs 2024: Xerox announces a reduction inworkforce by 15%. Here is why

According to the report, Frontdesk CEO Jesse DePinto told employees that the company would be filing for a state receivership, an alternative to bankruptcy, sources said.

The company has not yet responded to a request for comment. Upon calling the number on Frontdesks website, a recording says: "Currently, Frontdesk is unavailable. If you have a reservation, please seek alternative accommodations and expect to be contacted within the next two weeks," TechCrunch reported.

ALSO READ: Google CEO Sundar Pichai opens up on company's biggest layoff in 25 years: We could have done differently

The layoffs, which included full-time, and part-time workers and contractors, came seven months after the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based startup acquired smaller rival Zencity.

Frontdesk was founded in 2017. It had raised about $26 million from investors such as JetBlue Ventures, Veritas Investments and Sand Hill Angels, according to Crunchbase.

ALSO READ: Over 100 Indian startups laid off more than 15,000 staff this year: Report

The report added that Frontdesk went out for a bridge round, attempting to sell investors on a new plan of doing full building management. However, the plan didnt work out and the company couldnt keep operating.

"The company was not only not able to make rent on a number of properties but had 'little to no communication with' the reportedly infuriated landlords," sources said.

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Bangladesh Elections : On the eve of the much controversial general elections, opposition parties in Bangladesh have started a 48-hour general strike, citing incumbent Prime Minister and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina's inability to guarantee fairness in the poll process.

Many opposition parties have boycotted the Bangladesh elections, scheduled to be held on Sunday, 7 January.

Sheikh Hasina is seeking to return to power for a fourth consecutive term. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former premier Khaleda Zia, has vowed to disrupt the election through the strike and boycott.

On Saturday morning, a small group of party supporters marched across the Shahbagh neighborhood in the capital, Dhaka, calling on people to join the strike. Another rally by about 200 left-wing protesters took place outside the National Press Club to denounce the election.

The Election Commission said ballot boxes and other election supplies had been distributed in preparation for the vote on Sunday in over 42,000 precincts. There are more than 119 million registered voters.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a BNP senior official, repeated his party's demand for Hasina to resign, calling the election skewed." The government is again playing with fire. The government has resorted to its old tactics of holding a one-sided election," he said.

Campaigning in the nation of 169 million people has been marred with violence, with at least 15 people killed since October.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters on Saturday that the parliamentary election would be free and fair, adding, We want our election to be observed not only nationally, but internationally as well."

Responding to questions on the main opposition shunning the vote, Awal said that had the BNP participated, the election would have been more competitive" and more festive." He acknowledged that the recent violence may have a negative impact on voters turning up on Sunday.

On Friday, an apparent arson on a train in the capital, Dhaka, killed four people. Mahid Uddin, an additional police commissioner with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the fire was clearly an act of sabotage" aimed at scaring people ahead of the election. He did not name any political party or groups as suspects, but said police would seek those responsible.

The Election Commission has asked authorities to increase security around polling stations.

Bangladesh Elections 2024: An outlook

Bangladesh's increasingly polarized political culture has been dominated by a struggle between two powerful women, Hasina and Zia.

Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy but has a history of military coups and assassinations.

Zia, head of the BNP, is ailing and currently under house arrest. Her party says the charges were politically motivated.

Tensions spiked since October when a massive anti-government rally demanding Hasinas resignation and a caretaker government to oversee the election turned violent.

Hasina's administration said there was no constitutional provision to allow a caretaker government.

Critics have accused Hasina of systemically suffocating the opposition by implementing repressive security measures.

(With AP inputs)

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Bangladesh elections 2024: As opposition outcry, strikes, and bans erupt in the run-up to the Bangladesh elections, wherein incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is seeking a fourth consecutive, and a fifth overall term in office, a nation of 170 million people prepare for Bangladesh's countrys 12th general election.

Opposition parties in Bangladesh, especially Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh National Party (BNP) has sought Hasina's resignation, and demanded a caretaker government. On Hasina's refusal to follow through, the BNP has chosen to boycott the elections.

An unfortunate alleged arson, where a bus caught on fire killing four Bangladeshis did not help the situation either.

However, since the formation of Bangladesh in 1971 when it broke away from Pakistan, Dhaka has rarely seen a peaceful election. Only four of Bangladeshs 11 elections have been considered to be free and fair", a condition the opposition in Bangladesh is seeking and claims Hasina's government cannot guarantee.

Most of national elections in Bangladesh has been mired in violence, protests, and allegations of vote rigging.

Let's take a look at all troubled Bangladesh elections

1973  Awami League wins post Bangladesh's separation from Pakistan

After overseeing the breakaway of Bangladesh from Pakistan, the ruling Awami League, chaired by independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, conducted the countrys first-ever elections on March 7, 1973.

Awami League reportedly kidnapped opposition leaders. The party then won 293 of the 300 seats in parliament. Those polls marked the beginning of autocratic rule in Bangladesh.

In 1974, Mujibur Rahman banned all opposition parties, turning Bangladesh into a one-party state.

1979 -1980s  One-party, military rule

Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975 and the Bangladeshi military took power for the next decade and a half. Presidential and parliamentary elections between 1978 and 1979 were held under the leadership of former army chief Ziaur Rahman, credited with instituting a multi-party system and rescuing the distressed state institutions from Mujibur Rahmans rule.

His newly founded Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won an overwhelming majority.

In 1981, following Ziaur Rahmans assassination, his deputy, Abdus Sattar, held general elections on November 15. The BNP again won with 65 percent of the vote.

Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was army chief, took power in a 1982 coup.

The May 7, 1986 parliamentary elections and the October 15, 1986 presidential vote that followed saw his Jatiya Party win the overwhelming majority amid opposition boycotts. The elections had low attendance and Ershads government was reported to have padded the numbers. It was widely seen as a sham.

In 1988, another widely discredited vote was held amid intense protests calling for Ershads removal. The Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina (Mujibur Rahmans daughter), and the BNP, under Khaleda Zia (Ziaur Rahmans widow) banded together to lead the protests, resulting in the popular uprising of 1990 that forced Ershad to resign.

1996  BNP administration lasts 12 days before Sheikh Hasina wins

On February 15, 1996, opposition parties boycotted scheduled general elections and only 21 percent of registered voters turned out.

The opposition claimed the votes were rigged and sought Zias resignation and for her handover to a caretaker government  as happened in 1991. That did not happen, so in February 1996, the BNP won elections unchallenged.

The administration only lasted 12 days, following strikes by opposition parliament members. On June 12, 1996, new elections took place, this time under a caretaker government. It saw a large turnout of voters  at just under 75 percent. Sheikh Hasina won her first term with the Awami League.

2006  2008 political crisis

Elections that should have taken place in 2006 never happened because the outgoing BNP and the main opposition, Awami League, failed to agree on a candidate to head the necessary caretaker government.

At the end of October, the countrys president, Iajuddin Ahmed declared himself leader of the caretaker government and announced that elections would take place in January 2007.

A bitter row over fake names being included on the list of candidates led to riots and violence in the country. The military stepped in when Ahmed declared a national emergency.

2008 elections  highest-ever turnout

Elections were finally held on 29 December 2008, with an 80 per cent turnout  the highest the country had ever seen.

This time the Awami League formed a coalition  the Grand Alliance  with other opposition parties and was led by Sheikh Hasina. Khaleda Zia once again led the BNP.

The Awami alliance won in a landslide, taking 230 seats with 48 percent of the popular vote.

2014- Elections and a crackdown on opposition

Following the political crisis of 2006  2008, the Awami League decided to abolish the requirement for a caretaker government to oversee elections in 2011.

A parliamentary vote on the amendment to remove the caretaker provision was passed by 291 to one after it was boycotted by the main opposition BNP in Bangladesh.

A crackdown on the opposition followed. Prior to the elections that were held on 5 January 2014, Zia was put under house arrest and there were widespread reports of violence. Opposition parties, including the BNP, boycotted the vote and Hasinas Awami League won clinching 234 seats in parliament.

2018  Ruling Awami League gains massive majority

In 2018, electronic voting was introduced in Bangladesh. But BNP along with other opposition parties accused the ruling Awami League of rigging the general elections on December 30, 2018.

Reports of violence against opposition BNP members and supporters, as well as voter suppression, marred the polls again. The government also shut down mobile internet in the lead-up to election day, claiming it wanted to stop the spread of fake news around the vote.

Hasinas Awami League, after merging with the Jatiya Party to form the Grand Alliance, won in another landslide taking more than 90 percent of parliament seats.

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Bengaluru undoubtedly boasts all the characteristics of a modern global metropolis - a booming IT and startup hub, cosmopolitan culture, and premium infrastructure. However, the city strangely does not cut a metro for house rent allowance tax exemptions under income tax laws.

While Bangalore undeniably shares attributes of other metros like high population density, significant economic activity, and a fast-paced lifestyle, it's still categorized as a non-metro for HRA purposes. This means residents can only claim 40% of their basic salary as tax-exempt HRA, compared to the 50% allowed in the four designated metros," said Abhishek Soni, CEO and Co-founder of Tax2win.

The list of approved metros has not been updated since the early 1990s, thus missing out on Bangalore's explosive growth in the last three decades," said Agam Gupta, Excutiv Dirctor, Shar India Fincap.

Why is Bangalore not considered a metro city in HRA as per the IT Tax Act?

According to Abhishek Soni, this discrepancy in HRA exemption rates is due to an outdated and arbitrary classification of metro cities in the income tax laws, which does not reflect the current reality of urbanization and development in India, because the definition of "metro city" in the Income Tax Act, specifically Rule 2A of the Income Tax Rules, 1962, does not rely on population or contemporary economic factors.

Instead, it's a static list of only four cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. This list hasn't been updated since the rules were initially drafted, added Soni.

With rental yields crossing 3% and monthly rents averaging 3-4,000 per sq ft for mid-range localities, housing costs now rival Delhi or Mumbai.

Not classifying Bangalore as a metro ends up penalising lakhs of salaried IT, banking, and other professionals with inflated tax bills. Hopefully, the outdated HRA metro cities list will get a much-needed revision in line with contemporary realities soon," said Agam Gupta.

Pre-Budget Expectations 2024

Bengaluru to be considered a metro city for HRA exemption is among one of the top expectations from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget 2024.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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The advantages of compounding are so profound that it is referred to as magic. And rightly so! From Benjamin Graham to Warren Buffett, all doyens of investment have acknowledged its power, and lauded it too.

The great scientist Albert Einstein even referred to compounding as the eighth wonder of the world.

Here we handpick one equity mutual fund scheme on a random basis and demonstrate the potent power of compounding through it.

Let us suppose, an investor had invested a sum of one lakh in JM Flexi Cap Mutual Fund at the time of its launch in 2008 i.e., during the new fund offer (NFO) or soon after it.

Its astonishing that this investment would have grown massively by now to the tune of around 7.8 lakh. Sounds incredible, but true.

Magic of compounding

JM Flexi Cap Mutual Fund has delivered a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) return of 14.41 percent since inception in Sept 2008. This means if someone had invested 1,00,000, it would have grown to 7,81,590 (on Dec 31, 2023) in 15 years and three months, shows the data on jmfinancialmf.com.

In one year, the mutual fund scheme has delivered a return of 40.12 percent, which means an investment of 1,00,000 would have grown to 1,39,990.

In three years, the scheme has delivered an annualised return of 26.19 percent, which means if an investor had made an investment of 1,00,000 in this scheme, it would have grown double to 2,00,069 during this time.

In five years, JM Flexicap fund has given a CAGR return of 21.14 percent. This means if someone had invested one lakh in the scheme, it would have grown to 2,60,740.

Also, if someone had made an investment 10 years ago, an investment of one lakh would have swelled to 5.76 lakh by now (Dec 29, 2023), thus delivering a return of 19.15 percent per annum.

Years Return (%)  1 lakh grows to 1 40.12  1,39,990 3 26.19  2,00,069 5 21.14  2,60,740 10 19.15*  5,76,687 Since inception 14.41  7,81,590

(Source: jmfinancialmf.com; Return as on Dec 29, 2023)

(*As shown in amfiindia.com)

About the fund scheme

JM Flexi cap mutual fund has invested 51.28 percent of its assets in large cap stocks, 26.83 percent in small cap stocks, 17 percent in mid-caps and the remainder of 4.86 percent in TREPS & others.

The top five sectors wherein the scheme assets are invested include financial services, capital goods, automobile, power and healthcare.

The top 10 stock constituents of this mutual fund scheme are Bank of Baroda, SBI, CBLO, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, L&T, NTPC, HEG, Infosys and UltraTech Cement.

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India is closely watching the general elections in neighbouring Bangladesh, as a lot seems to be at stake for the country. India has already established a strong partnership with Bangladesh under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. Hasina is the current Bangladesh Prime Minister who is seeking a straight fourth term in the general elections on Sunday, January 7.

India and Bangladesh share 4,096-km long border and an "excellent state of bilateral relations, based on deep historical and fraternal ties and shared values of democracy and pluralism," a statement by the government had said after the state visit of Hasina to India in 2022.

Bangladesh shares border with India's West Bengal (2216.7 km), Assam (263 km), Meghalaya (443), Tripura (856) and Mizoram (318 km)

Why is Bangladesh Election important to India?

Sharing a border with Bangladesh makes the country utterly important for India which faces challenges of cross-border terrorism, national security, migration and trade. Here's how Bangladesh is important to India:

Cross-border terrorisms

As Sheikh Hasina came into power in Bangladesh, she helped the India's security burden by clamping down on insurgents, terrorists, and separatists. According to Eurasia review, Bangladesh "maintained close cooperation with India in terms of intelligence sharing and security matters".

Indian had also entered an Extradition Treaty with Bangladesh in January 2013 (during Hasina's rule) to address the security concerns of each other and strengthening mutual trust.

During the tenure of previous Bangladesh government led by Khaleda Zia, India had faced challenges on the terrorism front. Indian had said in its Annual Report 2004-2005 that "India has from time to time, expressed concern" over the activities of the terrorist groups operating from "the territory of Bangladesh through diplomatic channels, as also in the bilateral meetings between India and Bangladesh." However, Bangladesh had then denied harbouring "Indian insurgent groups" on its soil.

ALSO READ: India and Bangladesh boost defence ties at fifth annual dialogue in Dhaka

Illegal migration

Illegal migration is another challenges along the India-Bangladesh border. "The Indo-Bangladesh border is marked by a high degree of porosity and the checking of illegal cross border activities and illegal migration from Bangladesh to India have been major challenges," said the annual report of the Union Home Ministry for 2021-22.

As the Indian government decided to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Sheikh Hasina had in 2020 reportedly questioned the need for the ACT that fast tracked citizenship for persecuted non-Muslim minorities from three countries.

Gowher Rizvi, the advisor to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had told India Today in 2018, his country will take back all Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in India only "if India successfully proves that the illegal immigrants are Bangladeshi nationals".

Trade and economic ties

India's Ministry of External Affairs said in November 2022 that Bangladesh is Indias biggest trade partner in South Asia and India is the second biggest trade partner of Bangladesh in Asia. Besides this, cooperation in the power sector also become one of the hallmarks of India-Bangladesh relations in the recent years.

"Despite Covid-19 related disruptions, bilateral trade grew at an unprecedented rate of almost 44% from $10.78 billion in FY (Financial Year) 2020-21 to US$ 18.14 billion in FY 2021-22. Exports to Bangladesh touched above US$ 16 bn as against $ 9.6 billion the previous FY. India is Bangladeshs largest export destination in Asia," the MEA had said.

Regional ties

The external affairs ministry said India and Bangladeshs geographical locations complement each other and present an opportunity for both to further develop their connectivity links and economies. In 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina launched three India-assisted development projects, two of which are expected to boost trade and improve connectivity with the Northeastern states.

Bangladesh political parties and their approach towards India:

The above analysis of Indo-Bangladesh ties establishes why Sheikh Hasina's government is important to India. But her party is not the only contesting the polls. As many as 27 political parties are contesting the elections. These include the opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA). The rest of them are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts dub as "satellite parties". PTI reported.

Here's a look at approach of key parties towards India:

1. Bangladesh Awami League party

Sheikh Hasina leads the Bangladesh Awami League party. To reiterate the political party's stand towards India, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen had recently highlighted Hasina's zero tolerance policy on terrorism.

The foreign secretary told news agency ANI," ...Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with her zero-tolerance policy on any kind of terrorism and her promise not to let any inch of Bangladesh land used for any forces to our neighbours - India and also Myanmar...So, we are very steadfast in that context. That benefited some of the northeastern states in terms of stability and also we see progress. But we would like to go to the next level...."

2. Bangladesh Nationalist Party

Bangladesh's country's main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is led by the former premier Khaleda Zia. India's might be concerned with BNP, which has been accused of "subverting" Indias interests in the past. However, the party has boycotted the January 7 elections, asserting that no election held under the current government would be deemed fair and credible.

"It is no secret that the Awami League has historically had a better and friendlier relationship with India compared to the BNP," Dhaka Tribune had reported earlier.

Zia had served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. As of now, Zia is effectively under house arrest as a convict of graft charges.

3. Jatiya Party (JaPa)

The party so far seems to be in favour of India. Just ahead of Bangladesh Elections, Indian had invited a Jatiya Party delegation to New Delhi, in what was seen as "a sign of broadening engagement with the political parties of Bangladesh", The Hindu reported.

Following the Delhi visit, Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader had said, "India has a lot of investments in this country, so India wants the next government of Bangladesh to be formed through fair elections."

Quader was quoted by the Business Standard as saying, "They [India] said the Jatiya Party has credibility. They will be happy if a fair election can be held after discussion among political parties."

"Discussions were held regarding the interests of the two countries. They have a good idea about Jatiya Party; they consider Jatiya Party a potential party. They hope that their relationship with Jatiya Party will remain cordial in future," Quader was quoted by the Daily Star as saying

Bangladesh Election 2024: Can Sheikh Hasina secure 4th term?

As the BNP boycotted the polls, some reports claimed that the chances have increased for Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League to win the elections. However, some others said this has not paved the way for walkover by Hasina, who is eyeing a fourth consequetive term.

The Hindustan Times quoted sources as saying that the "Awami League is not expected to win as many seats as in past elections" amid an an anti-incumbency wave, especially in the backdrop of a recent economic downturn. Hasina's party "will have to depend on the numerous independent candidates," sources added.

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Delhi traffic police has informed that the traffic is affected on Mathura road in the carriageway from Ashram Chowk towards Apollo Hospital. They further said that a major fire that has broken out under Modi Mill Flyover alongside Mathura road has caused the traffic snarl.

Traffic is affected on Mathura road in the carriageway from Ashram Chowk towards Apollo Hospital as a major fire has broken out under Modi Mill Flyover alongside Mathura road. Kindly avoid the stretch.", Delhi Traffic Police tweeted.

Cold weather conditions along with fog prevailed across the North India regions on Saturday morning with the national capital recording a minimum temperature of 8.9 degree Celsius in Safdarjung.

Dense fog engulfed the national capital which affected the commuters and traffic during the early hours on Saturday.

Delhi recorded a maximum of 9.6 degrees Celsius at Palam, 8.9 degree in Safdarjung.

Meanwhile, the rehearsals for the January 26th, Republic Day parade were conducted at Kartavya Path as cold wave and fog continued in the national capital.

There will be no significant change in minimum temperatures over north India during the next five days, says IMD.

Several flights were delayed in the North India regions due to fog and harsh weather conditions.

Spicejet airline also issued an advisory to passengers on flight delay caused by fog.

"Due to expected poor visibility in Amritsar(ATQ), Jammu(IXJ), Varanasi(VNS), Gorakhpur(GOP), Patna(PAT), Jaipur(JAI), Shirdi(SAG) and Darbhanga(DBR) all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected," spicejet airline shared in a post on X.

Fog and inclement weather conditions also impacted several trains running to and from the national capital. 22 trains travelling towards the national capital were delayed on Friday due to fog conditions in the region.

Further, people sat by bonfires in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut city to keep themselves warm as mercury dipped.

As per IMD, the city will experience 'Dense Fog' today with the minimum temperature dropping to 7C and the maximum temperature being 18C.

Very dense fog was observed in isolated pockets of Jammu Division, West Rajasthan, Haryana-Chandigarh, East Uttar Pradesh; Dense fog in many parts of Punjab; in isolated pockets of East Madhya Pradesh, East Rajasthan; Moderate fog in isolated pockets of Uttarakhand and Tripura.

As per the IMD, "Dense fog conditions very likely to prevail for a few hours in morning in isolated pockets over East Uttar Pradesh during 06th-09th January; over West Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura during 06th-08th January; over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Odisha on 06th & 07th January."

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In the wake of Alaska Airlines' midair window blowout incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered all the Indian airlines to immediately carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet.

The announcement comes a day after an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aeroplane made an emergency landing after its window panel blew out after takeoff on Friday. After the incident, US Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737 Max 9 aeroplanes for safety inspections.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released a statement on Saturday, saying, "Under the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737 -9 Max aircraft, there have been no inputs /guidance from Boeing so far. None of the Indian air operators have Boeing 737-9 Max as part of their fleet yet. However, as an abundant precautionary measure, DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet."

The DGCA's statement came after US-based Alaska Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes over an incident, wherein a flight with 177 people onboard made an emergency landing in the state of Oregon, with passengers saying a window panel blew out after takeoff.

After the accident, Chief Executive Officer Ben Minicucci said that the airline is taking the precautionary step" to temporarily ground the fleet of 65 planes until completion of full maintenance and inspection.

The temporary grounding is likely to impact tens of thousands of customers with canceled flights. The grounding will involve almost 30% of Alaska Airs 227 Boeing 737 family aircraft. Alaska Air is the second-biggest operator of the 737 Max 9 variant, behind United Airlines Holdings Inc.

Flight 1282 was carrying 171 passengers and six crew from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. Nobody was injured in the incident. The incident received a sharp response from different nations.

China's aviation regulator is conducting an emergency meeting to consider a response to the incident and even a possible grounding of the fleet in the country, reported Bloomberg citing sources. However, Chinese carriers do not operate the Boeing 737 Max 9 variant.

The grounding by a loyal Boeing customer marks the most severe response to an incident since the manufacturers entire fleet of Max aircraft was temporarily taken out of service in 2019 following two deadly crashes. The 737 Max is by far Boeings most popular aircraft and its biggest source of revenue, with single-aisle aircraft like the Max and the corresponding Airbus SE A320 neo family, used as the most widely flown shorter routes.

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The Madhya Pradesh Police registered a case in connection with the alleged disappearance of 26 girls from a children's home in Bhopal, a police official said on Saturday. According to police, the probe so far has revealed that the girls may have left Aanchal Children's Home in Parwalia area after feeling homesick.

"Some girls who get themselves registered at the facility return home due to various reasons, including finding the stay uninteresting. The investigation so far shows they have returned to their homes. This is being verified further," Bhopal (Rural) Superintendent of Police Pramod Kumar Sinha was quoted by PTI as saying in his video message.

ALSO READ: India accounts for nearly one third of the worlds missing women: United Nations

What has been alleged?

Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) at Parwaliya Sadak Police Station in Bhopal on Thursday over a complaint filed by district programme officer Ramgopal Yadav against one Anil Mathew for allegedly running the children's home illegally.

As per the complaint, 26 out of 68 girls (between 6-18 years of age) at the facility have gone missing, police said. The facility is around 20 kilometres from the district headquarters.

ALSO READ: Crimes against women must stop for the country to prosper

The FIR was filed under sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 naming Anil Methew, the manager of the children's home, as an accused, ANI reported.

Mathew was booked under relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, the official said. Mathew has so far failed to provide a registration certificate for the facility he was running," police said.

ALSO READ: Crime against women: 4.45 lakh FIRs filed in 2022, almost 51 every hour. Delhi tops the list

Shivraj Singh Chouhan demands action

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan urged the Mohan Yadav-led MP government to take action in the case of the alleged disappearance of 26 girls from an "illegal" children's home in capital Bhopal.

"The case of the disappearance of 26 girls from a children's home operating without permission in Parwalia police station area of Bhopal has come to my notice," Chouhan posted on X on Saturday. "Considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter, I urge the government to take cognisance and take immediate action," he added.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday that his party will perform a 'Maha Aarti' at the bank of the Godavari River in Maharashtra's Nasik on the Ram Temple consecration day on January 22.

Uddhav Thackeray was quoted by ANI as saying, The birth anniversary of Bala Saheb falls on January 23. But since the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Temple is going to be held on January 22, the Shiv Sena will perform a 'Maha Aarti' on that day at the bank of the Godavari River in Nasik."

ALSO READ: Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration ceremony: Cops discuss alternative routes, security arrangements

Thackeray, who has not been invited to the grand consecration ceremony, said, We do not want to indulge in matter of who has got the invitation and who has not." He added, When the consecration ceremony will be held in Ayodhya, at the same time, we will participate by offering prayers at the Kala Ram Temple in Nasik. On the same day, we will hold party's conference in Nasik itself."

Nasik's Kala Ram Temple is dedicated to Lord Ram. It is believed that Lord Ram stayed here in Panchvati with wife Sita and brother Laksham during their exile ('Vanvaas'), ANI reported.

ALSO READ: Ram Mandir 'Pran Pratistha' invite feature booklet on Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Check details

BJP Vs Shiv Sena (UBT) over Ram Mandir ceremony

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) earlier engaged in a war of words, with Thackeray saying that he had not been invited for the ceremony.

"First, I have not received any invitation. Second, I don't need an invitation to go there. Ram Lalla is not a party's property, he belongs to everyone. I just want that this event not to be politicised...This decision was given by the Supreme Court, not the government," Thackeray was quoted as saying on Saturday.

ALSO READ: BJP Plans nationwide live telecast for Ram Mandir consecration

Meanwhile, Union Minister Narayan Rane said that Uddhav Thackeray should not attend the consecration ceremony. "Uddhav is crazy, he has no right to speak about the Ram Temple. What was he doing all these years? and now he's having a stomach-ache. Such people should not go to see the Ram Temple. It is a sacred place, and such crazy people should not go there," Rane added.

ALSO READ: Ayodhya Ram Mandir: First look of invitation cards for consecration ceremony out! Watch video

Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony. A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahotsav.

(With inputs from ANI)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Lakshadweep seems to have soared the popularity of India's smallest Union Territory among people across the country. It won't be surprising if one sees Lakshadweep as his/her next tourist destination, as 'Lakshadweep' remained one of the most searched words this week.

As per Google trends seen on January 6, 'Lakshadweep' trended for two days this week  on January 5 and January 3. This was after PM Modi visited the group of islands in the first week of January. PM Modi visited the Union Territory on January 2 and 3. He shared a few photos of the picturesque archipelago on January 4. Since then, Lakshadweep remained the most searched keyword on the Google search engine, with the word garnering over "100K" searches on Google a day. View Full Image Lakshadweep: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Bangaram, in Lakshadweep. (PTI) According to news agency ANI, interest in Lakshadweep peaked on Friday, as more than 50,000 users searched for it on Google. This was soon after the Prime Minister said that he is "still in awe" of the "stunning" beauty of the islands and the "incredible warmth" of its people. ALSO READ: Want to explore Lakshadweep like PM Modi? Add these 5 activities to your bucket list to experience coral beauty View Full Image Interest in Lakshadweep peaked on Friday, January 6. (Google trends) "Recently, I had the opportunity to be among the people of Lakshadweep. I am still in awe of the stunning beauty of its islands and the incredible warmth of its people. I had the opportunity to interact with people in Agatti, Bangaram and Kavaratti. I thank the people of the islands for their hospitality," PM Modi said in a post on 'X'. In no time, the photos showing the "scenic beauty" of Lakshadweep broke the internet. The images of the Prime Minister doning a life jacket and trying his hand at snorkelling also went viral. The Prime Minister said that it was an "exhilarating experience". ALSO READ: 5 Things to while visiting Lakshadweep "For those who wish to embrace the adventurer in them, Lakshadweep has to be on your list. During my stay, I also tried snorkelling - what an exhilarating experience it was!" he said. PM Modi later posted a picture of himself relaxing on an armchair by the sea and taking a morning walk at the beach.

As PM Modi embraced the "enriching journey of learning and growing" in Lakshadweep, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said on Friday that PM Modi's recent visit to Lakshadweep has drawn global attention to the archipelago and its immense tourism potential.

The External Affairs Minister posted from his official X handle on Friday, "By visiting Lakshadweep, PM Narendra Modi has focused attention on its immense potential for tourism. This is a great inspiration for all of us. More visitors will contribute to Lakshadweep's prosperity. They will also experience its unique culture and traditions."

He added that as India becomes more world-ready, "let's showcase the beauty and diversity of our great nation".

About Lakshadweep

Indias smallest Union Territory Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 36 islands with an area of 32 sq km. It is a uni-district Union Territory and comprises 12 atolls, three reefs, five submerged banks and ten inhabited islands. The islands have a total area of 32 sq km, the government says.

The capital is Kavaratti and it is also the principal town of the UT. "The entry to Lakshadweep islands is restricted. One requires an entry permit issued by Lakshadweep Administration to visit these islands," the government further adds.

During his visit to Lakshadweep, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for development projects worth over 1,150 crore in Agatti on Tuesday. He also inaugurated the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Connection (KLI - SOFC) project, which is aimed at overcoming the challenge of slow internet speed in the Union Territory.

He further inaugurated the Low-Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) plant at Kadmat, which will produce 1.5 lakh litres of clean drinking water every day and Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) in all households of Agatti and Minicoy islands.

(With inputs from agencies)

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US President Joe Biden on January 5 while addressing the public at Pennsylvania's Blue Bell recalled that former President Donald Trump's efforts to retake the White House in the 2024 election pose a major threat to the country. Biden also presented America's second-highest civilian award to 12 people who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

He made this announcement the day before the third anniversary of the violent attack at the US Capitol that was led by Donald Trumps supporters who wanted to keep Trump in power. Biden said We nearly lost America  lost it all" on January 6, 2021.

Joe Bidens Transcript stated, Three years ago tomorrow the violent mob stormed the United States Capitol.For the first time in our history, insurrectionists had come to stop the peaceful transfer, transfer of power in America." While describing the event he said, First time. Smashing windows, shattering doors, attacking the police. Outside, gallows were erected."

Also read: Donald Trump appeals to US Supreme Court to overturn ballot ban in Colorado

Highlighting Trumps role in the Capitol attack Biden said, Inside, they hunted for Speaker Pelosi. The House was chanting as they marched through and smashed windows, Wheres Nancy?" Over 140 police officers were injured. Jill and I attended the funeral of police officers who died as a result of the events of that day," reported AP.

Biden further blamed Trump for all the chaos and deaths. He said, "Because Donald, because of Donald Trumps lies, they died because these lies brought a mob to Washington," reported AP.

Reaffirming his stance Biden said, We all know who Donald Trump is," and added, The question we have to answer is who are we?"

On this day, 3 years ago, a mob of Trump's Republican supporters overran the Capitol where the counting of Electoral College votes was taking place and Democrats Biden emerged as the winner. Over 100 police officers were attacked by the rioters who tried to break into the building. Over 9 people lost their lives in the attack including several officers who died of suicide while 3 of Trump supporters suffered medical emergencies.

Biden reiterated, Whats Trump done? Hes called these insurrectionists patriots." He said, and he promised to pardon them if he returns to office," reported AP.

Biden claimed that by trying to rewrite the facts of Jan. 6, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election."

Also read: US President Joe Biden unlikely to travel to India for Republic Day celebrations in January

Former President Trump is confronting 91 criminal charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election loss to Biden, along with three other felony cases. The Supreme Court has recently decided to address the question of whether Trump can be kept off the ballot due to his efforts to overturn the election results.

While addressing in Iowa on Friday, Donald Trump countered Biden of abusing George Washingtons legacy" to attack him and his supporters. Giving a warning to Biden, he said, This election is your last chance to save America."

(With inputs from AP)

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Canada confirmed on Friday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's military aircraft, which took him and his family on a holiday to Jamaica, had become 'inoperable' and the Royal Canadian Air Force had to send a rescue plane to look into the matter. Notably, this is the second time in 4 months that the Canadian Prime Minister's aircraft has experienced a problem during an overseas visit.

Also Read | India offered aircraft 'Air India One' to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau to return, but

"We can confirm two Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challengers were in Jamaica supporting transport for the prime minister," a spokesperson for Canada's defence department told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Department of National Defence's (DND) Andree-Anne Poulin told CBC, "The first aircraft that transported the Prime Minister's party became unserviceable after arrival,"

"The second aircraft brought a maintenance team to repair the first aircraft, and remained in the area as a back-up for the Prime Minister's departure, if necessary." the top Canadian official added.

PM Trudeau and his family including his estranged wife Sophie had travelled to Jamaica on December 26 onboard a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challenger aircraft and were scheduled to depart the Caribbean island on January 4 but a maintenance issue was found on the aircraft on January 2 and an inspection and maintenance team was dispatched on January 3 which returned the aircraft to serviceability, CBC reported. PM Trudeau and his family finally took off from Jamaica on January 4.

Earlier, Prime Minister Trudeau, who was in India to attend the G20 summit, was stranded in the country for two days after pre-flight checks revealed that a part of his military aircraft was faulty and needed to be replaced.

Notably, Prime Minister Trudeau had reportedly been offered an Air India One aircraft to transport him to his home country but the Canadian side decided to wait for the backup aircraft instead.

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Bangladesh Elections 2024: Bangladesh is set to hold elections on Sunday, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed anticipated to secure a fourth consecutive term. The main opposition party, BNP, is abstaining from the elections, citing violence, and has declared a 48-hour nationwide strike in protest against the perceived illegal government."

The country's Election Commission reports that over 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to cast their votes at more than 42,000 polling stations on Sunday.

The upcoming election will witness participation from over 1,500 candidates representing 27 political parties, along with 436 independent candidates. The 12th general election, conducted under stringent security measures, will be closely monitored by over 100 foreign observers, including three from India.

The Election Commission has announced its anticipation for the results to commence early on January 8.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League is poised to secure victory for the fourth consecutive time. This likelihood is reinforced by the absence of the main Opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is currently under house arrest due to graft charges and has chosen to boycott the polls.

Also Read: The significance of Bangladeshs election for India

In a televised address this week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, urged pro-democratic and law-abiding parties not to promote ideas that could disrupt the country's constitutional process.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has declared a 48-hour nationwide general strike set to commence on Saturday.

Protest against Sheikh Hasina

Out of the 27 political parties participating in the elections, the Jatiya Party (JAPA) represents the opposition, while the remaining parties are part of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, often referred to by experts as satellite parties."

As a component of its election boycott strategy, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced a 48-hour nationwide general strike scheduled from 6 am on January 6 to 6 am on January 8. The party asserts that no election held under the current government would be deemed fair and credible.

BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the strike, saying it was aimed to press for their demands for resignation of the illegal government, establishment of a non-party neutral government and release of all party leaders and activists from prison".

Also Read: Opposition on the run as Bangladesh preps for elections, more than 10,000 arrested

In the lead-up to the elections, Prime Minister Hasina's government took measures to arrest tens of thousands of rival politicians and supporters. This action has been criticized by rights groups, who condemn it as an attempt to cripple the opposition.

Prime Minister Hasina said, The Awami League, whenever it came to power, ensured the economic and social development of the people of the country."

Authorities deployed Army troops across the country two days ago in aid of civil administration" to maintain peace and order during the voting.

In defiance of stringent security measures, unidentified individuals launched homemade bomb and arson attacks at vacant polling centres in four out of the 64 administrative districts. Also, clashes between BNP activists and the police occurred in another district, resulting in injuries to five individuals on Friday.

View Full Image Bangladesh Elections 2024: Mohammad Sirajul Islam, 60, speaks with Mohammad Shojol Hossain next to a poster seeking justice for Hossain's father Fazlur Rahman, an opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activist, outside their home in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. The BNP say Kajol is among 10 of their members who have died in custody after thousands of their supporters and politicians have been arrested on what they say are trumped-up charges in the lead-up to the polls. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) (AP)

Meanwhile, at least four people lost their lives when arsonists set fire to a passenger train near Dhaka on Friday night.

Also Read: Bangladesh election 2024: 4 killed after train set on fire ahead of Sheikh Hasina vs Khaleda Zia clash

In response, the BNP has called for a UN-supervised investigation into the incident, characterizing it as a "pre-planned" act of sabotage.

View Full Image Bangladesh Elections 2024: Bangladeshi fire fighters search through a burnt-out carriage of the Benapole Express in Dhaka on January 5, 2024. Five people were killed in Bangladesh after a passenger train which was arriving in the capital Dhaka from the western city of Jessore, caught fire on January 5, 2024, with police suspecting an arson attack during unrest ahead of national elections boycotted by the opposition. (Photo by Abdul Goni / AFP) (AFP)

The Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), has remarked that the country is at a critical juncture.

Bangladesh is at a critical juncture. The once vibrant, if imperfect democracy will soon hold a third election without a credible alternative to the incumbent government," it said in a recent report.

The think tank said, While it was now too late to delay the January election, the Awami League and BNP should work after the vote to de-escalate the country's political tensions, including through concessions by both sides."

Also Read: Bangladesh pre-poll violence: 5 dead as Benapole Express train catches fire, several Indians believed to be on board

As reported by PTI, political science professor and analyst Harunur Rashid said he feared Bangladesh might need to wait for an indefinite period to witness a congenial political atmosphere because of the highly conflicting nature between the two major parties.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Kader on Friday said, There was no perfect democracy anywhere in the world, but BNP's participation could have made the upcoming elections more competitive."

Emerging from a meeting with the Commonwealth Observer Group, Kader said, "They have agreed with us that nowhere in the world there is a cent per cent or perfect democracy".

He said an unprecedented mass tide" has been created in favour of the party across the country ahead of the elections.

Expressing hope for a national election conducted in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, he emphasized that the election symbolizes a festival of democracy for the people of Bangladesh, with the current instance being no exception.

Also Read: Bangladesh Shows the Limits of Bidens Democracy Promotion

Ignoring the severe cold, the people have welcomed the election and taken part in the polls campaign. A mass tide has been created across the country in favour of the boat (the Awami Party's election symbol)," Kader said.

He commented on the BNP's general strike on election day and said it is now an obsolete tool" in Bangladesh's politics.

Sheikh Hasina's political journey

Having assumed power in 2009, Sheikh Hasina has been in office since, securing victory in the last election in December 2019. However, that poll was marred by deadly violence and accusations of election rigging.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had boycotted the 2014 election but participated in the 2019 polls, later deeming it a mistake and alleging widespread rigging and intimidation. While the BNP's initial decision to boycott posed a challenge to the legitimacy of the January 7 polls, the situation evolved as the ruling party decided to spare 26 seats for Jatiya Party (JAPA), prompting them to participate and withdraw their candidates.

The Awami League further allocated six seats to its allies within the 14-party ruling alliance. Prime Minister Hasina encouraged independent and rebel candidates to participate in the election, emphasizing the importance of inclusive polling. The ruling party concurrently conducted a campaign to promote high voter turnout.

Also Read: Bangladesh protests: Opposition wants Sheikh Hasina to resign, here's why

Senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan on Friday called the government efforts childish", proving its political bankruptcy".

Analysts and watchdogs have expressed concerns that the country, with a population of 170 million, is veering toward virtual one-party rule. Many voters have noted a lack of enthusiasm for participating in the elections, anticipating the reelection of the incumbent government.

Also Read: 'I was once Delhi's secret resident when...':Bangladesh PM ahead of India visit

The economic slowdown in Bangladesh has been exacerbated by the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, which led to increased prices of fuel and food imports. To address economic challenges, Bangladesh sought a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), securing USD 4.7 billion last year.

There is widespread concern that a potential fourth consecutive term for Prime Minister Hasina could exacerbate the economic challenges, further deepening the sense of despair among the populace.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Ahead of the 12th Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, the country's Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said, ...we want our election to be observed not only nationally, but also internationally." Awal said Bangladesh believes "in a credible election, in participation and in the fairness and acceptability of results of the election."

Announcing the schedule of Sunday polls, Bangladesh's chief Election Commissioner said the election is going to be held on January 7. "The polling will commence at 8 am and that will continue without any interruption till 4 pm. After the voting, the ballot boxes will be opened and the results at the centres will be announced," he added.

ALSO READ: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina meets President Droupadi Murmu

More than 100 foreign observers, including three from India, reached Dhaka on Friday to monitor the general election in Bangladesh.

Current Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League is expected to win for the fourth consecutive time as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia boycotted the polls.

The polls, however, are contested by 27 political parties, including the parliamentary opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA). The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts dub as "satellite parties", news agency PTI reported.

ALSO READ: Bangladesh elections 2024: Why it matters to India?

As part of its vote boycott campaign, the BNP called a 48-hour countrywide general strike from 6 am on January 6 to 6 am on January 8 as the party has been claiming no election under the incumbent government would be fair and credible.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina had urged people to exercise their voting rights in Sunday's election to prove that democracy prevails in Bangladesh.

Suspecting pre-poll violence in the country, Bangladesh deployed Army troops across the country two days ago "in aid of civil administration" to maintain peace and order during the voting.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Bangladesh's general elections are scheduled to be held on 7 January 2024. Bangladeshi authorities have made stringent security given the general elections as tensions grew ahead of the polls.

The government has deployed Armed forces from January 3 until January 10 to assist in the administration as tensions spiked in the country. Opposition party BNP wishes to boycott elections these elections as the ruling government did not give in to their demand which has led to violence outbreaks at several places . The current Awami League government is scheduled to expire on 29 January 2024 after serving 5 years in office.

A statement of the Inter-Service Public Relations, the media wing of the military said, Members of the armed forces will be stationed at nodal points and other places in every district, sub-district, and metropolitan area," reported PTI. Members of the Coast Guard, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) will also be on election duty to oversee security arrangements.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will take command of security arrangements in 45 bordering upazilas while the Bangladesh Navy will operate in 19 districts, including Bhola and Barguna. The ISPR informed that the BGB and Army will work in 47 bordering upazilas and coordinate with the Coast Guard in four coastal upazilas.

Polling centres in the Hill Tracts will be under the guard of the Bangladesh Air Force with helicopter support. The Armed Forces Division will be active until January 10 and has formed a combined cell. This cell includes law enforcers and representatives from different ministries.

The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khalida Zia is boycotting the elections. BNP demanded an interim non-party neutral government to organise the voting which was rejected by the government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina is the president of the ruling Awami League and is facing pressure from Western countries to hold "free and fair" elections.

Also read: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus faces jail in Bangladesh Court ruling

The director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman said, The US applied so much pressure on Bangladesh for free and fair elections, through both carrots and sticks, and for so long, yet to no avail," reported Bloomberg. He added, Consequently, there is a possibility that the administration could respond post-election with harsher steps."

Kugelman said that those measures could be punitive actions in the space that would hurt Bangladesh the most," which is trade as the US is the top buyer of Bangladeshi garments

The 350 seats of the Parliament of Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad, consists of 300 directly elected seats. The representatives to these seats are selected using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. Moreover, 50 seats are reserved for women while the reserved seats are elected proportionally by the elected members.

11 general elections have been held in Bangladesh to elect members of the national parliament since achieving independence in 1971.

(With agency inputs)

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Militants in Lebanon launched about 40 rockets into Israel on Saturdayone of the largest such barrages in recent monthsas the Biden administrations top diplomat arrived in the region to defuse an escalating Middle East crisis resulting from the war in Gaza.

The Israeli military said it fired back at militants who had been launching rockets. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group, said it fired rockets at an Israeli observation post as an initial response to the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.

The killing of Arouri and six other people in an airstrike on an office in Beirut, along with intensifying attacks by Hezbollah, is raising the risk that Israels three-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza could spiral into a broader regional confrontation that could draw in the U.S., Iran, and Tehrans network of militia allies throughout the region.

Lebanese officials said Arouris killing was a suspected Israeli attack. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied carrying out the strike. Israeli leaders have sworn to hunt down Hamas leadership after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

More than 22,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since Israel launched a military operation in Gaza aimed at toppling Hamas from power, according to Palestinian health officials. The number doesnt distinguish between combatants and civilians.

We are in a very high state of readiness in the north, prepared in defense and offense," said Daniel Hagari, the Israeli militarys chief spokesman, on Friday night, referring to the threat of attacks from Lebanon.

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, on Friday said the groups response to Arouris death was undoubtedly coming."

We will not remain silent about a violation of this level because this means that all of Lebanon will be exposed," he said in a televised speech.

The U.S. and Israel have designated Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.

Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire since the beginning of the war, with hostilities escalating in recent weeks. A full-scale war could be devastating for both sides because of Hezbollahs arsenal of missiles and other weapons provided by Iran. During Israels last war with the group in 2006, Israeli warplanes bombed the Beirut airport and other key infrastructure.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Istanbul on Friday night at the start of a regional tour that will include Israel and several Arab countries, is expected to discuss efforts to contain the growing crisis. The European Unions foreign-policy chief, Josep Borrell, meanwhile, is in Beirut, where he said he aims to de-escalate the worsening tension in the region.

The conflict has heightened the risks for U.S. military forces in the region who have increasingly come under attack by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. Since mid-October, there have been at least 115 attacks on U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq and Syria according to U.S. officials. The war in Gaza has also strained U.S. relations with Arab security partners and key allies such as Turkey who have criticized U.S. backing for Israel and called for a cease-fire amid the mounting civilian death toll in the enclave.

The war is also having a ripple effect on the global economy after attacks by Yemens Houthi rebels forced major shipping companies to divert ships from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal in recent weeks, instead sending ships around the Horn of Africa. The U.S. issued an ultimatum to the Iranian-backed Houthis this week warning of consequences for further attacks on ships, a prelude to possible military strikes against the group.

A senior U.S. official said Washington is walking a tightrope in the region, calling on regional actors to use their influence to avoid an escalation on one hand while insisting that the U.S. will defend its personnel and ships transiting the region.

The official said that the conversations in Israel were expected to be difficult and to focus on planning for the future of Gaza in the aftermath of the current war. The U.S. and Israel are at odds over who should control Gaza, with Israeli leaders rejecting U.S. calls for the Palestinian Authority to take control.

Blinken is set to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday along with the countrys foreign minister. He is also expected to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Crete.

Erdogan, a longtime critic of Israel who has opposed the Biden administrations backing for the war, is a key actor who holds leverage over the U.S. as it tries to achieve its broader strategic aims. The Turkish president has delayed his countrys approval of Swedens accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization while seeking U.S. concessions including the approval of a new fleet of F-16 warplanes.

The senior U.S. official said Turkey will approve Swedens accession in the near future and that the Biden administration is confident Congress will approve the F-16 sale to Turkey.

Carrie Keller-Lynn and Summer Said contributed to this article.

Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com and William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com
US Presidential Polls 2024: The Supreme Court said on Friday that the court will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be excluded from the ballot due to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, thereby firmly involving the court in the dynamics of the upcoming 2024 presidential campaign.

As reported by AP, recognizing the urgency imposed by the imminent commencement of presidential primary ballots, the justices have acknowledged the imperative to make a decision swiftly.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear Trump's appeal in a Colorado case, stemming from his involvement in the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Also Read: Donald Trump appeals to US Supreme Court to overturn ballot ban in Colorado

Highlighting the pressing nature of the matter, the Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for February 8, a period typically designated for an almost monthlong winter break for the justices.

The expedited timeline aims to facilitate a court decision before Super Tuesday on March 5, a pivotal day with the highest number of delegates at stake, including in Colorado.

AP reported that Donald Trump, speaking at a campaign event in Iowa, said: All I want is fair. I just hope that theyre going to be fair."

Also Read: Donald Trump civil fraud case: Daughter Ivanka must take the witness stand, rules judge

The court will be considering for the first time the meaning and reach of a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who engaged in insurrection from holding public office." Enacted in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the amendment has seen infrequent utilization, with the nation's highest court.

In a narrow 4-3 decision last month, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump should be excluded from the Republican primary ballot. This landmark ruling marked the inaugural application of the 14th Amendment to disqualify a presidential candidate from participating in the electoral process.

Also Read: White House condemns Donald Trump's remarks on immigration as fascist, violent white supremacists

Donald Trump is pursuing a separate appeal in state court regarding a decision by Maine's Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, who deemed him ineligible to be included on the state's ballot due to his involvement in the Capitol attack.

The rulings from both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state are currently in a state of suspension, awaiting the resolution of the ongoing appeals.

(With inputs from AP)

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As we step into 2024, the sustainability landscape is evolving rapidly. The previous year's record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather events have dramatically highlighted the urgency of addressing climate change. Businesses and investors are increasingly recognizing that sustainability is not just a corporate responsibility but a critical factor in long-term success and resilience.

A recent survey by PWC found that ESG has become a deal breaker for investors, 79% of investors surveyed consider ESG management of a company as an important factor in investment decisions. Companies that fail to comply on ESG standards risk losing investors, the same survey found 49% investors willing to divest from such companies.

Here are the top 10 sustainability trends to keep an eye on in 2024:

1. Rise of ESG investing

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing has become more than a buzzword; it's a pivotal aspect of modern investment strategies. A PWC report predicts a substantial increase in ESG-focused institutional investment, reaching $33.9 trillion by 2026. Companies that prioritize ESG concerns are seen as lower-risk and high-return investments. They often boast higher employee satisfaction and are less likely to face regulatory fines or penalties. This trend reflects a broader societal shift towards more responsible and sustainable business practices.

2. ESG focused products and communication

The consumer market is experiencing a significant shift towards sustainable products. This trend is driven by a growing awareness of the environmental impact of consumer choices. A McKinsey survey found that a majority of US consumers are willing to pay a premium for products with sustainable packaging. Similarly, a Bain & Company survey indicated that a significant portion of Indian consumers are planning to increase their spending on sustainable brands. Companies that offer products made from recycled materials or that are responsibly sourced are finding a competitive edge in the market. This trend is exemplified by tech giants like Apple, who have committed to making all their products carbon neutral by 2030.

3. Regulations and policies for accelerating ESG

The regulatory landscape for ESG reporting is becoming more stringent. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is set to transform the ESG reporting arena, requiring around 50,000 companies to report on sustainability aspects from 2024. Similarly, the BRSR Core reporting will mandate sustainability reporting for top listed Indian companies, affecting thousands more. These changes reflect a global movement towards greater transparency and accountability in corporate sustainability efforts.

4. Renewable energy integration and microgrids

Renewable energy is at the forefront of the fight against climate change. The goal is to substantially increase the current capacity of renewable energy sources. Countries like India are leading the way, with ambitious targets for non-fossil electricity capacity. India boasts of 168.96 GW worth of installed renewable energy capacity, and has set a target of 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030. Over 3 million units of electricity was generated from renewable energy sources during FY23, which is equal to powering approximately one third Indian households.

The focus is not just on increasing renewable energy production but also on integrating it into the mainstream power grid and developing smart, localized microgrids. These microgrids could potentially enable households to sell surplus green power back to the grid, creating a more resilient and decentralized energy system.

5. Tackling Scope 3 practically

Scope 3 emissions, which include indirect emissions from activities like supply chain operations, are notoriously difficult to measure and manage. As per an IBM report, only 38% companies are measuring their Scope 3 footprint. However, they are gaining increased attention. Companies are beginning to recognize the importance of tracking these emissions to achieve a comprehensive understanding of their environmental impact. This involves extensive engagement with suppliers, regular monitoring, and thorough data collection. Technologies like AI are being leveraged to analyse and manage emissions data more effectively. A recent report released by BCG & Google suggests that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to mitigate 5-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

6. AI and digital technologies for sustainability

AI is playing a critical role in advancing sustainability goals. Its applications range from improving energy efficiency and tracking emissions to predictive modelling for biodiversity threats. AI is also being used in precision agriculture to optimize resource use. Startups are emerging with innovative AI-based solutions for carbon accounting and ESG management. The potential of AI in environmental applications is vast, with predictions that it could contribute significantly to the global economy and create millions of new jobs by 2030.

7. Quantifying nature biodiversity loss

At least half of the global economic output is dependent on nature as per the World Economic Forum estimates. Owing to this indispensability of nature to economy and livelihood, nature restoration and biodiversity loss are increasingly featuring in global climate agendas. 2023 saw the discussion and emergence of biodiversity metrics like Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR), EII (Ecosystem Integrity Index) and others. 2024 will potentially witness a critical turning point in the further streamlining of metrics and standards to measure nature and biodiversity loss and methods to avert it. The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has also announced the setting up of a working group in 2024 on incorporating nature loss into corporate and financial institutions transition plans.

8. Nature based solutions for ESG

Nature-based solutions are emerging as cost-effective strategies for climate adaptation and community empowerment. These solutions, such as rainwater harvesting and sustainable agricultural practices, offer practical and low-cost alternatives to traditional approaches. They are gaining traction among businesses looking to invest in sustainable practices that also benefit local communities.

9. Designing for sustainability

Sustainable design is becoming a fundamental aspect of product development and real estate. This involves designing for long-term use, responsible sourcing, and considering the lifecycle impact of materials. Sustainable design is not just about minimizing environmental impact; it's about creating products and spaces that are efficient, resilient, and adaptable to changing environmental conditions.

10. Indigenous knowledge systems

Indigenous communities, often the first to experience the impacts of climate change, possess unique knowledge and wisdom in nature conservation. Their involvement in sustainability initiatives is expected to increase as businesses and communities seek to collaborate on climate adaptation strategies. Indigenous knowledge systems play a vital role in preserving biodiversity and offer valuable insights into sustainable living practices.

In conclusion, 2024 promises to be a year of significant advancement in sustainability. From the rise of AI and sustainable investing to new approaches in ESG reporting and renewable energy integration, these trends reflect a growing recognition of the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic factors. Businesses and investors alike are seeing sustainability not just as a responsibility but as a strategic advantage and a necessity for long-term success in an increasingly complex global landscape.

Ramnath Vaidyanathan is AVP & Head - Environmental Sustainability at Godrej Industries Ltd and associate companies.
Chinese officials are increasingly using the term Xizang," the official English spelling of the name that Chinas ethnic Han majority applies to the Tibetan homeland on the countrys far western frontier.

The shift dovetails with a broad assimilation drive targeted at Chinas ethnic minorities and outlying regions that has intensified under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who has sought to forge a singular national identityone centered on the Han majority and loyalty to the Communist Party.

Amid these efforts, Beijing has also been stepping up preparations for a fight over the choice of successor to the current Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, who turns 89 in July. Chinas officially atheist leadership has denounced him as a separatist, and insisted that they get to choose the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama.

For decades, Chinese officials and state media typically referred to Tibet" in English-language communications, applying a name widely used across the West. That began to change in recent years, as Chinas Foreign Ministry and a nationalistic party tabloid switched to using Xizang," the standard Romanization of the regions Mandarin Chinese name that is pronounced, roughly, shee-ZAHNG."

Beijing has stepped up its usage of the Xizang" label in recent months. At an academic seminar in August, Chinese scholars advocated replacing English references to Tibet" with Xizang," a view that the party agency handling ethnic affairs promoted on social media. Two months later, the Chinese government arranged a diplomatic conference in the Tibetan city of Nyingchi, titled Xizang Trans-Himalayan Forum for International Cooperation," where Tibet was generally referred to as Xizang" in English.

Major state-media outlets, such as the Xinhua News Agency, increasingly referred to Xizang" in English-language reports.

The most authoritative use of Xizang" came in November, when the Chinese governments top publicity office published a white paper on the Governance of Xizang," departing from references to Tibet" used in previous policy documents.

The semantic switch opens a new front in the Communist Partys efforts to reshape global narratives on China in favor of its preferred nomenclature, particularly on what Beijing regards as its core interests, experts say.

Chinese officials will seek to popularize the Xizang" label on the international stageparticularly in the Global Southby appealing to anti-Western sentiment, said Matthew Akester, an independent Tibet researcher based in the Indian town of Dharamshala, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is located. There is an international pro-China constituency that may well be turned by something like that."

Beijing might eventually use coercion as well, Akester says, including economic pressure and commercial boycotts against governments and businesses that continue to refer to Tibet." There will be consequences for not using Xizang," he predicted.

The Communist Partys United Front Work Department, which handles religious and ethnic affairs; the State Council Information Office, the Chinese governments publicity arm; and Chinas Foreign Ministry didnt respond to requests for comment.

The adoption of the Xizang" label is designed to fulfill their political ambition of legitimizing their claim over Tibet," said Tenzin Lekshay, a spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Sino-Tibet conflict is longstanding, and changing the name will not resolve the problem," he said. Rather, it will create more complexity."

Chinas Communist Party has sought to consolidate its control over Tibet since sending troops into the region in 1950. Since then, Beijing has directed long-running efforts to assimilate ethnic Tibetans and quash what it calls separatist forces led by the Dalai Lama, who was a teenager when the Peoples Republic took control of Tibet.

The assimilation drive intensified after Xi took power in late 2012. While his predecessors relied more on economic development as a way to naturally integrate ethnic minorities, he has taken a comparatively hard-line approach, with the party taking an active role in reshaping cultural identities.

In Tibet, Beijing has in recent years imposed increased restrictions on Tibetan religion, education and language, while boosting the governments ability to surveil residents. Chinese officials generally reject claims that they are diluting or suppressing Tibetan culture, instead arguing that the Communist Party has improved lives and livelihoods for people in Tibet, while upholding their religious and ethnic identities.

Historians say the present-day Chinese name for Tibet, Xizang," dates back to Chinas last imperial dynasty, the Qing. That name came from a Chinese transliteration of Gtsang"a reference to the name of one area within historical Tibet.

The name Xizang is wholly imbued with a Chinese viewpoint," Elliot Sperling, an Indiana University historian of Tibet, wrote in 2011. Indeed, one might say that use of that name subliminally reinforces it: The first syllable means West; i.e., it situates Tibet according to the way its perceived from China."

The meaning of Xizang is essentially determined by politics," Sperling wrote, pointing to differences in how various Chinese regimes defined the regions boundaries. Chinas current government doesnt have an officially authorized Chinese term for the traditional and historic realm of Tibet," wrote Sperling, who died in 2017.

Chinese authorities have used Xizang" in the past, though sporadically. For instance, the Tibet regional government has used xizang.gov.cn as the main address for its website since at least the mid-2000s, though Chinese officials at the time generally referred to Tibet" in English remarks.

Tibet" remained the prevalent English label well into the Xi era. For instance, a government white paper published in 2021 by the State Council Information Office was titled Tibet Since 1951: Liberation, Development and Prosperity."

The latest white paper, published in November, identifies the region as Xizang" throughout the text, though Tibet" still appeared in references to an airline and a museum that bear the name, as well as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It also used Tibetan" as a demonym and adjective in references to local residents and culture.

Chinas Foreign Ministry spearheaded the use of Xizang," using the standard Romanization in official statements and translations with increasing frequency over recent years. For instance, when Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted an event on Tibet in 2021, the ministry published a summary of his remarks that referred to the region as Xizang."

Global Times, a nationalistic party-run tabloid, has also been rendering Tibet as Xizang" in its English-language reports about the region since 2021.

The partys United Front Work Department published a social-media post in August that discussed the Xizang" label, citing Chinese academics as saying that Xizang" is a more accurate English name for Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region, a provincial-level administrative division that Beijing formally set up in the 1960s.

The article noted that Tibet" has often been used to refer more broadly to areas influenced by Tibetan culture, which includes the Tibet Autonomous Region and parts of neighboring provinces. This wrong concept has been around for a long time," and distorted international views about the geographical scope of Xizang, Wang Linping, a professor at Harbin Engineering University, was quoted as saying.

The article also argued that rendering Tibet as Xizang" is justified for the sake of complying with regulatory requirements, citing a Chinese government decision in 1978 to uniformly use Beijings official Pinyin Romanization system to spell the names of Chinese people and places.

Using Pinyin means acting in accordance with the law and implementing our relevant laws and regulations," Lian Xiangmin, deputy director-general of the state-affiliated China Tibetology Research Center, was quoted as saying.

Some people in the West will have different opinions, but China handles Tibet-related affairs following the law, Lian said. Whether they can accept it or not is their problem."

Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com

View Full Image The Dalai Lama attending a prayer last year at a temple in McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamshala, India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is located. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

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The Local 3 team along with friends and members of the community come together to share their memories of Mark Hite, who passed away over the holiday weekend at age 58.
The bill would make the retail sale of diapers, infant formula, and baby wipes tax-free from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The tax exemptions would only apply to these baby items, officials say.
A Gordon man charged with murder following a deadly crash in Houston County last month has been denied a bond reduction.

On Christmas Eve, Houston County Judge Benjamin Lewis set Harvey Drayton Burch Jrs bond at $150,000 with the condition that hes not allowed to operate a motor vehicle. However, Burchs defense team requested a hearing as they claimed he couldnt successfully raise the funds to secure his release.

According to court documents, during the bond hearing on Friday, Jan. 5, Lewis upheld his decision, choosing not to lower Burchs bond.

Burch, 65, is charged with one count of murder in the death of Milan W. Marler, 93, of Dothan. According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, a pickup truck driven by Burch collided head-on with a 2018 Toyota 4Runner along Alabama 53 on Saturday, Dec. 23.

Marler, a passenger in the 4Runner, was critically injured and transported to an area hospital, where he later died. Two others in the vehicle also suffered injuries.

Burch was taken to Southeast Health for medical treatment before being transported to the Houston County Jail, where he has been ever since.
Study this face. This is a black bear face. If you're being attacked by a black bear, don't play dead. Fight back.
A pro-Trump mob storms the US Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. The FBI on January 6 arrested three people in Florida who were charged in connection with the US Capitol attack.
Use the Arrows < > above to go through the gallery

October 27 marked an emotional day for the community of Clondra and the staff and pupils of Scoil Mhuire, as they bade farewell and happy retirement to a much-loved principal and friend, Colette McManus.

Colleagues describe Colette as a remarkable person and principal  a force of nature who combines so many wonderful qualities: intelligence, compassion, kindness, common sense and humour, to mention just a few. READ MORE BELOW PHOTO

Colette McManus graduated from St Patricks College, Dublin, in 1988. She spent two years in Knockcommon Primary School in Meath, and then came to Clondra for a short spell from September-March 1990. After a few months in St Michaels NS, Longford, Colette returned to Clondra as principal in October 1991.

A Roscommon native, albeit from only a couple of miles across the Shannon, Colette has found a special place in the hearts of the community in Clondra where she is loved and respected for her hard work and dedication to their school and local children for the past 32 years.

In 2009, after years of negotiation, paperwork and planning, work began on a large extension, incorporating 4 classrooms, which took the school into a new era for pupils, parents and staff. The current building is spacious, modern and comfortable  a great place to work and learn.

The official opening in 2011 was the culmination of a huge amount of work initiated and driven by Colette. That drive and determination never waned and in summer 2023 Colette oversaw refurbishment of the school yard  a fabulous facility for the children of the school. Its true to say that the building and yard stand as a testament to Colettes ambition, determination and ability. She leaves behind wonderful facilities for future generations of children to enjoy.

Colettes retirement celebration began in St Brendans Church, Clondra, with Fr Turlough Baxter welcoming Colettes family, pupils, parents, staff and friends. He spoke of the gratitude of the entire community for Colettes contribution over the years. Fr Turlough remarked on the warm, friendly atmosphere she created in the school  a welcoming place with always a kind and friendly welcome from Colette. A place to go to de-stress where one always left reinvigorated.

Jane McDonnell, speaking on behalf of Clondra NS Parents Association, spoke of a schools role at the heart of a community and that, through Colettes efforts, the heart of Clondra is strong and thriving. She also spoke of Colettes innate capacity to reassure both nervous Junior Infants and their nervous parents on their first day of school. Colette watched over each pupil from that first day right through to their last day in Sixth Class.

There were wonderful performances from every class in the school, reflecting Colettes love of music, dance and performance which she emphasised throughout her career, encouraging children to participate at every opportunity.

Chairperson of Clondra NS Board of Management, Aileen Mollahan, spoke of Colettes compassion and also her outstanding vision, focus and drive which has taken the school to the wonderful facility it is today. Aileen remarked that Colette took every opportunity to ensure that the children were exposed to any and every learning resource available.

Participants were treated to a traditional music performance from talented teachers Irene Rabitte, Sinead McCarrick and Fiona Reilly before Colette spoke to those assembled of the changes that have taken place over the course of her teaching career.

From the early days of the first computer which they thought of as state of the art, to faulty electrics which were kept going with a coin on top of a fuse in the fuse box, to where we are today.

Speaking of the future of the school, she went on to say: I am so happy that one of our former pupils is our next Principal, and I feel confident that Scoil Mhuire, Clondra, will flourish and continue to mould and influence the minds of our young people intellectually, emotionally and socially under the new principal, Melissa, and the existing staff.

Melissa Hussey, who will take on the role of principal, has undoubtedly learned from the best and both staff and the wider community are delighted that she will take up the baton. There is no doubt that she has the full support of staff who know that she will bring her own unique qualities and abilities to the role and make it her own. All are confident that the school will continue to grow and thrive under her stewardship and wish Melissa every success.

Brilliant teacher, brilliant mammy, brilliant friend is how Melissa Hussey, speaking on behalf of the staff, described Colette. In a speech that reflected the genuine love of the staff and pupils for Colette, Melissa spoke of her own days in the school, as a pupil and as a teacher. More than a Principal, Colette has been mother, teacher and mentor to staff and pupils alike.

Fr Turlough wound up proceedings in the church with a blessing for the next chapter of Colettes life and a lovely reading of John ODonohues: Blessing for Retirement.

The celebrations continued back in the school with parents, pupils and staff joining Colette and her family for a get-together and farewell.

There was full agreement among those present that, though the community is reluctant to lose such an outstanding presence, retirement is well-earned and well-deserved. For those who worked with her, it was an honour and a privilege.

A community unites in wishing Colette McManus many wonderful adventures in the future, good health and a long and happy retirement.

Congratulations Colette, on a job well done!
A flight was diverted to Cork Airport after a man was found dead on a Jet2 plane.

The aircraft was forced to divert to Cork after the man was found dead inside the bathroom on Tuesday afternoon, January 2.

Fellow passengers noticed the man in the bathroom for a long period of time, some suspecting he may be dead after feeling dismissed by the airline according to The Independent.

The flight was originally on route from Tenerife to Manchester however The Independant reported the plane should have landed in Manchester at 8.30pm, however the diversion to Cork and the wait for another plane meant the passengers arrived in Manchester at roughly 1.30am instead.

Despite the best efforts of our highly-trained crew who intervened as soon as they became aware. This was an extremely difficult situation for our crew and we would like to thank them for their efforts. Our thoughts are with the customers family and friends at this very difficult time, a spokesperson from the airline told The Independent.
Domestic terrorism, political violence seen as top threat to U.S. interests in 2024: survey

Xinhua) 11:12, January 06, 2024

A woman holds a banner about former U.S. President Donald Trump's indictment in front of E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, where Trump will be arraigned, in Washington, D.C., the United States, Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)

Description of the scenario goes as "Growing political polarization in the United States, particularly around the 2024 presidential election, leads to acts of domestic terrorism and political violence," according to the survey.

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The possibility of domestic terrorism and acts of political violence in the United States, particularly around the 2024 presidential election, was ranked as the leading concern in terms of impact on U.S. interests and likelihood of occurring or escalating in 2024, according to a newly-released yearly survey.

Description of the scenario goes as "Growing political polarization in the United States, particularly around the 2024 presidential election, leads to acts of domestic terrorism and political violence," according to the survey, which was conducted by the Center for Preventive Action under New York-based think tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

For the first time in its 16-year history, the Preventive Priorities Survey found that the leading concern for foreign policy experts is not a foreign threat to U.S. interests, said a release by the CFR on Thursday.

The survey was conducted in November 2023 and was based on responses from around 550 U.S. government officials, foreign policy experts, and academics, each of whom was asked to estimate the impact of 30 ongoing or potential violent conflicts on U.S. interests and likelihood of occurring or escalating in 2024, respectively.

Three scenarios were judged to be both high-likelihood and high-impact, which is unprecedented since the survey began in 2008. Besides the election-related violence in the United States, experts are concerned about an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a wider regional conflict, and a surge of migration to the southwest U.S. border.

The survey was primarily created in 2008 to alert U.S. policymakers to potentially threatening sources of instability and conflict overseas so they could take timely preventive action and reduce the risk of additional military interventions, according to the CFR.

In prior years, only overseas or foreign-sourced risks to U.S. interests were evaluated in the survey. However, during the public solicitation of contingencies for the 2024 survey, the level of concern expressed about the risk of politically motivated violence in the United States, especially surrounding the upcoming presidential election, was too great to disregard, said the CFR.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Kou Jie)
European Commission is assessing situation and will intervene as appropriate, in close cooperation with the EU industry concerned

French cognac is a niche but lucrative product in China for producers like Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard

French cognac is a niche but lucrative product in China for producers like Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard  Photo credit: Shutterstock

French cognac is a niche but lucrative product in China for producers like Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard  Photo credit: Shutterstock

China is launching an anti-dumping investigation into liquor products like brandy from the European Union, in a relatively modest step after the bloc opened a probe last fall into its electric vehicle subsidies.

The investigation, which Beijing said was prompted by an application from a domestic liquor association, targets French cognac, a niche but lucrative product in China for producers like Pernod Ricard SA and Remy Cointreau SA, and sent their stocks plunging. France was the main backer of Brussels probe into Chinese EVs, with French carmakers Renault SA and Stellantis NV particularly exposed to the threat of imports.

The brandy industry is a small one  China imported $1.57 billion worth of spirits from distilled grape wine in 2023 through November, while exporting about $12.7 billion worth of electric vehicles to the EU in the same period  and appeared aimed at negotiating with Brussels.

The European Commission is assessing the documentation it received and will intervene as appropriate, in close cooperation with the EU industry concerned, spokesperson Olof Gill said in response to a query from Bloomberg.

Also read:

Xi tells EU leaders China wants to be key partner on trade

A trade group for the cognac industry said the Chinese probe is taking place in the context of an unrelated spat between the EU and Beijing.

We are confident that our products and commercial practices fully comply with Chinese and international regulations and also that EU & China will find a constructive way to resolve any bilateral disputes, as has happened in the past over other matters, Valerie Mabin, a spokesperson for BNIC, said in an emailed statement.

France has the biggest exposure to the investigation into brandy, said Bruce Pang, chief economist at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. China is trying to add pressure on the biggest supporter of the EUs Chinese EV probe.

News of the probe sent Remy Cointreau tumbling as much as 12.5% in Paris while Pernod Ricard fell as much as 5.6%. These companies sell French brandy called cognac in China under brands like Remy Martin and Martell.

Using trade to achieve policy goals

Beijing has a history of using trade to help it achieve its policy goals. It previously looked into foreign liquor imports when geopolitical tensions flared with Australia, resulting in the imposition of anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wines, decimating what had been one of the countrys major overseas markets. As ties improved, China started to review the curbs.

China is showing Europe what retaliation could look like if it slaps duties on Chinese EVs, said Noah Barkin, senior adviser at Rhodium Group. This move would hit wine-producing countries like France the hardest  and that is probably no coincidence. Macrons government was the strongest supporter of the EUs anti-subsidy probe into EV imports from China.

While China represents a major market for European liquor brands, which have been struggling with a sharp drop in US demand, it is a small industry in a country that largely drinks the local alcohol called baijiu.

Chinas investigation will focus on brandy products that come in smaller than 200 liter containers from the EU, Chinas Ministry of Commerce said Friday.

With cognac considered a premium product in China that sells at prices far higher than local alcohols, the dumping charge is quite stretched, said Gilles Guibout, a portfolio manager at Axa Investment Managers in Paris. This is purely retaliation for EV.

The EUs recent trade actions toward China have extended beyond electric vehicles. Last month, the EU also opened anti-dumping probes into Chinese biodiesel and melamine exports. In November, the bloc imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of some plastics products from China.

Zhao Yongsheng, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said he doesnt think the new brandy investigation is a sign of a trade war starting between China and EU.

Its a retaliation but a reasonable one, he said. China has chosen a product with little impact on EU, but the message is that it can target much more important European goods in the future such as wine, luxury products and cars.
HOLYOKE  If some people dont take refuge in a shelter, they will be on the street during this winters first big storm.

That has moved Jennie Adamczyk, executive director of Providence Ministries for the Needy, to team up with the city of Holyoke to open an emergency pop-up shelter in anticipation of snow forecast for Saturday night into Sunday.

With no other emergency shelters in Holyoke, the only other option for unhoused people in the city is to try to get public transportation to Springfield for a bed at a shelter, Adamczyk said.

It is hard to maneuver without transportation, so it is important for services to be in place in Holyoke when temperatures dip, Adamczyk said.

The pop-up emergency shelter aims to make sure those without a home are safe during severe weather conditions, Mayor Joshua A. Garcia said in a statement.

Unhoused residents in Holyoke can access the shelter on 51 Hamilton St. through the Kates Kitchen door in the back parking lot on Saturday starting at 5 p.m. Doors close at 7 p.m.

There are 24 beds available. People who come to the shelter can expect a hot shower, a fresh change of clothes, a hot dinner, a warm place to sleep, breakfast and medical attention for issues like frostbite and diabetes, in addition to detox referrals for those in need.

Volunteers take cots from Holyoke's Emergency Management trailer in the parking lot of Kate's Kitchen. The city, in collaboration with Providence Ministries, will be opening a shelter above Kate's Kitchen in anticipation of a weekend storm. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 1/5/2024The Republican

Adamczyk said the pop-up shelter is unique because traditional daily shelter organizations typically separate men and women. And because they do not operate daily, they have a little more flexibility.

Couples who are unsheltered would rather stay out in a tent than be separated, she said. We dont separate couples.

According to Adamczyk, the ministry has seen an increase in the number of new people seeking services over the last year. She anticipates the emergency pop-up shelter to be open several nights over this winter season.

The shelters schedule is weather-dependent. It is open when it is 10 degrees and below, and when the wind chill is expected to sink below zero. It also opens during brutal heat of the summer, she said.

Although it is uncertain how much of the population in Holyoke is unsheltered, a single person living on the street is too many, Stephanie Trombley said.

Trombley, the executive assistant and financial coordinator at Providence Ministries, said the emergency shelter program that ran last year filled each night.

Last year, Providence Ministries served more than 300 people over the 14 nights the pop-up shelter was in operation.

We take care of the unsheltered population in a big way, and we have seen a greater need, Trombley said.

All guests who stay at the shelter have to leave by 7 a.m. to ensure a smooth transition into daily operations of the facility by 8 a.m.

Providence Ministries is always taking donations of warm-weather gear, blankets, travel-sized toiletries and socks to make care packages for people on their way out.

Unsheltered people are on their feet during harsh weather and go through a lot of socks, Trombley said.
A New Bedford teen was killed after being thrown from a car in Dartmouth Friday night, according to police.

Jacob Pothier, 18, of New Bedford, was pronounced dead at St. Lukes Hospital in New Bedford, according to a post on the Dartmouth Police Departments Facebook page.

It appears Pothier and another person in the car, Kathleen Martins, 44, of Dartmouth, were thrown from a 2022 Honda Accord in the area of Gulf Road at Smith Neck Road in Dartmouth some time before police arrived at 10:35 p.m. Jan. 5, police said.

That stretch of two-lane roads is a T-intersection surrounded by Apponagansett Bay near a causeway leading to the village of Padanaram, according to Google Maps.

Emergency responders found Pothier and Martins unresponsive in the roadway near the heavily damaged Honda, police said. They treated them at the one-car crash scene and brought them to St. Lukes, where Pothier was pronounced dead, police said.

Martins was seriously hurt, with life-threatening injuries, police said, and her condition is guarded.

The Dartmouth Police Department Crash Reconstruction Unit, Massachusetts State Police and Dartmouth Police Department detectives are investigating the crash.
A Weymouth man thrown out of his vehicle after a crash on Interstate 495 in Franklin that snarled traffic for hours died at the hospital Friday afternoon, according to authorities.

Massachusetts State Police say a collision happened at about 3:30 p.m. Jan. 5 on the northbound side of I-495 near exit 41 in Franklin. Troopers from the Foxborough barracks found a man thrown from a vehicle that had rolled multiple times and started life-saving efforts, according to a press release.

Emergency responders from Franklin took the unidentified 39-year-old Weymouth man to Milford Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

An unidentified person driving another vehicle involved in the collision was not hurt, police said.

Two lanes on I-495 were closed for two-and-a-half hours Friday afternoon, police said, and the crash scene was cleared soon after 6 p.m.

The State Police-Foxborough Barracks, State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, State Police Crime Scene Services Section and State Police detectives from Troop H are investigating the circumstances of the crash, including what may have led to it, police said.

Another person died this week after a crash on I-495. Allison Kane, 19, of Franklin, died in a one-car crash in Hopkinton Tuesday, Jan. 2.

State Police troopers found a Nissan Altima in the center median, state police said in a press release. The car had caught fire, and Kane was declared dead at the scene.

State police, MassDOT and the Chief Medical Examiners Office are still investigating what caused that crash, police said.
A Woburn, Massachusetts, native will soon share a spacecraft with several actors from the original Star Trek series, heading out into deep space on a flight referred to as the Enterprise flight.

However, its not for a new movie or TV series.

Some of the ashes of Francis Fran Gillis, along with the DNA and ashes of 264 individuals, will be aboard a spacecraft heading for deep space launched from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 8.

Gillis, 67, died on July 20, 2018, according to his obituary shared by Celestis, a company that conducts memorial spaceflights that orbit remains, DNA or digital make-ups and genetic codes on MindFiles around Earth, the moon and, beginning on Jan. 8, into deep space.

He would talk about adventure, his sister Jacqueline Gillis, of Hudson, said to MassLive. He was an avid reader of science fiction, an adventurer; he loved the outdoors and had an interest in science and was a Star Trek and Star Wars fan. He knew after he died, he wanted to go into deep space.

Gillis went to Woburn High School and was active in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, eventually receiving an Army scholarship to Northeastern University and serving 22 years in the U.S. Army, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. All throughout his life, he was active in the Boy Scouts of America, now known as BSA Scouts, and had an appreciation of the outdoors. He served as scoutmaster of Troop 629 in Johns Creek, Ga., until his death.

Gillis died suddenly while making a drive up to the Continental Divide in Canada after meeting with a nephew in Idaho  He loved to drive, Jacqueline said. He was a bachelor and a loyal brother to five siblings, uncle to eight nieces and nephews and great-uncle to eight grandnieces and grandnephews, as well as a devoted scout leader.

With Gillis journey into the final frontier, Jacqueline said the family was curious about watching a part of their loved one be sent into space, someone who she always saw with a science fiction novel in his hands.

In discussing his will, an accountant expressed uncertainty over spending Gillis money to send some of his ashes into space. It was at that moment, according to Jacqueline, that a light overhead in Gillis house flickered. The moment assured her that her brothers final wish to go into deep space was meant to be, she said.

The inaugural flight, called the Enterprise Flight, but properly known as the Deep Space Voyager Mission, will house on the United Launch Alliances Vulcan rocket the partial remains and DNA of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, his wife and Star Trek actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry, along with actors Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan and DeForest Kelley  who played Lt. Uhura, engineer Montgomery Scotty Scott and Dr. Leonard Bones McCoy, respectively  among others from the show.

Capsule containing the remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, along with several actors from the original series, will be launched into deep space from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 8. Courtesy of Celestis Memorial Spaceflight.Celestis

Part of Gillis ashes interred at Arlington National Cemetery were removed and sent to Celestis, Jacqueline said. The request made of her was to send two grams of ashes, one to go onboard the Enterprise flight and another as a backup in case there is a problem with the launch.

Majel Barrett watched Celestis first commercial spaceflight in 1997, Celestis president Colby Youngblood told MassLive on Friday. When she spoke with CEO Charles Chafer, he promised her that he would send her and her late husbands ashes into space one day. Over time, the company became close with actors from the original series, Youngblood said, and they made it their wish to have part of their remains sent into deep space one day.

Even Roddenberry and Barretts son, Rod  very much alive, Youngblood noted  has a DNA swab from his cheek inside a capsule that will also take part in the Enterprise flight.

The craft will even have hair samples belonging to former presidents George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The company was gifted a collection of hair samples of historical figures and celebrities with the idea they could one day be launched into deep space, Youngblood said.

We chose three presidents who we felt would be honored by this first voyage into deep space, he said, adding that approval was made with the estates and foundations of the three American presidents.

Capsules containing remains of over 200 individuals, including "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and "Star Trek" actors Majel Barrett, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols and James Doohan, will launch into deep space on Celestis Memorial Spaceflight's Enterprise Flight on Jan. 8, 2024. Courtesy of Celestis Memorial Spaceflight.Celestis

The rocket will launch a Peregrine Lunar Lander on the Moon carrying 70 capsules, while the Enterprise flight will continue into an orbit around the sun, Youngblood said. Once orbit is achieved, the Enterprise flight  by then referred to as the Enterprise Station by Celestis  will become the human races furthest outpost  where it will journey endlessly, perhaps awaiting discovery by a distant-in-time civilization.

Celestis was founded in 1994 by a team of entrepreneurs, retired astronauts and pioneers of the commercial space age. Since 1997, it has launched 17 missions into space and as a company engages licensed funeral directors, maintains a trust fund licensed and audited by the Texas Department of Banking, and is a proud member of the Better Business Bureau, its website said.

Memorial spaceflight experiences through Celestis range in price. The starting price to be launched into space and then brought back to Earth is $2,995, while being launched into Earths orbit hikes up to $4,995, according to Celestis website. Being launched to the moon to go either into its orbit or land on its surface starts at $12,995, and being part of the Deep Space Voyager missions shares the same starting price.

We have to price them so that every person can partake in (a space flight), Youngblood said. How do we do that? We take our largest missions, like the Voyager Mission, or the lunar service, and we price those competitively with the average U.S. funeral, which is $15,000.

While each of these options creates what the website describes as permanent memorials, the Earth orbit service ends in the spacecraft re-entering the atmosphere and harmlessly vaporizing like a shooting star in a final tribute.

The launch is expected to be at 2:18 a.m. on Monday, Jacqueline said. In case of any delays, she said it could be pushed to Jan. 9, Jan. 10 or Jan. 11 at around the same time. One of Gillis nephews will go to Florida to watch the launch, while Jacqueline and the family hope to be awake to say one more farewell.

Im thrilled for him, she said. What fun! What a bang for his buck.
A woman was charged with drunken driving Friday after she allegedly hit a 9-year-old boy with her car as he got off the school bus in Haverhill, news outlets reported.

In connection with the crash, Tiffany Lynn Zembower, 44, was charged Friday with operating under the influence of liquor causing serious injury, operating under the influence second offense, possession of an open alcohol container in a motor vehicle, failure to stop for a school bus and driving with a suspended license, The Boston Globe reported, citing court records.

Zembower pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in Haverhill District Court, and she was ordered to be held on $25,000 bail. Her bail was revoked in another case in which she was charged with driving without a license, according to the Globe.

The boy was struck by a 2003 Toyota Tacoma after getting off the bus in the area of Main Street and 13th Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Friday. He was flown by medical helicopter to a Boston area hospital to be treated for serious injuries, the Haverhill Police Department said in a series of posts on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

The Toyota stopped at the scene of the crash, and the parents of the boy were notified, according to the department.

The Toyota stopped at the scene of the crash. The parents of the 9 yr old have been notified. The scene is still active and the investigation is ongoing , please avoid the area. anyone w info regarding this accident please contact Officer Jason Pearl (978) 373-1212 ext. 1532.  Haverhill Police (@HaverhillPolice) January 5, 2024

According to witnesses cited in the police report, the Toyota was traveling around 40 to 45 mph and did not slow down for the bus, despite the vehicle having stopped, deployed its mechanical stop sign and used its red warning lights, WCVB reported.

The driver of the bus said she saw the Toyota approaching as the boy was crossing the street and tried to no avail to warn the child of the car by flashing the vehicles lights and honking its horn, according to WCVB.
An evening of music, food and gifts on Friday celebrated the arrival of the three wise men, or kings, at the manger of the baby Jesus, although it looked more like Union Station in Springfield. Several hundred people, composed of families and kids, packed into the Hispanic American Library and spilled out onto the station concourse area for the Epiphany, or the traditional end of the 12 days of Christmas, when the three Magi reached Bethlehem and brought their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newly born Jesus Christ.

This is the celebration of the three kings, Dia de Los Reyes, which is celebrated in Puerto Rico and 21 Latin American countries, library Executive Director Juan Falcon said. As always, a celebration is a way of giving back to the community. So, for tonight the community has responded and they have provided everything you see going on, the meal, the activities and the music.

The kings themselves, dressed in regal finery and bearing their gifts waded through the crowds to stop occasionally and pose for photographs with children who waited a long time for this chance.

This is a huge tradition in the Puerto Rican camp, Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican community, said state Rep. Orlando Ramos, D-Springfield, in his guise as Caspar. I have to be a part of this and help families in need, and to continue to celebrate the three kings.

State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield, has worn the kings robes several times, and he said it is always a privilege.

It is a privilege and an honor to be Melchoir, he said. We are celebrating the tradition and more than gift giving, this is a day to give thanks to the Lord for family, friends and community.

Falcon noted that in some countries, the Epiphany is when families exchange gifts in honor of the birth. To others. the 12th day is the end to the Christmas season.

Growing up as a Portuguese American in Ludlow we never took down our Christmas decorations until after Three Kings Day, state Sen. Jacob Oliveira, D-Ludlow, said. But on the Iberian Peninsula and in Latin American and South American. countries it continues to be a big tradition. A lot of families exchange gifts on the Three Kings Day.

State Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, said he, too, has worn King Balthazars costume before and he said it is only right.

There are three Puerto Ricans here, me, Orlando and Carlos, and we all hail from the city of Springfield, he said. It is only right that the three kings should be the Three Kings.
Vietnam Maritime Corp (VIMC) is bracing for a downturn in sea shipping demand this year due to escalating global geopolitical tensions adversely impacting the sector.

CEO Nguyen Canh Tinh highlighted at a company meeting on Thursday that a range of factors, including drought conditions in the Panama Canal and increasing attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Suez Canal, are poised to disrupt global supply chains and shipping operations.

State-owned VIMC went through a challenging 2023 as demand from the U.S. and Europe was low and local businesses recorded high inventory, forcing most shipping firms to cut down operation costs, he added.

Rising competition from private firms and the launching of new ports in the region also added more challenges, he said.

Last year the state-run group shipped 20 million tons of goods and managed 113 million tons of goods passing through its ports, the latter down 8% from 2022.

Total company revenue dropped 9% to VND17.96 trillion, and profits fell 32% to VND2.08 trillion. VIMC targets a profit growth of 4% this year, or about VND2.17 trillion.

The company now operates 59 ships, including 10 container ships. Its fleet accounts for 21% of Vietnams total.

It also runs 89 wharves, or 15% of Vietnams total.
Westport Credit Union Ltd has reported strong results for 2023 at its recent AGM. They have sustained continued growth in the past twelve months and are confidently looking to growing their membership in 2024.

Publishing its year end results Westport Credit Union said it has achieved the following: Provided 10.5 million in loans to their members over the past year; Total assets have increased by 3.03 million in 2023; there are now over 15,000 members; Seen an 37 percent increase in members opening Current Accounts from the previous year.

Westport Credit Union remains a strong, viable and resilient Credit Union and are committed to providing a widening range of services and choice for their members.

Pauline Ryan, CEO of Westport Credit Union said: 2023 was a strong year for our credit union. As more and more people look for trusted sources of finance, were continuing to see increased demand for our services. We are very pleased to have supported over 1,100 members to undertake home renovations, make large scale purchases, purchase their home, buy a new car, or pay for a wedding and to enjoy holidays at home and abroad.

We are acutely aware of the significant pressures which so many people face due to the increases in cost of living and we are pleased to also provide smaller loans to members to help them at pinch points during the year, such as back to school costs or extra expense at Christmas. The credit union ethos is to use our funds to help our members and that is what we do at Westport credit union.

We were delighted, together with credit unions across the country, to be ranked as the most highly regarded organisation in Ireland, in the Ireland RepTrak 2023 annual study. This is an important acknowledgment of the trust that members place in their local credit union and the value placed on credit unions friendly people focused approach.

As we continue to support our members and our local community, it is imperative that we continue to make responsible and prudent decisions to further strengthen the credit union and to focus our efforts on enhancing and expanding the services which we provide, in order to offer the best possible service to our members. We were delighted in October to launch our new Cultivate Agri loan to better service the needs of our farming community. We also introduced a large range of insurance products and are now pleased to be able to offer our members choice when choosing home, travel, car, and life insurance.

Also, it was great to see an uptake in our Mortgage business this year, we are encouraged by our members turning to us for their home loan requirements. Our rate is very competitive, and a new fixed rate Mortgage product is also in the pipeline for early 2024.

2023 saw us launch our Student Bursary, three of our student members received 1,000 each towards their education. There was huge interest in this and received great feedback.

A significant outcome of the AGM was the passing of a motion to approve the creation of a community fund. The Credit Union allocated 100,000 to this fund, the purpose of which is to enhance and support the lives of those living in our community and will be used to fund projects within our common bond for social, cultural, or charitable purposes.

We also want to take this opportunity to thank all our members for their continued support, trust and loyalty during the year. We recognise and appreciate your support and with your continued loyalty, we will continue to make a positive difference to our community.

We continue to welcome new member to the credit union every day and if you have not already discovered the benefits of a being a member of your local credit union, wed love you to get in touch with us today.

Pauline also expressed a special word of thanks to her team in the Credit Union. She went on to say: I am so grateful to them for their work ethic, dedication, and commitment. It would not be possible for us to provide the service we do without the voluntary input of our Directors, Board oversight committee and all the other volunteers in our sub offices in Louisburgh and Newport who freely give up their time and we would like to thank them for the level of service, care, and professionalism they display on your behalf. if you are interested in becoming a Volunteer, please make contact with us.

In 2024, Tom Gill will take over from Grainne OMahony as Chairperson of Westport Credit Union. Tom has served on the board of directors since 2020. Tom went on to say: Westport Credit Union is a fantastic facility as a true Community Bank and its staff offer a friendly and courteous face to face service when many other banks are closing or moving to impersonal banking. Im delighted to serve as Chairperson and to work with the Board in supporting the members and indeed the staff to continue the service and success the Credit Union brings to the local community.
A group of people waited overnight outside a Ballinrobe hotel that is due to house up to 50 male refugees in the coming days.

At its peak, close to 100 people gathered outside JJ Gannon's hotel to protest against the proposed accommodation of up to 50 international protection applicants at the hotel, which closed in 2012.

The property had been mooted to house Ukrainian refugees back in September after refurbishment works took place throughout the summer.

However, local representatives were informed on Thursday that the Main Street hotel would be used to house 50 male international protection applicants from Monday, January 8.

Protesters began to assemble at Main Street from approximately 7pm onwards after Cllr Michael Burke publicly announced the development on his Facebook page on Friday afternoon.

The Fine Gael councillor, alongside fellow local representatives Damien Ryan (Fianna Fail) and Patsy OBrien (Independent) all addressed the gathering, which dwindled to less than ten people as the night progressed.

The event was policed by at least three gardai, one of whom told The Mayo News that there had been no incidents at the protest that evening.

A garda squad car also patrolled the area throughout Friday evening.

Parts of the demonstration were also live streamed via social media while a number of cars blew their horn in approval while passing by the demonstration.

Michelle Marie Smith, a local businesswoman who helped organise the gathering, told The Mayo News that the demonstrators would stand there as long as we have to to prevent the hotel being used as refugee accommodation.

Ms Smith, who has made social media posts in the past criticising Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, said the gathering had been a great success.

The demonstrators, who erected a gazebo at the front of the hotel and lit an outdoor fire for heat, received soup and sweets during Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Gatherers were also invited to sign a petition voicing their opposition to the development.

Two men, who said they were there in a work capacity, were refused entry to the hotel by protestors when they arrived after 2am on Saturday morning

The community spirit here has been fantastic, but at the end of the day, this on the Main Street of Ballinrobe, there is a play school two doors down, we have kids going to school here and the businesses here need to be protected, because these foreign nationals will come in with 38 euro a week. What are they going to do and where are they going to go? They have no facilities here for them, said Ms Smith, who said the demonstrators were not part of any particular party or organised group.

The town is just not able to have the capacity. There is12 rooms in that hotel taking in 50 males so even for a humanitarian basis, we wont allow it and we will stand here for as long as we have to make sure it doesnt happen.

Ms Smith, who is originally from Armagh but has lived in Mayo for 23 years, voiced concerns  echoed by other women who spoke to The Mayo News at the demonstration  regarding how the proposed accommodation would affect public safety.

At least one other property in Ballinrobe is being used to accommodate refugees, including accommodation above Art ONeills bar on Abbey Street.

In 2022, a total of 1,289 living in the Ballinrobe town area were of an ethnicity other than White Irish - some 41 percent of the population.

Ms Smith said that she had no problem with people coming into the country if they are going to contribute to our society.

After it was pointed out to Ms Smith that the town already has a sizable migrant population, she said: We know where these people were from because they are actually working and they are contributing to the town. What we dont know about these 50 men is where they are coming from, who they are, what are their criminal backgrounds, if they have any and why are we helping 50 males only?

The whole humanitarian thing was meant to be about helping families flee troubles from Ukraine. We are not getting that. We are getting 50 males that we know absolutely nothing about and my daughter will not walk down here during the day or at night time until this is put a stop to.

Ms Smith also rejected the suggestion by Cllr Burke that the move was set in stone.

Cllr Burke told the gathering on Friday that county councillors had absolutely no input into the allocation of international protection applicants to communities.

I will take back the message that Im getting clear and loud tonight, Cllr Burke said.

According to information provided to Cllr Burke by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth, the JJ Gannons hotel is owned by Tom OConnor, who has been offered a one-year contract by the department.

The property is leased to Sunnyhill Explorer and Banandel Ltd. The latter company will run the site on a 24/7 basis and has experience of managing IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Service) centres.

There will be at least seven staff members on site during the day, including a general manager for five days a week and a duty manager at other times. There will be a minimum of two staff on duty on any given time, including three-night porters between 8am and 8pm and two cleaning staff from 8am to 2pm.

International protection applicants resident IPAS accommodation will receive an allowance of 38.80 per week and will be entitled to medical cards.

A total of 190 IPAS centres have been utilised across 26 counties since January 2022.

Cllr Damien Ryan said he stood in solidarity with those in attendance and called for people to relay their concerns to national representatives.

Cllr Ryan said there had been no prior contact with local county councillors regarding the use of the building for international protection applicants until they received an email from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth on Thursday.

National policy is whats dictating whats going on at local level. I certainly have concerns and reservations. I think the public at large embrace a level of acceptance with genuine refugees. I think what has infuriated the public here is 50 males going into a building with no collaboration, no communication, Cllr Ryan told the gathering on Friday evening.

Robeen-based Independent councillor Patsy OBrien told The Mayo News that he would seek a full meeting of Mayo County Council on the matter of immigration.

Citing recent protests over the proposed housing of international protection applicants in Clare, Cllr OBrien said that liaison officers should be appointed to engage with communities which are due to accommodate refugees.


Connacht Hurling League Final

New York 2-25

Mayo 2-12

Oisin McGovern in Bekan

THE fairytale of New York became a reality as Mayo slumped to a ten-point defeat in the Connacht Hurling League Final this evening.

Indeed, margin of victory did not reflect how impressive New York were in a win that lost some of its gloss thanks to two very lucky Mayo goals.

The Statesiders ruled The Dome from top from start to finish against a Mayo side that struggled for scores for long periods.

With Cormac Phillips getting most their scores, a Mayo team minus several key players conceded eleven unanswered scores in one first-half blitz that would have put a B-52 to shame.

With David Mangan and Martin Cullen in flying form, Mayos half-time blushes were spared when Matthew Connors shot fell through New York goalie James McCormacks hands and into the net.

Carrying a handsome 0-14 to 1-2 lead at the break, New York drew blood within a minute of the restart when Ruadhan Mulrooney assisted Martin Cullen for their first goal.

It took until injury time for Mayo to score from play in the second half, with their second goal coming from a close-range Cormac Phillips free that found the roof of the net.

New York continued to the pepper the opposition goalposts as the hosts found themselves almost solely dependent on frees from Cormac Phillips.

Ger McPartland and Ruadhan Mulrooney combined for McPartland to finish New Yorks second goal in lovely fashion towards the end.

For the next ten minutes, players and supporters smiled in expectant delight before leaping for joy at the sound of the full time whistle on a historic night for New York GAA.

There will be a full match report plus reaction from the New York camp in Tuesdays Mayo News.
At a whooping 70 million, Ireland has one of the largest diaspora of any nation in the world, and every family still here has loved ones abroad: children, siblings, cousins.

People have emigrated from Ireland to escape poverty, persecution and to provide for their families left behind for hundreds of years, which only make the appalling hypocrisy of anti-immigrant sentiment thats burning its way across the country so much worse.

After barely a full week into 2024, two arson attacks have already occurred at sites rumoured to be earmarked for housing asylum seekers.

The Shipwright pub in Ringsend, Dublin, was burnt down on New Years Eve amid rumour and disinformation that it was to be used to house asylum seekers.

In actual fact, it was to be used to house homeless families, the very people the far-right and racists claim should be prioritised over Ukrainian and other international protection applicants.

Gardai have said they are investigating a fire at a former school in Fethard, county Tipperary on Wednesday, January 3, as "suspected criminal damage - the latest building to be torched in an attempt to prevent its use to house asylum seekers.

However, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth, they had neither considered or examined this property for use.

Every unoccupied site in the country seems to be a potential site for housing migrants, and for targeting.

A Kilkenny-based company was forced to release a statement on Friday, January 5, after a video was posted online claiming they would house asylum seekers in one of their properties.

Bernard Kavanagh & Sons Ltd issued a statement refuting 'falsified claims' surrounding the redevelopment of the former Josephines Restaurant site in Urlingford, and said that the site will be used to house Ukrainian families and accommodate staff.

No doubt many sleepless nights are ahead for those business owners, as they wonder if they are next to be the target of an escalating pattern of arson or attempted arson attacks on properties in Ireland earmarked for asylum seeker accommodation.

In 2023, there were 10 arson attacks on properties around the country, all on properties either earmarked, or already in use, for accommodation of asylum seekers. Two of these occurred during the violence in Dublin on November 23, a further escalation in anti-migrant tensions that have been too long allowed to fester in Ireland.

Its utterly shameful that we, so long persecuted and stereotyped abroad, would visit the same on those fleeing to Ireland. ne would think the generations of experiencing migration would have induced compassion, particularly in those who emigrated in their youth for some years and then returned home to Ireland to settle down.

The blatant hypocrisy among the far-right is compounded even further considering some of its self-proclaimed leaders emigrated and worked abroad before returning to Ireland.

Such a double standard would be laughable if it wasnt so dangerous. And therein lies a key problem in dealing with the far-right in Ireland, be they anti-migrant, anti-abortion or anti-LGBT.

Their antics are often so utterly ridiculous, like the many tantrums of Enoch Burke and his family in the Court of Appeal or the Sovereign Voyage to protect childhood on the Shannon river organised by the far-right in August, that they distract from the real harm these people would wish upon some of the most vulnerable people in the State.

Ireland is not full, its just led by a government who are incapable of dealing quickly and effectively with rising migrant and asylum seeker numbers, or the housing crisis which they allowed to develop unchecked (and which is now compounding the problem).

Its also full of hypocritical blowhards who are exploiting fear and genuine concerns for their own gain and profit, no matter the cost.
The governor of South Dakota signed a law banning abortions, which may be a challenging to the women's right to abortion and also which may trigger national debate.

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The law was essentially designed to challenge a 1973 US Supreme Court decision, known as Roe vs. Wade, that made it legal for women across the nation to have an abortion.Governor Mike Rounds, a member of President George W. Bush's Republican Party, acknowledged as much in his remarks on signing the legislation."Because this new law is a direct challenge to the Roe versus Wade interpretation of the Constitution, I expect this law will be taken to court and prevented from going into effect this July," he said.Rounds said it would likely take years for the law to end up in the supreme court, but that the court would have an "opportunity to reconsider an earlier opinion".The challenge to the 1973 decision came only weeks after the second of Bush's Supreme Court picks was sworn into office. New Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito are believed to be conservatives, and abortion opponents hope they could cast the decisive votes in overturning Roe vs. Wade.The South Dakota law outlaws most abortions in the state, except if the mother's life is at risk. Doctors performing an abortion in other circumstances could risk a prison term of five years.Nancy Keenan, head of the US abortion rights group NARAL Pro- Choice America, has called the measure "dangerous and unconstitutional".The South Dakota law is seen as the most serious attempt to challenge Roe vs. Wade since a 1989 Supreme Court ruling upholding the right to an abortion.--Edited IANS
Banks likely to pump $82B into economy through loans

A cash transaction is pictured at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

The State Bank of Vietnam has set a credit growth target of 15%, equivalent to VND2 quadrillion ($82.03 billion), this year.

Last year banking credit grew by 13.71%, meaning VND1.3 quadrillion entered the economy, deputy governor of the central bank, Dao Minh Tu, said at a government meeting Friday.

"If the situation is favorable, in the second half of the year the State Bank of Vietnam will give healthy banks more credit growth quota."

In December lenders had scrambled to achieve their credit growth target by offering interest-free loans and loans through credit cards.

In that month alone credit growth was up 4.56 percentage points.

Also at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said that there are now over seven million stock trading accounts.

The stock market capitalization is now VND6 quadrillion, up 9.5% from 2022 and equivalent to 62% of GDP.
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Comprehensive Noninvasive Fetal Screening by Deep Trio-Exome Sequencing



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Analysis of the mother's blood can reveal genetic disorders in fetuses. #birthdefects #genetictesting #geneticdisorders 

Advancements in Genetic Disorders Detection: The Evolution from NIPT to desNIPT

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Comprehensive Noninvasive Fetal Screening by Deep Trio-Exome Sequencing - (https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2307918)

A groundbreaking screening test, desNIPT, has proven effective in detecting fetal gene changes, pivotal in severe congenital conditions. Utilizing a blood sample from the mother, this test enables a comprehensive examination of all fetal genes. The findings are published in the esteemed. (With our novel approach, we can now screen for the majority of known serious genetic syndromes using a simple blood test from the pregnant woman. Typically, this would otherwise require resorting to chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis , states Ieva Miceikaite from the Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark.This implies that we now possess enhanced opportunities to pinpoint the genetic cause of developmental issues in the fetus, she adds.desNIPT represents an evolution of first-generation NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal Test) method, enhancing it with significant improvements. NIPT involves conducting the test without requiring chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis, and it is administered prior to childbirth.In this approach, the fetal DNA found in the bloodstream of the pregnant woman is scrutinized, fundamentally transforming the capacity to screen for diseases in unborn children in recent years.DNA is released into the mother's bloodstream through the placenta. Thanks to the remarkable sensitivity of the desNIPT test, researchers can now identify genetic abnormalities in the fetus even when the quantity of fetal DNA in the mother's blood is minimal.At present, the first-generation Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT) is employed to screen the fetus for prevalent chromosomal disorders, predominantly focusing on conditions such as Down syndrome and a few others resulting from notable chromosomal alterations.Nevertheless, numerous congenital diseases arise from more subtle modifications in fetal DNA. To identify these, it is essential to examine all genes within the fetal genome, explains Ieva Miceikaite.This screening, referred to as exome sequencing, is presently limited to pregnancies where indications of abnormalities are noted during ultrasound scans. This restriction stems from the fact that the analysis currently necessitates either chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis, both procedures associated with discomfort and a slight risk of miscarriage. As a result, numerous severe genetic syndromes frequently go undetected until after birth.Our objective was to enhance non-invasive screening options for pregnant women . The new desNIPT test integrates the benefits of NIPT and exome sequencing, delivering comprehensive insights through a more straightforward test," elucidates Ieva Miceikaite.Alongside her fellow researchers, Ieva Miceikaite monitored 36 pregnant women, analyzing blood samples taken during the 1st or 2nd trimester. In each pregnancy , ultrasound scans had revealed signs indicative of a potential serious genetic disease in the fetus.Out of the 36 pregnancies, newly arising disease-causing alterations in the unborn child were identified in a total of 11 cases. Subsequently, the results from the desNIPT analysis were compared with those from conventional exome sequencing conducted through chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis.The novel approach to screening pregnant women has been remarkably successful, states Ieva Miceikaite, further noting:When applying the new analytical method, we successfully identified all gene variants responsible for diseases that were previously detected through invasive fetal examinations. In this regard, it has demonstrated comparable effectiveness to these invasive procedures.The test opens the possibility of screening for many more genetic diseases in the future, including those that cannot be revealed by ultrasound scans, explains Martin Larsen, leader of the project and associate professor at the Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark.He envisions significant potential in deploying the test as a screening tool in conjunction with ultrasound examinations  the prevailing standard for all pregnant women  to guarantee a more thorough screening of expectant mothers before childbirth.One notable challenge with numerous screening tests is their inconsistent precision, frequently resulting in unwarranted follow-up diagnostic examinations.We are highly optimistic as the study indicates that the desNIPT test is remarkably accurate. In the examined pregnant women, we did not observe any false-positive results, states Martin Larsen.Since this is a "proof-of-concept" study, the test needs validation in a larger study before it can be made available to pregnant women.At the outset, our aim was to establish the feasibility of sequencing the fetus's genes through a blood sample from the pregnant woman. Presently, our focus is on validating the test through a larger study, as well as refining and scaling the methodology, states Martin Larsen.Source-Eurekalert
Zombie Deer Disease Spread in America - A Public Health Concern

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CDC - Chronic Wasting Disease



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Zombie deer disease may cause a spillover event similar to the mad cow disease outbreak in Britain from livestock to people. #zombiedeer #neurodisorder #deertoman #medindia 

CDC - Chronic Wasting Disease - (https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/prevention.html)



The "zombie deer" disease, also known as chronic wasting disease - a neurological disorder caused by prions affecting deer is presently spreading throughout America and there's no way to ascertain its potential spread among humans, according to scientists at the University of Minnesota.Chronic wasting disease is a deadly and severely contagious neurological disorder found in deer caused by prions  abnormal, transmissible pathogenic agents. It causes emaciation, and loss of bodily functions among deer, elk, and moose, and has so far spread to at least 26 states in the US ()."We could be having human transmission occurring today and we wouldnt even know it," Dr Michael Osterholm, director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, was quoted as saying to The Independent. He said that"Were dealing with a disease that is invariably fatal, incurable, and highly contagious. Baked into the worry is that we dont have an effective easy way to eradicate it, neither from the animals it infects nor the environment it contaminates," Dr. Cory Anderson, also from the University of Minnesota, was quoted as saying to the Guardian.While the zombie deer disease can be transmitted to humans, there have been to date no known human transmissions of the disease at this point, according to the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC). According to experts, the absence of a spillover case does not mean it will not happen. It is one of a cluster of fatal neurological disorders that includes mad cow disease."Were talking about the potential of something similar occurring. No one is saying that its definitely going to happen, but its important for people to be prepared."Unlike the mad cow disease, the chronic wasting disease can be seen in the muscle as well, so its actually much more present in the meat that youre eating. Cooking doesnt do anything to destroy it," Osterholm said. Officials said that the public can take steps to avoid coming in contact with it and not consuming contaminated meat.Source-IANS
CEO of Viet A Company Phan Quoc Viet (C) is escorted outside a court in Hanoi, Jan. 5, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Standing trial for giving bribes to sell Covid test kits at inflated prices, a businessman told the court Friday he had helped Vietnam become one of the first countries to have its own test kits.

Phan Quoc Viet, CEO and chairman of the Viet A company, was accused of committing violations regarding the research, distribution approval and price negotiations of Covid-19 test kits.

Viet had wanted to "turn the test kits from a state-owned product to a private possession," the indictment said, adding that he had ordered his subordinates to develop the kits so they could be sold for profit.

Viet said he took the formula for the test kits from the research of the Military Medical School, before developing it into a product. Viet said the test kits produced by Viet A were "special, there were none other like it in the world when it came to its characteristics."

When Viet's lawyer asked him about his role in the Covid-19 fight, Viet said he had contributed much as the test kits by Viet A had helped made the Covid-19 fight a success.

Viet said his firm's timely research had helped make Vietnam the 5th country in the world with Covid-19 test kits, and that his company had helped the entire national by supplying equipment and personnel, "boosting productivity by hundreds of thousands times."

Viet A had also combined test samples to cut cost and speed up testing, he added.

After the kit was licensed in March 2020, Viet A produced 8.7 million test kits in 2020 and 2021 and had sold 8.3 million of them. The cost of making a test kit is at VND143,400 ($5.88), but the selling price was tripled by Viet A to VND470,000, according to investigation.

Before the case came to light, six million kits by Viet A were paid for by the state, totaling to VND2.25 trillion. As such, the discrepancy of the selling price and production cost of the kits totaled to over VND1.235 trillion, which investigators determined as illegally gained money. To aid with the approval, price negotiation and sale of the kits, Viet A had bribed a total of VND106.6 billion.

Viet said the amounts of bribes given depended on the receivers' job titles and contributions, as well as Viet A's own profits.

According to an indictment, Trinh Thanh Hung, a department deputy head at the Ministry of Science and Technology, started a research project to make a test kit after Covid broke out.

He signed up Viet and Ho Anh Son, a former deputy director of a research institute run by the Military Medical School, for it.

The medical school was commissioned to make the kit, and it received more than VND18 billion in government funding, but the product submitted for licensing by the Ministry of Health was Viet As test kit.

Viet had in the past applied for a license for the kit, but it was rejected.

as part of the dubious project, Viet A produced it on a large scale and earned more than VND1.2 trillion from it.

Former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long was accused of having received the highest amount of bribes from Viet A, at over VND51 billion, to help Viet A get the distribution approval for its test kits and drive up the kits' selling price by 3.5 times.

The health ministry revoked the license for Viet A test kit in June 2022 after determining that the licensing process did not follow proper protocols.

Viet was sentenced to 25 years in jail on Dec. 29 for abuse of power and fraud in the dubious test kit research project.

He is standing another trial that opened on Jan. 3 and is scheduled to last 20 days for bribery. Long is among the defendants in the second trial.
Phan Thanh Viet (L), part of a gang that killed six people in 1981, is at a police station, Jan. 6, 2024. Photo courtesy of the police

A man in central Quang Ngai Province was arrested for murdering six people, 43 years after claiming their lives.

Phan Thanh Viet, 71, was arrested in Ca Mau in southern Vietnam Saturday by the police of Quang Ngai to be investigated for murder and robbery.

An investigator said that Viets appearance barely changed over the last 43 years while he was wanted for his crime. As he had several defining features, including lost finger parts, Viet quickly admitted to his crime at the moment of his arrest.

In April 1981, Viet and four other accomplices in Quang Ngai hatched a plan to persuade people to migrate overseas by boat, before murdering them to steal their belongings, according to investigation.

Viets group then dug a hole on the coast. They lured six people to the site, telling them that a ship would come to carry them overseas at night. But when the victims showed up, Viets group murdered them all and threw their bodies into the hole. After stealing their gold and other belongings, Viets group shared the loots among one another, before escaping.

The police later found abnormal signs on the beach, so they dug the ground up and found the body. The murders shook up the community at the time. Over an investigation, the police managed to catch three people, but Viet and another person was nowhere to be found.

Among the three who were caught, two received the death sentence while the other was sentenced for life. Viets other accomplice was later found by the police and killed during a confrontation.

The police found that Viet frequented three places: two in HCMC and one in Lam Dong in the Central Highlands. But he did not live in any of these locations, instead posing as a wanderer who lived near riverine areas.

Viet has been secretly returning to his hometown in Ca Mau to see his family, so the police forces of Quang Ngai and Ca Mau have cooperated to capture him.
A Navy investigation of a suicide aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier last year has revealed deadly shortcomings in the service's peer-based method of addressing mental health, which depends on fellow sailors and deckplate leadership to provide support.

The command-directed probe of the death aboard the Roosevelt as it was undergoing a long maintenance period in Washington state details failures by friends on the ship to report warning signs and poor leadership by enlisted supervisors that may have contributed to the death. It also suggests a separate recent suicide cluster aboard another carrier, the USS George Washington, was not an isolated issue.

Electrician's Mate (Nuclear) 3rd Class Jacob Slocum, who died by suicide on the ship on Dec. 5, 2022, was one of three sailors on the Roosevelt at the time who would end their lives in the span of a few months. The investigation into his death was not publicly released but was provided to his family and obtained by Military.com.

Read Next: B-1B Lancer Bomber Crashes at Air Force Base in South Dakota During Training Mission

"The findings of this investigation, coupled with those of the investigation into suicides aboard USS George Washington ... indicate that sailors assigned to ships in extended maintenance availabilities may be at higher risk," Rear Adm. Christopher Alexander, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, wrote in the letter accepting the investigation's findings.

The investigation, which focused largely on the circumstances that led to Slocum's suicide in one of the ship's engineering spaces, reveals that access to mental health was lacking aboard the ship even as pressure increased on the crew, and especially Slocum's nuclear reactor division, to make the ship ready to leave the shipyard.

In the case of the George Washington, Navy figures showed that the carrier had suffered at least nine suicides since November 2019.

It took sailors reaching out to Military.com after the final incident in April 2022 to make the spate of suicides public. The sailors who were interviewed pointed to issues such as commuting time, challenges with living aboard and absent leadership as problems. Later, Navy investigations confirmed those problems, along with leadership issues and a general failure to take care of sailors that left them fending for themselves and drove suicidal thoughts to become widespread among the ship.

The commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Capt. Brian Schrum, noted that "having reviewed the [George Washington] investigations, I observed several commonalities that exist within this report" in his own letter accepting the investigation's findings.

However, Schrum did not specifically say what he thought those were and also noted that there were "very specific and unique matters to what occurred onboard [the Roosevelt], such as the individual leadership and performance failures that were noted in the investigation."

A Navy spokesperson told Military.com that "while the Navy is a resilient force, we face the same challenges in physical and mental health affecting the nation we serve."

"The Navy is working daily to ensure support and resources are available to sailors in the shipyards, at sea and at home," the spokesperson added.

During the summer of 2022, the Roosevelt's psychologist "noticed what he believed was an increase in psychiatric hospitalizations and use of uniformed mental health outpatient services" aboard the ship.

The lieutenant, whose name is redacted in the report, also determined that reactor department sailors like Slocum were the "largest consumers of mental health outpatient services," with nearly half of all mental health encounters from June to July 2022 being from that team.

Schrum acknowledged that "a pressurized shipyard workload, coupled with increasing schedule fluctuation and pressure to remain on timeline, created a demanding environment for our sailors across the ship and especially within [the] reactor department."

The ship asked for another counselor in August. The report noted that "the ship's psychologist assessed that current manning is insufficient to meet the mental health needs of over 2,600 individuals on board."

That request went unanswered, but wait times for help grew.

"Most of the sailors interviewed understood the wait time to see a shipboard mental health provider when someone is not in a state of acute crisis is generally 2-4 weeks; however, some were of the belief that it could take months to get an appointment," the report found.

The investigations of the George Washington found similar, overwhelming demands.

The crew started to buckle, and the report found that in the year since June 2022, the Theodore Roosevelt had placed 14 on limited duty and separated another 24 from the Navy altogether for mental health reasons.

There was an acknowledgement from senior enlisted leaders that the shipyard environment was part of the problem.

One senior chief petty officer in the reactor department told investigators that "the shipyard was responsible for 80% of the low morale," and that "the dynamic between the shipyard and the sailors can cause friction and becomes an added stressor."

Even the investigator, a Navy captain who himself ran a reactor department in the past, noted that the "climate/culture that was present over the last year on [the Roosevelt] is not that different from my recent experience on [USS Carl Vinson] at a similar time in a [carrier] lifecycle just a few years ago."

In those situations, when mental health services are stretched or unavailable, the Navy says sailors should turn to each other and their bosses -- the chief petty officers -- for help.

Last March, at the rollout of the Navy's new "Mental Health Playbook," Force Master Chief Jason Dunn, a top enlisted official at the Navy's Installation Command, told reporters that "the chief's mess is obligated to know their sailors and detect differences and things in a sailor so that they can have that conversation and check on their quality of life and well-being."

"Sometimes, the sailor just needs that conversation -- that kneecap to kneecap -- to have a discussion about what's going on in their lives," Dunn said.

However, the investigation found that the chiefs in Slocum's orbit were part of the problem. Many sailors blamed one chief for Slocum's suicide while another, senior chief was "specifically cited by multiple witnesses as being unsupportive of sailors accessing mental health resources."

In fact, "several witnesses in various levels of reactor leadership positions agreed that the stigma against mental health was occurring at the deck plate or 'peer to peer' level," the investigators said.

"Several people who cared for [Slocum] were made aware of warning signs about his mental well-being," the report found, but it noted that none alerted ship leaders.

"First-line supervisors appear ill-equipped to identify warning signs and to take appropriate preventive actions," the report concluded.

The ship's medical officer wanted to have a training period to talk to the crew about "mental fitness, resiliency, and stress control" that they began planning in August. But "due to various ship scheduling and assessment conflicts," the date was ultimately set for "early or mid-December."

Slocum died on Dec. 5, 2022, just three days after the scheduled date for the training. It was "ultimately shifted to mid-December 2022," the report noted.

Following Slocum's death, the investigation found that leaders in the reactor department and the ship gave those sailors "a week off of work to grieve, access resources, and recover from the tragic loss of their shipmate."

But when additional time was requested, it was "ultimately denied, by individuals up echelon due to the need to complete the availability in a timely manner," the report added.

Alexander said that he agreed with the report's recommendation that additional mental health resources be made available to the ship and even added that "this recommendation is likely applicable to all [aircraft carriers]."

After Slocum's death, the ship received an influx of temporary help, including grief counselors and the Navy's "Special Psychiatric Rapid Intervention Team," or SPRINT. But, the report, which was submitted in August, noted that at the time, the Roosevelt had yet to receive the extra, permanent counselor it requested in the prior summer.

Veterans and service members experiencing a mental health emergency can call the Veteran Crisis Line, 988 and press 1. Help also is available by text, 838255, and via chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net.

Related: 'A 9/11-like Event': Navy Report on Carrier Suicides Cites Missed Warning Signs, Leadership Failures
Eight teams are involved in the market for free agent pitcher Brent Suter, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Murray adds that a few of those clubs have told the left-handers camp theyd be interested in stretching him back out as a starter.

Suter has worked in relief for the last five years. His only consistent rotation run came in 2017-18 when he combined to make 32 starts in 42 outings for the Brewers. Suter had generally solid results over that stretch. He posted a 4.09 ERA while holding opponents to a .259/.300/.429 slash in 165 innings as a starter. Milwaukee nevertheless kicked him into relief as they continued developing starters with higher upside than the soft-tossing Suter provided.

The Harvard product has quietly turned in consistently strong numbers in relief as well. He has topped 60 innings while allowing between three and four earned runs per nine in each of the last three seasons. Thats despite hitter-friendly home environments. After pitching parts of seven years in Milwaukee, he was claimed off waivers by the Rockies last offseason.

Suter didnt have any issues acclimating to Coors Field. He turned in a 3.38 ERA in 69 1/3 innings. As has always been the case, he did so without missing many bats. Suter struck out 18.8% of batters on a modest 9.3% swinging strike rate. He did a solid job avoiding walks and keeping the ball on the ground. Suter also proved one of the toughest pitchers for opponents to square up, a skill he has shown throughout his career.

The 34-year-old clearly has the ability to be a successful reliever. Thered be more of a leap of faith in projecting him as a starter. However, as Murray points out, Suter has effectively handled hitters from either side of the dish. Since the start of 2021, he has held right-handed batters to a .250/.309/.376 slash in 586 plate appearances. Lefties own a .236/.321/.399 mark over 291 trips. That should keep opponents from stacking a lineup with right-handed bats if Suter were tabbed as a starter. He also has the command to hold up for multiple innings and a traditional four-pitch mix (four-seam, sinker, changeup, slider).

A few former relievers have gotten chances to start as free agents. Michael Lorenzen made that jump two years ago. Seth Lugo had a very good season out of the rotation with the Padres, positioning him for a three-year pact with Kansas City in a return trip to free agency this offseason. The Braves are considering that possibility with Reynaldo Lopez. Perhaps Suter will get a chance to join that group, although he doesnt throw nearly as hard as any of that trio. There havent been any teams publicly linked to him in free agency. Colorado held onto him despite interest at the trade deadline, in part because Rox GM Bill Schmidt noted in July the team had interest in an extension.
Rays shortstop Wander Franco was granted bond at this mornings hearing in the Dominican Republic, according to multiple reporters (including Gus Garcia-Roberts and Carolina Pichardo of the Washington Post and The Associated Press). He paid a bond of 2 million pesos, equivalent to around $34,000. Franco is allowed to leave the country but he is required to report monthly to speak with officials as they continue to investigate allegations of sexual abuse and money laundering.

According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, prosecutors claim that Franco had sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl over a span of four months. The age of consent in the Dominican Republic is 18. Investigators allege that Franco paid the girls mother the equivalent of thousands of dollars to remain silent about the abuse. The alleged victims mother was also detained and assigned to house arrest by the judge. (The linked articles have more details on the investigation.)

Francos attorney declined comment to the Washington Post. The Rays have not commented since placing him on the restricted list on August 14 after the abuse allegations were made public on social media. At the time, Tampa Bay said they support any steps taken by the league to better understand the situation. MLB has awaited results of the criminal investigation before deciding upon discipline.
GRANDVILLE, MI - After a three year hiatus, the Model Train show, hosted by the Grand Rapids Model Railroad Historical Society, returned to West Michigan for all the train lovers.

The society strives to preserve and educate the public about model railroading and the history of railroads in the Grand Rapids area.

People like Ken Skopp, member of the Grand River Valley Rail Road Club, which meets in Wyoming, hope to pass on model railroading to the younger generations.

If there was anyone in that room under 55 it was a miracle, Skopp recalled from a model railroading show in Indiana.

A lot of larger shows have started bringing in more kid friendly things, according to Skopp.

Adults paid $5 to attend and kids entered Saturdays event for free to walk around multiple vendors. There were just over 200 adult attendees.

In 2012, Grand Rapids hosted the National Model Railroad Association National Convention Grand Rails. Attendance was at a record high, almost 17,000 people, according to Railroad Historical Society member Skip Luyk.

The Grand Rapids Model Railroad Historical Society has a weekly meeting open to the public from 7 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday at Dwight Lydell Park.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.
GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI -- A man and woman were both left hospitalized after a fire broke out in their home Friday morning, according to the Michigan State Police.

At about 4:20 a.m. Jan. 5, police and fire crews from multiple departments responded to a reported house fire with one person still inside on County Road 633 in Blair Township -- western Grand Traverse County.
Vietnam PM Pham Minh Chinh and his Lao counterpart Sonexay Siphandone at a welcome ceremony in Hanoi, Jan. 6, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and his spouse arrived in Hanoi Saturday, beginning a two-day official visit to Vietnam upon the invitation of his counterpart Pham Minh Chinh.

Sonexay Siphandone was received by Chinh at a welcome ceremony and then held talks with the Vietnamese PM. They will co-chair the 46th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee on Jan. 6 and 7.

The visit, Siphandone's first to Vietnam as Lao PM, happens as the countries have enhanced cooperation in various fields, including in fighting against drug and human trafficking, and repatriating remains of Vietnamese soldiers in Laos.

The countries have signed an MoU for developing commercial infrastructure at their border, and amended trade agreements to further facilitate trade operations between businesses and individuals of both sides.

Vietnam is investing in 241 projects in Laos, with pledges worth US$5.47 billion, making it the third biggest investor in Laos, after China and Thailand.

The two countries' bilateral trade was worth $1.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2023.
SAGINAW TWP, MI  Oppermanns Cork N Ale is known for having a wide selection of fine wines, exclusive liquors and craft beer, but its nonalcoholic drinks are growing in popularity.

A few days into 2024, with New Years resolutions still fresh on peoples minds and some choosing to abstain from alcohol during what has been dubbed Dry January, Cork N Ale officials posted on Facebook about the many nonalcoholic options shoppers can find on the stores shelves.
The growing schism in the Michigan Republican Party reached a breaking point Saturday afternoon as a breakaway faction of the partys state committee voted to remove their chair, Kristina Karamo

The faction of the partys state committee convened in a sportsmans hall in northern Oakland County, voting 40 to 5 by secret ballot, according to multiple sources within the meeting, which was closed to the public and media.

Per bylaws, co-chair Malinda Pego would be acting chair until another vote is held to elect a successor. In a statement released on party letterhead, Pego said, For me, this is not a happy day. It is a somber day. However, the bylaws process and rules were followed. Now is the time to unify Republicans and grow our voter base to win elections throughout our state in 2024 and beyond.

Karamo and her allies assert nothing that occurred in the meeting is legitimate, arguing the faction of the state committee violated party bylaws both in how the special meeting was called and how the state committee members used proxies to achieve a quorum.

Their performance has no legal standing, Karamo said in a text to MLive. I am still chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

In a press release, Karamo attacked Pego and former attorney general candidate Matt DePerno, calling them a rogue cabal of anti-grassroots establishment operatives who initiated an attempted coup.

Regardless of the legitimacy, the moment marks a stunning fall for Karamo, who was chosen to lead Michigan less than a year ago by 56% of its delegates on promises to unify the party after historic losses in the 2022 election.

Flashback: Conspiracies and a Holocaust meme mark the dawn of Karamos Michigan Republican Party

It is my job as chair to bring all of these factions together and make one beautiful quilt, Karamo told MLive in March 2023. But if some people refuse to participate, good riddance.

Instead, under her tenure the party has descended further into infighting and factionalism, amid failures to fundraise and organize before a critical election year.

Karamo has assailed her critics and detractors  many of them former Karamo supporters  likening them to traitors and saboteurs intent on destroying the party.

A political neophyte who lost her first race for Secretary of State in 2022 by more than 14 percentage points, Karamo has been defiant in the face of growing criticism and has vowed, I will never resign.

The effort to remove Karamo has been brewing for months, but picked up momentum after the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, which experienced low turnout and sparse fundraising.

A crucial moment came in early December, when most of the partys state committee skipped a virtual meeting Karamo convened in order to attend one organized by a group of discontented party leaders. And last week, eight of 13 congressional district Republican party chairs recently called on her to step down.

Please put an end to the chaos in our party. Please have the grace, courage and love of our state to accept the fact that at this most critical time in our nations history, the Michigan Republican Party needs someone else in leadership, they wrote in the letter. Someone who can unite the entire party, raise the funds needed to run the party, and help our candidates win.

Warren Caprenter, an Oakland County Republican who pivoted from leading supporter to leading critic, had coordinated the push to oust Karamo. The dispute is destined to end up in court, Carpenter said.

Ive been working on the brief for the last two months knowing that this was always going to end this way, Carpenter said.

Before the meeting the party published a press release calling the meeting unauthorized and a deceptive attempt to manipulate Republicans, urging state committee members not to attend the special meeting.

That may have worked in the favor of the anti-Karamo faction. The meeting relied on a number of people being appointed proxies for state committee members who refused to attend.

Attendees assert the bylaws allowed congressional district party chairs to appoint qualified proxies for members who didnt attend. Karamos supporters, on the other hand, claimed thats not allowed without the members approval.

The members in attendance also voted to remove senior party staff and close Karamo associates, including general counsel Dan Hartman.

We now have an opportunity to link arms again, with all of those factions that have been disenfranchised, any of the dissenting voices that have been pushed away, said Bree Moeggenberg, a state committee member from the 2nd congressional district.

Last month, Pego said in an email to Republicans she was joining the call for a special meeting. She did not, however, say whether she believed Karamo should remain chair.

Maneuvering has already been underway for those seeking to be Karamos successor. Vance Patrick, the Oakland County Republican Party chair, has expressed interest, as has former ambassador and Trump booster Pete Hoekstra.

Brian Szmytke, who works with Patrick, joked about what comes next in the contest for a new chair.

Were united today, Szmytke said. Come tomorrow were all back in our own corners.
A three-judge panel in Kalamazoo is considering allowing Michigans Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission a second try at crafting district maps in metro Detroit, as the commission plans an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the courts decision.

During a Friday afternoon hearing, federal Judges Raymond Kethledge, Janet Neff and Paul Maloney, without issuing an order, floated allowing the commission to craft its own maps, but having an outside expert retained to make their own version at the same time. They could then assess both sets of maps, and decide which set of maps are preferable.

The court ruled in December that Michigans first Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission had inadvertently drawn state legislative districts in and around Detroit that violated the federal Voting Rights Act. Acting on the advice of their experts, the judges found, the commission diluted the representation of Black voters in violation of the law.

The court has blocked new elections in 13 state House and Senate district until new maps are drawn, but with a candidate filing deadline for legislative offices April 23, all sides wrestled in court Friday with what to do under the tight timeframe.

At issue in court was whether the voter-established commission could craft new maps that the judges would find legitimate on a tight timeline  as little as 9 weeks  or to bring in an outside expert as special master to craft them unilaterally.

Background: Will Michigans first redistricting commission get to redraw districts federal court tossed?

Kethledge expressed some skepticism the commission could get it done.

The recent posture of the commission has been defiance and disarray, he said in court. It would be foolhardy on our part to put all our chips on this citizens commission at this point.

The commissions executive director, Edward Woods III, told reporters after the hearing, the commission will have the maps done. That wont be an issue.

Patrick Lewis, the lawyer representing the commission, told the judges map drawing could begin as soon as next week.

But the commission has been plagued by infighting and dysfunction in recent weeks, and two members opposed to an appeal left a meeting early Dec. 28, effectively blocking a vote on the matter. The commission instead had to wait until Thursday evening to move an appeal forward.

More: Michigans redistricting panel votes to appeal federal ruling that tossed 13 legislative districts

Lewis said he wasnt opposed to the idea of a dual-track map creation, but urged the panel of judges to allow the commissions maps to take priority over what the special master produces.

At the same time, the judges denied the commissions ask to pause the courts ruling, meaning work on the maps must proceed. Woods told reporters they intend to appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jennifer Green, the attorney for the metro Detroit plaintiffs, said that instead of learning from their mistake, it appears the commission has doubled down.

The judges said they intend to issue an order soon specifying how the map-drawing will take place.
More people are experiencing homelessness in Michigan as the housing market has tightened and pandemic assistance programs have dried up.

Homelessness increased by 8% in 2022 going from 30,113 people to 32,589, according to the latest report from Michigans Campaign to End Homelessness. The Upper Peninsula saw a 47% jump and Northern Michigan a 56% increase while other areas like West Michigan, mid-Michigan and the Detroit region also saw double-digit hikes. Meanwhile numbers dropped in southwest Michigan and in the northeast corner of the state.
ELKO  The Elko SWAT team was called out in the first hours of the New Year over reports a man had strangled his girlfriend and chased her out of their apartment, leaving her two young children behind.

Carlo N. Cameau, 40, was arrested and charged with one count of felony battery by strangulation.

The incident began about 2:34 a.m. Monday, when police were called to 1050 Connolly Drive on a report of a woman who said her boyfriend choked her and ran her out of the apartment.

Police noted she was upset and crying as they approached the scene. The woman told law enforcement an argument began after she returned home from celebrating the New Year.

She claimed Cameau hit her in the face and was choking her. After she freed herself from him, the woman said she ran outside, but when she tried to get back into the apartment, Cameau did not open the door.

Police said she told them children aged 15 months and 3 years were inside the apartment.

Police said the woman had scrapes and reddening consistent with being grabbed by the neck and was bleeding from her mouth.

A background check revealed Cameau had an active warrant from Florida charging him with strangulation that did not require extradition.

Police attempted to enter the apartment and knocked on the door several times, but Cameau didnt answer.

After using a loudspeaker to call him out of the residence for about an hour without any success, police notified detectives. The SWAT team was called out and a search warrant was obtained. The Division of Child and Family Services was also called to assist.

The SWAT team made a forcible entry into the apartment and took Cameau into custody.

As Cameau was being arrested, he told police he had taken about a dozen anti-anxiety pills for sleep when he was only supposed to take one and began to vomit several times. Police said they observed he also smelled of alcohol.

The two children were unharmed, police said.

Cameau was transported to the Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital before he was booked at the Elko County Jail.

Elko Police said in a statement the peaceful resolution to the matter was due to the response from the Elko County Department of Emergency Management, Elko County Fire and Elko County Ambulance personnel.

According to arrest and court records, Cameau has faced three charges of DUI. He pleaded no contest to DUI and was given a suspended sentence of 178 days in jail for a Feb. 12, 2022, incident.

In a plea agreement, Cameau pleaded no contest on Dec. 30, 2022, to another DUI charge from Feb. 22, 2022, along with careless driving and disturbing the peace.

In exchange, two DUIs, one count of indecent exposure and one count of resisting a public officer  all misdemeanors  from July 2022 were dropped. Cameau was sentenced to 48 hours in jail and given a suspended sentence of 178 days in jail.

Cameau was also charged with four counts of hit and run and two counts of traveling in the wrong direction on a one-way street when a vehicle was struck and damaged and he failed to remain at the scene and provide information stemming from an incident on July 19, 2022.

According to court documents, police said surveillance footage showed Cameau left the Stockmens, rear-ending two vehicles, pushing the second vehicle into the front end of a third vehicle. As he left the parking lot, he drove the wrong way down Commercial Street.

Cameau was then stopped by Nevada State Police and arrested on a charge of first-offense DUI, speeding 11-15 mph over the speed limit and failing to obey traffic control devices, all misdemeanor charges.

He pleaded no contest on Oct. 17 before Judge Randall Soderquist in Elko Justice Court to one count of hit and run following a plea agreement. The other three counts were dismissed with prejudice.

Cameau was ordered to pay $9,488.81 restitution to the victims, maintain good conduct and not consume alcoholic beverages for three years from the sentencing date.
ELKO  Nevada Department of Wildlife is asking Elko County for 120 acre-feet of water rights for the planned community fishing complex in Elko, but county commissioners said on Wednesday they want more answers before approving the potential donation.

I think 120 acre-feet will be a very comfortable number and we will put the water rights to beneficial use, said Caleb McAdoo, deputy director of operations for the state agency.

Commissioners asked Natural Resources Director Curtis Moore to come back with details on the countys total water remaining rights and where rights they sold went, and they asked McAdoo to come back with more details on why NDOW needs 120 acre-feet, which amounts to about 39,102,172 gallons.

McAdoo suggested to commissioners that a presentation from the Nevada Division of Water Resources could help provide answers.

Commissioner Travis Gerber said he wants to understand what the loss of 120 acre-feet would have on the countys inventory, because thats a lot of water.

I just want to see more answers, said Commissioner Rex Steninger, who was replaced by Commissioner Wilde Brough as chairman on Wednesday during new-year organizational actions that included electing Commissioner Jon Karr as vice chairman.

Steninger said those answers should include a memorandum of understanding from the Elko Police Department that the community pond and recreation site would be policed because he doesnt want to see a homeless camp there.

Commissioners unanimously voted to table a decision on water rights for the fishing pond proposal until they had more information.

I am happy to come back, McAdoo said.

McAdoo talked to commissioners in October about the fishing pond proposal and received their endorsement for the community project, but he didnt have the amount of required water rights.

He said on Wednesday that Nevada Gold Mines and Great Basin Land Management volunteered to survey the community site and came up with data for an estimate of how much water would be needed. NDOW then retained Resource Concepts of Carson City to evaluate the data and provide water rights numbers.

The first number is 69 acre-feet, which is just to maintain what we have now, but the 120 acre-feet would provide an adequate buffer for turnover and oxygenation of the water, McAdoo said, also reporting if the county donates the water rights, the value of those rights can be used as a 3-1 match for federal grants.

Steninger said the 120 acre-feet would be valued at about $720,000 based on the $6,000 per acre-feet figure for water rights the county sold for a meat-packing plant, and thats a big chunk of change.

Elko Countys chief planner and surveyor, Corey Rice, said the value could be substantially different than Steningers estimate, however, because NDOW would receive surface decreed water rights, while the meat-packing plant received underground water rights.

Surface water rights cant be used for development, Rice said.

Moore said the county has 430 acre-feet of surface water rights, so if it provides 120 acre-feet to NDOW, there would be 310 acre-feet remaining.

He said in a Friday email Elko County has water rights in different places in the county, but the water rights in question for the community fishing project are at the Northeastern Nevada Regional Railport. The railport is east of Elko.

FISHING AND PICNICS

The community fishing complex would include an educational center, fishing area and picnic area. It would be east of the 12th Street Bridge. McAdoo said construction of the educational center is a long-term goal.

He said in October community partners, including businesses, are chomping at the bit to get this going, and he reiterated that position on Wednesday. He said the partners would provide in-kind donations.

NDOW bought the 12th Street ponds that used to be called the Eshleman ice ponds in 2022 from Igloo Recreation Center for the fishing complex project and was expecting to close near the end of 2023 on the purchase of an additional 40 acres. The Parrado Partners site would provide three more ponds.

The combined acreage would create a community recreation site of nearly 60 acres.

The community pond concept includes partnerships, McAdoo said. As an example, the city of Elko would take care of things like mowing the grass and NDOW would maintain diversion controls, stock fish and build the nature center.

Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi reminded commissioners when they talked in October they also wanted a reversion clause on the water rights they provide to NDOW in case the community ponds fail.

We have these urban fisheries all around the state, and they are very successful and create a lot of community value, McAdoo said.

In an October 2021 presentation to the Elko City Council, NDOW reported the proposed Elko Community Pond would tie in with the citys Humboldt Area River Project, called HARP. At that time, NDOW was only talking about the original property, which the agency was purchasing from Igloo for a little more than $300,000.

NDOW also reported at that council meeting there were efforts in 2006-2007 to develop the pond, and the site had been cleaned up since that time, when a homeless camp was there.
SPRING CREEK  Quick thinking and a random turn of events saved two children at the Spring Creek Marina on Friday afternoon when they fell through the ice dozens of yards away from the shoreline.

The children, believed to be as young as 8 and 12 years old, were spotted by a group of young adults playing Pokemon Go at the marina.

Jarett Carver, 21, Sequioa Passmore, 21, and William Pike, 21, had stopped at a bench swing along the walking path around the marina when they noticed the children playing on the ice about 40 to 50 feet to the right of island in the middle of the marina.

Passmore said she saw the children playing on the ice and expressed concerns to her friends.

Then they watched as one child, then the other, fell in through the ice.

It was terrifying, Pike recalled. We saw one of them drop. We screamed out that they dropped. The other one went close to him and dropped straight away.

At that moment, Carver raced toward the children as Passmore called 911 for help.

I didnt give it a second thought. I just went for them, Carver told the Elko Daily Free Press.

Pike saw Carver take off his jacket and throw it to one of the children to pull them out of the water. But as they pulled on it, the sleeve tore and he pulled out one child with his hands.

Then Carver himself fell through the ice, climbed out and pulled the second child to safety. He brought the children back to the shore.

Carver said his feet didnt touch the bottom of the marina. The plunge into the cold water also took his breath away when he fell in, rendering him speechless until he was out of the water. I know the kids were in way worse condition than I was.

Once they were out of the water, Pike said the children were terrified, crying and shaking, with one child having fully bloodshot eyes.

Carver said he heard the ice cracking behind him as he ran toward the children, and thought about his own safety. But he pushed those thoughts aside.

Im a heavier-set guy, too, so it was a little scary, but I wasnt going to let two little kids drown or anything, you know, Carver said.

Pike said he attempted to follow, but he went through the ice himself and was unable to follow. He ran to a house for help and rope to get them all out.

Pike then raised the attention of an unidentified woman who was at the marina farther away. She drove her car to the group, allowing the children get in the car, remove their wet shirts and bundled them up with blankets until an ambulance arrived.

Carver, who emerged from the water with bloodshot eyes, was checked out by emergency medical personnel and did not require treatment.

The children appeared to be unsupervised, according to the three friends. A woman identified as mother to one of the children arrived and was bawling her eyes out, Pike said. A man, identified as father to one of the children, arrived as they were leaving.

The names and conditions of the children were not immediately known, according to Spring Creek Association President and General Manager Jessie Bahr. It was unclear if the children were siblings, relatives or friends to one another.

A Random choice

Carver and Pike were visiting Passmore for the holidays. Pike traveled from London and Carver came from Oklahoma. They all met through online gaming and have been friends for seven years.

Passmore, who lives in Spring Creek, said the decision to go to the marina on a sunny Friday afternoon was a random one, and a choice that may have saved the childrens lives.

Especially since the marina was practically empty at that time, the group said.

We wanted to go and see if we could catch some Pokemons, Pike said. If we didnt go down that route, there was no one else on the lake. No one [would have seen them].

Even the woman who was nearby and drove her car to the rescuers told the group she thought it was Canadian Geese in the middle of the marina because she wasnt wearing her glasses, Passmore said. We were the only ones close enough.

We had the closest access to the water, Pike added.

The Spring Creek Association issued a statement Friday evening warning residents not to walk onto the ice at the marina, regardless of how solid it may seem.

Please do not walk out onto the Marina. The ice is unsafe and inconsistent across the entire surface. There are signs posted throughout the area to keep off the ice at the Marina and the duck ponds, the statement read.

The thickness of the ice is not updated by the association and walking out on the ice at any time is not recommended. Rather, it says, enjoy the area from the safety of the walking paths around the Marina.

About an hour after the ordeal, Carver recounted his story as he warmed up under two blankets at Passmores house. He, Passmore and Pike all agreed that the ice is not a playground.

Dont let your kids play on the ice. It is not safe. Everybody knows that, Carver said.

Pike said they noticed the ice was unsteady when they arrived. As they left the marina, they made an alarming discovery.

We saw where they walked. They walked from the edge of the lake straight to the middle, walking around the edge where its the most thinnest, Pike said. If they fell in a minute earlier, they would not have been in view and there would have been nothing anyone could do.

Its not smart. It really isnt, Pike continued. Its not worth losing your life for a little bit of adrenaline or adventure. Its not worth it.

He added, If a parent lost their child like that, that would ruin someones life.

I agree with what they said, dont go on the ice. Its really not worth it, Passmore said. People need to be careful, read to the signs that are posted everywhere and do not go on the ice. Its a risky thing.

Passmore thanked the quick response from the Elko County Ambulance and the Spring Creek Association who arrived quickly.

A huge thanks to how fast the EMT got there. It was less than five minutes and they were there, Passmore said. I wish I had the ladys name who brought her car. She was so wonderful.

Carver, Pike and Passmore are all thankful the afternoon had a happy ending.

Im so glad those kids are OK. Thats the main thing, Passmore said.
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A China-Europe freight train runs through the national gate at Erenhot Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jan. 8, 2021.(Photo by Guo Pengjie/Xinhua)

Erenhot Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region handled 3,294 China-Europe freight train trips throughout 2023, a surge of 30.8 percent year on year, the local entry-exit border checkpoint said Saturday.

Import and export cargo throughput handled by the port totaled 4.08 million tonnes, an increase of 34.5 percent year on year. The port handled 375,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of goods during the year, an increase of 39.4 percent.

Erenhot Port is the largest land port between China and Mongolia, and the only port of entry and exit on the middle corridor of the China-Europe freight train service.

Goods transported by China-Europe freight trains passing through Erenhot Port include footwear and apparel, mechanical and electrical products, vehicles and car parts, among some 1,000 categories of commodities.
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This is the Bulgarian leaders first visit to Vietnam after almost 12 years that marks a milestone in the Vietnam - Bulgaria cooperation relationship. It comes hot on the heels of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hues official visit to Bulgaria in September 2023.



Speaker of the Bulgarian National Assembly Rossen Zhelyazkov. (Source: parliament.bg)

During Hues 2023 visit, the Bulgarian leaders expressed their desire to lift bilateral relations to a strategic partnership in the coming time. The two legislative bodies also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation.



Zhelyazkov's visit is expected to strengthen trust and demonstrate the respect for the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, affirming that parliamentary cooperation is an important pillar, commensurate with the relationship between the two countries.



Bulgaria was one of the first 10 countries in the world to recognize and officially establish diplomatic relations with the former Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, on February 8, 1950.



Relations between the two countries have developed positively over recent years, especially in the fields of politics and diplomacy. The two sides have regularly coordinated closely and supported each other at regional and international forums such as the United Nations, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and ASEAN-EU.



According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria Do Hoang Long, Zhelyazkov's visit will contribute to opening up cooperation opportunities between the two countries both bilaterally and multilaterally, leading to many other important and meaningful activities in preparation for the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomacy in 2025./.
January 05, 2024 / 08:09 AM IST

Naresh Rao is Vice President, Financial Services Solutions, Giesecke & Devrient MS India Private Ltd.
Saurabh Sharma is a freelance journalist who writes on books and gender.
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Deepali Singh is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist who writes on movies, shows, music, art, and food. Twitter: @DeepaliSingh05
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is confident in the lawfulness of the decision to withdraw the systemic Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank, Kyiv) from the market, since it was adopted in strict accordance with the laws "On the National Bank of Ukraine," "On Banks and Banking Activities," "On the Household Deposits Guarantee System," the NBU told Interfax-Ukraine.

"This decision made it possible to maintain financial soundness of Ukraine and avoid a threat to the interests of bank' depositors and other creditors that arose due to support for the actions and policies of the aggressor country on the part of the owners of indirect substantial participation in JSC Sense Bank and, as a consequence, application of Ukrainian and international sanctions against them," the NBU press service said in response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine.

The National Bank is ready to provide assistance in defending the legitimate interests of the state, the press service said.

As reported, ABH Holdings S.A. (ABHH) on December 29, 2023 filed a request for arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and a statement of claim against Ukraine, seeking full compensation for the Unlawful, in its opinion, expropriation of Sense Bank by the Ukrainian authorities through enforced nationalisation.
Shinie Antony is a writer and editor based in Bangalore. Her books include The Girl Who Couldn't Love, Barefoot and Pregnant, Planet Polygamous, and the anthologies Why We Dont Talk, An Unsuitable Woman, Boo. Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Asia Prize for her story A Dogs Death in 2002, she is the co-founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival and director of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival.
The air forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) hit the Russian command post at the Saky airfield on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea.

On Saturday morning, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk thanked the Ukrainian pilots for their excellent work and published a photo from the airfield which was hit. At the same time, he ironically commented on the traditional statements of the Russian command: "All targets have been shot down!" and added: "Unfortunately, our Air Forces are still left without one control center in Crimea!

"Once again I thank our pilots for their excellent work! Together towards victory!" he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The decree adopted in the Russian Federation regarding "certain categories of foreign citizens" and the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for them "grossly violates the legislation of Ukraine, the norms of international law and the rights of children - citizens of Ukraine, who during the large-scale offensive of the Russian Federation were forcibly moved to the territory of the aggressor state," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has said.

"On January 4, 2024, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree "On identifying certain categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons who have the right to apply for citizenship of the Russian Federation." The document provides that orphans and children left without parental care and citizens of Ukraine, can obtain Russian citizenship by the personal decision of the President of the Russian Federation, without taking into account all or individual requirements of federal legislation. An application for Russian citizenship can be submitted by the heads of Russian organizations in which Ukrainian children are forcibly detained," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement at its official website on Saturday.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry highlighted that "this latest "regulatory act," in addition to the goal of satisfying the demographic needs of the aggressor country at the expense of migrants..., grossly violates the legislation of Ukraine, international law and the rights of children - citizens of Ukraine, who during a large-scale offensive of the Russian Federation were forcibly transferred to the territory of the aggressor state."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reiterated that all children who are citizens of Ukraine and who were forcibly transferred to the territory of the Russian Federation under the flimsy pretext of so-called "humanitarian protection" remain citizens of Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities continue to take all possible steps to protect their legal rights and freedoms.

"The real value of this decree lies only in the fact that it will serve as further evidence of the crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the forced assimilation of Ukrainian children and the attempt to deprive them of their own homeland," the ministry said.

"We call on the International Criminal Court to take into account these actions of the Russian leadership to transfer Ukrainian children from one national group to another, including by forcibly granting them Russian citizenship, which is one of the signs of genocide, and the international community to implement the ICC warrant as soon as possible to arrest Vladimir Putin, taking the necessary steps to detain him for transfer to international justice bodies," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded.
AI to dominate this year's CES, even without OpenAI's Altman on hand
The Guam Health and Social Services Workforce Development Collaborative came together over the course of three days to address issues and set the stage for recovery efforts.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rallies with supporters at a "commit to caucus" event at a Whiskey bar in Ankeny, Iowa, U.S. December 2, 2023.
Norway has completed the transfer of two F-16 fighters to Denmark, intended for training Ukrainian pilots, the press service of the Norwegian Armed Forces has reported.

"The Norwegian F-16 aircraft, recently tested in Bod, North Norway, have now landed in Denmark. After over 40 years in service, these aircraft will now assist Ukraine in its defence efforts," the Norwegian Armed Forces reported on its website in Friday.

The training of Ukrainian pilots is a key stage in preparation for the transfer of F-16 fighters to Ukraine.

"Ukrainian pilots, with experience in other types of fighter jets from the Soviet era, will undergo a transition to the full capabilities of the F-16, a long-term endeavour. While some effectiveness is anticipated from the start, it will take time for Ukraine to operate the F-16 according to Western standards," the press service of the Norwegian Armed Forces said.

At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Bard Bakke, who participated in international cooperation to provide instructor support on F-16s for Ukraine's air defence, said that he was "very impressed with the Ukrainian personnel."
Copenhagen expects to send combat aircraft to Kyiv in the second quarter of 2024, and not around New Year, as previously planned, the Danish newspaper Berlingske reported, citing the Danish Ministry of Defence.

Denmark's transfer to Ukraine of six multirole F-16 fighters is being delayed. The combat vehicles are expected to be sent to Kyiv in the second quarter, Berlingske wrote on Saturday.

Initially, delivery was planned for 2023-2024. It was the period that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen named at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in August 2023. She also expressed hope for the transfer of eight F-16 fighters to the Ukrainian side in 2024 and five more a year later.

Some of the necessary conditions, including the training of Ukrainian pilots, have not yet been met, the Danish Ministry of Defence explained. Currently, six Ukrainian pilots are training in Denmark to operate the F-16 jets, but the schedule also depends on weather conditions, Berlingske said.

In addition to Denmark, the Netherlands intend to transfer 18 fighters of this type to Ukraine. Belgium and Norway also promised to send F-16 fighters to Kyiv, without indicating the planned number of aircraft.
In Kyiv region, 14 apartment buildings and 50 private ones were damaged in a Russian missile attack on January 2, and work to restore the windows in them is ongoing, Head of Kyiv Regional Military Administration Ruslan Kravchenko has said.

"In Vyshneve this Sunday mass installation of windows to replace the broken ones will begin. As a result of the attack on January 2, 11 high-rise buildings there were damaged. The international fund Global Empowerment Mission will help install windows in all damaged buildings," the press service of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration quoted Kravchenko on its Telegram channel on Saturday.

Restoration work is also underway in other settlements of the region.

Kravchenko reported that "during the last attack in Kyiv region, 14 apartment buildings, 50 private buildings, more than 90 cars, two schools, a church, and warehouses were damaged. In general, damage was recorded in five districts."

According to him, in general, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 28,000 objects have been destroyed and damaged in Kyiv region. Of these, 16,500 have already been restored.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. Azerbaijan deserves special attention as a country that is a rare example of good interaction between traditional religious communities, as well as an example of harmonious relations between religion and secular power, based on the principle of mutual respect and cooperation, Apostolic Prefect of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan Bishop Vladimir Fekete told Trend.

"Azerbaijan is a modern, secular state that respects and encourages national traditions, as well as the spiritual and cultural diversity of society, and I do not understand on what basis a negative idea of religious freedom in Azerbaijan is formed," he said, commenting on the statement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the inclusion of a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, on a certain watch list in connection with freedom of religion.

Fekete emphasized that Catholics in Azerbaijan always feel support from the state, expressed in concrete actions.

"We often, together with the heads and representatives of the countrys religious denominations, participate in various international events dedicated to issues of interreligious, intercultural dialogue, and I always advise everyone interested in this issue to visit Azerbaijan and clearly see that despite all the pessimistic forecasts regarding intercivilizational and interreligious dialogue, given the good will of society and competent state policy, such dialogue is not only possible, but serves the good of society and the strengthening of the state," he said.

"We, Catholics of Azerbaijan, are grateful to God that in this country we can freely profess our faith, solemnly celebrate our religious holidays, communicate in an atmosphere of mutual trust and brotherhood with representatives of other religions and serve, to the best of our ability, the good of Azerbaijani society. We always feel the support of the Azerbaijani state, expressed in concrete steps, such as, for example, the financial assistance that President Ilham Aliyev annually allocates to the countrys religious communities. And in all our needs we always meet understanding from the authorities and willingness to provide assistance," he said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. The multicultural environment in Azerbaijan is a paragon for all countries, Chairman of the Albanian-Udi Christian religious community of Azerbaijan Robert Mobili told Trend regarding the statement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, are on a "watch list" for religious freedom.

"The multicultural environment in Azerbaijan is a paragon for all countries. The environment has been formed for centuries. Representatives of all religious confessions live in amity. The value that unites us at all times is tolerance. The countries of the world also see that there is no religious or national discrimination in Azerbaijan. Regardless of whether our monuments are Christian or other, all of them are protected and preserved. It has become possible thanks to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev," he noted.

The community chairman mentioned that a few months ago he visited the US State Department as a member of the delegation.

"We raised the matter there, and during my speech, I suggested visiting our country. After visiting Azerbaijan, they saw its realities with their very own eyes. The reintroduction of this matter in this form has been reemphasized after Armenia's defeat in the war. Armenians want to be the owners of cultural heritage related to Christianity in our liberated lands. In this way, they want to create difficulties for our future generations. Their main goal is to claim in the future that the Christian and Albanian cultural heritage churches and temples located in the liberated lands belong to them. The Armenian Diaspora is behind this agenda, which is being discussed in the United States. The main goal of Armenians is to appropriate the monuments of Christianity before the conclusion of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan," he said.

According to Mobili, in the early days of the second Karabakh war the so-called "separatist leader" Arayik Harutyunyan attempted to give this war a religious coloring, but failed.

"We liberated both our lands and our cultural and religious heritage. The pro-Armenian countries are interested in making the peace treaty depend on them. The successor of Caucasian Albania today is Azerbaijan. And the heirs of the Albanian religious community are the Udi people," he said.

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Zimbabwean citizen seeks fresh election amidst alleged irregularities

In a remarkable move, Brian Mari, a citizen of Zimbabwe, has taken the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to court, demanding a fresh election due to a series of irregularities, including a flawed delimitation exercise. Maris application also names Chief Justice Luke Malaba as a respondent, challenging his judicial authority in the country.

The August 2023 poll results, which declared President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner, were initially disputed by the main opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), who labeled the election a gigantic fraud. Maris legal action now adds weight to these concerns.

Maris application further calls upon the Law Society of Zimbabwe, listed as the fourth respondent, to investigate lawyer Lewis Uriri. Mari accuses Uriri of undermining democracy by representing conflicting parties in legal matters. Uriri, who is President Mnangagwas lawyer, has also represented Sengezo Tshabangu, the self-imposed secretary-general of CCC, who controversially recalled several opposition legislators following the harmonized elections.

I, therefore, seek a declaratory that directs Law Society to conduct an investigation on the conduct of its members in relation to obligation imposed on every person by section 44 of the Constitution and binding in terms of section 45 and come up with a remedy that seek to protect right in section 67(1)(a) against the conduct of legal practitioners who carry instructions from two opposing parties, one in judicial robes and another as litigant and undermine democracy, Mari stated in his application.

He also urged the court to direct the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to conduct fresh elections in adherence to democratic principles and laws. Additionally, Mari called for an investigation by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission into alleged abuses of office and authority within Parliament, Zec, and the courts, with appropriate action to be taken.

Maris application challenges the credibility of Chief Justice Luke Malaba, stating, For reasons mentioned below, I do not recognise Mr Luke Malaba as the Chief Justice of Zimbabwe and I will always address him as Mr only. He argues that Malaba lacks judicial authority in Zimbabwe and questions his qualification for the position.

Furthermore, Mari criticizes Lewis Uriri, accusing him of acting against the interests of Zimbabweans. Uriri, who represents Chief Justice Malaba in the Musa Kika vs Luke Malaba case, has also served as legal counsel for Tshabangu. Mari questions whose instructions Uriri prioritizes when he represents both Tshabangu, a litigant, and Malaba, a judge.

The outcome of this legal battle could have significant implications for Zimbabwes electoral process and the perception of its democratic practices. Maris case highlights concerns about irregularities in the previous election, and the courts decision will be crucial in determining the way forward for the countrys political landscape.

As the case unfolds, Zimbabweans and the international community will be watching closely, eager to see if the courts verdict will address the alleged irregularities and contribute to strengthening the democratic foundation of the nation.

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Mupedzanhamo market reopens to the delight of traders and residents

After a prolonged closure, the bustling Mupedzanhamo Market in Mbare has finally reopened, bringing a wave of relief and joy to both traders and residents. The market sprung back to life as vendors swiftly set up their stalls, eager to resume their businesses and offer their merchandise to customers.

Yesterday, the market was a hive of activity, with hundreds of people flocking to the vibrant hub, eagerly sifting through the abundant selection of affordable second-hand clothes. The atmosphere buzzed with excitement as shoppers jostled to secure the best deals.

Traders expressed their gratitude for the reopening, as they had faced numerous challenges operating their small businesses during the closure. Mrs. Lydia Dhaure shared her contentment, stating, We are happy with the reopening of Mupedzanhamo because we were facing hard times with space barons who demanded money from us every day.

We used to play a cat and mouse game with the police but now we are happy to have retained the spaces which we used to operate and we are grateful for that.

Mrs Beauty Mangachena said the reopening of the market was long overdue. We are happy with the opening of Mupedzanhamo. We have been selling our wares outside the market for almost four years and things were not going well.

We were always having problems with space barons who would offer space to the highest bidder. We are happy that the market has been reopened and we were put back in the spaces we used to occupy.

Mrs Caroline Torovei said the past four years were hell as they operated under harsh circumstances in the open.

I feel like I can fly with happiness because our problems have ended and we can now trade peacefully, she said.

The chairperson for the Mupedzanhamo Market Committee Mr Andrew Nyamupukwa, said they were happy that the traders were working in peace. We are happy that our market has been opened because a lot of things were troubling us when it was closed, he said.

We managed to unite after the elections and we put back the tables in consultations with the (Harare City) Council until everything was in place, and we handed the market to council.

I am happy for the Zanu PF leadership in Mbare for making sure that the reopening of the market would go ahead smoothly.

Zanu PF Ward 4 Councillor Boniface Maburutse said: The issue was of space barons who wanted to take over and control the market but council has now taken over the market.

The resolution we made at the council was that we are bringing back all the traders that used to have spaces in the market. We do not have any new markets so we said every person who had a space in the market, despite their political affiliation, should retain it.

Outside the Mupedzanhamo Market, space barons were making money by allocating spaces on open spaces.

There was chaos all over and now that we have opened the market, the residents are happy.

As the Mupedzanhamo Market springs back to life, the residents rejoice, grateful for the return of a vibrant trading hub that brings economic opportunities and a renewed sense of community.

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Happy birthday to Jonathan the tortoise, who was born in the same decade that John Brown first conceived of what would become the raid at Harpers Ferry pic.twitter.com/CBDIUGiwQC  Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) January 3, 2024

Pig N Fords: Model T drivers carry pigs while racing in Tillamook Oregonian, YouTube (furzy)

Deep Beneath Earths Surface, Clues to Lifes Origins Quanta (David L)

Navajo Nation Objects To Landing Human Remains On Moon, Prompting Last-Minute White House Meeting CNN

This weird physical trait makes liberals vote for Trump and republicans for Biden ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)

Fat positivity is a fantasy Unherd

Construction of Reality: Who You Feel With Ian Welsh (Micael T). What about those who have no tribe? Or if you believe in Myers Briggs, are not feeling people?

Justice vs. Vengeance  Is There a Difference? Living Philosophy (Micael T).. The Greeks definitely thought there was. Look at how Athena rein in their scope of authority per myth and as commemorated in various plays, notably Euripedes The Furies.

Heres Why Multitasking Gets Trickier And Even Dangerous as We Age ScienceAlert (Chuck L)

The abolition of paper and the pompous rule of the present Branko Milanovic. The effort to eliminate paper records is over the top reckless. What happens in a collapse scenario when chips become scarce? No one will know anything. The loss of information and related productive know-how will dwarf that of the Dark Ages.

Finally, we know why pee is yellow Live Science (Dr. Kevin)

#COVID-19

Climate/Environment

China?

Gaza

New Not-So-Cold War

Syraqistan

Imperial Collapse Watch

1/6

Former Guard Official Says Army Retaliated for His Account of Jan. 6 Delay New York Times (Kevin W)

Trump

US Supreme Court to hear Trump appeal of Colorado ballot disqualification Reuters

Biden

FBI Goes After Citizen for Requesting Raffensperger Investigation in Georgia UndercoverDC (furzy)

GOP Clown Car

Kevin W says the replies were brutal: Russia said once they take Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. This is about preventing war. We dont want our men and women to have to go and fight.  Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 5, 2024

Democrats en deshabille

Immigration

New York To Sue Bus Companies  For Busing People Jonathan Turley

Gunz

December jobs report caps another year of strong job growth Economic Policy Institute

Initial claims: the return of almost nobody is getting laid off Angry Bear

US Moves Closer To Filing Sweeping Antitrust Case Against Apple New York Times

AI

What the AI copyright fights are truly about: Human labor versus endless machines The Register

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour. Tracie H: Potted Pussy Willow, of sorts.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. Armenian lobbying has led to biased narratives in the US on religious freedom in Azerbaijan, US analyst Irina Tsukerman told Trend.

She made the remark while commenting on the statement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the inclusion of several countries, including Azerbaijan, on a certain "watch list" in connection with freedom of religion.

"Unfortunately, this is a result of extensive Armenian lobbying in an election year and failure of counternarratives by Azerbaijan, which underscores the need to form relationships with US government officials, such as groups for monitoring religious freedom with the State Department, early and maintaining a continuous communication with them, which is what Armenian lobby does well," she said.

Tsukerman pointed out that, even without Armenians, those groups are infamous for their lackluster approach in drafting those reports on religious freedom.

"During the Trump administration, for instance, that particular group included individuals with clear biases and a complete lack of direct experience with Azerbaijan. They at one point wrote a negative report about Azerbaijan in the State Department report on religious freedom for "discrimination against Shia", seemingly unaware that Azerbaijan is a Shia majority state, and at another point attacked for having arrested violent Al Qaeda and ISIS infiltrators and putting them in prison as an issue of "religious freedom". There is no way to combat that level of ignorance and professional incompetence other than with constant vigilance and consistent communication. Since people populating these groups lack sufficient area knowledge to form informed and independent assessments, biased narratives easily sway their final products resulting in bizarre and absurd results such as the placement of Azerbaijan on the "special surveillance list" and damage to its reputation. The result of course is not only a strain in relations with the US on the government level but the spread of disinformation in social circles which may deter tourists, investors, or religious delegations from coming to the country and undermine Azerbaijan's image, economy, relationships, political influence, and global standing," the analyst noted.

She added that when officials fail to do due diligence on the information they receive from NGOs and base their assessments on convenient talking points or only on one-sided stories from familiar legacy organizations, it ends up being a huge disservice to religious freedom around the world and makes it more difficult to make the most of the many rich relationships the US has with countries like Azerbaijan.

"The US takes religious freedom seriously, which is a good thing; the problem is, its actions and policies are only as good as the officials who formulate them. The only way to respond is once again to challenge this perception, invite the State Department delegation to engage in conversation and travel to the country to see diverse religious communities exactly, bring in guests from different religious backgrounds to testify to the contrary, and actively provide the State Department with reliable data and valid counterpoints to the Armenian allegations," Tsukerman concluded.
Yves here. I am preserving the original Economy for All headline, since it reflects some of what is wrong with this piece. The problem, of course, is not vacation housing (outside major metro areas, it is not uncommon for middle-ish income people to own modest cabins in the boonies) but AirBnB allowing homeowners and renters to run unlicensed hotels. And in at least some cities, that means undermining unionized hotel workers.

Par for the course, I find this author telling howlers to justify her past use of AirBnB. Oh, going to hotels was dangerous during pre-vaccine Covid. Huh? Yours truly was one of the few traveling then due to needing to get treatment and eventually surgery for bum hips, where I (correctly) did not trust local options and so was flying more often than I liked to NYC. Hotels were deserted then and even with reduced schedules, planes were seriously undersold. That means the dangerous part of travel was the plane and airport, not the hotel.

By Sonali Kolhatkar, an award-winning multimedia journalist. She is the founder, host, and executive producer of Rising Up With Sonali, a weekly television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. Her most recent book is Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice (City Lights Books, 2023). She is a writing fellow for the Economy for All project at the Independent Media Institute and the racial justice and civil liberties editor at Yes! Magazine. She serves as the co-director of the nonprofit solidarity organization the Afghan Womens Mission and is a co-author of Bleeding Afghanistan. She also sits on the board of directors of Justice Action Center, an immigrant rights organization. Produced by Economy for All a project of the Independent Media Institute

Americans have been on a vacation binge since the easing of COVID-19 lockdowns, traveling for leisure in record numbers, and generating a major boom for the tourism industry. The vacation rental company Airbnb in particular, built on the euphemistic-sounding idea of a sharing economy, is thriving. In the third quarter of 2023, the company posted its highest-ever profits on record.

But increasingly, cities are seeing rising rents, unaffordable home prices, and increased homelessness. Authorities are linking such housing-related crises in part to Airbnb, and are passing strict regulations.

Ive rented several Airbnb homes over the 15 years since the company was founded. In the early years, staying in other peoples houses was a sort of subversive act of rebellion against corporate hotel chains. During the most terrifying pre-vaccine months of the COVID-19 pandemic, short-term home rentals felt significantly safer than hotels, amid fears of the deadly airborne virus spreading among unmasked crowds in elevators and hotel lobbies. The privacy, convenience, and lower cost often enabled tourists with tighter budgets to enjoy family vacations with members of their chosen pandemic pods.

But, while Airbnb rentals may offer some financial respite for low-budget vacationers, their counterparts in the neighborhoods they visit are often negatively impacted by higher-cost housing prices and rents. Whats more, Airbnb hosts are increasingly professional landlordswealthy elites and corporate entities that scoop up large numbers of properties and turn big profits by renting them out to travelers.

Even individuals managing a single property are now encouraged to expand vacation rental management into a full-time business. Becoming an Airbnb property manager can be a fulfilling career pathand you can also make a lot of money with it, claimed one company specializing in training professional hosts. Its a relatively low-risk, low-investment venture that can turn out to be extremely lucrative.

Indeed, just as companies like Uber were once touted as a way for working people with cars to earn a little extra spending cash, Airbnb offered the promise of supplementary income for those with an extra room or converted garage. Now, however, the market is being increasingly dominated by a small number of corporate hosts and professional property managers.

Airbnb homes are available all over the world but the United States is most deeply affected. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in late 2023, [O]ur penetration in the United States is significantly higher than our penetration in many other countries. And we think theres a huge amount of growth if we could just get Airbnb to even a fraction of the percentage of penetration that we have in the United States. In other words, the U.S. is the model that Airbnb wants to replicate everywhere else in its quest for profits.

Stephanie Synclair is an appropriate symbol of what Airbnb has wrought in the U.S. The 41-year-old Black mom from Atlanta recently made the news for becoming a home-buyer, not in her own hometown, but in Sicily. In spite of the language and cultural barriers, Synclair purchased a home on the other side of the planet, in part because she found Sicilians to be warm and welcoming, but mostly because of the huge price difference. In spite of having a budget of $450,000no small sumSynclair had no luck buying a home in Atlanta, where properties are among the most overpricedin the nation. She now plans to retire in her $62,000 home in Palermo, Sicily.

Atlantas housing market is dominated by investors and cash-rich corporations who scoop up practically every home listed at $500,000 or less, many of which are then transformed into Airbnb listings for tourists. Precious Price, an Atlanta-based host, initially saw Airbnb as a pathway to building wealth, particularly for Black entrepreneurs like her who faced racial discrimination from the financial industry. But Price soon realized, according to a profile in the New York Times, that her rental property was part of the housing crisis that her beloved city was experiencing. She has since pivoted to long-term rentals aimed at residents rather than vacationersan enterprise that is less profitable but more ethical.

Not only does Airbnb fuel housing crises in cities, it does so along racial lines. A 2017 study of New York City by the watchdog group Inside Airbnb concluded that the companys model fuels racism in the housing market. Analyzing the demographics of rental hosts in the city, Inside Airbnb concluded, among other things, that [a]cross all 72 predominantly Black New York City neighborhoods, Airbnb hosts are 5 times more likely to be white. Further, [t]he loss of housing and neighborhood disruption due to Airbnb is [six] times more likely to affect Black residents. White New Yorkers have benefitted from renting out housing as hotels, while Black New Yorkers are disproportionately hurt.

To curb such inequities, New York City, which already had strict rules on the books about short-term rentals and subleases, passed a law in 2023 requiring Airbnb to ensure that hosts obtain permission to rent out housing. If it fails to do so, both the host and the company are hit with hefty fines.

The New York Times explained, In order to collect fees associated with the short-term stays, Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and other companies must check that a hosts registration application has been approved. And, hosts who violate the rules could face fines of up to $5,000 for repeat offenders, and platforms could be fined up to $1,500 for transactions involving illegal rentals.

It was an admission that the earlier set of rules was simply not being enforcedas we continue to see in cities like Los Angeleswhere hosts flout rules with little consequence. But now, at least in New York City, the onus is on the company, as well as the hosts to comply.

While this means potentially higher hotel costs for out-of-town visitors, it could free up rentals for long-term residents. According to the Guardian, this may already be happening, just months after the law went into effect in September: [T]he citys rental costs are backing off from record highs, as the vacancy rate increases to a level not seen in three yearsgood news for folks looking to sign rental leases.

While cheaper vacation stays are certainly desirable for those of us who love to travel, vacationing is a privilege in the U.S. More than a third of Americans, as per a 2023 survey, are unlikely to take a summer vacation. And of those, more than half say they simply cant afford it. A 2019 Economic Policy Institute study pointed out that Airbnb might, as claimed, suppress the growth of travel accommodation costs, but these costs are not a first-order problem for American families. What is a first-order problem is affordable housing.

And, while regulating Airbnb will not mitigate all economic injustices facing Americanssuch as suppressed wages and a lack of government-funded health careit certainly will move the needle in the right direction.
Beijing plans to INTERFERE with Taiwans presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is attempting to influence Taiwan's presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13.

According to a Reuters report, this interference campaign has extended to public opinion  with the mainland's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) allegedly tapping the services of popular Taiwanese rock band Mayday. The NRTA reportedly asked the band to publicly make pro-Beijing statements, support the CCP's "One China Policy," cooperate with anti-Taipei propaganda efforts and provide other unspecified "political services" ahead of the elections. Mayday refused the offer from Beijing.

Aside from this, the CCP said during a working meeting about the Taiwan elections that its efforts will shift from a comprehensive influence campaign to a subtler strategy. The plan, which seeks to leave no evidence of CCP interference, involves coordinated efforts in online propaganda and lucrative deals for Taiwanese civilian groups to visit China.

The mainland's efforts to undermine Taiwan's elections is rooted in Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping's desire to bring the island nation under its wing.

During the Dec. 26 birthday of former CCP Chairman Mao Tse-Tung at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Xi stressed the need to fulfill Mao's vision. He also advocated for the continuation of the One China Policy and the 1992 Consensus, noting that the unification of China is a "historic inevitability." The paramount leader stressed that deepening ties with Beijing and Taipei would make Taiwan's independence impossible.

A month earlier, Xi told U.S. President Joe Biden of his intent to bring Taiwan back into the fold in a peaceful manner during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Despite this, the Chinese leader also mentioned that the CCP seeks to support pro-China political parties and exert economic influence in the region to advance Beijing's interests and impede Taiwan's independence. (Related: Xi shares with Biden his intention to "peacefully" take Taiwan  but full-scale INVASION remains on the table.)

China hates Taiwan's democracy and freedom

According to analysts, the CCP's discontent with Taiwan stems from the latter's democratic system  something that contrasts with Beijing's authoritarianism and perceived malevolence. Current affairs commentator Zhang Tianliang is one such pundit espousing this view.

"The issue of Taiwan has nothing to do with China's national unity, Taiwan's independence or [its] territorial disputes  but is about Taiwan's democratic system," he told NTD News. "Taiwan and China share the same roots; if Taiwan can hold elections, why can't China? Therefore, the CCP hates Taiwan's democracy and freedom."

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu also echoed these sentiments in a September 2023 interview with Al Jazeera. He told the outlet that the mainland is "trying to export its authoritarianism through different kinds of mechanisms" as it is now experiencing an economic slowdown.

"If you look at the Chinese government's policies, they are creating an economic environment that is not friendly anymore. For example, they have an anti-espionage law. They can check business operations, they can detain people [and] they can prohibit companies from doing certain things," said Wu.

"They are exporting their Belt and Road Initiative, and they are also exporting digital authoritarian mechanisms to the Global South  contrary to our shared beliefs in freedom and democracy, protection of human rights, rule of law and all this."

The minister also predicted that China could use dis- and misinformation campaigns instead of large-scale military offensives to turn the election in their favor. He also recounted how Beijing would test-fire missiles during Taiwan's election cycle, a practice that has been ongoing since the island nation's 1996 elections. But Wu ultimately said that whenever the mainland tries to interfere with Taiwan's elections, it always backfires.

Read more stories about the potential conflict between China and Taiwan at WWIII.news.

Watch Brannon Howse of "Worldview Report" and David Zhang of the Epoch Times discussing the possibility of China invading Taiwan as early as 2024.

This video is from the Worldview Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Taiwanese foreign minister expects China to manipulate the upcoming 2024 Presidential election in Taiwan.

WWIII looms: Biden administration working on another PROXY WAR involving Taiwan and China.

China increases military budget to $224 BILLION in preparation for invasion of Taiwan.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

AlJazeera.com

Brighteon.com
Made in CHINA: CCP intensifies humanoid robot production to retain manufacturing dominance

China recently announced a grand plan to mass-produce humanoid robots that can perform various tasks and interact with humans to insulate itself from reliance on foreign powers and replace Chinese workers with machines.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published a blueprint document back in November, saying that the robots would be as "disruptive" as smartphones and would "reshape the world." According to the paper, the strategy aims to make the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) the global leader in the field of robotics by building a "humanoid robot innovation system," developing artificial brains and limbs by 2025.

Being the world's largest electronics manufacturer, CCP aims to achieve breakthroughs in environment sensing, motion control and machine-to-human interaction capabilities in the next two years, which is why it is striving to compete with the United States in the field of chips and hardware. In recent years, billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla and Boston Dynamics have been leading the said industry.

The document also said that by using a whole-of-nation system, the communist regime could harness technologies to "profoundly change human production and lifestyle and reshape the global industrial development pattern." However, according to several reports, this move carries national security implications and will help the CCP maintain an economic advantage, even though its population is nosediving due to years of severe restrictions on childbirth. In 2022, after six consecutive years of declining birth rates, China recorded its first annual population decline since the early 1960s. According to a forecast by the United Nations, the East Asian country's population is set to fall from 1.42 billion in 2022 to 1.31 billion in 2050 and drop below 800 million by 2100. (Related: China's humanoid robot factories to go online in 2025, HALF of human labor force to be eliminated.)

And so, China's government is effectively replacing people with robots to maintain a competitive edge in labor-intensive manufacturing industries as per a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In fact, a draft proposal by the regime's internet regulator suggested back in April that all content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) should be mandated to "reflect the socialist core values" espoused by the CCP. According to the new document, all new robots and AI-powered artificial brains should be "guided by People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Director of the China Policy Initiative at the America First Policy Institute Adam Savit confirmed with the Epoch Times that the regime could use robots to spread communist ideology throughout the global marketplace. "They will certainly try," he said. "The CCP takes advantage of any means available, especially innovative new technologies, to spread its ideology and expand its influence." He also pointed to social media giant TikTok, which is owned by the CCP-affiliated ByteDance, as "the most successful and disturbing example" of Beijing's s use of technology to spread its idealisms.

END GAME: CCP robots to dominate the world

According to reports, China installed 290,000 non-humanoid industrial robots in 2022, whereas the United States, by comparison, only installed 39,000. The former is now dominating in terms of robot density, as it has deployed more robots relative to workers. The communist nation now operates the largest operational stock of robots in the world.

This is something to worry about as the nation already can use automation to gain economic advantage in the years to come, a report by the International Federation of Robotics pointed out. "Robot density is a key indicator of automation adoption in the manufacturing industry around the world," International Federation of Robotics President Marina Bill said. "China's rapid growth shows the power of its investment so far, but it still has much opportunity to automate."

Moreover, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reported that the CCP seeks to earn a long-term advantage by establishing and controlling the supply chains required to create advanced robotics. "Beijing aims both to achieve a high degree of self-sufficiency and to capture a significant share of the global market for a wide array of advanced products and components," the paper suggested. The report further noted that if the nation can gain an edge in what has been described as a fourth industrial revolution in manufacturing while reducing its dependence on high-tech imports, China may be able to boost its own prospects for long-term growth while diminishing those of its competitors.

"The really scary thing is," Arthur Herman, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute said, "is that it could lead to the CCP gaining more influence in establishing international standards and rules over AI and robotics. China's robotics industry becomes the global standard, pushing aside any competition, including setting the moral standard." The expert said that is not a good sign if people want to have sensible and responsible standards for the future development of a potentially disruptive technology that everyone can live with.

Head over to CommunistChina.news to read stories related to this.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

IndianExpress.com

BigDataChina.csis.org

IISS.org
Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD OVERTAKES Tesla as worlds top seller of EVs

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Build Your Dreams (BYD) has surpassed Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's top seller of EVs

BYD, which has been supported by the American investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008, has defeated Tesla's production for the second straight year. BYD announced that it made 3.02 new EVs in 2023. Meanwhile, Tesla recently announced that it was only able to manufacture 1.84 million new EVs.

Nevertheless, BYD's sales numbers include 1.6 million battery-only cars and 1.4 million hybrids, which means Tesla is still the leader in the manufacture of electric battery-only cars.

But in the final quarter of 2023, BYD did outsell Tesla in battery-electric cars, selling 526,000 units to Tesla's 484,000. This is the first time the Chinese manufacturer outsold Tesla in this category.

Both achievements are attributed to the fact that BYD's vehicles are sold at a much lower market price than their Tesla counterparts. BYD is also notable for its capability to produce EV batteries in-house. This is partly why Tesla also heavily relies on Chinese factories to produce its vehicles. (Related: Tesla recalls more than 2 million cars to fix a defective driving system following DEADLY CRASHES.)

"While it's the world's leading supplier of rechargeable batteries, Tesla relies on several suppliers and has flagged shortages of lithium as demand ratchets up as a supply chain obstacle in the years to come," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.

"BYD is already making moves to secure the precious metal by buying a stake in a Chinese lithium producer," added Streeter. "It's had its eye on purchasing mines in Africa and is scouting assets in South America, where the metal is mined."

Chinese EVs expanding into Europe

BYD's achievement comes as more Chinese electric carmakers focus on becoming key players in the international EV market, specifically by expanding into Europe.

According to reports, BYD already sells five versions of its EVs in Europe and has plans to launch at least three more this year. BYD's cars can be purchased in one of the company's 230 retailer stores across 19 countries in the continent, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

The company has also recently declared its plan to build a new production center in Hungary  just months after it first broke ground on its sales operations in the country in October 2023.

"While the China market is one of the pioneers entering into the era of EVs, we believe moving overseas [by building factories in the overseas market rather than just shipping vehicles manufactured in China] is the only way for China's leading carmakers to achieve success in the global market in the long run," said Joel Ying, an auto analyst for Nomura China.

"Given [BYD] already has a bus factory in Hungary, we believe the decision to build the first European Union (EU) PV [photovoltaic] factory in Hungary will help BYD to minimize the potential risks in the overseas market," continued Ying's report.

BYD similarly stated that it was considering multiple countries in the EU as candidates to build its first European factory, noting that the United Kingdom was immediately disqualified due to the perceived effects of Brexit. BYD added that production at the new passenger car facility in Hungary will be highly automated, and the company will take advantage of its expertise in integrated vertical supply chains to meet the bloc's steep environmental targets. The plan is for this new factory to be built adjacent to a battery manufacturing facility BYD will also be building in Hungary.

With its expansion into Europe, BYD hopes to annually sell 800,000 cars in Europe by 2030. During the first 10 months of 2023, Chinese carmakers exported 280,000 vehicles to the EU.

BYD's goals in the continent could be hampered, as the European Commission  the EU's main executive body  is currently conducting an anti-subsidy investigation into BYD and its importing of Chinese electric vehicles into the bloc. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that Chinese electric vehicles were now "overflowing" worldwide markets. In the bloc, prices of BYD units were artificially being kept low thanks to national and EU subsidies.

The conclusion of the investigation could lead the EU to enforce new customs charges on the Chinese vehicles, which could then result in BYD's cars becoming more expensive and less attractive for buyers.

Follow RoboCars.news for more news about the EV market.

Watch this video from "The JD Rucker Show" as JD Rucker discusses how BlackRock  which owns nearly two percent of BYD  is helping China own the American EV market.

This video is from the JD Rucker channel on Brighteon.com.

More related articles:

Chinas sodium-ion batteries to replace lithium batteries in EVs.

Ford loses billions on electric vehicles, reduces its EV production target.

Automakers cut programs and reassess future plans for EV production as consumer demand plummets.

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TheGuardian.com

AutomotiveLogistics.media

CNBC.com

Brighteon.com
German lawmaker: Most Leopard 2 tanks Berlin sent to Ukraine are now NON-OPERATIONAL

A member of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, has revealed that most Leopard 2A6 tanks sent to Ukraine are broken and in need of repair

Sebastian Schafer, who is a member of the German Green Party, made this claim in a letter to arms companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. According to the letter obtained by the DPA press agency, very few of the 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks Germany gave to Ukraine in March remain in service. He added that many of them are battle-damaged, with lack of key parts hindering their repairs.

Schafer also disclosed that the non-operational tanks are currently in a repair shop in Lithuania. "Unfortunately, it has to be noted that only a very small number of the battle tanks delivered can now be used by Ukraine," the lawmaker noted. He also stressed "an urgent need for action" to get spare parts to the Lithuanian repair hub so that the Leopard 2A6 tanks could return to the frontline.

The lawmaker also pointed out that aside from battle damage, many of the tanks are out of service due to wear and tear. Ukrainian mechanics attempting repairs have also caused further damage to some of the tanks, he added.

According to Russia Today (RT), Germany and other operators of the Leopard platform have provided around 90 of the earlier Leopard 2A4 variants  aside from the 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks. Ukraine also received more than 100 outdated Leopard 1A5 tanks.

Unfortunately, Russian forces quickly turned these tanks into scrap metal within weeks of their arrival. Moscow-backed units had destroyed some of the tanks with missiles and kamikaze drones. At least two Leopard 2 tanks had also been captured intact by Russian troops, RT said.

The Russian state-owned outlet recounted that the Leopard tanks "were used extensively during Ukraines summer counteroffensive, a failed operation aimed at punching through Russian lines and seizing the city of Melitopol on the Azov Sea, thereby cutting off Crimea from 'mainland' Russia."

Even Baerbock admits German tanks don't work

"As it transpired, Ukrainian forces only managed to seize a handful of villages in the region of Zaporizhzia  losing nearly 160,000 men and 16,000 pieces of heavy equipment in the process, according to the latest figures from the Russian [Ministry of Defense]," continued RT. A November 2023 report by Forbes attested to this, noting that Kyiv had lost "a quarter of its best German-made tanks"  pertaining to its Leopard 2 tanks.

In September 2023, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock admitted that even the country's "advanced" tanks and other weapons systems being sent to Ukraine are outdated and "not really functioning." She disclosed this during an interview with CNN's Christine Amanpour after the journalist pressed the foreign minister as to why Berlin has rejected requests to supply Kyiv with Taurus long-range missiles.

"We have to be clear on every detail  how does it work, who can actually operate them," said Baerbock, also a member of the Green Party (formally Alliance 90/The Greens) in the Bundestag. "Yes, it takes some time. I totally understand there is not enough time in Ukraine  but when we deliver it, it has to work." (Related: Ukraine-bound tanks sent by Germany are OUTDATED and NON-FUNCTIONING, official admits.)

According to the German foreign minister, earlier weapons systems were not effective and even faulty at times. Baerbock said the poor condition of Germany's military equipment is perhaps due to the fact that Europe has not been confronted "with a brutal war lately."

Visit WeaponsTechnology.news for more stories about tanks and other military equipment sent to Ukraine.

Watch this Hindustan Times report about Russian forces taking out a Leopard tank operated by a German crew.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Germany halts purchases of Puma tanks following devastating breakdowns.

Berlin agrees to send "tanks" to Ukraine but theyre not going to be much help.

NATO countries set to provide modern tanks to Ukraine as war with Russia grinds on.

Pentagon expediting delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine in acceleration toward continental war.

Sending modern tanks to Ukraine could trigger "unimaginable escalation," German lawmaker warns.

Sources include:

RT.com

ZeroHedge.com

Brighteon.com
Harvard  Out the frying pan into the fire

Harvard may assume the forced resignation of its president, Claudine Gay, has finally ended its month-long scandal over her tenure.

(Article by Victor Davis Hanson republished from AMGreatness.com)

Gay stepped down, remember, amid serious allegations of serial plagiarismwithout refuting the charges. She proved either unable or unwilling to discipline those on her campus who were defiantly anti-Semitic in speech and action.

But Gays removal is not the end of Harvards dilemma. Rather, it is the beginning.

In the respective press releases from both Gay and the Harvard Corporation, racial animus was cited as a reason for her removal.

Gay did not even refer to her failure to stop anti-Semitism on her campus or her own record of blatant plagiarism.

Yet playing the race card reflects poorly on both and for a variety of reasons.

One, Gays meager publication recorda mere eleven articles without a single published book of her ownhad somehow earned her a prior Harvard full professorship and presidency. Such a thin resume leading to academic stardom is unprecedented.

Two, the University of Pennsylvania forced the resignation of its president, Liz Magill. She sat next to Gay during that now-infamous congressional hearing in which they both claimed they were unable to discipline blatant anti-Semitism on their campuses.

Instead, both plead free speech and context considerations.

Such excuses were blatantly amoral and untrue. In truth, ivy-league campuses routinely sanction, punish, or remove staff, faculty, or students deemed culpable for speech or behavior deemed hurtful to protected minoritiesexcept apparently white males and Jews.

Yet Magill was immediately forced to resign, and Gay was not. Also noteworthy was Magills far more impressive and extensive administrative experience, along with a more prestigious scholarship that was free of even a suggestion of plagiarism.

Academias immediate firing of a white woman while trying desperately to save the career of a less qualified and ethically challenged black woman will be seen not as a case of racial bias but more likely of racial preference.

Indeed, to keep Gays job and to defend her from plagiarism charges, both Harvard and Gay herself were willing to say things that were simply absurd, if not patently untrue.

Harvard invented a new phrase duplicative language to euphemize the reality of Gays intellectual theft.

Even after Gay resigned, Harvard jumped the shark by further downplaying her plagiarism by dubbing it as mere missteps.

Harvard and its supporters further embarrassed themselves by alleging that if the victims of Gays plagiarism didnt object, then why did her expropriation matter that much?

Are we then to assume that plagiarism is not a serious violation of the entire ethos of scholarship, quite in addition to the aggrieved plagiarized party?

The university descended even further by suggesting that if the complaints were lodged by anonymous scholars, they were somehow less serious.

Has Harvard ever heard of the reasons why whistleblowers are often protected from retribution by grants of anonymity?

Liberal Harvard, through its lawyers, even threatened the New York Post with legal action if it aired charges of Gays plagiarism.

Yet only days later, the university was swamped by further proof of Gays scholarly misconduct, involving improper use of data and more plagiarism extending back even to her dissertation.

Harvard, remember, claimed that it had conducted a thorough investigation that had cleared her of actionable plagiarismeven as more charges arose of her prior culpability.

But more importantly, what happens to ex-president Gay now?

Does resigning from the Harvard presidency and returning to a full professorship mean that charges of plagiarism disappear?

Would any other Harvard professors continue to be employed without addressing over two dozen separate charges of plagiarism lodged against them?

Do Gay, the Harvard Corporation, and the more than 700 Harvard professors who closed ranks and wrote a letter supporting Gay now argue that plagiarism is no longer a serious offense at the nations supposedly most preeminent university?

Will students who emulate Gays habit of copy-and-paste, failure-to-footnote, and misuse-of-data now be exempt from dismissal or suspension?

After Gays embarrassing December 5 congressional testimony and her resignation, what now is the Harvard policy toward anti-Semitism?

If next week, anti-Israel students once again call for the destruction of the Jewish people in Israel all the way from the river to the sea, or if they again storm Harvards Widener library, screaming support for the October 7 massacre and intimidating Jewish students, what will the newor oldHarvard do?

Again nothing?

Finally, Harvard insinuated that Gay was fired by racist outside pressuredespite the fact that many of her critics were large donors furious about the diminution of the reputation of their alma mater.

Is Harvard suggesting that its own mega-donors are racists?

What then might come next?

The resignation of the entire board of the Harvard Corporation that is the ultimate cause of Harvards descent into mediocrity.

Read more at: AMGreatness.com
Conservative think tanks lawsuit alleges CIA obstructed the handover of COVID-19 records

In an exclusive feature on Daily Caller, it was revealed that the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project has sued the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 22 for refusing to hand over information relating to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) origins.

The conservative organization filed the lawsuit after the federal intelligence agency failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records connected to its team tasked with investigating the lab leak theory, which proposes that SARS-CoV-2 was created in and escaped from a laboratory and did not transmit to humans by animals as claimed.

"This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act ('FOIA'), 5 U.S.C.  552, to compel production of CIA records relating to allegations that members of the CIA's COVID Discovery Team, a group of employees tasked with analyzing the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, received monetary incentives to change their position on the origins of the virus," the complaint included.

The FOIA requested records from creating the discovery team and all records shared among team members associated with COVID-19's origins. "As of the date of this Complaint, CIA has failed to: (i) produce the requested records or demonstrate that the records are lawfully exempt from disclosure; (ii) notify Plaintiffs of the scope of any responsive records it intends to produce or withhold and the reasons for any withholdings; or (iii) inform Plaintiffs that they may appeal any adequately specific, adverse determination," the lawsuit added.

Heritage also demanded records of any financial bonuses and communications between discovery team members and officials from numerous agencies across the federal government. The lawsuit likewise asked the court to compel the CIA to produce all non-exempt records under Heritages prior FOIA request and to cover Heritage's costs incurred. "Under FOIA, CIA has twenty (20) business days to produce responsive documents or issue a determination communicating the scope of the documents it intends to produce and/or withhold, the reasons for any withholding, and notifying the requester that it may appeal any adverse determination," the paper further indicated. "Twenty business days from October 25, 2023, is November 20, 2023."

A whistleblower reached out to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic back in September alleging that the CIA rewarded six agents financially to change their position and come out against the possibility of the virus originating in a lab in Wuhan, China. At the time, spokesperson for the CIA's Office of Public Affairs Tammy Kupperman Thorp told Newsweek: "At CIA we are committed to the highest standards of analytic rigor, integrity, and objectivity. We do not pay analysts to reach specific conclusions. We take these allegations extremely seriously and are looking into them. We will keep our Congressional oversight committees appropriately informed."

Sens. Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, Rick Scott and Ron Johnson then wrote a letter to CIA Director William Burns requesting information on the allegations. "According to the whistleblower, at the end of its review, six of the seven members of the Team believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan," the House panel chairmen wrote to Burns. Assessments from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Energy have concluded that the virus most likely came from a lab in Wuhan where bat coronaviruses were being researched.

Fauci to testify in January

Meanwhile, the COVID subcommittee published a report in July accusing former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci of facilitating a campaign to cast doubt on the lab leak theory. In March, new evidence came out indicating that Fauci was behind an influential paper designed to discredit lab leak proponents. The CIA also brought Fauci into its headquarters to "influence" its lab leak investigation without keeping records of Faucis entry, the subcommittee alleged in September.

The former White House chief medical advisor is set to testify before the committee in January 2024. The said deposition will examine his role in the public health response to the pandemic. (Related: Fauci's former top deputy caught deleting correspondence on COVID-19 origins.)

John Ratcliffe, the former director of National Intelligence, has publicly stated his belief that the lab leak is the only credible explanation for the pandemics origins. The Heritage Foundation's lawsuit serves to underscore the importance of transparency in this ongoing debate about the origins of a pandemic that has significantly impacted the entire globe, analysts pointed out.

Head over to Pandemic.news for more stories related to COVID-19 origins.

Sources for this article include:

DailyCaller.com

Newsweek.com

Paul.Senate.gov

APNews.com

BNNBreaking.com
Israel KILLED more Palestinians in 2023 than in any year since the Nakba in 1948

In 2023, Israel killed the highest number of Palestinians since the Nakba in 1948 , as reported by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday, Jan. 1.

The Statistics Bureau recorded 22,404 documented killings of Palestinians last year. Of these, 22,141 occurred after Oct. 7, with 98 percent of those taking place in the Gaza Strip. This distressing figure includes nearly 9,000 children and 6,450 women.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, at least 319 Palestinians, including 111 children and four women, have been killed since Oct. 7 following an increase in indiscriminate and retaliatory violence against Palestinians perpetrated by Israeli settlers and military and police.

In Gaza, over 7,000 Palestinians, predominantly children and women, have been reported missing, while almost 1.9 million people have been internally displaced. (Related: TIMELINE: 75 Years of Israels human rights abuses against Palestinians.)

Gaza's total pre-war population stood at 2.3 million, with nearly half of these being children. Israel's offensive against Palestinians in the Strip has seen them deliberately targeting civilian homes and infrastructure, resulting in the destruction of 65,000 housing units and the inflicting of partial damage to nearly 300,000 more since Oct. 7.

Furthermore, Israel has deliberately targeted and killed at least 100 journalists. Israeli indiscriminate bombing has also killed doctors and other medical staff and caused significant damage to multiple hospitals and clinics.

Compiling accurate casualty tolls in Gaza has become increasingly challenging due to the destruction of basic infrastructure, frequent disruptions to phone and internet services, and the loss of health statisticians.

In the initial six weeks of the conflict, hospital morgues in Gaza provided figures to the Gaza Health Ministry's main data collection center at Al Shifa Hospital.

Excel sheets were used to record information on the dead including names, ages and ID card numbers. These were then transmitted to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah in the West Bank. However, the situation has since worsened, as at least one official working at Al Shifa has been killed since then and three others have gone missing after Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza allegedly seized the data center after claiming it was a suspected Hamas hideout.

The destruction of information infrastructure and health systems further complicates casualty recording, raising concerns about the ability to maintain an accurate count of the toll.

The kind of casualty recording required to understand whats going on is getting harder. Information structure, the health systems that existed, are being systematically destroyed, said Hamit Dardagan of Iraqi Body Count, set up during the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Israel also illegally detaining thousands more Palestinians

The Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has confirmed that Israel is also currently detaining nearly 8,000 Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children.

Among these detainees, nearly 3,000 are classified as "administrative detainees," or individuals being indefinitely held without charge or trial.

Many of these detainees are being held long enough for illegal Israeli settlers to come into the West Bank to steal their homes. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs notes that, by the end of 2022, there were nearly 750,000 Jewish settlers residing in 151 illegal settlements constructed all over stolen Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

It is essential to emphasize that international law considers all of Israel's settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as being illegal.

Watch this clip of Israeli forces raiding and violently beating and arresting Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

40 percent of Palestinians killed in Gaza are children

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Sources include:

MiddleEastMonitor.com

Reuters.com

Brighteon.com
Israeli drone strike assassinates Hamas deputy leader in Beirut

Israel has been blamed for the death of Hamas Deputy Chief Saleh al-Arouri to a drone strike in Beirut , Lebanon.

The incident occurred in Beirut's southern suburbs on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 2. Southern Beirut is known to be an area under the influence, if not the direct control, of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The strike, which Hezbollah attributed to Israel, targeted a Hamas office during a meeting with the Lebanese Sunni Islamist political party the Islamic Group. The strike resulted in the deaths of three Lebanese and four Palestinian individuals, including al-Arouri.

Video footage of the aftermath of the strike that circulated on social media shows a burning car and extensive damage to nearby buildings. It is feared that the incident could lead to a potential escalation of the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, expanding the violence to encompass more regions.

Israel, consistent with its policy, has refrained from officially claiming responsibility for the drone strike. Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, noted that "whoever did it, it must be clear: That this was not an attack on the Lebanese state." Without directly claiming responsibility for the strike, Regev further characterized the attack as "a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership."

Al-Arouri played a crucial role within Hamas, serving as the deputy head of its politburo and contributing to the founding of its military wing, the Qassam Brigades. He was stationed in Lebanon by Hamas senior leadership to act as a liaison between the group and Hezbollah.

Al-Arouri is the most senior Hamas figure to be killed since Oct. 7. He is also the first Hamas official outside internationally recognized Palestinian territory to be targeted by Israel since the outbreak of the current conflict.

The situation has significantly heightened tensions in the region, prompting strong reactions from Hezbollah and other groups condemning the incident. Israel, in response, declared a state of high readiness for potential developments.

Hamas, Hezbollah vow retaliation for drone strike

Following the attack, Hamas confirmed Al-Arouri's death and pledged retaliation, with Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas's political bureau, denouncing the assassination as a "cowardly  terrorist act, a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and an expansion of its circle of aggression."

Hezbollah, which controls security in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh where the strike occurred, condemned al-Arouri's assassination as a serious assault on Lebanon, its people, security, sovereignty and resistance against Zionism.

Following the attack, Hezbollah warned that it "will not go without a response or punishment." The group asserted its readiness to retaliate and announced a series of attacks on Israeli forces stationed directly across Lebanon's southern border, though specific details of the operations were not provided. (Related: Lebanons Hezbollah says it is prepared and ready to join the war against Israel.)

Iran, a major supporter of both Hamas and Hezbollah, warned Israel that al-Arouri's assassination would "undoubtedly ignite another surge in the veins of resistance" to Zionism.

Even the official government of Lebanon responded negatively to the assassination, with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati calling the drone strike a "new Israeli crime" and emphasizing how this strike could end up dragging Lebanon into a new phase of the conflict in Gaza.

He urged the international community to pressure Israel into ceasing its attacks on Lebanese territory, and his government has filed an official complaint with the United Nations Security Council.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib further noted that the government was talking to Hezbollah, urging the organization to not respond directly. He expressed concerns about Lebanon being dragged into a regional war and called on the West to pressure Israel to stop targeting Lebanon and to stop its indiscriminately violent campaign in Gaza.

Watch this clip from Hindustan Times discussing at least 10 confirmed Hezbollah attacks on Israel within 14 hours following the assassination of al-Arouri.

This video is from the White Knight channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Reuters journalist killed by Israeli missile fire in Lebanon while covering Israel-Hamas war.

Hezbollah strikes Northern Israel with four rockets, destroying key IDF base.

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Sources include:

Reuters.com

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Brighteon.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. There is a unique attitude to all religions in Azerbaijan - such attitude is not found anywhere else in the world, Jewish entrepreneur Elkhan Peysakhov told Trend, commenting on the statement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, are on a "watch list" for religious freedom.

"Frankly speaking, I am surprised that the US made such a statement. Apparently, this decision was made under the influence of the Armenian lobby. I was born in Baku and have never faced any religious or nationality-based challenges. I always wear the Star of David, and the guests coming from abroad are always surprised and question me about the fact that I wear it in public. I answer them that there are no issues in Baku with such matters, but when I go abroad, I always take it off," he said.

"I am proud that I am a Jew and live in Azerbaijan. I live freely here. There is a European synagogue in the very center of Baku, and a mountain Jews' synagogue next to it. Nowhere else in the world, there is such a thing. Azerbaijan has a very good attitude to all religions. We celebrate all Jewish holidays in the country. Azerbaijanis also join the celebrations, which is pleasant," the entrepreneur said.

According to Peysakhov, there are no barriers for Jews to live in Azerbaijan following all the canons of their religion.

"Even Jews living abroad come here to celebrate holidays and weddings. In particular, Jews have a custom of celebrating the 13th birthday of boys. It's called Bar Mitzvah. They celebrate it in a synagogue in Azerbaijan. Some Jewish friends ask me why I live in Azerbaijan and not in Israel, to which I answer: 'My homeland is Azerbaijan'," he added.

---

Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Israeli politician suggests taking advantage of the Holocaust to take over Gaza and displace Palestinians

An Israeli politician said in a recent interview that he believes his country should use the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust as an excuse to bomb Gaza, build settlements there and displace Palestinians.

In the interview, Feiglin stated in Hebrew: "We should overturn all the laws and take advantage of the Holocaust we went through and throw out all the laws so that we can achieve a crushing and painful victory, which means three things: occupation, displacement and settlement."

In the immediate aftermath of Hamass surprise attack on Israel on October 7 that killed more than a thousand Israelis and took hundreds of hostages, there were plenty of comparisons to the Holocaust.

On a visit to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken even mentioned the Holocaust during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he promised American support for Israels war.

"I come before you, not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew," he said. "My grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather, Samuel Pisar, survived concentration camps: Auschwitz, Dachau, Majdanek. So, Prime Minister, I understand, on a personal level, the harrowing echoes that Hamas's massacres carry for Israeli Jews, indeed, for Jews everywhere."

Since then, however, Israel has embarked on a brutal campaign to eradicate the terrorist group and is not distinguishing terrorists from civilians, and they are now facing widespread international criticism over the horrific death toll arising from their military operations.

So far, at least 10,000 children have been killed in the three-month operation as they continue to mercilessly bomb the enclave. According to journalist Keith Woods, Israels war against Hamas has been killing children at 100 times the rate that Russias war is killing Ukrainian children. Nearly 20,000 people are believed to have been killed in Gaza, with more than 80 percent of the strips population forced to flee their homes.

Multiple Israeli public figures have called for genocide

Feiglin isnt the only public figure who has used the Holocaust to justify genocide. The head of Israels Metula Council, David Azoulai, said in an interview with 103FM that Israel should conduct ethnic cleansing in Gaza by sending all Palestinians to refugee camps in Lebanon, emptying the Gaza strip and leveling it.

Then, he believes, The entire Gaza Strip should be emptied and leveled flat, just like in Auschwitz. Let it become a museum, showcasing the capabilities of the State of Israel and dissuading anyone from living in the Gaza Strip. This is what must be done to give them a visual representation.

The Auschwitz Museum in Poland officially condemned his comments, posting on X that Azoulai "appears to wish to use the symbol of the largest cemetery in the world as some sort of a sick, hateful, pseudo-artistic, symbolic expression.

They added: "We do hope that Israeli authorities will react to such shameful abuse, as terrorism can never be a response to terrorism."

A veteran analyst of the high-tech IDF spy branch Unit 8200, Eliyahu Yossian, said in an interview that Gazan babies and first graders are enemies of Israel. "The woman there is an enemy, the baby there is an enemy and the first grader is an enemy."

The Institute for National Security Studies researcher has made frequent appearances on Israeli TV and radio and is known for his extremist statements. In another interview, he said: You have to enter Gaza at the height of brutality, with the aim of revenge, zero morality, maximum corpses. He has also suggested Israel should follow the examples of the U.S.s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the UKs bombing of Dresden during World War II.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

JPost.com

NewArab.com
Chinese-made Teslas bound for Australia SENT BACK after discovery of biosecurity risks

A shipment of Chinese-manufactured Tesla Model Y electric SUVs bound for Australia was forced to return to Shanghai after the discovery of "biosecurity risks" upon its arrival at an Australian port.

Australian officials inspecting the Glovis Caravel, a vehicle-carrying ship with a capacity for up to 6,500 cars anchored off the coast of Brisbane, discovered the presence of Erthesina Fullo, commonly known as the yellow-spotted stink bugs. These are considered to be significant threats to the plant health and environment of Australia due to the potential damage they can cause to crops, fruits and ornamental trees. (Related: EV COLLAPSE: Car dealerships are now rejecting EV deliveries due to low sales.)

According to a spokesperson from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, after several weeks being anchored off Brisbane and after the Glovis Caravel's crew undertook extensive fumigation procedures, the ship left Australian territory "to manage the biosecurity risk associated with the goods." Upon the Glovis Caravel's return, its goods will only be allowed to unload when the biosecurity risks had been mitigated to acceptable levels.

In response to the unexpected setback, Tesla advised affected customers of the delay through an email.

"We are actively investigating all available options to get your Model Y to you as soon as possible. This may include reassigning your order to a vehicle from the next batch of production. Further details will be provided in the coming week. Thank you again for your patience; we understand this has been a disappointing experience. However, we want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to minimize the impact on you," Tesla wrote in an email sent to prospective Tesla Model Y owners.

Furthermore, Tesla Owners Australia Facebook group posts suggest that Tesla is now working to reassign orders from those with vehicles on the Glovis Caravel to a new vehicle with a different vehicle identification number, new ship and new delivery ship. However, the timeline for the proper fumigation of the Glovis Caravel and when it will be granted permission to travel back to Australia remain uncertain.

Glovis Caravel cargo has multiple cases of carrying yellow-spotted stink bugs and other biosecurity risks

The yellow-spotted stink bug incident is not new for Glovis Caravel. In 2018, the cargo ship was ordered four times to leave New Zealand after the crew discovered around 600 stink bugs, with 12 of them still alive.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) took decisive action when the vessel, anchored near Auckland, reported finding hundreds of stink bugs despite the ship being sealed. The high risk associated with the infestation prompted the order for its immediate departure.

"Even though the vessel was sealed, we assessed that the risk was too high for it to remain in New Zealand waters. It will now have to be treated off-shore before it can return," stated Steve Gilbert, the director of the border clearance services at MPI.

New Zealand has experienced a surge in brown marmorated stink bug detections recently, particularly on cargo ships arriving from Japan. In response, MPI has intensified its border inspection and verification procedures for bulk carriers from the region.

The latest news about the EV push and the lies that often accompany it can be found at GreenNewDeal.news.

Watch this clip from Newsmax as Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst talks about how President Joe Biden's push for electric vehicles is unrealistic.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

EV COLLAPSE: Electric vehicle manufacturer Lordstown Motors files for bankruptcy.

EV owners complain about logistical nightmare caused by lack of charging stations.

EV challenges: Electric car charging stations power usage exceeds that of 280 HOMES.

EV supply chain problems drive GM to build green battery packs for electric cars BY HAND.

EVs are NOT zero emissions: It takes 500,000 pounds of earth material to build a single 1,000-pound battery.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

LandcareResearch.co.nz

Drive.com.au

NZHerald.co.nz

Brighteon.com
Nearly 10,000 homes in U.K. left WITHOUT POWER as Storm Henk batters country

Nearly 10,000 homes in the United Kingdom are currently without power due to a major storm that hit South West England.

Sky News reported on Jan. 3 that Storm Henk brought in winds of up to 94 miles per hour in Britain. It pummeled South West England and South Wales with strong winds, including the South Midlands and East Anglia. Many areas were also flooded as a result of the storm, the outlet added.

The Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents all energy providers across the U.K., said an estimated 38,000 people were left without electricity as a direct result of Storm Henk. ENA spokesman Ross Easton said technicians restored electricity to more than 100,000 customers after the storm damaged power lines on Jan. 3.

A day earlier, the ENA told i News  sister paper to the Independent  that around 8,900 properties were left without power. It added that most of the households without electricity were based in South West England, with nearly 2,000 affected homes in Cornwall. (Related: Hurricane Idalia batters Florida with catastrophic flooding, leaving some areas uninhabitable for "months" and at least 270,000 people without power.)

Aside from homeowners, passengers taking London's train system were affected by the storm.

Southern Rail told passengers not to travel "unless absolutely necessary" due to "multiple weather-related incidents." Avanti West Coast confirmed "multiple incidents of flooding on its train network, closing lines between Birmingham, Coventry and Stafford. South Western Railway urged people not to patronize its train service due to the severe weather, and authorized customers to book its taxis for travel across its network.

Even aircraft wasn't spared, with footage showing planes struggling to land at Heathrow Airport. One British Airways jet was forced to take off again as it reached the runway during a landing due to strong winds. Meanwhile, an Apache helicopter on the Middle Wallop airfield in Hampshire village was toppled.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned citizens of a "potential risk to life and property" in the British capital. His warning came amid many locals returning to the city after the Christmas holiday.

Aftermath of Storm Henk prompted rescue missions

The damage caused by Storm Henk prompted rescue missions in some areas. In Warwickshire county, first responders were called to Kenilworth Ford to rescue a driver who got stuck trying to maneuver through the flood water.

"Due to the speed of the flowing water, we used our inflatable sled to safely rescue the car's occupants," a spokesman for the Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service said. "Please avoid the area and don't try to drive through flood water."

A woman was hit by a tree in the Orpington area of South East London, suffering severe but "not life-threatening" injuries. "We sent resources to the scene including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and London's air ambulance," the Metropolitan Police Service said.

In South London's Sutton town, the entirety of a scaffolding structure fell off the face of a building and crashed on to the pavement in front of a passerby. No injuries were reported in relation to this incident.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) became inundated by calls of fallen debris in the aftermath of Storm Henk. This prompted the service to call on people to only report emergencies and secure outdoor decorations and trash bins. Reports of falling trees and scaffolding should be passed on to local councils, the LFB stressed.

"Stay indoors when possible, but if you need to travel  take extra care as strong winds can pick up flying debris," the brigade reiterated.

Visit Disaster.news for more stories about natural and man-made disasters around the world.

Watch this footage of the damage caused by Hurricane Ian, which battered the state of Florida.

This video is from the Ourloveconnection channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Hurricane Ian takes out FERTILIZER production for North America, power grid DOWN, widespread supply chain damage.

Major Florida fertilizer hub took DIRECT HIT by Hurricane Ian, produces HALF the phosphate fertilizer for America.

Federal government may have "weaponized" Hurricane Ian to magnify climate change narrative.

CROP COLLAPSE: Florida citrus crops DESTROYED by Hurricane Ian.

Sources include:

InfoWars.com

News.Sky.com

iNews.co.uk

Brighteon.com
Will hackers cripple America with a cyberattack? Expert says it might happen in 2024

The currently fictitious subject matter of the new apocalyptic dystopian thriller film "Leave the World Behind," a project of Barack Obama's "Higher Ground Productions" company, could soon become a reality

The film depicts the United States in a full-scale collapse due to a cyberattack that takes down everything from phone lines to the power grid to the internet, and even satellites in orbit. In the currently globalized world, all of these things are vital to the continuity of the current world order  without them, "Leave the World Behind" would become a documentary rather than a fictitious thriller.

Megan Wright, a former senior advisor at the U.S. State Department Antiterrorism Assistance Program who also worked as a senior law enforcement advisor for the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC) says the dystopian content of "Leave the World Behind" is not out of the realm of possibility should a cyberattack of the level depicted manifest.

"Now, as the Chief Security Advisor for cybersecurity company SentinelOne, defense against ransomware and state-sponsored cyber strikes is my job," Wright said in a piece she wrote for the DailyMail Online (United Kingdom).

"China and Russia are the only adversarial nation-states with the military and cyber capability to conduct total global warfare. These enemies of America don't need to bring down passenger planes or sabotage supertankers to trigger mayhem."

(Related: Check out these tips for how to survive a potential cyberattack takedown of America.)

A new world order is birthed

To be clear, Wright's opinions about China and Russia, in that context, are merely speculation. The United States itself, and the so-called "deep state" that runs it behind the veil, is fully capable of taking down America itself in a false flag attack, which it could then blame on an enemy like China or Russia.

Hackers have already tested the waters, it would seem, with smaller-scale cyberattacks in recent years, i.e., the recent cyberattack on a water facility in Hawaii; another on a West Coast port; and another on an oil and gas pipeline.

The Russian-linked ransomware group DarkSide was also blamed on the May 7, 2021, attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which created gasoline shortages throughout the American South and all along the American East Coast. That particular oil system is the largest of its kind, supplying about 45 percent of the East Coast's fuel supply.

"News channels showed images of cars lined up for miles as gas stations from Virginia to Florida ran dry and were forced to close," Wright said. "North Carolina declared a state of emergency. It didn't matter that the attack only lasted a few days. It didn't matter that the oil supply wasn't lost or that the government was cautioning everyone to remain calm."

"The fear was real  and that's a precursor to bringing a nation to its knees."

Then there is the ongoing threat of China invading and trying to take over Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently warned President Joe Biden that his plan is to "reunify" Taiwan with the Chinese mainland, an action that would require a full-scale invasion.

Should the U.S. defy this plan by China, the communist country might launch a cyberattack on America, likely in major population centers like Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Phoenix, Houston, or Philadelphia  this is the opinion of Wright, anyway.

"Taking out power to 100 homes would generate little interest and have negligible impact," Wright warned. "The goal of a power attack is to cause massive disruption and create the conditions to overwhelm public safety and the response of federal authorities."

"Perhaps, the Chinese would take a page out of the Russian cyber playbook."

More related news can be found at Cyberwar.news.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
Zelensky predicts ISOLATION of Crimea region in 2024 during New Years Day interview

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has predicted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) will "isolate" this year the eastern Crimea region , which joined Russia in 2014.

Zelensky made the prediction in a Jan. 1 interview with the Economist magazine. According to him, Kyiv will seek to cut off access to Crimea's Kerch Peninsula by destroying the Kerch Strait Bridge. The bridge connects Crimea to the Taman Peninsula in Russia's Krasnodar Krai region.

To accomplish this goal, Zelensky demanded that the West give him long-range Taurus cruise missiles made in Germany. Despite France and the United Kingdom providing Kyiv with Storm Shadow missiles, Berlin has so far refused to send the Taurus missiles that possess "the ability to explode deep inside a target." (Related: France promises to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, putting a target on itself for Russias nuclear weapons.)

According to the Ukrainian leader, isolating Crimea is "extremely important" as the region hosts Russia's Black Sea military fleet. "Russia has to know that for us, this is a military object," he told the Economist.

Zelensky reiterated his ambitious goal of eventually restoring the country's 1991 borders, established after the fall of the Soviet Union. While this goal has not and will not change, he is no longer setting timelines and refraining from making promises of how much territory Kyiv can "de-occupy" this 2024. Instead, Zelensky said the immediate goals of the AFU are to "defend the east;" "protect [Ukraine's] critical infrastructure;" and "save [the] very important cities" of Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv.

He blamed information leaks for the failure of Kyiv's much-hyped summer counteroffensive against Moscow. He also complained that the "mobilization of Ukrainian society and of the world" was much lower now compared to when the conflict began in February 2022. Moreover, Zelensky insinuated that the Germans  who have refused to give him the Taurus missiles he wants  aren't the only Western power standing in his way.

Military success depends on "assistance" from the West

During the interview, the comedian-turned-president admitted that Ukraine's "military success" will depend on assistance from the West. "Giving us money or giving us weapons, you support yourself," said Zelensky. "You save your children, not ours."

"The most important profession a Ukrainian can do at the moment is to be in Ukraine. For our Western partners, it is to be with Ukraine. If you don't have the strength, then either get out or step aside."

Zelensky declared martial law in Ukraine, alongside a general mobilization, in February 2022. At the time, most men aged between 18 and 60 years old were prohibited from leaving the country. However, Kyiv's losses at the hands of Moscow decimated a huge percentage of the AFU.

Ukraine's disappointing summer counteroffensive cost Kyiv almost 160,000 troops, according to the Kremlin. Despite this, Zelensky recently announced a plan to raise 500,000 more soldiers to replace battlefield losses.

"Mobilization is not just a matter of soldiers going to the front; it is about all of us, it is the mobilization of all efforts, he told the Economist. Let's be honest: We have switched to domestic politics. If we continue to focus on domestic politics, we need to call elections, change the law [and] the constitution. But forget about counteroffensive actions and de-occupation."

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that Russian forces now hold the strategic initiative in the Russia-Ukraine war. In contrast, he noted that Kyiv has largely been driven by political goals. According to Putin, Ukraine's efforts have been aimed at showing its "true masters at least some results."

"The West is not abandoning its strategy of containing Russia and its aggressive goals in Ukraine," said the Russian leader. "Well, we are not going to give up our goals for the special military operation either."

Head over to UkraineWitness.com for more stories about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Watch Emerald Robinson discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky begging for more aid from the U.S. below.

This video is from The Absolute Truth w/ Emerald channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Russian lawmaker: Attack on Crimean Bridge "a declaration of war without rules" against Russia.

MORE, MORE, MORE! Zelensky calls on West to provide Ukraine with air defense systems.

Russia Ukraine War getting out of hand following Kerch Bridge explosion, Putin retaliation.

ALL BARK, NO BITE: Ukraine's much-hyped counteroffensive SLOWED by vast minefield.

Russia pulls Black Sea vessels out of Crimea following Ukrainian missile, drone strikes.

Sources include:

RT.com 1

TheEconomist.com

RT.com 2

Brighteon.com
The latest weather forecast reported that heavy rain and flooding emerged in parts of Europe, especially in Finland and Sweden due to the Arctic blast. The forecast warned of cold-related health concerns and travel disruption due to the poor weather conditions.

People with travel plans should stay alert for challenging commutes in Scandinavia due to freezing rain in the region. Motorists should stay out of flooded areas due to deadly flooding, including in London. Commuters can face slippery roads and streets, causing widespread travel disruption.

Furthermore, the colder conditions can cause hypothermia and frostbite. Prolonged exposure to cold is not advisable. Homeowners should wear winter-related clothes if they plan to leave their homes.

In the UK, flood warnings were also reported in the country due to threats of heavy rain under extreme cold. Hundreds of homes were immediately evacuated due to the flooding rainfall in the UK, including London.

Arctic Blast Brought Heavy Rains in Parts of Europe

The latest weather report showed that an arctic blast unleashed extreme cold and rainy conditions in the Scandivania states and parts of Europe, especially in Finland and Sweden.

In Northern Sweden, record-low temperatures occurred in parts of the country with heavy snow. The heavy snow became problematic for motorists traveling this week as they could likely become stranded.

The freezing temperatures can result in hypothermia and frostbite. Homeowners should limit any outdoor activities if the travel is not essential. Power outages and inaccessible road conditions can happen due to the frozen outlook and heavy snow.

Stormy conditions were also reported in parts of France and Germany. Authorities are expected to deploy more personnel to help with the affected areas and residents.

In addition, the NWS Climate Prediction Center reported that a widespread arctic air outbreak could unfold in the Lower 48 in mid-January. Homeowners should watch out for dropping temperatures and wind chills, affecting portions of Northern Plains and Intermountain West.

Meanwhile, stormy conditions and wintry precipitation can unfold in the interior Northeast. Flooding could also hit the Eastern Seaboard.

Also Read: Southern US Weather: Stormy Conditions, Flooding Risk To Unload in Early Week

Flooding Rainfall and Winter Storms: How Can People Prepare

The latest forecast warned of flooding rainfall and extreme cold in parts of Europe this week. Flooding hazards were reported due to rounds of rain. People near low-lying areas are at risk of moderate to severe flooding.

Due to heavy snow, homeowners should also store home emergency kits. Power outages and difficult road conditions can occur due to the stormy outlook. The recommended emergency kits are the following:

Battery-powered radio

Flashlights

Food packs

Water supplies

Winter clothes

Shovel

Related Article: West Coast Weather Forecast: Cross-Country Storm To Bring Mountain Snow, Heavy Rain in Mid-January

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World New
Ducks mostly consist of aquatic birds and can be found both in freshwater and seawater environments where some breeds are observed flying over, including traveling or migrating long distances. Although all ducks have wings, there are still some people who ask "Can ducks fly?"

The answer to the question lies in the linkage between bird flight, including ability, distance, and frequency, and the breed of wild ducks and domestic ducks; experts observed that most of the former can fly, while most of the latter can glide.

Furthermore, the size of a bird is also a crucial factor when it comes to duck flight and aerial mobility. This is the case in some breeds of ducks, and some sources indicate that there are instances when the winged animals choose not to fly since it is not necessary.

Can Ducks Fly?

The answer to the inquiry 'can ducks fly?' is a resounding yes but scientists explain that not all ducks or even birds in contemporary times can still take to the skies. The main reason behind this is evolutionary biology. For millions of years, evolution has transformed some of the birds that we know today to be flightless despite having noticeable wings on their sides.

This means that most ducks on Earth can fly but not all of them can, including the flightless domestic duck breed or "farm ducks" such as the American Pekin duck or Long Island Duck.

Based on existing records and observations made on ducks, some breeds choose not to fly and are content to hang out near their coop despite being in a free, open areas like farms.

Meanwhile, some breeds will take every opportunity to fly away from their owners despite being fed and provided with necessity. Lastly, some duck breeds cannot fly at all, as mentioned earlier.

Also Read: Seabird Terns Can Seem To Anticipate Typhoons To Assist in Their Migration

True Flight

Just like with other birds, the mechanism behind duck flight is within the same confines of how avians (in general) are capable of the ability called 'true flight,' which pertains to flying against gravity, staying in the air for a prolonged period, and managing to exert thrust in different directions.

In this context, ducks, flying squirrels, and other animals that only glide are not engaging in true flight, which some winged insects are capable of.

How Birds Learn to Fly?

In terms of true bird flight, wild ducks and domestic ducks are still part of an evolutionary lineage of birds that descended from surviving avian dinosaurs during the mass extinction event 66 million years ago.

However, clues about the mystery of how birds learn to fly dates back 150 million to 125 million years ago, a time when a prehistoric avian dinosaur called the Archaeopteryx lived.

According to the University of California University of Paleontology, the discovery of Archaeopteryx lithographica in Germany sheds light on the true flight ability of some of the birds that we know today and this ancient dinosaur is considered by many as the "first bird" due to its wings and feathers.

Related Article: Fireworks Make Wild Birds Sleep Less and Fly 300 Miles Nonstop, Study Shows
One of the most fascinating questions in biology is how major evolutionary transitions occur. How did animals evolve from single-celled organisms? How did birds evolve from dinosaurs? How did mammals evolve from reptiles?

These are some of the examples of dramatic changes in the history of life that have puzzled scientists for centuries.

A new study by researchers at the University of Sheffield sheds light on this question by examining a group of marine snails that have undergone a remarkable transition in their reproductive mode.

The study reveals how this transition happened gradually rather than in a single leap, and how it involved many small genetic changes that accumulated over time.

The study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, has important implications for understanding the evolutionary processes that shape the diversity of life on Earth. It also challenges some of the popular misconceptions about how evolution works and how it leads to new functions.

Unlocking Evolution's Mysteries: The Marine Snails Revelation

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have made a groundbreaking discovery that could potentially rewrite textbooks on evolutionary biology.

By studying the whole-genome sequences of a group of marine snails, they have gained insights into the gradual nature of significant evolutionary changes.

These marine snails, common on the rocky shores of Europe, the U.K., and the East Coast of the U.S., have become central to understanding how game-changing innovations like flight, vision, and live-bearing offspring evolved.

Contrary to popular belief in dramatic "monster" steps or "hopeful monsters," evolution appears to be a series of small, incremental steps occasionally leading to striking new functions.

Also Read: Invasive Apple Snails Lay Thousands of Egg Masses in Man-Made Louisiana Canal

From Egg-Laying to Live Birth

The study reveals that these marine snails have recently transitioned from egg-laying to live birth. This shift is seen as an intermediate stage in evolution-a living proof against the notion that such significant transitions occur suddenly.

This revelation underscores natural selection's role in favoring gradual mutations over large-effect mutations. It provides tangible evidence against theories suggesting abrupt changes and supports a more nuanced understanding of evolutionary processes.

According to the lead author of the study, Dr. Tim Carvajal, the findings challenge the idea that major evolutionary transitions happen in one big leap.

Dr. Carvajal that they show that they are the result of many small changes accumulating over time and occasionally leading to new functions.

He also said that this is important because it helps people appreciate the complexity and diversity of life on Earth and how it came to be.

He added that it also has implications for how people approach conservation and management of biodiversity in the face of environmental change.

The study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, involved analyzing the genomes of 18 species of Littorina snails, which vary widely in their reproductive modes, shell shapes, and habitats.

The researchers found that the snails share a common ancestor that lived about 20 million years ago and that their differences emerged gradually through natural selection.

The researchers also identified genes that are associated with the transition from egg-laying to live birth, such as those involved in maternal-fetal interactions, nutrient transport, and immune response.

They found that these genes have been evolving rapidly in the live-bearing snails, suggesting that they are under strong selection pressure.

The study is part of a larger project funded by the European Research Council, which aims to understand the genetic and ecological factors that drive the evolution of reproductive modes in animals.

Dr. Carvajal said that he hopes that the study will inspire more research on the molecular mechanisms and evolutionary dynamics of major evolutionary transitions, which are still poorly understood.

He also said that he hopes that it will raise awareness of the importance of preserving the diversity of life on Earth, which is the result of millions of years of evolution.

Related Article: Invasive Snails Killing Great Lake Birds
In the fertile lands of the San Joaquin Valley, a silent crisis brews beneath the surface. Despite urgent pleas from local officials and environmentalists, agricultural magnates continue their relentless extraction of groundwater.

The city of Corcoran, a community of approximately 20,000 residents and home to a maximum-security prison, is sinking.

The persistent over-pumping of groundwater by major landowners in the Tulare Lake Basin has initiated a slow-motion collapse of the valley floor.

The Unyielding Groundwater Extraction

The San Joaquin Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, producing more than half of the nation's fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

However, this bounty comes at a steep price: the depletion of the basin's aquifers, which are not only essential for agriculture but also integral to the community's survival.

According to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey, the valley has lost about 41 cubic kilometers of groundwater since 1980, enough to fill Lake Tahoe. This has caused the land to subside, or sink, by as much as 8.5 meters in some areas.

The subsidence has damaged roads, bridges, canals, and other infrastructure, posing a threat to public safety and the environment.

One of the most affected areas is Corcoran, where the land has sunk by more than 3.5 meters since the 1920s.

The town is surrounded by a levee that protects it from the floodwaters of the nearby Kings River. However, as the land sinks, the levee becomes less effective, exposing the town to the risk of inundation.

The groundwater pumping in the Tulare Lake Basin is mainly driven by the demand for irrigation water for crops such as almonds, pistachios, grapes, and cotton.

These crops are highly profitable, but also require large amounts of water, especially during the dry summer months.

The basin's surface water supply, which comes from the Sierra Nevada snowmelt, is often insufficient to meet the irrigation needs, especially in drought years. Therefore, farmers resort to pumping groundwater from wells, some of which are hundreds of meters deep.

The problem is that the groundwater pumping exceeds the natural recharge rate of the aquifer, which is the amount of water that seeps back into the ground from precipitation, runoff, and irrigation return flows.

This creates an imbalance between the inputs and outputs of the groundwater system, resulting in a net loss of water storage. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the average annual groundwater overdraft in the Tulare Lake Basin is about 1.8 cubic kilometers.

A Community's Plea for Survival

Emergency workers and desperate local officials had once rallied together in an effort to raise the town's levee with a multimillion-dollar effort funded by local property tax hikes and contributions from the prison system.

However, as nature proves its indomitable force, these efforts are no longer sufficient. An additional $17 million has been poured into another round of levee enhancements in an attempt to save the town.

But the levee is not the only problem. The sinking land also affects the quality and quantity of the groundwater, which is the main source of drinking water for the town.

As the aquifer is depleted, it becomes more vulnerable to contamination from pesticides, fertilizers, and saltwater intrusion.

Moreover, the reduced groundwater levels make it harder and more expensive for farmers to pump water for their crops, threatening their livelihoods and the local economy.

The situation is so dire that some residents have decided to leave the town, while others are hoping for a miracle. The mayor of Corcoran, Josephine Ramirez, said that they needed help from the state and the federal government.

She said that they needed them to regulate the groundwater pumping and to provide them with alternative water sources. She said that they couldn't keep sinking like this. She said that they were fighting for their lives.

The state and the federal government have taken some steps to address the groundwater crisis in the San Joaquin Valley.

In 2014, California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires local agencies to develop and implement plans to achieve sustainable groundwater management by 2040. The act also gives the state the authority to intervene if the local agencies fail to comply.

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $10 million investment to support water conservation and groundwater recharge projects in the valley.

However, these measures may not be enough to reverse the decades of groundwater depletion and land subsidence.

Some experts suggest that more drastic actions are needed, such as reducing the amount of water-intensive crops, increasing the use of recycled water and stormwater capture, and implementing more efficient irrigation technologies.

These actions would require significant changes in the agricultural practices and policies of the valley, as well as the cooperation and coordination of various stakeholders.

The fate of Corcoran and other sinking towns in the San Joaquin Valley depends on how the groundwater crisis is resolved. If the current trends continue, the valley may face a future of water scarcity, environmental degradation, and social unrest. If the groundwater pumping is reduced and the aquifer is replenished, the valley may be able to restore its natural balance and sustain its agricultural productivity. The choice is ours to make.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. Azerbaijan has created all the necessary conditions for the free practice of all religions, Chief Rabbi of the Mountain Jews Synagogue in Tel Aviv Shmuel Simantov told Trend, commenting on the statement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, are on a "watch list" for religious freedom.

"I was born in Baku. I ended my activity in Azerbaijan two years ago, and at present I am in Israel. While in Azerbaijan, I was a rabbi in the Oghuz district, in the synagogue of European and Georgian Jews in Baku, and the director of the Hebrew-speaking section in Azerbaijani middle school. I am a religious person and have never encountered any challenges regarding my beliefs in Azerbaijan," he said.

Simantov said that despite the attempts of external influence, all the necessary environmental conditions have been created in Azerbaijan for the free practice of not only Judaism but all religions.

"We have always celebrated all our religious holidays in Azerbaijan without any obstacles, freely walk with the Torah in our hands in the streets," the rabbi said.

There are allocations for synagogues, churches, and mosques in Azerbaijan every year, he emphasized.

"There are two synagogues in Oguz, five in Guba, and three in Baku. All of them are allocated funds. In addition, the state ensures their protection," he added.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
It was a breakthrough as he was arrested just 20 days before the Republic Day. His interrogation is underway to find out how he planned to use that ammunition, the sources said. According to sources, a Pakistan-based handler was coordinating the delivery of arms and ammunition, and Mattu would have, on his instructions, carried out some audacious terror strikes in J&K and other places.
The number of daily cases was in double digits till December 5 but it began to rise again amid cold weather conditions and after the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant, JN.1. After December 5, the highest single-day rise of 841 cases was reported on December 31, 2023, which was 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said.
Senior JD(U) leader and Bihars water resources minister Sanjay Jha said there was no question of his party conceding its sitting seats  the ones it contested in the 2019 polls  to other allies of INDIA in the state. A final decision on seat-sharing should be taken as early as possible, he said, adding that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wanted to complete the process in October itself but it could not happen due to Congress preoccupation with the assembly elections held in five states recently.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. The deadline for setting up polling stations for voters who are in foreign countries and registered in consulates for voting ends tomorrow, as stated in the calendar of the main actions and measures for the preparation and holding of the extraordinary presidential election in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

The polling stations were to be established by heads of diplomatic missions or consular offices of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the territories of residence of voters no later than 30 days before the voting day - January 8, 2024.

The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan (CEC) on Dec. 19 approved the candidacy of Ilham Aliyev, nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), for participation in the extraordinary presidential election.

Later, at the CEC session held on December 21, the commission approved the self-nominated candidates of Zahid Oruj and Fuad Aliyev, Fazil Mustafa of the Great Order Party, Elshad Musayev of the Great Azerbaijan Party, Gudrat Hasanguliyev of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party and Razi Nurullayev of the National Front Party to become candidates for the upcoming election.

On Dec. 26, self-nominated Sarvan Karimov, Matlab Mutallimli, Abutalib Samedov, Fikrat Yusifov, Yusif Baghirzadeh, Arzuman Abdulkarimov, Yunus Oguz and Gulamhuseyn Alibeyli have been approved by the CEC to put up their candidacies for the presidential election. Also, on December 30, the CEC approved the self-nominated Namizad Safarov to put up his candidacy for the election.

Early presidential election will be held in Azerbaijan on February 7, 2024. The corresponding decree was signed by President Ilham Aliyev.

Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Ansari said that he was happy to get the invite for Pran Pratishthha which was considered to be auspicious for Muslims. I am happy that the idol of Ram is going to be installed. We Muslims accept Shri Ram as our Imam-e- Hind and we are happy in the happiness of our Hindu brothers, he added.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, the CMD of Bihar State Power Holding Company Sanjeev Hans, who is also one of the senior IAS officers of the state said, "We are progressing in setting records in Smart Prepaid Meters installation continuously. So far, more than 24.35 lakh smart Prepaid Meters have been installed including 13.36 lakh in North Bihar".
She also said that the minimum sentence is of 14 years, but for people convicted of murder committed with premeditation and with exceptional violence or brutality, it is 26 years; while for those convicted of crimes with exceptional violence or with brutality or death of victim due to burn and/or murder with rape, it is 28 years.
Echoing the same, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the attack was instigated by police, the department overseen by Mamata. After this attack by miscreants from the ruling establishment against central agency officials, it is clearer than ever that there is no law and order in the state. This time, they escaped with injuries. Tomorrow they could be murdered. Even that ought not to be a surprise any longer. It is a fit case for Presidents rule, said the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha.
However, soon after coming back to Vadodara late at night, Shrivastav clarified that he had gone to Ahmedabad for personal work and Shaktisinh called him. "We are old friends come and have tea. So I went to meet him, but there was no political talk."
In a similar incident, the ED officers faced ire of the ruling partys supporters when they were arresting former chairman of Bongaon civic body Shankar Adhya in connection with the same foodgrain scam, in which former food and supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested, late on Friday night. Adhyas followers surrounded the sleuths of the investigating agency and smashed the rear wind-shield of one of its vehicles. However, none of the ED officers was injured in the incident.
The aircraft overflew the vessel on the early morning of (Friday) and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew, the Navy said. In an update on Friday evening, the UKMTO said, Military forces have now boarded the vessel and conducted a thorough search. No unauthorised persons were found on board, all crew are safe and accounted for.
Earlier, the central agencies conducted raids at the properties of his three sisters when small children were present. Now, Rohit is the target. About 95% of the properties raided by central agencies belong to the opposition. The opposition is the BJPs target, and the ED is acting as its hitman. We are not afraid and will fight this, Ms. Sule added.
Sources said supporters of Sheikh, a local TMC leader, turned violent when the ED team tried to break open the locks of the door to go inside the house. Explaining the events leading to the attack, an ED official said the four-member team reached Sheikhs house around 7 am. The gates were locked from inside. We pressed the bell for 30 minutes, but there was no response. So, we decided to break in. Sheikhs followers started assembling when the CAPF personnel started breaking the locks. The crowd suddenly attacked us. One of our officers sustained a deep a head injury. We had no other option than fleeing.
It further claimed that the MoU will continue in effect for five years or until the effective end of the South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) whichever period is shorter. As part of the MoU, the dependence of IR on imported fuels such as diesel and coal will be reduced further while the deployment of renewable energy plants will get a major push.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. Armenia declares its readiness to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

When, where, and under what conditions will this document be signed?

The resolution of "neither war nor peace" situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the beginning of normalization of interstate relations, restoration of ties and communications, opening of new routes  all these processes depend on the outcome of the final peace agreement.

The document can be signed soon, unless there are new provocations from foreign states, especially France, and serious destructive pressure on Yerevan.

Most obstacles in the signing process of the peace agreement have been removed, and solutions to some problems have been found. Now everything depends on the political will of the Armenian leadership.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has not changed his previous rhetoric. He does not consider it effective to sign a peace agreement without international guarantees. Pashinyan believes that the guarantors of the document he will sign with Baku must be either the US, France, or the European Union.

Although such a guarantee is unnecessary. The peace agreement to be signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia is essentially a framework document confirming the readiness of the parties to build further relations within the framework of international law. There is no need for guarantees from the US, the European Union, France, or Russia for a document that emphasizes that relations will be based on fundamental principles and basic norms of international law.

After signing the agreement by Baku and Yerevan, as well as completing the corresponding ratification procedures in the parliaments of both countries, the document is registered and approved at the UN.

The peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be signed by the foreign ministers.

Baku considers the most effective option to be coordinating the treaty directly with Yerevan through bilateral negotiations and discussions, followed by signing it in Tbilisi. Since the political elites of Armenia, not interested in strengthening Georgia in the region geopolitically, and at the same time not daring to violate the diplomatic course prescribed by the European Union and France, are likely to reject the Tbilisi option and insist on signing the document in Brussels.

Russia does not consider any of these options acceptable. Not by chance, at the end of last year, both the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the country's president Vladimir Putin reminded about the trilateral statement signed on November 10, 2020, emphasizing that this document contributed to the end of the second Karabakh war.

By this, Russia signaled to Yerevan that it insists on having the peace agreement signed in Moscow. At the same time, Russia also wants to present the Moscow option as a regional platform, holding consultations with Turkiye and Iran regarding the process of signing the specified document. Armenia is likely to reject Moscow's proposal, as its patrons ask Armenia to sign the document in one of the Western countries. Washington and Brussels are the possible options.

Iran's recent activation is evident in attempts to influence processes in the South Caucasus: Tehran is suggested as the place where the final version of the peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan will be approved and signed. For Baku, this option is not desirable since Iran has a negative track record of implementing peacekeeping missions and conducting negotiations under its mediation. Considering that the investigation into the bloody terrorist attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran hasn't been completed, and the embassy has not resumed its activities, Iran's proposal is not suitable for Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Armenia plans to sign an agreement with Turkiye on opening the borders, restoring transportation communications, reestablishing diplomatic relations, etc. Thus, Istanbul or Ankara are also among the potential places where the peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan can be signed.

The likelihood of signing the agreement in Istanbul increases against the background of reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin will make an official visit to Turkiye this year. However, it's clear that the European Union won't consider the Istanbul option acceptable, and France, with strong and uncompromising protests, will exert pressure on Armenia.

Since Armenia does not conduct an independent diplomatic course, Pashinyan's government will have to take into account the demands of its patrons who support, finance, and arm its army, as well as states that fuel Armenian revanchism. However, Pashinyan understands that full compliance with the demands of patrons may get Armenia involved in a new war, putting an end to Armenian statehood. Yerevan's harsh messages to the former leader of the Armenian separatists in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, Samvel Shahramanyan, who fled to Armenia, are connected precisely with this.

Acting under the dictate and scenario of external forces, Shahramanyan was preparing to announce that the document on the dissolution of all structures of the separatist junta from January 1, 2024, "has no legal force and legitimacy". However, Pashinyan and his team understand that the activities of separatist structures in the country, such as Armenian residents of Karabakh who voluntarily moved from Azerbaijan to Armenia, including puppet structures called the "government and parliament in exile", will be considered a direct threat to the territorial integrity, border immunity, and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

In this case, Baku would be forced to take necessary, adequate steps within the basic principles of international law, and Armenians don't believe that these steps will limit with political statements.

Baku is patient, but Armenia should not forget how Azerbaijan prevents threats to itself and its citizens when its patience runs out. Yerevan is now facing a choice. If the choice is made incorrectly, the result could be very disappointing.

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"During our meetings with Minister Irani we explored various opportunities that we aim to capitalise and challenges that we are dedicated to overcoming. We will also facilitate arrival of more pilgrims for Umrah, Dr Tawfiq had said during his visit to Delhi in December 2023. He also pointed out that there was a 22 per cent increase (1.2 million) in people travelling for Umrah from India in 2023 when compared to 2022.
The satellite placed in the orbit of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth, has covered only one per cent of the distance to the Sun. It will be undertaking several studies on the impact of the Suns radiation, solar flares, solar storms and other particles on the Earth through payloads.
Therefore, it is requested that elections should be held on this seat without any delay, it said. Though Soren has rejected the speculations that his wife Kalpana Soren would be contesting the by-election from Gandey to retain the CM post after his resignation and termed it a complete imagination, political experts still believe that the seat was vacated for Kalpana Soren only.
Kharge highlighted contradictions in the governments messaging on China policy, referring to Jaiswals comments. He also mentioned reports of Chinese diplomats visiting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters. On one hand, the foreign ministry of the Modi government acknowledged for the first time that relations with China are not normal. On the other, reports suggest Chinese diplomats visited the RSS headquarters. Why did they go? What was the purpose and nature of their conversation? Kharge asked.
#WATCH | Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge speaks on the party's upcoming Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.



He says, "...We are going among the people to tell them that there is no other way. We tried to speak in the Parliament and raise the issues. But the Government gave us no pic.twitter.com/lwdsLV5w3n
The police added that the militant was involved in many militant attacks including the killing of local army officer Umar Fayaz in 2017. The police said the LeT militant was also involved in a grenade attack on non-local labourers in Hermain Shopian in which two labourers were killed.
As a strategic and global partner, India values its relationship with Japan and is ready to extend all possible assistance in this hour, it said. Meanwhile, even though many countries from across the globe have offered help, Japan hasnt officially accepted any. There are reports suggesting that the US is preparing for military logistical support and aid for regions in Japan devastated by the earthquake that killed 94 people and rendered 33,000 homeless, with 200 unaccounted for. But there is no official confirmation from the Japanese side yet.
Nation

One worker killed, three injured in explosion at ice factory due to gas leak in Nagpur

It is suspected that ammonia gas leak in the storage tank caused the blast, said an official of Kapil Nagar police station.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday set aside a PIL seeking removal of Mathuras Shahi Idgah mosque and its recognition as birthplace of Krishna, after noting that the PIL is not maintainable as several civil suits in the issue are pending for disposal.
The police opposed the contention of the accused that since some of the alleged incidents took place overseas, they do not fall in the jurisdiction of courts in Delhi, as it concluded arguments on framing charges against Singh.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. The French ambassador to Armenia has turned anti-Azerbaijani activities into his lifestyle, the Western Azerbaijan Community said, Trend reports.

"The approach of the French ambassador, who believes that his xenophobic tweets and statements allegedly 'sting' Azerbaijan, is just ridiculuous," the community noted. "This professional Azerbaijanophobe is trying to position himself as a 'hero' in Armenian society. It seems that the French ambassador, by publishing such bad tweets, is trying to express his anger at the fact that his country has been unable to adopt documents against Azerbaijan in the UN Security Council for several months."

"The ambassador with a crusader mentality should understand that he is accredited in Armenia and should not interfere in matters concerning the sovereignty of another country - Azerbaijan," the community pointed out.

"As an ambassador, he should specifically address the issue of ensuring the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia, the inadmissibility of destruction, desecration of mosques, and the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people in Armenia. However, ethnic and religious prejudices, Azerbaijanophobia, Islamophobia, and charlatanism do not allow him to do so," the community added.

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With an eye on the Lok Sabha polls, BJP national president J P Nadda will be visiting Jammu on January 7 to discuss the poll strategy and review partys poll preparations. Nadda will hold meetings with senior party leaders, core group members and district presidents. During the meetings, he will be briefed about the preparations for the Lok Sabha polls. There are five Lok Sabha seats in J&K and BJP has won two out of five seats in 2019 parliamentary polls. However, with the change in Anantnag-Poonch LS seat after delimitation exercise, the BJP is also eying the seat, which earlier was confined to voters of four south Kashmir districts in Valley.
"Lord Ram used to hunt and eat. He is ours, of bahujans. You (an apparent reference to the BJP) are turning us into vegetarians, (but) we are following the example of Ram and consuming mutton," he said at an NCP conclave at Shirdi.
With its implementation, Uttarakhand will become the first state in the country to implement the Uniform Civil Code after independence. Earlier, UCC was applicable in Goa. After its liberation in 1961, Goa, with a population of just six lakh at that time, retained the Portuguese Civil Code, making it the only state to have a uniform civil code for all religions.
Hezbollah said it launched 62 rockets toward an Israeli air surveillance base on Mount Meron and scored direct hits. It said rockets also struck two army posts near the border. The Israeli military said about 40 rockets were fired toward Meron and that a base was targeted, but it made no mention of the base being hit. It said it struck the Hezbollah cell that fired the rockets.
Increasingly, the contests are less about the isms of ideology and more about ethno-identities and socio-cultural schisms. In the UK, for instance, the Rishi Sunak regime has ratcheted up the rhetoric on immigration with disastrous results in a quest to regain lost ground. This year will also see elections for the European parliament. Despite an ageing population which needs new workers and immigrants, voters are voting for anti-immigration parties. The influence of populist propaganda presented by far right groups is visible in Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia and indeed in France.
"On the outside Modi, looks very confident to sweep the election. But on the inside, there is fear. That is why they are filing cases against Pawar in Maharashtra, Kejriwal in New Delhi and leaders in West Bengal. They are registering cases against leaders across India. I am not saying that investigations against leaders should not be conducted. But the problem is that no BJP leaders are facing any investigation. Are they saints? If a leader facing an investigation joins the BJP, the probe will be dropped which shows that these are just political gimmicks," he said.
While referring to the governors discretionary powers in such matters, the high court had said, If the governor chooses to withdraw his pleasure in respect of a minister, he must exercise his discretion with the knowledge of the CM and not unilaterally. In the present case, the chief minister had never consented for the exercise of the discretionary power by the governor.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. The number of polling stations created for voting in foreign countries and registered at the consulate on the day of the early presidential election in Azerbaijan has been announced, Trend reports.

Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panahov said at today's meeting of the CEC that 49 polling stations have been created in 37 countries for voting abroad.

The deadline for creating polling stations for voting in foreign countries and with consular registration expires on January 7.

The stations must be created by the heads of diplomatic missions or consular departments of Azerbaijan in the territories where voters are located no less than 30 days before voting day (until January 8, 2024).

Early presidential election will be held in Azerbaijan on February 7, 2024. The corresponding decree was signed by President Ilham Aliyev.

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Tamil Nadu's Jalikattu to be organised for the first time in Sri Lanka

Triconamalee, January 5

Jallikattu, a renowned bull-taming sport, will go global this year, with Sri Lanka hosting the event for the first time at Triconamalee on Saturday.

On the first day, January 6, the Jallikattu festival will be held for the first time in Sri Lanka under the leadership of the Governor of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, Senthil Thondaman.

The much-awaited Jallikattu will begin at 10 am at the ground in the Sampur area of Trincomalee. More than 200 bulls and more than 100 bull tamers will participate in the Jallikattu competition.

Sri Lankan Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman said that Pongal is one of the popular festivals celebrated by the Tamil community worldwide and the community will hold the Jallikattu and Rekla race from Saturday.

"Pongal is one of the festivals which are celebrated by the Tamil community throughout the world. Jallikattu, Mattu Pongal continues as a part of Pongal festival. We are starting the Pongal festival with 1008 Pongal pots and 1500 Bharatnatyam dancers. We will be conducting Jallikattu and Rekla races, silambam fights, boat races, beach kabadi. We have a lot of event connected to Pongal which are happening here. We are proud that the cultural events are restored with the Tamil community. I think 200 bulls and 100 bulls tamers might participate," Senthil Thondaman said speaking to ANI.

Jallikattu is a popular bull-embracing sport traditionally played in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal harvest festival in the second week of January.

Over 1,000 trained bulls will be released from a closed space called 'vadi vassal', one after the another, and the bull tamers will be on the ground in an attempt to wrap their arms or hands around the hump of the bull and hold on to it to win the award.

Only one person is allowed to attempt it at a time. The traditional sport is practised annually and is quite popular in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, especially in Madurai.

(ANI - Posted on 06 January 2024)

Tamil Nadu's Jalikattu to be organised for the first time in Sri Lanka

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David Tennant to host BAFTA Film Awards

Los Angeles, Jan 5

Actor David Tennant is set to host the BAFTA Film Awards for the first time. The actor, who is best known for playing Doctor Who, will oversee proceedings during the U.K.s biggest night for film on February 18, at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

Tennants career across film, TV and stage also includes Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Good Omens and Broadchurch. He can currently be seen playing Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse.

We are over the moon that David Tennant will be our host for the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards, added BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip. He is deservedly beloved by British and international audiences, alike. His warmth, charm and mischievous wit will make it a must-watch show next month for our guests at the Royal Festival Hall and the millions of people watching at home.

As per Variety, Tennant follows previous hosts Richard E. Grant and Rebel Wilson, who helmed the ceremony in 2023 and 2022, respectively, with the British Academy  which long relied on the services of Stephen Fry  now appear to go with new faces each year.

The news comes just ahead of the revealing of the BAFTA longlists, covering all 24 categories, which will be announced on January 5. The final nominations will be unveiled on January 18 by former Rising Star award nominees Naomi Ackie and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

The BAFTA Film Awards will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer in the U.K., and on BritBox International in the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and South Africa.

(IANS - Posted on 06 January 2024)

David Tennant to host BAFTA Film Awards

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Brisbane International: Sabalenka wins 14th in a row in Australia; Rune, Dimitrov seal SF spots

Brisbane, Jan 5

Aryna Sabalenka racked up a 14th straight win on Australian soil after dispatching Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4 to reach the final four of the Brisbane International. The defending Australian Open champion has dropped just nine games through three matches so far this week in her first appearance at the tournament.

In the men's singles, top seed Holger Rune of Denmark rode a fast start to down James Duckworth 6-2, 7-6(6) and reached the semifinals.

The 20-year-old Rune reeled off five games in a row to seize the opening set inside Pat Rafter Arena before digging deep to clinch a second-set tie-break and seal a one-hour, 46-minute triumph in his maiden ATP Head-to-Head clash with home favourite Duckworth.

The Dane will look to continue his impressive start to the year in his semifinal against Roman Safiullin, who defeated Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(4), 6-2 earlier on Friday.

Meanwhile, second seed Grigor Dimitrov also booked his spot in the last four with a straight-sets win. The Bulgarian overcame Rinky Hijikata 6-1, 6-4 to reach his fifth Brisbane semifinal.

By improving to 21-6 at the ATP 250, Dimitrov extended his lead as the player with the most wins in tournament history.

The 2017 champions next opponent in Queensland could be Rafael Nadal if the Spaniard defeat home favourite Jordan Thompson on Friday.

(IANS - Posted on 06 January 2024)

Brisbane International: Sabalenka wins 14th in a row in Australia; Rune, Dimitrov seal SF spots

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Glynis Johns, Mrs Banks of Walt Disney classic 'Mary Poppins', passes on at 100

Los Angeles, Jan 5

English actress Glynis Johns, who played the daffy suffragette mother Mrs. Banks in the classic film Mary Poppins, passed away on Thursday at an assisted living home in Los Angeles, her manager Mitch Clem confirmed. She was 100.

She entered my life early in my career and set a very high bar on how to navigate this industry with grace, class, and truth. Your own truth. Her light shone very brightly for 100 years.

She had a wit that could stop you in your tracks powered by a heart that loved deeply and purely. Today is a sombre day for Hollywood. Not only do we mourn the passing of our dear Glynis, but we mourn the end of the golden age of Hollywood, the statement said.

As per Variety, Johns won a Tony for her role as Desiree Armfeldt in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheims A Little Night Music, introducing the song Send in the Clowns, written for her by Sondheim.

In addition, she was Oscar-nominated for her supporting role in 1960s The Sundowners. She was known for a delightfully husky, breathy voice, a buoyant persona and, when she was young, a charming flirtatiousness. Johns had been an actor in England for more than 20 years when she was cast in Disneys adaptation of P.L. Travers Mary Poppins novels.

The trouble was that Johns thought she had been cast as Mary Poppins. To help the medicine go down when he told her the news that she had, in fact, been cast as Mrs. Banks, Walt Disney ordered his legendary musical team, the Sherman Brothers, to write a big number for the character. They made Mrs. Banks a suffragette, which explained why she was away from the house and a nanny was needed, and Johns performed Sister Suffragette in the final film.

Johns had a long career in English films, but more recently she had appeared in American movies including 1994s The Ref starring Denis Leary, in which she played the mother of Kevin Spaceys character.

(IANS - Posted on 06 January 2024)

Glynis Johns, Mrs Banks of Walt Disney classic 'Mary Poppins', passes on at 100

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Trump's huge lead in Iowa and New Hampshire could actually work against him for the GOP nomination

Washington, Jan 5

Former President Donald Trump's massive lead in the Iowa and New Hampshire Republican primaries against close rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haly would pose an issue for him, even endangering his eventual GOP nomination as voters might smell some fear in his campaigns.

Trump has described his high standing with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire as "blowouts" in his favour. But, that strategy could spell danger for the front-runner, as some Republican strategists point out. Trump's overconfidence in a blowout means that those in second and third - DeSantis and former United Nations envoy Nikki Haley - only have to reach a certain percentage of points to beat Trump's high bar, media reports said.

"Trump is out there saying, 'Listen, Im 70 points up here, Im 60 points up here. Hes setting this up, and this has always been his M.O. - of winning, of inevitability," Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist, told Politico media network. "That is a very dangerous thing when it comes to politics."

If the two (Haley and DeSantis) were to reach a certain percentage, voters could sense panic in Trump's camp, possibly spelling disaster. Some analysts said there was a hint of this in recent attack ads aired against Haley in New Hampshire. Theres a real chance, Rob Stutzman, a Republican political strategist, told the outlet, "that voters will smell fear".

The ad attacking Haley "is a sign that theyre seeing numbers that make them nervous", he pointed out.

While polls and most analysts agree, Trump has little chance of losing in Iowa, a strong performance by Haley could boost her chances of proving she can win in New Hampshire, where she has seen a massive surge in popularity, overtaking DeSantis for second place  though still 21.5 points behind Trump, media reports said.

DeSantis on the flip-side has put all of his chips in on Iowa. The Florida Governor has a massive 32.7-point gap to make up between now and January 15, but if he exceeds expectations, a second-place finish could throw a shadow of doubt over polls and make voters reconsider how strong Trump really is, the Washington Examiner said in its analysis of how the primaries are shaping up for the three candidates for the GOP nomination.

The primary appears to have been whittled down to a three-person race, with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie still campaigning but looking in from the outside. Christie recently said he would be willing to back either DeSantis or Haley for President, and big wins, or close seconds, by either of them in Iowa or New Hampshire could force him to put his support where his mouth is.

(IANS - Posted on 06 January 2024)

Trump's huge lead in Iowa and New Hampshire could actually work against him for the GOP nomination

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Trend reports.

Fidan said that Ankara is waiting for the completion of the process of selling F-16 fighter jets to Turkiye.

In addition, he noted that the final decision on Sweden's membership in NATO will be made by the Turkish Parliament.

The parties also discussed the current situation in Gaza. Fidan stressed the importance of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
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Monica McCoy, paralyzed after being struck by a car in 2020, said she has had to watch her only son, Nazir McCoy, grow up from the vantage point of her bed.
Each year, about 22,000 individuals in the EU are diagnosed with a glioma, a malignant type of brain tumor. Median survival time after diagnosis can be as short as 15 months. A new consortium combining expertise within brain tumors, machine learning, and data security will be looking for new diagnostic and treatment methods.

The consortium consists of Umea University and Umea University Hospital (Region Vasterbotten, Sweden), Heights.ai (The Netherlands), and PSE Data Security (Switzerland). The consortium members signed their collaboration agreement on December 28 at a meeting in Stockholm. The collaboration will leverage anomaly detection models (used for finding "a needle in the haystack") to improve the early detection of gliomas.

We have already seen that these models can be successful in other industries, such as with the detection of money laundering in the financial industry." Wilfred de Graaf, partner at Heights.ai

Umea University and the health care provider Region Vasterbotten have amassed a unique set of health data and samples from 140,000 individuals over the past 30 years. This serves as an important backbone for the new collaboration since AI models need datasets of sufficient size and quality.

"At Umea University, we have a history of translating innovations into clinical applications. The Nobel prizewinning CRISPR/CAS method was discovered here and is now in clinical trials at our University Hospital," says Beatrice Melin, Professor of Oncology at Umea University.

"I am happy about developing this new collaboration with the private sector. I profoundly believe that stimulating innovations between different fields will speed discovery of novel methods for brain tumor detection."
Scientists have solved a cellular murder mystery nearly 25 years after the case went cold. Following a trail of evidence from fruit flies to mice to humans revealed that cannibalistic cells likely cause a rare human immunodeficiency. Now the discovery shows promise for enhancing an up-and-coming cancer treatment.

This paper takes us from very fundamental cell biology in a fly, to explaining a human disease and harnessing that knowledge for a cancer therapy. Each one of those steps feels like a major discovery, but here they are, all in one paper." Denise Montell, UC Santa Barbara

Researchers in Montell's lab published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and are now investigating the mechanisms and implications.

An ancient gene

The primary character in this story is a gene, Rac2, and the protein it encodes. Rac2 is one of three Rac genes in humans. "Rac is very ancient in evolution, so it must serve a fundamental function," said senior author Montell, Duggan Professor and Distinguished Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.

Rac proteins help build a cell's scaffolding, called the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is made of dynamic filaments that allow cells to maintain their shape or deform, as needed. In 1996, while studying a small group of cells in the fruit fly ovary, Montell determined that Rac proteins are instrumental in cell movement. Since then, it has become clear that Rac is a nearly universal regulator of cell motility in animal cells.

Back in the '90s, she noticed that a hyperactive form of the Rac1 protein, expressed in only a few cells in a fly's egg chamber, destroyed the whole tissue. "Just expressing this active Rac in six to eight cells kills the entire tissue, which is composed of about 900 cells," explained lead author Abhinava Mishra, a project scientist in Montell's lab.

Why did this happen? How does it work? "This was our 25-year-old cold case," Montell said.

A few years ago, evidence began to mount implicating cell eating, also known as cannibalism, in tissue destruction. There's a step in normal fly egg development where certain cells similar to the border cells consume their neighbors because they are no longer needed. Indeed, cellular cannibalism is not as rare as you might expect: Millions of old red blood cells are eliminated from the human body this way every second.

Rac2 is one component of the complex eating process. Rac helps the eating cell to envelop its target. The team was curious if a hyperactive form of the protein was causing border cells to prematurely consume their neighbors.

For this to occur, the border cells need to recognize their targets, which requires a particular receptor. Indeed, when Mishra blocked this receptor, the border cells expressing activated Rac didn't consume their neighbors, and the egg chamber remained alive and healthy.

"Our 25-year-old cold case was solved, and that was very satisfying for us," Montell exclaimed. "But this is a fairly niche area of Drosophila egg development." The implications would soon grow, though.

A mysterious immune condition

Around the time that her lab made their breakthrough, Montell caught wind of an intriguing study in the journal Blood. This paper found that three unrelated people suffering from recurrent infections had the exact same mutation, which hyperactivates Rac2, a Rac protein produced in blood cells. She suspected her lab's recent revelation in fruit flies might shed light on this enigma.

The patients' mutation was just mildly activating, and yet it was enough that they all suffered from multiple infections and ultimately needed bone marrow transplants. Blood tests revealed that these patients had nearly no T cells, a specialized kind of white blood cells crucial to the immune system. The team at the National Institutes of Health inserted the Rac2 mutation into mice and found the same mysterious loss of T cells. They also found that the T cells with hyperactive Rac developed normally in the animals' bone marrow, and migrated to the thymus, where they continued to mature without incident. But then they just seemed to disappear. So, the paper ended with a mystery: what was causing the T cells to disappear?

The authors of that journal study had noticed that many of the patients' neutrophils -; another type of white blood cell -; were enlarged. They seemed to be consuming quite a lot of material, unusual behavior in an otherwise healthy person.

Montell wondered if the patients' T cells were disappearing because their innate immune cells like neutrophils with active Rac2 were eating them, much like the fruit fly border cells with active Rac were eating the egg chamber. Her team turned their attention to macrophages -; the neutrophil's more voracious counterpart -; to investigate. Mishra cultured human macrophages with and without hyperactive Rac2 together with T cells. He observed that macrophages with hyperactive Rac consumed more cells, confirming the group's hypothesis from their work with fruit flies.

To test whether this might cause the observed immunodeficiency, co-author Melanie Rodriguez (a graduate student in Montell's lab) took bone marrow samples from mice with the same hyperactive Rac2 mutation found in the patients. She then grew the marrow stem cells into macrophages, and performed a similar experiment to Mishra, but this time mixing both macrophages and T cells with and without the Rac2 mutation.

She found that macrophages with active Rac2 consumed significantly more T-cells than their normal counterparts. However, T-cells with active Rac2 were also more vulnerable to consumption from either kind of macrophage. So the most likely explanation for the patients' missing T cells was a combination of increased consumption by macrophages as well as increased vulnerability of the T cells themselves. A human medical mystery was solved based on fundamental observations in fruit flies.

Harnessing haywire cells

The implications of these insights expanded in January 2020, when co-author Meghan Morrissey interviewed for a faculty position at UCSB. In her talk she described programming macrophages to eat cancer cells as a novel treatment for the disease, an approach called CAR-M. Morrissey had found that adding a CAR receptor to macrophages promoted this behavior. But it was also clear that inducing the macrophages to eat more would make the approach more effective -; especially if they would specifically consume, and kill, entire cancer cells .

Well, if there was one thing that Montell and her lab had learned, it was how to make macrophages eat and kill whole, living cells. So they collaborated with Morrissey, now an assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, to determine if adding activated Rac2 would increase the effectiveness of the CAR-M approach.

Rodriguez grew macrophages from the bone marrow of normal and mutant mice with activated Rac2. In each of these groups, Morrissey expressed either a dummy receptor or the CAR receptor, which recognizes B cells (another type of white blood cell). They found that the normal and hyperactive Rac cells with the dummy receptors did not eat many B cell targets. The normal macrophages with CAR receptors consumed far more B cells, as Morrissey had previously shown. However the macrophages with both hyperactive Rac and the CAR receptors ate twice-again as many B cells as the CAR-only group. Activated Rac2 also seemed to increase the number of so-called "super eaters" -; ravenous macrophages that eat and kill multiple cancer cells.

The results made it clear that activated Rac and the receptor were both necessary for the enhanced effect. "If you add active Rac without the right receptor, it doesn't do anything," Montell explained.

This level of control is good news for any potential treatments, because it would give doctors a way to focus the modified macrophages' attack on cancerous cells. Clinicians hopefully won't need to worry about the engineered cells eating the patient's T-cells either, because the T-cells wouldn't have the active Rac2 mutation making them more vulnerable to this, as Rodriguez had previously discovered.

There is a current cancer treatment called CAR-T, which uses the CAR receptor and a patient's own T-cells to attack and destroy cancers. It is highly effective against some cancers, but there are many that do not respond. CAR-M,a newer cousin to CAR-T, has recently entered into clinical trials in humans and so far seems safe. Montell and her group are interested in harnessing Rac-enhanced CAR macrophages to increase the efficacy of CAR-M treatments. They've filed a provisional patent for the technique -; which they call RaceCAR-M -; and are inviting biotech companies to partner in further developing the approach.

This new multifaceted paper raises both basic science and practical questions, which the lab has begun to tackle. They're investigating whether the technique, which is so effective in the lab, will also work in freshly collected human immune cells and in animal cancer models, in mice and zebrafish. The team is also exploring how Rac2 is making this all happen at the molecular level, deep inside the cells.

Further down the line, Montell wants to know how many kinds of cancer the RaceCAR-M treatment might successfully target. For comparison, CAR-T has been effective against cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, but not against solid-tumor cancers like breast, lung or colon.

The results have amazed Montell, an esteemed cell biologist with well over 100 papers to her name. "This is my favorite paper so far," she said.

"We had this 25-year-old cold case in fruit flies, and we solved it," Montell added. "And that helped us solve the mystery of an unexplained human immunodeficiency. And then we harnessed that knowledge to enhance a potential cancer immunotherapy.

"It was just one mystery after another, and Rac turned out to be the answer to each of them."

You can hear more about the path from fruit flies to potential cancer treatment in Montell's SNPets interview with the Genetics Society of America, episodes 4-6.
The word globe trotter has found its way into social media bios among other places. While those financially strong can easily live their dreams of travelling to various parts of the world, the middle class and the have-nots are not so fortunate. For many of us, travelling remains a dream. What if we told you that the governments of some countries actually pay you or give you incentives to stay there? Every city, state, and nation has its own plans to lure in newcomers with financial incentives, but some of the most prevalent ones are a declining population, a failing economy, run-down housing, and more. Let us tell you about 5 countries which, because of their various incentives, can be called nothing short of heaven on earth

Alaska

Alaska also provides a nice financial incentive to potential residents. Here approximately $2,072 (approximately Rs 1.5 lakh) is given by the government every year. The Permanent Fund Dividend was created in 1976 as a means of distributing the states oil earnings to Alaskans living in the area. The incentive is available to anyone who resides in Alaska for the whole dividend year. Alaskans earned $3,284 in 2022. Even better, there are no taxes in Alaska at all.

Vermont

This mountainous US state is known for producing cheddar cheese and the famous Ben & Jerrys ice cream. The natural view here is worth seeing. Vermont offers financial incentives to remote workers. This state Remote Worker Grant Program offers applicants $10,000 (approximately Rs 7.4 lakh) for 2 years.

Albinen, Switzerland

The government provides financial aid to anybody who chooses to relocate to this community encircled by stunning Swiss mountains. For youth under 45, the government will provide Rs 20 lakh, and for each child, Rs 8 lakh. The requirement is that you must remain there for a minimum of ten years.

Antikythera

The Greek island of Antikythera is attempting to grow its population. On this island, the government extends a warm welcome to visitors from throughout the globe. For the first three years after moving to this island, a resident is paid approximately Rs 40,000 per month. They also receive housing or land.

Ponga

Ponga is a tiny town in northern Spains hilly region. Ponga is a newlyweds dream come true. Here, several different kinds of financial programmes are offered to help young couples get married. Young couples can travel there for about Rs 3 lakh, or about $3,600. Every child born here also receives $3,600 in addition to this.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that Rs 2,000 notes can also be exchanged through post offices. There are reports of people queuing up at the RBI offices to return the Rs 2,000 notes.

In a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on its website, the RBI said people can send the notes to any of its 19 issue offices from any post office.

How To Exchange 2000 Rupee Note: Rs 2000 Note Exchange In Post Office

People need to fill up an application form which is available online and send the notes to an RBI issue office from any facility of India Post, it said.

In May last year, the apex bank announced its decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 notes, first introduced after the demonetisation exercise in 2016.

The decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 notes was taken as most of these notes had exceeded their expected lifespan and were also not being used by the public for transactions, the RBI had said.

Over 97.38 per cent of the Rs 2,000 notes in circulation as of May 2023 have been returned. After allowing for exchange or deposit across bank counters, the RBI has made available multiple other channels where the notes can be exchanged or deposited.

A person can either exchange or deposit the notes up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time across the 19 issue offices along with the post-office-based facilities, as per the FAQ.
The Andhra Pradesh Education Department has reintegrated students who faced failure in their Class 10 and 12 examinations from the previous year for a re-examination opportunity. Approximately 1.9 lakh students have availed themselves of this program, actively participating in classes alongside their peers as part of this special initiative.

According to the programme, students who have re-enrolled may retake any exam, including those they have previously passed, to improve their scores. However, only the higher of the two scores for each subject will be taken into account when determining their final grade in that subject. Consider a candidate who scores 60 out of 100 marks in English in 2023 but only 50 in 2024. The students higher English score of 60 will be retained by the board.

According to officials, this programme will increase the pass rate for students who have previously failed and motivate academically challenged students to continue their education, thereby reducing the number of dropouts. Meanwhile, re-enrollment and other benefits under the government schemes will be available to students for a year only.

Furthermore, experts claim that social disengagement and other psychological issues may result from the unexpected loneliness and isolation that some of the failing students felt during the break.

The Department of School Education in Andhra Pradesh launched an initiative called Mentor a Student earlier this week to help students score well on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Principal Secretary, of School Education, Praveen Prakash has urged teachers, parents, and department officials to take on the responsibility of making the State-level initiative a success. Students in Classes 6 to 9 would be mentored by their teachers, who would assist them in honing their English listening and speaking skills.

Setting a good example, Principal Secretary, of School Education, Prakash announced that he would mentor Santosh, a Class 6 student, and encouraged others to do the same. It is important to mentor students in this area to infuse confidence in them, he went on to say.

The department has been directed to include a TOEFL period in the daily curriculum. Similarly, in the formative and summative tests, a separate exam (English Paper-II) will be administered, but the classes will be limited to listening and speaking skills because vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension are already covered in the regular English course.

As part of a five-year partnership with the US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) to provide English-speaking skills training to students in state-run schools, the latter will evaluate and certify students English language proficiency through its TOEFL Young Students Series assessments.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. The final investment decision (FID) on the full-scale development of the Absheron field in the Caspian Sea may be made by the end of 2024, Trend reports referring to an informed source.

The source said that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), TotalEnergies, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) held intensive consultations to expedite the FID next year.

"In case the FID is made by the end of 2024, the first gas from the full-scale development of Absheron can be obtained in 2028," the source noted.

Full-scale production at Absheron involves extracting five to six billion cubic meters of gas per year, according to the source.

"The full-scale development consultations involve not only the timelines but also the gas sales markets," the source explained.

Besides, the source mentioned that next year it's planned for Absheron to reach the peak production of Phase 1 development, which is 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Production of gas within the first phase of the development of Absheron started on July 10, 2023, and this year over 700 million cubic meters of gas can be obtained from this field.

The Absheron field is located 100 km from Baku at a depth of 500 meters in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

According to initial estimates, the field's reserves amount to 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 100 million tons of condensate, but in July 2023, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated that Absheron's resources could be greater.

Participants in the Absheron project are SOCAR (35 percent), TotalEnergies (35 percent), and ADNOC (30 percent).
Bigg Boss 17, hosted by Salman Khan has been arresting the attention of the masses. After Ankita Lokhande and her husband Vicky Jains ugly fights made the headlines, Abhishek Kumar slapping Samarth Jurel over a nasty verbal exchange shocked the masses and the contestants. Samarth and her partner Isha Malviya bullied Abhishek for his mental health issues which led to Abhishek getting physically violent with Samarth. Although Ankita evicted Abhishek for his misdemeanour, Samarth earlier indirectly admitted that he provoked Abhishek to hit him. Now, former Bigg Boss 17 contestant Jigna Vora has come out in support of Abhishek, slamming Samarth and Isha.

In an interaction with Times Of India, Jigna Vora revealed that she wished Abhishek Kumar lifted the trophy and won the show. Highlighting the importance of mental health she added that no one should go below their moral ethics at the behest of someones well-being just for the sake of winning. Recently, I shared a story about him on Instagram, as whats happening with him (Abhishek Kumar) on the show is unfair. Mental health is crucial, and one shouldnt stoop so low for a trophy that it harms someones well-being. In my opinion, contestants shouldnt jeopardize someones life for the sake of winning, she said.

Jigna Vora continued that it was wrong of Isha Malviya to make fun of Abhishek Kumars claustrophobia. Thats not right. He has told me multiple times that he is claustrophobic, she said. Recounting her stay in the BB House, she shared the incident of being locked inside the bathroom. Underling the situation, the ex-Bigg Boss contestant revealed that at that time Abhishek confessed to feeling uncomfortable in enclosed spaces, stating that he would have fainted if he had been locked away in the bathroom.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jigna Vora (@jignavora21)

Jigna Vora further added that during the initial days of Bigg Boss 17, Samarth Jurel and Abhishek Kumar had a strong friendship. They used to tease Isha together. It was quite shocking for me to see Samarth behaving this way. I never expected Samarth, who is usually a funny person, to poke Abhishek to such an extent, she said.

Abhishek Kumar got into a heated argument with Samarth Jurel and Isha Malviya, which led to Samarth and Isha passing derogatory comments on Abhishek about his mental health. In a fit of fury, Samarth put a tissue paper into Abhisheks mouth after which he slapped Samarth right across his face. Later on, Abhishek however apologised for his behaviour.
The Kerala High Court recently allowed emergency leave to a murder convict, permitting him to attend his daughters wedding. The court emphasised the significance of a fathers presence at his daughters wedding ceremony, particularly considering the cultural context of the parties being Muslim.

As the father of a daughter, and that too being a Muslim, it is essential that the father attends the wedding, the bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas noted.

The plea was moved by the daughter of the murder convict who was lodged at the Open Prison & Correctional Home, Cheemeni. The convict was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. The marriage of the daughter is scheduled for January 7, 2024. Earlier, the convicts request for emergency parole had been rejected.

The daughter contended that as a Muslim, in the absence of the father, the marriage may not even take place and that on an earlier occasion since parole was not granted, her wedding had to be postponed.

The court was also apprised by the additional public prosecutor that the convict had earlier been granted emergency leave for three days and one-day journey time to attend the marriage of his eldest daughter in 2017 and thereafter he was again granted emergency leave for seven days plus one day journey time in 2019 to attend the marriage of his second daughter.

Recently, the convict was again granted emergency leave for seven days to attend the funeral ceremony of his mother, and on other regular occasions as well he was granted ordinary leave, the APP said.

The court took note of the fact that the convict had a commendable record of adhering to the terms of previous emergency and ordinary leaves, consistently returning without any violations.

There were no adverse reports against the conduct of the petitioners father nor were there any apprehensions expressed by the respondents that he would abscond, the HC underscored.

In such circumstances, the court decided to grant the emergency leave for three days plus one-day travelling time to the convict from January 5 to 8, to attend the wedding of his youngest daughter.
With an unwavering devotion towards Lord Ram and a desire to fulfill his kar sevak fathers dream, a 64-year-old man from the city has embarked on thousands of kilometres of padayatra towards Ayodhya to present gold-plated footwear for the God, coinciding with the consecration of the grand temple on January 22. Challa Srinivas Sastry is traversing the Ayodya-Rameswaram route, covered by Lord Ram during Vanavas (exile) in reverse. He said he wanted to undertake the journey in the reverse order touching all the Shiva Lingas established by the Lord en route and began his trudge on July 20.

Sastry has already covered several places such as Puri in Odisha, Trimbak in Maharashtra and Dwaraka in Gujarat. He said he would be covering a distance of nearly 8000 km by foot, carrying on his head the footwear that he would hand over to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath upon reaching the holy city.

Sastry said he has been following the map found out by Dr Ramavatar, a retired Income Tax Department official who did research for 15 years on the passage that Lord Ram followed during Vanavas. My father participated in Karseva in Ayodhya. He was a strong devotee of Lord Hanuman. His desire was to see the Ram temple built in Ayodhya. As he is no more, I decided to fulfill his desire, Sastry told PTI.

Sastry said he has donated five silver bricks so far as part of his contribution to the Ram temple after the Supreme Court verdict in 2019. I am currently carrying gold-plated padukalu (footwear) made with panch dhatu (five metals) to be given to Lord Shri Ram, he further said.

He is about to reach the destination in less than two weeks. Sastry, however, had to break his march for a brief period as he had to go to the UK in between and later resumed his walk from where he stopped in Tamil Nadu.

With five others, he is currently in Chitrakoot in UP and about 272 KM from Ayodhya, Sastry said. He is hoping to reach the destination in about 10 days. Sastry, who covers 30 to 50 km a day, said the value of the article he is carrying was about Rs 65 lakh, some of which was donated by others.

Founder of the Ayodhya Bhagyanagar Sitarama Foundation in the city, he has plans to settle down in Ayodhya permanently and intends to construct a house there. A grand Ram Temple in the Lords birthplace will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22.

One of Sastrys sons, Challa Pavan Kumar is the first blade runner in India and won several medals, he said. Sastry said he had worked with several film studios as a sound engineer.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been named in the fresh chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the money laundering case investigation linked to the alleged illegal betting and gaming through the Mahadev online book app, sources informed on Saturday.

The development came after the investigation agency filed a fresh chargesheet before a special court in Raipur in the Mahadev betting app case. ED has filed a chargesheet against five accused  Shubham Soni, Amit Kumar Aggarwal, Rohit Gulati, Bhim Singh and Aseem Das are named.

The arrested accused Aseem Das, who claimed he had been sent to deliver cash to former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, has retracted his denial of having made the charges, saying he stands by the statement, the ED informed a court.

Das used to work as a courier in India for the promoter of the Mahadev betting app and was arrested from a Raipur hotel in November 2023 just before the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh after the central agency recovered a sum of Rs 5.39 crore from his hideouts.

Bhupesh Baghel has been named in the fresh chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the investigation linked to Mahadev betting app caseBy: @_pallavighosh #BhupeshBaghel #EnforcementDirectorate #mahadevbettingapp https://t.co/XoOX7eXVDG pic.twitter.com/Nwr0P1yM47  News18 (@CNNnews18) January 6, 2024

Earlier in its chargesheet, the agency said that the alleged illegal funds generated by the app were shared as bribes to politicians and bureaucrats in the state. The agency in November claimed that just before the first phase of Chhattisgarh polls, as per the forensic analysis and statement made by Asim Das have led to startling allegations that Mahadev betting app promoters have paid about Rs 508 crore to former CM and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel.

However, Baghel denied such allegations and said the charges are being made to malign his image.

BJP Attacks Congress

Soon after the ED alleged the involvement of former CM Bhupesh Baghel in Mahadev betting app case, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked Congress saying that their former Chief Minister was Corruption CM and the party looted the people of Chhattisgarh.

Bhupesh Bhagel was paid over Rs 500 crore in bribes because for the Congress party Chhattisgarh has always been an ATM machine. During the elections, this money was sent to Baghel and it was caught red-handed, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.
The Modi government, in an effort to reduce Chinese imports, has formed a high-level panel to boost domestic production of bulk drugs used for manufacturing medicines in India.

According to the parliamentary standing committee report on chemicals and fertilizers, a high-level committee has been constituted under Union minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya to oversee the implementation of the scheme called promotion of bulk drug parks.

Despite being the top supplier of medicines across the globe, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is highly dependent on China for raw materials, even to produce a basic medicine like Crocin.

Indian drug-makers import more than 80 per cent of their total Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (APIs) or bulk drug requirements from China.

In fact, in the 2018-19 fiscal, the Union government told Lok Sabha that the pharmaceutical industry imported bulk drugs and intermediates worth $2.4 billion from China.

The panel, headed by Lok Sabha member Dr Shashi Tharoor, said it is pertinent to note that the country is in urgent need of meeting the requirement of bulk drugs indigenously rather than through imports.

It was apprised that regular review meetings are being held at the level of the secretary. Also, project management agencies are pursuing with the states for implementation of the scheme as per the scheme guidelines.

The Committee is appreciative of the measures taken by the Government for effective implementation of the Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks scheme and hope that an amount of Rs.900.00 crore allocated under the scheme for FY 2023-24 would be fully utilized, the report said.

As per the report, the committee draw some satisfaction from the fact that the State Implementing agencies (SIA) have indicated completion of these projects within next 24-28 months which will be around the year 2024-2025 being the last year of the scheme period.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is responsible for formulating and executing policies for drug manufacturing and making in India. All queries and recommendations of the panel were replied to and noted by DoP.

Panel happy with the execution of Jan Aushadhi Yojana

A financial outlay of Rs 490 crore was approved by the government for Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)  PM Modis flagship scheme to promote the use of affordable generic medicines  for the period 2020-2021 to 2024-2025.

The committee said it is happy to note that the DoP has been able to optimally utilise the funds allocated for the PMBJP during the last three years.

Besides, physical targets fixed during these years to open new aushadhi kendras and enhance the product basket of medicines and surgical and establishing wares have been largely achieved except in respect of warehouses.

The Committee appreciate the efforts of the Government in making quality generic medicines available to all at affordable prices.

Several hyped schemes under-utilising budgets

Several ambitious programmes, including efforts to enhance research and innovation in drug development, have struggled to secure funding despite ample allocations.

The parliamentary panel has underscored the substantial underutilisation of allocated funds. It has suggested that the government should allocate additional funds for new initiatives which include the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP), the establishment of the National Institute of Medical Devices Education and Research (NIMERs) and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER).

PRIP is the scheme Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced as the new programme in the budget session to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals.

While the pharma department replied that it has duly noted the committees concerns, it added that the department has obtained approval for the PRIP scheme during the expenditure finance committee (EFC) meeting held with an overall budget of Rs 5,000 crore for a duration of five years, from 2023-24 to 2027-28.

The scheme would be placed for approval of the cabinet after recommendations of the Empowered Technology Group (ETG).

However, the reply is silent on the fund allocation for new schemes such as ICPMR and for the establishment of NIPER in southern states where interest in pharmaceutical education is high.

Proposed allocations are being cut, pharma dept still satisfied

The panel noted that for the financial year 2023-24, the DoP projected a budget allocation of around Rs 5,728 crore for its various schemes. However, the Ministry of Finance reduced the same and has allocated Rs 3,160 crore.

Similarly, during 2022-23, the proposed allocation of Rs 10,383 crore was reduced to Rs 2,244 crore. The DoP, however, is largely satisfied with an overall increase of 40.84 per cent in gross budget allocations in 2023-24 as compared to 2022-23 except that in two of its schemes where the proposed allocation has been drastically reduced.

The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) and the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Pharmaceuticals (PLI) are those two schemes.

News18 reached out to top officials in DoP to seek a response over the under-utilisation of funds. However, these officials refused to comment, adding that formal comments have already been shared with the parliamentary panel and embedded in the report. There is nothing more we can add now, said a top officer at DoP, requesting anonymity.
Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Javaid Ahmad Matoo arrested on Thursday had been tasked with collect arms and ammunition as well as explosives from Delhi to carry out terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir with the assistance of his terror associates, says the Delhi Polices remand note, accessed by News18.

On Thursday, Delhi Police Special Cell arrested A++ category terrorist Matoo, who was wanted in 11 terror attack cases, including five grenade attacks and killing of at least five police personnel in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. He was carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh.

As per the remand document, Matoo had been hiding in neighbouring Nepal for several months. He returned to India on the instructions of his Pakistani handles and on January 4 picked up a pistol with seven rounds and an extra magazine with five rounds from Mayur Vihar in Delhi.

Matoo allegedly wanted to carry out terror strikes in J&K on the instructions of his handlers in Pakistan and with the assistances of his yet-to-be traced accomplices in Delhi.

Matoo is learnt to have expertise in operating rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), under barrel grenade launcher (UBGL) and AK-47. His target is very accurate, an official said, adding that he could have learnt this in training.

Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday arrested him from Nizamuddin with the loaded pistol and extra magazine in his possession. He was driving a stolen car when he was apprehended, police had said.

The Delhi Police has booked him under the Arms Act and conspiracy case. It is also interrogating him to get further details about the conspiracy and his further plans. The officials are also interrogating him to know the actual reason of his coming to Delhi, sources said.

A native of Sopore, Matoo was outside Jammu and Kashmir for the last 10 years. It is suspected that he was staying somewhere in Pakistan but entered India via Nepal. He was looking for an opportunity to go to Pakistan, a police source said.

A police official said that Matoo was a prominent member of the group headed by Abdul Qayum Nazar, who was the operational in-charge of the terrorist module in Jammu and Kashmir, the officer said.

Appearing for Matoo, advocate Rahul Sahni said he would cooperate with the investigating agencies during the course of the interrogation.

With PTI inputs
Almost 2,000 kilometres away from the buzz in Ayodhya, Ramadevarabetta, another temple dedicated to Lord Rama on a hillock in Karnatakas Ramanagara district, is in focus, but for different reasons  development work ordered by a Muslim MLA.

Lord Rama is eternally powerful, benevolent and does not discriminate on the basis of religion or people. My name is Iqbal Ansari. I am a devotee of Lord Rama. I am a Muslim and have been elected as an MLA from the sacred land of Ramanagara, the Congress leader told News18.

Locals believe that Lord Rama, while in exile with Sita and Lakshmana, installed the Linga in Ramadevarabetta.

Close to this hillock is also the place where the famous Hindi movie Sholay was shot.

THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Sharing exclusive details on how he plans to build the Ram temple in the south, Ansari says that one may refer to God by different names  Rama, Krishna, Brahma, Eshwar or Allah  but ultimately there is only one being.

When I won this election as an MLA from Ramanagara, I went to Ramadevarabetta and sought blessings from Lord Rama. I thanked God for giving me so much  the strength to fight the election and winning the seat. I am indebted to Rama and the people, he told News18.

My name is Iqbal Ansari. I am a devotee of Lord Rama. I am a Muslim and have been elected as an MLA from the sacred land of RamanagaraMy wish is to have a beautiful and alluring idol of Rama placed in this temple

I worship all Gods. Lord Rama is my family God. As a student, we worshipped and held pujas for Goddess Saraswati, Lakshmi and Ganesha. I have also performed a puja for Lord Rama, he added.

Ansari told this reporter that one of the first grants that he cleared on receiving his MLA funds on Friday was allocating Rs 50 crore for development of Ram Mandir in Ramadevarabetta.

It will be utilised for development of roads towards the Ram temple, shelter for people, railings for people like the elderly and women who need support to climb up to the betta (hillock). We need to set up toilets, parking area and resting shelters as well as refreshment areas for devotees, he said, adding that safeguards such as railings and seating arrangements will be made, as there are nearly 500 steps to ascend to the Ram Mandir in Ramadevarabetta.

RAMOTSAVA

According to the MLA, plans are afoot to hold Ramotsava (a festival in honour of Rama) in Ramanagara on a grand scale.

Ansari said that a detailed plan on how to conduct the first-ever event in accordance with religious ceremonies is being chalked out. My wish is to have a beautiful and alluring idol of Rama placed in this temple. I hope God gives me the strength to build a Ram temple in Ramdevarabetta so magnificent that every visitor is mesmerised, he said, adding that directions from elders and religious heads will be sought.

He said that the Ramotsava would be an event that would blur all religious, cultural and party differences.

AYODHYA OF THE SOUTH

In 2023, the Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had announced that a majestic Ram temple would be built at Ramadevarabetta. An allocation of Rs 425 crore for the temple construction was sanctioned by the then BJP government to make it the Ayodhya of the South. Bommai had made the announcement while presenting the 2023-24 state budget.

Calling the BJPs move a pure political gimmick, Ansari sought an explanation from senior BJP leaders Ashwath Narayan and Bommai on the steps they took.

They released a blueprint for the sake of elections to play with the sentiments of people. Ask them to cross their heart and say they have done anything for Ramdevarabetta to make it the Ayodhya of the South? They have not even allotted or spent one rupee to start building the temple complex, Ansari told News18.

Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader C N Ashwath Narayan, who was the first to propose building of a temple on a 19-acre land in Ramanagara, said, The Congress has done nothing, but put brakes on all good decisions taken when the BJP was in power.

Narayan said that the BJP announced in the budget, made budgetary allocations and appointed a private company to design the temple. What has the Congress done? Nothing. Just put it in cold storage. If they do not build the Rama Temple at Ramadevarabetta like we envisioned, we will come there and build it ourselves, Narayan said.
KERALA LOTTERY KARUNYA KR-635 RESULT ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, LIVE UPDATES: The Kerala State Lottery Department has announced the results of Karunya KR-635 lucky draw for Saturday, January 6. Check the district-wise full list of winning numbers here.

ALSO READ: Kerala Lottery Result Today LIVE: Nirmal NR-363 WINNERS for January 12, 2024; First Prize Rs 70 Lakh!

FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS FOR KARUNYA KR-635 LOTTERY

WINNING NUMBERS FOR CONSOLATION PRIZE WORTH RS 8,000 ARE

KN 373074

KP 373074

KR 373074

KS 373074

KT 373074

KU 373074

KV 373074

KW 373074

KX 373074

KY 373074

KZ 373074

WINNING NUMBER FOR 1ST PRIZE WORTH RS 80 LAKH IS KO 373074 (PALAKKAD)

Agent Name: SHANTHI K

Agency No.: P 2851

WINNING NUMBER FOR 2ND PRIZE WORTH RS 5 LAKH IS KZ 927544 (ADIMALI)

Agent Name: M M MANI

Agency No.: Y 3106

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 3RD PRIZE WORTH RS 1 LAKH ARE

KN 524671 (CHITTUR)

KO 915071 (THIRUVANANTHAPURAM)

KP 397155 (KANNUR)

KR 145506 (KOLLAM)

KS 119064 (THIRUR)

KT 773468 (WAYANADU)

KU 380752 (THRISSUR)

KV 898728 (IRINJALAKUDA)

KW 885780 (MOOVATTUPUZHA)

KX 874784 (WAYANADU)

KY 189316 (ERNAKULAM)

KZ 270850 (VADAKARA)

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 4TH PRIZE WORTH RS 5,000 ARE

1097 1385 2507 2667 2814

2821 5745 5946 6217 6839

7540 7857 8481 8626 9129

9342 9535 9959

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 5TH PRIZE WORTH RS 2,000 ARE

2395 2747 3278 3538 6236

7047 7697 7997 8085 8874

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 6TH PRIZE WORTH RS 1,000 ARE

0250 0867 1272 4274 5117

5199 5285 5620 6146 6652

8111 8199 8961 9749

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 7TH PRIZE WORTH RS 500 ARE

0095 0207 0327 0329 0574

0650 1108 1367 1446 1509

1694 1795 1802 1891 1923

1973 2085 2265 2347 2422

2509 2600 2713 2961 3017

3542 3578 3971 4146 4309

4345 5170 5223 5247 5279

5354 5402 5480 5677 5991

6048 6097 6129 6202 6419

6933 6947 7234 7435 7462

7605 7745 7805 7966 8026

8063 8093 8284 8297 8417

8487 8547 8583 8619 8708

8720 8867 8903 9038 9127

9154 9164 9239 9389 9392

9447 9564 9764 9774 9903

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 8TH PRIZE WORTH RS 100 ARE

0104 0381 0416 0424 0426

0474 0524 0679 0699 0815

0858 0955 1057 1065 1141

1170 1191 1215 1226 1263

1266 1297 1715 1810 1828

1859 1913 2061 2116 2306

2350 2371 2527 2545 2739

2846 2901 2924 3079 3247

3293 3340 3464 3465 3610

3968 4018 4100 4153 4155

4203 4414 4415 4425 4450

4535 4605 4654 4746 4853

4905 4965 5125 5198 5230

5238 5322 5441 5459 5553

5608 5898 5932 5938 5958

5977 6084 6086 6114 6301

6421 6429 6482 6657 6695

6737 6744 6796 6817 6823

7056 7136 7209 7484 7498

8022 8191 8201 8241 8276

8474 8514 8650 8681 8686

8699 8721 8753 8798 8814

8825 8839 9009 9021 9113

9272 9307 9341 9381 9660

9763 9788 9892 9999

KERALA LOTTERY RESULT TODAY: KARUNYA KR-635 PRIZE STRUCTURE

1st Prize: Rs 80 lakh

2nd Prize: Rs 5 lakh

3rd Prize: Rs 1 lakh

4th Prize: Rs 5,000

5th Prize: Rs 2,000

6th Prize: Rs 1,000

7th Prize: Rs 500

8th Prize: Rs 100

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Hindu activist Srikanth Poojary has secured bail on health grounds and will be released from Huballi sub-jail on Saturday, confirmed the kar sevaks son Manjunath. Speaking exclusively to News18, Manjunath called his father a fighter who safeguards Hinduism and a survivor.

He is a survivor and a fighter. He fought for what was right for our country. He was part of the andolan (movement) to safeguard India and Hinduism. After his arrest, he has fought to keep his spirits up, and Lord Ram has come to help him, said Manjunath.

Expressing his happiness over Poojarys release, Manjunath said that the first thing that he would do is hug his father. I will fall at his feet and seek his blessings as well, the son said.

Poojary had spent eight days in jail and had been named as an accused along with 11 others in a 1992 FIR filed in Huballi. The case was registered on December 6, the day hundreds of kar sevaks brought down the Babri Masjid in UPs Ayodhya.

Poojarys lawyer Sanju Badaskar explained the grounds under which his client was granted bail by the courts. The lawyer said that the court allowed bail on health ground and also observed that he was not of absconding nature. The case built by the prosecution was weak, the lawyer said.

The argument made by Poojarys lawyer was that his client was innocent and that there was no evidence connecting him to the crime. The advocate also pleaded on Poojarys behalf to the court to take into consideration his health, as he had undergone two operations wherein rods were inserted in his hand. With aged parents and a family depending on him, the lawyer said the petitioner was ready to abide by any condition imposed by the court, including furnishing a surety.

The prosecution argued that the offences under which Poojary had been booked were non-bailable and that he could commit similar crimes again.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Parameshwar Prasanna, after hearing arguments from both sides, observed that no valid, good, compelling grounds were found to reject the bail of the petitioner at this stage.

The court granted Poojary regular bail under Section 439 of the CrPC and asked to execute a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties each to the Huballi JMFC court. The court also instructed Poojary to appear before it on all dates, except during unavoidable circumstances as well as not to threaten any of the prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence.

Pressure had been building on the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government by the Opposition which claimed that the ruling dispensation had been indulging in vindictive politics. The BJP accused Siddaramaiahs government of targeting kar sevaks and Hindu activists ahead of the inauguration of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

The BJP launched an I Am Kar Sevak, Arrest Me Too campaign with several leaders, including Leader of Opposition and former deputy chief minister R Ashok, being taken into custody twice in two days.

Ashok and other leaders were arrested on Friday amidst chants of Jai Sri Ram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Poojary was arrested on December 29 in a 31-year-old arson case at Hubballi while he was driving his auto. On the intervening night of December 5 and 6 in 1992 Huballi had seen widespread arson and attacks ahead of the Babri Masjid demolition.

The BJP had called for a state-wide protest on January 3 this year and since then has organized sit-in protests at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, Chikkamagalur and other locations. BJP MLA Sunil Kumar and former minister CT Ravi were also detained by the police for their protests.

The state government has maintained that the arrest was a routine affair wherein long pending cases (LPCs) are disposed of. According to Hubballi Police, Poojary has been booked in over 16 cases in the last 31 years. Senior police officials said that 13 cases of bootlegging were lodged against him and three cases were filed against him for allegedly triggering riots and causing hurt between the years 1991 and 2014.

He also has been booked under IPC sections pertaining to gambling like matka and is a rowdy-sheeter in two police stations (sic), said Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner Renuka Sukumar.

The BJP, apart from the protests, has also been seeking the arrest of the Huballi inspector who took Poojary into custody. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara reacted saying that the officer had done his duty and there was no need to suspend any official.

Barring the fact that the arrest has been made ahead of the Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya, police have not done anything against the law. The BJP is unnecessarily blowing it up for political reasons. We will not tolerate their politics Let the BJP protest. If they think there should not be law and order in the state, let them continue the protest, Parmeshwara told the media.

Senior BJP MLA and former deputy chief minister CN Ashwath Narayan questioned the Congresss double standards, asking why certain leaders had not been arrested if the ruling is keen on arresting those who break the law. Why have leaders like BK Hariprasad, and the CMs son, Yathindra, not being arrested? Isnt Hariprasads comment that a Godhra-like incident could happen in Karnataka malicious and inciting communal disharmony? He is creating a divide and you are letting him off? Where is the justice that the Congress claims of?

Varuna MLA and Siddaramaiahs son Yathindra had stirred a controversy recently with his statement that if India transforms into a Hindu Rashtra, it would resemble countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan that are under dictatorship and are facing socio-economic bankruptcy.
Trinamool Congress leader and former Bongaon Municipality Chairman, Shankar Adhya has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a probe into the ration distribution scam. Raids started at Adhyas house in West Bengals North 24 Parganas district on Friday morning, and so far Rs 8 Lakhs have been recovered from him, officials said.

State food minister Jyotipriyo Mallick has already been arrested in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution scam.

#WATCH | North 24 Parganas, West Bengal: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former Bongaon Municipality Chairman Shankar Adhya, in connection with a ration scam case. pic.twitter.com/heorEuBBjb ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2024

Meanwhile, the caretaker of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahans house has also filed an FIR against ED for coming and breaking the lock without permission.

So far, three FIRs have been filed in the case one by ED against all the accused, another suo motu FIR by West Bengal police on the entire incident and the third by Shahjahans caretaker.

According to sources, ED may issue a lookout notice against Shahjahan to prevent his escape abroad plan. Shajahan was there when the ED team reached his house. He was not absconding, but after yesterdays incident he is not seen anywhere, they said.

Attack on ED in Bengal

Adhyas arrest came a day after ED raided at least 15 places in the state in connection with the ration distribution scam.

However, ED and accompanying media were attacked when it raided the premises of block-level TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan in North 24 Parganas district in connection with the case.

Shahjahan is considered to be a close aide of state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick.

A large number of TMC loyalists first gheraoed the ED officials and the central forces personnel who accompanied them when they reached Sheikhs residence in the Sandeshkhali area in the morning and demonstrated before assaulting them and forcing them to leave the area, an officer said.

Giving chilling details about the attack, the Enforcement Directorate has said the mob consisted of 800-1,000 people and that there was an intention to cause death.

Three ED officials were severely injured in the attack. As per the agency, people in the mob also robbed its personnel of their belongings, including mobile phones, wallets and laptops.

ED officers left their damaged vehicles there and had to move out of Sandeskhali in auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers.

Being Framed, Claims Family

ED also raided the residence of Adhyas father-in-law. While sleuths were arresting the TMC leader, they were again attacked by a mob. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team deployed in the area had to step in and resort to lathi change before agency officials could escort Adhya out of the locality.

Adhyas wife, Jyosna, has alleged that her husband was arrested despite cooperating with officials and is being framed.

Yesterday they came in the morning we cooperated with them but at 12.30 night they told us that they would arrest him because of Jyotipriyo Mallick. He has been framed and these are false things, she said.

The ED officers, who conducted raids at the residence of Adhyas in-laws, as well as two of his associates, left after 12 hours.

They collected a few documents and bank details and spoke to the locals. Search operations at two other places, including an ice cream factory belonging to a close aide of the TMC leader in Bongaon, continued until 10 pm on Friday.

We faced a lot of non-cooperation from the local residents. That is the reason it took so much time for us to complete the search operations, an ED official said.

ED to Prepare Two Sets of Reports on Attack

ED officers are preparing two sets of reports on the attacks on their colleagues by a mob during a raid. The officers said the reports will be sent to their New Delhi office by Saturday, and their next course of action will be decided by their seniors there.

We are preparing two sets of reports on Fridays attack on our team during the raid at Trinamool Congress leader Sahajahan Sheikhs residence at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas. We will include every detail of the attack, how we were forced to abandon the assignment and flee from the place, and the damage to our vehicles. We will also include photographs and video grabs of the attack, the official told news agency PTI.

Political Row

The clash triggered a Centre vs state row and deepened cracks within the Opposition alliance. The attack also drew a fierce condemnation by Governor CV Ananda Bose who said the state is not a banana republic.

TMC termed the incident a BJP conspiracy and claimed unruly elements attached with the central agencies provoked locals. Meanwhile, the BJP attacked the ruling partys government for lawlessness in Bengal and called it a threat to national security.

Reacting sharply to the incident, BJP co-incharge for political affairs in West Bengal Amit Malviya wrote on X, This is how lawless Bengal is.

Continuance of the TMC government in West Bengal is a national security threat, he said.

The BJP leader claimed, Shahjahan Sheikh, in particular, is close to Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of CM Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Home Minister of Bengal.

It is likely that several of those who came out to attack the probe agency officials are illegal migrants, who have been patronised by the local TMC leaders, to serve as their vote bank, Malviya added.

BJP leaders in the state also demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sought Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees resignation, suggesting that Rohingya immigrants were part of the crowd.

On the other hand, TMC MP Santanu Sen alleged that the officials of the federal agency provoked the locals which led to a counter-reaction from the people.

The officers of the Central investigation agency surrounded by the Central forces provoked the local people. Thats why there were counter-reactions continuously, he said.

Sen also said that the people of the country are frustrated with actions taken by the central agencies which are being monitored from Delhi.

The real fact is the people of India are frustrated watching this deep-rooted conspiracy engineered and monitored from Delhi daily and that too in the case of TMC in West BengalOn the contrary, the person whos posting all this on social media is topping the list of corruption. He was found taking money before the camera. His other family members are accused of corruption but no action was taken against them because they belong to BJP, Sen added.

BJP Digs Out TMC Mans Old Video

BJPs Amit Malviya also slammed TMC for coming out in support of Sheikh Shahjahan, who allegedly, in a recent speech, claimed CBI and ED wouldnt be able to even touch his hair

Taking to X, Malviya also posted an old video, purportedly of Shahjahans speech threatening local BJP leader and central agencies of his anger, and wrote, Sheikh Shahjahan has all the trappings of Anubroto Mondal, Mamata Banerjees pet henchman, who is now in jail Shahjahan will meet the same fate, and soon.

Yesterday, Mamata Banerjees spokespersons came out in full force to defend Shahjahan Sheikh, the criminal, who ordered attack on ED officials and media in Sandeshkhali.In a public speech on 1st Jan 2024, Shahjahan claimed that CBI and ED wouldnt be able to even touch his pic.twitter.com/wARh0GDy3O  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 6, 2024

In a public speech on 1st Jan 2024, Shahjahan claimed that CBI and ED wouldnt be able to even touch his hair He also asked everyone to pray so that he doesnt get angry or else he will break teeth of BJP workers and leaders, execute them after 2024 (since TMC controls Govt in Bengal) and rip skin off their bodies, he added.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also condemned the mob attacks and said people with no respect for law and those afraid of going to jail for their misdeeds carry out such attacks on probe agencies

TMC Recalls Attack On West Bengal Police In UP

Hitting back at the BJP, the Trinamool Congress recalled an incident in 2017, when the team of West Bengal police and the state unit of CID was attacked in UPs Aligarh, where they went to arrest Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader who threatened to kill West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

Taking to X, TMC spokesperson Tanmoy Ghosh asked, Did anyone question Yogi Adityanath? Did the governor give any threatening bytes to media on imposing President rule? Did anyone question law and order of Uttar Pradesh?
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 6. The Turkmennebit State Concern of Turkmenistan and the Dragon Oil company signed a Memorandum of Understanding, Trend reports.

This document was signed during the meeting of Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov with Chairman of the Board of Directors of UAE's Dragon Oil company Saeed Al Tayer in Abu Dhabi.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects for the successful further development of long-term relations, taking into account the extensive experience of joint work and comprehensive plans for the further development of Turkmenistan's energy sector.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that Turkmenistan has large reserves of hydrocarbons and is interested in mutually beneficial cooperation with the world's leading companies in their exploration, development and production.

He noted that the increase in the volume of oil and gas produced and their processing, the export of Turkmen energy resources, as well as finished oil and gas and chemical products are urgent tasks in this sector of the national economy of Turkmenistan.

Partners and investors from the UAE were also invited to participate in the implementation of new energy projects related to the construction of gas transportation infrastructure for the transportation of Turkmen gas to the countries of the region and other states.

Meanwhile, last year, the Turkmennebit State Concern and Dragon Oil company signed a contract to extend the Production Sharing Agreement until May 1, 2035.

Stay up to date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The Directorate of Education has extended the winter vacation in Delhi schools till January 10 due to cold weather conditions. The decision came late on Saturday.

Winter vacation for students was scheduled to end on Saturday and classes were to resume on Monday.

Delhi is experiencing extreme cold waves and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has released a yellow alert due to dense fog, light rainfall, and a drop in temperature for the next few days.

Due to severe cold weather conditions, all government and private schools in Delhi will remain closed till January 10 (Wednesday). Accordingly, all the heads of schools of Delhi are hereby directed to disseminate this information among all the stakeholders, according to a statement from the Directorate of Education.

News18 earlier stated that holidays can be extended due to a significant drop in temperature.

NOIDA ADMINISTRATION ORDERS VACATION EXTENSION

Apart from Delhi schools, Noida administration ordered all schools in Noida and Greater Noida to observe holiday for students up to Class 8 till January 14 in view of the prevailing dense fog and cold weather conditions.

Issued by District Basic Education Officer Rahul Panwar, the order stood applicable to all schools recognised by the state board, CBSE, ICSE, IB and others.

In compliance with the instructions given by District Magistrate Maneesh Kumar Verma in view of the dense fog and extreme cold, all the board (CBSE/ICSE IB, UP Board and others) affiliated schools (from Class nursery to 8) running in the district Gautam Buddh Nagar, will observe holiday till January 14, it stated.

RAJASTHAN EDUCATION BOARD EXTENDS VACATIONS

Rajasthan Education Board also has decided to extend the winter vacation to January 13. The classes from 1 to 8 will remain closed during this period in the state.

The leaves are for students only. The teachers have to visit the school for teaching and departmental activities. This new order has been passed for Class 1 to 8 students only.
All the fuss about Sonakshi Sinhas exotic travels is well-deserved. She has just been enticed to visit Egypt, the Land of the Pharaohs. From the sandy region, the Dabangg actress has been dropping hints that we should start packing our bags shortly. The actress visited the world-renowned Sphinx building in the first batch of images. The half-human, half-animal monument was given a kiss by Sonakshi before she went on to take some more corny photos with it. Must be wondering why? The diva claimed that the Sphinx was nothing more than like a wow.

Channelling her carefree spirit, the actress shined in an illusionary photo where she made the Sphinx look like it was wearing sunglasses. The cityscapes dusty and rustic terrain, illuminated by the gentle winter sun, added to the vintage charm. Later, Sonakshi Sinha posed against the great Pyramids of Giza, ticking off the umpteen places the actress had on her bucket list.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sonakshi Sinha (@aslisona)

Oh We cant take our eyes off of this stunning beautys endless Egypt diaries. Having gone through Sonakshis vacation album, if you too are craving to visit the place, then we have got you covered.

Must-Visits and Lesser-Known Gems of A Cruise Down the Nile

Travelling along the Nile River is a must if youre visiting Egypt. It is one of Egypts most picturesque destinations and can captivate any nature lover. Get hooked on watching the magnificent sunrise and sunset on the horizon, and the azure blue waters will leave you in awe of the view.

A Cruise Down the Nile:

Travelling along the Nile River is a must if youre visiting Egypt. It is one of Egypts most picturesque destinations and can captivate any nature lover. Get hooked on watching the magnificent sunrise and sunset on the horizon, and the azure blue waters will leave you in awe of the view.

Farafras White Desert:

In this offbeat location, you may see breathtaking chalk mountains that resemble a winter paradise. You can find gigantic iceberg-shaped pinnacles and white boulders all around the place.

Tiran Island:

Situated on Saudi Arabias maritime border, Tiran Island is a spectacular, nearly phantom-like stretch of deserted land bordered by the turquoise Red Sea. If you are a sea lover, then you may delve into underwater wonders like colourful reefs and marine life and enjoy the best time of your life.

King Tutankhamun Museum:

People with a thirst for knowledge must visit and uncover the centuries of history unveiled here about the Pharaohs. Talking more about this place, it is one of the most popular destinations for tourists to see King Tutankhamuns coffin preserved in the Grand Egyptian Museum of Cairo.

Khan-el-Khalili:

For those who cant get enough shopping, theres Khan-el-Khalili. A bustling market that sells a wide variety of souvenirs, gold artefacts, silverware, tiny pyramids, toy camels, and antiques, among others. Shopaholics, dont miss out on visiting this place!

When is the best time to visit Egypt?

Travel enthusiasts may visit the country throughout the year. Although the ideal season to visit Egypt is from October to April due to the lower temperatures,. But if you are planning to visit in the months of December and January, then get ready to witness a large influx of crowds.

Advance Reservations

If you are an Indian national and wish to visit Egypt, then a valid visa is required to enter the country. Indian nationals can apply for an Egypt electronic visa (eVisa) online via the official government website or Atlys.

Is Egypt affordable and accessible?

Egypt offers a wide range of inexpensive housing options, delicious food, and free activities, making it an affordable travel destination. Egyptian Arabic is the official and most widely spoken language in Egypt. However, if you are well-versed in English, it will be sufficient too.
Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor jetted off on their New Year vacation just a few days back, accompanied by their recently introduced little daughter, Raha, Following Rahas public introduction on Christmas, the trio was seen at Mumbais private airport in a video shared by a paparazzo on Instagram. And now, the Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani actress has shared the holiday dump on her personal handle.

On Saturday, Alia Bhatt dropped a bunch of scenic snaps and clips that encapsulated her picturesque vacation, away from glitz and glamour. The first slide was a mirror selfie where Alia had donned a Pink swimsuit. In the second slide, Alia can be seen enjoying a boat ride with the setting sun in the backdrop. Apart from a bunch of selfies from the gym, Alia ended the carasouel with a time lapse of a sunset. She penned the caption, Many moods & a million mirror selfies .

Reacting to her post, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor commented, Social media influenza. A fan wrote, Gorgeous . Another one commented, Beautiful location beautiful person. Someone else said,  cutestttttttttttt. A fan stated, What a life .

Ranbir and Alia surprised fans by giving them the first look at Raha. The actors, who welcomed their daughter in November 2022, introduce Raha to the media at the Kapoor family Christmas lunch. The blue-eyed Kapoor daughter joined her parents at the annual Christmas lunch, wearing the perfect Christmas dress. In videos shared by the paparazzi, Raha was seen wearing a pink and white dress with a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer work on her dress. She was also seen wearing a pair of red shoes. Rahas photos quickly went viral on the internet.

Although they chose to keep her away from the limelight, Ranbir has often spoken about her. In the past, the actor said he doesnt shy away from showing pictures of Raha to people he meets frequently.
Jungkook and Jimin of BTS embarked on their military journey last month. Following a recent military briefing, the duo transitioned into their roles with dedication and professionalism. In newly released snapshots, the K-pop icons were seen in proper military gear alongside their fellow trainees, identified by soldier numbers 59 and 60 for Jungkook and Jimin, respectively. Enlisting on December 12, 2023, after RM and Vs departure for military duty, the pair opted for the buddy system, choosing to undergo basic training together. Despite initial restrictions on individual BTS member photos due to intellectual property concerns with HYBE, exceptions were made for group pictures, providing fans with a glimpse into this new phase of their journey.

The most recent images depict the K-pop idols undergoing training together under the supervision of the eldest member, Jin. These pictures capture the duo posing side by side, with Jungkooks face partially covered by a bandana, yet his distinctive facial features are still discernible. In contrast, Jimin appears serene and composed, holding his head high in the photograph.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Taetae (@thv_ultimatelove)

Recently, The Camp, a website designed to facilitate communication between soldiers and their families, gained attention after removing BTS from its Star Soldier list. The decision was prompted by a significant surge in website traffic, causing the site to crash. This move led to a legal dispute between The Camp and BTS management company. The repercussions extended beyond BTS, as idols from other management companies were also affected by being removed from the list.

All BTS members are completing their mandatory military service, and the boy band plans to reunite in 2025. Beginning with the eldest member, Jin, who started his service first is expected to complete his duties by early 2024, followed by, J Hope and Suga. Throughout their individual journey, the trio intends to share new solo music. This approach enables them to maintain their musical presence and engage with their audience during the break.

Earlier photos of the BTS members undergoing their mandatory military service rapidly gained attention and became a sensation among fans. One striking image showcased Jungkook with a serious demeanour, seated at a desk, attentively receiving instructions. Another photo captured Jimin in a different moment, where he is seen applauding during a lecture. The attention was drawn to V and RM in group pictures, with V wearing the platoon leader tag, while RM stood out with a distinctive blue tag.

The blue tag holds significant importance in the South Korean military. It is bestowed upon the most talented and skilled troops after completing a rigorous and demanding training routine. The tag symbolises exceptional abilities and dedication, serving as a recognition of individuals who have demonstrated outstanding performance in their military duties.
In January 2024, court papers related to the Jeffrey Epstein case were unsealed under a judges orders, leading to a wave of shock and revelations among global figures, including some prominent Hollywood A-listers. These papers were part of a defamation lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, encompassing testimonies from Epsteins victims, as well as witnesses and other evidence relevant to the now-settled sexual abuse case of 2015. The Epstein scandal initially surfaced in 2005 when Floridas Palm Beach police initiated an investigation after a parent reported that he had sexually abused her 14-year-old daughter.

Subsequently, federal officials discovered that a total of 36 girls, including 14-year-olds, had been victims of Epsteins abuse. In 2008, Epstein was convicted in a Florida state court, serving 13 months with extensive work release. In 2019, the financer faced federal charges for sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York, ultimately committing suicide almost a month after his arrest.

Now, after many Hollywood celebrities names have surfaced in unsealed court documents related to the case. One of the popular names in the list is that of actress Cameron Diaz.

However, Diaz has categorically denied any connection to the Jeffrey Epstein case in a statement provided to Page Six. She asserted that she had never encountered Epstein and emphasised the absence of any association with him. Along with her, other celebrities, such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Campbell have also been named as part of the ongoing revelations related to the late convicted sex offender.

In response to the allegations, Camerons representative clarified her stance, stating, Cameron never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor was she ever in the same place as him or had any association with him whatsoever, regardless of the fact he may or may not have mentioned her name or implied that he knew her, reported Page Six.

The mention of Cameron Diaz in connection with Jeffrey Epstein originated from the deposition of Johanna Sjoberg, an accuser of Epstein. Sjobergs testimony was part of a 2015 defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell. Johanna claimed that Epstein boasted about close ties with celebrities like Cameron Diaz, but in her deposition, she asserted never having met Diaz. According to Sjoberg, Epstein was merely name-dropping during phone calls.

More than 130 additional court files were unsealed in a lawsuit involving Jeffrey Epstein, shedding further light on his sexual abuse of underage girls and interactions with celebrities. The documents included excerpts from testimonies of individuals who worked for Epstein, copies of phone messages, and legal memos discussing potential witnesses for a trial.

These records, related to a 2015 defamation lawsuit filed by Epsteins victim Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, provided extensive details about the case, which was settled in 2017. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins alleged girlfriend is accused of aiding him in recruiting underage victims. She was later prosecuted and is currently serving a 20-year imprisonment.
German-born Hollywood actor Christian Oliver, known for his roles in films like The Good German alongside George Clooney and the 2008 action-comedy Speed Racer, tragically lost his life along with his two young daughters. The fatal incident occurred as their small plane crashed into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff, as reported by local police. The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force issued a statement confirming Olivers death aboard a privately owned, single-engine aircraft on Thursday.

Prompt responses from fishermen, divers, and the coast guard led to the recovery of four bodies at the crash site. At the age of 51, Oliver, along with his daughters Madita (10) and Annik (12), as well as pilot Robert Sachs, lost their lives. The tragic incident occurred as the plane was en route from Bequia, a small island in the Grenadines, to St Lucia shortly after midday on Thursday.

The family seemed to be enjoying a vacation, as Oliver shared on Instagram a few days prior, featuring an image of a tropical beach. The caption read, Greetings from somewhere in paradise! To community and love 2024 [here] we come!

He had a recurring role in the second season of the 1990s series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, portraying Brian Keller, a transfer student from Switzerland.
The Archies co-stars Khushi Kapoor and Vedang Raina have been rumoured to be dating for a while now. While Khushi said on Koffee with Karan recently that they are just friends, Vedang had denied the rumours in an earlier interview. However, their public appearances together often lead to speculation that they are dating. Now, Vedang has revealed what he loves and tolerates about Khushi.

Speaking to Instant Bollywood, Vedang said, I love the fact that shes always looking out for others and shes very generous. You know, shell put others before herself. Tolerate about her? Its not really something I tolerate, its something Id like to change about her. She goes on the self-doubt trip sometimes. She questions herself and her abilities and I would like her to have more confidence in herself.

Earlier, on Koffee with Karan, the filmmaker had asked Khushi if there was any truth to the rumours that she was dating Vedang Raina. She said, False. I say false, Its not true. She later added, You know that scene in Om Shanti Om where there is a row of people saying, Om and I are just good friends.

Vedang also addressed rumours in an interview and clarified that he and Khushi are just good friends. Khushi and I connected on so many levels. We had a similar taste in music. Khushi and I are not dating. I have a really strong bond with her. Weve known each other for so long, and we have connected on many things, he said.

After the release of The Archies, it was speculated that Khushi Kapoor was dating her co-star Vedang Raina, who played Reggie in the film. The duo sparked dating rumours after they were frequently spotted together around town. Vedang was also a part of Khushis intimate birthday lunch with Janhvi, her rumoured boyfriend Shikar Pahariya and Orry. He was also present for Khushi Kapoors Christmas celebrations with her close friends. He was recently spotted arriving in Mumbai with Khushis family after they seemingly celebrated New Years together on vacation.
Padmini Kolhapure and Pradeep Sharmas son, Priyank Sharma, and his wife, Shaza Morani, are all set to become parents for the first time. The family recently arranged for a lavish godh bharai ceremony for the parents to be, and several pictures from the occasion have gone viral. Shraddha Kapoor also attended the ceremony to celebrate a new phase in her cousins life.

Priyank Sharma posted a series of photos that included not just Shraddha Kapoor but also Priyanks mother, Padmini Kolhapure, and Shaza Moranis sister Zoa. Shraddha Kapoor can be seen posing with the parents-to-be and their group of friends in one of the photos. She was dressed traditionally in a lime green Anarkali outfit. She accessorised with a nose ring, a pair of jhumkas, and a bun on her hair. Shaza and Priyank clad in bright pink outfits for the occasion. The expecting mother was seen glowing while flaunting her baby belly in a satin saree teamed with striking jewellery. Priyank donned a similar kurta-pajama.The caption along with the post read, T-2 for baby T fam #marathi vibe.

Another viral video shows Shraddha Kapoor having a great time during Shazas godh bharai party. She was seen dancing along with the others present at the ceremony.

Shaza and Priyank tied the knot in 2021. While they were married in court in February 2021, they held a Christian-style wedding ceremony in the Maldives in March 2021.

Meanwhile, Shraddha Kapoor is busy filming for Stree 2 and recently shared a glimpse of her look for the upcoming film. Taking to Instagram, the actress shared a video review of 2023 in which she is seen wearing colourful outfits and eating diverse delicacies. Who is the reigning Queen of Aesthetic Edits? Happy New Year, she wrote in the caption.

In the clip, Shradhha Kapoor could be seen eating everything from pani puri, bhelpuri, and momos to cookies, cakes, and other stuff in the short recap of 2023. One of the photographs featured a behind-the-scenes shot from the set of Stree 2. Shraddha was dressed in white and had her hair in a long braid in the photo. She was wearing heavy makeup and holding a platter of samosas.

Following the success of Stree in 2018, the makers are gearing up to enthral audiences with the sequel. Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao play the key roles in the film. The film, directed by Amar Kaushik and produced by Jio Studios and Dinesh Vijans Maddock Films, will also star Aparshakti Khurrana, Abhishek Banerjee, and Pankaj Tripathi.
After impressing the audience with their outstanding performance and on-screen presence in Sekhar Kammulas 2021 Love Story, actors Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi are all set to reunite for the second time, however, in a patriotic action. The duo will feature in Chandoo Mondetis patriotic actioner titled Essence of Thandel, the teaser of which has been finally released by the makers.

On Saturday, January 6, makers released a 2-minute 11-second teaser, showing a glimpse into the grandeur world of Thandel before setting up its characters. The teaser shows Naga Chaitanya in a never-before-seen avatar who plays the role of Thandel Raju, a fisherman who runs into trouble after he and a few others mistakenly enter Pakistani waters, leading to their imprisonment in the Central Jail of Karachi.

From some really massy dialogues to the patriotic theme, the teaser has all the right elements to bring much anticipation among fans. The one who anchors his crew, his love, and his people; and wont care to sacrifice his life," the films tagline read.

As the teaser plays, it shows Chays character venturing into the water to catch fish, only to end up in a Pakistani jail and being tortured by officials. In the backdrop of an impactful background score, it further cuts to show a patriotic side of the character who challenges the Pakistani jailer as a proud Indian.

Your land is a charitable piece from us. If you have this attitude, just imagine our demeanour who gave alms. I am saying this from your Pakistani land, Hail Mother India," says the character in the teaser.

In the end, the teaser also gives a glimpse of Sai Pallavis character, who seems to have been waiting for her lover (played by Naga Chaitanya) after he was detained in Pakistan.

Take a look:

Chaitanya while sharing the teaser on his social media handle wrote, Here it is ! #EssenceofThandel. https://youtu.be/htCVXc7hvx0 Thank you Chandoo Mondeti for this innovative one and building #ThandelRaju for me .. #AlluAravind #BunnyVas for this opportunity."

Directed by Allu Aravinds Geetha Arts and produced by Bunny Vasu, the films music has been composed by Devi Sri Prasad, while Shamdat is the cinematographer.

Notably, the films shooting is still underway in Karnataka. The teaser has already created a frenzy among fans, who took to social media and praised his portrayal. The films release date is yet to be confirmed by the makers.
From Belur Math to Kamakhya and Almora to Kedarnath, a young Narendra Modi went to various parts of the country after leaving home. The life of Modi, who considered taking sanyas, took a different turn after a priest of the Ramakrishna Mission showed him a new direction.

In the summer of 1968, Narendra Modi left his house in Vadnagar, with just a bag carrying a few clothes and books. Nobody in his family knew where he was heading. It was Swami Vivekanandas persona that dazzled the world 70 years ago, which showed PM Modi the path ahead.

In the City of Joy

After leaving his home and family in 1968, Modi started his journey to Kolkata, which was known as Calcutta back then. People from all parts of the country would visit the city back then to make their living. There are many folk songs based on this theme in different languages.

However, Narendra Modi did not go to Kolkata seeking economic prosperity. He went there with the idea of achieving spiritual growth. There couldnt be a better place to achieve it than the Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Ramakrishna Paramahansa, and his famous disciple Swami Vivekananda, in Belur Math near Kolkata.

The Belur Math, spread over 40 acres on the western banks of the Ganga river in West Bengals Howrah district, is famous all across the world as the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission. This is the place where Modis idol Narendra also lived, whom the world knows as Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda had appointed Swami Brahmananda as the first president of the Ramakrishna Mission in 1901 to globally propagate the Vedanta philosophy, at the core of which is service, strength, moksha, and welfare of society.

When Modi reached Belur Math, Swami Vireshwarananda was leading the mission, which follows the guru-shishya tradition. Swami Vireshwarananda remained the head of the Ramakrishna Mission from February 1966 until he took Mahasamadhi in March 1985. During his long tenure, Swami Vireshwarananda gave mantra diksha to hundreds of youths and expanded the work of the mission all over the world.

As per tradition, only the president of the Ramakrishna Mission and Math had the right to give mantra diksha. Later, the right was also granted to the vice president of the mission and then to those leading the mission in certain parts of the world. Swami Vireshwarananda had been the president of Math for over two years when Narendra Modi reached there.

When Swami Vireshwarananda learnt about Modis goal, he called him and asked about his family and studies. He found out that Modi had not even completed his graduation. As per the rules of the Ramakrishna Mission, mantra diksha could be given only to those who had done their graduation in any subject.

Back then, PM Modi had not even completed a pre-university course, let alone graduation. In such a situation, Swami Vireshwarananda expressed his inability to make him a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission and urged him to pursue further education.

Off to Kamakhya

This was a major blow to young Narendra Modis goal of sanyas, but he did not give up. After spending some time at the Belur Math, Modi started his journey towards the Northeast and reached Guwahati where the Shakti Peeth Kamakhya Temple is located. Modi had been a worshipper of Goddess Shakti since childhood. He worshipped her with great enthusiasm during garba and used to visit temples and pray to Goddess Kali and Goddess Durga along with Lord Shiva.

But Modi did not stay at any place for a long time. While wandering, he also visited Uttarakhand, famous as Devbhoomi for thousands of years. Several great sages have performed tapasya at different periods of time here. Spirituality and philosophy abound in this region full of rivers, waterfalls, mountains, forests, lakes, animals, and vegetation. Modi got the inspiration to go to Uttarakhand also from his idol.

Following his idol

Swami Vivekananda had been visiting this place during the last few years of the 19th century. He liked it so much that he became a regular visitor. Details of Swami Vivekanandas Uttarakhand visits in 1888, 1890, 1897, 1898, 1900, and 1901 are easily accessible. He reached Kathgodam for the first time by train in 1888 and then travelled towards the mountains from there.

During his visits, Vivekananda went to Nainital, Kakrighat, Almora, Kasar Devi, and Deval Dhar on one side, and to places like Dhari, Paharpani, Mornaula, Dhunaghat, and Lohaghat, where Mayavati Advaita Ashrama is. Vivekanandas journey started soon after Ramakrishna Paramahansa took mahasamadhi in 1886. Other disciples too went in different directions as part of their spiritual journey. At the time, Vivekananda was known as Narendra Nath.

Interestingly, Vivekanandas first visit to north India was to Varanasi in 1887. And Narendra Modi went there in 2014 to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

After returning from eastern India, young Narendra Modi had gone to Almora for meditation during his Uttarakhand visit. Narendra Nath (Vivekananda) had also visited Almora in 1890. In September of that year, Narendra Nath did meditation for a long time in the cave of Kasar Devi in Almora. After this, he became a popular name as people were drawn by the radiance of his face.

But Narendra Nath felt it was not enough to reach the pinnacle of spirituality and there was a need to work for the welfare of humanity and the world, which was facing many challenges. Keeping this objective in mind, Vivekananda met Ajit Singh, the ruler of Rajasthans Khetri, in the hill station of Mount Abu, the very next year.

In May 1893, when Narendra Nath was going to the United States to participate in the Parliament of World Religions, Ajit Singh named him Swami Vivekananda. With this new name, Narendra Nath rose to fame at Chicagos Parliament of World Religions. He put forth Indias Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam message so effectively that not just Vivekananda but Indian philosophy too received worldwide recognition.

Seven-and-a-half decades after Swami Vivekanandas visit, Narendra Modi had reached Almora. He even visited Ramakrishna Kutir in Almora, established in 1916, two decades after Swami Vivekanandas trip. Here, too, Modi expressed his desire to take sanyas. However, his wish couldnt materialise since he was not a graduate.

Connection with Kedarnath

While roaming around in different areas of Uttarakhand after his Almora visit, Modi also reached Garud Chatti, three kilometres away from Kedarnath, part of the traditional route to visit the ancient temple of Lord Shiva. Modi spent about one and a half months here. During this period, he used to visit Kedarnath daily barefoot, do puja at the temple and then return and continue with his meditation.

A witness to Modis stay in Kedarnath during that period was Teerth Purohit Srinivas Posti, who himself lived on the banks of the Mandakini river. When Modi visited Kedarnath for the second time on October 20, 2017, after becoming the prime minister, he met Posti and they recalled the old days. During his visit, PM Modi also narrated his experiences from those times in his speech.

PM Modi said that meeting old friends and acquaintances brought back old memories. He said that at one point in time, he got the opportunity to immerse himself here for several years. But perhaps Baba Bholanath (Lord Shiva) wanted him to serve more than 125 crore Babas (the people of India) and not just one, he said.

After spending a little over a month near Kedarnath, Modi started his journey ahead. However, his attachment to Kedarnath did not diminish. The world also saw this in June 2013, when Kedarnath and the surrounding areas were badly affected by a cloudburst. Many people lost their lives and many more were stranded in the hills for several days.

The cloudburst tragedy occurred on June 16, while PM Modi reached Uttarakhand on June 21. He remained there on June 21 and 22 and not only took stock of the damage caused in the entire area via aerial survey but also made the proposal for reconstruction of the Kedarnath complex to the then Congress government in the state. Despite being in power at both the Centre and the state, the Congress didnt accept it due to political reasons. Modi had emerged as a key challenge for it ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the BJP had made him its campaign committee head that month.

At the time, Modi helped pull out several people stranded in inaccessible areas and arranged a special flight for them to reach their destinations. This also included a large number of people from his home state Gujarat. After taking charge at the Centre in May 2014, Modi prioritised the reconstruction work of the Kedarnath complex and the road leading to it. Within the next four years, he changed the face of this entire area and kept visiting it from time to time.

Modi visited Kedarnath as Prime Minister for the first time on May 3, 2017. After that, he also went there on October 20, 2017, November 7, 2018, May 18, 2019, November 5, 2021 and October 21, 2022. The photographs of Modi reaching Kedarnath after campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 became a topic of discussion all over the world. Back then, he sat in a cave and meditated for 17 hours.

When Modi came to Kedarnath for the first time with the idea of taking sanyas, people who became his friends back then could not have imagined that he would come back repeatedly as the Prime Minister of India after few decades and redevelop several religious places in the country, including Kedarnath.

Back in Gujarat, but not Vadnagar

As far as young Narendra Modi was concerned, he reached Gujarat once again after meeting saints and sages in Rishikesh, Haridwar and other religious places, following his Kedarnath visit. However, he did not go to Vadnagar, his home, but started his journey towards Saurashtra. It was also a coincidence that PM Modis inspiration, Swami Vivekananda, reached Saurashtra in 1891, a year after completing his journey to Uttarakhand in 1890. From 1891 to 92, he travelled through Saurashtras Vadhwan, Limbdi, Palitana, Bhavnagar, Sihor, Junagadh, Girnar, Veraval, Somnath, Porbandar, and Dwarka, as well as Mandvi, Narayan Sarovar, and Bhuj in remote Kutch.

From Uttarakhand, Modi reached Rajkot, a major city in the Saurashtra region. Here, he started his journey towards the Ramakrishna Ashram. The ashram in Rajkot was started on a small scale before Independence on March 5, 1927, on the occasion of Ramakrishna Paramahansas birthday. In the next few decades, the scope of the Ramakrishna Missions activities in Saurashtra gained momentum and with it, the size of the ashram also grew.

Meeting Swami Atmasthananda

Two years before PM Modi reached this ashram in Rajkot, Swami Atmasthananda had come here. Swami Atmasthananda became the new president of the Rajkot-based ashram in March 1966. He was born in May 1919 and while studying at Presidency College in Kolkata, he came in contact with the Ramakrishna Mission while doing an MA in Philosophy, he took mantra diksha in 1941.

At first, Swami Atmasthananda stayed in Deoghar and later in Mayavati Advaita Ashrama. Before coming to Rajkot, Atmasthananda worked for the Ramakrishna Mission in Myanmar. However, due to the establishment of military rule in Myanmar, he returned to Kolkata and from there he reached Rajkot.

After he came to Rajkot, Swami Atmasthananda started learning the local language to communicate better with the people. Within a short time, he learnt Gujarati and continued speaking it throughout his life. After leaving Rajkot in 1973, whenever someone from Gujarat met him at Belur Math, he would speak to that person only in Gujarati. It was during his time that the construction work of a new temple started at the Rajkot ashram.

By the time Modi reached the ashram in Rajkot, Swami Atmasthananda was familiar with the local culture and traditions of Gujarat. Here, too, a young Narendra Modi expressed his desire to take sanyas. After assessing Modis personality, Swami Atmasthananda told him that his place was in society and not in taking sanyas. He told Modi that he should give up the idea of sanyas and should rather be among the people, serve society, and not think of living his life as a monk. Following his advice, Modi returned to Vadnagar.

Who would have thought that Swami Atmasthanandas words would become a reality one day? It was a coincidence that after Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat in October 2001, he went to the same Rajkot city to contest the assembly by-election in February 2002. He won big and officially started his career as a public representative.

In service of the people

The opportunity that Modi got to serve 5.5 crore people in October 2001 as the chief minister of Gujarat, transformed into an opportunity to serve more than 125 crore Indians after becoming the prime minister in May 2014.

In his journey from CM to PM, Modi has completed more than 22 years and the story continues. Even opposition parties are not convinced that after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the countrys reins can be taken away from him.

As far as Modi is concerned, he often recalls the steps he took on the path of spirituality five decades ago. Modi visited Belur Math in 2013 and met Swami Atmasthananda, who had become the president of Ramakrishna Math and Ashram in December 2007. On May 26, 2014, when he was taking oath as Prime Minister for the first time, he had a flower in his pocket as prasadi, given to him by Swami Atmasthananda.

Apart from the prasadi, Swami Atmasthananda had also sent a letter saying, I am looking forward to your visit to Ramakrishna Ashram as the Prime Minister of India. I am happy that you are going to rule with such an overwhelming majority. Lord Ramakrishna has given you this opportunity to serve the people of India without any discrimination.

Within a year after becoming the Prime Minister, Modi reached Belur Math on May 11, 2015. Like last time, PM Modi meditated in the room where Swami Vivekananda used to meditate. He also met Swami Atmasthananda, who was ill, and enquired about his well-being in Gujarati. Despite his poor health, Swami Atmasthananda was seen answering Modi in Gujarati.

Swami Atmasthananda passed away on June 19, 2017, at the age of 98. Modi wrote on X (then Twitter), The demise of Swami Atmasthanandaji is a personal loss for me. I lived with him during a very important period of my life.

This is an important period of PM Modis life, which only comes to light when such saints, monks, and people from these religious places talk about it, or when the Prime Minister himself recalls those days. These saints such as Swami Atmasthananda had a fair idea of both the future and potential of Modi even when he was very young and so they set him on the right path. Even years after making great strides in public life, PM Modi often remembers those times, fondly.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 6. Turkmengaz State Concern of Turkmenistan and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the development of Turkmenistan's largest gas field - Galkynysh, Trend reports.

The document was signed following the visit of Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the UAE.

The memorandum assumes the intention of the parties to attract strategic partners for the development of the third stage of the Galkynysh field.

It also provides for the possible participation of these partners in the implementation of energy projects, including the construction of gas pipeline infrastructure, which is aimed at ensuring the supply of natural gas not only to the countries of the region, but also to other states.

Meanwhile, gas production in Turkmenistan is forecasted to exceed 80 billion cubic meters in 2023. Turkmengaz is expected to account for about 73 billion cubic meters of this production, and exports are projected to amount to approximately 40 billion cubic meters. The state concern is set to supply about 35 billion cubic meters of this export volume.
The BSP will organise public meetings in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh on January 15 to take stock of the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The party also plans to launch the Behan Ji app on the occasion of Mayawatis birthday (January 15). The party intends to connect youth workers with this app, made on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modis NaMo app.

BSPs UP unit chief Vishwanath Pal told PTI on Sunday, This time on behen Mayawatis birthday, the party is organising public meetings in all 75 districts of the state. In these public meetings, the people of the state will be given information about the various public welfare schemes of the BSP. He said that the party is fully prepared for the Lok Sabha elections to be held in the next two-three months and is organising these public meetings to energise its workers for the elections.

When asked whether the party would make any electoral understanding with the INDIA bloc for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Pal said, Only behen ji (Mayawati) will take any decision in this regard. We are just workers. All the decisions in the party are taken by behen ji. On a question that Mayawati had earlier said she would contest the Lok Sabha elections alone, Pal said, If our leader has said that our party will contest the elections alone, then all of us party workers will contest the elections alone with full strength and will win. The BSPs state unit president claimed the party is fully prepared to contest elections on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

BSP chief Mayawati had announced in July last year that her party would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections alone. She had also criticised the NDA as well as the INDIA bloc and alleged that none of them were friendly to Dalits and oppressed classes.

Meanwhile, sources said the party will also hold a show of strength at district levels on Mayawatis birthday. In this, the popularity of the contenders for the Lok Sabha constituencies will be assessed based on their ability to gather crowds.

The BSP and the SP had formed an alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BSP was the bigger gainer with 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadavs SP had won five seats.

On being asked whether he would attend the Pran Pratishtha ceremony to be held at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Pal said, I was born in Ayodhya and am a resident of that place. Since childhood, my mother used to take me in her lap and go to the Ram Janmabhoomi for darshan.

Therefore, it is useless for you to ask me whether I will go to Pran Pratistha or not. When I stay in Ayodhya, I will go for darshan whenever I feel like. He said he is against any kind of politics being done on the Ram Temple issue. He said no political party should do politics of religion.

A senior party leader said that Akash Anand, Mayawatis nephew, has become very active after she declared him as her successor.

According to sources, Akash can get the Behan Ji app launched by Mayawati on January 15.

The objective of this app will be to connect such youths with the party, who agree with the partys ideology but do not know much about its policies.

At present, the BSP has only one MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Stirring controversy regarding the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Janata Dal (United) MP Kaushalendra Kumar on Friday questioned the invitations extended to various political leaders and guests to attend the consecration ceremony. Mocking the invitations, the JD(U) leader said, Kisi ke bete ka vivah hai, jo nauta de rahe hai. Kya kissi ke pita ka shradh hai? Hume nauta nahi diya hai to kya hum Ayodhya nahi jayenge (Is it someones sons wedding or fathers shraadh that they are inviting? We did not receive an invitation that doesnt mean that will not go).

He further took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, Those visiting Ayodhya without Sita will not be blessed in 2024.

Questioning the need to extend invitations for the grand ceremony on January 22, MP Kaushalendra Kumar at a programme in Bihars Nalanda said, Is it someones sons wedding that they are inviting? Why are they inviting? Is it someones fathers Shraadh? The one who is inviting is a stupid man. Ayodhya belongs to everyone. No one can take it over.

The JD(U) MP added that Lord Rams worship will not end in one day. Both husband and wives are visiting Ayodhya to take the blessings. If someone insults Sita they will not be benefitted in 2024.

Chief Priest of Ayodhya Ram Mandir Responds

Responding to the JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumars remark, Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das Ji Maharaj said that the invites are the letters of honour.

A fool will always speak like one. He (JD(U) MP MP Kaushalendra Kumar) is a fool. Invites are letters of honour that someone is being invited to the grand ceremony of Ram Temple. We send invites for the smallest of the works that are done. A fool who has no knowledge and will always use such language. He should keep his foolishness to himself, the chief priest added.

Opposition in Soup For Remarks on Ram Temple Inauguration

JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar is not the only one who issued such a controversial statement ahead of the inauguration ceremony of Ram temple. National Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad on Wednesday stoked a major controversy saying that Lord Ram used to eat meat. However, Awhad later issued an apology for his remark.

Addressing a rally in Nashiks Shirdi, Awhad said, Lord Ram belongs to the minorities. Lord Ram belongs to Kshatriyas. People want us to turn us vegetarian but Lord Ram used to hunt and eat meat. Lord Ram was a non-vegetarian. How do you expect a person who lived in the forest for 14 years to search for vegetarian food.

Karnataka Congress MLC BK Hariprasad also stoked a row saying that riots like Godhra might take place in the state in view of the Ram temple inauguration ceremony and asked the central government to provide security to the people going to the holy city in Uttar Pradesh.

There is a possibility of Godhra-like incident in Karnataka in the run up to the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. The Karnataka government should be alert because in Gujarat during the same occasion, the Kar Sevaks were set on fire at Godhra, the Congress leader was quoted as saying.
Hindu activist Shrikanth Poojari from Karnataka, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the riots after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, was released from jail on Saturday, a day after a court granted him bail in the 31-year-old case.

#WATCH | Karnataka: VHP leaders reach Hubbali Sub Jail to welcome Shrikanth Pujari, who was granted bail by the court in Hubballi. Shrikanth Pujari was arrested for alleged involvement in the riots after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. pic.twitter.com/TawCkicaJn  ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2024

Leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad reached Hubbali jail to welcome Poojari, who said: Police did not give me a warrant before arresting me I will visit Ayodhya on January 19 to attend the pran pratishtha (consecration) ceremony at the Ram temple

#WATCH | Karnataka: Shrikanth Pujari says "Police did not give me a warrant before arresting meI will visit Ayodhya on 19th January to attend the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Temple" pic.twitter.com/tnvR4v5Tlp ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2024

On Friday (January 5), a sessions court granted bail to the karsevak, who was arrested last week. The opposition BJP had been holding protests against the arrest and demanded his release. The BJP has accused the Congress government of being harsh on Hindus, and also indulging in minority appeasement.

The Congress had charged the BJP with politicising the issue. Chief minister Siddaramaiah had described Poojari as a social miscreant and criminal suspect and said he is facing allegations of involvement in 16 antisocial activities, including illegal liquor sales, gambling and matka.

The additional district and sessions court judge Parameshwara Prasanna B announced the order granting bail. The government counsel had submitted objections on January 4 and claimed that Poojari was wanted in several other cases and had been avoiding attending court hearings.

(With PTI inputs)
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday issued his response on the much-debated question of who will lead the INDIA bloc as its convenor and said that the decision will be taken in the next 10-15 days.

Responding to the query amid the rumours of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars name being considered for the responsibility, Kharge said, The question of who will be INDIA blocs convenor is like Kaun Banega Crorepati? It will be decided in the next 10-15 days when we hold a meeting. Dont worry about it.

Will Nitish Lead INDIA Bloc As Its Convenor?

With all the gamble being played on who will take over as the convenor of the INDIA bloc, speculations were rife that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to be placed at the post. According to reports, a virtual meeting of opposition parties is scheduled to take place this week to take a decision in the matter.

In 2022, Nitish Kumar ditched the BJP-rule NDA alliance and joined the Mahagathbandhan that includes Congress, RJD and three other parties. Notably, Kumar is suspected to have national ambitions and therefore, also vowed to bring all Opposition parties together to oust BJP out of power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar again took over the command of his own party  Janata Dal (United)  last week after Rajiv Ranjan Singh, aka Lalan Singh, stepped down as JD(U) national president at the national executive meeting which was held in New Delhi.

Mamata, Kejriwal propose Kharge as PM face

Meanwhile, during the last INDIA bloc meet, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal pitched Mallikarjun Kharge as the Prime Ministerial face of the INDIA bloc. However, the Congress president made it clear that it was important to win first and then take decisions on such matters.

At the meeting, Kejriwal told the meeting that Congress should take the lead in taking the bloc forward while Mamata argued that the alliance would need a face, news agency PTI reported citing its sources.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said he rebelled against Uddhav Thackerays leadership and split the Shiv Sena in June 2022 only to save the party.

Launching the campaign of the Sena faction led by him for the Lok Sabha elections at Rajgurunagar in Pune district at a `Shiv Sankalp rally, he also defended his governments record on the investment front.

I took the stand with honesty and with the intention of saving the party, said Shinde who toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government of the Sena, Congress and NCP, and formed an alliance with the BJP to become chief minister.

Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray could have become Maharashtras chief minister when the party came to power (in alliance with the BJP) for the first time in 1995, but he made another party worker (Manohar Joshi) chief minister instead, Shinde said.

(Someone said) I have promised that I will make a Shiv Sena worker chief minister but then he himself became CM, Shinde said, taking a jibe at Uddhav Thackeray.

Thackeray, who broke off a decades-old alliance with the BJP in 2019 on the issue of the chief ministers post, had defended his decision by stating that he had promised his late father that a Sena worker would once again get the top post in the state.

Shinde, meanwhile, also responded to the criticism his government is facing over big-ticket projects going outside Maharashtra. Of Rs 1.37 lakh crore-worth investment deals signed at Davos last year, 85 per cent of the deals materialised, he claimed.

In the preceding two-and-half years, Gujarat had overtaken Karnataka and Maharashtra, but in the last year and a half, we have regained the top rank, the chief minister said.

Ab Ki Baar 45 Paar (this time we will win more than 45 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra) will be the new slogan for Maharashtra. People have acknowledged the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the results were seen in the assembly elections in four states, Shinde further said.

Maharashtra is the first state in the country to provide crop insurance at one rupee.The decisions not taken in the last 50-60 years have been taken by the Modi government in the last nine years. The work of the `double-engine government is in full swing and this is the reason (NCP leader) Ajit Pawar also joined us, he added.
Jitendra Awhads apology for his comment about Lord Ram being non-vegetarian seems to have cut no ice with his opponents who attacked the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader for hurting peoples sentiments.

The latest attack came from minister for women and child development Aditi Tatkare who, while speaking to the media in Nasik, said: It seems Awhad has forgotten that no one has the right to hurt anyones sentiments. Being a senior politician and minister, he should be more responsible. Whatever Awhad has said is laughable.

Tatkare also advised Awhad to not make any comment about God as it is a matter of peoples personal beliefs and no ones sentiments must be hurt.

Recently, Tatkare and her father Sunil Tatkare, who is MP and state president of NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), were targeted by Awhad for shifting loyalties as they had joined the Ajit Pawar faction. Ajit Pawar has been in politics for more than 40 years. He is the kind of person who always thinks about all aspects before making a decision. But people like Awhad always change their stand. Hence, he should not advise us, Tatkare said.

The Mumbai police, late on Friday night, registered a first information report (FIR) against Awhad for his alleged objectionable remarks against Lord Ram. The FIR was lodged after Gautam Ravriya, a Bajrang Dal coordinator, filed a complaint at the MIDC police station. Awhad, who is from NCPs Sharad Pawar faction, has made objectionable remarks on Lord Ram and hurt my and peoples religious sentiments, Ravriya stated in the FIR.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also slammed Awhad for insulting the Bahujans with his statement: Lord Ram was a kind of Bahujan and non-vegetarian.

A press statement issued by the office of Fadnavis read: Statement of Ahwad is just a publicity stunt. Lord Ram belongs to all and not to only few, Varkari (Pilgrims) are also Bahujan and they do worship Lord Ram. Varkaris are vegetarian, hence statement made by Awhad is sheer insult of Varkaris. Fadnavis also questioned the silence of Uddhav Thackeray on the issue.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who has so far not received an invitation for the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22, on Saturday said he and his party leaders will visit Kalaram temple in Nashik that day and perform a maha aarti on the Godavari river bank. Talking to reporters here after paying respects to his mother late Meena Thackeray on her birth anniversary, the former chief minister said he will visit Ayodhya whenever he feels like.

The consecration of Ayodhya Ram temple is a matter of pride and self-respect. On that day (January 22), we will visit the Kalaram temple at 6.30 pm where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and (social reformer) Sane Guruji had to stage protests. At 7.30 pm, we will hold a maha aarti on the banks of the Godavari river, Thackeray said.

The Kalaram temple, located in Panchavati area of Nashik, is dedicated to Lord Ram. The temple derives its name from the idol of Lord Ram carved out of black stone. It is believed that Lord Ram stayed in Panchavati with wife Sita and his brother Lakshman during their exile. In 1930, Dr Ambedkar had led a protest at the Kalaram temple to seek entry of Dalits into the temple.

The consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya will be held on January 22. Thackeray has not received an invitation for the event. Thackeray also said that on January 23, the birth anniversary of his father and Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, the party will hold a rally in Nashik.

Last Saturday, Thackeray had told reporters, I have not received any invitation yet and I dont need one to visit Ayodhya as Ram Lalla belongs to everyone. Whenever I feel like it, I will go. Shiv Sena had contributed a lot to the Ram temple movement.
A New Zealand man, identified as Will Fransen, cheated death after falling off a fishing boat and spending approximately 24 hours adrift in the open water. The incident unfolded near the Alderman Islands, off the northern coast of New Zealand, leaving Fransen battling not only the elements but also a close encounter with a shark, according to the report by The Mirror US. Whangamata Police Sergeant Will Hamilton provided details of the harrowing ordeal in a recent news release. Fransen had embarked on a solo fishing expedition on January 2 aboard a 40-foot boat. The initial plan was to return on January 3, but fate took a drastic turn when Fransen hooked a sizable fish near the Alderman Islands, causing him to lose balance and tumble into the ocean.

Despite Fransens efforts to regain control of the boat, it meandered further out of reach, prompting him to attempt swimming towards the Alderman Islands. Unfortunately, strong currents impeded his progress, leaving him stranded in the open sea overnight. Hamilton revealed that during this harrowing experience, a shark approached Fransen but refrained from any aggression, merely inspecting the situation.

Fransens desperate situation took a fortunate turn around 2 pm local time the following day when three fishermen on another boat noticed an unusual reflection on the water near one of the islands. Upon closer inspection, they realised that the glimmer was emanating from Fransens watch as he sought their attention.

The fishermen promptly rescued Fransen and transported him to Whangamata Marina, where emergency personnel were ready to provide assistance. The official police statement described Fransen as hypothermic and exhausted upon his return to dry land, the news agency added. No further details regarding his condition were provided.

The missing 40-foot boat is yet to be located. Authorities have disseminated information about the vessel to the Rescue Coordination Center, urging mariners to report any sightings of the empty powered boat.

Whangamata Police Sergeant Will Hamilton expressed profound gratitude for the swift and decisive actions of the three fishermen, emphasising that their intervention played a pivotal role in averting a potential tragedy. The Mirror US quoted Hamilton as saying, It is an absolute miracle the fisherman is still alive after the ordeal. Without the quick actions of the three gentlemen that retrieved him, this certainly would have had a tragic outcome.
Alaska Airlines grounded its fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft on Friday, following a scary midair incident where a window and part of the fuselage blew out, leading to an emergency landing in the US city of Oregon.

The incident happened shortly after takeoff and the gaping hole caused the cabin to depressurise. The plane reportedly climbed to 16,000 feet before returning to Portland International Airport. The airline said the plane landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members.

BREAKING: Alaska Airlines plane makes emergency landing in Portland, Oregon after window blows out in mid-air.Several items, including phones, were sucked out of the plane when it suddenly depressurized. Everyone is safe. pic.twitter.com/BtOB1RU3tn  BNO News (@BNONews) January 6, 2024

Following tonights event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement. The US Transportation Safety Board has said it was investigating a depressurisation incident that forced an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 to make an emergency landing.

BREAKING: United Airlines is set to ground Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after a window blew off on an Alaska Air flight The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 6, 2024

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that the crew reported a pressurisation issue and that it would investigate. The new MAX 9 was delivered in late October to Alaska Airlines and certified in early November, according to FAA data. While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation, Alaska said in a statement. We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 returned safely to @flyPDX around 5 p.m. local time on Friday, Jan. 5, after the crew reported a pressurization issue. The aircraft was traveling to @flyONT in California. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate. The FAA  (@FAANews) January 6, 2024

What Boeing said

In a statement, Boeing said that it was looking into the emergency landing. We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the company said in a statement. We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the company said in a statement. We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation.

Read More: WATCH | Phones Sucked Out of Broken Window Mid-Air, Alaska Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing

Social media posts on X (formerly Twitter) showed a window and a portion of a side wall missing on the airplane and oxygen masks deployed. According to Flightradar24, exterior photos of the aircraft appeared to show that the rear mid-cabin exit door separated from the aircraft during the flight. The MAX 9 features a rear cabin door behind the wings of the aircraft that can be activated in dense seating configurations to meet evacuation requirements, Flightradar24 said. However, they are permanently plugged, or deactivated, on Alaska Airlines jets.

An Alaska Airlines 737-9 MAX mid-cabin exit door assembly separated from the aircraft minutes after take off this evening near Portland. ADS-B data and other details as they become available: https://t.co/7ozRQ5EvX1 pic.twitter.com/KSXYMtkWou Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 6, 2024

The Max is the newest version of Boeings venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017. Last week, Boeing said it was urging airlines to inspect all 737 MAX airplanes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system.

Notably, the 737 MAX was grounded for 20 months worldwide after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia. The US-based airline giant is awaiting certification of its smaller 737 MAX 7 and larger MAX 10, Reuters reported. The FAA has carefully scrutinised the MAX for years and even said in 2021 that it tracked all 737 MAX airplanes using satellite data.

(With agency inputs)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the leaders of Turkey and Greece on Saturday during the opening stops of his latest Mideast diplomatic mission as fears grow that Israels war against Hamas in Gaza may expand into a broader conflict.

Blinkens fourth visit in three months comes as developments in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful US push to prevent a regional conflagration since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and as international criticism of Israels military operation mounts.

He held talks with Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, in Istanbul about what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease tensions, speed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin planning for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza. Much of the territory has been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombardments.

Americas top diplomat later stopped in Chania, a port city on the Mediterranean island of Crete, to see Greeces prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at his residence. These are difficult and challenging times, Mitsotakis said.

Hours before Blinkens meetings, Lebanons Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel and said the barrage was an initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanons capital this past week.

Stepped-up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels have disrupted international trade and led to increased efforts by the US and its allies to patrol the vital commercial waterway and respond to threats. The coalition of countries issued what amounted to a final warning to the Houthis on Wednesday to cease their attacks on vessels or face potential targeted military action. Since December 19, the militants have carried out at least two dozen attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

From the Turkish officials, Blinken sought at least consideration of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts in Gaza and participation in security arrangements, according to US officials. Erdogan has been harshly critical of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

Blinken emphasised the need to prevent the conflict from spreading and work toward broader, lasting peace that ensures Israels security and advances the establishment of a Palestinian state, the US State Department said in a statement summarising Blinkens meeting with Erdogan.

Blinken also stressed the importance that the US places on Turkeys ratification of Swedens membership in NATO, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon. Swedens entry to the alliance is seen as a significant response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

A Turkish official said Fidan told Blinken that Israels increasing aggression in Gaza was a threat to the region and he called for an immediate cease-fire and the delivery of uninterrupted humanitarian aid. Fidan said negotiations for a two-state solution should begin as soon as possible, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issues in the private talks.

Fidan also said Turkey was awaiting the outcome of its request to upgrade its fleet of F-16 fighter jets and stressed that the ratification of Swedens NATO membership lay in the hands of the Turkish parliament.

Blinkens day was ending in Jordan, which apart from Israel has been his most frequent stop on his recent Middle East tours. He plans to be in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.
Yesterday (Wednesday, December 7, 2016) at 03:00 explosions shattered the night sky over Damascus, a fire that erupted at the military airport of Al Mezzeh, west of the Syrian capital continued to burn. By noon, the Syrian regime released a statement blaming the attack on Israel. As usual, no comment came from Jerusalem, but the Syrian statement added another bit of information. They claimed that surface-to-surface missiles were used in the attack, and claimed they were launched from a location west of Tel Avital (Tal Abu Nada) in the Golan Heights, about 56 km from the target. If the Syrian claim is correct, this incident is the first time that Israels Defense Forces (IDF) have used precision guided surface-launched missiles, a new type of weapon procured this year.

The type of weapon and the range to the target does not leave much for guessing. Examining Israels rocket arsenal, only one precision strike rocket could reach this range  the 306mm EXTRA. But, in fact, 50 km is less than a third of its maximum range  the EXTRA can strike with the same precision, at targets 150km away. Its larger sibling  the Predator Hawk, can reach targets at 250 km with warhead twice as heavy as the EXTRA.

Although the weapon was developed more than a decade ago, EXTRA is relatively new in Israels arsenal. The IDF artillery corps fielded these weapons earlier in 2016. The IDF was not the first customer for this weapon. The designer and manufacturer Israel Military Industries (IMI) have sold these missiles to several countries in the past. In June 2016 Israel press reports mentioned the sale of Precision Guided 306mm EXTRA Rocket to the IDF.

Originally developed in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries, EXTRA moved under the sole responsibility of IMI. Employed as a precision weapon for operation over the horizon, the missile can be used against targets in fixed positions, guided over its trajectory using a combined sensor integrating Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and Inertial Measurement (IMU). In this mode, the missiles can attack fixed targets based on known coordinates (exploited from aerial or satellite imagery). The rockets can also attack stationary targets, such as command posts, surface-to-air missiles, force concentrations or weapons in transit, relying on near-real-time intelligence delivering positioning data from various sources.

IMI has developed a family of precision-guided rockets, in calibers from 122 and 160mm to 306 and up to 600 mm. The largest variant is the new Predator Hawk missile, with a strike range of 250 km. All weapons have a strike accuracy of less than 10 meters (IDF officials have repeatedly determined an accuracy of 5 meters for some of these weapons).

Some analysts assessed the Israeli choice of weapon to reluctance to engage with the Russian Air Defense systems currently deployed in Syria. The Russian contingent along the Mediterranean coast (in Latakia and Tartus) currently includes a unit of S-400 air defense missiles and the Kirov class battlecruiser (Pyotr Velikiy) that carries air defense systems similar to the S-300. However, these assets are operational in Syria for months and have not prevented alleged Israeli attacks in the past.

The ground for Israels choice of weapon may be different  for many years Israel have used air-launched precision strikes, but the increasing threat and accuracy of adversary weapons could potentially hinder those capabilities. Both Syria and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have tactical ballistic missiles with certain guidance capability, enabling them to concentrate effective attacks against Israeli air-force bases and other strategic targets, thus risking to limit the Israeli freedom of action. Maintaining precision strike capability by tactical surface launched rockets is a way to maintain a credible deterrence throughout the region  both against adversaries in the close range, as well as the long range.

If these new and precise weapons were used in the recent attack, the official Syrian announcement was, in fact, a conduit for Jerusalem to send its message to the region  Beware!
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 6. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have signed a Protocol on expanding mutual cooperation, Trend reports.

The protocol was signed following a meeting between the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliev and the Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov.

At the same time, during the meeting, the parties discussed the stages of implementation of agreements within the framework of the Roadmaps signed following the visit of Kazakh president to Uzbekistan in December 2022, including increasing trade turnover between the two countries to $10 billion.

The parties also touched upon the holding of the IV Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Samarkand.

Meanwhile, within the framework of the 20th meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in May 2023, the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan organized a trade mission of Kazakh commodity producers and service providers in Tashkent.

Following the trade mission, export contracts were signed for the supply of construction materials, confectionery, IT services, and dairy products to Uzbekistan worth more than $44.1 million.

Kazakhstan entered the top three among the main trading partners of Uzbekistan based on the results of the first 11 months of 2023. The trade turnover between the countries amounted to $4.1 billion from January through November 2023.
Canada said on Friday an aircraft was sent this week to island nation Jamaica to address a maintenance issue with the plane that took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a visit to the Caribbean, enabling him to return home.

This is the second recent instance of such an aircraft glitch in less than six months. Trudeaus departure from India in September last year was delayed by a couple of days after a G20 summit. We can confirm two Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challengers were in Jamaica supporting transport for the prime minister, a spokesperson for Canadas defence department said.

On Tuesday, an inspection uncovered the maintenance issue before Trudeaus departure date. A maintenance team and aircraft were sent to the island to restore the craft to service the next day. The Canadian PM was able to return on the original plane, the spokesperson said.

In the earlier incident, Trudeau faced a delay during his stay in Delhi due to an unexpected issue in the plane. The Canadian delegation, present in New Delhi for the two-day G20 Summit, had to extend the stay due to a glitch in the countrys 34-year-old aircraft.
The Israeli military has said it is preparing an investigation into failures connected with the October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. The armys chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said that the military is still planning the investigation.

He said the investigation aims to improve the army and is not meant to replace any future external investigations. Our goal is to always improve, to draw conclusions from the fighting, to deepen the achievement and minimize casualties to our forces, Hagari, was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel, during an evening press conference on Friday.

The operational investigation is one of the basic principles of the IDF. Only a thorough investigation of the truth will allow us to learn from the failures and prepare for the security challenges in the future  2024 will be a year of fighting, and there are lessons to be learned that will help us fight better, in all the arenas, he said.

On October 7, Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. It was the worst such attack in Israels history. Israeli military, intelligence and political leaders have come under heavy criticism for being caught off guard. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far rejected calls for an investigation, saying the government must focus on the war and answer questions later. The public broadcaster Kan reported earlier that a Security Cabinet meeting late Thursday broke up after four hard-line Cabinet minister shouted at the armys commander-in-chief because they opposed his plans for the investigation.

The report about the military probe comes as Israels defense minister on Thursday laid out his vision for the next phase of the war in Gaza, describing how Israeli forces would shift to an apparently scaled-down  new combat approach in northern Gaza, while continuing to fight Hamas in the south of the territory for as long as necessary.

Israel has come under international pressure to spell out a post-war vision but so far has not done so. The issue is likely to be on the agenda in Secretary of State Antony Blinkens talks this weekend in Israel and other countries in the region. The United States has pressed Israel to shift to lower-intensity military operations in Gaza that more precisely target Hamas, after nearly three devastating months of bombardment and ground assaults.

The document issued by Gallant was titled a vision for Phase 3 of the war, and Gallants office said the phase had not yet begun. It also said the ideas were Gallants and not official policy, which would have to be set by Israels war and security cabinets.

(With agency inputs)
Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the roads outside the British parliament in London and clashed with the police on Saturday demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

As per reports, the protesters blockaded the famous Westminster Bridge in London following clashes with police. However, the police prevented the protestors from marching across the bridge.

The protesters didnt share any information about the protest with the Metropolitan Police regarding the planned routes, the Metropolitan Police said on X.

Watch: Massive sit-in outside the British Parliament in protest in London in support of Gaza & ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/grkFtL1iiK In Context (@incontextmedia) January 6, 2024

According to The Telegraph, the protesters held a mass die-in preventing traffic from crossing the bridge near the Palace of Westminster for two hours.

Various protest groups, including Sisters Uncut and Black Lives Matter, are planning to hold a protest in central London today.Officers have attempted to speak with the organisers, however they have not shared any information with us about their proposed route. This has an pic.twitter.com/k70Y6bIP1d  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 6, 2024

The London Police said a large number of officers have been deployed to minimise disruption and deal with any offences.

London, like many other Western cities, has seen large demonstrations calling for ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and stop the bombardment of Gaza, which started after a surprise October 7 attack by Hamas militants.
In June 2008, top Kazakh-Russian catwalk model Ruslana Korshunova jumped from her Wall Street apartment in New York at the tender age of 20 and died on the spot.

Two years before her death, Korshunova participated in a trip to Jeffrey Epsteins Island at the age of 18, according to the newly released US court documents that shed light on her links to the notorious sex offender and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

At the time of her death, Korshunova was reportedly involved in an elite Rose of the World cult, adding a layer of complexity to the circumstances surrounding her death which was termed as suicide. Flight logs, which appeared in the bombshell Epstein files, point to her presence on the Lolita Express, Epsteins private jet, on June 7, 2006, according to UKs Daily Mail.

The British newspaper, however, adds that it is unclear what happened to her once she was there. But the disgraced financier was certainly known to fly girls and young women to his compound, where theyd be sexually exploited by powerful men.

In a May 2011 email that was unsealed on Thursday night, a lawyer named Brad Edwards, who works in Florida, asked Epstein victim Virginia Roberts-Giuffre if she knew Korshunova. I think its a long shot you would recognise her, but read the article I attached and then look at the pictures and see if you recognize her, Edwards wrote. I will call you tomorrow.

This link with Epstein raises concerns about potential exploitation and underlines the complex web of connections within Epsteins orbit. The revelation of her involvement in Epsteins activities came to light through recently unsealed court documents from Virginia Giuffre, who sued Maxwell for defamation in 2016.

Despite achieving great success as a catwalk model, working with renowned designers and gracing the covers of publications such as Russian Vogue and French Elle, Korshunovas association with Epstein and Maxwell was not publicly disclosed at the time. The troves of documents in the Epesten case have now led to a closer look at Korshunovas life and her troubling links to people involved in serious sex trafficking allegations.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Donald Trumps appeal of a judicial decision barring the former president from Colorados Republican primary ballot, taking up a politically explosive case with major implications for the 2024 presidential election.

At issue is the Colorado Supreme Courts Dec. 19 ruling disqualifying Trump from the states primary ballot based on language in the U.S. Constitutions 14th Amendment for engaging in insurrection, involving the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.

The justices took up the case with unusual speed. Trump, the frontrunner for his partys nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, filed his appeal on Wednesday. The justices indicated they would fast-track a decision, scheduling oral arguments for Feb. 8. The Colorado Republican primary is scheduled for March 5.

The state court, acting in a challenge to Trump by Republican and unaffiliated voters in Colorado, found him ineligible for the presidency under a constitutional provision that bars anyone who engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding public office, barring him from the primary ballot.

The U.S. Supreme Court did not act on a separate appeal of the state courts decision by the Colorado Republican Party.

The Colorado case thrusts the Supreme Court  whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump  into the unprecedented and politically fraught effort by his detractors to invalidate his campaign to reclaim the White House.

Trumps spokesperson Steven Cheung praised the courts decision to hear the case, characterizing the disqualification efforts as part of a well-funded effort by left-wing political activists hell-bent on stopping the lawful re-election of President Trump this November, even if it means disenfranchising voters.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said people in her state and around the United States deserve clarity on whether someone who engaged in insurrection may run for the countrys highest office.

Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group representing the challengers to Trump, added, Were glad that the Supreme Court will definitively decide whether Donald Trump can be on the ballot. We look forward to presenting our case and ensuring the Constitution is upheld.

Many Republicans have decried the disqualification drive as election interference, while proponents of disqualification have said holding Trump constitutionally accountable for an insurrection supports democratic values. Trump faces criminal charges in two cases related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.

Trump also has appealed to a Maine state court a decision by that states top election official barring him from the primary ballot under the same constitutional provision at issue in Colorado.

HIGH STAKES FOR SUPREME COURT

While the Colorado case could hamper Trumps bid to win back the presidency, it also has major implications for the justices. Given the political nature of the dispute, they run the risk of appearing partisan whichever way they lean.

Their action will shape a wider effort to disqualify Trump from other state ballots. Colorado and Maine are Democratic-leaning states. Nonpartisan political analysts forecast that both are unlikely to back a Republican presidential candidate in the general election. But there are efforts underway in other states  including highly competitive Michigan  that could shape the elections outcome.

The Colorado ruling marked the first time that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment  the so-called disqualification clause  was used to deem a presidential candidate ineligible. Section 3 bars from holding office any officer of the United States who took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

The amendment was ratified in the aftermath of the American Civil War of 1861-1865 in which Southern states that allowed the practice of slavery rebelled in a bid for secession.

Among other arguments, Trumps lawyers have said that Section 3 does not apply to U.S. presidents, that the question of presidential eligibility is reserved to Congress, and that he did not participate in an insurrection.

The Colorado courts decision marked the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate, Trumps appeal stated.

The Republican and unaffiliated voters who sued to disqualify Trump from the ballot disagreed. In a filing on Thursday, they emphasized the lower courts findings that Trumps intentional mobilizing, inciting, and encouraging of an armed mob to attack the Capitol meets the legal definition in Section 3.

This attack was an insurrection against the Constitution by any standard, they said in the filing.

Trumps supporters attacked the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Bidens election victory. Trump gave an incendiary speech before the attack, repeating his false claims of widespread voting fraud.

Biden in a speech in Pennsylvania on Friday cast Trump as a threat to American democracy, one of the themes of his re-election campaign. Biden specifically made reference to Trumps speech before the Capitol riot, whose three-year anniversary is on Saturday.
The United States has expressed concern over remarks made by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who recently urged citizens of the small African nation, to stone gay people.

The remarks reportedly escalated a crackdown on sexual minorities in a nation where LGBT people face social ostracism and jail terms of up to two years if convicted of same-sex offences. The United States is deeply troubled by President Ndayishimiyes remarks targeting certain vulnerable and marginalized Burundians, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement on Friday.

We call on all of Burundis leaders to respect the inherent dignity and inalienable rights, including equal access to justice, of every member of Burundian society. Such efforts are an essential precursor to spur the economic growth necessary to improve conditions for all Burundians.

The State Department statement did not refer specifically to the remarks about stoning but was a clear reference to remarks by Ndayishimiye at a public event late last month. Responding to a question on gay couples, Ndayishimiye, according to AFP said, Personally, I think if we see these kind of individuals in Burundi, we should put them in a stadium and stone them.

Burundis ties improved in recent years with the United States, which had imposed sanctions in 2015 over a deadly crackdown on dissent as Ndayishimiyes predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza controversially sought a third term. The United States in 2022 agreed to a five-year aid package with Burundi after removing sanctions, in part crediting reforms by Ndayishimiye.

The US statement Friday did not threaten repercussions. In May, Uganda passed a law that carried the death sentence for certain categories of same-sex offences. The United States has imposed a range of sanctions including travel restrictions and removing Uganda from a tariff-free trade deal.

(With agency inputs)
An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing in the US city of Oregon on Friday after a window and chunk of its fuselage blew out in mid-air, media reports said.

A passenger sent a local media outlet a photo showing a gaping hole in the side of the airplane next to passenger seats. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured. The airline said it was investigating what happened.

BREAKING: Alaska Airlines plane makes emergency landing in Portland, Oregon after window blows out in mid-air.Several items, including phones, were sucked out of the plane when it suddenly depressurized. Everyone is safe. pic.twitter.com/BtOB1RU3tn  BNO News (@BNONews) January 6, 2024

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, experienced an incident this evening soon after departure, the company said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press. The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 174 guests and 6 crew members.

4,876 meters High

The company said it would share more information when it became available. The flight left Portland at 4:52 p.m. but returned just before 5:30 p.m. The plane rose as high as 16,000 feet during the flight and then began descending, according to data on the flight tracking website FlightAware.

Local media reported photos sent in by a passenger showed a large section of the airplanes fuselage was missing. The FAA did not immediately respond to an email request for information by AP.

The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line and received its certification just two months ago, according to online FAA records. The US National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on X, that it was investigating an event on the flight and would post updates when they are available.

(With agency inputs)
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, January 6. Kyrgyzstan imported oats from the Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia for the first time in 2023, Trend reports.

As per, the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), last year also saw the first-time export of buckwheat from Krasnoyarsk to Lithuania, flax seeds to Belarus, peas to China, as well as flour to North Korea and Kazakhstan.

A total of 377,000 tons of grain, its processed products, and oilseeds were exported from Krasnoyarsk in 2023, which is a threefold increase compared to the preceding year.

The primary volume of exports included rapeseed at 179,000 tons, wheat at 86,500 tons, and oats at 37,500 tons. Furthermore, 4 million cubic meters of forest products were exported from the Krai in 2023.

It was also noted that in 2023, Rosselkhoznadzor paid particular attention to facilitating the development of the Krasnoyarsk Krai's export potential. Rosselkhoznadzor received over 300 applications from 105 agricultural enterprises regarding various grain crops for certification to obtain the right to export grain to China.

According to Kyrgyzstans State Statistical Committee, Kyrgyzstans trade turnover with Russia reached $2.206 billion from January through October 2023, which is a decrease of 25 percent compared to the ten months of 2022 ($2.945 billion).

Kyrgyzstans exports to Russia during this period equaled $593.348 million, which is a decline of 35 percent compared to the corresponding months of 2022 ($912.659 million). Russias share in Kyrgyzstans exports was 24.3 percent.

The countrys imports from Russia totaled $1.613 billion, which is 20.6 percent less than the imports from January through October 2022 ($2.032 billion). It accounted for 16.4 percent of Kyrgyzstans total imports..
Budiriro woke up in shock last week, after ferocious floods from a nearby stream tore through the suburb, swamping homes and destroying property.

Residents in the flood-prone Budiriro high-density suburb in Harare said this week the local authority must pour financial resources to redevelop damaged infrastructure, instead of forcing them to vacate an area some have lived since 2004.

Budiriro woke up in shock last week, after ferocious floods from a nearby stream tore through the suburb, swamping homes and destroying property.

Reports said 15 houses built on wetlands in the area were submerged, following incessant rains that have triggered intense flooding in many parts of the capital since the last week of December.

In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent this week, Prosper Mutodi, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, said presentations had already been made in cabinet to ensure wetlands were protected.

He said radical action would be taken to deal with residents who have settled on wetlands in the area.

In the aftermath of the floods, government announced it would be evacuating 27 affected families in the area and resettle them in blocks of flats in the nearby Dzivaresekwa suburb.

About 205 families live in the area affect by floods.

In an interview with the Independent, many of the affected residents said relocating them would be costly.

Government approved that it was possible to build houses here so all we need is for the City of Harare to develop the place, not evacuating us, Tsitsi Kanobirika, a 49-year-old resident, said.

She spoke as more rains battered the damaged homes, with the ministry of national housing and the local government ministry, vowing the clean up the mess created by land barons.

Many desperate home seekers have been affected by the land barons, who have pegged stands in many parts of the capital.

We are likely to face double loss. If we leave the place, it will be given to someone else. They should develop the place with drainage systems, roads and divert the river, Kanobirika said.

Another resident, Sylvia Mugona also said authorities must develop, rather than force them out of Budiriro.

What we fear is that we will lose on both sides. We may fail to pay our rentals in the flats, and we will be evicted. Here we will have lost our stand. We joined co-operatives that were established as far back as 2004, and we were allocated land here in 2012. Now they are asking us to leave, Mugona said.

Daniel Garwe, the National Housing minister, said during a tour of the area the Dzivaresekwa houses were almost ready. Zimbabwe Independent
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is already home after being hospitalized most of the weekexcept almost no one knew he'd been hospitalized in the first place. The Pentagon announced Friday that Austin, 70, checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year's Day, after he suffered complications following a recent elective surgery, per the Military Times . Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement that Austin has since been discharged and had been set to once more assume his full duties on Friday night. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks had filled in for Austin where needed in his absence, Ryder noted.

The Washington Post, which reports Austin had just returned from a trip to the Middle East, including Israel, in late December, notes it's not clear what kind of surgery the defense secretary had, what the complications were, or why his hospital stay was kept so hush-hush. A reporters group dedicated to covering Pentagon news was miffed that it wasn't kept in the loop. "The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage," the Pentagon Press Association said in a letter to Ryder and another official involved with Defense Department PR, per the AP.

The organization continued: "At a time when there are growing threats to US military service members in the Middle East and the US is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader." The group noted that the public should be kept aware of any Cabinet members who end up in the hospital, are administered anesthesia, or otherwise have to hand off their duties to underlings, even if only for a brief time.

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"This has been the practice even up to the president's level. As the nation's top defense leader, Secretary Austin has no claim to privacy in this situation," the letter said, per the Post. Ryder, who said Austin is "recovering well," responded by calling it an "evolving situation," noting that the Defense Department "had to consider a number of factors, including medical and personal privacy issues." The White House is keeping mum on when and how it found out about Austin's hospitalization, directing all questions to the Pentagon. (More Lloyd Austin stories.)
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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 6. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov and President of the Turkic Investment Fund Baghdad Amreyev held phone talks, Trend reports.

Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two sides reviewed the state and prospects of multifaceted interaction within the framework of the Fund, the progress in the implementation of agreements reached by the heads of the founding states of the Fund, as well as discussed issues related to the practical launch of the Turkic Investment Fund.

Amreyev noted Uzbekistan's active role in the process of creating this mechanism of investment cooperation between the founding states of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

During the 9th Summit of the OTS held in Samarkand on November 11, 2022, the presidents of Turkic States signed a special decision on the establishment of the Turkic Investment Fund, and according to this decision, Baghdad Amreyev, who has completed his office as the Secretary General of the OTS, was appointed as the President of the Turkic Investment Fund.

The fund will be the first and main joint financial institution established by Turkic States and aims to mobilize the economic potential of Member States of the OTS to strengthen trade and economic cooperation between them and to implement joint projects.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 6. Turkiye has arrested 15 out of 34 detainees on suspicion of spying, Trend reports, referring to Turkish media.

As a result of the operation conducted in 8 provinces, including Istanbul, arrest for "political or military espionage" was requested against 26 out of 34 suspects.

The court decided to arrest 15 of the suspects on espionage charges and to take judicial supervision measures against 11 others.

Among the suspects, 8 were handed over to the Migration Service Directorate for deportation.

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David Umahi, minister of works, says the federal government is committed to completing the Abuja-Kaduna highway before the end of 2024.

Umahi spoke on Thursday at a meeting with all directors of the ministry, according to NAN.

The minister said all obstacles hindering the delivery would be addressed to ensure actualisation of the project for the benefit of Nigerians.

"We have about 1.7 kilometers left of Abuja-Kaduna in two sections. The ministry has some supervision work to be done on that road and we will be advised on the real designs of the two sections," Umahi said.

"Funding is also an issue because it is under the presidential development fund initiative gotten from looted funds. I have had to discuss with Mr president about the importance of the road for all users.

"But I won't be able to go back to him until we re-scope it because the project was N165 billion before and a review brought the cost to N655 billion but today the contractor is asking for N1.35 trillion and the government cannot afford it.

"What they are asking for is very wrong. We are looking at the existing subgrade and see what we can do about it.

"We are also looking at the first 40 km to be constructed by Dangote under the Tax credit scheme to do it on concrete pavement but I am very committed to completing that road this year.

"No matter what happens, that road will be done this year."

The reconstruction project of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano expressway was awarded in 2018.

In October 2022, Umar El-Yakub, the former minister of state, works and housing, had said the project would be completed in early 2023 to reduce negative effects on road users.

But in April 2023, Babatunde Fashola, ex-minister of works and housing, stated that the government could not fulfil its promise due to security challenges experienced in 2022 and the relocation of some communities on the Zaria section of the 265km road project.

The project is currently being handled by Julius Berger and is funded through the presidential development fund initiative.








Hollywood actor, Christian Oliver, has died along with his two daughters in a plane crash in the Caribbean.





According to local police, The privately owned, one-engine aircraft, plummeted into the Caribbean Sea moments after takeoff, killing all four aboard; Oliver, 51, his daughters Madita, 10, and Annik, 12, and pilot Robert Sachs.





The Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said in a statement that the incident happened while the family was travelling from Bequia, a small island in the Grenadines, to St Lucia shortly after midday Thursday.





Oliver is a native of Germany. He has starred in over 60 movies and TV series. He most known for his roles in Valkyrie, and The Baby-Sitters Club.
Denmark has updated its positive list to woo foreign skilled workers as it tries to address its labour shortfall.

The positive list refers to professions experiencing a shortage of skilled or highly qualified professionals in Denmark.

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) updates the list twice a year based on the ongoing labour market monitoring  January 1 and July 1.

The list covers jobs for persons with a higher education and skilled workers.

According to the updated list, 72 job titles have been reserved for people with higher education while skilled workers have 38 slots.

Foreigners who have been offered a job that is part of the positive list for people with a higher education are eligible to apply for both a residence and work permit in Denmark under the scheme.

Some of these areas include the military, business and administrative positions, production and service, healthcare, teaching and education, economics, law and social sciences, information communication and technology, and engineering.

Foreign skilled workers with expertise in healthcare, personal service, personal care, building and trade, and metal and machinery are also sought after, according to the list.

Those in these categories include business professionals, secretaries, clerks, assistants, welders, carpenters, chefs, paramedics, service technicians, real estate agents, etc.

In previous months, countries like Germany and Canada have eased their visa processes and amended immigration laws to woo more foreign talents as they grapple with a labour shortage.

The German parliament in June 2023 introduced an opportunity card to allow foreigners who do not yet have a job to come to Germany for a year to find employment.

In November 2023, Canada said it was seeking to welcome 485,000 immigrants this year, including skilled workers and caregivers.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has summoned some officials of the Dangote Group to Abuja to come along with detailed documents on foreign exchange transactions by the conglomerate covering the last nine years.

Operatives of the EFCC had on Thursday stormed the headquarters of Dangote Industries Limited in Ikoyi, Lagos, in furtherance of the ongoing investigation into the alleged abuse of the foreign exchange allocations by the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

The anti-graft commission is probing the alleged preferential allocations of forex to the Dangote Group owned by billionaire Aliko Dangote and 51 other companies under the Emefiele-led CBN.

It was gathered on Friday that the operatives carted away some documents from the groups head office on Thursday, but they did not cover all the transactions, hence the decision to summon the officials to bring the documents to Abuja on Tuesday.

It was learnt that Dangote was not in Nigeria when the operatives of the commission stormed the headquarters of his conglomerate as he was said to be in the United States of America. However, sources said he would return to Nigeria next week to personally sort out the problem.

It was also gathered that he was aware of the demands of the anti-corruption agency, but it could not be confirmed if he was informed before the EFCC sent its operatives to his company.

But a highly placed EFCC official said senior executives of the company had been mandated to supply the commission with what he called detailed and unambiguous documents on the demands by the commission.

It was gathered that the officials would be expected at the agencys office on Tuesday.

Yes, they (Dangote officials) asked for time to enable them to get all the necessary documents, which was granted. The idea is not to be seen to be witch-hunting anyone. What the commission wants is to get evidence and details of how government funds were allocated and that is all, the EFCC official, who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media on the development, said.

An official of the Dangote Group also confirmed that some key personnel of the conglomerate were currently gathering the documents requested by the EFCC to clear the company of any wrongdoing.

The source noted that the firm had sent some documents and key members of staff to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja in respect to the ongoing investigation, adding that it was shocked that the anti-graft agency still stormed its Lagos office on Thursday.

The official stated, Yes, we were aware of the ongoing investigation by the EFCC and our people were at the headquarters in Abuja with some of the requested documents as of the time its operatives invaded our Lagos office in what I will describe as a show-off.

We are a law-abiding group, but it is difficult to get all the documents covering the tenure of Emefiele at once, but our people are working at night to get all the relevant documents, which will be sent to the anti-graft agency next week.

The source added, As of the time of the raid, our people were in Abuja. We have been sleeping in the office to make sure that we get all the documents the EFCC requires for the investigation.

We are talking about documents from 2014 to June 2023. It is a lot of documents and it will take time to get all of them readily available. We have, however, sent the ones we have at our immediate disposal and they are with the commission.

The raid was just a way of embarrassing us and an act of show-off. We are law-abiding people running a legitimate business and we are cooperating with the investigation.

The source also added that Dagote was in the United States and was worried about the development.

Before the raid, Dangote Industries had in November 2023 refuted allegations that it was involved in forex malpractices and money laundering involving $3.4bn allegedly facilitated by Emefiele.

The company denied the claims that the money was channelled to its non-Nigerian subsidiaries, prompting illicit financial flows and round-tripping.

Dangote noted that its investment undertakings were sourced from the interbank market, with all transactions supported by Letters of Credit in line with international standards.

The search of the Dangote headquarters on Thursday, it was gathered, commenced around 3pm and lasted several hours.

During the raid, the operatives ransacked offices and carted away several financial documents related to forex allocations to the group from 2014 to June 2023, when Emefiele was suspended from office by President Bola Tinubu.

It was further gathered that the commission had asked the 51 firms under probe to submit Form A and Form M detailing the forex allocations to them between 2014 and June 2023.

But while some companies complied with the directive, several others were said to have asked for time to get the documents.

The Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obazee, had reported to the President how Emefiele allegedly lodged public funds in foreign currencies in no fewer than 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China without the approval of the apex banks board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee.

Obazee found that the ex-CBN governor allegedly lodged 543, 482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks without authorisation, adding that he allegedly manipulated the naira exchange rate and committed fraud in the e-Naira project.

The investigator in a report submitted to the President on December 20, 2023, recommended that Emefiele, who is being prosecuted for alleged N1.2bn procurement fraud, should face fresh charges over the handling of the naira redesign policy and alleged illegal issuance of currency under Section 19 of the CBN Act.

He also recommended that the ex-CBN governor should be prosecuted alongside Tunde Sabiu, a former aide and nephew to former President Muhammadu Buhari, and 12 top directors of the CBN.

A suspected kidnapper and child trafficker, Tayo Adeleke, had confessed to the Ogun State Police Command how he and other members of his gang had been kidnapping children to sell in neighbouring Benin Republic.

Emefiele denied the indictments, describing the content of Obazees investigation report as false, misleading, and calculated to disparage my person, injure my character, and serve the selfish interest of the private investigator.

A top EFCC official revealed that the EFCC was probing the preferential foreign exchange allocations allegedly made by Emefiele in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and the CBN Act.

The official claimed, The EFCC is investigating the Dangote Group over the preferential foreign exchange allocations made by the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and in disregard to the CBN Act.

There are about 51 other big companies under probe over the development too, and the commission discovered that the allocations were not approved by the former President Muhammadu Buhari, so it was more of a means for the former CBN governor and his cronies to launder money through forex and Bureau De Change operators.
LVMH is delighted to announce the following internal mobilities and appointments within the LVMH Watches & Jewelry Division, effective since January 1st 2024

Frederic Arnault, who joined TAG Heuer in 2017, and became CEO of TAG Heuer in 2020, is appointed CEO of LVMH Watches, in charge of Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith. He will report to Stephane Bianchi, CEO of LVMH Watches & Jewelry Division. After successfully driving the transformation and accelaration of TAG Heuer over the past 6 years, his new role within the Watches & Jewelry Division will ensure a strong and sustainable growth for the Watch Maisons and reinforce LVMH's role within the watchmaking industry.

Frederic Arnault  LVMH

Julien Tornare, CEO of Zenith since 2017, is appointed CEO of TAG Heuer. His experience within the Group and his strong background in the watchmaking industry will be key in continuing the current development of the Maison and maximising the value of its iconic ranges.

Julien Tornare  TAG Heuer

Benoit de Clerck succeeds Julien Tornare as CEO of Zenith. This appointment will allow the Maison to continue its unique history of innovation while building on the fundamentals to take the future of Swiss watchmaking one step further.

Benoit de Clerck  Zenith

Julien Tornare, Benoit de Clerck and Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO of Hublot, will report to Frederic Arnault.

"Frederic has done a tremendous job at TAG Heuer over the past 6 years. His unique and disruptive vision for the watchmaking industry led to a spectacular transformation for TAG Heuer, which recovered its credentials in record time as the luxury watch brand driven by high performance. I am extremely pleased to have Frederic join me within the LVMH Watches & Jewelry Division to oversee our 3 Watch Maisons, and eager to see what his unique insights and vision will bring to fuel additional and sustainable growth for them", declared Stephane Bianchi, CEO of LVMH Watches & Jewelry Divison.

"It's a real pride and a great pleasure for me to see Julien taking the helm of TAG Heuer. This move is a tribute to the work accomplished by Julien over the past 6 years at Zenith, succesfully driving and orchestrating the turnaround and repositioning of the Maison. His appointment is also a mark of confidence that Julien's entrepreneurial spirit, exceptional leadership skills and strong international and watchmaking background will be decisive in pursuing the transformation and elevation of TAG Heuer." added Stephane Bianchi.

"I'm delighted to welcome Benoit within the LVMH Watches & Jewelry Division, as the new CEO of Zenith. Bringing a solid watchmaking expertise, together with a deep knowledge of international business development, Benoit will undoubtdely pursue the great work undertaken by Julien over the previous years and shape the future of Swiss watchmaking with Zenith.", concluded Stephane Bianchi.

Frederic Arnault:

Frederic started his professional carrer at consulting firm McKinsey, before moving on to Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research department. He joinded TAG Heuer in 2017, first to manage its smartwatch activities, then being appointed Chief Strategy and Digital Officier in October 2018, and becoming CEO in July 2020. In this role, managing over 2000 people, he engaged the company into a complete transformation plan around one objective: brand elevation and desirability. He graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (X2014) in France.

Julien Tornare:

Active for 26 years in the watchmaking industry, Julien initially worked at Raymond Weil for two years before spending 17 years at Vacheron Constantin, branch of Richemont, first as Director for the Swiss Market, subsequently as the Brand's US President, the HQ International Sales Director and finally as Managing Director for Asia-Pacific. He then developped further his management and leadership skills as the Zenith CEO. He gradudated from the IMD and the London Metropolitan University.

Benoit de Clerck:

With 25 years in the watchmaking industry withing the Richemont Group, Benoit has led global sales in the competitive luxury good markets across four continents. His deep international business development experience shaped his business strategies as well as his ability to connect with consumers to truly understand their needs and wants. He was Chief Commercial Officier at Panerai before his appointment at Zenith. Benoit graduated from the Concordia University of Montreal.




The immediate past chairman of the Imo state traditional rulers council, His Royal Majesty, HRH Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri, has on Saturday morning, been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen.





The traditional ruler was said to have been abducted at the front gate of his compound in Orodo, Mbaitoli Council Area of Imo state , at about 08:30. His brother, Solomon Ohiri, a United States-based businessman, was also kidnapped, Vanguard reports.





According to the report, an eyewitness said: This Saturday morning, Ohiri and his brother from the United States, decided to drive out in their car in the spirit of the Christmas celebration to visit some of their friends. After their visit, they returned.





As they arrived at Ohiris compound; They packed their vehicle, at one side of the compound, and as they both of them were having the final discussion before they could say bye to each other. A highlander vehicle filled with gunmen double-crossed them and shot sporadically. They dragged both of them into the vehicle and drove away. They drove toward the Njaba to Orlu road.





But another eyewitness, according to Vanguard, claimed that the Ohiris brother, Solomon, struggled and escaped from the kidnappers.
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has called for the cancellation of the introduction of the computer-based test (CBT) for the conduct of the forthcoming West African Examinations Council (WAEC) assessments.

WAEC earlier announced plans to adopt CBT-based testing for its assessments  starting in 2024.

AYCF said such a mode of examination will lead to massive failure among students, especially those in rural areas who are not computer literate.

In a statement signed by Yerima Shettima, president of the AYCF, the group said WAEC should make it optional, allowing candidates to choose between the traditional pen-and-paper format and the computer-based approach.

Shettima maintained that such options would allow students to opt for the format they are most comfortable with in the exams.

He said research conducted by the AYCF in selected northern states such as Zamfara, Jigawa, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, and Plateau, showed that the CBT exams have consistently led to failure among students attending public schools, where computer skills are often not taught.

Even the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) CBT exams have placed underprivileged students in a predicament, as they struggle to answer questions in a format they are unfamiliar with, he said.

Many students who failed the CBT-based JAMB exams last year argued that their failures were a result of systemic failures, including insufficient facilities or network failures during the exams.

Additionally, a lack of proper and adequate computer skills, coupled with outdated desktop computers that are not properly maintained by CBT centres further exacerbate the situation.

As the exams are timed, these delays significantly hinder the performance of students who otherwise possess sufficient knowledge of the content.

In the light of these findings, the AYCF urgently calls upon the Ministry of Education, Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), and other relevant Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to unite and reject the planned CBT exams.

Shettima said the decision is imperative to prevent a massive failure rate among students who deserve fair and equal opportunities for success.




Special Adviser On Narcotics And Illicit Drugs Monitoring to Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo, Chief Ezechukwu Obonna, has advised Imo residents to work towards making the state drug-free.





Obonna gave the advice when he marked his birthday in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, on Saturday.





He advised against the consumption of a dangerous drug called Kush, a drug made from human bones and chemicals, as well as the sniffing of human urine and remains and the trafficking of drugs.





Lets try to resist the temptation of getting involved in the consumption and trafficking of illicit drugs, especially the dangerous trend from Sierra Leone called KUSH, which is a hard drug made from human bones and chemicals.





On this day of my birth, I wish and pray we all come together to fight this menace of drug abuse, which is now at an epidemic level.





The fight begins in our homes, as all hands must be on deck to ensure that we help our God-sent governor achieve his genuine aim of making our state drug-free, as this will translate to making our state crime-free, he said.





According to him, there were little or no cases of violent crimes during the yuletide, an indication that the state government was winning the war against insecurity, which is usually aided by drug abuse.





The total reduction in the rate of drug demand will see us winning the war entirely, he said.




Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, has called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure that perpetrators of the Christmas Eve attacks in some communities of Plateau State are brought to book.





He also said it is time for the nation to rise collectively and stop the bloodshed, warning that if the perpetrators go scot-free in Plateau, such gruesome acts can also take place in any part of the country.





Dogara made his feelings known on Saturday during a solidarity visit to Governor Caleb Mutfwang, at his residence in Jos, the state capital, in the wake of the recent Christmas Eve attacks in some communities of Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu LGAs.





He described Plateau people as peaceful, accommodating and hospitable, who do not deserve the dehumanising and unholy acts inflicted on them.





He called for a holistic approach by all citizens across all faiths to halt banditry, terrorism and criminal activities in all parts of the country.





The perpetrators of this violent act are not just crazy but they are dangerous. The truth is that they will not stop until we stop them and the Commander in Chief has the responsibility of stopping them.





We must use the cohesive apparatus that we have to locate these people and their sponsors, scattered in the ungoverned spaces that we have in Nigeria, whether on the Plateau, Nasarawa, Southern Kaduna, Zamfara, the North East or the South.





According to him, Wherever these people are, they must be located. After locating them, the Commander in Chief will have to either take justice to them or bring them to justice.





Failure to bring them to justice has always been the bane of the fight against terrorism, he decried.





Responding, Governor Mutfwang thanked him for the visit and said the true narrative of the killings in Plateau is not farmer-herder clashes but banditry and terrorism, which must be addressed holistically in that context.





He praised the willingness and the desire of President Bola Tinubu to end the carnage and said the president has shown political will in tackling the issues.





With all boldness, I want to say that I see a desire for a shift with the current President.





I see a desire to change the narrative, a desire to rewrite the story and get things right. I have interacted with him a couple of times and I see him carrying a burden to see how this issue will end.





Mutfwang reiterated the commitment of his administration to work collaboratively with the Federal Government to bring to an end the carnage and decades of attacks that have claimed scores of lives in the state.





He also commiserated with the former Speaker on the demise of his mother, and prayed God to grant him the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.




Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani has lamented the attack by bandits on Southern Kaduna communities.





We reported how the attack led to the loss of many lives and the kidnapping of many residents.





Sani described the attackers as beasts in human skin after a former councilor of Dawaki Ward, Aminu Khalid, revealed to journalists that 17 people were killed and 58 others were feared kidnapped when terrorists invaded three communities at Dawaki Ward in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.





The former councillor further disclosed that the attack happened in three villages, including Ungwan Sako, Kunkurai and Dokan Kaji.





He said there was a gun duel between the attackers and the villagers which led to the rescue of 20 villagers while nine others lost their lives in the process.





The Governor condemned the killings, adding that the perpetrators have no place in a civilised society.





He said his government would go to any length to hunt the attackers down and bring them to justice.





The sole aim of these beasts in human skin is to reverse the gains the good people of Kaduna State have made in rebuilding trust, he wrote on Facebook.
President Bola Tinubu says the nations security chiefs must ensure that all security threats to the country are eliminated.

According to a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, the president spoke on Friday during a security briefing at the State House, Abuja.

Tinubu noted that the security agencies have achieved progress in eradicating security threats in the country.

He added that their efforts would be undermined if there is no final victory.

We have too many investments that we need to make now in soft and physical infrastructure, in social security, in MSME empowerment, and other growth enablers, the statement reads.

We are pursuing a $1 trillion economy in the next few years, and our efforts will be undermined if we do not finally wrap up our progressive onslaught against enemies of progress.

Tinubu urged the security chiefs to keep up the fight, saying they have won the trust of Nigerians who are appreciative of their sacrifices.

The success you are recording is undeniable. Nigerians are seeing it, but the avoidable errors, as witnessed recently in Kaduna, are unacceptable and cannot be repeated, he added.

I am pleased that coordination between all agencies has dramatically improved over recent months, but there is no room for celebrations until we can end this; until we can bring our troops back to their own localities, and until we can free up resources for our critical economic expansion programme.

The president also tasked the armed forces to deliver on his objective to ensure the nation achieves a production of two million barrels of crude oil per day, including condensates, within the first quarter of 2024.

I do not play with my intelligence reports. I have multiple lines of sight. The Navy and sister branches must step up their game to achieve our aims for the benefit of all Nigerians, he said.

All malign actors will be aggressively uprooted from our midst. Those working against the national agenda from within and without will meet justice. Your task is clear. We will sustain our momentum. Failure is not an option under my leadership.
Three years after thousands of rioters flooded the U.S. Capitol, some bent on forcibly halting the certification of the presidential election, the majority of those charged with a link to New Jersey have had their day in court.

Of the 38 people implicated, 33 have been convicted at trial or taken guilty pleas. One case was dismissed, and four remain pending matters in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Nationally, 1,237 people have been charged with Jan. 6 crimes, and 852 have taken guilty pleas or were convicted at trial, the Department of Justice said in its latest update on the Capitol investigation, on Dec. 5, 2023.

The numbers of cases charged has slowed each year, but federal prosecutors say that does not mean the investigation is slowing down.

The investigation and prosecutions press on at an unprecedented speed and scale, the Justice Department said in a statement. [Our] resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on January 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane.

In New Jersey, 28 suspects were charged by the end of 2021. In 2022, authorities charged six, and last year, four.

The numbers mirror the national trend: Over 725 charged in the first year, more than 950 total by the second year, and the 1,237 according to the Justice Departments last tally.

Obviously its slowing down, and youd expect it to slow down as you get further away from it, said Scott Coffina, a former federal prosecutor.

Coffina, who also was Burlington County prosecutor from 2017 to 2022, said he suspects investigators are being more targeted and seeking suspects on the periphery of the attack.

Also in the mix, Coffina noted, is that the U.S. Supreme Court last month agreed to take the case that will determine if prosecutors can use an obstruction law against Jan. 6 suspects.

Prosecutors are watching that, he said.

Overall, Coffina said the Justice Departments handling of the cases has been just.

He said the majority of those charged, who did not commit violence or just walked into the Capitol, were able to work out rational plea bargains for misdemeanors that often did not lead to incarceration.

And the ones who, say, attacked police officers, received stiffer sentences. Thats a whole different story, he said.

In either case, Coffina said: None of it is the way we should be demonstrating our dissatisfaction with the election, let alone trying to change it.

And, Coffina said, the Justice Departments messaging that investigations will continue no matter the time frame is key, even if statistics show a slowdown.

They want to let people know, and rightly so, that this isnt the way to protest an election youre not happy with the outcome of.

New Jersey Jan. 6 case notes:

Pending Cases:

Brian Bingham, a former Pennsville resident, who has signaled in court filings that he wants to go to trial.

Michael Daniele, a retired New Jersey State Trooper from Holmdel.

Anna Lichnowski, a Florida resident who formerly of Brick.

Gregory Yetman, who a judge ruled to detain pending trial. He was a fugitive for two days last month after fleeing an FBI arrest team who arrived at his Helmetta house.

Awaiting sentencing:

Christopher Quaglin, of North Brunswick

James Rahm III, of Atlantic City

James Breheney, of Little Ferry

Michael Oliveras, of Lindenwold

Peter Krill, Jr. of Sewell in Mantua Township

Two New Jerseyans, Scott Fairlamb, of Hardystown, and Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, of Colts Neck, who each drew multi-year prison terms for their conduct, have served their time and were released last year. Both had been jailed pretrial and received credit for that time behind bars.

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Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com
A large crowd of mourners gathered on a cold morning at the NIA Masjid & Community Center in Newark for the funeral of Imam Hassan Sharif who was gunned down Wednesday at the Majid Muhammad Mosque just after morning prayer.

Sharif had been the Imam of Masjid Muhammad-Newark for the past five years, and many of the Muslim leaders who spoke Saturday remembered him as a leader often found serving his community.

At a press conference before the private funeral, his stepdaughter, Tanasia Ransom, thanked the community, both locally and around the country for their support.

I cannot describe how it makes us feel knowing how many lives hes touched, Ransom said. She then shook her head and left the podium with tears in her eyes.

Others who spoke outside the Muslim community center Saturday shared messages of frustration about the killing and the fact that there has been no arrest. They pointed to a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric that has spiked since the Hamas terror attack on Israel in early October.

Authorities have said that there is no indication that Sharifs slaying was motivated by anti-Muslim bias.

A religious group, Muslims, are once again shaken to their core, Dina Sayedahmed of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said at the news conference. To rub salt into our wounds, more than 72 hours have passed since our beloved Imam Hassan Sharif was killed, and in a city as over-policed and heavily surveilled as Newark, there are still no suspects.

CAIR New Jersey has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Sharifs slaying, and the Essex County Sheriffs Department has offered another $25,000 reward.

We hope this will help uncover helpful information and help law enforcement find the perpetrator, Sayedahmed said. Imam Hassan Sharif was a community leader. If our leaders who enjoy a higher profile are being targeted and killed at a time when anti-Muslim bigotry is on a sharp rise, theres no telling what types of dangers our community is vulnerable to.

Crowds gathered for the funeral service for Imam Hassan Sharif, who was shot to death outside a Newark mosque on Wednesday. The service was held at the NIA Masjid & Community Center in Newark, NJ on Saturday, January 6, 2024.Ed Murray| NJ Advance Media

This is a man who was taken from us well before anyone could have imagined, Sami Shaban of the New Jersey Muslim Coalition said of Sharif. Not only are we mourning the profound loss of Imam Hassan, who was a gem and a brother to so many of us, but we are also simultaneously trying to make sense of the bigotry and hate thats targeting, not just him but many Muslims around the state and around the country.

Shaban called for law enforcement and the public to bring Sharifs killer to justice.

Masjids are meant to be spaces of safety, like all religious spaces, said Imam Daud Haqq, president of the Imams Council of Newark on Saturday morning. Imam Sharifs murder directly violated that space of safety and sanctity when he shot the Imam at the door of the Masjid as he exited from prayer.

It cannot become the norm that we meet our fate when we gather at our places of worship, Imam Haqq said. We ask and pray that he [Allah] would remove the diseases of bigotry, racism, and violence from our city, our community, and our country.

Sharif worked for the Transportation Security Administration at Newark Liberty International Airport since 2006, and a van full of TSA colleagues attended the services on Saturday.

Crowdfunding efforts to financially support Sharifs family and pay for his funeral have been launched as well. A Launch Good campaign, a fundraising platform focused on the Muslim community, has raised over $168,000 towards a $180,000 goal as of Saturday morning.

The investigation into Sharifs killing is ongoing. A spokesperson from the Essex County Prosecutors Office, which is leading the investigation, said there were no new developments in the case as of Saturday.

Newark police responded to reports of a shooting at South Orange Avenue and Camden Street at around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday. Officers found Sharif with multiple gunshot wounds and transported him to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead later that afternoon.

Sharif had posted in August on Facebook that someone approached him in the parking lot of the mosque as he was heading in for morning prayer. The person pointed a gun at his head and a struggle ensued, according to the post. The would-be gunman ran away, he said.

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Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X. Katie Kausch may be reached at KKausch@njadvancemedia.com.
Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we prove it every week. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican serving as a senior advisor to Chris Christies presidential campaign, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the weeks events with editorial page editor Tom Moran.

Political consultants Julie Roginsky and Mike DuHaimePhoto by Stephanie Cowan

Q. As expected, busloads of migrants from Texas began dropping their passengers in New Jersey last week, responding to an executive order from New York Mayor Eric Adams that restricts their passage into the city. The mayor of Edison called for them to be bused back to Texas, while other mayors reacted more mildly, noting that the migrants continued to New York by train. Hows this going to roil state politics?

Mike: Ive enjoyed watching Democrats mayors and governors from NY and NJ react in a way they used to hurl insults at Republican mayors for. In New Jersey, many Democrats pretended we would be a sanctuary state until it came time to back those words up, and they quickly backtracked. The immigration system is broken and stretching the resources of any community where undocumented immigrants land. This is a problem that should be fixed by the federal government, so it is a great political problem for President Biden now that mayors and governors of both parties are calling out the failure of the system.

Julie: If these migrants continue on to New York, I doubt that it will affect state politics much. But generally, the rhetoric is occasionally out of bounds. These migrants are human beings fleeing poverty and violence. Busing them back to Texas like chattel is inhumane. We are a nation and a state of immigrants. A little grace might be in order.

Van Drews on the case to halt non-existent N.J. invasion | Editorial https://t.co/U34dl4yktl  NJ_Opinion (@NJ_Opinion) January 4, 2024

Q. Meanwhile House Republicans headed to the Texas border, intending to highlight President Bidens failure to stem the tide of migrants. The White House tried to turn the table on Republicans, noting that they have refused repeated requests to provide more money for border security. Is that argument going to fly?

Mike: Nope, voters will blame the guy at the top more than the faceless Congress.

Julie: Congressional Republicans have failed to move the ball on border security going all the way back to the Bush administration, because they would rather exploit the crisis for political gain than actually solve the problem. The president should say exactly this every single day until it penetrates the public consciousness, because it is absolutely true.

Mike: I was in the Oval Office once as President Bush ripped into a handful of House Republican operatives for starting down the path of nativist, anti-immigrant campaigns. Unfortunately, we lack leadership like his now, in that we have too many interested in exploiting the politics and too few trying to solve a legitimate problem.

The Republican congressman admitted Wednesday that he will not be supporting any solutions for the border because they could be beneficial for President Biden's poll numbers https://t.co/u5KyZ8wRPO  MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) January 4, 2024

Q. Dr. Patricia Campos-Medina, a progressive activist with no experience in elected office, is running for the U.S. Senate, the first Latino to jump into the Democratic primary. Larry Hamm, a Black activist with no elected experience, is already in. Is a crowded field likely to help First Lady Tammy Murphy or Rep. Andy Kim?

Mike: A crowded field helps the candidate with the most lines, which most think will be Murphy. Preferential ballot position means Murphy would be on line 1 or in column A with President Biden and the local county commissioners and Mayor. That doesnt mean Andy Kim would be on line 2. He may end up on line 6 far away from all the recognizable names up at the top of the ballot. This puts a greater burden on Kim, if he doesnt win the county endorsements, to raise money and separate himself from the unknown also-rans who will be competing for attention off the line.

Julie: It all depends on how much money these candidates can raise in order to get their message out. We know that both Tammy Murphy and Andy Kim will have the resources necessary to compete. If voters view this as essentially a two-person contest, that helps Kim. If the anti-Murphy vote is split between several candidates with whom voters are familiar, that obviously helps the First Lady.

https://t.co/88Gf5dlP23 @DrCamposMedina said "people are concerned about the diminishing representation of Latinos in New Jersey and how that impacts key policy issues that are so critical for our community nationally." @LatinaCivicAct @LATINOACTION  Ande Richards (@AndeRichards) January 4, 2024

Q. Sen. Robert Menendez, meanwhile, was indicted again, this time for taking bribes to benefit the government of Qatar. Can we safely assume his political career is over? And will Democrats ever rescind his security clearance, or expel him, as Republicans expelled Rep. George Santos?

Mike: I couldnt stop shaking my head reading this. Was he really doing favors for a foreign power to get them to invest in an apartment building? Really? Did that really happen by a guy in one of the most powerful positions in the US government? For an apartment building? I know I shouldnt be surprised after reading the first indictment, but I still am.

Julie: Sen. Menendez has bigger things to worry about than the preservation of his career. There does not appear to be a massive drive for expulsion on either side of the aisle, which underscores what a much clubbier place the senate is than the House.

Now, accused of selling his honor and our nation for a $24,000 watch.



Accused as a foreign agent for *two* nations.



How much more before we finally expel @SenatorMenendez ? https://t.co/NRrWyye9fj  Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) January 3, 2024

Q. New Jersey Republicans will lose 40 of their 49 delegates at the national convention this summer, giving them the same weight in the party as Guam or American Samoa, according to the New Jersey Globe. Thats punishment for breaking a national GOP rule requiring states to select delegates by the end of May, a week before New Jerseys June 4 primary. Is this as bad a screw up as it seems? Is party chairman Bob Hugin going to survive it?

Mike: I know Hugin will fight it along with RNC national committeeman Bill Palatucci, who has been one of the precious few voices of reason and strength at the RNC as they have wasted all their money paying Trumps legal bills and excusing his actions. The RNC used to punish states for going too early, now they are punishing them for going too late, when in fact our primary date hasnt moved at all. It seems crazy to me, so hopefully an accommodation can be made so the state GOP isnt punished. This is the fault of the RNC, not Bob Hugin or the state GOP.

Julie: This is not really Hugins screwup. By statute, New Jerseys primary is set for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June. The RNC incomprehensibly passed a rule mandating that delegates be chosen earlier than that. If New Jersey Republicans should be angry with anyone, they should take it up with RNC Chair Ronna (Romney) McDaniel.

This is an awful call, @RNCVoteProtect, @RNCResearch, @RNCData. Do you want voters to be involved or not? What other choice did @BobHugin have? https://t.co/PbrQ31OeTD  Rebovich Institute (@RebovichInst) January 3, 2024

Q. Finally, a Chris Christie check-in. Those of us who know him know theres no way hell drop out before the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary. But hes said in the past that he needs to do well in New Hampshire to keep going. What does that mean? Can a single digit showing be defined as doing well?

Mike: Christie continues to be the only candidates willing to speak difficult truths. Nikki Haley had a terrible week because she was afraid to say slavery was a cause of the Civil War, for fear of offending some slice of the primary electorate in South Carolina. Haley may want to check to see which side Iowa and New Hampshire were on in the 1860s. Haley continued her pandering by saying she would pardon Trump if hes convicted of crimes. If Christie got out, there would be no one taking on the frontrunner, as Haley plays for VP and DeSantis plays for 2028 frontrunner. The result is neither criticizes the guy they are pretending to try to catch in the race.

Julie: Mike would know much better than I about what doing well constitutes in the mind of Chris Christie. The bigger issue is whether Christie will have the money to go on if he does not at least come in second in New Hampshire. (This goes for DeSantis too, for that matter.) The primaries right after New Hampshire are in states that are much less hospitable to Christies brand of politics.

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A note to readers: Mike and Julie are deeply engaged in politics and commercial advocacy in New Jersey, so both have connections to many players discussed in this column. DuHaime, the founder of MAD Global, has worked for Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and President George W. Bush, and Gov. Christie. Roginsky, a principal of Comprehensive Communications Group, has served as senior advisor to campaigns of Cory Booker, Frank Lautenberg, and Phil Murphy. We will disclose specific connections only when readers might otherwise be misled.
Nurses and managers at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick settled a bitter, 120-day strike last month, resulting in a groundbreaking agreement setting limits on the number of patients nurses may be assigned.

On Thursday, the momentum from that contract reached the Statehouse in Trenton, where union leaders urged a state Senate panel to make enforceable staffing ratios the law in hospitals and surgery centers across New Jersey..
The Ukrainian roufer Mustang Wanted (real name: Hryhoriy Kyrylenko) was surprised to read comments about the demand to mobilize MPs into the army. The extreme sportsman, who is currently serving in the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Magura," emphasized that it would be impossible to be effective in the war with such a mindset.

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The warrior explained that even if all MPs were mobilized, it would not be enough to give the heroes a chance to rest. Kyrylenko said this in an interview with journalist Yurii Butusov.

"For some reason, people want MPs to go to war. First of all, how many MPs are there? You can't make a rifle battalion out of them - it's nothing. We need to create dozens of new brigades and change these brigades. This is a puzzle. There is no way to turn away: "Someone will fight for me," explained the roufer.

Although many soldiers are now fighting for Ukrainian land piece by piece without long rest and regular rotations, Hryhoriy Kyrylenko believes that this tactic will not play into Ukraine's hands in the future.

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"This is what is happening now. The same people are doing it. They are not just getting tired, they are already tired. In the future, it is desirable that we do not come to this point. I would like to see constant replacement. Everyone will have to fight, but people will have less PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), they will be more effective," the soldier said.

The arguments about the MPs, he hinted, are just an attempt to justify themselves for not wanting to serve. However, the military needs support, as tired soldiers risk becoming demoralized and exhausted.

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Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that Mustang Wanted told about the "self-destruction" of the Russian occupier, who jumped into a trench with the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to his own stupidity.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The quick-hitting winter storm expected to bring up 6 to 12 inches of snow several northern New Jersey counties is expected depart the state nearly as quickly as it arrived with the heaviest snow winding down after midnight, forecasters say.

ALSO: Early snowfall totals reach 9 inches in several towns as heavy snow continues to fall

Some light snow and rain showers could linger into Sunday morning, but forecasters dont expect much additional snow accumulation after 2 a.m. Rainfall totals in areas that dodged the snow in this storm could range from 1 to 1.5 inches before things start to wind down.

The heaviest snowfall was expected Saturday evening with amounts nearing 1 inch per hour in Sussex County, which could see up to 12 inches of snow, according to the the National Weather Service.

Light snow covers the top of a car in Edison Saturday night during a coastal storm that brought a mix of snow, sleet and rain to New Jersey.Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Moderate to heavy snow is breaking out across northern portions of the forecast area, the weather service said in an update shortly before 4 p.m. The snow and rain  will dwindle for a time after midnight, then some wraparound rain/snow will move back in overnight into the morning Sunday.

The National Weather Services winter storm warnings for five New Jersey counties - Morris, Warren, Sussex, easter Passaic and eastern Bergen - extend until 6 p.m. on Sunday. Those areas could see another inch of snow Sunday morning.

The forecast for the northern half of New Jersey calls for snow and sleet with the potential for 6 to 12 inches of snowfall in northwestern counties on Saturday afternoon and evening, while the southern half of the state may see some light snow before a transition to rain.National Weather Service and AccuWeather

The state Department of Transportation issued commercial vehicle restrictions for several major highways that started at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Please dont go out unless you have to go out, Gov. Phil Murphy said in an afternoon briefing on the storm. Were expecting the most intense part of the storm to be finished by daybreak.

Sunday will remain cloudy with clearing finally around sunset, the weather service said.

Light snow coats a small pine tree in Edison Saturday night during a coastal storm that brought a mix of snow, sleet and rain to New Jersey.Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

New Jersey can expect only a brief break after the winter storm ends with dry conditions on Monday and highs in the low to mid 40s.

A massive storm system with the potential for torrential rain and dangerous flooding is sweeping across the country and expected to arrive in New Jersey on Tuesday.

With the already saturated ground and the snow melt from the weekend storm, forecasters are concerned the combination could unleash river flooding in areas already hard hit in December.

Forecasters are tracking a massive storm system that could bring torrential rain and flooding along with fierce wind gusts to New Jersey by Tuesday.AccuWeather.com

Current weather radar

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UPDATE: Early snowfall totals reach 9 inches in several towns as heavy snow continues to fall

Light snow started falling in New Jersey shortly before noon on Saturday, part of a winter storm expected to dump up to a foot of snow on northwestern counties. In the southern half of the state heavy rain is predicted, along with a messy wintry mix of sleet in between.

Radar showed the storm advancing across the Delaware River with reports of light snowfall in Gloucester County.

The heaviest snowfall is expected later Saturday evening with amounts nearing 1 inch per hour in Sussex County, which could see up to 12 inches of snow, according to the the National Weather Service.

The weather service has issued winter storm warnings for Morris, Sussex and Warren counties, along with winter weather advisories for Hunterdon, Somerset, eastern Bergen, eastern Passaic, western Essex and western Union counties.

The forecast for the northern half of New Jersey calls for snow and sleet with the potential for 6 to 12 inches of snowfall in northwestern counties on Saturday afternoon and evening, while the southern half of the state may see some light snow before a transition to rain.National Weather Service and AccuWeather

Travel could be very difficult, the weather service said. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. Check local Department of Transportation information services for the latest road conditions.

The N.J. Department of Transportation issued commercial vehicle restrictions for several major highways that start at 2 p.m.

The snow is expected to wind down after 2 a.m. Sunday, though some light snow showers could linger into the morning.

Please dont go out unless you have to go out, Gov. Phil Murphy said in an afternoon briefing on the storm. Were expecting the most intense part of the storm to be finished by daybreak.

The forecast for the northern half of New Jersey calls for snow and sleet with the potential for 6 to 12 inches of snowfall in northwestern counties on Saturday afternoon and evening, while the southern half of the state may see some light snow before a transition to rain.National Weather Service and AccuWeather

Current warnings, watches and advisories:

Winter storm warnings:

Morris and Warren counties: 1 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. Heavy snow with accumulations of 6 to 8 inches expected.

Sussex County - 1 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. Heavy snow with 8 to 12 inch accumulations expected.

Western Bergen and western Passaic counties - 4 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday. Heavy snow with accumulations of 4 to 8 inches expected.

Winter weather advisories:

Hunterdon and Somerset counties - 1 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. 3 to 6 inches of snow expected.

Eastern Bergen, eastern Passaic, western Essex and western Union counties, - 4 p.m. Saturday to 11 a.m. Sunday. Snowfall totals of up to 4 inches.

Coastal flood advisories and statements:

Ocean County: 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday. Up to one half foot of inundation above ground level expected in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways.

The forecast for the northern half of New Jersey calls for snow and sleet with the potential for 6 to 12 inches of snowfall in northwestern counties on Saturday afternoon and evening, while the southern half of the state may see some light snow before a transition to rain.National Weather Service and AccuWeather

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Nyah Marshall may be reached at Nmarshall@njadvancemedia.com.
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French actor Alain Delon has announced his intentions to sue his son Anthony, who made a "sensational" statement about his 88-year-old father's health in a recent interview. In order to fuel attention to the family, the heir to the twentieth-century sex symbol publicly announced that he had almost a year to live.

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This was evidenced by his loud words referring to Alain Delon's "last Christmas." The resonant news was spread by dozens of different websites, but as it turned out, the actor had no plans to pass away in the near future, The Guardian writes.

Anthony Delon told Paris Match that the pensioner could not accept the deterioration of his health, and added that there was a "serious risk" that 88-year-old Delon had celebrated "his last Christmas."

"He doesn't talk much, he gets tired or annoyed when we make him repeat himself because his voice is not always clear or audible anymore," the actor's heir said.

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Very quickly, the news of the star's near-death experience reached him. According to the actor's lawyer, he was "shocked by the media outburst organized by his son Anthony."

A few hours after the interview with details about Alain Delonat's health was published, he announced that he would sue his son. He said he was tired of the "aggressive behavior" and the attempts to demoralize his father.

Moreover, a complaint against Anthony will be filed by his sister Anouchka, whom his brother accused of lying about the actor's health. According to the Frenchwoman, she did not tell her family that from 2019 to 2022, Alain Delon "took five cognitive tests while visiting a clinic in Switzerland and failed every one of them."

"The results showed a cognitive degradation that puts my father in a position of psychological weakness and therefore vulnerability," Anthony explained.

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The father and daughter are convinced that he simply wants to quarrel with the family and damage his sister's reputation. Anuchka Delon's lawyer said that she would file a lawsuit for defamation and harassment.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote what is known about the 88-year-old actor, his support for Ukraine and his personal life. In his venerable years, the actor remains a gallant, sophisticated and gorgeous man.

Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
Nobody said working toward the American Dream was going to be easy.

Chef Julio Machados pathway to owning his own restaurant has taken twists and turns  deferred at times, but never derailed.

Machado was the opening chef of Mucho Mas last January, but the restaurant closed in summer 2023 after employees went unpaid. That spot is now a second location of Lakeview Harbor, whose owner was a part owner in Mucho Mas.

Coma Arepas Where 7712 Maple St., (504) 581-8400; comarepas.com When lunch daily, early dinner Sun.-Thu., dinner Fri.-Sat. How Dine-in and delivery Check it out A fast-casual spot for a variety of Venezuelan arepas

Machado took a break to change course. The chef surfaced in September, opening his own place, Coma Arepas, at 7712 Maple St. The fast-casual, scratch kitchen has a small footprint, with counter service and a scattering of outside tables.

It focuses on arepas, the flat cornmeal cakes used as a base for all kinds of savory toppings. Theyre as popular in Machados native Venezuela as tacos are in Mexico. They also are essential street food in Colombia and Panama. Served at every meal, they are crispy on the outside, with a fluffy interior and naturally gluten-free.

I was comfortable doing Mexican food, but it is time for me to do something with my heritage, Machado says. I feel 100% good making arepas. I feel better.

Made to order, fresh and hot off the induction grill, Machados arepas are available with some 30 fillings, including his countrys national dish, pavilion, made with plantains, cheese and black beans, and diners can add shredded beef into the mix. Reina is a zesty chicken and avocado salad full of lime juice and cilantro. Theres a fried chicken patty with mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto and a smoked pork chop with slaw. The hugely popular tequenos feature rolled dough stuffed with cheese and deep fried  like a flaky mozzarella stick.

Huge breakfast platters start at $9.99, which includes two eggs, beans, cheese or bacon, one arepa and orange juice or coffee.

We have lines down the street, the chef says. People love the food.

But this postage-stamp-sized eatery is not the end of the story. Its a place holder that will continue to operate while Machado takes the next step towards his goal.

Hes opening a full-service restaurant next month in Bywater, taking over the former Luna Libre space at the corner of St. Claude Avenue and Congress Street. Machado is calling his restaurant Origin, in homage to his personal culinary roots.

Its going to be 100% Venezuelan, he says. We have so many different flavors in our cuisine. Ill be cooking on a wood grill in the back and serving Thursday through Sunday.

Machados career trajectory has been unique. For a decade, Machado ran a culinary consulting business in his home country and was hired by companies throughout South America and Europe for product development. He also had real estate holdings.

A run in with the government sent him to the U.S. with $3,000 to his name. The chef was granted political asylum and permanent residency and moved to New Orleans to be close to family.

His resume soon grew to include cooking at Brasa Churrasqueria in Metairie, then to Zocalo, with its Mexican fare, when he says he started loving Mexican food.

Its much different from Venezuelan cuisine, he says. He was a partner in a place called Tacos del Cartel, also in Metairie, but opted to go in a different direction, spotlighting tasty patties made with a simple maize dough.

The cornmeal of his native cuisine is something that surfaced again at Coma Arepas, and next month, it will star in the Origin menu.

Im very excited to be highlighting my countrys varied cuisine at Origin, he says, Im pretty sure this year is going to be amazing.
Carnival season keeps Terese Aiello busy. Shes founded three parading krewes, including the swamp-inspired Bayou Babes, the House of Tudor-inspired  and Boleyns, and the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus group Darth AF.

When you have krewes, you have to start early with your organizing and putting all your pieces together, Aiello says.

Aiello also is putting pieces together for the new Krewe Mosaique. Shes a co-founder of the new parade, which debuts at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, in the French Quarter.

Mosaique, which is French for mosaic, is made up of tiles, Aiello says. The parade is simply a collage or mosaic of the participating krewes. The maiden voyage has 10 groups, including the Mystic Krewe of Conus, Mondo Kayo, Haus of Thee Rising Dragons and more.

Mosaique doesnt have an overall theme, and groups are welcome to participate as they choose, using their own yearly or evergreen concepts. Each participating krewe will be represented by an artistically rendered tile, or banner, bearing its logo at the front of the procession.

The group is focused on DIY costuming, contraptions and throws, but Mosaiques plan is to add a parade to Carnival without adding a lot of extra work for participants.

Lots of people are in multiple krewes, Aiello says. A lot of us were talking about wanting to do our own thing. Lots of parades have requirements, like to help build things like krewe floats. We were like, can we just parade?

So while Mosaique founders are fans of the many different types of established parades, theyre forgoing some of the norms. There is no royalty, and instead of marching or brass bands, groups that choose to have music can bring their own live or recorded music. The procession will include the Krewe de Mayahuel, which was founded to march on Dia de los Muertos and is named for the Aztec goddess of agave. In Mosaique, it will be led by its Tamojunto drumming group.

Aiellos  and Boleyns will march in Mosaique. The group costumes as historical figures surrounding Anne Boleyn, the Queen of England and second wife of Henry VIII. The group has several Annes, and Aiello will dress as the Red Anne of Death. There also is a Henry VIII, an executioner, a Cardinal, a jester and some townspeople on tricycles decorated as horses.

Conus will march in two events this year, including Mosaique and its own Lundi Gras event on the Lafitte Greenway. The krewe was founded in 2021 in homage to a giant traffic cone that appeared in a pothole in Uptown. Conus Coneductor and Parade Czar Kento Azegami notes that the group did not create that giant cone, and instead members seek to discern the message of the one true cone.

Conus has paraded during Carnival, and it also participates in various community service projects, as well as social events where members enjoy the fellowship of the cone. Participants dress as the cone inspires them, including a Pothole Jesus last year, and the lineup at Mosaique may include a Cone-an the Barbarian, Azegami says. Membership is open to newcomers, and theres still time to join for the Lundi Gras event.

Also joining Mosaique is Kreweleidoscope. The group changed its concept after being hatched in homage to Dr. Seuss with fanciful musical instruments and contraptions. It will provide its own music in the parade.

Participants also include the hATTAS, who are inspired by the Mad Hatter from Alices Adventures in Wonderland. The group likes to promote literacy and hand out books as throws, especially banned books.

The Krewe of Heavenly Bodies has paraded with Chewbacchus, and it typically carries figures of bodies lit like constellations of stars. The Krewe of Nyades is inspired by Greek water nymphs.

The environmentally conscious Trashformers, aka the Grounds Krewe, collects recyclables while it parades with lit contraptions.

Mondo Kayo is a Caribbean Carnival-inspired group originally founded in 1983. After decades of focusing on its Fat Tuesday walk down St. Charles Avenue, its branching out to march in Mosaique as well.

The procession begins at St. Ann and N. Rampart streets near Armstrong Park. The parade enters the French Quarter on St. Ann and turns on Bourbon Street, making its way around the heart of the district before ending near the Ursulines Convent. The group does not have a ball after the parade, but it may have a social event for participating krewes after Carnival, Aiello says.

The krewe grabbed what was the only available Saturday night with no competing parade this year. Organizers hope to keep it scheduled the week before Chewbacchus in years with longer Carnival seasons.

Aiello will turn around her parade focus quickly, as her Darth AF prepares for Chewbacchus the following week. The group features Darth Daddy, a figure mashing up Darth Vader and a 70s pimp, Aiello says. The group also includes dancing Vaders Vixens, and mashups of pop culture figures and Siths.

We had a Bob Ross Sith and an Andy Warhol Sith, Aiello says. We had two Elvi Siths. A Dolly Parton Sith.

Aiello moved to New Orleans about a decade ago from California, where she worked as an actor. She quickly went from joining a Carnival dance and parading troupe to forming her own groups. Bayou Babes participates in events year-round, including the New Orleans Pride parade and the Krewe of OAKs Midsummer Mardi Gras.

It seemed to bring so much enjoyment to other people who didnt seem to fit into other walking krewes, she says. I wanted to keep making parading spaces for people to express their creativity.

For information, visit @krewe_mosaique on Instagram.
John Travolta, the American actor and star of Pulp Fiction, has shared some New Year's photos with his children. He probably celebrated the New Year with his family, but, unfortunately, without his wife Kelly Preston and eldest son Jett Travolta. Due to the death of his relatives, the actor has to raise his middle daughter Ella Blue and younger son Ben on his own.

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This year, John Travolta traditionally posted photos with his family on Instagram. To capture all the charm of the photo, he added the song "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Ray Charles in his own performance to the background.

"Happy New Year!!! Thank you for always being with us! Love, John, Ella, and Ben!" he captioned the photos, which begin with a New Year's video of his 23-year-old daughter spinning in the dark next to the Christmas tree.

The audience wished the family a happy holiday season and reiterated their love for the family. "Happy New Year! You have such a beautiful family!!! Kelly must be so proud", and "Happy New Year to John Travolta, Ella and Ben. A wonderful family that teaches the world that love and family are always and forever," "Happy New Year, John, sending love and hugs for 2024," and other comments in the same spirit were left by fans.

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John Travolta's Instagram feed is dotted with his children. For Christmas, the family went to a ski resort, and under the photos, the actor congratulated his fans on the holiday, "Merry Christmas to everyone, we love you!"

At the end of November 2023, Ben's youngest son celebrated his 13th birthday. Again, he received a video greeting from his father on Instagram. The cute and funny photos and videos delighted the fans.

John Travolta and Kelly Preston have three children: Jetta, Ella Blue and Ben. Unfortunately, in 2009, the family lost their 16-year-old eldest son. He suffered from autism and died suddenly after hitting his head on the bathtub during an epileptic seizure. The life of his wife Kelly Preston ended in 2020 at the age of 57 due to breast cancer. Therefore, the actor has to raise his children on his own.

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Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about a very touching video posted on Facebook. It captured the emotional meeting of a little boy with his father, a defender.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A Devon campaign group seeking fairer funding for education has secured a debate on the issue in parliament next week.

The F40 group, which counts Devon County Council as a member, and whose vice-chair is Devons longest-serving MP, Sir Gary Streeter (Conservative, South West Devon), brings together authorities whose per pupil funding is among the worst in England.

The debate, which will take place in the House of Commons on Monday, comes as Devon is preparing to submit its bid to the governments safety valve programme, which provides a bail-out for councils facing steep education-related deficits.

As it stands, Devon is predicted to hit a cumulative deficit in its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision of roughly 162 million by April.

Authorities are currently allowed to keep these deficits off their balance sheets until 2026. This can help councils avoid going bust.

Devon hopes to secure somewhere between 70 million to 100 million from the safety valve programme, according to comments last November by Angie Sinclair, Devons director of finance and public value.

Sir Gary wrote to chancellor Jeremy Hunt ahead of last years autumn statement, urging him to increase funding for higher needs pupils, as well as to provide substantial additional SEND capital funding above what had already been promised.

The F40 group predicts that an additional 4.6 billion in additional funding for high needs pupils is required across England.

Devon is ranked as the 42nd worst-funded authority out of 152 that have responsibility for education funding.

F40 authorities have more than 9,000 schools between them, which is 41 per cent of Englands schools, catering for around three million pupils, yet are among the worst funded in terms of per pupil funding.
Napoleon, OH (43545)

Today

Snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 27F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph.
The world-famous Hollywood actor Liev Schreiber, who has visited Ukraine several times since the full-scale invasion, met with the crew of the Ukrainian icebreaker Noosphere. The star of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Scream movies saw the vessel, which was heading from the Akademik Vernadsky station to Chile near King George Island, while he was on an Antarctic cruise.

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Schreiber contacted the crew and requested a meeting through the fundraising platform UNITED24, of which he is an ambassador. The icebreaker's captain, Oleksandr Hryshko, readily agreed, according to the Facebook page of the National Antarctic Research Center of Ukraine.

"The meeting was accidental but very warm and friendly... Through UNITED24, the actor contacted us, asking if it would be possible to visit the icebreaker and talk to its crew. The captain of the Noosphere gladly agreed, and in a few hours, Liev boarded the Ukrainian flagship. Of course, the main topic of the short conversation was the full-scale war in Ukraine and the ability of our country to develop science and Antarctic research even in such conditions," the statement said, showing a photo of the star with the team.

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Judging by the photo, Schreiber was given a small present, but the actor did not leave Ukrainians empty-handed either. He wrote a letter, and what is really impressive is that he did it in Ukrainian. In a short address, the filmmaker left a clear message to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

"To Captain Hryshko and the crew of the Noosphere, thank you for your hospitality, but more so for raising the flag so proudly and reminding the world how strong we are together. Putin is a jerk!!!" the Hollywood star, who has Ukrainian roots, wrote in Ukrainian.

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As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Liev Schreiber is confident in Ukraine's victory over the Russian occupiers. However, in his opinion, the fighting may drag on.

Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Cleveland-Cliffs named a new board member with a long history with the United Steelworkers union who served in the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations and helped save two Region steel mills from bankruptcy.

The Cleveland-based steelmaker, one of Northwest Indiana's largest employers, appointed Ron Bloom to its board, which now consists of 11 members.

Bloom is a private equity executive labor and political adviser who graduated from Wesleyan University and Harvard Business School. He started his career as an investment banker at Lazard, where he served as a special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers union from 1996 to 2009.

He helped facilitate the sale of LTV Steel and Bethlehem Steel to International Steel Group in 2002, including mills in East Chicago and Burns Harbor that Cleveland-Cliffs now operates. He also helped the United Steelworkers union use its contractually negotiated successorship rights to block the sale of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel to a foreign company in 2007.

He served as senior adviser to the secretary of the treasury on President Obama's Task Force on the Automotive Industry, helping to reorganize General Motors and Chrysler to keep them afloat during the Great Recession. He then became assistant to the president for manufacturing policy.

He later served on the United States Postal Service Board of Governors from 2019 to 2021 under presidents Trump and Biden.

Bloom now serves as a managing partner in Brookfield Asset Managements Private Equity Group and a Partner at Commonweal Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on tech.

We are honored to welcome Ron Bloom to our board of directors. Rons distinguished career represents the Cleveland-Cliffs culture perfectly, which includes fierce negotiating skills, fighting for the resilience of American manufacturing, and a deep appreciation for organized labor and a thriving middle class," Cliffs' Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said. "We have recently seen a case of stunning disrespect to the wishes of labor in our industry, and Ron Bloom being on our Board will ensure that all stakeholders have a voice. Rons track record at Lazard and Brookfield has also displayed an amazing ability to generate immense value creation, which he will bring to bear on behalf of our shareholders as a member of our board.
Pierogi Fest in Whiting is the first festival from Northwest Indiana to be featured on the cover of the Indiana Festival Guide, a widely distributed tourist brochure.

The statewide booklet is a staple at rest stops, museums, hotels and tourist attractions across the Hoosier State. A half million copies of the 116-page publication are distributed at 1,200 locations across Indiana.

We are proud to earn the distinction of the front cover," said Tom Dabertin, chairman and co-founder of Pierogi Fest. "Pierogi Fest has won a number of accolades as one of the best festivals in the nation; the front cover is a confirmation of the hard work that more than 600 volunteers undertake annually to make it a success."

The Indiana Festival Guide is distributed across all 92 counties in Indiana, from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River and from Terre Haute to Richmond. It tells people about festivals, fairs, gatherings and special events like the 500 Festival, the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival, the Fort Wayne Water Lantern Festival and the Lotus Music and Art Festival in Bloomington.

This is the first time a festival in Northwest Indiana has ever been featured on the front cover," said Heather Becerra, chief marketing officer of the South Shore CVA and associate board member of the Indiana State Festivals Association. "Each year an event from a different region of the state is showcased. The covers have already been approved through 2030. The next opportunity for a Northern Indiana festival to be featured wont be until 2036. This is a great opportunity to highlight one of the most unique festivals in all the Midwest.

Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Pierogi Fest will take place from July 26 to July 28 this year. More than 75 food booths will serve pierogi, halupki, buttered noodles, Polish sausage and 1,200 other menu items along 119th Street in downtown Whiting.

It kicks off with the polka parade featuring Mr. Pierogi, the buscias and the Precision Lawnmower Drill Team. The weekend-long festival features seven live entertainment stages, two beer gardens and 55 arts and crafts vendors.

A copy of the Indiana Festival Guide is available at 7770 Corinne Drive in Hammond

For more information, visit www.indianafestivals.org.
CROWN POINT  A Hobart woman was charged with criminal recklessness for storing a gun in a spot in her car where it could fire toward her children in the backseat, according to documents filed Thursday in Lake Criminal Court.

Shauntrelle Lockhart, 27, faces four counts, one for each child, according to information in a probable-cause affidavit. Officers found her weapon stored in between the passenger seat and the center console of her boyfriend's vehicle while her kids were in the backseat, police said, and the gun was loaded and pointed in their direction.

"The firearm was placed in a way that endangered the children's lives and safety if a crash occurred or if the firearm shifted while wedged in its position," the officer wrote in the affidavit.

Lockhart's boyfriend was driving when he was pulled over by a Schererville police officer April 8 near Pine Island Drive and Matterhorn Lane, police said.

The officer noticed the vehicle, a white pickup truck, did not have a visible license plate with registration, police said, and once the officer was parked behind the car, he saw the license plate in the car's back window but the registration numbers were not easily visible.

While the officer spoke with the woman's boyfriend, he noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the car, police said.

The officer asked the boyfriend to exit the vehicle and the man complied, police said.

The man said Lockhart was in the vehicle and had marijuana and a firearm, according to police. Lockhart admitted this fact to the officer and told him where both items were located after she exited the car, police said.

The children were 5 and under, documents state. Criminal recklessness charges are filed when a person "recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally performs an act that creates a substantial risk of bodily injury," according to Indiana law.

Lockhart's bond was set at $1,500 cash or $15,000 surety.
CROWN POINT  The week before Martell Flippins was set to stand trial for murder, a man called his defense attorney Marc Laterzo and said he had new information on the case.

The information, Laterzo said, could affect his defense of Flippins, 35, of Chicago, who had been set to stand trial Monday on charges he killed 24-year-old Pierre Patterson on March 12 outside a bar in Gary.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez agreed to push the trial to April after prosecutors filed a motion early Friday to continue the trial. Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson said the state needed ample time to investigate the new witness' claims and would not be able to do so on such short notice.

Vasquez agreed. He said it was necessary to allow the witness to be heard as part of the court's "truth-seeking" process on behalf of Flippins, but believed the state deserved a chance to take a deposition from the witness, too.

Police said Flippins allegedly shot Patterson around 3:15 a.m. as Patterson was leaving Fatso's Pub. Patterson was crossing the street when a driver in a green Chevy Equinox pulled up beside him and fired shots.

Patterson was a suspect in a 2022 murder of a man who had been linked to Flippins, which detectives believe could be a motive for the killing, according to court documents.

Video surveillance captured the Equinox parked outside the bar for about an hour and a half before the shooting, which detectives believe might imply the driver's intention to ambush Patterson, police said. According to charging documents, detectives used the FLOCK license plate reader database and information from the Accurint Virtual Crime Center to identify Flippins as the owner of the Equinox.

Vasquez denied Flippins' petition to let bail last week. Defendants charged with murder in Indiana are not typically granted bail unless the defendant requests a hearing before a judge. Evidence and arguments must demonstrate the presumption of guilt is not strong.

Flippins is set to make his next appearance in Vasquez's court April 5. His trial is set for April 22.
HOBART  A new initiative by the Lake County Drug Task Force has led to the arrest of a 34-year-old Hobart man and the seizure of illegal narcotics, the Lake County Sheriff's Department said.

The Lake County Sheriff's Drug Task Force Regional Enforcement Team is a special effort by members of the Lake County Drug Task Force.

"It's focused on rapid response and providing local neighborhoods with tangible results in the fight against drug trafficking, illegal weapons and association violent crimes," police said.

The units launched an investigation on Matthew Michalak last fall after receiving a tip through the Lake County Sheriff's Department Report-A-Crime Hotline.

"Through an interdiction intelligence network, Lake County investigators learned Michalak was the subject of a traffic stop in Nebraska back in November," the sheriff's department said. "At that time, law enforcement seized $30,000 from him."

Lake County police obtained a search warrant, and executed the warrant on Thursday at Michalak's home in the 300 block of West 3rd Street in Hobart. Various drugs were seized including cocaine, hydrocodone and THC, police said. Officers also confiscated more than $12,000 in cash.

Police said this operation highlights the new initiative's increased emphasis on identifying drug activity and acting quickly to eliminate it. The team pinpoints target areas where routine drug trafficking, the use and possession of illegal firearms and other violent crimes occur.

"We hope eliminating the source of these dangerous drugs can help reduce the number of overdoses and deaths due to drug use," the sheriff's department said.

Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Jamille Walker Rebecca Strand Jennifer Phillips William Riley Damien Sahagun Jillian Sencaj Lashawntel Mackay Tursena Harris Semaj Irvin Todd Kasperan Imelda Lopez Tinotchy Evans Luke Hardin Lazarius Allison Patrick Colvin Antonio Santana Cameron Smith Primas Sweet Don Wiley Steven Mikel Jr. Jesus Morales Marcus Nash Mark Nicpon Ann Horta Enrique Feliciano Jacoby Gibson Eugene Clay Haley Austin Robert Van Noort Michael Udrow Derrick Keys Richard Morris Larry Newman Jr. Terrane Robinson Christian Saavedra Ibn Jones Donald Elmore III Brian Hawkins Brian Jablonski LaTeshia Adams Nashee Burns Stephanie Crilley Tonya Stevens Joseph Szilagyi Daniel Tyrka Jessica Smith Victor Sandoval Al Sepulveda Paul Slagle Crystal McLain Stuart Roane III Kelly Klapkowski Alyssa Hecker Eve Holt Lori Kikkert Mosell Gordon Jr. David Garcia Luveli Gipson Xavier Binder Jose Cotto Jr. Stephanie Crilley
The F.D.A. announced today that it would allow Florida to import millions of dollars worth of prescription medications from Canada, where they are available at far lower prices than in the U.S.

The state estimated that it could save up to $150 million in the first year of the program, importing medicines to treat H.I.V., AIDS, diabetes, hepatitis C and other conditions. Until now, Americans could buy drugs from Canadian pharmacies, but states could not purchase them in bulk for Medicaid programs, government clinics or prisons. Florida is the first to earn approval.

Supporters hope that the policy shift, backed by both President Biden and Donald Trump, will lead to similar authorization for other states and help rein in drug prices. But significant hurdles remain.

The pharmaceutical industry fiercely objects to the plan and is expected to file a lawsuit to prevent it from going into effect in Florida. The Canadian government has taken steps to block the export of prescription drugs that are in short supply. Canadas drug supply is too small to meet the demands of both American and Canadian consumers, a spokeswoman for Canadas health agency said.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered U.S. airlines to stop using some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until they are inspected, less than a day after one of those planes lost a chunk of its body in midair with an extremely loud pop, terrifying passengers before the jet safely returned to ground.

Those on board Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 described an unnerving experience during the 20 minutes of the flight, which was destined for Ontario, Calif., but returned to Portland International Airport in Oregon on Friday night. As yellow oxygen masks dangled above their heads, a powerful wind tore through a gaping hole that showed the night sky and the city lights below. No one aboard the plane was seriously injured.

A passenger, Vi Nguyen of Portland, said that she woke up to a loud sound during the flight. Then she saw a large hole in the side of the aircraft.

I open up my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me, Ms. Nguyen, 22, said. And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone.
Sen. Tolentino calls to resolve PUV modernization issues urgently

MANILA -- Senator Francis "Tol" Tolentino urged for the immediate resolution on the issues surrounding the Public Utility Vehicles (PUV) Modernization affecting Filipino jeepney drivers and operators.

In his regular DZRH program, Tolentino said: "Kailangan na harapin ang isyu na ito, bagama't nasa Supreme Court, kailangang marinig ng taumbayan-- di naman kasi lahat ng ating mga tsuper ay makakadalo sa Supreme Court hearing, kung ano talaga ang mga solusyon dito sa problemang ito."

The Senator was pertaining to the qualms of jeepney drivers and operators especially prior to the consolidation deadline last December 31, 2023.

"Kailangan ng modernization na tutugma sa bulsa ng mga tsuper at operators," Sen. Tol remarked.

In the said program, the solon likewise spoke with Elmer Francisco, owner of local vehicle manufacturer Francisco Motors to clarify possible options for the drivers and operators as the government pursues modernization.

According to Francisco, their modernized, full-electric jeepney units worth P985,000 each comply with the Philippine National Standards, vertically bigger, with safer entry and exit, especially for PWDs.

Further, the said units are airconditioned and have four channels of CCTV cameras, a dashcam, and an automated fare collection system while maintaining the iconic Filipino jeepney exterior.

"Magagaling talaga ang mga Pinoy gumawa ng tunay na jeepney, bakit natin ipagagawa sa ibang bansa? Kumbaga tayo na ang nag-imbento ng jeepney," Francisco said.

Senator Tolentino expressed his support in clarifying more options at the Senate to resolve the PUV modernization issues in the country.
For the past 120 years, Senate Bean Soup has been prepared for members of Congress every day. According to one version, Senator Fred DuBois of Idaho passed a committee resolution in the early twentieth century that required the bean soup to be prepared regularly. However, the extent to which this is a true story is still unknown. But the tradition of cooking this dish has survived to the present day.

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The recipe for this legendary soup was published on the Businessinsider website. It also tells about another version of the tradition of making bean soup for the US Congress.

Ingredients

white beans - 450 gr

ham - 350 gr

onion - 1 pc

butter - 1 g

The way of cooking

1. Rinse beans, cover with water and put on fire together with chopped ham.

2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until the beans are tender.

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3. When the beans are almost done, remove the ham from the soup and set aside.

4. Fry onion in butter and add to the soup.

5. Put the ham back.

6. Add salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes.

There are also other interesting recipes on OBOZ.UA:
Joseph Lelyveld, a former executive editor and foreign correspondent for The New York Times, who won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction for his book Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White, died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86.

The cause was complications of Parkinsons disease, said Janny Scott, his partner of 19 years and a former Times reporter.

Cerebral and introspective, Mr. Lelyveld was for nearly four decades one of the most respected journalists in America, a globe-trotting adventurer who reported from Washington, Congo, India, Hong Kong, Johannesburg and London, winning acclaim for his prolific and perceptive articles.

Coming home, he rose up The Timess editorial pyramid to its pinnacle, the executive editorship, arguably the most powerful post in American journalism. In his seven years at the helm, from 1994 to 2001, The Times climbed to record levels of revenue and profits, expanded its national and international readerships, introduced color photographs to the front page, created new sections, and ushered in the digital age with a Times website and round-the-clock news operations.
Soft Liquid Center

Rent or buy on major platforms.

Steph (Steph Holmbo) starts a new life after leaving her awful boyfriend by getting a new apartment and a new group of friends. But shes having bizarre dreams of traipsing through the woods, and whats worse, her furniture sometimes moves on its own. Then, in this strange films strangest scene, Steph digs out the flesh of a giant watermelon, turning the floor where shes sitting into what looks like a brutal crime scene  a taste of the spectral, time-collapsing horrors to come.

For their feature debut, the directors Joseph Kolean and Zachary Gutierrez, who go by Perry Home Video, have made an experimental horror film that will stump some people but mesmerized me. (When a friend tells Steph, Ive been feeling really weird lately, I started to as well.) Holmbo, who co-wrote the script with the directors, told the blog What Sleeps Beneath that the film was inspired by past relationships of hers that were deeply toxic and unhealthy, often especially in unexplainable ways. That notion of heartbreak and survival as the ends of supernatural means comes alive here, thanks to a disorienting story, a slow-burn visual style and a score, by Roberto Garza, that knocked me off balance.

Naga

Stream it on Netflix.
An Upper West Side congregation that sought to tear down its church building, a Manhattan landmark, and sell the property to a developer  to the consternation of some neighbors, including a growing list of celebrities  has put the plans on hold.

The congregation, members of West Park Presbyterian Church, had said for decades that it did not have the money to fix up the crumbling 19th-century Romanesque Revival building. Instead, its members hoped the sale of the property, to a developer who planned to turn it into a high-end apartment building, would help to sustain the broader work of the church, including serving people in need.

But the 19th-century building was designated a landmark in 2010. To demolish it, the church needed permission from the citys Landmarks Preservation Commission, which members sought in 2022. The request prompted an upwelling of support for the buildings preservation from supporters, including elected officials, as well as the actors Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo.

In a letter sent to the commission on Friday, lawyers for the church said it was withdrawing its application until it resolves its lawsuit against a tenant about a lease dispute.
FRONT PAGE

An article on Monday about the colonial roots of poverty in the Philippines referred incorrectly to the background of Luis F. Lorenzo Sr., founder of Lapanday Foods and a former senior executive of Del Monte. He was not a former governor of the province Davao del Sur.

INTERNATIONAL

An article on Thursday about the abrupt dismissal of several commanders from Chinas legislature misstated the surname of one of the dismissed officers. He is Ju Xinchun, not Jin.

NATIONAL

An article on Thursday about Gov. Kathy Hochuls proposal to change how New York schools teach literacy referred incorrectly to New York students performance on national reading exams compared with students in other states. While New York students scores declined in 2022, the states were not ranked.

An article on Dec. 28 about a Republican in Michigan who acted as a fake elector for Donald J. Trump misstated the month in 2020 when Mr. Trump was taped pressuring two members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, according to The Detroit News. The newspaper said it happened in November, not December.
Accusations of plagiarism appear to be the newest weapon in the raging battle over the leadership and direction of elite universities.

For weeks, William Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager, has campaigned on social media against Claudine Gay, who resigned as Harvards president amid accusations of plagiarizing other scholars and of not taking a strong enough stand against antisemitism on campus.

But that battle was brought home after Business Insider, an online publication, posted similar accusations of plagiarism against Mr. Ackmans wife, Neri Oxman, an architect and designer, who holds a Ph.D. in design computation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Business Insider said on Friday that Dr. Oxman stole sentences and whole paragraphs from Wikipedia, other scholars and technical documents in her academic writing.
Hours after President Biden attacked former President Donald J. Trump as an anti-democratic threat to Americas founding ideals, Mr. Trump responded by accusing Mr. Biden of pathetic fearmongering.

At a campaign event in Sioux Center, Iowa, just 10 days before the states caucuses, Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Bidens democracy-themed speech, aimed at laying out the stakes of the 2024 election, was meant to divert focus away from issues like the economy and the border.

Mr. Biden cannot talk about a single issue that matters to hardworking Americans because he has failed you and betrayed you, Mr. Trump said.

The former president, who faces criminal charges over his role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the subsequent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Mr. Trumps supporters, which violently disrupted the peaceful transfer of power, argued that Mr. Biden was abusing George Washingtons legacy by staging his remarks near Valley Forge, in Pennsylvania, where Washington led troops during the Revolutionary War.
A Florida venue canceled an event on Saturday featuring Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Georgia congresswoman and acolyte of Donald J. Trump, after materials promoting the event advertised it, in part, as an occasion marking the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The gathering was being organized by the Osceola County Republican Party in central Florida as a book-signing event for Ms. Greene. It was supposed to take place on Saturday at the Westgate Resorts in Kissimmee, Fla. But backlash ensued after State Representative Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat, posted on social media a screenshot of a text that advertised the event as being on the 3rd Anniversary of Jan 6.

Ms. Greene has repeatedly downplayed, and at times defended, the deadly insurrection at the Capitol three years ago. She has elevated popular right-wing claims, which have been refuted, that the attack was orchestrated by F.B.I. agents. In November, she called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to create a new Jan. 6 select committee to investigate the original committees members.

Ms. Greene addressed the change in venue on Friday night, writing on the social media platform X that she wont be backing down to Democrats who she claimed tried to shut down my book-signing, but the show must go on!!
In downtown Perry, Iowa, on Friday, residents wore blue to support each other, reflecting the school districts mascot, the blue jay.

A Catholic priest offered grief counseling to shaken residents. The public library set up a sympathy card station to make cards for Dan Marburger, the principal of Perry High School and one of the victims of the school shooting on Thursday that claimed the life of a sixth grader.

Local residents spent much of Friday absorbing the violent act that had occurred just as school had resumed from winter break. The authorities said that a student, Dylan Butler, 17, had shot Mr. Marburger and five students, killing one student, identified on Friday as Ahmir Jolliff. The gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot, the police said.

To the people of Perry, a town of 8,000 about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines, the shooting struck an unusually intimate, painful chord. Neither the victims of the shooting nor the gunman were strangers: Mr. Marburger was a well-known figure in town, a friendly, outgoing educator  his daughter referred to him as a gentle giant  who cared deeply for his students.
As Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken returned to the Middle East on Friday in an effort to ease escalating tensions, Israels defense minister floated a postwar plan for the Gaza Strip that exposed divisions in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus wartime government.

The proposal by the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who is a moderate member of Mr. Netanyahus right-wing Likud party, was widely seen as a trial balloon, but it showed the pressure Israel was facing as Washington and others press for a shift to a less intense phase of the war.

Further complicating diplomatic efforts in the region, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the powerful armed group Hezbollah, which has been clashing with Israeli forces along the Israeli-Lebanese border, on Friday ruled out any negotiations to stop the fighting until the war in Gaza ended.

Mr. Gallants proposal, shared on Thursday at a stormy meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, is predicated on the militarys defeat of Hamas in Gaza. It calls for Israel to maintain military control of Gazas borders while a multinational task force oversees reconstruction and economic development in the territory, which has been devastated by nearly three months of relentless Israeli airstrikes.

Under the plan, Gazans who do not have ties to Hamas, which runs Gaza and has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, would handle civilian affairs in the enclave, according to details of the cabinet meeting leaked to the Israeli news media. But there would be no role for the Palestinian Authority, which runs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and there would be no resettlement of Israelis in Gaza  an idea that far-right Israelis support.
An emergency landing on Friday of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet in Portland, Ore., led the Federal Aviation Administration to order some U.S. airlines to stop using some Max 9 planes until they are inspected. The order affects about 171 planes owned by Alaska, United and other airlines. The episode also raised troubling new questions about the safety of a workhorse aircraft design dogged by years of problems and multiple deadly crashes.

No one was seriously injured in Fridays incident. The jetliner returned to the airport in Portland shortly after a chunk of the body of the plane broke off in midair, leaving a door-size hole in the side of the aircraft.
The Romantic style was replaced by the gloomy Gothic style. It appeared in France in the mid-12th century and developed until the 16th century. Thus, today we have the opportunity to admire the unusual architectural monuments of that time, including churches. So let's go on an unusual journey that will definitely be remembered for a lifetime.

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Milan Cathedral (Milan, Italy)

A shrine has been built on the main square of the city, which impresses with its appearance from the first seconds. It is impossible to imagine how hard it was for the people who worked on this project. Its design is very complicated even for our days, and for that time, it was almost unrealistic to fulfill. In addition, it is worth considering how the marble was delivered to these parts. Each stone was quarried in the Candoglia, then shipped by river or through canals that had been specially dug beforehand. It was extremely difficult, but the Italians managed to do so.

Construction of the shrine began in 1356 and was finally completed in 1956. But many people disagree with the latter date because the restoration work does not end for a moment. The building can be attributed to the late Gothic style, which is more typical of France than Italy.

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The architectural monument is holding up well and does not show its age. By the way, it is considered to be one of the largest Gothic buildings in the world, second only to the Sagrada Familia.

St. Stephen's Cathedral (Vienna, Austria)

In the very heart of Vienna, there is a shrine that has survived many wars and bravely withstood. That is why this temple personifies the symbol of freedom of the city and all Austrians. The church was built by order of Duke Rudolf IV. The official date of its birth is the XIV century.

The main highlight of the church is the tiled roof. It depicts two coats of arms: national and local. The mosaic did not appear here immediately but was added in 1952.

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There are many relics in St. Stephen's Cathedral: ancient icons, paintings, frescoes, church utensils, etc. You will be amazed by what you see.

Seville Cathedral (Seville, Spain)

This Gothic marvel was built on the site of the majestic Almohad Mosque, which was completely destroyed by Christians during the capture of the city. The shrine was designed with only one goal in mind: to demonstrate the power and wealth of the people of Seville. During the construction, the designers of the time used the former columns and other elements of the building. Among them is the famous Giralda Tower, painted with unusual patterns and ornaments, which was turned into a bell tower.

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It is worth climbing up here to see all the unearthly beauty of this place. From a 104-meter height, you can see every corner of Seville. Be sure to visit the chapels. They are not similar to each other. Each of them is dedicated to a saint or prominent figure who was related to the shrine.

By the way, there are two special tombs here. They contain the graves of honorable personalities: King Ferdinand III of Castile and Christopher Columbus.

York Cathedral (York, England)

This is the largest Gothic building in Northern Europe. It even managed to beat the Cologne shrine. Therefore, it definitely deserves your attention. It has huge and unrealistically beautiful stained glass windows.

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York Cathedral is quite old. The designers laid the first stone in 1230, and construction was completed in 1472.

During its existence, it has experienced many troubles and destruction. It even burned twice due to arson attacks by religious fanatics. But it managed to escape.

The main highlight of the church is a huge window. Its size is so large that it is considered the widest medieval stained glass window in the world.

Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral (Paris, France)

The shrine is known as Notre Dame de Paris. This is not just a Gothic church but a real symbol of the French capital, which, by the way, could have disappeared without ever becoming known. Its savior is considered to be Victor Hugo, who published a novel of the same name at the right time. After the book was published, the almost-destroyed building received attention.

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The walls of the cathedral have seen many events. The most prominent of them was the coronation of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The building survived more than one war and revolution. It was not without losses. At that time, many relics and treasures were destroyed. In 2019, a large-scale fire broke out here, burning down the unique wooden roof frame and collapsing the 96-meter spire. Fortunately, the foundation and icons survived.

The reconstruction of the shrine is still underway. But according to forecasts, it should be opened soon. Most likely, this will happen in 2024 when France will host the Olympic Games.

All of these Gothic cathedrals are worth your attention. Be sure to visit them when you walk the streets of the cities where these proud and impregnable buildings are located.

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Earlier, OBOZ.UA told you what to see in the countries bordering Ukraine.

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Claudine Gay was in Rome on a family vacation on Dec. 27 when Penny Pritzker, the leader of Harvard Universitys governing board, called to ask: Did she think there was a path forward with her as the schools president?

Ms. Pritzker sounded weary, and it was posed as an open question, two people with knowledge of the conversation said. But Dr. Gay understood what it meant. Her six-month tenure as Harvards president was over. On Jan. 2, she announced her resignation.

That marked the end of one of the most tumultuous periods in Harvards 387-year history, a controversy that thrust the school into the public debate after Hamass Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israels subsequent invasion of Gaza. Not only did the universitys president lose her job, but the secretive workings of its board, the Harvard Corporation, were laid bare.

For weeks the board had stood by its embattled president as she dealt with withering criticism of her tepid response to antisemitism on campus, her disastrous testimony before a House panel and mounting allegations of plagiarism in her academic work. Ms. Pritzker, who had led the selection of Dr. Gay as the schools first Black president, was an especially ardent backer.
The shipping companies that move goods on one of the worlds busiest trade routes for factories, stores, car dealerships and other businesses face an excruciating decision.

They can send their vessels through the Red Sea if they are willing to risk attacks by the Houthi militia in Yemen and to bear the cost of sharply higher insurance premiums. Or they can sail an extra 4,000 miles around Africa, adding 10 days in each direction and burning considerably more fuel.

Neither option is appealing and both raise costs  expenses that analysts said could ultimately be borne by consumers through higher prices on the goods they buy.

We are beginning to see the weaponization of the global supply chains, said Marco Forgione, director general of the Institute of Export and International Trade, which supports British corporate efforts to expand in overseas markets.
In college, Lily Gladstone studied the history of Native American actors in Hollywood. Now, shes making it.

The 37-year-old actress has been checking off all sorts of awards-season firsts thanks to Killers of the Flower Moon, the Martin Scorsese-directed period drama in which she plays Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman whose relatives are systematically murdered by her husband (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his uncle (Robert De Niro) in a bid to seize her familys oil-rich Oklahoma land. If Mollie is the movies conscience, Gladstone is its center of gravity: Even when she shares scenes with A-listers like DiCaprio and De Niro, the film bends to her.

That portrayal has so far earned Gladstone a best-actress win from the New York Film Critics Circle and nominations from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, and major nods from the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy Awards are likely to come in the weeks ahead. In the run-up to those ceremonies, Gladstone has been a hotly pursued presence for round tables and events on both coasts, and shes taken to those opportunities with such command  using her platform to amplify other Native voices and concerns  that youd never know that she wasnt used to this, or that for a long time, she was hesitant to engage with Hollywood at all.

Theres a handful of people who love film that have been aware of my career for a while, but this has been like being shot out of a cannon, Gladstone said, tracing the far-flung route that has led her to all those awards-show ballrooms. My dads a boilermaker, my mom was a teacher. I was raised on a reservation, went to public school. Its a very normal, sort of working-class upbringing in one way, and in another way, Im just a rez girl.
A plan for a floating, self-filtering pool in the East River may soon become a reality, New York officials said on Friday.

With a $16 million investment from the city and state, the floating pool, an initiative of the group Friends of + POOL, is set to open for testing this summer, with a goal of opening to the public next year, Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference in Central Harlem.

The financing for the unique pool was one of several swimming-related projects that Ms. Hochul, who was joined by Mayor Eric Adams, announced on Friday as part of a broad effort to help every New Yorker learn how to swim and keep people safe in and around the water.

The governor said her administration would invest millions of dollars in building new pools around New York, addressing a statewide lifeguard shortage and increasing the amount of swimming instruction available to state residents.
I cant fit everything that I think into a single piece, especially when Im writing on deadline. My column this week, for example, was on the effort to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Although the piece is not exactly brief, its by no means exhaustive of my thoughts on the matter.

There was one point in particular that I couldnt quite fit into the flow. It concerns an assumption that, in my view, undergirds much of the discourse around Trump and his voters.

Its for good reason that the results of the 2016 presidential race shocked, surprised and unsettled many millions of Americans, including the small class of people who write about and interpret politics for a living. There was a strong sense, in the immediate aftermath of the election, that journalists were woefully out of touch with the people at large. Otherwise, they would not have missed the groundswell of support for Trump.

One inadvertent consequence of this understandable bout of introspection was, I think, to validate Trumps claim that he spoke for a silent majority of forgotten Americans. It was easy enough to look at the new presidents political coalition  disproportionately blue-collar and drawn almost entirely from the demographic majority of the country  and conclude that this was basically correct. And even if it wasnt, the image of the blue-collar (although not necessarily working-class) white man or white woman has been, for as long as any of us have been alive, a synecdoche for the ordinary American or the Middle American or the average American.
Sure, some (much?) of that time was gainfully spent on activities that enrich my life or are unavoidable: work, family text threads, reading the news and keeping up with far-flung friends. But I reached for the device more than 100 times each day according to my report. And that grasping was increasingly accompanied by the kind of queasy regret that I associate with unhealthy behavior  that feeling I get after I drink too many glasses of wine, finish the whole bag of sour gummies or stay at the poker table when Im on tilt.

So this December, I made a radical change. I ditched my $1,300 iPhone 15 for a $108 Orbic Journey  a flip phone. It makes phone calls and texts and that was about it. It didnt even have Snake on it.
Joseph M. Hendrie, a physicist who led the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the countrys worst nuclear power accident, at Three Mile Island  a mishap that chilled Americans trust in nuclear energy for decades  died on Dec. 26 at his home in Bellport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 98.

His daughter Barbara Hendrie confirmed the death.

An expert in nuclear reactor safety, Dr. Hendrie was chairman of the commission on March 28, 1979, when a commercial reactor located on an island in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania experienced a sudden loss of cooling water and a partial meltdown of its radioactive fuel.

Two days later, on Dr. Hendries advice, the governor of Pennsylvania ordered the evacuation of pregnant women and preschool children within five miles of the area.

Minimal radioactivity was released, and there were no immediate deaths. But official miscommunication and lingering confusion over the severity of the threat inflamed a long-running national debate about nuclear safety. Movie theaters that year were showing The China Syndrome, a hit thriller about a nuclear plant disaster. Nearly 200,000 protesters turned out in New York City six months after Three Mile Island for an antinuclear rally.
Rarely in American politics has a leading presidential candidate made such grave accusations about a rival: warning that he is willing to violate the Constitution. Claiming that he is eager to persecute political rivals. Calling him a dire threat to democracy.

Those arguments have come from President Bidens speeches, including his forceful address on Friday, as he hammers away at his predecessor. But they are also now being brazenly wielded by Donald J. Trump, the only president to try to overthrow an American election.

Three years after the former presidents supporters stormed the Capitol, Mr. Trump and his campaign are engaged in an audacious and baseless attempt to paint Mr. Biden as the true menace to the nations foundational underpinnings. Mr. Trumps strategy aims to upend a world in which he has publicly called for suspending the Constitution, vowed to turn political opponents into legal targets and suggested that the nations top military general should be executed.

The result has been a salvo of recriminations from the top candidates in each party, including competing events to mark Saturdays third anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.
On a barren swath of land in the Sahara, U.S. Air Base 201 stands far from public sight, on the outskirts of a remote city in one of the worlds poorest countries, its role more elusive than ever since its completion nearly six years ago.

Most of the drones that once monitored jihadist activities in volatile African countries have been grounded. Most of the Americans posted at the $110 million base, near the city, Agadez, Niger, sit idle, epitomizing the uncertain future of the United States counterterrorism efforts in West Africa: difficult to abandon, even as business as usual is, for now, out of the question.

After a military coup in Niger in July, the United States and its European partners halted their cooperation with the country, which over the past decade had become one of the biggest recipients of security assistance and development aid in Africa.

As the ruling Nigerien junta consolidates its grip on power, the Biden administration now faces wrenching new challenges in its fight against Islamist militants in Africa. Chief among them is how to resume operations at U.S. Air Base 201  the top military asset in a region that is emerging as a global center of terrorist activity.
Arno J. Mayer, a historian whose unorthodox reading of the first half of the 20th century challenged conventional understandings of World War I, World War II and the Holocaust, died on Dec. 17 in a senior care facility in Princeton, N.J. He was 97.

His son Daniel confirmed the death.

Dr. Mayer was the son of Luxembourg Jews who fled to America with his family just ahead of the Nazi invasion in 1940. He was one of the last survivors of a generation of emigre historians, many of them also Jews  among them Raul Hilberg, Peter Gay and Fritz Stern  who tried to make sense of the cataclysm that they and the world had just experienced.

He was by training a historian of diplomacy, though he ranged far beyond his original field. His early scholarship focused on the origins of World War I, while his later writing reached both forward to the Holocaust and the founding of Israel and back as early as the French Revolution.

Yet a common idea threaded through his long career, which included seven books and teaching positions at Brandeis, Harvard and Princeton: that the period from 1914 to 1945 constituted a second Thirty Years War, as calamitous and widespread as the one that ravaged Europe in the 17th century.
For 2024, the world's space agencies have planned more than 10 missions aimed at the Earth's satellite, the Moon. Orbital and descent vehicles, lunar rovers, and even manned spacecraft should pave the way for future research.

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The details were reported by NewScientist. A Japanese vehicle may be the first to land on the Moon in 2024.

"This is the year of the Moon. The number of missions to the Moon in 2024 is a reflection and realization of the momentum of the last five years. It's a big global push," said Bethany Ehlmann of the California Institute of Technology.

It all starts in January when the Japanese Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is scheduled to land. This is the first lunar vehicle in the country's history.

In the same month, a lunar vehicle developed by the American company Intuitive Machines will be launched. This mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The space agency is funding commercial flights to the moon to facilitate future research and establish partnerships with industry.

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As part of this initiative, if all goes according to plan, in 2024, various vehicles will explore and attempt to extract ice on the Moon, as well as test technologies developed for future missions. Various methods of dealing with sticky lunar dust will also be tested.

One of these missions, called Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration (CADRE), will involve the landing of three lunar rovers and a base station on the Moon. There, they will autonomously take measurements at different locations on the satellite's surface, fulfilling the overall mission plan. If this system, where different vehicles perform parts of the same task, works, it could significantly increase the productivity of robots in future missions.

To support the lunar landers, their partners will also appear in the lunar orbit.

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For example, the Lunar Trailblazer orbiter (CLPS program) will be especially important for future lunar explorers who will need to extract water from the lunar ice. It will create detailed maps that will help lunar explorers know exactly where to go to find water on the satellite's surface.

Canada, Germany, and Singapore also intend to send orbiters in 2024. The Finnish company Nokia, known for producing mobile phones and other electronics, also plans to get to the Moon. The Finns will send their own lunar rover to the Earth's satellite.

China also intends to launch the Chang'e-6 mission in May 2024, which will return the world's first samples from the far side of the Moon.

NASA's Artemis II mission is also scheduled for November 2024, during which four astronauts will fly near the Moon and return.

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Two important flights of SpaceX's Starship are also planned for the end of 2024: an unmanned lunar landing and the dearMoon flight, which will take space tourists on a trip around the Moon.

All these missions are a step towards future human exploration of the Moon.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA explained why all countries are so eager to land on the south pole of the Moon.

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The first warning was a blip, a small anomaly picked up by radar scanning the skies over Ukraine. Within seconds, it became clear that the blip was a Russian ballistic missile streaking in Kyivs direction at several times the speed of sound.

It was just before 4 a.m. on Dec. 11, and there was no time to sound air-raid alarms in the city. While millions of civilians slept, Ukrainian forces fired off several American-supplied Patriot missiles as the deadly battle in the sky commenced.

Missile-on-missile battles like this play out in a matter of minutes, said a Ukrainian major, Volodymyr, the commander of a Patriot air-defense battery who insisted that only his first name be used because of the sensitivity of his units operations.

From a mobile control room near Kyiv, his team tracked the salvo of incoming Russian missiles as the Patriots algorithms calculated their speed, altitude and intended course. With shuddering booms and bursts of light, its interceptor missiles knocked down one Russian missile after another.
Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that Russian missile strikes on a city and a village close to the eastern frontline had killed at least 11 people, including five children, and injured 10.

Vadym Filashkin, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled areas of the Donetsk region, said the Russian military hit the area with a barrage of missiles on Saturday evening, smashing private houses and trapping residents under the rubble. The Russian government did not immediately comment on the reports.

The enemy is cynically targeting civilians, trying to bring as much grief to our land as possible, he wrote in a post on social media, which included images of rescuers searching through the smoldering wreckage of houses in the dark of the night. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a statement that rescue operations were underway. The Russian strike quite simply targeted ordinary, private homes, Mr. Zelensky said.

The Saturday strike, which could not be independently confirmed, was reported as Russia and Ukraine have been locked in an escalating cycle of air assaults in recent days. Moscow, in particular, has struck Ukrainian territory with some of the largest attacks since the war began nearly two years ago, killing 90 civilians and injuring more than 400 over five days, according to the United Nations.
The Lebanese militia Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets toward a small military base in northern Israel on Saturday, in what the group said was an initial response to the assassination of a senior Hamas commander in Lebanon five days ago that has raised fears of a wider conflict.

Hezbollah said in a statement that the strikes had caused casualties, but the Israeli military said no one was hurt. The assault was initially perceived by analysts as more a symbolic response to the killing than a significant escalation.

The Israeli military said in a statement that roughly 40 rockets had been fired from Lebanon toward Mount Meron, an area housing a military radar station that is roughly five miles south of the Israeli-Lebanese border. The military said that it had responded by striking a militant group in Lebanon that had been involved in the rocket fire, without specifying its identity.

Hezbollah could still respond with a more forceful attack, while Hamas has yet to retaliate for the assassination of the senior commander, Saleh al-Arouri. Mr. al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanons capital, in an attack attributed by Hamas and Hezbollah to Israel. Lebanese and U.S. officials have also ascribed the attack to Israel, though Israel has not confirmed its role.
More than a thousand Russian citizens face deportation from Latvia. The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs has estimated that 1,167 Russians have failed to comply with the requirements of the amendments to the Immigration Law and have not applied for a residence permit.

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According to LETA, 46 people decided to act preventively and left on their own. The process of expelling Russians from the country will be difficult, but necessary, according to Latvian officials.

First, the Russians had to pass a national language test and apply for a two-year residence permit in Latvia by December 31, 2023.

All those who have not done so will have to explain why they are not leaving the country. These explanations will be considered in February. If Russians do not leave Latvia within a month of their own free will, they will face forced deportation.

There are only a few good reasons not to learn Latvian: serious health problems or other reasons beyond the person's control.

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The process of deportation of Russians who have not applied for a residence permit will be very difficult, according to the Saeima Citizenship, Migration and Society Committee. They do not hope that citizens of the terrorist country will voluntarily comply with the laws of Latvia.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that an offender who overstayed his visa by 20 months was detained in Thailand on the island of Samui, a fairly popular Asian country among Russian tourists. It was a 41-year-old Russian man.

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The Polish government is ready to sign an agreement with farmers to end the blockade of checkpoints to Ukraine. The Polish Ministry of Agriculture has agreed to fulfill three conditions of the farmers.

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As the Polish edition of Rzeczpospolita has learned, the Ministry of Agriculture is organizing a meeting with the farmers, but the final decision has not been made until Friday evening. Farmers from the Shukana Wies association returned to blocking the border crossing between Ukraine and Poland in Medyka.

The first blockade lasted for a month, from November 23 to December 24, 2023, and was suspended on Christmas Eve after a meeting with Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski and State Secretary Michal Kolodziejczak.

Now the farmers have returned to blocking the Polish-Ukrainian border, although the government has promised to meet their demands, which relate to both food imports from Ukraine and purely Polish financial issues. "I know that these funds are in the budget. However, the adoption of the budget is a process," Siekierski said at yesterday's conference.

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Some of these demands are surprising, such as the requirement to create an agricultural adviser in every Polish diplomatic mission to facilitate grain trade from the Polish market. According to unofficial sources, the agreement may be signed on January 6 in Rzeszow.



Minister Siekierski agreed to three demands: corn subsidies, no tax increases, and cheap loans. The Ministry is still waiting for the European Commission's notification on corn subsidies. The blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border is creating more and more problems not only for the parties to the conflict. More and more EU carriers do not understand or accept the Polish blockade.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, thousands of trucks remain in queues at the Polish-Ukrainian border. The most difficult situation is at the entrances to the largest checkpoint Yagodyn, which allows only about 10% of the vehicles that are physically able to cross the border there.

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Ukraine will be in contact with the new Polish government at all levels. Warsaw is "committed to solving problems," and the parties will look for ways to find common ground.

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This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a live broadcast on his Instagram page on January 5. The Foreign Minister admitted that relations with neighboring Poland are a "complicated story."

On December 22, Kuleba's Polish colleague Radoslaw Sikorski visited Kyiv. He conveyed certain signals from the new government and voiced his vision of how to resolve the problematic issues.

"We saw a willingness to solve problems, and now they need to be solved. We will continue to have contacts with the new Polish government at all levels. I won't specify anything, but they are already planned. We will look for solutions," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said.

"In the end, Ukraine's victory is a vital interest of Poland and a matter of Poland's survival as well. For this, we will have to solve problems," the minister added.

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As previously reported by OBOZ.UA:

- On December 27, the new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that he was preparing for a visit to Ukraine. The politician did not name the date but noted that his trip would not be solely about the blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border.

- Tusk's government was sworn in on December 13. The politician returned to office after nine years in the opposition.

Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator

On December 5, Harvard University's Claudine Gay, the University of Pennsylvania's Liz Magill and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sally Kornbluth appeared before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The US Congress held televised hearings in which the three US college presidents were grilled about their campus policies governing student safety and hate speech. The three were all females and Claudine Gay was the only woman of color. House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik repeatedly questioned the three educators, asking if their campus policy allows for calling for the genocide of the Jewish people. Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the committee's Republican chairwoman, said administrators "have largely stood by, allowing horrific rhetoric to fester and grow" amid "countless examples of antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses". The demonstrations were not antisemitic, but were pro-Palestinian. The three educators replied with legal theories and convoluted statements that infuriated the congressional panel.

The American people were most likely disappointed in the replies, as the question is very simple to answer from a moral and ethical standpoint: no hate speech calling for the genocide of any group should be condoned on any campus. The educators failed to present their policies clearly, which resulted in the eventual resignation of Liz Magill, the Penn leader. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. This is the chant voiced by US students of colleges and universities in the US after the October 7 attack on Israel, which began a brutal bombardment of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The gruesome Israeli attack on Gaza has killed upward of 20,000 people, and was launched as a revenge attack for the Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis, and over 100 were taken as hostages to Gaza. The Zionist Israeli Jews also use that phrase, 'from the river to the sea', to refer to their religious belief that God gave them all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. They consider the Bible to be their deed to the land, and the Israeli Ambassador to the UN actually held up the Old Testament and called it their national deed to all of the land from the river to the sea. The Israeli government neither considers the Palestinians people to have any right to any portion of the land, nor any human rights.

The Palestinian chant, from the river to the sea, is describing a piece of geography, and calling for the freedom of the Palestinian people who have suffered a brutal military occupation by Israel since 1948, in which they have been denied human rights, property rights, and are a stateless people, despite the UN resolution calling for a two-state solution in which the Gaza and West Bank portions of the land would form a Palestinian state separate of Israel. The chant does not call for the genocide of Jews, or Israelis, or any other peoples. It describes a place, and calls for freedom. The American people, as well as Europeans, have responded to the 3 months of gruesome butchery in Gaza with huge protests in major cities across the western and democratic world, as well as college students have taken up the cause of Palestinians rights, and the anti-war theme that is familiar to college campuses in the US from the days of the Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria wars carried out by the US and NATO.

These young students, and faculty as well, are seeking justice and freedom for Palestine and are not calling for the destruction of or genocide of the Jews, or Israelis, or any other group. How did the US Congress determine to spend time on this topic, when the Congress faces pressing issues that have yet to be decided upon, such as funding for allies in war, immigration policies, and a looming budget crisis? Why would the US Congress take the time and effort, and the resulting media coverage on prime-time broadcasts, to focus on three US campuses and their policies? The answer is AIPAC. The American Israel Political Action Committee is one of the hardest working, most dedicated and successful lobby groups in American history. For decades, it has been widely accepted, and numerous books written on the subject, exposing the unusually high influence AIPAC has on the Oval Office, State Department, and the US Congress, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Many critics and experts alike have said for decades that AIPAC controls the US government. That is a broad statement, and the reality is that AIPAC holds control over those issues that are in the interest of Israel. A Harvard-Harris poll was conducted on people aged 18-24 since the October 7 attack. The question to the youthful group was, "Was the Hamas attack on Israel justified given the past history?" 51% answered "yes".

This poll was a shock to AIPAC, directly threatened the interest of Israel, and presented a potential existential threat to the very existence of the Jewish State of Israel. Ariel Sharon, former Defense Minister and Prime Minister of Israel, said that Israel need not worry about a unified Arab threat to destroy Israel, but the only threat to the existence of Israel would be a situation developing in which the US would stop their full and unconditional support of Israel and the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

America is their strongest supporter, but also a weak-link for Israel. The Biden administration has maintained total and unconditional support of Israel in the face of the Hamas attack. Even though the UN and virtually all the international community has called for a ceasefire in Gaza, the US has continued to steadfastly promote the genocide of the Palestinian people of Gaza. US President Joe Biden is a career politician, and has learned his lessons well over decades in the Congress. He knows full well that AIPAC controls the narrative, and any US official cannot stand up to AIPAC and hope to survive in their career, elections, and it can potentially affect their health, safety and family members. The Biden administration's workforce comprises younger and more diverse people than ever before in US history.

In the White House there have been heated discussions and complaints about the Israeli policies carried out in Gaza that are not in line with American democratic values, or humanitarian laws. At the State Department, Josh Paul, a veteran weapons section manager, resigned out of protest after Biden insisted on fast-tracking weapons to Israel even though the US policy is to hold up weapons to any conflict that might be breaking humanitarian and international laws of war. Others in the State Department have complained so much that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was forced to address some of their concerns. He never changed his pro-Israel policy, and his workforce in general has held their complaints in silence out of the fear their career would be affected by AIPAC. American foreign policy to Israel is held in bondage by AIPAC.

When the public tide of opinion on college campuses in the US was seen to be swiftly moving against the Israeli war on Gaza, and standing in support of the Palestinian cause of freedom, AIPAC went to work and organized the US congressional hearings to grill and demean the three educators. The goal was to present a different narrative to the US public, a type of conspiracy theory, in which evil educators and leaders of leading US higher educational facilities were encouraging extremist views among young impressionable students. Instead of focusing on the death and suffering of the people in Gaza, being killed by US weapons sent free of charge to Israel, paid for by the hard-working US taxpayer; the focus would shift away from the root cause of the war, to ultimately be lost on the condemnation of educators, campus policies, and the view that American students are too stupid to form their own opinions. Christopher F. Rufo, a conservative activist against critical race theory, singled out Gay for attack, the only person of color involved in the issue following the congressional hearing. The New York Post wrote about allegations of plagiarism by Gay, but did not provide a source for the allegations, which had been circulating on anonymous chat forums accompanied by racial epithets and conspiracy theories. Rufo admitted he timed the publication of his initial allegations of plagiarism to do maximal damage to Gay's presidency at Harvard.

A review by Harvard of the past writings by Gay said the passages at issue, "while regrettable, did not constitute research misconduct", which had to involve "intentional deception or recklessness". Until recently Gay held on to her position, but the attacks upon her demonstrate the far-reaching hand of political groups to seek to demean, embarrass and harass Gay, the child of Haitian immigrants, who had to deal with social issues to get to the position she held at Harvard.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
Apple is a great company and makes great products. This article was written on an Apple iMac. I use my Apple watch daily to monitor my exercise, schedule, health and many other aspects of my life.

However, for over three years now, Apple has been entrenched in a messy legal battle over a single feature on the Apple watch, the oxygen sensor. The Apple Watch Series 6 was the first Apple Watch with an oxygen sensor. Medical device maker Masimo filed a trademark complaint with the International Trade Commission against Apple for infringing its oxygen-sensor patents. The ITC ruled recently that Apple's watch infringed on Masimo's patents and imposed a U.S. import ban that went into effect on December 26, 2023, on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. T. Apple filed an appeal and won a temporary pause on the ban. Apple can resume selling both watches in the interim, but the litigation continues.

Massimo Corporation

Masimo Corporation is a health technology and consumer electronics company based in Irvine, California. The company primarily manufactures patient-monitoring devices and technologies, including non-invasive sensors using optical technology, patient management and telehealth platforms. In 2022, the company expanded into home audio by acquiring Sound United and began to manufacture health-oriented wearable devices. Sound United owns premium audio brands including Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Marantz, Definitive Technology, Polk Audio, Classe' and Boston Acoustics. Masimo stated that the acquisition gave it access to more retail channels and product engineers. Further Masimo planned to leverage Denon's network-connected speakers as smart home hubs for aggregating health data from its services and devices. Also in 2022, Masimo released the W1, a smartwatch that included continuous health-monitoring features and integrated this with Masimo's other product lines. It was released in a limited public launch in the U.S., and to telehealth providers internationally. Masimo's market capitalization is $5.8 billion. Apple's market cap is $2.8 trillion, the largest corporation in the world. Apple is 48 times larger than Masimo. If Apple were to merge with Masimo, Masimo's lawsuit would go away, and Apple would be acquiring excellent technology and U.S. manufacturing capacity.

Apple Should Manufacture More in the United States

The Apple Watch alone generated about $17 billion in revenue last year, three times the value of Masimo. If Apple manufactured the watch and its components in the US, the International Trade Commission would not have the authority to impose a ban on Apple watch sales. In contrast to Apple's watch, Masimo builds its smartwatch in the U.S.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Of Apple's more than 180 suppliers, 48 had manufacturing sites in the U.S. as of September 2021, up from 25 a year earlier, according to a supplier list released by Apple. More than 30 sites were in California, compared with fewer than 10 a year earlier. Many major suppliers such as chip makers Qualcomm and Taiwan Semiconductor Co., product assembler Foxconn and image sensor maker Sony added production sites in the U.S."

Apple manufacturers only its MacPro high-end computer in its plant in Austin, Texas. At another plant in Sherman, Texas, 60 miles north of Dallas, Apple manufactures optical technology used for the iPhone. If Apple manufactured its watch in the United States, it would protect Apple from intervention by the International Trade Commission and free it of Chinese constraints. This would also free Apple from the regulations and pressure that the Chinese government puts on American companies.
The emergency landing of a Boeing 737 Max jetliner with a gaping hole in its side and the airlines decision to ground identical planes is renewing questions about the safety of Boeings best-selling plane  one that was involved in two deadly crashes.

A window panel blew out on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max seven minutes after takeoff from Portland on Friday. The rapid loss of cabin pressure pulled the clothes off a child and caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling, but miraculously none of the 174 passengers and six members were injured. Pilots made a safe emergency landing.

Hours after the terrifying incident, Alaska Airlines announced that it would ground its entire fleet of 65 Max 9s for inspections and maintenance. CEO Ben Minicucci said Alaska expects the inspections to be completed in the next few days.

Even a short grounding will pose significant problems for the airline and its passengers  the Max 9 accounts for more than one-fourth of Alaskas fleet. On Saturday, Alaska canceled about 100 flights, or 13% of its schedule, by midmorning on the West Coast, according to FlightAware.

United Airlines also operates a large fleet of 737-9 Max jets. A United spokesman said Saturday the airline had nothing yet to announce about its Max fleet.

Photos showed a hole in the Alaska jet where an emergency exit is installed when planes are configured to carry a maximum number of passengers. Alaska plugs those doors because its 737-9 Max jets dont have enough seats to trigger the requirement for another emergency exit.

Indias aviation watchdog told its airlines to immediately inspect emergency exits of all Boeing 737-8 Max planes, a slightly smaller model than the 737-9 Max. The countrys aviation authority complained about a lack of guidance from Boeing.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said they would investigate Fridays incident.

Boeing has offered only a brief statement.

We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the company said Friday night. We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation.

The plane involved is brand-new  it began carrying passengers in November and has made only 145 flights, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service.

The Max  there are currently three versions: the 8, 9 and 10, which differ mainly in size  is the newest version of Boeings venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights.

More than a decade ago, Boeing considered designing and building an entirely new plane to replace the 737. But afraid of losing sales to European rival Airbus, which was marketing a more fuel-efficient version of its similarly sized A320, Boeing decided to take the shorter path of tweaking the 737  and the Max was born.

A Max 8 jet operated by Lion Air crashed in Indonesia in 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 crashed in 2019. Regulators around the world grounded the planes for nearly two years while Boeing changed an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Federal prosecutors and Congress questioned whether Boeing had cut corners in its rush to get the Max approved quickly, and with a minimum of training required for pilots. In 2021, Boeing settled a criminal investigation by agreeing to pay $2.5 billion, including a $244 million fine. The company blamed two relatively low-level employees for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration about flaws in the flight-control system.

Boeing has estimated in financial reports that fallout from the two fatal crashes has cost it more than $20 billion. It has reached confidential settlements with most of the families of passengers who died in the crashes.

After a pause following the crashes, airlines resumed buying the Max. But the plane has been plagued by problems unrelated to Fridays blowout.

Questions about components from suppliers have held up deliveries at times. Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane. And in December, Boeing told airlines to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

A passenger on a Southwest Airlines jet was killed in 2018 when a piece of engine housing blew off and shattered the window she was sitting next to. However, that incident involved an earlier version of the Boeing 737, not a Max.

 DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer
Dear Liz: My sister is married to a man who is considerably older. Theyve been married for eight years. He has cancer and the outlook isnt good, but he refuses to discuss their financial status.

As a result, she has no idea whats going on.

How can she force him to tell her their financial situation?

They arent getting divorced, and every article Ive read only addresses financial disclosure in divorce cases. I will probably be the one helping her figure this out after he passes away.

Answer: Refusing to discuss the details of shared finances is at best a form of financial infidelity. A recent NerdWallet survey conducted by the Harris Poll found that many Americans arent sharing financial secrets with loved ones, including their income, credit card debt and how much theyve spent on a purchase.

But at worst, it can be a sign of abuse. If hes controlling or abusive in other ways, her physical safety may be at risk. Encourage her to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233, which can help her assess her situation and connect her to resources that can help.

Even if she doesnt plan to divorce, a consultation with a divorce attorney could still help. The attorney could suggest ways to piece together some of the details of their financial life and advise her about state laws regarding shared responsibility for any debts.

Liz Weston, Certified Financial Planner, is a personal finance columnist for NerdWallet. Questions may be sent to her at 3940 Laurel Canyon, No. 238, Studio City, CA 91604, or by using the Contact form at asklizweston.com.
A person anonymously emailed a hoax bomb threat to more than 40 Oregon arts institutions on Friday, causing at least one in Portland to close for the day.

Kerry Tymchuk, executive director of the Oregon Historical Society in downtown Portland, said he instructed the museums staff and visitors to evacuate after opening the email around 12:30 p.m.

The email was sent to more than 50 different email addresses and warned that multiple explosives were hidden inside different museums that would go off within several hours.

Joy Jiras, a spokesperson for the FBIs Portland office, said the office was aware of the numerous hoax bomb threats, but said investigators had no information indicating Fridays threat was credible.

The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk, Jiras said in a statement. We urge the public to remain vigilant.

Security officers at the Portland Art Museum searched the building after staff received the email about 11:40 a.m., said spokesperson Ian Gillingham. Portland police and the FBI told Gillingham there was no threat by 1:20 p.m., he said.

For Tymchuck, Fridays email was the first bomb threat hes gotten in 13 years of working at the Oregon Historical Society.

The museum will reopen Saturday, he said.

-- Catalina Gaitan, cgaitan@oregonian.com, @catalinagaitan_

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Oregon Health & Science University gave a prominent researcher and member of the medical school leadership team a large bonus even as top officials knew multiple women had accused him of secretly photographing them in class.

An OHSU spokesperson confirmed Friday that Dr. Daniel Marks received $46,234.12 on Oct. 13 as part of the Presidents Recognition Award.

By then, three women students had complained about Marks, records show. Marks, meanwhile, agreed to modest work restrictions for most of last year, such as not having electronic devices at any meetings. The university allowed him to continue leading his federally funded research lab.

According to a message OHSU sent to employees last fall, the bonuses represented a one-time payment to eligible employees and that leaders from across OHSU had reviewed and verified the award levels for each person in their area.

At OHSU, our people are our No. 1 priority and what makes us special, the message said.

It is unclear which OHSU School of Medicine executive approved a bonus for Marks. A spokesperson for OHSU did not respond to an email asking to identify the manager.

Marks answered to Dr. David Jacoby, dean of the School of Medicine.

Seven days after Marks received the bonus, an aide to Jacoby sent an email to OHSU staff announcing, without explanation, Marks resignation. The email stated that Marks would resign effective Nov. 3.

Marks, a pediatric endocrinologist, served as senior associate dean for research and professor of pediatrics. He worked at OHSU for nearly 26 years and was a principal investigator on two multi-year federal research grants.

He was paid a salary of $467,015, according to OHSU.

The allegations against Marks were included in a federal document obtained earlier this week by The Oregonian/OregonLive. OHSU released the letter from the National Institutes of Health in response to a public records request from the news organization.

Marks resigned after OHSU found he had surreptitiously, and without consent photographed women students during a required class known as the Journal Club, according to the National Institutes of Health letter. On Nov. 1, OHSU officials reported the findings to the agency under federal rules involving research grants.

The universitys Office of Civil Rights Investigation and Compliance ultimately concluded that Marks took the photos during two July 2022 classes, according to the letter.

Prior to charges of termination being issued, Dr. Marks submitted his resignation, the letter noted.

Though the document didnt elaborate on the nature of the images, two OHSU sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Marks took at least one photograph under a table of women who were wearing skirts and dresses. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

The women were part of the OHSU School of Medicine M.D./Ph.D. program. Marks served as the programs liaison to the dean.

On Friday, OHSU released additional records that filled in the timeline of the complaints against Marks.

Dr. Peter G. Barr-Gillespie, OHSUs chief research officer and executive vice president, told the National Institutes of Health in a follow-up letter last month that a student originally complained in November 2022 about Marks phone and camera app use during a meeting the previous July of the Journal Club.

An internal investigator met with the woman in January 2023, according to Barr-Gillespies letter. The student did not want Dr. Marks to have a continued role in her program, Barr-Gillespie wrote.

Later that month, the investigator met with Marks to review the concerns that had been reported, according to Barr-Gillespie.

Marks offered not to attend the Journal Club meetings going forward and said he would also agree to not use electronic devices during meetings generally, Barr-Gillespie wrote.

University officials considered the matter closed because the student had not filed a formal complaint or requested an investigation and because Marks agreed to preventative measures, according to Barr-Gillespie.

The investigators meeting with Marks was considered an educational conversation and not disciplinary, Barr-Gillespie wrote in his letter.

Then in March 2023, two more women came forward with similar complaints about the Journal Club meetings the previous July and asked for a formal investigation, according to the letter.

The university told Marks not to have contact with the women.

Barr-Gillespie told the National Institutes of Health that the university allowed Marks to continue with his federally funded research since there were no complaints or concerns from the employees or students in any other forum, including in his laboratory or research groups.

OHSU officials checked in with students in Marks lab to ensure that they did not have any complaints about Dr. Marks and that they had a forum for raising any concerns, Barr-Gillespie wrote.

It is unclear when the investigation into Marks concluded. OHSU officials on Friday declined to say.

The revelation about Marks comes two years after an inquiry by former Attorney General Eric Holders law firm found that OHSU lacks clear policies on handling, documenting and investigating misconduct by its employees, leading to inconsistent discipline and a lack of trust among staff and students.

Marks now works as chief medical officer of an Illinois-based pharmaceutical company, Endevica. It is unclear whether Endevica executives were aware of the circumstances surrounding Marks departure; they did not respond to emails from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Marks also could not be reached for comment Friday.

This week, OHSU sent a message to employees alerting them to The Oregonian/OregonLives reporting on the circumstances of Marks departure, saying, OHSUs employee confidentiality practices prevent us from commenting on personnel matters and that it can be distressing when internal matters are reported by the news media.

Dr. Richard Goodman, a senior scientist at OHSU, said the message was inadequate. He questioned why it took so long for the university to act.

He called the allegations such a betrayal of trust in an email he sent to Jacoby, the medical school dean, on Friday. He shared the message with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

He said Jacoby, as Marks boss, owes the medical school community a heartfelt apology.

The Marks incident is so concerning because it involves your office, Goodman told the dean.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

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Multnomah County Auditor Jennifer McGuirk raised concerns Friday that an elected official influenced a county bidding process to favor a Seattle-based nonprofit.

McGuirk said the elected official in question is Susheela Jayapal, who was then a county commissioner but who has since resigned to run for Congress.

The nonprofit she favored, Housing Connector, initially ranked six out of eight prospective contractors, too low to get the work, according to a memo McGuirk sent to current county commissioners and members of the media on Friday. But after Jayapal intervened, it ultimately secured a $780,000 contract, the memo says.

McGuirk told The Oregonian/OregonLive that, while Jayapal tried to influence the process, the auditors office determined that Jayapal did not commit fraud or abuse her position. Officials in the auditors office did not find any personal connections between Jayapal and the nonprofit and thus found no personal benefit to her, McGuirk said.

Jayapal told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she did not do anything improper.

The bidding process was designed to select nonprofits who would help connect people experiencing homelessness to private landlords

The Housing Connector program is a proven model for moving people from the streets and one that I believe will make our system far more effective and efficient, she said in a statement. I have no regrets about advocating for it. It is unfortunate that some people think I pushed too hard, but I dont think theres such a thing as pushing too hard when its a matter of addressing our homelessness crisis, delivering results and getting people the resources they need and off the streets as quickly as possible.

In March, county officials signaled their intention to work with Housing Connector, even though they did not apply for the work until May, the memo said. Denis Theriault, a spokesperson for the county, said that while agenda documents inadvertently referred to Housing Connector, county staff clarified that the agency was a potential provider of the services during a March meeting and that the county would be going through a provider search process.

Housing Connector is based in Seattle, and two of its seven board members work at real estate tech firm Zillow. It relies heavily on the Zillow platform to carry out its nonprofit work connecting tenants who have experienced homelessness with landlords willing to rent to them.

After Housing Connector was ranked below the minimum qualifications for the work, Jayapal talked to workers in the joint city of Portland- Multnomah County homelessness agency, the memo said. The Joint Office then changed the scope of work and asked all eight bidders to respond, the memo said.

In May, potential providers were asked to describe how they could provide a range of services including recruiting and building relationships with landlords or providing a systemwide method to track a list of available properties.

The intention was to award contracts to multiple providers, said Marc Rose, who works for the Auditors Office.

In early June, when Joint Office staffers reviewed and evaluated responses from prospective agencies, some raised concerns that Housing Connector did not have a history in Multnomah County.

Then on June 20, the Joint Office sent all eight bidders follow-up questions, asking them to specify how they could track available apartments countywide and give all potential renters access to that information .

Jayapal, who says she has advocated for a centralized platform like that, raised concerns that the initial procurement process did not address that goal. Housing Connector is the only agency that she knows of that offers that comprehensive model, including using Zillow for inventory.

Jayapal said that she did not, however, dictate how the Joint Office should respond to her concerns and did not suggest or write the additional questions the Joint Office sent to potential providers. She agreed with McGuirk that the proper approach would have been to contract with a a single overarching agency or to cancel the initial request for proposals and start over.

The county ultimately awarded the bulk of its $1.5 million for landlord recruitment and engagement to Housing Connector to act as a central portal for landlords offering housing and gave smaller awards to three culturally-specific providers, Theriault said.

The changes in the scope of work and the fact that Housing Connector was awarded a contract compelled McGuirk to notify commissioners what her office found, she wrote.

I am concerned that the countys contract award allocation process was not insulated enough from outside influence to assure impartial and open competition, and that outside influence put undue pressure on Joint Office employees, the memo says.

McGuirk said Jayapal and then-Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson, who had yet to be elected county chair, learned about Housing Connector during a visit to Seattle to see King Countys relative better success than Multnomahs at getting unhoused residents into apartments.

Jayapal is among several Democrats running to succeed longtime U.S. Rep Earl Blumenauer in Oregons 3rd Congressional District.

Sami Edge covers higher education and politics for The Oregonian. You can reach her at sedge@oregonian.com or (503) 260-3430.
An Alaska Airlines flight was forced to return to Portland International Airport after a section of the fuselage suddenly blew out of the plane Friday evening with a big boom and a rush of air through a gaping hole, passengers told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The seat next to the destroyed section of the plane was unoccupied but the force ripped the shirt off a teenager in the middle seat, leaving his skin reddened and legs bruised from the sudden decompression, a passenger said.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.

The 5 p.m. flight, originally headed to Ontario, California, landed safely back at the airport, Port of Portland officials said, referring further questions to Alaska Airlines.

Alaska released a statement that said Flight 1282 with 171 passengers and six crew members experienced an incident this evening soon after departure, but didnt give any more information about what happened. Alaska late Friday grounded all its 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft and will return them to service after safety inspections.

[WATCH: Section blows out of plane, forces Alaska Airlines flight back to PDX]

The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation, an airline statement said. We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.

People on the flight shared photos on social media that showed a large hole in the side of the plane and what looked like insulation exposed. Other photos showed air tubes hanging down from the ceiling in the planes cabin. Exterior photos suggested the missing section was an aft door that had been covered with a wall panel and window on the inside.

Passenger Elizabeth Le, 20, said she heard a really loud boom about 20 minutes into the flight.

It sounded like your ears were popping like normally on a plane, but 10 times louder, she said. I couldnt believe it was real.

Emergency breathing masks descended from the ceiling and a hole had opened behind the planes left wing where a section of wall with a window in it had been, Le said.

An eerie stillness took over the cabin, she said.

I was just praying that everything would be OK, Le said in a phone interview. We were all calm, but I did feel like I was about to cry, because who knows this could be my last few moments.

She said the teenager and his mother who was with him were moved to other seats by flight attendants.

His mom had to drag him back into the plane, Le said. I dont know where they are now, but everyone was OK.

Flight attendants made several announcements, but passengers were unable to hear over the sound of rushing wind. The crew eventually circulated through the plane to check for injuries and ensure everyone was belted into their seats.

It was deathly silent. Nobody made a noise, another passenger, 29-year-old Kyle Rinker, said in a text message to The Oregonian/OregonLive. You could feel the plane shake a little because of the air pressure difference.

The FAA registry shows the Boeing 737-9 was almost brand new, manufactured in 2023 and certified in November. It reached an altitude of 16,000 feet before turning back to Portland.

This is at least the second emergency landing at Portland International Airport in 75 days. An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot, Joseph Emerson, faces criminal charges for allegedly attempting to cut the engines of a packed flight that made an emergency landing at PDX on Oct. 22.

 Zane Sparling; zsparling@oregonian.com; 503-319-7083; @pdxzane

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The newest member of the Oregon Zoos rhinoceros family crossed a milestone this week, turning one month old on Thursday, Jan. 4.

The yet-to-be-named calf, born to parents Jozi and King on Dec. 4, is up to 172 pounds from its birthweight of 100 pounds and has begun to explore the behind-the-scenes rhino maternity den, according to a release from the zoo.

Both Jozi and her calf are doing great, Chad Harmon, who supervises the zoos rhino area, said in the release. Their bond is strong, and were seeing the calf explore the barn more and more.

Staff at the zoo is closely monitoring the calf and its progress from a distance as the family continues to bond. The veterinary staff has not yet determined the sex of the new baby.

When the calf is ready for that first veterinary exam, well find out whether its a boy or a girl, Harmon said. For now, Jozi is doing such a great job that we havent needed to intervene. Shes a terrific mom.

Read more: Oregon Zoo elephant expecting a baby that wont be born until 2025

Guests of the zoo will have to wait a little longer to get a look at the calf, as Jozy and her baby remain out of view until the new addition gets a little bigger and the weather gets a little warmer.

Jozi and the babys father, King, are part of the critically endangered eastern subspecies of black rhinoceros, making the new baby a significant event not just for the Oregon Zoo but for the entire species.

Poaching and the illegal wildlife trade have wiped out 96% of the worlds black rhino population, said Kelly Gomez, who oversees the zoos Africa area, in the press release. In South Africa alone, were losing almost a rhino a day. Hopefully, their story can help inspire a new chapter in the conservation of this incredible species.

 Sean Meagher | @seanspix on Instagram

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Portland capped off a warm year with a warm December last month, and while neither the year nor the month broke the record, they sure got close.

According to Andy Bryant, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Portland, the average temperature at the Portland Airport in December 2023 was 4.5 degrees warmer than usual. It was warm enough that it came in as the second warmest December since records at the airport began being kept around 1940.

How warm? The average temperature, taking the average of the daily highs and lows, was 46.1 degrees, second only to December 1950 when the average temperature was 46.4 degrees.

Could Oregons El Nino winter be to blame for the warm weather?

While El Nino usually causes warmer than average years, said Larry ONeill, an associate professor at Oregon State University and Oregons state climatologist, the fact that this El Nino is the warmest of any El Nino observed is a consequence of human-induced climate change.

How then to explain the fact that the warmest December on record was 73 years ago in 1950?

Natural weather variations can create single months or seasons that are unusually warm or cold in certain regions, ONeill said. What differentiates 1950 from 2023 is that only some parts of the U.S. and the world were warmer than normal in December 1950, while most of the U.S. and world experienced record warmth in 2023.

To illustrate his point, ONeill shared a map showing the average temperature ranking for December 1950 for every state.

State temperature Dec. 1950.Courtesy of NOAA

Much of the U.S. West indeed experienced one of its warmest Decembers during 1950, but much of the midwest and southeastern U.S. experienced one of its coldest Decembers, ONeill said.

The official map for December 2023 wont be out for another 2 to 3 days, he added, but it will show that most states recorded well above average temperatures for December 2023.

Similarly, ONeill said, a temperature map of the world in December 1950 shows that much of the world was not especially warm, whereas a temperature map of the world for December 2023 will show practically the whole world was much warmer than normal.

Another difference? It wasnt just one month in 2023. The whole year was warm, a degree and a half above normal according to Bryant, with an average temperature of 56.6 degrees. Now, 2023 ranks as the second hottest year on record at the Portland Airport, beating even 2021, the year of the record-decimating heat dome.

The thing thats striking to me, Bryant said, when I look at the top five warmest years, with 2023 now jumping into the No. 2 spot, the top five warmest years are all within the last 10 years.

The warmest year on record was 2015 with an average temperature of 57.4 degrees. Followed now by 2023, then 2021, 2016 and 2018.

It is a trend line undeniably going up, not just in Portland but around the world. According to scientists, 2023 was the warmest year on record for planet Earth.

For Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, we are already seeing consequences of climate change and we expect these impacts to continue for decades to come, ONeill said.

These impacts, he said, include increased wildfire activity, increased incidence of precipitation extremes, including both summertime drought and wintertime flooding, decreased mountain snowpack, increased incidence of heat illness and smoke exposure, increased vulnerability of electrical infrastructure, and changes to crop types and yields, among many others.

 Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker

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In Spain, the number of cases of the coronavirus disease COVID-19, as well as influenza, increased sharply during the Christmas holidays. As a result, several regions of the country announced the renewal of some quarantine rules.

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In particular, the rule requiring the wearing of protective masks in medical facilities has been returned. This was reported by Reuters on Friday, January 5.

In the Spanish region of Valencia, from December 26 to January 1, the level of respiratory infections reached 1,501 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. By this indicator, the region is second only to Castilla-La Mancha.

Healthcare leaders in the region have announced the need to wear masks for people with symptoms of these diseases, as well as for healthcare workers. This rule was also introduced in Catalonia.

And in Aragon, northern Spain, it was recommended to wear masks not only in medical facilities but also in all public places.

In Murcia, southeastern coast of the state, masks are also required. For its part, Galicia in the northwest limited itself to this recommendation.

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It should be noted that Spain was one of the last countries in Europe to lift restrictions after the COVID-19 pandemic: the mask regime remained in place in public transport until February 2023, and in medical centers and pharmacies until July.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, WHO believes that children and adolescents aged six months to 17 years without concomitant diseases do not need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Experts have included this category of people in the low-priority group for vaccination against coronavirus disease.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
As a result of missile attacks on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea on January 4 and 6, Russian troops suffered heavy losses of personnel. According to preliminary data, at least 12 invaders were killed.

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Moreover, about 80 occupants are trapped under the rubble on the territory of the command post of the 31st Air Defense Division of the Russian Air Force. This was reported by the Telegram channel "Spy Dossier".

The missile attack on Russian military targets in Crimea took place on the evening of January 4. According to preliminary data, the Ukrainian military used Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles.

First, a part of the radar of the 31st Air Defense Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces was hit in the village of Zatyshne near Yevpatoriya. As a result of the strike, the radar station and communication center were destroyed. According to preliminary data, three occupants were wounded in the strike.

A short time later, a second missile strike struck a facility in Sevastopol. This time, the target of the Ukrainian defenders was the defended command post of the 31st Air Defense Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces. As a result of the strike, 12 Russian occupants were killed and 9 others were wounded.

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It is also known that more than 80 invaders were trapped under the rubble. According to preliminary data, one of the killed Russians was a military officer with the rank of general, but his name is still unknown. At the same time, the death of the commander of the 3rd Radio Regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces has been confirmed.

Media reports indicate that during the attack, the Ukrainian military first used decoy missiles, preliminarily ADM-160A. This was followed by an attack with Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

In addition, on the night of January 6, the Ukrainian military struck the Saki airfield. As a result, the command post of the 43rd Separate Naval Assault Aviation Regiment was destroyed. At least four occupants were reported killed.

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As a reminder, the explosions that occurred on the night of January 6 near the temporarily occupied Yevpatoriya destroyed an enemy control center in Crimea. Ukrainian pilots performed an effective job.

Earlier it was reported that the Defense Forces destroyed the radar and command post of the Russians, which was responsible for coordinating air defense throughout the occupied peninsula.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on January 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit enemy ammunition depots in Crimea. The occupiers' ammunition depot was destroyed near the village of Pershotravneve in the Kurmansky district.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The government of Burkina Faso on on Friday adopted a decree establishing a compulsory withholding of 1% on the remuneration of public officials and workers in the private sector to fight terrorism
Hood Container Acquires Sumter Packaging in South Carolina

The acquisition emphasizes Hood Container's continued focus on corrugated packaging operations by acquiring operations serving the growing Carolinas/Georgia region and the national market for high graphics packaging. The acquisition emphasizes Hood Container's continued focus on corrugated packaging operations by acquiring operations serving the growing Carolinas/Georgia region and the national market for high graphics packaging.

Jan. 5, 2024 - Hood Container Corporation announced today that it has acquired the corrugated packaging business of Sumter Packaging Corporation based in Sumter, South Carolina. This includes all of Sumter's design, manufacturing, assembly and fulfillment operations in Sumter, SC, as well as the business manufactured and serviced from the Statesville, North Carolina facility.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ben DeSollar, CEO of Sumter Packaging, said, "Our roots in packaging go back over 100 years. Sumter Packaging was founded by Ed Fienning with traditions of family values, delighting our customers and being a strong community partner."

Charlie Hodges, President, and COO of Hood Container Corporation, commented, "Hood Container is very pleased to have acquired Sumter Packaging. Ben DeSollar and his team have built a company that reflects our cultural aspirations for both our employees and communities, our focus on operational excellence, and the value proposition Hood Container expects to deliver to our customers and clients.

"In addition, Sumter's location and asset capabilities allow Hood to continue its reach into both a new market geography and continued expansion into exciting new product markets as we continue to integrate Hood's industrial corrugated operations with our mill system," Hodges explained.

Hood Container operates locations in seventeen states. The company also owns and operates linerboard, medium, and multiwall paper manufacturing operations in New Johnsonville, Tennessee and St. Francisville, Louisiana.

Hood Container Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hood Companies, Inc. Hood Companies is a privately owned, closely held holding company and is the parent to operating subsidiaries involved in the manufacture and distribution of forest and wood products, building and construction materials, and flexible and corrugated packaging products throughout North America.

SOURCE: Hood Container Corporation
Photo: (Photo : Paul Morigi / Getty Images)

Student loan borrowers are reporting experiencing difficulties as they follow up with their repayment post-pandemic due to servicer lapses.

As post-pandemic relief ended on October, 22 million borrowers are finding themselves needing to pay their student loans.

However, as recently highlighted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a large number of borrowers are experiencing inaccurate billing and processing delays in their student loan repayment.

Post-Pandemic Student Loan Repayment's Servicer Lapses

In the post-pandemic era, borrowers on federal student loans are encountering significant obstacles. Relief from student loan repayments started at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and received multiple extensions.

However, the government has since ceased the delay of student loan repayment, which is thrusting borrowers back into the reality of repaying a collective debt of approximately $1.6 trillion.

With the resumption of these payments, issues have been arising as incorrect billing statements, extended waiting times for service calls, and delays in application processing for income-driven repayment plans have emerged.

These problems, highlighted by the CFPB, reflect a nationwide struggle among borrowers to adapt to the renewed demands of student loan repayments.

It was revealed that borrowers were regularly required to wait on hold with their loan servicers for more than an hour, and a significant number of them gave up without making any attempt to receive aid.

By significantly reducing their workforce during the pandemic, several service providers were able to improve their financial performance, according to the CFPB.

On the other hand, servicers have not been able to satisfy the anticipated demand from borrowers for assistance with their debts.

The Bureau of Investigation also discovered that there were considerable delays in the processing of applications for repayment plans.

The government agency discovered that millions of applications for income-driven repayment plans were submitted during the months of August and October.

Furthermore, servicers indicated that there were more than 1.25 million applications that were still pending, with more than 450,000 applications that had been sitting for more than 30 days as of the end of October 2023.

Unfortunately, this means that borrowers wait five times longer in order to process their student loan repayments.

Read Also: San Antonio Father and Son Arrested for Double Homicide of Pregnant 18-Year-Old, Partner

Federal Student Loan Post-Pandemic

The Biden administration has taken definitive steps to address the servicer lapses impacting student loan borrowers.

The Education Department has recently penalized three major student loan service providers-Aidvantage, EdFinancial, and Nelnet-for failing to fulfill their contractual obligations, particularly in providing timely billing statements to borrowers. In response to these developments, servicers have articulated their positions.

Nelnet acknowledged minor billing errors, affecting a fraction of their clientele, while Aidvantage, managed by Maximus, expressed a commitment to correct mistakes and uphold contractual obligations.

On the other hand, EdFinancial deferred to the Education Department for comments on the issue. These responses from loan servicers come at a critical time when borrowers are seeking clarity and support in the wake of resumed student loan repayments.

As the federal government continues its vigilant oversight, borrowers are hoping for more streamlined and error-free services from their loan servicers.

This action involved withholding significant payments from these servicers, signaling a strong stance by the administration to safeguard borrower interests and ensure accountability in the student loan servicing sector.

The recent withholding of $7.2 million from MOHELA for similar infractions further underscores the government's commitment to rigorous oversight and protection for borrowers.

This period is pivotal in shaping how loan repayments are managed and how borrowers are supported in meeting their financial obligations in the years to come.

Related Article: Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood: Study Reveals Sleep Seizure Link in Toddlers
Two new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

The Nahom Convergence Reexamined: The Eastward Trail, Burial of the Dead, and the Ancient Borders of Nihm, written by Neal Rappleye

Abstract: For decades, several Latter-day Saint scholars have maintained that there is a convergence between the location of Nahom in the Book of Mormon and the Nihm region of Yemen. To establish whether there really is such a convergence, I set out to reexamine where the narrative details of 1 Nephi 16:3317:1 best fit within the Arabian Peninsula, independent of where the Nihm region or tribe is located. I then review the historical geography of the Nihm tribe, identifying its earliest known borders and academic interpretations of their location in antiquity. My investigation brings in data on ancient Yemen and Arabia that has not been previously considered in discussions about Nahom or Lehis journey more generally, and leads to some surprising conclusions. Nonetheless, after establishing both where we should expect to find Nahom and the most likely location of ancient Nihm independent of one another, the two locations are compared and found to substantially overlap, suggesting that the Nahom convergence is real. With the convergent relationship established, I then explore four possible scenarios for Lehis stop at Nahom, the burial of Ishmael, and the partys journey eastward toward Bountiful based on the new data presented in this paper.

Interpreting Interpreter: Converging on Nahom, written by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article The Nahom Convergence Reexamined: The Eastward Trail, Burial of the Dead, and the Ancient Borders of Nihm by Neal Rappleye in Volume 60 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreterarticles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/. The Takeaway: Rappleye re-examines the location of Nahom, outlining (1) where the text suggests Nahom would be located on the Arabian Peninsula, and (2) where the tribe of Nihm would have been located in Lehis day, concluding that both lines of evidence produce a remarkable convergence and detailing four concrete proposals for the general location of Ishmaels burial.

One of the more striking experiences that I had during a trip to Australia several years ago was a visit to the Lakemba Mosque (aka the Masjid Ali Bin Abi Talib), in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba. I was taken there by the late Elder Paul Sybrowsky (1944-2014) of the Seventy, who, based in Sydney, was serving at the time as the Australia area president for the Church. Im guessing that this was somewhere around 2010 or so. Maybe a bit before that.

The point of the visit was to meet with Taj El-Din Hilaly (  ), who had been and maybe still was at the time the imam of that Sunni mosque and who, by appointment of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, had been serving as the mufti of Australia since 1988. (He apparently liked to refer to himself as the Grand Mufti of Australia and New Zealand, although not everybody  not even all Sunni Muslims  recognized him as holding such a position.)

A mufti, of course, is a qualified scholar of Islamic law who is authorized to give advisory legal opinions  non-binding, non-government enforced rulings  in response to questions from believers. (For a fuller explanation, see What a fatwa is and is not.)

The visit went well enough, but I came away with quite a negative impression. Imam Taj al-Din had, by that point, been in Australia for the better part of three decades, but my sense was that he would have found it exceedingly difficult to carry on a prolonged conversation in English or to read an Australian newspaper. The area immediately surrounding the mosque looked to me then like a bit of the Middle East, transported to Australia and plopped down into suburban Sydney. Everything around it looked and felt Arabic, and all of the signage around it was in Arabic. And yet, in his roles as imam and as mufti, one of Taj al-Dins major responsibilities was surely to advise Muslims living in Australia  many of whom arent even of Arab extraction  how to negotiate life in the country as faithful practitioners of Islam. But he himself could scarcely be said really to be in Australia at all, other than geographically.

While I was still in Australia on that visit, but after my time with Imam Taj al-Din, I read a report in one of the Australian newspapers of a Sydney lecture by the imam and Islamic chaplain attached to the campus of Georgetown University, in Washington DC. It was, he said, absurd for Muslims living outside of the Middle East to have an imam or a mufti who couldnt even speak the local language. He named no names, but it was pretty obvious whom he had in mind.

Even a quick scan of the Wikipedia article about Taj El-Din Hilaly is enough to give at least some sense of the endless controversies in which he was constantly embroiled while serving as mufti. Muslims living in places like Australia deserve and certainly need much better than that. So Ive been quite happy to see efforts such as that of Zaytuna College, in Berkeley, California, which is trying to raise up a cadre of well-informed American Islamic scholars and leaders who are both fully Muslim and fully Western. I know relatively little in detail about Zaytuna, but I applaud the idea in principle and I hope that it succeeds.

I think that the Lakemba Mosque, then referred to as the Masjid Ali Bin Abi Talib, is probably the same one that is now called the Masjid As-Sunnah Lakemba  the Al-Sunnah Mosque in Lakemba. But I am disheartened today at a report about Imam Taj-al-Dins apparent successor:

Australian Imam Ahmad Zoud In Sydney Friday Sermon: The Jews Are Bloodthirsty And Treacherous Criminals, Terrorists, And Monsters  Not All the Jews Are Like This, Just Most Of Them

And please dont read this next item (let alone click on its links) if youre sensitive or queasy. It contains some horrible things.

I understand unease and outrage at the violence of Israels invasion of Gaza in order to destroy Hamas. Im appalled, too. But I cannot take seriously those who express outrage at Israels actions but cannot bring themselves to condemn the disgusting brutality of Hamass invasion of Israel back on 7 October. Anyone who is unable to denounce what Hamas did on that day has forfeited any and all moral credibility:

Did Islamic beliefs trigger the use of rape in Hamas attacks? If yes, reporters should say so

But, by the way, gender-related sickness isnt confined to Muslims: Female Boxers Sound Alarm on Men in Womens Division: You Could Die

On a brighter note: Jeff Lindsay called this to my attention. I had missed it when it was first announced, but, if its true, its pretty astounding. Especially to a young-earth creationist who believes the earth to be just six thousand years old, as several of my online critics have assured me, over the years and despite my denials, that I do: New research reveals age of universe estimated to be 26.7 billion years old
Russian troops may intensify their efforts in the Kupiansk sector of the Kharkiv region in the coming weeks. They intend to make significant territorial gains, capturing the towns of Kupiansk and Borova during the winter of 2024.

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At the same time, however, the Russians are not ready for large-scale offensive operations elsewhere in the Kharkiv region. This conclusion was reached by analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War.

Explaining the occupiers' intentions, ISW noted that Russia's capture of these cities would likely force Ukrainian forces to leave the eastern bank of the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region. This could also create conditions for future offensive operations of the occupiers on the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line.

At the same time, analysts noted that, in general, there is currently nothing that indicates a threat of Russian offensive efforts along the entire Kupiansk-Lyman line. Probably, the occupiers have not accumulated enough forces in the Belgorod region to support the launch of large-scale offensive operations in other parts of the northern or northeastern Kharkiv region.

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The ISW also suggested that Russian forces have gradually restored units that suffered significant losses during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the fall of 2022. Now, the Russian command plans to use them to strengthen localized offensive operations that Russian troops launched in the region in October 2023.

According to the institute, the 1st Guards Tank Army (GTA) and the 6th Combined Arms Army (OBA) (both of the Western Military District) are currently deployed in the Kupiansk direction.

Analysts recalled that the British newspaper The Telegraph reported on January 4 that Russian troops could launch a "ground offensive" as early as January 15. In response, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Land Forces Command, Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Fitio, said that the Ukrainian military had not observed any changes in the composition of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region and on the Russian border. According to him, Russian troops are continuing their offensive near Synkivka to capture Kupiansk.

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For his part, Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv RMA, noted that the intensity of Russian attacks in the Kupiansk sector has decreased over the past three days due to bad weather conditions.

"Fitio and Syniehubov's comments are consistent with ISW's assessment that Russian troops may intensify their offensive but without launching a full-scale offensive with the existing grouping of forces in the Kupiansk sector," the analysts concluded.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

- At the end of December, Syniehubov also said that the Russian occupation forces had no success in the Kupiansk sector. The village of Synkivka is under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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- The Avdiivka RMA reported that after a relatively calm period around Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, Russian occupants became more active and began to storm the town from all directions. The situation in the city is very complicated as Russians are trying to get to it from 20 directions.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Ghana's official creditors are set to meet on Monday, January 8, to discuss the restructuring of approximately $5.4 billion in loans, according to Reuters.



This marks a critical step toward securing the next tranche of funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to three sources informed Reuters.



The Official Creditor Committee (OCC), co-chaired by the governments of China and France, who are among the bilateral lenders, holds around 25% of Ghana's $20 billion external debt earmarked for restructuring.



The upcoming meeting is expected to focus on reaching an agreement regarding a "cut-off date," determining the point after which new loans from bilateral creditors will not undergo restructuring, sources familiar with the matter revealed.



This specific date has become a stumbling block in Ghana's debt restructuring process.



Some creditors advocate for December 31, 2022, as the cut-off date, citing Ghana's default earlier that month, while others support March 24, 2020, the date when the Group of 20 introduced the debt service suspension initiative (DSSI) to aid the world's poorest countries during the COVID crisis.

Source: myjoyonline.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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Our ideas of the colours of the planets Neptune and Uranus have been wrong, research led by UK astronomers reveals.



Images from a space mission in the 1980s showed Neptune to be a rich blue and Uranus green.



But a study has discovered that the two ice giant planets are both similar shades of greenish blue.



It has emerged that the earlier images of Neptune had been enhanced to show details of the planet's atmosphere, which altered its true colour.



"They did something that I think everyone on Instagram will have done at some time in their life, they tweaked the colours," Prof Catherine Heymans, Astronomer Royal for Scotland and a University of Edinburgh astrophysics professor, told BBC Radio 4's Today.



"They accentuated the blue just to reveal the features that you can see in Neptune's atmosphere, and that's why the image looks very blue, but in reality, Neptune is actually pretty similar to Uranus."



Astronomers have long known that most modern images of the two planets do not accurately reflect their true colours, according to Prof Patrick Irwin from the University of Oxford, who led the research.



"Even though the artificially saturated colour was known at the time amongst planetary scientists - and the images were released with captions explaining it - that distinction had become lost over time."



Dr Robert Massey, deputy director of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), explained that enhancing images was normal procedure in astronomical research.



"You would be foolish to look at an astronomy image and not think it was enhanced. They have to be, because that is how they are processed in order to see things.



"It's not that there was any conspiracy to keep it from the public!"



Prof Irwin and his team processed the original data to produce what is claimed to be ''the most accurate representation yet'' of the colour of both Neptune and Uranus.



The initial misconception arose because images captured of both planets by Nasa's Voyager 2 spacecraft mission recorded its images in three separate colours.



The images were recombined to create the composite colour images, which were not always accurately balanced. The contrast was also strongly enhanced to bring out details in the clouds, bands and winds of the planets. In the case of Neptune, both processes made it bluer than it really was.



In the recent study, the researchers used data from the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope.



In both instruments, each pixel is a continuous spectrum of colours which enables the researchers to produce the true colours of both planets.



The analysis revealed that Uranus and Neptune are a similar shade of greenish blue, although researchers found a slight difference. Neptune has a slight hint of additional blue, which the model reveals to be because of a thinner haze layer on that planet.



The study also showed that Uranus appears a little greener at during its summer and winter, when one of its poles is pointed towards the Sun. But during spring and autumn, when the Sun is over the equator, it has a bluer tinge.



The research has been published in the Monthly Notices of the RAS.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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There was a near-altercation over an attempt to export gold to the Emirates last Tuesday 2 January 2024 as a result of a tussle over ownership of Adamus Resources Ltd, a gold mining Company operating from the Western Region.



The squabble has resulted in an injunction filed by one of the two parties involved in the legal battle.



According to Peacefmonline sources at the KIA, persons who have been restrained by the court, allegedly aided by some powerful political hands in government, attempted to smuggle huge sums of gold to the Emirates,



This was despite a court injunction barring the directors of Adamus involved in the case from further transacting business in the name of Adamus Resources Ltd.



It would be recalled that an Accra High Court, in its order on December 21, 2023, restrained one of the parties in the person of Angela List and the other two directors appointed to the Board of Adamus Ghana, to cease taking decisions that might impact the operations of the mining company until the final determination of the case.



Notices of the said injunction application have also been served on all interested parties at the Aviance Cargo Village, including the PMMC, NACOC, Customs/GRA, National Security, Swissport, and others, to primarily prevent the afore-mentioned parties from engaging in any gold export trade in the name of Adamus.



This move was prompted by an attempt to ship four boxes of gold weighing a total of 58069 grammes to the Emirate via KLM on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, without the prior consent and approval of an Interim Management Committee of Adamus. This was later thwarted by an application for injuction.



Peacefmonline.com is reliable informed that several attempts by some security heads at the KIA to assist in exporting the gold notwithstanding a pending application for injunction were unsuccessful.



This was in spite of counter documents submitted by the alleged directors to the stakeholders who were earlier this week served with the injunction notice restraining them from carrying out further activities in the name of Adamus Resources.



The stakeholders at both the KIA and Aviance Cargo Village have been warned that if they continue to aid those restrained by the court in exporting gold in the name of Adamus Resources, they could be cited for contempt of Court.



The public is therefore urged to avoid any further business activities with unauthorised persons claiming to be director/s of Adamus, particularly in terms of exporting gold in the name of Adamus Resources Ltd, according to court documents.

The Accra High Court ordered the formation of an interim management committee (IMC), where each of the parties is expected to nominate two representatives.



Whereas the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Adamus Australia have made their appointments to the IMC since the order of the court on the 27th of July 2023, some disgruntled elements who once served in the top echelons of Adamus Resources Ltd, still hold themselves out as directors and continue to transact unsanctioned activities in the company's name.



Background



Adamus Australia, the firm's 90% shareholder, is contesting a supposed transfer of its shares to Angela List via her company, Nguvu Mining, and is preventing her from transacting business for and on behalf of the company.



Concerned about the continuous export of gold by Angela List and the other restrained directors, Adamus Australia filed an injunction application at the high court on 3/1/2024 to prevent any further gold export by the restrained directors unless authorised by members of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) ordered by the Court on the 27th of July 2023.



The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources appointed Lawyer Juliet Osei-Wusu (Mrs) to lead the five-member IMC, while Adamus Australia appointed two members.



Nguvu Mining has yet to indicate its two appointments to the IMC; instead, it has presented to Accra Airport authorities an application purportedly filed on behalf of Adamus Ghana to persuade them to disregard a pending application for an injunction to stop gold shipments by the restrained directors.



On December 21, 2013, the Court determined that processes filed by Ferociter Law on behalf of Adamus Ghana following the instructions of the restrained directors, found that they were not authorised and same were dismissed.



An application for contempt against the restrained directors and the Commissioner for Customs has previously been filed but is yet to be heard.



Customs officials, security personnel, and airport authorities are taking precautions to avoid incurring the Court's wrath by supporting the restrained directors and Brinks SI in exporting gold from Adamus Ghana Ltd until the injunction application is decided on 25/1/24.

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Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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In a latest development regarding the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) parliamentary primaries, the Greater Accra Regional vetting committee has disqualified two aspirants from contesting, according to report.



Richard Hagan from Okaikoi South, challenging Dakoa Newman and Samuel Owusu Amankwah from Ayawaso West Wuogon, challenging Lydia Seyram Alhassan have been disqualified for different reasons.



Hagan was disqualified due to the late submission of his nomination forms, while Amankwah was disqualified for not being a member in good standing.



Despite their disqualification, the committee has approved 11 other aspirants from six constituencies in the region. These aspirants have met all the constitutional requirements set by the party.



Among the approved candidates are Dakoa Newman from Okaikoi South, Dr. Adomako Kissi (the incumbent MP for Anyaa Sowutuom) and his contender Elder Emmanuel Tobbin, Nana Boakye and Robert Richard Siapim from Tema West.



The incumbent MP for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, Michael Oquaye, and Sheila Oppong Sakyi have also been approved by the committee.



In Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfro, the incumbent MP Sylvester Tetteh, along with two contenders  Vida Agyekum Acheampong and Eric Kojo Kuranchie  have received approval.



Dr. Adomako Kissi, the incumbent MP for Anyaa Sowutuom, expressed his confidence in his chances of retaining the seat.



He believes that maintaining him as the parliamentary candidate in the constituency will improve the partys chances in the upcoming general election.



Adwoa Safo, the incumbent and aspirant for Dome-Kwabenya, also expressed confidence in winning the partys primaries and retaining the seat in 2024.



Michael Oquaye, on the other hand, expressed his confidence in beating Adwoa Safo and retaining the seat for the NPP in the next general election.



Daniel Parker Odarlai France, the Greater Accra regional secretary of the NPP, expressed satisfaction with the vetting process so far.

He mentioned that there was chaos during the orphan constituency vetting, but the process was quiet and orderly this time.



Regarding the disqualification of the two aspirants, France explained that they failed to meet certain aspects of the partys constitution.



Hagan was disqualified for not submitting his nomination forms before the deadline, while Amankwah was disqualified for not being a member in good standing due to unpaid dues.



In an interview after his disqualification, Hagan stated that he would not appeal the decision. However, he assured his continued support for the sole aspirant and the party to ensure victory in the 2024 general election.



The NPP is set to hold elections for constituencies with sitting MPs on January 27, 2024.



The Greater Accra Region will see elections in 14 constituencies.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
During a pit stop Saturday at the 2024 Pa. Farm Show, Sen. John Fetterman called the upcoming presidential election among the most crucial issues facing the country.

24 is going to be very chaotic and its going to be a lot of heat, and I think its going to be very close, he said.

In fact, Fetterman went so far as to predict former President Donald Trump will be popular in Pennsylvania, but not enough to win.

Just the way President Joe Biden won in 2020, its going to be close like that, and I do fundamentally believe Joe Biden will prevail.

Wearing a gold Pittsburgh Steelers hat and trademark sweatshirt and shorts, Fetterman spent a few minutes speaking to the media after visiting several attractions at the Farm Show. On Friday, Fetterman attended Bidens campaign rally in Philadelphia.

20 1 / 20 Day 1 of the 2024 Pa. State Farm Show

Fetterman covered a number of topics, from his mental health to Israeli-Hamas war, border control and social media. (For the record, he hasnt tried the new Pa. Dairymens Association salted caramel milkshake yet and said the shows butterfly house is one of his favorite attractions.)

The senator said right now his biggest concern is the threat to democracy.

Today, is January 6. Do we want to see that again? Who wants that, and if you really dont want that, I guarantee you there will never be another January 6 if Joe Biden wins, he said.

Fetterman noted its OK to voice different opinions on policies and work together, but everyone should agree an insurrection and taking over the Capitol is not right.

Ahead of the election, he said a lot could happen in the next 11 months, which he called a lifetime away. But Fetterman didnt mince words when suggesting voters will face a stark choice at the polls.

Its going to be a crazy year, he said.

Fetterman said he anticipates his colleague, Sen. Bob Casey, will win reelection this year against Republican contender David McCormick.

In recent weeks, Fetterman has been under fire from conservatives and liberals for his anti-progressive stance supporting Israel and border control. He also recently told the Daily Beast that the attempts to keep Trump off ballots will do more harm to Democrats than good.

His position has infuriated many on the left who are backing Palestinians and demanding that Israel stop its counterattack on the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, after Hamas attacked Israel in October.

Fetterman has also called for tougher immigration laws  his wife, Gisele, came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant from Brazil  and for Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez to resign while facing federal corruption charges.

What I know is Im going to be on the right side of issues, at least that I believe. Ive been very clear about these issues, so nothing really is a surprise for those who have been paying attention to my career and the statements that Ive made, Fetterman said.
The Pennsylvania Farm Show is finally here. That means milkshakes, a life-size butter sculpture, and countless other activities and competitions  many of them involving animals.

But heres why you might also see people protesting outside the countrys largest indoor agricultural exposition on Sunday.

Central Pennsylvania Animal Action will be at the Farm Shows main entrance from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., holding signs and handing out literature regarding what they say is abuse of animals within the agriculture industry.

Typically farmed animals such as cows, pigs, and chickens are forced to live brief lives in extraordinary distress, discomfort and pain without ever knowing what true freedom and happiness is, the press release said. These animals are individuals with personalities, affection, intelligence, and agency. Our modern human society does not need to breed, imprison, farm, and kill them, but we do.

Michael Rutt, a spokesman for the protest, told PennLive this will be Central Pennsylvania Animal Actions third year protesting at the Farm Show, but other groups have held similar protests in the past.

According to Rutt, about 15 people participated in the protest last year, but he said the pending snow might not be an issue this year.

I think well be able to rough through it, Rutt said when asked if the snow would thwart the protest.

Animal welfare activists from the Philadelphia area and the Lehigh Valley have come to Harrisburg to take part in past protests, he said.

If you see the protesters, the group encourages interaction in a constructive conversation about alternatives and our realistic vision for the future.
By KAREN MATTHEWS and DAVE COLLINS, The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP)  Federal transit safety investigators will be reviewing all of New York Citys subway operations in response to a collision and derailment that caused minor injuries to more than 20 people, the chairperson of the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.

Chair Jennifer Homendy said the NTSB had concerns because Thursdays collision between two trains was the second serious subway episode in Manhattan in just over a month. On Nov. 29, a subway worker for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was dragged under a train and killed while working as a rail safety flagger.

This is the second accident on New York City transits property in 37 days. Thats not typical, Homendy said at a news conference at the 96th Street station, where Thursdays collision happened. The NTSB has been very focused on system safety ... so coming here we are going to want to look at the entire system, including how it is managed and supervised.

Homendy said later Friday that the NTSB typically reviews a companys entire operations and safety protocols in its investigations.

This photo provided by NYC Emergency Management shows the derailment of a New York City subway car, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. (NYC Emergency Management via AP)AP

Pat Warren, the MTAs chief safety and security officer, said the agency was aware of the NTSBs comprehensive approach.

For a subway system that schedules 2.7 million train trips a year, covering 345 million miles annually, this derailment was a rare occurrence that points to the safety and resilience of transit in New York, Warren said in a statement Friday night.

The low-speed crash on the Upper West Side took place at about 3 p.m. on the 1, 2 and 3 lines. Homendy said an out-of-service train with a few MTA workers aboard struck another train carrying about 300 passengers at a rail switch, causing both trains to derail.

Workers on the out-of-service train had been making repairs after someone pulled a number of emergency stop cords and disabled the train. After resetting most of the brakes and disabling others, the workers were trying to get the train to the 240th Street railyard when the collision occurred, Homendy said.

There were no early indicators of a cause, she said.

Asked about whether there were signs of human error, Homendy said it was still unclear but added, Its easy to blame humans. Human error is a symptom of a system that needs to be redesigned.
LEEDS, Ala.  A man is in custody and en route to a hospital for mental health treatment after he jumped naked into the massive aquarium at The Bass Pro Shop Leeds Thursday night.

Police Chief Paul Irwin said the incident happened about near closing time.

The 42-year-old man was reported to be acting erratically and drove a vehicle into a pole in the store parking lot.

After the crash, he got out of his vehicle, took off his clothes, ran into the Bass Pro Shop and jumped into the aquarium.

Video taken by bystanders showed the man do a cannonball into the aquarium and later stand under the waterfall.

As two Leeds police officers began to walk up the stairs, the man exited the water, yelled something to the officers and then dove back into the water.

A man is in police custody after he stripped and jumped into the massive aquarium at the Bass Pro Shop in Leeds. He was evaluated at a hospital for mental issues and then booked into the St. Clair County Jail.(Special to AL.com)

He continued to shout something to officers before he climbed over the side of the aquarium and dropped to the concrete floor below, appearing to have been knocked out by the fall.

Officers handcuffed the man, who then woke up and began to try to struggle.

Someone covered him with a blanket as officers took him from the store.

Irwin said the man was only in the water for about five minutes before officers arrived.

He was taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation and then booked into the St. Clair County Jail.

Jail records show George Owens, of Sterrett, is charged with public lewdness, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of reckless endangerment.
A Lancaster County farm with a history of defying food safety guidelines was raided by authorities after reports of two cases of food-borne illness linked to the dairy.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture told LNP that it executed a search warrant at Miller Organic Farm, in Upper Leacock Township, on Thursday after being notified by public health officials in New York and Michigan about illnesses reported in children who consumed raw eggnog from the farm.

The states said tests were positive for Shiga toxin producing E.Coli.

The department said the search warrant sought, among other things, illegal raw milk and raw milk products, including eggnog, but would not comment further on an active investigation, according LNP.

The farms owner, Amos Miller, has been involved in litigation over violations to federal health and safety regulations for years. During that time he became a cause celebre among proponents of raw milk products, that are illegal in many states but not Pennsylvania. Miller has a membership co-op and sells traditional Amish foods to customers around the country.

Among those rushing to Millers defense Thursday was Donald Trump Jr. who posted on X: Imagine what law enforcement could accomplish if they went after oh I dont know, say, members of elite pedophile rings rather than farmers selling to their neighbors???

On Friday, a fundraising campaign had generated close to $70,000 to support Miller.

The states action was first reported in The Lancaster Patriot, a conservative news website.

The Food and Drug Administration found listeria in samples of Millers raw milk in 2015 that were genetically similar to bacteria in two people who developed listeriosis after consuming raw milk identifying Millers farm as the likely source. One of the individuals later died.

Since then Miller has been sued by the Department of Justice and racked up hundreds of thousands in fines for non-compliance, even as he has entered into agreements with the federal government as recently as 2022 to comply with health and safety laws and avoid jail time.
Families of the 12 people killed in a Philadelphia row house fire that began in a Christmas tree two years ago sued a pair of city agencies Friday, claiming unsafe conditions on the property violated the victims civil rights.

The federal lawsuit against the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the citys Department of Human Services, and various officials of the agencies, alleges that the housing authority knew the four-bedroom apartment it owns in a brick duplex was overcrowded and unsafe. Specifically, they allege that it lacked a fire escape, smoke detectors and other fire safety features.

The January 2022 fire tore through a rowhouse in Philadelphias Fairmount neighborhood before sunrise and killed 12 people, most of them children, in one of the nations deadliest residential fires in decades.

Philadelphia firefighters and police work at the scene of a deadly row house fire, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)AP

The victims were three sisters and their children. Together, they occupied the top unit of a three-story brick home in which at least four smoke detectors werent working.

Mayor Cherelle Parkers spokesperson, Joe Grace, declined comment because the matter is in active litigation. Messages seeking comment were left Friday with spokespeople with the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

During two visits to the home in December 2021, a month before the fire, a Human Services social worker noticed the smoke detectors were inoperable, the lawsuit says, but did not return with working detectors as she promised.

Housing authority records show their staff made three visits in December 2021, but the lawsuit says records falsely showed quality checks were performed on the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors and they were operable.

Three women and nine of their children  nearly all of the apartments 14 residents  were killed in what was called the citys deadliest fire in more than a century. Officials reported that the early morning fire in Unit B of 869 N. Third St. started at a Christmas tree.

An unidentified woman reacts at the scene of a deadly row house fire, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia. (Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, file)AP

The housing authority, the lawsuit said, knew of the grave risks associated with overcrowding, fire hazards and the lack of operable smoke detectors, and the serious dangers that the conditions posed to the residents who died in the fire.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages as well as an order that all of citys public housing units be inspected and tested to ensure there are working smoke detectors.

A separate, negligence lawsuit regarding the fire was filed in March in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. A spokesperson for the Kline and Specter law firm said Friday that case remains pending and is in the discovery phase.
Over the past day, January 5, positional fighting continued between the Defense Forces and the Russian occupiers northwest and south of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. However, there were no confirmed changes on the front line.

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This is stated in the analysis of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). It is also noted that the invaders have recently made little progress in the area of Avdiivka and have intensified the pace of offensive actions in the area.

Situation in the Bakhmut sector

Citing Russian and Ukrainian sources, analysts noted that positional fighting continued in the areas of Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka and Andriivka. Units of Russia's 331st Airborne Regiment continue to operate near Bakhmut, and units of the Russian Hawks unit (33rd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 1st Army Corps of the "DPR") are reportedly operating south of Bakhmut near Horlivka.

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Situation in the Avdiivka sector

Geolocation footage from January 4 shows that the occupiers advanced north of Avdiivka in the area of the Avdiivka Coke Plant and northwest along the railroad near Novobakhmutivka.

On January 5, Russian "war bloggers" claimed that the invaders had also advanced 400 meters along the railroad north of the Tochmash summer house district and 400 meters near the Avdiivka Coke Plant. The propagandist said that the occupiers advance an average of 100 meters near Berdychiv every two days.

In general, the occupants attacked near Avdiivka, Novobakhmutivka, Stepove, Pervomaiske and Nevelske. The head of the Avdiivka Military Administration, Vitalii Barabash, said that Russian troops launched an offensive from 20 different directions, probably meaning sub-tactical directions. According to him, Russian troops aim to capture Avdiivka before the March 17 presidential election but are unlikely to do so.

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As reported by OBOZ.UA:

- Dmytro Lazutkin, the Head of the Public Relations Service of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said that Kremlin terrorists continue to intensively shell Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. The enemy is using drones, missiles and guided bombs to destroy the city.

- In December, it was reported that Russia has about 62 thousand mercenaries in the Bakhmut sector. The invaders are trying to advance towards Chasiv Yar in the areas of Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, and Andriivka.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman is no fan of former President Donald Trump, but he does not appreciate the efforts to keep leading Republican presidential contender off state ballots in 2024.

In fact, Fetterman told the Daily Beast that the attempts to keep Trump off ballots will do more harm to Democrats than good.

I just want to just go on the record to say how incredibly unhelpful it is to have other states removing him from the ballot, Fetterman told the website for a column published on Thursday.

All of that is a gift to Trump, he said, and all it does is just make him more popular and strong. Thats just going to energize his base. Its just not helpful.

The Daily Beast noted that few Democratic politicians have made similar warnings about the efforts, such as the ones that removed Trump from ballots in Colorado and Maine.

Trumps removal in Colorado by that states Supreme Court was based on a lawsuit arguing that he was ineligible to be on the ballot under a clause in the U.S. Constitutions 14th Amendment that prohibits those who engage in insurrection from serving in public office.

Up in Maine, though, that states secretary of state, a Democrat, simply removed Trump by citing the same 14th Amendment clause.

Trump has appealed the Colorado decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Maine decision to state court.

Democratic activist Gene Stilp, a Dauphin County resident, filed a federal lawsuit in September to try and have Trump removed from Pennsylvanias ballots, but he withdrew it last month before filing a similar lawsuit to have U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a York County Republican, kept off the ballot.

KYW-TV in Philadelphia reported that Stilp plans on refiling his lawsuit on Trump in state court.

The station also reported on Jan. 4 that Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said that the states election code does not give him the authority to reject a candidates nominating petition based on their eligibility.

In Pennsylvania, that is a question that can be answered only by the courts, he told the station.
The homicide suspect who escaped a western Pa. prison last year and led authorities on a days-long manhunt was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to multiple offenses.

Michael Burham escaped from the Warren County Prison in July, where he was incarcerated for kidnapping a couple in Sheffield, Pennsylvania, and taking them to South Carolina while avoiding police in New York, where he was wanted for a separate rape case and the death of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin in Jamestown, N.Y. in May.

Burham, 34, pleaded guilty to several offenses and was sentenced to 3.5 years to 7 years for his escape from the Warren County Prison and 21 years and eight months to 43 years and four months for the kidnapping, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office.

The defendant used all possible means to escape the consequences of his actions, said Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry. Today, thanks to hard work and collaboration between our office and the Pennsylvania State Police, the Warren County District Attorneys Office, and the City of Warren Police Department, Michael Burham will be held accountable for his many crimes.

Burham used exercise equipment to climb out of the prison yard on July 6, before sliding down a rope that he crafted out of bed sheets. Pennsylvania State Police later arrested him on July 15 after a dog alerted a family that Burham was camping behind their property.

Burhams escape took place a few months before Danelo Cavalcante, a convicted murderer, escaped another Pa. prison and was on the run for nearly two weeks before being captured.
By Mark S. Singel

The front runner for the Republican nomination for president was on a roll in a bombastic speech in New Hampshire recently. Among the many canards that he tossed to his faithful was this one: Theyve allowed, I believe, 15 million people into the country from all of these different places like jails and mental institutions.

Fortunately, journalists are not willing to let such charges go unchallenged. Angelo Fichera of the New York Times did some digging. The total number of immigrants in the United States is about 10.5 million. Whether they are documented or not, most of them are employed, pay taxes, and contribute to the Social Security System.

It is true that a steady stream of immigrants continues to come to our borders in search of a better life for themselves and their families. Customs and Border Protection officials estimate that we encounter about 2.5 million total immigrants each year. Encounter, however, does not mean admission.

In fact, less than a third of those gain admission through legal processes. Some do manage to evade authorities. Homeland Security estimates that number to be about 300,000 per year. As to immigrants with criminal records, U.S. officials encountered less than 90,000 over the last three years. They were deported.

We all recognize the strain that legal and non-legal immigrants place on border states and cities that receive them. But claiming that 15 million people have swarmed into the country isnt close to being true. And claiming that they are coming from jails and mental institutions is absurd.

These kinds of talking points are made for MAGA rallies and Republican candidates who would rather pour gasoline on the immigration fire than try to put it out. If we really want border security and immigration reform, lets start with the real facts.

We experienced a spike in numbers of migrants at the border in December, but that number has dropped sharply recently. That didnt stop Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and sixty of his colleagues from conducting a field trip to the Mexican Border. The delegation wanted strict new policies, more walls, and less chances for immigrants to poison our blood.

A reporter pointed out that the funding for border security must come from Congress. The Speaker didnt have much to say when he was told that the Republicans had opposed every recent initiative to enhance border security. The fact is that they have moved to cut Customs and Border Protection personnel, they opposed President Joe Bidens record-breaking border security funding, and they opposed the supplemental funding bill that would accomplish the very things that they are demanding.

On a more positive note, a bipartisan group of senators has been meeting with the president on a package that would address immigration and border security. That legislation will likely reflect many of the Republicans demands as a condition of assuring additional aid to Ukraine. Thats how the process is supposed to work. Both sides have priorities that they want addressed. Both sides need to be willing to set aside the bombast and do their jobs as legislators.

Comprehensive immigration reform will not be easy. The last landmark legislation was in 1986, a time when leaders understood the concept of cooperation. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) attempted to end illegal immigration by increasing border enforcement while at the same time offering legal status to immigrants who had been gainfully employed for five years.

In addition to addressing a hot political issue, a strong economic case could be made back then  and today - for immigration reform. There is a shortage of lower-skilled workers in agriculture, health care, hospitality, and other fields. An efficient and humane immigration system could help fill these jobs and increase growth in these sectors and the strength of the economy in general.

Instead, we have seen 38 years of missed opportunities to get it right. As late as 2013, Democrats and Republicans convened in the White House for what could have been a breakthrough on border security and immigration reform. Leaders on both sides toned down the rhetoric and offered some promising ideas.

It was President Trump who walked away from the table at that key moment. Why? Because it is easier to complain about the problem than it is to fix it.

It will remain difficult to make progress when the Republican Party and its presidential candidates wave border security like a red cape in front of a bull.

Mark S. Singel is a former Lieutenant Governor and Acting Governor of Pennsylvania.
By LISA MASCARO, AP Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP)  In the follow-up to their 2018 bestseller How Democracies Die, authors Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write about three rules that political parties must follow: accept the results of fair elections, reject the use of violence to gain power and break ties to extremists.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, they write, only one U.S. political party violated all three.

Saturday marks the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and Donald Trump, the former president, is far-and-away the leading Republican candidate in 2024. He still refuses to acknowledge his earlier loss to President Joe Biden. Far from rejecting the rioters, he has suggested he would pardon some of those who have been convicted of violent crimes. Rather than distance himself from extremists, he welcomes them at his rallies and calls them patriots.

And Trump is now backed by many of the Republican leaders who fled for their lives and hid from the rioters, even some who had condemned Trump. Several top GOP leaders have endorsed his candidacy.

The support for Trump starkly highlights the divisions in the aftermath of the deadly storming of the Capitol and frames the question about whose definition of governance will prevail  or if democracy will prevail at all.

If our political leaders do not stand up in defense of democracy, our democracy wont be defended, said Levitsky, one of the Harvard professors whose new book is Tyranny of the Minority.

Theres no country in the world, no country on Earth in history, where the politicians abdicated democracy but the institutions held, he told The Associated Press. People have to defend democracy.

The third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack comes during the most convulsive period in American politics in at least a generation, with Congress barely able to keep up with the basics of governing, and the start of the presidential nominating contests just over a week away.

Trumps persistent false claims that the election of 2020 was stolen  which has been rejected in at least 60 court cases, every state election certification and by the former presidents one-time attorney general  continue to animate the presidential race as he eyes a rematch with Biden.

Instead, Trump now faces more than 90 criminal charges in federal and state courts, including the federal indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of conspiring to defraud the U.S. over the election.

Biden, speaking Friday near Pennsylvanias Valley Forge, commemorated Jan. 6, saying on that day we nearly lost America  lost it all.

While the Congress returned that night to certify the election results and show the world democracy was still standing, Biden said Trump is now trying to revise the narrative of what happened that day  calling the rioters patriots and promising to pardon them. And he said some Republicans in Congress were complicit.

When the attack on Jan. 6 happened there was no doubt about the truth, Biden said. Now these MAGA voices  who know the truth about Trump and Jan. 6  have abandoned the truth and abandoned the democracy.

At a quieter Capitol, without much ceremony planned for Saturday, it will be the last time the anniversary will pass before Congress is called upon again, on Jan. 6, 2025, to certify the results of the presidential election -- democracy once more put to the test.

On Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump exhorted followers to object to the results of the 2020 presidential election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who led Trumps impeachment over the insurrection, said Bidens 306-232 electoral victory in 2020 remains the hard, inescapable, irradicable fact that Donald Trump and his followers have not been able to accept  to this day.

Raskin envisions a time when there will be a Capitol exhibit, and tours for visitors, to commemorate what happened Jan. 6, 2021. Five people died during the riot and the immediate aftermath, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police.

All told,140 police officers were injured in the Capitol siege, including U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who died later. Several others died later by suicide.

One officer, Harry Dunn, has announced he is running for Congress to ensure it never happens again.

Trumps decision to reject the results of the 2020 election was the only time Americans have not witnessed the peaceful transfer of presidential power, a hallmark of U.S. democracy.

A giant portrait of George Washington resigning his military commission hangs in the U.S. Capitol, a symbol of the voluntary relinquishing of power  a move that was considered breathtaking at the time. He later was elected the first U.S. president.

Trump opened his first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign with a popular recording of the J6 Prison Choir  riot defendants singing The Star-Spangled Banner recorded over a phone line from jail, interspersed with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

More than 1,200 people have been charged in the riot, with nearly 900 convicted, including leaders of the extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who are serving lengthy terms for seditious conspiracy.

Trump has called Jan. 6 defendants hostages and said there was so much love at the Stop the Steal rally he held near the White House that day before he encouraged the mob to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, assuring he would be with them at the Capitol, though he never did join.

Allies of Trump scoff at the narrative of Jan. 6 that has emerged. Mike Davis, a Trump ally sometimes mentioned as a future attorney general, has mocked the Democrats and others for turning Jan. 6 into a religious holiday.

Republican Kevin McCarthy, who went on to become House speaker, had called Jan. 6 the saddest day he ever had in Congress. But McCarthy, R-Calif., retired last month he endorsed Trump for president and said he would consider joining his cabinet.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he would back whomever becomes the Republican Party nominee, despite a scathing speech at the time in which he called Trumps actions disgraceful and said the rioters had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election.

Asked about Trumps second-term agenda, GOP lawmakers brushed off his admission that he would be a dictator on day one.

Hes joking, said Trump ally Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

Just bravado, said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. Theres still checks and balances.
Update: How much snow is coming to central Pa.  and when? Check the latest forecast map

Note: The storm watch is now in effect from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to The National Weather Service. The snowfall prediction map was also updated to reflect the most recent forecast.

Multiple Pennsylvania counties might see as much as 8 inches of snow during Saturdays storm, which is expected to bring hazardous road conditions and has already prompted Amtrak cancellations in the area.

The National Weather Service issued a storm watch for the majority of central Pennsylvania from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and is forecasting 1 to 2 inches of snowfall per hour, most likely from the afternoon into the evening.

The following Pennsylvania counties are included in the storm watch: Perry, Dauphin, Lebanon, Cumberland, Adams, Centre, Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, Clinton, Union, Snyder.

These Pennsylvania municipalities/cities are also included in the notice: Harrisburg, Hershey, Lebanon, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Lewisburg, Selinsgrove, Newport, Gettysburg, Renovo, Philipsburg, State College, Altoona, Huntingdon, Mount Union, Lewistown, Mifflintown, Bedford, McConnellsburg and Lock Haven.

"Our latest snowfall forecast is nudged upwards by 1-2 inches across north central PA. The winter storm warning was expanded northward to include Potter, Tioga, Cameron, and Clearfield Counties. The Advisory was also expanded to include Warren and McKean," the National Weather Service said in a Friday evening X post.National Weather Service

Total snow accumulation throughout the affected areas ranges from 1 to 8 inches, according to the forecast released just after 7:30 p.m. Friday. However, scattered rain showers are expected to limit snow accumulation in areas southeast of I-81 and I-78.

Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Mechanicsburg could all receive 6 to 8 inches of snow, while forecasters predict anywhere from 1 to 3 inches for York, Lancaster, and surrounding areas, according to the 7:30 p.m. update.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said they strongly discourage driving unless absolutely necessary, as road conditions will likely be hazardous.

PennDOT also issued vehicle restrictions throughout Saturday. Starting at 10 a.m., restricted Tier 1 vehicles will not be allowed to drive on I-81 from Maryland to I-78 or the entire lengths of Interstate 99 and Interstate 83.

Then, at noon, restricted Tier 1 vehicles will be barred from driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) from New Stanton (Exit 75) to Carlisle (Exit 226).

At 2 p.m., restricted Tier 1 vehicles will be prohibited from the following highways:

Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeastern Extension (I-476) Lehigh Valley (Exit 56) to Clarks Summit (Exit 130).

Interstate 78s entire length.

Interstate 81 from I-78 to New York.

Interstate 80 from Exit 173 (Lamar) to New Jersey.

Interstate 84s entire length.

Interstate 180s entire length.

Interstate 380s entire length.

Route 33s entire length.

U.S. 22 from I-78 to New Jersey.

Finally, at 4 p.m., restricted Tier 3 vehicles will not be permitted to drive on Interstate 81 from Interstate 80 to New York or the entire lengths of Interstate 84 and Interstate 380.

Amtrak also canceled multiple trains between Harrisburg and Philadelphia on January 6.

The National Weather Service expects a chance of snow and rain after 10 a.m. on Sunday before gradually clearing. Sundays forecast is cloudy with a high near 38 and winds of 5 to 9 mph.

To get live updates on road conditions drivers can visit 511PA.com. To report ice or dangerous road conditions visit the National Weather Services X page @NWSStateCollege or visit weather.gov/ctp.
Imports of agricultural products, mainly fruits and vegetables, increased markedly in Kazakhstan in 2023, accounting for about 70-80% of the supply in the country's markets and shops, Azernews reports.

The total value of tomato imports during the period was $38.5 million. Of this amount, $27.3 million came from Turkmenistan, while $6.4 million came from Uzbekistan. In addition, tomatoes were also supplied from China, Iran and Russia.

Exports of greenhouse tomatoes from Turkmenistan continue to grow at a high rate, which has a significant impact on the supply of the market in Kazakhstan and can be attributed to both an increase in consumer demand and the competitiveness of Turkmen products in the market.

Other Vegetable Imports

Onions, both shallots and regular, were imported at a total cost of $20.9 million, including $13.8 million from Uzbekistan and $6.4 million from Tajikistan. Other sources of onion supplies were Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia.

Cauliflower and broccoli imports totalled $3 million and came from Uzbekistan, China, and Iran. Carrots and turnips were purchased for $2.5 million from Uzbekistan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan.

Cucumbers were imported from Iran, Uzbekistan, and China, totalling $6.2 million. Potato imports to Kazakhstan reached $3.8 million, with shipments originating from Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.

Garlic was imported from China ($2.1 million) and Uzbekistan ($0.6 million).
On the night of Saturday, January 6, Russian occupation forces attacked Pokrovsk , Donetsk region. The enemy fired twice at the city, explosions were heard there, and there are preliminary reports of destruction and casualties.

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This was reported by the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Vadym Filashkin on his Telegram channel. He noted that the administrative building in Pokrovsk was hit.

Also, after the Russian attack, a garage and cars caught fire in the city.

"According to preliminary information, there are no people under the rubble, but there are victims. We are establishing the exact consequences of the strikes," Filashkin wrote.

As of 11:25 a.m. on Saturday, January 6, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that the enemy launched S-300 missiles at Pokrovsk, which hit the territory of the enterprise.

Six hits were recorded, there is damage, but no information on casualties has been received, the Interior Ministry said.

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It took rescuers about three hours to extinguish the fire on a total area of 600 square meters, the report said.

Earlier, on January 4, Russian occupation forces launched rocket attacks on the center of Kurakhove in Pokrovsk district of Donetsk region. Civilian objects came under enemy fire.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on the morning of January 3, Russian troops launched a missile attack on Avdiivka in Donetsk region. The occupiers launched four missiles and hit a residential area, killing a 51-year-old man on the spot and injuring a 50-year-old woman.

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The situation in the city remains very difficult, the enemy continues to hit Avdiivka with guided aerial bombs. The Russian army is also using drones and rockets to destroy the city.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
While speaking in Iowa, Trump reacted to the Perry school shooting by saying that it was horrible, but it will just have to be gotten over.

Trump Tells Perry, Iowa To Get Over School Shooting

Video of Trump:

Trump on Iowas deadly school shooting yesterday: Its horrible but we have to get over it pic.twitter.com/8izgCBxcAl To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.  Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) January 5, 2024

Trump said, Its horrible to see that happening. Just horrible. So surprised to see that happening here, but well just have to get over it.

Trumps remarks came after a 17-year-old Perry High School student opened fire, killing a sixth grader and wounding four other people before taking his own life.

The difference in approach to gun violence between Biden and Trump could not be more clear. On Friday, Biden marked the 500th dangerous person who was denied access to purchasing a gun by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. On the same day, Donald Trump went to Iowa and told a grieving town that they had to get over a mass shooting at their local high school.

Democrats want to do something about mass shootings and gun violence, and Republicans want to do nothing. Trump is running for president for Trump. He doesnt care about mass shootings in Iowa. His main priority is winning and avoiding a federal felony conviction.

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The U.N. food agency says famine is imminent in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger. It says a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gazas total population to the brink of starvation. The alarming report came as Israel faces mounting pressure from even its closest allies to streamline the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and open more crossings. The European Unions top diplomat said the impending famine was entirely man-made as starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israeli forces, meanwhile, launched another raid on the Gaza Strips largest hospital, saying it killed a Hamas commander who was hiding there. Read moreUN says 'famine is imminent' in northern Gaza as Israel launches another raid on the main hospital
As a result of the explosions that occurred on the night of January 6 near the temporarily occupied Yevpatoriia, another enemy control point in Crimea was destroyed. Ukrainian pilots did an excellent job.

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Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, expressed his gratitude for their performance in his Telegram. The commander joked that after the de-occupation of the peninsula, the Defense Forces would have one less control point.

"Unfortunately, our Air Force is left without another control point in Crimea," he wrote.

As a reminder, at least 10 explosions occurred in the area of the Saky air base near Novofedorivka around midnight Kyiv time. Air defense systems were working. As a result of its operation, debris fell on a residential building in the village of Mykhailivka, and a fire broke out there.

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The day before, rumors spread online about the alleged elimination of the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, in Crimea. However, Ukrainian intelligence has no confirmation of this information.

On January 4, the Ukrainian military conducted a series of strikes on Russian military facilities in the occupied Crimea.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

- On January 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit an enemy ammunition depot in Crimea. The occupiers' ammunition depot was destroyed near the village of Pervomaiske in the Kurman district.

- On the same day, the Defense Forces destroyed a radar and a Russian command post responsible for coordinating air defense throughout the occupied peninsula.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!
A raccoon tested positive for rabies in Aiken County, but no one was thought to be exposed, state health officials announced Friday, Jan. 5.

The raccoon was found near Powderhouse Road Southeast and Sparkleberry Lane in Aiken, according to a media release from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

DHEC said no people were known to be exposed, but one dog was exposed and will be quarantined.

Another rabid raccoon was reported in Greenville County.

Both animals were submitted to DHECs laboratory Jan. 3 and confirmed to have rabies Jan. 4.

The raccoons are the first animals to test positive this year in both counties.

Last year, there was one confirmed case of rabies in Aiken County.

If you think a person or animal has come in contact with the raccoon, call DHECs office in Aiken at 803-642-1637 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday or 888-847-0902 after hours and during holidays
Using art to create a community, Angelika Bondar and other Columbia County artists are celebrating 20 years.

The Artists Guild of Columbia County, which includes members from around the CSRA, began in 2004. Artists in the guild specialize in a variety of art forms including watercolor, sculpting and other visual art forms.

To survive COVID and to have been an organization for 20 years is probably a significant accomplishment because most organizations will be around for a few years and something happens and they have to fold, said Bondar, who serves as the president and education director. For us to be a nonprofit, no paid positions, all volunteer, it's a tremendous accomplishment and it takes a lot of teamwork and a lot of work on different individuals  especially the board members  to keep it going.

The group hosts childrens art classes, ongoing art education classes and shows in galleries across the region, with their annual show planned in August 2024 at the North Augusta Arts and Heritage Center.

Years ago, the Augusta area was not considered an art area. It's much better now, but most people now leave the area to see art and to do things in the arts. But now thats not the case because the Greater Augusta Arts Council did a study last year, and they proved that in the CSRA, the arts bring in $25 million, Bondar said. We as the guild here in Columbia County also helped bring that about and we also helped the county here since we have the name, it makes the county look better when new people are coming into the area.

Vice President Sandra Swearingen said its an important milestone for the group

I know it's a grand time for us, Swearingen said. It's great that we have 20 years doing this and we hope to have 20 more.
BEAUFORT  Determining who was Beaufort County's first baby of the the new year seemed like a straightforward enough challenge, but our inquiry gave rise to a conundrum:

Were we looking for the first baby born in Beaufort County or the first baby born to residents of Beaufort County?

As it turned out, there were different answers to those questions.

Port Royal residents Jennifer and Kevin Phillips welcomed their daughter, Evelyn Makana Phillips, at 11:23 p.m. on New Year's Day. Evelyn was born at Beaufort Memorial Hospital in, obviously, Beaufort County.

Aurora Zahary Carral Santos was born to Bluffton residents Yenny Santos-Discua and Kevin Carral at 5:35 a.m., arriving some 19 hours before Evelyn.

Here's the rub. Aurora was delivered at Coastal Carolina Hospital  in Hardeeville  in Jasper County.

So, who is Beaufort County's first baby of the new year? Unsurprisingly, neither family was all that concerned about the answer. Their focus was the health of mother and baby, all of whom are doing just fine.

"Everybody's doing good," Kevin Phillips said as Evelyn and Jennifer got some much-needed rest.

Evelyn's holiday birthday holds special significance for the family.

"She was born on Jan. 1, just barely. She made it by 37 minutes. My dad's birthday is also New Year's Day," said Kevin Phillips.

In addition to her birthday, Evelyn's name has special significance for her mother's side of the family. Jennifer Phillips' family on her father's side is of Hawaiian descent. Evelyn's middle name, Makana, is a Hawaiian word meaning "gift from God," explained Kevin Phillips, and the use of a Hawaiian middle name is something of a family tradition.

"It's a tribute to her family and her heritage," he said.

For the Phillips family, 2024 is poised to be a landmark year. In addition to welcoming Evelyn, who is the couple's first child, Kevin Phillips was sworn in as the new mayor of Port Royal just a few weeks ago. Jennifer Phillips stood by his side and held the Bible as he was sworn in on Dec. 13.
GREEN POND  A pilot was critically injured after her single-engine plane crashed Jan. 2 in rural Colleton County minutes after taking off from Beaufort Executive Airport.

Colleton County Fire-Rescue reported the plane suffered mechanical problems shortly after takeoff, and the pilot attempted to return to Beaufort.

A property owner told fire officials he heard the plane strike several trees and saw the aircraft nose-dive into a small pond on his Wiggins Road property, about 12 miles south of Green Pond.

He said the plane's engine was not running before it struck the trees.

The pilot, who was reportedly the sole occupant of the plane, was unconscious and had suffered multiple injuries when the property owner reached her.

Responders arrived at the crash site about 15 minutes after the man called 911. A CARE Flight medical helicopter was dispatched to the scene and transported the pilot to the MUSC Trauma Center in Charleston.

Advanced medical procedures were conducted en route, including the administration of whole blood and airway management, according to the incident report.

The aircraft was a Piper Cherokee Arrow, a single-engine aircraft that seats four. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane is registered to Theresa C. McDonald of Beaufort, though the identity of the pilot has not been released.

Publicly available flight information shows the plane took off from Beaufort Executive Airport at 10:54 a.m. and reached an altitude of 2,800 feet about four minutes later. About nine minutes into the flight, it began to lose airspeed and altitude. The recording of flight data ended 13 minutes after takeoff.

One wing was torn away from the fuselage, and a large amount of fuel spilled into the pond. There was no fire reported.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control responded to the crash scene, as did the FAA, which is investigating the incident.
The Charleston Museum hit a 22-year high for visitor traffic in 2023, as it marked its 250th anniversary with a year filled with special exhibits and events.

The downtown cultural and historical attraction and its two National Historic Landmark properties  the Heyward-Washington House and Joseph Manigault House  accommodated more than 127,000 guests, the highest number since 2001, when it was around 135,000, according to The Post and Courier's archives.

It said traffic climbed 6 percent from 2022 and was up by 10 percent over the four-year average tallied before the pandemic.

Carl Borick, the museum's director, attributed the increase in 2023 partly to the attention, exhibits and programming centered around the milestone anniversary.

Seeing the growth in visitation last year gives us a lot of momentum going into this year, Borick said. Now we can turn our attention to whats next."

Located at 360 Meeting St., America's first museum was founded in 1773 by two of the nations founding fathers, Thomas Heyward and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. It houses more than 2.4 million artifacts spanning South Carolina- and Lowcountry-related natural and cultural history.

Borick said the museum started out last year with a strategic plan to attract more local visitors, which rose 4 percent and accounted for 24 percent of total traffic in 2023. The number of members, which are mostly area residents, increased 10 percent.

Looking back, Borick said the museum has seen its share of ups and downs since its peak attendance in 2001. Some of the challenges during that period included the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, economic downturns and, most recently, the pandemic.

The highlights from 2023 included a visit from Anthea M. Hartig, director of the Smithsonians National Museum of American History, two 250th anniversary exhibits and the release of a book published by the University of South Carolina Press, The Charleston Museum: Americas First Museum.
The State Ports Authority wants to buy the shuttered WestRock paper mill property adjacent to its North Charleston Terminal, and Gov. Henry McMaster is proposing taxpayers foot the bill.

McMaster wants legislators to find $55 million in this year's budget to help the maritime agency with "land acquisition for future economic development," according to a letter he sent Jan. 5 to the General Assembly.

The Post and Courier has learned the money would be used to buy the mill site for the SPA, which would expand its next-door terminal onto the property.

The SPA did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A WestRock spokesman said the company had no comment.

Barbara Melvin, the SPA's chief executive, told The Post and Courier last year that the maritime agency was interested in acquiring the mill site.

"Of course, were going to look at any type of additional port capacity that exists on a harbor that we worked so hard to make  an interstate highway for ships, so to speak," Melvin said Oct. 11, before her annual "State of the Port" address. "So yes, of course, were looking at that. Were always looking for ways to increase our capacity. Thats our currency. Port capacity is our currency. If you can find that on an already quite capable harbor you have to take a look at that.

The expansion would be part of a bigger, long-term plan to replace the Don Holt Bridge on Interstate 526 with a taller structure so bigger container ships can reach the North Charleston Terminal just up the Cooper River. The current span, at 155 feet, limits the port site to what are now considered smaller cargo vessels.

The SPA doesn't face such navigation constraints at its two other terminals to the south because the Ravenel Bridge, at 186 feet, has enough clearance for the big ships.

WestRock put the waterfront property in play last May, when it announced it was shutting down the 500-worker paper mill after 86 years of operation.
In an effort to promote religious peace and harmony, Charleston-area faith leaders gathered to kick off Interfaith Harmony Month on Jan. 3.

The series of events throughout January, hosted by the Charleston Interreligious Council, aims to educate the community about various faith traditions and provide spaces for meaningful dialogue.

"What we will do during Interfaith Harmony Month is to remind people of our shared humanity that religion is a force for love and good and not division nor hate. In these especially trying times, this message needs to ring loud and clear," said Dena Fokas Moses, president of Charleston Interreligious Council.

Additionally, Mayor John Tecklenburg proclaimed January as Interfaith Harmony Month in Charleston alongside a group of young adult leaders from various faith traditions who each read a line of the proclamation.

Tecklenburg said it was uplifting to see young adults sharing the message of understanding and respect toward all faith practices. He added that the last eight years as mayor have been a personal spiritual journey where he took the opportunity to visit various houses of worship and learn from Charleston's diverse religious community.

"The thing that comes home to me is the commonality of God's love amongst all our traditions. We really have this unifying force among us as human beings," Tecklenburg said.

The Charleston Interreligious Council started in 1979 as the Christian Jewish Council of Greater Charleston with the goal to build bridges between the Christian and Jewish communities, especially during times of growing antisemitism, Moses said. The organization has grown to represent various faith traditions in the Charleston community by promoting sensitivity, tolerance and respect.

Since 2020, the city has dedicated January as Interfaith Harmony Month.

Events planned by the Charleston Interreligious Council range from tours of places of worship to discussions about faith traditions. One five-week series dives into the faith traditions of Islam and Judaism with lectures by local scholars, including College of Charleston professor Ezra Cappell and Dr. Reshma Khan of the Shifa Clinic.
The prospective national anthem singers worked in a dental office, sold mattresses, sang in their church or served in the military. But, they all shared a love for singing  one song in particular. Read moreOh say can you sing? Look who's auditioning for national anthem at RiverDogs
Robert Green, age 45, died on a Williamsburg County road last weekend. According to Highway Patrol, on March 16, at approximately 5:35am, a 2013 Dodge Challenger was driving south on County Line Road near the intersection of Country Club Road two miles outside of Andrews. The car struck a p Read morePedestrian killed on County Line Road
It was a day for shamrocks and shenanigans on March 16 along Middle Street on Sullivan's Island, as lads, lasses and decked-out canines of all ages celebrated St. Patrick's Day. A swarm of green-clad revelers gathered to ring one of the world's most storied and highly-anticipated holidays at Read moreRocky road to Dublin: Irish eyes smiling on Sullivan's Island
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the aggressor country Russia had about 2,300 strategic missiles in service. Today, the arsenal of the enemy army has just over 900 units.

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These include Kalibr cruise missiles (about 200 of them remain), X-101, X-555, X-55 and others. This was stated by a representative of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Andrii Yusov, in an interview with LIGA.net published on Friday, January 5.

He noted that Russia is still trying to increase production. The more than 900 missiles that the Russians currently have are based on the production that the enemy is trying to increase, Yusov said. However, this number does not include S-300 and S-400 missiles.

As for this type of missile, according to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russian occupiers have more than 10,000 anti-aircraft missiles for the S-400, as well as significant stocks for the S-300 systems.

"In general, the stockpile is much smaller than at the beginning of the great invasion, but it is still there. This is a serious threat and test for Ukrainian air and missile defense systems and its forces," the DIU representative said.

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At the same time, he clarified that Moscow is accumulating large stockpiles of missile weapons not only for use in the war in Ukraine but also to maintain its status as a "military superpower."

Russia needs to show that it is capable of conducting effective actions in other areas as well, according to the DIU. However, the number of missiles the Russians have is known not only to the Ukrainian side but also to our Western allies.

"If they have about 200 Kalibr missiles left, then this information is known to many in the world," Yusov summarized.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

- During the missile attack on Kyiv on January 2, Russia used the X-101 cruise missile, which was manufactured in October-December 2023. This fact shows that the long pause in massive missile attacks was due to the Russians' intention to accumulate more missiles for a larger-scale attack.

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- The White House has informed that Russia has received ballistic missiles from North Korea in circumvention of international sanctions and is using them in the war against Ukraine. During the recent attacks on our country, Moscow used, among other things, North Korean ballistic missiles.

- Meanwhile, Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat could not confirm Russia's possible use of missiles from the DPRK. According to him, we should wait for the results of the examinations.

Only verified information on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A three-story parking garage used by hundreds daily in the heart of downtown is now closed due to structural safety issues  another expensive casualty of rusted innards caused by salt and water.

The Wentworth Garage  a 500-space downtown landing spot for tourists, hungry locals and College of Charleston students  is among 13 on the peninsula that an engineer warned the city and the college in 2018 were in need of more than $3 million in immediate repairs.

Those repairs didn't happen, and problems at the Wentworth Garage worsened to the point that it was deemed unsafe to keep it open, officials said.

What's more, all of the others had clear early signs of the wear and tear from salt and water that, without repairs, can lead to closure or collapse: Rusting steel, exposed rebar or cracked concrete.

"(Corrosion) is a very rapid acceleration once it starts  It might take 20 to 30 years to start but once it does, it might only take five or 10 years to affect the structural integrity of a building," said Paul Vinik, a Florida-based engineer and corrosion expert.

The Wentworth Garage was built in 1982, making it the second-oldest city-supported parking deck in use. The oldest was built in 1979.

Engineers had initially estimated in 2018 that $11 million in repair work was needed to the network of garages by 2028. It's unclear if  or by how much  that estimate has increased due to delays in maintenance.

By the time construction crews arrived to repair Wentworth in June 2022, they discovered corrosion of the structure's steel support system had spread too far to keep the garage open. The garage, located on city-owned property, is owned by the College of Charleston. The city has overseen minor repairs through the years, but the college agreed in 2018 to take responsibility for the major rehab the garage needed.

Now the garage sits in limbo while the college determines whether the structure can be salvaged after decades of deterioration in the harsh coastal environment. Salt speeds up the rusting process, which can threaten a structure's stability if left untreated.
Of course, better things could happen as well: Mr. Finlay could bow out, and the House could agree to elect Mr. Gaines.

Better still  now that Mr. Eckstrom has put on a clinic demonstrating why its such a good idea  the Legislature could ask voters to change the state constitution this fall to make the comptroller an appointed position, or to remove the office from the constitution altogether.

The latter would give lawmakers two options: Join either the 10 states where the comptroller is appointed or the 31 that have no comptroller but instead assign the duties to other agencies. The first is the minimally adequate response to Mr. Eckstroms failures.

Voters need to elect officials who have discretionary duties  legislators who decide what laws to pass, for instance, or a governor who decides which bills to sign and which to veto, or even an attorney general who decides which lawsuits to bring and has authority over all prosecutions.

We dont need to elect officials with nondiscretionary, ministerial duties, such as overseeing the state payroll or writing an annual report for Wall Street investors or recording deeds. Those officials need to be hired based on their professional qualifications. And someone needs to be able to fire them when they cant do the job  or when it becomes clear, as it did with Mr. Eckstrom, that they cant be trusted to let someone know when they need help with major problems.

Sen. Larry Grooms, who led an investigation into the cover-up that forced Mr. Eckstrom to resign, tells me its possible the Senate could approve legislation this month to put a constitutional referendum on the ballot. Of course, even if two-thirds of senators agree to approve S.95, he still has to get past an objection from Sen. Carl Allen. Because, as you might recall, a single senator can still block debate on any bill unless the full Senate agrees to give it one of its coveted priority debate slots.
When I was in third grade, my teacher had a vegetable tasting day for us. We each brought in a vegetable from home and shared it with our classmates. I remember coming home, excited, and announcing to my mother that I had fallen in love with rutabaga. After a startled moment or two, she sm Read moreStevens: For the love of rutabaga  and our children
Happy Sunshine Week indeed. As we hope youve noticed, our newsroom is spending the week recounting successes its had using South Carolinas Freedom of Information Act to illumine your understanding of what your government is doing on your behalf, in your name and with your tax dollars. Read moreEditorial: SC judges support sunshine whenever they get a chance. They need more chances.
Our annual to-do list for the upcoming legislative session has a serious deja-vu feel because the S.C. General Assembly spends a lot more time on shiny new things and hot-button issues than on the fundamental challenges facing our state, and even when they address those they tend to nibble around the edges.

But the specifics  what actions are needed to provide a decent education to every child, to make us safer, to protect our natural resources  change from year to year. In that vein, here are the five most important tasks our legislators need to accomplish during the five-month session that begins at noon on Tuesday.

Educate all kids

Educating the next generation of South Carolinians will probably always top our list, because our state has no more important responsibility. And weve never done the job well enough.

Too many students were struggling to learn before the pandemic, and they still havent recovered from the damage that too-long remote learning inflicted on them. The federal money that school districts used to help kids catch up is running out. On top of that, too many teachers are still leaving the profession, and too few are entering it to fill all the new positions school districts have created. The result is that too many students end up with substitutes, foreign teachers and teachers with more classes or students than normal.
The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication.
FLORENCE  A pack of eight dogs attacked a 14-month-old girl who was playing in a yard in on Twin Church Road, the Florence County Sheriff's Office reported.

Following the Jan. 5 incident, the child's aunt took her to the hospital, where doctors performed surgery, Sheriff T.J. Joye said. The dogs are being held by Florence County Environmental Services.

The stretch of Twin Church Road between Rucker Drive and McInville Drive where the incident happened is home to mobile homes ranging from abandoned to fenced off newer ones.

Some permanent houses stand taller than the homes among the trees and wire fences that mark off property lines. But it was by a mobile home down a dirt road with tarps on its roof and animal pens out front where the incident happened.

The people that live in the mobile home in the area the incident happened at refused to comment, calling it a family matter.

On Jan. 6, barking of dogs could be heard from the woods behind the home.

Other houses in the area also have dogs. One had almost 10, while others have one or two.

One resident, Vickie, who preferred not to give their last name, said she started to see dogs running around a month ago. Shes lived on Twin Church Road for years now.

One of the dogs attacked her, she said, and she tried to shoot it. Her husband managed to move them away. The dogs, she said, would get on top of her car and scratch the paint.

Them dogs gonna bite people," she said. "Them dogs bad."

The Sheriffs Office continues to investigate.

A "dog ordinance" moving through the County Councils committee on justice and public safety contains a dangerous animal section.

The city of Florence was planning to make its existing dangerous animal ordinance stricter.

The proposed changes, which City Council passed unanimously on first reading June 12, lowered the threshold for an animal to be considered dangerous and increase penalties for violating the citys rules.
South Carolinas Black voters saved Joe Bidens presidential bid in 2020. Now, four years later, Biden is flying into Charleston in an effort to make the case to those same voters that he's worth trusting a second time.

The president will speak inside Emanuel AME Church downtown and intends to deliver a speech on the stakes of the 2024 election, arguing that former President Donald Trumps candidacy presents a fundamental threat to American democracy.

Biden will implicitly draw a line between past and present with his choice of the historic venue, linking the churchs history of both resistance and violence to what he sees as a similar struggle for the soul of the nation in the coming election.

Some Democrats welcome the message.

Its always appropriate, whether its 2015 or 2024, to be reminded of the horrors and evils that can happen at any given moment, at any given place, because of peoples hatred of other people, said state Rep. JA Moore, a North Charleston Democrat whose sister was among the nine murdered by a white supremacist at Emanuel in 2015.

Bidens choice to open his South Carolina campaign at Emanuel also speaks to the importance of Black voters to the president's political prospects as the Feb. 3 first-in-the-nation South Carolina Democratic primary approaches and warning signs flash about Black voters enthusiasm for Bidens second bid.

Voter apathy in the Black community, not only in North Charleston or in the Lowcountry, nationally is a problem, said Thomas Dixon, a North Charleston pastor and Democratic activist.

Both Biden and South Carolina Democrats are counting on a strong Black turnout Feb. 3. It would help dispel misgivings about support for the presidents candidacy while also offering proof that the state party can run a successful primary.

Most state Democrats agree that Bidens victory in the primary isn't in doubt.

An Emerson College poll of projected South Carolina Democratic primary voters  the first of its kind this cycle  released Jan. 5 shows Biden cruising to victory with 69 percent of the vote ahead of his two competitors, Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips at 5 percent and author and spiritualist Marianne Williamson at 3 percent.
COLUMBIA  Gov. Henry McMaster unveiled his 2024 spending priorities with tax cuts, pay raises for teachers and police officers and millions in new spending for conservation and workforce development among the highlights in a budget that reflects the state's booming post-COVID economy.

Speaking to reporters at the Statehouse Jan. 5, McMaster outlined a series of priorities for lawmakers this session that include millions of dollars in investments across multiple areas of the budget that will be drawn from the state's unexpected $1.64 billion surplus this past year.

McMaster's budget will restore declines in the state's savings accounts over the last several years, with more than $54 million proposed to go back into the state's rainy day fund.

McMaster's budget also recognizes the third year of a tax cut started in 2022. This year's reduction is is $99 million.

McMaster is also not planning any specific spending cuts: asked by a reporter whether he planned to reduce any areas of the budget during his Jan. 5 press conference, McMaster did not highlight one, saying only that the final figure will ultimately depend on the whims of the legislature.

But it's the new spending  money for education, workforce development, infrastructure and conservation  that McMaster considers the hallmarks of his 2024 spending proposal.

"What we have been doing for years is taking care of education, the economic growth and our environmental and cultural heritage," McMaster said. "Those are the three pillars of our strength, and you have to have them all work. Pull one of those out, it's like a three legged stool: you take one out, the others will fall."

Schools and workforce development

Education, which will make up some 43 percent of new spending under McMaster's plan, is where most of the action is happening.

Some $250 million of McMaster's budget will go toward another pay hike for teachers, raising the salary floor for K-12 educators from $42,500 a year to $45,000 per year by the year 2026.
COLUMBIA  If House Republicans learned anything during the 2023 legislative session, it was that the power of the supermajority is not without its limits.

Much was accomplished last year. Lawmakers doled out millions of dollars in economic incentives to attract Scout Motors to the Midlands. They implemented pay raises for police officers and teachers.

They passed landmark legislation expanding vouchers for private schools, reforming health care regulation, and changing the bail-bond system that represented the culmination of the years of advocacy by conservative lawmakers and activists.

But Republicans first year with veto-proof House majority was not without tension.

There were splits between House Republicans and the renegade Freedom Caucus, and acrimonious debates over abortion, which eventually resulted in the passage of a procedural ban at about six weeks of pregnancy.

Heading into the Jan. 9 start of the 2024 legislative session  an election year  leaders in the Statehouse say the focus will be different.

House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, said it will be all about the economy.

We're not going to be focused on divisions," he told The Post and Courier.

Leading priorities

Smith has already announced his intent to bring legislation early to address the states energy crisis, and wants to see significant reforms to the states Public Service Commission.

More funding for workforce development and increases in starting pay for teachers is likely on the horizon.

Medical marijuana, a persistent boondoggle for South Carolina conservatives, could finally clear the hurdle.

Other issues like gun rights, liability insurance and judicial reform  topics that dominated the summer and autumn months  will likely take a prominent role in the later months of the legislative calendar.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces already know the vulnerabilities of the air defense of the Russian occupation forces in the temporarily occupied Crimea. As it turned out, the Russian air defense system on the peninsula, which they praised so much, has weaknesses.

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Therefore, the Ukrainian military will continue to strike at Russian military facilities in Crimea. This was stated on Friday, January 5, by the head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine Natalia Humeniuk on the Espresso TV channel.

She noted that the air defense system on the Crimean peninsula, which the Russian invaders had so solemnly deployed, is gradually being phased out. The occupiers' air defense has many "holes".

According to Humeniuk, the combat work of Ukrainian troops on the peninsula does not stop. In fact, the soldiers are doing this work online.

In particular, the guerrilla movement is working 24/7 in Crimea, tracking, practicing, and counteracting.

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"Taken together, this will lead to the fact that the highest activity, as announced by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, will be concentrated around Crimea," Humeniuk emphasized.

As a reminder, on the afternoon of January 4, explosions were heard in Yevpatoriia and Sevastopol in occupied Crimea. The media reported hits, in particular to the occupiers' military unit. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the defeat of the enemy command post.

Later at night, explosions were heard in Sevastopol, Saky, Dzhankoi and other cities. Russian propagandists complained about a "massive attack by kamikaze drones."

Later it became known that on January 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces also hit enemy ammunition depots near the village of Pervomaiske in the Kurman district of Crimea.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, earlier, Humeniuk said that as a result of the attack on the occupiers' military facilities in Crimea on January 4, not only the command post was hit but also very significant losses were caused to the enemy's defense system. In general, Ukrainian defenders carried out powerful combat work the day before.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
PR-Inside.com: 2024-01-06 05:15:10

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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / January 5, 2024 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have untilJanuary 26, 2024to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Fisker Inc. (NYSE:FSR), if they purchased or otherwise acquired the Company's securities between August 4, 2023 and November 20, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Fisker and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-fsr/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court byJanuary 26, 2024 .About the LawsuitFisker and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On November 13, 2023, the Company announced its 3Q 2023 financial results, disclosing among other things, a loss of $91.0 million and a $0.27 loss per share, a cut to its production forecast for the year, and also that it would be unable to timely file its Quarterly Report for the quarter ended September 30, 2023 due to material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. On this news, the price of Fisker's shares plummeted by $0.77, or 18.7%, to close at $3.34 per share on November 14, 2023, on unusually heavy trading volume.Then, on November 20, 2023, the Company disclosed the departure of its chief accounting officer, recently hired on November 6, 2023. On this news, the price of Fisker's shares plummeted by $0.35, or 15%, to close at $2.00 per share on November 21, 2023, on unusually heavy trading volume.The case is Zahabi v. Fisker Inc., et al., 23-cv-09976.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com CONTACT: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partner lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com 1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
PR-Inside.com: 2024-01-06 12:15:31

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BAKERSFIELD, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 6, 2024 / Keith Galicia, a financial planner with decades of experience, recently announced the launch of his new brand, Prime Portfolio Planning. Prime Portfolio Planning offers comprehensive financial planning services in six areas: cash flow management, investment planning, retirement planning, tax management, risk management, and estate planning. The enthusiasm surrounding the launch is high."Our mission is to help clients make better informed financial decisions that help them achieve their goals," commented Galicia. "At Prime Portfolio Planning, we understand that true financial success encompasses not only wealth accumulation but also strategic wealth management, growth, and protection to create a legacy that can last generations." According to Galicia, what sets Prime Portfolio Planning apart is its unwavering commitment to expertise and excellence. The team of highly qualified financial planners at Prime Portfolio Planning is well-versed in the complex economic landscape that successful individuals and business owners navigate. They hold themselves to the highest standards, ensuring their recommendations and strategies are carefully tailored to each client's unique situation.As the owner of Prime Portfolio Planning, Keith Galicia is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and Certified Exit Planning Advisor. These internationally recognized certifications reflect her deep understanding of financial planning concepts and her ability to guide clients through crucial financial decisions.The financial planning process at Prime Portfolio Planning ensures that recommendations are based on a thorough analysis of a client's financial situation, covering areas such as investment planning, retirement planning, tax optimization, and risk management. This comprehensive approach guarantees that clients receive holistic financial guidance.For business owners, Prime Portfolio Planning offers the expertise of a CEPA-certified advisor. Whether contemplating a business transition or optimizing its value for a future sale, the CEPA process provides expert guidance through every step of the exit planning journey.Prime Portfolio Planning's commitment to expertise, excellence, and a client-centered approach sets a high standard in the financial planning industry. Keith Galicia and his team invite successful individuals and business owners to embark on a financial journey that strives to secure their financial future and make the most of their hard-earned wealth.For more information about Prime Portfolio Planning and its comprehensive financial planning services, please visit the website at https://www.primeportfolioplanning.com/ CA Insurance Lic. #0C70381Media ContactOrganization: Prime Portfolio planningContact Person: Keith GaliciaWebsite: https://www.primeportfolioplanning.com/ Email: keith.galicia@primeportfolioplanning.com Address: 15438 Lila Rose Ct, Bakersfield, CA, 93314City: BakersfieldState: CaliforniaCountry: United StatesSOURCE:Prime Portfolio Planning
The year has just begun, and many Nigerians are gearing up for a fresh start. In like manner, Olufemi Olaseinde, managing director of Seinde Signature, has revealed some intrigues about the dynamics of perfumes

and fragrances.

He also founded what has been described as Nigerias first perfume museum. This first-of-its-kind edifice allows fragrance lovers to sample over 1000 unique fragrances from different brands and perfumes before purchasing.

In this PREMIUM TIMES interview, the avid perfume collector who has transformed his hobby into a profitable business delves into the world of perfumes and showcases his collection of over 1500 scents while at it.

Excerpts :

PT: How can you tell if a perfume is good? Most of the time, the more expensive it is, the better we think it is.

Seinde: Some people make the mistake of thinking that the most expensive fragrance is the best, but it has to do with the ingredients; it has to do with the formulator; some regular perfumes are merely chemicals. They can harm an individuals health and the skin. The natural-based perfume ticks all the boxes, so I stopped buying the regulars.

PT: How does our skin react to perfumes?

Seinde: Most perfumes have their days and act differently on different skins. We have different skin types; some have dry skin, and others have oily skin. Perfumes are also chemicals; when you put them on your skin, they may last longer. But there are some hacks you could use to make it last longer.

PT: What are some of these hacks?

Seinde: Applying a cream on your body before spraying your perfume would make the fragrance last longer. But like many Nigerians, when you spray your perfume and rob it with your hand, you have reduced the performance of the perfume. You are generating heat, which would make it wear off fast.

PT: Where are the best places to apply perfume on the body?

Seinde: I will say the warmest parts of the body, better known as the pulse points. They include the neck, the wrist, behind the knee, the foot and the abdomen. These warm spots on your body emit extra body heat, which helps to diffuse a scent naturally. When applying perfume on your pulse points, spritz or dab it (remember, dont rub), and it will last all day.

PT: As a perfumer, what is your routine with perfumes?

Seinde: After bathing and applying my cream on my body, I wear my perfume before I wear my clothes, and when I wear the clothes. Later in the day, I touch up on the clothes, which will last the whole day; people encounter me at 8 pm and still say I smell nice.

PT: What about oil perfumes?

Seinde: Perfume oils dont carry alcohol content. So, when you wear perfume oil, it is not until I hug you that I know you are wearing it because the alcohol transmits the smell to the next person. Unfortunately, most of the perfume oils they sell in Nigeria are not original because authentic perfume oils are expensive.

PT: As a perfume collector, tell us a brief background of the history of perfumes.

Seinde: In those days, you were rich when you bathed thrice a year. So people dont bathe; they use perfume to cover their body smell, and in most cases, because they wear leather, leather is the dead skin of animals; they use perfume to kill the leather scent. So, perfume became the kind of thing only the royals use.

Then, after some time when, the ladies started wearing those giant fibres with cossets that would tighten them, and they were fainting, so they were using Lavenda oil to resuscitate them. That is why the Yorubas call perfume Lofinda instead of Lavenda.

So perfume has existed since immemorial, but it was only for the elites. After some time, when couples, husbands and wives started to wear the same perfume, they decided to put gender to it. It is all a marketing gimmick because perfume does not have any gender.

PT: Most of your products are niche perfumes. What differentiates niche from regular brands?

Seinde: Niche companies make only perfume; they dont make bags or fashion gear, so special attention is given to their ingredients, how they perform, and everything else.

What differentiates niche from regular brands? Regular or designer perfumes can be cheaper than niche perfumes but are mass-produced and can be of lower quality.

These regular brands have deficient quality and are chemicalised and mass-produced, so every airport, every supermarket, and everywhere in the world would have something to draw that traffic. We are the only store in Nigeria that sells niche perfumes.

PT: As a perfume collector, what effort would you say goes into creating perfumes?

Seinde: People who create perfumes are called noses, and, in the world, there are only 50 certified official noses. Before you become a nose, you must identify about 2,000 scents, and only 50 people have passed that exam. A lot of work goes into perfume making than we know.

PT: Are you a Nose?

Seinde: I am not a Nose; I am just an enthusiast; I love perfumes; it makes me happy; it is like my fetish. When I am unfortunate or I feel down, I do perfume shopping. I am a collector, and I have over 1,500

collections.

READ ALSO:

PT: Why are they called Nose?

Seinde: Nose is a term used to describe a perfume artist capable of portraying moods, emotions and concepts through fragrance. They are responsible for some of the worlds most distinctive fragrances.

The term is derived from the body part, the nose, and as we all know, we use our nose to smell, but the challenge is that we use our noses differently; some people have sensitive noses. It is peculiar to a scent they have been exposed to.

So, noses are trained to identify and differentiate smells. To become a nose, you must undergo extensive training to become an expert; it takes up to seven years of study  and (mostly) qualifications in chemistry.

PT: Tell us more about your perfume museum.

Seinde: It is a first-of-its-kind that allows fragrance lovers to sample over 1000 unique fragrances from different brands and perfumes before purchasing. Seinde Signature is a world-class company that specialises in niche fragrances. We created this brand in 2020 in October, and this is our third year; we have several branches in Nigeria in Delta, Abuja and Lagos, and to celebrate it, we are educating our customers about perfume. We are also taking some of them to the source of some of these perfumes. There have been three exciting years of growth for Seinde Signature Salon de Parfum. Last year, we took five people to Milan so they could have first-hand experience of perfume-making.

PT: Nigerians need to learn more about fragrances; how do you sensitise your customers about the world of scent?

Seinde: To educate people, we flew five perfumers into the country in the first year. In the second year, we took five people from Nigeria to Milan, so this year, because of the economy, we are only taking two customers and a staff member on an all-expenses paid trip to the magical niche fragrance-focused city of Milan, Italy, in March 2024. There we will attend the spectacular Esxence Perfumery Fair and have plenty of exciting activities together.

PT: How will customers partake in the Scentiversary 3?

Seinde: Entries began on July 1st, and customers bought fragrances worth 500k to qualify for a raffle ticket. On 28th December, right before the new year, we selected our lucky winners!

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The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, on Friday, admitted as genuine a 20 December 2023 memo which shows that she requested the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer public fund  N585.2 million  into a private account of an official in her ministry.

The transfer contravenes various sections of Nigerias Financial Regulations 2009, which are meant to prevent fraud and other forms of corruption.

According to the ministers memo, the fund in question was transferred from the National Social Investment office account and is meant for disbursement to vulnerable people in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Lagos, and Ogun states, under the federal government poverty intervention project called Grants for Vulnerable Groups.

Mrs Edu said in the memo that the official, Bridget Oniyelu, whose private account with the United Bank of Africa the N585.2 million was paid into, is the project accountant.

The minister said in the memo that N219.4 million is to be transferred to the vulnerable people in Akwa Ibom State, N73.8 million to Cross River State, N219.4 million to Lagos State, and N72.4 million to Ogun State.

The memo has gone viral on X, while Mrs Edu has been trending for about two days now on the microblogging platform.

Betta Edus memo adds another layer of scandal to the ongoing EFCC investigation of the suspended National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, over alleged N37.1billion fraud in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

Mrs Shehu, in December, said over 1.5 million households in the country have received N20,000 from the Conditional Cash Transfer programme of the federal government.

The fraud allegations now taint the government intervention programme.

Mrs Edus predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, is being investigated by the EFCC for alleged fraud.

Edu reacts to leaked memo

Through her media aide, Rasheed Zubair, the minister claimed the memo was leaked as part of a plot to blackmail her.

It is glaring that the same sponsored disgruntled elements who, in the past few days have been trying to smear the Honourable Minister, Dr Betta Edu and stain her integrity because she alerted the government on the ongoing N44.8 Billion Fraud in NSIPA. These elements have been trying to link her to a phantom fraud and are behind this latest misadventure, a statement on Friday from the ministers media aide stated.

The evil motive of the mischief-makers behind the circulation of the memo is well-known and should be ignored.

Of note is the fact that since assumption of duty about five months ago, the Minister has religiously visited different parts of the country like Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa, FCT, Lagos Cross River etc, and this is done to ensure she delivers on her mandate, she remains focused unbiased and committed to duty, the statement added.

Questions for the minister Betta Edu

The ministers response to the leaked memo, however, failed to address some pertinent questions, begging for answers:

1. Nigerias Financial Regulations 2009 does not empower Minister Betta Edu to originate payment requests directly since she is not the ministrys accounting officer. By making a permanent secretary the accounting officer of a ministry, the intent of the law is to insulate government business from politics and allow government affairs to run smoothly and professionally on some sets of rules and guidelines which political officeholders may not be familiar with.

2 Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigerias Financial Regulations 2009, which emphasises separating public and personal money in government transactions, states that Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account (Minister Betta Edu clearly violates this section).

The section, in addition, says, Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention. It is very clear that the intent of the law here is to prevent fraud in government business.

3. Why would the minister pay such a huge amount of money to a civil servant instead of electronically paying the beneficiaries directly? What is the mechanism in place for accountability?

4. By Nigerias Financial Regulation 2009, only the Minister of Finance is empowered to issue warrants for disbursement of appropriated funds. Why is the Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Betta Edu, playing that role here?

5. Why is Betta Edu the one initiating a request for payment of public funds when she is not the accounting officer of her ministry or his appointed representative (as stipulated in the financial regulation)?

6. The National Social Investment Office is an agency under the Ministy of Humanitarian Affair, with its own distinct leadership. Why is Minister Betta Edu the one signing off on transfer of funds from the agencys account, without the input of the organisations CEO?

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The Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, has countered the claim by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, over the payment of N585.2 million of government funds into a private bank account of an official.

A leaked memo revealed that Mrs Edu, in December, requested Mrs Madein, the accountant general of the federation, to transfer the money from the National Social Investment office account to the UBA account of Bridget Oniyelu, the accountant of a federal government poverty intervention project called Grants for Vulnerable Groups.

The project is under Mrs Edus ministry.

As previously reported by PREMIUM TIMES, the transfer contravenes various sections of Nigerias Financial Regulations 2009 meant to prevent fraud and other forms of corruption in government business.

Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigerias Financial Regulations 2009 which emphasises separating public and personal money in government transactions states that Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account (Minister Edu clearly violates this section).

The section, in addition, says, Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention. It is very clear that the intent of the law here is to prevent fraud in government business.

But Mrs Edu, through her media aide, Rasheed Zubair, on Friday, said the payment of the N585.2 million into a private account is legal in the countrys civil service.

It is legal in civil service for a staff, the project accountant, to be paid and use the same funds legally and retire same with all receipts and evidence after the project or programme is completed, the statement stated.

The minister claimed the memo was leaked as part of a plot to blackmail her.

Accountant general reacts

Mrs Madein, in a statement, on Saturday, distanced her office from the illegal transaction by Mrs Edu and also dismissed the ministers action as illegal.

The accountant general of the federation admitted that her office had received Mrs Edus request for the transfer of the N585.2 million to Ms Oniyelus private account, but that she refused to honour it.

The Ministry was advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure, she said. No bulk payment is supposed to be made to an individuals account in the name of the Project Accountant.

Mrs Madein said payments like N585.2 million are usually processed by the affected ministries as self-accounting entities.

She added that such payment should be sent to the beneficiaries through their verified bank accounts, the statement stated.

This implies that Mrs Edus humanitarian affairs ministry went ahead to pay the N585.2 million into Ms Oniyelus private account, against Mrs Madeins advice, and in violation of Nigerias law.

Another layer of scandal

Minister Edus memo adds another layer of scandal to the ongoing EFCC investigation of the suspended National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu over alleged N37.1 billion fraud in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

Mrs Shehu, in December, said over 1.5 million households in the country have received N20,000 from the Conditional Cash Transfer programme of the federal government.

The government intervention programme is now tainted by the fraud allegations.

Mrs Edus predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, is being investigated by the EFCC for alleged fraud.

Nigerians, outraged by the memo, are calling for Mrs Edus suspension from office.

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President Bola Tinubu has congratulated President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo on his re-election.

Mr Tinubu commended the government and the people of DR Congo for ensuring a successful conduct of the last elections.

This is contained in a statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Tshisekedi, 60, was elected for a second term with 73 per cent of the vote, with his nearest challenger, mining magnate and former provincial governor Moise Katumbi, on 18 per cent.

The President also congratulated the people of DR Congo for deepening democratic norms by exercising their rights without resorting to acts inimical to the sustenance of democracy.

It is welcoming that the last elections in DR Congo were well-concluded. Democracy is sustainable on the continent. I congratulate President Tshisekedi on his victory.

The President has demonstrated statesmanship in his handling of regional and continental matters. Africa will overcome any challenge with governance by popular consent, and democracy will thrive, Tinubu said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the official turnout in the election was about 43 per cent of the countrys 44 million registered voters.

Mr Tshisekedi will be sworn in for a second term on 20 January.

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The federal government has approved Air Peace, FlyNas and Max Air as the official carriers for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage.

The government also approved Cargo Zeal Technologies Ltd, Nahco Aviance and Qualla Investment Limited as the official cargo companies for the exercise.

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) disclose this on Friday in a statement by its Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Fatima Usara.

The Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has officially granted approval to three distinguished airlines to serve as exclusive carriers for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage, they are Air Peace Ltd., FlyNas and Max Air.

Also approved are three other air cargo companies that will airfreight pilgrims excess luggage. They are Cargo Zeal Technologies Ltd, Nahco Aviance and Qualla Investment Limited, the statement said.

According to the statement. Air Peace will lift passengers from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Imo, Kwara, Ondo and Rivers States.

Flynass is to lift pilgrims from Borno, Lagos, Osun, Ogun, Niger, Sokoto, Kebbi, Yobe and Zamfara States.

Furthermore, Max Air will be responsible for moving pilgrims from Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Oyo, Taraba, Kaduna, Armed Forces, Gombe, Jigawa and Plateau States.

NAHCON stated that the allocation of pilgrims to the airlines was in line with the subsisting Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia on airlift of pilgrims under government quota.

READ ALSO: NAHCON extends hajj registration deadline

However, state governments may choose to designate any of the approved freight companies to convey their pilgrims excess luggage. Should any state enter such exclusive arrangement, the decision should be communicated to the Commission accordingly, the statement said.

NAHCON alao said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, will on 7 January lead a delegation from NAHCON to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage.

In another development, the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, is set to lead a delegation from the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to partake in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage on 7th January 2024, the statement reads.

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The police said they have arrested a man for allegedly defrauding a female PoS operator of N21 million.

The suspect is identified as Gift Okechukwu Igwe while the victim is Chinwe Mathias.

The Force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a post via his X handle on Friday.

Mr Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, said the suspects arrest and subsequent parade by the police followed a report of the incident by Ms Mathias, the victim.

He said the suspect is facing allegations of criminal conspiracy, organ trafficking, fraud, cybercrime, theft, impersonation, deceit, cheating and identity theft.

How it happened

Mr Adejobi said Mr Igwe had approached the victim at a shopping mall in Owerri and introduced him as Dr Henry Ovie, a neurologist newly transferred from Port Harcourt to Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Owerri, Imo State.

The statement did not indicate when the suspect and victim first met.

Ms Mathias, according to the statement, said the suspect collected her number and established a close relationship with her after which the suspect informed her that he was expecting some money and would need to use her PoS to withdraw the money.

The suspect subsequently transferred the sum of N5.5 million to Ms Mathias bank account, which made her believe that he was genuine.

According to the police, the suspect tricked her into entering a code on her PoS machine, on 11 September last year, which she did because she trusted him.

After the suspect left her place, she noticed that all the money in her PoS account was withdrawn, which amounted to the sum of N21 million and all efforts to reach out to the suspect proved abortive, police said in the statement.

She (victim) also went to FMC, where the suspect claimed to be working, to ask about him and she was told that none of their doctors bears such a name.

Arrest

Mr Adejobi said some intelligent officers swung into action to arrest the suspect immediately after the victim reported the case to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja.

During the course of investigation, the officers discovered that the suspect had changed his phone number, relocated from Owerri to Lafia in Nasarawa State, where he rented and furnished an apartment, where he was later arrested after being tracked, he said.

Further investigations revealed that the suspect goes by different names such as Igwe Richard, and Ovie Henry with multiple phone numbers and emails that he uses to perpetrate his heinous acts, Mr Adejobi stated.

He said investigation further revealed that the suspects identity was not documented in the database of the National Identity Management Commission.

Organ trafficking

The Force spokesperson said the police also discovered upon the arrest of the suspect that he was equally involved in organ trafficking and that he has a contact in Toronto, Canada with whom he engaged in the trade of human organs.

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said that the arrest underscores the commitment and dedication of the police to combating crimes in the country, Mr Adejobi said.

Mr Egbetokun said the arrest also underscores the commitment of the police to ensuring the safety and security of lives and properties in the country.

The inspector general of police assured Nigerians that the police were currently investigating the incident and that anybody linked to the criminal act would be prosecuted accordingly.

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Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has launched the 2024 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem, pledging support for legionnaires and families of fallen heroes of the Armed Forces in the state.

At the launch on Friday, Governor Lawal was decorated with the remembrance emblem by the Chairman of the State Chapter of the Nigeria Legion, Alhaji Aminu Ladan Mada, at the Government House, Gusau.

A statement by the Governors spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, said the state government has supported the Zamfara chapter of the Nigerian Legion with an appeal fund of N5 million naira.

He added that the Zamfara State government is dedicated to extending support to the appeal fund, which is particularly important given the significance of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

He said: While launching the emblem for the 2024 Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Gusau, Governor Lawal conveyed his resolve to support the Nigerian Legion, demonstrating his appreciation for the sacrifices made by fallen heroes.

The governor highlighted some of his governments support for the state chapter of the Nigerian Legion, including recruiting over 50 legionnaires into the Community Protection Guards.

We must appreciate the contribution of our brave troops in the fight against banditry, terrorism, and other forms of criminality across the country.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure improved welfare for the Nigerian Legion and families of fallen heroes who have sacrificed their lives to maintain peace.

Furthermore, we have enlisted 50 members of the Nigerian Legion to join the Community Protection Guards, a security unit that supports the troops in safeguarding our state.

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Former Military Governor of Rivers State and elder statesman, Major-General Zamani Lekwot (rtd) has applauded Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State for his commendable efforts to unite Kaduna State since his assumption of office about six months ago.

Mr Lekwot who spoke on behalf of the awardees during the recently concluded Maiden Southern Kaduna Festival wherein he received the award of Southern Kaduna Grand Commander (SKGC), said I want to commend your leadership quality. What you have done within six months has gladdened our hearts.

Speaking further he said, In our prayers, we will continue to ask God to bless you with more wisdom, courage, and foresight in your commendable match to unite Kaduna State so that we can move forward.

Mr Lekwot who commended the organisers of the event, on behalf of all the awardees including those awarded posthumously, expressed their deep appreciation for the innovative idea as far as Southern Kaduna is concerned.

This has clearly sent a message to the youth not to relent in their efforts to serve their country because their labour would never be forgotten, he added

He reiterated that The idea of an award, behind it, is superior to the award itself. The whole aim is to recognise contributions and use the principle of division of labour. We come from different colleagues, different gifts, the sum total of what we can produce to the service of the community and the nation. We are most grateful.

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At least eight traders were killed while several others were injured when a group of terrorists attacked a convoy of vehicles conveying traders to a local market in Katsina State, north-west Nigeria.

The traders were going to Yantumaki weekly market in Danmusa Local Government Area when the terrorists opened fire on them Friday morning.

Eight of the traders died instantly while the wounded ones are receiving medical attention at a local hospital, the chairman of the drivers union in the area, Kabiru Dangaye, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Many federal, state and local highways in the North-west have become death traps as terrorists waylay travellers especially in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states.

In many local communities in the sub-region, motorists now drive in a convoy, sometimes with military or police escort, to avoid being attacked.

Our drivers waited for hours as usual for other drivers and traders to come from neighbouring communities before they began the journey, Mr Dangaye said. We had about 25 vehicles then called the soldiers to come and escort us as usual. The soldiers drove in their vehicle.

The meeting point, according to the drivers union chairman, was Mai Dabino, one of the communities in the Danmusa area.

Mr Dangaye said the convoy passed Sabon Garin Nasarawa and Mahuta before it ran into an ambush around Makera.

The terrorists were in four groups and it was when the leading vehicle reached the second to the last group that they (terrorists) began shooting. When the soldiers driving in the back, aimed to move faster to the front, another set of terrorists began shooting at them. The soldiers engaged them but because they were too many and separated, the terrorists had upper hand over the soldiers, he said.

Mr Dangaye said a distress call was made to the Community Watch Corps who came with more soldiers to help the traders.

Usman Abdulmuminu, a resident of Maidabino, said most of those killed were from his community.

One of them was my best friend, Buhari. The communities are in mourning because aside those who lost their lives, several others are still nursing serious wounds that may lead to death, he said.

The police spokesperson in Katsina State, Abubakar Sadik, could not be reached on his regular phone number at the time of this report. An SMS sent to him about the attack was also not responded to.

This is the second time in a month that local traders are targeted in the state. Eight traders were killed last month by the terrorists in the same state.

Many states in the northwestern part of Nigeria have witnessed terrorist activities for over a decade which have led to the death of thousands of people.

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Sangam University, Bhilwara, hosted the opening session of a two-day national seminar on the subject of Common Sense. The distinguished guests for the event were Professor Alpana Kateja, Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan University, Jaipur, and Chairperson Professor Sunita Mishra, Vice Chancellor of Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur.

*Professor Alpana Kateja, in her role as the Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan University, shared insights into the significance of common sense in life. She also expressed interest in collaborating with Sangam University for a national seminar in the future. Professor Sunita Mishra, Chairperson of the seminar and Vice Chancellor of Mohanlal Sukhadia University, congratulated the university on hosting the seminar, marking the first-ever collaboration between the two universities.*

*Expressing gratitude for the presence of the first female Vice Chancellor of both universities, Sangam University's Vice Chancellor, Professor Karunesh Saxena, thanked Professor Alpana Kateja for attending the event. The seminar covered three sessions on the first day.*

*The first session featured Professor Surendra Kumar Katearia from Mohanlal Sukhadia University, who presented his life experiences, emphasizing the simplicity and relevance of the Common Sense topic. The second session saw presentations by Professor Arvind Mahla and Professor Rajendra Mishra on the socio-psychological aspects of common sense. In the third session, Delhi-based mental health specialist Priyamvada Srivastava spoke about character building through the application of common sense.*

*The seminar honored Professor Rashmi Saxena, Professor C. R. Suthar, and Professor Arvind Mahla. Sangam University's Vice Chancellor Professor Karunesh Saxena, Vice Chancellor Professor Manas Ranjan Panigrahi, and Registrar Professor Rajiv Mehta facilitated the recognition ceremony.*

*The seminar also included hybrid presentations of research papers from participants representing various states across the country. At the conclusion of the program, Professor Preeti Mehta, Head of IQAC, expressed gratitude to all the guests and participants.*

Source :
NEW YORK, Jan. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The flow battery market is expected to grow by USD 510.03 million from 2022 to 2027, according to Technavio. In addition, the growth momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 22.16% during the forecast period. To find a preview of the market overviews, market drivers, opportunities, and potentials request a sample report

Flow Battery Market 2023-2027: Company Analysis

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Flow Battery Market 2023-2027

The flow battery market is fragmented due to the presence of many global and regional players. The market comprises category-focused, industry-focused, and diversified companies. The global off-grid flow battery market is expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period due to the Increasing demand for battery energy storage to address the erratic nature of renewables. Hence, the competition among companies is expected to intensify during the forecast. The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market companies. BASF SE, Elestor BV, ENEROX GMBH, Gebr. SCHMID GmbH, HYDRAREDOX IBERIA SL, Invinity Energy Systems plc, Largo Inc., LE System Co. Ltd., Lockheed Martin Corp., nanoFlowcell Management AG, Nel ASA, Primus Power Solutions, Redflow Ltd., StorEn Technologies Inc., Stryten Energy LLC, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., Vanadis Power GmbH, VFlow Tech Pte Ltd., VoltStorage GmbH, and VRB Energy

Major Companies and Key Offerings:

Stryten Energy LLC - The company offers flow batteries such as the Stryten Energy E series vanadium redox flow battery.

The company offers flow batteries such as the Stryten Energy E series vanadium redox flow battery. Elestor BV - The company offers flow batteries such as Elestor Flow Battery.

Flow Battery Market 2023-2027: Segmentation Analysis

By Type

The redox segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period. To store electrolytes containing an active redox agent in external containers, redox flow batteries are built. Electrolytes can be circulated out of a storage tank for an Oxidation Flow battery. Furthermore, redox cells are used in the power supply industry for load balancing when there is a high and low demand as well as on stand-alone electrical systems.

By Geography

North America is estimated to contribute 34% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The market in the region is being driven by factors such as increasing the production of electricity from renewable sources and a greater adoption of EVs and hybrid vehicles. The US is a global market leader in flow batteries for the region. Moreover, there has been a strong demand for on-grid energy storage due to the growing production of electricity from renewable sources which is causing an increased demand for flow batteries.

is estimated to contribute to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The market in the region is being driven by factors such as increasing the production of electricity from renewable sources and a greater adoption of EVs and hybrid vehicles. The US is a global market leader in flow batteries for the region. Moreover, there has been a strong demand for on-grid energy storage due to the growing production of electricity from renewable sources which is causing an increased demand for flow batteries. Europe , APAC, South America , and Middle East and Africa

To know additional highlights and key points on various market segments and their impact in coming years, Get a Sample Report.

Imperative Insights on the following aspects:

What was the size of the global flow battery market by value?

What will be the size of the global flow battery market in 2027?

How has the industry performed over the last 5 years?

What factors are affecting the strength of competition in the global flow battery market?

What main segments make up the global flow battery market?

Related Reports:

The floor scrubber battery market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.45% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 141.19 million.

The lithium silicon battery market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 54.43% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 86.46 million.

Flow Battery Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 22.16% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 510.03 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 21.75 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 34% Key countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and the UK Competitive landscape Leading Companies, Market Positioning of Companies, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled BASF SE, Elestor BV, ENEROX GMBH, Gebr. SCHMID GmbH, HYDRAREDOX IBERIA SL, Invinity Energy Systems plc, Largo Inc., LE System Co. Ltd., Lockheed Martin Corp., nanoFlowcell Management AG, Nel ASA, Primus Power Solutions, Redflow Ltd., StorEn Technologies Inc., Stryten Energy LLC, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., Vanadis Power GmbH, VFlow Tech Pte Ltd., VoltStorage GmbH, and VRB Energy Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for 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.

ToC:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market Sizing

Historic Market Sizes

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation by Type

Market Segmentation by Variant

Market Segmentation by Geography

Customer Landscape

Geographic Landscape

Drivers, Challenges, & Trends

Company Landscape

Company Analysis

Appendix

About Technavio

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.

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
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Prospect Ridge Resources Corp. ("Prospect Ridge" or the "Company") (CSE: PRR) (OTC: PRRSF) (FRA: OED) is pleased to announce the company has granted a total of 500,000 stock options, exercisable at a price of $0.20 per share for a period of five years, to a director of the Company.

About Prospect Ridge Resources Corp.

Prospect Ridge Resources Corp. is a British Columbia based exploration and development company focused on gold exploration. Prospect Ridge's management and technical team cumulate over 100 years of mineral exploration experience and believes the Knauss Creek and the Holy Grail properties to have the potential to extend the boundaries of the Golden Triangle to cover this vast under-explored region.

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.

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things, positive exploration results at the Knauss Creek and Holy Grail projects and the Company's use of proceeds from the Private Placement. These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, that future exploration results at the Knauss Creek and Holy Grail projects will not be as anticipated and that the Company will use the proceeds from the Private Placement as anticipated.

In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that future exploration results at the Knauss Creek and Holy Grail projects will be as anticipated and that the Company will use the proceeds from the Private Placement as anticipated.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

SOURCE Prospect Ridge Resources Corp.
NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against General Motors Company ("GM" or the "Company") (NYSE: GM) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, and docketed under 23-cv-13132, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired GM securities between February 2, 2022 and October 26, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired GM securities during the Class Period, you have until February 6, 2024, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

GM is an automotive manufacturing company that designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts worldwide. The Company markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brand names.

Cruise LLC ("Cruise") is GM's majority-owned global segment responsible for the development and commercialization of autonomous vehicle ("AV")i.e., driverlesstechnology. Cruise has secured various testing and driving permits for its AVs on the ostensible premise that those AVs were sufficiently safe for such purposes.

Since at least as early as November 2020, GM's products have been the subject of multiple recalls because of defective airbag components in the Company's vehicles, exposing the Company to various global lawsuits. Nevertheless, GM has consistently downplayed safety concerns related to its vehicles' airbags and the need to record additional warranty accruals for related product recalls, while touting the Company's efforts to identify and address perceived defects with its vehicles' airbag inflators.

Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) GM downplayed concerns with its vehicles' airbags and the need to record additional warranty accruals for related product recalls; (ii) GM overstated the extent and efficacy of its efforts to analyze defects in its vehicles' airbag inflators; (iii) Cruise's AVs and/or AV technology were less safe and well-developed than Defendants had led investors, regulators, and the general public to believe; (iv) accordingly, regulatory approval of Cruise's AV products was unsustainable and the prospects for widespread regulatory approval and adoption of Cruise's AV products were overstated; (v) all the foregoing subjected GM to an increased risk of governmental and/or regulatory scrutiny and enforcement action, significant legal liabilities, product recalls, and reputational harm; and (vi) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.

On October 2, 2023, NBC Bay Area reported that a pedestrian suffered major injuries after she was run over by and pinned beneath a driverless Cruise AV. NBC Bay Area further reported that Cruise was cooperating with law enforcement regarding the incident.

On this news, GM's stock price fell $1.09 per share, or 3.36%, to close at $31.38 per share on October 3, 2023.

On October 5, 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration held a public hearing to recommend a recall of more than 50 million airbag inflators that have been linked to potentially deadly explosions. Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal ("WSJ") subsequently reported that at least 20 million of GM's vehicles were built with the defective airbag inflators in question, at least one of which had led to a confirmed fatality.

On this news, GM's stock price fell $0.73 per share, or 2.35%, to close at $30.31 per share on October 5, 2023.

On October 24, 2023, the California Department of Motor Vehicles ("California DMV") issued a statement announcing the immediate suspension of Cruise's deployment and driverless testing permits. In suspending Cruise's permits, the California DMV cited, among other issues, that Cruise "ha[d] misrepresented . . . information related to [the] safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles."

On this news, GM's stock price fell $0.66 per share, or 2.26%, to close at $28.56 per share on October 24, 2023.

Then, on October 26, 2023, Cruise announced via a post on X (formerly Twitter) that it would pause all of its AV operations across the country "while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust."

On this news, GM's stock price fell $1.33 per share, or 4.66%, to close at $27.22 per share on October 27, 2023.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
DUBLIN, Jan. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "TariffAlert - Your Daily Pricing Analysis Service (12 month Subscription) plus Access to the Archive Stories going back to 2009" newsletter has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The daily analytical newsletter TariffAlert focuses exclusively on the latest pricing issues in the mobile and fixed arena globally.

Each edition uses a mix of news, analysis, and competitor offerings across each market and additionally includes analyst commentary to support it.

TariffAlert is unique. It does not just provide the daily output delivered straight to your inbox, it offers a monthly summary together with searchable online access to more than 10k published stories on the portal.



"Pricing has become increasingly complex and our customers have expressed a need for a service that provides more than just the headline prices," commented Margrit Sessions, researcher and author of TariffAlert. "The new service provides our subscribers with all the details needed for every new tariff together with the small print. Our service has become the preferred source for providers and forms part of the one-stop shop for pricing research and consultancy."

A 12-month subscription includes:

Daily deliverable (5 days, 50 weeks) with key pricing stories, delivered by email or/and accessed via the website.

Weekly deliverable if required - includes daily deliverables and a commentary on what key stories from the week.

Monthly summary allows to select news by region, country, operator, by type of product.

Access to archived stories online, use the search engine to get quickly to a story

The TariffAlert provides more than just the information that is available from the operator's announcement, the analyst provides the finer details including comparing it with the old tariff and competitor's offerings.

Deliverable: 5 days a week in 50 weeks a year.

This service has become the preferred source for providers and forms part of the one-stop shop for pricing research and consultancy.



For more information about this newsletter visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/omiep6

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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SOURCE Research and Markets
London, Jan 6 : Hundreds of properties have been flooded and residents evacuated in the UK, after a week of heavy rainfall across the country. Major travel disruptions have also been caused by the prolonged extreme weather.

The Environment Agency told media on Friday that around 1,000 properties in England have been flooded this week, Xinhua news agency reported.

The London Fire Brigade said on Friday that approximately 50 people had been evacuated after a canal burst its banks in Hackney Wick, East London, on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, a major incident has been declared along the River Trent in Nottinghamshire, with residents being asked to prepare for evacuation in areas at risk of flooding.

Earlier this week, the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain, which is expected to continue until Friday.

More than 500 flood warnings and alerts were in place for England on Friday morning, after a week of persistent rain across the country, caused mainly by Storm Henk.

Rail services in the country were also impacted by flooding, with train operator Great Western Railway warning of reduced or cancelled services.

A lifeboat station on the Thames in London urged boats to stay off the river, which in the Kingston area "is currently running twice as fast as it was last Friday and is extremely powerful."

Reacting to the havoc caused by the rains, the Labour Party accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of being "asleep at the wheel" over flood warnings at the end of a week in which swathes of England and Wales have been underwater and at least 1,000 properties flooded.

Sunak, who was on a pre-planned trip to meet voters in the north-west, said he had spoken to people affected by the floods earlier in the week, The Guardian reported.

"I just want people to be reassured that the Environment Agency has got people on the ground in all the affected areas, also hundreds of high-volume pumps are in practice right now making a difference and it is important that people follow the advice that has been given in local areas where there are flood warnings that have been given," Sunak was quoted as saying by the media outlet.
Gaza, Jan 6 : Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to put the focus of his tour in the Middle East on ending Israel's "aggression" on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Friday, Haniyeh said he expected Blinken to "glean lessons from the past three months and recognize Washington's mistakes in supporting the occupation", Xinhua news agency reported.

The Palestinian resistance movement's leader urged Arab and Islamic countries to emphasize to Washington that the stability of the Middle East is linked to the necessity of resolving the Palestinian issue.

Haniyeh's remarks came as Blinken started Friday a tour in the Middle East, during which he will visit Israel and the West Bank, in addition to Turkey and five Arab countries, mainly to discuss the developments of the Gaza conflict and its spillover in the region.

The remarks also came at a time when the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders to residents in the central Gaza Strip, demanding them to relocate southward.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mentioned in a press statement that the Israeli army, in the past hours, issued evacuation orders in two additional residential areas in the north and west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza through leaflets dropped by aircraft.

The new evacuation orders cover an estimated 1.2 square km area, inhabited by approximately 4,700 people and housing a UN-supported health centre, said the statement.

The UN estimates that 1.9 million people, or nearly 85 per cent of Gaza's total population, have become displaced, including many who have been displaced multiple times for safety.

The southern Gazan city of Rafah and its environs have sheltered the majority of the displaced, with over a million living in extremely overcrowded conditions, since Israel has intensified attacks on the central areas of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis in the south.

The Palestinian enclave has been under massive Israeli bombardment and siege since October 7, 2023, which came in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas on the same day on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
Washington, Jan 6 : The US Supreme Court has agreed to take up whether former President Donald Trump can be disqualified from appearing on Colorado's primary ballot, setting up a historic case ahead of the presidential election.

The US Supreme Court's announcement on Friday came two days after Trump asked the court to invalidate a recent ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court, which removed him from the state's 2024 presidential primary ballot, citing a US constitutional provision that prohibits people who have engaged in "insurrection" from federal office.

The US Supreme Court's decision, expected to be made at a speedy pace, could potentially set guidelines nationwide that would determine how Colorado and other states handle the issue, Xinhua news agency reported.

The case would be argued on an accelerated schedule on Feb. 8, with a ruling likely to follow soon after.

Lawsuits in Colorado, as well as some other states, argue that Trump should be disqualified from ballots because he engaged in inciting the Capitol Hill insurrection on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to block the 2020 presidential election victory of Joe Biden.

The Colorado Supreme Court's ruling two weeks ago marked the first time a US state court agreed that Trump should be disqualified from the 2024 presidential election citing the rarely used insurrection clause.

Last week, Maine's Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, barred Trump from the primary ballot, making Maine the second state to block the former president from running again.

Both states will hold their primaries on Super Tuesday, March 5.
Mexico City, Jan 6 : Four people were killed when a light aircraft crashed onto a lot belonging to an airport in Ramos Arizpe, a town in north Mexico's Coahuila state, local civil aviation authorities have confirmed.

The cause of the crash that took place on Friday has yet to be determined but initial reports suggested either strong winds or insufficient fuel had played a role, Xinhua news agency reported, citing sources from the Ramos Arizpe Civil Protection and Fire Department.

The aircraft, registered in the US, took off from the north Mexican border city of Matamoros, in Tamaulipas, on its way to Coahuila.

According to local authorities, the accident occurred shortly past noon, after the pilot of the aircraft requested support from Ramos Arizpe's airport for landing.

However, "the aircraft plunged from a height of some 200 meters, near an airport lot."

The crash site was cordoned off for the corresponding investigation by the Civil Aeronautics Directorate to determine the cause of the accident.

According to local media, among the victims were the pilot, Antonio Avila, and three women.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : She was not very clear about what the late artist Vivan Sundaram expected when he asked her to write a book on the Kasauli Art Centre. But certain things were lucid -- she would not write a definite history, it would imbibe the fact that people from all across came here, leaving a part of them at the centre. Yes, there would be voices of many, but no paraphrasing and the author would have her space -- she would transcend genres, and she would wander to absurd the essence of many minds.

The first thing that hits about author Belinder Dhanoa's 'Kasauli Art Centre, 1976-1991', set up at Ivy Lodge in Kasauli that artists Vivan and Navina Sundaram inherited from their mother, Indira Sher-Gil, in 1975, published brilliantly by Tulika Books is the fact that it is one of the best-designed books of 2023.

One enters the book with caution, first taking in the images of some of the masters like Nilima Sheikh, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Bhupen Khakhar, Geetanjali Shree and Anuradha Kapur who worked and stayed at the Ivy Lodge. There are families, artists are working in the outdoors in rhythm/unrhythm, and there are images of long discussions in the night, of sitting around, children playing and those completely unaware of the camera following them. Sometimes a direct gaze is frozen, and many times eyes focus on nothingness.

Dhanoa, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, with training in Visual and Cultural Studies who teaches Literary Art/Creative Writing at the Ambedkar University Delhi, through a gripping narrative captures the many concerns of those times -- the Vietnam War, and interdisciplinary interactions on the rise of fundamentalist ideas. Multiple schools of art, and thought come together, and letters of artists who were part of the residencies provide a glimpse of how the shared space opened many chasms for them. How the space found a permanent spot inside them.

Dhanoa tells IANS that she knew most of the work that had to be done by meeting and interviewing participating artists, that the centre did not exist in isolation and that the people who participated, brought different parts of themselves with them there. "I have brought in Baroda, Mumbai and other spaces. The Centre existed in the times before liberalization, before the many art galleries started dotting major Indian cities."

Adding that it was paramount to bring to light the critique and dialogue within the artists' community of that time, the author stresses the fact that the book had to have a lot of voices. "So much is from memory, which may not be a very reliable source, nevertheless it lends many new dimensions when recounted."

While she managed to put together the book in a year, it took much longer to source photographs, and for the actual production.

Interestingly, the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation is reviving the Centre which will invite artists, hold workshops and give grants shortly. "While it might be different as we live in a time with other concerns, there will be memories on the wall. I clearly remember one of the artists telling me -- 'A very intense aspect of the Centre was the fact that you could think and discuss issues that you could give only moments to in your everyday life. It was a different space in time there.'"

Dhanoa says despite their immense importance such places do not exist. Adding that dialogue between activists, and people who are involved with culture is paramount, she adds, "We must realise that those involved in the cultural scene are affected by everything around them, and they should have spaces that allow them to discuss."

The author is currently working on her new novel on silence -- not just the one that every individual needs, but also its consequences in tough times.
New York, Jan 6 : A third batch of court documents from a lawsuit connected to the late disgraced American financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been unsealed, just days after the first and second lot of bombshell files were made public which contained the names of noted celebrities including former US President Bill Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew and late pop icon Michael Jackson, according to media reports.

The files released on Friday included over 1,300 pages which follwed hundreds of pages of documents that were unsealed on Wednesday and Thursday, with more expected in the coming days, reports CNN.

The unsealed documents are part of a 2015 civil defamation suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an American woman who claimed Epstein sexually abused her as a minor and that Ghislaine Maxwell, the late financieras former girlfriend, aided in the abuse.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year jail term for crimes she committed with Epstein.

The unsealing this week stems from a December 18, 2023 court order from the judge overseeing the lawsuit, a response to mediaas legal efforts to publicly release the documents.

The documents in total, including material yet to be unsealed, are expected to include nearly 200 names, including some of Epsteinas accusers, prominent businesspeople, as well as politicians.

During a 2009 deposition unsealed on Friday, Juan Alessi -- a former employee of Epstein -- recounted a list of famous and influential people, including two former Presidents connected to the sex offender, CNN reported.

Alessi told attorneys that he had dinner with former US President Donald Trump in the kitchen of Epsteinas Palm Beach home and also met Clinton on Epsteinas plane.

He also recounted meeting Prince Andrew and his former Sarah Ferguson, at the Palm Beach home, according to the deposition.

Alessi further revealed that he met foreign beauty queens and an unnamed winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the deposition.

Both Trump and Clinton have not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Meanwhile, the documents unsealed on Friday also included famed magician and illusionist David Copperfield's name as among the high-profile men identified as a friend to Epstein, reports CNN.

Copperfieldas name is mentioned during deposition testimony released on Friday of one of Epsteinas former employees.

The magician was also named in a 2016 deposition released on Wednesday by a woman who massaged Epstein for years in the early 2000s.

Another name that appeared was that of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is currently in jail after being convicted on sex crimes charges in New York and California.

The documents revealed that a handwritten note of a telephone message dated March 1, 2005, was left for Epstein of Weinstein attempting to call him that morning.

This note was among the nearly 200 written phone messages included in the files.

The other big names that have surfaced in the previous unsealed files include late theoretical physicist Steven Hawking; Hollywood actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis and Kevin Spacey.

Epstein was indicted in 2019 on federal charges of operating a sex trafficking ring in which he allegedly sexually abused dozens of underage girls.

He died in jail in 2019 as he awaited federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled to be a suicide by the New York medical examiner.
New York, Jan 6 : Dr Rajiv Shah, the Indian-American president of Rockefeller Foundation, has been named to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System appointed Shah as a Class C director for a three-year term ending December 31, 2026.

Class C directors on the New York Fedas Board of Directors represent the interests of the public, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a statement released on Friday.

Shah has led The Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropy whose mission is to promote the well-being of people around the world, since 2017.

Prior to joining the foundation, he was founder and managing partner of Latitude Capital, a private equity firm focused on infrastructure and energy projects in Africa and Asia.

From 2009 to 2015, he served as head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

In that role, he served on the National Security Council, led the US responses to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the 2014 West African Ebola pandemic, and secured bipartisan support for the passage of the Global Food Security Act and the Electrify Africa Act.

Before joining USAID, Shah served as chief scientist and undersecretary for research, education, and economics at the US Department of Agriculture, where he created the National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

Earlier in his career, he was a director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he created the International Financing Facility for Immunisation.

Shah is a graduate of the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Wharton School of Business.

He served as a distinguished fellow in residence at Georgetown University and has received the Secretary of Stateas Distinguished Service Award and the US Global Leadership Award.

Each of the Reserve Banks operate under the supervision of a board of directors, as laid down by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

Each Reserve Bank has nine directors who represent the interests of their Reserve District and whose experience provides the Reserve Banks with a wider range of expertise that helps them fulfill their policy and operational responsibilities.

The nine directors of each Reserve Bank are divided evenly by classification: Class A Directors represent the member banks in the District; Class B Directors and Class C Directors represent the interests of the public.

The directors of the Reserve Banks act as an important link between the Federal Reserve and the private sector, ensuring that the Fed's decisions on monetary policy are informed by actual economic conditions.

--IANS

mi/ksk
Kavaratti: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of various developmental projects. Image Source: IANS News

Jaipur, Jan 6 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on a three-day trip to Jaipur, advised Rajasthan MLAs and Ministers to "stay away from factionalism and corruption".

He held discussions with MLAs, Ministers and BJP officials on Friday night at the party's state office in Jaipur.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister questioned the MLAs on the Congress's defeat in the November 2023 Assembly elections. To this, some of the legislators cited corruption as the reason.

In response, Modi told the MLAs that "you have to stay away from factionalism and corruption. The party is monitoring all your activities".

He further told the legislators that they should not work keeping only the five-year tenure in mind.

"We have to work ahead keeping this thing in mind that the government should repeat after five years."

The Prime Minister also advised them to visit the booths where they lost in the polls and then go to the one from where they won and then brainstorm on what made them win.

"You should not remain intoxicated by the government. Work has to be done on the ground and more work has to be done so that the government repeats."

Along with this, Modi also advised the MLAs to stay away from transfer-posting of officers.

"All the officers work, you just need to know how to get the work done."
London, Jan 6 : During his tenure as the British Chancellor Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had doubts whether the government's scheme of sending migrants to Rwanda would stop channel crossings, documents seen by the BBC suggest.

According to No 10 papers from March 2022, Sunak was not convinced of the plan's effectiveness, which was launched in April 2022 by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In addition, he was also concerned about the cost of sending asylum seekers to Africa and wanted to limit the numbers, The Evening Standard reported, citing the BBC.

The then Chancellor felt "hotels are cheaper" than reception centres to house migrants, and was reluctant to fund "Greek-style reception centres" at a cost of 3.5 million pounds per day, the documents revealed.

But when he became the Prime Minister in 2022, the Rwanda Bill became the core of his policy to stop the boats -- one of five key priorities, which Sunak set out to achieve.

Under the plan, anyone who arrived in Britain illegally after January 1, 2022, faced being sent to Rwanda, some 6,400 km away. In a big setback to his government last year, the UK's Supreme Court rejected plans to send migrants to Rwanda as unlawful as it would put them at risk.

Stating that the ruling "was not the outcome we wanted", Sunak said that his "commitment to stopping the boats is unwavering".

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC that as a Chancellor, Sunak resisted the plan as he knew it was incredibly costly and wouldn't work.

"But he is so weak he has now agreed to write cheques to Rwanda for 400 million pounds without sending a single person there in a desperate attempt to shore up his leadership," Cooper said.

The revelations by the documents come as Sunak grapples with a new crisis after a Conservative MP pledged to stand down "as soon as possible" over a new legislation.

The announcement from former Energy Minister Chris Skidmore means the Conservatives will have to defend two seats which could easily swing to Labour in upcoming by-elections.
San Francisco, Jan 6 : Streaming giant Netflix is reportedly planning to generate revenue from its gaming business by adding in-app purchases and advertisements.

The company has had discussions in recent months about how to generate revenue from its games, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the discussions.

For two years, Netflix subscribers have been able to download tons of mobile games, all free with their subscription.

The company offers more than 75 mobile games, like Grand Theft Auto, Love Is Blind, Monument Valley and Oxenfree.

According to the report, Netflix is planning to put a price tag on premium gaming titles and placing ads on games.

Netflix was yet to comment on the report.

The company last year said it was not worried about ads and in-game payments.

"We want to have a differentiated gaming experience and part of that is giving game creators the ability to think about building games purely from the perspective of player enjoyment and not having to worry about other forms of monetization, whether it be ads or in-game payment," Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters had said during the earnings call.

In August, Netflix rolled out its games across devices -- TVs, computers, and mobile -- and announced the first public tests of its cloud-streamed games.
San Francisco, Jan 6 : Microsoft has selected Dee Templeton, VP for tech and research partnerships and operations, as its non-voting observer on OpenAI's board.

Templeton, who is an advisor to Microsoft CTO and EVP of AI, Kevin Scott, has already begun attending board meetings, reports Bloomberg.

The Information previously reported that Templeton was being considered for the role.

She oversees operations for the nearly 1,500 scientists and engineers comprising Microsoft's Technology and Research group.

Templeton leads a team that develops and nurtures some of Microsoft's most significant technical partnerships, including the cross-functional team accountable for the progress of the joint work with OpenAl, according to her LInkedIn profile.

She began her career at Microsoft 25 years ago as the first female technical employee at Microsoft New Zealand.

"I've since had the opportunity to contribute in engineering and product roles across numerous divisions and technologies," she wrote on LinkedIn.

OpenAI's new board consists of chair Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo, the only remaining holdout from the previous board.

Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI, with a 49 per cent stake in the for-profit entity.

The ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman late last year by the previous board was reportedly the culmination of several issues around Altman's strategic manoeuvring and a "perceived lack of transparency" in his communications with directors.
Los Angeles, Jan 6 : The cast of Season 3 of the popular award-winning streaming show 'The White Lotus' is growing, reports 'Variety'.

The hit HBO series has added six new cast members and they are: Leslie Bibb ('Iron Man', 'Jupiter's Legacy'), Dom Hetrakul ('Bangkok Dangerous', 'The Outrage'), Jason Isaacs ('Harry Potter' franchise, 'The Death of Stalin'), Michelle Monaghan ('Gone Baby Gone', 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'), Parker Posey ('Best in Show', 'The Staircase'), and Tayme Thapthimthong ('Farang', 'Skin Trade').

The new additions join returning actress Natasha Rothwell, whom 'Variety' had exclusively reported would reprise the role of Belinda in Season 3.

The show is set to begin production in Thailand -- around Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok -- in February. Exact plot details are being kept under wraps aside from the fact that it will follow a new group of guests at a White Lotus resort property, adds 'Variety'.

Mike White created 'The White Lotus' and serves as executive producer and director.

'The White Lotus' proved to be an immediate hit for HBO when it debuted in 2021. The first season, set in Hawaii, received 20 Emmy nominations and ten wins, including best limited or anthology series.

The second installment, which premiered in December 2022 and was set in Sicily, earned 23 Emmy nominations, including best drama series.
New York, Jan 6 : San Altman-run OpenAI and Microsoft have been hit by another class-action lawsuit by book authors, who alleged that the company "simply stole" their copyrighted works to help "build a billion-dollar artificial intelligence system".

New York, Jan 6 (IANS) San Altman-run OpenAI and Microsoft have been hit by another class-action lawsuit by book authors, who alleged that the company "simply stole" their copyrighted works to help "build a billion-dollar artificial intelligence system".

The lawsuit was filed in the Manhattan federal court late on Friday by non-fiction authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, reports NBC. Basbanes and Gage seek to represent a class of writers "whose copyrighted work has been systematically pilfered by" Microsoft and OpenAI.

"They're no different than any other thief," the lawsuit alleged, adding that it will include all people in the US "who are authors or legal beneficial owners" of copyrights for works that have or are being used by the defendants to "train their large language models".

The lawsuit seeks damages of up to $150,000 for each work that the defendants infringed, the report mentioned.

The lawsuit alleged that OpenAI's system relies on being trained by ingesting "massive amounts of written material," which includes books written by Basbanes and Gage.

Microsoft or OpenAI were yet to comment on the new lawsuit.

In September last year, the Authors' Guild and 17 well-known authors like Jonathan Franzen, John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, and Jodi Picoult filed a lawsuit in the Southern district of New York against OpenAI.

According to the complaint, OpenAI "copied plaintiffs' works wholesale, without permission or consideration" and fed the copyrighted materials into large language models.

In the same month, authors Michael Chabon, David Henry Hwang, Rachel Louise Snyder and Ayelet Waldman alleged in a lawsuit that OpenAI benefits and profits from the "unauthorised and illegal use" of their copyrighted content.
Los Angeles, Jan 6 : Actor Shia LaBeouf has been confirmed into the Catholic Church and reportedly hopes to become a deacon years after he was accused of physical and emotional abuse.

"We are thrilled to share that our dear friend Shia LaBeouf has fully entered the Church this past weekend through the sacrament of confirmation!" the Capuchin Franciscans -- Western America Province announced in a Facebook post, reports pagesix.com.

"The Capuchin Franciscan friars are overjoyed to welcome him into the fold and witness his deep commitment to his faith journey."

The 37-year-old star confirmed at Old Mission Santa Ines Parish in Solvang, California on New Year's Eve, according to The Catholic News Agency.

The 'Transformers' actor embraced the practices of the Catholic church after embarking "on a profound spiritual journey," the Capuchin Franciscans explained on social media.

"His decision to fully enter the Church is a testament to his sincere desire to grow in his relationship with God and live out the Gospel values," the statement continued.

The Capuchin Franciscans expressed their belief in the "transformative power of faith and the incredible impact it can have on one's life" and said they were "humbled" to be there for LaBeouf along the way.

"We invite you to join us in celebrating this momentous occasion and to keep Shia LaBeouf in your prayers as he continues to deepen his faith and seek God's guidance in his life," the statement said.

"May his example inspire others to explore their own spiritual paths and find solace in the loving embrace of the Church."

LaBeouf's confirmation sponsor, Capuchin friar Brother Alexander Rodriguez, told CNA that he has wanted to become a deacon since starring in his 2022 movie 'Padre Pio' in which he portrayed Italian priest Francesco Forgione.

"He just spontaneously said, 'I want to become a deacon,' and he still feels that way," Rodriguez told the website.

Deacons are "ministers of sacrament" and baptize, lead prayers, witness marriages and conduct wake and funeral services, according to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

While preparing for the film, LaBeouf immersed himself in Catholicism and lived in a monastery with Franciscan Capuchin friars.

LaBeouf was raised by a Catholic father and a Jewish mother and was baptised and had a Bar Mitzvah.

His journey into the Catholic Church comes nearly three years after he was accused of physically and emotionally abusing his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs.

LaBeouf denied the accusations and had checked into a "long-term inpatient treatment" facility, with his attorney saying at the time that he "needs help and he knows that."

FKA Twigs, 36, described her ex's apology as "gaslighting" and a reminder of how he acted in their relationship.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in October.

LaBeouf since has welcomed a daughter with Mia Goth.
Srinagar, Jan 6 : National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday attached a house on Saturday in connection with a weapon recovery case in Srinagar.

Official sources said that assisted by J&K Police and the CRPF, NIA attached the house of Mushtaq Ahmad in Khan Colony of Chanapora area in Srinagar on Saturday.

It may be mentioned that police had arrested two hybrid LeT terrorists in May last year in Chanapora area from whose possession 15 pistols, 30 magazines, 300 rounds and one silencer were recovered.

That case was later taken over by the NIA.
Kolkata, Jan 6 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has received definite clues that Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Sajahan, the principal mastermind behind the attack on an agency team while they were raiding his residence in North 24 Parganas district, was the main source of funds behind the huge legal expenses for the accused in the different financial scams in West Bengal, sources said.

Although Sajahan was initially the principal confidante of former Food & Supplies Minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who has been arrested in the ration distribution scam, he however became the principal source of funds for bearing the huge legal expenses on behalf of the accused, according to the sources.

His importance as the principal source of funds aggravated mainly after the arrest of Trinamool Congress heavyweight Anubrata Mondal by the CBI on August 22, 2023 in connection with the multi-crore cattle smuggling case in the state.

The ED has also received information of Sajahan being responsible for clandestine funding of Mondal's legal expenses after his initial days of arrest.

Besides being a ration distribution dealer, Sajahan is also perceived as the principal operator of the majority of the pisciculture farms in Sandeshkhali area, quite close to the India-Bangladesh international borders in North 24 Parganas.

He also had connections with the business of coal supply for the brick-kilns scattered in the area, according to findings of the ED.
Arbaaz Khan gives flying kiss to Sshura, walks hand-in-hand as they return from honeymoon. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, Jan 6 : Bollywood actor Arbaaz Khan gives an adorable flying kiss to his wife and makeup artist Sshura Khan, as they return to Mumbai from their honeymoon.

The couple was also seen walking hand-in-hand at the airport.

Sshura took to her Instagram stories and shared a love-filled video from the airport, wherein she can be seen calling out Arbaaz's name from behind.

The 'Hulchul' actor is seen turning back and blowing a cute flying kiss to his ladylove. He then says to Sshura, "come, let's go".

Arbaaz is wearing a white T-shirt, blue denims, sneakers, and is carrying a guitar on his back.

The video was captioned as: "All strings attached".

The couple is seen walking at the airport arrival, holding each other's hands, and are seen having a conversation.

Sshura is donning a black tank top, and matching trousers.

Arbaaz can be seen saying to paparzzi, "be careful". In the end, the 'Tanaav' actor thanked the camerapersons.

The couple tied the knot on December 24, 2023 in an intimate Nikah ceremony.

According to the reports, Arbaaz and Sshura had met on the sets of the upcoming movie 'Patna Shukla'.

Previously, Arbaaz was married to model Malaika Arora, and they have a son Arhaan. The couple got divorced in May 2017.
London, Jan 6 : After UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy wounded up her start-up investment firm, Catamaran Ventures in December last year, the country's main opposition has raised questions asking the impact of its closure on other companies.

Indian-origin Murthy became a majority shareholder in the investment company -- founded by the couple in 2013 -- after Sunak stepped down as its director in 2015 when he became an MP.

In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, the Labour Party has asked what impact the closure of Catamaran Ventures could have on the government-backed business and any other companies it retained a stake in, the BBC reported.

The party's national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden also asked what the arrangement was for the payment of tax owed to HMRC (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs), and whether the firm would fulfil all its liabilities to the British taxpayer.

"It is vital that these questions are answered in the interests of, to quote the Prime Minister himself, 'integrity, professionalism and accountability'," McFadden wrote in the letter.

It was reported last year in the local media that Catamaran Ventures held shares in Study Hall -- an education start-up which received a government grant of almost 350,000 pounds.

According to the BBC, with the election expected in 2024, McFadden's move most likely signifies Labour's willingness to try to make Akshata and her wealth an issue in campaigning.

Denying that the Labour was trying to create "political capital" out of the issue, McFadden said his party just wanted to ensure that "everything is properly declared here, as this venture now winds up".

A spokesperson for Murthy said after the business was wound up, "a significant donation has been made to ShareGift, an independent UK-registered charity with experience accepting donations in the form of shares".

With the exception of one company, all the holdings of Catamaran Ventures have been transferred to ShareGift, the BBC reported.

Early last year, Sunak came under scrutiny after it emerged that his billionaire wife had shares in a childcare agency, which stood to gain from a new policy announced in the then budget.

It was reported that Koru Kids, which listed Murthy as a shareholder, was likely to benefit from a scheme announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

According to an October 2023 media report, Murthy earned more than the combined parliamentary salaries of all Labour MPs in the year.

The couple entered The Sunday Times Rich List in 2022 for the first time with their joint 730 million pound fortune.

Akshata Murthy is said to be wealthier than even King Charles III due to her 430 million pounds stake in her billionaire tycoon father Narayana Murthy's IT empire.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : A key member and sharpshooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Kala Rana syndicate, who was tasked with committing criminal activities in Delhi, was arrested from the city's Rohini area, a Special Cell official said on Saturday.

The accused was identified as Pradeep Singh (18), a resident of Uttarakhand.

"Two semi-automatic pistols of .32 bore with nine live cartridges have been recovered from his possession," said the Delhi Police official.

The official further said that gangster Virender Partap a.k.a Kala Rana recruited Pradeep through Instagram and further connected to him through Bhanu Rana, a resident of Karnal, Haryana, on the Signal App, and prepared him to commit criminal activities in Delhi and its peripherals.

The Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said that a team has been keeping watch over the activities of syndicates and in this process, specific information was received about Pradeep's movement oin Sector 23, Rohini.

"A trap was laid, and the accused, Pradeep, was apprehended," said Dhaliwal.

Upon interrogation, it emerged that Pradeep in 2022, left his studies and came to Gurugram, where he started living with his friend.

"He would watch the reels of gangster Kala Rana on Instagram and get inspired by his criminal activities. In August 2023, he started following Kala Rana on Instagram and sent him messages saying that he was willing to join his gang for fame," said Dhaliwal.

"Thereafter, in September 2023, he started communicating with Bhanu Rana through the Signal App on the directions of Kala Rana," said the Special CP.

Subsequently, on December 30, 2023, Bhanu Rana tasked him to commit a targeted crime in Delhi along with other associates in the next 7-8 days.

"Bhanu Rana also told him that some more people would meet him in Delhi and that the details of the target would be shared later. Further, the accused received a consignment of weapons at Sector 24, Rohini.

"On January 3, he came to Sector 23, Rohini, to meet the other members of the gang, but got caught with illegal arms and ammunition in his possession," said the Special CP.
Kodagu : , Jan 6 (IANS) A group of six Hindu pilgrims from north Karnataka who reached Sabarimala temple in Kerala during night, and faced the threat of wildlife attacks, were relieved after they were allowed to stay in the premises of a mosque in the Kodagu district.

The management and religious preachers of the Livaul Huda Jumma Masjid and Madrassa in Edathara village, Virajpet taluk, Kodagu district, are praised for accommodating Hindu pilgrims.

The Hindu pilgrims who were from a village near Gokak in Belagavi district undertook the yatra to Sabarimala on bikes. Upon reaching Edathara village, located amid dense forest, they learned about the potential danger of wildlife attacks, especially by elephants.

Having spotted the masjid, they requested the management to allow them to stay. The President of the masjid, Usman, and office-bearer Khateeb Quamaruddin Anvari responded positively and made all necessary arrangements in the masjid. The pilgrims -- Kamalesh Gowri, Bheemappa Sanadi, Shivananda Navedi, Gangadhara Badide, and Siddarod Sanadi -- were also permitted to carry out worship in the premises of the masjid.

The pilgrims performed their morning prayers at the mosque and left for Sabarimala after expressing gratitude to the mosque management.

Usman said, "We are ready to provide facilities to devotees, irrespective of their religion, at our mosque in Edathara. This region is prone to attacks by elephants during the night. Whoever passes through this stretch can stay over in the masjid, and we will provide all facilities. All gods are one."
London, Jan 6 : A fresh round of London Underground strikes have erupted amid long-term disputes over pay and working conditions, with severe disruption to transport expected from January 8 onwards.

Government body Transport for London (TfL) "has failed to avert this strike by not offering a deal that was acceptable to our members on London Underground", a spokesperson from The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) said on Friday night.

"We do not take strike action lightly but we are determined to get a negotiated settlement on pay, travel facilities and a grading structure that means our members will not lose out," the spokesperson added.

Maintenance train workers at a London Underground traction maintenance depot in northwest London will walk out for 24 hours from Friday evening.

From January 8 to 10, nearly 10,000 RMT members will strike across the Tube -- the underground railway system in London.

"There is expected to be severe disruption across the whole Tube network," TfL said on social media on Friday, urging passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel.

London Underground handles up to five million passengers a day, according to TfL.

At peak times, there are over 540 trains running around the capital city.
Rome, Jan 6 : Global food prices declined again in December 2023, falling by 1.5 per cent from the previous month and ending the year 10.1 per cent below its year-earlier level, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

The Rome-based FAO said that in December 2023, prices rose for dairy products and grains and cereals, but were more than compensated for by lower prices for sugar, vegetable oils and meat, reports Xinhua news agency.

Grains and cereals, the largest component in the index, saw their prices rise 1.5 per cent.

However, they still ended the year 16.6 per cent below levels from December 2022, according to the FAO.

Dairy prices gained 1.6 per cent in December but were down by 16.1 per cent for the year.

The FAO said the gains for the month were due to higher demand for butter, whole milk powder and cheese.

The other sub-indexes all lost ground for the month.

The biggest declines were in sugar prices, which slipped 16.6 per cent compared to that in November, falling to their lowest level in nine months.

Prices fell due to strong production levels in Brazil.

Nevertheless, despite the sharp fall in December, the sugar sub-index was still up for the year, with prices 14.9 per cent above levels from the same month in 2022.

Prices for vegetable oils were down by 1.4 per cent, contributing to a 32.7-per cent decrease for 2023 as a whole.

The end-of-year decrease was due to a fall in prices for palm, rapeseed, soy and sunflower seed oils, due to weakening demand.

Meat prices declined 1.0 per cent in December, and 1.8 per cent for the year.

The fall in prices over the final month of the year was due to lower demand for pig meat in Asia, offsetting a slight increase in demand for pork.
Kapalua, Hawaii : Scottie Scheffler the World's No. 1 player, once again emphasised why he is so dominant, as he added a 9-under 64 to his first round 66 to get to 16-under for two rounds at The Sentry. He now has a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the PGA TOUR's season opener.

He led by one over a jet-lagged Tyrell Hatton (69-62), Brendon Todd (67-64) and Sungjae Im (65-66). Hatton took just over 25 hours to get from London to Maui, partly due to a mechanical delay on top of his three-hour layover in Los Angeles. Yet his 62 was his lowest round as a pro, as low scoring was the trend at the Plantation Course at Kapalua for the 59-player field.

The average score was 67.4 on Friday and all 59 players broke par.

Overnight leader Indian-American Sahith Theegala, who shot 64 on the first day had just one bogey, but his five birdies meant a 69 and he dropped to T-9. The other Indian-American in the field Akshay Bhatia (69-64) joined Theegala at T-9 with a bogey free round with nine birdies.

Scheffler, who had one of the best year on the PGA Tour last year and was voted PGA TOUR Player of the Year for the second straight time, won his last event of 2023 in the elite, 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Now in Maui, he holed a lot of birdie putts and some 6-footers for par to move ahead.

"I played really solid," he said. "The few times I got into trouble I got out pretty quick and hit some nice pitches and a couple nice putts as well."

FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland made an eagle putt from just over 50 feet on the closing hole for a 67 that left him two shots back in a group that featured Collin Morikawa (67), Chris Kirk (65) and Byeong Hun An (64).

Korea's An closed with a stunning eagle en route to a sparkling 9-under 64 as he joined compatriot Sungjae Im in the title hunt.

The 32-year-old An, who is chasing his maiden PGA TOUR victory, soared into tied fifth place on 14-under 132, just two strokes behind 36-hole leader Scottie Scheffler at The Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui. An has four career runner-up finishes on TOUR.

Im, a two-time winner, maintained his strong start to the 2024 PGA TOUR season. After an opening 65 on Thursday, the 25-year-old sank eight birdies, including three in his last four holes, against a lone bogey.

Another Korean, Si Woo Kim, carded a 66 to sit T23 on 136, while Tom Kim returned a 70 as he slipped to tied 38th place. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama shot 68, three shots better than his opening round, as he remained T46 on 139.
Plane evacuated after phone catches fire upon landing in US. Image Source: IANS News

Washington, Jan 6 : A California-bound Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Portland, Oregon, after a window reportedly blew out, according to media reports.

The Boeing 737-9 MAX took off at 4.52 p.m. on Friday evening and returned to Portland 20 minutes later, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to photos sent in by a passenger, a large part of the airplane's fuselage and a window was missing.

The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 returned safely to Portland International Airport after "the crew reported a pressurization issue", CNN quoted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as saying.

Both the Portland International Airport and Alaska Airlines confirmed the emergency landing.

Alaska Airlines also confirmed that an incident happened on Flight 1282, which was headed from Portland to Ontario, California.

"The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and six crew members," the airline said.

We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available."

Kyle Rinker, a passenger on the flight, told CNN that a window popped off shortly after takeoff.

"It was really abrupt. Just got to altitude, and the window/wall just popped off and didn't notice it until the oxygen masks came off," he added.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have announced that they will investigate the incident.
Anantapur : , Jan 6 (IANS/101Reporters) Untimely rain has always been a cause of worry for tenant farmers in Bandur panchayat of Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district. Once in every three years, or sometimes yearly, they lose their crops to rain -- a major reason for their high indebtedness.

"We suffer losses either due to excess rain or lack of it. The past three years have been difficult as the chilli crop was affected in one way or the other. I invested Rs 70,000 per acre, but got hardly Rs 30,000 in return. At least 20 families in my area suffered similar losses," said Sikkanna (36), a tenant farmer from Bandur.

Famed for its glossy red colour and hot flavour, Andhra Pradesh chilli has been ruling the spice markets, but that has not helped farmers cultivating leased plots. As if uncertainties and hardships of tenancy were not enough, they also had to deal with virus infestations.

Tenant farmers, Urimindi Gangadhar (40) and Talari Nagaraju (52), lost their chilli crop thrice, which made them turn to full-time farm labour.

"We have stopped growing chilli," they said.

"I am growing paddy and maize as my chilli crop failed thrice," said Kavali Ramesh (36), who also takes up tenant farming when weather is favourable.

"This time, chillies grown in red soil were more prone to viruses than those in black soil. At least two quintals of yield is likely from the latter, but I am hopeless about the red soil one. Now the market rate per quintal is from Rs 18,000 to 25,000. When all conditions favour, 12 quintals of chilli can be produced from an acre, fetching a profit of Rs 30,000 to 50,000 per acre," Bollanaguddam Naveen (24), a farmer-cum-tenant farmer from Devagiri, told 101Reporters.

"I am still struggling to pay the interest on crop loans. Even in times of losses, we have to pay the landowner's rent as agreed upon initially. I do not know anything about the Crop Cultivation Rights Card that the government offers," Sikkanna added.

Cultivation rights card missing

In 2019, Andhra Pradesh government introduced the Andhra Pradesh Crop Cultivator Rights Act, 2019, to recognise and include tenant farmers in all its schemes by issuing a Crop Cultivator Rights Card (CCRC). The Revenue Department will issue the card once a tenant submits the agreement reached on land cultivation with the owner for a 11-month period. The document should be duly signed by the landowner. The village revenue officer in the village secretariat should countersign it.

However, most tenant farmers and landowners are unaware of CCRC.

"Traditionally, all landowner-tenant relationships are oral, without formal agreements," said Chennareddy Basavaraju, a Bommanahal-based landowner and farmer whose fields are in Devagiri.

Marineni Anjaneyulu (60), another landowner, said the traditional arrangement has been working smoothly for both parties.

"I do not know about this Act. Our farming contracts are only oral agreements. We know the difficulties of tenant farmers and offer help in times of crop loss."

Gadekota Senjappa (48), a landowner-cum-farmer from Devagiri, said, "Like me, some farmers make full investment for the crop. The sharecropper (tenant) must do everything from sowing to reaping. After the yield is sold, the investor takes his entire money back and shares the profit evenly."

According to Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV), which works extensively on the issues and rights of farmers, Anantapur district had a total of 54,941 tenant farmers in 2021-22. Of them, only 1,073 received CCRCs. The data for the current year from Rythu Bharosa Kendra (RBK) of Bandur panchayat indicated that only 13 tenant farmers had applied for CCRCs.

Some tenant farmers argue that landowners' consent and signature are the main barriers for applying. Landowners fear they will lose ownership rights and they will have to pay up the bank loans if the tenants default.

The Government of India's 2018 report on the strategy for doubling farmers' income by 2022 addresses three main concerns: removing fear from landowners about losing land rights through leasing, building trust between landowners and tenants, and implementing necessary amendments in tenancy laws to make land leasing legal and open.

The Tenant Farmers Study Report-2022 from RSV makes five crucial recommendations to ensure justice to them (pp no.19). Amending the Crop Cultivator Rights Act, assigning the verification process to local government officials with a robust grievance redressal system, launching a high-profile campaign to assure landowners of their secure ownership title, establishing a comprehensive mechanism for bank loans, and recognising and addressing the unique challenges they face are these five recommendations.

"The 2019 Act needs to be amended to eliminate the need for landowner's signature. It is impractical and unfair. A robust grievance mechanism is an immediate need to equally benefit tenant farmers and landowners," Kiran Kumar Vissa, co-founder, RSV, told 101Reporters over the phone.

Poramboke farmers seek cultivation certificate

Many farmers owning less than five acre cultivate one to two acre of poramboke (waste) land as well to increase their earnings. Around 100 acre of poramboke land in Bandur has been under cultivation for the last two decades. Five small farmers told 101Reporters on condition of anonymity that farm labour was a better option these days as men are paid Rs 400 and women Rs 300 per day.

"For applying fertilisers and pesticides during the kharif season, Rs 500 is the daily wage," they reasoned.

They said land rent for leased plots was Rs 30,000 a year with water facilities, and 25,000 without water facilities.

"Government schemes do not help us. The RBKs mostly benefit big farmers," they added.

Some of them work as tenant farmers in landowners' plots and cultivate poramboke land, besides cultivating their own plots.

"We could not get hold of the certificate of cultivation from the Revenue Department, despite requesting help from various political parties," they claimed.

This certificate serves as an official documentation confirming the ownership of crops cultivated on the specified land.

Vissa said the certificate enabled poramboke farmers to access governmental schemes.

"Once they apply, the revenue officials conduct a physical verification to ensure that cultivation is happening on that land."

Asked about the process, a Revenue Department official said on condition of anonymity that poramboke farmers can obtain the certificate by approaching the department through their elected representative, sarpanch and decisions taken at village meetings.

"Tenancy cultivation attestation falls within the purview of our department through RBKs," he said.

Rising pest problem

"I expected 15 quintal of chilli yield from my one-and-a-half acre plot. Three months into cultivation, a virus infected it despite taking all precautions. I have no hopes now. I have got an e-crop booking done at RBK for crop insurance. No one from the Agriculture department visited my field, but representatives of fertiliser shops came and identified Geminivirus," Patnamshetty Mallikarjuna (48), a farmer-cum-landowner from Devagiri, told 101Reporters.

According to the Department of Plant Pathology, SV Agriculture College, Tirupati, chilli suffers from a large number of viral, fungal, nematode and phytoplasma diseases, and chilli leaf curl (Begomovirus), cucumber mosaic, groundnut bud necrosis, tomato spotted wilt, watermelon bud necrosis, capsicum chlorosis, pepper mild mottle and tobacco mosaic viruses.

A village agriculture assistant said on condition of anonymity that the chilli crop came under the Horticulture Department.

"They have to make field visits and suggest control measures. They will do it," he said.

101Reporters made repeated attempts to contact Rayadurgam Division Horticulture Officer, but there was no response.

Meanwhile, Mukkayyagari Onnuruswamy (55), a tenant farmer from Bandur whose three-acre chilli crop was damaged by the virus, claimed that in his 30 years of experience, he had not once seen any personnel from the Agriculture and Horticulture departments in his fields.

Echoing him, Bommanahal resident Komma Jagadiswara Reddy (60), said the virus infected three acre of his chilli crop in Devagiri.

"At the most I may get four quintal. I invested three lakh rupees. No agriculture officer visited my field. No one comes to our rescue," he bemoaned.

Banduru, Devagiri and Haresamudram come under Bandur Panchayat.

"According to panchayat records, farmers have e-cropped 706 acre of chilli cultivation. Many have informed us about the crop loss. Remedial measures should be recommended by the Horticulture officer," Gajjela Srikanth, Village Agriculture Assistant, RBK, Bandur, told 101Reporters.

"If the crops are damaged by too much rain or drought, the government may offer compensation. For virus infestation, it is unlikely. Horticulture officials will visit the fields if the virus is widespread and severe and suggest control measures. If the virus cannot be determined, the case will be referred to scientists," sources in both Horticulture and Agriculture departments said.

Survey for the Incidence of Viral Diseases in Chilli in Andhra Pradesh, published by the International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences in 2019, said that viral disease is one of the major limiting factors in chilli production. Maximum disease incidence of 45.05 per cent was recorded from Narpali mandal of Anantapur.

According to farmers, chillies were grown in nearly 6,000 acre this time under Tungabhadra Project High Level Canal, but virus infestation ruined the yield.

"I may get only four quintal from two acre against the 12 quintals that I can actually make from the six-month crop. This is the third consecutive year of loss. I have a loan of Rs 90,000 to pay back. The government should help small farmers like me, who are cultivating poramboke land, without setting conditions," said Urumindi Onnurswamy (46) of Bandur.

Tenant farmers are an increasingly vulnerable group who face high cultivation costs and land rents, are dependent on landowners and are excluded from government schemes such as interest-free loans, crop insurance and disaster compensation.

(Paul Babu is an Andhra Pradesh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Military Council Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan speaks during the signing ceremony of the political and constitutional declarations to mark the beginning of the transitional rule, in Khartoum, Sudan. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir/I. Image Source: IANS News

Khartoum, Jan 6 : Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has ruled out reconciliation with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and vowed to continue fighting.

"There is no reconciliation or agreement with the rebels. We will fight until the militia ends, or we end," Al-Burhan said in a video speech posted by the sovereign council on its Telegram account late Friday.

"Our battle continues until every site in Sudan is restored," said the SAF commander.

Al-Burhan welcomed the "Sudanese Popular Resistance" campaign.

"We welcome the popular resistance, and we will arm them, but the weapons must be legalised and registered by the armed forces," he said.

He however, criticized the recently signed declaration between the RSF and Coordination of Civilian Democratic Forces (Taqaddum), a political coalition led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

"The politicians who signed an agreement with RSF made a mistake by talking to rebels," said Al-Burhan, noting that "the politicians' agreement with the RSF is unacceptable and valueless".

On January 2, the RSF and the Taqaddum signed the "Addis Ababa Declaration" to stop the war in Sudan.

According to the declaration, the RSF is prepared to immediately and unconditionally cease hostilities through direct talks with the Sudanese army.

The two parties to the declaration also stressed that sustainable peace in Sudan must be based on ending the multiplicity of armies and forming one professional army.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF since April 15, 2023.

More than 12,000 people have been killed in the fighting and 33,000 others injured, according to UN figures.

As of last month, over 5.8 million were internally displaced and more than 1.5 million others had fled the country as refugees.
Pune, Jan. 6 : The Pune Police have arrested at least eight persons said to be linked to the broad daylight killing of notorious gangster Sharad H. Mohol and also recovered some arms and ammunition from the accused, officials said here on Saturday.

The suspects were caught on the Pune-Bengaluru highway while trying to flee the district late Friday night in two vehicles. They will be produced before a Magistrate Court later Saturday.

As per police investigations by nine separate teams, the 40-year-old local goon was shot by one of his associates and other accomplices over a financial dispute, and further investigations are on.

The police have recovered three country-made pistols, three magazines and five cartridges, as well as the two getaway cars from the accused.

The shootout took place outside Mohol's office-cum-residence in Pandurang Wadi of the Sutardara area of Kothrud on Friday at around 1.15 p.m.

CCTV footage that emerged on Saturday shows how Moho was reportedly celebrating his wedding anniversary, had lunch with his associates, then stepped out of his home and they suddenly started shooting him in a narrow lane.

An aide of Mohol standing nearby, displayed presence of mind to run towards one of the shooters and even tried to catch him, but all of them fled the scene.

Then, the aide and another one helped the profusely bleeding Mohol up on his feet and rushed him to the nearby Sahyadri Hospital.

Of the four rounds fired, Mohol was hit by three bullets, two in the right shoulder and one in the chest that went through the heart, officials said.

The prime suspect in Mohol's killing is one Sahil Polekar, alias Munna, a local resident, and the tentative motive is said to be the outcome of an intra-gang rivalry arising from some financial disputes, Police Commissioner Retesh Kumaarr told mediapersons on Friday night.

After the shootout, Mohol's aide Arun Dhumal filed a complaint with the Kothrud Police Station which lodged the FIR invoking sections of murder, conspiracy, arms act, and set up nine probe teams.

The gangster was once an accused in the alleged killing of Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Qateel Siddique in the Yerawada Central Jail premises, but was later acquitted in 2019.

However, Mohol had remained in jail for another 2010 murder case for nearly 11 years till he secured bail from the Supreme Court in 2021, pending his plea against the conviction.

In July 2022, he was externed from Pune district for six months and had been earlier detained twice under the stringent MCOCA, besides facing 14 manor criminal cases pertaining to murder, murder attempt, extortion, abduction, among others.

Incidentally, Mohol's wife, Swati had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in April 2013 and was welcomed by Minister Chandrakant Patil to the party fold.

Deputy Chief Minister and state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was in Pune on Friday, asserted that Mohol was killed by his own associates and "the government takes strong action against goons and nobody would dare wage gang-wars here".

Mohol is survived by his wife, ason, mother and a brother.

He marked his wedding anniversary on Friday when he was killed, and had also planned to go to a temple near his residence in the adjoining lane.

Hailing from a farmer's family, he was earlier the driver of his elder brother and gangster Sandip Mohol, who was shot dead in October 2006 by a rival mafia gang.

Later, Sharad Mohol took over the gang and avenged his brother's murder by killing gangster Kishore Marne, who was among the suspects in the Sandip Mohol shootout.
Noida/New Delhi, Jan 6 : Intensifying its crackdown on scrap metal mafia and gangster Ravi Kana and his associates operating in the Delhi-NCR region, Noida Police raided and sealed a luxurious Rs 100-crore bungalow in south Delhi's New Friends Colony, believed to have been gifted by Kana to his girlfriend and key accomplice, Kajal Jha.

Jha, who initially sought employment from Kana, rose to prominence within the gang, assuming a crucial role in managing the accounts of the gangster's benami properties.

The police raided the property on Wednesday, prompting Jha and her associates to flee.

"The three-storey bungalow was sealed by police as part of their ongoing efforts to dismantle the scrap mafia network," said a senior Noida Police official.

Ravindra Nagar, aka Ravi Kana, who has over a dozen cases registered, leads a 16-member gang involved in the illicit procurement and sale of rebar and scrap material.

The gang, allegedly involved in extortion from businesses across Delhi-NCR, has amassed considerable wealth, with Kana reportedly transforming from a scrap dealer into a millionaire.

In addition to the property seizures, the Noida Police has been actively apprehending members of Kana's gang. On Friday, two members identified as Rashid Ali and Afsar Ali were arrested from the P-3 roundabout, bringing the total number of arrested gang members to six.

Ravi Kana, who inherited leadership following the demise of his brother Harendra Pradhan, a gangster killed in 2014, has been operating under police protection due to persistent death threats.

A viral video captured Kana entering a wedding event, surrounded by a contingent of policemen, highlighting the challenges faced by law enforcement in curbing the influence of the scrap mafia in the region.
Kochi, Jan 6 : Seeking to harness the potential of India's marine wealth, the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has proposed a set of comprehensive policy suggestions, including the introduction of central legislation (Marine Fishery Act).

According to CMFRI, the proposed Act is necessary for the regulation of fishing in areas beyond territorial waters to address policy and legislative vacuum, providing a much needed frame-work for sustainable practices.

The proposals were presented by CMFRI Director Dr A Gopalakrishnan during the discussion on certification and sustainability in the marine sector at the high-level national workshop organised by the NITI Aayog at CMFRI, here.

Another recommendation that was put up was the institutionalisation of regular stock assessments of marine fishery resources.

"The government has to institutionalise a regular mechanism for the stock assessment of these resources, as resource health status is going to be crucial in WTO subsidy negotiations and other national and international discourse," said Gopalakrishnan.

Referring to the recent debate on certification of Indian marine fisheries, CMFRI suggested a national guideline on the eco-labeling of marine fishery resources.

"Private investments must be made competitive and subject to regulations to safeguard the livelihoods of small-scale fishers and entrepreneurs in the post-harvest sector," said the CMFRI director.

Among the other proposals included streamlining of open sea mariculture, emphasising the need for sustainability and equality to receive adequate focus in determining different ownership and operatorship formats for scaling-up mariculture activities.

Implementation of AI-mediated automated mechanisms for landing estimation, tracking of fishing vessels through Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), and analytics of sub-stock-level information also found a place in the proposal.

"Greater attention needs to be given to island ecosystems and planned expansion of the fishery and value chain development, along with management of the live bait fishery of Lakshadweep," added Gopalakrishnan.

Dr J K Jena, Deputy Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), said India needs to achieve sustainable production from coastal waters and enhanced production from offshore waters.

"One of the approaches to intensify capture fish production is the exploitation of oceanic and deep-sear resources, which are yet to be tapped fully," said Jena.
Ranchi, Jan 6 : Finalising a seat-sharing formula for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand, where the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition is in power, would be a big challenge for the Opposition's INDIA bloc.

Besides JMM, Congress, and RJD, three more constituents of the INDIA bloc -- JD(U), CPI, and CPI (ML) -- are staking claims on some seats in the state.

Any official talks on the issue of seat sharing between INDIA allies haven't yet taken place in the state, and there seems hardly any possibility for such talks in the next 15-20 days. However, parties at individual levels are brainstorming to finalise the number of seats they would be staking claim for.

On January 2-3, newly-appointed Jharkhand in-charge of Congress Ghulam Ahmad Mir was in Ranchi. He held separate meetings with the Congress Legislature Party and key party leaders to discuss the seats for which the party would stake claim.

On January 4, Congress Legislature Party leader Alamgir Alam and state party president Rajesh Thakur participated in a meeting called by the party's top leadership to discuss the issue in New Delhi.

According to sources, it was decided in the meeting that the party will stake claim on 10 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand.

Congress believes that it has accepted Hemant Soren's leadership in state politics, so in return, it should get a bigger stake in national politics.

When the media asked Alam about the seat-sharing issue after he arrived from Delhi, he said: "I do not think there is any problem in the seat sharing for the Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand. Everything will be decided on time without any dispute."

On the other hand, the JMM has staked claim on eight Lok Sabha seats of the state. On December 19, JMM MP Vijay Hansda, General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji participated in the meeting of constituent parties of the INDIA bloc in New Delhi and presented their views on the claim for seats.

JMM says that its support base in the state is bigger than the other constituent parties of the bloc, thus it has a claim on at least 60 per cent of the seats.

RJD, the third partner party of the ruling alliance in the state, also wants "more" for itself. RJD state spokesperson Manoj Kumar said that the party wants to contest elections on four Lok Sabha seats in the state - Palamu, Chatra, Koderma and Godda. The state unit of the party has conveyed this to the RJD national president.

Among the left parties, CPI is claiming one seat, Hazaribagh, from where the party's Bhuvneshwar Prasad Mehta was elected MP in 2004.

Similarly, CPI (ML) is staking claim on three Lok Sabha seats Hazaribagh, Rajmahal and Koderma. The state committee of the party has passed a proposal to field a candidate from the Rajmahal seat under any circumstances.

Nitish Kumar's JD(U) has not had any significant influence in Jharkhand for the last decade, but despite this, the party wants two seats for itself. It is being said that to strengthen its demand, the JD(U) will cite the vote bank of the Koeri-Kurmi community on these seats.

Overall, there is currently a tug-of-war regarding seat distribution and it is very difficult to create a universally accepted formula among all the constituent parties.
(State of the state package) Dogged by defections, Goa's leftover Cong puts up brave face against BJP. Image Source: IANS News

Guwahati, Jan 6 : The Congress in Assam was successful in uniting 12 parties to form a cohesive opposition to counter the BJP's formidable election machinery in the state, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, long before the 26 opposition parties formed the INDIA bloc.

The Left parties -- Raijor Dol, led by Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi; Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) of former All Assam Students Union (AASU) leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi -- and others were present in the unified opposition forum. However, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), a significant figure in the state's politics, is absent from the joint conference.

At first, the opposition group did not include Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress or Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Following the announcement of INDIA, the situation changed to a great extent and both Trinamool Congress and AAP are now constituents of the major opposition alliance.

However, tensions have started mounting among the allies over ticket distribution.

Assam has a total of 14 Lok Sabha seats. In the 2019 general elections, Congress fought for the maximum number of seats. But this time, as they forged a bigger alliance, the allies have started demanding seats.

AAP leaders have expressed their desire to contest at least four Lok Sabha seats, while the Trinamool Congress has also insisted on conteding in five seats.

Meanwhile, the Left parties are asking to be allocated three seats.

Akhil Gogoi has declared categorically that he will run for the Lok Sabha seat in Jorhat.

Congress is not ready to give its allies plenty of seats. Although the state party president Bhupen Borah has been speaking about sacrifice to combat with the BJP in polls.

"Our primary aim is to beat the BJP. All parties including the Congress are ready to sacrifice for the cause. I hope every leader will understand this. We must ensure that there is only one candidate from the INDIA bloc against the BJP in each Lok Sabha seat in Assam.

"The ticket distribution will be decided by Delhi leaders. In Assam, we shall accept the decisions taken by the high command," he had said recently.

The Assam Congress president further said that the opposition parties should take note of the strength of the 'Grand Old Party' in the state.

"The Congress party has three Lok Sabha MPs and more than 20 MLAs in Assam. While distributing the tickets for Lok Sabha, this fact will have to be considered by all."

In the previous Lok Sabha polls, Congress won Nagaon, Kaliabor and Barpeta.

Although Gaurav Gogoi is still an MP from Kaliabor, the Lok Sabha constituency no longer exists following the delimitation exercise.

Gogoi has since been looking for a new constituency to fight the polls.

According to party sources, he is keen to contest from Jorhat where Akhil Gogoi has already staked his claim of candidature.

Abdul Khaleque, a Congress MP from Barpeta, has announced that he would fight polls from there. But the Left parties have been demanding this seat from the alliance.

The contention over ticket distribution among the allies of the INDIA bloc in Assam might be good news for the BJP.

Chief Minister Sarma said: "This is Khichdi alliance and the BJP will be successful to win more than 11 Lok Sabha seats in Assam."
Chennai, Jan 6 : Even as the INDIA bloc is facing several teething issues regarding the prominence of each party across the country, in Tamil Nadu, it is clear that MK Stalin is the boss and the ruling DMK has the final say in the seat sharing arrangements for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The DMK, which has won comfortable victories in all the polls since the 2019 General Elections in Tamil Nadu, is sitting pretty in the forthcoming 2024 General Elections as well.

Stalin's party DMK, as the leader of the coalition in Tamil Nadu, commenced preparations for the Lok Sabha polls last year.

In February 2023, Stalin had called a meeting of DMK District Secretaries and posted full time party workers in each Assembly constituency, who were asked to appoint dedicated workers in each booth committee.

R Selvapandy, a leader of the DMK in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu, told IANS, "The DMK is all geared up and our leader Stalin has already called upon the party cadres and workers to win all the 39 seats from Tamil Nadu and the lone seat from neighbouring Puducherry which is held by the AIADMK at present."

He said that the booth committees have been active since March 2023 and each booth incharge has to have a proper understanding of the voter list. They have to ensure that the names of new voters are added and the names of those who have passed away or have shifted residence are struck off the list, he added.

It may be recalled that in the 2019 General Elections the DMK-led front Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) contested on 21 seats, the Congress on 10 seats, the CPI(M), CPI and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) fought on two seats each while the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) contested from one seat as did the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

The DMK's front won all seats except in Theni where the SPA's candidate senior Congress leader and former Union Minister, EVKS Elangovan lost to AIADMK leader OP Raveendranathan, who incidentally is the son of former Chief Minister and senior AIADMK leader, O Panneerselvam.

With the DMK ruling Tamil Nadu and having a grass root network in all the Assembly constituencies, the partners of the INDIA front including the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, VCK, MDMK and the IUML have to toe the line taken by Stalin's party as it is the big brother in the alliance.

In Tamil Nadu's politics, the parties with strong Dravidian roots will have the say in a coalition and national parties will have to ride piggyback. This is exactly what the Congress and BJP did in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when they depended on their coalition partners the DMK and AIADMK respectively.

A senior Congress leader from Salem told IANS, "The Congress won nine seats in the last Lok Sabha elections due to the DMK as the grand old party does not have the organisational capability or the base to win seats on its own in the state. The ten seats being given by the DMK are the maximum we can get and I can vouch that it is only due to the generosity of the Dravidian major that we are getting these many seats to contest."

Senior DMK leader S Durai Murugan told IANS, "There are no issues in seat sharing in the front in Tamil Nadu. Our leader, Thiru MK Stalin will have the final say and the DMK is a political party which always respects coalition dharma and knows how the alliance works. There won't be any issues in Tamil Nadu as far as seat sharing for the General Elections is concerned."

He also said that it would be an easy win for the DMK given the popularity of Stalin and the several welfare schemes that the state government has implemented since it has assumed power.

With the INDIA bloc having Muslim, Dalit and workers' representation in the IUML, VCK and the Communist parties in Tamil Nadu, it is a formidable electoral combination representing all social and religious communities.

RK Raghavan, Director, Institute of Social and Political Research, Coimbatore told IANS, "On close observation, the INDIA bloc is a clear social combination as it has representations from all sections of society. The seat sharing exercise is expected to culminate in an amicable manner and with the DMK calling the shots, it is certain that each of the coalition partners will contest in the same number of seats that they contested in the 2019 polls."
Chandigarh, Jan 6 : More fissures appear in the INDIA bloc after Punjab's ruling AAP slams the main Opposition party, Congress that remains opposed to it in the state.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann fired a salvo by sarcastically saying, "Ek thi Congress" on the first day of 2024 that will see the general elections in the country.

"Ek thi Congress" is the world's shortest story, Mann told the media here.

At the same time, the Congress paid him back in the same coin by saying, "Ek tha Joker."

The Congress said there were common ideologies between the AAP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in seeking a "Congress-free India".

Taking to X, Congress leader Pawan Khera responded to Mann's assertion by saying, "How similar are the views of AAP and Modi ji! Both of them dream of a Congress-free India. Will eat both mouthfuls." "By the way, the name of a Bhojpuri picture is 'Ek tha Joker'. You must have seen it?" he added.

Joining the issue, Congress state leader Navjot Sidhu said his questions backed by facts and figures on the Delhi liquor scam have remained unanswered since Punjab Elections in 2022.

"Your silence is a deafening betrayal of the principles you once advocated," he taunted AAP National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Former state Congress chief Sidhu said the once vocal advocate for accountability has gone mute. "Is it a confession of inconvenient truths? The self-proclaimed RTI crusader has morphed into a master of evasionTime for accountability and transparency," he said, adding, "The Congress was, is and always will be there."

In the backdrop of the AAP's 'Vikas Kranti Rally' in Bathinda district that saw the presence of Mann and Kejriwal, the maverick leader Sidhu at a 'Jittega Punjab, Jittegi Congress (Punjab will win, Congress will win)' rally on the same day in the district took a dig at the government by saying a sand tipper which earlier sold for Rs 3,000 now costs Rs 21,000.

He slammed Mann and Kejriwal for promising Rs 20,000 crore revenue from sand mining and stated that "the government could collect a mere Rs 125 crore".

He also took a jibe at the AAP leaders for not fulfilling the pre-poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 allowance per month to every woman aged 18 and above.

However, knives are out within the party against Sidhu for his rallies, which rivals describe as "self-glorification events."

Sidhu has also been slamming his party colleagues, including former Chief Minister Charanjit Channi, who was the chief ministerial candidate in the 2022 Assembly elections. Leaders believe Sidhu's assertions harmed the party in the 2022 Assembly elections too.

The AAP had won 92 seats in Punjab -- up from 20 in 2017 with its vote share rising to 42.4 per cent. At a public meeting in Bathinda last month, Kejriwal appealed to the people to vote for the ruling AAP in all 13 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, hinting at no scope for seat sharing with its INDIA ally Congress.

He also asked the public, "Tell me one thing that the Akali Dal-BJP Government and the Congress Government have done in 75 years?"

The Congress had won eight Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019, whereas the AAP won only a single seat.

The state unit of the Congress has been opposing the proposal of an alliance with the AAP.

Slamming the government after Arjuna Awardee Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dalbir Singh was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Jalandhar, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said that on the very first day of this year it has been established that the government is absolutely inefficient in streamlining the law and order situation.

On the occasion of New Year 2024, Bajwa wished better sense would prevail over the government and it would start working for the betterment of the state.

"What the AAP Government in Punjab did in 2023 was exactly opposite of what it promised before elections in 2022. The government performed far from the expectations of the people of Punjab," Bajwa told the media.

On the drug menace, Bajwa said that AAP's senior leadership, including Mann and Kejriwal, had vowed to end the drug menace within four months of forming the government. However, on August 15, 2023, the Punjab Chief Minister sought another year to end the growing drug abuse in the state. Meanwhile, it has been more than four months since he made another pledge, and he has done literally nothing except conduct roadshows and cycle rallies.

"By the end of this financial year, the state's debt will cross the Rs 3 lakh crore mark. Instead of raising revenue of the state from various sources like Rs 20,000 crore from sand mining and Rs 34,000 crore by ending corruption, the AAP Government kept borrowing from several financial agencies, including the Reserve Bank of India," said Bajwa.

The Opposition leader said the law and order situation in Punjab remained poor in 2023 as well. Just like in 2022, gruesome crimes took place in 2023, too, and the AAP Government merely remained a mute spectator.

"I urge Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the Home portfolio to pull up his socks and chalk out an effective strategy to tackle organised crimes and growing gun violence in the state," Bajwa added.

As the fighting between the AAP and the Congress escalates, hopes about their collective strength in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, in Punjab diminish, say political observers.

The situation, they say, seems fluid for both the arch-rivals. The AAP and the Congress have never been on the same page in state politics, which is largely dominated by the Congress and the Akali Dal, since the former's meteoric rise in the 2014 parliamentary polls.

Since the 21-month-old AAP Government, which trounced the traditional players that ruled the state for over seven decades, has an edge over all rivals, the Mann-led dispensation has sharp differences with all Opposition parties -- the Congress, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Missing no opportunity, Chief Minister Mann is often accusing the BJP and the Congress of working together to topple the AAP Government.

In the present political scenario, the BJP, riding high on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, is gung-ho about its prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress is yet to emerge from its own shadow, first to challenge the ruling AAP and then to counter the saffron brigade, which is largely banking on the sections deserting it, mainly Jat Sikhs, to strengthen its base.

Also, the state's once prominent regional outfit SAD, which marked its centennial in 2021, is facing its worst crisis "structurally, organisationally, and even in terms of ideological leadership."

There is a mass exodus of leaders, even SAD veterans with grey, flowing beards. Now the SAD is returning to its "panthic" (Sikh religious) agenda to win back its core base of the Sikhs, particularly in rural belts, after the backlash to the 2015 sacrilege incidents and to its initial support to the Centre's (now repealed) farm laws.

Apart from former Chief Minister Channi, the Vigilance Bureau has initiated probes against several Congress leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni, former ministers Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Vijay Inder Singla, Brahm Mohindra, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Sham Sunder Arora.

Dismissing charges of "political vendetta", Chief Minister Mann has been saying the government has waged a war against corruption, and many leaders, including the AAP's own men, who indulged in corruption, have been put behind bars.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at gulatiians@gmail.com)
(INDIA BLOC) With Adhir on warpath with TMC, Cong may be left with just the Left in Bengal. Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, Jan 6 : Since the beginning of the New Year, there are indications of the unity within the Opposition INDIA Bloc in West Bengal being under threat each passing day.

While any kind of understanding between the ruling Trinamool Congress and its arch rival the CPI(M)-led Left Front was always out of the question in the state, there was some speculation about a possible Congress-Trinamool Congress concord.

However, this too was possible only if the Congress high command overruled the objections of the majority of its state leadership to any alliance with the ruling party in West Bengal.

According to the latest information, the Congress high command is keeping the door open for dialogues with both, the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress, till the very end.

However, during the last ten days there have been enough indications from the top leaders of the Trinamool Congress and the state unit of the Congress that a three-cornered contest between the ruling party, the BJP and the Congress-Left Front alliance is a big possibility.

Significantly, both the Congress and CPI(M) have taken the preliminary decision not to contest from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency in South 24 Parganas district and allow All-India Secular Front (AISF) representative Naushad Siddique to stand from there.

The move, according to political observers, will undoubtedly put Diamond Harbour's current Lok Sabha member and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee in a fix.

This is because of the twin factors of a sizeable minority population in that constituency that is enough to determine the fate of the candidates there and the skyrocketing popularity of Siddique among the Muslim voters, especially among the youth.

Observers say that in case of a triangular contest between the Trinamool Congress, BJP and AISF in Diamond Harbour, the sitting MP from there will to a great extent restrict himself to that constituency rather than concentrating on campaigning for the party in the entire state.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself sowed the seeds of discord when she gave a hint that while the INDIA Bloc will prevail at the national level, in the case of West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress would take on the BJP alone.

"Let the INDIA Bloc be there nationally, but in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress will put up the fight. Remember, in West Bengal only Trinamool Congress can teach the BJP a lesson. The Trinamool Congress can show the path to the entire country from West Bengal. No other party is capable of doing that," Mamata Banerjee said.

The Chief Minister's observation was the trigger for state Congress President and five-time Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to reiterate his old logic against any kind of compromise with the Trinamool Congress.

Chowdhury said that factionalism and corruption have led the state's ruling party to the final stage of cancer. On Thursday evening he virtually closed all the doors on behalf of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) for any alliance with the Trinamool Congress by directly challenging Mamata Banerjee to contest against him in the Lok Sabha polls this year.

He also described the Trinamool Congress' demands for seats in Assam, Meghalaya and Goa, as against just two seats for the grand old party in West Bengal as absurd propositions, particularly as the two seats already have sitting Congress MPs.

In no time, the CPI(M)'s central committee member Sujan Chakraborty expressed solidarity with Chowdhury on the issue.

"Although I should not speak about an internal policy matter of the Congress, I still want to say that the kind of political and administrative wrath that the Congress has been subjected to in West Bengal during the current Trinamool Congress regime, such a reaction from the state Congress President is quite natural," Chakraborty said.

Political observers say that although everything is possible in politics, as of now it is quite evident that the concept of INDIA Bloc will be restricted to the Congress-Left Front and not the Congress-Trinamool Congress combine.
Patna, Jan 6 : After the fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc, its alliance partners in Bihar are making hard bargains with each other before Lok Sabha election 2024.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led Janata Dal-United (JD-U) has almost accepted his stand of not contesting less than 16 seats in Bihar which is a clear indication that the alliance partners have differences with each other and everyone is trying to get the upper hand in the final negotiations.

Sanjay Kumar Jha, water resource minister of Bihar and a trusted associate of Nitish Kumar, on Friday stated that his party will not contest less than 16 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"We have16 MPs of the Lok Sabha and there is no question of contesting less than 16 seats in Bihar," he said.

His statement came a day after RJD leader and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav met Nitish Kumar at the latter 's official residence in Patna. It is a clear signal that Nitish Kumar is ready for some hard bargaining with the RJD in Bihar. The JD-U leaders always raise the point to make Nitish Kumar the convener of the alliance and the PM face of the Opposition INDIA bloc.

"I want to clarify that the party will not open a dialogue with the Congress and the Left parties. He (Nitish) said that the Congress and the Left parties will finalize their seats with the RJD and then we will discuss the final formula with them," Jha said, adding that the JD-U will go for more seats not less.

The firm stand of the JD-U will make it tough for the RJD and other alliance partners of the INDIA bloc as Bihar has 40 Lok Sabha seats and if the JD-U bargains for one or two seats more, it leaves only 22 to 23 seats for the RJD, Congress, CPI, CPM and CPI-ML.

If the JD-U will contest on 16 or more seats, the RJD has to contest on the same number of seats to claim that its political status in Bihar is similar to the JD-U.

The main bargaining strength of the JD-U is its position in Bihar. NItish Kumar or any other leader of the JD-U may not speak about it on a public platform but its option to go with the BJP-led NDA is always there.

In the recent past during the national executive committee meeting in New Delhi the then national president Lalan Singh had resigned from the post and Nitish Kumar was elected the national president. On that occasion too Nitish Kumar did not make any strong statement against the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The soft approach towards the BJP gives Nitish Kumar a better chance to bargain hard with the alliance partners as the latter believe that if Kumar executes his 'Paltimar' programme again, the INDIA bloc will not have any chance to win the Lok Sabha election.

After Nitish Kumar separated from the NDA in August 2022, he and other leaders of the JD-U always said that they need to reduce only 40 seats of the NDA to bring the Narendra Modi government below the majority figure of 272. Hence, Bihar is crucial for the INDIA bloc to challenge Narendra Modi and the BJP in the general election.

The intentions of the JD-U can also be understood through the statement of JD-U MLC Neeraj Kumar, who said that his party will do politics by sitting on the partners' chest. However he clarified that his relations with all the alliance partners are good.

"The JD-U is a party of only 45 MLAs. Still, the politics of Bihar revolve around our party and this is happening only due to our political brain and smartness. No one will conspire against us. They know our style of politics. We do politics by sitting on the chest. The opposition alliance started from Bihar and we have only one ambition -- to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha election," Kumar said.

"Our leader Nitish Kumar never claimed any post of convener or PM face of the INDIA bloc. It is a conspiracy of the opposition parties like the BJP to raise this point again and again to create confusion in the minds of the common people," Kumar said.

The meeting between Tejashwi Yadav and Nitish Kumar gave an opportunity to the opposition leaders to train their guns at the INDIA bloc leaders.

Meanwhile, Union minister Giriraj Singh took a dig at the INDIA bloc leaders and said: "Nitish Kumar is not pleased with Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Until and unless, Nitish Kumar gets the post of convener, he will not be satisfied."

"Tejashwi Yadav went to the residence of Nitish Kumar to pacify him as he (Nitish Kumar) is upset, Tejashwi had to go to the darbar (court)) of Kumar and sing a song -- "Ruthe Chacha Ko Manau Kaise," (How can I pacify my angry uncle) Giriraj Singh said.
Lucknow, Jan 6 : More and more issues are emerging, instead of getting resolved, between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) - the two main constituents of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.

Lucknow, Jan 6 (IANS) More and more issues are emerging, instead of getting resolved, between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP)  the two main constituents of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.

The latest stumbling block between the SP and the Congress is the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

While the SP is against the BSP joining the alliance of 28 Opposition parties, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) President Ajay Rai, is urging BSP President Mayawati to "seriously consider" joining the group.

SP's representative in the bloc's coordination committee, Javed Ali Khan, said, "Ajay Rai has a BJP background. And the Congress must take cognisance of his remarks."

To complicate matters further, Mayawati recently told her party cadres not to make any remarks against INDIA bloc members since the BSP was now keeping its options open regarding alliances.

This has further irked the SP which suspects that the Congress may bring BSP into the INDIA fold at the last minute.

Tension between the two parties has heightened because of this.

The main problem in Uttar Pradesh is that Akhilesh Yadav is a state leader but is positioning himself as a national leader and wants to command the scenario. The Congress, apparently, does not give much importance to 'junior partners' like the SP and the party high command had maintained a studied silence on the Uttar Pradesh situation till now.

Talks on seat sharing have not even taken off. Unity is, therefore, torn apart by one-upmanship between the SP and the Congress.

The debacle in three states in the recent Assembly polls has not brought any change in the Congress' attitude and it continues to turn a blind eye to problem areas.

After the Congress' drubbing in the Assembly polls, the SP is also in the "I-told-you-so" mood, conveniently forgetting its own dismal performance in Madhya Pradesh.

"The Congress has no business to put any terms for the alliance in UP. We are the biggest challengers to the BJP and the seat distribution will be in accordance to the political relevance of a party," said a senior SP leader.

SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chaand went on to say that given the political landscape in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress only deserved two Lok Sabha seats  possibly Rae Bareli and Amethi.

He mentioned that the Congress suffered defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh due to its misguided decisions, weakening the unity of the INDIA bloc.

Fakhrul Hasan Chaand explained that granting more seats would inadvertently assist the BJP and to defeat the saffron party, the Congress should align itself with the SP.

Senior SP leader IP Singh even took to social media platform X on Monday to accuse Priyanka Gandhi of having struck "a deal" with the BJP at the Centre and went on to explain in detail how her choices in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have led to the BJP's victory and the Congress party's defeat.

A senior party functionary, known for his proximity to Akhilesh Yadav disclosed that seat-sharing talks will depend on the attitude of the other party.

"We know that we are the only party that can challenge the BJP in UP and other members of the INDIA bloc should also accept this fact," he said.

However, he said that the SP would remain a part of the Opposition bloc and would even attend the meetings of the alliance.

The Congress has not yet formally placed any demand for seats but state leaders say that they would want a respectable share, keeping in mind their national status.

The Congress dismissed the allegations of the SP as completely unfounded and irrelevant and did not react to its barbs.

So far, there has been no effort from either of the parties to resolve issues and ease tensions between them. However, as a member of the INDIA bloc, SP is keen not to isolate itself among Opposition members but it also wants to remain in the driving seat in Uttar Pradesh  both of which cannot happen simultaneously.

Akhilesh's blow-hot, blow-cold relationship with the Congress and lack of clarity on the issue has left his party cadres perplexed.

"We do not know what our relationship with the Congress is. There is a strange distance between the two parties at the ground level which will make a poll alliance unpalatable during elections, if the differences are not ironed out now. As Opposition parties, we do not speak the same language and neither are we on the same page where major issues are concerned," said a senior party MLA.

Moreover, Akhilesh Yadav may be an unchallenged leader in his party but he remains confused about his own status, strategies and political moves.

Akhilesh has been peddling soft Hindutva but allows leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya to make anti-Hindu statements often.

The SP continues to rely heavily on its Muslim voters but Akhilesh is equally wary of speaking out on issues related to the minorities.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : A gate of the famous and old Jhandewalan Mandir in Delhi was demolished volantarily by the temple administration on the request of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. After the demolition, the L-G praised the step taken by the temple administration.

The temple authorities said that keeping in mind the convenience of the people and the traffic movement, the temple administration decided to remove this gate. The Lieutenant Governor said that this is an excellent example and will further ensure the safety of pedestrians.

In a post on X, the Lieutenant Governor said, "The ancient Jhandewalan Mandir on Rani Jhansi Marg has voluntarily brought down its gate beside the foot over bridge, on my request. This exemplary exercise will ensure safer pedestrian movement and reduce traffic jams on this important arterial connecting North and South Delhi."

The L-G further said, "It will bring major relief to residents and commuters of heavily congested areas like Eid Gaah, Sadar Bazar, Azad Market, Model Basti, Pul Bangash and Motia Khan among others. My salute to the civic spirit of the Temple Management."
Kolkata, Jan 6 : The Enforcement Directorate has requested the Border Security Force (BSF) to heighten its surveillance as the probe agency believes that heavyweight Trinamool Congress leader Sajahan Sheikh, who has been absconding since the attack on ED and CAPF personnel during a raid at his residence in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, might make an attempt to flee to Bangladesh.

ED officials have requested the BSF to aggravate its surveillance at the different international borders with Bangladesh in the North 24 Parganas district, informed source said.

The attack on the ED and CAPF personnel took place on Friday morning and since then Sajahan but his family members are on the run.

The sources said that since the area where the attack took place is close to the international borders with Bangladesh, the EDis not ruling out the possibilities of an escape attempt to the neighbouring nation.

They added that from the nature of the attack two things in the entire conspiracy are clear -- the first is that Sajahan received advance information of the raid and search operations and got time to arrange the huge crowd to assemble near his residence.

The crowd waited, till the time the ED officials attempted contacting those within the residence locked inside.

The ED has confirmed that while they were knocking the main entrance door of the residence, Sajahan was inside the house as indicated by the latteras mobile tower location.

The second evident part of the conspiracy was the presence of women protesters in the front of the crowd, while male agitators hurled stones from behind.

Because of the presence of the women in the front, the CAPF personnel had to refrain from a forceful counter-retaliation.

It was only when the ED officials tried to retreat and separated from the escorting CAPF personnel, the male protesters came ahead of the women and attacked the central agency team with bamboo sticks, bricks and stones.
Bengaluru, Jan 6 : Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that the government must protect the interests of farmers who have voted for the Congress and brought them to power in the state.

"Rs 105 crore drought relief released by the state government is not sufficient. No one knows how many farmers will get benefitted because of these funds. Severity of the natural calamity was huge and the amount released by the state government is much less," Bommai said.

He said that his political entity exists only because he has been protecting the interest of farmers and always ensured their rights. "I have always raised their voice," he said.

Bommai's remarks came in wake of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's statement that the BJP leaders were making charges against state government for their political survival.

Bommai said that it is common practice to demand relief amounts as per the NDRF guidelines from the Centre but it is the duty of the state government to rescue the farming community which are in distress by releasing the full amount to farmers.

"I urge Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to immediately release the amount of relief. Why isn't the government releasing the amount as it claims that Karnataka has a stable financial position? The state government has demanded Rs 18,000 crore from the Centre but themselves have released just Rs 105 crore which was not even one per cent," Bommai said.

He said that the government must exhibit its commitment through actions and not words.

"The previous BJP government had released Rs 2,031 crore as per the NDRF norms only within two months. So, the BJP has every right to question the incumbent government," he said.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : Commerce and Industry Ministry Piyush Goyal on Saturday urged the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to make the country's standards compatible to international standards wherever possible like in case of lifts, air filters or medical items.

"This can be achieved through an increase in stakeholder consultations and by involving industry representatives," the minister said while addressing the 77th Foundation Day function of BIS.

BIS and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) jointly organised the 'Dialogue for Strengthening Quality Ecosystem in India' to mark the foundation day.

The minister said that a comprehensive network of modern labs have been set up to facilitate testing by BIS and industry. BIS recently agreed to invest Rs 40 crore to set up 21 labs for cotton testing.

He called upon industry to come forward with areas for which testing is required. He said BIS has ample funds and asked the orgainsation to ensure a transparent ecosystem and high surveillance for better delivery.

Goyal applauded the efforts of BIS in hallmarking jewellery and pointed out that mandatory hallmarking covers 343 districts. More than 4.3 lakh articles are hallmarked every day and 90 per cent jewellery that people are buying is hallmarked, he added.

The minister said that till 2014 there were only 14 Quality Control Orders of 106 products but now there are 156 QCOs of 672 products.

The minister also pointed out that there had been a 52 per cent decline in toy imports in 2023 compared to 2015 because of QCOs that mandated quality above all.

"QCO's are being processed in nearly 2500 more items which reflects our commitment towards quality by providing high standard goods and services," he said.

He said that nine years ago, PM Modi gave the vision of Zero Defect, Zero Effect which means that India should make products of high quality that are sustainable, eco-friendly and have zero climate impact.

He quoted PM Modi as saying: "Over decades, India had been dependent on foreign standards for quality. Now India's pace and progress will be decided by our own standards."

Goyal said that good quality is non-negotiable and with the awareness generated by BIS, its benefits are understood by consumers, industry, exporters and importers.

He also appealed to the younger generation to become the young ambassadors of quality and of Viksit Bharat. He said that the youngsters can promote e-learning, and can upgrade PARAKH initiative in colleges and universities.

Delegates including experts from diverse fields related to standardisation, policymakers, industry professionals, consumer groups, academicians, representatives of various Industries, associations, leading manufacturers, traders, special invitees and representatives from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and DPIIT, also participated in the event. The inaugural session was followed by technical sessions.

--IANS

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Mysuru : , Jan 6 (IANS) The Karnataka Education Department on Saturday suspended an in-charge headmaster from the service for sexually harassing the children of a government school at a village in Nanjangud taluk.

Following complaints by the children over sexual harassment by the accused, the parents had demanded action against the in-charge headmaster.

The Block Education Officer (BEO) A.T. Shivalingaiah had conducted a surprise visit, inspected the school and gathered information. The POCSO case was lodged against the accused teacher with the Kavalande police station.

The education department has said in the suspension order that the charges against the accused were proved prima facie. Further investigation in the case is on.
Washington, Jan 6 : Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) recommended by physicians for curing Covid-19 has been linked to nearly 17,000 deaths, according to a new study as quoted by media reports.

A new study conducted by French researchers has found that nearly 17,000 people across six countries may have died after being prescribed hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) while hospitalised with illness from March to July 2020 during the first wave of Covid-19, Newsweek reported.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, former US President Donald Trump urged Americans to take hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an anti-malaria medicine that is also often used to cure rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, claiming that he himself had been taking the "miracle" drug.

The research published in the February issue of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy shows that increase in the number of deaths was driven by side effects like heart arrhythmia and muscle weakness.

The countries studied were the US, Turkey, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy, Newsweek reported.

The US reported the highest numbers of deaths with 12,739, followed by Spain (1,895), Italy (1,822), Belgium (240), France (199) and Turkey (95).

The researchers said that the number of deaths could be much higher as their study only looked at only six countries between March and July 2020.

The scientists analysed various studies that tracked hospitalisations due to Covid-19 and exposure to the drug and risk related to it.

After the outbreak of coronavirus, scientists suggested that HCQ could be effective in treating the deadly virus, Newsweek reported.

On March 28, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug for an emergency use authorisation and started clinical trials.

However in June 2020, the FDA revoked the emergency use authorisation of the drug as several studies, including one by New England Journal of Medicine, found HCQ had no benefit on Covid and led to significant surge in the risk of death. The FDA revoked the emergency use authorisation on June 15, 2020.

While one scientist called the HCQ a "magic bullet" against coronavirus, Trump highlighted the "miracle" recovery made by a Covid-infected woman after using the drug, Newsweek reported.

"The nice part is, it's been around for a long time...if things don't go as planned, it's not going to kill anybody," the ex-US President Trump said during a Covid Taskforce briefing.

In a tweet on March 21, 2020, he added that "FDA has moved mountains" and that the drug would be put to use "immediately" as an antidote to curb Covid transmission.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : A Delhi court has granted a two-week interim bail to Sameer Mahendru, a liquor businessman and managing director of Indospirit, in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Special Judge M K Nagpal of Rouse Acenue Court provided relief to Mahendru based on an application citing his wife's health issues.

The judge observed that during Mahendru's previous interim bail, there was no attempt to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.

The judge stated that Mahendru does not pose a flight risk, and there is no evidence indicating attempts to influence witnesses or manipulate case-related evidence.

According to the prosecution, Mahendru was a significant beneficiary of excise policy violations, operating an alcoholic beverage manufacturing unit and holding wholesale and retail licenses in his and his relatives' names.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had denied regular bail to Mahendru.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma had observed that Mahendru's medical condition does not pose a life-threatening risk or involve an infirmity that cannot be treated within the confines of a jail.

The court had noted that Mahendru is already receiving adequate medical attention, and prison authorities have permitted him to seek treatment from his doctor on an out-patient basis as needed.

It had ruled that there were no compelling grounds to grant regular bail to Mahendru in the current case. However, it clarified that the prison authorities must ensure that Mahendru is taken for follow-up medical and physiotherapy sessions at VNA Hospital and that he is not left unattended in the jail cell or dispensary.

Justice Sharma had stressed on the importance of an individual's right to liberty, acknowledging it as a precious right but also noted that when justifiable grounds exist, it must be surrendered in favor of the State.

The court had underlined the obligation to provide health services and care equivalent to what is available to the general citizenry outside of detention.

Stressing on the need for impartiality and objectivity, the court had said that decisions in such cases should be based on the merits of the case and established legal principles, rather than the economic status of the litigants.

Addressing the allegations against the accused, the court had noted that he was accused of being a key player in the formulation of the excise policy and one of the main conspirators.

While acknowledging his fundamental right to healthcare and medical treatment, the court had said that this right cannot overshadow the imperative to conduct a fair investigation and ensure due legal processes are followed.

The court had noted that Mahendru had undergone approximately five surgeries in the past. However, as of the current date, he is recovering in jail, and according to AIIMS reports, he is required to follow medical and rehabilitation protocols, supplemented by regular exercise and physiotherapy.
Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and India totalled $1 bln 107.9 mln in January-November 2023. Based on the report of the State Customs Committee, the volume of this indicator decreased by 40 percent or $751.1 million compared to the corresponding period of last year, Azernews reports.

Thus, in January-November 2022, the volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and India totalled $1 bln 859.1 mln.

During the reporting period, the volume of exports from Azerbaijan to India decreased by 44.4 percent to $924.5 mln, while the volume of exports from India to Azerbaijan fell by 6.7 percent to $183.4 mln.

It should be noted that India ranks third among the countries to which Azerbaijan exports crude oil.

A Decrease in Trade Turnover

The volume of trade between these two countries fell by 40 per cent, or $751.1 million, compared to the same period in the preceding year.

However, it is important to note this downturn in trade within the context of Azerbaijan's overall economic performance. Notably, despite this decrease in trade with India, the Azerbaijani economy has been on an upward trajectory. As noted by President Ilham Aliyev, the country's GDP was set to reach a record of 130 billion manat ($76.5 billion) by the end of 2022, driven by high energy prices and a rich supply of oil and gas.

Trade in Perspective

While the decrease in trade turnover with India is significant, it represents a small fraction of Azerbaijan's overall economy. The country's external debt to GDP ratio remains low at 10%, and its foreign exchange reserves are eight times higher, indicating a robust economic position.

Considering this, the decrease in trade turnover with India may not have a substantial impact on the broader Azerbaijani economy.
Kolkata, Jan 6 : Trinamool Congress leader Shankar Adhya, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) late on Friday night in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution case, was produced before a special PMLA court on Saturday, where the ED counsel claimed Adhya made around Rs 20 crore in foreign exchange dealings in the past few years.

The ED counsel also said that such foreign exchange dealings were done through 90 agencies.

As per the agency, the Trinamool leader was unable to furnish any document pertaining to the source of the acquired funds.

The ED believes that this huge amount of foreign exchange dealings was done using the proceeds of the alleged ration distribution scam.

The ED counsel told the court that the Indian rupees were converted into foreign currencies and then transferred abroad, mainly to Dubai, sometimes directly and at times via Bangladesh.

The judge of the special court expressed astonishment at the involvement of such large amount of funds in foreign exchange dealings.

"There's such huge amount of transactions and yet some people claim that this is a poor state," he said.

Adhya's counsel claimed that dealings in foreign exchange is not an illegal business, and his client carried out work in a legal manner.
Bengaluru, Jan 6 : The Fifth Additional Sessions Court in Devanahalli of Bengaluru on Saturday granted bail to Karnataka Rakshana Vedike President T.A. Narayana Gowda and 29 Kannada activists in connection with vandalism during protests seeking prominence of Kannada in Bengaluru.

Gowda including 53 other persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in the violence and vandalism during a protest which saw removing of English signboards from commercial outlets with a demand to give prominence to Kannada language in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayanand had said that 10 FIRs had been registered, and 53 people, including the president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike T.A. Narayana Gowda, were arrested 11 days ago.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi had also criticised the Karnataka government over the arrest of Kannada activists.

Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said that he felt "pained" following the arrest of 'Kannada Rakshana Vedike' chief T.A. Narayana Gowda and others in connection with the vandalism and violence that took place on December 27.

"We will not allow anyone to take the law into their hands. This is about the honour and respect of the Karnataka state," Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said in reaction to vandalism and destruction.

Gowda had given a call for "Maha Abhiyan" demanding 60 per cent prominence to Kannada language on signboards of all commercial buildings, malls and establishments.

He had also organised a massive rally. The procession turned violent with Kannada activists vandalising, destroying and blackening the English nameplates, signboards and advertisement posters.

The government had passed an order in this regard and given the deadline till February 28 to give prominence to Kannada language in signboards.

Gowda had congratulated the activists for destroying signboards and nameplates in English. He had given a warning that if English was not replaced by February 28, he would organise a much stronger protest.

After the arrest, Gowda told media that the Congress government, "Mr. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G. Parameshwara, you have used us and committed injustice. I was not treated badly like this ever."
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 6 : CPI-M legislator M.M. Mani on Saturday launched 'personal attack' against the Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan by calling him a 'stinkard'.

"Khan is a stinkard. He is not doing his job," said Mani.

Mani -- a former minister -- is known for his loose tongue which has landed him in trouble, including a few days in jail.

There have been allegations and counter-allegations going on between the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan since the last few months over the administrative issues in the state.

Mani, while speaking at a party meeting, slammed Khan over holding on to bills and not signing them on time.

He said that Khan is holding a bill -- pertaining to amendments of land rules  while Idukki district is getting affected due to this and is causing hiccups to those who are having problems in regularising ownership of their land.

Khan has also been invited to the hilly district of Idukki on Tuesday by the traders' body to attend a function and Mani has expressed displeasure against the traders body for inviting Khan.

Mani represents the Udumbuchola assembly constituency in Idukki district since 2016 and has also been Electricity Minister in the first Vijayan cabinet (2016-21).

--IANS

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Hubballi : , Jan 6 (IANS) Nine days after his arrest, Kar Sevak Srikanth Poojari was released on Saturday from prison in Hubballi city of Karnataka where Hindu activists gathered in large numbers outside the prison to celebrate the former's release.

The Hindu activists garlanded Poojari and raised 'Jai Sri Ram' slogans as well as gave him the photograph of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita.

BJP MLA from Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency Mahesh Tenginakai, members of Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishat (VHP) and BJP corporators were present outside the prison to welcome the arrested Kar Sevak.

Poojari said that he is not deterred by his arrest and would go to Ayodhya on January 19 to participate in the celebration of the inaugural event of Ram Mandir.

The First Additional District Sessions Court in Hubballi had granted conditional bail to Poojari in connection with a 31-year-old case during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Karnataka BJP unit had launched a series of protests across the state and started campaigns condemning Poojari's arrest while demanding his immediate release from prison.

The arrest of Poojari had led to a war of words between the Congress government and Opposition BJP in Karnataka.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : A Special Public Prosecutor, representing Delhi Police, who was handling cases related to the 2020 north-east Delhi riots has withdrawn the resignation that he had tendered earlier.

Amit Prasad, known for his role in the prosecutions related to the communal riots, appeared before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai during a hearing on a case involving the alleged larger conspiracy behind the riots.

Having served as the Special Public Prosecutor in the riots cases for over three-and-a-half years, Prasad submitted his resignation to Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena on December 15, 2023.

However, he had opted to continue as the Special Public Prosecutor in the Shraddha Walkar murder case.

Citing repeated requests from authorities, Prasad said: "I have reconsidered my decision. I have decided to withdraw my resignation and will continue to appear in the (riots) cases."

During the recent hearing, two other Special Public Prosecutors joined Prasad, indicating an increase in the prosecution's strength, seriousness, and efforts in the case, an official said.

Four Special Public Prosecutors have resigned since the hearing of the riot cases began.

The court has scheduled the matter for January 15 for fresh arguments on pleas submitted by five accused in the larger conspiracy case, seeking disclosure of the investigation status before proceeding with arguments on framing charges.
Jerusalem, Jan 6 : Lebanese military group Hezbollah on Saturday claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage from Lebanon on Mount Meron in northern Israel.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli military installation in the area with 62 projectiles, adding that the attack is "an initial response" to the alleged Israeli killing of Hamas' Deputy Chief Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon on Tuesday.

"Nearly 40 launches from Lebanon toward the area of Meron in northern Israel were identified," said a statement issued earlier on Saturday morning by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the statement, the IDF responded by striking a Lebanese military cell that took part in the launches.

Israeli media reported that there were explosions close to Mount Meron after sirens sounded in nearly 90 communities close to the northern border with Lebanon. Video circulating on social media showed smoke in several areas in Mount Meron.

No injuries were reported.
Solan : BJP national president JP Nadda with former HP chief minister Jairam Thakur and others during a public meeting. Image Source: IANS News

Panchkula : , Jan 6 (IANS) BJP national President J.P. Nadda on Saturday said the saffron party will come to power in Haryana for the third time in a row.

Speaking at a roadshow organised here, Nadda said that by 2027, India would become the world's third-largest economic power.

During the roadshow, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and state unit BJP chief Nayab Saini accompanied Nadda.

On both sides of the road, a large number of people were standing to welcome their leaders with cheers and slogans.

The roadshow concluded with the leaders paying homage at the statue of Major Sandeep Shankla, who was honoured with Ashok Chakra.

Later, Nadda expressed confidence that the state government has been implementing policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government effectively.

He acknowledged the efforts of the government in ensuring that no one is deprived of the benefits of ration, housing, and health schemes.

He also praised the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) scheme initiated by Chief Minister Khattar, saying it has brought a revolutionary change by eliminating the need for people to run around offices.

"Instead, the government is reaching out to the people directly."

Speaking about the ongoing Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Haryana, Nadda appreciated the developmental initiatives taken by the Chief Minister during the yatra.

He expressed gratitude for the overwhelming welcome received in Haryana after the BJP's victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

He hoped the BJP would win all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the upcoming general elections.

Nadda cited an article in a well-known Chinese media outlet Global Times that praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies, stating "India is accelerating at a faster pace".

"Today, India is making decisions based on its terms and in the interest of the country, rather than compromising with foreign policies."

He highlighted various welfare schemes such as the Ujjwala Yojana, Mudra Yojana, and Housing Schemes, attributing the upliftment of 13.5 crore people above the poverty line to the excellent policies of the PM Modi-led government.
Nagpur, Jan 6 : At least one person was reported injured when a massive blast ripped through a bulk ice producer, Balaji Ice Factory in Uppalwadi area of the city around 5.30 p.m., here on Saturday, an official said.

The impact of the blast, reportedly triggered by a leak in an ammonia gas tank, was so powerful that it shattered window panes of homes in the vicinity and damaged a couple of vehicles parked nearby, sparking panic among the locals.

The stench of the ammonia gas overwhelmed rescue teams which rushed there and they used face-masks to enter the factory precincts.

Many people living around also started moving out to safer locations to avoid suffocation and breathlessness, as per preliminary reports.

An industry expert said that the factory authorities may not have followed the prescribed norms in handling ammonia gas along with proper safety precautions that may have led to the huge explosion.
Hubballi : , Jan 6 (IANS) Nine days after his arrest, Kar Sevak Srikanth Poojari was released on Saturday from prison in Hubballi city of Karnataka where Hindu activists gathered in large numbers outside the prison to celebrate the former's release.

The Hindu activists put garlands around Poojari's neck and raised 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans as well as gave him the photograph of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita.

BJP MLA from Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency Mahesh Tenginakai, members of Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishat (VHP) and BJP corporators were present outside the prison to welcome the arrested Kar Sevak.

Poojari said that he is not deterred by his arrest and would go to Ayodhya on January 19 to participate in the celebration of the inaugural event of Ram Mandir.

A court in Hubballi has granted conditional bail to Poojari in connection with a 31-year-old case during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Karnataka BJP unit had launched a series of protests across the state and started campaigns condemning Poojari's arrest while demanding his immediate release from prison.

The arrest of Poojari had led to a war of words between the Congress government and Opposition BJP in Karnataka.
Kolkata, Jan 6 : The All India Fair Price Shop Owners' Association (AIFPSOA) on Saturday withdrew its nationwide strike which was started on January 1.

AIFPSOA General Secretary Bishwambhar Basu said that the decision was taken keeping in mind the inconvenience faced by the consumers and the assurances given by Central and different state governments to consider their demands.

AIFPSOA had announced the indefinite strike in wake of advance commissions in the national perspective and the harassment of ration dealers in West Bengal by the State Food and Supplies Department in the name of PDS Controller.

However, Basu said that the association will conduct its protest programme at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi as per the schedule on January 16 and will also try to send a deputation to the office of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi about their demands.

"We are hopeful that our grievances will be addressed after we meet the Prime Minister. If our demands are not met we will again be forced to renew our agitation on the same lines," Basu said.

He said that the ration dealers are frustrated after the Centre government asked the state governments on the advance commission issue.

He also alleged that in the case of West Bengal, a new trend has started in the state where in the wake of the multi-crore ration distribution scam, the State Food and Supplies Department has started to harass the ration dealers in the name of PDS Controller.

"This is nothing but a cover up of the internal corruption within the department," he added.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : As US-based Alaska Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737-8 aircraft after one of the Max aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, with a window and a part of the fuselage missing, aviation watchdog DGCA has directed the Indian airline operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet.

Vikram Dev Dutt, the Director of DGCA, stated that following the Alaska Airlines incident involving the Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft, there has been no communication or guidance from Boeing thus far.

Importantly, none of the Indian air operators currently have Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft as part of their fleet.

"However, as an abundant precautionary measure, DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet," said Dutt.

The Boeing 737-8 plane carrying with 171 guests and six crew members and bound for Ontario, California, took off at 4.52 p.m. on Friday evening and returned to Portland 20 minutes later.

According to photos sent in by a passenger, a large part of the airplane's fuselage and a window was missing. The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 returned safely to Portland International Airport after "the crew reported a pressurisation issue", as per reports.

Both the Portland International Airport and Alaska Airlines had confirmed the emergency landing.
Hyderabad, Jan 6 : The Congress government in Telangana has disbursed financial assistance to 27 lakh farmers so far under the Rythu Bandhu scheme.

Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Saturday reviewed the status of releases under Rythu Bandhu with senior officials.

He was informed that the Rythu Bandhu releases have been completed to about 40 per cent of the farmers.

The minister said that the paddy and other Yasangi crops sowing operations are going on across the state and directed them to hasten the Rythu Bandhu releases.

He has also instructed to ensure that releases happen every day, and that a large number of farmers should be covered from next Monday onwards. The next review will be held immediately after Sankranthi.

The minister mentioned that the welfare of farmers and agriculture are the topmost priority of the new government. Despite inheriting a precarious financial situation, the government is committed to ensure that Rythu Bandhu amounts are released to all farmers in a regular and time bound manner. All farmers and the public should not have any doubt about the commitment.

The government had started crediting the money in farmersa bank accounts on December 11.

Rythu Bandhu is the scheme of the previous BRS government as working out the modalities for Rythu Bharosa is going to take time.

The disbursement under Rythu Bandhu, scheduled late November, was stopped by the Election Commission of India due to violation of Model Code of Conduct by BRS.

Rythu Bharosa is one of the six guarantees given by Congress in the recently held elections. It had promised financial assistance of Rs 15,000 per acre annually, an increase of Rs 5,000 from what the farmers were getting under Rythu Bandhu.

As tenant farmers are not covered by Rythu Bandhu, the Congress party has promised to cover them under Rythu Bharosa.

The Congress also promised Rs 12,000 annual financial assistance each to agriculture labourers.
Mumbai, Jan 6 : The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) due to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi next Friday (January 12), would prove to be a game-changer for the speedy development of the mainland across the harbour from Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said here on Saturday.

Reviewing the work of the 'Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu' (the official name) and the preparations for PM Modi's trip, Shinde interacted with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials and visited the Traffic Command Centre.

The CM said that the 22-km-long bridge will slash the commuting time from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai on the mainland from the current nearly two hours to barely 20 minutes and help achieve speedy development on the other side.

"The MTHL links Navi Mumbai, Raigad and other cities which would result in attracting new development projects and big corporations to this area, and the entire region will progress and prosper," said Shinde.

Traffic snarls on both sides of the Mumbai Harbour would be history as vehicles will zip through the bridge in barely 20 minutes without affecting the environment or the Ramesar Site flamingo sanctuary below it, he added.

The MTHL will provide quick connectivity and serve as the gateway to the Mumbai-Goa Highway, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Navi Mumbai, Raigad and the entire coastal Konkan which will see more projects coming up in these regions.

The Chief Minister also directed the MMRDA and other agencies to take up beautification of the MTHL with tree plantations in its vicinity and cleanliness on both sides.

The high-speed corridor MTHL is considered an engineering feat and starts from Sewri in Mumbai to Chirle on the Navi Mumbai side to reduce commute time, air pollution, fuel costs and other benefits with a Rs 250 toll per car one-way for one year, after which it will be reviewed. It has been constructed of steel using the steel equivalent of 500 Boeing aircraft and weighs 17 times more than the Eiffel Tower of Paris.

Of its 22 km length, 16.50 km runs in the sea while the remaining 5.5 km is on ground as the approach route on both ends and connects the Mumbai Port Authority and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority.

It is the longest sea bridge built in India and ranks 12th such sea-link in the world, constructed at a cost of over Rs 18,000 crore in seven years.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : As US-based Alaska Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737-9 aircraft after one of the Max aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, with a window and a part of the fuselage missing, aviation watchdog DGCA has directed the Indian airline operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet.

Vikram Dev Dutt, the Director of DGCA, stated that following the Alaska Airlines incident involving the Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft, there has been no communication or guidance from Boeing thus far.

Importantly, none of the Indian air operators currently have Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft as part of their fleet.

"However, as an abundant precautionary measure, DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet," said Dutt.

The Boeing 737-9 plane carrying with 171 guests and six crew members and bound for Ontario, California, took off at 4.52 p.m. on Friday evening and returned to Portland 20 minutes later.

According to photos sent in by a passenger, a large part of the airplane's fuselage and a window was missing. The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 returned safely to Portland International Airport after "the crew reported a pressurisation issue", as per reports.

Both the Portland International Airport and Alaska Airlines had confirmed the emergency landing.
Kolkata/Aizawl, Jan 6 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma has discussed the promising projects and possible collaborations with Andrew Fleming, British Deputy High Commissioner for Eastern India, in Kolkata.

Officials in Aizawl said that the Chief Minister during his meeting with the British Deputy High Commissioner on Friday discussed the promising projects and possible collaborations with the government and non-government agencies and to tap the abundance of natural resources in the northeastern state.

The British diplomat also expressed his keenness to exploit the varied resources of Mizoram.

While addressing a felicitation and interactive session at the Merchant's Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kolkata, Lalduhoma said that Mizoram is the second-largest producer of bamboo in northeastern India and there is immense potential for the commercial exploitation of this plant.

He said the state is also the second-largest producer of strawberries in India.

The climate in Mizoram is also conducive for the breeding and commercial exploitation of all kinds of silkworms.

"In fact, sericulture is one of our key industries and my government would attempt to bring about faster growth in this sector," Lalduhoma said, adding that the state needs meaningful investment from both the Central government and private players, both domestic and foreign.
Patna, Jan 6 : The police have arrested six persons in Bihar's Begusarai in connection with stealing jewellery worth one crore rupees, an official said.

District Superintendent of Police (SP), Yogendra Kumar, said that one of the accused Krishna alias Vivek, a native of Bihar's Muzaffarpur used to live in Mumbai and would visit Bihar via flight every time to commit the crime and then escaped with the jewellery.

The other five accused have been identified as Laal Babu Chaudhary, Randhir Singh, Chotu Shah, Kanhaiya Kumar and Santosh Shah, all natives of Bihar's Samastipur district. The mastermind of this gang, Ravindra Sahni, is still absconding.

"We have conducted several teams headed by SDPO headquarter, Sadar, and others and managed to trace out the locations of three of the accused. We have managed to arrest three accused Krishna alias Vivek, Laal Babu Chaudhary and Chotu Shah. During the raid, we have also seized Rs 1.03 lakh, a country-made Katta, one kg ganja from their possession," the SP added.

"Based on the information of the accused, we have raided Samastipur and arrested a gold merchant Santosh Shah, Kanhaiya Kumar and Randhir Singh. We have also seized two loaded pistols, seven live cartridges, two mobile phones, cash and one bike which was used in the commission of the crime," he said.

The accused committed the crime on December 21 in Ratna Mandir Jewellers located at Har Har Mahadev Chowk in Begusarai.

"The accused posing as customers entered inside the jewellery shop and asked the employees to show them jewellery. They have looted jewellery worth one crore rupees. Till that time, one of the employees pressed the alarm button and one of the accused shot at him and fled from the spot," Kumar added.

"After committing the crime, all of them ran away through different routes and gathered at one place and handed over the jewellery to Ravindra Sahni, who had given Rs 1.5 lakh to them and also promised to distribute the looted cash after selling the jewellery. As per the plan, they were asked to go outside the state for a few days and as soon as the situation would normalise here, come and collect the money," he said.

"Ravindra Sahni is still absconding and we are making efforts to nab him. Krishna alias Vivek, who used to come from Mumbai via flight every time to commit robberies in Bihar. During interrogation, he revealed that he was involved in the loot of Rs 1 crore from Heera Jewellers a year ago. We have informed Samastipur police as well on that case," he added.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : Global cellular IoT module shipments saw a 2 per cent decline (year-on-year) in Q3 2023, a new report has said.

For the first time, the 5G market's share in the global cellular IoT module market crossed 5 per cent, indicating traction for 5G adoption.

"However, 5G applications are currently limited due to the lack of killer use cases and higher prices. We are only witnessing early adoption in the router/CPE, PC and automotive markets," according to the report by Counterpoint Research.

The top five applications  smart meter, automotive, POS, router/CPE and telematics  accounted for over 60 per cent of total cellular IoT module shipments.

"Notably, only the smart meter and router/CPE segments observed positive growth in shipments, with other applications experiencing a decline," said Associate Director Mohit Agrawal.

India stands out as the only region to register positive growth in the global cellular IoT module market.

"Conversely, the market outside of China and India saw a steeper decline compared to China. Contrary to industry expectations, the market is not gaining momentum," Agrawal added.

The full-year shipments for 2023 are expected to decline by 5 per cent, against the backdrop of muted demand.

Quectel, the market leader, and Telit Cinterion, one of the leading international vendors, experienced a decline in shipments, said the report.
Jaipur, Jan 6 : Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari on Saturday directed the officials of various departments to implement the government schemes and programs on ground level.

She said that there should not be any compromise with the quality of work and strict action should be taken against those who do not pay attention to the quality of work.

The Deputy Chief Minister gave the instructions during a review meeting with the officials of various departments.

She also held a detailed discussion with the finance department about the financial condition of the state, revenue and expenditure on various schemes.

She has asked the officials to prepare an action plan to improve the economic condition of the state. She said that along with making Rajasthan economically strong, the government also aims to deliver the benefits of the schemes to the people in a time bound manner.

In the review meeting of the Public Works Department, she instructed that there should be no complaints regarding poor quality of roads.

"If the road gets damaged during the guarantee period of five years, make sure to get it repaired by the contractor who constructed the road," she instructed the officials.

She also expressed her displeasure over the fact that the contractors do not get the roads repaired within the guarantee period. She said that action will be taken against both the contractor and the concerned officer who commit irregularities.

She also directed that arrangements should be made to ensure that the common people can directly complain about bad roads and get relief.

She said that there should be no repeated digging of roads and for this, coordination should be established among all the departments.

In the review meeting of the Women and Child Development Department, the Deputy Chief Minister gave instructions to ensure quality nutritional distribution.

She said that children should get fresh and nutritious food with complete transparency. She stressed on running safety awareness programmes for girls in schools.

"If girls are empowered and made aware at the school level itself and are adept in self-defense, then crimes against women can be reduced to a great extent," she said.

She also said that the schemes should be implemented on ground instead of on paper so that the common people can get maximum benefits.

In the review meeting of the Tourism Department, she instructed that tourism has the potential to boost the economy of Rajasthan. She said that apart from the tourist season, the state should also plan for the off season to attract more and more tourists, especially in the summer season.

She also gave instructions to implement a tourist helpline or online complaint redressal system for the convenience of tourists.
New Delhi, Jan 6 : A Delhi court on Saturday allowed AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is presently imprisoned in connection with the alleged excise policy scam, to be physically present to file his renomination papers for the upcoming elections to the Upper House.

On Friday, Special Judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court had granted permission to Singh to sign forms and documents for his RS renomination.

The judge on Saturday directed the jail superintendent to facilitate Singh's visit to the Returning Officer's office on January 8 and 10 for the submission and scrutiny of his nomination papers.

The court specified that Singh could remain at the office until the nomination and scrutiny process are complete.

However, the court has imposed restrictions during these visits, prohibiting the use of mobile phone, communication with other accused, suspects, or witnesses in the case, and addressing the press or holding public meetings.

Singh has also been permitted to meet his counsel and family members to facilitate the renomination and scrutiny processes.

Singh had filed an application submitting that his current term as a Rajya Sabha member is expiring on January 27.

On Singh seeking direction to the Tihar Jail Superintendent to allow him to sign the documents, the court had passed the order on Friday, saying that the prison superintendent must ensure that Singh's signatures are permitted to be taken on the said documents and he is also permitted to meet his cCounsel for half-an-hour to discuss the modalities in connection with the filing of his Rajya Sabha renomination.

"It is being directed that if the documents are presented by the counsel for the accused before the jail authorities on January 6, the Jail Superintendent must ensure that the signatures of the accused are permitted," the judge had said.

On Thursday, the AAP MP had moved the Delhi High Court, seeking bail in the money laundering case in connection with the alleged excise policy scam.

The move came after judge Nagpal had, on December 22, dismissed Singh's bail plea.

On December 21, the trial court had also extended the AAP leader's judicial custody in the case and had asked the ED to provide a copy of its fifth supplementary charge sheet and related documents to him.

Denying bail to Singh, the judge had said that the evidence demonstrated the accused's involvement in money laundering and that there were reasonable grounds to believe in the guilt based on the connection to proceeds of crime from scheduled offences investigated by the CBI.

The ED had arrested Singh on October 4 after carrying out searches at his residence in the North Avenue area.
Bengaluru, Jan 6 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday instructed the Bangalore City Police to work hard for maintenance of law and order and create peaceful and fearless environment in the state.

"Since our government came to power, the crime in Bangalore has reduced. Though crime cannot be eradicated completely but it can be reduced. The police should give priority to preventable crimes," the Chief Minister said while addressing the senior police officers in Bangalore.

The Chief Minister also instructed the police to prevent the menace of drugs in the city.

"Police officers at all levels should take suitable decisions and implement it to eliminate the drug mafia for the good of the society. Those who live alone should be identified, their protection should be prioritised and the police beat system should also be strengthened," the Chief Minister told police officers.

He said that the patrol force of 241 Hoysala vehicles in the city should be strengthened and they should work more responsibly.

"It is not right for the police officers and staff to be involved in real estate issues. This will make people lose faith in the police system," the Chief Minister told police officials.

The Chief Minister told the police officer that the incumbent government will never ask you to indulge in illegal work.

"We will take strict action against those who are involved in illegal activities. Rowdyism should be eliminated in the city and no one should be allowed to take up the law in their hands," the Chief Minister instructed the police officers.

He also congratulated the Bengaluru City Police for doing a great job in maintaining law and order in the city during the New Year celebrations.

Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda assured the Chief Minister that his department will work hard to create a peaceful and safe environment in the city.
Kolkata, Jan 6 : A Special Court here on Saturday sent Trinamool Congress leader Shankar Adhya, arrested on Friday in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal, to a 14-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.

It has been alleged that Adhya first converted the proceeds involved in the scam first into foreign currencies, and simultaneously routed the amount overseas, mainly to Dubai, through the Hawala route.

On Friday, the ED counsel told the special PMLA court that there was regular communication between Adhya and Jyotipriyo Mallick, the former state food & supplies minister earlier arrested by the ED in connection with the ration distribution case.

The ED counsel claimed that the communication continued even when the arrested minister was shifted to state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata from his judicial custody.

The ED counsel told the court that from the hospital bed, Mallick used to send handwritten communications to Adhya and one of such communications was accessed by the central agency sleuths.

According to the counsel, the minister used to send the written communication through his daughter who regularly came to the hospital to meet him.

The ED counsel said that the central armed forces personnel deputed at the cabin of the minister accessed the written communication on December 16, while the minister was handing over the written communication to his daughter.

Later, the security personnel handed over the 'communication note' to the ED sleuths.

--IANS

src/pgh
Washington, Jan 6 : The US Congress has made legislative changes that significantly reduces the likelihood of it overturning valid elections results and specifying that the Vice President had no role to play in the election processes, except that his/her post is largely ceremonial in aspect.

Questions are being asked by the voters and answered by legal experts as the US heads into another Presidential election cycle in 2024 with bad memories of the unprecedented assault on the seat of Congress, Capitol, when supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the legislative building in order to prevent the election results being certified and announced with objections on the vote count.

The new law designates only one official in each state to submit the state's slate of electors, ending the possibility of multiple slates being submitted to Congress, and requires Congress to accept only that slate. It created a process of expedited court review of electoral challenges from presidential candidates thus.

The new legislation raised the threshold to object to a state's election results from one senator and one representative only to one-fifth of both the House and the Senate. These changes significantly decrease the risk of Congress overturning valid election results, experts said, by preventing dueling slates of electors and requiring more consensus to mount an objection.

"The idea is that only serious objections would be entertained," Green said. "The universe of possible problems is much, much smaller with this process."

On the 3rd anniversary of the January 6 riots in 2021, most voters are revisiting the incident and asking does the Congress or the Vice President have the right to decertify a valid election as Trump asked his supporters to do, still holding on to the belief that the 2020 elections results were stolen and perpetuating that belief in his voters base before the 2024 elections where he is front running candidate for the GOP nomination, media ports said.

Trump has repeatedly been saying in his campaign speeches that the 2020 elections were stolen from him by the democrats through what he alleged as fraudulent vote count and that he would reiterate the charge again in 2024 if he were to lose again to Biden in the projected rematch.

As the country heads into another election year that will likely have Trump on the general election ballot, legal and political experts say the legislative changes that Congress brought in the aftermath of the January 6 riots significantly reduces the likelihood that valid election results can be overturned by Congress or the Vice President  but warned there are still vulnerabilities at the state and local level that could be exploited.

In the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot, lawmakers of both parties were rattled. Many condemned the violence and moved to clarify the objection process to stop the assault from happening again. A bill to change vague and vulnerable wording in the 19th -- century Electoral Count Act -- supported by dozens of members of both parties -- was included in a year -- end spending bill signed by President Joe Biden in December 2022.

The law made significant changes as it clarified that the Vice President's role is ceremonial and does not include the power to accept or reject electors. Three years ago, the nation's Capitol underwent a chaotic day that disrupted a centuries-old tradition of peaceful transitions of power in the United States in the White House.

Hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump broke into the US Capitol building as Congress convened to help formalise the results of the 2020 presidential election, interrupting the proceedings for hours even as some Republican lawmakers moved to reject the election results in key swing states, USA TODAY reported.

Despite these changes, the experts who spoke with USA TODAY said valid election results could still be overturned.

Since 2021, Trump's grip on the Republican party has intensified, multiple experts noted. More than half of Trump supporters have no confidence the results of the 2024 election will be accurately counted and reported, according to a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll.

A majority of GOP candidates in the 2022 midterm elections denied or questioned the results of the 2020 election. The new Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, was a leader in a legal effort to overturn the election.

If Republicans were to retain control of the House or win the Senate, they would be responsible for adhering to the new electoral count process, perhaps under immense pressure from Trump or their constituents.

How your vote gets in front of Congress: Before an election, state political parties choose people to serve as electors if their presidential candidate wins. In most cases, whichever candidate wins the most votes in each state claims all of its electoral votes (Maine and Nebraska use a proportional system).

The winning party's electors meet to cast their votes in December after the election. A copy of those votes are sent to the Vice President to be counted in front of Congress on the following January 6 whichever candidate received the most electoral votes  at least 270  becomes the president.

Trump and his allies pressured state and local election officials not to certify the election results; encouraged Republican electors to submit their votes and pushed officials in key swing states to formally recognise them rather than the duly elected Democratic slate; and pressured the Justice Department to declare a formal investigation into alleged fraud, among other efforts, reports recalled.

Trump had also been publicly pushing Republican lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to reject the elector's votes in an effort to help him reverse the election results, or declare the election disputed in order to buy time for state legislatures to replace Democratic electors.

Pence said he wouldn't because he didn't have "unilateral authority" to reject the results, and the lawmakers' plan to overturn certain states' votes wouldn't succeed because of the House's Democratic majority, it may be recalled.

But the two chambers split to debate the objection, which was intended to be the first of six  lawmakers planned objections to Georgia, Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin as well. The debate was interrupted when a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.

After the building was cleared nearly six hours later, the chambers resumed their debate and eventually defeated the Arizona objection. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., objected to Pennsylvania's results shortly after midnight. That objection was rejected after 3 a.m. Thursday, January 7, 2021. The other objections never materialised, and the results were certified.

--IANS

ash/dan
Aizawl, Jan 7 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Saturday said that the state government would hand over the state's lone airport to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) or Adani Group for its further development and management.

Returning from Kolkata, the Chief Minister said that the state government would take steps to hand over the Lengpui airport to either AAI or Adani Group.

Referring to his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Thursday, Lalduhoma told the media in Aizawl that he had discussed the Assam-Mizoram border dispute issue with Shah and was keen to resolve the issue through discussion.

"We no longer want violence at the inter-state border. All disputes should be settled through dialogue," the Chief Minister said.

The worst-ever violence happened on July 26, 2021 when the police personnel of Assam and Mizoram exchanged fire on the disputed area near Vairengte village on National Highway 306 that left six Assam Police personnel dead and many injured.

--IANS

sc/pgh
New York, Jan 7 : US President Joe Biden's speech in Pennsylvania -- in which he attacked Donald Trump and held him responsible for threatening democracy for his alleged insurrection on Capitol three years ago -- has been celebrated by his supporters terming it as the "best speech ever".

New York, Jan 7 (IANS) US President Joe Bidenas speech in Pennsylvania -- in which he attacked Donald Trump and held him responsible for threatening democracy for his alleged insurrection on Capitol three years ago -- has been celebrated by his supporters terming it as the "best speech ever".

Biden launched his campaign at Blue Bell in Pennsylvania with a speech that called out the former President and those involved in the riots that took place three years ago.

"The topic of my speech today is deadly serious, and I think it needs to be made at the outset of this campaign," Biden told supporters.

Addressing the tumultuous events of January 6, 2021 at Capitol, scene of siege by Trump supporters, President Biden said events that took place just days before his inauguration, were actions by Trump supporters and apportioned large part of the blame on Trump.

"Three years ago, we saw with our own eyes the violent mob storm the United States Capitol. He [Trump] promised it would be 'wild,' and it was. He told the crowd to 'fight like hell,' and all hell was unleashed. He promised he would right them. Everything they did, he would be side by side with them. Then, as usual, he left the dirty work to others. He retreated to the White House," Biden said.

A survey, conducted on behalf of Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on December 19 among 1,500 U.S. adults, revealed a majority of Americans fear that another event like the January 6, 2021 uprising can happen again in the coming years.

Right-and left-wing figures and netizens have called the Biden's speech as "the best speech ever" while others branded it a "doomer speech".

"Wow. That was the best speech I've ever seen President Biden deliver. He called out Trump & MAGA forcefully. He showed what true leadership looks like. President Biden rose to the occasion. This speech will go down in the history books as one of the best. Thank you, Joe Biden," Victor Shi, a Biden delegate, wrote on X.

Democrat supporter Harry Sisson remarked: "The speech that President Biden just gave is by far one of the most powerful and important speeches of his presidency. He was strong, clear, and intentional. Biden unequivocally supports our constitution and our democracy. Donald Trump doesn't."

"Well I'm crying now," X user Jo wrote. "President Biden just gave the speech of his life."

Biden's detractors seemed less enthusiastic with Right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk writing on X: "Joe Biden brags in his J6 [January 6] doomer speech that his DOJ [Department of Justice] has targeted 1,200, convicted 900, and sentenced them to 840 years in prison. He wants his political opponents afraid this can happen to them too. What a sick man."

Congresswoman Mary Miller said on X: "Joe Biden gave another dark, authoritarian speech attacking the 74 million American citizens who voted against him because they want to Make America Great Again, while he wants to open our borders and flood our country with illegal immigrants, drug traffickers, and terrorists."

Another user, posting under the name Paul A. Szypula, wrote: "This is what tyranny looks like. It's celebrated by those who carry it out and used to make the people too afraid to resist the government. This is why Democrats want to get rid of the 2nd Amendment. They know once that goes there will really be no stopping their tyrannical ways."

Michelle Whitzel wrote, "Well, one thing we can take away from Joe Biden's speech is that he hates half the country and he is encouraging the other half of the country to do the same."

Trump himself responded to Biden's comments at his own campaign rally in Iowa. He called Biden's campaign launch speech as fear-mongering and mocked his stuttering.
Washington, Jan 7 : US President Joe Biden launched his presidential campaign with the "Save Democracy Plea" directly attacking his predecessor Donald Trump for the January 6, 2021, riots on Capitol Hill, while commemorating the 3rd anniversary as a "Day of Infamy".

President Biden made an impassioned appeal to Americans at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania to join him in defending US democracy from the former President, who by comparison has promised to pardon the insurrectionists.

The democracy those Americans (freedom fighters) fought for is under threat. "Whether democracy is still America's sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time," he said in a Friday speech near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where the Continental Army spent the frigid 1777-78 winter under General George Washington during the uprising against British Colonial rule while freeing America in 1776 on July 4 from the shackles of imperialism.

Biden listed a litany of Trump's "more outrageous" claims and comments, drawing analogies to the language of Adolf Hitler and the antidemocratic actions of dictators.

Highly critical of Trump laughing at the violent attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosias husband Paul, who suffered blunt edge head trauma, Biden said of Trump, "What a sick--" and stopped short of adding another, perhaps more colourful word. "We all know who Donald Trump is," Biden said later. "The question we have to answer is, who are we?" Media Reports quoted Biden as asking.

How central is this message to Biden's re-election campaign, the President declared that the "preservation of American democracy" is the "central issue of my presidency" in a slick campaign video released this week, CNN reported.

Trump responded to Biden's speech Friday by calling it "pathetic fear-mongering" and mocking Biden's lifelong struggle with stuttering. Trump argued that Biden's presidency was marked by "weakness, incompetence, corruption and failure," he told a crowd of supporters in Sioux Center, Iowa. "That's why crooked Joe is staging his pathetic fear-mongering campaign event in Pennsylvania today."

"He's a threat to democracy. I'm a threat? They've weaponized the government -- he's saying I'm a threat to democracy," Trump said.
Bengaluru, Jan 7 : Seers of backward communities in Karnataka met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday and submitted a plea urging the state government to accept the caste census report.

The seers opined that the guarantees are more beneficial for the working class. Responding to this, the Chief Minister said that the period to submit the caste census report has been extended for two months.

Jayaprakash Hegde, Chairman of Karnataka Backward Class Commission, opined that it is not possible to submit the Kantharaju Commission report and hence the Chief Minister said that a decision will be taken after taking legal advice.

Seers during the meeting also spoke about the lands which are to be allocated to Mutts. On this, the Chief Minister said that he has instructed the tahsildar to submit the report in this regard and directed the Bangalore Rural Deputy Commissioners over the phone to give the report as soon as possible.

Siddarameshwar Swamiji of Bhovi Community Chitradurga, Valmiki Prasannanandpuri Swamiji, Jagadguru Niranjananandpuri Sri of Kanaka Gurpeeth of Kaginele Mahasansthan and seers of Backward Castes Mutt, Backward Classes Welfare Department Commissioner K.A. Dayananda were present at the meeting.
Tel Aviv, Jan 7 : The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that it has "dismantled" the military framework of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip.

IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a press conference on Saturday said that the Israeli troops have "dismantled" the military framework of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip and are now focussing on dismantling Hamas in central and southern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the IDF and Shin Bet said that the commander of Hamas' Nuseirat battalion in central Gaza, Ismail Siraj, and his deputy, Ahmed Wahaba, were killed in an airstrike.

The Nusierat Battalion was reportedly responsible for the attacks on Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7.

Hagari, however, said that there is still likely to be sporadic rocket fire on Israel from those areas even though the military network has been dismantled.

He also said that the refugee camps in central Gaza are full of terrorists while Khan Yunis area is full of underground tunnel networks of Hamas.

The IDF spokesman said that the fighting will continue throughout 2024 and the military is working on a properly laid out plan to achieve the goals of the war to dismantle Hamas and get all hostages released.
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Thakhek (THK), Thakhek, Laos Timezone : Asia/Vientiane Thakhek Airport Timezone : GMT +07:00 hours Current time and date at Thakhek Airport is 01:29:51 AM (+07) on Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024

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Two middle school girls are driven to murder by the Kingman, their favorite creepypasta character, in Starcks Monsters We Have Made (Vintage, Mar.).

This is a story about stories. What led to this focus?

I think storiesespecially those we encounter as kidsshape us. In so many facets of our lives, in our relationships, in our marriages, with our children, with our jobs, were telling ourselves stories and trying to make sense of the world. And what happens when some of those stories take a turn? One of the more obvious, real-world links to my novel is Slender Man and the stabbing that happened in Wisconsin 10 years ago. But the seed of the novel was actually planted much earlier, when I was in middle school and I read Susan Coopers The Boggart. Its about an ancient creature that, through the computer, gets brought into the world and that collision between old magic and new technology. That story stayed with me and I wanted to explore some of those themes.

What inspired the Kingman?

Well, the Slender Man stabbings were what began to raise the questions for me: What happens when we act on a fiction, when we make it real in the world? Can a crime committed in the name of a fiction be a sort of fiction as well? What does that mean? So definitely Slender Man. Definitely the Boggart. The dark fairy tales of Angela Carter. I was a big Buffy fan, so some of those monsters. In an early version of the novel the Kingman was also based on a mythical creature called the Erl-King, who came from multiple sources. In that story, a father is riding on a horse with his child through the forest. His child says, Oh look, father, I see eyes in the woods, and the father says, No, thats just lights on the trees, and the son says, Oh, I see this other kind of monster, and the father says, No, its just this. Hes always trying to rationalize away what his son sees and by the end of the ride, his son has died on the horse in front of him. So, very dark. Oh, sorry, and one more: Frankensteinespecially this idea of what do we create and what do we do? The imagination is such an amazing, powerful thing. What do we do with what emerges from it?

The novel also wrestles with the complexities of parenthood.

I think that comes from my own anxieties surrounding parenthood. I am not yet a parent, but its something Im thinking about. What are the risks of having of a child? What are the risks of loving that much and that hard forever? Its such a strong bond and you sacrifice so much for your children. I see my friends who are parents and my own bonds with my parents and the weight of that love is so powerful. What do you do with that love when the person youve projected it onto does something terrible? What is the responsibility of a parents love for a child?
For Anna Quindlen, writing is part inspiration, part procrastinationa lot of procrastination. I wake up early most mornings, when its still dark, then I go through my various rituals of not writing, the author says via Zoom from her apartment on Manhattans Upper West Side. I walk for an hour, which is a sad reflection that Id rather do aerobic exercise than write. I fold laundry, talk to my bestie on the phone, read newspapers, unload the dishwasher. I have a whole raft of domestic rituals that Ill do until finally I run out of stuff and sit down to write. I sit down every time thinking that nothing good will come of this, and the only reason I keep doing itother than the fact that its not what I do, its who I amis because every once in a while something good does come.

Quindlens career spans nine novels, 10 works of nonfiction, and two childrens books, which together have sold nearly 13 million copies and have been translated into 19 languages, according to her publisher, Random House. Her booksabout life, loss, family, and motherhoodinclude One True Thing, her semi-autobiographical novel about a daughter who returns home to care for her dying mother, which was made into a movie starring her friend Meryl Streep; Black and Blue, a novel about domestic abuse that was an Oprahs Book Club pick; A Short Guide to a Happy Life, a slim volume about living with purpose that has sold more than one million copies; and Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, a memoir about thriving in middle age that has cemented her reputation as Americas literary best friend, always there with a nugget of wisdom.

The authors 10th novel, After Annie, out in February from Random House, is set over the course of a year following the sudden death of Annie, a nursing home aid. The book tracks the lives of her unmoored husband, Bill, who tries to fill an emotional void by reconnecting with an ex; her 13-year-old daughter, Ali, who steps in to run the household and care for her father and younger siblings; and her best friend, Annemarie, a former drug user who struggles to stay sober now that Annie, her support system, is gone. After Annie is dedicated to Quindlens mother, who died from cancer at 40.

This is a book about how a good mother leaves a lasting impression etched on the psyches of her children, and thats something I know about from personal experience, Quindlen says. After someone you love dies, in some ways theyre more present. When they were alive you could take them for granted. After theyre gone the sense of them crowds in upon you and they live in your heart. Thats something I wanted to talk about in this book.

For decades, Quindlens fans have relied on her to help them make sense of life, and no one knows that better than her editor, Kate Medina, whos been with Quindlen since her 1991 debut novel Object Lessons. Anna doesnt waste time with things that dont matter, Medina says. She has a clear view of what are the real values in life. It always circles around family and friendship and finding ways to go on despite setbacks. People trust her on the page.

Born in Philadelphia in 1952, Quindlen, the oldest of five kids, was raised in a loving home by an Irish American father and an Italian American mother. I was an inveterate reader and, despite my happy childhood, a very dissatisfied kid, she recalls. I was growing up at a time when there was no place for an assertive, argumentative, ambitious girl. There were two jobs, teacher and nurse, and neither of them seemed suited to my abilities.

From a young age, Quindlen wanted to write fiction, and in 1970 she went off to New York City to study English at Barnard College. At 19, when her mother was dying of cancer, she returned home for a time to care for her. I cooked meals and administered morphine and I wasnt a happy camper, Quindlen remembers. Luckily, I had a loving mother who never said to me, Youre not doing a good job at this, kid.  The deathwhich taught Quindlen that grief has teeth, but loss is a black holehelped to shape her as a person and a writer, one whos keen to elevate womens stories.

 This is a book about how a good mother leaves a lasting impression etched on the psyches of her children, and thats something I know about from personal experience. 

After graduating from Barnard in 1974, Quindlen went to work as a journalist, got married (she got divorced a few years ago), had three kids, and, in 1992, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her New York Times column Public & Private. Working as a reporter prepared her to be a novelist. It taught me how real people talk, she says. I think I write pretty credible dialogue and one of the reasons why is because I spent years writing down real peoples words in a notebook.

Keeping it real is important to Quindlen, whether shes speaking candidly about how menopause has improved her outlook (I woke up one day and thought, I dont care what anyone thinks about me anymore!) or reflecting on getting sober 34 years ago (I didnt do well with alcoholI dont have a good on-and-off switch for almost anything). She speculates that she strikes a chord with readers because shes just like everyone else.

Nobody is coming to do my cooking, she says. The towels are folded by me. And most of the time Im just trying to get a haircut that looks halfway decent. And I think thats the linchpin of what I do as a writer.

Anna is someone who just gets it, says bestselling author Harlan Coben, who met Quindlen at a party 20 years ago and has been close with her ever since. Shes brilliant and incisive and she writes the things that make us all nod along. When you read her stuff you want to be her friend. She really is a beautiful person.

Quindlen calls her books, those works of inspiration and procrastination, my last will and testamenta legacy she can leave behind for her children. When Im dead and gone theyll be able to find me spiritually in those books, and Im really grateful for that as a mom, she says, tearing up. She adds that After Annie has allowed her to close a chapter on her own mothers death. Its time to put that loss to bed. I dont mean closure, which is nonsense, but just in terms of how large its loomed in my life.

Ever the optimist, Quindlen credits her mother with teaching her that lifes worth celebratinga lesson she continues to impart to readers. My mother would have given anything to get oldto live, to have grandchildrenso the idea of being churlish about getting those gifts is unthinkable to me, she says. Its a privilege to live life. Id be disrespecting my mother if I didnt embrace it.

Elaine Szewczyks writing has appeared in McSweeneys and other publications. Shes the author of the novel Im with Stupid.
Recently, the Langmatt Museum in Switzerland sold three paintings by Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne to save itself from being permanently shut down. The announcement of the auction at Christies reopened a debate (or perhaps it has never been closed in the first place) in the art world that combines solemn concepts like protecting artistic heritage, saving the jobs of perhaps hundreds of people, guaranteeing the survival of an art center, allowing museums to sell artworks to expand or renew their collections and the role of states in this whole affair.

It was the end of the line, Markus Stegmann, the director of the Langmatt Museum in Baden, Switzerland, tells this newspaper. His museum contains one of the most important Impressionist art collections in Europe. He goes on to explain that the foundation that manages the museum no longer had capital. We needed 40 million Swiss francs [about $47 million] and after years of trying to find another solution we came up with this one: selling three paintings from a collection of about 50. In the end, they got even more, 48 million (or $52.6 million) for the three canvases sold at auction at Christies last September. The museum was saved.

But that is only the end of this story.

Chapter 1: The Goldsmith familys painting

The Langmatt Museum chose to sell Quatre pommes et un couteau, La mer a lEstaque and Fruits et pot de gingembre, the painting for which they had the highest hopes; those hopes were confirmed when Christies charged an estimated price of between $35 and $55 million (it ultimately sold for almost $39 million), fetching the highest price of the three pieces.

In 1933, Sidney and Jenny Brown, the couple who founded the Langmatt, bought Fruits et pot de gingembre in Lucerne, Switzerland, from the German-Jewish Goldsmith family of art dealers for 57,750 Swiss francs. Stegmann considers that sum to be within the market price at the time, but he says that he does not know what percentage the original owners took. So much for what appears to be a normal commercial transaction between two art galleries.

But once the Cezanne painting was in Christies possession, the auction house discovered that the Goldsmith family had not escaped the initial Nazi persecution, and that Jacob, the works first owner, had been coerced into disposing of part of his collection. In January 2022, we began an investigation with specialists outside the museum on 13 works that had been acquired between 1933 and 1941, the year of Sidney Browns death, explains the Langmatts director. In the case of this painting, we did not find clear evidence until the auction was announced.

Paul Cezannes 'Quatre pommes et un couteau,' another of the works sold at Christies. Christie's

For that reason, Stegmann says, they contacted the Goldsmiths current heirs immediately after securing this evidence. Mara Wantuch-Thole, one of the lawyers representing the Jewish art dealers grandson, explained to The New York Times that he was unaware that his grandfather had owned the Cezanne painting until the museum foundation contacted him. We have reached an agreement, the lawyer told the Times. The director of the Langmatt declined to share any further details about the agreement but calls it a fair and equitable solution. He added that its confidential.

Chapter 2: Selling three paintings to pay the bills

The sale of Cezannes paintings in Europe opened a debate about an issue that is more common in countries like the United States, where the management of major art galleries is guaranteed by private capital and philanthropy (essentially another way of saying private ownership) and theres little government involvement; that is, they dont receive much public funding.

The Swiss International Council of Museums (ICOM) representative Tobia Bezzola was the first to warn of the danger that, as he put it, this scandalous and short-sighted art sale posed. He went on to allege that it violated the organizations code of ethics. Bequests and donations come to museums because people believe they will be safe, Bezzola told the Swiss press, demanding that the auction not take place. All of Switzerlands important collections come from private donations and bequests; it sends a terrible signal.

These criticisms are based on a code that needs to be revised and adapted to our times, the Langmatt director says bluntly. It does not foresee an existential emergency in a museum. Forty years ago, it was another time, Stegmann emphasizes. He adds that in Europe, museums receive less and less public money.

'La mer a l'Estaque,' the third Paul Cezanne work sold at auction. Christie's

Several similar recent cases in the United States come to mind. During the pandemic and the first months after the strictest lockdown, the Brooklyn Museum in New York put 12 paintings up for auction at Christies, including works by important names like Lucas Cranach the Elder and Gustave Courbet. They did so to try to raise $40 million to cushion the economic crisis resulting from the plummeting number of visitors due to the collapse of tourism. This example prompted the Association of American Museum Directors (AAMD) to approve a measure not to penalize sales that serve to pay expenses associated with the care of [museum] collections through April 2022.

In other words, new red lines were established to allow some commercial transactions. No precedent of any kind was established because this decision ended in 2022, the AAMD tells this newspaper. In fact, only a few museums sold work to address financial needs. How many? We dont have that information, they say.

Chapter 3: Museums are not supermarkets

In September, when the auctioneer at Christies banged the gavel, those at the Langmatt breathed a sigh of relief. It was the most extreme solution they could find. Its director emphasizes that this does not mean that museums have to sell their objects. That would be extremely dangerous; museums are not supermarkets!

Stegmann denies that his decision sets a precedent in Europe. It is absolutely unique and should be regarded as such, he says. The Langmatts existence was threatened. This museum was able to rescue itself without destroying its collection and identity.

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It's nice to start 2024 off with some good news: since our last newsletter, the American Library Association has announced the 10 recipients of the coveted I Love My Librarian Award, and it is another exceptional class of honorees. ALA officials said that they received nearly 1,400 nominations from library users for this years award and more than 23,000 since the award was established in 2008.

While much of the national conversation surrounding libraries has fixated on book censorship, and as library workers across the U.S. continue to face historic levels of intimidation and harassment, librarians efforts to empower their patrons and provide vital services for their communities shines a spotlight on the enduring value of libraries in our society, said American Library Association President Emily Drabinski, in a statement. The inspiring stories of this years I Love My Librarian Award honorees demonstrate the positive impact librarians have on the lives of those they serve each day.

The winners will be honored at an award ceremony during the LibLearnX welcome reception, beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 19, in Baltimore, Md. The reception will also be streamed live on YouTube.

Speaking of the ALA's LiblearnX, a number of speakers have been added since our preview issue came out, including Kate DiCamillo, and George M. Johnson. It's not too late to register and join your fellow librarians in Charm City, January 1922.

The New York Times this week wrote about one of the I Love My Librarian Award winners, Fred Gitner, who has worked in programs to assist migrants at the Queens Public Library for 28 years. I view Fred as our international ambassador, Dennis Walcott, the president and chief executive of the Queens Library, told the Times. His sensitivity to the asylum seekers who are coming to libraries and what Fred was able to do with his staff to go out and interface with them is off the charts.

 Neighbors who grew up together have been left wondering how their quiet rural town of 1,400, about an hours drive north of Albany, became a battleground for a nationally polarizing debate... 

Also from the New York Times this week, a chilling look at how a planned (but never held) drag event at one small rural library in Lake Luzerne, N.Y., has left the library shuttered and the community divided. "After 53 years of operation, the librarynamed for the adjacent Rockwell Fallshas not lent a book since Sept. 26.," the report notes. "Neighbors who grew up together have been left wondering how their quiet rural town of 1,400, about an hours drive north of Albany, became a battleground for a nationally polarizing debate over issues of inclusion, free speech, and the role of tax-funded institutions."

Across the country, Alaska Public Media reports on how backlash led to the cancellation of a drag queen story hour event planned for the Soldotna Public Library. The reason that were hosting this event is to create a joyous, loving and wholesome situation and safe place for queer kids, which is something that I didnt have growing up and that a lot of people in this community dont have, Joe Spady, an organizer of Soldotna Pride and one of the scheduled storytellers for the event, told reporters, adding that conversations on social media got more violent and led organizers to postpone.

In Oregon, local affiliate, KGW8 reports that the State Library of Oregon is warning that rising library budget cuts across the state could have major negative impacts in local communities. Buzzy Nielsen, the program manager for library support at the State Library of Oregon, said that the lack of financial support is weighing heavily on library staff who are already facing safety concerns and a record number of attempts to ban books.

In Indianapolis, the Indy Star reports that interim Indianapolis Public Library CEO Nichelle Hayes will step down. Hayes had sought to become the library system's permanent leader. She had broad support from members of the community, city council members, and the union representing library staff, but faced opposition from several members of the board in a months-long national search and conflict over who would lead the library system, the paper reports. Hayes' exit from the organization closes the chapter on a years-long saga marked by in-fighting, dysfunction, mistrust, division, the appointments of several acting CEOs, and public proteststo install new leadership and stability at the library following the 2021 resignation of long-time chief executive Jackie Nytes.

Over at Book Riot, Kelly Jensen's weekly censorship roundup begins with the first in a series of posts that will offer insights and calls to action, drawn from three recent surveys conducted by Book Riot and the EveryLibrary Institute. We know the results of these surveys are a study in tension, Jensen writes. Where parents agreed with big picture ideasacross all three surveys, 94% said they feel their child is safe at the libraryit was some of the more granular topics where we saw conflicting responses. It is important to talk about those, including the fact that there are parents who believe library workers should be prosecuted for the materials they offer in the collection and that many believe there needs to be more barriers to material access in place for their children. But rather than focus on those as threats, perhaps theyre better framed as opportunities.

And finally this week, NPR has a piece on Colorado librarian Brooky Parks, who won a $250,000 settlement after she was wrongly terminated for refusing to censor books. In the report, Parkss lawyer, Iris Halpern, makes a key point about the damages award: It sends a message out that there are consequences, financial consequences, Halpern said. And we can put guardrails up against things like censorship and discrimination.
In a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, nearly a quarter of millennial and Gen Z adults said climate change has made them reconsider having biological children. But the statistics dont tell the full story, and several forthcoming books about parental ambivalence and climate change aim to fill in the blanks. PW spoke with their authors about the messy, overwhelming, political, and even hopeful contours of this debate.

The parent trap

The question of whether to have children isnt a new one, says philosophy professor Anastasia Berg. Its important and illuminating to look at this history, both in order to recognize the deep philosophical roots of the question and to understand whats unique about our moment. In What Are Children For? (St. Martins, June), Berg and her coauthor, literary critic Rachel Wiseman, consult the writings of Virginia Woolf and Adrienne Rich, as well as Rachel Cusks A Lifes Work, Elena Ferrantes The Lost Daughter, and other relevant fiction and nonfiction.

Motherhood ambivalence literature has become a big genre over the past decade, Wiseman notes. We also looked at climate fiction, which displays a deep anti-humanism that we think underlies some of that ambivalence.

The authors say their book counters the argument found in some climate discourse that humans should welcome our demise as a species. We make an argument for the fact that having children today can still be not just a meaningful part of a human life, Berg says, but a good part of a good human life.

The title itself is meant to provoke reflection, Wiseman explains. To think of children as being just another thing to check off your list is the wrong way to approach the question, she says. You shouldnt be looking for a list of pros and cons; once you start doing that, youre lost. One thing I hope people will take away from the book is a sense of the depth and seriousness of the question, rather than resigning themselves to this sense of mystified ambivalence.

Philosopher and historian Mara van der Lugt wrestles with the concept of creating another human being in Begetting (Princeton Univ., Apr.). A decade ago, van der Lugt recalls, a friend asked her whether it was morally permissible to have children. I was shocked by her extreme view; Id never considered such a thing, she says. People are revisiting this question because of climate change and the environmental crisis. Im opening up the debate to a wider audience. In the book, Van der Lugt draws on academic sources as well as pop culture references, and engages with varying, often opposing, arguments.

The Conceivable Future (Rowman & Littlefield, Feb.), which coauthors Meghan Elizabeth Kallman and Josephine Ferorelli titled after the nonprofit organization they founded in 2014, distills a decade of organizing around family planning and climate change. Thirty-three percent of Americans of reproductive age carry fears of having a child, Kallman says. Thats a lot of people, and theyre not represented in climate action spaces.

The first half of the book details the history of the population-control movement and offers a critical look at what the authors see as fallacies that have made their way into normative discourse. With the second half, the authors hope to drive readers to collective action.

Rather than seeing nonparents and parents as oppositional groups, we invite people to be part of a generational chain, Ferorelli says. Were all in this together. The more broadly we define family, the more we connect with elders and children, the more we respect each others rights to a future, the better chance we stand.

Gender and sexuality studies professor Jade S. Sasser, whose work focuses on climate justice and reproductive politics, examined population control narratives in 2018s On Infertile Ground. My first book is a big, broad, treetop-level approach to this topic, she says. But when I talked to people about it, they would relate their personal experiences. I realized climate emotions and climate mental health needed to be a part of the conversation about reproductive plans.

For her next book, Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question (Univ. of California, Apr.), Sasser conducted dozens of interviews and was struck by how common climate anxiety is among Gen Zers and how that translates into these anxieties about whether to have kids, she says. I also thought that anyone who was climate anxious would just not have a child. Thats not true. For a number of people, it was a matter of making a commitment to joy, to the future, and to raising their child with an active awareness of whats going on in the world.

The book places communities of color at the center of the discussion. This is an intersectional issue, Sasser says. Climate change hits communities of color differently. Heat events have an impact on pregnancy and birth outcomes, which have long-lasting effects on a childs growth and development. The people who are hit hardest are pregnant Black women, and the mental and emotional impacts are really hard on communities of color, too.

The mother load

Some authors imagine, through the lens of parenthood, a world in which everyone can thrive. The most effective way to do so, they say, is collectively.

Becoming a mother was more bewildering, wild, seismic, difficult, political, and meaningful than I had been led to believe, says Lucy Jones, author of Matrescence (Pantheon, May), a cultural and personal analysis of the transition to parenthood. I wanted to investigate why this life stage seemed so fraught, disavowed, and neglected in the culture, and also dangerous in the context of the maternal mental health crisis.

She divides the book by theme, including birth, the brain, sleep, and society, and draws on her experiences as a science and nature writer. I found myself searching for accurate depictions or metaphors or stories in which I could ground myself, she recalls. I found those in the natural world around me. I also wanted to show how fetishization of the natural and the sentimentalization of mothers within this ideology is suspicious and flattening and limiting. What is truly natural is much more diverse and sometimes shocking, brutal, and violent.

The term matrescence, coined in the 1970s by anthropologist Dana Raphael (also credited with popularizing the term doula), refers to the developmental process of becoming a mother. Jones hopes that as people embrace the term, the shame, taboo, and silence around the realities of motherhood will fall away.

Sharing our stories has the potential to trouble some of the ideas that our society holds about individualism and self-reliance and infinite growth and denuclearized family, she says. The problem isnt the needs of young children; its having to strive for an ideal within societal conditions that make meeting that ideal impossible.

Emily Raboteau, a creative writing professor at the City College of New York, explores climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and racialized violence in the essay collection Lessons for Survival (Holt, Mar.) and comes to similar conclusions. She began writing about these interlinked crises after the release of the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report on global warming.

The book, which PWs review called a vivid and varied consideration of a world in crisis, also incorporates Raboteaus photographs of public art in two New York City neighborhoodsHarlem and Washington Heights. The bulk of the photographs are of the Audubon mural project, she says. There are over 100 of them in these neighborhoods now, and they represent birds that are expected to go extinct by the year 2080 if we continue on current trajectories. Its a reminder that, like those birds, your children are also endangered by multiple vectors and under threat.

Raboteau emphasizes the concept of mothering and expands its definition beyond the body of people who are mothers. The books subtitle, Mothering Against the Apocalypse, she says, is a nod to an understanding of the revolutionary possibilities of care. Its an animating force and a crucial practice to cultivate.

In the books penultimate essay, Raboteau travels to the Arctic with a question: what do we do with our anger? I put it to an elder in the Yupik community, she says. Where he lives is the center of the climate crisis. His people, whove been there for millennia, are going to have to move. His answer: Thats easy. We take care of each other.

Pooja Makhijani is a writer and editor in New Jersey.

Read more from our Parenting Books feature:

Spit Happens: PW Talks with Liana Finck

New Yorker contributor Liana Finck chronicles her pregnancy and early days of motherhood in the graphic memoir How to Baby.

Flying Solo, Together: PW Talks with Ruby Russell

In Doing It All, journalist Ruby Russell explores the idea of single motherhood as a means of social change.

Four New Books Examine Adoption, Foster Care, and the Child Welfare System

The authors of four new books look at personal experiences and inequities in the system.
Sculpture exhibition brings the latest in Russian contemporary art to the Dutch capital as part of the Netherlands-Russia Year.

Visitors to The Hague this summer wont be able to help noticing the latest trends in contemporary Russian art.

A bronze statue of Jesus walking arm-in-arm with Mickey Mouse and Lenin, and a 16-foot-tall bronze bulldog are only two of the items on display as part of the show Russia XXI, organized in the Dutch capital by the local museum Beelden aan Zee and the Russian National Center for Contemporary Arts.

Other pieces on display include trash bins symbolizing the Sochi-2014 Olympic Games and wooden deer in wooden boxes, intended to show communication between nature and humans. Thirty-seven Russian artists are participating in the show.

The exhibition was opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix on June 5. As part of the opening ceremonies, Vadim Zakharovs sculpture Monument of Utopia was put into action. The head of the 10-foot-tall blue lion moved up and down with the help of special mechanism.

Contemporary Russian art draws on a wide range of inspiration. Some pieces reflect the legacy of the Soviet era while others evolved from a mix of abstract ideas, Russian imperial history, and modern society and politics.

The goal of the exhibit is to show the variety in contemporary Russian art. The works of Sergei Shekhovtsov, whose foam rubber sculptures can last a maximum of 30 years, appear alongside the solid bronze works of Zurab Tsereteli.

Dick van Broekhuizen, head of collections and publications at Beelden aan Zee, describing the art, said: These sculptures represent not only art itself; they have a social meaning.

For example, the installation Brilliant idea by Nikolay Polissky reflects communication in the Russian village. This huge construction was made in four days with the efforts of the inhabitants of the village Nicola-Lenivets.

This village still preserves its traditional way of life and the relationships between people are not the same as in the cities where people are very individualistic.

Source: Youtube / museumbaz

Irina Gorlova, head of the art programs department at the Russian National Center for Contemporary Arts, said that even though the art is contemporary, it draws on history. You can see the two main lines in the works of Russian artists.

The first one is connected to the Russian Avant-garde art of 1920-1930s and the second one is mixing symbols of socialistic era and continuing experiment of soc-art. Beneath one cultural layer, you can notice the background of controversial Russian history.

The exhibition, which is the first large show of contemporary Russian sculpture in Holland, is taking place within the framework of the Netherlands-Russia Year.

Sculptor Shekhovtov, whose work Free  portraying a man jumping through a wall  is part of the exhibition, is happy to be taking part.

I think that such a format of exhibition in open air couldnt be made in Moscow and we need to learn from our Dutch colleagues experience in organizing city shows, said Shekhovtsov.

Visitors so far are impressed. Said Caroline, a local resident: It is really different from what we usually see in The Hague. For instance, the installation with seven sins looks scary and I dont think that any Dutch artists would make this art object.

The exhibit will be on display until Sept. 27. For more information, visit the website.

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Much of the lefts animus towards Israel is based on a false history of the 1948 War: the uprooting of a longstanding Arab population, quelching their aspirations for an independent Palestinian state. Instead, there were longstanding Jewish communities in Palestine; a significant share of Arab refugees were recent migrants to Jewish areas; there was little Palestinian nationalist sentiment; and the Nakba had nothing to do with the refugee problem.

There were longstanding Jewish populations in a number of Palestinian cities. Since at least the nineteenth century, the majority of Jerusalem residents were Jewish despite its home to the third most holy site in Islam. The reason was that the Al-Aqsa Mosque was never a pilgrimage site and during the Ottoman era was never maintained so by the 1920s had severely deteriorated. Besides organizing pogroms against Jewish communities in 1921 and 1929, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, made a concerted effort to transform the mosque by sending emissaries throughout the Muslim world to obtain funds for renovations. These successful efforts led him to be revered in the Muslim world.

The Muftis leadership of the 1936-39 Arab Revolt led to his exile in Iraq. In 1941, he fled to Germany where he was an important propagandist for the Nazis, helping to organize a Bosnian contingent in the Nazi Army. After the war, he escaped from house arrest in France, and was given a heros welcome when arriving in Cairo. The newly formed Arab League made him the head of the Arab Higher Committee, the representative of Palestinian interests.

A significant share of Arabs living in Jewish areas were recent migrants. Throughout the prewar years, Jewish successes drew Arab migrants from other parts of Palestine. The historian Fred Gottheil estimated that between 1922 and 1931 migrants comprised one-quarter of the Arab population growth in areas that would become the state of Israel.

Arab migration to Jewish areas continued during the next decade, fueled by the worsening situations in rural areas. The sociologist Christopher Anderson estimated that as many as half of the Arab peasantry were either agricultural laborers or tenant farmers, with a large share of the remainder having landholdings that were too small to survive long term. Jewish land acquisitions exacerbated the situation. As a result, many Arab workers moved to the dismal slums that had begun to proliferate around coastal cities, especially Haifa and Jaffa.

Poor Muslims who had streamed there regularly returned to their villages for seasonal work and married spouses from their birthplaces. When the 1948 War broke out, they returned to their villages to avoid the military conflict. This was especially the case after news of the Deir Yasim massacre was broadcast throughout Arab communities. At this village, just outside Jerusalem, Jewish forces were indiscriminate in their response to the unexpected resistance they encountered, bombing structures without concern for civilian casualties. As a result, an estimated 110 Arabs were killed, half noncombatants.

The Palestinian leadership more than doubled the numbers, claiming inaccurately that many were killed after the combat had ended. Their goal was to counter the reluctance of Arab countries to send troops after British rule ended. The immediate effect, however, was to instill fear of what would happen if Zionist forces attacked Arab villages. As a result, many Arabs fled even before their villages were attacked. For these reasons, some important historians, including Benny Morris and Meron Benvenisti, distinguish between the 350,000 refugees by the end of May 1948 and the similar numbers afterward. They argue that military efforts and considerations are responsible for the earlier group while ethnic cleansing objectives dominated the latter group.

During the first phase of the war before foreign armies entered, the Jewish forces were opposed by the Arab Liberation Army (ALA); the hoped-for indigenous army organized by the Arab League, supplemented by foreign volunteers. However, it was unable to enlist many Palestinians so that as much as 90% was comprised of foreign volunteers. Indeed, it was led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji, a Lebanese Arab nationalist, rather than a Palestinian.

He had led the foreign volunteers who had fought during the 1936-39 Arab revolt. Qawugji escaped British capture, going to Syria where he was active in the 1941 Jewish pogroms and helped install a pro-Nazi regime. When the British overthrew this new regime, Qawuqji escaped to Germany where he fought for the Nazis. Released from a Soviet prison camp in 1947, he came to Cairo and was chosen to lead the indigenous rebellion.

Gaining meager aid from Arab villagers, the ALA had few victories and many defeats. And a belated attempt by the Arab League to form a provisional Palestinian government failed. Most Palestinian leaders opposed him, particularly for his dictatorial policies during the Arab Revolt ten years earlier. Then he harshly responded to those who questioned any of his decisions, even assassinating some. This opposition not only rejected his provisional government but his efforts to have a say in postwar affairs in the West Bank or Gaza.

That the war was solely against the Jews is clear when the concept of the Nakba was developed. Pan-Arabism was the overriding meaning of the Nakba when first enunciated in 1948 with the publication, The Meaning of the Nakba by Constantin Zureiq, the most important Arab nationalist intellectual at the time. He saw the defeat of the Arab armies as a catastrophe for allowing an alien Jewish state within Arab lands.

In 1958, the Nakba was commemorated by radio stations of the United Arab Republic calling on the worlds Arab and Muslim states to hold a symbolic five minutes to mourn the establishment of Israel. The historian Hillel Cohen noted that there was no mention of the Palestinian displacement. Negation of Israel became the ideological foundation for Hamas and other fundamentalist Islamic organizations.

Only in the 1990s did the Nakba evolve into a focus on the refugees. At the time, Yasar Arafat was pressed to follow through on the Oslo Accords. In his negotiations, Arafat never offered an alternative map to the ones proposed by the Israeli government. Instead, he demanded an uncapped right-of-return of refugees, strengthening his case by referring to their plight as the Nakba. And for the last twenty-five years, the right-of-return has been the major stumbling block to a two-state solution, not Jewish settlements. Indeed, over this time period, there have only been three small West Bank settlements approved with virtually the entire population growth in long-time settlements around Jerusalem.

None of this denies the harshness of Zionist policies during and after the war: The ethnic clearing that dominated the second half of the war and an unwillingness to allow more than a small share of refugees to return to their villages. However, given the Nazi leadership of the Palestinian struggle, and the universal Arab unwillingness to accept any Jewish state in its midst, Zionist policies towards Arab villagers are understandable.

Finally, without a Jewish state, there would have been nowhere to go for Holocaust survivors stuck in displaced persons camps, the Mizrachi Jews when the Arab countries engaged in ethnic cleansing in the early 1950s, or Russian Jews when Soviet policies turned antisemitic. And the tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews would have remained oppressed. Are these the images of colonial settlers that Palestinian supporters project?
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) toasts with guests at the commemoration of the 45th Anniversary of China-US Diplomatic Relations in Beijing, China, 05 January 2024.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday that the United States and China must insist on peaceful coexistence and transcend their differences like they did when they established diplomatic relations 45 years ago this week.

Wang also promised that giant pandas would return to the U.S.  and specifically California  by the end of the year.

China-U.S. cooperation is no longer a dispensable option for the two countries or even for the world, but a must-answer question that must be seriously addressed, he said.

Wang struck a relatively positive note at a lavish banquet marking the anniversary with 300 guests at a hall in the sprawling Diaoyutai state guest house complex in the Chinese capital.

The two countries are trying to navigate  and avoid a war  in what may be their most difficult waters since the U.S. ended official ties with Taiwan and recognized the communist government in Beijing as the government of China on Jan. 1, 1979.

Chinas rise as an economic and military power is challenging long-standing American leadership in the Asia region and globally.

The world is currently undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Wang said. We must think about how to calibrate the direction of the large ship of China-U.S. relations (and) avoid hidden reefs and dangerous shoals.

Both Wang and David Meale, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy, cited congratulatory letters exchanged by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden on Mondays anniversary.

Meale, who spoke after Wang, said Biden expressed his commitment to managing the relationship responsibly and said he looked forward to building on the progress made by past leaders of the two countries.

Wang did criticize the use of the big stick of sanctions and engaging in power games, charges that China often levels at the United States. He denied that China seeks to supplant any other country and called on the U.S. to respect Chinas development path and core interests.

The giant pandas in Memphis, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., returned to China last year, and some feared that China would stop lending pandas to American zoos because of the tensions between the two countries.

But Xi raised hope for California in November when he told an audience in San Francisco that China was ready to continue cooperating with the U.S. on pandas and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians.

Wang told Fridays banquet audience that preparations are ready for a giant panda return to California within the year.

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'Being financially independent is crucial.'

'This spares women a lot of grief if the marriage, especially in large business families, breaks down.'

Vandana Shah is a divorce lawyer who practises in the Mumbai family court.

She was once thrown out of her marital home in the middle of the night with just the clothes on her back.

Let's say she is someone who would know a thing or two about divorces. And she says it will set an "earth-shattering" precedent if Nawaz Modi Singhania were to get -- as she has sought -- 75 per cent per cent of her estranged husband Gautam Hari Singhania's reported $1.4 billion net worth as alimony.

At present, Shah says, there is no fixed percentage in law for the quantum of the husband's earnings the wife should get in case of divorce.

"There is always 'by and large', but nothing is clear. Wives pretty much get the rough end of the stick in most cases," she adds.

In the United States, the law says half of the combined assets belong to the wife in case of divorce.

On November 13, Gautam Singhania, chairperson and managing director of Raymond, announced separation from wife Nawaz, who is a non-executive, non-independent director in the company.

Nawaz soon sought three-fourths of Singhania's personal wealth for herself and their two daughters.

Singhania had earlier said that 'in the interest of my two beautiful daughters, I would like to maintain my family's dignity and I will refrain from offering any comment. Please respect my privacy'.

Messages and calls to Nawaz were not returned. A Raymond spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Business case

The Singhania separation has been hogging the headlines, some of which have been less than savoury, with Nawaz having levelled allegations of physical assault.

The settlement amount she seeks has popped more than a few eyes. But this is not the only high-profile separation to play out in public view in India.

Last year, Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho, dismissed a media report that made serious allegations about his treatment of his wife and their child.

The couple was then in the midst of a divorce case in California and the article in Forbes magazine linked it to Vembu's handling of the company's ownership.

Vembu called the report 'complete fiction' and a hit job.

'There is absolutely no fraud of any kind on anyone. Casting aspersions on my siblings is a low grade hit job of the worst kind. I continue to financially support my former wife and son in the US,' he said, among other things, in a series of tweets on November 9. His wife, Pramila, could not be contacted.

IMAGE: Gautam Singhania with Nawaz Singhania at the launch of the Keibaa x All Saints restaurant in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo

Sunjay Kapur, chairman of Sona Group, and actress Karisma Kapoor parted ways after 13 years of marriage amid much acrimony and allegations.

It is not clear whether the associated businesses suffered in any of these instances. But Raymond appears to have.

The saga has drawn considerable interest from the media and Nawaz happens to be a promoter-director on the board of Raymond.

Since her allegations of abuse by Singhania and the subsequent declaration of separation by the husband, there was a sharp decline in Raymond's stock price, which endured its longest losing streak on record. It touched Rs 1,503 on November 30, compared to Rs 2,180 on September 6.

In a statement on December 1, the independent directors (IDs) said: 'The independent directors, over the last few weeks, have been meeting and monitoring the situation so far as it affects the company and the minority shareholders... The IDs are alert to ensure that the matrimonial disputes between the two promoter directors do not in any manner affect the capacity of the chairman to manage the affairs and business of the company.'

Long haul

Reports suggest the lawyers representing Singhania and Nawaz are coming to the negotiating table.

Shareholders are already in the wait-and-watch mode. Proxy advisory firms are advising them to remain vigilant.

"Minority shareholders will hope that there is no immediate impact on the company as it is a personal matter. However, if there is a court ruling on the division of wealth that includes promoter shareholding, there is likely to be a change in the board and management," said Shriram Subramanian of inGovern.

But nothing is likely to happen in a hurry. Lawyers generally concur that the divorce proceedings could drag on for a long time and the best case would be an amicable, out-of-court settlement.

One of the lawyers gave the example of a startup couple that split in 2021.

The wife had 10 per cent equity with voting rights while the husband owned 57 per cent.

The venture capitalists and other stakeholders pressured the husband to go for a quick, out-of-court settlement to speed things up and prevent the business from declining.

Vriddhi Pardasany, another divorce lawyer practising in the family court as well as the Bombay high court, points out that though there is no fixed percentage for alimony in India, there are Supreme Court guidelines that say that the wife is entitled to approximately 25 per cent of the husband's net income.

"This usually ends up being a third or a fifth of his net income, changing with each matter on the sole discretion of the judge."

"But nowhere has it been 75 per cent, or even 50 per cent of the husband's net worth. It is possible that such a high payout becomes possible in the event of an out-of-court settlement," she said.

What about prenuptial agreements, which are often spoken of with awe among western celebrities, corporate chieftains, and film stars?

Shah says prenups are not legally valid in India, since a marriage in the Indian law is not a contract; it is something sacred, a sacrament.

Pardasany gives the example of another high-profile India Inc divorce she handled, where, like in the Singhania matter, the wife was a director on the board of the company but the settlement was amicable, since neither party wanted the details to become public or be dragged in a court.

Shah advises wives to have properties in their own name and do so before the marriage is solemnised.

"Being financially independent is crucial. This spares women a lot of grief if the marriage, especially in large business families, breaks down."

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Bangladesh will go to the polls on Sunday in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which is boycotting the elections amidst violence and has called for a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government."

IMAGE: A man sleeps on his rickshaw as an election banner of Awami League with the picture of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasin stands in the background during a students rally, ahead of the general election in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday's polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country's Election Commission.

More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates.

Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security.

The election commission said it expected the results to start flowing from early on January 8.

Prime Minister Hasina's ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition BNP of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest as a convict of graft charges, boycotted the polls.

Hasina, 76, in a nationally televised address this week has urged the pro-democratic and law-abiding parties not to fuel ideas that "disrupt" the country's constitutional process.

The BNP has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike starting from Saturday.

The 27 political parties that are contesting the elections include the opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA). The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts dub as "satellite parties."

As part of its vote boycott campaign, BNP on Thursday called a 48-hour countrywide general strike from 6 am on January 6 to 6 am on January 8 as the party has been claiming no election under the incumbent government would be fair and credible.

BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the strike, saying it was aimed to press for their demands for "resignation of the illegal government, establishment of a non-party neutral government and release of all party leaders and activists from prison".

Ahead of the elections, Hasina's government arrested tens of thousands of rival politicians and supporters, a move which rights groups have condemned as an attempt to paralyse the Opposition.

Prime Minister Hasina said the Awami League, whenever it came to power, ensured the economic and social development of the people of the country.

IMAGE: An official walks past ballot boxes that are stored at a school for general election. Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

Authorities deployed Army troops across the country two days ago "in aid of civil administration" to maintain peace and order during the voting.

Despite the strict security arrangements, unidentified people carried homemade bomb and arson attacks in empty polling centres in four out of 64 administrative districts, while BNP activists clashed with police in another district, leaving five people wounded on Friday.

At least four people were killed when a passenger train was torched by arsonists near Dhaka on Friday night. The BNP has demanded a UN-supervised investigation into the incident which it described as a "pre-planned" act of sabotage.

Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group (ICG) said the country is at a critical juncture.

"Bangladesh is at a critical juncture. The once vibrant, if imperfect democracy will soon hold a third election without a credible alternative to the incumbent government," it said in a recent report.

The think tank said while it was now too late to delay the January election, the Awami League and BNP should work after the vote to de-escalate the country's political tensions, including through concessions by both sides.

Political science professor and analyst Harunur Rashid said he feared Bangladesh might need to wait for an indefinite period to witness a congenial political atmosphere because of the highly conflicting nature between the two major parties.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Kader on Friday said there was no perfect democracy anywhere in the world, but BNP's participation could have made the upcoming elections more competitive.

Emerging from a meeting with the Commonwealth Observer Group, Kader said, "They have agreed with us that nowhere in the world there is a cent per cent or perfect democracy".

He said an unprecedented "mass tide" has been created in favour of the party across the country ahead of the elections.

IMAGE: Opposition allies join in a protest rally demanding resignation of the Sheikh Hasina and free-fair election under caretaker government. Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

Hoping that the national election would be held in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, he said the election means a festival of democracy to the people of Bangladesh, and this time it is no exception.

"Ignoring the severe cold, the people have welcomed the election and taken part in the polls campaign. A mass tide has been created across the country in favour of the boat (the Awami Party's election symbol)," Kader said.

He commented on the BNP's general strike on election day and said it is now an "obsolete tool" in Bangladesh's politics.

Hasina has been in power since 2009 and won the last election in December 2019, in a poll marred by deadly violence and accusations of poll rigging.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 election but joined the one in 2019, which party leaders later said was a mistake, alleging the voting was marred with widespread rigging and intimidation.

BNP's boycott announcement this time, however, initially posed a challenge to Hasina on the legitimacy of the January 7 polls as JAPA also expressed its reluctance to join the fray but agreed to participate as the ruling party decided to spare them 26 seats, withdrawing their candidates.

Awami League also left six seats to its partners in the 14-party ruling alliance while Hasina encouraged independent and rebel candidates to contest to make the polling participatory while the ruling party was carrying out a campaign for high voter turnouts.

Senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan on Friday called the government efforts "childish", proving its "political bankruptcy".

Analysts and watchdogs, however, said the country of 170 million was heading for virtual one-party rule, while many voters said they found no charm in voting this time as the polling was set to reelect the incumbent government.

Bangladesh's economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war boosted prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout of USD 4.7 billion last year.

Many fear that a fourth straight term for Hasina would worsen the economic situation, deepening their despair.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Monday its verdict on the petitions challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

IMAGE: Gujarat riots' victim Bilkis Bano with her husband Rakub Rasool addresses a press conference in New Delhi. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had on October 12 last year reserved its verdict after an 11-day hearing on the petitions, including the one filed by Bano.

While reserving the judgement, the apex court had directed the Centre and the Gujarat government to submit by October 16 the original records related to the remission of sentence of the 11 convicts.

While hearing the matter in September last year, the top court had asked whether convicts have a fundamental right to seek remission.

During the earlier arguments, the apex court had observed that state governments should not be selective in granting remission to convicts and the opportunity to reform and reintegrate with society should extend to every prisoner.

Besides the petition filed by Bano contesting the remission granted to them by the Gujarat government, several other PILs, including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma, have challenged the relief.

TMC leader Mahua Moitra has also filed a PIL against the remission and their premature release.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots.

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15, 2022.
At least four people, including two children, were killed and many injured in Dhaka on Friday when suspected arsonists set on fire a passenger train coming from Benapole, a port city bordering India, officials said, a day ahead of Bangladesh's general elections that have been boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

IMAGE: Firefighters on the spot after a passenger train was set ablaze, ahead of general elections, in Dhaka, on January 5, 2024. Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

The incident happened around 9 pm when four carriages of the Benapole Express that runs from Benapole, a town bordering the Indian state of West Bengal, were set on fire as it nearly reached its destination of the capital's Kamalapur Railway Station.

"So far we have found four bodies . . . searches are still underway," Shahjahan Shikdar, the spokesman of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told newsmen at the scene.

Railway officials said that most of the train's nearly 292 passengers were returning home from India and the train was set on fire at 9 pm as it reached the Gopibagh area near the station.

Fire service chief Brigadier General Mohammad Main Uddin, meanwhile, said two of the dead were minor children.

"When we tried to bring out a middle-aged man through a window of the train, he asked me to leave him and rather save his wife and children from inside," a local youth was seen telling the private Jamuna TV.

He said soon fire engulfed the man's and he died shortly thereafter.

A report by the Somoy TV said that some Indian nationals were also travelling in the train.

While the railway officials could not immediately confirm how many people were wounded, private TV channels said that people in the neighbourhood first reached the scene and sent several fire-wounded people to Dhaka Medical College Hospital's burn unit and some other facilities.

Bangladesh goes to polls on Sunday.

More than 100 foreign observers, including three from India, have reached Dhaka to monitor the general election.

Led by former prime minister Khalida Zia, the BNP is boycotting the general election as it is demanding an interim non-party neutral government to hold the election.

The demand was rejected by the government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is heading the ruling Awami League.

Foreign Ministry officials said a three-member delegation from the Election Commission of India reached Dhaka on Friday while 122 others from different countries were set to be here ahead of the January 7 polls, which the United Nations said would watch closely.

Bangladesh witnessed a couple of train related incidents in the recent months.

Unidentified saboteurs On December 19 set a train ablaze killing four people, among them a mother and child, amid an opposition called countrywide strike on that day.

One passenger was killed and dozens wounded as saboteurs uprooted railway tracks when seven carriages derailed in Gazipur on the outskirts of the capital in early December.

On January 2, a train carrying some 300 passengers narrowly averted a major crash at the last minute as suspected saboteurs removed 28 dog spikes or hooks from the tracks on a railway bridge in northern Bangladesh.

Awami League accused BNP of carrying out the sabotages, which the party denied.
Amid a political uproar over the assault on an Enforcement Directorate team in West Bengal, the family of Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh and the central agency on Saturday filed police complaints against each other in connection with a raid during which the ED officials were attacked and injured by a mob.

IMAGE: Windows of a vehicle in which a team of the Enforcement Directorate was traveling are broken after it was attacked during a raid in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, in North 24 Parganas. Photograph: ANI Photo

The police also lodged a suo motu case against the ED officers, who were conducting the raid in connection with the ration distribution scam, on the charges of molestation, forcible entrance and theft.

The central agency sleuths also faced a similar type of mob resistance during the arrest of another TMC leader connected to the scam.

The ED issued a lookout notice for Shahjahan as there are apprehensions that he might flee the country following the incident in which three ED officers were injured and several vehicles damaged by a mob at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, which is close to the Bangladesh border.

Sahajahan's family members filed a police complaint, alleging that the central agency raided their residence without prior notice and broke locks to gain entry.

The ED also lodged a complaint against Sahajahan and his supporters for assaulting its officers.

A senior policeman with Basirhat Police District confirmed that three complaints were lodged at Nazat police station.

Meanwhile, ED officers faced resistance again during the arrest of TMC leader and former Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.

The arrest, following 17 hours of search at Adhya's residence, led to his supporters attempting to obstruct investigators and pelting their vehicles with stones.

CRPF personnel accompanying the ED team intervened, resorting to baton-charging to regain control.

"Adhya was also questioned. He was arrested as his replies were not satisfactory," an ED officer said.

"After the arrest, his supporters, led by women, tried to stop the officers from taking him along with them," he said.

However, the assault was not of the scale compared to what the central agency sleuths witnessed on Friday morning at Sahajahan's residence.

Adhya, like Sahajahan, is considered close to state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, previously arrested in connection with the alleged scam.

A Kolkata court remanded Adhya to 14 days' ED custody.

The ED also issued a lookout notice against Sahajahan.

"We have issued a lookout notice for the TMC leader, and necessary instructions have been sent to the Airports Authority of India," stated an ED officer.

Sahajahan, in a purported audio message to his followers, claimed that he is innocent and the ED raid was a BJP conspiracy to malign the TMC government.

The incident continued to roil Bengal's political landscape, with the BJP demanding that TMC leaders arrested by central agencies be held in prisons outside the state.

"Central agencies should take all TMC leaders arrested in various scams from the state and lodge them in prisons outside Bengal so that the ruling party cannot conspire to foment mob violence in the name of protest against the investigations into corruption cases," BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said.

Responding to it, TMC spokesperson Joy Prakash Majumdar condemned the attack on ED personnel but highlighted that the agency conducted raids without informing local authorities.

"ED and other agencies have conducted raids at properties of popular TMC leaders at the behest of the saffron party in the last two years," he said.

He alleged that the ED kept the police and administration in the dark before undertaking such operations, adding that the police could have controlled the situation.

State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who had previously called for the imposition of the President's rule, said, "The attacks on ED officials by TMC supporters is a blot on the image of West Bengal, where even personnel of investigating agencies are beaten up for probing alleged loot of public money by the ruling party."

Meanwhile, two of the injured ED officers were discharged from a private hospital on Saturday evening after officers from Basirhat Police recorded their statement regarding Friday's incident, sources said.

The other officer who is still undergoing treatment at the HDU unit of the hospital was not questioned by the police officers.
Aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Saturday directed domestic airlines to immediately carry out inspection of emergency exits of all Boeing 737-8 Max planes in their fleets as an "abundant precautionary measure" in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident.

IMAGE: SpiceJet, Air India Express and Akasa Air have Boeing 737-8 Max planes in their fleets. Photograph: ANI Photo

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that "one-time emergency exit checks" should mandatorily be carried out by all operators by noon on January 7.

The inspections will be done during the night halt of the aircraft concerned, the official said and as a result, there will be no impact on flight schedules.

Currently, there are more than 40 Boeing 737-8 Max planes that are operated by three domestic carriers -- Akasa Air, SpiceJet and Air India Express.

The directive comes after an Alaska Airlines plane's outer section, including a window, fell off mid-air and the aircraft involved was Boeing 737-9 Max.

Indian carriers do not have Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft in their fleets now.

The DGCA official said the latest directive is an abundant precautionary measure.

"The DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet," the official said.

The official also said that pursuant to the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737 -9 Max aircraft, there have been no inputs or guidance from Boeing so far. When asked whether flight schedules could be impacted by the inspection, the official replied in the negative.

"No, these one-time checks will be done during the night halt of aircraft," the official said.

In their fleets, Akasa Air has 22 Max planes, SpiceJet has more than 10 such planes and Air India Express has 9 such aircraft.

"We do not have any 737-9 Max in our fleet. SpiceJet will adhere to the DGCA directive on the Max-8," a SpiceJet spokesperson said.

There were no immediate comments from Akasa Air and Air India Express on the DGCA directive.
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday said it has an "open heart" for the Congress regarding seat-sharing in West Bengal for the Lok Sabha elections, but it was also prepared to go solo if the talks fail.

IMAGE: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee felicitates Congress leader Sonia Gandhi during INDIA bloc's Mumbai meet on September 1, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

TMC's leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay said what local Congress leaders are thinking about the sharing of seats is immaterial as the final decision will be taken by the top brass of the two parties.

"Our leader Mamata Banerjee has already said that we have an open heart for the Congress. Now, what they will do is up to them. Whether there will be an in West Bengal will be decided by Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee. What local Congress leaders think is immaterial," he said.

The comment comes two days after state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said his party won't beg for seats from the TMC.

Another senior TMC leader, who refused to be named as he is not authorised to speak on the issue, said the party was open to having an alliance in West Bengal but was also ready to go solo if needed.

TMC was considering leaving four of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats for the Congress, multiple leaders privy to the discussions confirmed.

In the 2019 elections, the TMC won 22 seats, the Congress won two, and the Bharatiya Janata Party secured 18 seats in the state.

Chowdhury, also the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, won the Baharampur seat in Murshidabad district, and Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, a former Union minister, secured a third straight win from the Maldaha Dakshin seat in the neighbouring Malda district.

Banerjee, the TMC chief, had earlier expressed confidence about an alliance between the TMC, Congress and the Left in West Bengal.

The "proposal" was dismissed instantly by her arch-rival Communist Party of India-Marxist and criticised by some leaders of the Congress.

A few days later, she accused the two parties of joining hands with the BJP, asserting that it is the TMC that will take on the saffron camp in West Bengal.

The TMC earlier allied with the Congress for the 2001 assembly polls, 2009 Lok Sabha elections and 2011 assembly polls, in which they uprooted the CPIM-led Left Front government of 34 years.
A bomb squad member works next to remains of an unidentified missile where residential buildings were heavily damaged in central Kharkiv, Ukraine January 2, 2024.

Russian air defenses downed dozens of Ukrainian drones in occupied Crimea and southern Russia on Friday, officials said, as Kyiv pressed its strategy of targeting the Moscow-annexed peninsula and taking the 22-month war well beyond Ukraines borders.

Air raid sirens wailed in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, and traffic was suspended for a second straight day on a bridge connecting the peninsula, which Moscow seized illegally a decade ago, with Russias southern Krasnodar region. The span is a crucial supply link for Russias war effort.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its defenses intercepted 36 drones over Crimea and one over Krasnodar, part of an emerging pattern of intensified Ukrainian aerial attacks in recent days.

A Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile also was destroyed over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the ministry said.

The developments came after three people were injured Thursday night by other Ukrainian rocket and drone attacks on the Russian border city of Belgorod and the surrounding region, said Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. On Jan. 6, Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod killed 25 people, officials there said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pledged to strike more targets on the Crimean Peninsula and inside Russian border regions this year. The goal is to unsettle Russians as President Vladimir Putin seeks another six years in power in a March 17 election.

Following a drone strike deep inside Russia last year, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had developed a weapon that can hit targets 700 kilometers (400 miles) away. He said last month Kyiv plans to produce 1 million drones, which have become a key battlefield weapon.

Other Ukrainian officials said it aims to manufacture this year more than 10,000 attack drones with a range of hundreds of kilometers, as well as more than 1,000 longer-range drones that can hit targets well behind the front line and inside Russia.

Both sides are raising the stakes of their long-range warfare as soldiers remain bogged down on the wintry battlefield. The U.K. Defense Ministry said Friday that ground combat has continued to be characterized by either a static front line or very gradual, local Russian advances in key sectors.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and fired at least one of them into Ukraine on Dec. 30, the White House said Thursday, citing recently declassified U.S. intelligence. It also is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Asked about the development, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said in televised comments Friday that he couldnt immediately confirm the use of the North Korean-supplied missiles, adding that experts need to study the fragments. Russian officials have refrained from commenting on previous U.S. claims that North Korea has supplied ammunition to Moscow.

Ukraine said it stopped 21 out of 29 Russian Shahed drones launched late Thursday and early Friday. The assault injured two people, including a 14-year-old, and was the latest of almost daily Russian drone attacks in the new year.

Zelenskiy thanked Germany late Thursday for a delivery of military aid, especially air defense materiel that he said is timely and focused on our priorities.

Ukraine should look to continue degrading Russias ability to wage war by conducting an escalating campaign of airstrikes on targets far behind the front lines throughout occupied Ukraine and inside Russia itself, according to Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at Ukraines National Institute for Strategic Studies.

This could include attacks on troop concentrations, military bases, and munitions stores along with logistical hubs and armament production facilities, he wrote in an assessment published by the Atlantic Council, a U.S. think tank.

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The Enforcement Directorate arrested Bongaon Municipality's former chairman Shankar Adhya in the early hours of Saturday in connection with the alleged ration scam in West Bengal, officials said.

IMAGE: Security personnel inspect a vehicle of the ED team which was attacked during a raid in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, in North 24 Parganas on Friday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Adhya, a TMC leader in the North 24 Parganas district, was arrested from his residence in Simultola in Bongaon after searches were conducted by the agency at properties linked to him and his family members. These searches went on for at least 17 hours on Friday, they said.

Following the arrest, his supporters allegedly tried to block the investigators from taking him with them, besides hurling stones at their vehicles. The CRPF personnel who were accompanying the ED team had to baton-charge the mob to bring the situation under control, they added.

"Along with the searches, Adhya was also being questioned. He was arrested as his replies were not satisfactory," an ED officer said.

"After the arrest, his supporters, led by women, tried to stop the officers from taking him along with them. The accompanying CRPF personnel brought the situation under control," he said.

This was the second attack on the agency after the one in Sandeshkhali in neighbouring South 24 Parganas district on Friday.

The ED said three of its officers suffered "grievous" injuries after a mob vandalised its vehicles during a raid at the residence of TMC leader Sahajahan Sheikh.

The mob also snatched their personal belongings such as mobile phones and wallets.

Adhya is considered to be close to state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who was arrested in connection with the alleged scam last year.

Along with properties belonging to the TMC leader, the ED had conducted searches at the residences of his in-laws, his associates and an ice cream factory linked to them.

Besides documents, the ED seized around Rs 8 lakh in cash from the residence of the in-laws, the officer said.

Soon after his arrest, Adhya told reporters, "I'll cooperate with the ED and will help them in every possible way."

He was brought to the ED office in Salt Lake in the early hours itself and will be produced at a court in Kolkata later in the day.
'We have informed the government multiple times that the situation in the US and India are different.'

'Here, there will be a 500 MHz gap in the frequencies which will safely allow aviation without interference.'

IMAGE: Kindly note the image has been posted only for representational purposes. Photograph: Kind courtesy Brett Sayles and Pao Olmos/Pexels.com

In the face of 5G expansion, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is ready to make it mandatory for all airlines to replace radio altimeters (RAs) on their aircraft, according to government officials.

This move is designed to facilitate setting up of 5G base stations near airports.

In November 2022, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had directed major telecom operators -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea -- to refrain from setting up 5G base stations operating in the 3,300-3, 670MHz frequency range, also known as the C-band, within certain zones near airports.

These zones extend 2,100 metres from both ends of the runway and 910 metres from the centreline of the runway. These restrictions were put in place due to potential interference between 5G emissions and airplane RAs.

DoT further stipulated that 5G base stations within a 540-metre perimeter of these zones limit their power in the 3,300 to 3,670MHz range to 58 decibel-milliwatts (dBm). These restrictions would remain until all aircraft have upgraded RAs, government officials said.

A month later, in December 2022, the DGCA instructed all airlines to work with aircraft and RA manufacturers to replace RAs, the officials noted. During subsequent meetings, Boeing and Airbus communicated that new RAs for Indian planes would only be available from 2024.

Boeing informed the Indian government that it would first retrofit its approximately 4,500 operational planes in the US (1,500 of those were retrofitted until April 2023), they said.

The company aims to finish retrofitting all US planes by March 2024.

Airbus disclosed that its A320 family planes operating in India, equipped with RAs from French company Thales, would undergo retrofitting. The European aircraft maker also noted the availability of upgraded Thales RA models.

Sector-wide impact

The retrofitting process will impact the majority of commercial planes operating in India. However, some planes, including all B787s and B777s in Air India's fleet, already have new RAs.

According to Air India executives, retrofitting an RA is an overnight process and does not affect an airline's flight schedule.

They also said that talks with RA manufacturers for retrofitting RAs on A320 family planes are at an advanced stage.

The airline has 129 planes in its fleet. About 39 per cent of its fleet consists of B787s and B777s. The remaining planes in its fleet are of the A320 family.

As on August 1 2023, India had a total of 647 commercial aircraft, with Airbus and Boeing accounting for 68 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

According to aviation industry sources, airlines will have to bear the cost of the replacement of RAs. However, at this stage, it is unclear what the final cost will be, they said.

With DoT repeatedly urging the aviation regulator to set a clear timeline for replacing RAs on all planes in India, DGCA had extensive discussions with Indian carriers.

Following these talks, DGCA has decided to ask all carriers in the country to install modified RAs on their planes.

The officials cited above revealed that DGCA has already sent a proposal on this matter to the MoCA for a final decision.

Meanwhile, the regulator has also asked Airbus and Boeing to provide a timeline for the replacement of RAs on planes operating in India.

Airbus informed the government that 5G emissions between 3,700MHz and 3,980MHz can impact radio altimeters at specific power levels, elevation, and tilting of 5G antennas, the officials said.

In January 2023, US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration reported over 420 instances of anomalies in radio altimeters in areas where 5G C-band had been deployed.

In nearly 100 of these cases, the FAA was unable to rule out the possibility of 5G emissions interfering with RAs.

Telcos stick to position

Commercial aviation RAs function within the 4,200 to 4,400MHz band, separated by 220 MHz from the 5G C-band transmissions situated in the 3,700 to 3,908GHz band, according to the US aviation regulator.

Telecom industry executives pointed to these FAA guidelines to stress their opposition of the existing ban on 5G base stations.

"We have informed the government multiple times that the situation in the US and India are different. Here, there will be a 500 MHz gap in the frequencies which will safely allow aviation without interference," a telco executive said.

"We have argued that if the government wants to codify the rules, we will work with them," the telco executive added.

The Cellular Operators Association of India, which represents telecom operators, has told the government there should be controlled flight simulations to prove that 5G signals do not interfere in controlling air-borne planes.

It has also pointed out that nearly 40 countries already use 5G in the C-band with no reported impact on aviation services.

Role of radio altimeters

Radio altimeters, or RAs, measure the distance between an aircraft and the ground below.

In conditions of low visibility, they bolster the situational awareness of pilots, providing vital inputs for onboard systems, such as the traffic collision avoidance system.

What's the issue?

In November 2022, telecom operators were barred from setting up 5G base stations near airports over fears of 5G signals interfering with RAs.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
President Petro, dont punish us for representing the opposition: its a serious mistake. Medellin and Antioquia are Colombia, said the mayor of Colombias second-largest city, at his inauguration ceremony this past Monday, January 1. Federico Fico Gutierrez thus sent a message that was echoed by the governor of Antioquia, Andres Julian Rendon, who took office the same day. He, too, challenged the leaders of the national government: If they dont support Antioquia, they should at least leave us alone. Thus, from their first moment in power, the new duo of rulers made it clear that the richest and most populous department (the equivalent of a state) in Colombia  or, at least, those who currently run the local governments  will be a counterweight to Gustavo Petro.

This political posturing isnt surprising. Gutierrez and Rendon come from the right, while Petro is the first left-wing president of contemporary Colombia. Federico, or Fico  a politician who has had the luxury of being close to former President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010) without ever having joined his Democratic Center party  previously served as the mayor of Medellin from 2016 until 2020. He placed third in the 2022 presidential elections. Uribe supported him, while Gutierrez campaigned as a starkly different alternative to Petro, who eventually won. Two years later, Fico has been elected mayor again.

Ficos position is radical: last year, he denounced Petro for the alleged illegal financing of his 2022 campaign, after the scandal caused by the presidents firstborn son, Nicolas Petro. He then coasted to his re-election as mayor last October, thanks to the fact that the city is strongly opposed to the incumbent government, while Daniel Quintero  the former mayor who had aligned himself with the president  became deeply unpopular.

Rendon  a lesser-known figure outside Antioquia  won the governorship with the endorsement of the Democratic Center. He was formerly the mayor of Rionegro, a wealthy suburb of Medellin. Its home to the international airport (and to Uribe). The two men teamed up for the regional elections last October.

The current governor has repeatedly accused the president of being an enemy of the department. From Antioquia, we will face a Petro who hates the people of Antioquia. Antioquenos, your love and your vote will help us block Petro. Its Petro, or its Antioquia. These were just some of the slogans that were heard on the street, on TV and on social media during the gubernatorial campaign.

In the first days of his mandate, two key issues have materialized and concerning both, Governor Rendon has made his demands clear. The first is that the Government of Antioquia wants to be in charge of all mining projects within its territory. Rendon wants to be able to approve or revoke mining licenses and supervise an economic activity that has deep historical roots in a region that lived off of gold extraction throughout the colonial era. Even today, Antioquia represents about half of Colombias total gold production.

However, on December 26, the government in Bogota decided to not extend this jurisdiction, which had been in effect since 2013. This sparked annoyance in the region. Its an act of revenge towards Antioquia, said outgoing Governor Anibal Gaviria. Rendon took it a step further: Ive decided to form a legal team of the highest level to fight  from an administrative and constitutional point of view  to recover the mining [rights] of Antioquia, he announced, on the day of his inauguration.

Petro has supported his decision with legal arguments, but also with policy positions that deepen the distance between the leaders. My dear governor, mining in Antioquia has largely been dominated by armed groups. [It] has spread to fertile lands and areas with high environmental sensitivity. It doesnt seem like a good balance to me. I propose a mining model that prioritizes the small miner and I propose that agricultural areas be respected in their agricultural vocation, he retorted, the day after the debate broke out.

There has been a similar fight when it comes to the second issue: fourth-generation road concessions, or 4G roads. Structured by the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) about a decade ago in different regions, they have special importance in a department so steep that its capital, Medellin, is known as the mountain capital. In fact, 4G came from a previous project that was started by the Uribe administration, to build several roads in Antioquia. Santos took up the idea, added roads to other regions and  with environmental, financial and legal adjustments  took 4G forward.

In Antioquia, several of these roads have sections pending. The regional government has asked Bogota for additional funds to finance them. But the answer, so far, has been negative. We have a financing problem, but not with the 4G in Antioquia. [Our issue is] with the roads in Colombia, Minister of Transportation William Camargo told EL PAIS in October. He explained that the roads in question are additional works that have been proposed by the companies in charge of the construction and maintenance of the highways, or by the communities. He claimed that theres no money for it. It cannot be argued that Antioquia hasnt received resources: of the $50 billion in fourth-generation concessions, approximately $28 billion materialized in concessions that pass through that department, the minister argued.

Rendon brought up the matter on the day of his inauguration. If they dont want to finish the Mountain Highways, let [the federal government] hand them over to us, because well finish them here. Previously, during the campaign, he affirmed that Petros hatred towards Antioquia is limitless: he took the money from us to finish the 4G roads.

Although he hasnt commented directly on the two issues, Fico has accused Petro of punishing a region that didnt vote for him in the presidential elections and has now elected his opponents. Attacking a region due to political and ideological differences with its leaders is an attack on the unity of the country, he said, on the day that the governments decision on mining was announced.

The fight is on. More issues have emerged, such as the federal governments role in the local health system or Petros criticism of the Hidroituango hydroelectric plant, another megaproject led by the regional and municipal governments. From healthcare reform to Petros total peace policy, the governor and the mayor have clashed with the president on his flagship issues.

Ideologically opposed to Petro  and with enough resources to carry out their administrations without depending on the federal government  Fico and Rendon are incentivized to be a counterweight to the executive branch, especially when Petro is polling poorly in Antioquia. As the opposition to the president has no clear leadership, theres room to be noticed.

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Taipeis defense ministry said Chinese balloons spotted recently over Taiwan pose a serious threat to flight safety.

A Taiwanese air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet lands at an air force base in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan on April 9, 2023.

After Taiwan spotted Chinese balloons flying over its main island, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in Taipei accused Beijing of conducting cognitive warfare against Taiwanese people just days before the general election.

Two more Chinese balloons were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which serves as the de facto boundary between Taiwan and China, on Friday. One of them flew over the Taiwan island itself, the ministry said Saturday in a strongly-worded statement.

On Jan. 13, the Taiwanese go to polls in presidential and parliamentary elections seen as vital for cross-strait relations.

The MND only began disclosing Chinas balloon incursions in December 2023 and has so far reported the sighting of 19 balloons, including six that entered the islands airspace.

An airspace is a portion of the atmosphere above a countrys territory, to which it holds exclusive sovereignty.

Experts say the balloons are likely meteorological as most of them fly at a relatively low altitude.

The MND said, according to their analyses, the main purpose of the recently detected airborne balloons is to conduct gray zone activities, attempting to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of Taiwanese people.

Cognitive warfare, often known as psychological warfare, refers to activities designed to control the mental state and behavior of other people.

The drifting paths of the balloons posed a serious threat to the safety of many international flights, the ministry said in a statement sent to reporters.

It added that the Taiwanese military is keeping a close watch and would notify civil aviation authorities about any new developments, while condemning the Chinese Communist Party for its disregard of aviation safety and for the safety of passengers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and internationally.

Hyping Chinas threat?

Wendell Minnick, a Taipei-based veteran Chinese military watcher, said the balloons could be an air traffic problem for airliners at 30,000 ft (9.1km).

Sucking one of these into the engine would result in a crash, Minnick told Radio Free Asia.

But these weather balloons are not unusual; they come from two different weather balloon stations in China, said Minnick. Now that Taiwans MND has begun mentioning them, they have to keep doing so.

Chinese media outlets, meanwhile, said they were harmless weather balloons and accused the Taiwanese government of hyping the mainland threat.

Its evident that weather balloons pose no threat to anyone, however, media outlets in the U.S. and Taiwan island use them to perpetuate the mainland threat theory, said the state-run Global Times in an editorial on Thursday.

The Global Times mentioned the incident that happened in early 2023 when U.S. authorities accused China of flying a spy balloon over the continental U.S.

In the so-called 2023 Chinese balloon incident, the Pentagon sent a stealth F-22 Raptor fighter jet to shoot down what it said was a Chinese high-altitude surveillance platform in the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 4.

China said it was a weather balloon that was blown off course, but the incident led to further tensions in the already problematic China-U.S. relations.

Edited by Taejun Kang.
Male students who enrolled in Taliban-run religious schools say that sexual and physical abuse has led some to end their pursuit of an education in Afghanistan.

The students, all of whom were aged 10 to 17 and spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity out of fears of repercussion, described numerous instances in which they and fellow classmates were pressured to engage in sexual acts with teachers and subjected to corporal punishments.

The reported cases took place in western and southwestern Afghanistan at Taliban-run madrasahs, part of the network of religious schools that the extremist group has expanded significantly as part of its drive to foster religious education more in keeping with its hard-line Islamist views.

One 16-year-old student, a resident of Farah Province, described being propositioned by a teacher at the madrasah he attends.

"One day at school a Taliban member who teaches there made an inappropriate offer, but I did not accept it," the boy told Radio Azadi, using inexplicit language to describe sexual abuse, a culturally taboo topic in Afghanistan. "When the lessons were over, he bothered me again."

The boy said he reported the incidents to a "qari," a person who has memorized the Koran and serves as a religious authority at the school, to no avail.

"I told the qari that the teacher was doing bad things to me, and the qari told him not to do these things, that he was a teacher," the boy said. "The teacher admitted doing it, but it had no effect. He has continued to do bad things and made sexual requests to numerous students at the school."

Another student in southwestern Afghanistan, a 17-year-old in the 10th grade, gave a similar account of his experience during his six months studying at a Taliban-run madrasah.

"A Taliban member who teaches at the school proposed having a relationship with me and said some other things that I did not accept," the boy said.

After being refused, the teacher swore and issued threats, the boy said, adding that his fellow students have faced similar treatment.

"He also harassed several of my classmates, and one of them left the school," the boy said. "He told me I should not go to school anymore because the same teacher is harassing me."

The boy said the experience has left him "damaged" and unsure of whom he can confide in. "I can't tell my family," he said.

The Taliban has come under widespread criticism for the severe restrictions it has placed on the daily lives of the Afghans since seizing power in August 2021. In its pursuit to impose its extreme interpretation of Islam, the Taliban has restored many of the draconian rules it was infamous for during its first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

The ban on the education of girls past the sixth grade, and the erasure of women's role in society stand out among the measures the Taliban has taken. But other steps -- including prohibitions on music and idolatry through art, and pressure against students and teachers -- have affected all walks of life regardless of sex.

Since the Taliban returned to power, many educators have left the country, while female teachers have been left at home without work due to restrictions on women's freedom of movement and their ability to teach males.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has steadily worked to replace secular state schools and informal madrasahs with a system of religious schooling. The system does allow for girl students, including those of university age, but critics say it falls far short of the standards of modern education for girls and boys alike and often promotes extremism.

According to a report on Afghanistan issued by the United Nations in February, the Taliban has established 6,836 madrasahs for males and 380 for females and was expected to finalize a standardized religious curriculum in time for the new school year beginning this month.

The recruitment of madrasah teachers is also in full swing, according to the report, following a decree by the Talibans spiritual leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada to have 100,000 new madrasah teachers in place.

In December, Human Rights Watch gave a stinging assessment of the state of education in general, saying that in addition to the obstacles to the education of girls and women, the Taliban had "also inflicted deep harm on boys' education" in Afghanistan.

"Many boys were previously taught by women teachers; the Taliban has prohibited women from teaching boys, depriving women teachers of their jobs and often leaving boys with unqualified replacement male teachers or sometimes no teachers at all," HRW said. "Parents and students said that corporal punishment, which has long been a problem at Afghan schools, has become increasingly common. The curriculum in many schools appears to be under revision to remove important school subjects and promote discrimination."

The rights watchdog said the circumstances had "led many boys to leave school altogether" and "left boys struggling with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression."

Shortly after the Taliban regained power, the United Nations highlighted the dire situation for children in Afghanistan, including exposure to sexual violence and increased risk of students dropping out of school.

Difficulties in ensuring the protection of children are exacerbated, according to the UN, by the Taliban's refusal to consider people below the age of 18 to be children, as is the international standard, instead using the onset of puberty as the basis for adulthood.

Younger madrasah students in western and southwestern Afghanistan below or at the age of puberty said they were not spared physical abuse and sexual harassment from teachers.

One young man who spoke to Radio Azadi said he recently learned that his young brother was being subjected to sexual abuse at a madrasah in western Afghanistan.

The young man said his brother was being assigned extracurricular "homework by a teacher, or to put it bluntly, he was being asked for sex, [the teacher] fondled his hands and feet and kissed him."

As a result, the young man said he told his brother not to go to school anymore.

Fear of sexual harassment and sexual and physical abuse were cited as a common factor leading boys in western and southwestern Afghanistan to give up their studies.

"Some teachers harass our students and make immoral requests," said one 14-year-old boy who also described common methods of corporal punishment at his madrasah. "They strike our faces or beat our hands and feet under the pretext of disciplining us for not learning our lessons properly."

The boy said many students were studying hard in fear of being taken to a special room for punishment, and that "some even drop out of school."

Another student, aged 10, said his teacher separated him and other students from their class to beat the soles of their feet.

Afterward, he told Radio Azadi, he stopped going to class because he was afraid. And upon hearing about the incidents, his and his classmates' parents "did not allow us to go to school."

The Taliban authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations of abuse at madrasahs it has established. And efforts to speak to individuals aware of the situations at madrasahs in other areas of Afghanistan were met by refusals to comment due to fear of reprisals.

A women's rights activist who asked that her name not be published told Radio Azadi that families have no avenue to lodge complaints about the abuse their children encounter at Taliban-run madrasahs because they, too, would face threats.

The activist said that not only had she been made aware of sexual harassment against both girls and boys at Taliban-run madrasahs, but the curriculum also serves to "increase the level of extremism in the country."

Reducing the risks of both threats, she said, would require greater oversight by the Taliban authorities and ideally, she said, a reduction in the number of madrasahs.

Najib Amini, a civil society activist in western Afghanistan, said that for now, the onus falls on families to be aware.

"Children are subjected to sexual abuse in madrasahs established under the Taliban regime," Amini said. "Families have an important and essential role in this regard. If they do not want their children to be abused in schools, if they want their children to get a basic education...then they should not send their children to madrasahs under the control of the Taliban."

Written by Michael Scollon based on reporting by RFE/RLs Radio Azadi
TAIPEI -- With China applying economic and military pressure in the lead-up to Taiwans elections, Beijings policy toward the island nation is again in the spotlight and being closely watched by the United States and Europe.

But theres one aspiring EU member thats staying clear of Taipei and its parliamentary and presidential elections next week: Georgia.

The small Caucasian country of some 4 million people follows a strict policy of isolation toward Taiwan, with Tbilisi refusing to recognize Taiwanese passports, making it the only government in the world to refuse entry to the islands citizens.

This trend has accelerated in recent years as successive Georgian Dream-led governments have allowed China to expand its footprint in the country. Bilateral ties reached a new level in July when Beijing and Tbilisi signed a strategic-partnership agreement. Through that deal, China included Georgia in an assortment of global initiatives and promised it preferential bank loans for large-scale infrastructure projects in return.

These developments havent gone unnoticed in Taipei, where Foreign Minister Joseph Wu called on Tbilisi to ease admission policies toward Taiwanese citizens, though Wu says Georgia has rebuffed his efforts to establish any formal communication.

We have no practical, substantive, or real relations with Georgia, Wu told RFE/RLs Georgian Service. We have repeatedly tried to [communicate] with the help of business leaders or through other channels, but the Georgian government wont engage with Taiwan.

While only 12 countries and the Vatican have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, many others have vibrant, informal ties with Taipei, allowing the island to operate so-called economic and cultural offices that perform functions similar to those of an embassy or consulate.

Many Western governments have also stepped up their engagement and support of Taipei in recent years in the face of growing Chinese pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

This has included warnings from leading officials like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock against China using force or putting pressure on the island.

Despite concern over democratic backsliding and high-level corruption in Georgia, Tbilisi received candidate status from Brussels in December and now faces a number of tests to get closer to the EUs common foreign and security policy, including its relationship with China.

Georgias stance toward Beijing adds another wrinkle to its newfound bid for EU membership and risks leaving it as an outlier amid Taiwans high-stakes elections on January 13, about which Taipei raised the alarm over what it says is a concerted effort by China to sway the vote toward Beijing-preferred candidates and parties.

Taiwan is taking measures to counter China's interference and is documenting its experiences. Analysis will be published soon after the elections in consultation with international experts, Wu wrote in The Economist on January 3.

An Evolving Line On Taiwan

Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te, who serves under President Tsai Ing-wen and is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), holds a narrow lead in the presidential race.

Hes running against Hou Yu-ih from Kuomintang (KMT), the largest opposition party that has traditionally favored close ties with China but denies being pro-Beijing. Ko Wen-je, the former mayor of the capital, Taipei, is also running as a third candidate for his self-founded Taiwan Peoples Party (TPP).

Bitter disputes in Taipei on how to handle relations with China and avoid conflict are dominating the final stretch of the campaign for the self-governing island of 23 million, and Lais election could lead to even greater tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Lai is strongly opposed to the Chinese Communist Party, and while hes said he wont call for formal Taiwanese independence, hes also said Taiwans sovereignty is a fact. China has stepped up its rhetoric ahead of the election, and many analysts believe a Lai victory could prompt aggressive moves by Beijing, which has criticized Lai as a secessionist.

Most top Chinese officials have avoided commenting on the elections, but Chinese leader Xi Jinping used his New Years Eve address to say that Beijings reunification with Taiwan was inevitable.

Taiwanese officials reject Chinese rhetoric over reunification.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war between the Communist-led Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of China government that became based in Taipei, with the Chinese Communist Party never controlling Taiwan. Beijing views the island as a rogue province and aims to bring it under its control, ideally peacefully, though it does not rule out force.

Taipei maintained official seats for China at major global bodies like the United Nations in the decades following the war, but from the 1970s onward most countries switched to recognizing Beijing instead of Taipei, leaving Taiwan with few formal friends as China's political and economic power expanded globally.

Its against this backdrop that Georgia has taken its staunchly pro-Beijing position.

Many Western governments, including the United States and EU countries, do not openly contest China's claim to Taiwan, but they also do not support it. This purposefully vague policy on Taiwans status is often characterized as the One China Policy.

In Washingtons case, it remains Taiwans most significant international supporter and is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself, despite having official ties with Beijing, not Taipei.

In contrast, Beijing espouses what it refers to as a One China principle in which it asserts that it is the only legitimate government and that it maintains sovereignty over Taiwan.

Tbilisi And Taipei

Its this more pro-Beijing interpretation that Tbilisi has embraced.

Irakli Sirbiladze, a nonresident fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told RFE/RL that Georgia has done this in order to court more investment and generate interest in the Middle Corridor, a transcontinental trade route connecting Europe and China, a project in which Georgia plays a crucial role.

He adds that the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, breakaway Georgian regions occupied by Russia that have declared independence, are also a factor.

Beijing and the vast majority of the international community do not recognize the two entities and Georgia hopes that by maintaining zero relations with Taiwan that China can provide some form of moderation and be a diplomatic bulwark against the Russian-backed areas receiving further recognition.

Sergi Kapanadze, a Georgian politician who was deputy foreign minister from 2011 to 2012 as part of a government led by the United National Movement party, said concerns over Abkhazia and South Ossetia have been a leading factor for Tbilisis isolation from Taiwan even before the series of Georgian Dream-led governments deepened ties with China.

The main risk was this: if you accept the Taiwanese passport, then [Beijing] may recognize the so-called Abkhaz passport, he told RFE/RL. Personally, I have always opposed the recognition of passports, the entry of Taiwanese, and the liberalization of this issue because it could do more harm than good to Georgia.

This policy looks set to continue for Georgia well past the upcoming Taiwanese elections and as Tbilisi pursues EU membership.

In response to a question from RFE/RL about the governments approach toward Taiwanese citizens, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili said there are no plans for it to change.

[Georgia] has a very clear position on the issues that concern China and Taiwan, he said. We have a very dynamic relationship with the Peoples Republic of China.

Written by Reid Standish in Prague based on reporting in Taiwan by Luka Pertaia
Vladimir Putin has claimed a fifth presidential term with a landslide victory in a tightly controlled election that has been condemned by the West as neither free nor fair as the Russian leader seeks to prove overwhelming popular support for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and increasingly repressive policies.

With 99.75 percent of ballots counted, Putin won another six-year term with a post-Soviet record of 87.29 percent of the vote, the Central Elections Committee (TsIK) said on March 18, adding that turnout was also at a "record" level, with 77.44 percent of eligible voters casting ballots.

The 71-year old Putin -- who has ruled as either president or prime minister since 2000 -- is now set to surpass Soviet dictator Josef Stalins nearly 30-year reign to become the longest-serving Russian leader in more than two centuries.

"This election has been based on repression and intimidation," the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told journalists in Brussels on March 18 as the bloc's foreign ministers gathered to discuss the election, among other issues.

The March 15-17 vote is the first for Putin since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that has killed tens of thousands of Russians and led to a clear break in relations with the West. In holding what has widely been viewed as faux elections, Putin wants to show that he has the nations full support, experts said.

The vote was also held in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers are located. Moscow illegally annexed the regions since launching the invasion, though it remains unclear how much of the territory it controls.

The Kremlin's goal "is to get as many people as possible to sign off on Russia's war against Ukraine. The idea is to get millions of Russian citizens to retroactively approve the decision Putin single-handedly made two years ago," Maksim Trudolyubov, a senior fellow at the Kennan Institute, wrote in a note ahead of the vote.

In remarks shortly after he was declared the winner, Putin said the election showed that the nation was "one team."

But Western leaders condemned the vote, with a White House spokesman saying they "are obviously not free nor fair," and EU foreign ministers roundly dismissing them as a sham ahead of agreeing to impose sanctions on individuals linked to the mistreatment and death of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told RFE/RL in an interview in Tbilisi on the second day of a visit to the Caucasus that the Russian election was "not free nor fair." He said those who have had the courage to oppose Putin "are either force to flee, to live abroad, they are jailed, or some of them are killed as we saw with Aleksei Navalny."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, speaking at the start of the EU foreign ministers' meeting, said Russia's election was "an election without choice."

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said the conditions for a "free, pluralistic, and democratic election were not met," and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the election outcome highlighted the "depth of repression" in Russia.

"Putin removes his political opponents, controls the media, and then crowns himself the winner. This is not democracy," Cameron said.

France, Britain, and other countries condemned the fact that Russia had also held its election in occupied regions of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Putin has become "sick with power" and he is just "simulating" elections.

"This imitation of 'elections' has no legitimacy and cannot have any. This person must end up in the dock in The Hague [at the International UN Tribunal for War Crimes]," Zelenskiy said on X.

Putin's allies were quick to heap praise on the Russian leader for his election success.

China, one of Russia's most important allies, congratulated Putin, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian saying President Xi Jinping and the Russian leader "will continue to maintain close exchanges, lead the two countries to continue to uphold long-standing good-neighborly friendship, deepen comprehensive strategic coordination."

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called Putin's victory "decisive," the state news agency IRNA reported, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a congratulatory message to Putin quoted by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that Russian voters had shown "unshakeable support and trust in" their president, state media reported.

In the tightly controlled race, Putin was opposed by three relatively unknown, Kremlin-friendly politicians whose campaigns were barely noticeable.

Prior to the election the Kremlin banned anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin from the ballot after tens of thousands of voters lined up in the cold to support his candidacy. Nadezhdin threatened to undermine the narrative of a united nation behind Putin and his war, experts said.



Russias opposition movement suffered a serious blow last month when Navalny, who was Putins fiercest and most popular critic, died in unclear circumstances in a maximum-security prison in the Arctic where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism widely seen as politically motivated.

Russian political analyst Ivan Preobrazhensky said in an interview with Current Time that Putin was also frightened by the rebellion staged by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in June when Prigozhin's forces briefly took control of Rostov-on-Don and were greeted by many citizens as heroes.

Prigozhin ended his rebellion before reaching Moscow and was later killed in a plane crash that many believe was retaliation by the Kremlin.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Eleven people were killed on January 6 when Russian forces shelled the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the region said.

Vadym Filashkin said five children were among those killed in the missile strike on Pokrovsk, a city in Ukrainian-held territory about 80 kilometers northwest of Donetsk city, which lies in the Russian held center of the region.

"The Russians hit the region with S-300 missiles, killing 11 people and wounding another eight," Filashkin said on Telegram. The main strike hit Pokrovsk and nearby villages, he said, adding that the attack showed Russian forces were "trying to inflict as much grief as possible on our land."

WATCH: Ukrainian Rescue Workers Search Rubble For Survivors Of Missile Strike Near Pokrovsk (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded in his nightly video address, saying Russia must be made to feel the consequences of every such attack.

"The Russian strike targeted ordinary residential buildings and private houses," Zelenskiy said. "Russia must feel -- always feel -- that no such strike will go without consequences for the terrorist state."

Reports of the deaths in Pokrovsk came after the Ukrainian Air Force said it had destroyed a Russian command center at the Saky air base on the occupied Crimean Peninsula in an overnight attack.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

All targets have been shot down, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram, adding that Russia lost another command post in Crimea.

Ukraine on January 5 said it carried out separate strikes on a Russian military command post and a military unit in Crimea, inflicting "serious damage" to Russia's defense system.

Natalya Humenyuk, the spokeswoman for the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, said that "really powerful combat" operations took place earlier this week, hitting Russia's military operations in Crimea especially hard.

"Not only one command post was affected," she said in a rare detailing of Ukrainian operations.

Russia on January 6 claimed that its forces shot down four Ukrainian missiles in Crimea overnight.

The reports cannot be independently verified.

Since Moscow's brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraines forces have conducted frequent strikes on Russian military targets in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

The Saky airfield made headlines in September 2023 when Ukraine said its military hit the facility, causing serious damage" to equipment at the site. Crimeas Moscow-installed officials denied the claim.

The air base had also come under a Ukrainian strike in August the previous year, with Kyiv claiming that the attack destroyed at least nine military aircraft, including Su-30SM fighters and Su-24M bombers.

Both the Ukraine and Russia have escalated attacks in recent days, as the military conflict drags on into nearly two years.

In Moscow, a top Russian official was quoted as saying that Russia plans to produce 32,500 drones each year by 2030, allocating $7.66 billion for the project.

"This is almost three times higher than current production volumes, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency on January 6.

Drones have been widely used both by Moscow and Kyiv since the war began. Russia mostly relies on the cheaply produced, Iranian-made Shahed drones in its aerial assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure far beyond the front lines in the east and south of the country.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has intensively used the first-person-view (FVP) drones -- small drones originally meant for personal civilian use but modified for the battlefield.

Kyiv said last month that it planned to produce more than 11,000 medium- and long-range attack drones, as well as 1 million FPV drones in 2024.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters
Two women cried on Friday, January 5, over the coffin of a loved one, during the funeral ceremony held in the Iranian city of Kerman two days after the attack claimed by the Islamic State.

When earlier this week all eyes were on the implications of the assassination of the Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, in an attack in Beirut that bore all the signs of an Israeli action, two powerful explosions shook the Iranian city of Kerman. On Thursday, dispelling the confusion that had initially surrounded the events, the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 91 people and has become the deadliest in Irans recent history.

The attack  perpetrated in the midst of heightened regional tension caused by Israels devastating military offensive in Gaza  has put ISIS back on the map. It is the latest fateful reminder of its presence in different latitudes of the world and its ability to continue executing high-impact operations, despite having been defeated in Syria and Iraq  where it came to control large swathes of territory between 2014 and 2019 , having lost many of its top commanders and leaders in recent years, and having been weakened by competition from rival groups.

In 2023, the number of attacks claimed by the Islamic State and its affiliates fell by 53% from the previous year, from 1,811 to 838, according to a BBC tally compiled from official communiques from the group and its supporters. However, the organization remains capable of carrying out hundreds of attacks a year (more than two a day on average in 2023), exploiting local political and security vulnerabilities and loopholes.

A threat to Iran

The attack in the city of Kerman, when a tribute was being held for the anniversary of the death of General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020, was most likely perpetrated by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) branch. This subgroup of the organization was formed in early 2015 and operates mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but also in some surrounding countries, such as Iran, and in recent years has been modifying its tactics and adapting its actions depending on the circumstances.

Following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August 2021, there was a marked increase in ISIS-K attacks. In response, the Taliban launched an extensive operation against its members and sympathizers, resulting in the death of dozens of people and the arrest of hundreds, and attacks decreased significantly, says Abdul Sayed, an independent researcher focusing on jihadism in the region.

However, in mid-2022, ISIS-K adopted a new strategy, focusing on large suicide bombings, rather than frequent mini-attacks, targeting foreign diplomats, foreign nationals, influential Taliban commanders, religious figures and key facilities in Kabul, Sayed explains.

Between January and May 2023, the researcher adds, the Taliban eliminated more than a dozen key ISIS-K commanders, leading to a drastic reduction in their attacks in Afghanistan and a prolonged cessation of actions. In 2023, the groups attacks plummeted 86% compared to the previous year and 93% relative to 2021, according to a BBC tally.

Nevertheless, the groups most active operational network is currently located, according to Sayed, in the Bajaur tribal district of northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. The expert says that details about the whereabouts of ISIS-K leaders and members remain elusive, but notes that Taliban intelligence operations suggest that cells exist in Kabul, in a northeastern province bordering Pakistan, and in northern provinces bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. There are also indications of their presence in the western province of Herat, bordering Iran.

Some analysts have warned that, due to increased anti-terrorism pressure from the Taliban, ISIS-K may have opted not only to commit fewer  albeit more powerful  but also more regional attacks. In this regard, Iran faces the most danger, due to the radically anti-Shiite stance of ISIS (which is a Sunni Muslim militant group), its opposition to the Iranian authorities, and its scope for recruiting followers among Iranian Sunni citizens opposed to the government in Tehran. Moreover, Iran has neither the influence nor the like-minded militias in Afghanistan that would allow it to confront ISIS-K, as is the case in Iraq and Syria, through the various pro-Iranian armed groups and the proximity to the government of Bashar al-Assad.

The Kerman attack is not the only recent wide-ranging attack by ISIS, nor its first major attack on Iran. Last summer, the group killed more than 60 people and wounded more than a hundred in another suicide bombing executed during an election rally in Pakistan. In October 2022, the terrorist organization took responsibility for another attack in the Iranian city of Shiraz that left more than 10 dead and dozens wounded. In 2018, it claimed responsibility for an attack during a military parade in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz that killed 25 people. And a year earlier it hit central Tehran with two attacks, against the Iranian Parliament and the mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the Iranian Revolution, in which 18 people were killed. Iranian authorities have accused the Islamic State of other attacks in the country, and claim to have thwarted dozens.

Global network

In addition to the province of Greater Khorasan (which in jihadist terminology refers to the historical region that includes present-day Afghanistan, eastern Iran and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), the Islamic State maintains multiple affiliates in other parts of the world that remain active. In Iraq and Syria, the ground has had to mutate the most in recent years due to factors such as the strengthening of the Syrian regime and the Iraqi military apparatus; its loss of territory, influence, resources and recruits; and the rapid elimination of its leaders. Last year, its claimed attacks in Iraq fell 65% from 2022, and in Syria, 60%. However, the group remains capable of executing dozens of attacks, including particularly sophisticated ones such as those it has carried out in Syrian prisons to free members of its ranks, and continues to exploit security and stability gaps in areas such as central Syria to strengthen itself.

The situation is markedly different in sub-Saharan Africa, where the Islamic State has five regional branches and has sought to expand its influence in recent years to counter setbacks in the Middle East. There, the group has exploited the regions increased instability and reduced counter-terrorism pressure resulting from multiple coups, especially in the Sahel region, coupled with political and socio-economic grievances of the local population.

In 2023, attacks by the different branches of the Islamic State in sub-Saharan Africa were also down compared to the previous year. But the region accounted for up to 60% of the total number of attacks claimed by the group worldwide. Its most active affiliates are those in West Africa, mainly in northeastern Nigeria and around Lake Chad, and the Sahel, especially in Mali. Its provinces in Central Africa and Mozambique also pose a notable threat.

In Egypt, where the Islamic States Sinai branch went so far as to take responsibility for more than 100 attacks in 2022 and to occupy some locations temporarily in 2020, the threat has been almost completely crushed.

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David Young, PA

Thousands of people demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as they took part in a pro-Palestine rally in Dublin and Belfast.

In Dublin, a smaller demonstration outside RTE saw 108 pairs of shoes laid out in a display activists said was to signify the number of journalists killed since the conflict began in October.

The rally at Belfast City Hall came after supporters of the Palestinian cause marched through the city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Protesters carrying Palestine flags and placards criticising the Israeli regime were among the large crowd that gathered outside the gates of the landmark building to hear a series of speeches.

108 pairs of shoes for each journalist killed in Gaza are laid out as Mothers Against Genocide protest outside RTE in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

The addresses were interspersed with chants and songs voicing support for the Palestinian people and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Among the speakers was Mark McTaggart, INTO's northern secretary and also spokesperson for the Trade Union Friends of Palestine group.

He reflected on the numbers of students and teachers who have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest  education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the north who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety, he said.

Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people in Palestine.

Mr McTaggart also encouraged people to actively boycott Israeli goods and companies.

People take part in a pro-Palestine march and rally at Belfast City Hall (David Young/PA)

The protest at RTE in Dublin was organised by the group Mothers Against Genocide.

One of those taking part was sustainable development scientist Naomi Sheehan.

She said RTE should be referring to Israels actions in Gaza as genocide.

Its hard to even speak about this because it is so emotional, this is like witnessing the worst human rights atrocities of our times, she said.

Its a silent genocide, and we are hearing a deafening silence in terms of assigning appropriate accountability to the forces who are enabling this genocide.

Both Belfast and Dublin have also witnessed pro-Israeli demonstrations since the conflict began in October.

Saturdays pro-Palestinian protests were staged after Tanaiste Micheal Martin warned that a widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world.

Mr Martins comments came as Hizbullah in Lebanon claimed it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli observations posts after it blamed Israel for a strike on Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official during the week.

The Tanaiste also rejected suggestions coming from some Israeli ministers that large numbers of Palestinians should be relocated out of Gaza.

Mr Martin further expressed concern about the situation in the Red Sea where commercial ships have been attacked by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs said the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was more urgent than ever.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

He also stressed the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation, he said.

A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

Mr Martin added: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe.

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected.

This trajectory must be reversed. The international community, including parties in the region, must, in the first instance, redouble efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.

But our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole. This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality.

In that context, the recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory. Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.
Ukraine is getting ready to expand its military recruitment efforts for its war with Russia. The Rada legislature is currently considering a bill proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiys administration to lower the military service age from 27 to 25; impose stricter penalties for draft evasion; and require Ukrainians living abroad to keep their military documents up to date.

At the end of its second year, the Russia-Ukraine battle is turning into a war of attrition, and President Zelenskiy recently announced that nearly 500,000 new recruits had been called up. Expanding military draft requirements will enable the country to press thousands of men (women are not part of the mobilization) into service. It has become a highly divisive issue for the country, and neither the government nor the army wants to bear the responsibility alone.

While Zelenskiy requests more munitions and weaponry from Western allies to bolster its air defenses, debate on the military recruitment bill is progressing in the Rada. Ukraine is a divided country: those near the frontlines and everyone else, where a sense of normalcy has set in. Many have lost the existential urgency that marked the wars first year, and most Ukrainians who havent already enlisted no longer want to fight.

The proposal to ramp up mobilization efforts aims to balance Ukraines troop strength with that of Russia to some extent. Russias population is about 143 million, much larger than Ukraines 43 million (according to pre-war data). The Kremlin launched its first widespread mobilization campaign in September 2022, followed by subsequent reserve call-ups. It can also count on mercenary forces like Wagner, which was absorbed into the Russian Army followed the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Russia recently eliminated some illness-related military exemptions, and accelerated a citizenship path for foreigners who enlist in the military.

Friction between Zelenskiy and armed forces chief

Zelenskiys new measure has caused more friction with the commander-in-chief of Ukraines Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who stressed the need for more recruits but opposed announcing specific targets. Zaluzhnyi argues that recruitment targets reveal casualty figures and overall troop strength. Analysts estimate that the Ukrainian forces are approximately one million, but they caution that this estimate from the early stages of the large-scale war is outdated.

Many soldiers have been fighting on the front lines without a break for months. Were tired, and I think we need more people, but I dont believe in forcing things, said Andrei, a soldier deployed to the Kharkov front. This takes motivation, otherwise, it just wont work. But we need more people in many different positions. The recruitment and demobilization of long-serving combatants has sparked protests by the wives and families of these soldiers. Every Saturday, dozens gather in downtown Kyiv demanding that everyone share the responsibility.

Under the current law, there is no maximum period for mobilization during martial law, which was declared by Zelenskiy on the first day of the war. Ukraines martial law also prohibits males of draft age from leaving the country. The new bill sets a maximum service period of 36 months, but Zaluzhnyi warns that demobilization is contingent on no battlefield escalation and Ukraine having ample numbers of reservists.

The recent corruption cases involving military officials charged with accepting bribes to help men avoid the draft and manipulate paperwork are also discouraging recruitment efforts. The new bill enables recruitment offices to send notifications via email and other electronic platforms. Currently, notifications are sent to the last known address; however, there have been controversial instances where they were delivered in person on the street.

The bill also requires Ukrainian citizens living abroad to present valid military documents to obtain a passport or other consular services. Furthermore, those who evade conscription could face up to five years in prison and potential loss of social welfare benefits.

The White House recently reported that Russia used short-range ballistic missiles from North Korea in its massive airstrikes against Ukraine in early January. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby called the weapons transfers  documented by U.S. intelligence  a significant and concerning escalation. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied any arms agreements. Russia used multiple North Korean missiles in a large-scale attack on January 2 mostly targeting Kyiv and Kharkov, said Kirby, who claimed that the Kremlin also plans to acquire missiles from Iran. Tehran already supplies Moscow with military drones, which have been used extensively against Ukraine.

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The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Florida's request to import prescription drugs from Canada to curb drug prices in the state.

The FDA authorized Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration's drug importation program under section 804 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). This is the first step on this pathway toward Florida facilitating the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada.

"The FDA is committed to working with states and Indian tribes that seek to develop successful section 804 importation proposals," said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. "These proposals must demonstrate the programs would result in significant cost savings to consumers without adding risk of exposure to unsafe or ineffective drugs."

The drug importation program approval will lower the cost of medicines for US consumers without imposing additional risks to their or safety. Medicines in Canada can be nearly half the price of their US counterparts and some drugs cost almost $400 a pill in Florida. The FDA's decision could open the door for other states to follow suit.

Meanwhile, US pharmaceutical companies have previously opposed the program citing safety concerns.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Hyundai will launch the new 2024 Creta on 16th Jan  Ahead of that the first batch has started arriving at dealer yard

Hyundai is set to launch the highly anticipated 2024 Creta on January 16th, and the first batch has already made its way to dealership yards, offering a sneak peek into the revamped model. The images are credited to Harsh VLOGS. Embracing Hyundais Global Design Language of Sensuous Sportiness, the new Creta boasts a confident and bold stance, highlighting its captivating design.

2024 Hyundai Creta Facelift  New Front And Rear

In its facelift iteration, 2024 Hyundai Creta will adopt the brands fresh design language, akin to the new Santa Fe and Exter. It gets H-shaped lighting elements, squared-off headlamp designs, and a rear connected LED stripa styling approach already seen in other Hyundai and Kia vehicles, including the Venue facelift, Verna, Sonet, and Seltos facelifts.

Among the notable upgrades are redesigned alloy wheels, featuring diamond-cut, dual-tone aesthetics with meticulous detailing. Additionally, a functional footstep, visibly wider, aims to facilitate ingress and egress for passengers, particularly aiding the elderly and children. Front design has undergone a substantial refresh, incorporating new LED headlights, a parametric grille design, revamped front and rear bumpers, and a reworked tailgate.

Inside, the vehicle boasts a futuristic and cockpit-like feel, integrating infotainment screens and digital clusters displaying a wide range of information. Its spacious interior ensures unmatched comfort and convenience. It gets Hyundai SmartSense  Level 2 ADAS features, Surround view monitor (SVM), Blind spot view monitor (BVM), Dual Zone Automatic Temperature control, voice-enabled smart Panoramic sunroof, 8-way power driver seat, and front-row ventilated seats.

The integration of a 26.03 cm Infotainment screen with in-built navigation, Bluelink connectivity, and a 26.03 cm Digital Instrument cluster with multiple themes enriches the driving experience. Creta also boasts over 70 connectivity features, including an onboard music streaming feature with the JioSaavn app (offering a complimentary 1-year subscription).

Powertrain and Safety Features

Regarding performance, the new Creta facelift will offer engine options similar to the recently launched Seltos facelift. These include a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine generating 115 PS of power and 143.8 Nm of torque, available with a 6-speed manual or intelligent variable transmission (IVT). The 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, delivering 160 PS and 253 Nm, will be paired with 6iMT and 7DCT transmission choices. Lastly, the 1.5-litre diesel engine, producing 116 PS and 250 Nm, will come with 6iMT and 6AT transmission options.

Customers will have the option to choose from seven variants: E, EX, S, S(O), SX, SX Tech, and SX (O). The vehicle will be available in six mono-tone and one dual-tone colour options, catering to diverse preferences. Bookings are now open at Rs 25,000. With its innovative design, advanced features, and a commitment to safety and technology, the 2024 Hyundai Creta is poised to redefine the SUV segment.

Source
In addition to Elevate, Honda has increased prices of its other cars as well from January 2024

Till December 23, 2023, an introductory offer price was applicable on Honda Elevate. Now, prices have increased. Rise in production cost is also one of the factors for the price hike. Hat tip to The Car Show channel for sharing the update.

Honda Elevate prices hiked

Earlier, Honda Elevate was available at a starting price of Rs 10,99,900. With the price hike, the base SV MT variant now costs Rs 11,57,900. Thats an increase of Rs 58,000. Among all variants, the base variant has witnessed the biggest price hike. Prices of all other variants have been increased by a fixed amount of Rs 20,000. The variants are V MT, V CVT, VX MT, VX CVT, ZX MT and ZX CVT. The top-spec variant is now priced at Rs 16,19,900.

It remains to be seen if the price hike will impact sales, especially the base variant. Elevate has emerged as a bestseller in the compact SUV segment and is currently ranked in the top 5 list. It has established a comfortable lead over the likes of Toyota Hyryder, Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun. But it trails bestsellers like Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos and Maruti Grand Vitara.

A price comparison reveals that the Elevate base variant is now costlier than base variants of Creta, Seltos and Grand Vitara. Hyundai will be launching the new Creta soon, which will result in a price hike. In case of new Seltos, the SUV is currently available at an introductory offer price of Rs 10,89,900. Maruti Grand Vitara is among the most affordable, available at a starting price of Rs 10.70 lakh. Maruti will also be increasing prices across the range in January.

While the Elevate base variant has become costlier, the gap will reduce when rivals Creta, Seltos and Grand Vitara increase their prices. Moreover, Elevate higher trims continue to be cheaper than comparable options from rivals.

Elevate powering Hondas growth

Elevate has received a superb market response, with a 20k sales milestone achieved in just 100 days. By November, the SUV had already reached double-digit market share at 10.84%. In Hondas overall sales, Elevate is contributing more than 50%. It has allowed Honda to post 11% YoY sales growth during the September-November period.

Elevate EV under development

Apart from Elevate, Honda will launch 4 new SUVs by 2030. This is necessary since Honda currently has only three products in its portfolio. With new SUVs, Honda will be able to target a larger segment of users. One of the new SUVs under development is the electric version of Elevate. It will be using the same platform and design as ICE Elevate.

These plans are part of Hondas Project ACE. When launched, Elevate EV will be Hondas first BEV for the Indian market. It will take on rivals such as MG ZS EV and Mahindra XUV400. New rivals will also emerge such as Hyundai Creta EV and Tata Curvv. Honda Elevate EV will be manufactured in India and also exported to overseas locations.
Karla Tenorio, a 40-year-old Brazilian, was already regretting motherhood during childbirth, when my daughters head came out of me. She defines this moment, which took place during complications, as a shock and says that its possible to love your daughter and lament being a mother at the same time because, she explains, her conflict is with the burdens of motherhood and not with her 13-year-old daughter. At first, she felt like a monster, then she realized that what she was going through was an experience shared by others. 12% of mothers question their choice of having become one, according to the report Las Invisibles (in English, The invisible ones), put together by two Spanish organizations after surveying 94,000 women. The idealization of motherhood and social pressure influence this decision, which is not always easy to accommodate alongside ones work and social life. Although her daughter is now the most important person in her life, Tenorio is clear: If I could go back, I would not get pregnant.

Her words are echoed by the Barcelona residents 36-year-old Laura Cava and 38-year-old Ana, who prefers to not share her last name. The latter was surprised when she found out she was pregnant. I had breast cancer and the doctors told me that it was practically impossible to gestate because of the treatments I had received, she says. She decided to go ahead with it: We were the only ones who were outside the typical family track. She always heard that motherhood was the best thing that could happen to her, although she now disagrees. She confesses that she loves her little one-year-old son madly, but her feelings for him do not justify her new reality of constant stress, which she considers unhealthy.

Tenorio decided to have her daughter because of the preconceived notion of idealized motherhood. She suffered from depression for nine years after the birth. I became obsessed with perfect parenting, I wanted to do everything without delegating. I never rested and I began to lose my memory and the notion of time, she says. Her memories of those moments are harsh: It seemed like life was ending, as if a mother was being born and a woman was dying. Today, she feels better, having built a nice relationship with her daughter. But if she could go back in time, she would not choose the path of motherhood. She believes her professional and personal life would benefit.

I dont like the routine of washing bottles and going to daycare, Ana says. All the same, she always puts her best foot forward. Her self-demanding character makes it difficult for her to disconnect for even a second from her son. You lose your identity a little bit, freedom doesnt exist. Its almost impossible to go to the bathroom alone, she says. Laura Cava also regrets being a mother, but attaches great importance to the education of her little ones, aged six and eight. I have to balance my personal frustration at making the wrong decision with the responsibility of wanting to do it right, she says.

The manager of Madrid Psychologists, Montserrat Cabello, says that maternal regret is a reality that began to surface in consultation 10 years ago, but that the number of patients who come to the clinic because of the issue is increasing. She thinks that the situation has always been present, just that it was not visible before. Societal pressure to have children has stuck with us, she says. She also thinks that in the past, society did not demand so much from mothers. Not only do they have to raise children, they have to develop personally and professionally. The tasks have multiplied, she says.

Cava has had to put her professional aspirations on hold, which saddens her. The disparity in her and her partners salaries led her to reduce the number of hours she works to take care of her kids. When she was young, she had no desire to be a mother, but stability, coupled with her partners desire to be a father, led her to have two children. She realized she had regrets when the kids were no longer babies and she began to want to resume her previous life. She was unsuccessful in the attempt. Now, she is frustrated that society doesnt support her in that mission: You fight to go back to the way you were before, but you run up against many walls, and theres the simultaneous demand of two children who need you.

Cabello has also noticed in her practice that women now feel more alone in parenting, due to the fact that there used to be social structures that better supported mothers. There was a tribe, kids were raised by everyone, she says. In addition, although its often assumed that a couple will share the responsibilities of care, she says thats not always what ends up happening. There are people who know that they dont want to be a single parent, but then they discover that what was going to be a shared project isnt, because the contract is broken, she says. In the psychologists eyes, social pressure, idealization and inequality often influence eventual regret: Wait outside a school and compare the number of mothers and fathers who are picking up their children.

When Tenorio discovered that there were other people in her situation, in 2020 she created the Instagram account Mae Arrependida (Regretful mother, in Portuguese), to promote her theatrical production that addressed the subject. Half of a year later, she posted about her opinion regarding motherhood on the page: I was pilloried until many realized that I loved my daughter and a wave of empathy took place, she says. She gained over 50,000 followers on the profile, and many of them also share their experiences. Freeing a regretful mother is freeing a daughter, she says. She means to desconstruct the myth of motherhood that, according to her, has been imposed upon us. Coelho Neto, a Brazilian poet, wrote that to be a mother is to suffer in paradise. Would his wife, which whom he had 14 children, say the same thing? she asks.

Karla Tenorio, actress and creator of the Instagram account Mae Arrependida. Leonardo Carrato

Cava confesses that motherhood did not complete her life, with which she was satisfied to begin with, but rather took away her independence. Friday comes around and, many times, you dont have the strength, even before you go to work youre already working, and afterward you have to keep working until you go to sleep, she says. Although she hates going to the park, she refuses to fill her childrens afternoons with extracurricular activities: Why even have children? I dont like the job of being a mother, but Im going to try to give them a good life.

The psychologist explains that at first, one might confuse postpartum depression with regret because their symptoms are similar: depression, anxiety, mood swings, fatigue, restlessness and social isolation. But, the difference lies in a philosophical question: who am I and how do I want to position myself in the world? she explains. The answer does not necessarily imply regret over being a mother.

Misunderstood women

These women feel misunderstood and persecuted by taboo. I dont like WhatsApp chats with the other parents from my kids school, or going out with friends just to talk about our kids. When I say that I want to go out, people laugh and think Im joking, or they dont know how to answer because they dont usually talk about such things, says Cava. In contrast, Ana is grateful for her partners unconditional support, but sometimes she is flooded with guilt over how sweet her son can be.

Cabello stresses the importance of letting these feelings go, because these women are not selfish, and they care about the children and love them. Moreover, she insists that regret should not dominate their lives, but that they should learn to manage it, building a customized motherhood that is not at the service of societal impositions.

The paradoxical ambivalence of hating motherhood and loving ones child is possible for these women. They are mothers who face the present with a sense of responsibility, but if they could go back to the past, they would make another decision that, given their experience, they consider better suited to them. Tenorio has already talked about this issue with her teenage daughter: I told her that it was her mothers problem with society, not her.

 What was her response?

 Being a regretful mother is reality, but you love me and you take of me, so for me, theyre just words.

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A document on this was signed between Azerbaijan Technological University and Polish Bialystok Technological University, Azernews reports.

The University reports that the double diploma agreement on the programme "transport logistics" at the master's level was signed by acting rector of Azerbaijan Technological University Yashar Omerov and rector of Bialystok Technological University Marta Kosior-Kazberuk.

Admission to the programme is envisaged from the next academic year. Master's students will study two semesters at the Azerbaijan Technological University and two semesters at the Bialystok Technological University and will eventually receive a master's degree from both universities.

It should be noted that in the dual degree programme the teaching will be in English.
Theoretically, the 2022 Honda Civic shouldnt have melted. After all, its a relatively new model in good shape aside from a few dings on the doors. The owner, a young woman from Atlanta, returned home from college for the Christmas holidays and parked her car in the driveway. The next morning she was surprised to see paint bubbles on some parts of her Honda.

Her father, Charles Goldberg, later told the WSB-TV station in Atlanta that the damage went beyond a few paint bubbles. Various components of the bodywork, including the exterior mirrors and the front bumper, had become deformed. Its as if someone shot a ray gun at our car. Ive never seen anything like it, said Goldberg, It was also warped and started melting and disintegrating.

The magnifying glass effect

Considering its a 2022 model, the Goldbergs went to the Honda dealership for a solution. They were informed that the body and paint damages were caused by the magnifying glass effect created by the windows of their home. When sunlight reflects off the glass, the focused energy and heat is amplified. In extreme situations, it can cause a fire if it touches flammable materials.

Honda wont cover the damages

According to The Drive, Honda told Goldberg that in rare cases, this effect can cause exterior plastics and paint to overheat and melt slightly. But that sort of damage isnt covered by Hondas limited warranty, leaving the Goldbergs or their insurance company to pay for the repairs.

WSB-TV did some research and found several forums where Honda owners discussed similar problems. According to Honda, It is a long established fact that focused sunlight can heat surfaces and cause damage, depending on the intensity and time of exposure. This sort of damage is not isolated to automobiles, or to Honda in particular.

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In the short period between one puff and another, every smoker has, at some point, likely experienced a blind faith in progress. What if, in 10 years, they invent a cure for cancer? they ask themselves, fantasizing about a future in which 50 cigarettes can enter the lungs like mountain air. This invocation to the divine power of science shares a spirit with effective accelerationism. This fashionable movement in Silicon Valley sees unrestricted technological progress as a solution to poverty, war and climate change. In short, advocates of this ideology think that tech can address all the big problems that threaten the planet.

In early December 2023, The New York Times infiltrated a party called Keep AI Open, attended by hundreds of young developers in San Francisco. This was a kind of introduction of effective accelerationism into society. Posters with slogans such as accelerate or die hung on the walls, while promotional leaflets were distributed proclaiming: THE MESSENGER TO THE GODS IS AVAILABLE TO YOU. According to the article, many of the attendees already knew each other from previous social media interactions, group chats and raves hosted in the Bay Area.

This group of people is united by a blind faith in the power of technological innovation, as well as a disdain for doomers (those who predict an imminent collapse of the planet). They scoff at those who worry about the safety of artificial intelligence (AI) and demand regulation.

Effective accelerationism advocates deregulated technological development. Its supporters believe in the need to allow emerging technologies to progress as quickly as possible, without obstacles that slow down innovation. They give special importance to AI and consider the path to technological singularity  a point where AI will vastly surpass human intelligence  as an inevitable destiny.

Prominent (and controversial) figures in Silicon Valley  such as Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the first web browser, or Garry Tan, president of Y Combinator, the most influential factory of successful startups  have recently increased the notoriety of this trend, providing it with direct support. Andreessen  the founder of Netscape, whos considered a technological investment guru  published The Techno-Optimist Manifesto in October 2023. This document, with a style reminiscent of biblical texts, challenges the negative narratives commonly associated with technological development, such as those embodied by Prometheus, Frankenstein, Oppenheimer and Terminator. He advocates for a rejection of technological pessimism. I am here to bring the good news, the manifesto declares. We can advance to a far superior way of living, and of being. We have the tools, the systems, the ideas. We have the will. It is time, once again, to raise the technology flag. It is time to be Techno-Optimists.

Jorge Barrero  general director of the Cotec Foundation, a Madrid-based organization dedicated to the analysis and promotion of innovation  is critical of this vision: It seems like a frivolity for young kids with money, he notes in conversation with EL PAIS. I dont detect a deep philosophical reflection behind this discourse. What I do observe is a parallel with traditional monotheistic religions, where the figure of the messiah or savior is central.

Barrero points out that many supporters of effective accelerationism  who are directly involved in the development of AI  could be biased, due to their personal interests in the progress of this technology. Although artificial intelligence [still isnt capable of performing any human intellectual task], it has already shown its ability to surprise its creators with unexpected results and behaviors, he maintains.

Marta Peirano  a journalist who specializes in technology  agrees with this criticism. [The movement promotes] a sectarian, colonialist, racist and deeply opportunistic ideology based on false premises. Its defended by individuals who think  as Peter Thiel says  that freedom and democracy arent compatible. Freedom is understood as the right to consume an exorbitant amount of resources  to accumulate an exorbitant amount of capital  at the expense of the future of everyone else.

For Peirano, this ideology is wrong in assuming that technology inevitably leads to prosperity. Technological progress without democracy has existed for most of history and it produces disease and corruption. As an example, she cites the Industrial Revolution: a period of significant technological and economic advancement that initially did nothing to improve overall living conditions. It would have produced a new Middle Ages without the public health and education laws that brought running water and schooling to [inner cities], the proliferation of academic institutions and libraries, or the labor movements that improved working conditions, wages and social protections, she emphasizes.

Two opposing currents

To a large extent, effective accelerationism arises in response to effective altruism  a philosophy and social movement that seeks to maximize the effectiveness of charitable actions, by using evidence-based methods and critical reasoning to determine the most efficient ways to help others. Followers of this doctrine research how to earn the most money possible and donate it to causes that save the most lives, or reduce the most suffering for each dollar invested. However, in recent years, many philanthropists have expressed concern about the safety of artificial intelligence, with the idea that powerful AI could destroy humanity if not properly regulated. The confrontation between proponents of effective accelerationism and altruists represents one of the many schisms currently emerging on the AI scene in San Francisco.

Effective accelerationism is directly rooted in the writings of the British philosopher Nick Land, who proposes accelerating technological and social processes to induce radical changes in society and the economy. Land  who was quite influential in the late-1990s  considers capitalism to be an autonomous force thats reconfiguring society. He suggests intensifying its effects to provoke a collapse that could overcome capitalism itself.

Land is also focused on how technology could lead humanity into a post-human era. A reference for the North American neoreactionary right, Land wrote The Dark Enlightenment in 2022, where he argues that accelerationists should support figures like Donald Trump to blow up the current order as quickly as possible.

Peirano questions whether the implementation of this ideology will really lead to the structural change in society that its followers proclaim. You just have to see who proposes it  and what trends they propose to accelerate it  to realize that the change that they aspire to isnt the end of capitalism, but the end of democracy. According to the journalist, another significant risk of this thinking is the possible destruction of the only habitat that ensures our survival: the Earth. Its a scientific fact that the indiscriminate exploitation of resources has devastating consequences for millions of people. Any ideology that proposes to accelerate this exploitation  [while promising] the possibility of an evolutionary leap  must offer more guarantees, or at least more scientific evidence, aside from the indisputable fact that doing so will economically benefit its preachers, she adds.

This past December, the worlds first piece of legislation related to artificial intelligence began to make its way through the European Union. While the official text of the agreement still hasnt been published, its key points are known. Firstly, it entails a ban on AI facial recognition cameras that are capable of identifying people (in most contexts). Additionally, transparency criteria will be required for fundamental models  such as ChatGPT  which were not previously required. Different types of AI will also be classified into categories according to their level of risk, from an unacceptable risk that will entail their ban  such as emotion-recognition in educational and workplace environments  to an acceptable risk, exemplified by spam filters or content recommendation systems, such as those employed by Netflix.

Despite some criticism suggesting that EU member states will be left behind in the development of artificial intelligence due to the pioneering legislation, Barrero  of the Cotec Foundations  strongly supports the regulation of this technology. When Europe defends this, its not only defending an economy, but also a way of life. What race are we going to lose? [Were taking on] a lack of control, authoritarianism and inequality. If three unicorns (start-ups with a valuation of more than a billion dollars) have to be sacrificed, it seems to me that its a reasonable price to pay, he shrugs.

Barrero trusts the human ability to avoid technological dangers. As an example, he mentions the failed prediction of John von Neumann, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the 20th century. He predicted that human beings wouldnt survive in a scenario of mutually-assured destruction, [with the presence of] atomic bombs. However, almost 80 years have passed since then and were still here.

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Maisy Biden, Ashley Biden, Hunter Biden, with Beau Biden Jr. depart with President Joe Biden for Camp David from the White House in Washington, December 23, 2023.

House Republicans plan to move forward next week with holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after the presidents son defied a congressional subpoena to appear for a private deposition last month.

The Republican chairmen of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees announced Friday that they will hold full committee votes on contempt charges against President Joe Bidens son as the GOP moves into the final stages of its monthslong impeachment inquiry. If the charges pass the committees, they would then go to the House floor for a final vote.

Hunter Bidens willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorneys Office for prosecution, Rep. James Comer, chair of Oversight, and Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of Judiciary, said in a joint statement. We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name.

Hunter Biden and his lawyers have repeatedly slammed the GOP-issued subpoena for the closed-door testimony, arguing that information from those interviews can be selectively leaked and manipulated. The younger Biden has insisted that he would only testify in public.

Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say, Biden said outside the Capitol in a rare public statement last month. What are they afraid of? I am here.

For months, Republicans have pursued an impeachment inquiry seeking to tie the Democratic president to his sons business dealings. So far, GOP lawmakers have failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the elder Biden in any wrongdoing.

While Republicans say their inquiry is ultimately focused on the president, they have taken particular interest in Hunter Biden and his overseas business dealings, from which they accuse the president of personally benefiting. Republicans have also focused a large part of their investigation on whistleblower allegations of interference in the long-running Justice Department investigation into the younger Bidens taxes and his gun use.

The hearings planned for Wednesday on contempt of Congress will come a day before Hunter Biden is scheduled to make his first court appearance on tax charges filed by a special counsel in Los Angeles. He is facing three felony and six misdemeanor counts, including filing a false return, tax evasion, failure to file and failure to pay.

In a fiery response, Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused special counsel David Weiss of bowing to Republican pressure in the case.

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On Thursday, Christopher Worrell, 52, a member of the far-right Proud Boys group, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assaulting police officers with pepper spray as the mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was wearing a combat vest and hurled insults at the officers, calling them communists and scum. For the moment, Worrells conviction for the attack that shook the foundations of U.S. democracy is the most recent guilty verdict. Three years after the event, the assault on the Capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Bidens electoral victory in the 2020 presidential election continues to shape the U.S. political and judicial agenda. Now, the country is entering a politicized election year, but the wounds from January 6 still have not healed.

Trump has defended the attackers, whom he calls patriots, downplayed the attack, maintained that it was not an insurrection, referred to January 6 as a beautiful day, and helped spread conspiracy theories that have gained traction with his supporters. A poll published in The Washington Post this week reveals that 25% of Americans believe the hoax that it is probably or definitely true that the FBI instigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The ex-president believes that what happened three years ago will not hurt his candidacy for the November 5 presidential election, which is likely to be a repeat of the 2020 contest between Trump and Biden.

A threat to democracy

Meanwhile, President Biden sees Trump as a threat to democracy, and he has made that idea a key message in his campaign for re-election. The president recently launched a campaign ad focused on that: Something dangerous is happening in America. There is an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. All of us are being asked right now what we are going to do to maintain our democracy, Biden says as images of the insurrection appear on the screen.

Its not just politics. The January 6 attack on the Capitol is still very much an issue in the courts, although the two fronts intersect. In Washington, special prosecutor Jack Smith has indicted Trump for his attempts to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election, when he resisted a peaceful and orderly transition of power for the first time in the nations history. Meanwhile, Colorado and Maine have kicked Trump off the ballot, finding him ineligible to run for president under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution; there are numerous other states where his primary candidacy is being contested on the same grounds.

Trump not only asserts his innocence but claims that he has presidential immunity for his actions. In addition, he argues that the assault on the Capitol was not an insurrection and that the 14th Amendment provision does not apply to him.

Now it is up to the Supreme Court  which has a conservative supermajority of six out of nine justices (three of whom Trump appointed)  to decide the matter. There are now three cases related to the January 6 attack on which the Supreme Court will have to rule.

The first issue is the question of presidential immunity. The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case at this point, leaving it with the court of appeals, but the nations highest court is likely to take up the matter later. In addition, Trump has appealed his exclusion from the ballot and stands a good chance of winning the appeal, as the interpretation of the clause is a bit strained. And third, the justices have agreed to hear an appeal disputing the validity of applying the crime of obstruction of an official proceeding to the January 6 riot; this is one of the four crimes for which Trump has been charged in Washington. It is a crime intended to punish anyone who boycotts or obstructs an investigation in a variety of ways, from murdering a witness to withholding evidence, but it is not clear that it fits the current scenario. The judges decision could overturn dozens of convictions and condition the indictment against the former Republican president.

Meanwhile, the police and judicial machinery continues to prosecute and convict the rioters who have already been identified and arrested. On Thursday, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, who has coordinated the Justice Departments efforts to prosecute the responsible parties, said at a press conference that the assault on the Capitol was probably the largest single-day mass attack on law enforcement officers in the history of the United States. According to the Justice Department, approximately 140 police officers were assaulted at the Capitol on January 6, including about 80 U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 Metropolitan Police Department agents. It is critical that we remember the collective harm that was done on Jan. 6, 2021, and understand how it happened, so we can make sure it doesnt happen again, Graves added.

A total of 1,237 prosecuted

According to the Justice Departments latest tally, updated in December, 1,237 defendants have been indicted nationwide. Of these, 714 individuals have pleaded guilty to various federal charges (210 felonies and 504 misdemeanors); many face prison sentences. Another 170 individuals have been convicted at trial. There are just over 350 defendants with cases pending. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is still pursuing hundreds of attackers and has a most-wanted list.

Some of those who have already been convicted are awaiting sentencing. Thus far, 723 defendants have been convicted, 454 of whom have been sentenced to prison terms. 151 convicts have been sentenced to a period of house arrest, including 28 who also received jail time.

Members of far-right militias, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, have been given the harshest sentences. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in prison; that is the longest sentence handed down, and it is unlikely to be exceeded. The judge called him the ultimate ringleader of the conspiracy and applied the aggravating circumstance of terrorism. Several Proud Boys lieutenants have also received some of the most severe punishments, after they, like Tarrio, were convicted of seditious conspiracy. Ethan Nordean was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Joe Biggs, 17, and Zachary Rehl, 15.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the extreme right-wing group Oath Keepers, a sort of paramilitary militia, was sentenced to 18 years in prison last May. Both he and his lieutenant Kelly Meggs, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison, have also been found guilty of seditious conspiracy.

At some of his rallies, Trump plays Justice for All, a song that mixes a chorus from The Star-Spangled Banner sung by those imprisoned for participating in the Capitol attack with Trumps own recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance; it ends with the prisoners chanting U-S-A. The former president has said that he will pardon the attackers if he returns to the White House.

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday due to complications following a minor elective medical procedure, his press secretary said, in the Defense Departments first acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted five days earlier to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Friday that it was not clear when Austin would be released from the hospital, but said the secretary was recovering well.

The Pentagons failure to disclose Austins hospitalization is counter to normal practice with the president and other senior U.S. officials and Cabinet members. The Pentagon Press Association, which represents media members who cover the Defense Department, sent a letter of protest to Ryder and Chris Meagher, the assistant defense secretary for public affairs.

The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage, the PPA said in its letter. At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader.

The White House has refused to say when or how it had been notified of Austins hospitalization, and it referred questions to the Pentagon.

When Attorney General Merrick Garland went in for a routine medical procedure in 2022, his office informed the public a week in advance and outlined how long he was expected to be out and when he would return to work.

Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, cited an evolving situation, and said that due to privacy and medical issues, the Pentagon did not make Austins absence public. He declined to provide any other details about Austins medical procedure or health.

Austin, 70, spent 41 years in the military, retiring as a four-star Army general in 2016.

In a statement, Ryder said that at all times, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required.

Austins hospitalization comes as Iranian-backed militias have repeatedly launched drones, missiles and rockets at bases where U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq and Syria, leading the Biden administration to strike back on a number of occasions. Those strikes often involve sensitive, top-level discussions and decisions by Austin and other key military leaders.

The U.S. is also the chief organizer behind a new international maritime coalition using ships and other assets to patrol the southern Red Sea to deter persistent attacks on commercial vessels by Houthi militants in Yemen.

In addition, the administration, particularly Austin, has been at the forefront of the effort to supply weapons and training to Ukraine, and hes also been communicating frequently with the Israelis on their war against Hamas.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Istanbul on January 5, the first stop on a demanding diplomatic trip to the Middle East. Its his fourth visit in three months and the most challenging one yet. In addition to addressing previous objectives like urging Israel to moderate tactics in the Gaza Strip and shaping its future after the war, this trip will stress the urgency of preventing regional tensions from escalating into a broader conflict just as U.S. election campaigns shift into a higher gear.

Preventing the crisis from spreading beyond Gaza has been the primary goal of the United States since the conflict began with the Hamas attacks on October 7. Washington quickly ramped up its military presence in the region to contain the risk. However, recent attacks in the Red Sea by Houthi militias from Yemen, the drone assassination in Beirut of Hamas second-in-command, Saleh al-Arouri, and numerous assaults on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria are clear signs of escalation. This is a formidable problem for President Joe Biden as he kicks off his re-election campaign. After his heavily criticized withdrawal from Afghanistan early in his term, the president is now grappling with grinding conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The risk is real; the concern is high; it has always been real and the concern has always been high, and thats why the tempo of activity you have seen from this administration to try to lower the risk of widespread regional conflagration has also been high from the beginning, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in the January 4 press briefing announcing Blinkens trip.

Washingtons frustration with Israel

Tensions are rising at a critical moment in the U.S.-Israeli relationship, although the United States continues to provide moral and military support to its ally. The Biden administration bypassed Congress in early January to approve $147.5 million in munitions and equipment for Israel. But Washingtons frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government is becoming increasingly apparent. In a January 2 press statement by Mathew Miller, the State Department strongly rejected recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.

A concerned White House has launched a full-fledged diplomatic offensive. Biden dispatched special envoy Amos Hochstein to the region on January 4, and Middle East envoy Brett McGurk met with the Lebanese Foreign Minister on January 3. The day before he boarded a plane to Turkey, Secretary Blinken posted his objectives on X: Im returning to the region to engage in additional diplomacy on the situation in Gaza. I will continue to urge the protection of civilian life and work intensely with partners to secure the release of hostages and ensure sustained delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The State Departments announcement of Blinkens latest trip clearly spelled out his objectives. Blinken will discuss specific steps parties can take, including how they can use their influence with others in the region, to avoid escalation. It is in no ones interest  not Israels, not the regions, not the worlds  for this conflict to spread beyond Gaza. As part of those discussions, he will raise the need to take steps to deter the Houthis attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Secretary Blinken will visit Turkey, the Greek island of Crete, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt. We dont expect every conversation on this trip to be easy. There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead, said Miller. Blinken will discuss with Israel immediate measures to increase substantially humanitarian assistance to Gaza, plans to transition to the next phase of operations, and how to lower tensions in the West Bank.

These will be some of the toughest conversations of Blinkens trip. Israel rejects the two-state solution advocated by the United States and proposes a Palestinian civil administration in Gaza while maintaining military control over the territory. It refuses to halt the offensive in Gaza and wants Washington to stop Hezbollahs rocket launches from Lebanon into northern Israel. Israel also wants to force a Hezbollah withdrawal to the north side of the Litani River in Lebanon, warning Hochstein that time is running out for negotiations with the Iranian-backed Shiite militia.

Time for diplomacy

Washington believes there is still time for diplomacy. From what we can see, it doesnt seem like Hezbollah has any desire to go to war with Israel, and vice versa, said a senior Biden administration official speaking off the record.

At the same time, the United States is strengthening its military presence in the region. While it has withdrawn one of the two aircraft carriers (the Gerald Ford) initially sent to the area, the Eisenhower carrier fleet has been fortified with more combat ships, aircraft and troops.

On January 4, the leader of a Shiite militia in Baghdad was killed by a U.S. airstrike, angering the Iraqi government. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani responded by forming a committee to plan the withdrawal of international coalition forces from the country.

In the Red Sea, the United States leads a coalition of over a dozen countries to protect commercial shipping from Houthi attacks. There have been more than 25 attacks since the crisis began. Earlier this week, the coalition issued a stern warning about further attacks and promised swift retaliation without warning if they continue. Undeterred, the Houthis launched an unmanned vessel packed with explosives into the Red Sea on January 4. The Pentagon stated that while no ships were hit, the incident heightened tensions in the region. Washington is concerned about a significant escalation if an attack sinks a merchant ship.

The White House has clearly stated its commitment to protecting U.S. interests in the region, while expressing the desire to avoid being drawn into a wider conflict in the Middle East. We have said this consistently  privately and publicly  that we will not hesitate to take the necessary actions to protect our forces and interests, said the State Departments Matthew Miller.

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In a noteworthy advancement for international space cooperation, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) have formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the collaborative development and deployment of a Joint Small Satellite. The Union Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was briefed about the MoU. The agreement, inked in Port Louis, Mauritius, pertains to collaboration between India's ISRO and Mauritius' Ministry of Information Technology, Communication, and Innovation, as outlined in a statement.

The central objective of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is the collaborative development of a Joint Small Satellite, signifying a pivotal milestone in the continuous space partnership between India and Mauritius. This partnership goes beyond the mere creation of the satellite, encompassing the shared utilization of MRIC's Ground Station.

The partnership aims to involve Indian industries in the development of certain subsystems for the joint satellite, fostering benefits for the industry and potentially generating employment opportunities. The estimated cost for the realization of this joint satellite is Rs 20 crore, solely funded by the Government of India, with no other financial exchanges between the involved parties.

The strategic cooperation serves multiple purposes. Firstly, it establishes a framework for joint satellite development, ensuring continuous support from the Mauritius Government for ISRO/Indias ground station in Mauritius, crucial for launch vehicle and satellite missions. Secondly, the collaboration opens avenues for MRICs support from their ground station for future small satellite missions by ISRO.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) delineates a timeline for implementation, targeting the joint completion of the small satellite within a 15-month timeframe. The signing of this MoU occurred during the visit of the Minister of State (MEA) to Mauritius for the 'Aapravasi Diwas' event, underscoring the dedication to strengthening space cooperation between the two countries.
India and the US, united by shared values, are poised for progress in 2024. With a foundation of bilateral synergy, they aim for economic growth, security cooperation, and global problem-solving.

The US-Indian partnership forum envisions a promising year ahead for bilateral relations. The focus is on strengthening robust defense collaborations and enhancing trade ties. Recognizing Indias status as the fastest-growing major economy, both nations remain dedicated to fostering a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

In the previous year, a development unfolded in the relations between India and the United States, as the nations strengthened their strategic alliance and broadened collaboration across diverse domains. As the global community steps into 2024, a sense of optimism surrounds the prospect of sustaining this positive momentum.

Deepening Defense Synergy and Trade Links

Recently, there has been a significant emphasis on consolidating the defense ties between India and the US. Both nations have witnessed the initiation of various endeavors aimed at advancing defense cooperation, notably the iCET (Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies) and INDUS-X (India-US Defense Technology and Trade Initiative). These initiatives establish a structured framework for collaborative efforts in crucial domains like AI, quantum computing, and hypersonic technology.

In addition to strengthening defense collaboration, India and the United States are poised to enhance their trade and economic connections. Substantial achievements have been made in bilateral trade, reaching unprecedented levels in recent years. The two nations aim to capitalize on this success by delving into fresh prospects for trade and investment, focusing notably on sectors like clean energy, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Securing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific

India and the United States mutually want to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific region. They are actively involved in advancing regional stability and security, demonstrated through their collaboration in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) with Australia and Japan.

Building New Economic Corridors

In addition to their bilateral ties, India and the United States have effectively established fresh economic pathways of confidence. For instance, the India-Middle East-Europe (IMEEC) corridor is designed to foster trade and investment collaboration among India, the Middle East, and Europe. The two nations will persist in seeking novel avenues for economic partnership and connectivity on regional and global scales.

Capitalizing on New Opportunities

There are abundant prospects for strengthening the relationship between India and the United States. Building upon the momentum established in the previous year, aims to forge new trade connections, improve digital connectivity, and establish clean energy corridors. Furthermore, collaborative endeavors, such as producing GE F-414 jet engines in India, contribute to the deepening of the strategic partnership.

As the Quad Leader's Summit approaches 2024, there is heightened excitement for the anticipated advancements in India-US relations. Both nations are dedicated to enhancing their bilateral connections and solidifying the robust alliance between two of the world's foremost democracies.

Aligned in the pursuit of a harmonious and flourishing world, India and the United States are positioned to achieve noteworthy progress in the years 2024 and the future. Strengthened by shared democratic values and converging strategic interests, both nations have the opportunity to deepen economic ties, enhance security cooperation, and address global challenges collectively. The bilateral synergy witnessed in recent years lays the foundation for an enduring partnership, fostering innovation, trade, and mutual understanding. Embracing this positive trajectory, India and the US play pivotal roles in shaping a more stable and prosperous global landscape, transcending geographical boundaries for the collective well-being of their citizens and the world.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Theres no better way to ring in the new year than with a chance to win $1 million.

The New York Lottery has various $5 scratch-off games with top-prizes ranging from $250,000 to $1 million.

As of Friday, there are 16 tickets across nine different $5 scratch-off games with guaranteed top prizes of $1 million.

Here are the $5 scratch-off games with top-prize tickets of $1 million still in circulation as of Friday, Jan. 5, according to New York Lottery data:

MULTIPLIER MONEY

Top prizes remaining: 1

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 3,082,100

HIT IT BIG

Top prizes remaining: 2

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 3,804,233.33

CASH X20

Top prizes remaining: 1

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 4,513,950

$1M GOLDEN FORTUNE

Top prizes remaining: 2

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 2,590,025

$1M LUCKY DOG

Top prizes remaining: 1

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 2,591,250

$1M PREMIERE

Top prizes remaining: 1

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 3,455,066.67

BIG BUCKS

Top prizes remaining: 1

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 3,460,800

MAGIC 8 BALL

Top prizes remaining: 3

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 3,434,533.33

XTREME WINNINGS

Top prizes remaining: 4

Odds of winning top prize: 1 in 4,536,400

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the New York Lotterys scratch-off games, visit nylottery.ny.gov/scratch-off-games.

The New York Lottery continues to be touted as North Americas largest and most profitable lottery, contributing $3.6 billion during fiscal year 2021-2022 to support education in New York state.

New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school districts size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of lottery school funding.
PIX11 News on Friday announced one of its long-serving reporters was retiring after decades of service.

Mary Murphy covered local news for 40 years in and around the tri-state area and earned 30 of her 32 Emmy Awards with PIX11, according to the news outlet.

Among the biggest stories the anchor covered: The death of mobster Paul Castellano in 1985; a prison interview with LIRR massacre gunamn Colin Ferguson in 1994; the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City; and the arrest of Rex Heuermann, a suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders, in 2023.

Taking a Pause to Refreshand clean my house! https://t.co/IT5lxb0Svd  Mary Murphy (@MurphyPIX) January 5, 2024

Murphy acknowledged her retirement on X, formerly known as Twitter. She posted a photo of herself with the caption, Taking a Pause to Refreshand clean my house!

The words PIX11s Mary Murphy retires after 4 decades in local news were written on the photo.

Mary epitomizes what it means to be a reporter in New York City, PIX11 said in its announcement. Her unwavering quest for answers  to see a story through to the end  has been a beacon of light for PIX11 viewers over the years.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  South Shore erosion prevention and shoreline restoration projects will be discussed this week, along with North Shore business and non-profit issues, as Staten Island Community Boards gather for virtual and in-person meetings in the coming week.

Community Board 1

Community Board 1 will host a meeting of its Small Business/Non Profit Committee at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8, in the Mariachi Restaurant, 10 Minthorne St., Tompkinsville.

On Tuesday, Jan. 9, the full board will meet at 6:30 p.m. in St. Marys Episcopal Church, 347 Davis Ave., West Brighton.

No agendas were set for either meeting at the time of publication.

Community Board 2

Community Board 2 has no meetings planned this week.

Community Board 3

On Tuesday at 7 p.m., during a virtual meeting of the Parks and Recreation and Environmental Committee, planned South Shore erosion prevention and enhancement projects will be discussed.

Representatives from the state Office of Resilient Homes and Communities, along with its partner, SCAPE Landscape Architecture, will provide an update on the progress and anticipated completion schedule for the Living Breakwaters project.

The $107,000,000 project was designed to promote risk reduction along the South Shore through erosion prevention, wave energy attenuation, enhancement of ecosystems and increased social resiliency.

Information will also be provided on the upcoming shoreline restoration component slated to begin this month and run through April. This project component includes the one-time placement of sand between Loretto Street and Manhattan Street to create a wider beach and increase the distance between the toe of the existing dune and the shoreline.

Details on construction activities and the upcoming schedule will be provided.

On Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m., a Land Use Public Hearing will be held in board headquarters, 1243 Woodrow Rd., Woodrow. At the meeting, the board will discuss an application to amend the boards current certificate of occupancy resolution.

Also on the agenda is the city Department of Planning City of Yes Economic Opportunity, and its Gaming Facility Text Amendment. The Gaming Amendment will allow gaming facilities in certain commercial and manufacturing districts. Modification would allow a gaming facility licensed by the state and developed through a new state-defined siting process to be developed without regard to any potential conflict with the zoning resolution.

On Thursday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m., virtual public hearing of the Community Alliance Committee will be held. At the meeting, members will discuss new and temporary retail liquor permits for the following businesses:

The Rock House Bar & Grill LLC, 507 Seguine Ave., Princes Bay

The Bagel Box II Inc., 700 Arthur Kill Rd., Eltingville

Also on the agenda are notifications from the New York State Office of Cannabis Management regarding the following businesses:

960 Bloomingdale Corp., 960 Bloomingdale Rd., Rossville

Misvet LLC, 960 Bloomingdale Road, Rossville

Four A Residual Income, 4076 Hylan Blvd., Great Kills

Those interested in attending a virtual meeting must register by 9 a.m. on the day of the meeting by visiting the Community Board 3 website or using a Google link.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  NYC will get snow this weekend as part of a coastal storm making its way through the Northeast.

While areas of the Hudson Valley can expect to see up to a foot of snow, city residents will only need to combat an inch or so of snow, according to National Weather Service (NWS) Meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki.

THE TIMELINE

Beginning Saturday afternoon, light snow will begin to overspread the NYC area. As night falls and the evening comes upon us, that snow will eventually give way to some rainfall.

Saturday evening, the temperatures should start to warm up to transition that snow, first to a rain-snow mix, and then eventually to all rain, Ciemnecki said.

By midnight, Staten Island is expected to see rainfall across the borough; the precipitation forecast to remain as rain overnight into Sunday, as reported by Ciemnecki. However, snow is anticipated to make a return on Sunday, mixing with the rain as the system pulls out of the region.

Ciemnecki foresees around an inch of snowfall for the area.

Could some spots get like an inch to an inch and a half? Its certainly possible, especially if youre in like the far northern or western parts of Staten Island, Ciemnecki said. But again, youre generally looking at around an inch or so.

When will it be over?

Well, according to Ciemnecki, the precipitation is most likely to linger until sometime between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday. Then, around 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. the probability of precipitation begins to come down.

ANTICIPATED EFFECTS

While snowfall totals do not necessarily warrant a mass run for bread, eggs, and milk, it is still predicted to bring some rather unpleasant conditions to the NYC area.

The heavy, wet snow and rain is expected to mar travel conditions and potentially contribute to localized minor urban poor drainage flooding, as mentioned by the NWS. Rainfall amounts across the city are expected to reach an inch, potentially more.

A National Weather Service graphic shows anticipated rain accumulation, with potential for coastal flooding, in New York for Saturday, Jan. 6 through Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024 (Courtesy of the National Weather Service)(Courtesy of the National Weathe

EXPECT WIND GUSTS, POWER OUTAGES POSSIBLE

Compounding the poor precipitation conditions are anticipated wind gusts, which are expected to whip at up to 45 mph, as reported by the NWS. These gusts hold the potential to knock down trees and result in power outages.

Additionally, the NWS warns that widespread minor coastal flooding may characterize the Sunday morning high tide.

NYC WEATHER ALERT

These looming threats have prompted officials across the state to take precautions in advance of the storm system. On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged residents to prepare for the storm to come.

We are watching an impending coastal weather system moving in this weekend, and in preparation Ive directed state agencies to mobilize emergency response assets, Hochul said. We anticipate heavy, wet snowfall across various regions, potentially causing power outages and hazardous travel. I urge New Yorkers to be vigilant. Prepare your households, monitor local forecasts, and plan for the next couple of days as the forecast comes into clearer view. Together, well weather the storm.

Similarly, the New York City Department of Emergency Management issued a weather alert for Saturday into Sunday in anticipation of whats to come.

With initial forecasts predicting a potentially significant storm hitting the tri-state area this weekend, our agencies are prepared to handle anything thats thrown our way, said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Well continue to keep New Yorkers updated about what to expect and our preparations for the storm. As always, the best way to stay safe is to stay informed  so sign up for Notify NYC to get the latest information directly from the city.

NEW YORK STATE SNOW

Here are the updated winter weather hazards. Most Winter Storm Watches were upgraded to Warnings, with the exception of No. Middlesex and No. New London counties in CT (still watch). Advisories are in effect just south & southeast of where warnings exist. #nywx #ctwx #njwx #hvwx pic.twitter.com/TAUXwcvUCJ  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) January 5, 2024

While NYC looks to be spared the worst of this system, areas of the Hudson Valley are not so lucky.

New City looks to take on 7.9 inches of snow, Middletown a substantial 10 inches, and even White Plains, just north of the city, will see 3.5 inches, according to the latest from NWS. The Lower Hudson Valley has been identified by the NWS as an area of the state which could see an inch of snow an hour.

In anticipation, a winter storm warning has been issued for much of downstate New York by the NWS. Meanwhile, Long Island is under a coastal flood advisory.
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A former Australian spy and war crimes investigator died while captaining a rowing boat in a race across the Atlantic Ocean.

Alisdair Putt died from a heart attack while taking part in the Worlds Toughest Row competition on January 4, the organisers confirmed on Friday night.

Former Australian spy Alisdair Putt died while rowing across the Atlantic. Credit: Facebook

It is with heartfelt sadness that we must convey the news of the death of Alisdair Putt  Skipper of the four-person team, Aussie Old Salts, the competition confirmed on social media.

It said Putt had a cardiac-related event while on deck, but that was pending an inquiry.
A Sun-Herald article detailing the stories behind some of the themed street names of Sydney sparked a significant response, as readers shared the origins of street names in other pockets of Sydney.

A mix of honouring Australians of the past, reflecting what used to be in the area and pure linguistic fun: Here are some of our readers favourite themed pockets of streets.

Cricketers in the west and the north

The Australian Test cricket team may have had a historic year: reigning World Test and World Cup champions, and an Ashes retained. But, even with the citys urban sprawl, they will struggle to match the number of Sydney streets named for those who played for the nation in the late 1800s.

Former Australian cricketers Fred Spofforth, Charles Bannerman, Harry Boyle and Billy Murdoch are honoured with street names in Cremorne, on the lower north shore, former residents Paul Brusaschi and Simon Rice both informed us.
When Vali Creus lost her second ovary to a rare cancer at the age of 24, technology did not yet exist that would give her even a slim chance of fulfilling her childhood dream of one day becoming a mother.

That is one of the hardest things about being diagnosed with something life-altering at a young age, says Creus, now 44.

Vali Creus with her 10-year-old twins, Alexis and Kaia. Credit: Joe Armao

I was young and had all these plans for the future, which then suddenly youre faced with the possibility of never being able to achieve.

Creus oncologist, Professor Tom Jobling, decided to preserve her remaining ovary in case of a breakthrough, and its thanks to this that she recently celebrated the 10th birthday of her adored twins, Kaia and Alexis, with her husband, Dean.
In January 2017, as President Donald Trump was inaugurated, America succumbed to a kind of hysteria. The world hyperventilated over the anticipated dangers of a Trump presidency.

In the end, America muddled through more or less intact. Trump supporters claim that he did more good and no more harm than Joe Biden has managed when he  increasingly frequently  succumbs to a senior moment on stage.

Donald Trump campaigns in Waterloo, Iowa, last month. Credit: AP

As harmless as Joe Biden is hardly a compliment Trump would relish. But as Trump slouches towards the presidency again, that is what Republicans and international Trumpists are saying to downplay his weird promise to only be a dictator on the first day.

Meanwhile, Democrats and international anti-Trumpers believe that, if re-elected, he would usher in an era of American autocracy. Despite this apocalyptic prospect, they cant seem to find a more compelling candidate among their ranks than Biden, who most Americans believe is too old for the job.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 6, 2024 - 18:07 | World, All, Japan

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent a message of sympathy to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over a deadly earthquake that hit central Japan on New Year's Day, state-run media said Saturday, in a rare move between the countries with no diplomatic ties.

It was Kim's first message to Kishida, according to Radio Press news agency, which monitors North Korea's official news media. Kishida has tried to realize an early summit meeting with Kim, but the plan has so far born no fruit.

In the message sent Friday, Kim "sincerely hoped" that the people in the affected areas would "restore their stable life at the earliest date possible," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The leader expressed his "deep sympathy and condolences" to Kishida as well as the bereaved families and victims "upon the sad news that big casualties and material losses were caused" by the quake at the outset of the new year, KCNA said.

Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, said at a news conference Saturday in Tokyo that he would like to express gratitude to Kim for the message.

Hayashi said North Korean leaders had not sent any messages of sympathy to Japanese prime ministers in recent years, including at the time of the March 2011 quake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan.

Asked if Japan will respond to Kim, Hayashi said the government has not replied to any sympathy messages from leaders of other countries yet as it has been concentrating on the rescue and relief operations.

Formal talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang remain dormant even though Kishida in May last year made a commitment to establish high-level bilateral negotiations to pave the way for an early meeting with Kim, without elaborating on what kind of official talks he envisioned.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling party, carried the full text of the message on Saturday, after reporting on the quake and damage it has caused earlier this week.

In the aftermath of the March 2011 quake and tsunami, then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il sent $500,000 to pro-Pyongyang Korean residents who were victims of the disaster.

At that time, North Korea's then No. 2 leader Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, also sent a message of condolence to a group of pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan.

Related coverage:

U.S. to provide Japan quake support including through military: envoy

Taiwan to donate 60 million yen to help Japan relief efforts after quake

Japan increases manpower for quake rescues, deaths top 90
PHILIPSBURG:--- At approximately 06:45 AM on January 5th, 2024, the Sint Maarten Police Force received several d calls reporting a fire at Sugar Hill Drive in Cul-de-sac. The police dispatch center immediately coordinated a response, deploying both Fire Department personnel and Police patrol units to the scene.

Upon arrival at the location, emergency responders observed that the second floor of the complex was entirely engulfed in flames. Quick action was taken to secure the area and assess the situation. In addition to the Fire Department and Police personnel, ambulance personnel were also dispatched to provide assistance.

The timely response from emergency services allowed for the swift containment of the fire. Unfortunately, the second floor of the complex suffered extensive damage due to the blaze.

Two individuals were identified as victims of the incident and were attended to by ambulance personnel. Both victims had experienced smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene. Fortunately, no further ailments were reported, and both individuals are expected to recover fully.

The Sint Maarten Police Force and the Fire Department are currently conducting a investigation to determine the cause of the fire. The circumstances leading to the incident remain unclear.

As the investigation progresses, updates will be provided to the public to ensure transparency and maintain open communication regarding the incident.

KPSM Press Release.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 7, 2024 - 08:10 | All, Japan

A woman was rescued from a collapsed house in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday, five days after a powerful earthquake struck the prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, as the death toll from the quake topped 120 with over 200 still unaccounted for, according to authorities.

A family member said the rescued woman is in her 90s. Suzu is one of the coastal cities hit hardest by the magnitude-7.6 quake that occurred in the Noto Peninsula, central Japan, on New Year's Day.

The earthquake is the first tremblor to kill more than 100 people in Japan since the 2016 Kumamoto quakes in the country's southwestern region that caused 276 deaths including those related to the disaster.

The quake caused extensive structural damage and fires in the prefecture, and city officials in Wajima believe there are about 100 locations where people are still trapped under collapsed buildings.

As of Saturday afternoon, 126 people have died and 210 are still unaccounted for in the prefecture with rescue operations hampered by rain and hail. Rain is expected through Sunday followed by snow in the region.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told officials from related ministries and agencies in a meeting of the disaster response headquarters at his office to "tenaciously and thoroughly conduct rescue operations to save as many lives as possible."

Authorities are still struggling to deliver relief supplies due to quake-damaged roads in Ishikawa, where around 30,000 people are staying in some 370 shelters.

Aftershocks continue to jolt the Noto region, including a magnitude-5.3 quake registering upper 5 on Japan's seismic intensity scale of 7 in the morning.

Late Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said a quake measuring lower 6 rocked Shika at around 11:20 p.m.

But an official of the town office said, "We only felt a weak quake that lasted for a second or two." Hokuriku Electric Power Co., which operates a nuclear power plant in the town, said a seismic intensity meter installed at the facility indicated the quake only measured 2.

The government increased the number of Self-Defense Forces members deployed to disaster-affected areas to around 5,400 Saturday from 5,000 the previous day.

Some shelters had limited or no access to running water to flush toilets, causing hygiene and mental health problems.

The Ishikawa prefectural government is planning to build temporary houses for afflicted residents, but construction will not begin until Friday.

Related coverage:

Japan increases manpower for quake rescues, deaths top 90

N. Korea's Kim sends message of sympathy to Kishida over Japan quake

Central Japan quake causes no problem at local nuclear plant: utility
We took immediate action when we received the report and the officer was suspended from duty following his arrest on Thursday.
After several initial arrests were made by Metropolitan Police officers at the park, protesters then marched through Westminster before being stopped by officers next to Big Ben.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 6, 2024 - 16:46 | All, Japan

An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing on Friday in Portland, Oregon after a section of the fuselage blew out shortly after departure, according to U.S. media reports.

The airline said the plane, which was bound for Ontario, California, landed safety back at the airport in Portland, with 171 passengers and six crew members onboard.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the incident.

Related coverage:

JAL jet passengers recount 18 minutes of terror while awaiting escape

Crew's quick decisions behind safe escape from burning JAL plane
Preparations are underway for the participation of Azerbaijanis living in different countries of the world in the extraordinary presidential elections to be held on 7 February 2024, Azernews reports.

In order to ensure the electoral rights of Azerbaijanis living in foreign countries, intensive work is being carried out to set up polling stations in Azerbaijan's diplomatic missions in these countries, in the administrative buildings of embassies and consulates.

The Embassy of Azerbaijan in Washington has appealed to Azerbaijani citizens over 18 years of age, permanently or temporarily residing in the United States or on a long-term business trip, to provide information about themselves to be added to the voter list.

In addition to the capital, it is expected that Azerbaijani compatriots living in New York and neighbouring regions will also vote at the polling station to be set up at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington:

"The work continues in the same spirit. The Consulate operating in Los Angeles will also inform the public about the activity of the Election Centre to be established in this region in the coming days".

It should be noted that extraordinary presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan on 7 February this year.
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The Mavis Artificial Heart team of the 'Grigore T. Popa' University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi is the recipient of the prize for "The Most Advanced Artificial Heart" in the October 29 grand finale of the first-ever Heart Hackathon - a worldwide student engineering and design contest for creating a working artificial heart.

Robert Gatman, a student at the Bioengineering Faculty of the 'Grigore T. Popa' University, is one of the 30 students on the Mavis Technological Transfer Center team that conceived an artificial heart which - according to its creators - can work without interruption for as long as 100 years. Robert knows what suffering means, because at the age of two he was diagnosed with an aortic valve issue, had to fight for his life, and now he wants to help others discover hope.

"Subconsciously, you feel the drive to do something for people afflicted with cardiovascular diseases, the more so as I have experienced the problem from the patient's perspective and I want to help those in suffering," Robert Gatman confesses.

He doesn't see his own illness as a curse, but as a gift, because it made him stronger and put him in the position to help solve some widespread ailments.

At the age of 18 he underwent surgery at the Cardiology Institute in Chisinau, where his malfunctioning valve was replaced with a mechanical one. Following the successful operation, he now feels much better and his life has since taken a decisive turn.

"This experience has made me stronger and determined me to seek training in the cardiovascular field, as a bioengineer, and help people who suffer from such problems. The desire to get involved in cardiovascular science has been with me since forever. Initially I wanted to be a heart surgeon, but then I learned about the Bioengineering Faculty. I fancied medicine since a young age, but also realistic disciplines such as physics and mathematics. After my heart surgery, I decided that bioengineering is the perfect specialization for me," Robert Gatman declared for AGERPRES.

After just one year of faculty, Robert had the opportunity to get actively involved in medical research and became one of the students who work within the MAVIS Technology Transfer Center.

"With the help of the university, I learned certain things from scratch. It was hard work, I would stay at the Technological Transfer Center until 1:00 - 2:00 at night, but the feeling when we were awarded was extraordinary. I felt that our efforts had not been in vain. From the patient's perspective, it was the joy that we were taking the right steps, that our work is being put to use. Together with my colleagues, I helped develop a mechanical heart, a device that earned the appreciation of the experts and titans of cardiovascular equipment we met in Dallas, USA. Meanwhile, we have expanded our team with more volunteers. We now want to do tests with water and blood. After we optimize the pump, we want to switch to animal tests. I fully find myself at home in this field and I would like to continue working on the MAVIS artificial heart. I still have two years of university ahead," says Robert.

The MAVIS heart concept is fit for both children and adults, is made of titanium and has an electronic part that will be implanted under the skin. Powered wirelessly, the device has - according to its designers - a durability of over 100 years, unlike the existing devices that can last for just 6 months at the most.

Robert Gatman is convinced that AI will help bioengineering achieve in a few years certain peaks and goals one didn't even dream of a few years ago, and says that thanks to immunosuppressive drugs and non-invasive, wireless implanted medical devices, patients will be able to lead an as normal life as possible.
ST. LOUIS  In 1901, the city public library occupied two borrowed floors at the Board of Education. Voters had defeated two efforts to raise taxes for a freestanding library.

Promoters appealed to Andrew Carnegie, the steel baron who was giving away some of his fortune for libraries across the country. Carnegie issued a challenge:

If the city of St. Louis will agree to tax itself and expend not less than $150,000 per annum on its library system, I shall be glad to give $500,000 for a Central Library, he wrote on March 12, 1901.

Carnegie offered to throw in another $500,000 for branch libraries, if St. Louisans did their part.

They did, voting 7-1 only three weeks later to double the local library tax, raising the $1 million needed to match Carnegies offer. Construction began in 1908 at Olive and 13th streets.

The grand new main library, built of gray granite from Maine, was dedicated on Jan. 6, 1912. Despite heavy snow and below-zero temperatures, more than 1,000 people gathered inside, warmed by the glow of civic achievement and powerful hot-water radiators.

This institution is not for a sect, a tribe or a creed, said Catholic Archbishop John J. Glennon, one of the many speakers. The librarys keepers must guard our intellectual food.

The main library had cost $1.8 million to build  the equivalent of nearly $43 million today  and was opened to the public two days after the ceremony. Patrons could browse its 80,000 volumes and its periodicals and other stores of knowledge in spacious reading rooms. The interior of marble, carved wood, murals and other elegant touches confirmed the librarys majestic place in the community.

Its doors remained open to all until June 12, 2010, when it was closed for a $70 million restoration. Central Library reopens Sunday.

VOTERS HELP CREATE CENTRAL LIBRARY

The St. Louis librarys story begins in 1865, when the school board assembled 1,500 books at a building at Fifth and Olive streets. Residents could use the library and borrow books for a small annual fee.

In 1893, city voters adopted their first public library tax, making the library independent of the school system and abolishing the membership fee. But the slow-growing collection remained on school property. At the centurys turn, it was on the top floors of the Board of Education, a building that still stands at 911 Locust Street. Efforts to raise the library tax in 1897 and 1898 were defeated, inspiring the citys appeal to Carnegie.

The public vote in 1901 enabled the board to plan for a central library and six branches. For the main building, it chose a site five blocks west of the Board of Education, an area that once had been known as Missouri Park.

James and Marie Lucas, members of a prominent landowning family, provided for the park in 1854, in part to serve as an eastern buffer for an upper-class residential development known as Lucas Place. (The last trace of it is the Campbell House Museum, at 1508 Locust.)

The four-acre Missouri Park, bounded by Olive, 13th, St. Charles and 14th streets, had more than 350 trees and a spring.

In 1883, influential businessmen who wanted to build a convention center for St. Louis persuaded Lucas heirs to change the property covenant. The result was the Exposition and Music Hall, a two-block-square building opened in 1884 that would host two Democratic national conventions and hundreds of shows and festivals. By the time the library board went scouting for land, Exposition Hall was slated for demolition.

Construction on the main library began in 1908. The architect was Cass Gilbert of New York, who also designed the Worlds Fair building that became the St. Louis Art Museum. He envisioned the library in the Italian Renaissance style, three stories tall with a wide main staircase and roof of green tile. He had the library bordered with carvings of fleur-de-lis and the engraved names of Balzac, Cervantes, Dickens, Emerson and other giants of literature.

As construction progressed, the library board also built six branches throughout the city, making full use of Carnegies pledge.

A week of deadly cold and heavy snow struck the city as librarians prepared for the grand opening downtown. By Jan. 6, 1912, snow drifts and broken overhead lines hobbled the streetcars. The high temperature that day was zero.

Many in the hardy audience were women educators. In the keynote address, Herbert Putnam, chief of the Library of Congress, praised Carnegies largess and the passionate public service of St. Louis librarian Frederick Crunden, who had guided the project until shortly before his death in 1911.

After the speeches, guests were allowed to walk through the book stacks, the maze of glass-block floors and steep metal staircases behind the main desk in the great hall. But for a rare public tour, the stacks would remain off-limits to patrons until they were dismantled for the centennial renovation.

In the basement was a large coal bunker to feed the heating system and a sump pump, probably to draw the water still seeping from Lucas spring.

FEW MAJOR CHANGES MADE

The library got some remodelings, updates and good scrubbings, but it was largely unchanged until now.

One of the first modifications was the establishment in 1915 of a writing room, made necessary because visitors using ink pots and pens were staining the floors. The library provided them with writing materials. For three decades, it was a refuge for tenants in rooming houses and other noisy, crowded places who needed space and quiet to write home or apply for jobs.

In 1930, as the Depression settled hard, librarians noted that readership had risen by one-third as more people had free time. The library began holding special classes for the unemployed to relieve the long tedium with constructive activity.

By 1937, the librarys 25th anniversary, the library had made more than 90 million loans of its collection, including talking books of phonograph records for blind people. The main library regularly offered lectures, exhibits of photographs and works of art, and classes in preparing income-tax reports.

Chief librarian Charles Compton said the most popular novels that year were Margaret Mitchells Gone With the Wind and Sinclair Lewis It Cant Happen Here, the latter about a Hitler-style dictator rising to power in the United States.

As World War II began in Europe in September 1939, Compton reported a sharp increase in patronage of military books and maps. Boys are terribly war-minded, he said. They love aviation and spies.

Two years later, many of those boys would be in uniform. (More than 2,500 from the St. Louis area wouldnt come home.)

Here are a few other headlines from the librarys first century:

1940  The first bookmobile in St. Louis pulls away from 1301 Olive.

1947  The library switchboard is overwhelmed whenever local radio shows have call-in quizzes.

1948  The first refrigerated water coolers are installed.

1953  Librarians begin using a microfilm photography machine to record borrowings, ending the tradition of recording all transactions manually.

1954  A reading room for teenagers is opened in the basement. It includes a record player with four sets of headphones.

1963  The collection grows to 1.2 million books, 16,000 phonograph records and 36,000 reference works, including telephone books from New York and Tokyo. In the basement are stored 718 barrels of water and 470 large boxes of crackers in case of nuclear attack.

1967  The first no-smoking areas are created in reading rooms.

1987  The library celebrates its 75th anniversary with a four-foot-long cake shaped like the building and music from a brass ensemble.

2010 Librarians move millions of books, microfilm rolls, maps, DVDs and other items to make way for the renovation.

2012  Library is scheduled to reopen for business at 1 p.m. Sunday.
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The military units of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) staged a naval live-shell firing drill off the DPRK's southwestern coast from 09:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (0000 GMT to 0200 GMT) on Friday, according to the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in a report carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The naval live-shell firing drill is a natural countermeasure taken by the KPA against the actions of the South Korean military, which staged large-scale artillery firing and maneuvers in the vicinity of the entire border area from the outset of the year, according to the report.

"The direction of naval live-shell firing doesn't give even an indirect effect on Paekryong and Yonphyong islands," the report said.

"If the enemies commit an act which may be regarded as a provocation under the pretext of so-called counteraction, the KPA will show tough counteraction on an unprecedented level," it added. 
Joe Holleman Political correspondent/columnist Follow Joe Holleman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Saying it found no verifiable evidence of a violation, a special ethics committee has all but killed a complaint filed against a Maplewood City Council member.

On Thursday, the panel recommended dismissal of all four counts of a complaint filed against Chasity Mattox, who was elected in April to represent the 2nd Ward.

The complaint was filed by Brad Jackson, who was appointed by Mayor Nikylan Knapper to both the citys Plan and Zoning Commission and the sustainability committee.

Jackson alleged that since taking office in April, Mattox had disrupted and interfered with city operations, caused residents and employees to be harassed and had used abusive language.

The special panel  consisting of Knapper and council members Shawn Faulkingham and Matt Coriell  found that no verifiable evidence was presented to substantiate Jacksons allegations.

We, the members of the ethics review committee, find (Mattox) is not in violation of the Code of Ethics and recommend dismissal of all charges, the panels signed statement said.

I feel like I can breathe again, Mattox said Friday, adding that she believed the complaint was without merit. It was just a retaliatory move.

The incident leading to the complaint against Mattox occurred on the night of Dec. 12, shortly after Mattox cast the only vote against hiring Amber Withycombe, an ally of Knapper, as the new city manager. The mayor abstained from voting on Withycombes hiring.

Mattox said Jackson made disparaging personal remarks about her after she cast the dissenting vote.

The post from Jackson on a Maplewood community Facebook page was taken down by the page moderator, who then blocked Jackson from the site.

W. Bevis Schock, Mattoxs attorney, said the ethics panel finding is binding unless Jackson decides to appeal it to the full council.

Jackson could not be reached Friday for comment. In the comments section of the Post-Dispatch, Jackson said he was not disappointed with the panels ruling.

We knew it would turn out this way. The evidence was not enough, but censure was never the point. The point was that conduct matters, Jackson wrote.

Still pending, however, is a complaint that Mattox filed against Jackson, which Mattox said on Friday she intends to pursue.

As to Mattoxs complaint, Knapper said the city is talking with its lawyers about how to handle a complaint against an appointed official such as Jackson. While city ordinances outline a process for complaints against elected officials, Knapper said it is silent about such issues with appointed officials.

Knapper said the matter is slated for discussion during the work session of the Jan. 9 council meeting.

Mattox has come under increased criticism recently because of her opposition to the hiring of Withycombe  who started Thursday as city manager.

Her salary has been set at $157,000 a year, according to her employment contract with the city.

Withycombe is a close ally of Knapper, who has appointed both Withycombe and her husband, Joshua Kryah, to several city commissions. Kryah also served at one time as Knappers campaign treasurer.

Withycombe has no experience working for a municipality and still is in the process of earning a masters degree in public administration.

Critics have lambasted the hiring, noting that the job was not posted in any professional publications or on the citys website. The candidates were selected solely on the recommendations of council members, and only one person other than Withycombe was interviewed for the job.

The previous city manager was Michael Reese, who resigned in October and was paid about $130,000 to leave his job without comment. Several sources have said that a contentious working relationship between Knapper and Reese led to his departure.

Along with the $157,000 annual salary, Withycombe also will be given use of a city-owned vehicle for work-related travel.

The contract is valid for three years, with salary increases after Withycombes first and second years on the job to be determined by the city council and be based on an annual performance review.

After the council voted to hire Withycombe on Dec. 12, council member Faulkingham, who is the citys deputy mayor, said Withycombes salary was still being negotiated.

The employment contract provided by the city through a Missouri Sunshine Law records request showed that Withycombe signed the agreement on Dec. 12, and that the mayor signed it on Dec. 13.
ST. LOUIS  The police department late Friday afternoon released detailed, incident-level crime data for the past three years after widespread criticism about the agencys lack of transparency with the numbers.

Spokesman Sgt. Charles Wall said in an announcement that the department took a closer look at the issue and discovered it had produced similar data for another group.

These files contain open record information, Wall said in the release, and we will be making these files available on our public website today.

The move comes after the Post-Dispatch reported last week that city police had three years ago turned off the spigot on the public release of detailed geographic crime data. Moreover, the department insisted it was no longer able to publish the data  despite the fact that it had provided such information to insiders, the newspaper found.

The loss left community groups, researchers, and the public without data key to understanding crime trends in the city.

Whats frustrating is that the data exists, Ness Sandoval, a professor of sociology and demography at St. Louis University, told the Post-Dispatch then. This data belongs to the public. Its a public good.

But Friday, Sandoval lauded the datas release.

I think its a victory for the residents of the city that they have this data, he said. We are now in a position to share this information with residents so they can have a discussion with their local politicians and their leaders of how to make their neighborhoods safer.

The police department had long blamed a major technology change in 2020 for its inability to keep providing detailed geographic crime data to the public.

To switch to a new way of tracking crime, called the National Incident-Based Reporting System, St. Louis used a $1.2 million federal grant to buy a new computer system. When the department brought the system online in December 2020, its vendor, Optimum Technology, had not developed an alternative way for the city to continue publishing detailed crime spreadsheets for the public.

After four months, the department began posting simple, neighborhood-level crime totals on its website in PDF files.

But experts say those basic reports are no substitute for granular, geographic data.

The loss of detail in time, place, and specifics about the incident is really disappointing, said Bobby Boxerman, a doctoral candidate in the criminology department at University of Missouri-St. Louis, who used the old data in research projects.

Thousands of other law enforcement agencies have also undertaken the NIBRS transition, though, and many of St. Louis peer departments found ways to keep providing detailed incident data to the public, despite the challenges.

Then, earlier this week, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Police Chief Robert Tracy touted a broad decrease in crime last year: Homicides fell 21% from 200 to 158; shootings were down 24% from 772 to 552; felony thefts tumbled 39%; auto thefts 19%; shootings involving juveniles 47%.

St. Louis trends werent unique  homicides were down almost everywhere in the U.S. this year. Nationwide, they dropped 13%, and several other cities, including Baltimore, Atlanta and Milwaukee, saw decreases similar to St. Louis.

But, without seeing the underlying data, critics doubted St. Louis numbers.

Until theres full transparency with the data, there will always be this perception about the safety of the city, which is unfortunate, Sandoval said.

The new data is available to download on the departments website, a return to how St. Louis Police Department had long published monthly crime numbers until December 2020, when it abruptly turned off its public spigot of detailed geographic crime data.
EDWARDSVILLE  Prosecutors on Friday charged a Ferguson man with first-degree murder in the death of a man whose body was discovered by a municipal worker in Alton earlier this week.

Antonio M. Baker, 44, is accused of killing 34-year-old Andre T. Hawkins, of Maryland Heights, who was discovered around noon Wednesday in a wooded area around Lincoln Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds.

Prosecutors provided few details about the incident but said the killing likely stemmed from a dispute between the two men in Missouri.

"What occurred in Alton is unknown," said Madison County State's Attorney Thomas Haine. "All parties involved were from Missouri. But choosing to bring any violence to our streets is a very poor decision."

Baker was being held Friday in the St. Louis County jail, pending extradition to Edwardsville. A Madison County judge ordered he be held without bond.
ST. LOUIS  One day after news outlets published photos of a downtown St. Louis jail inmates injuries, the citys top public defender said attorneys were told they could no longer bring their phones into the facility during client visits.

The Post-Dispatch and Riverfront Times on Thursday published photos, taken by an attorney, of 31-year-old Kevin OShaughnessy with a cantaloupe-sized hernia on his hip. OShaughnessys attorney had asked a judge to release his client from jail, citing neglect that activists and attorneys have claimed is commonplace at the embattled facility.

Then, on Friday, at least three attorneys in the public defenders office were told they would no longer be allowed to bring phones into visits as they had for years.

But Monte Chambers, spokesperson for the citys public safety department, said nothing had changed.

The Department of Corrections has a strict, long-standing policy for all visitors to adhere to regarding the usage of cellular phones and recording devices, Chambers said. This is not a new policy; it is an existing policy.

On Friday evening, though, St. Louis District Defender Matthew Mahaffey shared a photo that contradicted Chambers claim that the policy was not new: A notice posted at the jail Friday and signed by Jail Commissioner Jennifer Clemmons-Abdullah notified visitors that beginning Jan. 15, no cellular devices or any type of recording/photography devices will be allowed inside the facility. All previous authorizations for cellular devices are no longer being authorized.

Until that notice, defense attorneys could bring their phones and computers into the facility as long as they signed an authorization form agreeing not to take photos or record inside the jail. Attorneys needed their phones for many reasons, Mahaffey said, including to access case records and contact guards to let them out of the facility when it is locked during after-hours visits.

Chambers, the public safety spokesperson, clarified later Friday that the policy had been adapted in response to contraband cell phones being found at the jail in recent weeks.

The phone debate is just the latest controversy at the City Justice Center.

Since mid-August, at least four people have died at the facility. Inmates took a corrections officer hostage for several hours before police intervened. Acute staffing shortages are worsening, and lawyers and community members have complained that prisoners are being held on lockdown for hours and not given access to showers, hot food and other basic necessities.

If anyone wonders how so many people can die in that jail in such a short period of time, the answer should be obvious, Mahaffey said in a message to the Post-Dispatch. And the jails response is to fight transparency to the utmost degree, blame the victims and the deceased and bar attorneys from bringing communications devices in during visits.

OShaughnessy was shot multiple times by police in April and charged after police said he pointed a gun at officers, set his house on fire and threatened others while having mental issues. He was left partially paralyzed with a traumatic brain injury, court documents say.

On Thursday, his sister said OShaughnessy has been left without a wheelchair, has not been given regular access to clean clothes or a shower and developed a hernia that went unaddressed for months.

A judge denied the request by OShaughnessys lawyer to lower his clients bond and instead ordered he be sent to a hospital for further medical evaluation.

Mahaffey said OShaughnessy is fortunate to have family members with a medical background willing to advocate for his needs. Still, he said, many people at the jail are living through the same situation without any way to speak up.

We need to stop listening to the jail administrations words and start evaluating their actions and inactions, he said. We need to stop listening to the politicians that blindly support them. And we need to stop being OK with innocent until proven guilty people suffering and dying in the custody of the state.

But the public safety department director, Charles Coyle, brushed off much of the criticism about the facility during a news conference last month. He said that jail commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah had done work to improve the jail, including allocating millions of dollars in renovations to fix broken cell locks and ramping up security to keep drugs out.

Monte Chambers, a public safety department spokesman, noted Thursday that the city hired a new health care provider a few months ago, launched an audit of medical care and was working to hire a chief medical officer.

The Corrections Division remains committed to ensuring the health of detainees remains a priority as we continue to improve service, he said.
JEFFERSON CITY  Expectations for a productive session for the Missouri House and Senate were dismally low in the weeks and months leading up to it. The first week seems to have confirmed those fears.

More than 15 state lawmakers are already running for higher office this year. And political spectators and elected officials alike are bracing for floor debate that doubles as campaign speech, putting authentic policy discussion on the backburner.

At the same time, the temperature of the yearslong fight between a hard-right faction of Senate Republicans and more moderate Senate leadership appears to be higher than ever.

Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin, R-Shelbina, and Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, have pointed to a need for relationship- and consensus-building as the path toward policy-making.

But members of the newly formed hard-line Missouri Freedom Caucus see it differently.

The Freedom Caucus, which held a kickoff event Friday in St. Charles, is part of the larger State Freedom Caucus Network, which provides the high-level staff, strategy, and community conservatives need to take ground across the country, according to the networks website. Its an outgrowth of the House Freedom Caucus, launched in 2015 by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan and other hard-right Republicans in Congress.

State Senate members of the Missouri caucus used the first two days of the session to air grievances against Republican leadership and colleagues on the Senate floor.

Excited to be with the @MOFreedomCaucus this morning as they launch the fight for conservative values in Missouri! pic.twitter.com/WSp8dcV3ZP  Illinois Freedom Caucus  (@ILFreedomCaucus) January 5, 2024

Peace is no option, said Freedom Caucus chair Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Lees Summit, on Wednesday. Im not going to be spiteful towards an individual. Im not going to be hate-filled. But in terms of advancing policy, this will be a show-no-prisoner type approach.

On Thursday, Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, a Freedom Caucus member, berated a Republican colleague for his voting record, prompting OLaughlin to abruptly end floor debate after less than 30 minutes.

Its my job as floor leader to try to facilitate professional exchanges on the floor, OLaughlin said at a press conference afterward. I am always open to listening to anybody who wants to advocate for a certain position or a certain policy, but I dont want to see us devolve into personal attacks.

On a radio interview Thursday, Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, said that last years diplomacy failed spectacularly, and this year is about holding Republicans feet to the fire.

If I gotta filibuster every day from now until the end of session to get even a small personal property tax cut done, then thats what were gonna do, he said.

Eigel is running for governor, and will face Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in the GOP primary on Aug. 6.

In an interview with the Post-Dispatch Friday, OLaughlin said she is considering how to proceed if Eigel or others disrupt progress on conservative legislation, though she has not yet decided what that would entail.

If they persist in following that path, well have to deal with that, she said.

In addition to Brattin, Eigel and Hoskins, other Freedom Caucus members in the Missouri Senate are Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, and Jill Carter, R-Granby.
Updated at 7:40 p.m. with additional information.

ST. LOUIS  City Hall ended a renewed mask mandate for city workers Friday afternoon under pressure from Jefferson City.

City spokesman Nick Dunne said in a press release that the health department now just strongly recommends employees mask up indoors, citing a recent rise in reports of respiratory illnesses in the region.

Dunne did not say exactly why the change was made. But Gov. Mike Parsons office promptly claimed credit.

Parson consistently opposed mask mandates throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And a spokesman for Parson, Jonathan Shifflett, noted his boss had reiterated that opposition on conservative talk radio as recently as Wednesday.

A call was made, Shifflett said. He kept his promise. And now St. Louis is reversing course on that.

The back-and-forth marked a brief revival of a familiar fight over public health policy between liberal St. Louis Democrats and conservative Capitol Republicans. The two sides spent years challenging one another over mask mandates and business closures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of GOP officials immediately tweeted their disdain after they heard the latest news.

The change in policy also followed confusion about the data the health department cited in its decision and a lukewarm reception from some city employees.

The brouhaha began Thursday afternoon, when the city health department told city employees they would have to wear masks indoors starting Friday, and put out a press release urging the public to follow suit.

The health department justified both moves with a series of alarming statistics. It said that hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the region jumped 38% in December, that RSV cases in the BJC HealthCare system were well above benchmarks set in previous years, and that flu infections were on a similar trajectory.

With activity of winter viruses rising at such a rapid pace, we must take action to slow transmission and prevent strain on our hospital systems, Dr. Mati Hlatschwayo Davis, the health director, said in the press release.

But just days before, when area hospital officials had noted an increase in flu and COVID cases, they didnt sound any alarms.

SSM Healths Dr. Alex Garza, who led the regions pandemic task force, had told the Post-Dispatch that while emergency departments and urgent cares were busy, they werent overwhelmed like they once were. COVID-19 patients were not as sick because of vaccination and previous exposure.

Publicly available data also showed that despite recent increases, COVID hospitalizations were nowhere near the peaks in previous years, and the flu season had so far been milder than in recent years.

The citys push for universal masking also went above and beyond the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation for areas classified as medium risk for COVID-19 hospitalizations, as St. Louis and much of Missouri are now.

By Friday morning, the department was walking back its numbers on RSV and flu infections. And the employee mask mandate was drawing fire from talk radio.

You knew it was coming ... its a religion to these idiots, KFTK (97.1 FM) host Mark Reardon wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

Marc Cox, another KFTK host, said in a video posted to X that Parson had just reiterated his opposition to mandates on his show Wednesday, and that hed reached out to see if Parson would back that up.

Meanwhile, while many employees at City Hall strapped the masks back on, many visitors did not, raising questions about the effectiveness of the new policy.

Of the 10 people sitting outside the city assessors office around 3 p.m., for instance, just two people were wearing masks: an older woman and an assessors office employee.

Around that same time, word came down from the mayors office that the mandate was being rescinded. The governors office trumpeted its victory.

And by the end of the day, there was no one left to debate much of anything except the cleaning crew.

One cleaner walked between rooms with a light blue surgical mask firmly in place. But another was installing new trash bags with nothing covering his smile.

Nobody wants to be smelling what they ate for breakfast, he said.

Another cleaner, for his part, straddled the line. He wore his mask like a chinstrap as he finished cleaning a bathroom.

I pulled it down, he said with a sheepish grin. I dont know.

See previous coverage here.
City backed off the mandate Friday afternoon. Read the latest coverage here.

ST. LOUIS  City Hall is requiring workers to again wear masks indoors, amid a rise in respiratory illness in the region.

The city health department said in a letter to employees that the mandate, which takes effect today, is a response to increases in the number of flu, RSV and COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

"With activity of winter viruses rising at such a rapid pace, we must take action to slow transmission and prevent strain on our hospital systems," the letter reads.

The department also recommended on Thursday that the general public follow suit, though it has not issued a public mandate.

Area hospital officials earlier this week noted an increase in flu and COVID cases, but didnt sound any alarms.

Its winter, and this is kind of weird to say, but its like were sort of getting back into a more typical rhythm, said Dr. Alex Garza, chief community health officer for SSM Health, told the Post-Dispatch then.

While emergency departments and urgent cares are busy, Garza said, the wait times are typical.

The citys recommendation for universal masking also goes above and beyond the Centers for Disease Control recommendation for areas classified as "medium" risk for COVID-19 hospitalizations, as St. Louis and much of Missouri are now.

The CDC only recommends masking for those at high risk of getting very sick under such conditions.

The citys decision immediately drew fire from conservative talk radio Friday morning.

You knew it was coming...its a religion to these idiots, KFTK (97.1 FM) host Mark Reardon wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

Kim St. Onge, who co-hosts the Marc Cox Show on KFTK, said in a video posted to X that she hoped Gov. Mike Parson would put a stop to the mandate.

St. Onge left her job as a reporter at KMOV (Channel 4) after refusing to comply with the stations COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Michele Munz of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
JEFFERSON CITY  State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman on Friday became the first Republican to jump into the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer.

Im running for Congress because we need to secure the southern border and put a stop to the endless flow of illegal immigration; we need to protect and defend human life; we need to stand up for our daughters and the girls of our state by protecting womens sports; and we need to get back to the economic prosperity we had under President Trump by reversing Bidenomics, which has inflated the price of everything for Missouri families, the Jefferson County lawmaker said in a news release.

Colemans announcement could be the first of many. Luetkemeyers retirement promises to lead to a competitive GOP primary as ambitious state lawmakers and others see an opportunity to capture a rare open congressional seat.

State Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday: Ill have to talk to my family, supporters, and pray on what decision to make.

Former state Sen. Bob Onder, who had announced a bid for lieutenant governor, could pivot to the congressional race. He told St. Louis Public Radio reporter Jason Rosenbaum Friday that you gotta look at the way you can best serve.

Onder, who represented a St. Charles County district before he was termed out, has experience running for Congress, losing to Luetkemeyer in the 2008 GOP primary.

Onder developed a reputation as a thorn in the side of Republican leadership and could contrast with someone like former Senate President Dave Schatz of Sullivan, who expressed interest in the race during a Friday interview.

When something like this occurs, you have to consider your options, said Schatz, who self-funded a losing bid in a crowded GOP primary for U.S. Senate in 2022.

Senator Onder and I obviously weve clashed on some issues, Schatz said. I do believe that we both would consider ourselves to be conservative Republicans but I mean theyve decided to brand themselves as a different type of conservative.

Two additional Republican state senators that have been mentioned include state Sen. Travis Fitzwater of Summit in Callaway County and Senate President Caleb Rowden of Columbia, though Rowden said Thursday he would continue running for secretary of state this year. Fitzwater did not respond to a request for comment.

After being elected to four-year terms in 2022, Coleman, Fitzwater and Schroer would be able to run for Congress in 2024 without giving up their state Senate seats.

St. Charles County political observer Arnie Dienoff also said he is weighing a bid.

Another person who could make an entrance into the race is former Gov. Eric Greitens, who also lost in the 2022 primary for U.S. Senate. A Greitens spokesman didnt respond to a request for comment.

Republicans who ultimately decide to run will face off in the Aug. 6 GOP primary.

Luetkemeyers heavily Republican 3rd Congressional District is an amalgamation of counties and parts of counties produced as a result of intense negotiation during redistricting in 2022.

The district stretches from Cooper County south to Jefferson City and the Lake of the Ozarks, with two extensions around the St. Louis area  one reaching into eastern St. Charles County and the other scooping up Crawford, Washington and western parts of Jefferson counties.

The only Democratic-leaning pockets of the district include southern portions of Columbia, parts of Jefferson City, a precinct in Fulton, and a handful of St. Charles County precincts.

Luetkemeyer won reelection in 2022 by a 65%-to-35% margin against Democrat Bethany Mann, who had an active campaign account as of Friday. She blasted Luetkemeyers tenure on social media after his announcement.

Among other things, she criticized Luetkemeyer for signing on to an amicus brief challenging the 2020 election results and for his advocacy for deregulation and profit-over-people.

We can build exciting things together  cleaner waterways, fully supported education from pre-K to college, and an economy that works for everyone, she said.

Not everyone was so critical of Luetkemeyer.

Thank you for your service as our congressman, Fitzwater said on X. Your work, demeanor, and efforts represented our district well.

Those interested in running wont have to decide right away. Candidate filing for the August primary opens on Feb. 27 and closes March 26.

Editors note: Spelling of Holts Summit has been corrected.
Benson Hill, the financially embattled Creve Coeur-based food tech company that lately has been cutting costs and selling assets, announced this week that it will release a lineup of five new high-protein soybean varieties in 2024, helping sharpen its focus within the pet food and livestock feed industries.

The announcement comes amid the companys push to expand its seed offerings, with Benson Hill stating in its release that recent advances in its soybean breeding program will drive the doubling of its seed portfolio by 2025, when it aims to have two dozen varieties available.

This years five new varieties would more than double the pair of soybean types that Benson Hill introduced in 2023. Benson Hill touted the increase as a sign that it can grow aggressively for a company of its size, according to spokeswoman Christi Dixon.

This is demonstrating that we can make tremendous gains, she said.

The company is developing seeds in the markets for pet food as well as feed for poultry, swine and aquaculture  opportunities that represent 90% of soy consumption, based on industry data, it said in its release.

Benson Hills announcement has not immediately sparked a clear shift for its stock prices, which rose Thursday but saw that bounce largely erased by losses Friday  with shares trading at just 15 cents apiece by the end of the day, compared to more than $10 in 2021, when the company went public.

The company has recently worked to trim costs and has sold some holdings, including the $36 million sale of its Indiana soybean crush facility in October.
Russia's first giant panda cub born at Moscow Zoo in August 2023 was named Katyusha this Wednesday, which was selected among the votes in a name contest which attracted over 380,000 participants.

The cub is now four months old, has a lot of teeth and walks very well. She recently had a routine check-up and weighed 8.67 kilograms and was 79.5 centimeters long including the tail, according to Moscow Zoo.



Being taken good care of by "Panda Mama" at Moscow Zoo, Katyusha and her parents Ru Yi and Ding Ding live a happy life in Russia.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alaska Energy Metals Corporation (TSX-V: AEMC, OTCQB: AKEMF) (AEMC or the Company) is pleased to announce that further to its news release on November 20, 2023, it has filed its National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report, dated January 5, 2024, on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com for its 100% owned Eureka Property, Nikolai Nickel Project in Alaska, USA.

The Independent Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and technical report were prepared by Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 regulations.

Furthermore, AEMC is pleased to announce that it has engaged Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. to complete an updated MRE for its Eureka Property. The updated MRE will incorporate the eight diamond drill holes (totaling 4,138 meters) drilled during the companys 2023 exploration program and historical drilling, purchased in August 2023, that fall within a reasonable search distance for estimation and pass data verification procedures. The work will start immediately.

Alaska Energy Metals President & CEO Gregory Beischer commented: Based on historical drilling, we have been able to document over 1.5 billion pounds of nickel in an Inferred Resource. With the drilling our company executed in summer of 2023, the metal inventory should significantly increase. We are planning an aggressive drilling program in 2024 to expand the bulk tonnage resource further, and to explore for high-grade deposits.

Table 1  Nikolai Project Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) Effective November 20, 2023

Inferred Mineral Resource Tonnes and Grade Area Mineralized Zone NiEq Cutoff Tonnes Base and Battery Metals PGM and Precious Metals Total Ni Cu Co Pt Pd Au Ni Eq* (%) (MT) (%) (%) (%) (g/T) (g/T) (g/T) (%) Eureka East Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 88.6 0.24 0.08 0.02 0.056 0.124 0.012 0.35 Eureka West Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 182.8 0.21 0.05 0.02 0.036 0.071 0.013 0.28 Eureka Zone 3 (EZ3) >= 0.200 48.2 0.23 0.02 0.01 0.031 0.021 0.004 0.27 Total EZ2 + EZ2 + EZ3 >= 0.200 319.6 0.22 0.05 0.02 0.041 0.078 0.012 0.30 Inferred Mineral Resource Tonnes and Metal Content Area Mineralized Zone NiEq Cutoff Tonnage Base and Battery Metals PGM and Precious Metals Total Ni Cu Co Pt Pd Au Ni Eq* (%) (MT) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) (tOz) (tOz) (tOz) (Mlbs) Eureka East Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 88.6 471 165 34 160,373 353,993 34,359 676 Eureka West Eureka Zone 2 (EZ2) >= 0.200 182.8 841 189 65 210,018 415,335 79,036 1,135 Eureka Zone 3 (EZ3) >= 0.200 48.2 240 19 16 48,816 32,694 6,495 287 Total EZ2 + EZ2 + EZ3 >= 0.200 319.6 1,552 373 115 419,138 802,003 119,915 2,098

CIM definitions are followed for classification of Mineral Resource.

Base case cutoff grade is 0.20% Ni calculated from a Ni price of US$23,946/tonne (US$10.9 US$/lb), surface mining cost of US$2.50 per tonne, and processing costs US$25.00 per tonne.

Mineral Resource are reported from within an economic pit shell whose extent has been estimated using a Ni price of US$23,946/tonne (US$10.9 US$/lb) and mining cost of US$2.50 per tonne, from a Ni equivalent grade calculated from Ni, Cu, Co, Pt, Pd, and Au, Ni recovery of 60% and 50% for other metals, fixed density of 2.80- and 45-degree constant slope angle.

Equivalent grade formula is Ni EQ = Ni/1 + Cu/2.7309 + Co/0.5321 + Pt/0.0008 + Pd/0.0004 + Au/0.0004

Metal pricing used to calculate Ni EQ is based on observation of monthly metal pricing for the past 24 months up to end-October 2023 with Ni at US$23,946/tonne (US$10.9/lb) (World Bank), Cu at US$ 8,768/tonne ($US4.0/lb) (World Bank), Co 45,000 US$/tonne (US24/lb) (Trading Economics), Pt at US$970/toz (World Bank), Pd at US$1,700/toz (Kitco), and Au at 1,855 (World Bank). Totals may not represent the sum of the parts due to rounding.

The Mineral Resource estimate has been prepared by Derek Loveday, P. Geo. of Stantec Consulting Services Inc. in conformity with CIM Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Best Practices guidelines and is reported in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators NI 43-101. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserve.

QUALIFIED PERSONMr. Derek Loveday, P. Geo. of Stantec Consulting Services Inc. is the independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has prepared, or supervised the preparation of, or has reviewed and approved, the scientific and technical data pertaining to the MRE and technical report. Mr. Loveday declares he has read this press release and that the scientific and technical information relating to the resource estimate are correct.

Gabriel Graf, the Companys Chief Geoscientist, is the qualified person, as defined under National Instrument 43-101 guidelines, who reviewed and approved the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

For additional information, visit: https://alaskaenergymetals.com/

ABOUT ALASKA ENERGY METALSAlaska Energy Metals Corporation is focused on delineating and developing a large polymetallic exploration target containing nickel, copper, cobalt, chrome, iron, platinum, palladium, and gold. Located in central Alaska, the Nikolai Nickel project is located near existing transportation and power infrastructure, the project is well-situated to become a significant, domestic source of critical and strategic energy-related metals for the American market. The Company is also exploring the Angliers Nickel project in Quebec.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARDGregory BeischerGregory Beischer, President & CEO

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:Gregory A. Beischer, President & CEOToll-Free: 877-217-8978 | Local: 604-638-3164

Sarah Mawji, Public RelationsFinal Edit Media and Public Relations Email: [email protected]

Some statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation), including, without limitation, that the Company (a) complete an updated resource calculation, and b) execute further drilling in 2024. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If the Company updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Source: Alaska Energy Metals Corporation
PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association is in the process of alerting its potentially impacted members, staff members, and business partners about a data breach involving State Street Bankits custodian banking partner since 2013and State Street Banks third-party vendor Fiserv, which provides physical check deposit clearing and processing services.

LACERAs information systems remain uncompromised amid the recent data breach. Of LACERAs over 190,000 members, the breach was limited to approximately 2,400 retired members, survivors, beneficiaries, and legal-split payees who receive their benefits by check. It is crucial to note that the majority of retired members who receive payments through direct deposit remain unaffected. Additionally, separate notices will be sent to approximately 200 other payees, such as vendors, employees, and business partners, ensuring clear communication and transparency in addressing the incident.

Incident Details, Impacts, and Action Steps

Fiserv notified State Street on October 16, 2023, that it had identified check information exposures through its transfer application, MOVEit. The MOVEit application breach occurred in May 2023 and has had a financial industry-wide impact that continues to reverberate to this day. Upon discovery of the breach, Fiserv took immediate steps to implement software updates designed to close any vulnerabilities.

Upon notification, State Street Bank immediately began an internal investigation to determine which of its clients had been impacted. On October 27, 2023, State Street notified LACERA of the incident, but it was unable at that time to provide specific information about those affected. In December 2023 State Street provided LACERA with details about which members and what information had been compromised, thereby enabling LACERA to formulate a plan to notify affected members and other payees.

LACERA is currently reaching out to its affected members, arranging for them to elect free Kroll credit and identity theft monitoring and restoration services for two years, and informing them of further steps they can take to protect themselves against fraud and identity theft. In addition, State Street Bank is keeping LACERA informed about the steps being taken by Fiserv above and beyond the ongoing monitoring and patching of vulnerabilities to prevent a repeat of future incidents.

LACERA takes the security of our members data very seriously as part of our mission to protect their benefits, said LACERA Chief Executive Officer Santos H. Kreimann regarding the incident. We are committed to providing our members with all the support and resources they need to ensure their financial security in the wake of this breach. In addition, we are holding our vendors accountable as they work to identify any other potential weaknesses and put additional security measures in place. Our members deserve and expect the highest data security and system protections from outside business vendors and service providers.

About LACERALACERA is a public retirement plan created and operating under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) and is subject to the California Constitution, CERL, and the Public Employees Pensions Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA). Two boards govern LACERA. Both boards are composed of elected and appointed members and one ex-officio member. The Board of Retirement is responsible for the overall management of the retirement system and the LACERA-administered Retiree Healthcare Benefits Program. The Board of Investments is responsible for establishing LACERAs investment policies, strategies, and objectives, and exercising authority and control over the funds investment management and actuarial matters relating to setting contributions and estimating fund liabilities.

Media Contact: Eric W. Rose, [email protected] or 213-741-1500 ext. 525

Source: LACERA
Manchester, United Kingdom, Jan. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SunMiner a cryptocurrency cloud mining service provider has announced that service and security will take the lead in their 2024 upgrades. The company, established in 2019 and serves a global user base exceeding 9,550,000, offers a platform that simplifies the mining process for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, making it more accessible compared to traditional mining methods.

The platform offers a range of cloud mining contracts, detailing contract price, duration, daily profit, and total profit, aimed at providing users with information for understanding their engagement with the platform. Sun Miner's technology is a part of the global cloud mining computing power, reflecting its participation in the industry.

Beyond cloud mining, Sun Miner offers services in mining machine hosting and self-mining. This diversification demonstrates the company's adaptability to market shifts and its comprehensive approach to business. Continuous development of new product solutions aligns with the changing demands of the cryptocurrency sector.

Sun Miner prioritizes security, compliance, and transparency in its operations. The company's infrastructure is designed to address typical mining challenges, such as equipment procurement and maintenance, allowing users to concentrate on their cryptocurrency portfolios without technical concerns.

Customer support is a key element of Sun Miner's offerings. The company provides 24/7 live support to ensure a seamless experience for users. Testimonials from a varied user base, including professionals from different fields, praise the platform for its stability, security, and efficiency.

Sun Miner has announced their 2024 service enhancements, which will improve user experience and efficiency in mining operations. These updates are part of the company's ongoing efforts to adapt to the evolving digital asset mining landscape and to better serve their growing client base.

As the festive season approaches, Sun Miner extends holiday greetings to its customers, expressing appreciation for their continued trust and support. The Sun Miner platform also recently announced a promotional incentive offering new users a $10 registration bonus. This initiative is part of the company's strategy to expand its user base and foster a supportive mining environment. The platform also features a referral program, allowing existing users to earn rewards for inviting new members, which enhances the community-driven aspect of Sun Miner.

About Sun Miner

Sun Miner, headquartered in Manchester, United Kingdom, has emerged as a significant force in the cloud mining industry since 2019. The company's mission is to simplify cryptocurrency mining through advanced technology and large-scale data centers. Operating in over 100 countries with a hash rate exceeding 10 EH/s, Sun Miner is dedicated to driving innovation in the blockchain and cryptocurrency domains.

To delve deeper into what SunMiner has to offer, visit the official site: https://sunminer.com

The SUN miner app can be easily downloaded by searching for "SUNminer" in the Google App Store (click to download) or the Apple Store.

Media Contact:

Website: https://sunminer.com

Company Name: SunMiner

Founder: Sun Aileen

Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer:This press release is for informational purposes only, and should not be viewed as financial or investment advice. Neither distribution company, its partners, nor any other distribution company are responsible for any losses incurred due to financial decisions made based on the content of this press release. Before making any such decisions, please conduct deeper research or consult with a professional. For further information, please contact the source company.

Source: SunMiner
AUSTIN, Texas , Jan. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flex Catering, a pioneering Australian catering software company, is poised to redefine the US catering market with a proprietary, cutting-edge cloud-based platform. This expansion promises to redefine catering management for restaurants and Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) through innovative technology and services focusing on restaurant and QSRs catering.

Flex Catering to Disrupt US Catering Market with Innovative Cloud Solution

Market Potential: The catering industry, growing rapidly with an expected increase of USD $104.92 billion by 2025 ( PRNewswire ), presents a significant opportunity for technological advancement. Flex Catering's solution addresses current market shortfalls by offering a robust, direct-ordering and management system that scales and optimizes catering operations.

Tailored Solutions for Corporate Catering: Flex Catering's platform excels in corporate catering with its purposely built online ordering capabilities. Its integrations with POS and local delivery services are vital for managing complex corporate events. Its advanced kitchen tools and B2B capabilities make it an essential tool for corporate catering planning. This streamlined, versatile cloud solution ensures operators can offer top-tier corporate catering experiences with ease.

Leadership on Expanding into the US Market: COO Cris Matsunaga and CEO Renato Dayan highlight Flex Catering's commitment to meeting the unique needs of the catering segment and the company's focus on empowering businesses to excel.

Cris Matsunaga , COO at Flex Catering, expressed the company's excitement, saying, "As experts in the catering software industry, Flex Catering is thrilled to bring our innovative cloud solution to the US market. We understand the challenges restaurants and operators face in the catering space, and our platform has been meticulously designed to empower them to excel in the restaurant, and catering segments."

Renato Dayan , CEO of Flex Catering, emphasized the company's commitment to catering professionals, stating, "Flex Catering is the ultimate catering solution for enterprise clients. Being an independent business, we are fully committed to exceeding the expectations of the catering industry. Our dedication to catering professionals sets it apart as a reliable and industry-focused partner."

Discover Flex Catering's Impact: Flex Catering has recently signed on clients like Dairy Queen , Savory (see Savory's video case study here ), and Patina Group (see Patina Group's video case study here ) and is rapidly expanding its footprint in the United States .

Join the Revolution in Catering Management: QSRs, restaurants, and caterers are invited to join the forefront of innovation with Flex Catering's cloud solution. Elevate your catering operations now with our advanced yet user-friendly platform, tailored for every stage of business growth. Don't miss out  seize this opportunity for transformation at an accessible price point.

Contact Information: For media inquiries or more details, contact:

Cristiano Matsunaga

COO

Flex Catering

(512) 692 7951

[email protected]

https://www.flexcateringhq.com

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SOURCE Flex Catering
SHENZHEN , China , Jan. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech and mobile accessories wholesaler TVCMALL will attend the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from January 9-12 in Las Vegas, NV. Representatives from TVCMALL will be present to showcase the company's selection of tech-focused products as well as its holistic B2B services, including product and packaging customization, sourcing, and dropshipping.

Shelby Ann Howell , crowned Miss CosmoWorld 2023 on November 30 , will join TVCMALL at CES as a spokesperson for the brand. After winning Miss CosmoWorld 2023, Howell expressed her desire to donate her time to different charities and give back to the community, which the team at TVCMALL felt was well-aligned with the company's dedication to its own community-focused charitable initiatives. CES attendees can meet Howell, explore TVCMALL's products and services, and learn more about the company's give-back initiatives at TVCMALL's Westgate 1314 and 1312 vendor booths.

Self-proclaimed as the most powerful tech event in the world, CES is owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and showcases the latest innovations in technology while offering a conference program featuring discussions from prominent business leaders and innovative thinkers. Attendee registration for CES can be purchased on the CES website for $149.00 , but TVCMALL is currently offering a registration fee assistance program, contributing $100 towards registration for participants. This initiative is part of TVCMALL's ongoing efforts to support engagement in the technology sector.

TVCMALL is a one-stop B2B shop for wholesale mobile accessories, consumer electronics, and more, aiming to make wholesale business simple and efficient. Founded by Leo, who emphasizes the brand's commitment to quality development with the motto "together we thrive," TVCMALL is committed to providing consumers with the most valuable products and a comprehensive one-stop supply chain solution (including wholesale, dropshipping, customization, sourcing, and other services) through a fully integrated supply chain. With more than 20 product lines, 16 years of industry experience, and an annual sales volume exceeding 10 million phone cases, TVCMALL offers more than 750,000 products, wholesale pricing for any order quantity, product and packaging customization services, and a dedicated sourcing team ready to locate products beyond their inventory list.

Dedicated to helping entrepreneurs actualize their dreams of launching and sustaining a successful retail business, TVCMALL offers holistic business solutions to help get new retail companies off the ground and take existing companies to the next level of success. For more information about TVCMALL, please visit www.tvcmall.com .

CONTACT:

Tracy

[email protected]

www.tvcmall.com

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SOURCE TVCMALL
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire caught on a passenger train, ahead of the general election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 5, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain CORRECTING INFORMATION FROM "A FIRE SET TO A PASSENGER TRAIN" TO "A FIRE CAUGHT ON A PAS

By Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly

DHAKA (Reuters) -Polling booths were set ablaze in Bangladesh on the eve of Sunday's general elections, while four people, including two children, were killed in a train fire that the government described as arson targeting democratic values.

Friday's fire broke out at about 9 p.m. (1500 GMT), injuring eight passengers as it spread to four compartments of the Benapole Express headed for the capital, Dhaka.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has asked people to shun the poll and called a two-day nationwide strike from Saturday.

"The timing of this tragedy, just a day before the election ... shows an absolute intention to hinder the festivity, safety and security of the democratic processes of the country," Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said.

"This reprehensible incident, undoubtedly orchestrated by those with malicious intent, strikes at the very heart of our democratic values," he added in a statement, vowing that authorities would bring the perpetrators to justice.

Police said they had arrested a senior BNP leader from Dhaka and seven others from the party's youth wing in connection with the arson.

Eight educational institutions and one Buddhist monastery have been torched among 14 arson incidents since Friday evening, fire and civil defence services said.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal lamented BNP's absence from the election and said their participation would have made the poll "more competitive".

"When a major political party is boycotting and resisting election, it's inevitable that conducting a poll peacefully becomes difficult," Awal told reporters, adding that the reports of violence were a cause for concern.

Those injured in the train blaze were being treated in hospital, officials said.

"All eight, including two children, have burnt their respiratory tracts," said Samanta Lal Sen, a senior physician at a state-run specialist burn hospital in the capital.

"We are closely monitoring them," he told reporters.

Seven firefighting teams took an hour to subdue the fire in the Wari area of Dhaka, fire official Shahjahan Sikder said.

SECOND BOYCOTT

The BNP's boycott is its second in three elections. The party says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League is trying to legitimise a sham vote to gain a fourth straight term.

Hasina, who has refused BNP demands to resign and allow a neutral authority to run the election, accuses the opposition of instigating anti-government protests that have rocked Dhaka since late October and killed at least 10 people.

A senior BNP official, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, said Friday's train fire was "undoubtedly an act of sabotage and cruelty" for which he blamed the ruling party.

Four people died last month in a train blaze set by protesters during a countrywide strike called by the opposition.

On Saturday, Dhaka's usually busy roads were largely deserted, although security forces patrolled in armoured vehicles.

About 800,000 security officials will guard polling booths on Sunday, while some of the armed forces have fanned out nationwide to help keep the peace.

Police said unidentified arsonists set fire to at least five primary schools, including four polling booths. They are investigating fires in Gazipur, on the outskirts of Dhaka, suspected to have been set to disrupt the election.

"We have intensified patrolling and remain on high alert," said Gazipur police chief Kazi Shafiqul Alam.

Arsonists also attacked polling booths in the northeastern districts of Moulavibazar and Habiganj, police said, with similar incidents reported elsewhere in the past two days.

Police in the coastal district of Khulna arrested two people on Thursday accused of trying to set fire to a school.

The following day, another bid to set fire to a primary school nearby was averted, said district police chief Saidur Rahman.

(Writing by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by William Mallard, Clarence Fernandez and Giles Elgood)
By Arafat Barbakh

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Fearful of Israeli air strikes on buildings, Rami Awad spent days looking for tents so that he could move his family to the relative safety of an outdoor camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, but he could not find any, according to his brother Mohammed Awad.

In the early hours of Saturday, Rami, his wife and two of their sons were killed, along with other relatives, when a strike hit the apartment where they were staying in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

A third son, 11-year-old Mahmoud Awad, survived because he spent the night in another apartment. By morning, he was at the morgue of the European Hospital, where his parents and brothers lay on metal shelves, wrapped in shrouds.

"My mother told me 'go and sleep at your uncle Issa's house tonight'. So I went to my uncle Issa's house, and they bombed the house (where his family were staying)," said Mahmoud, surrounded by other children who listened in silence.

"They were all martyred, my brothers and my father, Rami Awad, and my youngest brother, who was in second grade, and my eldest brother Muath, who was in eighth grade," he said, speaking calmly but taking rapid breaths, as if trying to stifle sobs.

Other members of the extended family were also at the morgue, including a young girl who had facial injuries, and several older women who surrounded her and hugged her. All of them were weeping.

Inside the mortuary, a woman knelt next to the corpse of a young man whose face had been uncovered, crying as she placed her hand on his cheek.

Among the bodies was that of a young child.

DISPLACED FROM A REFUGEE CAMP

Before the war, the Awad family lived in al-Shati, one of the refugee camps that are home to Palestinians who were displaced when the State of Israel was created in 1948, and their descendants. Al-Shati is part of Gaza City.

"We were in Shati refugee camp and they (the Israeli army) dropped fliers saying that Gaza City is a battlefield, so we fled to Khan Younis because it was a safe place, and they still bombed us," said Mahmoud.

The family had been staying with relatives on his mother's side, who lived in three apartments in the city of Khan Younis.

Mahmoud's paternal uncle, Rami's brother Mohammed, was among the mourners outside the morgue.

"They had a chance to survive, but they were bombed while at home... My only brother. He had been going around for the past five days to try to get a tent, there are no tents left, he wanted to go to West Rafah, and this is his fate," he said.

The boom of explosions could be heard as he spoke.

"I can't talk. I can't," said Mohammed, breaking down in tears.

The war was triggered by militants from the Islamist group Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, who rampaged across southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, raping and mutilating some women, and taking 240 hostages, Israeli authorities have said.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has responded with a military assault on the densely populated coastal strip which has killed more than 22,700 people and injured more than 58,100 others, according to the Gaza health ministry. It has also displaced most of Gaza's population and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.

(Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami speaks during a meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran August 17, 2023. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News A

(Reuters) - The commander of Irans Revolutionary Guards vowed on Saturday to reach "the enemy" far and near as tensions soar on key shipping routes where Tehrans allies have been attacking vessels.

"Today, we are facing an all-out battle with the enemy," said Guards commander Hossein Salami at a ceremony in the southern Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, where the Guards' navy unveiled a new ship named "Abu Mahdi" and 100 missile launchers.

Salami did not name the enemy, but 22 nations have agreed to participate in a U.S.-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement.

The Houthi attacks since November are a show of support for the Palestinian group Hamas in its war with Israel.

In response, many major shipping companies have switched to the longer and more costly route around the Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than pass through the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade.

"We need to defend our national interests to wherever they extend," Salami said in a televised speech. "It will be harmful for the enemy to be found near and at a half distant. They should stay away from this area."

The Guards navy, he said, had made a "brilliant leap in its offensive and defensive powers" to challenge the worlds naval powers.

According to Iranian media, Irans Alborz warship entered the Red Sea earlier this month to secure shipping routes.

([email protected]; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Yutaka Obayashi, who lives in his car after the earthquake, cries after greeting firefighters in gratitude, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, January 6, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

By Kyung Hoon Kim and Kiyoshi Takenaka

WAJIMA, Japan (Reuters) -The confirmed death toll from the New Year's Day earthquake in Japan reached 110 on Saturday as a search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings entered a sixth day.

The magnitude 7.6 quake struck the west coast, destroying infrastructure and snapping power links to 22,000 homes in the Hokuriku region. Rain hampered efforts to sift the rubble for survivors as more than 30,000 evacuees awaited aid.

The number of confirmed dead was 110 by 4 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Saturday, up from 94 the previous day, the Ishikawa government website showed. More than 200 people are still missing after the deadliest quake in nearly eight years.

"I am keenly aware of the extent of the damage caused," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said as the toll crossed 100.

The figure is the highest since a toll of 276 in quakes in 2016 in the southwestern region of Kumamoto, a tally that includes related deaths.

Kishida told government officials to speed up emergency efforts to restore trunk roads ripped up by the quake so that rescue and relief activities can be increased.

Japan's Self-Defence Forces is set to reinforce the number of rescue staff by 400 to 5,400, with road disruptions among the obstacles hindering delivery of relief supplies.

Mudslides, boulders and road cracks left dozens of remote communities in Ishikawa prefecture isolated. In Wajima's Fukamimachi district, helicopters from the Self-Defence Forces airlifted at least 14 residents to safety, according to a Reuters witness.

Freelance cameraman Masao Mochizuki, 73, stood in a long queue outside a supermarket in the regional city of Wajima after it re-opened on Thursday, waiting to buy necessities.

"It is such a help that they have managed to re-open," Mochizuki told Reuters after buying a box of heat patches, blue plastic sheets to cover broken windows and a pair of shoes to protect against glass shards that litter the floors of his home.

"But I don't see the road to reconstruction just yet," Mochizuki added, his voice cracking with emotion.

SLEEPING IN CARS

While the displaced have packed Wajima's evacuation centres for food, water and other basics, some residents are opting to sleep in their cars.

The Jan. 1 quakes destroyed the wooden home of Yutaka Obayashi, 75, and wife Akiko, 73. But after a night spent in a makeshift evacuation spot in a community centre, they decided to go home and sleep in their tiny passenger vehicle.

"People's eyes make me very nervous," Obayashi told Reuters, as his wife took a rest in a reclined seat in their car. "I just don't like living with many people around me."

Weather officials warned of the chance of heavy snowfall in the region from late Sunday through early Monday, which could trigger secondary disasters, such as landslides.

Seismic rumbles continue, with an earthquake of intensity 5 on Japan's seismic scale in the town of Anamizu early on Saturday.

Ayuko Noto, a priest at Wajima's Juzo shrine, whose history dates back 1,300 years, has also chosen to sleep in his car along with family members, even though their house withstood the quakes. That way they hope to protect themselves from further major quakes and possible tsunami waves.

"Aftershocks are still continuing," said Noto, 47. "We are choosing our car over our house so we can flee right away in case another major one strikes."

Asked how long they would continue doing that, she replied: "I just don't have an answer to that."

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Kyung Hoon Kim, Chris Gallagher in Wajima and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by William Mallard and Mike Harrison)
MEXICO CITY, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday said he urged a high-level delegation from the United States to support an integration scheme for North and South America with an eye to curbing mass immigration.

Lopez Obrador met in late December with a visiting delegation led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, mainly to address immigration and economic issues.

Speaking to reporters at the National Palace in Mexico City, Lopez Obrador said his continent-wide integration plan included legalizing the immigration status of undocumented Hispanics living and working in the United States, especially those who have been residing there for more than 10 years.

He also proposed the U.S. Congress allocate 20 billion U.S. dollars to promote development in Latin America and the Caribbean, to lower the pressure to migrate northward in search of work.

Washington should additionally lift its trade embargo against Cuba and sanctions against Venezuela, he said.

"There has to be a humane policy, with a social dimension" to mitigate mass immigration, he said, adding the United States should "abandon the politics of 200 years ago, the hegemonic policy of impositions, of embargoes. That is from the Middle Ages, it has nothing to do with today's world."

Mexican officials and U.S. envoys agreed at the December meeting to strengthen collaboration to address mass immigration, as well as human trafficking and organized crime.

Delegations of the two countries agreed to meet again this month in Washington to make further progress in tackling the immigration crisis. 
By Joseph Ax and Brendan O'Brien

NEW YORK (Reuters) -New York City's historic, two-year snow drought may not come to an end this weekend, despite the arrival of a winter storm system that began passing through the most populous U.S. city and across the East Coast on Saturday.

The city's 8.5 million residents have not seen more than 1 inch (2.54 cm) of snow fall in Manhattan's Central Park since Feb. 13, 2022, a record-long streak of 692 days.

But as of 7 p.m. Saturday, only 0.2 inch had been recorded in Central Park, and the National Weather Service was forecasting only 0.8 inch of accumulation before the storm moves out to sea late on Sunday night.

Marc Chenard, an NWS meteorologist, said on Saturday evening that the city's long streak of paltry snow looked set to continue.

"It's already mixing into rain and it's going to continue to do that," he said.

Last winter, just 2.3 inches (5.84 cm) of snow fell in New York City, the least in recorded history in a city where snowfall of more than a foot (30 cm) was, at least until recently, not uncommon.

Experts say New York City's lack of snow is another sign of how climate change is affecting weather patterns around the world. The U.S. Southwest, for example, experienced a record stretch of extreme heat last summer.

The weather service also warned of minor urban flooding and the possibility of roads being glazed with ice.

Beyond the city, as much as 8 inches (20 cm) of snow was forecast in interior portions of New York state, New Jersey and northeast through New England along and just north of Interstate 95. Some areas could see as much as a foot of snow, the weather service said.

The agency and state officials urged the 16 million people who were under a winter storm watch across the region to stay vigilant as snow from the storm could cover roads and topple trees and electrical lines, making travel treacherous and knocking out power.

Boston, home to about 650,000 people, was expected to get as much as 7 inches (18 cm) as heavier snow moved in on Saturday evening. Mayor Michelle Wu cautioned residents to be careful over the weekend, but said the storm appeared unlikely to disrupt the start of the workweek.

Winter weather was also on tap for parts of eastern California and the West Coast, where some communities across the region could get as much as a foot (30 cm) of snow and wind gusts of more than 40 mph (64 kph), causing whiteout conditions on roadways, the weather service warned.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
(Reuters) - Russian air defence units downed missiles and drones in a series of night-time attacks over the Crimea peninsula and the western part of the Black Sea, the Defence Ministry said in two reports issued overnight and early on Saturday.

An initial ministry report on Telegram said air defence units "thwarted an attempted terrorist attack" by intercepting five drones over the Black Sea at about 8 p.m. (1700 GMT).

A second report said four Ukrainian guided missiles were intercepted and destroyed at 12.30 a.m. on Saturday over Crimea.

Reuters could not independently verify the Russian accounts.

There was no report on the incident from the Ukrainian military, which does not consistently disclose its actions in Crimea.

Ukraine has recently stepped up attacks on Russian targets in and around Crimea.

Ukraine said on Thursday its air force had conducted a strike on a Russian command post near the occupied city of Sevastopol and hit a military unit in a separate strike in Crimea.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defence units had downed a total of 36 Ukrainian drones over Crimea on Thursday.

(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike in an area of the Pokrovsk town, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 6, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Donetsk region/Handout via REUTE

(Reuters) -A Russian missile strike killed 11 people and injured 10 on Saturday in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region said.

Five of the dead were children. A U.N. official in Ukraine expressed horror at the incident.

Rescue efforts extended into the night. Pictures posted online by regional governor Vadym Filashkin showed teams sifting through piles of smouldering rubble in the dark as well as a burned-out vehicle.

Filashkin told Ukrainian television that Russian forces at about 3 p.m. engaged in "mass shelling" of Pokrovsk with S-300 missiles.

"As a result of this barbaric attack, 11 people died, including five children aged from three to 17 years," he said.

"Ten people were injured. Rescue operations are continuing. Closer to morning we will have a better understanding of the final numbers of those who were injured."

Filashkin had earlier said the main strike had targeted the town of Pokrovsk and nearby villages lying about 80 km (50 miles) from the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk.

Russian forces, he said, were "trying to inflict as much grief as possible on our land."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said the attack "quite simply targeted ordinary, private homes. And Russia must be made to feel that none of these strikes will pass without consequences for the terrorist state."

"TRULY HORRIFIED"

Denise Brown, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said she was "truly horrified" by the strikes and, particularly, the deaths of children.

"These were just children who have been killed because of this war," Brown said in a statement.

Recent Russian attacks on towns, she said, were "leaving behind an outrageous number of children. Women and men killed and injured and a trail of loss and destruction."

There was no immediate response to a request for comment on the incident from Russia's Defence Ministry.

A Russian military statement issued earlier on Saturday said its forces had struck a command post used by a Ukrainian military formation near Pokrovsk, referring to the town by its Soviet-era name Krasnoarmeisk.

And a senior Moscow official working in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik, said Ukrainian forces had shelled a hospital in Donetsk, injuring three patients. Pictures he posted online showed damage to rooms and some outbuildings.

Russia denies targeting civilians in the war launched with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But its forces in the past two weeks have intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns. Ukraine has retaliated with strikes on targets in the Black Sea and on some Russian border areas, including missile and drone attacks that killed 25 people in the city of Belgrade this week.

The governor of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, adjacent to Donetsk, said one person was killed in drone strikes near the town of Nikopol, a frequent Russian target on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

And officials said three people were injured in Russian shelling of areas of Kherson region to the southwest.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Diane Craft, Daniel Wallis and Chris Reese)
SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States is unlikely to cut back its forces in South Korea even if former U.S. president Donald Trump wins re-election, the South's minister tasked with matters related to neighbouring North Korea said in a television interview.

In the interview transmitted on Saturday, Unification Minister Kim Yung Ho told broadcaster KBS this was because the U.S. Congress had already decided the matter in a defense bill it recently passed.

"One of the concerns many people have is... the issue of any withdrawal of U.S. troops from Korea" if Trump is re-elected, Kim said.

But December's National Defense Authorization Act says the U.S. administration requires congressional approval to scale back the 28,500 troops in South Korea, Kim said.

Strengthening ties between the United States, South Korea and Japan would help overcome any political changes in the U.S., he added.

At Camp David last August, U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to strengthen military and economic co-operation.

The comments came in Kim's reply to a question on a Politico report that Trump was considering letting North Korea keep its nuclear weapons, and offering financial incentives to stop making new bombs - which Trump has denied as "fake news".

"Recognising North Korea as a nuclear power means that South Korea will have no choice but to develop nuclear weapons, and Japan (also)," Kim said, when asked about the views of some U.S. experts.

These analysts argue that North Korea should be recognised as a nuclear state and call for disarmament talks.

Neither the United States or South Korea can accept the prospect of recognising North Korea as a nuclear state, since that would trigger a domino effect leading to the collapse of the Non-Proliferation Treaty framework, Kim said.

The neighbours remain technically in a state of war since the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
An American flag flies in front of the United Auto Workers union logo on the front of the UAW Solidarity House in Detroit, Michigan, September 8, 2011. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo

-The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has reached agreement with auto parts maker Allison Transmission Holdings Inc on a tentative deal covering 1,500 workers in Indianapolis, the labor group said on Friday.

The four-year contract guarantees a starting wage of $20 an hour for UAW employees and retroactive pay hikes until Nov. 15 last year, and two categories of bonus that amount to $7,000, the union said.

"All bargaining unit employees with more than four years of seniority will immediately receive traditional pay, with a general wage increase on top of that," the UAW said, a reference to what it said was the 'schedule D top rate'.

"The agreement has been endorsed by the International UAW and Local 933 leadership and is subject to ratification by union members", Allison Transmission said in an email to Reuters.

"No deal is perfect, but this one comes damn close," said George Freeman, chairman of the panel representing the workers, adding that he expected workers would vote for it.

The workers have sought improved terms after a labor contract expired on Nov. 14. They had overwhelmingly voted to reject an earlier offer from Allison, as it refused to address "core demands", the UAW said.

The plans included an end to wage and shift premium tiers, gains of 6% to 8% for 401k contributions and an increase in legacy pensions to $59.45 by contract end, the UAW said.

The worker demands follow a larger pattern of U.S. unions pressing companies for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

Led by hard-charging president Shawn Fain, the UAW adopted aggressive negotiating tactics against the Detroit Three automakers last year, to secure record contracts for workers.

Allison, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, makes fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and U.S. defense vehicles, as well as electrified propulsion systems.

Its customers include the Pentagon, Traton SE, Daimler AG and PACCAR.

Allison reported profit of $503 million for the nine months through Sept. 30, up about 29% on the year, drawing about 74% of revenue from North America, its latest annual filing showed.

(Reporting by Gokul Pisharody and Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)
VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy speaks to VinGroup founder and Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong at a VinFast event in Nha Trang, Vietnam April 9, 2022, Picture taken April 9, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Krolicki/File Photo

By Phuong Nguyen

HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast on Saturday named its founder and biggest financial backer, Pham Nhat Vuong, as chief executive as it plans an ambitious overseas expansion and ramps up sales via dealerships.

Vuong, 55, replaces Le Thi Thu Thuy, who had held the post since late 2021, VinFast said in a statement. Thuy, a finance expert, will serve as chairwoman and lead engagement with external stakeholders.

Vuong, also the founder and chairman of Vingroup - Vietnam's biggest conglomerate and VinFast's parent company - will directly oversee the EV maker's operations, including global production, sales and marketing, the company said.

He will be VinFast's fourth chief executive. Previous CEOs include General Motors veteran James Deluca and Michael Lohscheller, who came from Opel and Volkswagen.

In the latest executive changes for the ambitious Vietnamese automaker, VinFast appointed Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, who oversees financial matters at Vingroup's EV battery arm, as chief financial officer, replacing David Mansfield, who was in place from 2022.

"It is the right time to evolve the Company's leadership as it enters the next phase of its development," VinFast's Board of Directors said.

Founded in 2017, VinFast started manufacturing EVs in 2021 and has continuously received financial support from Vuong, who is Vietnam's richest man, according to Forbes.

In April 2023, Vuong provided VinFast with a $1 billion grant.

VinFast, which is yet to make a profit, has entered the EV market at a time when car prices are under pressure, led by cuts at market leader Tesla and a range of Chinese companies, including BYD.

The company closed the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, with a net loss of $623 million.

In June 2023, Hanoi-born Vuong said that he expected VinFast "to reach break even point by the end of 2024".

Vuong built his initial fortune in Ukraine, where he moved in the early 1990s after studying engineering in Russia and manufactured instant noodles, before selling the firm to Nestle SA for an undisclosed sum.

He returned to Vietnam in 2002 and established the country's biggest conglomerate, focused on real estate, resorts, schools, hospitals, shopping malls and, more recently, EVs.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by William Mallard and Gerry Doyle)
A video screen grab shows Mubarik Elamin, an activist from Sudan and community organizer in Seattle, Wash., answers questions during an interview in June 2023. (YouTube)

BELLEVUE (Tribune News Service)  You dont interrupt your quiet life in a Seattle suburb and book a plane ticket to war-torn Sudan unless you have a really good reason.

Not right now, in the middle of a brutal conflict between rival forces thats killed more than 12,000 people and displaced 7 million. Not right now, in the middle of a humanitarian nightmare thats struggled to attract as much international attention and assistance as some other calamities, despite a prominent Washington congresswoman speaking up about the situation.

Not right now, unless youre a 57-year-old software consultant named Mubarak Elamin, and you have a really good reason for risking a trip to the northeast African country where you grew up, and the reason is that you have to rescue your mom. Thats what Elamin did a few weeks ago.

The average person in Sudan, theyre not part of this war, Elamin said last month, sitting with his mom in the living room of his Bellevue home as she told her story and wiped away tears. Theyre caught in the crossfire.

More than 1,800 people with Sudanese roots live in Washington, according to the 2020 census. Working in aerospace, tech and transportation, among other sectors, theyve settled since the 1990s across the Seattle area.

All of them have been affected by the war, Elamin said, because all of them had loved ones in Sudan in April, when a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces began clashing with Sudanese military (the Sudanese Armed Forces) and plunged the country of 46 million people into chaos.

The fighting started in Khartoum, Sudans sprawling Nile River capital, as neighborhoods like the one where Elamins parents lived were captured by RSF soldiers, hit by SAF airstrikes and subjected to shelling, looting and rape.

We were just preparing ourselves to die, said Elamins mom, Nimat Hassan Busati, describing how she hid under her bed for days as bullets whizzed past, escaped Khartoum with only the things she could carry and glimpsed street dogs tugging on corpses as her car sped away from the pulverized city.

The war quickly spread to other regions, like Darfur in the west, where Nasreldin Abdelrahman was born and raised. The 55-year-old Renton resident has lost dozens of family members since April and has been unable to make contact with his mom and eight siblings for months, he said.

I dont know where they are and have no way to connect with them, said the dad of three, whos suffered from panicking, stress, lack of sleep.

Busati, 73, had to leave almost everything behind. She worried what would happen to her cats. Homes were bombarded, some people couldnt be given proper burials because they were pinned under rubble and Khartoum, which had a prewar population of 6 million, is now a ghost town, she said.

What she had to see was terrible, Elamin said while translating Busatis Sudanese Arabic into English. When she talks about it, she always cries.

Two bad guys

Four years ago, many Washington residents with roots in Sudan were bursting with pride as they watched young people, women and unions use nonviolent protests to oust a military leader who had ruled since 1989, Omar al-Bashir. People like Ali Elsafi, who organized a Seattle rally for the revolution, thought Sudan might at last become a civilian-led democracy.

That was the hope, recalled Elsafi, 54, a medical-transportation business owner raising his three kids in Kirkland. But it didnt work out that way.

Instead, SAF and RSF leaders seized power from a transitional government in a coup in 2021 and then went to war against each other last year.

The SAF was the military during the al-Bashir regime and has support from Egypt, while the RSF has ties to the United Arab Emirates, said Christopher Tounsel, a University of Washington associate professor and a historian of modern Sudan. The Wagner Group, a Russian military company active in the Russia-Ukraine war, has also been linked to the Sudan conflict, Tounsel said.

The RSF grew from the Janjaweed militias from Darfur that killed huge numbers of non-Arab people in the region 20 years ago, carrying out what the U.S. and others called a genocide as al-Bashir used them to crush an uprising.

Now you have a conflict between two military men  the SAFs Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSFs Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo  obstructing democracy, Tounsel said. In some ways, theyre both bad guys.

Its a war that most people in the U.S. dont understand, because most people in the U.S. know very little about Sudan  a country once colonized by Britain and Egypt that stretches from Chad to the Red Sea and that includes diverse and mixed Arab and African ethnic groups.

They dont know the location, they dont know the makeup of the country, said Mukilteo engineering consultant Marwan Salih, 55, mentioning that some people he meets in the U.S. think Sudan lies in Central America. Theres a lot to try to explain to someone in a 10- or 15-minute conversation.

Horrendous situation

How dire is the situation in Sudan at the moment? Tounsel doesnt hesitate.

Very, very, very, very, very bad, the UW professor said.

Many people with money and connections fled immediately when the war started, leaving Khartoum or exiting the country altogether, Bellevues Elamin said. His parents bunkered in their hometown, Al Hilaliya, 75 miles south of the capital, while his wifes parents trekked to Egypt, which had an open border at the time. They remain stranded there today, but theyre lucky because theyre safe, said Elamins wife, Samah Beshir. Soon after they crossed the border, Egypt added visa restrictions to reduce access.

Back in Sudan, the combatants have destroyed roads and businesses. Most schools and hospitals have closed. The only airport still operating is in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea coast. People driven out of Khartoum have overwhelmed other cities, taking shelter in crowded homes and government buildings while groceries, water and other supplies run desperately low.

More than 3 million children have been displaced and nearly 18 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity, according to the United Nations, which is warning about an impending hunger catastrophe. Many have died because theyve been unable to get medications, including Elsafis brother-in-law, who was too sick to escape Khartoum with his family.

His kids will have to live without their father now, said Elsafi, the Kirkland dad, and such deaths are missing from counts of combat killings.

The number [of deaths caused directly or indirectly by the war] is probably double or triple, at least, said Salih, the engineer from Mukilteo.

Sudanese immigrants in places like the Seattle area are sending money home and taking second jobs to support their relatives, Salih said.

Theyre depending on us, the people living outside, said Elsafi, whose siblings lost everything when they fled to Port Sudan from Khartoum.

Things are particularly horrendous in Darfur, because the sort of violence that stunned the world in the early 2000s has resumed, leading human rights advocates to warn about another potential genocide. Both sides have committed war crimes and RSF members have engaged in ethnic cleansing, according to the U.S., which has contributed $840 million to relief efforts.

We need a solution to the ongoing strife that al-Bashirs regime incited decades ago, said Adam Baker, 56, a dad in Kent from a non-Arab group in Darfur. We need equality and justice for every Sudanese.

The civilians are the losers, added Abdelrahman, from Nyala in Darfur.

What people are experiencing near Khartoum is nothing compared with Darfur, but Elamins dad and sisters are in trouble, nonetheless, he said. The RSF occupied Al Hilaliya a few days after he extracted his diabetic mom.

Dangerous getaway

Elamin spent months trying to move his parents to the U.S. (his mom, Busati, has a green card and his dad is a U.S. citizen), but getting them out of Sudan was dangerous and complicated. Logistics aside, his parents didnt want to abandon their country and his sisters (who lack U.S. documents).

As the RSF moved closer and Busatis supply of insulin dwindled, Elamin played his trump card. He told Busati he was personally coming to Sudan to get her, even though that meant he might get trapped in the war.

I concentrated on my mom because I knew she needed medication, he said, eventually persuading Busati to meet him in Port Sudan on Dec. 10

Elamin traveled by plane from Saudi Arabia, while Busati traveled by road for 16 hours, leaving Al Hilaliya in a pickup at 2 a.m. to catch a long-distance bus. They spent one nervous night together in a Port Sudan hotel where soldiers with guns prowled the hallways, then rushed to the airport.

Busati was relieved to arrive in the U.S. with her son on Dec. 15, but her dominant thoughts now are concern for her grandkids in Sudan (including a baby born this summer) and shame over the collapse of her country.

The humiliation is unbearable, Elamin said, translating for his mom.

International attention

Sudanese people in Washington have come together since April to raise money for humanitarian assistance, said Elsafi, a leader in the Everett-based Sudanese American Unity Association. Yet varied political views and allegiances related to the war have at times stoked tensions, Salih said.

Things got to the point where we collectively and quietly decided to just not talk about it anymore, he said, shaking his head sadly.

Most community members have come to agree that the violence must end, said Elamin, who wants to see democracy prevail. But getting enough attention from the rest of the world has been challenging, he said.

A group of Sudanese American doctors is tending to the countrys medical needs in the absence of adequate international aid, Elamin said. While the U.S. has extended immigration protections for Sudanese people here, backed peace negotiations, and sanctioned some Sudanese leaders, on the ground, nothing is happening to stop the carnage, Salih added.

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who worked with Elamin on immigrant rights before becoming a politician, and who visited Sudan with a congressional delegation in 2020, said the U.S. should have better supported the countrys civilian leaders then and should be doing more to halt the war now. The U.S. waited too long to release Sudan from terrorism-related sanctions after the 2019 revolution and has waited too long to appoint a special envoy in response to the current conflict, Jayapal said, arguing for the U.S. to bring more pressure to bear on players like the United Arab Emirates.

We cannot turn a blind eye, the Seattle Democrat said.

Elamin doesnt want to argue against international outrage over killings in other violent spasms, like the Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas war and recent Tigray war in Ethiopia that affected many Seattle-area residents.

We dont want to compete, he said, describing those conflicts as terrible.

Still, Elamin wishes the world would pay more consideration to Sudan, which flies under the radar, he said, calling for the U.S. to accept more refugees.

Sudans location in Africa is a big part of why it doesnt make the news as much as other places, and thats not how things should be, Jayapal added.

Its devastating and it feels like its happening in silence, she said. This is a place where war crimes are happening as we speak.

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A parent comforts his child while she receives a pediatric vaccine at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Jan. 28, 2022. (Anna Nolte/U.S. Air Force)

Four pediatric patients were given incorrect vaccines this week at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, according to the 18th Medical Group.

As soon as the error was discovered, clinic staff contacted the parents to ensure the health and well-being of their children and address any questions or concerns, the Kadena Medical Clinic announced Friday on its official Facebook page.

The post, which placed limits on who could comment, did not say which vaccines had been incorrectly administered or whether any of the affected children had adverse reactions.

We are unable to provide additional details due to the ongoing investigation and to avoid the disclosure of protected patient safety information, an unnamed spokesman from Kadenas 18th Wing wrote Wednesday in response to queries emailed over the weekend.

The 18th Medical Group limited Facebook comments to encourage patients to call the clinic directly, avoiding potential delays in response on social media, the message said.

In our ongoing efforts to provide the highest quality healthcare, we are investigating this event and will make necessary adjustments as we strive to offer safe and effective healthcare to our community, the clinics post said.

The post asked those with questions, comments or concerns to contact the Kadena Clinic Patient Advocate at DSN 315-630-4146 or the Healthcare Resolutions Specialist at DSN 315-646-7005.
Firefighters battle a fire raging on a train in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed as a passenger train caught fire in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Friday night.

Local media reported that unidentified miscreants torched the Benapole Express passenger train at 9:05 p.m. local time in the capital's Gopibagh area. The fire came under control at 10:20 p.m.

Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Iqbal Hossain told journalists that the identity of the four deceased people could not be known immediately.

He said that seven firefighting units rushed to the spot and doused the fire. 

People work at the site where a train caught fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua)

Firefighters battle a fire raging on a train in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua)

Firefighters battle a fire raging on a train in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua)

Firefighters work at the site where a train caught fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua)

Firefighters battle a fire raging on a train in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua)

Firefighters work at the site where a train caught fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visits on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, a man who was wounded in Wednesday's bomb explosion in the city of Kerman about 510 miles southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran. (Iranian Presidency Office)

Iranian authorities have arrested 11 people linked to Wednesdays bomb blasts in the central Iranian city of Kerman that killed dozens of people, the countrys Intelligence Ministry said in a statement published in state media.

Two suspects supporting and supplying the two alleged suicide bombers were arrested Thursday. Nine others who Iranian officials believe are part of a network assisting the bombers were rounded up in six provinces, according to the ministry. Iranian officials said the two bombers had worked for Daesh, the Arabic acronym referring to Islamic State, or ISIS.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blasts in a message posted to social media on Thursday.

The operation to capture individuals linked to the bombing will definitely continue until the arrest of the last person who was involved in supporting the criminals in any way and to any extent, the ministry said.

The two explosions in Kerman killed at least 89 people and injured more than 200, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing Iranian officials. They struck as thousands of mourners had gathered in the citys streets to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a senior commander in Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike.

Iranian authorities said one of the two suicide bombers was a Tajik citizen while the others nationality has not been definitively established yet. Officials said they found two explosive vests, two remote control devices and detonators, and several thousand bullets and wiring for the vests, among other items at the two bombers residence.

The Washington Post could not immediately verify the Intelligence Ministrys account.
Master Sgt. Nicholas Van Pelt, 41, died Dec. 24, 2023, in a shooting at his apartment in Minot, North Dakota. He was a member of the North Dakota National Guard who first enlisted in the Air Force in 2001. (North Dakota Fraternal Order of Police)

Master Sgt. Nicholas McLeod Van Pelt was remembered Friday as a man dedicated to his three children, his community and the Air Force.

His military career began 11 days before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which led to overseas assignments in Korea, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, said Maj. Greg Goodman, commander of Van Pelts North Dakota Air National Guard unit  the 219th Security Forces Squadron. The two first met in 2009.

[Van Pelt] enlisted in a time of peace that was immediately faced with a time of war. But he didnt just complete his initial enlistment and call it a day, Goodman said during a funeral service for Van Pelt. Nick kept reenlisting knowing he could, and ultimately would, be sent overseas and be asked to risk his life.

Van Pelt, 41, was shot dead in his Minot apartment on Christmas Eve in an incident involving a member of the Air Force Reserve and a woman the authorities have not named. During the service Friday, his family promised to seek justice for his death.

Mom  will make sure you get the justice you deserve. Make sure to watch over her because you are watching over us. We have the best guardian angel, said Master Sgt. Todd Ouradnic, a close friend who read a letter to Van Pelt at the service on behalf of Van Pelts children.

On the night of the shooting, a neighbor called police at about 8:42 p.m. to report six loud bangs from the apartment next to him and people screaming, according to court documents. Dispatchers advised police that two additional gunshots were heard while on the phone with the neighbor.

When Minot police arrived, an officer could hear the woman inside say shed been shot all over. The officer kicked in the door and found Van Pelt dead on the floor. The woman was found in the laundry room with two gunshot wounds to her upper back and another to her right forearm. She told police the shooters name was Dan before she was taken to a local hospital, according to court records.

Police found a man in a bathroom on his knees and a black handgun lying on the ground to the right of him. He had blood on his face, head and sweatshirt but no corresponding injuries. He was soon identified as Air Force Reserve Tech Sgt. Daniel Breijo.

Breijo, 39, works as a Department of Homeland Security officer who was listed Friday as an inmate at the Ward County Detention Center. He is charged with murder and attempted murder.

Van Pelt and Breijo worked as law enforcement officers for the Air Force and in the Minot community. However, court documents do not describe a possible motive for the shooting or the relationships between the three people involved in the incident.

Breijo resides in nearby Surrey. He first enlisted in the Air Force in 2003 and last served on active duty in 2011 as a staff sergeant at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, according to his service record. His awards indicate he too served in Afghanistan and Korea.

Now as a member of the Air Force Reserve, Breijo is assigned as an installation patrolman at Patrick Space Force Base in Florida.

Van Pelt worked as a Ward County sheriffs deputy until May, when he transitioned to serving full time with his Guard squadron. A native of Ringgold, Ga., Minot Air Force Base was his first duty station and he later settled there, moving into the North Dakota National Guard in 2009.

The next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 29, according to online court records. To proceed with the case, state officials must bring in a judge and prosecutor from outside the district after judges in the district recused themselves because they all knew the people involved in the killing.

Van Pelt received military and law enforcement honors at Fridays funeral. Another service will be held Jan. 12 in the airmans hometown.

Dozens of family members, friends and fellow airmen attended the service for Van Pelt at Our Redeemers Church in Minot and more than 200 people watched online as friends described Van Pelt as a father who always showed up for his kids and a mentor to other airmen in the 219th Squadron, which is part of the 119th Wing of the North Dakota National Guard at Minot Air Force Base. The squadrons mission includes protecting intercontinental ballistic missiles.

It is always sad when the world loses a person like Nick, Ouradnic said. But if we just once a day look at the next person the way Nick did, we wont forget him. And the world we live in will be just a little brighter because of it. Heres to you, brother. We love you. We will miss you.

Thayer.rose@stripes.com

Twitter: @Rose_Lori
Dan Marburger, principal of Perry High School in Iowa, as seen in a February 2015 post. (Facebook)

The principal of an Iowa high school that became latest scene of a violent shooting in America on Thursday tried to distract the gunman by calming him down so others could escape, according to Iowa authorities and the mans daughter.

Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger suffered multiple gunshot wounds and remains in critical condition after senior Dylan Butler, 17, opened fire, Mitch Mortvedt, the assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said in a statement Friday.

Marburgers daughter, Claire Marburger, said that when she heard a gunman had opened fire at the school, she had a feeling her father might have put himself in harms way to protect students and his staff.

It is absolutely zero surprise to hear he tried to approach and talk Dylan down and distract him long enough for some students to get out of the cafeteria, Claire wrote in a Facebook post after the incident. Thats just Dad.

Mortvedt confirmed Friday that the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing one person and injuring seven others. The deceased was identified by Mortvedt as Perry Middle School student 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff.

Three of the victims are school staff members and four are students, Mortvedt said Friday. The investigation thus far confirms Principal Marburger acted selflessly and placed himself in harms way in an apparent effort to protect his students. At this time, Principal Marburger and two students remain hospitalized. The remaining have been treated and released.

Shortly after the shooting, students shared one of the gunmans TikTok posts, where hes pictured posing in front of a blue duffel bag with the caption: Now we wait. Authorities declined to comment on any specific social media post on Thursday, but several of Butlers classmates confirmed to The Washington Post that he was the person in the video.

Mortvedt said Friday that the gunman made several social media posts around the time of the shooting incident.

Investigators have seized large volumes of digital and social media evidence that will take time to review, Mortvedt said. Background investigations, as well as eyewitness accounts and victim interviews, are continuing.

An investigation is underway, and once complete, the report will be turned over to the Dallas County Attorneys Office to determine what additional course of action, if any, should be undertaken, Mortvedt added.

Police officers arrived to the scene within minutes of the shooting beginning, authorities said Thursday during a news conference. Butler opened fire around 7:37 a.m. Central time while the schools breakfast program was going on, so there were younger students from nearby schools also on the high schools campus. Officers arrived to find students and faculty fleeing the scene and taking shelter. They said the gunman used a shotgun and a small-caliber handgun. They also disposed of a makeshift bomb that Mortvedt described as rudimentary.

The Perry community rallied in the aftermath of the shooting Thursday, holding a vigil and calling for support to the injured. Linda Andorf, president of the local school board, called Principal Marburger the biggest supporter of kids.

In her Facebook post, Marburgers daughter said her father is thankful for the communitys support, but asked for compassion toward the gunmans family as well.

Show grace to the Butler family, as we are not our kids mistakes and actions or our parents mistakes and actions, she wrote. Remember this is something Dylans family has to live with too, as well as losing their child.
Jennifer Armstrong (48) carried out a litany of crimes around Dublin city centre, including trying to steal a phone from a tourist taking photos.

A petty criminal with one of Irelands longest-ever records has now clocked up a staggering 896 previous convictions, a court heard.

Jennifer Armstrong (48) carried out a litany of crimes around Dublin city centre, including trying to steal a phone from a tourist taking photos.

In a series of disturbances last year, she was also arrested for dropping and smashing bottles of wine from a height in a shop, and being a nuisance to the public and businesses.

Judge Treasa Kelly adjourned the case at Dublin District Court for a pre-sentence probation report.

Armstrong pleaded guilty to public order, theft and criminal damage offences.

The court heard last April 13, she tried to steal a phone from a tourist taking photographs at Merchants Arch, Temple Bar. The victim managed to get her phone back.

When a garda tried to help Armstrong after finding her drunk on Parkgate Street on April 25, she became aggressive, swinging her arms, trying to hit him and shouting expletives.

Last May 3, she was arrested for aggressively throwing food around from a homeless shelter van at the GPO on OConnell Street.

On May 22, gardai saw her struggling with staff at Circle K, Westmoreland Street. She had dropped bottles of wine from a height from a shelf, smashing them at a cost of 300.

She was found drunk, abusive and struggling to stand at a North Earl Street restaurant, where she had broken plates and dishes, on November 16.

Two days later, she threatened to cause damage at a Temple Bar restaurant, grabbed cutlery from outside tables and threw it on the ground.

At Spar on Capel Street on November 25, staff asked Armstrong to stop interfering with customers. She smashed bottles of wine and beer worth more than 80.

Garda Sergeant Derek Spain said most of her prior convictions were for similar offences.

Defence solicitor Eoin Lysaght said Armstong had been in and out of prison all her life. On release, she found herself in a vicious circle with nowhere to go.
TOKYO, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- In the aftermath of the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, oil leakage from the affected equipment at the Shika Nuclear Power Plant in the most-affected central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa was over five times higher than initially disclosed amount, the plant's operator has said.

Earlier this week, Hokuriku Electric Power Company stated that due to the earthquake's impact, two external power supply transformers for Units 1 and 2 at the Shika plant were damaged. Specifically, one transformer for Unit 2 was reported to have leaked approximately 3,500 liters of oil, rendering a portion of the external power supply system inoperable.

However, the company admitted during a press conference on Friday that the actual oil leakage amounted to as much as 19,800 liters, and the timeline for repairing the external power supply system remains uncertain.

Another transformer for Unit 2 at the plant has been found to have leaked approximately 100 liters of oil, it added.

Moreover, there have been reports of ground subsidence around the reactor building of Unit 1, though the company assured that these conditions will not impact the safety of the Shika plant.

However, local media reported that there were "explosion sounds and a burning smell" near the transformer for Unit 2 at the plant, which the power company explained as the automatic fire suppression system in action. 
Killer Fogarty was found dead this week in Portlaoise Prison aged 35.

Bernard Fogarty, who is serving a life sentence, pleaded guilty to attempted murder this week

Bernard Fogartys death in Portlaoise Prison this week marks the end of one of the most violent  but also bizarre  criminal careers in Irelands underworld.

During his time as a gangland enforcer, Fogarty spread fear across Dublins northside as he teamed up with a notorious gangland figure and became involved in a series of feuds with rivals.

At the time of his death, Fogarty was serving a life sentence for the murder of Barry Wolverson and was awaiting sentence for the attempted murder of another man in a separate incident.

Fogartys savage actions left Wolversons eight children without a father.

However, Fogarty was not just notorious for his acts of violence, he also achieved infamy for his use of social media to threaten and slag off his rivals.

Unlike some criminals who favour anonymous accounts to threaten their enemies, Fogarty openly posted face-on videos of himself vowing to commit acts of violence on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok.

Bizarrely, he seemed to relish in placing himself at the centre of feuds and criminal activity without any awareness of the garda attention it would bring on him.

Fogartys videos included footage of him pulling out a knife, calling out rivals, waving wads of 50 notes and offering rewards for information on his enemies.

Fogarty seemed to relish in the attention and was known to react to comments left on his videos.

His bid for public notoriety is said to have earned him the scorn of some criminal on Dublins northside.

One local source who knew Fogarty growing up told the Sunday World his rise as a gangland hardman was unexpected to people who knew him.

He wasnt one of those guys who everyone was afraid of when we were younger. People thought he was a bit of an eejit, to be honest.

Bernard Fogarty

Fogarty, from Kilmore in Coolock, amassed more than 55 convictions before his death aged 35 this week.

Many of his convictions came as a result of his association with another violent and erratic gangland criminal who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Fogartys pal is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for a series of violent and high-profile gang related crimes.

Before being jailed, Fogarty and his associate were both heavily involved in drug dealing but also acted as gunmen-for-hire and debt enforcers.

Although they had ties to some of the citys most dangerous criminals including Kinahan cartel members, the duo were regarded as freelance operators rather members of a specific organised crime gang.

They had become involved in a series of feuds which provided the fuel for Fogartys social media posts.

In one clip, he posted a video online in 2020 threatening to attack one of two Coolock brothers.

He can be seen pulling out a knife in the bizarre clip, in which he also buys a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses which he says hes going to wear on a trip to Benidorm.

Threatening one of the brothers, Fogarty says: You have one more day to come out and fight me like a f**king man. F**king f**got.

One more day. if you dont come out and start fighting, watch, other people are going to start falling victim you f**king rat ... f**king come out and f**king fight.

He then plays a music video with the lyrics Ive got murder on my mind.

He also posted a series of online rants that went viral where he could be seen driving around looking for named individuals.

Fogarty also claimed he had 1,000 in cash and was filmed waving a wad of 50 notes in return for information about his rivals whereabouts or information about their cars.

He also threatens to rape a man he claims made threats to him over the phone.

In the videos he bizarrely refers to rivals as wet the beds as he laughs hysterically in increasingly erratic clips.

Anyone who gives them respect should hang themselves  they wouldnt kick snow off a rope, he adds.

However, Fogartys involvement in the brutal murder of Barry Wolverson in December 2021 would mean he was facing the next few decades in prison.

Barry Wolverson

While his motivation for murdering Mr Wolverson is not known, he was connected to the murder by DNA, forensics and CCTV of him coming and going from the scene.

He and his accomplice were arrested 300 metres from a burning getaway car.

Fogarty was caught with a lighter in his hand and the smell of petrol from his tracksuit bottoms.

In the garda station he tried to wash his hands with Lynx shower gel before they could be forensically swabbed.

He was seen on camera buying three firelogs, two of which were found in the burning car the next day, and one in his own car.

Last year, Barry Wolversons wife told the Sunday World how she hates Fogarty and says she is tormented by the thought her husband would still be alive if his killer had been apprehended after the attempted murder of Mr Ivers.

In February 2023, Fogarty also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Mark Ivers at Streamville Road, Donaghmede, on September 6, 2019.

The murder attempt  during which Mr Ivers suffered gunshot wounds to his leg and abdomen  took place four months before Fogarty and his accomplice shot Barry Wolverson at Madigans Yard, Kileek Lane in Swords.

If he had been taken off the streets after the first shooting, he wouldnt have been out to kill my Barry, said the woman who asked not to be named.

I do think about that all the time. If he had been caught then, he wouldnt have been able to kill my husband, he wouldnt have been able to take my kids father away.

Revealing the utter lack of remorse and humanity shown by Fogarty in the wake of her husbands killing  who remained in a coma for 13 months after the shooting before passing away on February 21, 2021  she said the gunman had waged a campaign of intimidation against her.

Thats why I had to move houses, she said.

It was for the safety of me and my kids. He threatened me over the phone. He smashed up my car and spray-painted my hall door.

He is a ruthless, evil animal.

Actually, I wouldnt even put him in the same category as an animal. He belongs in a cesspit.

He is an evil, vile, horrible person and I hope he never again gets out of prison.
Nebojsa Rasic, with an address at Scarlett Crescent, Drogheda, Co Lough, was charged with seven counts of dangerous driving

A van driver dragged a Garda for 20 metres, and a second officer was struck before a lengthy high-speed traffic pursuit across north Dublin, a court has heard.

Nebojsa Rasic, 25, with an address at Scarlett Crescent, Drogheda, Co Lough, was charged with seven counts of dangerous driving as well as possessing about 20,000 of cannabis following the incident on Friday.

He was denied bail by Judge Paula Murphy at Dublin District Court on Saturday.

Garda Sergeant Niall Carolan told the court that Rasic, who worked for a distribution company, made no reply when charged. The sergeant objected to bail due to the seriousness of the case.

The court heard he and another Garda were on beat near Spencer Dock Bridge when their attention was drawn to a white 2012-reg Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van that nearly hit people crossing the road.

They approached, but the driver refused to engage and suddenly sped away. The van struck the sergeants colleague and dragged him 20 metres before he fell to the ground on Spencer Dock Bridge.

Gardai carried out an extensive search. About 20 minutes later, an officer in an unmarked car allegedly spotted it entering the Port tunnel and followed it. Additional units caught up with the van, which continued northbound.

However, it was caught up in a traffic jam because a Dublin Fire Brigade team was attending to an unrelated collision.

Garda Sergeant Carolan said he attempted to speak to the driver again but was ignored.

The contested bail hearing was told the driver spotted a gap and started moving again, at which point he struck another Garda.

Garda Sergeant Carolan alleged the driver then led them on a lengthy chase across north Dublin and parts of Co Meath for close to an hour before the van halted.

The dangerous driving incidents allegedly occurred at Sheriff Street, Naul Road, R122, Naul, Stamullen, on the R138 road and the M1 motorway.

The officer dragged along the bridge was taken to hospital.

It was claimed that Mr Rasic had 5,620 in cash and about 1,000 worth of cannabis in the van.

The court heard he was interviewed at Store Street Garda station and primarily made no comment. Meanwhile, officers searched his home and found a kilo of suspected cannabis in his bedroom.

The defence contended that others lived at that property and there was no evidence in the bail hearing to confirm Mr Rasic lived there.

A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP); Sergeant Carolan said further charges were anticipated because gardai and the public were endangered during the high-speed pursuit.

He maintained the defendant was agitated, and his eyes appeared glazed when arrested.

Cross-examined by defence solicitor Michael Byrne, the sergeant agreed that the accused was not charged over the suspected drugs in the van but rather the seizure at his home address.

Questioned further, the sergeant said the accused had claimed he had not intended to hurt anyone.

The defence said the reason for his agitation was because of a previous negative experience with gardai in which he claimed he was beaten.

Mr Byrne said his client worked for a distribution company, and the money recovered from the van was his savings built up over five or six months.

The defence contended that CCTV evidence showed the officer was dragged for 10 feet rather than 20 metres.

He said his client, who has to indicated a plea, had the presumption of innocence and asked the judge to note that he could be in prison for two years pending trial if refused bail.

However, Judge Murphy denied the application and remanded Mr Rasic in custody pending directions from the DPP to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Friday. Legal aid was granted.
My husband has anger issues and for many years I have been facing domestic violence including verbal and physical abuse

A woman has secured a court order for the immediate removal of her husband from the family home after alleging that he beat her over the head continuously with a hard slipper on New Years Eve.

At the Family Law Court in Ennis, Judge Alec Gabbett granted the woman an Interim Barring Order (IBO) which requires the man to leave the home forthwith.

The woman told Judge Gabbett: "I have been suffering a lot for many years and I was quiet because my kids were too young - now they are grown up and see everything.

She said: My husband has anger issues and for many years I have been facing domestic violence including verbal and physical abuse.

Judge Gabbett said that in the womans information grounding her application to court for the IBO, she said that her husband "has threatened to kill me and I had to plead with him not to kill me, pulls my hair, verbally abuses and calls me a b**ch in front of the children.

In her information the woman said that she has no access to money and to bank accounts.

She said that her husband has told her that she "has no right to money.

The woman told Judge Gabbett: "He is an abuser to his wife - not to his kids."

"He is a loving father and he is a caring father but I dont think that he is caring or loving because no doubt he fulfils all his kids requirements but in front of them he beats me.

She said that her husband beat her over the head continuously with a hard slipper on December 31st.

Asked by Judge Gabbett has she ever had to attend hospital after her husbands assaults, the woman replied no, but many times I got bruises on my body and my face as well and sometimes he beats me with his hard slippers, sometimes with his hands and once he raised a very big knife on me",

The woman has been living in emergency accommodation with her children in recent days and told Judge Gabbett that she wants to return to the family home.

She said that she required the IBO in order to move back into the house with her children.

She said: "We are homeless - he should leave the house."

Judge Gabbett told her that she would be in a lot of danger if she went back into the house and her husband was there. He said: "It sounds like he is always controlling you."

Judge Gabbett said that he would grant the IBO and get Gardai to serve the order on the man.

Judge Gabbett adjourned the case to next week where the man will be able to contest the IBO.
The protest was planned in the aftermath of the death of a young man from the town who had battled with drug addiction.

Shadowy republicans have been accused of trying to use the tragic death of a young Portadown man to make gains for themselves.

The INLA-linked IRSP were forced to cancel a planned anti-drug-dealer protest which they had organised for last Thursday evening.

The protest was planned in the aftermath of the death of a young man from the town who had battled with drug addiction.

That climbdown came following a request from the young mans family on social media. They asked for people to leave them alone to grieve in peace.

The family did so after their sons name was used in a threatening social media post which named alleged drug dealers.

According to the anonymous accusers, the alleged drug dealers had aided in the death of the drug-addicted man.

They added that the alleged dealers were guilty of grooming him into drug addiction.

In response, the family posted a message on social media thanking everyone who paid tributes to their loved one.

However, they went on to say: Sadly, we have also been made aware of text messaging/social media in circulation, that is; perhaps well-intentioned, but it is only compounding our grief and deflecting from the profound sense of loss we are experiencing as a family.

We would urge those involved to allow (name of young man removed) to rest in peace and his heartbroken family to grieve at this time.

Considering the time of year, we ask for dignity and peace, with no sullying of names or suggestions of ill intentions, not in (name of young man removed) name... please respect our need for privacy and desire for others to focus on their own families at this time.

The young man, who was a talented GAA player and comes from a well-respected family, is understood to have battled with a drug addiction. Tragically, he died a week before Christmas.

Members of the INLA are believed to be behind the lists naming alleged dealers in the area.

A number of lists are circulating of alleged drug dealers and its understood some of those named are members of the notorious mid-Ulster gang The Firm.

One of the largest organised crime gangs in Northern Ireland, The Firm has a cross-community membership of criminals from loyalist and republican backgrounds.

They include loyalists linked to the murder of Sunday World journalist Martin OHagan, as well as the sons of two murdered IRA members. Sources in Portadown say the IRSP are trying to make gains from the situation and see a void to be filled by the recent collapse of the New IRA in the town.

A protest organised for the Garvaghy Road by the IRSP was due to take place on Thursday. 

Posters were shared on their social media pages with the message: Come together as a community and send the message that drug dealers will not be tolerated.

But last Saturday they postponed their protest, stating: Hi folks, apologies but after consideration for local families and taking in the time of year, were going to postpone the protest that was planned for next Thursday until the first week in New Year.

Poster of the planned protest

The death of the young GAA star sparked anger in the Garvaghy Road area of Portadown.

The detailed social media list of alleged drug dealers includes their addresses, phone numbers, their cars and number plates. 

As well as details about their drug dealing, the threatening list even goes into detail about their sex lives. There are claims that some of them get their drug debts paid through sex  and have even spread sexually transmitted infections throughout the town.

Titled ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!, the reckless allegations go on to name more than a dozen alleged dealers, with their phone numbers, details of where they live and where they can be found.

It states: ALL should be put out of their houses & barred from local shops... forever. Vermin.

It finishes: F***ing shoot them. Cowards. If something isnt done we will start releasing the names and pictures of the drug buyers in the community all over a Facebook page.

Last week, another list of alleged drug dealers from Portadown was circulated on social media with an attached death threat.

The INLA-linked IRSP were forced to cancel a planned anti-drug dealer protest

That list and threat was claimed to be from RAAD (Republican Action Against Drugs). It stated: To all vermin drug dealers in the Garvaghy Road area. This is the end. Weve been watching your movements over the recent weeks. Were coming to clean the community.

Support

Sources in Portadown say theres some anger that the IRSP are taking the moral high ground towards drugs given the INLAs well-documented involvement in drug dealing.

The IRSP have seen an opening as Saoradh and the New IRA have collapsed in Portadown and this is a means of drumming up support, but locals can see through it, said a source.

The IRSP are jumping on an anti-drugs bandwagon in Portadown following the drug-related death of a local teenager.

They are trying to capitalise on this young lads death against the expressed wishes of his family by launching an anti-drug campaign.

This is raising eyebrows among the community on the Garvaghy Road given how the IRSP-related INLA are actively selling drugs in Derry, Dublin and Belfast.

List of alleged dealers posted online

People are asking how can we stand with drug dealers, to put other drug dealers out?

The source says the IRSP and INLA are attracting more support after the security forces targeted the New IRA and Saoradh.

The source added: The IRSP and INLA have mushroomed in membership in Portadown following the collapse of the New IRA.

The INLA are talking about shooting a drug dealer. There was also a list sent around on WhatsApp asking for the same.

The New IRA have been decimated by Operation Arbacia and inactivity. They used to have people in Portadown but not now. There is a small core of them in Lurgan, but its the same story for the New IRA everywhere  MI5 destroyed them and the IRSP and INLA dont have that to contend with as they are on ceasefire.

MI5 have left them alone largely, so now they see theres a void to be filled.

Gunmen wearing pig face masks outside Malcolm McKeown's Warringstown home.

The Firm are linked to drug dealing, extortion and robberies in the County Armagh area.

They have also been linked to a number of murders, including that of loyalist hitman Malcolm McKeown in August 2019.

The Firm are also said to be responsible for the murder of Shane Whitla in Lurgan in January of this year.

Mr Whitla, a 39-year-old father of four, was gunned down in an alleyway off Woodville Street over an alleged drug debt to the notorious crime gang.

A number of people have been charged in connection with his murder.

In February, 63 alleged members and affiliates of The Firm appeared on a hit list circulated online. The list of 52 men and 11 women alleged those named were part of a gang that are killing kids with drugs.
The 36-year-old hitman and drug dealer was found unresponsive in his single occupancy cell in Portlaoise Prison on Thursday

FAMILY and friends of gangland murderer Bernard Fogarty have paid tribute to him and said they will give him the best send-off following his death in prison this week.

The 36-year-old hitman and drug dealer, who was serving a life sentence for the murder Barry Wolverson, was found unresponsive in his single occupancy cell in Portlaoise Prison on Thursday.

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

Members of Fogartys family were left devastated by news of his death this week.

One relative said: My bro I love u so much your with Mam and dad now just please, please watch over your kids and the family I love u with all my heart I'll never let anyone forget you love u always xxI love my bro so much all I ask is just pray he is with my mam dad grandad and nanny xx.

Bernard Fogarty

Friends of Fogarty, who was from Kilmore in north Dublin, also expressed their devastation at news of his death with one woman saying she was broken-hearted and others pledging that they will give him the best send-off at his funeral.

While the death is not believed to be suspicious, the Irish Prison Service said the death in custody would be investigated by the Irish Prison Service, the Inspector of Prisons and An Garda Siochana, where circumstances warrant.

The cause of death is determined by the Coroners Office, the prison service added.

Funeral arrangements will be made at a later date.

In December 2021, judges at the Special Criminal Court convicted Fogarty of Barry Wolversons murder, who died 13 months after being shot in January 2020.

Fogarty had been considered to be a volatile criminal with little regard for life and had been linked to a number of serious incidents before his arrest for Mr Wolversons murder.

Fogarty had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Wolverson that occurred at Madigans Yard, Kileek Lane, Swords, Co Dublin, at around midday on January 17, 2020.

He originally been charged with the attempted murder of Mr Wolverson but the State upgraded the charges to murder following his death after being in a coma for over a year.

He was also found guilty of assault causing harm to Gerard Wildman, who was also shot at Madigans Yard on the same date.

Barry Wolverson

He was a close associate and right-hand man of another reckless gangster from north Dublin who is serving lengthy sentences for gangland offences but cannot be named as he is currently before the courts on more charges.

As well as serving a life sentence for Mr Wolversons murder, Fogarty, from Cromcastle Court in Kilmore, Dublin, also pleaded guilty in February last year to the attempted murder of Mark Ivers at Streamville Road, Donaghmede, on September 6, 2019.

The murder attempt during which Mr Ivers suffered gunshot wounds to his leg and abdomen, took place four months before Fogarty and an accomplice shot Barry Wolverson.

Fogarty was given a 15-year-sentence at the Special Criminal Court in May last year for the attack in which the judges gave him credit for his plea.

Volatile Fogarty was also well-known for posting videos on social media threatening and mocking rivals.

He was caught up in a bitter feud with two brothers from Kilmore in Dublin which led to a number of gun attacks and petrol bomb attacks and Fogarty posted a number of videos threatening the brothers.

Fogartys videos included footage of him pulling out a knife, calling out rivals, waving wads of 50 notes and offering rewards for information on his enemies.
As alleged, these defendants brazenly began a physical brawl in the middle of Sunrise Highway, putting their family and the public at serious risk of harm

Patrick O'Connor, left, and his son James, appear in booking photos after their December arrests (Suffolk County Sheriff's Office)

TWO Irishmen and a minor have been indicted over a mass family brawl which erupted in the middle of a highway in New York State, leaving one of the men missing part of his nose and multiple others hospitalised.

The incident between family members saw a car containing children flipped over during a ramming incident before two groups, some of whom were armed with weapons, started fighting with each other in the middle of the road in front of shocked motorists.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said on Friday that Patrick J. OConnor, 38, James OConnor, 19, and a minor, were indicted for Assault in the Second Degree and other related charges for their involvement in a physical altercation they had with other family members that occurred on Sunrise Highway in Lindenhurst, Long Island, in New York State in December.

Footage of the fight broadcast on News 12

As alleged, these defendants brazenly began a physical brawl in the middle of Sunrise Highway, putting their family and the public at serious risk of harm, said District Attorney Tierney. Fortunately, there were not more serious injuries or casualties that resulted out of this violent feud.

Patrick OConnor lost part of his nose in the fight on December 20 which authorities allege came three days after he and his cousin had an encounter in a Long Island restaurant.

The confrontation escalated and Patrick OConnor allegedly attempted to strike his cousin with beer bottles.

Three days later, on December 20, 2023, Patrick OConnor and his cousin saw each other again in Hauppauge. The cousin and his father then got into a white GMC Sierra pickup truck and followed the Ford F-150 pickup truck that Patrick OConnor was driving, the attorney generals office said.

As both vehicles approached the vicinity of Sunrise Highway in Lindenhurst, James OConnor, Patrick OConnors son, arrived at the same location in a Toyota Tundra with his three younger siblings, ages 16, 12, and 4, in the car.

"James OConnor then allegedly rammed the back of the GMC Sierra, causing his own vehicle to flip onto its side. None of the children in the Toyota were injured.

When the cousin and his father exited their GMC Sierra, Patrick OConnor allegedly began to repeatedly strike the cousin on the head with a wooden stick. James OConnor allegedly began to assault the cousin while Patrick OConnor and the minor continued to strike him with the wooden sticks.

The cousins brother showed up to the scene during the fight and was allegedly similarly assaulted by the defendants. Unrelated civilians intervened, and the defendants, along with the minor children, allegedly fled the scene but were apprehended by members of the Suffolk County Police Department later that day, the attorney generals office said.

The victims were treated in hospital with a number of injuries. One victim needed staples to his head, suffered two black eyes and had significant bruising and pain in his shoulder and back. The other suffered an abrasion to his lip, bruising and cuts to his hands, and head and back pain.

James OConnor was indicted for: Two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Class D felonies; one count of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor; two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Class A misdemeanors; and one count of Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting, a traffic infraction.

Footage of the men clashing from News 12

Patrick OConnor was indicted for: Two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Class D felonies; one count of Attempted Assault in the Second Degree, a Class E felony; and one count of Menacing in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.

The minor was indicted for two counts of assault in the second degree, Class D felonies.

All three defendants were arraigned on the indictment by by Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Kerr on Thursday.

Justice Kerr ordered James OConnor held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $500,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, and he was ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court on January 23, 2024, and is being represented by Eric Besso, Esq.

Justice Kerr ordered Patrick OConnor held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $500,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, and he was ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court on January 17, 2024, and is being represented by Emrah Artukmac, Esq.

Justice Kerr ordered the minor held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $500,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, and he was ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court on January 17, 2024, and is being represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society.
It is estimated that the seized drugs were likely destined for the Netherlands where their value would be estimated at some $526m

The drugs were found in a truck

Some of the drugs laid out after the seizure

The President of Bolivia has hailed the record bust of cocaine valued at $224 million locally as an historic result.

The massive haul of drugs that were hidden in wooden flooring materials found in a truck were displayed to the media in Oruro yesterday.

Bolivian President Luis Arce described the roughly 8.7 metric ton bust as the largest ever recorded in the South American country.

In a post on social media he declared: Our work, committed to the homeland, is achieving historic results in the fight against drug trafficking, Arce wrote on X.

We inform the Bolivian people and the international community that we seized 8.7 tons of cocaine destined for the Netherlands (Europe), which were camouflaged in wooden tiles, transported in a truck, he said.

The drugs were found in a truck

Likewise, four people who were part of this criminal organization were arrested, nine raids were carried out and four properties were seized. The investigations continue, he added.

It is estimated that the seized drugs were likely destined for the Netherlands where their value would be estimated at some $526 million.

The operation also included the arrest of four suspected drug traffickers, stemming from nine raids, Reuters reported citing government officials.

Bolivia is the worlds third largest producer of coca and cocaine after Colombia and Peru, according to the United Nations.

Bolivia allows the cultivation and marketing of coca leaves for chewing, use in tea and for religious rituals.

Authorities cap cultivation at 22,200 hectares (55,000 acres) to provide for the licit market, but some is siphoned off for illicit cocaine production.
OBrien was convicted at the Central Criminal Court last month of sexually assaulting six young men between 1991 and 1997

OBrien was convicted at the Central Criminal Court last month of sexually assaulting six young men between 1991 and 1997 when he worked as a teacher at a Dublin Secondary school.

He was also convicted of attempted rape of one of the six men.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed today the judge had resigned from the bench and this has been conveyed to the President as required under the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act.

Ms McEntee had been seeking advice from the Attorney General about options open to the Government and the Oireachtas in the wake of OBriens conviction.

OBrien, from Thurles, Co Tipperary, is to be sentenced in March.

His trial heard how one of the complainants said they had searched OBrien online and found out that he was a Circuit Court judge, which became one of the reasons why he made a complaint to Gardai.

Four of the complaints were pupils or former pupils of OBrien.

OBrien had pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted rape and eight counts of sexual assault which related to the six complainants.

Ms McEntee said she will not comment further on the matter prior to the court finalising the case by sentencing.

The case is adjourned until March 4.

During the trial Mr Justice Alexander Owens said he would have put OBrien into custody, however, due to his suffering from phocomelia, he remanded OBrien on continuing bail.

Phocomelia is a rare condition that can affect the upper and lower limbs. OBrien is missing both hands and one foot.
A man has died in a separate incident in Co Mayo this morning in a collision between two cars

The scene of the crash at Glenflesk on Cork Road. Photo by Tatyana McGough

A young woman killed after she was hit by a car in Co Donegal last night is the seventh person to be killed on Irish roads this year.

The death of the woman aged in her 20s, in the fatal road traffic collision on the N56 Road at Illistrin, Co Donegal, was the third fatality in one day.

The collision involved a car and a pedestrian who was pronounced dead at the scene.

No other injuries were reported.

The N56 road was closed between Letterkenny and Kilmacrennan with local diversions in place. A technical examination of the scene will take place this morning.

Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

Earlier, yesterday afternoon a woman died following a collision between a car and a minibus in Co Meath.

Gardai and emergency services attended the scene on the R156 at Scarriff Bridge, Batterstown, at around 12pm.

The female driver of the car, a woman in her 80s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the minibus, a male in his 50s, and a young passenger were conveyed to Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, for treatment for injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses.

In a separate incident, a man died following a collision between two cars in Co Mayo yesterday morning.

The incident occurred at about 7:45am on the R331 at Belladaff, Tagheen, near Claremorris.

The driver and sole occupant of one of the cars, a man in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The female driver of the other car (20s) was taken to Mayo University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The R331 was closed between Claremorris and Hollymount while a technical examination by forensic collision investigators is being conducted.

Meanwhile, the woman killed in a collision in Glenflesk on Thursday evening between a car and a truck has been named locally as Mary Walsh.

Ms Walsh, a native of Faha, was 52 years old and was the driver of the car.

The late Gary Murphy

Motorcyclist Gary Murphy (48) was killed outside Cavan town on Tuesday.

Mr Murphy was originally from Ballinagh, Cavan. Locals described him as an absolute gentleman and a pleasure to know.

Mr Murphy died following a collision involving a car and his motorcycle that occurred at approximately 3:10pm on Tuesday, on the main N55 Cavan to Ballinagh road at Corlurgan.

He was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Later on Tuesday evening, a woman in her 40s was killed and two children were seriously injured in a collision between a car and a van in Kildare.

The woman, who was the driver of the car, was pronounced dead at the scene while the two young children who were also travelling in the car were taken to Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin, where their conditions were described as serious but stable.

The male driver of the van was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Keith Higginbotham

On New Years Day, father-of-two Keith Higginbotham (27) was named as the first road fatality of 2024.

Mr Higginbotham of Blackditch, Nurney, Co Kildare, was a passenger in a car involved in a single vehicle collision between Kildare town and Newbridge on the M7 at Curraghfarm at 8.45pm.

The driver of the car, a man also aged in his 20s, was taken to Tallaght University Hospital, where his injuries were described by gardai as not life-threatening.

Two additional passengers, both also men in their 20s, did not require immediate hospital treatment.
Mr McDonagh lodged the appeal at Longford Circuit Civil Court after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in February 2022 ordered Atlantic Troy Limited trading as the Charleville Park Hotel & Leisure Club pay a cumulative 16,000 to the three.

Supermacs boss Pat McDonagh has said he feels vindicated after successfully winning an appeal against three members from the Traveller community who were awarded 16,000 on foot of claims they were discriminated against under the Equal Status Act.

Mr McDonagh lodged the appeal at Longford Circuit Civil Court after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in February 2022 ordered Atlantic Troy Limited trading as the Charleville Park Hotel & Leisure Club pay a cumulative 16,000 to the three.

The ruling was made after three generations from the same Longford based family were refused a nights stay at the hotel after insisting they provide a credit card to coincide with a new security policy implemented by the hotel.

Annalise Power

The WRC, in its ruling, ordered Atlantic Troy Ltd to pay sums of 8,000 to Ann Stokes as well as figures of 4,500 and 3,500 to mother and daughter Bridget and Annalise Power.

The court heard Annalise Power initially made the booking for two rooms by debit card via online portal booking.com in January 2019 after previously staying in the same hotel when a credit card policy was not in place.

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The trio had initially travelled to Cork for a surprise birthday party and upon arrival at their destination on September 9, 2016, were told they could only pay for their pre-booked accommodation by credit card.

Bridget Power

Judge Karen Fergus was told Annalise Power failed to read the terms and conditions as part of the booking conditions.

It also emerged that none of the trio were in possession of a credit card or ever attempted to apply for one.

Annalise Power, it was revealed was an unemployed nail technician trainee, her mother Bridget, a shop assistant and health worker and grandmother an 84-year-old pensioner.

Bridget Power said at the time she had been living at home with her daughter Annalise and son, Sam.

Despite both of her children being on social welfare, Counsel for Atlantic Troy, Cathy Smith SC, argued that the combined household income of all three more than met the monetary threshold needed to apply for a credit card.

Counsel for the three complainants, John Hayden BL, quoted statistics from the 2016 CSO census which showed the unemployment rate within the wider Traveller community stood at over 80pc.

Ann Stokes outside Longford Courthouse

He said the requirement to have an annual income of 16,000 per year in order to qualify for a credit card invariably placed a member of the Traveller community at a particular disadvantage when compared to the general population.

In response, Ms Smyth said that argument was one which failed to substantiate members of the Travelling community had been exclusively affected and was one that applied to other sections of society as well.

In delivering her verdict, Judge Fergus said in order for indirect discrimination to be established it must be shown the requirement to use a credit card placed the claimants at a particular disadvantage as opposed to those who are not members of the Travelling community.

Only 40 per cent of the national population have credit cards, students can apply for credit cards and the evidence proffered by the complainants is wholly inadequate to meet the threshold, she said.

Speaking afterwards, Mr McDonagh expressed his delight at the outcome.

Absolutely, he said, when asked if he felt the decision justified his decision to pursue the initial WRC ruling.

The fact we won vindicates our case in the first place and the judge considered it for quite some time before she made the decision.

I think people in business have rights too. Some people think we have no rights. We took the appeal because we felt it was unfounded and that the award wasnt justified and I am glad we were exonerated because as the court decided there was nothing stopping them from using or acquiring a credit card.

The Galway native said he believed the decision represented a very good verdict for the hospitality industry and one hotels nationwide would welcome.
YINCHUAN, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- At first glance, Xinghai Lake seems an unlikely sight in the arid northwest of China, boasting vast areas of water, beaches, swamps and meadows, and inhabited by a large variety of wild birds.

The man-made lake, situated in the city of Shizuishan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is thriving these days thanks to an ecological overhaul since 2020 that has transformed it from a stagnant lake into a diverse wetland system teeming with life.

Located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the second-largest river in China, Xinghai Lake once relied on diverted Yellow River water, swallowing 20 million cubic meters each year. Today, this source of replenishment has been replaced with reclaimed water, putting an end to the lake's depletion of the river.

Xinghai Lake was originally a flood reservoir. Starting in the 1950s, the water surface area began to shrink and garbage piled up.

From 2003 to 2019, the local government tried to restore the lake's ecosystem, but to no avail. The water mobility was poor, and its self-purifying functions were insufficient.

In 2020, a new ecological overhaul project was launched, including the objective of severing the lake's reliance on the Yellow River, making it fully reliant on purified waste water. The area of the lake was reduced by 50 percent, and a wetland ecosystem encompassing grasslands, swaps and mudflats has been constructed at the site.

"The function, quality, carrying capacity and stability of the wetland ecosystem have been enhanced, and the flood control, storage and self-purification functions have been greatly improved," said Ma Zhongping, director of the Xinghai Lake ecological management center.

The most essential step in the overhaul project was the construction of water sources for Xinghai Lake, including a municipal sewage treatment plant. The reclaimed water, after being treated, is now pumped and channeled to different areas of the wetland.

However, reclaimed water has a higher nitrogen and phosphorus content, and aquatic plants are needed to absorb and reduce these chemicals to improve the quality of wetland water, according to Li Yanmin, a staff member with the Shizuishan municipal water affairs bureau.

Weeds have been planted to serve this purpose at Xinghai Lake.

In addition, during the overhaul project, Shizuishan added a total of 2,300 mu (about 153 hectares) of new vegetation, planting 46,000 trees and shrubs, 500,000 square meters of aquatic plants, and 645,000 square meters of ground-cover plants.

In a recent national survey of wetland resources, the number of observable bird species at Xinghai Lake increased from 55 to more than 80 species, while the population of migratory birds increased from less than 20,000 to more than 50,000.

"We have built three bird monitoring platforms and nearly a hundred bird protection public-education billboards to enhance citizens' awareness of bird protection and wetland protection," Ma said.

"I often bring my child here to feed the red-billed gulls," said Li Liang, a resident living in the vicinity of the lake. "It used to be a vast lake, but the water quality was poor and the scenery dull. Now it's a truly diversified ecosystem with clear water." 
Julian Wyllie (65) was last seen by friends as he was out celebrating New Year's Eve

Well-known author and ornithologist, Julian Wyllie (65), was found dead on a west Cork island after apparently collapsing as he was walking home.

Mr Wyllie, who was originally from Scotland, made Sherkin Island off west Cork his adopted home almost 20 years ago.

One of Europe's most respected bird watchers, he was fondly nicknamed 'The Birdman of Sherkin.'

He is understood to have been found unresponsive in a field not far from his home and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Wyllie was last seen by friends as he was out celebrating New Year's Eve or Hogmanay as he insisted on calling it.

It is unclear when he collapsed but it is suspected he was taking a short cut across a field to his home when he became ill and collapsed.

Mr Wyllie had been dropped off close to his home by a friend after welcoming in the New Year.

His body was discovered on January 2.

The death is not being treated as suspicious and the author is believed to have died from natural causes.

One theory is that Mr Wyllie may have suffered some kind of critical medical episode as he walked home and suddenly collapsed.

Multiple tributes have been paid on social media to Mr Wyllie who had become a very respected member of the tightknit island community.

As well as being widely respected for his birdwatching knowledge, Mr Wyllie was enormously popular for the manner in which he embraced the island community and became involved in the social life of Sherkin.

Mr Wyllie was also renowned for his music knowledge and had worked as a record dealer and collector.

But he was best known for his writing on ornithology.

Mr Wyllie co-wrote a number of books.

These included 'Birds through Irish Eyes' and 'Birds of the Homeplace' with Northern Ireland-based ornithologist Anthony McGeehan, both of which were published to critical acclaim.

Mr Wyllie was hailed by islanders for his generosity and kindness.

He would offer to host bird watching talks and walks for anyone interested on Sherkin Island and became an amateur disc jockey in the island pub and local homes.

Islanders said they were devastated to learn of his death.

Multiple tributes were paid to Mr Wyllie on social media and on Internet sites associated with Sherkin Island.

The Sherkin Island Facebook page posted a special tribute: "Julian Hamish Wyllie - published author and all-round legend - fly high with your birds."

Another said the Scot was enormously popular in Sherkin and in west Cork for the manner in which he embraced local life and supported various Sherkin social events ranging from pub outings to fancy dress parties.

Barbara Collier Donaldson said the author made holiday visits to Sherkin very special for many people.

"I had a lovely nature tour with Julian on Sherkin a couple of years ago.

Of course bird identification and plant identification. BrIlliant! So sad to hear this. RIP kind Julian."

Rosaleen ODriscoll posted: Julian was such a nice man who was loved by all. He was a serious authority on birds and had published some beautiful books on Irish birds. Everyone is heartbroken by this sudden and tragic loss of a man considered a friend to all."

Funeral arrangements for Mr Wyllie will be published later.
Harrison, from the Dundrum Road in Newcastle, is alleged to have sent a woman an image of his erect penis on 29 November last year

This is the first man charged with sending an unsolicited d**k pic, which is alleged to have been sent to a shocked woman two days after the legislation came into force.

As well as an allegation that he sent an unwanted sexual image, Robert Wayne Harrison faces three charges of breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO). The 49-year-old has been remanded into custody due to fears he would commit further offences.

Harrison, from Dundrum Road in Newcastle, Co Down, is alleged to have sent a woman an image of his erect penis on November 29 last year, intending that the recipient would be caused humiliation, alarm or distress.

That alleged offence came just two days after the crime was created by way of the Justice, Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims Act 2022, with those found guilty facing up to two years in prison and up to 10 years on the Sex Offenders Register.

Harrison faces three further charges of breaching his SOPO on dates between September 1 and November 30 last year.

During a bail application on Thursday, the court heard how, as a category 2 sex offender, Harrison is someone whose previous offending and/or current behaviour and/or current circumstances present clear and identifiable evidence that he could cause serious harm through carrying out a contact sexual or violent offence.

A prosecuting lawyer told the court Harrison was arrested before Christmas after officers were told he was accessing the internet while volunteering at St Vincent de Paul in Newcastle. As part of his SOPO, Harrison must get approval before accessing the web.

The woman who alerted police to Harrisons alleged web access also revealed she exchanged messages with a woman who said she had also been communicating with Harrison.

She provided a statement outlining her contact with Mr Harrison via Facebook and the nature of the contact, said the lawyer.

The court heard how the woman also reported to police their contact was more than a friendship and before communicating on Facebook, they had met on a dating website.

Harrison is alleged to have breached his SOPO by failing to disclose this relationship to police and by failing to disclose his convictions to the woman. 

She claimed that on November 29, 2023, Harrison sent her a picture of his erect penis via Facebook Messenger  she had not asked him to do this and receipt of the picture caused her shock and disgust.

Arrested and questioned, Harrison claimed he had never used the computer in St Vincent de Paul, denied being a volunteer there and also maintained he and the woman were never in a relationship because they never met.

While he admitted to sending images to other people, with and without their consent, he was not sure if he had sent any to the woman he was in a relationship with. He emphasised he had not messaged her for several months.

In May last year, Harrison was handed a five-month prison sentence after he told a 17-year-old girl he fantasised about having sex with her and asked her if he could send her images of his genitals.

When she told him she didnt want him to send her any explicit images, he asked her not to tell her mum what was going on.

Those offences of harassment and the improper use of a telecommunication network resulted in a five-month jail sentence and Harrison being the subject of a five-year SOPO.

It was because of those offences that Harrison was refused bail at Downpatrick Magistrates Court on Thursday. Judge Jonathan Connolly remanded him in custody until February 1.
Is your KiwiSaver account working as hard for you as it should?

If its time to make sure everything is in order, here are five things you can do to ensure it is operating at full strength.

Check what type of fund youre in

The first and probably most important consideration is the type of fund you are in.

Very broadly, the longer you have until you need the money, the more risk you should probably take with your KiwiSaver investments.

If youre going to buy a house next year and you need all your money for a deposit, you should probably be in a conservative fund.

But if you have 40 years until you retire, youll probably get the best results in a growth or aggressive fund.

Thats because funds that invest predominantly in riskier assets generally deliver better returns over time, but they can move around a lot.

You might find that your balance is down when you come to withdraw it.

In the 10 years to June, according to Morningstar, on average conservative KiwiSaver funds had delivered 4.2 per cent a year, balanced funds 6.6 per cent, growth 8.3 per cent and aggressive 8.7 per cent.

A 25-year-old starting out in KiwiSaver, earning about the median annual income of $62,000 a year and contributing 3 per cent of their income, matched by an employer.

In a balanced fund, they could save about $240,000 by 65, if they did not withdraw anything for a first home.

Being in an aggressive fund could add $120,000 to their final total, without changing the amount they had to contribute themselves.

Check what youre contributing

Do you know how much youre contributing?

If you havent made an active selection, youre probably putting in 3 per cent.

If youre employed its also worth checking whether your employer is paying their 3 per cent in addition to your normal salary, or as part of it.

It has become common for employers to offer total packages, where the employer contribution comes out of the total salary offered.

That means they offer, for example, a salary package of $100,000 and if you are a KiwiSaver member, $3000 of that goes to your account.

There may not be anything you can do to change this, but you could bring it up at your next remuneration review.

If youre not working, try to put in at least $1042 a year by June, to get the maximum government contribution of $521 a year.

Check what youre on track to achieve

Next youll need to work out whether that contribution is likely to give you enough.

Massey University research estimated that a single person living a choices lifestyle in a metropolitan centre would need to have saved $824,000 to make up the difference between what the pension would provide and what they would need.

A two-person household in the same area would need to have saved $969,000, or just under $485,000 each.

A two-person no-frills retirement in a metropolitan area would need $235,000.

You can use a KiwiSaver providers calculator to check whether the amount youre putting in is likely to get you to the sort of sum you might need in retirement.

Everyone has different ideas of what they want retirement to be like, and how much that might cost.

Youll also know what other investments you might have, or whether you might be willing to work longer to cover any shortfall.

Investigate what your money is going into

Responsible investment has gone mainstream in recent years, and a lot of people might be quite surprised at the idea that people havent always thought a lot about whether their investments were funding activities they might not personally agree with.

If you have things you really would not want your investment to be funding  maybe fossil fuel extraction, gambling, human rights abuses, tobacco the list goes on - you can check what your KiwiSaver manager invests in to make sure your fund aligns.

You can ask your provider for a list of the companies that your fund is invested in, or use a tool like Mindful Money.

Schedule an annual reminder

Set a calendar reminder in a year to prompt you to check in again and make sure that everything is still appropriate for your needs, and that youre still on track.

Theres no point moving providers for the sake of it, and you usually wont be well served by changing funds because of a market downturn, but its a good idea to take an active interest in what is likely to be a significant part of your retirement picture.
Predictions of a balmy El Nino summer in New Zealand have sparked a warning about vigilance in the water to avoid drownings reaching another unwanted high.

A new international research collaboration has shown a strong correlation between hotter temperatures and an increase in drowning fatalities, says Dr Matt Hobbs, a member of the research group and a Senior Lecturer in Te Whare Wananga o Waitaha | University of Canterburys Faculty of Health.

New Zealand already has a high drowning death toll per capita compared to other countries such as Australia and Canada," says Dr Hobbs, who is also a co-director of UCs GeoHealth Laboratory.

"With the El Nino summer, we want to make sure people are really aware of the dangers and take extra care in and on the water,.

Previously weve shown that particular locations in the United Kingdom are more common for drownings.

"Were now working on a new, international study, currently under review, showing how increases in temperature correlate with an increase in drownings.

"If the predicted hot summer eventuates here, there will be more people in the water, increasing the danger. This is going to become even more of an issue in future years with the impact of climate change."

New Zealand has had a drowning rate of 1.7 per 100,000 for the past 10 years. Australias rate is 1.1 per 100,000 and Canadas is 1.3.

In 2022, there were 94 preventable drowning deaths in New Zealand, and in 2021 there were 91 deaths, pushing the drowning rate to the highest in a decade.

By early December 2023, there had already been 82 deaths this year, including six due to Cyclone Gabrielle in February, according to provisional Water Safety NZ figures.

Dr Hobbs recently attended the World Conference on Drowning Prevention in Perth, Australia where, as part of an international delegation, he presented the findings from a study he led investigating drowning fatalities in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2019. The research identified locations that are high frequency or hotspots for drownings.

He says New Zealand, and other countries around the world, especially those that are low or middle income, would benefit from similar research using geospatial methods to highlight high or very high-risk locations for drownings, and identify environmental contributors to this elevated risk.

This information would provide an important foundation for population-level drowning prevention interventions, such as educating people about the risks of alcohol consumption before going into water or providing signage warning about local water hazards.

For instance, geospatial data might be able to tell us if the people who are drowning are local and familiar with local features such as where rips are on beaches, or if theyre visitors from elsewhere who dont know the risks, so we can target interventions accordingly, says Dr Hobbs.

While our geospatial data cant always say why these drownings occur, it is an important first step to know where people are drowning. From there we can have discussions with the community and partners working on the ground to identify why such areas may be high frequency drowning locations.

Water Safety NZ data shows New Zealand men made up 85 per cent of drowning fatalities in 2022, with men aged over 55 at higher risk.

According to World Health Organisation figures, there were an estimated 236,000 drowning deaths worldwide in 2019, making it a major public health problem.
Long hot days, sand between your toes, and jellyfish - all part of the New Zealand beach summer.

NIWA emeritus researcher and jellyfish expert Dr Dennis Gordon says it is common to start seeing more jellyfish at the beach at this time of year.

"As soon as the days start to get longer and there's more daylight, you get a bloom of more plankton," says Dr Gordon.

"When there is more plant plankton, there's more animal plankton, which means you get more shrimps and things - and jellyfish feed on those small crustaceans."

Jellyfish stay near the surface as they follow food supplies. Yet, with weak directional powers, many unlucky jellies find themselves gathered into dense groups and stranded on our beaches.

Large numbers of bluebottle jellyfish were reported on several of Aucklands west coast beaches recently. Also called Portuguese man o war, they are only distantly related to true jellyfish.

"The wind steers the majestic creatures onto the shore because they are light and have a gas-filled float," says Dr Gordon.

Around 35 species of jellyfish are found in New Zealand waters. The three species most frequently seen on New Zealand beaches are moon jellyfish, lions mane and spotted jellyfish.

Moon jellyfish ( Aurelia sp.) have a bell-shaped whitish body, about 25-40cm across, and have a fringe of short tentacles around the margin of the bell.

Lions mane (Cyanea rosea) is New Zealands biggest species of jellyfish, growing up to an impressive two and a half metres in diameter and with tentacles of up to 36 metres in length.

Spotted Jellyfish (Desmonema gaudichaudi) are dome-shaped with reddish-brown polka dots on the body.

If you come across a jellyfish this summer, Dr Gordon advises care.

"Despite being really beautiful, the lions mane and spotted jellyfish can produce a very painful sting, as can the bluebottle."

Stinging is caused by the thousands of microscopic stinger capsules (nematocysts) located on the surface of the tentacles.

Upon contact, the nematocysts simultaneously discharge their venom, delivering a nasty sting - so it is best not to touch the tentacles. It is safe to touch the top of the bell.

If you see a jellyfish next to you in the water, the chances are you can out-swim it.

"Those who do plan on getting in the water should be cautious and wear a wetsuit if it is known that there may be jellyfish in the area," he says.

Common symptoms of a jellyfish sting include a burning sensation on your skin, a tingling or numbness where the sting occurred, and the sting area turning purple or red.

Most stings in New Zealand waters are not serious, however, the treatment of stings is exactly the same regardless of the type of jellyfish involved.

First, flush the sting area with seawater to remove the tentacles. Use a dry towel to remove the remaining tentacles. Then, immerse the stung area in hot (but comfortable) water for 15 to 20 minutes. Use pain relief or antihistamines if needed.

Using urine to relieve a jellyfish sting is a popular misconception. As there is no way of telling its pH and chemical makeup, it could actually make the pain worse.

"Jellyfish are enchanting, delicate creatures that should be appreciated, just not too close," says Dr Gordon.
An innovative mobile app that uses artificial intelligence to identify harmful weeds, pest animals and diseases is enabling more New Zealanders to join the fight against invasive pests this summer.

The Find-A-Pest app, developed with funding from the BioHeritage National Science Challenge, was recently rebuilt and redesigned to make it easier to identify and report unwanted invaders that harm New Zealands unique native species, export industries and ecosystems.

Find-A-Pest covers all pests found on land and in water, including mammals, birds, insects, fungi and pathogens, says Project Manager Abigail Evans.

The app helps build the database of information about pests and their spread, so anyone using Find-A-Pest is boosting New Zealands biosecurity intelligence.

Reports from around the country can assist the many organisations involved in controlling and managing invasive pests, from central and local government, through to industry groups, producers and communities.

App users can ensure pests are detected early, so there is less damage to the environment, says University of Canterbury Associate Professor Steve Pawson, who led the development of Find-A-Pest.

Not only is the app a tool for anyone who cares about New Zealands environment, Find-A-Pest is a handy educational resource you can use anywhere, with fact sheets on specific pests which are threats to New Zealands biosecurity.

It uses artificial intelligence to identify pests and provide information where the pest is found and how it flourishes, with a team of experts who confirm identifications and send feedback to users.

Pawson says the phone app, first launched in 2018, makes it easier to report and identify any possible pest species.

Find-A-Pest is unique among pest reporting apps used worldwide in that it not only allows citizens to make pest observations, but users also to help with rapid identifications.

Anyone with a mobile phone can snap and send, to help protect New Zealands primary industries and native species.

New Zealands plants and animals developed in isolation, making the flora and fauna only found here more susceptible to pests, he says.

Find-A-Pest is a bit like Pokemon Go, but with a more serious side in that it is here to help protect New Zealands unique environment and our exports, which rely heavily on plants, and require a strong biosecurity system.

Find-A-Pest encourages New Zealanders to stay vigilant this summer and report any weeds, pest animals and diseases.

Find-A-Pest is available via Google Play or the App Store at www.findapest.nz
The jackpot first prize number in Spain's El Nino lottery draw today (6 January) will raise some smiles in Malaga. The number 94974 was sold in several locations throughout the province, offering 200,000 euros per 'decimo' (tenth) to each lucky holder, although they will have to deduct what the Treasury takes from their winnings.

Precisely, the number was sold in Torremolinos (Plaza del Lido), in Marbella (Calle Fortaleza), in Arriate (in Calle Ronda) and in the city (Calle Marmoles, Avenida Velazquez and in Calle Catapilco). Interestingly, the last two locations also sold third prize winning numbers. Elsewhere in Spain the winning number was also sold in areas including Madrid, Vizcaya, Las Palmas, Valladolid and Badajoz.

The second prize, with 75,000 euros for each tenth, went to 89634, sold entirely in Mostoles (Madrid), while the third prize, with 25,000 euros for each tenth, went to 57033, also widely distributed throughout Spain, including Malaga.

As for the ending numbers, the tenths that end in 7247 and 8172 have earned 350 euros (3,500 for the series); those that end in 507, 296, 161, 978, 872, 506, 114, 488, 730, 428, 281, 568, 644 and 598 get 100 euros (1,000 euros for the series); and those ending in 66, 40, 32, 65 and 99 return 40 euros (400 euros for the series). As for players getting their money back, in addition to 4 (the number at the end of the first prize), those finishing with a 1 or 9 will also get 20 a euro prize per tenth.

Andalucia, with 123,455,800 million euros, was the second region in Spain, after the Valencian Community, that staked the most money in the El Nino 2024 draw with an average of 14.52 euros per person. Malaga was the second-placed Andalusian province in terms of sales, with 25,095,600 euros staked and 125,478 tickets sold and an average expenditure per inhabitant of 14.25 euros, according to data from the state lottery authority, Loterias y Apuestas del Estado
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 aircraft late Friday local time after one such plane had an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, United States, with a window and a part of the fuselage missing.

"Following tonight's event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft," Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement.

Boeing company said in a statement that "a Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation." 
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KABUL, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan caretaker government has provided job opportunities to more than 109,000 people over the past nine months, reported the state-run Bakhtar news agency on Saturday.

A total of 109,824 people have been employed in the government departments and private sector, Bakhtar quoted a statement of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as saying.

Afghanistan has been suffering from poverty and a high rate of unemployment.

Deputy for the Ministry of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari said that the government has been trying to create job opportunities by launching development projects as part of efforts to alleviate poverty in the war-torn country. 
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Something to look forward to: The semiconductor industry is in dire need of new workers and it is unlikely to find them in the United States. One possible solution has been proposed by the Economic Innovation Group, but can Congress come together on this sensitive issue in an election year?

It is difficult to overstate the importance of the H-1B visa system to the US tech industry. American firms rely on it to bring in engineers, computer scientists, and technicians from foreign countries to do much of the advanced R&D and technical work they need to stay competitive. Americans work for these companies, too, of course, but their numbers don't come close to meeting the industry's needs.

Last year, the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics released a study showing that the US is facing a projected shortfall of 67,000 of these specialty workers in the semiconductor industry by 2030, and a gap of 1.4 million such workers throughout the broader US economy.

But the H-1B program has its problems. It is a company-sponsored visa that is typically valid for three years and extendable to six. There is a 65,000 total annual cap on the visas, which are awarded by lottery tickets  a highly inefficient process that does not ensure they go to the best use, or to occupations of pressing national concerns, such as semiconductors, according to Adam Ozimek, chief economist at the Economic Innovation Group (EIG).

The system is also not easy to tinker with, at least politically. Critics of the H-1B visa say that it brings in foreign workers who are willing to work for less money than US workers, and that it is used by offshore outsourcing firms to replace US workers. Any discussion to ease some of its requirements usually leads to accusations that it will cost US jobs.

But the growing need for these workers, especially in the semiconductor industry, is prompting both the industry and the government to try and improve the process.

The US State Department recently announced a pilot program to allow eligible H-1B holders to renew their visas in the US instead of leaving the country. There had been a domestic renewal program in earlier years, but it was discontinued in 2004 over security concerns. But the scope of this pilot is limited as it is only open to current H-1B visas issued by Mission Canada from Jan. 1, 2020 through April 1, 2023 or by Mission India from Feb. 1, 2021 through Sept. 30, 2021.

Another solution offered by EIG details a more comprehensive solution. They have proposed a new Chipmaker's Visa specifically for the semiconductor industry that would streamline the process by auctioning off 2,500 visas per quarter to qualified companies for a total of 10,000 per year with an expedited path to a Green Card. The visas would be good for five years and renewable only once.

EIG will be working to draft a policy this year with members of Congress who are interested in taking the lead on this, says chief economist Ozimek. There is hope that the idea could catch on; the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022  which is generating even more demand for skilled workers in the US  was passed with broad bipartisan support.

On the other hand, this is an election year, and nothing will be easy to pass on highly polarized Capitol Hill. The Chipmaker's Visa also has a branding problem  few in the government are talking about it, says Royal Kastens, director of public policy and advocacy at SEMI. "It's hard to predict. There are certainly people on the Hill who would appreciate the idea. There are some who would have questions."
Foxconn, the main manufacturer of Apple, discloses a 5.4% year-on-year dip in revenues across its entire spectrum of businesses for Q4 2023.

This slump includes a decline in iPhone sales, a trend that the Taiwanese firm anticipates extending into Q1 2024, citing subdued demand.

A 'Flatish' Performance For Foxconn

Despite initial optimism surrounding the iPhone 15 launch, Foxconn's Q4 2023 results fell short of expectations.

As Reuters writes in its recent report, the term "flatish" describes the overall revenues, which contracted by 5.4% year over year, settling at $59.54 billion.

While this figure is below the previous year's performance, Foxconn interprets it as a relatively favorable outcome.

Related Article: Severe Weather Halts Apple iPhone Production: Foxconn, Pegatron Temporarily Close Indian Factories

Steep Decline Starts in December 2023

The most alarming revelation emerges from December 2023, marking a staggering 26.9% year-on-year decline in revenue, culminating in $14.84 billion. This substantial drop signals a critical downturn in the peak month's financial performance.

Foxconn's representatives express a cautious outlook for Q1 2024, anticipating a continued decline in demand across its various businesses, including the flagship iPhone.

While Q1 traditionally witnesses reduced sales post-holiday season, Foxconn's projection suggests broader economic factors and component price hikes may contribute to this trend.

Analysts Echo Concerns and Downgrade Apple

Amid Foxconn's warnings, market analysts, including Piper Sandler and Barclays investment bank, align their assessments with a pessimistic tone, according to Apple Insider.

Economic uncertainties and escalating prices of essential components such as RAM and Flash chips prompt concerns about Apple's performance in the first half of 2024.

Barclays Cautions Against iPhone 16 Anticipation

Barclays investment bank goes a step further, expressing skepticism about the latter half of 2024. Without clear indicators of groundbreaking features in the rumored iPhone 16 range, analysts at Barclays foresee challenges for Apple in maintaining consumer interest.

With Foxconn struggling to keep up with the revenue decline for now, this year could be challenging for Apple, especially in the coming quarters.

The intersection of economic factors and market dynamics suggests that the Cupertino giant may need to navigate carefully to sustain its momentum in the industry.

Outside its iPhone manufacturing business, Foxconn is set to build a sub-$ $30,000 EV known as Fisker's Pear.

Back in September, the company decided to reach out to Fisker in hopes of creating an electric car in the US. However, since then, deals have yet to be finalized between the two parties.

The only information we got at that time is that Fisker announced that the EV's production would take place on US soil, particularly in the Ohio factory.

The production of the Pear car is expected to start by 2025. For more reports about Foxconn, click here to see more updates you don't want to miss.

Read Also: Foxconn's $1.5 Billion Investment in India to Align with Apple's Supply Chain Goals

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The CES 2024 event happening in Las Vegas next week will show the public an exhilarating view of what's to come with consumer stuff.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which started in 1967, has become a worldwide stage exhibiting exciting new technology. The event organizer, CTA (Consumer Technology Association), says that at least 4,000 companies and about 130,000 people will participate in CES 2024. CTA President Gary Shapiro believes that people attending this year's consumer technology trade show may feel inspired by innovations despite the challenging business climate.

"I think people are looking for things that show a future that's brighter," he said, as quoted by USA Today.

The CES 2024 will take place from January 9 to 12 across twelve places. These include the Las Vegas Convention Center, Renaissance, Westgate, and more, such as Venetian Expo and others like The Palazzo. Media events will be held on the 7th and 8th of January.

Here's What to Expect from CES 2024: AI Takes Center Stage

As stated earlier, the CES 2024 will be a grand stage for launching groundbreaking tech products and services. Major tech companies like Amazon, Google, Hyundai, and others are going to announce up-and-coming goods and services in the upcoming top technology event.

According to a report from Mint, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will take the spotlight at CES 2024. Samsung's keynote, titled "AI for All: In the Age of AI, you will see many products with artificial intelligence, from smart stoves to cleaners and fridges. The event hopes to look at how AI can be used in everyday items, helping improve the smart home area.

LG brings out the "Smart Home AI Agent," a robot driven by AI that can understand goals and plans.

Moreover, in the upcoming grand consumer technology exhibit, Ecovacs, Roborock, GE Profile, and Whirlpool are set to unveil products in new categories, including robot vacuums and home appliances.

Read Also: Articul8 AI: Intel's Spinout Transforming Enterprise Software

Speaking of robots, as TechTimes earlier reported, Shift Robotics will showcase its Moonwalker X, the latest evolution of its robotic shoes, at the CES 2024 Las Vegas. The product is expected to enhance workplace mobility, offering key advancements over its predecessor to meet the demands of diverse commercial applications.

Gaming and Mobile Tech enthusiasts can also expect major announcements. Nvidia is set to its first RTX 40-series Super cards. OLED monitors for PC gaming, advanced semiconductors, and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered smartphones are expected highlights, according to The Verge.

How to Attend CES 2024?

CES remains exclusive to the consumer technology industry, with attendees required to be at least 18 years old. Two entry ticket options are available: the $350 Exhibits Plus Pass, which provides access to the exhibit floor, keynotes, Great Minds sessions, and select conference programming, and the $1,700 Deluxe Conference Pass, which offers everything in the Exhibits Plus Pass along with four days of CES conference programming.

As CES 2024 unfolds, it promises a captivating preview of the technological wonders and innovations that will shape the course of consumer products in the years to come.

Related Article: US Commits $162 Million to Boost Microchip Technology's Semiconductor Production

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
"We are happy for the cooperation between Cote d'Ivoire and China. This is a model of cooperation, and this stadium is the best proof."

A stadium in Abidjan built with the assistance of a Chinese institute will be the main venue for the upcoming 34th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Here is what local say about the cooperation.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
In collaboration with NASA, Japan's XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory has provided an early glimpse into the hidden X-ray sky via the unprecedented data it will collect when full-scale science operations commence later this year.

The XRISM mission, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in partnership with NASA and contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), was launched last September 6 with the goal of exploring the X-ray cosmos.

"XRISM will provide the international science community with a new glimpse of the hidden X-ray sky," said Richard Kelley, the US principal investigator for XRISM at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"We'll not only see X-ray images of these sources, but also study their compositions, motions, and physical states," he added.

Resolve Captures a Supernova Remnant

The observatory, equipped with two science instruments named Resolve and Xtend, recently released a preview of its capabilities.

Developed collaboratively by NASA and JAXA, Resolve is a microcalorimeter spectrometer functioning within a liquid helium container, operating at temperatures just slightly above absolute zero.

In the presence of an X-ray, Resolve's detector experiences a proportional warming corresponding to the energy of the X-ray, providing unparalleled insights into the source.

This advanced instrument was deployed to examine N132D, a supernova remnant situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The obtained X-ray spectrum revealed peaks associated with various elements, shedding light on the object's composition, temperature, density, and motion.

Brian Williams, NASA's XRISM project scientist, explained the significance of Resolve, saying, "Resolve will allow us to see the shapes of these lines in a way never possible before, letting us determine not only the abundances of the various elements present but also their temperatures, densities, and directions of motion at unprecedented levels of precision."

"From there, we can piece together information about the original star and the explosion," he added.

Read Also: NASA Hubble Space Telescope Detects Massive Cyclones Raging on a 'Hot Jupiter'

Xtend Imager

The second instrument, Xtend, is an X-ray imager developed by JAXA, providing XRISM with a wide field of view and enabling the observation of large areas. Xtend captured an X-ray image of Abell 2319, a galaxy cluster undergoing a significant merger event about 770 million light-years away.

Lillian Reichenthal, NASA's XRISM project manager, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Resolve instrument, which has surpassed expectations.

Despite an issue with the aperture door covering its detector, which has not opened as planned after several attempts, Resolve is achieving a spectral resolution of 5 electron volts, exceeding the initial goal of 7 electron volts.

XRISM's mission is to explore the most extreme environments in the cosmos using X-ray light. Its primary goal is to transform our comprehension of the hot and energetic universe, focusing on areas such as black holes, clusters of galaxies, compact objects, and the aftermath of stellar explosions.

The mission's broader objectives include contributing to our understanding of the structure and evolution of the universe, the creation and dissemination of heavy elements, and the mechanisms governing the transport and circulation of energy and matter in regions characterized by strong gravity, electromagnetic fields, and shock waves.

Related Article: NASA Invites You to Send Your Name to the Moon Aboard Artemis Robotic Rover VIPER

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In a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers explored the potential link between diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy and increased risk of suicidal thoughts.

According to the Associated Press, the study, which delved into electronic medical records of over 1.8 million patients, has provided insights into the safety of these medications amid concerns raised by anecdotal reports that individuals taking the drug, semaglutide, had thoughts of self-harm.

Does Ozempic and Wegovy Increase the Risk of Suicidal Thoughts?

The question at the forefront of this investigation was whether individuals using Ozempic and Wegovy faced a higher likelihood of experiencing suicidal thoughts compared to those taking other medications for diabetes and obesity.

The research, conducted by NIH in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, offers a comprehensive analysis of patients taking semaglutide or another drug to treat obesity or diabetes between 2017 and 2022.

The study included some 240,000 patients treated for obesity or being overweight and almost 1.6 million patients treated for diabetes. Contrary to concerns, the findings revealed a surprising outcome.

Individuals taking semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy, had a 49% to 73% lower risk of first-time or recurring suicidal thoughts compared to those taking another drug for these conditions in a six-month follow-up period.

Dr. Rong Xu, a co-author of the study from Case Western, acknowledged that diabetes and obesity are risk factors on their own for suicidal thoughts. He also emphasized that the research was not designed to establish if the GLP-1 drugs reduced suicidal thoughts. Instead, the study sheds light on the relative safety of semaglutide in this regard.

EMA's Investigation

The investigation was prompted by the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) review of approximately 150 reports suggesting a potential link between semaglutide and other drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists and cases of self-injury or suicidal thoughts.

These drugs target hormones in the gut and brain responsible for appetite and feelings of fullness. The EMA's probe was initiated last July. The US Food and Drug Administration is also investigating unconfirmed reports of suicidal thoughts or actions in individuals taking the GLP-1 drugs.

Read Also: Diabetes Relief: Major Manufacturers Cap Insulin Prices at $35, Answering Calls for Affordability in the US

No 'Causal Association'

In response to the study's findings, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, told the AP that the new study reflects the firm's data collected from massive clinical trials and since the drug has been released on the market.

The spokesperson noted that all data showed no "causal association" between semaglutide and thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

As European and US regulators continue their probe into the safety of GLP-1 drugs, the study offers a nuanced perspective on the risk landscape associated with Ozempic and Wegovy, reassuring the millions of individuals using these medications.

Related Article: Fauxzempic: FDA Issues Warning on Fake Diabetes Drug Found in US Supply Chain

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Google has initiated the process of limiting third-party cookies for select users of its Chrome web browser.

According to AFP, this development marks the first step in the tech giant's declared intention to eventually phase out these cookies, which have long been a source of privacy concerns among internet users.

Google Eliminating Third-Party Cookies

The company announced its plans to eliminate third-party cookies in 2020, highlighting the growing emphasis on user privacy and the need to address the potential misuse of tracking technologies.

Google acknowledges that completely eliminating third-party cookies necessitates the approval of Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is currently examining the potential implications of such a move on other businesses.

As per Google's outlined strategy, the limitation of third-party cookies has commenced for one percent of Chrome users, serving as an initial phase for testing purposes.

The company plans to progressively extend this restriction to 100 percent of users starting from the third quarter of 2024. This phased approach allows Google to evaluate the impact and functionality of the limits while addressing potential challenges.

Third-party cookies are small files employed for targeted advertising through web navigation tracking, and they have become subject to increased regulatory scrutiny.

Regulations such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), implemented in 2016, and California's privacy regulations have contributed to the evolving landscape around data protection.

Google has been working on the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) system to offer an alternative to third-party cookies. Unlike tracking individual users, FLoC operates by categorizing users into audience segments known as cohorts, comprising hundreds or thousands of individuals with similar interests or behaviors.

This approach seeks to balance privacy concerns while enabling advertisers to target relevant audiences.

Read Also: Chrome Malware: Restores Cookies to Get Access to Your Google Account via API

Tracking Protection in Google Chrome

Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox at Google, emphasized the continuous commitment to enhancing web privacy through ongoing efforts. The introduction of Tracking Protection, a feature designed to limit cross-site tracking by default, represents a crucial step in the Privacy Sandbox initiative.

The phased approach allows developers to test their readiness for a web environment without third-party cookies. Google acknowledges the longstanding role of third-party cookies in supporting various online experiences, such as logins and personalized ads.

The company asserts that its approach to phasing out these cookies is responsible for offering new tools for sites that serve vital use cases and providing developers with a transition period.

Participants in the Tracking Protection feature are selected randomly, and those included will be notified upon opening Chrome on a desktop or Android. As users browse the web, third-party cookies will be restricted by default, minimizing the ability to track activities across different websites.

In cases where a site encounters functionality issues without third-party cookies, Chrome will prompt users with an option to temporarily re-enable them for that specific site. This approach aims to balance privacy and the seamless functioning of websites that rely on such cookies.

"As we work to make the web more private, we'll provide businesses with tools to succeed online so that high quality content remains freely accessible - whether that's news articles, videos, educational information, community sites or other forms of web content," Chavez wrote in a blog post.

Related Article: Google Settles Chrome Incognito Tracking Case, Lawsuit Asks for $5 Billion

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Two prominent authors, Nicholas A. Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, have filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against tech giants OpenAI and Microsoft.

Joining a wave of complaints from fellow top writers, the lawsuit alleges a flagrant and deliberate theft of their copyrighted works to fuel the training of OpenAI's powerful language models, resulting in what the authors assert to be a billion-dollar artificial intelligence system.

Massive Allegations Against ChatGPT

As Engadget reports, the lawsuit filed by Basbanes and Gage provides a clear picture of these companies' behavior, alleging that they systematically stole copyrighted materials to develop their lucrative artificial intelligence technology.

The writers claim that although they, as professional writers, devote their resources to research and content creation, the defendants, who possessed "ready access to billions in capital", "simply stole" their work rather than look into fair compensation schemes to "build another billion+ dollar commercial industry."

Claims and Class Action

The lawsuit, seeking up to $150,000 for each infringed work and a permanent injunction, aims to represent a class of writers whose works have allegedly been misused by the defendants.

It is estimated that this class could potentially encompass tens of thousands of individuals.

Earlier Lawsuits

This legal action adds to a series of lawsuits filed against OpenAI, including a notable case by fiction authors George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jodi Picoult, and The New York Times' own lawsuit against the companies for using their articles for AI training.

The gravity of these combined legal challenges puts the spotlight on ethical considerations in the development of AI technology.

Nicholas Basbanes, known for his expertise in the history of books and book culture, and Nicholas Gage, an investigative journalist whose memoir "Eleni" was made into a film, bring significant literary weight to this recent legal battle.

Mike Richter, representing Basbanes and Gage, highlighted the severity of the situation, likening the unauthorized use of copyrighted work to a form of theft (via CNBC).

He emphasized the need to value the efforts of writers and their intellectual property, drawing attention to the broader disregard for writers' contributions in the face of technological advancement.

Read Also: Copilot Access: Microsoft Introduces AI Key to Windows 11 PCs

Response and Ongoing Discussions

While Microsoft and OpenAI have been approached for comment on the lawsuit, their previous statements suggest a willingness to engage with content creators to ensure fair use of their work.

OpenAI, in response to The New York Times' lawsuit, expressed a commitment to respect content creators' rights and explore mutually beneficial collaborations.

This latest legal confrontation underscores a critical debate at the intersection of technology and intellectual property rights.

As these lawsuits unfold, they signal a pivotal moment in defining the responsibilities and obligations of AI companies towards creators whose works fuel their advancements.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Experts Sound the Alarm on Cyberattacks That Can 'Poison' AI Systems

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
CEC receives signature sheets of four more people as presidential candidates. Signature lists of four more people whose candidacy for the post of president is accepted by the Central Election Commission (CEC), Azernews reports.

The signature sheets of Fazil Mustafa, presidential candidate of the Great Creation Party, Elshad Musayev, presidential candidate of the Great Azerbaijan Party, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, presidential candidate of the All Azerbaijan People's Front Party, and Fuad Aliyev, whose candidacy for the post of president was nominated by himself, were submitted to the CEC together with the necessary documents.

It should be noted that earlier the signature sheets of Zahid Oruj, whose candidature he nominated himself, and Razi Nurullayev, presidential candidate from the National Front Party, were submitted to the electoral body.

It should be noted that 17 people have been nominated for the presidency so far.

On 19 December, the CEC approved Ilham Aliyev's candidacy for the post of president from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. On December 26, PEA submitted to the CEC signature sheets with 50,000 signatures of voters collected in defence of Ilham Aliyev, as well as other documents stipulated by Article 58.1 of the Electoral Code. Ilham Aliyev's candidacy for the post of President was registered at the CEC session held on 30 December.

Earlier, at the CEC session held on 21 December, Zahid Oruj and Fuad Aliyev, self-nominated presidential candidate from the Great Creation Party Fazil Mustafa, Elshad Musayev, presidential candidate from the Great Azerbaijan Party Gudrat Hasanguliyev, presidential candidate from the All Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, national candidate Razi Nurullayev, presidential candidate from the All Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, was approved.

At the CEC meeting held on 26 December, the issue of approving the candidacy of Sarvan Karimov, Matlab Mutallimli, Abutalib Samadov, Fikret Yusifov, Yusif Bagirzade, Arzuman Abdulkarimov, Yunus Oguz and Gulamgusein Alibayli, nominated by himself, was put up for consideration. On 30 December Safarov's candidacy was confirmed.

On 31 December, the CEC endorsed Avaz Temirkhi, a candidate nominated by himself.

Extraordinary presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan on 7 February 2024.
SYDNEY, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Police in the Australian state of Victoria said on Saturday that seven teenage boys were arrested after they were found in an allegedly stolen car in Cranbourne East, a suburb in Melbourne.

The police said when its aviation unit spotted and watched overhead the allegedly stolen white Toyota CHR traveling, the seven boys were seen pilling out of the car shortly before 10 p.m. local time.

Then the boys ran to a property along the road and hid inside, which was surrounded by police officers later. Six boys surrendered peacefully and the seventh was located hiding inside and taken into custody.

The police said these seven boys, aged between 13 and 17, were all charged with theft of motor vehicle, and the car was allegedly stolen during an aggravated burglary on New Year's Day. 
A business manager suspected of having ordered the attack on an elected official from Saint-Denis

Tigrane Seydoux, the Frenchman behind the fashionable Italians in Madrid in which you always have to visit the bathroom

Energy transition: The experts say so, the Court of Auditors says so

Ticks: How to protect yourself from the increasing tick population when taking a walk in the forest

A member of the Fatwa Council in Britain calls on Western Muslims to adhere to their religion and identity

Death and stuff, the worst series of the week: the copy of a copy of a copy of Agatha Christie

Alaska Airlines passenger about hole in plane wall: "I kept staring into the hole and hoping it wouldn't tear any further"

Alaska Airlines passenger about hole in plane wall: "I kept staring into the hole and hoping it wouldn't tear any further"

La Fievre with Ana Girardot and Nina Meurisse: what is the new event series from Canal+ worth?

Ines Reg criticized for her attitude in Dancing with the Stars: the comedian breaks the silence

Fatal accident in Wesseling: "Don't be a pathetic coward, come clean, turn yourself in to the police"

Trump describes Zelensky as the best salesman and calls for him to loan him money.. How did tweeters comment?

IN PICTURES - Football: discover the new Blues jerseys for Euro 2024 and the Olympics

For the fifth time in a row: Medvedev lost again to Alcaraz in the Masters final in Indian Wells

Badminton Akane Yamaguchi "Shidamatsu" pair and others are guaranteed to participate in the Paris Olympics

Rugby: here is the program of the French XV for the rest of 2024

Jean-Marie Rouart, the writer-academician, looks back on December 19, 1964, the entry of Jean Moulin into the Pantheon

2nd Bundesliga: FC Schalke 04 is in the black  and fears falling into the 3rd league

La Unio denounces the second detection of Moroccan strawberries with hepatitis A in nine days

Without unnecessary risks: the ruble has risen in price on the Moscow Exchange following the results of the presidential elections in Russia

The "wave of rework" after the Spring Festival has driven the rental market in Guangzhou to heat up rapidly

In the first two months, the total foreign trade import and export value of Kashgar, Xinjiang increased by 90% year-on-year.

The US said it does not plan to congratulate Putin on his victory in the Russian elections

Wretched Creatures... Visual creativity and the brilliance of Emma Stone in the role of the child

The Government rescues the precedent of Arabic in the UN to defend Catalan in Europe

Garibaldi, Pablo Iglesias' bar in Lavapies, vandalized by anarchists before its opening because of the name of a cocktail

Civil servants will have the salary increase after Easter and before the Budgets are approved

Urgent | Al Jazeera obtains exclusive photos showing the Qassam tracking the movements of officer in the Shaldag unit, Yitzhar Hoffman, before he was killed by a snipers bullet.

The central parity rate of RMB against the US dollar increased by 32 basis points to 7.0943 yuan.

Niger: what follow-up after the denunciation of the military agreement between Niamey and Washington?

Putin: all traitors fighting against Russia will be identified by name and they will not be given peace

IN PICTURES - Football: discover the new Blues jerseys for Euro 2024 and the Olympics

Operation seduction of the head of Chinese diplomacy in New Zealand and Australia

Defeat in the FA Cup: Klopp breaks off interview  I have no nerves for you

 Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
A business manager suspected of having ordered the attack on an elected official from Saint-Denis

Tigrane Seydoux, the Frenchman behind the fashionable Italians in Madrid in which you always have to visit the bathroom

Energy transition: The experts say so, the Court of Auditors says so

Ticks: How to protect yourself from the increasing tick population when taking a walk in the forest

A member of the Fatwa Council in Britain calls on Western Muslims to adhere to their religion and identity

Death and stuff, the worst series of the week: the copy of a copy of a copy of Agatha Christie

Alaska Airlines passenger about hole in plane wall: "I kept staring into the hole and hoping it wouldn't tear any further"

Alaska Airlines passenger about hole in plane wall: "I kept staring into the hole and hoping it wouldn't tear any further"

La Fievre with Ana Girardot and Nina Meurisse: what is the new event series from Canal+ worth?

Ines Reg criticized for her attitude in Dancing with the Stars: the comedian breaks the silence

Fatal accident in Wesseling: "Don't be a pathetic coward, come clean, turn yourself in to the police"

Trump describes Zelensky as the best salesman and calls for him to loan him money.. How did tweeters comment?

IN PICTURES - Football: discover the new Blues jerseys for Euro 2024 and the Olympics

For the fifth time in a row: Medvedev lost again to Alcaraz in the Masters final in Indian Wells

Badminton Akane Yamaguchi "Shidamatsu" pair and others are guaranteed to participate in the Paris Olympics

Rugby: here is the program of the French XV for the rest of 2024

Jean-Marie Rouart, the writer-academician, looks back on December 19, 1964, the entry of Jean Moulin into the Pantheon

2nd Bundesliga: FC Schalke 04 is in the black  and fears falling into the 3rd league

La Unio denounces the second detection of Moroccan strawberries with hepatitis A in nine days

Without unnecessary risks: the ruble has risen in price on the Moscow Exchange following the results of the presidential elections in Russia

The "wave of rework" after the Spring Festival has driven the rental market in Guangzhou to heat up rapidly

In the first two months, the total foreign trade import and export value of Kashgar, Xinjiang increased by 90% year-on-year.

The US said it does not plan to congratulate Putin on his victory in the Russian elections

Wretched Creatures... Visual creativity and the brilliance of Emma Stone in the role of the child

The Government rescues the precedent of Arabic in the UN to defend Catalan in Europe

Garibaldi, Pablo Iglesias' bar in Lavapies, vandalized by anarchists before its opening because of the name of a cocktail

Civil servants will have the salary increase after Easter and before the Budgets are approved

Urgent | Al Jazeera obtains exclusive photos showing the Qassam tracking the movements of officer in the Shaldag unit, Yitzhar Hoffman, before he was killed by a snipers bullet.

The central parity rate of RMB against the US dollar increased by 32 basis points to 7.0943 yuan.

Niger: what follow-up after the denunciation of the military agreement between Niamey and Washington?

Putin: all traitors fighting against Russia will be identified by name and they will not be given peace

IN PICTURES - Football: discover the new Blues jerseys for Euro 2024 and the Olympics

Operational-tactical aviation and artillery: the Russian Armed Forces struck the site of a meeting of the command staff of the SBU and the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Defeat in the FA Cup: Klopp breaks off interview  I have no nerves for you

Operation seduction of the head of Chinese diplomacy in New Zealand and Australia

 Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese cities recorded 86.67 billion passenger trips in the first 11 months of 2023, up 21.8 percent year on year, according to data released by the Ministry of Transport.

Of the four modes of urban transport, public buses registered 37.81 billion trips, up 13 percent year on year during the same period, and urban rail transport saw 26.73 billion trips, up 47.2 percent.

Meanwhile, taxis recorded 22.06 billion trips, up 13.2 percent year on year, while passenger ferry services saw 77.06 million trips, up 83.4 percent, according to the data.

The Chinese capital, Beijing, recorded more than 5.24 billion trips during the period, ranking top on the list compared to other cities. Shanghai came in second place, reporting 4.56 billion trips, the data showed. 
JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese military group Hezbollah Saturday claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage from Lebanon on Mount Meron in northern Israel earlier in the morning.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli military installation in the area with 62 projectiles, adding that the attack is "an initial response" to the alleged Israeli killing of Hamas' deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon on Tuesday.

"Approximately 40 launches from Lebanon toward the area of Meron in northern Israel were identified," read a statement issued earlier Saturday morning by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

According to the statement, the IDF responded by striking a Lebanese military cell that took part in the launches.

Israeli media reported that there were explosions close to Mount Meron after sirens sounded in some 90 communities close to the northern border with Lebanon. Video circulating on social media showed smoke in several areas in Mount Meron.

No injuries were reported. 
Sydney restaurants are expanding the practice of building automatic surcharges into diners bills to cover the extra work of providing for larger groups.

Customers are already routinely slugged an extra 10 per cent on weekends and 15 per cent on public holidays, but restaurants are increasingly adding service fees to group bookings because operators say it is more difficult to provide service to large tables, which also may forget to tip.

Diners at Lotus restaurant can tip staff in addition to a service charge added to the bill of group bookings. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Crown Sydney adds an extra 10 per cent to the bill for all group bookings at restaurants such as Nobu, Oncore by Clare Smyth and 88 Noodle.

A Crown Sydney spokesman said the service fee or gratuity was non-discretionary and applied at all of its restaurants for groups of 10 or more diners. The charge was not added for smaller groups.
BOOKS

The Book at War: Libraries and Readers in an Age of Conflict

Andrew Pettegree

Profile Books, $55

Andrew Pettegrees latest offering has a lot in common with his 2021 book, The Library: A Fragile History, co-authored with Arthur der Weduwen. Both works feature a pacy, middle-brow style. In both cases, the structural unit is the factoid  and there are certainly some great factoids.

From The Book at War we learn that a young Mao Zedong worked in the Beijing University library, recording the names of people who came to read newspapers. Mao had arrived at Beijing having already read translations of Rousseaus The Social Contract, Montesquieus Lesprit des lois and Adam Smiths The Wealth of Nations.

An American soldier takes a break as she makes her way back to the US from Iraq in February 2004. Credit: AP

His library role increased his sense of alienation. Patrons avoided and ignored him. I tried to begin conversations with them on political and cultural subjects [Mao wrote], but they were very busy men. They had no time to listen to an assistant librarian speaking southern dialect.
Over little more than a week, a young criminal went on a luxury car theft romp across the northern beaches. He cased or stole two Volkswagens, a Range Rover, a Mercedes, a BMW X3 and a humble Mazda CX8, which was later found with a coffee cup, an adidas jacket and a jelly snakes bag inside.

One night, he picked up a mate (whod purloined a Volkswagen from Castle Cove) and drove his stolen VW Polo through suburban Balgowlah at 120km/h before hurtling along the wrong side of Military Road in Mosman at 100km/h, court documents show.

He was eventually arrested by a strike force specialising in one of Sydneys most troubling pastimes for wayward youths: breaking into houses, mostly in rich suburbs, stealing the keys to high-performance European vehicles, and going on life-threatening joyrides, which are filmed and posted on social media.

Some then sell the cars to organised crime networks for drive-by shootings and kidnappings. A criminal car broker pays them a few thousand dollars before adding some cloned plates, and gets the vehicles ready for use as a getaway car by furnishing them with bleach for washing off DNA, and petrol for incinerating them afterwards.
GAZA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Friday urged the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to put the focus of his tour in the Middle East on ending Israel's "aggression" on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Haniyeh said he expected Blinken to "glean lessons from the past three months and recognize Washington's mistakes in supporting the occupation."

The Palestinian resistance movement's leader urged Arab and Islamic countries to emphasize to Washington that the stability of the Middle East is linked to the necessity of resolving the Palestinian issue.

Haniyeh's remarks came as Blinken started Friday a tour in the Middle East, during which he will visit Israel and the West Bank, in addition to Turkiye and five Arab countries, mainly to discuss the developments of the Gaza conflict and its spillover in the region.

The remarks also came at a time when the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders to residents in the central Gaza Strip, demanding them to relocate southward.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mentioned in a press statement that the Israeli army, in the past hours, issued evacuation orders in two additional residential areas in the north and west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza through leaflets dropped by aircraft.

The new evacuation orders cover an estimated 1.2-square-kilometer area, inhabited by approximately 4,700 people and housing a UN-supported health center, said the statement.

The UN estimates that 1.9 million people, or nearly 85 percent of Gaza's total population, have become displaced, including many who have been displaced multiple times for safety.

The southern Gazan city of Rafah and its environs have sheltered the majority of the displaced, with over a million living in extremely overcrowded conditions, since Israel has intensified attacks on the central areas of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis in the south.

The Palestinian enclave has been under massive Israeli bombardment and siege since Oct. 7, 2023, which came in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas on the same day on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. 
Economy hammered. Credit: Matt Golding

To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.

Rethink alliance

Columnist Emma Shortis (Comment, 5/1) suggests that the assurance that a core component of our US alliance is shared democratic values is unconvincing. Lets hope so. If the current state of American society truly reflects their values, then that is surely a good reason to rethink the alliance.

Norman Huon, Port Melbourne

War guilt

The article, PM right to demand Iraq answers, (5/1) was worthwhile, but begs the question that the coalition of the willing were not really interested in waiting for the report of Hans Blix, the United Nations arms inspector, who found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. One only needs to note the day when Iraq was invaded on March 20, 2003, and when the report was handed to the UN on March 18, 2003. The United States, in particular, was not seeking justice as a result of 9/11.

What is absolutely unconscionable is that there has never been any accountability for the destruction of Iraq. The question that needs to be asked is whether George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard are guilty of crimes against humanity?
The restaurant franchisee said emergency services arrived within minutes to help the victim, and staff were relieved he was going to be alright. It was the second in a string of stabbings over the course of a few hours, with police confirming on Sunday afternoon that a stabbing in Southbank was linked and the first to occur. A man was stabbed outside Yankees Burger Bar on King Street on Saturday night. Credit: Yankees Burger Bar, King Street In the Southbank incident, a 28-year-old Mount Waverley man was stabbed in the leg and torso while walking along City Road, near Kings Way, about 9.20pm. The 24-year-old Melbourne man was then stabbed outside Yankees at about 10pm, before a couple walking along Dandenong Road in St Kilda East were attacked shortly before 11pm.

The woman, a 31-year-old from St Kilda East, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but has since stabilised. A 31-year-old man from Glen Waverley was taken to hospital with a serious arm injury. In the fourth incident, a 31-year-old English tourist was stabbed on Acland Street in St Kilda at about 12.30am on Sunday. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening leg injuries. A crowd of passers-by stopped to assist the injured man outside the burger shop. Credit: Yankees Burger Bar, King Street Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Eyries said the attacks were random. It was completely random, and the victims would not have expected or known that they were going to be attacked, he said at a press conference.

All people involved in this particular incident were members of the public  they have no links whatsoever to the man that we have in custody, he said. The detective also reiterated the incidents were not terrorism-related. An officer holding a bloodstained shirt at the burger store. Credit: Nine News We believe the victims that were randomly attacked on this particular occasion were people that were just going about their own business and have been cowardly attacked by this particular male, and its just another example of the issue that weve got ... with edged weapons. The Melton man, who was known to police, was spotted at South Yarra train station by a protective services officer.

The man was arrested in nearby Powell Street about 1.15am on Sunday after a foot chase and remains in custody. Eyries said OC spray was used to subdue the man, who had resisted arrest. Police at the scene on Acland Street in St Kilda, where a British tourist was stabbed. Credit: Nine News He was located with a bag with multiple-edged weapons in it, and its quite possible that different edged weapons were used at each individual scene, which is quite consistent with the varying injuries and severity of the injuries. So its quite possible that more than one knife was used. The officer said the man showed signs of drug, alcohol or mental health-related issues.

Loading The detective said the man in police custody was wearing a distinctive lime green, hooded windcheater and dark cargo-style pants. He urged any members of the public to get in touch if they had footage or saw the man. The Melton man will face court on Monday. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Victorians are being warned to brace for heavy rainfall and flash-flooding, with severe weather to sweep across the state from Sunday.

The Bureau of Meteorology and key state emergency services held a joint press conference in Melbourne on Saturday to alert Victorians to the looming severe weather threat.

Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Rick Nugent warned Victorians to be prepared for major storms. Credit: Paul Jeffers

Bureau forecaster Michael Efron said the moisture in the air was incredible and there would be significant storms.

The amount of moisture across the state  thats what you would normally see in somewhere like Queensland, he said.
There are also the issues the government does not control; migration, and tax arrangements such as negative gearing. The politics will also get harder. Dramatically increasing housing around eight Metro and heavy rail stations while also amending planning controls within 400 metres of another 31 train stations means potential opposition to new housing will be spread across greater Sydney. Already local councils are voicing opposition to some of the changes as they enter an election year, with threats of legal action and public campaigns. The Coalition is also unlikely to heed Minns call for bipartisanship on the issue. Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has sought to make migration  a federal issue  his focus, while MPs such as Rory Amon in Pittwater and Jordan Lane in Ryde have criticised plans for more housing in their areas. Tom Forrest, the head of the developer lobby Urban Taskforce, said one of the major challenges will be to ignore political opportunists. The NIMBY voice has been powerful for over a decade and will be out in force as council elections approach in September, he said.

Landing a pay deal with unions such as the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association will challenge Labors budget repair promises. Credit: Fairfax Public sector pay Labor came to power on the back of its promise to remove the Coalitions controversial public sector wage cap and increase pay for essential workers, but under-estimated the demands of those workers. Instead of plaudits for removing the cap, criticism from union leaders  led by the combative Health Services Union boss Gerard Hayes  began almost immediately. After being accused of an act of betrayal by the Teachers Federation boss Angelo Gavrielatos, and facing threats from paramedics that would have crippled triple zero on New Years Eve, the government eventually signed pay deals to deliver major pay increases for those workers.

Others, including the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association and Public Sector Association will have been watching those agreements closely after they grudgingly accepted a 4.5 per cent rollover deal. The secretary of the PSA, Stuart Little, said those one-year deals had been signed because of what he said were undertakings that everyone would receive the same outcome. Now, unfortunately, thats not what happened because then the teachers agreement which none of us knew about emerged. We were given undertakings there would be no agreements like that. That is not to begrudge those workers, but we have many members across diverse industries that are also in the same boat, he said. That will have impacts on the budget, and the focus Minns has placed on budget repair coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drug reform advocates  including cabinet ministers such as Rose Jackson  will want bold reform if a long-promised drug summit goes ahead. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Social reforms Drug laws, a ban on gay conversion and changes to the states 27-year-old Anti-Discrimination Act all loom as major tests for the government in 2024. Much water has passed under the bridge since Labor first committed to holding a drug summit in NSW if elected to government back in 2019, including the Ice Inquiry commissioned by Gladys Berejiklian which recommended the complete decriminalisation of illicit drugs. While many drug reform advocates insist there is no need for the summit given those findings, Minns has insisted it will go ahead before any major changes to drug policy. The premier has adopted a cautious approach to the issue. Despite adopting the Coalitions plan for a broad pre-court diversion scheme for people caught in possession of small amounts of illicit drugs, Minns has played down hopes for major reform in this term of government.

After the Herald revealed in April he had previously made a passionate argument for the legalisation of cannabis while Labor was in opposition, Minns said he had changed his view. He has also adopted some of Berejiklians reluctance over pill testing. The summit though will pose a major test for his leadership. Senior ministers and close Minns allies including Jo Haylen and Rose Jackson are long-time advocates for drug reform and will push hard for major changes to existing laws. So far, even the date is contested. While senior sources insist the summit will go ahead this year, the government wont confirm anything other than that it will go ahead in their first term. Another key advocate for reform is the powerful crossbench MP Alex Greenwich, who will push for pill testing to be allowed in the wake of a summit. Greenwich will also be a key figure in negotiating changes to anti-discrimination laws. The Minns government last year commissioned the NSW Law Reform Commission to review the act. The submissions to the review reveal the treacherous line the government will have to walk, ranging from religious organisations, LGBTIQ+ groups and sex-based feminist campaigners calling for the removal of transgender status from the existing act.

Simultaneously, Greenwichs equality bill  which includes changes to the Act including by banning private schools from discriminating against LGBTQ+ teachers and students  is due to be debated by the parliament in February. Those changes will likely be deferred until after the Law Reform review, but Greenwichs support will be key to passing any changes to the legislation. It is 40 years since the Wran government decriminalised homosexuality in NSW and I think modern-day standards would not accept that a teacher can be fired for being gay, or a kid can be expelled for being gay, he said. Energy Minister Penny Sharpe will need to balance the states energy security with Labors promised climate targets. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer Energy NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe has some big decisions to make in 2024.

As the Herald revealed in August, the governments review of the states energy grid recommended it extend the life of the states largest coal-fired power station, Eraring, beyond its scheduled closure in 2025. The premier has argued the extension is necessary because the rollout of renewable energy has been slower than forecast. Eraring accounts for about 18 per cent of the states daily energy demands, and the grid is already stretched during peak high-usage periods. In December, Sharpe was forced to urge Sydneysiders to limit their electricity use because the grid was under pressure due to a heatwave. But Erarings 2025 closure is baked into assumptions used to calculate NSWs emissions reduction targets, and the plant produced about 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the 2022-23 financial year. While negotiations with Erarings owner, Origin Energy, are ongoing, Sharpe has refused to say how much a deal to extend it might cost taxpayers. Origin has not rushed to reveal its hand, either. While a company spokesman said it is happy to negotiate a path forward that can help navigate the economic challenges facing the plant and avert any risk to the reliability of electricity supply in the state, it has not walked away from the 2025 closure date.

The Eraring closure notice provided an important signal to the market about progress towards our nations climate goals, and Origin does not shy away from the need to exit coal generation as soon as there is sufficient renewables, firming and transmission capacity available, the spokesman said. The Rozelle Interchange will still be waiting for Roads Minister John Graham when normal business resumes in 2024. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos Roads and infrastructure Where to start? The Minns government may not share the Coalitions taste for big-ticket road and rail announcements, but plenty of headaches remain. There will be disruption for tens of thousands of commuters who will endure a total of 10 weeks of closures along the T3 Bankstown rail line so that work on the Metro City and Southwest Metro line can continue, while the seemingly endless delays and blowouts to new regional and intercity train fleets is yet to be resolved.
Wind, solar and energy storage projects that would drive Victorias switch from coal power and cut electricity costs are stuck in limbo as they wait for the state government to make a call on planning approvals.

Investors are waiting years for permission to build renewable energy projects across Victoria and the sector says it is a major hurdle for the governments green energy intentions.

Some renewable energy projects take between three and five years for approval from the state government, the sector says.

As part of its commitment to cut emissions, the Allan government has set an ambitious target for 95 per cent of all electricity to come from renewable energy by 2035, in an effort to reduce emissions and drive down bills.

Key to this is the rehabilitation of the State Electricity Commission (SEC), which the state government says will deliver 4.5 gigawatts of new power through renewable energy and storage projects  enough for about 1.5 million homes.
GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air raid which targeted an inhabited house in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on Saturday, Palestinian media reported.

Most of the dead were women and children, and many others were injured in the airstrike, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Local sources told Xinhua that the Israeli warplanes also launched an attack on Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip early Saturday morning, leaving a number of people dead or injured.

The Palestinian death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip rose to 22,600 since the onset of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said in a statement that the Israeli army, within the past 24 hours, launched 15 attacks on Gaza, resulting in 162 deaths and 296 injuries.

This brought the total number of deaths to 22,600 and injuries to 57,910 since Oct. 7, 2023, when Israel started its military operations against Gaza in response to a surprise Hamas attack. 
People visit the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 5, 2024.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" was held at the Palace Museum on Friday. With more than 230 articles displayed, the exhibition showcases the scenery and history of the northwestern Saudi city of Al-Ula. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

People visit the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 5, 2024.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" was held at the Palace Museum on Friday. With more than 230 articles displayed, the exhibition showcases the scenery and history of the northwestern Saudi city of Al-Ula. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

A person visits the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 5, 2024.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" was held at the Palace Museum on Friday. With more than 230 articles displayed, the exhibition showcases the scenery and history of the northwestern Saudi city of Al-Ula. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

A person visits the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 5, 2024.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" was held at the Palace Museum on Friday. With more than 230 articles displayed, the exhibition showcases the scenery and history of the northwestern Saudi city of Al-Ula. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

A person visits the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 5, 2024.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition "AlUla, Wonder of Arabia" was held at the Palace Museum on Friday. With more than 230 articles displayed, the exhibition showcases the scenery and history of the northwestern Saudi city of Al-Ula. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)
CM keeps Home, Excise, Dy CM Diya Kumari holds Finance, Dy CM Bairwa is Edn Minister





JAIPUR,

RAJASTHAN Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Friday allotted portfolios to Ministers, keeping eight departments, including Home and Excise, for himself. Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari was given Finance, tourism, art and culture, public works department, and women and child development. Prem Chand Bairwa, who was also sworn in as a Deputy Chief Minister on December 15, got technical education, higher education, Ayurveda, transport and road safety. Kirodi Lal Meena got the agriculture, rural development, disaster management and public grievances departments, and Rajyvardhan Rathore industries, IT and communications, youth affairs and sports, skill development and entrepreneurship and Sainik Kalyan. Both had resigned from Parliament to fight the Assembly polls in which the BJP bagged 115 out of the 199 seats where elections were held. Barring the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Ministers, 22 Ministers were sworn in at a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan here on December 30. Among the other Cabinet Ministers, Madan Dilawar was allocated the school education, Panchayati Raj and Sanskrit education departments, and Gajendra Singh Khimsar medical and health.

Chief Minister Sharma retained the departments of personnel, planning, information and public relations, and anti-corruption bureau. Kanhaiya Lal has public health and engineering and groundwater departments, and Jogaram will be the Minister of parliamentary affairs, law and legal affairs. Suresh Singh Rawat was allotted the water resources department, Avinash Gehlot social justice and empowerment and Sumit Godara food and civil supplies and consumer affairs. The tribal area development and the home guards departments were given to Babulal Kharadi. , while Hemant Meena got the revenue and colonisation departments. The Ministers of State were also allotted portfolios. Minister of State (Independent charge) Surendra Pal Singh TT was given the agriculture marketing board, command area development and water utilisation department, Indira Gandhi canal department and the minority affairs department. Surendra Pal Singh is the BJPs nominee for the Karanpur seat where polling was held on Friday. He was sworn in as a minister in the ceremony held last week.

Other Ministers of State with independent charge are Sanjay Sharma (forest, environment and climate change, science and technology), Gautam Kumar (cooperatives, civil aviation), Jhabar Singh Kharra (urban development, local self-government) and Heera Lal Nagar (energy). Ministers of State Otaram Devasi (Panchayati Raj, rural development, disaster management), Manju Baghmar (public works department, women and child development, child rights department), Vijay Singh (revenue, colonisation, Sainik Kalyan), KK Vishnoi (industry and commerce, youth affairs and sports, skill development and entrepreneurship) and Jawahar Singh Bedham (home, gopalan or cow care, animal husbandry and dairy and fisheries) were also allotted portfolios. Earlier in the day, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra approved the list of portfolios for the Ministers as proposed by the Chief Minister.
DECIPHER IT





THE praise of Indias smart foreign policy, improved economy, better social governance appearing in Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times needs to be deciphered with caution. For, when such a praise arrives on the plate unexpectedly -- from the Chinese quarters -- it needs to taken with a pinch of salt and understood in depth before saying thanks. For, the newspaper that took pains in hiding the number of actual Chinese deaths in the skirmish between the Chinese and the Indian soldiers in Galwan four years ago, cannot be expected to be open about heaping praise on India on several counts without having some agenda that it may shy away from stating (for obvious reasons). No matter that, for the average Indians, this positive comment from the official Chinese media marks an appreciation of what the country has achieved thanks to its proactive approach to creating what the Global Times called Bharat narrative. Bharat narrative is not just a political slogan. It is, on the contrary, a serious effort to craft the true story of India in the current scenario -- from the Indian perspective beyond any non-Indian influence. For whatever reasons, the Global Times has preferred to state that in its article penned by a notable person -- Zhang Jiadong -- who happens to be the Director of the Centre for South Asian Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

The author has showered encomiums on India for its proactive approach to build what has been described as Bharat narrative. Possibly, the author is conscious of Indias domestic atmosphere loaded in favour of Bharat narrative -- being promoted or promulgated by many intellectuals and scholars of internal and international public affairs. From the media reports, it can be inferred safely that the article may be an attempt by the Chinese leadership to extend a hand of welcome to India -- particularly against the background of international reports that China is doing badly on several fronts, including the economy, in the past couple of years. Various such possibilities can be thought of by way of an open-minded interpretation or analysis of the possible Chinese intentions. No matter all those different nuances of the analytical exercise, India must officially try to go beyond the obvious while interpreting the Global Times article before it chooses to make whatever alterations in its stance vis-a-vis China. There is no doubt that New Delhi will never miss the reality that the Chinese are a tough proposition to contend with from different angles and therefore should be taken seriously.

Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar had hinted at such a cautious approach while dealing with China, just a few days ago. He had suggested, in effect, that the Indian response to any Chinese move must be complex and must encompass a wide range of possibilities whose interplay may have a profound effect on India-China relations. When a seasoned diplomat and fierce patriot like Dr. Jaishankar says something on these lines, he must be taken in complete seriousness by the whole nation and the world. The current international realpolitik has been slowly but surely begun to raise issues about integrity and transparency of various Chinese positions on different matters. No matter the fact it is plush with a lot of cash, the Chinese economy also is known to be taking hits in the global marketplace for various reasons. In such a situation, it is quite possible that the Chinese leadership may be wanting to extend a friendly hand to its Indian counterpart. But even these are only superficial ideations. Deep down, the Chinese may be playing a deep game about which the Indians will have to be extremely cautious.
YAOUNDE, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cameroonian President Paul Biya on Friday stressed the importance of resolving disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, urging the creation of a conducive environment for global security.

Biya made the remarks in the capital city of Yaounde during a traditional annual ceremony attended by top government officials and diplomatic corps to extend New Year wishes.

The world is plagued by numerous conflicts and tensions that are threatening international peace and security, Biya said, expressing regrets about the negative impacts of the conflicts on the development of many countries.

"It is therefore imperative that the path of dialogue and conciliation takes precedence over confrontation and brazenness," he said. 
ED raids Baramati Agro Company of Rohit Pawar





MUMBAI,

THE Enforcement Directorate on Friday searched the premises of a company owned by MLA Rohit Pawar, the grand nephew of Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Pawar, and its linked entities as part of a probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, official sources said. At least six locations in Baramati, Pune, Pimpri and Aurangabad are being searched, they said. The office of Baramati Agro in Baramati town is also being covered. Rohit Pawar (38) is a first-time MLA from the Karjat-Jamkhed seat in Maharashtra and is the owner and CEO of Baramati Agro. He belongs to the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Rohit Pawar is the nephew of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar -- the States Deputy Chief Minister and Baramati MLA. The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank money laundering case stems from an August 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Polices Economic Offences Wing.

The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar Group), reacting to the raids, said Rohit Pawars just concluded Yuva Sangharsh Yatra has hit a nerve and made the BJP insecure, The MLA, currently abroad on a family vacation, had undertaken a foot march from Pune to Nagpur late last year to highlight the issues faced by youngsters in Maharashtra. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe against his firm pertains to allegations of diversion of funds and deposit of earnest funds of a company that bid for the purchase of a Maharashtra-based ailing cooperative sugar factory, the sources said. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya demanded an expeditious probe into the acquisition of a cooperative sugar factory by Baramati Agro. The former MP said in a post on X, We requested the ED to investigate the acquisition of Kannad cooperative sugar factory by Rohit Pawars Baramati Agro at a very much under-valued price of Rs 50 crore through manipulated auction of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. The police complaint came after Bombay High Court issued an order on August 22, 2019, to investigate the allegations of selling sugar factories in the Maharashtra cooperative sector through alleged fraudulent means and also that they were sold at throwaway prices.
High-level panel to make plan for time-bound encroachment removal





Staff Reporter

In response to the High Court directions in the public interest litigation (PIL) over Ambazari floods of September 2023, the Urban Development Department (UDD) of State Government has constituted a high-level committee headed by Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur, to chalk out a time-bound plan for removal of encroachments posing hurdle in smooth flow of Naag river. The committee has been tasked with chalking out the said plan by January 12, 2024, that is, in a weeks time, and submit the affidavit in the High Court in this regard. Another task of the committee is taking action in accordance with the State Governments directions from time to time. The committee has been constituted in response to the directions of the High Court on March 21, 2018 and December 21, 2023 in separate PILs. The floods in September 2023 had led to extensive damage to houses, shops, cinema halls, schools, hospitals, and many more. The committee headed by Divisional Commissioner, Nagpur, has the Municipal Commissioner of Nagpur as Member Secretary. The other members of this high-level panel comprise District Collector, Chairman of Nagpur Improvement Trust, Managing Director of Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, Regional Officer of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Chief Engineer of Water Resources Department, Director of Disaster Management Cell, Chairman of Heritage Conservation Committee of Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Managing Directoor of Maharashtra Engineering Research Institute (Nashik), and Director of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.

The Government Resolution in this regard was signed by Vidya Ramappa Hampayya, Deputy Secretary of UDD, and issued on Friday. Apart from the authorities drafted as members of the committee, the Advocate General of Maharashtra also was informed about the development. Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court had issued directions on March 21, 2018 regarding strengthening of Ambazari dam while hearing a PIL. However, as its directions were not complied with, another PIL was filed last year in the aftermath of heavy rains and flooding on September 23. While hearing the new PIL, the High Court directed the Government on December 6, 2023 to submit an affidavit regarding the measures taken. The High Court had expressed serious concern over the delay in strengthening and revitalisation of Ambazari lake. The Court had questioned as to why the ambitious Ambazari Lake Plan initiated in 2018 had not been completed within the stipulated time of five years.
Irregularities in paddy procurement: BKS protests at Patan, Majholi





Staff Reporter

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) has started protest and demonstration against irregularities in paddy procurement and exploitation of farmers in tehsil headquarters of Patan and Majholi areas. Members of Kisan Sangh charged that even after conducting several rounds of meetings and discussions with the administrative officers, the district administration has failed in removing irregularities in paddy procurement and providing necessary relief to the farmers. According to their 48-hours ultimatum to the District Administration, members of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh started demonstration in Patan and Majholi to press their 15 point demands before the District Administration and State Government.

Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, District President, Mohan Tiwari even after informing the district administration, paddy is being stocked under open sky amidst the weather forecast for rains. Paddy procurement is being carried out with snail pace which leads to long delay in transportation and stocking of paddy. Patan tehsil, President, Ramkrishna Soni informed that in case of not solving their problems, farmers will stage demonstration at Collectorate with their crops.

Through the demonstration, farmers are pressing their 15-demands include increasing numbers of procurement centres, removing server problem in slot booking, early transportation and storage of procured paddy crops, arrangement for purchasing of crops stocked at blacklisted warehouses, surprise inspection by Collector or SDM level officer at procurement centres, stopping commission in the name of FAQ, control room for solving procurement problems, regular checking of weighing centres, prompt payment of pulses procurement to farmers, increasing procurement date upto January 30, proper management for protection of procured crops during rains, ensuring availability of sacks at procurement centres, solving name change and other cases of farmers and distribution of compensation for damaged crops. During the demonstration, publicity in-charge, Raghvendra Singh Patel, State Vice-president, Omnarayan Pachori, District President, Mohan Tiwari, Vice-president, Damodar Patel, Vivek Bahure, Rajkumar Bajpai, Sunil Patel, Ramkrishna Soni and farmers were present.
NEW DELHI,

INDIAN Navys elite marine commandos on Friday rescued 21 crew members including 15 Indians from a bulk carrier in the North Arabian Sea and sanitised it in a swift operation while responding to attempted hijacking of the Liberian-flagged vessel by around five-six armed personnel. The Navy deployed a warship, maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and P-8I and long-range aircraft and Predator MQ9B drones following the incident involving MV Lila Norfolk. All 21 crew including 15 Indians onboard the vessel were safely evacuated from the citadel, Indian Navys spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said. Sanitisation by MARCOs commandos has confirmed the absence of the hijackers. The attempt of hijacking by the pirates was probably abandoned with the forceful warning by Indian Navys maritime patrol aircraft of interception by naval warship, he said. Madhwal said, Indian ship INS Chennai is in the vicinity of MV Lila Norfolk and it is rendering support to restore the power generation and propulsion in the vessel besides assisting her commence voyage to next port of call. Earlier in the day, the Navy diverted frontline warship INS Chennai from her anti piracy patrol and it intercepted the hijacked vessel at 3:15 pm. The vessel was kept under continuous surveillance using maritime patrol aircraft P8I and Predator MQ9B drones. The Indian Navys marine commandos present onboard the mission deployed warship boarded the merchant vessel and have carried out the sanitisation operation, Madhwal said.

MV Lila Norfolk sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal indicating that five to six unknown armed personnel boarded the vessel on Thursday evening. Earlier, the Navy said the overall situation is being closely monitored in coordination with other maritime agencies in the region. The hijacking incident comes amid growing concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Navy had earlier said it was responding swiftly to the developing situation and deployed a maritime patrol aircraft and diverted INS Chennai for security of MV Lila Norfolk. Responding swiftly to the developing situation, Indian Navy launched a maritime patrol aircraft and has diverted INS Chennai deployed for maritime security operations to assist the vessel, it said in a statement. The aircraft overflew the vessel early Friday morning and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew, it said The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries, the Navy said.

The UKMTO is a British military organisation that tracks movements of various vessels in strategic waterways.

The cargo vessel belonged to Lila Global and the companys CEO Steve Kunzer said the crew of Lila Norfolk have been successfully rescued by the Indian Navy ship INS Chennai. The vessel and crew are all safe. We want to thank the Agencies that assisted in their rescue, in particular the Indian Navy, Capt Rohit Bajpai, Director IFC-IOR and the officials of DG Shipping, he said in a statement. We also want to thank the professionalism of our crew who reacted safely and responsibly under the circumstances, he said. The Indian Navys IFC IOR (Information Fusion Centre ? Indian Ocean Region) keeps track of the shipping traffic as well as other critical developments in the region. The fresh incident is among a series of such maritime incidents witnessed in the strategic waters in the last few weeks.
Preparations for LS polls have begun: Patwari





Staff Reporter

President, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, Jitu Patwari, during his brief visit to the city, on Friday strongly criticised the State Government. He said by forgetting results of Assembly elections, Congress has already begun preparations for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. A crucial meeting of senior party leaders is scheduled for January 6, 7 and 8 in Bhopal. Numerous appointments are expected in the next three days, he informed. n an informal talk with media, Patwari said there was no one during the assembly elections who predicted the formation of Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state. Regardless of media surveys or political pundits opinions, the surprising election results came and the mandate is acknowledged. Patwari urged the government to fulfill the promises made to the public or else, the Congress party would stand against the government while fulfilling its duties.

During his visit to Jabalpur, Patwari informed that the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra programme initiated by Congress in Delhi would continue in 9 districts of Madhya Pradesh. Tens of thousands of party workers will take part in the event. Patwari said the recently held Cabinet meeting in Jabalpur was the first meeting after the departmental divisions. On the same day, it was disclosed that the state government would incur a debt of Rs 28,500 crores between January and March, adding to the existing financial burden.

Patwari criticized Chief Minister, Mohan Yadav stating that despite terming their partys manifesto the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana and pledged for adherence to its principles during the assembly session, the government did not implement a single word. He said a strong democracy works well with a competent opposition and a good opposition collaborates with the media. Therefore, he urged the media to support the Congress. Replying to a query about potential changes in the Pradesh Congress, Patwari said with a new method, a new tradition also emerges. The directive is to make the state organization more youthful. Contrary to past beliefs about factions within the Congress, Patwari said there are no factions, everyone will work together, ensuring victory at all Lok Sabha seats.
State Govt mulling over for all police personnel





By Dheeraj Fartode

After successful implementation of eight-hour shifts for women police personnel, Maharashtra police is now contemplating to extend the same arrangement to their male counterparts. The initiative is part of an ongoing effort by the Director General of Police (DGP) office to optimise human resource management within the force. The process for this prospective decision has already been set in motion as the DGP office sought comprehensive feedback and observations on the matter. In pursuit of refining the management of police personnel, the DGP office dispatched a letter to the police units which outlined a series of eight proper questions. These queries address various aspects, including the welfare of police personnel, the current working hours and nature of duties performed by officers and the benefits extended to those unable to fulfill an eight-hour duty, such as additional leave or leave cashing. The questionnaire also examines the demand for eight-hour shifts and the feasibility of implementing them without compromising the manpower dedicated to police station duties.

In the letter issued to all police unit, the DGP office said, We are evaluating the need for a policy decision from both the welfare perspective of police personnel and the insistence of public representatives. Gathering data on the working hours and nature of duties performed by Police Officers/Enforcers in relation to the sanctioned and actual number of personnel in the unit, the letter stated. The core questions are -- Identify the benefits provided to Police Officers/Enforcers due to their inability to fulfill eight-hour duties. Explore the feasibility of assigning eight-hour shifts to police officers/enforcers without reducing manpower for police station duties. It also sought feedback on the challenges and justifications, if any, for not implementing eight-hour shifts, considering factors such as manpower, duty requirements, and the law and order situation. The letter sought information about difficulties experienced by women police constables due to the eight-hour duty policy and requested detailed information on the same. Provide practical information to police officers/officials working in police stations to facilitate the implementation of eight-hour shifts with aspects like recruitment, post creation, equipment, and duty planning, it said.
TMC workers assault ED officers in WB





KOLKATA,

ENFORCEMENT Directorate (ED) officers were attacked by the loyalists of a TMC leader during a raid in West Bengal, triggering a political showdown with Opposition baying for the imposition of Presidents Rule and Governor C V Ananda Bose signalling his intent to explore constitutional options and take appropriate action. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has characterised the incident at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district as a direct assault on the federal structure, leading to an urgent call from the Congress for the imposition of Presidents Rule. The ruling TMC, however, rejected the charges and accused the central agency officials of inciting locals. The incident occurred when ED officers executed a raid on the residence of TMC leader Sheikh Sajahan, where they faced attacks from his supporters, resulting in substantial damage to both officers and their vehicles. Sajahan is considered to be a close aide of State Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick who was arrested in connection with multi-crore ration distribution scam. This operation was a crucial aspect of the agencys ongoing probe into the multi-crore ration distribution scam.

A large number of TMC loyalists assaulted ED officials and central forces personnel during the raid, forcing the officers to abandon their damaged vehicles and seek refuge in auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers. The ED said three of its officers suffered grievous injuries in the mob attack and their personal belongings such as mobile phones and wallets were snatched. This kind of attack is unprecedented. We have sent a report on Shiekh Sajahan to our Delhi office, the ED officer told PTI. The episode drew sharp criticism from the Governor also, who slammed the State Government for its inability to contain the turmoil in Sandeshkhali. The ghastly incident in Sandeshkhali is alarming and deplorable. Its the duty of a civilised Government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. As a Governor, I explore all my Constitutional options for appropriate action in the appropriate manner, Bose said in a voice message released from the Raj Bhawan. He asserted that West Bengal is not a banana republic. Government may better open its eyes and see the reality and act effectively or face the consequences. The ostrich-like attitude of the police pretending not to see the lawlessness around should go, Bose said in an audio statement. The incident triggered a political storm in West Bengal, with Opposition parties criticising the deteriorating law and order situation.
Train operations come to a standstill Controllers death sparks outrage at CRs Ngp Divn





Staff Reporter

Train movement in heart of the country at Central Railways Nagpur Division came to standstill on Friday for nearly three hours after the staff walked out in protest over the death of a colleague due to alleged medical negligence. Sunil Nitnaware, a Controller, was admitted at Divisional Railway Hospital for operation of wrist and he died after the operation, triggering impromptu protest by the railway personnel. Angry employees staged protest at the hospital forcing Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Tushar Kant Pandey to rush out and pacify the situation. All the staff from Operations Control, Traction Distribution Department, Electrical, Signal & Telecommunication and Commercial Control moved out of office and assembled at the DRM office complex, joining their colleagues in protest. The scene at hospital was quite tense as Nitnawares untimely death sparked an outrage among the employees whose pent-up feelings came to fore as there had been talk of medical negligence since long.

A jolly and popular fellow, Nitnaware, as per doctors claim, suffered cardiac arrest and died in the hospital. Union office bearers however claimed that overdose of anaesthesia caused medical complications that ultimately cut short life of Nitnaware. The staffer was a Guard, currently posted as a Controller at Operations Control and was known for his efficient handling of train operations. Habib Khan, Working President, National Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU), and Virendra Singh, Divisional President, Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS), were at the forefront, leading the agitation. Manoj Choithani, Divisional President, NRMU, and Branch Secretary, Operating Control, NRMU, too joined the agitation as Nitnawares death on Friday evening left everyone stunned. The angry employees assembled in large numbers at Divisional Railway Hospital in the evening hours. Nitnawares died at 4.30 pm and as word spread, employees gathered and resorted to raising slogans against railway administration. The family members of Nitnaware were shell shocked, especially his wife. The sudden turn of events caused distress and employees claimed the hospital lacked necessary facilities for better patient care. And as to medical staff, the doctors and the employees say The less said, the better, though they said some among them are quite professional.
AMMAN, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Jordanian Armed Forces said it arrested several drug smugglers in an armed clash at the borders with Syria on Saturday.

Several smugglers were injured and arrested during the clash with the Jordanian border guards. Those smugglers, coming from Syria, were attempting to bring in large quantities of drugs and weapons into Jordan, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

For years, Jordan has been a main transit route of illegal drugs from Syria into the Gulf states.

In recent days, Jordan has ramped up its effort to combat illegal drug trafficking. On Friday, Jordan conducted two airstrikes targeting drug traffickers.

In December, Jordan killed and wounded several smugglers during clashes on its northern borders, and seized 4.9 million Captagon pills and 12,858 kilograms of hashish. 
TEHRAN, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of twin bombing attacks in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman has risen to 92, according to local media reports on Saturday.

The rise was due to the deaths of three injured, including two young students and a 60-year-old man, at the hospital, the reports said.

The two explosions occurred on Wednesday near the tomb of Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani, where thousands of people had gathered to honor the late commander, who was assassinated in a U.S. drone attack on Jan. 3, 2020.

Over 100 injured in the blasts were still hospitalized in Kerman, of which more than 30 were in intensive care units and critical condition, said Mohammad Saberi, head of the provincial emergency organization.

The Islamic State (IS) group on Thursday claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying that two of its suicide bombers used explosive belts in the "operations," in which a total of 284 people were injured.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said on Friday it had arrested 11 people in six provinces for suspected involvement in the deadly bombings, adding one of the two "suicide terrorists" was a Tajik and the identity of the other had not been determined yet.

The incident marked one of the deadliest attacks on Iran in decades. 
TEHRAN, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Saturday took delivery of a new domestically-developed high-speed patrol warship as well as 100 homegrown vessels capable of launching missiles, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The new vessels, along with some other military gears, joined the IRGC's naval fleet in a ceremony in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, which was attended by IRGC's Chief Commander Hossein Salami and Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri, the report said.

According to Fars, the patrol warship has been named after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi commander who was killed alongside Iran's Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on Jan. 3, 2020.

The report said among the other military watercraft that joined the IRGC Navy were four Zolfaqar vessels, five Ashura-class vessels equipped with Kowsar medium-range anti-ship missiles, nine Mersad-class reconnaissance vessels, one fireboat and one Tareq-class vessel that was capable of launching missiles with a range of 180 kilometers.

Some of the delivered military gears were missile launcher vehicles and mortars, it added.

Tangsiri noted that running on four homegrown propulsion systems, the warship was capable of reaching a speed of over 37 knots, had a 14-day naval endurance, and could sail within a radius of 2,000 nautical miles without being detected by enemy radars.

The warship could also hit hostile targets with surface-to-surface cruise missiles within a range of 35-750 kilometers. 
During a briefing, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, responding to a question that Moscow has urged foreign governments not to interfere in the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, said that Russia is not preventing the United States from carrying out important diplomatic efforts to normalise relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azernews reports.

"Russia is in no way preventing us from pursuing the important diplomatic efforts that we believe are necessary for Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we will continue to pursue them," Miller said.

Referring to the possible next meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the US, he emphasised that Washington will make a statement when the meeting is scheduled.
DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Tanzanian government has expressed its commitment to enhancing Tanzanian participation in mining activities, the state-owned newspaper Daily News reported on Saturday.

To push forward the goal, the government is on its way to implementing effective strategies, which include increasing the involvement of locals in providing services and supplying products, as well as linking the mining sector with other key economic sectors, said the newspaper.

During a meeting with mining stakeholders and service providers held in the northern city of Mwanza on Friday, Minister of Minerals Anthony Mavunde announced that his ministry intends to conduct a comprehensive national mineral survey to eliminate speculative mining, attract more investment in the mining sector, and encourage the presence of larger mining companies, according to the newspaper.

This will create more opportunities for local service providers and increase Tanzanian participation in the sector, the newspaper quoted Mavunde as saying. 
LILONGWE, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Malawi Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said Friday the country needs about 6 million U.S. dollars to cover the deficit of its cholera preparedness and response plan for November 2023 - October 2024.

The minister disclosed this when she updated the nation on the situation of the cholera outbreak, which she said remains "very low and sporadic" but the country still cannot relax.

She said the total budget for the cholera epidemic preparedness and response plan is 18.23 million dollars, with only 12.27 million dollars available and a financing gap of 5.96 million dollars.

Chiponda has since requested partners to assist in addressing the gap to enable the country to secure essential supplies for the control of cholera.

According to the minister, since the country declared cholera no longer a national public health emergency in August, Malawi has been reporting sporadic cases and very few deaths.

Chiponda described the current cholera situation as "far much better" compared to the situation in 2022.

Among other efforts, Malawi administered more than 5 million doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine, covering more than two-thirds of the targeted population in the hotspot areas. 
Election materials including ballot boxes are seen at a polling center in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 6, 2024. Bangladesh is all set for Sunday's general elections in which about 120 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at over 42,000 polling stations across the country. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh is all set for Sunday's general elections in which about 120 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at over 42,000 polling stations across the country.

The Election Commission (EC) Saturday started handing over election materials, including ballot boxes and other materials, to designated election officers across the country.

The voting will start at 8:00 a.m. local time on Sunday and will continue without a break until 4:00 p.m. local time.

A senior EC official who did not like to be named told Xinhua that "all preparations have been completed for the 12th national parliamentary elections." He said all the polling officers and the security personnel deputed for the elections duty have reached the polling stations.

In Dhaka, the commission arranged 15 distribution centers for 15 constituencies.

Sabirul Islam, EC's divisional commissioner and returning officer, told journalists that the distribution of election materials has started from these centers.

He said a total of 5,633,922 voters can cast their ballots for 126 candidates at 2,099 polling centers in Dhaka for the 15 parliamentary seats.

According to officials, the commission is committed to ensuring free and fair elections for the people. For that purpose, they said sufficient law and order forces are being deployed on the polling day to ensure security. 

Election materials including ballot boxes are seen at a polling center in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 6, 2024. Bangladesh is all set for Sunday's general elections in which about 120 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at over 42,000 polling stations across the country. (Xinhua)

Staff members transfer ballot boxes to a polling center in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 6, 2024. Bangladesh is all set for Sunday's general elections in which about 120 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at over 42,000 polling stations across the country. (Xinhua)

Election materials including ballot boxes are seen at a polling center in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 6, 2024. Bangladesh is all set for Sunday's general elections in which about 120 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at over 42,000 polling stations across the country. (Xinhua)

Staff members do preparation work at a polling center in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 6, 2024. Bangladesh is all set for Sunday's general elections in which about 120 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at over 42,000 polling stations across the country. (Xinhua)
BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Central Military Commission (CMC) has honored nine military units and 20 individuals for outstanding performance in military training, according to an official circular.

The CMC circular called on the armed forces to follow the example set by these units and individuals, place military training in a strategic position in their work, and consider it to be their central task.

The armed forces should strengthen realistic and joint training, improve training with a scientific approach and manage it in accordance with the law. They should do this to fulfill the missions and tasks of the new era that have been entrusted to them by the Party and the people, and to achieve the centenary goal of the People's Liberation Army. 
The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested a key member and sharpshooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi and Kala Rana syndicate, officials said on Saturday.

The accused was newly recruited into the gang through social media platform by the gangsters Kala Rana and Bhanu Rana, they said.

The apprehended gang member was allegedly tasked to execute criminal activities across the national capital, a senior police official said.

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The accused has been identified as Pradeep Singh, and the Special Cell team has recovered two semi- automatic pistols and nine live rounds of ammunition from his possession.

The accused was apprehended from Rohinis sector 23 in Delhi on Wednesday, after an input was received by the police over his arrival in the area to meet other associates.

A case has been registered in this regard as per appropriate sections of law against the gang associate, the police said.

The Special Cells northern range has been assigned the task of apprehending the hardcore criminals and sharpshooters of such organised crime syndicates involved in sensational cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, carjacking and other crimes across Delhi and adjoining states.

The Cells team keeps a constant watch over the activities of such syndicates.

During interrogation, it was revealed that Pradeep Singh is a resident of Pauri Garhwal, Uttrakhand, and his father runs a grocery shop in his native village.

In August 2023, he started following Kala Rana on Instagram and sent him messages saying that he was willing to join his gang for fame, the police said.

Thereafter, in September 2023, he started communicating with Bhanu Rana through the Signal App on the directions of Kala Rana, a police official said.

Finally, on December 30 last year, Bhanu Rana allegedly tasked him to commit a targeted crime in Delhi along with other associates in the next 7-8 days for which some more people would meet him in the national capital, while the target details would be shared later.

According to police, accused Pradeep is a new entrant in the world of crime and was awestruck by the notoriety of gangsters and wanted to climb up in the ranks by executing any orders given by his crime bosses.

Further investigation is in progress, the police added.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Arvinder Singh Lovely on Saturday constituted a Bhagidari Cell with Ashok Bhasin as the chairman, in a bid to solve problems of the people residing in the city.

The Bhagidari Cell will work in coordination with the residents welfare associations (RWAs) to find solutions to the problems and grievances of the people. When Congress was in power, the Bhagidari Cell was constituted to coordinate with the RWAs to solve the problems of the people. Now that Congress was not in power, the Bhagidari Cell was constituted at the DPCC level to find solutions to the peoples problems, Lovely said.

The Delhi Congress chief also announced the setting up of a war room at the DPCC office for the Lok Sabha elections, with Rajesh Garg as chairman and Rajiv Sharma as the co-chairman.

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He said that the Congress will draw up a roadmap to strengthen the party at the ground level to face the general elections.

In the 2019 general elections, the grand old party drew a blank in Delhi.
Bratyabrata Basu Roy Chowdhury, better known as Bratya Basu is a familiar name in Bengali households. Before he became a politician in 2011, joining Mamata Banerjees Trinamool which swept to power in the Assembly elections that year, and subsequently becoming MLA and cabinet minister with important charges, he had created waves in Bengals theatre world with his iconoclastic and anti-estab- lishment plays. Playwright, director and actor, Basu is, of course also an international award-winning film- maker, whose latest film Hubba is ready to be released on January 19. In a sit-down interview with The Statesmans Dola Mitra, the incumbent Education Minister talks about his new movie, the challenges that his department is facing and other topics, revealing how he straddles his professional, political duties and his passion for theatre and cinema with aplomb.

Q: Your new film Hubba is releasing on January 19. The trailers are spinechilling, replete with vio- lent, gory scenes. How far is it a polit- ical insiders account of the notori- ous nexus that allegedly exists between power and the underworld?

A: Hubba is based on the life of the dreaded gangster Hubba Shyamal who was also known as the Dawood Ibrahim of the Hooghly. He thrived for a brief period during the former Communist regime and my film is set in those dark times. It is a political film, exposing and critiquing the murky underbelly of criminal nexuses but it is also a satire which is reflected in the humorous dialogues, especially in the way that the characters spew raw swearwords in the Bengali lan- guage.

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Q: As West Bengal Education Minister, with all your departmental work and responsibilities, how do you find the time to shoot, edit and of course, direct a movie?

A: Theatre was always my first pas- sion. Cinema too followed. I was a thespian long before I became a politician. However, to me politics and theatre or cinema are not mutu- ally exclusive. It is not difficult to straddle both because they overlap and I am able to dedicate an equal amount of time to each. I can spend the entire day doing my departmental work and then stay up all night work- ing on my writing, my scripts. In fact, I dont think I will be able to survive without my creative pursuits. Theatre and cinema are like oxygen to me. And in my experience my political or ministerial responsibilities do not deter me from following my creative passion.

Q: The Education Ministry is cur- rently riddled with different chal- lenges, from teachers who are protesting on the streets of the city to the out and out war of words with the Governor of the state on issues ranging from appointments of the Vice Chancellor to structural changes in the system. How do you intend to deal with all these prob- lems?

A: We are already dealing with the problems, the different issues. But the problems plaguing the educational system are not necessarily new ones which have just cropped up during this regime. Most of the problems have been passed down to us and we have inherited them. These are chron- ic problems since the time of the ear- lier, Communist regime and it will take time to redress them. There has to be a holistic solution, rather than kneejerk reactions. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken the ini- tiative to address the different prob- lems and has introduced new legisla- tion. (This includes giving rights to the state government to appoint a Vice Chancellor which was earlier only the jurisdiction of the Governor as Chan- cellor of Universities). If anyone has concerns about these, there is a prop- er way to deal with it instead of direct- ly trying to flout the state govern- ments ordinances and engaging in a war of words. As for the issue con- cerning the teachers protests, Tri- namool All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has already addressed them and has reassured them of a solution at the earliest.

Q: In fact, clearly, you are often brought in to handle situations in difficult times. You were Tourism minister during the transition of Jan- glemahal from a Maoist-affected zone back to a popular tourist spot.

A: I am grateful that I have been given a comparatively free hand to deal with problems. The decisions of course are taken with much deliberation and dis- cussion. However, I think that the charges given to different individuals depend on their ability to handle the responsibilities and emerging difficul- ties.

Q: The Parliamentary elections are coming up later this year. One of the Education Ministrys achieve- ments has been to introduce under- represented languages into the school syllabuses, such as Alchiki. Do you anticipate this step to likely ease political tensions in certain regions where there has been dissent about language and identity?

A: This is expected to significantly ease tensions related to language and identity because it addresses the dis- sent at its core. For instance, if a stu- dent of North Bengal whose mother tongue is not Bengali, Hindi or Eng- lish, is forced to study those languages and in those languages only as the main language, it is bound to trigger dissent. The Trinamool government, true to its name, has been working on the grassroots to identify the real issues of the people. We have been addressing these issues and the elec- tion results ever since 2011 is a reflec- tion of how it has impacted the elec- torate.

Q: You have flushed your own constituency, Dum Dum, in North Kolkata, with a plethora of cultural programmes. Each winter, since you took charge as the areas MLA, there are theatre festivals such as the open air Muktodhara festival, book fairs, musical programs and other cultural events. There appears to be more motivation behind this than just pas- sion for theatre.

A: Exactly. The cultural events provide platforms to creative people in the districts across Bengal to showcase their talents and be appreciated for their craft. We have revived the dying arts and have injected life into disap- pearing art forms through state patronage. The Trinamool govern- ments emphasis on highlighting and bringing out of oblivion the cottage industries and lost traditions has helped hundreds and thousands of artists, folk dancers, musicians and the like to reignite their art. The Muk- todhara Theatre Festival which took place in Dum Dum from December 22 to December 28 witnessed the showcasing of plays from 16 different districts. The people of Bengal dont want to remain contented only with the very rudimentary food, clothing, housing, water, electricity, etc. These are the basic necessities. Culture is in the blood of the people of Bengal and the expectation, even if tacit, from their elected representative is that these needs too would be met.

Q: Finally, your comments on the INDIA alliance?

A: I would not like to comment on this because this is being worked out at the national level and I am fully con- centrated on the work here in Bengal.
The BJP is planning a nationwide live telecast of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in UPs Ayodhya, which is scheduled to take place on January 22, party sources said.

In this regard, the workers of the saffron party have been asked to make arrangements at the booth level across the country in a bid to make the common people witness the consecration ceremony, sources said.

The sources further said, as part of the arrangements, they have been asked to set up large screens for the live telecast on the auspicious day.

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They have been encouraged to engage in social work on a personal level to mark the occasion, added sources.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the consecration ceremony besides Union Ministers, state Chief Ministers, VVIPs, leaders from political parties etc.

Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a program informed that the Prime Minister will visit Ayodhya on January 22 and perform the consecration of Ram Lala in the presence of saints.

Arrangements are being made for 10,000 to 15,000 people, as per the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Trust.

Notably, earlier in the day, Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said he received the invitation of the consecration ceremony and he will make a decision on it at the earliest.

Kharge made the statement in response to a question whether he will attend the consecration ceremony.
In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, in a supplementary chargesheet filed on January 1, 2024.

The chargesheet is related to allegations of receiving bribes amounting to approximately Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev App.

As per the ED chargesheet, Mahadev App promoter and accused Subham Soni made startling revelations during the investigation.

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The chargesheet includes names of several other accused individuals, including Subham Soni, Anil Kumar Agrawal alias Atul Agrawal, Rohit Gulati, Bhim Singh Yadav, and Asim Das.

The supplementary chargesheet was filed before the special court for PMLA cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at Raipur, Chhattisgarh on January 1, 2024.

According to the ED, Asim Das, in his statement, disclosed that Subham Soni, a prominent figure in Mahadev Online Book, instructed him to deliver a substantial amount of cash to Bhupesh Baghel.

The chargesheet points out that Das was called to Dubai by Soni on October 25, 2023, and was provided with cash to be delivered to Baghel. A voice message recovered from Dass phone further strengthens the claims, where Soni instructs him to deliver 8-10 crore rupees to Baghel upon returning to India.

The supplementary chargesheet reveals that on November 2, 2023, the ED intercepted Asim Das and seized cash amounting to Rs 5.39 crore from his premises.

This cash was allegedly being moved by Mahadev App promoters to a select politician in Chhattisgarh, as per ED statements. Das admitted that he was tasked by Subham Soni to deliver the cash to Bhupesh Baghel.

Subham Sonis email correspondence and statements from other witnesses, including Chandrabhushan Verma, indicate that Bhim Singh Yadav acted as a conduit for Mahadev Online Book in the payment of liaisoning money.

Bhim Singh Yadavs involvement in the delivery of the liaisoning money was previously disclosed by Chandrabhushan Verma in his statement recorded under section 50 of PMLA, 2002.
The High Level Committee on One Nation, One Election (HLC) constituted under the chairpersonship of former President Ram Nath Kovind to examine issues relating to holding of simultaneous elections in the country and to make recommendations thereon, has invited public suggestions on the issue.

Notice for inviting suggestions from members of the general public for making appropriate changes in the existing legal administrative framework to enable simultaneous elections in the country, stated the notice. The suggestions can be posted on the committees website, onoe.gov.in or sent by email to sc-hlc@gov.in.

Members of the general public can send their suggestions in writing for making appropriate changes in the existing legal administrative framework to enable the simultaneous elections in the country. All suggestions received by 15 January, 2024, will be placed before the Committee for its consideration, the notice said.

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The Committee earlier wrote to six national parties, 33 State parties and seven registered unrecognised parties inviting their suggestions on the One Nation One Election issue.

At the previous meeting, the Law Commission of India made a presentation elaborating its suggestions and viewpoints on the issue.

The High-Level Committee held its meeting under the chairmanship of the former President, and it was attended by Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah; Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal; former Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad; former Chairman, 15th Finance Commission N K Singh; former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, and former Central Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Senior Advocate Harish Salve joined the meeting virtually.

The One Nation, One Election committee was constituted through a notification dated 20 September, 2023.

As per the Terms of Reference, the Committee was required to make recommendations for creation of an appropriate legal and administrative framework for holding simultaneous elections on a permanent basis, identification of necessary amendments to the Constitution and related election laws, preparation of common electoral rolls, logistics such as EVMS/VVPATS, etc.
This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2024 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. On Saturday, the United States marked the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

by Xiong Maoling, Sun Ding, Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- As the United States marks the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building, questions linger about how it happened, who is responsible, and how it would continue to shape U.S. politics.

With the upcoming presidential election, the Capitol riot continues to fuel U.S. political turmoil amid an intensifying division between Democrats and Republicans, and could bring more chaos and turbulence.

STAIN ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, refused to concede to his Democratic opponent Joe Biden and repeatedly claimed that there was widespread election fraud. On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters violently broke into the Capitol building, and interrupted the certifying process of the 2020 presidential election, prompting hundreds of lawmakers to evacuate in panic.

"I think all of us, myself included, had images of a mass-shooting event," said Democratic Senator Peter Welch, former House representative who posted video updates on X, formerly twitter, as the chaos unfolded. "It was terrifying in the moment."

More than 1,200 individuals have been charged with federal crimes over the riot, with over 700 having pleaded guilty, making it one of the biggest criminal investigations in American history.

Trump was also charged with obstructing an official proceeding and three other counts stemming from his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The deadly attack, which killed five people and injured hundreds of police officers, is a "landmark stain" on American democracy, according to a CNN report published in June 2021.

"American democracy had near-death experience," and the country's air of invulnerability was shattered in the Capitol riot, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News reported in January 2022.

Over half of Americans, or 55 percent of respondents, noted the Capitol riot was an "attack on democracy that should never be forgotten," according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released this week.

GROWING PARTISAN DIVIDE

Three years on, the events of Jan. 6, 2021 are still a major point of contention between Democrats and Republicans, at a time of bitter partisan rivalry in Washington.

Democrats refer to the events as a serious attack on U.S. Democracy. They maintain that then-outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump's supporters -- at the behest of Trump himself -- engaged in an "insurrection" in a bid to disrupt the election process.

Republicans, meanwhile, contend that Jan. 6 was simply a protest that got out of hand, and Trump has been accusing Democrats of conducting a "witch hunt" against him.

Majorities of Democrats and independents believe the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was an attack on democracy, while more than 7 in 10 Republicans say that too much is being made of the attack and that it is "time to move on," according to the Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

Corey Greenburg, 52, an office worker in Washington, D.C., called the events of Jan. 6 an "outrage" and "insurgency," telling Xinhua that it threatened democracy.

Shauna Eland, 71, a retiree in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, told Xinhua that the events were merely a protest.

The Jan. 6 riot "created new dividing lines within the U.S. political class," Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua, adding that it's "a major test of the American system."

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The political fallout continues even three years later. Some U.S. states have pressed to keep Trump off the ballot in 2024, citing a constitutional provision that disallows anyone who had attempted to overthrow the government from holding office.

Colorado Supreme Court's ruling two weeks ago marked the first time a U.S. state court has agreed that Trump should be disqualified from the 2024 presidential election, citing the rarely used insurrection clause.

Trump on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the ruling, and the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider it, setting up a historic case ahead of the presidential election.

The riot, with divided views among voters, would be a factor in the upcoming presidential elections, according to observers.

The Jan. 6 events "will inevitably play a role this year" in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential elections, Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua.

If, as seems likely, Trump is the Republican nominee, Republican officials will have a powerful incentive to downplay Jan. 6 and embrace Trump, Galdieri said.

Noting that this was a winning issue for Democrats in 2022 in many swing states, Galdieri also expects it will be "a central part" of the Biden campaign's case against Trump.

Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, told Xinhua that the Capitol riot will continue to fuel U.S. political turmoil three years later, and he is concerned about more violence in this country.

"It has already begun," Cusack said, noting that some statehouses were falsely alerted to bomb or other threats last week. 

This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2024 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. On Saturday, the United States marked the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2024 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. On Saturday, the United States marked the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2024 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. On Saturday, the United States marked the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2024 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. On Saturday, the United States marked the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2024 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. On Saturday, the United States marked the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2024 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. On Saturday, the United States marked the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Raj Bhavan in Jaipur on Friday.

The Rajasthan Governor greeted PM Modi, who is on a visit to the desert state, with a flower bouquet. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma was present on the occasion.

PM Modi is in Jaipur to attend the 58th All India Conference of Director Generals and Inspector Generals of Police, which commenced on Friday.

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The three-day annual meet of top cops was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The conference is being held in hybrid mode with DGsP/IGsP and Chiefs of Central Police Organisations attending physically from Jaipur and over 500 police officers of various ranks participating through video conferencing from across the country.

The Union Home Minister distributed Police Medals for Meritorious Service to IB officers and awarded trophies for the three best police stations.

Shah paid homage to the martyrs from the Security Forces who had laid down their lives in the service of the nation and commemorated their supreme sacrifice. The Union Home Minister highlighted that in 2023 the nation has entered the Amrit Kal and stressed upon two important developments viz. the formulation of New Education Policy and enactment of three new Criminal Laws replacing British era laws.

He mentioned that the new laws are focused on delivery of justice instead of punishment and implementation of these laws would transform our criminal justice system as most modern and scientific. The Union Home Minister stressed the need for training from SHO to DGP level and technology upgradation from Thana to PHQ level for successful implementation of new laws. UHM also stressed the need for linking of databases and adopting AI driven analytical approach for tackling the emerging security challenges.

He pointed out an overall improvement in the security scenario in the country since 2014 especially the reduction of violence in the three critical hotspots, i.e, Jammu & Kashmir, North-East and Left Wing Extremism. He observed that this conference over the years has emerged as a Think Tank, facilitating decision-making and formulation of new security strategies. He emphasized on uniformity of structures, size and skill of counter terror mechanisms across the country.

The Union Home Minister also highlighted the role of internal security in realizing the Prime Ministers vision of India becoming a developed nation by 2047.

The Conference would deliberate on a range of security related issues of critical importance including security of borders, cyber-threats, radicalization, fraudulent issuance of identity documents and threats emerging from AI.
The Varanasi District Court has accepted the request of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) not to make public the sealed scientific survey report of the Gyanvapi complex for the next four weeks.

The court of Varanasi District Judge Dr Ajay Krishna Vishwesh on Saturday accepted the application of ASI in which the team had appealed not to make the report public for four weeks.

Early this week, the ASI had applied to the District Judges court asking that the survey report not be made public for 4 weeks as Allahabad High Court has also asked ASI to file a survey report in the pending case of the 1991 Lord Vishweshwar case.

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In such a situation, it will take time to prepare the second copy. Therefore, time should be given and the report should not be made public, the ASI pleaded before the Varanasi District Court.

The ASI had on December 19, submitted the survey report of Gyanvapi in two sealed envelopes in the court of District Judge Dr Ajay Krishna Vishwesh.

The demand for the report has been made not only by the Hindu but also the Muslim side. The Hindu side had requested a copy of the report immediately. The Muslim side had first objected and then asked for the report in their email.

Anjuman Intejamia Masajid Committee has filed an objection in the court of the District Judge. The committee requested that the survey report be given only after taking the affidavit. It should be ensured that the survey report will not be leaked. There has also been a demand to ban media coverage.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modis remark on the diplomatic gold smuggling case in his speech in Thrissur on Wednesday, targeting Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Congress leaders have asked him why didnt the Central government bring the state CMO under the scrutiny of probe agencies.

In an oblique reference to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans office, Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday said that everyone knew which office was behind the gold smuggling and that there was no need to hide it from anyone.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan on Saturday demanded to know why the Prime Minister spared the CMO, which according to him, was involved in the case.

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The Prime Minister and the BJP leadership in the state should reveal why the central agencies didnt bring the office of the Chief Minister under the purview of the probe, asked Satheesan.

Congress Kerala chief K Sudhakaran said the other day that instead of ordering a probe into the serious allegations against the Chief Ministers office, Prime Minister Modi is protecting Pinarayi Vijayan like the apple of his eye.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala asked why the Prime Minister, who knew about the epicentre of the gold smuggling in Kerala, was not taking action against those behind the serious anti- national activity.

CPI-M state secretary MV Govindan said that it was the failure of the Central government agencies that resulted in sabotaging the inquiry into the case. He added that the Central government is protecting the gold smuggling accused

Meanwhile, there are reports that resentment is brewing among the BJP workers in Kerala for the stance taken by the Central probe agencies on the serious allegations against Pinarayi Vijayan and his family.

Swapna Suresh, one of the accused in the gold smuggling case, alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members had links to the case.
In a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the situation in Manipur, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday asked Modi why he has not visited the strife-torn state.

Notably, hundreds of people lost their lives while thousands others were forced to take refuge in the relief camps following ethnic clashes erupting in the northeastern state on May 3, 2023. Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said the state is returning to normalcy.

Unfortunate incidents took place in Manipur. (Narendra) Modi ji goes everywhere and does photo sessions. He had a photo session of swimming, took photos at the ongoing temple construction site or went to Kerala and Mumbai. You can see his photos everywhere just like the darshan of God. Every morning you can see his photos after waking up .But, this mahapurush(great man) did not visit Manipur, Kharge said at a press conference at the party headquarters here, while apprising about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which is scheduled to kick-off from Manipurs Imphal on January 14, in an apparent reference to his recent visit to Ayodhya and Lakshadweep.

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Attacking the Prime Minister, he said, Why did not he go to Manipur where people are dying  ? Why is he not going there to inquire about their situation ? ? Isnt that a part of the country ? He has no compassion for Manipur.

Kharge reiterated that Manipur is a part of the country.

It may be mentioned that the Prime Minister has been facing criticism from the Opposition parties for not visiting the northeastern state. They have been accusing the BJP-led governments in the State as well as the Centre that it has failed to resolve the issue.

In July, 2023,Opposition MPs delegation from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) had visited Manipur.
It is a season of elections in South Asia. Bangladesh and Bhutan are set to conduct their general elec- tions this month, and Pakistan in February. India is expected to hold it in April and May; Sri Lanka, too, is expected to hold it this year.

The Maldives held two elections in September, after which the opposi- tion coalition, Progressive Alliance, took over. Transition in all the coun- tries every five years through an elec- toral process now appears to be entrenched even though the election process has remained flawed in some countries where the opposition has questioned the integrity of the elec- toral process. In Bangladesh, for instance, the main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), rejects the electoral body mandated to conduct elections.

In Bangladesh, which is going to the polls on January 7, the Awami League is set to win for the fourth con- secutive term. The BNP has boycotted the election, and many of its top lead- ers have been arrested on charges of violence and arson reportedly com- mitted between 2013 and 2018. The party continued to press for a neutral caretaker government to conduct the election and insisted on the resigna- tion of the incumbent government headed by Sheikh Hasina. It also accuses the present Election Com- mission of being partisan, and has refused to participate in the election to create a legitimacy crisis for the incumbent government.

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The election in Bangladesh has also drawn international attention. The United States and some Western coun- tries have called for a free and fair election, and Dhaka continues to assure the global community of having an impartial election. Interestingly, these countries are silent on the rein- stallation of a caretaker government that had conducted the elections in 1991, 1996 and 2001, which is the BNPs main demand and ostensibly the rea- son for its non-participation. A military- backed caretaker government held the 2008 election. The Election Commis- sion oversaw the 2014 and 2018 elec- tions, which remain controversial.

Another recent entrant to democ- racy in South Asia is Bhutan, a consti- tutional monarchy. Elections in Bhutan are state-funded, with only two political parties receiving the highest and second-highest votes in the first round being allowed to con- test the final round. Two newly built partiesthe Peoples Democratic Party and the Bhutan Tendrel Party will fight the electoral battle in the second round scheduled for January 9, while the incumbent government is voted out after it could manage only the fourth largest votes.

Economic issues dominate Bhutans political contest, which has a violence-free election. Bhutan, which is going for its fourth general election, has demonstrated political maturity in terms of democratic stability and peaceful democratic transition marked by less contentious politics.

Pakistan, which has adopted a caretaker government as a transition- al government to conduct elections, is mired in controversy. Unlike Bangladesh, which had enumerated the selection procedure for the chief adviser of the caretaker regime, Pak- istans caretaker system is based on consensus between the ruling and opposition parties in the name of caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul- Haq Kakar. This regime is seen as backed by the powerful military establishment.

Several controversies mire the Pakistan general election, scheduled for February 8. Prior to the election, several controversial bills, including the Army Amendment Bill (that gave enormous power to the army to try civilians in the military courts), the Election Amendment Bill (that made disqualification not exceeding five years), the Official Secret Amendment Bill, the Electronics Media Amend- ment Bill and the Special Investment Facilitation Bill were adopted. Senate also moved a resolution that pre- scribed severe punishment, including disqualification for speaking against the armed forces of Pakistan.

The disqualification of Imran Khan, the former prime minister who was voted out of power through a no- confidence motion in April 2022, con- victing him of corruption, has increased the winning chances of the Pakistan Muslim League-N.

Khans arrest led to a nationwide attack on military condonement and the Pakistan Army General Headquar- ters. This was probably the first such attack in the countrys history. Even after losing half of their country in 1971, the army had not faced such ignominy. Nearly 100 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and members of parliament left the party after this attack, even though the PTI condemned the violence and asked for a judicial investigation.

Former Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial was seen favouring Imran Khan in court when he said to him, Good to see you. Leaked audio tapes exposed this unholy alliance. He also ordered the Pakistan Democratic Movement government to hold assembly elections in two provinces Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the PTI held power, despite the government expressing its inability to do so. The tussle between the judici- ary and the government led to several cases being heard suo moto and the governments attempt to limit the judiciarys discretionary powers. Though parliament passed the Supreme Court Practice and Proce- dure Amendment Bill 2023, it was declared null and void by the Supreme Court. This brought to the fore the debate about whether the Parliament or the Judiciary is supreme in the matter of legislation.

After Bandials retirement, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa took over. Imran Khan was at loggerheads with Faiz Isa for his judgement against the Inter- Servcies Intelligence (ISI), especially Khans favourite Faiz Hamid, the ISI chief, for orchestrating the Faizabad dharna and distributing money to the people that drew the ire of Khan. Khans discord with the army started when he had a fallout with the former Army Chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, over the appointment of the next army chief. Bajwa overruled Khans favourite and appointed Syed Asim Munir as the Chief of Army Staff. Khan continues to blame the ISI for his political fall.

With the entry of the longest- serving former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who returned from exile in October after a green signal from the Army, the electoral contest is clear. Sharif, convicted in several cases and sentenced to life imprisonment for not being sadiq and ameen (righteous and honest) by the Supreme Court, has now filled out his nomination paper, and the same has been accept- ed. Many cases against him, includ- ing Avenfield and Al-Azizia, have been quashed by the higher courts for lack of evidence. Notably, most of these cases were politically motivated to see Sharifs exit from politics. As the poll nears Pakistans political scene, it appears sealed, and it may see Sharifs return. Meanwhile, the nomination papers of many of the leaders associ- ated with the PTI have been rejected. Imran Khans nomination paper was rejected on moral turpitude after his conviction in the Toshakhana corrup- tion case.

Imran Khans political life has now come full circle. After being propped by the Army in 2018 and his government referred to as the select- ed government, Khan did not hesi- tate to challenge the power behind his throne. Cases against his political opponents were keenly pursued, and he followed the Armys agenda to pur- sue cases against Sharif and his family to eliminate him from politics. Now, Sharif is back in Pakistan, and his party is preparing for the election. No one expects a free and fair election as the political parties continue to contest for the establishments blessings to form a government and remain in power.

Electoral politics in South Asia is still nascent. However, this is a work in progress, as unelected entities ruled many countries for a long time. Elec- tions remain the only way to political change despite political parties expressing their reservation about the conduct of the Election Commissions, which oversee elections in all the countries of the region.
As India braces itself for the 2024 elections, the political panorama appears to be an intricate tap- estry of regional dynamics, strategic alliances, and the overwhelming influence of the Modi factor. The recent state elections, notably in Karnataka, Telangana, and the Hindi belt, have painted a vivid picture of a nation sharply divided in its political choices, with the Gangetic belt leaning resolutely towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). One key takeaway from these elec- tions is the formidable image of Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi, particularly in the northern states, where it looms large over the political landscape. The resounding defeat of the Congress has underscored the need for the opposition to recalibrate its strategy, acknowledging that challenging the Modi image requires astute leader- ship and a united front.

The failure to leverage state-level elections as a trial run for the newly formed INDIA coalition has proven costly for it. In the southern states, however, the Modi magic did not hold the same sway. Karnataka and Telan- gana witnessed the rise of the Congress as a viable alter- native, driven by effective state-level leadership. The disillusionment of the people with earlier governments, fuelled by perceived corruption, led to the collapse of the BJP in Karnataka and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana. Here, the Modi factor did not emerge as the decisive force it proved to be in the north, although it must fairly be conceded that in a national election the picture may not be the same in either state.

The intricacies of regional politics are evident as we move across the country. In Assam and the Northeast, the Modi image has found a solid foundation, making it a challenging terrain for the opposition. West Bengal and the eastern states demand a clear leadership stance, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee emerging as a prominent figure. The west, particularly Gujarat, appears firmly in the BJPs grasp, while Maharashtras equation remains uncertain after the Shiv Sena-NCP split.

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The south, despite setbacks in recent state elections, should not be underestimated. The Modi factor may still hold sway, but the Congress, under leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, must assume a pivotal role. Kerala stands as an anomaly, where the battle has historically been fought between the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front. A strategic alliance here could thwart the BJP, but the party is hoping to make inroads here as well. Looking ahead, the 2024 election is not merely a battle for seats. It carries far-reaching impli- cations for the Indian polity. At stake are potential amend- ments to the constitution, parliamentary delimitation, and contentious issues like language, Uniform Civil Code and CAA. These factors, if not navigated judiciously, could lead to a sharp division within the country, with the oppo- sition having limited strength. Navigating the complexities of regional dynamics and understanding the varying impacts of the Modi factor will be the key for any political entity vying for influence in the diverse and vibrant democracy that is India. The decisions made in the com- ing months will sculpt the nations political landscape for years to come.
In the first major breakthrough, Canada police has reportedly identified a vehicle that may have been used in the attack at the residence of a local temple heads son in Surrey, British Columbia on December 27.

In a press statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Friday said that a vehicle of interest has been identified be the General Investigation Unit probing the incident.

The police have asked general public to help identify a blue-coloured Mitsubishi Mirage GT or SE between the model years 2017 and 2019, the release stated.

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On December 27, unidentified gunmen fired nearly a dozen shots at the residence of Satish Kumar, the president of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey.

While it was not clear if the attackers were Khalistani extremists or some other extortionists. Kumar, however, claimed that the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir was also targeted by alleged Khalistani activists thrice in the past.

The attack comes amid rising incidents of hate crimes against Hindus in Canada.

The incident comes against the backdrop of Hindu communities in Canada grappling with a disturbing rise in vandalism and attacks targeting their temples, coinciding with an increased presence of Khalistani groups.

Last year, the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey was defaced with anti-India and pro-Khalistani graffiti.

These attacks have increased after the murder of Khalistani extremist and New Delhi-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Canada accused Indian government of involvement in the murder of Nijjar, a charge vehemently rejected by New Delhi.

However, the allegations became a major flashpoint between Canada and India with both countries taking a slew of measures against each other, which included visa suspension and reduction in diplomatic strength.
During his first 2024 campaign speech in Pennsylvania for the presidential elections, US President Joe Biden underscored that his potential opponent, Donald Trump, is ready to jeopardize democracy by prioritizing his own power, according to CNN.

Biden also criticized Trumps campaign for being fixated on the past rather than focusing on the future.

Delivering a furious attack on former President Trump, Biden issued a stark warning that Trumps reelection would post a threat to American democracy.

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Emphasising that the most urgent question of our time is the value Americans place on democracy, Biden said this during a speech on the eve of the third anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Donald Trumps campaign is about him, not America. Not you. Donald Trumps campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. Hes willing to sacrifice our democracy and put himself in power, Biden said while striking an impassioned political attack on his opponent, Trump.

The backdrop of Bidens speech near Valley Forge, where George Washington rallied an undersupplied and demoralised Continental Army at the height of the American Revolution, allowed the president to contrast Washington, who would eventually set the precedent of relinquishing presidential power in the face of an adoring new nation, with Trump, who went to extraordinary lengths to maintain his grip on power, encouraging his supporters to march to the Capitol as he refused to accept the result of the 2020 election, CNN reported.

Biden further said that three years ago, We nearly lost America.

For the first time in our history, insurrectionists have come to stop the peaceful transfer of power in America. Smashing windows, shattering doors, and attacking the police. Outside, gallows were erected as a MAGA crowd chanted, Hang Mike Pence! Inside, they hunted for Speaker Pelosi, he added.

His message could rally a base that has been souring on Biden over his handling of various foreign and domestic crises, including the Israel-Hamas war and the influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border, according to CNN.

As per the polling, Biden has not been shown as a popular leader, and democracy itself is a central issue for Americans ahead of November.

US President Biden further made it clear and said that he believed the threat to American democracy was not abstract and directly placed the blame on the deaths of several people who lost their lives on January 6 on Donald Trumps lie.

They died because his lies brought a mob to Washington, Biden said, adding that Trump, as usual, left the dirty work to others.

He criticized Trump for his rhetoric in rallies and previous speeches, accusing him of expressing admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden also condemned Trump for making jokes about the attack on Nancy Pelosis husband, Paul Pelosi, in October 2022.

He laughed about it, Biden. What a sick -, he said before stopping himself, prompting the crowd to laugh.

Who in Gods name does he think he is? Biden said.

With time, politics, fear, and money have all intervened, and all of these MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6, have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy.

They made their choice  now the rest of us, Democrats, Independents, and mainstream Republicans, have to make our choice. I know mine, and I believe I know Americas, Biden emphasised.

Moreover, the insurrection was also a focus of the Biden campaigns first 2024 campaign ad, according to CNN.

Theres something dangerous happening in America, Biden said in his ad, interspersed with images from the 2018 Unite the Right rally of white supremacists; images of Trump supporters battling police officers on January 6; and images of a noose set up outside the Capitol.

Theres an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs in our democracy, he added.

All of us are being asked right now: What will we do to maintain our democracy?' Biden said, adding that our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible.

Reportedly, in intimate and small settings, Biden has all but conceded that he is running only to defeat Trump, according to CNN.

Notably, last month, Biden told his supporters at a fundraiser that he was not sure he would be running again if Trump were not seeking a second term.

Trump, meanwhile, hasnt been shy about his intention to seek retribution against his political opponents if he again wins the presidency, with recent messaging saying he would be a dictator on Day 1 and vowing to root out  radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country  reminiscent of historys most infamous authoritarians, reported CNN.

Moreover, Trump was scheduled to hold two events in Iowa later Friday afternoon. In a post to Truth Social, he said Biden, whom he called a moron, was the real threat to democracy.
Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Cloudy with rain and snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the upper 30s. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow showers mainly during the evening. Low 26F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 50%.
Dave Monti holds a captains license and charter fishing license. He serves on a variety of boards and commissions and has a consulting business focusing on clean oceans, habitat preservation, conservation, renewable energy, and fisheries related issues and clients. Forward fishing news and photos to dmontifish@verison.net or visit noflukefishing.com.
DAMASCUS, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pro-Iran militias have intensified their assaults in recent hours on U.S. bases in Syria, citing American support for Israel in the ongoing offensive in Gaza and the Israeli targeting of Iranian interests in Syria.

The recent escalation, reported within the past 12 hours, includes attacks on two U.S. bases in the al-Tanf area in the countryside of the central Homs province, and al-Shaddadi in the northeastern province of al-Hasakah, state news agency SANA reported.

The Iraqi Islamic Resistance claimed responsibility for the drone attacks on the two U.S. bases, vowing to continue targeting "enemy strongholds," said SANA, adding that the group targeted the largest U.S. base in Syria, the Al-Omar oil field, the previous night.

Meanwhile, the war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that as many as 77 attacks have been carried out by pro-Iran militias on U.S. bases in Syria since Oct. 19.

The Britain-based watchdog group attributed these attacks to orders from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Simultaneously, Israel has increased its assaults on Iranian interests and militias in Syria, resulting in the death of high-profile Iranian figures, including Seyyed Razi Mousavi, a senior IRGC commander. Following Mousavi's killing, the IRGC pledged "tough revenge" on Israel.

Earlier this month, the IRGC said two of its members were killed by Israeli forces "while conducting an advisory mission in Syria's Islamic resistance front."

The regional conflict, influenced by the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and the U.S. presence in Syria, is witnessing a surge in proxy attacks, making the situation increasingly complex. 
BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Saturday said that it will work toward a significant increase in direct flights between China and the United States in 2024.

Regular, direct passenger flights between the world's top-two economies have risen in number to 63 per week, official data shows.

Also in 2024, China will actively expand air traffic rights arrangements with Belt and Road countries, and deepen cooperation with Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the CAAC said.

The administration will also work to improve visa and border control policies, and facilitate customs clearance processes further. 
COLOMBO, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka launched a supplementary measles immunization campaign on Saturday following a surge in cases, the health ministry said in a press release.

The ministry said the campaign was launched at 1,600 centers in nine districts of the country.

Ministry Secretary Palitha Mahipala said children aged between six and nine months will be given a supplementary dose.

He said Sri Lanka was recognized in 2019 by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a country that eradicated measles, but the supplementary vaccination drive was launched after 740 cases were reported since May 2023.

The program is implemented in two phases, with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund and WHO. 
US actor Christian Oliver and his two daughters died in a plane crash near a tiny private island in the eastern Caribbean, according to police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.



The crash occurred on Thursday just west of Petit Nevis island near Bequia as the plane headed for nearby St. Lucia, police said in a statement.



They identified the daughters as Madita Klepser, 10, and Annik Klepser, 12, adding that the pilot, Robert Sachs, also died.



It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, according to police.



Authorities said fishermen and divers in the area went to the crash site to help as the St. Vincent and Grenadines Coast Guard headed to the area.



The selfless and brave acts of the fishermen and divers is very much appreciated, police said.



Oliver had dozens of crediting film and television roles, including in the 2008 film Speed Racer film and The Good German, a 2006 World War II film by Stephen Soderbergh that starred George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.



He appeared throughout season two of the 1990s series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, playing a Swiss transfer student named Brian Keller.
INDIA bloc parties will take a decision on allocation of posts in the alliance within 10-15 days, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday.

Kharges remarks came amid speculation on who will be the convener of the bloc with the JD(U) and the RJD rooting for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the post.

"When we hold our meeting, we will decide in 10-15 days who will hold which post," Kharge said, addressing a press conference in Delhi.

Kharge said all other matters including seat-sharing of the INDIA bloc would be resolved soon. Reports quoting Congress sources as saying that seat-sharing is likely to be concluded by the month-end.

On seat sharing, the Congress president said, the party will first take inputs from their own party leaders in various states and then, after coming to a conclusion, they will discuss their demands with their alliance partners.

"At the preliminary level, our team will first meet every leader; they will ask our leaders--those who are PCC presidents, CLP leaders, or senior leaders in every state. After observing these and getting a perception, we will sit together and discuss our demands," he said.

The Congress leader also said that the party had formed a six-member committee to finalise seat-sharing with the allies.

They (the committee) are doing their best. We had one meeting already at my residence and they are meeting every alternate day to finalise what is to be done, where we have to demand, and where they will demand. They are doing all the formalities," Kharge said.

He said the Congress is working on all the 545 Lok Sabha constiutencies and has appointed observers for all the seats, but which party will contest which seat and how many will be decided soon after consultations with all constituents of the opposition alliance.

Kharge further said that the coalition partners of INDIA bloc have decided to hold joint rallies and meetings and that they will decide soon on the places where to hold these meetings.
Having formed a record majority government in Chhattisgarh, the BJP has now embarked upon its mission of winning all 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state and has started activating its frontal bodies with various tasks.

Currently the BJP holds nine of the 11 seats except Bastar and Korba, which are with the Congress.

The campaign would start with joint felicitation programmes for people and party workers  for their support in winning the assembly polls. The programmes will be held in all five divisions of the state and will start off at Bastar followed by Durg division. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and party state in-charge Om Mathur will attend all these programmes along with senior leaders, state president of BJP, Kiran Singh Deo told media persons.

The decision in this regard was taken at a high-level planning meeting held on Friday in the presence of state in-charge Om Mathur and other senior leaders including chief minister Sai, national joint organization general secretary Shiv Prakash, national vice-president B.J. Panda, state co-in-charge Nitin Nabin, deputy chief ministers Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma, Singh Deo and other ministers.

Sources said that during the meeting, the shortcomings in the 2019 LS polls, the places where the BJP was strong and where the party required to work further were discussed. There was also discussion about the possibility of the state government launching some schemes that could find a direct resonance with the voters, ahead of the upcoming polls.

The responsibility distribution for different leaders for the 11 seats and candidate selection was also discussed during the meeting.

During the past 10 days, three other meetings were held for the preparation of LS polls. They included one of the state level office bearers of the party, a joint meeting of frontal bodies and a separate meeting for the Mahila Morcha (womens front).

Sources said that it has been decided that the mandal-level party workers will be activated again to work among different sections of the society and take feedback from them. Party workers will also hold camps at locality level to provide services like making Aadhar cards, Ayushman Bharat (health) cards, application for PM Housing scheme and others.

BJP is likely to hold various religious programmes to highlight the opening of Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya and take maximum credit. A campaign to take people of the state to Ayodhya was also likely.

The Yuva Morcha (youth front) will hold programmes for new voters at 5,000 places while the Mahila Morcha will take up a Lakhpati Didi programme to provide women benefits through self-help groups under the livelihood scheme. The social media network of the party will also be further strengthened with warriors, sources said.
The attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials during a raid in West Bengal on Friday, has put the spotlight firmly on Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh, who is alleged to be the mastermind behind the assault.

The ED officials were conducting a raid at Sheikh's residence, as part of a probe into a ration distribution scam, when his supporters became violent, assaulting the officials and damaging their vehicles.

The incident drew widespread criticism from the opposition parties in the state, but the ruling TMC refuted the charges and accused the ED officials of inciting the locals. While the BJP termed the attack as "a direct assault on the federal structure", the Congress demanded President's Rule. Governor CV Ananda Bose stressed that the state government's duty is to quell "barbarism, and emphasised that West Bengal is not a banana republic.

Who is Shahjahan Sheikh?

Popularly known as "Bhai", the 42-year-old Sheikh, who started as a small-time worker in the fisheries of the Sandeshkhali block in North 24 Parganas near the Bangladesh border, rose to become the uncrowned king of the state's fisheries belt.

The eldest of four siblings, Sheikh began as a worker in fisheries and brick kilns in Sandeshkhali. In 2004, he entered politics as a union leader in brick kilns. He later joined the local CPI(M) unit, maintaining his presence despite the changing political landscape in West Bengal.

Known for fiery speeches and organisational skills, Sheikh caught the attention of TMC leadership in 2012.

Under the stewardship of the then TMC national general secretary Mukul Roy and North 24 Parganas TMC district president Jyotipriyo Mullick, he joined the party and quickly ascended in power, becoming a close associate of Mullick.

Since then, his trajectory in the corridors of power has been unstoppable, raising eyebrows.

In 2018, Sheikh gained prominence as the deputy head of the Sarberia Agarhati gram panchayat.

Currently serving as the president of the Sandeshkhali TMC unit, his political trajectory peaked when he secured a zilla parishad seat last year.

Sheikh, known as 'Matsa Karmadhakshya' (In-charge of fisheries) for North 24 Parganas, oversees the district's fishery development, reflecting his influential standing in both political and economic spheres.

In addition to his political roles, Sheikh is a go-to figure for conflict resolution in the area, mediating family disputes and land disagreements.

His younger brothers are active TMC workers managing his business, including land dealings.

According to leaders from the local TMC and opposition, Sheikh commands both respect and fear in the region. "To some, he is a messiah; to his detractors, he is a terror. He carries a Robin Hood image in the area," said a local TMC leader.

Despite involvement in criminal cases, he has played a key role in curbing child trafficking, earning recognition for his efforts in making Sarberia Agarhati gram panchayat a 'Child-Friendly Gram Panchayat' in 2019.

In the aftermath of the violent clashes between BJP and TMC workers in Sandeshkhali post-Lok Sabha polls in June 2019, resulting in deaths on both sides, Sheikh found himself implicated in a murder FIR filed in connection with the incident.

The current events highlight the complex interplay of power, politics, and controversies associated with Sheikh's role in the fisheries belt of West Bengal.

(With PTI inputs)
As the Aditya L-1 traverses its way towards the L-1 (Lagrange Point 1), the name of its female mission director, 59-year-old Nigar Shaji, is also doing the rounds. Shaji is the brilliant scientist who has been steering the mission throughout its journey so far.

Hailing from Sengottai in Tamil Nadu, Shaji was born to Sheikh Meeran, a farmer, and Saitoon Biwi, a homemaker. From the very beginning Shaji was curious and always wanted to learn new things which later helped her as a space scientist at the ISRO.

As the project director, she brilliantly executed the Aditya L-1 mission.

Shaji had her preliminary education at the SRM Girls School in Sengottai and later pursued her engineering degree in electronics and communications at Madurai Kamaraj University. She furthered her education with a Master's in Electronics and Communications from BIT, Ranchi.

Shaji began her career in the ISRO in 1987 when she joined the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SHAAR). She later worked in different roles at the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, before becoming the mission director of Aditya-L1mission.

Shaji had played a major role in the successful launch of the Aditya L-1 mission on September 2, 2023, aboard the PSLV-C57 rocket. The mission is aimed to profoundly enhance our understanding of the Sun, including its outermost layer, the corona. The Aditya L-1 missions duration is estimated to be approximately 5.2 years, offering an extended period for solar research.

Shaji has also worked on different other projects before the Aditya L-1 mission. She has actively worked on the design and development of Indian remote sensing, communication, and interplanetary satellites. She also served as the associate project director for the Indian remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2A.

Shaji has always emphasized the favorable environment for women scientists at the ISRO. where recognition is based on merit and abilities rather than gender.

The primary scientific goal of the Aditya L-1 mission is to unravel the secrets of the Suns influence on space weather dynamics and the Earths climate by observing solar phenomena in real-time. The results derived from the observations will help us more precisely forecast space weather and offer solutions for reducing their potential effects on space missions and technologies on Earth.

Environmental conditions in space have the potential to impact satellites, communication networks and power grids on the Earth.
Bangladesh will go to the polls on Sunday in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition BNP which is boycotting the elections amidst violence and has called for a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government."



A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday's polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country's Election Commission.



More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates.



Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security.



The election commission said it expected the results to start flowing from early on January 8.



Prime Minister Hasina's ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest as a convict of graft charges, boycotted the polls.



Hasina, 76, in a nationally televised address this week has urged the pro-democratic and law-abiding parties not to fuel ideas that disrupt" the country's constitutional process.



The BNP has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike starting from Saturday.



The 27 political parties that are contesting the elections include the opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA). The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts dub as "satellite parties."



As part of its vote boycott campaign, BNP on Thursday called a 48-hour countrywide general strike from 6 am on January 6 to 6 am on January 8 as the party has been claiming no election under the incumbent government would be fair and credible.



BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the strike, saying it was aimed to press for their demands for "resignation of the illegal government, establishment of a non-party neutral government and release of all party leaders and activists from prison".



Ahead of the elections, Hasina's government arrested tens of thousands of rival politicians and supporters, a move which rights groups have condemned as an attempt to paralyse the Opposition.



Prime Minister Hasina said the Awami League, whenever it came to power, ensured the economic and social development of the people of the country.



Authorities deployed Army troops across the country two days ago "in aid of civil administration" to maintain peace and order during the voting.



Despite the strict security arrangements, unidentified people carried homemade bomb and arson attacks in empty polling centres in four out of 64 administrative districts, while BNP activists clashed with police in another district, leaving five people wounded on Friday.



At least four people were killed when a passenger train was torched by arsonists near Dhaka on Friday night. The BNP has demanded a UN-supervised investigation into the incident which it described as a "pre-planned" act of sabotage.



Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group (ICG) said the country is at a critical juncture.



"Bangladesh is at a critical juncture. The once vibrant, if imperfect democracy will soon hold a third election without a credible alternative to the incumbent government," it said in a recent report.



The think tank said while it was now too late to delay the January election, the Awami League and BNP should work after the vote to de-escalate the country's political tensions, including through concessions by both sides.



Political science professor and analyst Harunur Rashid said he feared Bangladesh might need to wait for an indefinite period to witness a congenial political atmosphere because of the highly conflicting nature between the two major parties.



Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Kader on Friday said there was no perfect democracy anywhere in the world, but BNP's participation could have made the upcoming elections more competitive.



Emerging from a meeting with the Commonwealth Observer Group, Kader said, "They have agreed with us that nowhere in the world there is a cent per cent or perfect democracy".



He said an unprecedented "mass tide" has been created in favour of the party across the country ahead of the elections.



Hoping that the national election would be held in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, he said the election means a festival of democracy to the people of Bangladesh, and this time it is no exception.



"Ignoring the severe cold, the people have welcomed the election and taken part in the polls campaign. A mass tide has been created across the country in favour of the boat (the Awami Party's election symbol)," Kader said.



He commented on the BNP's general strike on election day and said it is now an "obsolete tool" in Bangladesh's politics.



Hasina has been in power since 2009 and won the last election in December 2019, in a poll marred by deadly violence and accusations of poll rigging.



The BNP boycotted the 2014 election but joined the one in 2019, which party leaders later said was a mistake, alleging the voting was marred with widespread rigging and intimidation.



BNP's boycott announcement this time, however, initially posed a challenge to Hasina on the legitimacy of the January 7 polls as JAPA also expressed its reluctance to join the fray but agreed to participate as the ruling party decided to spare them 26 seats, withdrawing their candidates.



Awami League also left six seats to its partners in the 14-party ruling alliance while Hasina encouraged independent and rebel candidates to contest to make the polling participatory while the ruling party was carrying out a campaign for high voter turnouts.



Senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan on Friday called the government efforts "childish", proving its "political bankruptcy".



Analysts and watchdogs, however, said the country of 170 million was heading for virtual one-party rule, while many voters said they found no charm in voting this time as the polling was set to reelect the incumbent government.



Bangladesh's economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war boosted prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout of USD 4.7 billion last year.



Many fear that a fourth straight term for Hasina would worsen the economic situation, deepening their despair.
After Hezhollahs rocket attacks, Israel carries out strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday. Around 40 rockets were fired into northern Israel in the morning a day after a senior Hamas official was killed in Beirut. Meawhile, US Secretary of state, Antony Blinken began his Middle East tour today.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said its fighter jets had attacked a number of sites run by Hezbollah in the areas of Aita al-Shaab, Yaron and Ramya.

Some of the military establishments were also targeted, said Israel.

The rocket attacks in the northern Israel comes a day after the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned that his groups response to the killing of Hamass deputy chief last week would be decided on the battlefield. We cannot keep silent about a violation of this seriousness, because this means that all of our people will be exposed, said Nasrallah.

He also added that the repercussions of silence would be "far greater".

Hezbollah said the rocket attack was a "preliminary response" to the killing of Hamas's deputy chief.

Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed on 2 January in an Israeli drone strike on Beiruts southern suburbs of Dahiyeh.

Blinkens Middle East tour

Ahead of Blinken's visit to Israel, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the US should focus on ending the "aggression". We... hope that he will be more focused this time on ending the aggression...the occupation of all Palestinian lands, Haniyeh said.

US support for Israel caused unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people. He also said that he hopes Blinken had "learned the lessons of the last three months.

Meanwhile, Blinken has met with the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, at the start of a week-long trip for talks on the situation in the Middle East. In a statement, Fidan said the pair had discussed the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza as well as Swedish accession to Nato.

Blinken is also set to hold talks in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. He will also visit Israel and West Bank during the tour.

According to the Hamas-run ministry, at least 122 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours.

At least 122 Palestinians have been killed and 256 injured over the past 24 hours, according to Gazas Hamas-run Ministry of Health. Overall the death toll rose to 22,722, while got 58,166 injured.
Former US president Donald Trump hit back at President Joe Biden for describing him as a clear threat to democracy, in the latter's first 2024 campaign speech.

Accusing Biden of fearmongering, Trump, while addressing his supporters in Sioux Centre, Iowa, said that the US president was attacking him on the matter of democracy because he could not run on other issues.

Biden, in his address to the gathering near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, said that January 6, 2021, marked a moment where we nearly lost America, referring to the US Capitol by then-President Trump's supporters aiming to keep him in power. More than 100 police officers were bloodied, beaten and attacked by the rioters who overwhelmed authorities to break into the building while lawmakers were counting Electoral College votes that certified Democrat Biden's win.

We all know who Donald Trump is," Biden said. "The question we have to answer is who are we? What's Trump done? He's called these insurrectionists patriots.

In response, Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges and three other felony cases, lashed out at Biden, accusing the Democrats of using the justice system to damage their chief political rival. Joe Biden's record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption, and failure," Trump told his supporters. "That's why Crooked Joe is staging his pathetic fearmongering campaign event in Pennsylvania today.

Speaking just 10 days before the crucial Iowa caucus - the first round of the

Republican nominating contest - the former president called the United States under Biden a "failing" nation, beset by "terrorists" and immigrants from "mental asylums" pouring over the US-Mexico border.

He also attacked his Republican competitor Nikki Haley, who served as the US ambassador to the UN for two years during his term. "Nikki Haley has been in the pocket of the open borders establishment donors her entire career. She's a globalist," Trump said.

Iowa's Republican nominating contest is set for January 15.

Supreme Court to decide Trump's fate

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court said on Friday it will decide whether Trump can be kept off the ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The justices acknowledged the need to reach a decision quickly, as voters will soon begin casting presidential primary ballots across the country. The court agreed to take up a case from Colorado stemming from Trump's role in the events that culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Arguments will be held in early February.

(With PTI inputs)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up whether former President Donald Trump can be disqualified from appearing on Colorado's primary ballot, setting up a historic case ahead of the presidential election.

The U.S. Supreme Court's announcement came two days after Trump asked the court to invalidate a recent ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court, which removed him from the state's 2024 presidential primary ballot, citing a U.S. constitutional provision that prohibits people who have engaged in "insurrection" from federal office.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision, expected to be made a speedy pace, could potentially set guidelines nationwide that would determine how Colorado and other states handle the issue.

The case would be argued on an accelerated schedule on Feb. 8, with a ruling likely to follow soon after.

Lawsuits in Colorado, as well as some other states, argue that Trump should be disqualified from ballots because he engaged in inciting the Capitol Hill insurrection on Jan. 6 of 2021, in an attempt to block the 2020 presidential election victory of Joe Biden.

The Colorado Supreme Court's ruling two weeks ago marked the first time a U.S. state court agreed that Trump should be disqualified from the 2024 presidential election citing the rarely used insurrection clause.

Last week, Maine's Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, barred Trump from the primary ballot, making Maine the second state to block the former president from running again.

Both states will hold their primaries on Super Tuesday, March 5. 
Bangladesh is all set to go to the polls on Sunday and it is testing times for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of opposition BNP.

Tight security arrangements are in place ahead of the polls. Strict warning has been issued by the election commission as the nation gears for voting. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said that if there are any irregularities in the upcoming national polls, the election will be called off altogether.

He added that vote rigging, ballot snatching, money transactions, and possible use of muscle power in favour of any candidate or candidates will be strictly resisted.

Bangladesh has a 300-member Parliament. Election in one constituency has been postponed after an independent candidate died of natural causes.

The results are expected to start flowing from early on January 8.

The opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest as a convict of graft charges, boycotted the polls.

Among the 27 political parties that are contesting the elections include the opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA) and members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition.

BNPs boycott campaign

BNP has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike that began on Saturday. As part of its vote boycott campaign, BNP has been calling countrywide general strikes.

Authorities deployed Army troops across the country two days ago "in aid of civil administration" to maintain peace and order during the voting.

However, despite security arrangements, homemade bomb and arson attacks in empty polling centres were reported in at least four districts.

At least 14 arson attacks were reported in 16 hours till 9:30 am Saturday, according to Fire Service statistics.

Also, At least four people were killed when a passenger train was torched by arsonists near Dhaka on Friday night. The BNP has demanded a UN-supervised investigation into the incident which it described as a "pre-planned" act of sabotage.

A total of eight people, including BNP leader Nabi Ullah Nabi, was arrested in connection with the arson case.

"This government out and out from head to neck is corrupt... This is not a democratic government. Development cannot be there without democracy. People's participation must be there...We are holding a peaceful movement. We never believe in violence and destroying people's property," Nitai Roy Chowdhury, Vice Chairman of BNP, was quoted by The Associated Press.

Hasina has been in power since 2009 and won the last election in December 2018, in a poll marred by deadly violence and accusations of poll rigging. Amid severe criticism over the economic, Hasina is credited with skilfully negotiating the rival interests of India and China.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) Senior bureaucrat Vikas Sheel was on Friday appointed as Executive Director, Asian Development Bank in Manila, according to a Personnel Ministry order.

As many as seven civil servants, including Sheel, have been appointed to key posts abroad.

Sheel, a 1994-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, is currently Additional Secretary and Mission Director, Jal Jeevan Mission under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

He has been appointed as ED, Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a period of three years from the date of assumption of the charge, it said.

Smita Sarangi has been appointed to the post of Adviser to the Executive Director, ADB, Manila, Philippines for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge, the order said.

Senior bureaucrat Kalyan Revella will be Counsellor (Economic) in the Embassy of India, Beijing.

He has been appointed for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, it said.

Senthil Pandian C, a 2002-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed to the post of Ambassador/Permanent Representative (PR), Permanent Mission of India (PMI) to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva.

M Balaji has been appointed to the post of Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Brussels.

He is a 2005-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

Parveen Kumar, a 2004 batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer will be Adviser to the Executive Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington DC, USA.

He was appointed, in place of Simanchala Dash, for a period of three years.

Tanu Singh, an Indian Trade Service (2012 batch) officer, has been named as First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India (PMI), World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva for a period of three years, the order said.
Ahmedabad, Jan 6 (PTI) A land of vibrant cultural heritage and traditions, Gujarat has undergone industrial evolution in the last two decades riding on the success of key sectors like textile, pharmaceuticals, diamond and fisheries, officials have said.



Gujarat has become a global powerhouse in the textile, apparel and garment sectors by contributing over 60 per cent of Indias denim fabric, spurred by the states textile policy launched in 2012. Since then, the size of its textile exports has grown 2.3 times, they said.

The growth in textile manufacturing has positioned Gujarat as a driving force in the countrys economic growth, officials said ahead of the states big-ticket Gujarat Vibrant Global Summit, which will be held next week.

To take advantage of our future, we will have to invest in the local supply chain. This is the way to build a developed India, and this is the way to fulfil the dream of a developed India  to fulfil the dream of a $5 trillion economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said at an event last year.

With a coastline of 1,600 km, Gujarat is also a powerhouse in the fisheries sector, contributing 17 per cent to Indias total fish exports. In 2020-21, the states fish production touched 8.74 lakh tonnes, officials said.

From fishing operations to processing, the sector also plays a crucial role in generating employment, said industry insiders and government officials.

The central and the state governments have come up with a new gas machine for small fishermen which is benefiting them in many ways, said Jitu Kahada, leader of the fishermen community in the state.

Gujarats pharmaceutical industry is another big driver of the states economy, officials said.

As per official figures, Gujarat accounts for 53 per cent of Indias medical devices manufacturing and 78 per cent of the countrys cardiac stents manufacturing. The sector also employs nearly 50,000 workers in over 4,000 manufacturing units.

Gujarat makes a contribution of 30 per cent in the countrys pharma sector. In pharma exports, Gujarats share is 28 per cent. With a robust industrial infrastructure, Gujarats chemical and petrochemical sector has witnessed remarkable growth, said Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at an industry event.

As a result of proactive government policies, the state contributes to around 75 per cent of the countrys total dye and intermediates manufacturing, officials said.

I believe that the support and the direction Gujarat has given us through the journey of the growth from a small-scale industry, all the major industries here, started off as small-scale industries, and today we have reached global heights and global scales, said Jai Shroff, CEO of UPL Limited, which provides sustainable agricultural solutions and services.









The worlds largest diamond trading hub, the Surat Diamond Bourse, inaugurated recently by PM Modi, symbolises Gujarats dominance in the global gems and jewellery market, officials said.



Surats diamond has provided employment to 8 lakh people since the beginning, now Surat diamond bourse is also providing employment to another 1.5 lakh people. I would like to congratulate all my friends in the diamond trading business who have worked day and night to give a boost to this industry, Modi said in Surat recently.

The states thriving dairy sector is now worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, with daily remuneration of Rs 200 crore to 36 lakh milk producers through the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), home to the globally recognised Amul brand, according to a government release.

Amuls procurement for Gujarat was 30 lakh (litres). Today, after 27 years, there has been a nine-fold increase in procurement, which is 270 lakh. The milk production in the country has tripled and gone up by nine times for the farmers in Gujarat. About Rs 160 crore goes into the rural economy of Gujarat every day, said R S Sodhi, president of Indian Dairy Association.

The Gujarat government's new semiconductor policy is already attracting global players. With this policy the state hopes to soon become a global leader in semiconductor production, industry leaders said.

We estimate that our project in Gujarat will create nearly 5,000 direct jobs plus an additional 15,000 indirect jobs in the community over the coming years, said Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of chipmaker Micron Technologies.
Jaipur, Jan 6 (PTI) Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameshwar Teli on Saturday visited the Mangala Processing Terminal operated by Cairn Oil and Gas - Vedanta Ltd during his visit to Barmer on Saturday, and said the aim will be to use as much local crude oil as possible.

He expressed confidence that the area would become as prosperous as Dubai due the production of crude oil.

"India currently imports 83 per cent of its oil needs. The vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that we should be self-reliant in this matter by producing more oil within the country," a release from the company quoting the minister said.

"The oil fields of Rajasthan are producing good oil and the production is going to increase further in future. The aim will be to use as much local crude oil as possible in the refinery to be built in Barmer," the release said.

Union MoS for Agriculture and Barmer MP Kailash Choudhary said with the discovery and production of oil, a change has taken place in Barmer.

"New opportunities for industries and employment have been created here," he said.
MUMBAI, India, Jan. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mumbai-based fashion brand in the comfort wear category, July Wear has raised its maiden funding round of Rs. 2 Crores via India Angel Fund.



When Neha Bajaj, a Mompreneur stepped out of her Manufacturing business in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, she made it her mission to: "Build a Fashion Brand"



Thanks to COVID-19, the growth of comfort-oriented silhouettes made for a strong case to build upon as a category. What she noticed was the lack of a contemporary and trendy comfort-wear homegrown branded range.



Building July Wear with the premise that "Why should comfort come at the cost of style?", the brand has already clocked a revenue of INR 5 Crores with its presence both online and offline. Selling from 300+ stores across the country, Neha now is focussing on tapping the power of the D2C channel. Leveraging D2C, brand, and creator collaborations, an innovative range, and international expansion, July is set to target a growth of INR 100 Crores MRR in 18 months.



Setting shop in the fashion capital of the country, Neha moved to Mumbai with a map in her hand to figure out the markets she needed to visit and how to get there.



Hustling in the Mumbai local trains, chasing retailers, and figuring out the how of performance marketing versus placement in offline stores, this traditional Marwari girl originally from Sirsa in Haryana, soon became a Fashion Entrepreneur in Mumbai.



A NIFT Delhi graduate, Neha found immense inspiration in her single mother who is an impact entrepreneur herself, and runs a school in Sirsa, Haryana where she still wakes up at 3.00 a.m. to manage the school.



Neha credits her husband Samant Bajaj as a big motivation and her pillar of support alongside her brother Rajeev Goel who is a serial entrepreneur and investor himself.



Recalling the early days when people were very skeptical of her determination to start up a fashion brand and particularly when a retailer made her stand outside his store for 12 hours before finally relenting to place her garments in his store, Neha feels it is her stubbornness to build this venture that continues to bear the fruit every time.



This "Zid" finally has culminated in Neha now looking to scale her venture into the big league.



With this round of capital infusion, July Wear is set to begin with an Experience Centre in South Mumbai, identify potential collaborations with complementary brands and individuals, as also soon launch an exclusive collection in the Middle East starting with Dubai and Abu Dhabi



A deeply spiritual person, the founder, Neha is also exploring options of creating a range of natural fragrance and energy-infused fabrics and creating exclusive collections in partnership with young creators.



July Wear is also currently hiring for various roles with its Mantra being "Hire For Attitude and Train For Skill"



About July Wear



July Wear is all about tapping into comfort, confidence, and charisma. A question that July began with was "Why should comfort come at the cost of style?" With that as its mission, July Wear makes you feel your best while looking your best.



Looking for trendy co-ord sets, loungewear, kaftans and contemporary comfort wear that is crafted to last, July is the answer.



Media Contact

Neha Bajaj

e-mail: neha@julynightwear.com



Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2312167/NehaBajajJuly_Wear.jpg



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
Jaipur, Jan 6 (PTI) Carpet manufacturer Jaipur Rugs on Saturday said it has started a three-month programme under which women artisans will be given training in making 3D sculptural carpets and various other skills.

The programme is part of the 'Tread Softly' initiative with Dhun Jaipur, a 500-acre habitat in Phagi town.

"Tread Softly is a platform for a rotational three-week artist residency programme at Dhun Jaipur campus in Phagi, during which women artists from rural Rajasthan will be provided with a space solely dedicated to the creation of art," Kavita Chaudhary, Design Director of Jaipur Rugs, said.

She informed that 6 weavers in 3 batches for 3 weeks each will explore their artistic potential in a supportive environment and once the programme is over in March end, products made by them will be put on exhibition.
Dhaka, Jan 6 (PTI) Anowara Islam Rani, a young transgender from Bangladesh's northern region has emerged as the first candidate of her gender to enter electoral politics, a symbol of resilience and change in the country, according to a media report on Saturday.

The participation of Rani, who is running for office from the Rangpur-3 constituency in the country's northern region, is being seen as a strong stride towards inclusivity, the BNN Breaking, an independent news network, said.

"Anowara Islam Rani, a symbol of resilience and change, is making her mark as the first transgender candidate to run for office," said the report.

With a total of 849 registered transgender voters, the candidacy of Rani in the Rangpur-3 constituency is an embodiment of the countrys evolving political landscape.

Bangladesh goes to its 12th general election on Sunday.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the country's main opposition party led by former prime minister Khalida Zia is boycotting the polls amid violence and has begun a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government".

The BNP is demanding an interim non-party neutral government to hold the election.

The demand was, however, rejected by the government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the chairman of the ruling Awami League.

Over 800,000 law enforcement personnel, including Army troops, were deployed to maintain peace and order while his office simultaneously engaged some 3,000 executive and judicial magistrates to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections.

More than 119 million people are registered as voters but voters appeared to be disinterested in exercising the franchise due to lack of competitiveness.
Islamabad, Jan 6 (PTI) All major political parties in Pakistan, shocked by a controversial resolution passed by the Senate to delay the general elections scheduled for February 8, have displayed rare unity in demanding no change in the schedule of the polls.

The united stand from political parties from across the political spectrum followed a non-binding resolution passed by the upper house on Friday when only about 14 senators out of over 100 members were attending the session.

The move resulted in an outcry that the national and provincial elections to be held on February 8 should not be delayed.

The resolution, tabled by independent Senator Dilawar Khan, cited harsh cold weather and security concerns in many areas across the country which he said could result in less participation in elections.

Raising concerns about the security situation, he said the law and order situation was not good and added that politicians were being targeted.

The Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday that demanding that the Supreme Court (SC) take immediate notice of the resolution passed by the Senate, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Barrister Gohar Khan said: A resolution of 14 senators based on their personal opinions, has no legal or binding force in the constitutional process of holding general elections.

He saw the attempt by some political parties to defer the much-needed polls beyond the scheduled date of February 8 by using the floor of Senate [as] tantamount to [an] attack on Constitution and democracy.

According to a statement issued by the central media department of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party, Gohar Khan insisted that the passage of the resolution was a violation of the order of SC and amounted to contempt of court.

He called on the top court to take effective and remedial measures to foil attempts to delay or affect the transparency and fairness of elections.

He also called on the apex court to enforce its orders and observations regarding February 8 elections in the country, adding that his party was fully prepared for general elections.

He also said that those scared of the elections had violated the sanctity of the upper house of parliament by passing an unconstitutional resolution.

The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) seemed to be in a Catch-22 situation after the passage of the Senate resolution, since it was not opposed by the sole party Senator, Behramand Tangi, in the House at the time of voting, leading the party to distance itself from his stance and vowing to seek explanation from him.

Thereafter, at a press conference, PPPs Senator Sherry Rehman made it clear that the party wanted timely elections and it had special directives from Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to clear the air after the passage of the resolution.

Senator Tangi has informed the party that he had opposed the resolution, she said.

But still, we would look into things like video clips and other evidence to assess the factual situation. If his stance is not found to be satisfactory, then definitely we would seek an explanation from him.

The PPP leader also tried to downplay the impact of the resolution, saying that it did not carry any weight as the house failed the meet the quorum requirements for such a move.

"First we need to understand that the resolution isnt a law, Senator Rehman said, adding that on Fridays, sessions of the Senate only last for a brief period due to prayer breaks.

The majority of senators had already left for their homes, she explained. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), too, categorically declared that it wants no delay in the February 8 polls, saying that it was making preparations for the elections.

The PML-Ns decision is categorical  polls should be held on February 8 according to the schedule of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

The Jamaat-e-Islami emir, Sirajul Haq, said people could not be deprived of their fundamental right to elect their representatives via transparent elections. He said the resolution was a conspiracy against the country and democracy.

Postponing elections due to unrest in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be tantamount to surrendering arms to those spreading unrest, he added.

Meanwhile, caretaker Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi, who was present in the Senate when the resolution was passed, said he did not get a chance to present his arguments over the resolution.

However, he made it clear that there were no directives from the prime minister or the federal cabinet regarding a delay.

According to Article 218(3) of the Constitution, the Election Commission of Pakistan is empowered to conduct elections, give a date or change the date for elections, he said, adding, We cannot interfere in the affairs of a constitutional body, Solangi said.
Dubai, Jan 6 (AP) The United Arab Emirates on Saturday acknowledged it is conducting a mass trial of 84 inmates previously reported by dissidents as it hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks last month.

The trial likely includes a prominent activist lauded by rights group abroad.

The state-run WAM news agency quoted the country's attorney general, Hamad al-Shamsi, as saying the 84 defendants face charges of establishing another secret organisation for the purpose of committing acts of violence and terrorism on state territory.

The statement did not name the suspects, though it described most of those held as members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Arab Islamist group long targeted in the autocratic UAE as a threat to its hereditary rulers.

Al-Shamsi said the accused all had a lawyer assigned to them and that after nearly six months of research, prosecutors referred the accused to trial. The statement said the trial was still going on.

In December, the trial was first reported by the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre, a group run by an Emirati  also called Hamad al-Shamsi  who lives in exile in Istanbul after being named on a terrorism list by the UAE himself.

That group said 87 defendants faced trial. The different numbers of defendants reported by the UAE and the group could not be immediately reconciled.

Among those likely charged in the case is Ahmed Mansoor, the recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015. Mansoor repeatedly drew the ire of authorities in the UAE by calling for a free press and democratic freedoms in this federation of seven sheikhdoms.

Mansoor was targeted with Israeli spyware on his iPhone in 2016 likely deployed by the Emirati government ahead of his 2017 arrest and sentencing to 10 years in prison over his activism.

During COP28, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch held a demonstration in which they displayed Mansoor's face in the UN-administered Blue Zone at the summit in a protest carefully watched by Emirati officials.

Another person likely charged is activist Nasser bin Ghaith, an academic held since August 2015 over his tweets. He was among dozens of people sentenced in the wake of a wide-ranging crackdown in the UAE following the 2011 Arab Spring protests. Those demonstrations saw the Islamists rise to power in several Mideast nations, though the Gulf Arab states did not see any popular overthrow of their governments.

The UAE, while socially liberal in many regards compared with its Middle Eastern neighbours, has strict laws governing expression and bans political parties and labour unions.

That was seen at COP28, where there were none of the typical protests outside of the venue as activists worried about the country's vast network of surveillance cameras. (AP) PY

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London, Jan 6 (PTI) Rishi Sunak was not entirely convinced about sending illegal migrants to Rwanda while their asylum claims were assessed during his time as chancellor, a UK media report claimed on Saturday.

The 43-year-old British Indian leader, who has been championing the scheme as Prime Minister, had significant doubts over the policy when he was finance minister in former boss Boris Johnsons Cabinet, the BBC report says based on papers it has seen from two years ago.

The documents suggest Sunak was concerned about the cost of sending asylum seekers to the East African country and wanted to limit the numbers initially.

A source close to Sunak told the BBC: "The Prime Minister was always fully behind the principle of the scheme as a deterrent.

"As chancellor, it was his job to make sure it delivered and taxpayers' money was appropriately spent."

Sunak, who took charge at 10 Downing Street in October 2022, was the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer in No. 11 Downing Street when the Rwanda policy was first announced in April 2022. The deal with Rwanda has since been caught up in legal challenges and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK so far.

However, Sunak has stressed that the scheme is a key pillar of his strategy to tackle illegal migration to the UK and will also act as a deterrent to the thousands landing on the countrys shores after making treacherous journeys in small boats across the English Channel.

Now, the BBCs revelations indicate he was not entirely behind the scheme when it was first mooted. The No. 10 documents were prepared in March 2022 as former prime minister Boris Johnson was trying to persuade Sunak  his chancellor  to sign off on more funding for the plan, the report claims.

This was shortly before the agreement with the Rwandan government to process migrants in the African country was signed.

They suggest Mr Sunak was concerned about the cost of sending asylum seekers to the African country, and wanted to limit the numbers initially. They say, the chancellor wants to pursue smaller volumes initially, 500 instead of 1,500 in the first year, and 3,000 instead of 5,000 in years two and three, according to the BBC report.

The documents describe a significant difference of view between No. 10 and 11 Downing Street on the effectiveness of the proposed scheme saying the chancellor believes the deterrent won't work, it adds.

The controversial Safety of Rwanda Bill is now going through its parliamentary process after it cleared the first hurdle in the House of Commons last month.

However, with around 38 MPs of Sunak's own Conservative Party recorded as not taking part in the vote, it is widely expected that the issue will reignite the deep Tory divisions over the policy as it progresses through further stages in the coming weeks.
This photo taken on Jan. 4, 2024 shows the Wajima Morning Market which has been burned down by a large blaze following a series of earthquakes in Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. The death toll has surged to 126 in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa after a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the prefecture and its vicinity, amid fears of secondary hazards and escalating casualties despite intensified rescue and search efforts on day six of the quake on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

TOKYO, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has surged to 126 in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa after a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the prefecture and its vicinity, amid fears of secondary hazards and escalating casualties despite intensified rescue and search efforts on day six of the quake on Saturday.

The figure as of 1 p.m. local time marked the first time since the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, which claimed 276 lives, that Japan has witnessed over 100 casualties due to an earthquake, including related fatalities, according to the weather agency.

Meanwhile, 516 people in Ishikawa suffered injuries due to the quakes, with 210 residents in the prefecture still unaccounted for as of 2 p.m. local time, according to local authorities.

The strongest temblor, officially named the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, is classified as a reverse fault earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 by a government panel, and intermittent aftershocks are hampering recovery support to the affected areas.

Striking at a shallow depth centered around 30 km east-northeast of Wajima, the devastating quake on New Year's Day registered a maximum intensity of 7, with tremors felt in large metropolises such as Tokyo and Osaka.

AFTERSHOCKS, WEATHER HAMPER RESCUE WORK

The combination of frequent aftershocks and severe weather conditions poses a dual threat to the affected region, hampering rescue and relief operations and heightening the risk of secondary hazards.

In the latest update from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), a 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit the Noto region at 5:25 a.m. local time on Saturday at a depth of 10 km, measuring upper 5 on the country's seismic intensity scale of 7.

Citing an unprecedented surge in seismic activity in the Noto region following the earthquake, the JMA said over 1,045 earthquakes registering intensity 1 or higher have been observed as of 8 a.m. on Saturday, over twice the total number of similar-intensity temblors recorded in the area over the past three years.

Officials warned that roads, already cracked from the dozens of earthquakes that continue to shake the area, could collapse completely.

Rain and snow expected overnight and Sunday for the region might further complicate the disaster-relief work, and the JMA also warned local residents to stay alert for possible mudslides and other possible secondary hazards.

On day six of the earthquake, the most-hit coastal city of Wajima confirmed 59 deaths, facing about 100 reports about people being buried and trapped under collapses of buildings.

Japan has deployed its Self-Defense Forces to strengthen their presence from about 5,000 to 5,400 personnel, in collaboration with local police and fire departments to intensify search and rescue efforts.

At a meeting of the emergency disaster response headquarters on Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged relevant departments to "spare no efforts in conducting search and rescue work," noting that "fatigue and stress are accumulating" for those taking shelters due to prolonged evacuation life.

ESCALATING DAMAGE

With the full extent of wreckage still unknown, infrastructure has suffered severe damage in Ishikawa, with around 24,000 households facing power outages and 66,000 households left without water in 14 cities and towns as of 8 a.m. local time on Saturday, the national news agency Kyodo reported.

While some 31,400 people were staying at evacuation centers in Ishikawa, issues related to sanitation and hygiene were emerging, with some reports of COVID-19 infections and flu coming in, local media reports showed.

The prefecture was planning to initiate the installation of temporary housing in the cities of Wajima and Suzu starting next Friday to secure living accommodations for the affected residents.

More damage reports were coming in even outside Ishikawa, with liquefaction caused by continuous aftershocks being a major reason. As of Saturday, the New Year's Day quake has wrecked more than 2,000 homes in the city of Niigata alone, with over 150 buildings damaged.

The earthquake's direct economic impact, based on the current damage reports, could surpass 800 billion yen (about 5.5 billion U.S. dollars), which amounts to about 0.15 percent of Japan's nominal gross domestic product, according to Japanese economist Takahide Kiuchi. 

People check the ruins of the Wajima Morning Market which has been burned down by a large blaze following a series of earthquakes in Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, Jan. 4, 2024. The death toll has surged to 126 in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa after a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the prefecture and its vicinity, amid fears of secondary hazards and escalating casualties despite intensified rescue and search efforts on day six of the quake on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

This photo taken on Jan. 4, 2024 shows the Wajima Morning Market which has been burned down by a large blaze following a series of earthquakes in Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. The death toll has surged to 126 in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa after a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the prefecture and its vicinity, amid fears of secondary hazards and escalating casualties despite intensified rescue and search efforts on day six of the quake on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
Beirut, Jan 6 (AP) Lebanon's Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel on Saturday, warning that the barrage was its initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanon's capital earlier this week.

The rocket attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that his group must retaliate for the killing of Saleh Arouri, the deputy political leader of Hamas, in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut.

Nasrallah said that if Hezbollah did not strike back, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack. He appeared to be making his case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on.

Hezbollah said it launched 62 rockets toward an Israeli air surveillance base on Mount Meron and that it scored direct hits. The group said rockets also struck two army posts near the border. The Israeli military said about 40 rockets were fired toward Meron and that a base was targeted, but made no mention of the base being hit. It said it struck the Hezbollah cell that fired the rockets.

Separately, the armed wing of the Islamic Group in Lebanon said it fired two volleys of rockets toward the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday night. Two of the group's members were killed in the strike that killed Arouri.

The cross-border escalation came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was kicking off an urgent Middle East diplomatic tour, his fourth to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted three months ago. The war was triggered by a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages.

In recent weeks, Israel has been scaling back its military assault in the north of the territory and pressing its heavy offensive in the south, vowing to crush Hamas. In the south, most of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster, while still being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.

On Saturday, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 122 Palestinians were killed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the war to 22,722. The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The ministry has said two-thirds of those killed have been women and children. The overall number of wounded rose to 58,166, the ministry said.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah received at least 46 bodies overnight, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press. Many were men who were apparently shot. Fighting has raged between Israeli forces and militants in the area. The dead also included five members of a family killed in an airstrike, the records showed.

The latest Israeli-dropped leaflets urged Palestinians in some areas near the hospital to evacuate, citing dangerous fighting.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, the focus of Israel's ground offensive, the local European Hospital received the bodies of 18 people killed in an overnight airstrike on a house in the city's Maan neighborhood, said Saleh al-Hamms, head of the nursing department at the hospital. Citing witnesses, he said more than three dozen people had been sheltering in the house, including those displaced.

Israel has held Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the group has embedded within in Gaza's civilian infrastructure. Still, international criticism of Israel's conduct in the war has grown more persistent because of the rising civilian death toll. The United States has urged Israel to do more to prevent harm to civilians, even as it keeps sending weapons and munitions while shielding its close ally against international censure.

Blinken began his latest Mideast trip in Turkey on Saturday. The Biden administration believes that Turkey and others can exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to tamp down fears of a regional conflagration. Those fears have spiked in recent days with incidents in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.

In talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Blinken sought Turkish support for still nascent plans for post-war Gaza that could include monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multinational force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

From Turkey, Blinken was traveling to Turkish rival and fellow NATO ally Greece to meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his residence on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Mitsotakis and his government have been supportive of US efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading and have signaled their willingness to assist should the situation deteriorate.

Other stops on the trip include Jordan, followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank next week before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

The European Union's foreign policy chief said during a visit to Beirut he aims to jump-start a European-Arab initiative to revive a peace process that would result in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Josep Borrell said he will visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The only way is the creation of a Palestinian state offering a horizon of hope for the Palestinians, he said.(AP) RUP

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New Delhi next week and will co-chair the ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

Ambassador Tai will travel to India from January 12-14 and begin her trip with a meeting with Goyal. She is also scheduled to meet Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar later.

On January 13, Tai will meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the Biden-Harris Administrations engagement and commitment to fostering closer ties between the two countries.

Tais visit marks the first trip to India in the new year by a senior Biden administration official.

Tai and Goyal will co-chair the 14th ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF). During this years meeting, Tai and Goyal will discuss a broad set of issues to enhance the resiliency of the trade relationship, including agriculture, industrial products, services, and the protection of intellectual property, among other topics, a statement issued by the Office of the US Trade Representative said Friday.

Last year, Goyal and Tai had co-chaired the 13th ministerial-level meeting of India-United States Trade Policy Forum in Washington DC on January 11. During his January 9-11 visit to the US last year, Goyal had also met with CEOs, addressed the Indian community and held roundtable meetings with business leaders and think tanks in New York.

The 12th TPF Ministerial meeting was held in November 2021 after a gap of four years in New Delhi.

The Trade Policy Forum was established in 2010 and plays an important role in strengthening and expanding the bilateral economic and trade relationship.

Under the leadership of Tai and Goyal, the Trade Policy Forum has helped remove trade barriers and facilitate cooperation on key issues, the statement said.

The statement added that the United States-India trade relationship continues to grow stronger and benefit both nations throughout the past year as Tai and Goyal reached several "milestone" agreements that deliver crucial market access for American farmers and producers, and high quality products to Indian consumers.

These included a 70% reduction of the tariff on pecans, the removal of retaliatory tariffs on almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts, boric acid and diagnostic reagents, and commitments for additional tariff reductions on frozen turkey, frozen duck, as well as fresh, frozen, dried, and processed blueberries and cranberries.

The United States and India also reached agreements to resolve all seven of their outstanding World Trade Organization disputes.
Indore, Jan 5 (PTI) A week ahead of the National Cleanliness Survey award ceremony, Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday claimed Indore has been chosen as the country's cleanest city for the seventh consecutive time.

He hailed the efforts of the mayor, citizens and civic staffers for the feat.

"Indore has come out number 1 in cleanliness for the seventh consecutive time," Vijayvargiya told reporters here.

There was healthy competition among the cities of the country to clinch the top ranking and Surat in Gujarat had worked hard but Indore won the race, he claimed.

According to Indore Municipal Corporation Commissioner Harshika Singh the state government has received a formal letter in which Indore is also named among the cities to be awarded by President Draupadi Murmu at the National Sanitation Survey award ceremony to be held in the national capital on January 11.

But the ranking of the cities in the survey has not been officially declared yet, Singh said.

Indore remains a torch bearer in the country in terms of cleanliness due to efficient implementation of the '3R' (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) model of waste management, officials said.
Patna, Jan 6 (PTI) Former JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan on Saturday slapped legal notices on a number of top media houses for running stories accusing him of having conspired to topple the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.

Lalan, who gave up the top party post recently, claiming that he wanted to give more time to his parliamentary constituency Munger ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, shared copies of the notices on social media.

The media reports had spoken of a meeting that took place in Patna at the residence of a Bihar minister on December 20, where, it was alleged, Lalan had called a dozen MLAs of the JD(U) and asked them to help him in replacing Kumar with Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav as the chief minister.

The news articles had claimed that Kumar, the JD(U)s supreme leader, got wind of the conspiracy and, therefore, decided to take over as the national president himself, losing trust in Lalan who had grown too close to the RJD, founded and headed by Yadavs father Lalu Prasad.

The reports run by these media houses were fabricated and aimed at tarnishing my reputation. I have asked them to apologise failing which I will lodge defamation suits within 15 days, he said on X.

It was upon my request that the honourable chief minister allowed me to give up the national presidents post and agreed to take over himself. It is a matter of delight for all workers of the party of which I happen to be a founding member. But a section of the media tried to portray me as a villain in the party, alleged Lalan.
Jaipur, Dec 6 (PTI) A voter turnout of more than 80 per cent was recorded in the Karanpur assembly election in Rajasthan where minister Surendra Pal Singh is in the race as the BJP candidate, according to officials.

The polling, which began at 7 am and continued till 6 pm, was held peacefully. The counting of votes will take place on January 8 at Bheemrao Ambedkar Government College, Sriganganagar, the officials said on Saturday.

Voting for 199 out of the 200 assembly seats in the state was held on November 25. The election in Karanpur was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate and sitting MLA Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

The Congress fielded Koonar's son Rupinder Singh from the seat.

Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said the final voting percentage in Karanpur constituency was recorded at 81.38 per cent.

According to officials, there are 2,40,826 voters -- 1,25,850 men, 1,14,966 women and 10 transgender persons -- in Karanpur.

Surendra Pal Singh has already been inducted into the Rajasthan ministry after the BJP won the assembly polls, bagging 115 of the 199 seats.

The Congress has criticised his induction in the ministry, terming it a violation of the model code of conduct.

According to the rules, Surendra Pal Singh has six months to get elected to the assembly after being inducted as a minister.
Jammu, Jan 6 (PTI) BJP president J P Nadda is reaching here Sunday on a daylong tour to discuss and finalise the party's Lok Sabha poll strategy for Jammu and Kashmir, a leader said.

Nadda will begin his tour by paying obeisance at the historic Raghunath temple in the heart of the city before chairing a meeting of senior members led by J-K BJP president Ravinder Raina at the party headquarters here.

National General Secretary, incharge J&K, Tarun Chugh will also attend the meeting along with both Member Parliaments from J&K -- Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma -- who have won Udhampur and Jammu seats twice for the party, respectively.

The leader quoted above said the meeting is likely to finalise the party's candidates for the Lok Sabha elections based on an internal survey report which was recently submitted to Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah.

The focus of the meeting would be to finalise the party strategy to counter the INDIA bloc which has hinted of putting up joint candidates against the BJP, he said.

The meeting will also discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir later this month or in early February, the leader said.

He said Nadda is also scheduled to hold a separate meeting with J&K BJP president and General Secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul before returning to Delhi.
Lucknow, Jan 7 (PTI) The BSP will organise public meetings in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh on January 15 to take stock of the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The party also plans to launch the 'Behan Ji' app on the occasion of her birthday (January 15). The party intends to connect youth workers with this app, made on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'NaMo' app.

BSP's UP unit chief Vishwanath Pal told PTI on Sunday, "This time on behen Mayawati's birthday, the party is organising public meetings in all 75 districts of the state. In these public meetings, the people of the state will be given information about the various public welfare schemes of the BSP."

He said that the party is fully prepared for the Lok Sabha elections to be held in the next two-three months and is organising these public meetings to energise its workers for the elections.

When asked whether the party would make any electoral understanding with the 'INDIA' bloc for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Pal said, "Only behen ji (Mayawati) will take any decision in this regard. We are just workers. All the decisions in the party are taken by behen ji."

On a question that Mayawati had earlier said she would contest the Lok Sabha elections alone, Pal said, "If our leader has said that our party will contest the elections alone, then all of us party workers will contest the elections alone with full strength and will win."

The BSP's state unit president claimed the party is fully prepared to contest elections on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

BSP chief Mayawati had announced in July last year that her party would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections alone. She had also criticised the NDA as well as the 'INDIA' bloc and alleged that none of them were "friendly" to Dalits and oppressed classes.

Meanwhile, sources said the party will also hold a show of strength at district levels on Mayawati's birthday. In this, the popularity of the contenders for the Lok Sabha constituencies will be assessed based on their ability to gather crowds.

The BSP and the SP had formed an alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BSP was the bigger gainer with 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP had won five seats.

On being asked whether he would attend the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony to be held at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Pal said, "I was born in Ayodhya and am a resident of that place. Since childhood, my mother used to take me in her lap and go to the Ram Janmabhoomi for 'darshan'.

"Therefore, it is useless for you to ask me whether I will go to 'Pran Pratistha' or not. When I stay in Ayodhya, I will go for 'darshan' whenever I feel like."

He said he is against any kind of politics being done on the Ram Temple issue. He said no political party should do politics of religion.

A senior party leader said that Akash Anand, Mayawati's nephew, has become "very active" after she declared him as her successor.

According to sources, Akash can get the 'Behan Ji' app launched by Mayawati on January 15.

The objective of this app will be to connect such youths with the party, who agree with the party's ideology but do not know much about its policies.

At present, the BSP has only one MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) Senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi on Saturday lashed out at the BJP-led Centre, saying the Enforcement Directorate has become a "political tool" for the ruling party.

Addressing a press conference here, the minister alleged that the BJP government in the Centre has been "targeting" AAP and other opposition leaders by "misusing" the central agencies.

"The BJP has been targeting AAP leaders ever since they came to power. This is a political conspiracy," Atishi said.

"The Central government has proven that ED is nothing but a political tool," she said.

"They have targeted opposition leaders from all states and by the time the Lok sabha elections arrive, the ED will put all of them behind the bars," she claimed.

Atishi also said the ED is misusing the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against opposition parties, adding, "Getting bail under this act is almost impossible."

The minister said the ED had allegedly summed two Dalit farmers under the PMLA when the duo had merely Rs 450 in their bank accounts.

"The ED has filed cases against two old farmers. They have only Rs 450 in their bank accounts in total and ED issued summons to them under the PMLA," Atishi alleged.

There was no immediate response from the ED on the allegations.
Lucknow, Jan 6 (PTI) The Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of putting the country under Emergency and called on the people to unite against the BJP government, as it concluded its 18-day Uttar Pradesh Jodo Yatra here on Saturday.

The Yatra started from western UP's Saharanpur on December 20.

"The way the Modi government of the centre is playing with the Constitution and has set up an emergency in the country, the time has come to stand against him," Avinash Pandey, National General Secretary of the Congress, said in a statement.

Pandey, the newly made party in-charge of UP, also called on people to join Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra, which will start from January 14 and traverse the swathe of the country from Manipur to Mumbai.

The party workers on the last day of the 'UP Jodo Yatra,' walked from Rakab Ganj in Lucknow to the martyr memorial, where they concluded the rally.

State Congress President Ajay Rai, who was involved in the entire yatra, said the campaign would not have been possible without people's support.

Passing through various routes in the state capital, the Congress' Yatra reached Maharana Pratap Chowk, where the leaders were given a grand welcome under the leadership of Indian Overseas Congress Uttar Pradesh Chairman Captain Banshidhar Mishra.

Captain Mishra alleged that the way government agencies are being misused by the Centre is condemnable and shameful.

Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid said that "Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb" is the real identity of the country.

Congress national spokesperson Supriya Srinate said that the Yatra was not over, and will commence again with Rahul Gandhi's Nyaya Yatra.

Aradhana Mishra Mona, the leader of Uttar Pradesh Congress Legislature Party, called the Congress a party of "struggle and sacrifice."

"We are not going to bow down to the oppression of any dictator," she said.
Noida, Jan 5 (PTI) A 40-year-old man was stabbed to death allegedly by his known persons over a dispute in Greater Noida on Friday, police said.

Additional DCP (Greater Noida) Ashok Kumar Sharma said the incident took place at Kondli Bangar village, under Knowledge Park police station limits.

"Local resident Ravindra Chauhan approached the police today and informed about his brother's murder. He has given a complaint, raising suspicion over involvement of some people from his village in the murder," Sharma said.

"An FIR has been lodged against the named persons and an investigation launched into the case. The body has been sent for post mortem," the officer said.

According to officials, the FIR has been lodged under the IPC sections 147 (rioting) and 302 (murder) against around a dozen people and further legal proceedings are underway.

Meanwhile, police force was deployed at the village in the wake of the incident but officials said the situation was under control.
Western Azerbaijani Community reacted to US Secretary of State's statement: "We categorically reject this list", Azernews reprots.

Azernews reprots, Western Azerbaijani Community statement says:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrogantly included Azerbaijan in some so-called list related to religious freedom. First of all, no one has authorised the US to make any conceivable reports, lists on religious freedom in the countries of the world, and the use of such practice by the US is a manifestation of false "American exceptionalism".

It was noted that the U.S. "bills" dozens of countries in its world by placing countries whose policies it considers hostile on such an undervalued list. The hypocrisy of those who turn a blind eye to Armenia's destruction of the Azerbaijani people's cultural heritage, mosques, cemeteries, religious and ethnic prejudices, crusader mentality is disgusting:

"At a time when" Epstein's list "to the American public, from lies to peace shaken morality, conscience, human rights, the rule of law by mischievous acts of those who "passed the lesson", about whom, about what" the U.S. itself is concerned, look, it is incomprehensible. Instead of meddling in the affairs of other countries, the US should go and deal with its own domestic problems, including securing the rights of indigenous peoples it has historically suppressed.

The "logic" of US diplomacy is also "striking." On the one hand, the U.S. invites Azerbaijan to the Washington platform, while on the other hand, it takes one hostile step against Azerbaijan after another.

The US list on religious freedom has no force, no weight and we categorically reject it".
Health workers and relatives of patients are seen at a cholera treatment center of a hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 5, 2024. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday called for concerted efforts to tackle rising cholera cases in the country, especially in Lusaka, the country's capital.(Photo by Martin Mbangweta/Xinhua)

LUSAKA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday called for concerted efforts to tackle rising cholera cases in the country, especially in Lusaka, the country's capital.

The Zambian president said the government was monitoring the cholera outbreak and would continue implementing measures to contain its spread.

"We can defeat cholera if we work together. Take measures to avoid contracting the disease is our call to action," he said in a post on his Facebook page.

He has since urged citizens to adhere to the guidelines given by health authorities.

On Thursday, Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo led a multi-sectoral team to inspect areas in Lusaka that are mostly affected by cholera.

The minister expressed concern about the situation in most shanty compounds and fears that the situation could worsen if people do not adhere to preventive measures.

Meanwhile, UNICEF, the United Nations children's fund, has handed over 320,000 oral rehydration solutions to the Ministry of Health to help curb the surge.

Tinkhani Msonda, the UNICEF Zambia acting deputy representative, hoped the donation would go a long way in supplementing the government's efforts to tackle the outbreak, especially in Lusaka.

In remarks delivered during a handover ceremony, Msonda said the UN agency would continue supporting the Ministry of Health in distributing the oral rehydration solution.

He said UNICEF was supporting the ministry in various areas and announced that the organization was currently working on a shipment of about 850,000 cholera vaccines, which will soon be in the country.

Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary in Charge of Technical Services Kennedy Lishimpi commended UNICEF for the donation and expressed confidence that the country will soon contain the disease.

He said the government planned to implement sustainable measures to eliminate cholera in the country.

The government, he said, has finalized the formulation of a cholera elimination plan, which will guide the country toward eradicating the waterborne disease.

Zambia has been battling a cholera outbreak since October last year, with Lusaka the hardest hit.

According to Ministry of Health figures, the cumulative cholera cases now stand at 4,433, following 336 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Twenty-two people died during the same period, bringing the death toll to 172, while 221 people were discharged, bringing total discharges to 3,621.

A total of 634 people are currently admitted to various treatment facilities. 

A health worker takes care of patients at a cholera treatment center of a hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 5, 2024. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday called for concerted efforts to tackle rising cholera cases in the country, especially in Lusaka, the country's capital.(Photo by Martin Mbangweta/Xinhua)

Health workers and relatives of patients are seen at a cholera treatment center of a hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 5, 2024. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday called for concerted efforts to tackle rising cholera cases in the country, especially in Lusaka, the country's capital.(Photo by Martin Mbangweta/Xinhua)

A health worker sprays disinfectant at a cholera treatment center of a hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 5, 2024. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday called for concerted efforts to tackle rising cholera cases in the country, especially in Lusaka, the country's capital.(Photo by Martin Mbangweta/Xinhua)
Dhaka, Jan 6 (AP) Fazlur Rahman died on a hospital floor with his hands and legs still cuffed, his son Mohammad said, his voice breaking while recalling his father's final moments.

Rahman, 63, was one of thousands of opposition activists who were arrested in the months leading to Sunday's parliamentary election amid a sweeping polarized political culture.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former premier Khaleda Zia, said Rahman was one of 10 members who died in police custody. According to his family, he was arrested on October 25 outside the tea stall he ran and taken to jail.

He fell sick and was later transferred to a hospital where he died over a week ago, they said. Rahman's arrest came three days before a massive opposition rally turned violent, leaving at least 11 dead and nearly a hundred injured.

His family believed he was targeted for being an outspoken BNP supporter for the last 35 years.

My father was with the BNP, which is why they took him," Mohammad said, if he dies, BNP's name will vanish from our neighbourhood.

The BNP has accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government of a major crackdown targeting its supporters and opposition politicians on what they say are trumped-up charges in the lead-up to the polls. They claimed that over 20,000 of their members have been jailed in recent months.

However, government officials argued the figure to be much lower and that arrests were made not because of political affiliations but rather specific criminal charges such as arson. Attorney General A.M. Amin Uddin told The Associated Press over the phone Friday that between 2,000 and 3,000 people have been arrested. The country's law minister told the BBC this week that 10,000 have been arrested.

The figures remain unclear.

CIVICUS, a nonprofit that tracks civic freedoms around the world, recently downgraded Bangladesh to closed, the worst rating that it could assign, along with China and Venezuela, following the latest crackdown on opposition supporters.

We've seen many of them being arbitrarily arrested and many of them are facing what we consider fabricated charges, said Josef Benedict, a researcher with a focus on South Asia at CIVICUS.

Rahman's family said he was arrested in connection to a case dating back to 2022.

The clampdown has raised questions about the legitimacy of the upcoming election.

The BNP and other opposition parties had previously announced a boycott of the election, saying they could not trust the current administration to run it fairly.

They repeatedly demanded Hasina's resignation and for a caretaker government to oversee the election. The move has all but guaranteed Hasina, the country's longest-serving leader, to extend her 15-year-long rule and clinch a fifth term in power.

Rights groups have called the polls a farce, and fear that it follows a pattern. In 2018, Hasina's Awami League-led alliance won 96 per cent of the 300 seats in parliament amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging, which authorities denied. And in 2014, she came to power after a boycott by all major opposition parties.

Instead of the BNP, smaller opposition parties and over 400 independent candidates  including scores from the Awami League itself  are participating. The government has invited international observers and defended the polls as fair and democratic, but critics say the aim is to make them look competitive instead.

The recent targeting of the BNP has also reignited concerns of alleged enforced disappearances of opposition members and critics under the Hasina government, said Benedict, the researcher at CIVICUS.

In August, Human Rights Watch said Bangladesh's security forces have committed over 600 enforced disappearances since 2009, when Hasina came to power for the second time. The figures, based on Bangladeshi human rights monitors, show that nearly 100 remain missing.

The government has consistently denied the accusations but has refused to work with the UN to investigate the disappearances. In 2022, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan dismissed these concerns and said that those who went missing might be in hiding, and often return after a few days.

That hasn't been the case for Sajedul Islam, a BNP local politician, who has been missing for over 10 years, said Sanjida, his sister.

His family said he was picked up by agents of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion  a special security force unit  on 4 December 2013, just days before the 2014 general election. Over 20 people working at the construction site from where Islam was taken saw agents dressed in the black RAB uniform tying his hands before bundling him into a van, the family said.

For as long as we live, I will keep saying, bring my brother back because he is my family. He is my blood,' Sanjida said.

Rights groups have long accused RAB of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and human rights violations, sparking the U.S. government to impose sanctions on the elite paramilitary force in 2021.

While this helped bring down the number of such incidents, Islam's sister said they have struggled to push authorities to investigate her brother's disappearance.

He was a strong organizer for the BNP in our neighborhood, he was popular and people listened to him - I think that's why he was targeted, Sanjida said.

Political observers say such cases illustrate how the bitter rivalry between Hasina's Awami League and the BNP led by Zia, who is ailing and under house arrest, has polarized Bangladeshi politics  and its citizens  for decades.

Hasina has often accused the BNP of courting hardline extremists that her party, which calls itself moderate and secular, had worked to stamp out, while Zia's BNP accuses the Awami League of using oppressive tactics to stay in power.

The decades-long feud has deeply fractured the political landscape in Bangladesh, where the two main parties are marred by a history of electoral violence and a politics of retribution.

When the BNP was last in power, from 2001-2006, rights groups and observers detailed how political and security conditions deteriorated in Bangladesh. In 2004, a grenade attack on a rally led by Hasina killed over 20 people, and she narrowly escaped. The country saw nearly daily bombings throughout 2005, according to a Human Rights Watch report at the time, which also accused the then-BNP government of widespread rights abuses.

This week in the capital, Dhaka, people who said they suffered burn injuries during protests by the BNP in October, took to the streets. Authorities at the time said they arrested scores of BNP members for stoking violence and burning vehicles. They have since blamed numerous arson attacks on the opposition, which BNP has denied, saying the accusations were politically motivated and aimed at quashing their supporters as the election approaches.

For Mohammad, who believes his father died because of supporting the BNP, this election doesn't exist.

After seeing my father's condition, I will never vote as long as this government is here, he said. (AP)



RUP

RUP
Latur, Jan 6 (PTI) A 23-year-old student, reported missing by his family, was found dead in a well on a farm in Maharashtra's Latur district, police said on Saturday.

The body of Abhay Anurath Suryawanshi was found in a well on his own farm in Kamkheda village in Renapur tehsil on Friday evening, an official said.

The man was a student at Shivaji College in Renapur and had left his house on the morning of January 3. The family reported him missing on January 4 after he failed to return home, he said.

The body has been sent for post-mortem, the official said, adding that a probe is underway if the death was a suicide or murder.
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Hezbollah launched a massive rocket barrage into northern Israel on Shabbos day. The attack was described by Hezbollah as an initial response to the alleged Israeli assassination of Hamas terror leader Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon the previous week. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries from this rocket barrage.

According to the IDF, approximately 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards the Mount Meron area in northern Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an Israeli military installation in the vicinity using 62 different types of missiles.

Hezbollah issued a statement declaring that this attack was in retaliation for the alleged assassination of Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri, whom they referred to as a great leader.

The rocket salvo triggered alerts in northern Israel, with sirens going off in 90 communities. However, the attack was primarily concentrated on the Mount Meron area.

Later on, additional sirens were activated in 40 communities in northern Israel, as more projectiles were fired by Hezbollah towards the border areas of Metula and Margaliot.

The IDF responded by targeting a terror cell in southern Lebanon believed to be responsible for some of the rocket launches at Mount Meron. Subsequently, the IDF also conducted numerous airstrikes on several Hezbollah sites in Lebanon in response to the attacks on northern Israel.

(YWNs Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis haShabbos in Israel)
The IDF has released footage of a recent clash with Hamas terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, its elite Egoz commando unit conducted operations in the area, including a raid on the residence of the Hamas battalion commander for east Khan Younis. Additionally, troops engaged in a firefight with Hamas gunmen inside a school in the town of Bani Suheila on the outskirts of Khan Younis.

During the school operation, the IDF reported that three Hamas gunmen were killed in the exchange. On their persons, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and a substantial amount of intelligence material related to Hamass Khan Younis brigade were discovered.

In a nearby residential home, Egoz soldiers uncovered a cache of weaponry used by Hamas operatives, according to the IDFs statement. Notably, some of these weapons were found within a bedroom, which the IDF claimed was situated alongside a childs puzzle featuring an image with inflammatory content against Israel.

The IDF has not provided additional details regarding the raid on the home of the Hamas commander at this time.

(YWNs Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis haShabbos in Israel)
Tesco will be among the big names to update the market next week.

The update on Thursday will provide an insight into how Britain's largest supermarket fared in the run up to Christmas.

Rivals Aldi and Lidl saw bumper festive trading as shoppers looking for bargains flocked to the discounters.

Alongside its closest rival Sainsbury's, Tesco was the only traditional supermarket to gain market share over the 12 weeks to December 24, according to industry data provider Kantar published this week.

Tesco continued its reign at number one after sales hit 10billion for the first time during the 12-week period. Market share ticked up to 27.6 per cent from 27.5 per cent a year earlier.

Analysts are not expecting any negative news regarding profit expectations after the group bumped up its annual forecast in its last update to investors back in October.

Tesco had said its trading was better than anticipated as sales increased 7.8 per cent over the six months to August 26, compared with the same period a year earlier.

It was at this point the group said it was expecting elevated annual profits of between 2.6billion and 2.7billion.

It had previously steered towards a 2.5billion figure.

Tesco shares have increased 25 per cent over the past year.

Sophie Lund-Yates at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'The stiffer competition is worth noting, but the record numbers from the discounters also point to the fact consumers are willing to show up and spend if the proposition's right.'
Ithaca Energy's boss has stepped down as it tries to bounce back from a disappointing year.

The North Sea oil and gas giant said Alan Bruce will leave to 'pursue new opportunities' after two years in charge.

Ithaca shares sunk over a fifth in the past year as the windfall tax continues to put pressure on North Sea producers.

Struggle: Ithaca Energy said Alan Bruce will leave to 'pursue new opportunities' after two years in charge

Yesterday they dropped 0.7 per cent, or 1p, to 142.2p.

Bruce, 42, joined in 2021 and was given the top job a year later after his predecessor Bill Dunnett died.

He led the group during initial public offering in London in November 2022 and later its promotion into the FTSE 250.

But Ithaca, which is owned by Tel-Aviv-listed Delek Group, has struggled to woo investors. The windfall tax has been hugely unpopular in the oil industry, which argues that it discourages investment in the UK.

The Aberdeen-based company has publicly criticised the windfall tax, which imposes an effective 75 per cent corporate tax rate on the energy industry.

It added North Sea operators 'are reconsidering the attractiveness' of investment in the UK.

And in August Ithaca said it was writing off 58million as a direct impact from the levy.

Bruce will be temporarily replaced by Iain Lewis, who is finance chief, until it finds a permanent boss.

Bruce said he was 'extremely proud of what Ithaca Energy has accomplished over the past several years' and was leaving it in a 'strong financial and strategic position'.
China has launched an investigation into French brandy imports as tensions with Brussels continue to rise.

Chinese officials have said they will probe whether European producers of drinks are dumping their products on its market.

This is the process of exporting goods to a country at prices that do not reflect their costs.

It can ultimately push local producers and manufacturers out of business.

And Chinese authorities said the move was prompted by complaints from local producers.

Probe: Brandy is the most-imported spirit into China and comes primarily from France

Brandy is the most-imported spirit into China and comes primarily from France. But the probe from China comes just months after the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen revealed a similar investigation into imports of Chinese electric cars.

'Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars,' she said in September, despite warnings that this could lead to retaliation from Beijing.

China is a crucial market for European brandy producers, and the news of the tit-for-tat anti-dumping measure sent shares of luxury consumer goods groups tumbling across Europe.

Pernod Ricard fell 5 per cent in Paris. Diageo shares slumped 1.6 per cent in London despite the group not directly importing brandy to China.

But analysts said the company have an indirect exposure at 2-3 per cent of income through its stake in a joint venture with luxury giant LVMH.
Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock.

China Green Agriculture Stock Performance

Shares of CGA stock opened at $2.94 on Thursday. China Green Agriculture has a one year low of $1.61 and a one year high of $4.31. The companys 50-day moving average is $2.67 and its 200 day moving average is $2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $40.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 0.49.

Get China Green Agriculture alerts:

China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The basic materials company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $17.80 million for the quarter. China Green Agriculture had a negative net margin of 14.54% and a negative return on equity of 12.68%.

Institutional Trading of China Green Agriculture

About China Green Agriculture

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CGA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of China Green Agriculture during the 1st quarter valued at about $115,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of China Green Agriculture during the 1st quarter valued at about $175,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of China Green Agriculture by 67.8% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 19,051 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 7,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.74% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

China Green Agriculture, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various fertilizers, agricultural products, and bitcoin in the People's Republic of China and the United States. The company operates through four segments: Jinong (Fertilizer Production); Gufeng (Fertilizer Production); Yuxing (Agricultural Products Production); and Antaeus (Bitcoin).

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People watch as a police drone demonstrates during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Traffic police officers demonstrate motorcycle skills during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

People look on as a robot police dog moves during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

A young visitor tries the equipment for police divers during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

People attend a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

People watch a demonstration of a police drone during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

This aerial photo taken on Jan. 6, 2024 shows people watching a demonstration by traffic police officers during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

A young visitor poses with a SWAT member for a photo during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

A young visitor poses with a traffic police officer for a photo during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

A young visitor tries a police boat during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

A visitor tries a laser dazzler during a police open week event in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 6, 2024. A five-day open week event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau was initiated Saturday at Nanjing International Expo Center. With various online and offline activities, the open week aims to bring the public closer to the life and work of police officers. China will mark its fourth national police day on Jan. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Li Bo)
male speaker at tech conference. pictured: black male speaker

Now is the perfect time to begin planning to attend some of the many startup events already gearing up for 2024. These events can be a transformative opportunity for a growing business or an entrepreneur with an idea that has the potential to become something big. Startup events often bring together entrepreneurs, investors, industry experts, and innovators to discuss emerging trends, share knowledge, network, and showcase new ideas or products.

These events typically feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, pitch competitions, workshops, and networking sessions. Registering early for 2024 events could be a smart financial investment, as many offer reduced prices for early commitments. This is especially true as many of these startup events are occurring in different cities worldwide.

Below are some of the best startup events for those who want to take their business to the next level and make connections that will open doors to new opportunities and potential success.

1. StartUp Grind

Startup Grind aims to provide valuable insights, networking opportunities and mentorship to individuals interested in startups and entrepreneurship. At these events, attendees can expect fireside chats, panel discussions, workshops and networking sessions focused on various aspects of starting and growing a business. The 2023 Startup Grind Global event will take place on April 23-24 in Silicon Valley. While speakers have not yet been announced, past events have included significant tech leaders like Stacy Abrams, Biz Stone of Twitter, Eric Yuan of Zoom, and Stewart Butterfield of Slack.

2. StartUps World

StartUps Worlds international conference will take place in Porto, Portugal on January 13, 2024. The event is also available to attend virtually. StartUp Worlds vision is to bring together entrepreneurs and others in the business field to learn from top speakers and become empowered. The company believes in the value of everyone, no matter where they live, and wants to uplift a diverse group of voices by educating its audience. The speakers for 2024s StartUps World event include Philip van Nedervelde, founder of E-spaces, Sandra Miller, CEO at Runway Innovation Hub, Giorgio Gaviraghi, founder and CEO of EDL, and more.

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3. The TechCrunch Annual Founder Summit

TechCrunch Annual Founder Summit is a gathering focused on bringing together founders, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders. The Founder Summit typically involves keynote presentations from successful startup owners, fireside chats, panel discussions, workshops and networking opportunities. The event aims to provide a platform for founders to learn from successful entrepreneurs and industry experts, gain insights into various aspects of building and scaling startups, and connect with potential investors and mentors. 2024s TechCrunch Annual Founder Summit will take place on April 25 in Boston, and tickets start at $99.

4. StartUpFest

StartUpFest is an annual startup event taking place in Montreal, Canada. Its known for convening a vibrant mix of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, and stakeholders across the startup ecosystem. The event encourages networking, collaboration, and peer learning for startups at all stages. By showcasing rising companies, facilitating expert guidance, and enabling idea exchange, StartUpFest fosters an environment where innovation can thrive. The 2024 festival runs July 10-12, with early bird passes available now.

5. 4YFN

4YFN stands for 4 Years From Now. Its an international startup event that typically runs alongside the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Its organized by the GSMA, focusing on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship within the mobile technology and digital ecosystem. The event gathers startups, investors, corporations and industry professionals to collaborate, network, and showcase innovative ideas and technologies. 4YFN provides a platform for startups to pitch their products or services, connect with potential investors, and gain exposure to industry experts and mentors. The 2024 MWC event will be extra special as it is 4FYNs 10th anniversary. Attendees can look forward to bigger stages, bigger speakers, and better programs. Tickets to the event being held in Barcelona are a financial commitment but likely a worthy investment.

6. Infoshare

Infoshare is a major tech conference and startup event that typically takes place in Gdansk, Poland. Its known for being one of the largest tech events in Central and Eastern Europe. Infoshare brings together entrepreneurs, investors, tech professionals, and innovators from around the world. It aims to provide a platform for startups to showcase their ideas, connect with potential investors, gain insights from experts in the field and network with other like-minded individuals. The event also focuses on emerging technologies, business strategies, and the future of the tech industry, making it a valuable gathering for anyone involved or interested in the tech and startup ecosystem. Infoshare 2024 will take place from May 22-23. Attendees can compete in a startup contest with a 20,000 prize and access to other beneficial opportunities.

7. Slush

Slush is a non-profit with one of the leading startup and tech events globally. Its an annual event that brings together startups, investors, industry experts and tech enthusiasts from around the world. Slush aims to create a platform for startups to showcase their innovations, connect with investors and network with key players in the tech industry. Slush has gained a reputation for its vibrant atmosphere. This helps foster innovation, and collaboration and provides a stage for startups to gain visibility and access to funding opportunities. 2024s event will not arrive for some time as it takes place on Nov 2021 in Helsinki, Poland. However, pre-registration is available now for early-access to tickets.

8. Startup CTO Summit

The Startup CTO Summit is a specialized event tailored for Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and technical leaders within startup companies. The event aims to provide a platform for CTOs and technical leaders to learn from industry experts, share experiences, discuss strategies and network with peers facing similar challenges in the rapidly evolving landscape of startup technology. It often fosters an environment conducive to exchanging insights and building connections within the startup community. This virtual event is free to attend and will take place on May 15, 2024 between 9am  4am EST. Confirmed speakers include the CEO and CTO of Glorium Technologies.

9. sTARTUp Day

sTARTUp Day is one of the most significant startup events in the Baltic region, occurring annually in Tartu, Estonia. Its a multidisciplinary event that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, students, policymakers and startup enthusiasts. Here, you can discuss, network and learn about various aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation. The event also serves as a hub for sharing experiences, exchanging ideas and fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region. The event will take place through Jan. 24-26 and tickets start at 149. Speakers include several CEOs, founders, innovators and even the president of the Republic of Estonia.

10. ViennaUP

The ViennaUP is a festival-style startup event held in Vienna, Austria. It aims to celebrate the citys startup ecosystem and foster innovation and entrepreneurship. ViennaUP brings together entrepreneurs, investors, startups, industry experts, and policymakers to discuss trends, share knowledge and network within the vibrant startup community of Vienna. The event is designed to showcase Vienna as a hub for startups and innovation, offering a platform for startups to pitch their ideas, connect with potential investors and mentors and gain exposure to a diverse audience. The event also serves as an opportunity for participants to learn from successful entrepreneurs, collaborate on new projects, and engage in discussions shaping the future of the startup ecosystem in Vienna and beyond. 2024s festival will take place between June 3-9.
In this article, we will list and explore 14 Asian countries that allow dual citizenship. You can skip our detailed analysis and go directly to our list of 5 Asian Countries that Allow Dual Citizenship.

Dual citizenship offers enticing global privileges, yet navigating its complexities demands a thorough understanding of legal intricacies. An informed approach, weighing benefits and risks, is crucial before deciding. Careful consideration and planning help avoid pitfalls and fully leverage the advantages of dual citizenship.

One can acquire dual citizenship through various means, for instance, being born in a country that automatically grants citizenship or through naturalization processes, marriage, ancestry, or investment programs (such as Citizenship or Residence by Investment). However, the rules for obtaining dual citizenship differ across nations and may involve residency requirements, language proficiency, or renunciation of previous citizenship.

Dual Citizenship & Migration Patterns - Asian Dynamics

While some Asian countries have embraced policies allowing dual citizenship for foreigners, others maintain more stringent regulations. For instance, nations like Japan, South Korea, and China traditionally have stricter rules, often requiring individuals to renounce their previous citizenship upon naturalization. However, countries such as Vietnam and India permit dual citizenship, allowing their nationals to hold the citizenship of another country alongside their own.

The varying stances on dual citizenship within Asian countries highlights the complex nature of citizenship and migration policies across the continent. Several reasons bolster migration in Asia, such as economic opportunities, political instability, education, cultural diversity, and an enhancement in living standards. These factors collectively contribute to shaping a dynamic global workforce and investor sector within the region.

The International Organization for Migration reported that over 115 million people migrated internationally from Asia, constituting 40% of the global migrant population in 2020. Within this number, approximately 69 million individuals relocated within Asia, showing a significant increase from 61 million in 2015. This trend demonstrates a notable surge in intraregional migration within Asia. The movement of people within the continent has seen a remarkable escalation, rising from 35 million in 1990 to 69 million in 2020, signaling a substantial increase in intraregional migration over the years.

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Furthermore, there has been a substantial upswing in the population of Asian-born migrants in Northern America and Europe over the last two decades. In 2020, migration from Asia to Northern America slightly surpassed 17.5 million, slightly higher than the 17.3 million recorded in 2015. Similarly, migration from Asia to Europe surged to 23 million in 2020, up from nearly 20 million in 2015. This extra regional migration from Asia to Northern America and Europe notably contributed to the substantial increase in the number of Asian migrants living outside the Asian continent, resulting in a total of over 46 million Asian migrants residing in regions beyond Asia by 2020.

Global Industry Leaders in Asia

As pioneers in various sectors including e-commerce, semiconductor manufacturing, and entertainment technology, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM), and Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) stand at the forefront of innovation, bolstering economic growth regionally and globally.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has revolutionized the e-commerce industry in Asia and beyond, offering a wide array of services ranging from online retail platforms to cloud computing and digital payment solutions. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has recently become a part of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), joining a cohort of more than 200 global sustainable businesses. The primary emphasis of the partnership between WBCSD and Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) will center on Climate Action. Specifically, the focus will involve exploring inventive strategies to utilize Alibaba's platforms for extensive decarbonization efforts. Additionally, there will be collaborative efforts with WBCSD members to develop frameworks and methodologies for Avoided Emissions.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) with its cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing technology has been crucial in driving technological advancements in various sectors, including telecommunications, automotive, and consumer electronics. TSMC's subsidiary, WaferTech, has rebranded to TSMC Washington in line with the company's global expansion plans. This change signifies the strong bond between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) and its subsidiaries, showcasing the pivotal role played by WaferTech in semiconductor manufacturing over the past 27 years.

Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) is a renowned company known for its electronics, gaming consoles, music, and film production. As per Nikkei Asia's recent report, Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) has partnered with Nikon and Canon, aiming to tackle the issue of deepfakes by introducing advanced technology for authenticating photographs. This innovation involves enabling photographers to embed digital signatures directly into their images, containing essential information such as the photographer's identity, date, time, and location of the picture. These embedded signatures can be verified through a web-based application called Verify, launched by a collaborative effort among global media outlets, camera manufacturers, and tech companies.

These industry leaders not only contribute significantly to Asia's economic growth but also play a pivotal role in attracting talent and fostering a conducive environment for technological advancements and innovation. Their impact transcends borders, influencing global markets and shaping the future of various industries. As Asia continues to evolve as a hub for technological innovation and economic development, companies like Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM), and Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) drive progress and showcase the region's potential globally.

With this backdrop, let's now proceed to our list of 14 Asian countries that accept dual citizenship.

14 Asian Countries that Allow Dual Citizenship

alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com

Methodology

We identified the Asian countries allow dual citizenship by conducting a thorough research, and ranked them based on their Human Development Index (HDI), which reflects the quality of life. The countries are listed in ascending order to show the progression from lower to higher HDI values.

Note: As the HDI value for Taiwan wasn't provided in the index, we referenced its GDP per capita from the IMF, which closely aligns with Slovenia's GDP per capita. Consequently, we utilized Slovenia's HDI value as a substitute to rank Taiwan.

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14 Asian Countries that Allow Dual Citizenship

14. Pakistan

HDI Value: 0.544

Pakistan has established dual nationality agreements with 21 countries, allowing citizens of these countries to attain Pakistani citizenship without the requirement of renouncing their original nationality. These countries include the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Sweden, Ireland, Bahrain, Denmark, Germany, and Norway. This bilateral arrangement facilitates the acquisition of Pakistani citizenship for individuals from these specified countries while maintaining their original citizenship status.

13. Cambodia

HDI Value: 0.593

Cambodia has allowed dual citizenship since 1996, except for top government positions like the prime minister as of 2021. Most people can acquire dual citizenship through ancestry, naturalization, or investment. Those born to at least one Khmer parent qualify automatically, while foreigners can apply via investment or marriage to a Cambodian citizen. The general population faces no dual citizenship restrictions, except for certain government roles.

12. Timor-Leste

HDI Value: 0.607

Timor-Leste (East Timor) permits dual citizenship, allowing individuals to hold citizenship in Timor-Leste and another country simultaneously. The Constitution of Timor-Leste (2002) and the Nationality Act (2002) explicitly endorse dual citizenship. Timorese citizenship can be acquired by birth within the country or through descent if one parent is a Timorese citizen. Additionally, after residing in Timor-Leste for 10 years, individuals can apply for naturalization while potentially maintaining their existing citizenship.

11. Laos

HDI Value: 0.607

Laos now offers an 'honorary' citizenship program for foreign investors making significant economic contributions. This initiative, the second in Asia after Cambodia's, requires a $1.5 million investment, split between socio-economic development and real estate. Honorary citizens gain various rights, including land purchase without restrictions. Applicants, open to all foreign nationals over 18 with a clean record, receive a response within 30 days from the Ministry of Justice. The program is expected to benefit Chinese and Asian investors, given their substantial contributions to Laos' economy. Laotian passport holders enjoy visa-free access to 51 countries, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Russia, and Seychelles.

10. Bangladesh

HDI Value: 0.661

Taking the 10th spot on our list of Asian countries that allow dual nationality, Bangladesh allows foreigners to obtain citizenship through naturalization, regulated by The Citizenship Act of 1951, which has been amended through legislative orders. Eligibility criteria include being a law-abiding adult either married to a Bangladeshi or residing in the country for a specified period. To retain citizenship, individuals of Bangladeshi origin must obtain a Dual Nationality Certificate (DNC).

9. Tajikistan

HDI Value: 0.685

Foreign citizens and stateless individuals aged 18 and above can apply for Tajikistan naturalization regardless of their background. Requirements include continuous residence, proficiency in the official language, and no ongoing criminal prosecution. Notarized and translated documents are needed, unless waived by international treaties recognized by Tajikistan. Dual nationality is allowed under specific treaties, but Tajik citizens cannot hold dual citizenship unless permitted by Tajik law.

8. Kyrgyzstan

HDI Value: 0.692

Similar to Tajikistan, individuals who are foreign citizens or stateless persons and have attained the age of 18 possess the entitlement to seek citizenship in the Kyrgyz Republic through the standard application process. This eligibility is contingent upon their uninterrupted residency within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic for the preceding five years leading up to the time of their application.

7. Philippines

HDI Value: 0.699

Philippines allows dual citizenship through Administrative, Judicial, or Legislative Naturalization, based on specific residency, property ownership, moral character, and other criteria. Marriage to a Filipino offers residency but not automatic citizenship. Children born to at least one Filipino parent are automatically granted Philippine citizenship.

6. Sri Lanka

HDI Value: 0.782

Sri Lanka ranks 6th on our list of Asian countries that allow dual citizenship. Foreigners can obtain citizenship in Sri Lanka through five years of residency and inclusion in the Resident Guest Scheme. Sri Lankan ancestry, marriage to a citizen, or specific Citizenship Act provisions allow citizenship registration. Dual citizenship is possible under outlined conditions with document submission to Immigration.

Sri Lanka's "Golden Paradise Visa" offers citizenship eligibility via a $100,000 bank deposit for 10 years or $300,000 for a 5-year visa or $500,000 for a 10-year visa through direct investments. The "Resident Guest Scheme" allows citizenship eligibility after five years of residency. The "Independent Means Visas" offer citizenship after five years of Sri Lankan residency.

Click to continue reading and see the 5 Asian Countries that Allow Dual Citizenship.

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Disclosure: None. 14 Asian Countries that Allow Dual Citizenship is originally published on Insider Monkey.
People across the U.S. rely on Social Security to help them make ends meet in retirement. It's therefore somewhat shocking for many to learn that tax authorities often end up including a portion of Social Security benefits in taxable income, adding to prospective tax bills.

It doesn't even take that much income to trigger taxes on Social Security at the federal level. Add up your non-Social Security income and half of your Social Security benefits, and those with combined income above $25,000 for singles or $32,000 for joint filers could pay tax on up to half of their Social Security. Above $34,000 for singles or $44,000 for joint filers, the portion that's subject to tax jumps to as much as 85%.

As if that weren't bad enough news, a handful of states also impose state income taxes on Social Security benefits in some circumstances. The good news, though, is that now that 2024 has begun, residents in a pair of states that were among those who got taxed on their Social Security can breathe a sigh of relief. Here's why Nebraska and Missouri residents no longer have to worry about losing some of their monthly Social Security checks to taxes.

Putting an early end to tax on Social Security in Nebraska

It's been a long, hard road for Nebraskans trying to eliminate the tax on Social Security. But after nearly three years of efforts, the payoff has finally come for taxpayers in the Cornhusker State.

Lawmakers in Lincoln passed Legislative Bill 64 in 2021. This legislation started the clock on a 10-year phase-out of the state income taxes on Social Security income. As initially implemented, the law would have exempted a percentage of Social Security income otherwise subject to tax, with that proportion rising by 10 percentage points per year. By 2030, the tax would have been phased out entirely.

Image source: Getty Images.

That wasn't fast enough for opponents of Social Security taxation, and in 2022, another new bill made it before the legislature. Legislative Bill 873 doubled the pace of the phase-out, establishing a target date of 2025 after which taxes on Social Security would disappear.

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It took one final swing to chop out the tax on Social Security entirely in Nebraska. In 2023, Legislative Bill 754 included a provision that accelerated full tax-free status for Social Security by a year. When Governor Jim Pillen signed that bill into law, it set the final countdown that led to roughly 350,000 Nebraskans never having to worry about whether their Social Security benefits would get taxed.

The Show-Me State shows retirees some tax relief

Unlike Nebraska, which used the federal rules for governing how much Social Security to include in taxable income, Missouri has always been less strict when it comes to taxing benefits. Single filers with incomes of $85,000 or less didn't have to worry about paying taxes on Social Security, nor did joint filers making $100,000 or less.

Yet given the desire to get rid of an unpopular tax, lawmakers in Springfield passed Senate Bill 190. The signature of Governor Mike Parson early this past summer made the full exemption on Social Security benefits available to everyone, no matter how much or how little income they made. Those provisions took effect on New Year's Day, and residents will see the results when they file their 2024 tax returns in early 2025.

Is more relief ahead?

There are still a handful of states that impose income taxes on Social Security. However, with the prevailing trend toward state legislatures looking for ways to get rid of these unpopular taxes, it could be just a matter of time before more states join Nebraska and Missouri in freeing up their retirees from losing any more of their hard-earned Social Security benefits.

The $21,756 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook

If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $21,756 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

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These 2 States Just Stopped Taxing Social Security in 2024 was originally published by The Motley Fool
Many people make it a New Year's resolution to save more money, and to that end, investing in stocks isn't a bad idea. Putting your hard-earned cash in solid corporations with bright futures will help grow your initial capital. And while the healthcare industry may not be the most exciting, top companies that provide healthcare services often stand the test of time. After all, medical care is always in high demand.

With that said, let's look at two excellent healthcare stocks worth buying today: Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA).

1. Eli Lilly

Popular stocks aren't always great investments, but in the case of Eli Lilly, it certainly is. Last year, the biotech made quite a bit of noise thanks to its newly approved anti-obesity drug Zepbound, which looks destined for stardom. Zepbound first hit the market in 2022 in treating type 2 diabetes (it is marketed as Mounjaro in this indication). In addition to these two approvals, it is seeking many other label expansions, from obstructive sleep apnea to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, among others.

Zepbound should help drive solid top-line growth for Eli Lilly for years, especially since it isn't the only new medicine the company will rely on. The drugmaker's portfolio has been getting quite the makeover lately, with brand new products such as cancer medicine Jaypirca, ulcerative colitis therapy Omvoh, and two more that should earn the green light relatively soon.

The first is lebrikizumab, a potential eczema treatment whose application for approval was declined last year. But since that was entirely due to manufacturing issues, Eli Lilly should be just fine here. The second is the drugmaker's investigational Alzheimer's disease therapy, donanemab, which reported excellent results in a late-stage clinical trial.

Eli Lilly's financial results should remain strong, just as they were last year, thanks to its incredible portfolio. In the first nine months of 2023, the company's top line jumped by 17% year over year to $24.8 billion, despite sales of its COVID-19 antibodies completely vanishing compared to the parallel period in 2022.

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Analysts see Eli Lilly's revenue increasing at a rate of 28.7% per year for the next five years -- an incredible number for a biotech giant. Lastly, Eli Lilly is also a solid dividend stock. All things considered, the company's shares look attractive even after destroying the market in 2023.

2. HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare owns and runs a network of medical facilities, mostly hospitals. The company is one of the leaders in this field, with facilities that span most of the country, although it is particularly concentrated in Florida and Texas. HCA Healthcare's business was deeply affected by the pandemic in several ways.

First, occupancy rates in its facilities -- one of the critical determinants of the company's revenue -- fluctuated a lot and became somewhat unpredictable. Second, the healthcare giant had to rely on more expensive contract labor in the earlier days of the outbreak.

HCA Healthcare is slowly but surely leaving these problems behind, and the company performed pretty well last year, at least as far as its financial results are concerned. Through Sept. 30, 2023, HCA Healthcare's revenue of $47.7 billion increased by a decent 6.5% year over year. Its earnings per share of $13.07 was roughly 9% higher than the year-ago period.

HCA Healthcare should continue to rebound progressively. The company's business has excellent prospects. Building a network of well-equipped medical facilities is highly capital-intensive, but it's the first step to success in this business. HCA Healthcare already has the advantage of having formed deep relationships with different players in the healthcare industry, something that will be extremely hard for newcomers to replicate.

Unless something drastic happens, the company should remain a leading hospital chain for a long time. Further, even in comparison to its existing competitors, HCA Healthcare has generally been a standout -- for instance, it has continuously increased its market share, going from 23% in 2011 to 27% as of the end of 2020. HCA Healthcare's blueprint for success should continue to work, especially as the world's population ages and there is a higher demand for the services it offers.

That's why the company's shares are worth buying today.

Should you invest $1,000 in Eli Lilly right now?

Before you buy stock in Eli Lilly, consider this:

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*Stock Advisor returns as of December 18, 2023

Prosper Junior Bakiny has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends HCA Healthcare. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

2 Top Healthcare Stocks to Buy Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
A woman looking up requirements for online certified financial planner (CFP) programs.

If you're interested in becoming a certified financial planner, you'll first need to pass the CFP exam. There's a certain amount of planning and preparation that goes into it, including completing necessary coursework through a CFP Board Registered Program. There are more than 300 options to choose from but finding an online CFP program that is a good fit will depend on your needs, budget and timing for taking the exam.

Ready to grow your client base? SmartAdvisor helps you connect with leads.

CFP Education Requirements

Along with other requirements, you'll need to be able to check off two boxes concerning education to become a CFP. Specifically, you'll need to:

Hold a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university

Complete college or university-level coursework through a CFP Board Registered Program

The coursework program you choose must allow you to become well-versed in specific areas of financial planning, including:

Professional conduct and regulation

General principles of financial planning

Risk management and insurance planning

Investment planning

Tax planning

Retirement savings and income planning

Estate planning

Psychology of financial planning

Financial plan development

These education requirements are designed to ensure that you have all of the knowledge necessary to serve clients in a financial planning capacity. All required coursework must be completed before you can sit for the CFP exam. You have up to five years from the date you pass the exam to obtain your bachelor's degree. Assuming you already hold a bachelor's degree, it typically takes 18 to 24 months to complete the certification process.

5 Online CFP Program Options

The CFP Board works with more than 300 programs to allow CFP candidates to complete the coursework they need to meet the education requirements. They range from certificate-level programs to doctorate programs, with many options available in an online format.

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If you're specifically interested in finding a CFP program online, here are five options that come highly recommended.

SmartAsset: 5 Online CFP Programs

What makes it a top pick: The American College of Financial Services offers a virtual CFP coursework program that takes approximately 12 months to complete. Students who complete the program pass at rates approximately 10% above the national average, which is encouraging if you're hoping to pass on the first try.

Pricing is available on a per-course basis or at packaged rates, depending on your personal needs and preferences. CFP scholarships are available for active-duty military personnel, veterans and spouses, African-American financial professionals, women and members of other qualifying groups.

According to the ACFS website, 91% of course takers say that it was a worthwhile investment for their career advancement. Sixty-six percent of the program's first-time test takers who attempted the CFP exam in November 2022 passed, beating out the national benchmark.

SmartAsset: 5 Online CFP Programs

What makes it a top pick: Boston University's financial planning certificate program is suited to CFP candidates who are looking for a self-paced, fully online program. The coursework is designed to be completed within one year and boasts exceptional pass rates among those who go on to take the CFP exam.

There are two pricing options: Premium and Core. The Premium Package includes seven courses and all required textbooks, as well as free exam review and a $500 reimbursement toward your exam fee. The Core Package includes coursework and textbooks but does not come with a free exam review or a fee credit.

Rolling enrollment allows you to begin coursework at any time and study according to your schedule. You'll receive expert guidance from Boston University instructors, and you'll have access to a facilitator via email who can answer questions and offer support.

SmartAsset: 5 Online CFP Programs

What makes it a top pick: The College for Financial Planning is the creator of the CFP mark, which is used to identify certified financial planning professionals. If you're interested in obtaining a graduate-level certification toward your CFP coursework, this might be the program for you.

The program spans seven courses, consisting of eight modules each. There are three packages to choose from, ranging from completely self-paced to live online classes. The Premium Package includes CFP exam review prep.

Successful completion of the program gives you 15 credits toward a master's degree in personal financial planning. CFP candidates who complete the program pass the CFP exam at three to six percentage points higher than the national average.

SmartAsset: 5 Online CFP Programs

What makes it a top pick: Kansas State University offers three options for completing CFP coursework online. Candidates can choose from a certificate, master's or doctorate-level program, depending on their educational and career aspirations.

Kansas State University consistently ranks among the top programs for financial planning in the country, among both online and offline options. All coursework is completed through the K-State Online Canvas course management system and programs are self-paced.

The doctoral program is one of only three of its kind to be CFP Board Registered. It's conducted largely online, though students can also participate in an on-campus summer intensive. The PhD program is designed to be completed in five years or less.

SmartAsset: 5 Online CFP Programs

What makes it a top pick: Northwestern University offers both on-campus and online coursework for those entering the financial services industry for the first time, as well as career changers and professionals already working in the field.

Online courses meet twice weekly, and coursework is self-paced. The program takes approximately nine months to complete and spans all of the core financial planning areas required to take and pass the CFP exam.

Northwestern uses The Dalton Review as the exclusive review for its CFP certification education programs. The Dalton Review is designed to ensure that students are ready to pass the CFP exam the first time they take it.

How to Choose an Online CFP Program

We've supplied a few options for completing CFP coursework online but there are hundreds of other programs to choose from. Finding the right one for you ultimately depends on understanding:

What type of course format works for you

How much time you realistically have to complete the required coursework

What you can afford to spend on a CFP education program

In terms of the course content, that should be largely the same from program to program as the CFP Board requires you to master specific concepts before taking the CFP exam. The differences between programs lie largely in how content is delivered, how long the program is meant to last and what you'll pay for it.

Getting recommendations from other financial professionals who have completed CFP coursework could help point you in the right direction.

Bottom Line

A financial advisor looks up certified financial planner requirements for an online program.

Unless you already hold certain professional credentials degrees, such as a PhD in financial planning or a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, you won't be able to bypass the CFP coursework requirements. Fortunately, you've got multiple programs to choose from if completing courses online is preferable to attending them in person.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

Once you're ready to begin serving clients, you'll need a plan for attracting them. Building a professional website and developing a social media following are good places to start. But if you'd like to fast-track your growth strategy, you might consider using an online lead generation tool to help with prospecting. SmartAdvisor, for instance, helps you connect with leads so that you have more time to spend serving your existing clients and scaling your business.

While many CFP coursework programs include exam review as part of the package cost, not all of them do. If you're interested in exploring CFP exam prep options online, it's possible to find free and low-cost resources to help. Similar to choosing a coursework program, finding the right exam prep or review option can depend on how much time and money you have to invest in completing it.

Photo credit: iStock/Dragos Condrea, iStock/The American College of Financial Services, iStock/Boston University Financial Planning Certificate Program, iStock/College for Financial Planning  A Kaplan Company, iStock/Kansas State University, iStock/Northwestern University, iStock/fizkes

The post 5 Online CFP Programs appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.
QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) is trying to achieve something with its battery technology that has never been accomplished. Its "solid-state" battery doesn't need the liquid or gel found inside existing batteries, making it lighter, safer, and higher-performing. The company is the rare true potential game changer.

That said, QuantumScape is pre-revenue and is also the true definition of high-risk and high-reward -- not an investment for the faint of heart. If investors can stomach the high-risk part that comes with owning shares of QuantumScape, here are five factors that could push the company from dream to dream-like returns.

Management incentives

A key part of finding successful investments is to find management with incentives that align with long-term company success. QuantumScape has that, and management milestones include completing sample A and B prototypes of its technology, as well as long-term milestones such as $10 billion in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) revenue and 20% of global market share (excluding China).

Going with those milestones in tranches are stock price targets between $60 and up to $300, which are tantalizing returns for a pre-revenue company with a stock price trading in the single digits currently. These milestones are long-term-oriented and are reachable if QuantumScape proves its technology on commercial scale -- a big if, to be fair.

Anode free

Part of the advantage with QuantumScape's battery technology is that its solid-state separator is designed to enable anode-free architecture. This is a complicated way of saying the company's battery will eliminate the anode bill of materials and manufacturing costs found in conventional lithium-ion battery cells.

Aside from the cost savings, QuantumScape's batteries could recharge from zero to 80% in half the time of most lithium-ion EV batteries today, and could have up to 80% more range of current batteries with similar weight.

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Successfully achieving this technology, with quality standards on a commercial production level, will provide the company with a significant cost of goods sold (COGS) competitive advantage.

Strong partnerships

Already QuantumScape has a strong set of partnerships within the automotive industry. It has deep ties with Volkswagen since 2012 including a 50/50 joint venture to accelerate the commercialization of the company's solid-state batteries. It's also non-exclusive, meaning Volkswagen has first priority to the technology but QS can explore commercial opportunities with other automakers.

In addition to Volkswagen, QS has contracted with two other top-10 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), two established global luxury automakers, and one pure-play electric vehicle company.

Beyond EVs

Right now, QS is focused on battery technology for EVs, which is a phenomenal application as EVs are currently transitioning from early adopters to mainstream. But its technology could one day move beyond EV batteries. It has applicability in markets such as stationary storage and consumer electronics like smartphones and wearables, and management has already engaged with leading global consumer electronics companies.

Cash runway

The obvious risk of investing in companies such as QS is that its technology development fails, or the company runs out of cash before its product generates revenue and cash flow to support the business's larger ambitions.

While QS is years away from launching product at commercial volume, assuming its technology develops at the quality and consistency needed, the company's current business model should have the cash to run operations into 2026.

Could QS hit the $60 milestone?

"If QuantumScape can get this technology into mass production, it holds the potential to transform the industry," said Stan Whittingham, co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery and winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry, in a QuantumScape press release.

QS is a pre-revenue company facing many challenges to prove its technology and produce it at commercial volume. This is not an investment for the faint of heart, and it remains highly speculative.

But if the company can achieve a couple of management's milestones with its sample prototypes, it has the market tailwind of EVs, strong partnerships, and the cash on hand to give investors reason to believe the stock could pop over the next couple of years.

Should you invest $1,000 in QuantumScape right now?

Before you buy stock in QuantumScape, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and QuantumScape wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks

*Stock Advisor returns as of December 18, 2023

Daniel Miller has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

5 Reasons to Buy QuantumScape Stock in 2024 was originally published by The Motley Fool
An investor researching option trading strategies.

Options give investors ways to profit whether stocks rise, fall or hold steady. But they also come with their own complexities and pitfalls. Options traders have developed an expansive set of strategies that aim to help them hedge against risk, generate income or profit from speculation while also not exposing them to undue risk. Strategies exist to fit a variety of different views of future market trends from bullish to bearish. Talk to a financial advisor about options strategies that may fit your portfolio and risk tolerance.

Options Ins and Outs

An option is a contract giving an investor the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock or other asset at a set strike price by a certain expiration date. Investors pay an upfront fee, or premium, for options contracts. There are two main types of options:

Calls. Allow buying the underlying asset at the strike price by the expiration date. Investors buy calls when they expect the assets price to rise above the strike price by expiration, allowing them to buy at a discount.

Puts. Allow selling the underlying asset at the strike price by expiration. Investors buy puts when they expect the assets price to fall below the strike price by expiration, allowing them to sell at a higher price.

The goal is for the assets market price at expiration to exceed the strike price defined in calls or fall below the strike price for puts. The greater the difference between market price and strike price at expiration, the bigger investors gains. However, those gains must also sufficiently exceed the premiums paid upfront for the options contracts. If strike prices arent hit by expiration dates, options expire worthless and investors lose the premiums paid.

Options Trading Limitations

While options offer opportunities, they also come with downsides and risks. Investors must weigh:

Downside risks. Options lose entire premium values if strike prices arent hit by expiration dates.

Uncapped losses. Certain high-risk options strategies can potentially expose investors to uncapped losses. Naked call options, for example, can put investors at risk when underlying stock prices increase significantly above strike prices for those options.

Tax inefficiencies. Profits on options held less than one year trigger short term capital gains tax rates vs. lower long term stock gains rates.

Volatility risks. Options prices derived from underlying assets can swing quickly based on news events, spiking potential losses.

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Investors should use only discretionary money they can afford to lose when speculating on higher-risk options trades rather than tying up principal needed for near-term essentials. Conservative investors may prefer limiting options exposure to a set, typically small, percentage of their portfolios.

Types of Options Investing Strategies

An investor considering an option strategy.

Investors use options strategies for three broad purposes  income generation, hedging and speculation. Here is how those types stack up:

Income strategies. These include covered calls and cash-secured puts involve selling options to collect premiums upfront. This generates income, but also caps upside potential.

Hedging strategies. Protective puts and collars guard against downward moves in asset prices. Here, investors sacrifice some upside potential for downside protection.

Speculation strategies. More complex options spreads allow speculating on sharply rising or falling asset prices. Defined-risk spreads balance risks and rewards. Speculation strategies such as naked call options carry unlimited risk.

Strategies also reflect bullish, bearish or neutral views on asset price directions. Bullish trades expect rising prices. Bearish trades expect declines. Neutral trades expect prices to hold steady. Combining directional views, risk appetites and desired outcomes allows tailoring options approaches.

6 Options Trading Strategies

Scores of options strategies have been developed, many carrying whimsical names and involving complex trading moves. Here are summaries of six common options trading strategies both beginning and advanced investors could consider, including their purposes, how they work, benefits and risks:

Name Purpose How it Works Benefits Risks Covered Calls Income Investor owns underlying stocks and sells call options allowing buyer to purchase the shares at set strike price by expiration date. Generates income by earning options premiums upfront. Downside protection from owning stocks. Caps upside if shares get called away. Missing dividends if assigned early. Protective Puts Hedging Investor buys put options allowing them to sell underlying stocks they own at strike price. Downside protection regardless of how low shares fall. Puts expire worthless if strike price not hit. Collars Hedging Combines protective puts with covered calls sold on same underlying stocks. Put protects downside while call premium offsets cost of buying put. Gains capped if shares called away. Loss of dividends from assignments. Long Straddles Speculation Buying call and put options on same underlying stocks at same strike prices and expiration. Profit if share prices rise or fall sharply beyond combined premium costs. Requires big price moves to sufficiently offset the high premium costs. Covered Strangles Income Selling out-of-the money call and put options against stocks owned. Out-of-the-money options have lower odds of being exercised. Higher potential premiums than covered calls alone due to greater perceived risk. Uncapped downside exposure if puts exercised below purchase prices. Vertical Spreads Speculation Pairs buying and selling of calls or puts on same expiration but different strikes. Often defined-risk. Limits costs more than naked calls or puts alone. Establishes maximum rewards. Limited profit if asset prices move beyond short and long strike prices. Assignment risks.

Bottom Line

An investor compares benefits and drawbacks for different options trading strategies.

Options offer income, hedging and ways to speculate based on market views. Dozens of different options trading strategies exist and can be tailored to fit a variety of investor needs and viewpoints. But they carry risks, from losing principal to facing uncapped losses in some strategies. Investors should research options thoroughly, start small to test strategies and use only discretionary money they can afford to lose.

Investing Planning Tips

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Photo credit: iStock/Natalia Shabasheva, iStock/NanoStockk, iStock/Iuliia Zavalishina

The post 6 Stock Option Trading Strategies to Consider appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.
Thousands of people demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as they took part in pro-Palestine rallies in various locations across the island of Ireland.

Belfast and Cork saw two of the largest protests on Saturday.

In Dublin, a smaller demonstration outside RTEs headquarters saw 108 pairs of shoes laid out in a display activists said was to signify the number of journalists killed since the conflict began in October.

The rally at Belfast City Hall came after supporters of the Palestinian cause marched through the city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Protesters carrying Palestine flags and placards criticising the Israeli regime were among the large crowd that gathered outside the gates of the landmark building to hear a series of speeches.

The addresses were interspersed with chants and songs voicing support for the Palestinian people and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Among the speakers was Mark McTaggart, who is northern secretary of the INTO teaching union and also spokesman for the Trade Union Friends of Palestine group.

He reflected on the numbers of students and teachers who have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest  education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the north who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety, he said.

Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people across in Palestine.

Mr McTaggart also encouraged people to actively boycott Israeli goods and companies.

In Cork, hundreds attended a demonstration organised by The Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Similar demonstrations have taken place in the city every weekend since the conflict erupted.

The protest at RTE HQ in Donnybrook in Dublin was organised by the group Mothers Against Genocide.

One of those taking part was sustainable development scientist Naomi Sheehan.

She said Irelands national broadcaster should be referring to Israels actions in Gaza as genocide.

Its hard to even speak about this because it is so emotional, this is like witnessing the worst human rights atrocities of our times, she said.

Its a silent genocide and we are hearing a deafening silence in terms of assigning appropriate accountability to the forces who are enabling this genocide.

Cities on the island of Ireland have also witnessed pro-Israeli demonstrations since the conflict began in October.

Saturdays pro-Palestinian protests were staged after Tanaiste Micheal Martin warned that a widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world.

Mr Martins comments came as Hezbollah in Lebanon claimed it fired dozens of rockets at Israeli observations posts after it blamed Israel for a strike on Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official during the week.

The Tanaiste also rejected suggestions coming from some Israeli ministers that large numbers of Palestinians should be relocated out of Gaza.

Mr Martin further expressed concern about the situation in the Red Sea where commercial ships have been attacked by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

The Irish minister for foreign affairs said the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was more urgent than ever.

He also stressed the urgency of the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the enclave.

Events across the region in recent days are also a stark reminder of the potential for further escalation, he said.

A widening of this conflict would have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.

The international community simply cannot allow further civilian suffering and deaths. I urge all parties in the region to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

The Tanaiste added: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are not only putting the lives of the crews in danger but are having an increasingly serious impact on global trade, with all the consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of communities across the globe.

As always, it is the poorest and most vulnerable communities  in the Middle East, Africa and globally  that are the most severely affected.

This trajectory must be reversed. The international community, including parties in the region, must, in the first instance, redouble efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.

But our ambition should not be limited to de-escalation. We must take concrete steps to achieve long-term peace, stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis and for the region as a whole. This can only be done through a sustained and serious commitment to a two-state solution; not as an oft-repeated shibboleth but as a concrete reality.

In that context, the recent comments by Israeli government ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza are utterly unacceptable and inflammatory. Gaza is Palestinian land and is an integral part of a future state of Palestine.
Its almost dusk when all the elephants come over to my place, hulking, peaceful and quiet. All four legs pumping, their trunks raised as a snorkel, they swim across the lagoon, leaving their daylong chill session in the papyrus and reeds, ready to fade into the gloaming as they feed nearby.

Passing my tented villa, they walk so close that I can hear their stomachs rumbling. Without thinking, I rush onto my patio, clad in nothing but boxer shorts. A small boat floats nearby, carrying fellow lodge guests snapping photos of the elephants and, as it turns out, me. But I dont care one bit. Im in a moment of magic. These majestic creatures have cast a spell on me.

Botswana is a special place, in part because of the number of elephants who make this their home  by some estimates, about 130,000 of them, more than youll find in any other country. Wilderness DumaTau, the lovely luxury camp where Im staying, sits right on a migration route for the elephants.

The Okavango Delta here provides a comfortable living space for them. And it also makes Botswana an extremely desirable safari destination, with options to spot wildlife (including hippos and reptiles and very rare antelope) from the water, as well as lions and cheetahs and leopards on land.

But the elephants also pose a problem. The hungriest can each consume more than 550 pounds of vegetation a day. Were losing all of our riparian forests, all of our baobab trees, explains wildlife conservationist Vincent Shacks, group impact manager for Wilderness, the largest safari operator in Botswana. Im travelling with him this week, visiting three luxury lodges, and at each, we see whole sections of forest just levelled. Theyre destroying the ecosystem, and without that (vegetation), people and animals die, adds Shacks.

The elephants also represent a more immediate threat, killing more Botswanans than any other wild animal. With no fences, farmers and villagers and livestock and dangerous beasts encounter each other on a daily basis. The abundant wildlife is good for the economy, bringing in high-end lodges that provide jobs, but presents ongoing risk for the community.

So, on this trip, in addition to the usual, amazing safari stuff  one morning, we saw so many lions that I stopped counting  Im here to learn what is being done to help address the problem.

Funny and friendly, Shacks is a real-life Crocodile Dundee type who once spent two years sleeping in a tent and researching the ancient reptile. His newly created role is to explore and implement what Wilderness can do to aid the communities near their lodges, as well as the wider regions and even countries where they operate.

One current project is diminishing the negative impacts of the elephants, and a recent solution comes in an unexpected form: locally made beer  but more on that in a minute.

One of the biggest challenges is protecting and creating movement corridors where elephants can follow traditional migration patterns around Botswana and, ultimately, all of Southern Africa. Elephants need to move, and right now, they cant. We need to help them, explains Shacks. Opening more corridors (or doors) spreads out their impact on crops and communities.

Wilderness is working with a constellation of non-profits, including Botswana-based Ecoexist, which notes that both elephants and people require water, food, space and safety and is determined to find solutions for both. The idea is to limit human-wildlife interactions as much as possible. Were supporting the people who live and work at these doors, says Shacks.

A big part of accomplishing this goal: making farms smaller and more profitable, and diverting animals away from them. Wilderness has invested heavily in this strategy. The safari companys initiatives include donating drought-resistant seeds, providing a tractor for plowing, and supporting educators who teach techniques for higher-yield farms. Theyve also drilled water wells, so farmers can cluster their farms more tightly and avoid getting water from rivers  where they would often encounter elephants.

I glimpse these plans in action firsthand. We take a helicopter to reach the village of Gunotsoga, population about 1,000. Looking down, I see domesticated cattle mix with wild zebras. Shacks remembers camping here to do croc research and says lions and leopards routinely wandered through town. This is really the front lines, he remembers.

Gathering under a broad tree, the locals welcome us with a dance and share their experiences. A village elder acts out an incident where he was charged by an elephant. The demonstration, complete with a person in an elephant costume, is so realistic that the woman next to me cries out in alarm. For a split second, she thinks its real. (Truth be told: I did, too.) We then gather around a woman who demonstrates their new, higher-yield planting and cultivation method.

Another key part of the strategy is making these local farms part of the supply chain for luxury camps and lodges, by encouraging the cultivation of certain crops and buying their products at a more lucrative price than theyve garnered before.

Which brings us back to the beer. The best-developed example of this model is a high-quality millet. Farmers who agree to follow elephant-aware practices are provided with this grain to grow. The crop is then bought by Okavango Craft Brewery, co-founded by ecologist Graham McCulloch, who also co-founded Ecoexist.

The microbrewery was established in 2019 to purchase millet from these small-scale farmers, to reward them for their efforts to coexist with elephants (in the companys words). The beer is now on tap in dozens of luxury lodges.

The profits have been used to fund important local projects, including the Elephant Express buses that transport kids to school. This saves children from taking long, dangerous walks among elephants and hippos and lions.

On the last day of the trip, I taste the beer right at the source, visiting Okavango Craft Brewery in the town of Maun. A guide named Olerato Ratama tours me around the fermentation tanks and mash tuns, while detailing the local impacts: the safer conditions for both people and beasts, and the ability for farmers to send their kids to school, with books and uniforms, because of their boosted income. The more we increase production, the more we buy from the farmers, says Ratama.

Settling into a seat at a table, I try a whole flight of beer, and then opt for more of the light, bright lager. As I wait for my wood-fired pepperoni pizza, I hope this delicious solution keeps growing. For the moment, Im just happy for my frosty pint, and so many treasured safari memories.

Tim Johnson travelled as a guest of Wilderness, which did not review or approve this article.
Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies Redcentric's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

The top 4 shareholders own 55% of the company

Insiders have bought recently

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Redcentric plc (LON:RCN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 68% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Redcentric.

See our latest analysis for Redcentric

AIM:RCN Ownership Breakdown January 6th 2024

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Redcentric?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Redcentric already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Redcentric's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

AIM:RCN Earnings and Revenue Growth January 6th 2024

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Redcentric is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) Ltd. with 16% of shares outstanding. With 16% and 12% of the shares outstanding respectively, ND Capital Investments Limited and Slater Investments Limited are the second and third largest shareholders.

Story continues

Our research also brought to light the fact that roughly 55% of the company is controlled by the top 4 shareholders suggesting that these owners wield significant influence on the business.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Redcentric

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that Redcentric plc insiders own under 1% of the company. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It appears that the board holds about UK884k worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of UK200m. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 12% stake in Redcentric. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 19%, of the Redcentric stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Redcentric that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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.
Enduring the year 2024 means enduring the entire war with Russia.

That's according to an evening address to the nation by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"I wish good health to the Ukrainian men and women,

I just had a phone talk with President of Turkiye Erdogan. It was a very substantive discussion. As always, we are using every day of this week to intensify our international efforts so that this year starts yielding results from the first weeks.

I expressed gratitude to President Erdogan for the achieved level of cooperation in various areas, including defense. We have joint projects that are already successful, and this year, we must do even more to strengthen our states and our nations.

Much depends on Ukrainian-Turkish cooperation, especially security in our region, the Black Sea, and worldwide  including food security. I am thankful to President Erdogan personally and to all of Turkiye for supporting our work on the maritime export corridor from Ukraine. As of today, over 14 million tonnes of cargo have been transported through the corridor since its inception  nearly five hundred vessels. It is a big gain  both economically and in terms of security and geopolitics. We demonstrate that we can restore security to our region despite all existing threats. We see how the strength of our partnership adds strength to our entire region.

Today, I discussed our work on the Peace Formula with President Erdogan. I informed him about the preparation for a new advisors' meeting scheduled to take place in Davos in January and extended an invitation to a representative from Turkiye. Turkiye confirmed its participation.

Each country's involvement in this collaborative effort, now with the work of advisors and later involving leaders, will demonstrate the importance of international law functioning at its full capacity, starting from the UN Charter and all other norms that guarantee respect for nations and the territorial integrity of states.

Special attention was given to the point of the Peace Formula concerning the return of all prisoners of war and deportees. I discussed this today with President Erdogan, emphasizing the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russians, as well as the return of prisoners of war and those facing repression in the occupied territories, particularly in Crimea. Turkiye's mediation is crucial for the release of Crimean Tatars and all others  adults and children, military and civilians, held in Russian captivity.

We are working with all partners to ensure that Ukraine receives an adequate volume of security packages this month. We already have another defensive step from Germany for Ukraine, including missiles for air defense, 155mm artillery, and other essential items. Thank you! It's a very timely package. We are expecting similar steps from our other partners, including the United States, to ensure that Russian terror cannot prevail this winter, just as it couldn't last year.

Of course, I am always in touch with the military and our commanders. Every day, every night of this year has seen new intense battles. The most intense fighting is in Avdiivka, near Maryinka, Bahmut, Lyman, Kupiansk, the southern part of our country. The work of our soldiers is absolutely heroic  all the forces of defense and security, every brigade on the front lines, every unit, everyone working in defense, and everyone providing assistance.

Our state's top priority remains unchanged  to ensure everything necessary for Ukraine's defense and our active operations. Ammunition, drones, equipment, personnel. Enduring this year means enduring this entire war. It's a crucial and decisive time. Grateful to everyone who realizes this, who helps the state become stronger and who gives our soldiers the ability to defeat the enemy.

Thank you, guys, for your precision! Thank you for your resilience! Thanks to everyone who adds strength to Ukraine!

Glory to our people!

Glory to Ukraine!"
Russian invasion forces may step up their efforts to seize Kupiansk in the coming weeks, given that their forces in the area are less degraded than those attempting to advance elsewhere.

This is stated in the latest report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank, seen by Ukrinform.

Analysts believe that the Russian troops have set up conditions for intensifying operations in the Kupiansk direction, seeking to capture territories that are more important from an operational point of view than those they are currently trying to seize. Ukrainian officials have said that Russian forces aim to capture Kupiansk and Borova in winter 2024.

"Russian seizure of those towns would likely force Ukrainian forces off the east bank of the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast and set conditions for future Russian offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line," analysts believe.

The tempo of Russian operations in the Kupiansk direction and the apparent configuration of Russian forces in the occupied Luhansk and Kharkiv regions generally offer no indication of an impending Russian offensive operation along the entire Kupiansk-Lyman line, similar to the failed Russian offensive effort in northeastern Ukraine in winter-spring 2023.

As noted, Ukrainian officials have not publicly reported any sudden buildup of Russian forces on the Kupiansk axis, which would indicate an imminent large-scale offensive. Russian forces appear to have gradually reconstituted units badly degraded during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in September 2022 and Russias failed winter-spring 2023 offensive, and the Russian command likely intends these relatively well-rested and reconstituted units to intensify localized offensive operations. Analysts believe that Russian forces operating in the Kupyansk direction have not yet committed a substantial force to current offensive operations in the area and have thus been able to sustain localized ground attacks without suffering losses similar to those they have suffered in operations around Avdiivka and in southern Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Suniehubov, said that the intensity of assaults in the Kupiansk direction has decreased against last week, and that the Russians were regrouping and pulling up reserves.
In 2023, Ukraine imported 4.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the European Union and Moldova, which is twice as much as in 2022.

Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LLC said this in a post on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"According to the latest data, in 2023, more than 4.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas were supplied to Ukraine from the EU and Moldova. This is more than two times higher than was transported in 2022," the post says.

It is noted that the bulk of the imported gas was received for storage in Ukrainian underground storage facilities.

Most gas imports came from Slovakia - more than 1.8 billion cubic meters, or 42% of the total. Hungary supplied 1.3 billion cubic meters (31%), Poland - 602 million cubic meters (14%), and Romania via Moldova - 550 million cubic meters (13%).

As reported, in 2023, Ukraine imported more than 550 million cubic meters of gas through the Trans-Balkan corridor, mainly for storage.

Photo: GTSOU / Facebook
In Lithuania, a member of the ruling coalitions Conservative Party, Matas Maldeikis called on retail chains to be guided not only by legal, but also by moral norms and to remove Viciunai Group products from the shelves.

This was reported by Delfi, Ukrinform reports.

"It's just politically sad. I believe that the intervention from the government and the European Union in some issues should not be the only regulatory element. Certain actions by companies should be based on moral principles, not just law," said Maldeikis.

According to him, a "certain reaction" is necessary, since the named company, operating in the Russian Federation, actually contributes funds to continue aggression. The parliamentarian noted that it is legally impossible to force retail chains not to sell Viciunai products.

Read also: NACP adds Viciunai Group to list of war sponsors

The politician also called the initiative of the Lidl retail chain to additionally label Viciunai products a "step in the right direction". "Some labeling is a sign in the right direction, an acknowledgment that the problem exists. If there is a problem, the question arises, where is the line where we should stop," he said.

Viciunai Group is a global manufacturer and supplier of a variety of food products. In addition to being the worlds largest surimi processor, Viciunai Group is also one of the largest and most economically powerful seafood producers in Europe. Headquartered in Lithuania, it operates factories in Lithuania, Spain, Estonia, and Russia.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on Thursday Ukraines National Agency for Corruption Prevention designated Viciunai Group, known under the Vici brand, as an international sponsor of war, putting the company on the relevant list.

Photo: DELFI / KIRIL CACHOVSKIJ
Why TASS has not yet been expelled from the European Alliance of News Agencies

A modern newsroom in a big media outlet is a large space with open workplaces for journalists and editors. Everything is out there in the open.

But imagine a light and transparent office where you suddenly come across an isolated dark space that just doesnt fit into the logic of newsroom planning and no one can tell what it is actually intended for.

The membership of TASS, Russias state-run news agency, became precisely such a dark space in the bright office of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA). TASS membership was suspended in February 2022, but its final expulsion from the Alliance has not yet become a reality...

After Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the then President of EANA, chief of Austrias news agency APA, Clemens Pig, began writing the book "Democracy Dies in Darkness." He borrowed the title from the official slogan of The Washington Post. Earlier, this phrase was also popularized by one of the most famous American investigative journalist, Bob Woodward.

It turned out to be somewhat prophetic for further developments within EANA itself.

About the European Alliance of News Agencies

The organization was https://www.newsalliance.org/ founded in 1956 and it now consists of 32 leading European news agencies: AFP (France), ANSA (Italy), ATA (Albania), Anadolu Agency (Turkey), ANA (Andorra) , ANA-MPA (Greece), APA (Austria), Belga (Belgium), BTA (Bulgaria), HINA (Croatia), CNA (Cyprus), CTK (Czech Republic), ANP (Netherlands), FENA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), STT (Finland), DPA (Germany), MTI (Hungary), Keystone-SDA (Switzerland), KosovaPress (Kosovo), LUSA (Portugal), NTB (Norway), PA Media (UK), PAP (Poland), Ritzaus (Denmark), Agerpres (Romania), TASR (Slovakia), STA (Slovenia), EFE (Spain), AZERTAC (Azerbaijan), Tanjug (Serbia), TT (Sweden), and Ukrinform (Ukraine).

TASS's membership in the Alliance was suspended on February 27, 2022. TASS was stripped of the right to participate in meetings, conferences, and general assembly. It cannot be represented in EANA's elected bodies, and neither can it delegate or transfer its powers.

In the Alliance's Statutes, everything is logical and transparent, just like in a modern newsroom: "EANAs aim is to secure that member news agencies can work as providers of unbiased news," "EANA supports the principles of freedom of the press and shall strive to facilitate for member news agencies in accordance with these principles." In addition, the Alliance safeguards and promotes "the common interests of its members in all areas essential to their work and activities."

Ukrinform has stepped onto the European integration path even before Ukraine did, by becoming a member of the European Alliance of News Agencies in 1995.

Suspension of TASS membership

Work in news agencies is primarily about the speed. And this isnt only about delivering news, but also about professional decision-making, because challenges in the media space (the latest ones include pandemics, conflicts, wars, and the increasing flow of fake news, etc.) require a quick organizational response. So the first decision the Alliance made after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine and suppression of media freedom in Russia by the Kremlin regime came rather quick.

On February 27, 2022, the Council (EANAs executive body) at its meeting convened in response to the relevant appeal by the Polish Press Agency, suspended TASSs membership in EANA until the General Assembly (the Alliances highest body, the annual gathering of all member agencies) decides whether TASS should be expelled from the organization, according to the Statutes.

The Council stated that the new media regulation introduced by Russias watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has severely limited the freedom of mass media, as a result of which TASS is unable to provide unbiased news, which is contrary to the purpose of the Alliance's activities defined in the Statutes.

It was hardly possible to expect that during the next two years, the organizations would make three attempts to expel TASS, all to no avail. The Alliance faced an institutional crisis.

In the mentioned book, Democracy Dies in Darkness, the then president of EANA, Clemens Pig, wrote the following about the event: Immediately after the invasion of Ukraine, Russian leader Vladimir Putin demonstrated how easy it is to completely turn off the democratic light using the example of the TASS news agency. According to him, TASS, the English-language version of which circulated more or less objective information in contrast to the propaganda content offered by RIA Novosti, could no longer remain objective after the introduction of new rules by Roskomnadzor, which, in particular, prohibited the use of the terms "war" or "invasion". By the way, TASS repeatedly used this "contrast" as an argument in its favor within the Alliance.

General Assembly 2022, Take 1: "They are not there"

The Extraordinary General Assembly of EANA was held in Sarajevo in a few months, in May 2022. The day before that, the Alliance held a conference, where the topic of the war in Ukraine dominated the agenda. A very demonstrative example was noted of refutation by AFP fact-checkers of one of the most cynical fakes produced by Russias defense ministry, which was shared by the Russian "media", including TASS. The fake story alleged a staged nature of reporting of Russian atrocities in Bucha.

According to the EANA Statutes, the decision to expel an agency from the Alliance shall be taken by at least three quarters of the members attending a General Assembly. There are no direct provisions in the Statutes on expulsion for violating the principles of freedom of the press. Voting shall be open unless at least five member agencies request that it be run by secret ballot.

The agenda of that General Assembly included a vote to expel TASS. If three-quarters of the votes were not secured, the issue was set to be put to a vote of approving the Council's decision to suspend TASSs membership.

TASS was given the floor ahead of the vote. This is provided for by the legislation of Switzerland, where the Alliance is inrocporated, in case the issue of expulsion of a member from the organization is raised.

The then TASS Director General, Sergey Mikhaylov, had already been subject to international sanctions by then: the European Union in April 2022 imposed restrictions on him as head of the largest Russian news agency, which through its large network of foreign offices spreads distorted information about Ukraine, serving the interests of Russias political leadership. Later, similar sanctions were imposed on him by the United Kingdom and Switzerland. So the address by TASS was voiced by First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman.

In short, his speech was limited to "they are not there", where "they" means fake news, and "there" means the TASS service (for our international readers, I should clarify that this phrase went viral and turned into a meme after Russian soldiers popped up in Crimea back in 2014, sporting uniform without identification marks, which was followed by Vladimir Putin's public denial that these were in fact Russian military servicemen). Gusman then also referred to the "contrast" between TASSs content and that of openly propagandistic Russian platforms. He claimed TASS was different.

Indeed, in contrast to the heavyweight propagandists, TASS produces no fake stories of its own, opting to circulate statements of Russias top-tier officials and "pundits", often directly quoting them. At the same time, the agency chooses to ignore any facts that would challenge or refute those statements.

At the same time, false and biased reporting by TASS primarily concerns Ukraine and also the USA and a number of Ukraines closest allies in Europe. Thus, not all countries whose news agencies are represented in EANA witness this bias to the same degree.

...Three quarters of the votes cast by the agencies attending the General Assembly in Sarajevo were sealed only for the extended suspension. Both votes were secret at the request of five or more members.

Looking ahead - all subsequent votes, directly or indirectly related to the expulsion of TASS, were run under a secret ballot procedure. None of the member agencies publicly expressed their direct support for TASS during EANAs statutory events, including conferences and general assemblies.

The number of votes for the expulsion of TASS was rather small  only six agencies spoke for the move, including Ukrinform, of course.

It seemed that many members were weighing both their support for Ukraine and Ukrinform in particular (which we really did feel) and their relations with TASS. Since TASS has been an EANA member since 1970, the agency has long invested heavily in international relations. Among other things, the agency partook in setting up a number of global forums, such as the World Congress of News Agencies and the World Media Summit.

In addition, some EANA member agencies represent countries that retained close ties with Russia even after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Another part likely believed that the war would soon be over and that TASS would once again cover the news objectively, at least compared to other Russian media. And while the war goes on, they might suggest, they still have to somehow get updates from as it has become quite dangerous for foreign journalists to keep working in Russia...

Top management reshuffle at TASS

Last summer, TASS went through a leadership change: in July, Andrey Kondrashov, who had for five years (20182023) been first deputy chief of Russias VGTRK State Holding VGTRK, was responsible for the "information policy" of Russias leading propaganda TV channels Rossiya-1, Rossiya-24, and RTR-Planeta. The European Union designated VGTRK in its sanctions list on December 16, 2022, with the following reasoning: "Channels owned by VGTRK provide a platform to Olga Skabeyeva, Dmitry Kiselyov, Vladimir Soloviev and others, who are spreading propaganda and disinformation related to Russias war of aggression against Ukraine." Kondrashov himself was added to the EU sanctions list on June 23, 2023. It was noted that "[b]eing one of its key executives, Andrey Kondrashov is directly responsible for actions of this media corporation. As the First Deputy Director General in charge of information and political broadcasting, he has a direct influence on the way VGTRK informs people about Russias war of aggression against Ukraine and the steps taken by the Russian Government." On October 14, 2022, Kondrashov was added to Canada's sanctions list "Russian Disinformation Agents" for "enabling and supporting Russias unjustifiable invasion Russia and attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory". In early 2018, Kondrashov was press secretary of presidential candidate Vladimir Putins campaign headquarters. In 2000, 2014, and 2023, Putin conferred on him awards for covering the Second Chechen War, occupation of Crimea, and a full-scale war against Ukraine, respectively.

Four months into his appointment, The Moscow Times wrote that Mikhaylov was dismissed from his post for the coverage of the Wagner Group mutiny attempt that was far too wide, the government believed.

At the same time, Gusman, who for many years was the main figure TASSs international communications, including with EANA, retained the position of first deputy director general. Despite the current isolation of Russia, he still records interviews with African leaders, shoots documentaries about the Turkish president and the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev's birthday, talks about the "fight for truth" and trust and claims that Russia is a target of fake news attacks rather than a perpetrator of those. When offered to speak up at international forums in Azerbaijan, Turkey, and China he puts forward an idea to establish an association of information agencies of the Non-Aligned Movement. https://news.ru/cis/na-mediaforume-v-shushe-predlozhili-ideyu-dlya-dvizheniya-neprisoedineniya/ Indeed, quite a chance to apply the experience TASS has gained in setting up all kinds of international forums

General Assembly 2023, Take 2: a majority, which still wasnt enough

In 2023, at the annual General Assembly in September in Paris, Ukrinform initiated a second vote regarding the expulsion of TASS from the Alliance, laying down in a letter to EANA members a set of professional and legal arguments why the membership of the Russian state agency is in breach of the organizations Statutes, objectives, and values.

It was obvious to us that the number of votes would reflect the level of readiness of Europe's leading news agencies to fundamentally oppose propaganda and disinformation massively produced by Russia, which since the full-scale invasion has practically gotten rid of all free media, effectively weaponizing the remaining platforms.

Compared to the outcome seen in Sarajevo, the number of votes supporting the move increased: out of 29 agencies attending the meeting, 14 spoke in favor of the expulsion, while 11 spoke against it, and another four abstained. If the decision was to be adopted by a simple majority of votes, it would be sufficient, but sealing three-quarters of all votes was clearly unattainable.

However, the Paris General Assembly showed that membership suspension, which is not even laid down in the EANA Statutes, cannot last indefinitely, unlike expulsion.

The Council of the Alliance responded to the challenge by proposing to hold an extraordinary General Assembly in a few months to pass amendments to the Statutes. These changes would provide for the automatic expulsion from EANA of an information agency whose membership has been suspended for a certain period, if the circumstances that caused the suspension have not changed. It should be recalled that in relation to TASS, it was about the suppression of the freedom of press in Russia, where war cannot be called war.

Since then, the situation in Russia has only worsened, particularly for international journalists. This was evidenced by the arrest in March 2023 of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich.

Meanwhile, in May 2023, Arman Soldin, a video reporter from the French news agency AFP, which is an EANA member, was killed in a Russian missile strike near Ukraines Chasiv Yar. By the way, it was AFP that hosted the EANA General Assembly in September, and a large portrait photo of Arman was placed in the session hall...

Extraordinary General Assembly 2023, Take 3: TASS on the agenda but between the lines

At EANAs extraordinary General Assembly held in Vienna in December, the Council of the Alliance put forward a package vote for amendments to the Statutes: on the automatic expulsion of an information agency whose membership remains suspended for a year, as well as on the expansion of the representation of female representatives in the executive body and the establishment of a women's committee

TASS was never mentioned directly, but it was crystal clear it was about them.

However, at least three quarters of the members had to vote for changes to the Statutes. The positive decision fell one vote short. Of the 24 news agencies attending, 17 spoke "for" and seven  "against".

The outcome clearly points to certain progress, but no decision has ultimately been made. "Shame on us," someone exclaimed in the session hall after the voting result was announced...

So what are the agencies that voted against?

Despite a secret ballot procedure, it is not difficult to guess that most represent countries that have retained close relations with Russia. This is below a quarter of all members. However, at least two agencies from Western Europe have apparently joined this camp. Their move is unlikely to be related to their governments foreign policies. This is more about professional personal ties. Had the voting been open, their domestic audiences would have probably been quite surprised by such a position...

However, this article is not about researching their relations with Russia.

No politics

The "beyond politics" discourse, which implied solely professional cooperation, dominated the EANA events for years. Among other reasons, this is due to the fact that among EANA members there are many news agencies that are partially or fully funded by their respective governments so political nuances can indeed significantly affect their work.

At the same time, Russian "media" are no longer about politics. Having effectively become one of the aggressor states infowar tools, they are now about war crimes, hundreds of thousands civilian deaths and injuries, destruction and devastation, which will eventually result in actual court verdicts, including targeting Russian propagandists.

But the professional community in the democratic world does have some tools to respond. At the level of the European journalistic circles, it should be recognized that no actual media outlets exist in today's Russia. What Russia hosts is purely mass propaganda platforms. Those should be expelled from European professional associations.

Should their representatives be freely accredited in European countries? In September 2023, Gusman proudly declared that TASS offices operate in 18 European countries, and only with Poland does the agency have certain issues...

One can judge how "impartial" TASS is and how it utilizes its offices scattered across Europe by the example of the massive strike on Ukraine by Russia on January 2, when Russian troops launched 99 missiles of various types and 35 Shahed kamikaze drones. As a result of that attack, five people were killed (the death toll subsequently rose) and 130 were injured. More than 250 civil infrastructure sites sustained damage. How TASS covered the shelling?

"Russias Armed Forces launched a high-precision missile and drone barrage at defense industry facilities in Kyiv and its suburbs: missile and drone production sites, military equipment repair sites, depots where Western-supplied missiles, ammunition, and aviation weapons are stored  the strike has achieved its goal, all facilities have been hit, reported the Russian Ministry of Defense. Another piece covered power outages and interrupted water supplies in certain areas. Not even a word was penned about Ukrainian casualties or damage to civil infrastructure!

At the same time, on January 3, TASS published an indignant report over the answers that its correspondents in Brussels and Paris heard to their questions from the European Commission and the French Foreign Ministry about the shelling of Russias Belgorod on December 30. Its news piece entitled "The Russian embassy says EU once again turns a blind eye to an act of terrorism by Ukraine" https://tass.ru/politika/19672213 offers comments on the European Commission spokesmans response.

"As emphasized by the mission, the official representative of the European commission on foreign policy issues, Peter Stano, in his response to a TASS question, signed off on the fact that the European Union is an accomplice and sponsor of the Kyiv regime, which commits deliberate acts of terrorism against the civilian population of Russia, presenting it as the legitimate right of Ukraine to self-defense.

The comment on the similar response to TASS by the French Foreign Ministry is provided not by the Russian diplomatic mission but Russias ex-President Dmitry Medvedev, who employed his traditional vocabulary. https://tass.ru/politika/19672543. In the report entitled "Medvedev sharply responds to French Foreign Ministrys words on Belgorod strike," TASS writes: Filth. Freaks. Bastards, Medvedev responded.

***

Ukrinform is grateful to EANA for all the support provided since the outset of the full-scale war. At the same time, we are not only ashamed, but also unbearably hurt by the very fact that TASS remains a member of the Alliance.

So that the principles of freedom of the press are not lost amid secret ballots, we decided to bring some light into the dark space of Europes modern newsroom, where TASS has been lurking.

Natalia Kostina is a chief of the international desk at Ukrinform
Last year, 1,438 citizens of Azerbaijan travelled to Germany and sought asylum in official Berlin. This is stated in the response of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees of Germany, Azernews reports.

It was noted that last year a total of 1,222 applications of Azerbaijani citizens were considered. Only 53 of them were recognised as refugees and received residence permits in Germany. The deportation decision was cancelled for 6 people, and 10 were granted residence permits on the basis of family reunification.

The Federal Office reported that last year 667 Azerbaijani citizens' applications for refugee status were answered negatively. They were asked to leave the country voluntarily. Some of them lived in Germany illegally despite the warning. The cases of these persons were sent to local administrative courts.

According to the IOM, 325,801 people arrived in Germany and applied for asylum in 2023. Compared to the same period in 2022, this is an increase of 60.3 per cent. In 2023, 21,287 initial applications concerned children born in Germany under the age of one year.
Introduction to the Transaction

On January 4, 2024, Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio)'s firm, Viking Global Investors LP, made a notable adjustment to its investment in 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FDMT). The firm reduced its stake by 540,000 shares, resulting in an 11.28% decrease in its position. This transaction impacted the portfolio by a mere 0.04%, with the trade executed at a price of $19.53 per share. Following the trade, Viking Global Investors holds a total of 4,247,914 shares in the company, equating to a 9.94% ownership and a 0.34% portfolio position.

Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), a founding partner of Viking Global Investors LP, has established a reputation for a research-intensive, long-term investment approach. The firm, now under the stewardship of CIO Ning Jin, was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Viking Global Investors manages two hedge funds with a focus on equities across the globe. Halvorsen's prior experience includes a senior role at Tiger Management (Trades, Portfolio) LLC and a stint in corporate finance at Morgan Stanley. Viking's investment philosophy is grounded in fundamental analysis, with a decentralized research structure and centralized risk management. The firm's equity portfolio is valued at $24.57 billion, with top holdings in major companies such as Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT). Healthcare and technology are the leading sectors in Viking's investment focus.

Andreas Halvorsen Adjusts Position in 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc

Overview of 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc

4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc, a clinical-stage gene therapy company based in the USA, specializes in the development of targeted and evolved AAV vectors. Since its IPO on December 11, 2020, the company has focused on ophthalmology, cardiology, and pulmonology therapeutic areas. With a market capitalization of $836.688 million and a current stock price of $19.57, 4D Molecular Therapeutics is considered modestly undervalued with a GF Value of $24.35. Despite being at a loss with a PE Ratio of 0.00, the company's stock price to GF Value ratio stands at 0.80, indicating potential for growth.

Story continues

Andreas Halvorsen Adjusts Position in 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc

Analysis of the Trade Impact

The recent trade by Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio) has slightly reduced Viking Global Investors' exposure to 4D Molecular Therapeutics, yet the firm maintains a significant stake in the company. The trade price of $19.53 reflects a modest gain of 0.2% compared to the current stock price. Despite the reduction, the firm's position in FDMT remains substantial, indicating a continued belief in the company's potential.

Financial Health and Market Performance of 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc

4D Molecular Therapeutics' financial health and market performance present a mixed picture. The company's GF Score of 61/100 suggests average future performance potential. Its Financial Strength is notable with a rank of 8/10, bolstered by a Altman Z score of 14.96 and a Cash to Debt ratio of 21.09. However, the company's Profitability Rank and Growth Rank are both at the lower end, at 1/10, reflecting its current lack of profitability and growth.

Guru's Current Holdings and Sector Focus

Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio)'s current holdings reveal a strategic emphasis on the healthcare and technology sectors. The firm's top holdings include industry giants, and the recent transaction in 4D Molecular Therapeutics aligns with its sector focus. The healthcare sector, in particular, is a significant component of Viking's portfolio, demonstrating confidence in the long-term prospects of this industry.

Market and Performance Indicators

The market and performance indicators for 4D Molecular Therapeutics show a company with potential for improvement. The GF Value Rank of 9/10 suggests the stock is undervalued, while the Momentum Rank of 5/10 indicates average momentum. The stock's RSI 14 Day of 61.63 points to a neutral market sentiment, with room for growth.

Conclusion

The recent transaction by Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio) in 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc reflects a minor adjustment within the context of Viking Global Investors' strategy. While the firm has reduced its stake, its continued significant investment in FDMT suggests a belief in the company's future prospects. For value investors, this move highlights the importance of monitoring market performance indicators and financial health metrics to make informed decisions.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


The University of Montana (UMT) is under fire from Republican lawmakers in the state for its involvement in a study abroad program in China, raising concerns about ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The controversial program, known as the "CUSEF cultural exchange," has come under scrutiny for its partnership with groups linked to the CCP, including the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) and the Max S. Baucus Institute.

National Security Concerns and Lawmakers' Opposition

Republican lawmakers in Montana are expressing national security concerns over the study abroad program, particularly due to the involvement of groups with alleged ties to the CCP. The China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), described as a forum advancing CCP objectives, has raised red flags among lawmakers who believe it poses a threat to American institutions.

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Partnership with CCP-Tied Groups

The upcoming summer trip organized by UMT's study abroad program has intensified the debate, as the university collaborates with CUSEF and the Max S. Baucus Institute. The Baucus Institute, founded by former Democratic senator and Ambassador to China Max Baucus, receives significant funding from the Wanxiang Group, raising concerns about potential CCP influence.

Lawmakers' Demand for Termination

In early December, Republican Montana Representatives Ryan Zinke and Matt Rosendale, along with the House Select Committee on the CCP, sent a letter to UMT President Seth Bodnar expressing their concerns. The lawmakers urged the university to sever ties with CUSEF, citing the organization's alignment with CCP objectives and potential risks to national security.

Despite mounting pressure from Republican lawmakers, the University of Montana is defending its partnership with the CCP-tied groups. The university argues that the study abroad program complies with state and federal laws and emphasizes the importance of expanding learning experiences for students to compete globally.

Political Responses and Concerns

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte voiced his apprehensions about CCP funding influencing American colleges and universities, emphasizing the need to take the threat seriously. Congressman Ryan Zinke's spokesperson expressed disappointment that the university appears not to be addressing the Chinese threat seriously. Lawmakers believe that programs like the one offered by UMT can serve as vehicles for Chinese communist propaganda, influencing young minds.

The China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) has drawn attention for its alleged role as a key united front forum advancing CCP objectives. Tung Chee-hwa, the founder and longtime chair of CUSEF, is highlighted for his close ties to the CCP and his role as a proxy for the party in Hong Kong. Lawmakers argue that CUSEF's influence operations extend beyond China's borders, raising concerns about the organization's impact on American institutions.

Baucus Institute's Connection to CCP-Linked Funding

The Max S. Baucus Institute, founded by former Ambassador Max Baucus, is under scrutiny due to its funding from the Wanxiang Group. The co-founder of Wanxiang, Lu Guanqiu, received the title of "National Outstanding Communist Party Member." This connection has further fueled concerns about potential CCP influence on academic programs and initiatives.

UMT President Seth Bodnar asserts that the study abroad program complies with both state and federal laws. He argues that expanding learning opportunities for students is crucial for America to compete globally. Despite the mounting opposition and calls for termination, the university remains steadfast in its defense of the controversial partnership.

Future Implications for UMT and Academic Institutions

As the debate surrounding UMT's study abroad program continues, the implications for the university and academic institutions engaging with entities tied to the CCP remain uncertain. The clash between national security concerns and the pursuit of global learning experiences underscores the delicate balance institutions must navigate in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. The outcome of this controversy may shape future policies and decisions regarding academic collaborations with organizations linked to foreign governments.

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Harvard President Claudine Gay's resignation on January 3 sent shockwaves through the academic community, prompting reflections on her historical significance and the circumstances leading to her departure. A leading Catholic public intellectual, Robert George, shared his insights on this complex issue, addressing the tragedy of Gay's resignation and its broader implications for Harvard and higher education in the United States.

Historical Significance and Tragedy

Claudine Gay's appointment as the first Black president of Harvard was a momentous occasion, symbolizing progress in overcoming historical injustices. Robert George acknowledges this historical significance but expresses sadness over Claudine Gay's resignation, considering it a tragedy not only for her as an individual but also in the context of the nation's history. George's nuanced perspective reminds us that achievements should be celebrated, even as we grapple with the complexities that led to Gay's resignation.

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Double Standards and Academic Integrity: A Closer Look at Plagiarism Allegations

The controversy surrounding Gay's resignation extends beyond her response to anti-Israel protests. Serious allegations of plagiarism have further tarnished her reputation. George addresses the issue head-on, emphasizing the need for consistent standards of academic integrity. Drawing attention to potential double standards, George asserts that if similar acts were committed by an undergraduate at Harvard or Princeton, disciplinary consequences would likely follow. The article explores the challenges of maintaining academic integrity at the highest levels of university leadership.

Free Speech and Clash of Visions: Insights from Robert George

The interview with Robert George offers valuable insights into the broader issues of free speech and the clash of visions within universities. George points out the existence of two competing models: the "social-justice model," which aligns with progressive values, and the "classical, truth-seeking" model. As a staunch defender of free speech, George argues that the clash of ideas is crucial for intellectual scrutiny and academic freedom. The controversy at Harvard serves as a microcosm of the larger debate on the purpose and mission of universities in the United States.

Public Scrutiny and the Role of Universities: Elizabeth Magill's Resignation

The resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill following congressional testimony intensified public scrutiny of elite institutions. While Harvard stood by Gay, Magill's resignation raised questions about academic qualifications, racial considerations in leadership appointments, and the challenges posed by diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The contrasting responses of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania highlight the ongoing struggle to balance social justice goals with the classical pursuit of intellectual excellence in higher education.

Hope for True Reform: Engaging the Broader Public

Robert George expresses hope that the current moment, marked by public awareness and engagement, could lead to meaningful reform in elite institutions. He notes that alumni and donors are actively questioning the future of universities, prompting a broader societal conversation on their mission and value. The increased public involvement may influence the resolution of these issues, potentially steering universities towards a return to the classical vision, emphasizing truth-seeking and intellectual excellence.

The resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay serves as a pivotal moment for higher education, sparking debates on free speech, academic integrity, and the competing visions that shape the mission of universities. Robert George's insights provide a thoughtful examination of these complex issues, highlighting the need for consistent standards, protecting free speech, and choosing a clear vision for the purpose of universities. As public engagement continues, there is optimism that true reform is possible, paving the way for a renewed commitment to the classical ideals of truth-seeking and intellectual excellence in academia.

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In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, higher education institutions are grappling with new and emerging threats that demand constant vigilance. One such threat, often underestimated, is cryptojacking. While not a new phenomenon, cryptojacking has seen a rapid surge, surpassing 100 million attempts in 2022 alone. This article explores the nuances of cryptojacking, its impact on educational institutions, and strategies to defend against this growing menace.

Understanding Cryptojacking: Unveiling a Covert Cybercrime

Cryptojacking revolves around cryptocurrencies, specifically exploiting a victim's computing power to mine digital currencies without their knowledge. Interpol defines it as a cybercrime where criminals covertly harness a victim's computing resources to generate cryptocurrency. Unlike traditional cybercrimes, cryptojacking operates in the shadows, often escaping immediate detection.

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Mechanics of Cryptojacking: Download and Injection Strategies

Cryptojackers employ two main strategies: download and injection. In the download method, victims unknowingly load cryptomining code onto their devices through phishing or social engineering. This hidden code runs discreetly in the background, utilizing the victim's computing power for cryptocurrency mining. Injection, on the other hand, involves attackers injecting malicious scripts into ads or websites distributed across multiple platforms. Unsuspecting users, viewing these ads or websites, unknowingly execute the script, allowing cryptojackers to exploit their computing power.

Rapid Rise and Targeting Higher Education: A Cause for Concern

Cryptojacking attempts reached a staggering 332 million in the first half of 2023, witnessing a record 399 percent increase from the previous year. Higher education institutions, with expansive networks and abundant computing power, emerge as prime targets. The sector experienced 320 times more cryptojackings in the first half of 2023 compared to the entirety of 2022, underscoring the severity of the threat.

Why Higher Education? Unraveling the Intricacies of Institutional Vulnerability

Institutions of higher learning possess extensive networks and computing resources, making them attractive targets for cryptojackers. With numerous users utilizing personal devices on these networks, often lacking robust security measures, a single compromise can lead to the widespread distribution of cryptomining scripts. The potential impact is so significant that some universities have been compelled to shut down entire networks in response.

Defending Against Cryptojacking: Imperative Measures for Institutions

Cryptojacking isn't a victimless crime; it adversely affects individual devices, leading to overheating, reduced processing power, and increased electricity costs. At an institutional level, compromised performance could escalate data breaches and weaken overall cybersecurity. Defending against cryptojacking requires proactive measures:

1. Endpoint Security:

Prioritize security at the endpoint where cryptojacking strategies unfold. Implement ad blockers and security software on all university devices to mitigate potential threats.

2. Device Refresh Cycle:

Establish a regular device refresh cycle to ensure all equipment is equipped with the latest security measures, reducing vulnerability to cryptojacking.

3. Network Security Measures:

Block specific websites on the university's network known for hosting cryptojacking scripts. Customize spam filters for student and faculty email addresses to prevent phishing attempts.

4. Regular Scanning:

Conduct regular scans for vulnerable servers and network devices to identify and address potential cryptojacking incidents promptly.

Given the dynamic nature of cryptojacking methods, institutions should consider collaborating with trusted technology partners. Companies such as IBM and Microsoft offer solutions that can enhance an institution's cybersecurity posture. Establishing a collaborative approach ensures that universities stay one step ahead in identifying and combatting this evolving threat.

As cryptojacking continues its surge, higher education institutions must proactively fortify their defenses. Educating students and faculty about cybersecurity best practices is crucial, but it's equally vital to implement robust security measures at the endpoint and network levels. The partnership with technology experts can empower institutions to navigate the complexities of cryptojacking and secure the integrity of academic networks, ensuring a resilient and protected future for higher education.

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Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi inaugurated the first e- Registration Model Centre of the province for the transfer of land located at LDA Plaza Kashmir Road here on Saturday

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jan, 2024) Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi inaugurated the first e- Registration Model Centre of the province for the transfer of land located at LDA Plaza Kashmir Road here on Saturday.

Sub- Registrar offices of Ravi Town, Samanabad Town and Data Gunj Baksh Town have been shifted for the facilitation of citizens at the e-Registration Model Centre, a model e- Registration system for the transfer of land in Punjab.

The CM ordered to complete further two e- Registration Centres at Raiwind and Shalimar by 31st January.

He conducted a detailed visit of the e- Registration Model Centre and inspected the e-Registration system for the transfer of land. He directed to formulate a system for the payment of online fee for the facilitation of citizens.

He also visited the branch of Punjab Bank at the e- Registration Centre. He inspected the Sub Registrar offices of Ravi Town, Samanabad Town and Data Gunj Baksh Town established at the centre. The CM conversed with citizens who had come for their transfer of land and inquired about the e- Registration system. He asked a Garhi Shahu citizen present at the e- Registration Model Centre as whether anyone asked him for money for the registry. The citizens by appreciating the e- Registration system replied that no money was being taken and the registration system was much simplified and easier now.

Mohsin Naqvi revealed that the land transfer process of all the three towns would be done under a single roof at the e- Registration centre. "People would get rid of frequently visiting the offices for their transfer of land. The land transfer process would become transparent with the establishment of e- Registration centre and corruption will be eliminated. E- Registration Centres would be established in every Divisional Headquarter of Punjab. First e- Registration Centre has been inaugurated in Lahore while other two centres would be completed soon. I will review the pace of work by visiting the Shalimar and Raiwind Centres he said. All phases of e- registry would be completed in a short span of time at the e- Registration Model Centre. The CM lauded the performance of Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR), Punjab Land Record Authority(PLRA) administration and his team on the issuance of e- Registration system.

The SMBR and DG PLRA gave a detailed briefing about the land transfer process under the e- Registration system. Talking to media after inaugurating the first e-Registration Centre, he said that manual registry would not be made now and so far 221,000 registries had been made. A ban has been imposed on doing manual registry in Lahore as only e-Registry would be made. Excellent facilities have been provided to the citizens in the e- Registration Centre. He said that he had inaugurated one e- Registration Centre in Lahore while two more e- Registration Centres will be established in Shalimar Town and Raiwind. I have directed the Deputy Commissioner to complete both e- Registration Centres by 31st January. The BoP facility has been provided in the e- Registration Centre and it will soon provide NADRA facility as well.

The CM stated that tax evasion would be eliminated with the establishment of e- Registration Centres. He said that he had visited the Data Gunj Baksh Town Registry Office some time earlier. The office condition was highly deplorable and there was no place to sit. Then it was decided to improve the condition of e- Registration office. Everyone worked hard and the credit goes to the SMBR who worked day and night. Comfortable facilities would be provided to the people at the e-Registration Centre and they would also be saved from fraud, he added. He maintained that pending applications would be highlighted on the dashboard. The registry process would not be delayed with the establishment of e- Registration Centre and registry would be made on the spot.

In reply to a question Mohsin Naqvi stated that neither he cares for protocol nor criticism. "Criticism can be directed at many things and I have no issue with it. If I had cared for criticism then I would not have done any work. The complaints about corruption will be eliminated with the establishment of e- Registration Centre. Everything is computerised and there will be no waste of time," he added.

In reply to another question he said that no decision had been made so far to increase winter vacation in schools.

Provincial Minister for Housing Azfar Ali Nasir, Chairman P&D Board, SMBR, Commissioner Lahore, DG PLRA and officials concerned were also present.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

New York's attorney general is seeking $370 million from former president Donald Trump in a fraud case which has seen the real estate mogul accused of inflating the value of his properties, court documents showed Friday

New York, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jan, 2024) New York's attorney general is seeking $370 million from former president Donald Trump in a fraud case which has seen the real estate mogul accused of inflating the value of his properties, court documents showed Friday.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and his two eldest sons are accused of fraudulently inflating the value of real estate assets to receive more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.

"Record evidence... supports disgorgement of $370 million, plus pre-judgment interest," said the filing, significantly more than the $250 million that New York Attorney General Letitia James previously said she would seek.

"The myriad deceptive schemes they employed to inflate asset values and conceal facts were so outrageous that they belie innocent explanation.

"Defendants offered no specific rebuttal to these calculations."

The requested amount is linked to the "wrongdoer's unlawful profits," the filing said.

The amount to be paid will be determined by the judge, Arthur Engoron, whom Trump has repeatedly attacked on social media.

It will be released in his final decision and order, for which no date has yet been confirmed.

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, lashed out at James, calling her "totally corrupt" and saying "I did nothing wrong."

"My financial statements are great and very conservative," he said. "This case should never have been brought."

Trump's lawyers rejected any notion of fraud, arguing that real estate valuations are subjective and the banks lending to the organization had not lost any money.

Trump repeatedly took to social media during the case, saying it was "decided against me before it even started."

During the trial Trump called the judge "crazy" and "unhinged," and denounced James, who is Black, as "racist."

Engoron responded by slapping Trump with two fines -- one for $5,000, another for $10,000 -- when he ruled the onetime reality television star had violated a partial gag order imposed after he bashed the judge's clerk on social media.

Even before opening arguments, Engoron ruled that James' office had already shown "conclusive evidence" that Trump had overstated his net worth on financial documents by between $812 million and $2.2 billion between 2014 and 2021.

As a result, the judge ordered the liquidation of the companies managing the assets in question, such as the Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street skyscrapers in Manhattan and the opulent Seven Springs private estate outside New York City.

That order is on hold pending appeal. But its potentially sweeping consequences highlight the high stakes for the former president, who has built his political persona on the image of successes described in his book "The Art of the Deal."

This trial is only the tip of the legal iceberg for the candidate, as he also stares down four criminal trials set to unfold during the 2024 campaign season.

He is scheduled to stand trial on March 4 in Washington, charged by federal prosecutors with allegedly seeking to upend the results of the 2020 election in a concerted effort that led to the violent January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

Trump also faces federal charges for allegedly mishandling top secret documents after he left the White House, and has been charged with racketeering in Georgia on accusations that he tried to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

The states of Colorado and Maine have barred him from standing in their Republican presidential primaries on the grounds that he had engaged in an insurrection on January 6. Trump has challenged both rulings.

A congressional report claimed Thursday that Trump's businesses received at least $7.8 million from foreign governments, including China, during his time in the White House, in violation of a constitutional ban on "foreign emoluments."
Colombo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jan, 2024) Rain put an early finish to Sri Lanka's opening one-day match against Zimbabwe on Saturday, with Zimbabwe struggling on 12-2 after four overs when the downpour hit.

Play was called off at 9:00 pm local time (1330 GMT) after left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka dismissed opener Tinashe Kamunhukamwe for a first-ball duck.

Madushanka, who was sold for $553,000 to Mumbai Indians in December's IPL auction, claimed a second wicket in the same over when he had captain Craig Ervine caught at first slip by Sahan Arachchige.

Both of Madushanka's overs were maidens.

Sri Lanka finished 273-9 thanks to vice-captain Charith Asalanka's third ODI century in a knock that included nine boundaries.

Opener Avishka Fernando departed for none from five balls in the first over, leaving Kusal Mendis (46) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (41) to post a 63-run stand.

But the pair failed to make the most of their starts, with Samarawickrama offering a gentle catch to first slip and Mendis run out.

Left-hander Asalanka stitched several partnerships with the lower order including a 52-run eighth-wicket stand with Dushmantha Chameera to keep Sri Lanka in the hunt before he was run out in the final over.

Richard Ngarava was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers after early breakthroughs with the new ball, finishing 2-39 after claiming Fernando and Samarawickrama.

The left-arm seamer came back for a second spell in the death overs but had to withdraw after sending down just four deliveries due to cramps.

The teams will play two more one-day matches on Monday and Thursday followed by three T20 games, all in Colombo.
When China's e-commerce outfit Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) went public back in 2014, investors were understandably stoked. The market was looking for the next Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), which had performed very well since its initial public offering back in 1997. What better way to repeat the performance than with a company that could be considered China's carbon copy of Amazon itself? And for the better part of the past 10 years, Alibaba stock dished out Amazon-like gains.

The past three years, however, have been different. While Amazon shares continued to perform well -- overcoming 2022's bear market -- Alibaba's stock is back within sight of a record low.

What gives? And more than that, is this weakness a chance to step into a stake in Alibaba? Or does Amazon remain a go-to pick?

The answer is complicated, and even a little bit philosophical.

Amazon and Alibaba are different in one big way

On the surface, the two companies look similar enough. Amazon is an e-commerce behemoth. So is Alibaba. Amazon is in the cloud computing business. So is Alibaba. Both organizations are also dabbling in computer hardware, manage logistics services, and offer digital entertainment. So what's different? The two companies were built in different market environments and largely continue operating in those environments.

See, the bulk of Amazon's revenue is generated within the western half of the world, with most of that coming from North America -- a market with relatively soft regulatory oversight; you may have noticed efforts levied by U.S. watchdogs to break up "big tech" outfits have all failed. Well, these failures are also taking shape against a sociocultural backdrop that tends to favor function over form regardless of greater impacts like environmental damage or job displacement. Consumers are surprisingly tolerant of data-collecting companies, too, as they ultimately offer much-desired convenience even if at the expense of privacy.

Story continues

That's not quite the case overseas, and particularly in China where the bulk of Alibaba's business is still done. While its home market initially cheered the advent of its online shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall, their dominance didn't go unchecked ... in a couple of different ways.

One of these ways is a regulatory-based one. In late 2020, for instance, Beijing initiated a broad, nondescript crackdown on most of China's technology titans. The prompt and goal of the effort was never made clear, or official. But there's no denying that doing business in China hasn't been the same since.

Oh, investors have witnessed a variety of efforts from Alibaba to adapt. The company made several leadership changes just within the past few months, for example, following a restructuring of Alibaba into six distinct operating units in early 2023. It's also been toying with the idea of spinning off its struggling cloud computing arm. While that didn't happen -- at least not yet -- Alibaba has abandoned its quantum computing development efforts even though the tech is finally showing some practical promise.

None of this is to suggest the shakeup only stems from China's recent regulatory crackdowns. It would be naive, however, to believe Alibaba's business environment doesn't put (and keep) it at a significant disadvantage.

Said more directly, China's regulatory environment can be restrictive, even if inconsistently so.

And the second way Alibaba's dominance has been stifled? In the meantime, the world watched rival PDD Holdings, formerly Pinduoduo, penetrate China's e-commerce market, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, Amazon's business has never been bigger, and its future profitability has never been more promising. As it turns out, cloud computing and digital advertising are incredibly high-margin businesses.

AMZN Revenue (TTM) Chart

The company isn't bumping into any real legal or social challenges to the integration of all of its different operations, either. Indeed, Amazon's in-house delivery service, first-party and third-party e-commerce business, budding advertising operation, and Amazon Prime all seem to be operating seamlessly with one another.

Not permanent, but persistent

Never say never. There may well come a time when consumers and regulators alike start pushing back against Amazon's modus operandi, just as there may come a time when China's regulators exert less strict oversight of Alibaba's business. Such shifts could work against and for (respectively) the two companies in question.

There's also no denying that at least some of Alibaba stock's recent weakness is the result of heavy-handed lockdowns meant to curb the continued spread of COVID-19 within China (lockdown measures remained in place through the latter part of 2022). Although lifted since then, fear of long-term damage to the economy lingered, weighing on Alibaba's shares. With retail spending growing firmly in recent months, though, the stock's poor performance could be a chance to tap into the country's rekindled consumerism.

On balance, however, the underpinnings of these two stocks' disparate performances are as difficult to overcome as they are to identify. Both companies were built on very different foundations reflecting two very different operating and business environments. Investors just didn't see it about Alibaba until 2020, and they have continued seeing it since then. Now that they have, it's difficult to unsee.

This isn't to say Alibaba is un-investable, to be clear. Even a troubled Alibaba is a stronger company than plenty of others. This year's top line is projected to grow by more than 10%, with growth of almost as much in the cards for the coming year. Profits are expected to improve accordingly. The analyst community's current consensus price target of $118.51 is also 58% above Alibaba shares' present price. That's not a bad risk-versus-reward scenario. You could certainly do worse.

If you only have room for one of these two tickers in your portfolio though, Amazon stock remains the better choice ... for reasons that are obvious, and some that are a bit fuzzier and philosophical.

There's of course a bigger takeaway here for interested investors. That is, while it's not often part of a stock-picking regimen, more of us should consider a company's operating environment and regulatory risks before taking the plunge. Often it's the less obvious, unseen factors that can end up haunting you.

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Best Stock to Buy: Amazon vs. Alibaba was originally published by The Motley Fool
(@FahadShabbir)

After almost three months of Israeli bombardments of Gaza, malnutrition and disease are creating a deadly cycle that threatens over 1.1 million children in the ravaged enclave, according to the latest survey by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jan, 2024) After almost three months of Israeli bombardments of Gaza, malnutrition and disease are creating a deadly cycle that threatens over 1.1 million children in the ravaged enclave, according to the latest survey by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

A total of 90% of the 1.1 million young people in the region are not fully supplied with nutrients, the UN agency said.

"Children in the Gaza Strip face a deadly triple threat to their lives, as cases of diseases rise, nutrition plummets and the escalation in hostilities approaches its fourteenth week," UNICEF said.

In the conflict which broke out on Oct 7, the number of Palestinians killed has risen to 22,600, most of them women and children.

Children in Gaza are caught in a nightmare that worsens with every passing day, said Catherine Russell, UNICEFs executive director.

The report said that cases of diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age rose from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week starting December 17, equivalent to 3,200 new cases of diarrhoea per day.

It added that displaced children and their families are unable to maintain the necessary hygiene levels needed to prevent disease, given the alarming lack of safe water and sanitation.

The report affirmed that prolonged diarrhoea put children at high risk of death.

The futures of thousands more children in Gaza hang in the balance. The world cannot stand by and watch. The violence and the suffering of children must stop, Russell said.

People were clamoring for food and children were scrambling for leftovers in Gaza on Saturday, January 6.

Footage filmed by local journalist Amr Tabash shows people trying to reach a pot of hot food and children grabbing food with their hands before putting it in their pots. The video also shows a young girl waiting on the side with an empty bowl.

On Friday, UNICEF said that the deteriorating situation in Gaza is raising concerns about acute malnutrition and mortality breaching famine thresholds.
Xinting Yu

I wanted to investigate whether the magic islands could actually be organics floating on the surface, like pumice that can float on water here on Earth before finally sinking, she said.

The fate of these organic clumps after they reached Titans liquid bodies interested Yu and her team. They first investigated whether Titans organic solids would simply dissolve in the moons methane lakes. Because the lakes are already saturated with organic particles, the team determined that the falling solids would not dissolve when they reached the liquid, at least quickly.

For us to see the magic islands, they cant just float for a second and then sink, Yu said. They have to float for some time, but not for forever either.

The researchers then explored two ways the frozen solids could float: capillary force and porosity.

Titans lakes and seas are primarily methane and ethane, both of which have low surface tension  and a lower surface tension makes it harder for solids to float. The models suggested that most of the frozen solids were too dense, and the surface tension is too low, for capillary forces alone to create Titans magic islands.

The team turned to porosity for an explanation. If the icy clumps were large enough and had the right ratio of holes and narrow tubes, the liquid methane could seep in slowly enough that the clumps could linger at the surface.

Yus modeling suggested individual clumps are likely too small to float by themselves. But if enough clumps massed together near the shore, larger pieces could break off and float away, similar to how glaciers calve on Earth. With a combination of a bigger size and the right porosity, these organic glaciers could explain the magic island phenomenon.

In addition to the magic islands, a thin layer of frozen solids coating Titans seas and lakes could explain the liquid bodies unusual smoothness. Thus, the findings from this study could explain two of Titans mysteries.

Ive known about the magic islands since I started grad school, but I never thought Id be able to contribute to understanding them, Yu said. It feels great to make some discoveries myself.

The study was a collaborative effort with Yue Yu of the University of California at Santa Cruz and University of Geneva, Julia Garver of the University of California at Santa Cruz, Xi Zhang of the University of California at Santa Cruz and Patricia McGuiggan of John Hopkins University.
Thousands of mourners attended a funeral Saturday for a Pakistani Sunni Muslim cleric gunned down on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, police and a spokesperson for the cleric's organization said.

The funeral of Masoodur Rehman Usmani was held a day after unidentified gunmen shot and killed him and wounded his driver in the neighborhood of Ghauri Town, according to a statement from Islamabad police.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which is a rare occurrence in this part of Pakistan. Police said they were using closed-circuit TV footage to track down the assailants and vowed that they would be arrested and brought to justice.

Authorities in Islamabad have stepped up security by deploying additional police, and some embassies were advising their nationals to avoid visiting the area where the funeral for Usmani was to be held.

Usmani was a deputy secretary at the Sunni Ulema Council. The council emerged after Pakistan outlawed the Sipah-e-Sahaba extremist group, which has been accused of killing thousands of Shiites across the country in recent decades.

Sunni clerics in their speeches at the funeral asked the government to ensure the arrest of those responsible for Usmani's killing. Top cleric Ahmed Ludhianvi threatened a sit-in in Islamabad if they were not arrested within the week.

The funeral was livestreamed on social media by organizers, who wanted to hold the event outside parliament. But police refused their request, and the event was instead held in a busy commercial area in Islamabad.

Pakistan has suffered frequent sectarian violence between the majority Sunni and minority Shiite groups, but authorities say it is still unclear who was behind the killing. Mourners were heard chanting slogans against Shiites and neighboring Iran, which is often accused by Sunni groups of backing Shiite organizations in Pakistan.

Most Sunnis and Shiites live together peacefully in Pakistan, although tensions have existed for decades.
Alaska Airlines has grounded dozens of Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets for safety checks after a cabin panel blowout forced a newer airplane loaded with passengers to make an emergency landing.

The piece of fuselage tore off from the left side of the jet as it climbed out of Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California, on Friday, forcing pilots to turn back and land safely with 171 passengers and six crew on board.

It is the latest mishap involving Boeing's bestselling model, which was grounded for almost two years following crashes in 2018 and 2019, and comes as Boeing and a major supplier are grappling with a succession of production and quality problems.

There were no immediate indications of the cause of the apparent structural failure nor any reports of injuries.

Airline CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement that its fleet of 65 similar planes would be returned to service only after precautionary maintenance and safety inspections, which he expected to be completed in the "next few days."

U.S. aviation authorities announced an investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday that a team of experts in structures, operations and systems would arrive on the scene later that day.

Boeing also said it was looking into the incident.

"We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer," Boeing said.

Wed like to get down

Flight 1282 had reached just over 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) when the blowout happened, according to FlightRadar24.

"We'd like to get down," the pilot told air traffic control, according to a recording posted on liveatc.net.

"We are declaring an emergency. We do need to come down to 10,000," the pilot said, referring to the initial staging altitude for such emergencies, below which breathing is considered possible for healthy people without extra oxygen.

Social media posts showed oxygen masks deployed and a portion of the aircraft's side wall missing.

Passenger photos appeared to show that a section of the fuselage sometimes used for an optional rear midcabin exit door had been torn away, leaving a door-shaped gap.

The extra door is typically installed by low-cost airlines using extra seats that require more paths for evacuation.

However, those doors are permanently "plugged," or deactivated, on Alaska Airlines jets.

The new MAX 9 was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and certified in early November, according to FAA data.

Production snags

"Whenever you have a rapid decompression such as this, it's a major safety event," said Anthony Brickhouse, an air safety expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

"I can't imagine what these passengers experienced, he said. It would have been loud. The wind would be rushing through that cabin. It was a probably pretty violent situation, and definitely a scary situation."

The incident shows the importance of passengers keeping their seatbelts buckled while seated in an airplane, even if the fasten-seatbelt light is off, Brickhouse said, noting that the oxygen mask system appeared to have functioned properly.

Reports said the seat next to the left-hand panel, which contains an ordinary passenger window, was unoccupied.

"This is a very, very serious situation and it could have been a lot worse," he said. "If someone had been sitting in that seat, and they weren't buckled in, it would have been a different situation."

The 737 MAX was grounded for 20 months worldwide after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 linked to poorly designed cockpit software killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia. Boeing is awaiting certification of its smaller 737 MAX 7 and larger MAX 10.

China's aviation regulator is conducting an emergency meeting to consider a response to the incident, including a possible new grounding of the Boeing MAX fleet in the country, Bloomberg news reported on Saturday.

China was the first country to ground the MAX in 2019 and only recently started accepting new deliveries, although domestic services using the plane resumed in January last year.

Last week, Boeing said it was urging airlines to inspect all 737 MAX airplanes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system.

The FAA said it was closely monitoring Boeing 737 MAX inspections and would consider additional action if more loose or missing hardware was found.
Bangladesh holds parliamentary elections on Sunday, but opposition parties won't participate, as they say the election won't be fair with the current ruling party staying in power ahead of the vote.

This will be the country's 12th national parliamentary election since it gained independence in 1971.

The parliament consists of 350 members, of which 300 are elected directly for a five-year term. The remaining 50 seats are reserved for women. The 300 members elected on January 7 will, in turn, proportionally elect the 50 women members to the reserved seats.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies, along with some major Islamist parties, are boycotting the election after demanding the resignation of the current government during the election in favor of an interim, neutral caretaker government.

The opposition believes that the last two general elections, held in 2014 and 2018, prove that free, fair, participatory and credible elections aren't possible while the ruling party remains in power.

Only four of the previous 11 national elections were held under a neutral caretaker government: in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008. Those elections were widely accepted as relatively free and fair.

However, in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled the use of a caretaker government unconstitutional. The ruling party, Awami League, which had a two-thirds majority in the parliament, changed the constitution to block the caretaker government provision.

The BNP and its allies protested the change and boycotted the 2014 elections. As a result, more than half of the 300 members of parliament elected that year ran unopposed. Voter turnout was very low as well.

The opposition participated in the 2018 election; however, that vote was alleged by the opposition to have been manipulated in favor of the ruling party by law enforcement agencies, the civil administration and the ruling party's sitting members of parliament and ministers.

The government denies the allegations and says that the election was free and fair.

Ahead of that election, opposition candidates were subjected to widespread violence on the campaign trail and many opposition activists were arrested.

The opposition claimed that in most constituencies, ballot boxes were filled with ruling party votes the night before the election. A report by BBC Bangla showed the ballot boxes in one constituency were filled before voting began.

The ruling party has repeatedly denied such allegations. In an interview with VOA Bangla, Awami League leader Mahbubul Alam Hanif said, "There is no evidence to prove that the election was rigged."

Both the 2014 and 2018 elections are largely considered noncredible by both the local and international community.

Crackdown on opposition

During an October 28 BNP rally, party leaders and activists allegedly attacked the chief justice's residence. At least 17 journalists were injured, and a police constable was killed.

According to the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, a body of pro-BNP lawyers, more than 20,000 opposition leaders and activists were arrested in more than 837 "fabricated and ghost cases" filed after the October violence. The forum also alleged that 8,249 opposition activists were injured in attack and police action, and at least 73,123 opposition activists were accused in cases filed since then.

On December 17, Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, the agriculture minister, seemed to agree with the arrest figures put forward by the opposition in an interview in which he referenced a strike the opposition had called as part of their ongoing protests.

"If 20,000 leaders and workers of BNP were not arrested, would the cars have run on the day of the strike? We had no option other than mass arrests."

The minister also said the BNP leadership was told that its arrested leaders would be released promptly if the party took part in the upcoming election, raising serious questions about the independence of the judiciary and giving more credibility to the opposition's claim that the government is abusing its power.

On November 14, three United Nations experts  Irene Khan, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule and Mary Lawlor  issued a statement raising grave concerns about the severe crackdown against political activists.

"As Bangladesh heads towards national elections in early 2024, we are deeply disturbed by the sharp rise in political violence, arrests of senior opposition leaders, mass arbitrary detention of thousands of political activists, use of excessive force by the authorities and internet shutdowns to disrupt protests," the statement said.

"The weaponization of the judicial system to attack journalists, human rights defenders and civil society leaders diminishes the independence of the judiciary and erodes fundamental human rights," it said.

According to reports published in local and international media, nine activists have died in custody since October 28.

Opposition response

After the election schedule was announced in November, the opposition vowed to boycott the vote and called for general strikes and blockades.

On December 19, the BNP announced a noncooperation movement, urging people to suspend tax payments, as well as water, gas and electricity bills.

The BNP and its allies also launched a campaign to encourage voters to boycott the election and to participate in the noncooperation movement.

The effort led to violent attacks by ruling party activists against opposition activists, while law enforcement agencies made widespread arrests of opposition activists in connection with the protest movement, according to local media reports.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh's Election Commission asked the Home Ministry's Public Security Division to deter people from attending rallies or other political programs that may disrupt the electoral process or discourage voters from exercising their franchise.

The move appears contrary to the Bangladesh constitution, which states, "Every citizen shall have the right to assemble and to participate in public meetings and processions peacefully and without arms, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of public order or public health."

Staging a "competitive" election

Pressure from the United States, the United Nations and others in the international community have prompted the Sheikh Hasina government to show the world that the election will be free, fair and participatory.

Hasina has asked the aspirant candidates from the ruling Awami League who did not secure the nomination of the ruling party to run as independent candidates to make the election appear competitive.

In public remarks, she also urged candidates who are running unopposed to place dummy candidates in their respective constituencies to ensure that no one is elected uncontested, as happened in 2014.

This has led the opposition to call Sunday's election a "dummy" election.

The Awami League has nominated 263 candidates and supported six candidates from its allies. It withdrew 26 of its candidates in favor of the Jatiya Party, an ally of the Awami League.

However, in most of the 300 constituencies, one or more independent candidates who are also members of the ruling Awami League party are contesting seats.

The ruling party and its supporters say if voter turnout is more than 50%, Sunday's election should be considered a participatory one.

Local media reports accuse ruling party members of coercing voters to come to polling stations by taking away cards that are required to get social services.

Government officials have denied the accusations.

Election aftermath

In a series of interviews with VOA Bangla, a number of political analysts and civil society members expressed concerns regarding the elections. They believe that without the participation of the BNP and other parties, the results will not be credible, and that the 12th national parliament will struggle to complete its full term.

"This is not an election," Badiul Alam Majumder, a prominent civil society activist, told VOA. "In an election there must be options for the voters. Without BNP's participation there is no option.

"This election will not solve our problems, rather it will make our crisis more complex and evident," he said.

Nurul Kabir, a prominent journalist in Bangladesh, told VOA that he thinks the election results are fixed before voting begins, as there is no competition between rival political parties.

"This election is called a dummy election," Kabir said.

There is a growing concern among the people of Bangladesh that the U.S. will take serious actions if the election is seen as unfair, including imposing sanctions.

The U.S. government announced a new visa policy for Bangladesh last year to support free and fair elections in the country. The policy allows the U.S. to deny visas to any individual or entity who obstructs the election process in Bangladesh.

While sanctions may harm Bangladesh's economy, some opposition figures say it may be the most viable option to restore the democratic process in Bangladesh.

In an exclusive interview with VOA Bangla, Nurul Haq Nur, president of the Gana Adhikar Parishad party, said the role the U.S. is playing in ensuring a free and fair election is appreciated.

For Nur, the 2021 sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion, which remain in effect, played a significant role in creating space for the opposition to hold rallies and carry out political programs.

"I think the citizens of Bangladesh have found hope in the role USA has been playing in support of restoring a democratic process in Bangladesh," Nur said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Jordan on Sunday, where he met with Jordans King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. Blinken also visited a World Food Program warehouse where trucks are loaded with aid for Gaza.

Jordan is the latest stop on Blinkens tour of the region, which has been rocked by the Israel-Hamas fighting. Jordan and other Arab countries have demanded an immediate cease-fire since the conflict erupted in October, but Israel has resisted the call.

Turkey is prepared to use its influence with critical countries in the Middle East to deescalate and prevent the Gaza conflict from spreading, Blinken told reporters late Saturday, after he held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strong critic of Israels military actions in Gaza.

Blinken held meetings earlier in the day with Erdogan in Istanbul, and then in Crete with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He embarked on a Middle East diplomacy tour this week seeking to calm the situation in Gaza and soothe regional frictions.

In a separate meeting with Blinken, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for "an immediate cease-fire" in Gaza and for the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid. Fidan also advocated for the immediate start of negotiations for a two-state solution, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

The United States has urged a lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. This involves achieving Palestinian political rights  notably the establishment of a Palestinian state with security assurances for Israel.

In Crete, Blinken thanked Mitsotakis for the countrys continued support for the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken expressed appreciation for Greece's commitment to the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.

This is particularly crucial, as Yemeni Houthis have been attacking vessels in the sea in solidarity with Hamas.

On Saturday, Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group launched dozens of rockets into northern Israel. Israel responded with airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

"One of the areas of real concern is the border between Israel and Lebanon, and we want to do everything possible to make sure that we don't see escalation there," Blinken said Saturday.

He told reporters that Israel is "clearly not interested" in an escalation and emphasized, "It's not in Lebanon's interest to see any escalation."

Blinkens fourth trip to the Middle East comes amid intense diplomatic efforts to facilitate the delivery of the humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and increasing international pressure on Israel to reduce civilian casualties among Palestinians.

Additionally, he will make the rounds in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt for meetings with foreign counterparts and other officials.

This comes at a time when the risk of a broader regional conflict is surging, despite collective efforts of Western and regional powers to confine the Israel-Hamas war to the Gaza Strip.

Israel began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel on October 7. Israel said about 1,200 people were killed and about 240 captives taken in the terror attack.

Gaza health officials say more than 22,000 Palestinians, a large percentage of them women and children, have been confirmed killed in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The United States has stated its opposition to forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza. The U.S. is also working on a postwar road map for the Palestinian territories.

"Gaza cannot, once again, serve as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israel," State Department spokesperson Miller told VOA earlier this week.

"What we ultimately want to see is Gaza and the West Bank reunited under Palestinian leadership," and "certainly there's no role for Hamas in that."

On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant outlined the country's plans for the next stage of its operations in Gaza. The new approach involves a more targeted strategy in northern Gaza and a continued pursuit of Hamas leaders in the south.

Gallant said in a statement that after the war, Gaza would no longer be under Hamas control. While Israel would retain operational freedom, there would not be any Israeli civilians present in the Gaza Strip.

Regional stability

The State Department said the United States remains "incredibly concerned" about the risk of the conflict spreading into other fronts, after the killing Tuesday of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.

The Israeli army said it was on high alert for attacks by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. This follows a drone strike in Beirut that killed al-Arouri, who was closely associated with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

In a televised speech, Nasrallah said there would be a "response and punishment," but he did not clearly declare that his forces would escalate attacks against Israel.

The U.S. has sent a "very direct message to Hezbollah" and other entities in the region that "now is not the time to think of escalating further," according to the State Department.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, has also voiced deep concern over the potential for escalation, while urging all parties to exercise restraint.

Earlier this week, Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the strike that killed al-Arouri, calling it a crime deliberately aimed at dragging Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, whose militant allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have also been carrying out longer-range attacks against Israel.

Humanitarian aid

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, has warned that Gaza is becoming a public health disaster and that the recent mass displacement across southern Gaza is fueling disease outbreaks.

About 400,000 cases of infectious diseases have been reported since October 7, with about 180,000 people suffering from upper respiratory infections. More than 136,000 cases of diarrhea have been reported, half among children younger than 5, according to OCHA.

Hostage release

Meanwhile, intense diplomatic efforts to retrieve the remaining hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants continue. There are believed to be 129 people held by Hamas and other militants in Gaza.

Last week, Egypt proposed a plan to end the military conflict involving a cease-fire, a phased hostage release, and the formation of a Palestinian government of experts to administer the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Details of the plan were reportedly worked out with Qatar and presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments. But the head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, stated Tuesday that the hostages will be released only on Hamas' terms.

Some material for this report was provided by Reuters and The Associated Press.
A bomb blast ripped through a minibus in Afghanistans capital, Kabul, Saturday evening, killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others.

The attack occurred in the citys western Dasht-e-Barchi Shiite Muslim neighborhood.

Khalid Zadran, a spokesperson for the Taliban-led Kabul police, confirmed the casualties, saying the injured were rushed to hospitals and the bombing was under investigation.

No group immediately took credit for the deadly attack, but suspicions fell on a regional Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K.

Dasht-e-Barchi has experienced persistent deadly militant bombings, targeting Shiite mosques, schools and hospitals. IS-K has claimed credit for almost all recent attacks.

The group has carried out high-profile attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control of the country more than two years ago. The violence has killed hundreds of people, including Shiite Afghans and Taliban members.

Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob told a televised news conference last week that there had been a 90% decrease in IS-K attacks in the past year, attributing it to his government's counterterrorism operations.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesperson, reiterated Saturday that the crackdown on IS-K had degraded its ability to harm Afghanistan and other countries.

He spoke to local media a day after Reuters news agency reported that "communications intercepts collected by the United States" confirmed that IS-K conducted Wednesday's twin suicide bombings in neighboring Iran that killed nearly 100 people.

The Sunni-based Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bloodshed in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman but did not specify that its Afghanistan-based affiliate carried it out.

The United States has consistently described IS-K as a dangerous entity.

However, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, said Thursday it was "difficult to make a quantitative or qualitative assessment" of IS-K's strength based on a single event like this week's attack in Iran.

"ISIS-K does remain a viable terrorist threat. Certainly, they are largely based out of Afghanistan. Thats where they headquarter themselves," Kirby told a news conference in Washington, using a different acronym for IS-K. "And they continue to pose a viable terrorist threat to the people of Afghanistan and obviously to the region."
Senior Chinese officials have held talks with Myanmar, the government said Saturday, as Beijing grows increasingly concerned about border security and telecoms scams with rebel groups pressing their campaign against Myanmar's junta.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong visited Myanmar from Thursday to Saturday, meeting junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to discuss topics that included border stability and the crackdown on the telecom scams, China's foreign ministry said.

China's minister of public security, Wang Xiaohong, had a video call with Myanmar's home affairs minister, Lieutenant-General Yar Pyae, on Friday, Wang's ministry spokesperson said.

China, a key junta ally that also has close relations with some ethnic Chinese militias along their shared frontier, has grown increasingly frustrated in recent months with the Myanmar junta and its lack of action on closing the scam centers that target Chinese citizens.

A Myanmar rebel alliance has gained control of a key town along the country's volatile northern border with China after weeks of fierce fighting with junta troops, the alliance and the junta said.

The "Three Brotherhood Alliance," as the group is known, said it took over Laukkai town after the military's regional headquarters located there surrendered.

The fall of Laukkai is the latest victory in a sweeping offensive by an alliance of rebel groups that began in October and has become the most significant threat to Myanmar's military government since it seized power in a 2021 coup.

"All Kokang [Laukkai] region has become a land with no Myanmar Military Council anymore," according to a statement from the alliance.

A junta spokesman did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment.

Beijing, which has facilitated dialogue between the two sides, has called for a cease-fire in the continuing violence.
All About America explores American culture, politics, trends, history, ideals and places of interest. Almost four in 10 managers avoid hiring recent college graduates because they judge them to be unprepared for professional life, according to a December 2023 survey of 800 U.S. directors and executives involved in filling open jobs. One in five employers say a recent college graduate brought a parent to the job interview. Twenty-one percent of employers surveyed said they had a candidate refuse to turn their camera on for a virtual interview. Employers also complained that the interviewees struggled to make eye contact, dressed inappropriately and used inappropriate language. The results of the survey dont come as a complete surprise to Michael Connors, an accounting and technology recruiter in the Washington area who prepares recent college graduates for job interviews. At the end of the day, there seems like a lack of seriousness, he says. Do they even want this job, or do they just go through the motions? Connors has never had a candidate refuse to turn on their camera. But he has had students show up for a scheduled online interview in unprofessional environments, like outside a shopping mall.

Both Connors and Diane Gayeski, a professor of strategic communications at Ithaca College in New York, agree that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the growth and maturity of recent college grads. Their senior year in high school was very disruptive. They didn't have the typical graduations, proms, parties, that sort of thing, Gayeski says. They typically were not able to work that summer before college. And even when they got into college, things like guest speakers, internships, study abroad  those kinds of things were really not available to them. The result, she says, is that students are less confident about their ability to engage in the working world. Part of college's ability to make students ready for their careers are the things that they experience outside the classroom, such as engaging with people who are different than they are, and being able to work on projects that are in the community, and engaging in internships. And all of that just didn't exist, she says. Thirty-eight percent of the employers surveyed say they avoid hiring recent college graduates in favor of older workers. And theyre willing to pay the older workers more or increase benefits like allowing more telework. Nearly half of the employers say theyve had to fire a recent college graduate. Sixty-three percent of employers say some of the recent college graduates theyve hired cant handle their workload; 61% say they are frequently late to work; 59% say they often miss deadlines, and 53% say the young, new workers are often late to meetings. They would have a much better chance managing their workload if they were in the office more, Connors says, referring to how working from home part of the time might be setting young workers back. These folks, they need mentorship to be able to learn and progress in their careers.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman oversees Pershing Square Capital Management (OTC: PSHZ.F). Currently $14 billion in size, the fund has generated a 28% annualized return over the past five years. That's more than double the S&P 500 over that time.

So, what's his secret? I dove into Pershing Square's stock portfolio, which holds just eight stocks. Breaking down the holdings revealed a simple yet effective strategy -- and no, it's not just buying megacap technology stocks (though Ackman bought one hand over fist in 2023).

Here is what you need to know.

Pershing Square's portfolio

Two core holdings

Bill Ackman is bullish on the American eater. Pershing Square's portfolio is built on large positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill, a casual Mexican restaurant chain (16.5% of the portfolio), and Restaurant Brands International, which owns Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and Firehouse Subs (14.7%). These companies make up over 31% of Pershing Square's holdings.

The next tier is closely grouped together

Unlike Warren Buffett, who holds Apple as Berkshire Hathaway's largest stock holding by a wide margin, Ackman takes a more balanced approach with his other holdings. The next four tickers range between 10.6% and 14.6% of Pershing Square's portfolio:

Hilton Worldwide Holdings (14.6%): A hospitality business with several hotel and resort brands worldwide.

Lowe's Companies (13.8%): The second-largest home improvement retailer in the U.S.

Howard Hughes Holdings (12.9%): A diversified real estate developer.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (10.6%): A transcontinental railway company operating in the U.S. and Canada.

These investments aren't far behind Chipotle and Restaurant Brands International but are a clear second tier. Ackman stays mainly in the consumer space but branches into additional discretionary spending categories like hotels and home improvement.

Real estate and railroads are among America's oldest industries yet remain integral to the economy today. Having some exposure to both definitely makes sense.

Story continues

Ackman's latest pick is an AI stock

Pershing Square hasn't been big on technology stocks, but that changed somewhat in Q1 of 2023 when it opened a position in Alphabet. Ackman added both A and C Class shares, two tickers for the same company (Class A shares have voting rights).

He increased the position in both the second and third quarter of last year. Combining the positions in both share classes brings Alphabet's total weighting to roughly 17% of Pershing Square's portfolio, its most significant investment in one company.

Alphabet's advertising business via Google search and YouTube is how it makes most of its profits, but Alphabet is also an AI stock. The company has deep pockets and is developing and deploying generative AI technology throughout its business.

Two Takeaways from Ackman's investment strategy

Takeaway 1: Bet on the consumer

Technology stocks garner a lot of media coverage, but consumers are the driving force of the U.S. economy. Approximately 67% of the economic output in America comes from consumer spending. Ackman has positioned Pershing Square's portfolio accordingly. Four of Pershing Square's eight stocks are consumer-oriented, totaling almost 60% of the portfolio.

Consumer stocks can also benefit many investors because they typically have simple business models. Understanding how the businesses behind your stocks work is essential to investing because it makes spotting opportunities and threats much easier.

Takeaway 2: Be a long-term investor

Some might assume that professional money managers are traders, regularly jumping in and out of stocks, but Ackman isn't. While he has cut bait at times when he believes he's made a mistake, the portfolio broadly underlines a long-term mindset. Here are the dates he first bought each current holding:

Note: Howard Hughes Holdings was created in 2010 when General Growth Properties went bankrupt during the financial crisis.

Stock First Purchase Restaurant Brands International Q4 2014 Chipotle Mexican Grill Q3 2016 Hilton Worldwide Holdings Q4 2018 Lowe's Companies Q2 2018 Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited Q4 2021 Alphabet Class A Q1 2023 Alphabet Class C Q1 2023

Data source: Whale Wisdom.

The stock market is tough to predict in the short term. Politics, news, and the economy easily influence it. But over time, stock prices tend to go up or down depending on how the underlying businesses perform.

Ackman likes to focus on a narrow group of high-conviction stocks, giving them time to let the fundamentals drive investment returns. While investors are generally better off with a more diversified portfolio than you see here, peeking under the hood at Pershing Square is a fascinating exercise.

Should you invest $1,000 in Pershing Square right now?

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Howard Hughes. The Motley Fool recommends Lowe's Companies and Restaurant Brands International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman Has 100% of His Pershing Square Portfolio in These 8 Stocks was originally published by The Motley Fool
France's foreign minister told her Iranian counterpart Saturday that "Iran and its affiliates" must stop "destabilizing acts" that could spark a broader conflict in the Middle East amid the war in Gaza.

During a telephone call with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Catherine Colonna "delivered a very clear message: the risk of regional conflagration has never been so great; Iran and its affiliates must immediately cease their destabilizing acts," according to a statement on the X social media platform. "Nobody would win from escalation."

Their call came after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon said it had targeted an Israeli base with 62 missiles in an "initial response" to the killing of Hamas's deputy leader in Beirut.

Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas militants from Gaza after their lightning attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.

Since then, Israel has been carrying out a relentless bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza that have killed at least 22,722 people, most of them women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

Iran state media also said Saturday that the twin bombing attack Wednesday at a ceremony near the tomb of a top Revolutionary Guards general had killed 91 people, a higher toll than initially reported after two victims died of their wounds.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the strike, which added to fears of a wider conflict in the region.

In an earlier statement, Colonna said she had also spoken with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

"Egypt and France are on the front line for access of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the evacuation of the most seriously wounded," she said on X.

Colonna added she had also had a "useful conversation" Saturday with her Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, focusing on three issues  namely, the "freedom of all hostages, cessation of hostilities in Gaza (and) a credible perspective for a Palestinian state."

Colonna's ministry said that since the start of the year she had also held talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati as well as Riyad al-Maliki, the foreign affairs minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
India said Friday night it had evacuated 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, from a commercial ship in the North Arabian Sea that had been targeted by hijackers.

The rescue mission was mounted by an Indian warship. India has deployed several warships and reconnaissance aircraft in the Arabian Sea following a string of attacks on commercial ships that include hijacking attempts and drone and missile attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

The Indian navy said in a statement that commandos boarded the Liberian-flagged MV Lila Norfolk carrier following a distress call saying the vessel had been boarded by five to six armed hijackers. The message had been sent to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors merchant shipping.

The ships crew had gathered in the ships citadel  a fortified section in commercial vehicles that is used as a refuge during attacks by pirates.

The Indian navy said no hijackers were found on board during a search by the commandos.

The "attempt of hijacking by pirates was probably abandoned with the forceful warning by the Indian navy," according to the navy statement. It said that all 21 crew members were "safely evacuated."

The navy said the Indian warship INS Chennai, which carried out the rescue mission, helped restore power generation so that the ship can carry on its voyage.

Hijacking of commercial ships by Somali pirates, which posed a huge challenge earlier, had declined hugely in recent years after the United States and other countries stepped up patrolling.

Experts say it is reemerging as a threat, though. They say hijackers have been encouraged as U.S. and other countries naval forces focus on thwarting attacks by Houthi rebels, who, since November, have targeted commercial ships with several drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea. The Iranian-backed Houthis claim to target Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

"The pirates are probably taking advantage of the disturbance in that area due to the Houthi attacks," Debesh Lahiri, executive director of the National Maritime Foundation told VOA. "This is something to watch out for. If left unchecked, this threat could become worse. That is why every responsible nation is deploying its assets in that area."

The growing attacks have prompted many shipping companies to reroute their vessels.

India increased surveillance in the waters after an India-bound commercial vessel carrying crude oil was targeted last month by a drone attack off the countrys west coast. Earlier a ship carrying mostly Indian crew members was targeted by hijackers in the Arabian Sea.

"The Indian navy remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries," the navy statement said.

However, India is not part of a security initiative put together by the United States to protect shipping routes. Along with France, Britain and several other countries, the U.S. launched Operation Prosperity Guardian in mid-December to protect ships from Houthi attacks.

"As you know, we have Indian navy ships patrolling the area. They are also keeping a watch on Indian ships there," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said Thursday. "So far, we are not part of any multilateral initiative in the area. We are looking at the unfolding situation very closely."
Fears of expanding regional escalation in an already volatile Middle East following attacks and assassinations in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq and fighting intensifies in Central and South Gaza. Dr. Raphael Cohen, director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of the RAND Corporation Project AIR FORCE discusses implications of a broader conflict following the killing of a senior Hamas official in Lebanon. Associate Press White House Correspondent Sager Megani reports U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads back to the Middle East for the fourth time amid growing tensions. Israel's army recently announced several thousand troops will be taken out of Gaza in the coming weeks. Dr. Nimrod Goren, Senior Fellow of Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute discusses the possible new phase in the war. Russia escalates attacks on Ukraine as future U.S. aid for Kyiv hangs in the balance as House Republicans refuse to back down on demans for hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Bidens emergency wartime funding request for Kyiv. Karolina Hird Russia Team Deputy Lead with the Institute for the Study of War provides insight into what the increasing Russian attacks indicate and the implications for Ukraines efforts to defend itself going forward without U.S. military aid.
The jailing of journalists in Mongolia is rare, which makes the arrest of Unurtsetseg Naran, one of the country's most influential reporters, all the more shocking to the country's media.

Unurtsetseg carved out a reputation for herself in Mongolia as a reporter unafraid to chase down officials for answers. As the editor-in-chief of the news site Zarig, she has fought over a dozen defamation cases in the past five years.

Then came an arrest last month.

Initially detained over accusations of spreading false information and contempt of court, the case later escalated to more serious charges, including allegedly conspiring with foreign intelligence agencies.

The initial charges relate to a Facebook post in which Unurtsetseg said that it was inhumane to prolong the court hearing of an elderly individual, according to reports.

For that, Unurtsetseg was taken into custody on December 4, and a court ordered her held for one month. Access to her news website, Zarig, was also briefly blocked inside Mongolia.

A court later extended the pretrial detention period to two months, and police on Friday raided Zarig's newsroom.

Under Mongolian law, the court can extend pretrial detentions for up to one year until a trial begins, said Unurtsetseg's lawyer Erkhembayar Purevdorj.

The journalist is facing 10 charges, and if convicted, she faces up to eight years in prison, Erkhembayar said.

"The police and prosecutors are punishing her," Erkhembayar said. "This case shows that the Mongolian law enforcement needs to be reformed."

Unurtsetseg denies all the charges. International and Mongolian press freedom groups have decried the arrest as politically motivated.

Mongolia's Washington embassy did not reply to VOA's email requesting comment.

In the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, fellow journalists see the case as retaliation for Unurtsetseg's critical coverage. Some have also questioned the timing since the country is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections later this year.

"The arrest of Unurtsetseg is a really strong signal to others because they arrested the most powerful journalist, so they can easily arrest us," Bolortuya Uuganbayar, founder of the news site Urug, told VOA.

"If someone very powerful wants to detain a journalist, they can do it, even if there is no evidence," she said.

As editor-in-chief of Zarig, Unurtsetseg is known for what some call her brash reporting style. She is credited in Mongolia for popularizing ambush interviews in which she surprises people and chases them down the street asking questions, according to several Mongolian reporters who spoke with VOA.

Some journalists questioned what they described as Unurtsetseg's sometimes dubious ethics and occasionally sensationalist approach.

But to many, she is a symbol of the average person standing up to the powerful and rooting out corruption.

"A lot of people respect her because she pushes against authority," said Anand Tumurtogoo, who contributes to international media including VOA's Mandarin Service.

In one of Unurtsetseg's best-known investigations, the reporter questioned companies that had defaulted on loans to the Development Bank of Mongolia.

"She's a national debt collector, and she saved Mongolia from failing to pay foreign debt bond payments," Khaliun Bayartsogt, an independent journalist in Ulaanbaatar, told VOA.

Batmunkh Onon, executive director of the pro-democracy group Globe International Center, thinks the authorities were likely just looking for an excuse to punish the vocal reporter.

"They would like to shut the mouths of as many journalists as possible," especially ahead of parliamentary elections in June, she said.

Unurtsetseg herself appears to agree with that assessment. Before being detained, she was quoted in a local English-language paper as saying: "The authorities want to silence everyone until the election."

The journalist's lawyer says the jailing may have severe implications for press freedom in Mongolia.

"Unurtsetseg provides people with the right to know. She keeps people informed," Erkhembayar said. "The government's actions are violating the public's right to know."

Unurtsetseg is no stranger to legal fights. She faced 12 defamation complaints in 2019 and four in 2020, all filed by politicians mentioned in her reporting, according to the International Federation of Journalists.

She won most of the cases but still faces a fine of about $800, which is equal to about two months' salary for a typical journalist in Mongolia, the IFJ said.

Those defamation cases mirror broader trends in Mongolia, where more than half of all defamation cases are brought against reporters and news outlets. About 10 journalists are currently under investigation in Mongolia, including Unurtsetseg, data from the Confederation of Mongolian Journalists shows.

"Censoring critical voices and journalistic professional activities under the guise of criminalizing defamation shows that it is becoming more systematic," Galbaatar Lkhagvasuren, a lawyer at Globe International Center, told VOA.

Unurtsetseg's latest case leaves others concerned that they, too, could be targeted.

Budragchaa Serdamba, a prominent investigative journalist, said he has been inundated on social media with taunts from trolls that he'll be arrested next.

Leading up to her arrest, Unurtsetseg also faced harassment on Facebook, multiple reporters said. Trolls attempted to smear the journalist with allegations that she is corrupt and takes payment in exchange for positive coverage.

The use of promotional agreements in the media  sometimes called censorship contracts  is a common but taboo subject for Mongolian media.

Chronically low pay means many outlets make agreements with government agencies and companies in which outlets are paid to produce positive content and avoid criticism, according to journalists with whom VOA spoke.

"This is the way they survive," Khaliun said.

But the result is that some outlets "become silent," Budragchaa said, and unable to effectively hold officials accountable.

Others see the harassment and accusations of corrupt practices as a concern.

"It's troubling to see attacks against journalists increasing even as media organizations and journalists strive to maintain their integrity and independence," said Galbaatar, from the Globe International Center.

Before her detention, Unurtsetseg had called for the investigation into her case to be conducted openly, according to the English language newspaper UB Post.

"If a journalist becomes silent, the values of a democratic society will disappear," Unurtsetseg said. "I will show that the truth wins. It may take time."
German automaker Mercedes-Benz is launching an investigation into how its high-end vehicles have turned up in North Korea despite sanctions that ban the export of luxury goods to the country.

Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, sent a statement to VOA's Korean Service on Wednesday that the company "has had no business connection with North Korea for far more than 15 years" and does not know how its vehicles "have come to the use of the government of North Korea."

The statement continued, "To prevent deliveries to North Korea, Mercedes-Benz has implemented a comprehensive export control process" and "strictly complies with U.S. and E.U. embargoes."

The statement added the company always investigates the vehicles displayed in the media photos "thoroughly," but "without the vehicle identification numbers, it is impossible to find a concrete trace."

Kim known for giving Mercedes

North Korea's state-run KCNA released on December 27 footage of several senior officials each arriving in a Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan to attend a year-end meeting of the ruling Workers' Party held the previous day. North Korean Premier Kim Tok Hun arrived at the event in a Mercedes-Benz S-class limousine.

The price tag of the Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan starts at $114,500, according to the company's website.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known for gifting Mercedes-Benzes to officials loyal to him.

Kim himself has been spotted several times in the past in a Mercedes Maybach, which can cost from around $500,000 to over $1.5 million. He is believed to have brought a Maybach onboard an armored train when he traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin in September.

Joshua Stanton, an attorney based in Washington who helped draft the Sanctions Enforcement and Policy Enforcement Act in 2016, said North Korea seems to have deliberately released the video.

"They do like to flaunt" luxury vehicles and "to demonstrate that the sanctions don't have effects on them," Stanton said.

He said Mercedes-Benz should give its "full cooperation to the U.N. Panel of Experts" so that the experts "can trace the suppliers of the vehicles to North Korea."

He added, "People who knowingly dealt with Pyongyang in violation of U.N. sanctions should be added to the list of specially designated nationals" and "their assets should be frozen."

Ban passed in 2006

The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in 2006 prohibiting its member states from exporting luxury items to North Korea and expanded the ban in a resolution passed in 2013. The U.N. Panel of Experts on North Korea monitors whether U.N. sanctions are being enforced on the country.

"Kim Jong Un does not hide North Korea's sanctions violations because Kim knows that the Biden administration is not implementing U.N. and U.S. sanctions," said Anthony Ruggiero, senior fellow and sanctions expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who served as the National Security Council senior director of counterproliferation and biodefense in 2020-2021.

"The Biden administration should immediately implement U.S. sanctions, including on Chinese and Russian banks, companies, and individuals engaged in North Korea sanctions evasion," he said.

In response to the footage of North Korean officials arriving in Mercedes-Benz vehicles, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told VOA's Korean Service on December 27 that U.N. member states need to enforce sanctions placed on North Korea.

"Under U.N. Security Council resolutions, all U.N. Member states are required to prohibit the supply, sale or transfer to the DPRK of transportation vehicles," the spokesperson said.

In December, police in Japan raided a car dealership in Chiba, a city 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) outside Tokyo, suspected of trying to smuggle a Lexus worth about $70,000 into North Korea via Bangladesh, according to The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper that first reported the incident.

A report by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies said in 2019 that as many as 90 countries were involved in sending luxury goods to North Korea between 2015 and 2017.

The report said it found unreported shipments of more than 800 luxury vehicles sent to North Korea. Those automobiles were sent from Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand and transshipped through China, Japan, South Korea and Russia before entering North Korea, the report added.
As Italy assumes the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this week that a focus on developing strategic partnerships with Africa, rather than providing aid, will be key during its one-year tenure.

Developing local economies and raising living standards in Africa, she said, could dissuade prospective migrants from seeking refuge in Europe.

Meloni told a news conference that the Mattei Plan  named after Enrico Mattei, founder of the state-controlled oil and gas giant Eni  includes specific projects beyond energy deals. Details will be unveiled later this month at a Rome conference, she said.

Professor Nicholas Westcott of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London welcomed the announcement.

Its an encouraging development, but it needs to be delivered on, he told VOA, saying that previously there has been more talk than delivery along these lines.

Westcott, who was formerly the European Unions managing director for Africa, said the EU had put up a significant sum of money to encourage investment, but it hasnt had much impact yet.

He said the EU needs to up its game in terms of effective investment in Africa.

Now is a good time to do it. Africa is starved of investments, Westcott said. The demands for investment allow for the economies to adapt to climate change, which is already having quite a dramatic impact in Africa.

Most of the nearly 261,000 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean Sea from northern Africa in 2023 entered Europe through Italy, according to the United Nations. Italys stringent immigration laws and restrictions on sea rescue charities have not stemmed the tide.

Melonis government says it is open to legal immigration to help plug labor gaps in Italy, which has one of the worlds oldest and shrinking populations.

Westcott said the plans underlying motive of reducing illegal migration from Africa is politically realistic in Europe.

The far right ... is using this anti-immigrant card to increase their vote in Europe, and without constructive policies to tackle the problem, there will be more destructive policies introduced, he said.

Maddalena Procopio, an Africa analyst with the European Council on Foreign Relations, told VOA that Italy wants to build cooperation and serious strategic relationships in Africa as equals not predators. She cited the energy cooperation Africa has provided Italy that helped it move away from Russian gas.

Procopio said that while migration concerns play a big role for Italy and the EU, the Mattai Plan is more economically oriented.

Italy and Europe in general are talking a lot about a shift from aid, from development cooperation to economic partnership, she said. But its unlikely that we will see a real shift, reduction of aid, so its more likely to be both.

The fact that the focus is an economic partnership and not only development cooperation means a good and pragmatic change of approach. Africa has massive needs in terms of financing: infrastructure, energy access, health, education."

Procopio said EU and Western public finance alone will not be sufficient to address such development needs, so private funds will be necessary.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday for an unspecified medical matter, the Pentagon said late Friday, without detailing why he was being treated or why it kept his hospital stay secret all week.

Austin, who is 70, sits just below President Joe Biden at the top of the chain of command of the U.S. military, and his duties require him being available at a moment's notice to respond to any manner of national security crises.

The Pentagon did not say whether Austin ever lost consciousness before or after he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1, or the extent to which his duties were assumed by his deputy, Kathleen Hicks.

Those duties include being ready and available to respond to an incoming nuclear attack.

The Pentagon said Austin suffered "complications following a recent elective medical procedure," but declined to say what that procedure was or what complications he suffered.

"He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today," Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement Friday.

Just a day earlier, Ryder held a televised news briefing that conveyed the sense of business as usual at the Pentagon, offering Austin's condolences to ally Japan following its New Year's Day earthquake, for example.

But the past week has been anything but normal for the Pentagon, with U.S. troops in the Middle East wrestling with the regional fallout from the unfolding Israel-Hamas war and carrying out a U.S. retaliatory strike in Baghdad on Thursday.

The Pentagon Press Association, in a letter to Pentagon officials, criticized the Defense Department's secrecy, saying that Austin was a public figure who had no claim to medical privacy in such a situation.

"At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader," it wrote.

Reuters correspondent Phil Stewart is a member of the association's board of directors.

The Pentagon Press Association letter noted that even U.S. presidents disclose when they must delegate duties due to medical procedures.

The way the Defense Department handled Austin's hospitalization stands in contrast to how the State Department dealt with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell's prostate surgery on Dec. 15, 2003.

The State Department spokesperson at that time issued a statement in the morning making public that Powell, a retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and would remain there for several days before returning home.

It also said Powell would be on a reduced schedule while he recovered from the operation. The State Department's spokesperson at the time, Richard Boucher, then offered details on Powell's surgery in his daily briefing.

Boucher, contacted by Reuters on Friday, said the key question regarding public disclosure was whether Austin was under anesthesia or was incapacitated.

"Was there any moment in the process where he could not function as secretary of defense?" he asked. "If you are up and walking around and have your information and you have your aides in the next room and you can make split-second decisions . . . then there is probably not a public necessity to disclose.

"The only necessity is if you are going to be conked out," he added.

The Pentagon has not yet answered that question.
China has ramped up efforts to influence Taiwans January 13 presidential and legislative election in recent weeks, with some experts pointing to the dangers of disinformation campaigns created by generative artificial intelligence  which can produce text and other types of content.

Taiwan AI Labs founder Ethan Tu's company has used generative AI to identify and publicize social media information manipulation trends. He told VOA during a video interview on Tuesday that Taiwan must increase efforts aimed at countering cognitive warfare  efforts to influence Taiwanese attitudes  created by generative AI in the long run.

VOA: How serious is the impact of Chinas election interference through cognitive warfare in this Taiwan election?

Ethan Tu: Information manipulation is getting more serious online in this years Taiwan election, and the techniques that specific actors use are getting more sophisticated. In the past, it was easy to identify fake Chinese accounts that were posting a lot of similar comments, but in this election, due to the emergence of generative AI, these accounts began to differentiate their roles. The comments they make are becoming more diverse.

Its harder to determine that all these online troll accounts are saying the same thing. Generative AI is helping to amplify the impact of information manipulation. The team at Taiwan AI Labs is observing election-related news and online user conversations and we can see what roles these online troll accounts are playing.

For example, in this years election, short videos on YouTube and TikTok are playing very important roles. While these videos have different scripts and actors, they are talking about the same topic. Based on these short videos, we can probably determine that the content produced by these YouTubers aligns with the narratives promoted by Chinese state media.

These YouTube channel owners will pretend to be neutral but when they talk about things in the videos, they will mix in information that reflects the Chinese governments interests. The information in these short videos is often pro-China while demoting Japan and the U.S. They will frame China as a peacemaker while characterizing the U.S. as dragging other countries into wars.

Another type of account that we see on Facebook is responsible for spreading these videos to influential communities. For example, two particular accounts will leave comments that are aligned with Chinese state medias narratives under the three presidential candidates Facebook accounts.

Apart from actively commenting on issues related to the Taiwan election in Mandarin, these two accounts are also actively using English to spread messages that aim at increasing the publics distrust of the Biden administration in the U.S.

While dealing with information manipulation empowered by generative AI, when you try to debunk a rumor, the generative AI may use the correct information that the authorities are trying to amplify and create more rumors. The current fact-checking mechanism that Taiwan is using to combat cognitive warfare has been proven to be ineffective in this particular case.

The best approach to cope with disinformation campaigns created by generative AI is to use generative AI technology to identify the trends. When there is a spike in relevant activities, the research team should share relevant information with the public.

In my view, these cognitive operations have become more effective in this election, but through efforts from different research teams in Taiwan, Taiwans public opinion can be more immune to the effect of cognitive warfare.

VOA: Will cognitive warfare initiated by China and Russia become more prevalent in the future?

Ethan Tu: My observation shows that social media platforms and generative technologies are becoming great weapons for authoritarian states to influence peoples free will. The overall trend is not optimistic. Some people used to be willing to speak out against certain troll accounts online, but nowadays, these people will be attacked by troll accounts online until they take down those comments.

The situation now is even worse than in 2018 and 2020. There are fewer comments online challenging cognitive warfare because people are afraid to come forward. On the other hand, some abnormal censorship is taking place on social media platforms. This is why credible media reports or relatively neutral and objective people are not able to speak out on social media.

VOA: In the long run, what should Taiwan do to establish an effective mechanism to address these challenges?

Ethan Tu: Our team understands how to use generative AI to defend against threats extending from cognitive warfare created by generative AI. However, with limited resources, we can only try to educate other teams about how to address these challenges. This is not enough.

As probably one of the first teams around the world to use generative AI to detect efforts to manipulate information created by generative AI, we hope other international partners will be interested in contributing to the efforts of preventing authoritarian states from using generative AI to influence people around the world, creating an alliance among democratic countries.

If countries around the world are interested in doing this, Taiwan should come forward and share our ideas and experiences. Taiwan should work with them to research cutting-edge technologies that can be used to combat cognitive operations.
A recent report issued by Democratic members of Congress, revealing that former President Donald Trumps businesses took in at least $7.8 million in revenues from foreign governments during his presidency, signals that many of the same controversies that marked Trumps first term could be revived if he wins reelection in November.

The findings have led to calls from congressional Democrats to pass new laws to prevent a sitting president from profiting from the position.

At the same time, legal experts said that lawsuits alleging Trump illegally benefited during his time in office will likely be revived if he wins reelection and again declines to sever his connection to his business empire.

Emoluments clause questions

When he took office in 2017, Trump made the controversial decision not to divest himself of his considerable business holdings, a step presidents have customarily taken in the past. This had previously been done in order to avoid the possibility that entities with business before the U.S. government might seek to influence decisions by patronizing the presidents companies.

The U.S. Constitution specifically bars government officials, including the president, from accepting benefits, known as emoluments, from foreign governments or domestic sources.

While the report found that at least 21 countries spent money at Trump properties during the first two years of his presidency, the dominant presence in the report is China. The investigation revealed that entities controlled by the Chinese government spent more than $5.5 million at several Trump properties between 2017 and 2018. Other countries that spent large sums of money at Trumps properties during that time include Saudi Arabia ($615,422), Qatar ($465,744) and Kuwait ($303,372).

The report, several years in the making, relies on a relatively restricted amount of information about the business dealings of the Trump Organization. Congressional investigators received about two years worth of records covering some of the time Trump was in office and related to just 20 Trump Organization subsidiaries. The former president held office for four years, and the Trump Organization has more than 500 total subsidiaries.

Profits to Treasury

Trump and his family members have long maintained that any profits his companies earned from dealings with foreign governments during his time in office were voluntarily donated to the U.S. Treasury.

Eric Trump, the former presidents son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, used the social media platform X to criticize the news medias coverage of the story, insisting that the company had not retained the profits earned on the $7.8 million in revenue it received from foreign governments.

What a joke! he wrote. All foreign government profits, for stays at our hotels and other properties while my father was in office, were [voluntarily] donated to the United States Treasury.

Critics say it is virtually impossible to independently verify the Trumps claim that all profits derived from foreign governments were donated to the Treasury.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have spent much of the last two years pursuing an investigation into President Joe Biden and his family, in search of evidence that Biden illicitly profited from business dealings by his brother and son while in office. The investigation has so far produced no clear evidence of wrongdoing by the current president, but the former presidents allies nevertheless pointed to the investigation while defending Trump.

Its beyond parody that Democrats continue their obsession with former President Trump, James Comer, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said. Former President Trump has legitimate businesses but the Bidens do not. He went on to accuse the Bidens and their associates of profiting from the current presidents official position.

New ethical territory

Trumps decision not to separate himself from his businesses while serving as president created unprecedented ethical questions, which were never fully resolved during his time in office. Among other things, his administration regularly held official events at Trump-owned properties including a luxury hotel just blocks from the White House in Washington and the presidents Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago.

Ethics issues related to then-President Trump occurred on a daily basis, Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, told VOA.

His decision to retain financial ties to his businesses, the promotion of the D.C. hotel, and his weekly trips to Mar-a-Lago and other owned properties was unprecedented, and now we see that they were financially rewarding, Amey said. Despite ethics laws and the emoluments provision in the Constitution, Trump received very little pushback, which raises genuine questions about him placing personal and private gain above the public interest.

Richard W. Painter, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School, who also served as the chief White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration, agreed that Trumps time in the White House sent the nation into uncharted legal territory.

We have never before seen anything like this, with any president, in our history, he told VOA.

Painter was one of a number of attorneys who filed lawsuits seeking to hold the former president accountable for what they saw as violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution. While most of those lawsuits were dismissed as moot after the former president left office in 2021, Painter said they would likely make a reappearance in a second Trump term.

If you don't want to work for the United States government, you can do business with foreign governments, he said. If you do work for the United States government, you're not doing business with foreign governments. It's really quite simple.

He added, If he's reelected, we would seek to reinstate all of those lawsuits next January.

Call for new laws

In a forward to the report, Representative Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Congress must act to make it clear that a sitting president cannot own a company that does business with foreign governments.

We will develop a package of proposed legislative reforms to ensure that all occupants of the Oval Office abide by the Constitution's unequivocal language commanding loyalty to the interests of the American people, Raskin wrote.
Senegal's Constitutional Council on Friday rejected jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko's candidacy for next month's presidential vote, his lawyer said.

The 49-year-old Sonko, who finished third in the 2019 presidential election, has been at the center of a bitter stand-off with the state for more than two years.

Sonko's lawyer, Cire Cledor Ly, said the candidacy was rejected on the grounds that the application was incomplete.

"When we entered, (Council) President Badio Camara immediately notified us that (Sonko's) file was incomplete," he said.

More than 90 candidates have put their names forward to the Constitutional Council, which is to announce the list of presidential contenders on January 20.

President Macky Sall in July announced that he would not seek a third term in the February 25 poll, handpicking his prime minister, Amadou Ba, as his coalition's presidential candidate.

Sonko filed his candidacy with the Constitutional Council in December despite the state's refusal to provide him with the documents needed to run.

They argued that Sonko had been removed from the electoral register after he was sentenced in June to two years in prison for morally corrupting a young person.

Sonko's lawyers had said they would file his candidacy anyway.

The opposition figure has generated a passionate following among Senegal's disaffected youth, striking a chord with his pan-Africanist rhetoric and tough stance on former colonial power France.

On Friday, Sonko's lawyer said the Constitutional Council president told him that "the files, the accompanying letters and the attached documents were received and checked by the commission, which concluded that one document was missing, and that the candidacy file was incomplete."

Ly told AFP that the Constitutional Council had not informed Sonko's legal team what document was missing.

The lawyer denounced the council's decision as an "electoral farce" and suggested he would lodge "the appeals provided for by law."

A day earlier, the opposition figure's chances of running for president had been thrown into jeopardy after the Supreme Court upheld his six-month suspended sentence for defamation.

The court's decision closed the case in which Sonko also had been given a hefty fine for defamation and insults against Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang.

Sonko's camp maintained he still had the right to run in the election since a judge in December ordered that he be reinstated on the electoral roll.

His coalition nominated him as their presidential candidate last Sunday in a meeting that took place behind closed doors after the authorities had banned a public gathering scheduled for the previous day.

On Friday, leaders from Sonko's coalition denounced what they called the complicity of the Constitutional Council in a plot to eliminate him from the ballot.

The firebrand figurehead has been jailed since the end of July on a string of other charges, including calling for insurrection, conspiracy with terrorist groups and endangering state security.
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Luceco is UK1.27 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Current share price of UK1.27 suggests Luceco is potentially trading close to its fair value

Our fair value estimate is 12% lower than Luceco's analyst price target of UK1.43

Does the January share price for Luceco plc (LON:LUCE) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Luceco

The Method

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (, Millions) UK16.8m UK20.2m UK17.9m UK16.6m UK15.8m UK15.4m UK15.1m UK15.0m UK15.0m UK15.1m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Est @ -11.20% Est @ -7.38% Est @ -4.71% Est @ -2.84% Est @ -1.53% Est @ -0.62% Est @ 0.02% Est @ 0.47% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 8.9% UK15.4 UK17.0 UK13.9 UK11.8 UK10.3 UK9.2 UK8.3 UK7.6 UK7.0 UK6.4

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = UK107m

Story continues

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.5%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.9%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = UK15m (1 + 1.5%)  (8.9% 1.5%) = UK207m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= UK207m ( 1 + 8.9%)10= UK88m

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is UK195m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of UK1.3, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

LSE:LUCE Discounted Cash Flow January 6th 2024

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Luceco as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.9%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.251. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Luceco

Strength

Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Electrical market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the British market.

Good value based on P/E ratio compared to estimated Fair P/E ratio.

Significant insider buying over the past 3 months.

Threat

Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Looking Ahead:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Luceco, we've compiled three important elements you should further examine:

Risks: For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Luceco that you should be aware of before investing here. Future Earnings: How does LUCE's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the LSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

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.
Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

Justice Department Sues Texas, Says Immigration Law Unconstitutional

The Justice Department on Wednesday sued Texas over a new law that would allow police to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally, taking Republican Governor Greg Abbott to court again over his escalating response to border crossers arriving from Mexico. The Associated Press reports.

Chinese Migration Up at Border as US Marks Anniversary of Repeal of Exclusion Act

As the U.S marks the 80th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, thousands of Chinese immigrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, mostly for the same reasons as their countrymen did more than a century ago. VOA's immigration reporter Aline Barros has more.

Huge Number of Migrants Highlights Border Crisis

U.S. officials processed an estimated 300,000 people at the U.S. border with Mexico in December, which would be the highest number ever recorded, according to multiple news organizations. VOA's Rob Garver reports.

US, Mexico Discuss Options to Slow Surge of Migrants at Border

U.S. and Mexican officials met December 27 in Mexico City to discuss how to slow the surge of migrants at their shared border, where there have been as many as 10,000 illegal crossings into the United States daily in December. The two sides, led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, met for about two hours. VOANews reports.

US Reopens Border Crossings as Illegal Immigration Drops

The U.S. is resuming operations at an international bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, two crossings in Arizona and another near San Diego, California. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that it will continue to prioritize border security "as necessary." Reuters reports.

Democratic Mayors Renew Pleas for Federal Help Over Migrant Crisis

The mayors of Chicago, New York City and Denver last week renewed pleas for more federal help and coordination with Texas over the growing number of asylum-seekers arriving in their cities by bus and plane. The Associated Press reports.

Remittances from Nicaraguan Migrants Mark New Record, Passing $4 Billion

Nicaraguan migrants sent relatives back home record remittances this year through November, data from the country's central bank showed, fueled by massive waves of migration leaving the Central American nation in recent years. In a statement, the bank noted a record of about $4.24 billion in remittances for the 11-month period, 47% more than the amount sent home during the same period last year. Reuters reports.

California Expands Health Care for Low-Income Immigrants in 2024

More than 700,000 immigrants living illegally in California gained access to free health care on January 1 under one of the state's most ambitious coverage expansions in a decade. It's an effort that will eventually cost the state about $3.1 billion per year and inches California closer to Democrats' goal of providing universal health care to its roughly 39 million residents. The Associated Press reports.

House Speaker Wants US 'Border Closed' Before Passing Ukraine, Israel Aid

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson led about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit Wednesday to the Mexican border to demand hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden's emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. The Associated Press reports.

Immigrants Add Twist to Traditional US Christmas Dinner

The United States broke free from Britain more than two centuries ago  except, maybe, when it comes to the traditional Christmas dinner.

Immigration around the world

African, Asian Migrants Seek Nicaragua Shortcut to US

Nicaragua has become a hot spot for migrants from around the world seeking to avoid a brutal trek through the Darien Gap jungle.  However, analysts say that the government of Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, a longtime nemesis of the United States, has deliberately made it easier for migrants to bypass the Darien Gap by flying straight into his country and then heading north overland. Agence France-Presse reports.

China Eases Visa Requirements for US Travelers to Boost Tourism

China is easing visa restrictions for people visiting from the United States, the country's latest effort to attract foreign travelers since reopening its borders last year. As of January 1, American tourists no longer need to submit round-trip air tickets, proof of hotel reservations, itineraries or invitations to China, according to a notice posted online by the Chinese Embassy in Washington. The Associated Press reports.

Nearly 30,000 Migrants Crossed Channel to UK Last Year

Nearly 30,000 migrants crossed the Channel to Britain from mainland Europe in small boats in 2023, an annual drop of more than a third, government figures released Monday showed. However, the unauthorized arrivals of 29,437 people on the southeast English coast remains the second-largest yearly tally since officials began publishing the numbers in 2018. Agence France-Presse reports.

Mexico, Venezuela Restart Repatriation Flights to Help Curb Migration to US

Mexico and Venezuela announced December 30 that they have restarted repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants in Mexico, the latest move by countries in the region to take on a flood of people traveling north to the United States. The Associated Press reports.

Returning Migrants Fight Irregular Migration in Gambia

Gambia's Immigration Department has launched a manhunt for immigration smugglers after an increase in the death toll of Gambians attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean into Europe. Some returnees are holding workshops to tell about the dangers of trying to flee the country. Senanu Tord reports from the capital, Banjul.

Despite Denials, Pakistan Deported Afghan Refugees Waiting for US Resettlement

On December 26, The Times of India reported that Pakistan has been deporting Afghan refugees who had been granted resettlement in the United States. Pakistan has denied targeting Afghan refugees for deportation. In October, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the country's deportation policy affects all "illegal" refugees "no matter their nationality," and that reports "associating" the deportations with Afghan refugees are the result of "misunderstanding or misrepresentation." Polygraph.info reports.
Yang wore the custom necklace to the premiere. Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images

They say to never meet your heroes, but no one ever said anything about choking them onscreen, and Jenny Yang just got to check that off her bucket list. In Netflixs The Brothers Sun (out now), Yangs Xing, an assassin, goes up against Michelle Yeoh, who stars as Eileen Mama Sun, the matriarch of two brothers who have to reunite to beat a rival gang and keep the Sun family empire in place. Fighting Michelle Yeoh was something I didnt even think was a possibility for me to dream of, Yang said at the shows premiere in Los Angeles on Thursday. Here I am, living the dream  To act, we have to be in the moment, but it wasnt lost on me what a huge milestone it was to be able to fight opposite an onscreen legend and one of my heroes. How did Yeoh thank her for the beatdown? By getting her fine jewelry, obviously. She gave me earrings on the last day of production. I dont have earring holes, so I made them into a custom necklace with Bliss Lau, and this was how significant and emotional it was to be working with Michelle. Im gonna cry!
Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET

Atlanta rapper T.I. and his wife, Xscape member Tameka Tiny Harris, are being sued for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2005. In a civil lawsuit filed January 2 and obtained by USA Today, a Jane Doe accuser claims that she was given a spiked drink in a nightclub before the couple brought her to a hotel room, forced her to get naked, and sexually assaulted her. The industry power couple has faced  and repeatedly denied  allegations of drugging, sex trafficking, rape, and sexual coercion in California, Georgia, Nevada, and Florida. I will say this: Whatever we ever have done has been done with consensual adults who into what we into and like what we like, T.I. said after the first set of allegations from Sabrina Peterson. If we want something, we know exactly where to go get it. The disturbing claims against T.I and Tiny first began circulating on social media in 2021. A subsequent investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department was closed due to the statute of limitations. (The new lawsuit was filed under a California law that grants a temporary window for certain sexual-assault and -abuse claims past the statute of limitations.) Below, a timeline of all the allegations against the couple.

January 25, 2021: Sabrina Peterson, an entrepreneur and former friend of the couple, accuses T.I. on Instagram of once holding her at gunpoint in front of her kids. In the comments of the since-deleted post, she alleges that this happened while she was in an altercation with an assistant of T.I.s who treated Tiny like a slave.

January 26, 2021: Tiny shares a photo on Instagram of T.I. with Petersons son. He was just uncle two years ago  now when did you say my husband assaulted you? she wrote, calling for Peterson to stop harassing her family.

January 28, 2021: Peterson starts posting screenshots on her Instagram Story of DMs allegedly from more than two dozen sexual-abuse victims of the couple. The allegations include that T.I. and Tiny pressured them to remove their clothes, take drugs, and have sex with them or others. Some alleged victims claim to have lost consciousness while with the couple and experienced memory loss afterward.

January 29, 2021: The Harrises issue a statement denying the egregiously appalling allegations, adding that they have had difficulty with Peterson for more than a decade.

T.I. also posts an eight-minute Instagram video response. What we not gon do is open up the door to my bedroom, he says in part. I will say this: Whatever we ever have done has been done with consensual adults who into what we into and like what we like. If we want something, we know exactly where to go get it.

February 5, 2021: MTV confirms that production on the reality show T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle is on pause due to the serious nature of the allegations against the couple.

February 19, 2021: Petersons lawyer, Tyrone A. Blackburn, sends letters to law enforcement in Georgia and California asking for criminal investigations on behalf of 11 new accusers whose allegations span more than a decade. One victim alleges that Tiny offered her alcohol and pills when she was a 17-year-old intern at T.I. and Tinys studio in 2006. According to the letters, she passed out and woke up the next morning bleeding from her vagina and feeling discomfort in her anus, and an associate of Tinys allegedly gave her a morning-after pill. The letters from the 11 victims describe what Blackburn calls eerily similar events of sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats and false imprisonment. T.I. and Tiny deny the allegations.

February 28, 2021: The New York Times reports that it has conducted interviews that support the accounts of five of alleged victims from the letters. In three cases, the Times also reportedly reviewed text messages and photos that match the allegations.

March 1, 2021: Peterson sues T.I. and Tiny for defamation in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that she has been harassed by the celebrity couples fans and that her business has suffered because they called her a liar.

March 9, 2021: Blackburn tells the Daily Beast that since sending the letters, he has spoken with six new alleged victims of T.I. and Tiny. He confirms to Vulture that he is now representing one of those victims, who claims to have been drugged and trafficked in Nevada, California, and Florida over three days by the couple.

May 17, 2021: The Los Angeles Police Department confirms it is investigating T.I. and Tiny for sexual assault and drugging. This comes after a woman filed a police report in April containing a disturbing account of T.I. allegedly putting his toes in the accusers vagina after drugging her. T.I. and Tiny claim in a statement that they have not been contacted by any member of law enforcement.

May 18, 2021: The Las Vegas Police Department confirms that it has closed a case against T.I. and Tiny because a Nevada police report filed that month involved an incident from 2010, outside of the states statute of limitations for sexual assault.

June 8, 2021: T.I. refers to lying-ass bitches in a new song, What Its Come To. The music video includes audio of Peterson offering to drop her defamation suit if the couple told the truth and apologized.

September 16, 2021: Los Angeles prosecutors announce that T.I. and Tiny wont be charged following the LAPDs investigation since it centered on an alleged 2005 incident that is past Californias statute of limitations on sexual abuse.

October 16, 2023: T.I. and Tiny file a response to Petersons 2021 defamation suit. Per Rolling Stone, they claim they were telling the truth and had no malice when they called her a liar.

October 17, 2023: A judge rules that Peterson must pay $96,703 to cover T.I. and Tinys legal fees for their motion that got five of Petersons seven claims dismissed, Rolling Stone reports. Shes eager to have her day in court, Blackburn said after the hearing. Shes eager to have her voice heard and to prove once and for all she was not lying when she said T.I. put a gun to her head.

January 2, 2024: An anonymous accuser sues T.I. and Tiny for sexual assault thanks to a California lookback law that opens a window for claims of sexual assault and abuse. The suit is tied to an alleged 2005 incident that was described in Blackburns 2021 letters and the subsequent Los Angeles police report. Per a copy of the complaint obtained by USA Today, the woman states that she met the couple in a nightclub when she was in her 20s and serving in the U.S. Air Force. After Tiny offered her a drink that she alleges was spiked with drugs, she claims that she passed out and was taken to a hotel room. There, she accuses Tiny of holding her down while T.I. penetrated her with his toes, among other claims.

The Harrises acknowledge that the suit comes from a familiar accuser. This plaintiff has been threatening to file this lawsuit for THREE years, the couple says in a statement responding to the suit. For THREE years, we have emphatically and categorically denied these allegations. For THREE years we have maintained our innocence and refused to pay these extortionate demands for things we didnt do.

January 4, 2024: Blackburn shares an Instagram post stating that he is preparing to take legal action on behalf of other survivors in coming weeks and months. The California lookback law temporarily allows civil suits for certain sexual assault claims past the statute of limitations when one or more entities are legally responsible for damages and the entity or their agents engaged in a cover up. Blackburn specifically notes in his caption that anyone sexually assaulted by T.I. and/or Tiny in California since 2009 can also take legal action until 2026. Happy filing , he concluded.
daily telegraph

Dozens of MPs have urged the Culture Secretary to block the Abu Dhabi-backed takeover of The Telegraph owing to concerns about the threat to press freedom.

A Cabinet minister and frontbenchers from both major parties are among 73 MPs known to oppose the bid by Redbird IMI, a private equity joint venture that is three-quarters funded by the Gulf autocracy.

Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, ordered a review of the planned takeover by Ofcom in December amid concerns about editorial independence and national security.

The regulator is expected to deliver its recommendations within weeks, but it is Ms Frazer who has the power to ultimately block or approve Redbird IMIs plans.

One Cabinet minister told The Telegraph: I do not support the sale and hope it wont go ahead.

Four other Conservative ministers are also understood to have concerns about editorial independence. One said: Abu Dhabi doesnt have a great record  The Telegraph is really important and Im deeply suspicious of the idea of it being moved away.

Prominent Tory backbenchers who are critical of the sale include Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former party leader, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former Brexit minister, and Alicia Kearns, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee.

International Media Investments (IMI), an Abu Dhabi vehicle backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, is providing 75pc of the 600m price for The Telegraph and The Spectator, its sister publication and the oldest magazine in the world.

Jeff Zuckers proposals have been met with scepticism by many across the political spectrum - Clara Molden

Jeff Zucker, the former CNN chief who is fronting the bid, has submitted legally binding proposals to Ofcom that would establish a five-person editorial trust to ensure the titles remain independent.

The proposals would see RedBird IMI effectively enter into a contract with the Government pledging that the editor would have control of all editorial matters, including the scope and nature of news coverage and comment.

But the pledges have been met with scepticism by many across the political spectrum, who warned there could be no cast-iron guarantees of editorial freedom.

Story continues

Leaders of three different Tory factions representing different wings of the party also registered their concerns about the sale.

These are Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group, Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) and Matt Warman, the leading member of the One Nation caucus.

Mr Warman, a former technology editor of The Telegraph before he entered Parliament in 2015, said: I do not support the sale, and I have said so privately to the Secretary of State and the Deputy Prime Minister.

Sir Gavin Williamson is among those in favour of the takeover - TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

At least five Labour shadow ministers are understood to be against the sale. One member of Sir Keir Starmers frontbench team said: The Government has looked at this particular issue through the prism of the economic implications.

That is a part of the process, but I think there are wider implications and wider concerns that mean that a proposed takeover of this nature needs to be looked at by the National Security Council. It doesnt appear that this is the case.

All 15 Liberal Democrat MPs also oppose the plans. Wera Hobhouse, the partys energy spokesman, said: It is highly problematic and has been for decades that foreign owners control parts of the British press, but successive governments have allowed it to happen.

The Telegraph contacted all 650 MPs to ask whether they would support the sale, but only three  Tory MPs Sir Gavin Williamson, Sir Brandon Lewis and Daniel Kawczynski  said they were in favour of the takeover.

The Telegraph is currently being overseen by a panel of independent directors, who will remain in place until new ownership is determined.

Should RedBird IMIs plans be derailed by the outcome of the Ofcom investigation, the directors would relaunch an auction organised by Goldman Sachs.

The publisher of the Daily Mail and Sir Paul Marshall, the co-owner of GB News, were among the bidders at the initial auction.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
The results of the election, widely denounced as neither free nor fair, suggest that the Kremlin is now more focused on creating a cult of personality around Putin as Russias undisputed national patriarch.
Team leaders at Suncorp develop hybrid work plans for their teams which reflect varying degrees of face-to-face interaction required by different roles. Credit: FFX In October, Origin also linked office attendance to its annual performance review process. A company spokesperson said that included the modest expectation that our people spend a minimum of 40 per cent of their working month in an Origin office. Most staff at ANZ can work up to half of their time  averaged over a calendar month  remotely. If hybrid working expectations are not met, this may be taken into consideration in performance and remuneration reviews at the end of the next year. If you are one of our people who are yet to be spending more than half your time in the workplace, we need you to adjust your patterns unless you have a formal exception in place, ANZ said in an internal email to staff. ANZ employees with exceptional circumstances may be considered for a temporary period of greater flexibility of up to two months. Longer periods of flexibility require a formal exception signed off by several leaders.

Tech firms backtrack on working from home These large ASX-listed companies arent the only ones ramping up the pressure on staff who prefer to work from home. Many big employers in the technology sector  which embraced work from home during the pandemic  are now quickly and aggressively shifting their workers back into the office. Australian fintech start-up Futurerent is one tech company to have bucked the remote-first trend. Its staff is back in the office four days a week, a move that chief executive Godfrey Dinh says is about prioritising collaboration gains over potentially losing talent. The default position for Futurerent chief Godfrey Dinh is for staff to come into the office. Credit: AFR Our team works together in the office four days per week, with most people working from home on Fridays, Dinh says. They can always choose to work from home whenever they need, but the default is to come into the office.

Dinh says that most companies are still trying to find the balance that works for them, but given his start-up is relatively new  and still a small team  being in the office together is the best option. I dont buy the idea that unless WFH [work from home] is your default workplace policy, you wont attract top talent, he says. Ive found an incredible team that thrives on each others energy and wants to win together. But by the same token, as the business grows and you need to hire remotely, you need to enable workplace flexibility and find ways to spend time together physically where there are team members who are remote. Airbnb lets its employees effectively live and work from anywhere in the world for up to 90 days a year per country. Credit: Getty I do think you need to provide a nice environment with small conveniences like coffee and soft drinks. You only need to offer incentives when your office culture has gone too far one way or you have the wrong people on board and you need to correct it. Many of the US-headquartered global tech giants are also winding back their pandemic work-from-home policies. Amazon, which employs about 7000 Australians, has mandated that its employees spend at least three days a week in the office. It has also barred workers who work from home more than twice a week from getting a promotion unless they have further leadership approval. Facebook parent company Meta, Google parent company Alphabet and collaboration software maker Zoom have also asked employees to return to the office.

Mitesh Mangaonkar is the lead data engineer for Airbnbs global trust and safety unit, helping to mitigate fraud on the companys platform. He says hes been working remotely for the past five years  even before the pandemic  and that while Airbnb has long embraced the work-from-home model, the companys approach runs deeper. Airbnb lets its employees effectively live and work from anywhere in the world for up to 90 days a year per country. We are indeed reaching a pivotal point in the WFH debate. But its not just about location, its about rethinking work paradigms, emphasising outcomes over hours and fostering a culture of trust and autonomy, Mangaonkar says. Its time for companies to accept that full-time office work is a thing of the past for many employees. The future is hybrid  And businesses should focus on building systems and cultures that support this.

While bonuses or incentives seem appealing, they are not a long-term solution to encourage office returns. The key lies in understanding employees preferences and concerns. At Airbnb, instead of incentives for returning to the office, we focus on creating an office environment conducive to collaboration, social interaction and innovation  things that are harder to replicate in a remote setting. We view our offices more as collaboration hubs rather than mandatory daily workspaces. National Australia Bank and Westpac have policies requiring most employees to be in the office for a minimum of two to three days a week but do not currently tie remuneration to office attendance. A NAB spokesperson said employees could apply for flexible working arrangements in accordance with the national employment standards. In July, the Finance Sector Union filed a dispute in the Fair Work Commission against Commonwealth Bank, claiming the bank had failed to consult employees over their direction for employees to return to the office at least 50 per cent of the time each month. A CBA spokesperson said the bank gave office-based staff two months notice in May and, since July, the vast majority of its people now spent 50 per cent of their working month in the office. Our approach to hybrid working has always been about finding the right balance between our long-standing commitment to flexible working and ensuring we deliver the best outcomes for our customers, the spokesperson said. Research has shown that connection, innovation and the ability to build and strengthen relationships is absolutely fundamental to how we continue to work.

Google parent company Meta has asked employees to return to the office. Credit: Bloomberg CEO nostalgia for nine to five Despite a survey in October suggesting most chief executives predict a full return to the office in three years, Hopkins says thats highly unlikely to happen. If you look around the world at occupancy rates in commercial real estate, they really tell a story and theyre not heading north by any means, he says. I think CEOs might be a little bit far away from the coalface to know whats happening on an operational level. PwC Future of Work leader Caitlin Guilfoyle says there has been a stronger pull to get workers back into the office in sectors such as financial services.

I think there is some element of chief executives having nostalgia for what has worked previously, she says. We have a long history where people working Monday to Friday, nine to five, worked really well. Loading Guilfoyle says while employers are increasingly mandating a return to the office, hybrid work is definitely here to stay and that organisations should not make any sudden moves or mandates if they havent walked the process through with employees and leaders to work out what is right for them. Organisations should also be cautious about providing financial incentives for office attendance, Guildfoyle says, because it can create inequity within organisations. We know that more women, more parents and people with neurodiverse needs are more likely to have a high proportion of working from home, she says.

Hopkins also cautions against tying office attendance to remuneration, saying it can weaken productivity and workplace diversity. Where the problems lie is when people are being forced into the office simply to meet quotas from a mandate and they end up doing work there that they would do better at home, he says. If youre looking at having a diverse workforce, forcing people to come into the office who clearly dont want to is a dangerous policy and you will end up with a lot less diversity. Instead, businesses looking to see increased office attendance, social connection and collaboration could consider personal and professional development and mentorship, mental health and wellbeing initiatives and workplace access to amenities such as cafes, gyms and childcare, Guilfoyle says. While there are benefits to working from home, Hopkins says the office still has a role to play. A lot of individual, administrative and thinking work can actually work better at home or in locations where you can have a bit more space, time and flexibility, he says. But there are things that work well when were physically together, and if youre working from home for long periods of time, it can become isolating, so its important to take breaks and maybe take your laptop along to a cafe for the social interaction.
Nearly 20,000 Australians were diagnosed with skin cancer in 2022 and more than 1000 died from it. While Australias death rate from melanoma is dropping, cases are not falling as much, experts say. Melanoma of the skin incidence rates have been decreasing for people under 40 since the late 1990s, but continue to rise for over 50s, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals that 7 per cent of patients delayed or did not see a GP in 2022-23 due to the cost, up from 3.5 per cent over the previous 12 months. Surveys show major barriers to early detection include inadequate take up of skin checks and cost-related reasons  including a lack of bulk-billing for skin checks  according to a State of the Nation in Melanoma report by Insight Economics in 2022. While most people go to their GP for a skin check, others might see a dermatologist or specialist skin cancer clinic, particularly if they have a history of skin cancer. Cancer screenings are free for some Australians at risk of other cancers, including breast and bowel cancer.

Health charity Skin Check Champions runs free pop-up clinics for communities in remote and regional Australia, and in high-risk communities where people spend a lot of time outdoors, such as at Bondi Beach. We started this service because a lot of people did not have access to a skin specialist or found it too expensive, said Scott Maggs, the organisations founder and chief executive. Skin Check Champions chief executive and founder Scott Maggs with his sun-spot mannequins. Credit: Ken Butti Maggs said many visitors to the clinic had previously been quoted $300 for a full-body skin check with a dermatologist and $140 for a check with a GP. This masthead is aware of one Melbourne GP clinic charging $275 for a full-body skin check. One Sydney skin cancer clinic is charging $395 for a comprehensive skin check using mole-mapping technology.

Maggs said some people were facing three-month waits for a check, which he said could be enough time for a skin cancer to become life-threatening. Loading Professor Charlotte Hespe, who runs a GP practice in Glebe in Sydneys inner-west, said the clinic conducted skin checks as part of a standard consultation at a cost of $90 for most of her patients, with a Medicare rebate of about $41. She said some patients with extensive sun damage required a longer consultation, which costs $140. Hespe said she would like to see more government incentives for GP clinics to perform annual skin checks.

We screen for cervical cancer and breast cancer, and we should be doing that for skin too, she said. Maggs founded Skin Check Champions in 2010 after he lost a 26-year-old friend to skin cancer. He said that while Australia has a world-class approach to treating and preventing skin cancer, there were huge gaps in early detection. The charity detects about one skin cancer in every 30 people it checks, he said. More than 70 per cent of its clients have never had a skin check before. Tamara Dawson, founder of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Advocacy Network, said it was difficult for many regional and rural Australians to secure an appointment with a GP for a skin check because demand outstripped supply.

Its also tricky to get in to see a dermatologist, and it is expensive, said Dawson, who is a melanoma survivor. She said cost-of-living pressures and rising GP fees  the average out-of-pocket fee is now $40.10 in Victoria  meant that more people were skipping important checks. RACGP president Nicole Higgins. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Nicole Higgins said GP clinics broke even or made a loss when excising a suspected melanoma. The procedure also requires equipment, materials and nursing expertise. This is why the gap [of what it costs to cut out a potential skin cancer versus the Medicare funding that covers it] has been increasing, and thats being passed on to patients, she said.

GPs are also not allowed to charge for the cost of dressings or materials for patients if theyd bulk billed them. Higgins said skin checks were part of the bread and butter of a general practice, and GPs should be better remunerated for the time they spent with patients. Anne Gately at Coogee Beach. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone Anne Gately was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in 2018 after seeing a string of doctors about what she believed was a gym injury. I had pain across the back of my shoulders, she recalled. The pain didnt go away and spread throughout my body, all through my bones, my ribs, spine and legs.

A scan revealed Gately was riddled with melanoma and doctors told her she had less than two years to live. Fortunately, she was able to access cutting-edge immunotherapy treatment that eradicated the cancer in three months. Loading While Gately, who lives in the beachside Sydney suburb of Coogee, can afford to see a dermatologist for regular full skin checks, shes concerned others are missing out. For a doctor to do a full skin check, it would take more than a standard appointment, which will cost more, she said. If there is a cost barrier, it is something people will put down their list.
A Beverley grandfather has died after the microlight aircraft he was in crashed in Western Australias Wheatbelt.

John Willsons family had been watching the keen aviation enthusiast on a solo flight when the aircraft crashed shortly after 11am on Saturday onto his neighbours property in Beverley, located about 130 kilometres south-east of Perth.

John Willsons family had been watching the keen aviation enthusiast on a solo flight when the aircraft crashed shortly after 11am on Saturday. Credit: Nine News Perth.

Willson sustained critical injuries in the incident and died shortly after.

It is understood the 69-year-old pilot, who had two decades worth of flying experience, lost control of the microlight aircraft a short distance from the Wheatbelt towns airstrip.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The down payment for housing security for Linda Seaborn was just $1. That was not in the very distant past. Nor was it for a spot in a rustic commune in the bush. Seaborn paid $1 for a townhouse in suburban Hobart in 1999. She moved in the following year and still lives there today. Seaborn lives in a housing co-operative. While common in cities such as Zurich and New York, they make up a vanishingly small proportion of housing in Australia. Co-operative housing is the missing middle in Australias property landscape, and those who work in the emerging local industry argue it should be harnessed by state and federal governments to help solve the countrys housing crisis. The security of housing co-ops gives people a secure and stable old age [and] retirement, Linda Seaborn says. Co-operative housing can include anything from public housing rental schemes to collectives that work together to build a complex before switching to a strata plan. Melina Morrison, chief executive of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM), says when you boil it down, housing co-ops look like ordinary housing. The issue here is that somethings exotic until its not, she says.

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What is co-operative housing? The easiest way to explain how a housing co-op works is to compare it to buying a unit or apartment in a complex that has strata. That purchase includes a separate title for the unit, and the new owner becomes a member of a strata group that is responsible for maintaining common areas such as a pool and the buildings exterior, and ensuring the property is insured. Morrison says a shared equity housing co-op is a similar concept but goes a few steps further. Loading A group of people come together and decide they want to build on a block of land but have separate properties. Rather than buying individual property titles, they form a co-op that purchases the title. The individuals then buy a share in the co-op, which can cost anything from $1 to tens of thousands of dollars. The co-op, as a business, takes on the title mortgage for the property, controls the construction of the homes and has responsibility for maintaining the property. The share purchased  say, the $1 invested by Seaborn  gives the shareholder the right to live in the property. They also make ongoing payments towards co-op fees and any mortgage the co-op holds.

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But co-ops are not run to grow profits, so when a resident leaves, they simply get back their initial outlay for a share of ownership, plus a little interest. A new person moving in would pay a similar amount for their share. Morrison says that means co-operatives can offer a more affordable buy-in point for people otherwise priced out of the property market. One of the purposes of that property is for it to be affordable in perpetuity, she says. The downside The trouble with co-op housing in Australia is that it is so uncommon  roughly 1 per cent of all housing, according to the BCCM  that there are few examples for governments and investors to assess. One challenge co-ops face is the emphasis in Australia on property as a financial asset, says Michael Fotheringham, managing director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

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Places like Zurich or areas with really strong welfare systems and strong social housing systems often have quite a lot of co-operative housing, he says. Places like Australia, theres not so much social housing and the property market is dominated by the financial framing of property rather than the shelter framing of property. Loading Australians aspire to own land, Fotheringham says. When you talk about housing at a barbecue with your friends over Christmas, youre not talking about how can we set up a shared arrangement, youre talking about what you can get for what youve got or how you can get a foot on the ladder. Youve also got to register as a co-operative society, so theres an extra step there, but also what the lenders  the major banks  are willing to lend for. We have a fairly concentrated banking system with four or five major banks and that tends to shape less competitive behaviour. Its about security

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While co-operative housing cant be used as an investment vehicle, Morrison says it delivers something vital: stability. Loading Its housing security, she says. It shouldnt be a profit-making investment. It should be about meeting peoples needs for a home and shelter. Thats something that all the housing co-op models have in common  it provides a secure home for the people that live in it, whether youre putting in $1 or $200,000. For Seaborn, who has been the senior policy adviser for the BCCM since late 2022, that security meant she could study again. She adds that the benefits of co-op living extend beyond working-age life. The security of housing co-ops gives people a secure and stable old age [and] retirement. One model working in Melbourne

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Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Fortis fair value estimate is CA$111

Current share price of CA$55.64 suggests Fortis is potentially 50% undervalued

Analyst price target for FTS is CA$56.22 which is 49% below our fair value estimate

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Fortis

The Method

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (CA$, Millions) CA$1.91b CA$2.04b CA$2.15b CA$2.23b CA$2.31b CA$2.38b CA$2.45b CA$2.51b CA$2.56b CA$2.62b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 5.05% Est @ 4.11% Est @ 3.46% Est @ 3.00% Est @ 2.68% Est @ 2.45% Est @ 2.30% Est @ 2.19% Present Value (CA$, Millions) Discounted @ 5.9% CA$1.8k CA$1.8k CA$1.8k CA$1.8k CA$1.7k CA$1.7k CA$1.6k CA$1.6k CA$1.5k CA$1.5k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CA$17b

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After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.9%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 5.9%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = CA$2.6b (1 + 1.9%)  (5.9% 1.9%) = CA$67b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= CA$67b ( 1 + 5.9%)10= CA$38b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CA$54b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of CA$55.6, the company appears quite undervalued at a 50% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

TSX:FTS Discounted Cash Flow January 6th 2024

The Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Fortis as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.9%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Fortis

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Weakness

Interest payments on debt are not well covered.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Electric Utilities market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 4 years.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Paying a dividend but company has no free cash flows.

Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the Canadian market.

Looking Ahead:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Fortis, there are three fundamental factors you should consider:

Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Fortis (at least 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) , and understanding these should be part of your investment process. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for FTS's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Canadian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

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.
Optusdata, the anonymous hacker who in late 2022 made away with the personal data of more than 10 million Optus customers before backing down from a $1.5 million ransom threat, was described as unprofessional and stupid by their hacker peers on the dark web. The Optus mass data breach occurred through an unprotected and publicly exposed end point, meaning anyone who discovered it could connect to it without submitting a username or password. The attack was far from sophisticated, according to OReilly and other experts. For attackers, especially those utilising low-cost, high-reward strategies, the investment is minimal compared to the potential pay-off, which can range from financial gain to significant data breaches  or even reputational damage to the targeted organisation, OReilly says. According to the Australian Signals Directorate, an intelligence agency, more than 127,000 hacks against Australian servers were recorded between the 2022 and 2023 financial years. This marked an increase of more than 300 per cent over the prior year  and OReilly says that matches what hes seeing on the ground.

In the shadows OReilly spends much of his time monitoring the dark web, which ransomware groups use to leak data and boast about their bounties. He regularly reports his findings to the Australian Signals Directorate. Loading The dark web is a shadowy part of the internet accessible only through special software, allowing users to remain anonymous. It is commonly used for illegal activities such as buying and selling drugs and weapons, as well as stolen credentials. The group suspected to be behind the 2022 Medibank data breach, Russian cybercriminal gang REVil, posted customer names, birthdates and Medicare details under good and naughty lists on its dark web site named Happy Blog. The leaked data included patients who had undergone treatment for drug addictions and terminated non-viable pregnancies.

I recommend to sell Medibank stocks, the group said in the post, along with a quote from Confucius: A man who committed a mistake and doesnt correct it is committing another mistake. A person claiming to be the Medibank hacker told this masthead in broken English via email during the incident that they would have not leaked the stolen data had the company paid up. Medibank publicly ruled out paying the hackers the $US9.7 million ($14.5 million) they demanded, and the federal government had also advised against payment. Medibank is facing a class action, as well as potential fines from the information commissioner over the 2022 cyberattack. Credit: Steven Siewert The government is currently weighing a total ban of ransomware payments, though company directors say the payments may be justified to avoid catastrophic outcomes. We do business in our way, and we never targeted any particular people for that  only companies, the purported hacker said via email.

We ask a similar price, as on blackmarket for that detailed data about Medi customers. And where Medi refuses to pay  we should earn some money, to cover our efforts. Talking that way, Medibank in fact forces us, to sphread [sic] customers data. With attacks surging, the federal government is under increasing pressure to help organisations defend themselves. Cybersecurity Minister Clare ONeil described financially motivated hackers and extortionists as public enemy No.1 when she launched the governments new cyber strategy late last year. ONeil said Australia faced the most challenging circumstances since the Second World War, and that cybersecurity would be integral to how the events of the coming decade played out. A good start The federal governments six shield strategy includes $291 million in support for small and medium-sized businesses, including the creation of a cyber health-check program offering free and tailored cybersecurity assessments to business owners. It has a stated goal of making Australia the worlds safest cyber nation by 2030.

Many cybersecurity professionals arent convinced thats possible but acknowledge its a goal worth pursuing. What Claire ONeil and the current government have been doing is a good start, but its been attempted before, and we need to ensure it survives future political changes. Cybersecurity is no longer a nice to have; its a fundamental component of everything we do, OReilly says. Cyber Security Minister Clare ONeil. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen He says Australia needs to find a way to ensure cybersecurity strategies are consistent across jurisdictions and are not beholden to the government of the day. One thing we can learn from our so-called adversaries, the people hacking us, is that consistency is key.

In late 2022, in response to the Optus and Medibank breaches, the parliament passed legislation that can result in businesses being fined $50 million for repeated or serious data breaches. Tony Burnside, head of Asia Pacific at cybersecurity giant Netskope, says we should be encouraged that Australia has a hands-on and proactive government when it comes to cybersecurity. The new cybersecurity strategy, which I think we can say has been well received overall, focuses on the right issues that need to be addressed now, and will act as a good framework for new legislation that will help Australian organisations and individuals be more secure, he says. Our global alliances, especially in the context of AUKUS, also equip us with solid offensive and defensive state cybersecurity capabilities. Some organisations and parts of the populations are still fairly vulnerable compared to other countries, though... We werent exactly a primary target for cybercriminals until recently, and this has created some complacency and a feeling that major cyberattacks wouldnt occur here.

In the past 18 months there has been a wake-up call. Bolstering the defences Netskopes most-recent threat report found the majority of cyber threats targeting Australian organisations were criminally motivated, with only 12 per cent of attacks having a geopolitical motivation. Both the Medibank and Optus hackers demanded millions in ransom payments. At Medibanks shareholder meeting in November, chairman Mike Wilkins emphasised that the private health insurer had ramped up its security. The board has been overseeing a group-wide program of work that aims to continue uplifting and embedding the technology, processes and security culture within Medibank to support our customer promise of being a trusted health partner, he said.

Port operator DP World, another recent hacking victim, is improving its security as well. We undertook a thorough review of our security controls with the assistance of third-party cyber expertise, a spokesman says. In order to reduce the likelihood of similar incidents occurring, we are working through a cyber remediation plan to implement additional controls, limit access to external applications to certain addresses and countries only, implement additional end-point and network detection and response capabilities. CBA chief Matt Comyn said the bank was conscious of and spend a lot of time, effort and resources on issues such as cybersecurity given the risks presented by such threats nationally and globally. Weve already seen a number of examples of how damaging a breach of cybersecurity can be and that is a warning to us all to take the necessary and vitally important steps to protect ourselves from these increasing attacks, Comyn said.

But some of Australias biggest companies such as IAG, the insurance group behind brands like NRMA Insurance, CGU, SGIO, are not waiting for hackers to come knocking. Loading We take cyber and data risk very seriously and we continue to invest heavily in this area, says IAGs chief risk officer, Peter Taylor. We are also an active participant in broader industry and government initiatives to enhance cyber resilience more generally. Cybersecurity provider CyberCX is working with St Vincents Health to remediate and respond to its recent cyberattack. Its still unclear whether any sensitive health data was stolen in that attack, which people close to the investigation say was likely financially motivated. The company is also working with the Australian Open to safeguard the coming tournament.

All organisations at risk The Medibank and St Vincents Health data breaches were facilitated through compromised staff accounts, according to investigators. Hackers typically compromise accounts through social engineering or phishing attacks  emails that seem legitimate and encourage users to enter their login information. All Australian organisations are at risk, according to CyberCXs financial services and insurance industry director, Shameela Gonzalez. More than green text on a black screen, executives are anxious about the 2am phone call, or the contact from a customer instead of catching it themselves, Gonzalez says. Its the combined challenge of scrambling to understand what has happened, re-securing systems without inflicting more damage, and communicating effectively in a matter of hours  Its a tough ask, even before you consider that someone out there is working just as hard to do you harm.

Simply buying more tools and more technology isnt the answer here. Gonzalez agrees with OReilly in that one clear answer when it comes to cybersecurity is a cultural one. Shameela Gonzalez at the offices of CyberCX in Sydney. Organisations that weather and thrive following a cyber incident have a strong culture of resilience, have invested in securing their networks and systems to do what they can to prevent a breach, and have prepared as best they can for an attack in this when, not if environment. Another answer may be for businesses to simply collect less data on their consumers. In November, the government flagged a review of mandatory data legislation, passed in 2015, which requires telecommunication companies to hold customer information including names, call records and other data for two years.

Ashwin Ram, cybersecurity evangelist at Check Point Software, says an organisation in Australia is being attacked on averaged nearly 700 times a week over the past six months. Loading He says its a mistake, however, to read the recent headlines about the St Vincents Health and Court Services Victoria hacks and assume that they are the work of a criminal mastermind. Theres nothing sophisticated about these cyberattacks, Ram says. These recent ones appear to be financially motivated, and cybercriminals are extorting as much as possible from their victims. Many attacks begin with some form of social engineering, such as the one against Court Services Victoria, where email was the delivery mechanism for initial access. The most common attack vectors include phishing, cloud misconfiguration, software vulnerabilities, and compromised credentials, as was the case in the St Vincents Health breach. 

For Ram, its not the regularity of the attacks that is most worrying. Its that cybercriminals also now have access to generative AI tools, allowing them to create highly effective phishing campaigns that are nearly impossible to detect. Attacks to intensify Ram and other cyber experts are predicting a further surge in cyberattacks over the next year given the rise in AI tools such as ChatGPT. Over the next year, cybercriminals will increasingly leverage generative AI to develop new tools for cyberattacks, he says. This trend will also lower the barrier to entry, enabling less technically proficient individuals to engage in malicious activities, as advanced skills are no longer a prerequisite for creating attack tools. Ram is also predicting a rise in hackers-for-hire  a new breed of mercenaries of the digital age.

Last year, the pro-Russia hacker group, Killnet, announced plans to create a private military hacking organisation, Black Skills. A screenshot of a website vandalism by pro-Russian hacking group Killnet. Black Skills aims to be the cyber equivalent of the infamous Wagner Private Military Company, and will reportedly offer courses in four languages: Russian, English, Spanish and Hindi. The establishment of Black Skills will likely intensify the focus and sophistication of cyberattacks against governments, Ram says. The latest spate of high-profile cybersecurity attacks are concerning. But we also think the string of attacks on not-for-profits in early 2023, which did not receive nearly as much coverage, told another story. A sizable amount of cybersecurity attacks in Australia are not reported by the media or to authorities.
The fighting in the Gaza Strip continues with more than 100 targets hit in the past day, but beneath the hellfire, the building blocks for a ceasefire are slowly being put into place.

Late on Wednesday evening, for the first time since the war started, a senior Israeli minister outlined proposals for the future of Gaza once the fighting stops.

A convoy of Israeli troops moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel on Thursday. Credit: AP

The four-point plan, presented to the Israeli cabinet by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is the third in a series of little-reported initiatives that seem positive.

It follows a three-point plan for peace proposed by Egypt on Christmas Eve and the announcement this week that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has started withdrawing troops from Gaza.
Iowa: US President Joe Biden has kick-started the election year with a dire warning about Donald Trumps campaign of revenge to return to power, using his first major speech of 2024 to frame the contest as a fresh test for American democracy.

In a searing address marking the third anniversary of the January 6 Capitol attack, Biden sought to shift the focus away from his own political woes and place it squarely on his predecessor, who is on the verge of winning the Republican nomination to run for the White House again in November.

US President Joe Biden speaks in Pennsylvania to kickstart the campaign year and mark the third anniversary of the January 6 riots. Credit: AP

Speaking in the battleground state of Pennsylvania as Trump rallied supporters in Iowa, Biden warned Americans that Trumps previous attempts to overthrow the election result were just the beginning. He attacked the former president as a denier in chief and a loser who wanted an all-out war.

Trumps assault on democracy isnt just part of his past. Its what hes promising for the future. Hes been straightforward. Hes not hiding the ball, Biden said, highlighting Trumps recent comments about being a dictator on day one and references to immigrants poisoning the blood of America.
There is something very special about being on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. This is where the laws are made. With its 435 members, it is the legislative chamber that is closest to the views and beliefs of the American people. This is sacred space. There is decorum. There are rules.

Three years ago, on January 6, there was violence. The Capitol was attacked for the first time since the British burnt it in 1814. Not even the rebellious armies of the confederacy in the Civil War ever reached Congress. But then president Donald Trumps troops did. It was a desecration of democracy.

A desecration of democracy: Trump supporters inside the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Credit: AP

Inside the House chamber, men with guns drawn aimed at the doors of the House to stop the attackers. A woman was shot and killed just outside as she pushed to enter the chamber. Speaker Nancy Pelosis office was pillaged.

Gallows to hang then-vice president Mike Pence were carted outside the Capitol. The mob occupied the Senate, trashed the desks of the senators and celebrated their driving the solons from the temple of democracy.
legal lawsuit_02

Top-10 mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate has filed a lawsuit against retail rival New American Funding over poaching. But this isnt your standard poaching lawsuit: G-Rate alleges that NAF has wooed at least 30 employees since early 2023 via illegal loan officer compensation practices.

Despite the rise in poaching lawsuits in a competitive market, its the first time a large lender has publicly accused a competitor of violating the LO comp rule by allowing their salesforce to manipulate lead sources in order to reduce their rates and win more loans.

Industry experts told HousingWire for a December feature that the manipulation of lead sources is widespread among retail lenders, and theres no enforcement.

Tara Castrejon, director of content marketing and public relations at NAF, said in an emailed response to HousingWire that the company does not comment on pending litigation.

A spokesperson for G-Rate did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

Since February 2023, NAF has unlawfully raided GRs branches nationwide, poaching over 30 GR employees from coast-to-coast, the lawsuit states. To achieve its goals, NAF uses illegal compensation practices to induce GR employees to resign from GR and join NAF, and incentivizes and encourages GR employees to solicit and recruit other GR employees to defect to NAF.

The lawsuit, which seeks injunction relief and damages, was filed on Dec. 26 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. G-Rate claims, among other accusations, tortious interference, violation of Illinois deceptive trade practice laws and misappropriation of confidential information.

NAF zeroed in on employees in Washington, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Florida, and Illinois, the lawsuit states. The departing employees included a divisional manager, branch and regional managers, and loan officers.

G-Rate claims that it all started when Gregory Griffin, a former regional manager and senior vice president of strategic growth, joined NAF as regional manager of strategic growth, where he was responsible for recruiting in the Midwest Region. Griffin had a non-solicitation agreement with his former employer, G-Rate claims.



After Mr. Griffins hiring by NAF in January 2023, the dam broke, and NAF began to aggressively recruit and hire from GR. Prior to this point, NAF had not been able to successfully recruit from GR on such a massive scale, the lawsuit states.

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Griffin did not immediately return to a request for comments.

The lawsuit says that former employees who transitioned to NAF sent borrowers information to their emails, including pay stubs and bank statements. G-Rates research on publicly available data on closed loans shows numerous customers took their business from GR to NAF in conjunction with the employee defections to NAF, it says.

Claims re LO comp rule violations

Among the more explosive claims is that NAF repeatedly violated Regulation Z, which prohibits loan officers from receiving payments based on the terms of a transaction other than the amount of credit extended.

The rule also prohibits reductions in LO comp to fund pricing concessions to consumers at the expense of the loan officer, which would be characterized as a change in transaction terms.

G-Rate claims NAF does not pay LOs a fixed percentage of the loan amount or any other type of compensation permitted by applicable law and regulations. Instead, the company supposedly offers different pricing buckets based on the source lead and allows LOs to play with them.

Should the consumer dislike the loan pricing first offered using the self-generated bucket, the loan officer can freely switch the bucket to corporate generated or connected generated instead, which, in turn, corresponds to lower compensation for the loan officer, the lawsuit states.

The lower bucket results in new, lower pricing to the consumer. If the consumer likes the new pricing, and NAF wins the deal with its lower pricing, the loan officer reduces the loan officers compensation to provide the consumer with a discount. Put another way; the loan officer is allowed to later (and falsely) change the source of the lead, allowing for lower loan officer compensation and a pricing advantage for NAF over competitors like GR. This approach is illegal.

G-Rate claims the practice has caused millions of dollars in lost revenues, investment and future business opportunities. It also says NAF misrepresented to potential recruits that its illegal compensation arrangements were audited and approved by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Inside Creative House / Getty Images/iStockphoto

As many as 50% of Americans have some sort of side gig, whether this is primarily how they make money, or in addition to a regular job.

Check Out: 7 Bills You Never Have To Pay When You Retire

Discover: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

The gig economy, a phenomenon that may have emerged as a response to the high unemployment rates of the 2008-2009 recession, has become a part of American life, and its reshaping retirement.

While these gigs offer workers more flexibility and variety, they may also come with some downsides, affecting how financially set people are for retirement.

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Some Are Missing Out on Retirement Plans

According to Christopher Stroup, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) with Abacus Wealth Partners, being your own boss has its perks, but unfortunately, having a built-in retirement plan, like a 401(k), isnt one of them.

Gig workers must understand that saving for their retirement falls squarely on their shoulders, he said.

These workers are often both the employer and employee at the same time, which means its critically important to understand the savings options available to you that will give yourself the best chance of a financially secure future.

Other Workers Are Opening Their Own Retirement Plans

Pensions expert at SIPP Advice, a retirement planning firm, Sam Hodgson said, its still possible to save into a pension in the US without having a 401(k)  you just need to know how to do it and be proactive.

He added, The problem is that most people dont know how, especially younger generations, and these are the people who are more likely to be working in the gig economy.

Younger people should not wait until later to begin retirement planning. Stroup explained that there are four retirement plans for self-employed folks to look into: Traditional and Roth IRAs, SIMPLE and SEP IRAs, Solo 401(k)s and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).

Read More: The 5 Things That Disappear When You Retire

Self-Employed Retirement Plans Still Offer Tax Relief

Hodgson urged anyone working in the gig economy, especially younger people, to open an IRA or other retirement plan as soon as they are able.

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Whats so great about retirement accounts is the tax-relief: you can effectively deduct your IRA contributions from your taxable income, so you pay less income tax, said Hodgson. Not only can you invest your saved money, but you can then invest more from the tax relief you get back.

Even someone making very little can invest that money in an IRA, Hodgson explained.

It might seem small, but if youre earning more, the tax relief will be more. And over 40 years of working and being invested in the stock market, this can create a small fortune for your retirement years.

Irregular Income

Another way the gig economy is affecting retirement is that these workers often have irregular income, said Josh Michaels, CEO and founder of Money4Loans.

This variability can make it challenging to commit to a consistent savings plan, which is crucial for building a retirement nest egg, he said.

Gig workers need to develop a more flexible approach to savings, adjusting their contributions based on their fluctuating income while ensuring they still set aside funds for the future.

A Greater Need For Emergency Funds

Gig workers should also consider creating an emergency fund, Michaels advised. Given the unpredictability of gig income, having a safety net is vital to avoid dipping into retirement savings during lean periods.

Healthcare Costs Are a Concern

Healthcare is another important factor that plays a role at retirement, when older people are more likely to incur healthcare expenses, Michaels said. Gig workers may not even be thinking about this if theyre still in their younger, healthier years.

Without employer-sponsored health benefits, gig workers must plan for healthcare costs in retirement, which can be substantial, Michaels said. Exploring health savings accounts (HSAs) and factoring in Medicare are crucial steps in this planning process.

Ultimately, Michaels said, The gig economy demands a shift in retirement planning, emphasizing self-reliance and adaptability. Its about creating a personalized plan that accommodates income variability and fills the gaps left by the absence of traditional employment benefits.

Need for Self-employment Tax Planning

Sal Cocurullo, founder of Revenue Land, explained self-employed individuals may not realize they are responsible for paying both the employer and employee portions of social security and Medicare taxes.

This means that they need to plan for these expenses and ensure that they are saving enough to cover them, he said.

Importance of Diversification

The inconsistency of the gig economy underscores just how important it is for gig workers to come up with a diversified retirement plan.

Cocurullo said, Since their income stream is unpredictable, its important to have a diversified portfolio that can weather any market fluctuations.

Professional Advice Is More Important Than Ever

Since retirement planning can be complex in the best of scenarios, Cocurullo stressed that its always a good idea to consult with a financial advisor or planner to ensure that youre making the best decisions for your situation.

He said, They can help you create a customized retirement plan that takes into account your unique circumstances.

Underscoring the Need for Financial Education

A critical component often missing for gig workers is financial education, according to Max Avery, a finance expert and a board member at Syndicately.

Understanding investment principles, tax implications and how to efficiently save for retirement can empower gig workers to make informed decisions, continued Avery. Community programs, online resources and financial advisors can play a significant role in filling this knowledge gap.

While the gig economy offers flexibility and independence, it also demands a more hands-on approach to retirement planning.

Avery said, By understanding the challenges and employing strategic saving and investing tactics, gig workers can navigate these waters successfully. The key is education and a proactive mindset toward financial planning.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How the Gig Economy Is Reshaping Retirement Planning
Today

Partly sunny, breezy, and noticeably colder; gusty winds add a chill. A sprinkle or flurry possible, mainly north and west.

Tonight

Partly cloudy, windy, and cold. Brisk winds add a chill. There could be an early flurry, especially north and west.

Tomorrow

Partly sunny but brisk and chilly with wind chills near or below freezing for much of the day. A sprinkle or flurry possible, mainly north and west.
READING, Pa. - Respiratory illness numbers are going up across the country following holiday gatherings.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of this past week, flu activity is high in Pennsylvania, and very high in New Jersey.

In our very own region, "We are seeing more cases of respiratory illnesses." says Dr. Debra Powell, chief of infectious diseases at Tower Health, "Be aware that most of our hospitals are close to capacity a number of days we have been over capacity and have had to open up additional beds for patients."

Many of those beds are filled with patients needing care for Covid, RSV and the flu. "We are primarily seeing the high-risk age groups which are those people of older ages and also people with chronic medical conditions like diabetes, lung diseases, heart diseases." says Dr. Powell.

Dr. Debra Powell of Tower Health says the rise in cases is expected. "I think we're seeing about the same number we saw this time last year maybe about an extra 10 patients." says Dr. Powell, well below numbers from 2 or 3 years ago, but she still urges people to do their best to avoid getting sick.

"Be up to date on your vaccine, if you're sick please stay home, call your primary care physician if you need additional testing or treatment." says Dr. Powell.

Dr. Powell recommends getting the new omicron covid vaccine released in September as well as your flu shot.

The good news is, "What we're seeing with RSV is those numbers have come down it has plateaued." says Dr. Powell.

How long will the spike last? "We will see flu probably till after the spring hopefully it'll peak and then start to tamper down." says Dr. Powell, "We don't know what happens with covid, it depends on the strains that are circulating."

Her prediction is that it'll peak by mid-January and go down, but time will tell the doctor says.
Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). We'll use ROE to examine Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW), by way of a worked example.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

See our latest analysis for Pinnacle West Capital

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations)  Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Pinnacle West Capital is:

7.6% = US$495m  US$6.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.08 in profit.

Does Pinnacle West Capital Have A Good Return On Equity?

By comparing a company's ROE with its industry average, we can get a quick measure of how good it is. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. The image below shows that Pinnacle West Capital has an ROE that is roughly in line with the Electric Utilities industry average (8.3%).

roe

That isn't amazing, but it is respectable. Although the ROE is similar to the industry, we should still perform further checks to see if the company's ROE is being boosted by high debt levels. If true, then it is more an indication of risk than the potential. Our risks dashboardshould have the 2 risks we have identified for Pinnacle West Capital.

Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE

Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first and second cases, the ROE will reflect this use of cash for investment in the business. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used.

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Pinnacle West Capital's Debt And Its 7.6% ROE

Pinnacle West Capital clearly uses a high amount of debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.36. With a fairly low ROE, and significant use of debt, it's hard to get excited about this business at the moment. Debt does bring extra risk, so it's only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it.

Summary

Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. A company that can achieve a high return on equity without debt could be considered a high quality business. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE.

But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.
WASHINGTON  The Pentagon released new details Sunday about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's continued hospitalization, saying he had a medical procedure Dec. 22, went home a day later and was admitted to intensive care Jan. 1 when he began experiencing severe pain.

The latest information came as members of both parties in Congress expressed sharp concerns about the secrecy of Austin's hospital stay and the fact that the president and other senior leaders were kept in the dark about it for days.

The statement, released by Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, did not, however, provide any details about the medical procedure or what actually happened on Monday to require Austin to be in intensive care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Ryan said Austin was placed in the hospitals intensive care unit "due to his medical needs, but then remained in that location in part due to hospital space considerations and privacy.

The Pentagons failure to disclose Austins hospitalization, including to President Joe Biden, the National Security Council and top Pentagon leaders, for days reflects a stunning lack of transparency about his illness, how serious it was and when he may be released. Such secrecy, when the United States is juggling myriad national security crises, runs counter to normal practice with the president and other senior U.S. officials and Cabinet members.

Ryder said the National Security Council and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks were not notified until Thursday, Jan. 4, that Austin had been hospitalized since Jan. 1. Ryder said Austin's chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, was ill and unable to make notifications before then. He said she informed Hicks and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Thursday.

Once notified, Hicks began preparing statements to send to Congress and made plans to return to Washington. Hicks was in Puerto Rico on leave but had communications equipment with her to remain in contact and had already been tasked with some secretary-level duties on Tuesday.

The Pentagon did not say if Hicks was given an explanation on Tuesday for why she was assuming some of Austins duties, but temporary transfers of authority are not unusual and are often done without detailed explanations. Hicks decided not to return after she was informed that Austin would resume full control on Friday.

Biden was told of Austin's medical stay on Thursday by Sullivan, according to three people with knowledge of the hospitalization who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

In a statement issued Saturday evening, Austin took responsibility for the delays in notification.

I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better, he said, acknowledging the concerns about transparency. But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.

Austin, 70, remains hospitalized and officials were unable to say how long he will be at Walter Reed. In his statement, Austin said he is on the mend and is looking forward to returning to the Pentagon soon, but he provided no other details about his ailment.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the episode erodes trust in the Biden administration and called on the department to provide lawmakers with a "full accounting of the facts immediately.

I am glad to hear Secretary Austin is in improved condition and I wish him a speedy recovery," Wicker said in a statement. However, the fact remains that the Department of Defense deliberately withheld the Secretary of Defenses medical condition for days. That is unacceptable.

It's not just Republicans expressing alarm. In a joint statement, Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Adam Smith, D-Wash., said they were concerned with how the disclosure of the Secretary's condition was handled.

Among the questions they had were what the medical procedure was and what the resulting complications were, how and when the delegation of his responsibilities was made, and the reason for the delay in notification to the president and lawmakers. Rogers is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and Smith is the panel's top Democrat.

Transparency is vitally important," said the two lawmakers. Austin must provide these additional details on his health and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week as soon as possible."

Ryder said Austin is able to do his full duties, has secure communications at Walter Reed, and is in contact with his senior team, getting updates and providing guidance. He said he doesn't know if Austin will do in-person briefings this coming week.

The Pentagon Press Association, which represents journalists who cover the Defense Department, sent a letter of protest on Friday evening, calling the delay in alerting the public an outrage.

At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader," the group said in its letter.

Other senior U.S. leaders have been much more transparent about hospital stays. When Attorney General Merrick Garland went in for a routine medical procedure in 2022, his office informed the public a week in advance and outlined how long he was expected to be out and when he would return to work.
A woman looking up different tax filing deadlines and late payment consequences.

While dreading tax season is a near-universal experience, theres something that can make it far worse  not filing or paying your taxes. Filing your taxes late puts you further in the hole if you owe a balance because of the fees and interest the IRS adds to your bill. You can end up paying substantially more than your original bill if you delay filing your taxes. Heres what to know and how much you might owe.

A financial advisor can help optimize your financial plan to lower your tax liability.

What Happens If You File Your Taxes Late?

Filing your taxes late results in penalties if you owe the IRS. Specifically, the IRS charges a penalty for not filing and paying on time, plus interest on the unpaid amount until you pay the balance due. Late payment fees apply even if you receive an extended due date to file (but the extension will nullify the late filing fee until October 15).

However, filing your taxes late doesnt always result in penalization. The following cases allow taxpayers to file after April 15 without consequences:

The IRS owes you a refund.

You live outside the country as part of your service (ie, military service in a combat zone) or in a federally declared disaster area.

That being said, you cant claim a refund unless you file your taxes, meaning you wont receive the money if you dont file. As a result, the outcome of filing late in this case is receiving the refund later than if you had filed on time.

Penalties for Filing Late Taxes and Failing to Pay

Filing late means the IRS begins to accumulate penalties against your account in the following ways:

A failure to file penalty of 5% of the balance due per month (less any failure to pay penalty)

A failure to pay penalty of 0.5% of the balance due per month

An 8% annual interest charge that compounds daily

The result of these two fees is a 5% penalty per month. However, these fees max out at different rates: After five months, the late filing penalty reaches a 22.5% cap. On the other hand, the failure to pay penalty increases by 0.5% until it reaches 25% (thats 50 months of not paying). The maximum total for not filing or paying on time is 47.5% of the balance due plus the interest charges. Interest continues accumulating until you pay the balance in full.

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Fortunately, a safeguard is in place to help taxpayers who file late. For 2024, the Failure to File penalty is the smaller of $485 or 100% of the balance due. This boundary helps late filers  but remember, late payment fees and interest will continue accruing past this amount.

How Does the IRS Collect Payments

A couple meets with a financial advisor to review late payment options for their taxes.

The IRS has multiple methods of collecting payments if you are slow to file your taxes or dont respond to correspondence. While the IRS prefers taxpayers to communicate regularly and establish payment plans, it can take any of the following routes:

Voluntary Payment

If you file late, the first and best option is to respond to the IRS attempts to contact you about the taxes due. Youll receive instructions about paying (most methods of payment are viable, including paying with a card online, mailing a check, or paying by phone). If youre unable to pay the entire balance due, you can set up a payment plan with the IRS. Doing so will reduce your fees versus ignoring the bills you receive.

Offers in Compromise (OIC)

Affording your tax bill may be beyond your current or future financial abilities, including the ability to manage a payment plan. In these cases, asking the IRS for an OIC can reduce the amount owed. Qualifying for an OIC requires the taxpayer to file all their tax returns, be current on estimated quarterly tax payments, and have at least one tax bill from the IRS. You can use the IRS OIC Pre-Qualifier webpage to see if youre eligible for a compromise.

Filing a Tax Lien

Dont let the name confuse you  the IRS can file a tax lien against taxpayers who dont file or pay their taxes. A lien allows the IRS to garnish your wages, divert future tax refunds to the balance due, and receive the proceeds from the sale of your home or vehicle. The IRS typically reverts to this option if you dont reply to multiple communication attempts from the government to rectify your tax situation.

Asset Seizure

The IRS will begin asset seizure as a last resort if you dont respond to attempted communication. The government will send you a final notice 30 days before seizing assets to pay for the taxes due. Its best for all parties involved to prevent this type of action by establishing a payment plan or disputing the amount owed. In other words, the seizure of assets occurs if you dont take any action for a prolonged period and are completely unwilling to work with the IRS to address the taxes.

Disputes, Deferments and Relief

When the IRS tries to collect a tax balance, you can dispute the bill by supplying documentation to prove you owe a different amount. If the IRS doesnt change its position, you can take the case to court if you believe the IRS is charging an incorrect amount. Taxpayers can also file for deferment if they are in the military. Lastly, you can negotiate relief from penalties when communicating with the IRS about how to pay your balance.

Do I Have to Pay My Taxes All at Once?

The last day of the year to file your taxes is April 15, and your tax payment is also due that day. After April 15, any unpaid tax amount begins accruing penalties and interest.

Remember, filing for an extension gives you more time to file taxes, but not more time to pay, so the extension doesnt nullify fees for late payments. For example, if you owe the IRS $500, it doesnt matter if you file in April or October. Youll owe $500 plus fees for not paying in April, even if you receive an extension to file.

In other words, youll avoid penalties and interest by paying your taxes all at once. If you cant afford to, its best to proactively communicate with the IRS to set up a payment plan and minimize penalties.

Tips If You Miss the Filing Deadline

Missing the filing deadline can result in heavy fees and penalties. Heres what to do if you dont file in time to mitigate the damage:

File as soon as possible. The filing due date for 2024 is April 15, and filing within days or weeks after will minimize late penalties.

If your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $73,000 or less, you can file for free on irs.gov until October 15. All income levels can use the IRS free fillable forms to file, although these require more work and familiarity with taxes.

View your account on the IRS website and make a payment if necessary.

Apply for an installment agreement on the IRS website if you cant afford payment in full.

Bottom Line

A woman looking up tax penalties for late payments.

Filing your taxes late can have dire financial consequences if you ignore notices from the IRS and dont act to fix the situation. Late penalties and interest can cause the balance to spiral out of control. As a result, its crucial to file as soon as possible and communicate with the IRS about your repayment options. The IRS works with taxpayers who cant afford payment in full by creating installment plans, which are infinitely preferable to tax liens and asset seizure.

Tips for Late Tax Filers

Keeping up on your taxes can be challenging when juggling other priorities. A financial advisor can help you plan a timely tax strategy. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

The American federal tax code can be difficult to break down. However, SmartAssets federal income calculator can estimate your tax liability with a few straightforward pieces of information. This tool can help you make an accurate payment toward your tax bill if youve missed the filing deadline.

Photo credit: iStock/Liubomyr Vorona, iStock/Inside Creative House, iStock/staticnak1983

The post What Happens If You File Your Taxes Late? appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.
Sending machines to battle, instead of human operators, sounds like science fiction, but this is precisely what XTENDs Skylord does today. While the current Skylord family members do not shoot weapons, they perform missions in hazardous conditions, enabling their human operators sit inside the drones and perform the mission remotely. This telepresence technology disrupts HLS, military, and first responders markets, making the need to risk lives obsolete.

The SkyLord family employs XTENDs edge technology with cognitive skills to safely perform dangerous missions. The system uses augmented reality (AR) guidance and control technology to enable an operator to perform complex missions with great ease and precision, using an AR vision system and a single-handed controller. Said Aviv Shapira, XTEND CEO. This telepresence interface enables operators to immerse themselves and step into a remote reality and engage targets effectively yet safely.

This joint activity implements novel technological capabilities taken from the field of AR, from the world of gaming, said Lt. Col. Menachem Landau, Head of the UAV Branch in the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) of Israels Ministry of Defense. According to XTEND, only a few hours are required to master a flight, and, within a few days, soldiers can achieve initial operational capability with the system. It enables troops to employ intuitive, battle-proven, and precise systems, following a minimum training period, to engage hostile flying objects such as drones.

SkyLord provides a common drone operating system enabling a single operator control of different drone platforms and missions. The current technology enables a single operator to control single or multiple drones. The patent-pending technology developed by XTEND is also designed to support the management and swarm layering, autonomous flight, and drone-team mission management.

Skylord uses an integrated sensor and payload system, provided as part of the system. Computer vision processing of onboard camera feeds perform simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) calculations, enabling the drone to self localize in space. Additional processing using machine learning performs heuristic predictive visual and spatial analytics, enabling the drone to understand complex spatial relations with obstacles, and targets, thus follow operator directions and intent. While operation and control are best performed using VR, providing the most efficient and accurate means of control. By adapting communications techniques, using video compression and decompression, and optimizing interface, XTEND managed to overcome latency to comfortable levels. The sensor feeds from the drone can be displayed on tablets, eyepieces, and wrist displays. The entire system, including the controller and AR viewer, weigh less than two kilograms.

The Skylord family comprises three platforms  Xtender, Hunter, and Wolverine, each is designed to perform a specific mission set.

Xtender  a mini tablet-sized (25 cm) drone powered by four ducted rotors, Xtender is designed for indoor surveillance. The onboard cameras are used for localization and orientation, obstacle management, and situational awareness. Xtender packs powerful indoor navigation capabilities in a small form factor; AR telepresence enables human operators to sit inside, navigating the drone into the confined spaces, moving ahead of an assault team as they enter to clear a building in close-quarter combat (CQB).

Using intuitive AR control, operators can easily slide under sofas or through narrow spaces, flying through galleries or underground spaces. Ido Baron, VP Business Development told Defense-Update. Designed for operation in close quarters, Xtender is equipped with communications to maintain a stable link with the lead section through several floors. When missions extend over more complex indoors, several Xtender drones will be able to implement a MESH network to cover a larger indoor space.

Wolverine is the heavier member of the family, equipped with a mechanical arm that can grip packages or sling loads, lifting 3 kg. The Wolverine has been operational and has performed in over 100 counter-IED missions. The drone can deliver cargo within 10 centimeters of its designated target, thus safely manipulate suspected explosive device scenes, clearing within seconds events that would have taken hours to solve.

Hunter: A multi-purpose drone system, the Hunter has been used primarily in Counter-UAV missions. This combat-proven system has been fielded with the Israeli military. It is undergoing testing as part of an operational pilot program launched by the US Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO).

Under the program, XTEND is delivering dozens of systems, each weighing less than two kilograms, comprising three drones, an virtual reality viewing system, and a hand controller. The drone can be used for surveillance, dashing to its target at 150 km/h. It can also perform drone interceptor missions using a specially designed C-UAS net. For that mission, the Hunter is flown toward its target dragging a net; as it gets closer to the target, the drone takes a course that brings the net to entangle with the target drone. The net is detached from the Hunter that continues its flight and lands safely near the operator.

According to Shapira, since the interceptor drone is fully controlled throughout the mission, Hunter provides a simple, safe, and cost-effective C-UAS hard-kill solution. Hunter was proven in over 2,500 successful intercepts over the border with Gaza, where it was deployed against hostile drones and incendiary devices. Since the Hunter drone remains intact through the intercept, and the net assembly can be reused, the system has a low cost per intercept. Among those that have seen extensive use, single Hunter platforms have downed more than 90 targets without a loss.

XTEND, the Skylord drone familys Israeli developer, demonstrated drone-defeating capabilities to Spanish authorities as part of an evaluation event hosted by the Spanish Ministries of Interior and Defense in Asturias Airport, Spain. The event featured 16 counter-drone technologies; each company had to perform several tests to demonstrate how they maintain their designated area security and defeat hostile drones while being compatible with the airports operational communication and navigation services. According to Shapira, XTEND performed kinetic intercepts intercepting the target drone before entering into the airspace of the protected airport perimeter. Shapira concluded, The successful evaluation here shows the way we can revolutionize how airports can survey and protect their airspace from drones and other aerial threats that place aircraft at risk.
Secretary of Baku Diocesan Administration, Rector of Holy Mirgorod Women's Archimandrite Cathedral Alexei Nikonorov said that the position of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinke on religious freedom in Azerbaijan is absolutely biased, Azernews reports.

It should be reminded that exactly two months ago on the air of the American news channel Fox News, the president of a certain "International Christian Concern" Jeff King has already presented a report on the "chase of the year" and that in 2023 he will be among the top 10 countries "on the scale of persecution of Christians".

It is clear to the erudite reader that a large number of Western, mainly American human rights organisations do not have sufficient bureaucracy and infrastructure to obtain and process their own reliable information on religious freedom in a given country using their own analytical strategies.

They rely on information from a variety of diverse, not always reliable and often biased sources and analysts, including contradictory sources. Such data naturally do not contain the honest positions of the informants. And not surprisingly, these results often have nothing to do with reality," he said.

Archimandrite Alexis Nikonorov believes that behind the statements of the US Secretary of State are anti-Azerbaijani lobbyists interested in discrediting Azerbaijan, creating its negative image in front of international political and public structures.

"Our country has accumulated centuries-old unique experience of peaceful coexistence and interaction of Muslim, Christian and Jewish population, joint creative activity. It is a unique phenomenon that Azerbaijan has practically no problems hindering the development of inter-religious dialogue at the everyday level between ordinary citizens in many states and societies," he explained.

Archimandrite Alexis Nikonorov emphasised that Azerbaijan pays special attention to cultural diversity in society and acts as a guarantor of the rights and freedoms of every citizen, regardless of their religious and national affiliation.

"The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan ensures equality of all citizens before the law, regardless of their nationality, religion and language. At the same time, the State provides comprehensive support to non-Muslim communities in their legally established activities and promotes interreligious and multicultural dialogue. It is no secret that during the 30-year territorial conflict in the Karabakh region there appeared forces wishing to give this conflict a religious tinge. But thanks to the wisdom of our people, the political will of Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, the religious leader of the Muslims of the Caucasus, as well as the mediating role of the Russian Orthodox Church, all such attempts were completely stopped.

It is obvious that Azerbaijan's successes, full restoration of territorial integrity, unity of society and other positive factors do not give rest to our enemies who are interested in weakening the political position of our country and its obvious leading role in the South Caucasus. They are trying to present Azerbaijan's success in liberating its territory from occupation as a struggle between Christians and pan-Turkist forces. It is no secret that by Christians we mean the earning of political forces on "refugees" of purely Armenian population resettled from the Karabakh region to the neighbouring republic.

Thus, the position voiced by Antoni Blinke seems completely plausible and biased. I am confident that this will not prevent Azerbaijan from moving forward, strengthening its political and economic power through full consolidation of public and civil institutions, continuing to show an example of inter-religious and inter-ethnic relations," Archimandrite Alexis Nikonorov said.

On 4 January, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the inclusion of a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, in the "watch list" for observance of religious freedom.
Key Insights

Imperial Oil's estimated fair value is CA$114 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Imperial Oil is estimated to be 31% undervalued based on current share price of CA$78.60

Our fair value estimate is 31% higher than Imperial Oil's analyst price target of CA$87.28

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Imperial Oil

What's The Estimated Valuation?

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (CA$, Millions) CA$5.44b CA$4.42b CA$3.53b CA$3.71b CA$3.91b CA$3.83b CA$3.81b CA$3.81b CA$3.83b CA$3.87b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x9 Analyst x6 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -1.86% Est @ -0.72% Est @ 0.07% Est @ 0.63% Est @ 1.02% Present Value (CA$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.6% CA$5.1k CA$3.8k CA$2.8k CA$2.8k CA$2.7k CA$2.5k CA$2.3k CA$2.1k CA$2.0k CA$1.9k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CA$28b

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We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.9%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.6%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = CA$3.9b (1 + 1.9%)  (7.6% 1.9%) = CA$69b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= CA$69b ( 1 + 7.6%)10= CA$33b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CA$61b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of CA$78.6, the company appears quite undervalued at a 31% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

TSX:IMO Discounted Cash Flow January 6th 2024

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Imperial Oil as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.138. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Imperial Oil

Strength

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Oil and Gas market.

Opportunity

Annual revenue is forecast to grow faster than the Canadian market.

Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

Threat

Annual earnings are forecast to decline for the next 3 years.

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Imperial Oil, there are three essential aspects you should further research:

Risks: For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Imperial Oil that you should be aware of. Future Earnings: How does IMO's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the TSX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

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.
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the fourth plenary session of the National People's Congress on March 11, 2023 in Beijing, China. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Iran's oil trade with China has stumbled amid a price dispute, Reuters reported.

Iran wants to clip the previous discount of $10 a barrel to about $5 a barrel.

The smaller discounts would hurt the profits of China's "teapot" refineries.

Iran is cutting back crude shipments to China, demanding higher prices on December and January deliveries of Iranian Light crude, Reuters reported on Friday. The move has led to a stalemate between the two countries, and could squeeze profits of the "teapot" refineries in China.

Iran is lowering its discount of $10 per barrel of Brent crude which was decided in November, to about $5 or $6, traders familiar with the transactions told Reuters. And those discounts could be trimmed even more, sources told the outlet.

Brent crude was trading at $78.69 a barrel on Friday.

According to Reuters, the extent of the current cutbacks in Iranian exports to China are unclear. Sources said that at least one Chinese buyer accepted the higher prices, purchasing a cargo with a $5.50-$6.50 discount.

Iran's price hikes could be a result of relaxed sanctions on Venezuelan oil. As those shipments now sail towards the US and India, the amount of oil available for Beijing has dwindled, pumping up prices and reducing China's power to negotiate over price.

Higher Iranian oil prices could hurt the profits of "teapot" refineries in China which buy 90% of Iran's total oil exports, Reuters reported. Teapot refiners, which are smaller, independent refineries in China, began importing oil from Iran in 2019 after state refineries shied away from Iranian oil following US sanctions, and soon became Tehran's top clients. Overall, Iranian crude now makes up about 10% of Chinese oil imports.

More broadly, China has lapped up cheap oil from sanctioned countries like Iran, Venezuela, and Russia, snapping up oil shipments boycotted from the West, saving a lot of money in the process. Along with India, China has vacuumed up cheap Russian oil exports that hover over the price cap imposed on Russian oil by Western countries following the Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, speaks during a press conference at the Computex 2023 in Taipei on May 30, 2023. SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images

Nvidia has 42% potential upside in 2024 as it begins to capitalize on its AI-chip success, according to Bank of America.

The bank said Nvidia is targeting free cash flow of $100 billion over the next two years, which will help fuel new growth initiatives.

The key to Nvidia's future growth is its ability to build a recurring revenue profile, Bank of America said.

The sharp rise in Nvidia's stock price last year is likely to spill over into 2024 as the company continues to capitalize on its success in developing and selling AI chips, according to a Thursday note from Bank of America.

The bank said Nvidia's fast-growing revenue and profit profile should allow it to generate $100 billion in free cash flow over the next two years. For context, Nvidia generated less than $30 billion in free cash flow over the past two years.

That massive expected free cash flow generation "is just the cherry on top of what is a very delicious cake," Bank of America's Vivek Arya told CNBC on Friday. The layers of that cake include the early cycle of generative AI, Nvidia's strong competitive position, and its upcoming pipeline of new AI chips.

"These cycles don't just start and end in one year. These can be decadelong cycles and there is at least three to four years of upfront hardware deployment  and we are just in year two," Arya said.

The burgeoning cash pile should help Nvidia embark on new growth initiatives that would boost its valuation multiple considerably.

"Of the ~$100 billion [of] free cash flow, we estimate only ~$30 to $35 billion could be deployed for buybacks, leaving a meaningful $65 to $70 billion in ammunition for new organic and inorganic growth initiatives," Arya said in a Thursday note.

The key for Nvidia to keep growing and retain a high valuation will be its ability to build a recurring revenue profile, according to Arya, as its dependency on hardware sales is a big reason it's trading at a price-to-earnings valuation of just 20x based on 2025 earnings estimates.

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That valuation is considerably below its mega-cap tech peers and below its historical median price-to-earnings multiple of 35x to 40x.

"While Nvidia gets clubbed in the 'Magnificent 7', we note Nvidia trades at a 20% to 30% discount on price-to-earnings and enterprise value-to-free cash flow basis, despite 2x the free cash flow margins and 3x the sales CAGR versus the six other 'magnificent' peers," Arya highlighted.

But Nvidia's fast-growing pile of cash should give it the optionality to continue its fast growth and boost its valuation multiple.

"We expect Nvidia to consider assets that help it create a more meaningful recurring revenue profile. While Nvidia has a solid lead in AI, hardware-oriented businesses are not valued as highly as visibility tends to be limited," Arya explained.

Nvidia tried but failed to acquire Arm Holdings for $40 billion in 2020, which should give investors an idea of how ambitious it will be in building out its software and intellectual property assets, according to the note.

"Currently Nvidia generates only ~$1 billion or 2% of sales in annualized revenue from software/subscriptions, which we are skeptical can exceed $5 billion at most without inorganic additions to the core AI enterprise suite. We envision Nvidia considering more enhanced partnerships/M&A of software companies that are helping traditional enterprise customers deploy, monitor and analyze genAI apps," Arya said.

Upcoming catalysts for Nvidia stock that could help it break out of its $400 to $500 trading range include the upcoming CES tradeshow and GTC tradeshow, which could see Nvidia unveil important product updates, according to the note.

Arya reiterated his "Buy" rating on Nvidia and $700 price target, representing potential upside of 42% from current levels.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Making the world a better place is a desire many of us give lip service to, but few have the prerequisites to deliver.

The five 2024 AARP Purpose Prize Award recipients did. The award, for people over 50 who have founded a nonprofit, came with a $50,000 prize in recognition and support of their work.

The Purpose Prize honorees are part of a surging movement of older entrepreneurs leading both for-profit and not-for-profit ventures. In 2021, nearly a quarter of entrepreneurs were 55-64 years old, up from 15% in 1996, according to a report by the Kauffman Foundation. Interestingly, the cohort of younger entrepreneurs shrunk. In 2021, 26% of new entrepreneurs were 20-34 years old, compared to more than a third in 1996.

This years Purpose Prize winners talked to Yahoo Finance about what motivated them as well as their challenges and rewards. Here are the highlights of those conversations.

Ken Falke, Boulder Crest Foundation, Bluemont, Va.

Ken Falke, founder of Boulder Crest Foundation, speaking to a circle of retreat attendees. (Photo courtesy of AARP). ((Photo courtesy of AARP))

In 2010, Ken Falke, a 61-year-old US Navy veteran, and his wife, Julie, began to host families of wounded warriors at their home in Bluemont, Va. Three years later, the couple established the Boulder Crest Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on veterans mental health, and donated 37 acres of their property to build a retreat. Since then, the foundation has offered support to 67,000 combat veterans, first responders and their families through its programs.

What was your biggest challenge in launching the Boulder Crest Foundation?

Getting our land rezoned to use for this purpose. We had to go through a lot of red tape to make it happen.

What were some of the unexpected rewards or surprises?

People come up to me after they've been here and say, "wow, you know, if it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't be here." For somebody to come through one of our programs and to say "this saved my life," or for a mom to call me and say, "you saved my son's life," those types of things are probably the biggest rewards that we can get.

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Did you finance the launch?

We donated the land and put up the first million dollars. That really helped us with our initial fundraising because a lot of our big donors appreciated the fact that we were standing there as one of them, that we had put up a lot ourselves, and they weren't investing in just a good idea.

Ken, I know youre directly impacting so many lives. What has this meant to you personally?

Having purpose in your life is super important. No matter what happens in your life, if you don't have a purpose, it can make life really miserable. What we do at Boulder Crest really gives us not only purpose, but a mission every day. Thats something other than our family that really keeps us going.

Peter Jensen, The REACH Institute, New York, N.Y.

Peter Jensen, founder, The REACH Institute (Photo courtesy of AARP) ((Photo courtesy of AARP))

Dr. Peter Jensen, 74, former head of child psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and founding director of the Center for the Advancement of Children's Mental Health at Columbia University, has been on a mission to upend childrens mental healthcare.

Jensen founded the nonprofit The REACH Institute in 2006 to ramp up the childrens mental health workforce through comprehensive training for doctors and nurses. 

"We have a drastic shortage of mental health expertise for children," Jensen told Yahoo Finance. He found that the typical continuing medical education programs for doctors to renew their licenses were often just lectures and not a place to learn new skills to help them assess, diagnose and treat mental health problems. His institute set out to change that.

What was the biggest challenge for you in starting your initiative?

When we started 17 years ago, there was a lot of stigma about acknowledging mental health issues with children. And those willing to think about it, at least initially, said, well, wait a sec, why are you training pediatricians? Since we began, weve trained more than 6,000 pediatricians and other primary-care physicians in all 50 states to be "first responders" to children with mental health needs.

What that meant was I had to do a fair amount of education of potential donors. Now everyone knows there's a crisis, but back in 2006, people thought, well, is that really an issue? Do kids really have mental health problems?

What unexpected rewards or surprises have come your way?

How much the general public has embraced the mission. They understand it now. To see the public acknowledge this has been very gratifying and now many more hands are working on the problem.

How hard was it to get money to launch?

That was difficult. We found that we could go to foundations, but they did not really totally see or appreciate and understand the mission. What was fortunate for us is that we had a good business model. And healthcare organizations understood the need and agreed to pay us to train their pediatricians and family practitioners.

What did starting this nonprofit mean to you personally?

Its had a huge impact. As a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, and I was inspired by doctors who went to Africa and worked with poor populations. Albert Schweitzer was a very famous name going back historically. And I thought, I want to do that. I want to have a mission to serve people. And so when I became a doctor, that was the beginning. And then when I went to NIH, I remember how satisfied I was in the public health service. So when I left NIH I thought, I have to continue this mission. How do I serve the public? I didn't realize I needed to form a nonprofit.

Janice Malone, Vivian's Door, Mobile, Ala.

Janice Malone, founder of Vivian's Door (Photo courtesy of AARP) ((Photo courtesy of AARP))

In 2018, Janice Malone, a serial entrepreneur, now 68, founded Vivian's Door, a nonprofit that helps minority-owned businesses and small farmers grow and reinvest in their communities in South and Central Alabama. It provides business education and training through workshops, mentoring and networking sessions.

What was your biggest challenge?

Getting people to understand what I was doing and why it was needed. People just couldn't seem to wrap their brain around why what I was doing was important or even necessary.

What were some of the unexpected rewards and surprises that have come your way since you were able to launch?

Once we started to build it out, people could begin to see what it was we were doing and then started to follow along with us, get connected. It was a journey that they wanted to be on. Also we were actually changing people's lives. They were able to follow that dream that they had. To see it in action, it was amazing to see their lives changed by what we do.

Money is a stumbling block for so many startups. How difficult was it, Janice, to get the funds to get it going?

In the beginning, we had board members, and they started the initial funding and fundraising for us. We ran a crowdfunding campaign that helped us raise close to $10,000, and I also took money from my savings.

How has Vivians Door enhanced your own life?

Well, I think it's made me become more purposeful and more authentic in what I do in my life and what I do for the lives of the people that I'm touching here. It's almost surreal in some ways that I'm actually really doing this and people are getting a better chance.

Don Schoendorfer, Free Wheelchair Mission, Irvine, Calif.

Don Schoendorfer, founder, Free Wheelchair Mission (Photo courtesy of AARP) ((Photo courtesy of AARP))

During a trip to Morocco in 1979, Don Schoendorfer, now 74, saw a woman with disabilities digging her nails into the ground as she crawled across a dirt road. People were stepping over her like she was not there, but gradually she got across the road.

That image clung to him for years.

Two decades later, Schoendorfer tapped his engineering background to design a wheelchair with mountain bike wheels and a plastic lawn chair mounted on a steel frame. It costs $96 to make, ship and deliver to someone in the developing world.

In 2001, he founded the Free Wheelchair Mission to keep building those wheelchairs. Since then the organization has shipped nearly 1.4 million wheelchairs to people living with disabilities in 94 countries who would not otherwise be able to afford one, according to Schoendorfer.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 80 million people in the world, or 1% of the population, need a wheelchair.

What was the biggest challenge in starting your nonprofit?

Giving up my career. I had a 25-year career in the biomedical engineering field. I had worked hard and had built a reputation and expertise there. It was a big risk to start an international wheelchair charity from scratch, especially since I didnt have any knowledge on how to get started.

Since I didnt know much about starting a nonprofit, many supporters came to me to offer their expertise in areas like shipping, logistics, finance, and so on. Some of those supporters eventually joined our board. I had to realize I couldnt do it alone.

Unexpected rewards and surprises?

The people and the lives that have been transformed. Meeting for myself the people who receive the wheelchairs is life-changing. The moment of seeing them sit in their wheelchair for the first time and smile is unforgettable. I am struck by their joy and resilience despite the difficult circumstances they have faced. Each one is a new surprise.

How did you find the money to launch?

I started off by making 100 wheelchairs in my garage as a type of clinical trial that I funded myself. Then, I went on a church-funded mission trip to India where I distributed the first four of these wheelchairs. After that, money began literally showing up in my mailbox from people who wanted me to continue the work of giving out wheelchairs. Once I decided to start the nonprofit and shared about it with others, people began to give very generously. To this day, many of the people who supported me in the early days continue to give, which I am truly grateful for.

What did starting your nonprofit mean to you personally?

Starting this humanitarian charity was a clear direction from God on what I was supposed to do next in my life. For me, one of the greatest blessings is to have received this calling and to discover a purpose in my life using my talents to lift people into transformed lives through these wheelchairs. My prayer is that many others will follow their own calling and purpose to use their gifts to help others in need.

Laura Stachel, We Care Solar, Berkeley, Calif.

Laura Stachel, founder, We Care Solar (Photo courtesy of AARP) ((Photo courtesy of AARP))

In 2008, Dr. Laura Stachel, an obstetrician, now 64, was doing research and working at a hospital in Nigeria when discovered first hand the lack of a reliable source of electricity during childbirth. Nighttime deliveries were in near-dark conditions. Cesarean sections were performed by flashlight.

She brought in her husband, Hal Aronson, a solar energy educator, and he designed a small off-grid solar electric system for the hospital where she was conducting research.

The next year, Stachel and Aronson co-founded We Care Solar, which provides health workers with Solar Suitcases that provide electricity to enable lighting, mobile communication, and power medical devices.

What was your biggest challenge?

Everything was a challenge. I knew nothing about starting a business. After spending time observing maternity care in northern Nigeria, I knew that health workers were struggling to provide life-saving services to mothers and newborns in health facilities lacking light and power. And that mothers and babies were dying from preventable causes.

I had to assemble a team that could design a portable solar electric system tailored for health care that could be manufactured at scale; figure out a way to ship and distribute these to last-mile health centers, identify partners who could help us locate energy-poor health centers in need, train technicians to install and maintain solar electric systems, and monitor and evaluate our programs.

I needed someone who understood business and finances, someone who could oversee programs, and others who could help with research and fundraising. This was the biggest learning curve of my life.

Unexpected rewards and surprises?

I was surprised that solar electricity could have such enormous impact. After equipping the first hospital with solar electricity, maternal deaths decreased by 70% the next year.

My husband and I turned our home into an assembly plant for compact solar electric systems that could fit inside a suitcase. Friends and neighbors would come over and help us build Solar Suitcases. We would hold fundraising parties and buy more parts. Eventually demand outgrew our capacity to respond and we decided to form a nonprofit.

How did you find the money to launch?

Our first funds came from winning competitions. We won prizes from UC Berkeley (where I was a graduate student at the time), and received funding from the Blum Center for Developing Economies, as well as individuals who shared our passion for lighting up safe childbirth. Our most significant funding came from the MacArthur Foundation who gave us a grant to design a Solar Suitcase that could be manufactured at scale, and to test the impact of this technology on maternal healthcare in Nigeria.

What did starting your nonprofit mean to you personally?

I had been an Ob/Gyn for 14 years before starting this, and I loved my job. A back injury ended my clinical career, and it was devastating to lose the ability to care for mothers and newborns.

Starting a nonprofit with a mission to save lives in childbirth with clean energy gave me a sense of purpose. It showed me that there was another way to make a tangible difference in the world, with the potential to impact more lives than I ever could have done in my private practice.

By this point, We Care Solar has equipped more than 8,500 health centers with reliable light and clean solar power, improving working conditions for 35,000 health providers, and serving more than 14 million mothers and newborns. The stories we hear each week from midwives and doctors around the world remind us that our mission is vitally important.

Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a workplace futurist, a career and retirement strategist, and the author of 14 books, including "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in The New World of Work" and "Never Too Old To Get Rich." Follow her on X @kerryhannon.

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Whether youre feeding a large family, planning a vacation, or running a business, Costco can be your go-to for everything you need. Katy Stevick runs The MacPherson House Bed & Breakfast in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Halfway between New York and Florida off I-95, the location is the perfect stop-off for traveling snowbirds, families driving to Disney World, or anyone heading toward the beaches of the Carolinas.

Im a Shopping Expert: 9 Items Id Never Put in My Grocery Cart

Learn More: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000

In addition to managing a B&B, Stevick is also a financial advisor for Align Financial Planning. Saving money, along with getting the highest value from her purchases, is always on her mind. She finds many of the necessities to run a successful B&B at Costco.

Stevick recently shared with us all the reasons she loves Costco. Even though the closest one is more than an hour away, she makes the trip to stock up on must-haves for her B&B, along with a rotisserie chicken or two for her home.

We actually call them $100 rotisserie chickens, because I go in for a $5 rotisserie chicken and leave with $100 worth of goodies every time, Stevick joked. But to be fair, I shop their sales and the other items I find there either save my family money vs. shopping at a regular grocery store or bring us joy. I like to splurge on a great bottle of wine, kids clothes, treats from the bakery section and really beautiful childrens books.

However, Stevick finds savings when she shops for her vacation rental. Here are some of the reasons Stevick loves Costco as a business owner.

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Kirkland Brand Products

Guests frequently ask about our high-quality coffee that fills the house with the most beautiful aroma to wake up to, Stevick said.

Her secret is Kirkland Signature Medium Roast Coffee. Its literally brewed by Starbucks, she told GoBankingRates in an exclusive email interview. It really is the best value.

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Paper Goods

Stevick also told GOBankingRates that she relies on the Kirkland Signature brand for paper towels and toilet paper in her B&B. We buy the Kirkland Signature brand whenever possible. I find that the quality is just as good, if not better than the name brand.

Baking Ingredients

Stevick prepares breakfast at The MacPherson House every morning and bakes cookies from scratch to welcome guests. She said she uses giant Kirkland Signature Greek yogurt containers for breakfast parfaits and baking.

We also buy great quality chocolate chips, pure vanilla extract and other baking ingredients for our signature, scratch-made chocolate chip cookies that we set out for guests each afternoon, she added.

Fancy Chocolates

Its the little things that can set a B&B apart, and Stevick prides herself on small, welcoming touches. One of the most random things I love to purchase at Costco are bulk bags of nice chocolates, like Lindt Truffles, Stevick said. Setting out a small dish of nice chocolates at the door by the guest book is just one small way of showing guests that weve taken care to go the extra mile for their comfort, and it signifies the luxury experience they have to look forward to.

Sheets and Towels

Those who work in hospitality go through a lot of towels and sheets. Stevick always likes to make sure that guests have sheets and towels that look and feel as good as new.

The Kirkland brand sheets are the most comfortable and durable 100% cotton sheets out there, she said. We also exclusive buy plush white Charisma bath towels from Costco for the B&B.

Low Priced Gas

Stevick could order bath towels at Costco Online, but the shipping costs can add up, so shed rather make the purchase part of her Costco run.

Fortunately, she can also re-fill her gas tank at a discount before going home. Although Stevick pointed out that she has a Sams Club and a BJs closer to the B&B, neither location carries the diesel fuel Stevick needs for her vehicle.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Its not just the low prices and exclusive products that keep Stevick returning to Costco.

As a shopper, I love their 100% satisfaction guarantee, she said. I know I can get low prices on bulk items at any of the members-only stores (like BJs and Sams Club) but at Costco, I know that both the price and quality will be unmatched, and if something doesnt live up to my expectations, they make it super easy to take it back.

Cash Back from the Executive Membership

Finally, as a financial planner, Stevick enjoys getting cash back to use on her business every year.

We initially got the Executive membership because our B&B purchases made the cash back work, but I think it would work well for household memberships, too, if you do enough of your shopping there, she advised.

Final Note

Whether youre running a hospitality business or shopping for a large family, Costco offers perks and benefits that can help you save money through 2024.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I Rent Vacation Homes  Heres Why I Love Costco


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...Elevated Fire Danger Today and Tuesday... ...Hard Freeze Expected Tonight... The combination of very dry air and northwest winds gusting up to 20 mph will create an elevated risk of uncontrolled fire spread this afternoon. Relative humidity values will fall to 20 to 35%, with the lowest humidity levels over the Ozark Foothills of southeast Missouri. A more substantial fire danger is expected Tuesday, as southwest winds increase significantly, with gusts of 25 to 40 mph forecast Tuesday afternoon. Relative humidity values Tuesday afternoon will fall to 25 to 35%. If you are planning outdoor burning today and Tuesday, use extra caution and have fire suppression equipment ready. Tonight, very cold and dry surface high pressure will allow temperatures to drop into the middle and upper 20s throughout the region. Although the growing season has not officially started, tender vegetation could be impacted by these cold temperatures. Please take necessary actions to protect any tender vegetation tonight.
southend airport

The proposed sale of London Southend Airport has been dealt a blow after a key backer launched legal action over a dispute relating to a 125m loan.

Carlyle Group has accused the regional airport of breaching an agreement struck in 2021, which saw the US private equity giant inject 125m in return for a proposed 30pc stake.

However, relations have soured amid accusations that London Southend, owned by Esken, has overspent during its recovery from Covid.

This has resulted in an alleged breach of the loan agreement, Carlyle has claimed, which has prompted it to seek earlier repayment before the current deadline of 2028.

It comes as Esken, formerly known as the Stobart group, tries to sell the Essex airport more than a decade after it was bought for 21m in 2008.

The legal battles also mark the airports latest headache as it battles to recover from lockdown restrictions during Covid.

A 90pc fall in passenger numbers led to Ryanair, Wizz Air and EasyJet all withdrawing from the airport, with business director Nigel Mayes admitting in 2022 that the airport took a hammering.

It has since regained EasyJet as a customer, which has helped to stabilise the airports finances and clear the way for a potential sale. Last week, it also welcomed Aeroitalia, which will soon operate direct flights from Southend to Milan Bergamo.

Esken has not yet put a price on the business, nor have any suitors publicly expressed an interest.

However, the prospect of a long-running legal battle with Carlyle could cast a shadow over a proposed takeover.

It is understood that the amount owed to Carlyle stands at 193.7m.

An Esken spokesman said London Southend denies breaching the agreement and will fight the claim vigorously.

The company said: LSA remains entirely focused on contracting with airlines to meet passenger demand as part of its recovery back to pre-pandemic passenger numbers of 2.2m and then to approximately five million in the medium term.

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Esken as owners of LSA remain focused on continuing with the disposal process to crystallise value for shareholders and secure the right long-term partner to support LSAs future growth.

Carlyle Group declined to comment.

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As the Biden administration and the mainstream media remain silent, healthcare workers are speaking out on their experiences during the eighth surge of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. World Socialist Web Site reporters recently spoke to healthcare workers at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who described fighting to manage overcrowded Emergency Departments and over-capacity ICUs amid a lack of precautions and systems in place to contain the virus.

Michigan Medicine nurses discharging patient [Photo: Michigan Medicine]

One worker stated, COVID is rampant. Keep your masks on. Its ramping up. Biden thinks its nonexistent, management thinks its nonexistent, too. I dont think we are testing everyone. We are testing if they are a suspected case, but we dont always know.

An emergency department nurse stated that the ED is completely full. Its kind of the normal now. It gets filled up upstairs so nobody moves. If someone needs a bed, it doesnt happen.

The rate of COVID-19-positive hospitalized patients has been steadily rising since early November. Since December 1, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Michigan have risen 25 percent. The latest data from the week ending December 27 shows 1,149 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. A significant jump in hospitalizations was also seen from the week ending November 17 to November 27, during which they jumped 46 percent. These official figures are undercounts due to the scrapping of systematic COVID testing and case reporting.

In the Midwest, wastewater data is consistent with national trends, which show that transmission of SARS-CoV2 has doubled. It is now the second highest level of transmission of the entire pandemic, and experts forecast that it will continue to rise in the weeks ahead now that JN.1 is dominant. Hospitals have rid themselves of all but the bare minimum precautions against the virus, putting patients and workers at risk of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it throughout the hospital.

One worker explained, Some people hide that theyre sick because Michigan Medicine makes them use PTO [paid time off] for COVID. One of my coworkers said, Were dispensable. With JN.1 the East Coast and Midwest are places where its highly concentrated and were noticing it in the hospital.

A nurse described how systems that were once in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 have been withdrawn: What worries me the most is patients who are getting COVID when they are in the hospital. Then the roommate gets COVID too. And we dont even move the patient anymore when they get COVID. Theres no rule about informing the roommate either, so they just find out because they hear us talking about it. They ask to move, but there are no beds.

Usually we have the PPE we need, but its disorganized. Recently, for about a week we were out of small N95s so people were just wearing the wrong sized ones or just wearing surgical masks when they went into COVID rooms. They arent enforcing visitation rules for isolation rooms either, which means all those visitors could then be spreading COVID throughout the hospital.

An EVS [environmental services] worker at Michigan Medicine described the increased pressure to turn over rooms quickly when the hospital is full and understaffed: We are always understaffed. Nobody likes the job. The nurses are busy and short staffed and we need them when we are cleaning rooms sometimes to pull IV poles and other things. How do you expect us to work faster when were doing two to three peoples jobs?

Cleaning COVID-19 rooms, he explains, is more stressful and time consuming: My chances of catching [COVID] are now greater. Out of six to eight rooms Im assigned a day, over half of them are COVID. Then I also have more chances of catching it because Im doing more than one job. I have to take the gown off to take a food tray to the kitchen. Then I put the gown back on to go back in the room. Then I have to put the IV pole and breathing apparatus out.

We get N95 masks, but you have to understand, there are different sizes. If there are only small masks, we have to go find larger ones. Theres some disorganization on how and where to find them. Our supervisors boss is all about numbers. They say they care about safety, but they really want to see numbers.

Data on ICU capacity is an important indicator of overstressed hospitals. Data from the week ending December 23 shows dozens of hospitals across the state with ICU occupancy above 75 percent. McClaren Oakland in Pontiac has ICU occupancy rates of 94 percent. Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor is at 87 percent occupancy. The ICU at Childrens Hospital of Michigan in downtown Detroit is at 100 percent of capacity, and Edward W. Sparrow hospital in Lansing is at 98 percent.

ICU occupancy above 75 percent has been shown to be associated with an increase of excess deaths two, four and six weeks following the stretched capacity. ICU occupancy is not a direct cause of the excess deaths, but rather it strains every aspect of the hospital, causing ambulance diversions, supply limitations, staffing shortages, delays in care and overcrowding, especially in emergency departments.

A nursing assistant (NA) from Corewell Health heard that his own hospitals ICU has reached 86 percent. It shows that theres a clear need to return to stricter measures to combat the spread.

He echoed the sentiments about the disorganized distribution of PPE amid rising COVID cases. There has definitely been an increase in positive patients, he said. On my last shift two of my patients were COVID positive and there were so many COVID positive patients in the hospital as a whole that there was a shortage of isolation carts, so for one of my patients I had to borrow materials from another cart  luckily I brought an N95 mask from home, but thats not the case for the majority of employees and shouldnt be an expense that employees have to shoulder.

The NA explained that there have not been any changes to visitation rules or masking requirements to try to mitigate the spread of COVID. He expressed concern for his patients: I work principally with cancer patients, so the spread of COVID obviously poses a danger as many patients may be immunocompromised as a result of cancer or treatments they are receiving for cancer.

A handful of hospital systems have been forced to recognize the surge, reinstating very basic visitation restrictions and suggestions for masking. But these paltry precautions are an insult to healthcare workers, many of whom have been trained in the principles of infectious disease and understand that public health measures like mass testing of the population, targeted isolation, strong vaccination campaigns, the use technology like HEPA filters and UV light filters, and other public health measures are what is needed to keep them and their patients safe.

The refusal of the Biden administration, healthcare executives and the entire ruling class to address or even acknowledge the pandemic is a glaring sign of the dead end of the capitalist system. A strategy for the elimination of SARS-CoV-2 is attainable, but instead of providing the necessary funding to guarantee the health of society, the Biden administration continues to funnel unlimited sums to Israel to carry out a genocide of the Palestinian population and to Ukraine to perpetuate its proxy war against Russia.

Heeding the powerful calls of Palestinian healthcare workers, more and more healthcare workers around the world have been joining other sections of the working class to fight against war, genocide and exploitation. This struggle must include a renewed fight to end the COVID-19 pandemic through a scientifically grounded policy of global elimination and a broader fight for socialized medicine.
This is the fourth of a four-part statement. Part one was published January 3, part two was published on January 4 and part three was published on January 5.

The growth of the class struggle and the fight for socialism

1. The previous sections of this statement have concentrated on the major elements of the crisis of the world capitalist system at the beginning of 2024: 1) The escalation of imperialist militarism, spearheaded by the United States, resulting in a proxy war against Russia, the overt preparation for war against China, and, in Gaza, the adoption of genocide as a legitimate instrument of state policy; 2) A massive regression in social policy, exemplified by the deliberate repudiation of basic public health measures to counter the COVID-19 pandemic and save countless millions of people throughout the world from illness, debilitation and death; 3) The extreme concentration of wealth in the upper echelons of capitalist society, resulting in staggering levels of social inequality in the advanced capitalist countries and on a global scale; which underlies 4) The world-wide erosion and breakdown of democratic forms of rule and the resurgence, on a scale not seen since the 1930s, of authoritarian and fascistic political organizations and governments.

2. All the red lines that demarcate civilization from barbarism are being effaced. The motto of capitalist governments is: Nothing that is criminal is alien to us. Nuclear war is being normalized; genocide is being normalized; pandemics and the deliberate culling of the infirm and elderly have been normalized; unfathomable levels of wealth concentration and social inequality have been normalized; the suppression of democracy and the resort to authoritarianism and fascism are being normalized.

3. Taken as a whole, the normalization of different forms of social barbarism signify that the capitalist class has arrived at a dead end. A class whose policies consist of different forms of sociocide has clearly exhausted its historical, economic, social and political legitimacy.

4. The prospects for humanity would be bleak were it not for the historically verified fact that the contradictions that drive capitalism to destruction also set into motion the conditions for its overthrow and the reorganization of society on a new and progressive, i.e., socialist, foundation. The potential for this reorganization is rooted in the objective being of the working class. The class struggle is the means by which the objective possibility of socialist reorganization is realized in practice.

5. Attention must therefore be turned to the development of the class struggle. As the year opens, to what extent has the crisis of capitalism generated a countervailing movement of the working class?

6. An examination of the social struggles of 2023 provides clear evidence of a significant quantitative and qualitative development of the class struggle. The quantitative is the undoubted growth in the sheer number of workers who have engaged in strikes and related forms of protest against exploitation, declining living standards, attacks on democratic rights and militarism. The qualitative development is the global scale of the class struggle, the tendency of the movement of the working class to sweep over national borders and acquire an international character.

Protesters march during a demonstration against plans to push back France's retirement age on February 7, 2023 in Paris. [AP Photo/Michel Euler]

7. This process was anticipated by the International Committee of the Fourth International as far back as 1988. Working through the implications of the developing globalization of the process of production and the emergence of transnational corporations, the opening report delivered at the Thirteenth National Congress of the Workers League (predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States) on August 30, 1988 stated:

We anticipate that the next stage of proletarian struggles will develop inexorably, beneath the combined pressure of objective economic tendencies and the subjective influence of Marxists, along an internationalist trajectory. The proletariat will tend more and more to define itself in practice as an international class; and the Marxian internationalists, whose policies are the expression of this organic tendency, will cultivate this process and give it conscious form. [Fourth International, July-December 1988, p. 39]

8. This perspective has been verified by events. The past year continued the trend of increasing protests and strike action internationally. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace reported in December that the tide of anti-government protests that has roiled countries across the globe in recent years continued in 2023, including new protests in 83 different countries. Seven countries that had not experienced major protests in the past five years joined the club: Denmark, French Polynesia, Mozambique, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Suriname, and Sweden. In addition, some demonstrations that began prior to this year persisted, including teachers protests in Hungary, anti-ruling party demonstrations in Bangladesh, and displays of opposition to Tunisian President Kais Saieds July 2021 self-coup and his crackdown on the opposition.

9. Protests over rising prices, accelerated by the US-NATO war against Russia, occurred in many countries, including Pakistan, Portugal, and Slovenia. Grievances about monetary policy and cash shortages sparked demonstrations in Ghana and Nigeria. In France, strikes and protests against pension reform, which raised the national retirement age from sixty-two to sixty-four, roiled the country early in the year. Demonstrations regarding pension reform also occurred in the Czech Republic and several Indian states.

Strikers and protesters at the Trades Union Congress rally in Whitehall, February 1, 2023

10. There were also strikes involving hundreds of thousands of railworkers, dockworkers, teachers and other sections of workers in the UK, which continued from the middle of 2022 through 2023; major strikes in Portugal, Belgium and Germany; a strike of 420,000 public sector workers in Quebec; protests of more than one million in Poland against the far-right Law and Justice Party; and, prior to the Gaza genocide, protests involving hundreds of thousands in Israel against Netanyahus anti-democratic judicial reforms. As the year came to an end, tens of thousands of workers participated in mass demonstrations against the new far-right president of Argentina, Javier Milei.

11. There was a significant rise last year in strike activity in the United States, both in the number of workers involved and in the different sections of the working class that the struggles encompassed. In 2023, there were 36 major strikes involving 1,000 workers or more, up from 23 in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last years major strikes involved nearly 500,000 workers, almost four times the 120,600 who struck in 2022. In October 2023, 4.5 million days were lost due to work stoppages, the most of any month in four decades. A third of the major strikes (12) involved nurses and other healthcare workers, including 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers. Another seven involved teachers and graduate students.

12. The database of work stoppages by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations reports that there were 421 strikes of all sizes, involving 508,000 workers. This includes 70 strikes by 100 or more workers lasting more than a week, an increase of 59 percent from the year before. While the total number of strikes of all sizes in 2023 was about the same as in 2022 (421 compared to 424), the number of striking workers more than doubled, from 224,000 to 508,000.

WGA writers on strike in front of Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, California.

13. The involvement of 11,000 writers and 65,000 actors in the developing strike movement expressed the broadening of the definition of the working class itself, which encompasses growing layers of the population that would have previously considered themselves middle class. Revolutionary advances in science, including artificial intelligence (AI), which hold enormous potential for the development of humanity, are being used to increase the exploitation of cultural and technical workers and facilitate a broad restructuring of the economy as a whole.

14. Alongside this global development of the class struggle, a mass anti-war movement against the genocide in Gaza swept the globe in the final three months of 2023 and will continue in the new year. This is already the largest and most sustained anti-war movement since the 2003 protests against the US invasion of Iraq, taking place at a far more advanced stage in the breakdown of world capitalism. In hundreds of cities on every habitable continent, millions of people have taken to the streets to voice their opposition to the brutality of the Israeli government and its imperialist backers. These protests have involved broad cross-sections of society, with youth playing a leading role.

15. The largest demonstrations in the imperialist countries have taken place in London (nearly 1 million on November 11 and 100,000s in multiple other protests); Washington D.C. (over 300,000 on November 4); New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles (10,000s in multiple demonstrations); Sydney and Melbourne (each over 50,000 on November 12); Berlin (over 10,000 on October 28 despite police bans); Paris (over 15,000 on October 22); Amsterdam (over 15,000 on October 15); Toronto (over 15,000 on October 10); and Tokyo (1,500 on November 20). Millions more have protested against the genocide, in particular throughout the Arab world.

Healthcare workers march in San Francisco, California, October 28, 2023.

16. The corporate media have done everything possible to cover up both the genocide itself and the global protests. The reality of the war and opposition to it can only be fully grasped through social media, where masses of people have closely followed developments and organized demonstrations. As a result, the oligarchs who control these platforms, in particular Elon Musk (Twitter/X) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook, Instagram and Threads), are increasingly resorting to flagrant censorship.

17. It does not detract from the objective significance of the strikes and protests to draw attention to the fundamental problems revealed in the initial stages of the global resurgence of class struggle. There remains an immense gap between the advanced level of the objective crisis and the subjective comprehension of this crisis and its political implications in the consciousness of the working class. This gap finds expression, first and foremost, in the continued domination of the workers struggles by the reactionary pro-imperialist trade union bureaucracies and their allies in the social democratic, ex-Stalinist and various forms of petty-bourgeois pseudo-left organizations.

18. In country after country, the struggles of workers were strangled by the pro-corporate and nationalist trade union apparatus, and mass protests have been smothered and shut down by various left and pseudo-left organizations that function as part of the political establishment.

19. In France, opposition to President Emanuel Macrons pension cuts was overwhelming, with two-thirds of the population supporting a general strike in order to stop them. The CGT and CFDT union bureaucracies, however, worked with Jean-Luc Melenchons Unsubmissive France to demobilize the protests and limit strike action. They promoted the fiction that the attack on pensions could be stopped through negotiations with the Macron government or through the institutions of parliament, while covering up the connection between the assault on workers and the US-NATO war against Russia over Ukraine. In the end, Macron was able to force through the cuts in an extra-parliamentary maneuver, while the unions worked to isolate and suppress the strikes and protests that followed.

20. In Sri Lanka, mass protests over rising prices and IMF-backed reforms forced the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022. The trade union apparatus, backed by groups like the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), worked to keep opposition within the parliamentary framework and the official opposition parties. Rajapaksa was replaced in a parliamentary vote by Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of the most hated political figures in all of Sri Lanka. Throughout the past year, Wickremesinghe has worked in league with all the major bourgeois parties to force through the same IMF policies supported by Rajapaksa, including, at the end of 2023, new taxes that sharply increased the cost of basic goods and will bring a sharp increase in poverty.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, accompanied by heads of the armed forces, at 75th Independence Day ceremony in Colombo on February 4, 2023. [Photo: Sri Lanka presidents media division]

21. In the US, all the major strikes of 2023 were isolated and shut down by the union apparatus, working closely with the Biden administration. The UAW, under the leadership of President Shawn Fain, carried out a phony stand-up strike in September and October, which kept the vast majority of the 145,000 Big Three auto workers on the job, and then shut down the strike before workers had even voted on the sell-out contracts that met none of the workers demands. Fain was heavily promoted by pseudo-left groups, including the Democratic Socialists of America, which has been brought directly into the pro-corporate union apparatus.

22. The actions of the UAW are not unique. Everywhere, the unions are controlled by an upper-middle class stratum with distinct social interests, independent of and hostile to the interests of the workers they claim to represent. The cumulative income of the trade union bureaucracy in the United States, which employs hundreds of thousands of individuals, runs into the tens of billions of dollars. The annual payroll for the staff employed in the Detroit headquarters of the UAW exceeds $75 million. High-level executives in the unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, such as Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, receive substantial six-figure salaries that are ten to twenty times higher than the wages of the rank-and-file members of the trade unions.

23. In 1940, Trotsky analyzed the degeneration of the trade unions in what he termed the epoch of imperialist decay.

There is one common feature in the development, or more correctly the degeneration, of modern trade union organizations in the entire world: it is their drawing closely to and growing together with the state power. This process is equally characteristic of the neutral, the Social-Democratic, the Communist and anarchist trade unions. This fact alone shows that the tendency towards growing together is intrinsic not in this or that doctrine as such but derives from social conditions common for all unions. Monopoly capitalism does not rest on competition and free private initiative but on centralized command. The capitalist cliques at the head of mighty trusts, syndicates, banking consortiums, etcetera, view economic life from the very same heights as does state power; and they require at every step the collaboration of the latter. In their turn the trade unions in the most important branches of industry find themselves deprived of the possibility of profiting by the competition between the different enterprises. They have to confront a centralized capitalist adversary, intimately bound up with state power. Hence flows the need of the trade unions  insofar as they remain on reformist positions, ie., on positions of adapting themselves to private property  to adapt themselves to the capitalist state and to contend for its cooperation.

Leon Trotsky in Mexico

24. The tendency identified by Trotsky 84 years ago has since assumed such monstrous proportions that the organizations presently described as trade unions bear, in practice, no relationship whatsoever to the historic meaning of the term. Even prior to his 1940 essay on Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay, Trotsky warned (in 1937) against the tendency to make a fetish of terminology, to the extent of determining policy not on the basis of the objective role of a particular organization, but on its formal title. He wrote:

The character of a workers organization such as a trade union is determined by its relation to the distribution of national income. The fact that Green and Company [at that time the leaders of the American Federation of Labor] defend private property in the means of production characterizes them as bourgeois. Should these gentlemen in addition defend the income of the bourgeoisie from attacks on the part of the workers; should they conduct a struggle against strikes, against the raising of wages, against help to the unemployed; then we would have an organization of scabs, and not a trade union. [Not a Workers and Not a Bourgeois State]

25. Employing the criteria of Trotsky, the major national trade union organizations and federations function as scab organizations, even in the most literal sense of the word. The task of the sections of the International Committee is to assist the working class in the preparation of a full scale insurrection of the rank and file against the trade union bureaucracies, to develop new forms of militant rank and file organization in factories and workplaces to which all decision-making power will be transferred. This approach is based on the Transitional Program, in which Trotsky urged the cadre of the Fourth International to create in all possible instances independent militant organizations corresponding more closely to the tasks of mass struggle against bourgeois society; and, if necessary, not flinching even in the face of a direct break with the conservative apparatus of the trade unions.

26. The International Committee of the Fourth International has fought to free workers from the constraints of the trade union apparatus through the development of organizations controlled by the workers themselves. When it launched the initiative for the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) in April 2021, the ICFI explained that it would strive to unify workers in a common worldwide struggle, opposing every effort by capitalist governments and the reactionary proponents of the innumerable forms of national, ethnic and racial chauvinism and identity politics to split up the working class into warring factions.

Naturally, conditions confronting workers vary from region to region and country to country, and these may affect the choice of tactics. But it is undeniably true, in all countries, that the existing bureaucratized trade unions function as an institutionalized police force, determined to protect the corporate and financial interests of the ruling elites and their governments against growing popular resistance.

27. The trade union bureaucracy will stop at nothing to block the development of socialist influence among the rank and file. But notwithstanding its resources, augmented by the support of the capitalist state and the pseudo-left, it is not invincible. The growing militancy of the working class, within the United States and internationally, is being driven by the objective crisis of capitalism. The task that confronts the party is to intervene in the struggles of the working class and imbue that militancy with a fully worked out socialist perspective that is consciously directed toward the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of workers power on a world scale.

28. Four years ago, the World Socialist Web Sites New Year statement was posted on January 3, 2020 beneath the headline, The decade of socialist revolution begins. No doubt this appraisal of the world situation gave the political bankrupts of the middle-class pseudo-left organizations a good laugh. Nothing seems more invincible to them than capitalist rule, above all in its North American fortress. They not only consider the onset of a revolutionary crisis in the 2020s inconceivable; they can hardly imagine a socialist revolution in the remaining 76 years of the twenty-first century. Rejecting Trotskys theory of permanent revolution, the political practice of the pseudo-left is based on an unshakeable faith in the permanence of capitalism.

29. But all that has occurred since January 2020 has substantiated the political prognosis of the International Committee. Before the first month of the new decade had ended, COVID-19 was spreading throughout the globe. Almost exactly one year after the statement was posted, an attempt was made by Trump and his mob to overthrow the Constitution and establish a fascistic dictatorship. Years three and four have been dominated by escalating war and mounting social resistance of the working class.

30. There is no reason to believe that the crisis of world capitalism will abate and that its symptoms will recede like a short-term flu. On the contrary, the crisis will intensify and the global resistance of the working class will grow more determined and politically conscious. In the latter process, the role of the International Committee will assume a decisive character.

31. This is not an idle boast. The International Committee of the Fourth International is a party of history. Its theoretical, political and practical work is based on the vast experience of revolutionary struggle in the imperialist epoch, spanning more than a century. It alone represents the continuity of Marxism, as it has been defended and developed by the Trotskyist movement since its founding in 1923, in opposition to Stalinism, social democracy, Pabloite revisionism, bourgeois nationalism, and petty-bourgeois radicalism of every reactionary variety.

32. The International Committee does not minimize either the dangers that confront the working class or the enormous scale of the challenge that confronts the revolutionary vanguard. The ICFI does not yet lead a mass movement. For that to occur requires a development in the mass struggles of the working class. However, the growth of Marxist influence among workers has been foreshadowed in the recent campaign of Will Lehman for the presidency of the United Auto Workers. Campaigning openly as a socialist and advocating the program of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, Lehman received the votes of almost 5,000 auto workers. The achievement was all the more significant as the bureaucracy failed to inform workers of the election and managed to limit the voting to less than 10 percent of the UAW membership.

33. The foundations for a significant growth of the cadre of the ICFI and the building of new sections have been laid. The World Socialist Web Site, in the course of a quarter-century of continuous daily publication, has established a large international readership. Despite relentless censorship, the WSWS is read by tens of thousands every day, and its influence in the international working class and among student youth is growing steadily.

34. The work of the Trotskyist movement, moreover, does not occur in a political vacuum. The world crisis is radicalizing tens and hundreds of millions. The chasm between the essential interests of masses and the privileges of the ruling class is becoming ever more obvious. Imperialisms normalization of war, genocide, pestilence, and fascism will provide a mighty impulse for the revolutionizing of mass consciousness and, therefore, the normalization of socialism in the political outlook of the working class.

35. We call on all readers of the World Socialist Web Site to draw the inescapable conclusion that follows from this perspective. Stop the descent into barbarism! Mobilize the power of the working class against dictatorship, inequality and war! Take up the fight for Trotskyism, the Marxism of the twenty-first century! Join the Socialist Equality Party and build the World Party of Socialist Revolution!
The head of South Koreas main opposition Democratic Party (DP) Lee Jae-myung was attacked on Tuesday morning in the southeastern port city of Busan in an assassination attempt. The assailant stabbed Lee in the neck with a modified mountaineering knife and caused a serious injury from which the DP leader is expected to recover. The suspect was detained at the scene.

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, Sept. 26, 2023. [AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon]

The exact motive for the attack is yet to be made clear, but according to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, the man admitted he intended to kill Lee and claimed he acted alone. He has been identified only as a 66-year-old real estate agent with the family name Kim. The man reportedly approached Lee posing as an autograph seeker before stabbing him, damaging the jugular vein but missing the vital carotid artery.

The incident took place on Busans Gadeok Island after Lee toured the construction site of a new airport. He was first taken to Pusan National University Hospital for emergency treatment before being airlifted to Seoul National University Hospital for surgery and where he is currently recovering.

The Busan District Court issued a formal arrest warrant for Kim on Thursday, charging him with attempted murder. The police are also continuing to investigate the attack, including if Kim had accomplices, and may release their findings as early as next week. They have searched Kims home and office in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, approximately 260 km from Busan and have concluded that the attack was thoroughly planned. The investigation has so far revealed that Kim had been following Lee since last June, attending at least six events where the DP leader was present.

While being taken to his arrest hearing, Kim responded to a reporters question on his motivations by saying, Please refer to the eight-page justification document I submitted to the police.

This document has not been made public. Police claim it does not list criminal or political motives, but instead is supposedly filled with several pedantic phrases and abstruse references to history.

Without more information, it is impossible to make a definite declaration on the causes and reasons for the attack on Lee. However, it appears likely that politics played a role.

Lee is a significant political figure. In addition to being the leader of the DP, he is a member of the National Assembly, and was the partys presidential candidate in 2022, only narrowly losing to President Yoon Suk-yeol of the right-wing People Power Party (PPP). Lee has also been embroiled in a politically motivated corruption investigation involving numerous accusations. Tuesdays attack took place with the next general election for parliament scheduled to be held in April.

The Hankyoreh newspaper reported on Friday that Kim had written in his document: During the previous government [of Democrat Moon Jae-in], the economy was ruined due to real estate policy failures and humiliating diplomacy toward North Korea. After the Yoon government was inaugurated and Lee Jae-myung became the opposition leader, the DP has dedicated itself to saving Lee. If everything goes like this, the economy will collapse, whoever wins the general elections. Busan police claimed this report was not completely accurate.

The Hankyoreh also reported that Kim was likely influenced by far-right elements in South Korea. Kims nephew told the newspaper that his uncle had frequently attended far-right Taegeukgi rallies four or five years ago. Taegeukgi is the name for South Koreas flag.

These rallies are notable for their unhinged anti-communism, support for United States imperialism, denunciation of democratic rights, and support for South Koreas past dictators, Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee. They are also marked by calls for violence against their political opponents, all of whom they denounce as communists.

Beginning in 2016, far-right-wing layers of the political establishment first organized Taegeukgi rallies in support of then-President Park Geun-hye. Mass protests had developed that year demanding her removal from office for corruption and which were also fueled by Parks growing attacks on the working class.

While these far-right demonstrations have continued, they lack any mass appeal. The organizers within the political establishment however are working to whip up the most reactionary elements in South Korean society, ultimately directed against the working class. If this is indeed the milieu Lees assailant had surrounded himself with, it is be likely that his actions were in some way politically motivated.

Political attacks of this nature are not unheard of in South Korea. In 2022, then-DP leader Song Yeong-gil was struck in the head with a hammer by an attacker. In 2015, a man slashed US Ambassador Mark Lippert across the face with a knife in Seoul. In 2006, Park Geun-hye was slashed across the face by an attacker when she was head of the Grand National Party, the predecessor of the PPP.

In response to the assault on Lee, the South Korean political establishment has joined together to denounce the act. The Democrats released a statement on Tuesday saying, We strongly condemn the act of political terror against Lee, while also calling on its members not to draw attention to or mention the assailant.

President Yoon made his first public remarks on the attack at a New Year gathering on Wednesday. He stated, Terrorism, in whatever form, is more than just an act of harm or crime against the victim. It suppresses human freedom and is an enemy to everyone that seeks a free society. It is an enemy of liberal democracy.

Yoons supposed concern over the impact on democracy rings entirely hollow. During his administration, he has moved to restrict democratic rights while denouncing his political opponents as North Korean sympathizers in an open appeal to far-right layers in society.

At the same time, violence and killing is increasingly becoming the primary manner in which the ruling class pursues its political interests overseas. Over the past year, Yoon has closely aligned South Korea with the US-led war drive against China in a de facto trilateral military alliance that includes Japan.

It is therefore entirely possible that the Yoon administration and the police will attempt to whitewash the motivations for the attack on Lee and cover up the role of the far-right in mobilizing violence against its opponents.
A bulldozer unloads the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israel in a mass grave in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. [AP Photo/Fatima Shbair]

The Euro-Med Monitor reported Friday that 30,676 Palestinians have been killed in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacks since October 7, taking into account both those whose bodies have been identified and those who have been missing for more than two weeks, most buried under the rubble of demolished buildings.

This staggering death toll includes 12,040 children, 6,103 women, 241 health workers and 105 journalists. A further 58,960 people have been wounded in the onslaught.

Throughout the Gaza Strip, thousands of bodies remain unburied, including hundreds along roads used by the Israeli occupation forces.

Euro-Med reported that 4 percent of the population of Gaza is either dead, wounded or missing. A similar share of the American population would equate to over 13 million.

To date, 1.9 million Palestinians have been internally displaced, amounting to 90 percent of the population of Gaza. Many have been forced to flee multiple times.

In just under three months, Israel has destroyed or damaged approximately 70 percent of Gazas civilian infrastructure, Euro-Med reported, including a staggering 247,696 housing units, 318 schools and 169 healthcare facilities.

The ongoing destruction of Gaza is accompanied by growing demands for the permanent displacement of the Palestinian population.

On Wednesday, the Times of Israel reported, The voluntary resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza is slowly becoming a key official policy of the government, with a senior official saying that Israel has held talks with several countries for their potential absorption.

In a statement on Friday, United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths declared, A public health disaster is unfolding. Infectious diseases are spreading in overcrowded shelters as sewers spill over. Some 180 Palestinian women are giving birth daily amidst this chaos. People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded. Famine is around the corner.

In a separate statement, the United Nation Childrens Fund (UNICEF) reported, Children in Gaza are caught in a nightmare that worsens with every passing day.

Catherine Russell, UNICEFs executive director, said, Children and families in the Gaza Strip continue to be killed and injured in the fighting, and their lives are increasingly at risk from preventable diseases and lack of food and water. All children and civilians must be protected from violence and have access to basic services and supplies.

She added, Gaza has simply become uninhabitable. Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existencewhile the world watches on.

But this bloodbath is only the prelude to what is rapidly becoming a major new US war throughout the Middle East.

On Friday, Politico carried an article reporting that Biden administration officials admit that the war in Gaza has officially escalated far beyond the strips borders.

Politico, citing four unnamed US officials, reported that Biden administration officials are drawing up plans for scenarios that could potentially draw the US into another Middle East war.

The publication added, The military is drafting plans to hit back at Iran-backed Houthi militants who have been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea, according to three US officials with direct knowledge of the discussions. It added, That includes striking Houthi targets in Yemen, according to one of the officials, an option the military has previously presented.

The Pentagon planning to attack Yemen was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The US is also seeking to anticipate and fend off possible attacks on the US by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria, according to one of the officials, Politico reported.

Against this backdrop, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Thursday for a trip throughout the Middle East, including a prominent stop in Israel, to coordinate the next phase of the war.

On the day that Blinken left, the US carried out an illegal missile strike on Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday in the latest escalation of the US-Israeli rampage throughout the Middle East.

The strike targeted Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, a member of a pro-Iran militia, whom Iraq claimed was a member of its security forces. Iraqs foreign ministry issued a strong condemnation of what it called a blatant attack on Iraqs military headquarters.

In a letter to Congress Friday, Biden justified the attack, declaring, I directed these discrete military actions consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests.

In response, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the Iraqi govenrment would move to expel the 2,500 US troops stationed in the country.

The government is setting the date for the start of the bilateral committee to put arrangements in place to end the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq permanently, al-Sudani said in a statement.

The United States, meanwhile, is continuing to mass troops, warships and aircraft in the Middle East. In a statement Wednesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States will not shrink from the task of defending ourselves, our interests, our partners and the free flow of international commerce.

Kirby warned, To accomplish these goals, we have established and will continue to maintain a significant force presence in the Middle East, including significant offensive military power.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) continues to receive copies of letters from workers, youths and their organisations around the world condemning the violent attack on two members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka by pro-government thugs. Dehin Wasantha is a veteran university worker, who is a well-known fighter for workers rights and socialism, and Lakshman Fernando is a full-time SEP party worker.

Dehin Wasantha

These letters, which have been sent to the Sri Lankan attorney general and the vice chancellor of the University of Moratuwa, have demanded maximum legal action against those accused of the thuggery.

Fernando and Wasantha were physically assaulted at the University of Moratuwa on November 30 by Indika Perera and Suranga Piyawardenathe president and secretary of the Moratuwa university branch of Podujana Pragathishili Sevaka Sangamaya (PPSS). The PPSS is a trade union affiliated to the ruling Sri Lankan Podujana Peramuna party.

The two SEP members were campaigning with other party members near the rear gate of the university for SEP public meetings on the Centenary of Trotskyism to be addressed by Joseph Kishore, national secretary of the SEP (US). They were attacked with long wooden clubs causing serious injuries.

Wasantha suffered two fractured fingers and took an extended one-month medical leave because his fingers took a considerable period to mend. Lakshman was badly bruised and left with a neck injury. Wasantha reported back to his work at the university on January 2.

The Moratuwa Magistrate Court is due to hear the case against Perera and Piyawardena on January 8. The Moratuwa university administration has not yet started an inquiry against the culprits.

Wasantha has sent an open letter to university non-academic employees union in Sri Lanka about the pro-government attack on him and Fernando. His letter explains that the brutal assault was an attack, not just on his basic democratic rights but the working class as a whole, and urges the union to condemn it.

The open letter says: It is my legitimate right to hold political views I choose and for that matter, all my non-academic colleagues have this democratic right. I am a socialist and have fought to defend the interests of the working class and poor. No one can deny and suppress my democratic rights.

It continues: In attacking us, the trade union leaders show their contempt and hatred towards the independent mobilisation of the working class. They consider it a crime for workers to speak for themselves. Their anti-democratic methods and violence only show their political bankruptcy. They know that the majority of workers do not accept their pro-capitalist policies and fear that these workers and young people would rally behind the socialist program that I fight for.

Moratuwa university non-academic workers protest over Wickremesinghe government's brutal social attacks on 15 March 2023.

Wasantha concludes his letter: And also my dear fellow non-academic employees, the common experience of all of us with these trade union bureaucracies, particularly their role in not allowing any democratic discussion within unions on what actions and program we have to take to defend our basic rights, strongly underscores the need for organising ourselves independent from these bureaucracies. Drawing the necessary conclusions from that, I urge you to form your own independent action committees at your workplace, to take the matters into your own hands.

We are publishing below letters sent from Sri Lanka condemning the attack on the two SEP members.

Migrant Workers Action Committee:

To: Attorney General: Mr Sanjay Rajaratnam

President and Secretary of University of Moratuwa Podujana Pragathishili Sevaka Sangamaya branch assaulting members of the Socialist Equality Party

The Migrant Workers Action Committee, which met on Sunday 23/12/2023, unanimously endorsed the following statement against the above attack. I am sending you that statement.

We the Migrant Workers Action Committee strongly condemn beatings and physical injuries inflicted on Dehin Wasantha and Lakshman Fernando, members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), on November 30, 2023 by Indika Perera and Suranga Piyawardenathe president and secretary of the Moratuwa university branch of Podujana Pragathishili Sevaka Sangamaya (PPSS).

Two thugs, Indika Perera and Suranga Piyawardena, created a provocation against the two SEP members near the rear gate of Moratuwa University around 6:00 p.m., and chased them in a three-wheeler taxi and beat them with poles. Dehin Wasanthas palm was fractured, and Lakshman Fernandos head, neck and back were injured.

Dehin [Wasantha] and Fernando were attacked by the thugs when they were distributing leaflets in connection with a meeting organised by the SEP. The leaflets included a call to attend the meeting held by the SEP on the occasion of the centenary of the world Trotskyist movement.

The SEP campaigners pointed out to students and workers that the Trotskyist perspective has been substantiated by the intensifying world war tension and the attacks by the capitalist ruling classes on the social and democratic rights that the international working class had enjoyed in the past, and that war and social counter-revolutionary attacks can only be defeated by Trotskyist program.

Dehin Wasantha, who was assaulted, is a non-academic worker of Moratuwa University, while Lakshman Fernando is a SEP full-time worker. Both have gained popularity among workers and the oppressed masses by their long engagement in SEP politics.

As part of the SEP work, they constantly fight to expose to the workers, the pro-capitalist role played by the trade union bureaucrats, including the role by Podujana Pragathishili Sevaka Sangamaya, to build workers action committees as the independent organisational forms of the workers, and to unite and organise these committees on an international socialist program. This cowardly act by the union bureaucracy is a desperate but deliberate attempt to prevent their political intervention among the workers.

This thuggish action by the union bureaucracy is completely in line with the brutal state repression launched by the Ranil Wickremesinghe-Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna government to crush the growing series of workers struggles against the International Monetary Funds brutal austerity program.

We consider this not just an attack on the SEP but a vicious attack on the democratic rights of the entire working class, including us, [raising the need] to build their own independent political movement. The Migrant Workers Action Committee, representing the expatriate workers who form part of the international working class that produces the entire wealth of human society, strongly urges you to [do your duty and] take all possible wise and legal actions against these thugs.

Yours faithfully,

President

Sohan Thisera

Migrant Workers Action Committee

Mano Fernando, a writer:

To: The Vice Chancellor

University of Moratuwa

Sir,

Our Strong Opposition to the Brutal Mob Attack Committed Against Dehin Wasantha and Lakshman Fernando by the Trade Union Leaders of the University of Moratuwa

Messrs. Indika Perera and Suranga Piyawardena, who hold the positions as the President and Secretary respectively of Podujana Pragathishili Sevaka Sangamaya of your University had brutally attacked Messrs. Dehin Wasantha and Lakshman Fernando in a place adjacent to the premises of the University of Moratuwa in the evening of 30 November 2023.

Dehin Wasantha has been in employment as a non-academic staff in the university for over twenty-five years, and is a member of the Socialist Equality Party while Lakshman Fernando is a full-time member of the said party. I wish to express my strongest condemnation of this cruel and vicious assault.

The reason for their attack had been that they were distributing leaflets to university students and residents of the area on the public meetings on the Centenary of Trotskyism, including on the Israeli governments genocidal war against the Palestinians, addressed by American Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Joseph Kishore and scheduled to be delivered at the Colombo New Town Hall.

How can it be a criminal offence for the people of the country to become aware of Trotskyism, and the terrible Palestinian-Israeli war and the threat of third world war that has raised crucial questions about the future of mankind today?

Therefore, I would like to remind you that it is also your responsibility to take immediate actions against the two criminal trade union leaders Indika Perera and Suranga Piyawardena.

Mano Fernando

Writer

Hemal Pradeep Kumar, a teacher:

I am Hemal Pradeep Kumara, a teacher in mathematics in Bandarawela Puhunagala Sinhala school and a supporter and reader of the World Socialist Web Site.

I am well aware that the Socialist Equality Party is a party that has been doing political work in the international working class independently and democratically for a long time.

Dehin Wasantha, who works as a non-academic employee of Moratuwa University, and Lakshman Fernando, an activist of the Socialist Equality Party, were attacked on their way home after distributing a leaflet on a road near Moratuwa University. I strongly condemn the inhumane and potentially fatal attack with sticks by Indika Perera and Suranga Piyawardenathe president and secretary of the Moratuwa university branch of Podujana Pragathishili Sevaka Sangamaya (PPSS).

I know very well that Dehin Wasantha has been working as a non-academic worker for a long time and that he is a fighter for the workers' rights. It is clear that this attack has taken place under circumstances where his political work cannot be tolerated. This attack did not only happen to those two or that party, but we should consider it was an attack on the entire workers and oppressed people.

The entire working class and the masses should protest against this gangster politics. In my opinion, justice should be done to them [victims] by the law.

I am well aware that the only party fighting to build a world anti-war movement by presenting a large number of documents analyzing the war on Palestine by Israel and the war on Russia through Ukraine is this party.

I request on behalf of the entire working class that their right to do politics and to hold political views of their choice be not violated.

Yours,

Hemal Pradeep Kumar

* * * *

The SEP is calling on all those who are concerned to defend the democratic right of freedom of expression to register their opposition by sending protest letters to the following addresses of relevant authorities with copies to the SEP (wswscmb@sltnet.lk).

Senior Professor N.D. Gunawardena, Vice Chancellor, University of Moratuwa

Email: vc@uom.lk or ndg@uom.lk

Attorney General, Mr. Sanjay Rajaratnam

Email: agdurgentmotions@gmail.com
Serious shortages of midwives are being reported across urban, regional and rural Australia with the number of midwives falling nationally by 1,220 between 2016 and 2022.

Nurses protesting outside Westmead Hospital on January 19, 2022. [Photo: NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association]

Staffing shortages are putting pressure on the quality of care and on post-natal length of stay, leading to increasing health complications for mothers and their babies. In August 2023, midwives marched on Queensland state parliament denouncing shortages and seeking to publicise their dangerous and increasingly difficult work conditions.

The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke to a young midwife from a large maternity hospital in Melbourne about the situation. She asked to remain anonymous.

What did you hope for when you became a midwife?

Starting university, I wanted to go into a profession where I could be hands on and work face to face with different types of people, so I felt that midwifery and nursing would allow me to do that. Its a fast-paced job and being young I thought it would be fun and something where I could definitely contribute to society in an impactful way.

How has your actual experience compared with these hopes?

Ive been doing this for around a year now and its just completely not what I thought it was going to be. I was studying during COVID and so I saw what it was like and how COVID affected the workload. I understood before that our health system was under a lot of stress, but COVID made it exceptionally worse.

We have registered undergraduate midwives, basically student midwives that I suppose were funded during COVID. I was doing that before my grad year. You are placed on the ward, or in the birth suite or in the maternity assessment centre. Youre basically another set of hands to help the midwives do breastfeeding education, education in general, bathing babies and helping mums get out of bed after their Caesarian sections. The funding for that, however, has been severely cut, which means undergraduate students are unable to get the sort of work they used to when I was doing it.

We no longer have the help that we did before because apparently COVIDs over. This means Im not able to educate to the best of my abilities and I dont think women and babies are getting the safest care that they should.

We try our best and no one goes into work wanting to be unsafe or not give the care that they want but its extremely difficult now because we are completely under the crunch all the time.

Ive noticed, and so have a lot of my other colleagues, that a lot of babies and women are coming back and re-presenting after leaving the postnatal ward. This essentially happens because theyve been told everything is OK and they can leave at 24 hours, but a lot of women dont establish breast feeding adequately in the hospital.

They sometimes look as though theyre doing great and will be fine, so they go home and then realise that breast feeding is really hard, especially when its your first time. The babies arent feeding properly, lose weight and end up getting jaundice, and so they come back to hospital. This happens because were trying to send the women home as we dont have the beds to keep them in for longer.

If theyve had a normal vaginal birth, we just assume that everything looks normal, and they can go home. They re-present because they havent had adequate education.

We have this thing called maternity group practice, where some women get chosen to go into a program with the same midwife for their whole journey. These women are very lucky because those midwives end up seeing them for an extra amount of time and they can do a lot of extra home visits. They get that extra help from us.

But women who are in the Core Midwifery see a different midwife all the time and they dont get to know anyone really because we see so many mothers. This is detrimental because we cant spend the time that we want with them. Its just terrible. Everyone should be allowed the same care.

There has been quite a concern by midwives nationally about the question of staffing. Has that affected you?

Yes, 100 percent. Every time Im on shift, were asked if someone can stay back and do a double. Weve got a Facebook page where we just communicate and organise full shift swaps and things like that but there are times where theyll pop on the page, Hey, can someone please come in for the PM, were super desperate, we need people for night shift.

This is really scary to see, especially knowing what a night shift is and how extremely busy it is. We have women who are getting induced and women who spontaneously go into labour.

What can you say to young recruits to midwifery that youre working with?

I always say to the students that Im taking, You need to look after your registration. And if you think that something is not safe, you do not have to do it. Always make sure that youre documenting, and it is OK to document that the acuity on the ward is high, that we are understaffed.

Everything should be documented because if something was to happen, it shows that theres a problem in the system. Its got nothing to do with us not wanting to provide adequate care.

The problem is that we cant provide it because we dont have the staff. If they [management] see that were documenting these things, then hopefully it will do something.

I try not to be a dampener on my studentsyou need to love your jobbut its hard. We need to fight for better working conditions because its just not safe as it is.

NSW nurses protesting during a one-day strike on March 31, 2022.

How should you fight for better working conditions and safety?

Well, there is your scope of practice. If something is too heavy, you have to stand up for yourself and say, No, Im not doing that because its not safe.

I think a lot of people dont realise this and think that the current conditions are normal. You just dont want to be that person who rocks the boat, but we need to tell management that its not safe and that is hard. You can talk to the union about it, but theres not really been anything that has come to fruition from that.

It has to be a collective fight against this situation but youre saying there is nothing coming out of the union. Why do you think that is?

I personally feel that there hasnt been enough emphasis from the union explaining that all these hospitals in Melbourne are understaffed and that we cant handle the number of patients coming. I dont think there is enough push from them to the hospitals.

What do you think about privatisation in health care generally and midwifery specifically?

I could go on and on and on about that. Its absolutely unfair that the care you get depends on how much money you have. I personally believe that health care should never have been privatised. Everyone deserves to get the same amount of care.

We do research at uni about what the golden standard of care as midwives should be, but we dont produce that in public hospitals because were not funded for it. Were far behind this considering we are a so-called first world country.

How many midwives are there at your hospital?

Ill say 550 because weve had some new grads come and remain at the hospital, and weve got a lot of casual back-up staff as well.

How many do you think there should be?

We should have many more and a lot of those girls are not permanent. You see the same faces all the time, you see the same faces staying back, but weve got a lot of burnt-out girls, and its sad.

Do you think burnout has worsened?

One friend came back, but then left for three months holidays and she told me she almost didnt come back. She only worked there for about two and a half years and was ready to quit her job and thats the general consensus. Many girls decide to study for their masters in maternal child health, or other postgraduate study, because they cant any more deal with being in a hospital. The retention rate is very low unfortunately.

This is common in the nursing profession and also in teaching. The gaps in the system are expected to be sustained by the individual effort of members of the workforce. This is the consequence, massive burnout, poor retention rates, staff shortages unable to be filled. What do you put this down to?

Were not getting paid properly for the amount of work we do. We are very underappreciated in terms of how we get paid and its the same with teachers. You put your heart and soul into it and your body is physically diminished. The pay just doesnt make sense. I could probably go back to working in retail and probably get the same wages as for the things Im doing now with a degree. At least in retail I would have a bit more of a mental health break.

A lot of us feel we are not valued for the work we do which is not easy.

We birth babies and need to know many different things but are under-appreciated by the government and made to feel like a no one.

What do you think about the Israeli bombing of hospitals in Gaza?

Im absolutely devastated. Who is going to look after these people? I just dont understand this. We all need doctors, nurses, midwives and the like but they [the Israeli military] has not just gone and killed many people, but patients and the people who are there to help.

I think its absolutely disgusting, and I dont understand how people can be so selfish and evil. There is no empathy. There is no sympathy, its just turn a blind eye as long as youre OK, never mind what happens to these other people. I dont understand how anyone can live with themselves after that. There is blood on their hands.
President Joe Biden speaks in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. [AP Photo/Matt Rourke]

President Joe Biden officially launched his reelection campaign on Friday, one day before the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021 fascistic coup spearheaded by then-President Donald Trump. His speech made clear that the 2024 elections are unfolding under conditions of unprecedented political crisis in the US, the center of world imperialism.

Biden chose both the date and location for his initial campaign speechBlue Bell, Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia suburbs, near the historic American Revolutionary War winter encampment at Valley Forgein order to frame his reelection campaign as a choice between democracy and dictatorship.

While lashing Trump as a candidate with no program except revenge and retribution, who cares nothing for the American people, Biden said nothing about the record of his own administration, which has overseen the continued attack on working class living standards and social rights that has prevailed under every Democratic and Republican president for half a century.

Bidens presentation of Trump as the spearhead of a far-right drive for authoritarian rule was certainly true, but his attempt to present himself and the Democratic Party as defenders of democracy was utterly fraudulent.

Biden declared: Democracy is on the ballot. Freedom is on the ballot. Democracy means the freedom to speak your mind to bring about peaceful change.

He added, Today, I make this sacred pledge to you. The defense, protection and preservation of American democracy will remain as it has been the central cause of my presidency.

In fact, the central cause of Bidens presidency has been the expansion of imperialist war. Even as he spoke, his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was on his way to the Middle East to coordinate the ongoing US/Israeli genocide in Gaza and the expansion of the war into Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.

In the face of mass protests in the US and around the world against the war of annihilation in Gaza, and polls showing that nearly three-fourths of young people in the US oppose Bidens Gaza policy, the Democratic Party is working hand in glove with the Republicans to suppress pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, purge college administrations, as at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, and ban student groups opposing the genocideon the basis of the lie that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

Washington is simultaneously escalating its proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, despite the growing risk of a nuclear conflict. In a bid to obtain Republican support for an additional $61.4 billion for arms to Ukraine, Biden is offering to effectively abolish the democratic right of migrants to claim asylum and adopt Trumps fascistic policy of mass deportations and detentions.

In an attempt to substantiate his bogus claims to be defending democracy, Biden presented a potted version of the events of January 6, 2021. He described the scene as the mob summoned by Trump invaded the Capitol, seeking to disrupt Congress certification of Bidens victory. They attacked police and sought to take Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hostage. Meanwhile, Biden said, Trump retreated to the White House watched from the Oval Office and did nothing.

Biden was silent, however, about his own actions and those of his fellow Democrats. In the first place, the events of January 6 were the outcome of a months-long and open conspiracy headed up by Trump to mobilize fascist militia forces behind an attempt to overturn the election in the event he lost. The Democratic Party did nothing to oppose this conspiracy.

It is, moreover, a matter of record that on January 6, Biden said nothing for hours as the mob ransacked the Capitol and hunted for Pence, Pelosi and other officials. He only broke his silence to make a pathetic plea for Trump, the author of the coup, to issue a statement calling it off. There was no attempt to mobilize popular opposition to stop the insurrection.

Nor did Biden note in his speech the broad support of Republican lawmakers for the coup. In the early morning hours of January 7, after the insurrectionists had been cleared from the Capitoldespite the refusal for hours of pro-Trump military officers to sanction the dispatch of the D.C. National Guard139 House Republicans, a substantial majority of the GOP conference, voted to oppose certification of the Electoral College vote. They were joined by eight Republican senators.

Bidens silence on the role of the majority of the Republican Party leadership as well as high-ranking figures in the military, the Justice Department and the judiciary in backing the coup is a continuation of the Democrats efforts to conceal from the American people the scale of the conspiracy and the broad support in the corporate ruling elite and the state apparatus for dictatorship.

Biden himself began the whitewash in the immediate aftermath of January 6, calling for unity with his Republican colleagues and declaring his support for a strong Republican Party. This was continued with the House January 6 Committees depiction of a one-man coup involving only Trump and a small circle of co-conspirators.

This was, and remains, the deliberate policy of Biden and the Democratic Party, whose overriding priority is the prosecution of the war against Russia and the implementation of the genocidal Final Solution of the Palestinian Problem. These are, in turn, initial fronts in a global war being waged by US imperialism and its NATO allies to redivide the world. The prosecution of this policy requires the support of at least a section of the Republican Party, notwithstanding that partys transformation into an openly fascist organization.

This is why, in his January 5 speech, Biden indicted Trump personally, but presented him as an outlier and his MAGA base as a fringe faction of the Republican Party. In the course of his denunciations of Trump, Biden attributed January 6 and the GOP front-runners dictatorial policies to his lies and appetites, as though the breakdown of bourgeois democratic forms of rule and turn to police-state methods could be simply the result of one mans personality traits.

Biden appealed to Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans to honor the sacred cause of democracy by voting for him in November. And he directly linked this supposed defense of democracy to the foreign policy and military aims of US imperialism.

Toward the end of his speech, he reiterated the role of US imperialism as the arbiter of world affairs, declaring, Were the greatest nation on the face of the earth And theres no country in the world better positioned to lead the world than America.

As the World Socialist Web Site has explained in its New Year statement, the adoption of genocide as state policy and prosecution of a policy of global war, including active preparations to deploy nuclear weapons, are manifestations of an unprecedented crisis of US and world capitalism that takes the form of a descent into barbarism. This includes the growth of fascist and far-right forces and their incorporation into the political establishment not only in the US, but internationally.

Alongside the fundamental and insoluble capitalist contradiction between world economy and the outmoded nation-state system, the root cause of the drive to dictatorship is the ever more brutal and explosive growth of social inequality. The chasm between the super-rich and the working class has only grown under Biden.

With US billionaires now controlling $5.2 trillion in wealth, and the top 10 percent of the US population owning two-thirds of the total wealth, while the bottom half owns only 2.6 percent, the maintenance of democratic forms is unsustainable. The breakdown of democratic forms and growth of political violence is the product of these historical and social processes, not the twisted mind of Donald Trump.

Capitalism in the US and around the world means oligarchic rule. There is no democratic faction of the ruling class. Whatever their tactical differences, whether openly fascist or nominally mainstream, the parties of capital are in fundamental agreement over imperialist war, plunder, mass death and the establishment of authoritarian rule to impose these horrors on the working class.

What flows from this is the impossibility of halting the drive to nuclear world war and fascist dictatorship outside of the mass, independent political mobilization of the working class in the US and internationally to expropriate the capitalist class and establish workers democracy and socialism.
Teamsters President Sean O'Brien with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, January 3, 2024. [Photo: @Teamsters]

Teamsters General President Sean OBrien held a private meeting with former president Donald Trump last Wednesday. The meeting took place only three days before the third anniversary of Trumps coup attempt of January 6, 2021, when fascistic militia groups stormed the US Capitol to disrupt and block the certification of Joe Bidens election victory.

The content of the discussions were not made public. On Twitter/X, the Teamsters union presented a glowing account of the meeting, calling it an in-depth and productive discussion on workers issues most important to the Teamsters union.

In reality, the interests of workers could find no reflection in a secret meeting between the would-be Fuhrer Trump, who is continuing his conspiracy to overthrow the US Constitution and establish a dictatorship, and OBrien, a pro-company union bureaucrat and sellout artist. Only days before the meeting, management announced hundreds of layoffs at UPS, where OBrien and the Teamsters apparatus pushed through a pro-corporate contract last summer which they falsely claimed to be the richest in company history.

At multiple points in their account of the meeting, the Teamsters and OBrien referred to Trump as President Trump, adopting the latters styling of himself as the rightful president and lending credence to Trumps baseless claim that the 2020 election, which Biden won by 7 million votes, was stolen.

The right wing celebrated OBriens meeting with Trump. Trump holds private meeting with top union boss, vexing liberals, Fox News gloated. Trump also posted about the meeting on Truth Social, his right-wing alternative to Twitter/X. Looking forward to more discussions about important issues in the near future! he declared.

Donald Trump posting on his Truth Social platform about the meeting with OBrien

The Teamsters union presented the extraordinary meeting as simply a routine exercise prior to the unions formal endorsement of a candidate for US president. The union has even invited Trump to a further roundtable discussion at its headquarters later this month.

But there is nothing routine about OBriens meeting with Trump. While an endorsement of Biden may still be more likely, it cannot be excluded that the Teamsters may endorse an out-and-out fascist for president. It should be noted that for several decades, the Teamsters backed Republican candidates in presidential elections. This was in retaliation against Robert F. Kennedys legal pursuit of former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa over the unions ties with the Mafia.

Regardless of whatever its formal endorsement may turn out to be, however, the meeting by OBrien with Trump is a gift to the extreme right, allowing the billionaire con-man to grotesquely posture as a friend of workers.

From the standpoint of safeguarding its own venal interests, the bureaucracy is likely seeking to hedge its bets, keenly aware of the deep crisis in the Biden camp, whose candidate is obviously physically and mentally failing and is deeply unpopular especially due to his involvement in the Israeli genocide in Gaza. It is signaling its willingness to work with Trump in the event that he becomes president, either through an election or through extra-constitutional means.

The meeting provoked outrage among rank-and-file Teamsters members. The labor movement dies under people like Trump, one remarked on the Teamsters Facebook page. Were not gonna let you off the hook for that Trump photo, said another.

I find it appalling that my union president is hosting, standing by a man who recently invoked Hitler, several days before the anniversary of the deadly, neo-fascist January 6th assault on the Capitol, who has called Mexicans rapists, has made Islamophobic, anti-Black, anti-trans comments numerous times, a UPS worker from the Pacific Northwest told the WSWS. OBrien is opportunistic. By helping to legitimize and rehabilitate a neo-fascist who has promised to be a dictator  OBrien is seeking access to the White House in the event of a Trump victory.

The meeting is a massive exposure of all those who claimed that the election of OBrien was the beginning of a sea change towards democratic, rank-and-file unionism following decades of sellouts. OBrien, a career bureaucrat and former close ally of his predecessor James Hoffa (son of the more famous Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa), relied heavily on enthusiastic support from groups like the Democratic Socialists of America and Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) to recast himself as a militant reformer. TDU has yet to issue any statement on the OBrien-Trump meeting.

OBriens elevation to the top Teamsters post was part of an effort to shore up the credibility of the hated union bureaucracy, in order to keep the substantial growth of opposition in the working class from escaping its control. OBriens real base of support came not from the rank and file, but from the government and from the Democratic Party. OBrien is a regular visitor to the Biden White House, and the liberal press has spent years churning out puff pieces about him and other top Teamsters officials.

In reality, OBriens administration prepared the next round of sellouts with dishonest and populist-sounding phrases. Last year it sought to head off opposition among workers at UPS by falsely claiming to be preparing a national strike in order to present the sellout it had worked out in advance with management as the product of tough bargaining. To fight the sellout, workers had to organize themselves independently through the UPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee.

A similar operation took place in the United Auto Workers, where new UAW President Shawn Fain forced through a sellout this fall in the auto industry. As thousands of autoworkers are now being laid off in the aftermath of the new contract, CNN Business has hailed Fain as labor leader of the yearin effect, a plaudit for services rendered to the ruling class.

To the extent that Trump still has any credibility among workers, it is due to the Democratic Partys utter spinelessness in response to Trump, and the complete bankruptcy of those organizations falsely claiming to be left.

On Friday, attempting to cloak himself in the American Revolution, Biden spoke at Valley Forge to present his re-election campaign as the countrys last best hope for democracy. But the Democrats failure to do anything to hold Trump responsible for January 6 has allowed Trump to remain a significant political force, with the active support of the majority of the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, while claiming to oppose fascism in this years presidential election, Biden and the Democrats are openly working with fascists and the extreme right in US proxy wars in Ukraine and in Israel. Domestically, they are also working with neo-Nazis in Congress to ban opposition to war.

OBriens meeting with Trump contributes to the disarming of the working class in the face of the danger of dictatorship. But it also expresses the anti-democratic, essentially fascistic outlook of the union bureaucracy itself. Filled with hatred and fear of the working class, entirely dependent on its close connections with management and with the state, the bureaucracy directs all of its energy towards trying to hold the working class in a state of forced disunity, as Trotsky once observed of fascist regimes.

Ideologically, the policy of the union bureaucracy is based on corporatism, i.e., unrestrained class collaboration, which was explicitly adopted by the UAW and other unions in the 1980s. This reactionary ideology, first pioneered in fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini, is based on the rejection of the class struggle, instead upholding the unity of the bureaucracy with the corporations and the government in the interests of the nation against its foreign enemies.

The economic nationalism and American-first chauvinism of the AFL-CIO, the gangsterism it employs against militant workers and visceral hatred of socialism has long made the union apparatus fertile ground for the growth of fascist tendencies.

The corporatist integration of the unions is something which the Biden administration has been actively building up. Bidens self-characterization as the most pro-labor president in American history really means he is working directly with the bureaucracy to enforce sellout contracts, prevent strikes and ensure the security of US supply chains as his administration barrels into war across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

This policy was most directly exposed in his decision, together with Democrats in Congress, to ban a potential strike by railroad workers in late 2022. OBrien and other top union officials played a key role, delaying the strike as long as possible to give Congress the time they needed to pass an anti-strike law.

The New York Times published a worried piece in response to OBriens meeting with Trump, reminding its readers that Biden is the most pro-union president in history. In reality, the Times aimed to remind the Teamsters of their close working relationship with Biden. It also listed off things the administration has done for the Teamsters bureaucracy specifically, including recently appointing a top union official to a Department of Transportation advisory committee.

Yet there was Mr. OBrien next to a beaming Mr. Trump, whose appeal to working-class voters will be key to his re-election bid, the Times declared with amazement.

The meeting also set into motion damage control by the DSA. Reform and Revolution, an opposition faction whose oxymoronic name encapsulates the DSAs function to divert growing support for socialism back into the Democratic Party, attempted to square a circle by defending their support for OBriens election while criticizing the rest of the DSA for continuing to stump for him afterwards. In other words, the DSA did too little to maintain the illusion of independence when the inevitable sellout came.

The meeting between OBrien and Trump is a warning that fascism cannot be fought as long as workers are kept under the thumb of the union bureaucracy and the Democratic Party. A real and durable opposition to dictatorship can only be mounted on the basis of the political independence of the working class, on the basis of a socialist, internationalist, and anti-capitalist program.
American taxpayers had to pay at least 20% more on average to get their taxes done last year  and accountants arent thrilled about it either.

Tax professionals charged an average of $218 for new clients in 2023, a 25% jump from $174 in 2021, the National Association of Tax Professionals found in its 2023 Tax Fee report. Tax pros also bumped repeat clients fees to $205, a 22.7% increase from $167 two years ago. This is based on the most common fee structure, where clients are charged a minimum fee plus costs based on the complexity of their return.

Experts are attributing the double-digit price increases to an industry-wide PR crisis. Firms need to raise prices because they cant find enough staff to work, and they cant find staff because many college students still believe accountants sit in dark basements punching numbers into calculators.

Read more: Tax credit vs. deduction: What's the difference and which is better?

I think, unfortunately, we accountants have never been able to shed the reputation of being number crunchers, Mike Gillis, CPA and CEO at DMJPS, an accounting firm based in North Carolina, told Yahoo Finance. It makes me feel a little bit sad because I know what a great career it is."

I wish more young professionals would understand [accounting] has lots of opportunity and is financially lucrative as we compete for students against other really cool careers like the data analytics and the software engineers (which have) a little more cool factor.

Tax experts attributed industry staff shortage to poor marketing. (The Office: "Dwight's Speech" Episode 17, aired 3/2/2006) (NBC via Getty Images)

A shortage hurt by perception

The total number of candidates finishing bachelor's degrees in accounting dropped 7.8% in 2022 from 2021 after a steady decline of 1% to 3% annually since 2015, according to the AICPAs 2023 Trend Report. It also shows that the number of new CPA candidates dipped to 30,251 in 2022, the lowest in 16 years.

(Fewer) students are going into accounting, and [the students] are coming up with 10 job offers. So it's becoming so much more competitive to get them, Gillis said about his firms recruiting challenges.

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The shrinking talent pipeline is impacting accounting firms across the board. More than 99% of the countrys top CPA firm leaders said they cant find adequate staffing domestically, a survey by alliantTALENT, a professional service firm addressing CPA talent shortage, shows.

Meanwhile, the demand for accountants has gone through the roof, Jim Brady, CEO of alliantTALENT, told Yahoo Finance.

Since the 80s, you've had four decades of incredible economic expansion in the United States, Brady said, and what goes with that is capital formation and the need for CPAs, the need for audit professionals, and the need for tax professionals.

Gillis agreed. We had about 13% organic growth last year, but we could grow a lot more and a lot faster if we had the staffing.

One of the main culprits is the perception of accounting vs. other business majors, Brady explained. When pitted against careers such as private equity investing, investment banking, or management consulting, accounting often loses on glamour appeal.

Those are pretty cool careers to compete with the accounting profession, Brady said.

Experienced accountants have also been leaving the field. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 312,000 accountants and auditors left their jobs between 2019 and 2022, a 16% decline. To combat this, accounting firms have been raising salaries, giving out bonuses  like Deloittes $20,000 to $35,000 retention pay  and adding benefits to attract and keep talent.

We have total flexibility with work hours now, Gillis said. You can pretty much set what hours you want, you can work remotely. It's just doing everything we possibly can with flexibility to let people feel like it is a comfortable career.

The cost of those added benefits have resulted in rising client fees. Even so, demand for accounting work still outpaces talent supply. Nowadays, Gilliss firm doesnt negotiate fees.

Our fees have gone up because of increased salaries, Gillis said. If a client is not comfortable with our fees, then they're just not a good fit for us. We don't negotiate or get into any fee disputes because it is what it is.

Read more: What is taxable income?

Deloitte Logo is pictured outside the office in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. (Photo by Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A shift to international employees

To alleviate hiring challenges, many small and mid-size accounting firms are joining what many large firms have already been doing for years  working with overseas offices on their US practices.

Over three-quarters of all firms polled by alliantTALENT reported that they were either considering, planning or are already employing international employees. The trend follows larger firms like Deloitte, a Big Four accounting firm, which in 2022 employed over 76,000 workers in India (known as the Deloitte USI workforce) as part of its 200,000 US headcount.

However, the new practice is different from outsourcing, Brady pointed out.

Brady builds overseas offices with recruits on all levels, from junior staff all the way up to senior managers and partners. "We do the most complex work that CPA firms do for their clients like derivative accounting, business combination, going concern uncertainty, so we are fully a part of the CPA firms that hired us, Brady said.

We're doing it this year for the first time, Gillis said. A lot of firms have already done it but we are doing it. We are going to have five full-time employees overseas.

Rebecca Chen is a reporter for Yahoo Finance and previously worked as an investment tax certified public accountant (CPA).

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Key Insights

thyssenkrupp nucera KGaA's estimated fair value is 26.02 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Current share price of 15.72 suggests thyssenkrupp nucera KGaA is potentially 40% undervalued

The 19.00 analyst price target for NCH2 is 27% less than our estimate of fair value

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA (ETR:NCH2) by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for thyssenkrupp nucera KGaA

The Method

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (, Millions) -134.9m -41.3m 15.3m 53.0m 92.9m 125.7m 156.9m 184.4m 207.3m 225.6m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x4 Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 35.29% Est @ 24.84% Est @ 17.52% Est @ 12.41% Est @ 8.82% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 5.4% -128 -37.2 13.1 43.0 71.5 91.9 109 121 129 134

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 548m

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After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 0.5%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 5.4%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = 226m (1 + 0.5%)  (5.4% 0.5%) = 4.6b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 4.6b ( 1 + 5.4%)10= 2.7b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is 3.3b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of 15.7, the company appears quite good value at a 40% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

XTRA:NCH2 Discounted Cash Flow January 6th 2024

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at thyssenkrupp nucera KGaA as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.4%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.981. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for thyssenkrupp nucera KGaA

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Currently debt free.

Weakness

No major weaknesses identified for NCH2.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the German market.

Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

Threat

Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For thyssenkrupp nucera KGaA, there are three additional aspects you should look at:

Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for thyssenkrupp nucera KGaA you should know about. Future Earnings: How does NCH2's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every German stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

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.
A Florida man is suing an Orlando Dunkin' location for negligence for allegedly being injured by an exploding toilet at the fast food chain one year ago.

According to Associated Press, Paul Kerouac seeks more than $100,000 for suffering from severe and long term injuries," reads a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Orlando. Kerouac claims that while visiting a Dunkin' location in Winter Park, Florida last year, he was in the restroom when faced with a toilet explosion.

Upon leaving the restroom, Kerouac was covered in feces, urine and debris, and requested help from Dunkin' employees, and the store's manager. The man was told by an employee that they were aware of a problem with the toilet due to previous incidents but didn't provide him with further information about the explosion. The lawsuit states that Kerouac endured "bodily injury," with the man having to seek mental health care and counseling as a result of the trauma experienced since Jan. 2022.

In a statement, Kerouac's lawyer, Scott Spradley, said that his client continues to suffer with mental and emotional instability from the shocking, nightmarish scenario, including PTSD-like symptoms."

We are hopeful that the lawsuit will result in Mr. Kerouac being justly compensated for his injuries, even though the imagery will never be forgotten, Spradley wrote.

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From career milestones to new music releases to major announcements and those little important moments, Billboard editors highlight uplifting moments in Latin music. Heres what happened in the Latin music world this week.

Emilia Makes Moves in Spain

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Emilia kicked off 2024 by revealing that she sold out her upcoming show in Madrids WiZink Center slated for July 6. Not only is it a remarkable feat to achieve six months ahead of the big date but its also the Argentine pop stars first time performing at a venue of this capacity in Spain. Just last month, Emilia made history in her native country selling out 10 shows at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires in only 10 hours. The shows are set to take place in April for a collective audience of more than 100,000 fans. Billboard can confirm that, to date, only Emilia and Luis Miguel have achieved this feat.

Emilia performs in concert on Day 2 of Morrina Fest on July 29, 2023 in A Coruna, Spain.

Grupo Firmes Europe Takeover

Speaking of concerts, this week Grupo Firme announced that they too are hitting the road in 2024 with their La Ultima Peda tour. Though the dates and venues are yet to be revealed, Firme confirmed they will be visiting fans in Mexico, the U.S., Latin America and, for the first time, Europe, becoming one of the few Mexican banda groups to do a tour in European territory. You dictate where you want to see Grupo Firme. The most mentioned cities or countries [in the comments] will be where we will be present, the group shared on Instagram.

Xavi Dominates the Charts

In other musica Mexicana news, rising Mexican-American artist Xavi scored his first Billboard No. 1 hit this week with La Diabla crowing the Hot Latin Songs chart. The viral track pushed Bad Bunnys Monaco to the No. 2 spot after it spent 11 weeks at the top. Super grateful with everyone and the whole team, he previously told Billboard. Weve been doing everything with love, giving it our all to keep pushing our music and culture to new heights. Additionally, Xavis La Victima jumped seven to five on that chart. This week, Karol G also let her followers on Instagram know that shes been listening to Xavi.

Bad Bunnys New Years Resolution

In true fashion, Bad Bunny surprised fans at the start of this week (on New Years Eve) with the official music video of No Me Quiero Casar, part of his 2023 album nadie sabe lo que va a pasar manana. In the nearly 10-minute-long video, the Puerto Rican artist is seen hanging out with family and friends at a NYE partyto everyones concern, they are all curious to know when Bad Bunny is going to settle down and get married. Annoyed by the questions and comments, and even his friends in relationships, Bunny decides to walk away and sing about living his best single life. The music video features an acting cameo by Cuban-American comedian Marcello Hernandez of Saturday Night Live and renowned Colombian DJ Alex Sensation. Revisit the clip below.

Best of Billboard
On Oct. 13, 1972, an Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying 45 people, including members of a rugby team, flew into real and cinematic history.

The inexperienced co-pilot thought he had cleared an Andean mountaintop when instead it lay dead ahead in the clouds. The plane hit the mountain, and the impact sheared off both wings and the plane's tail. A dozen people died instantly, and 12 more died soon after from the extreme temperatures at nearly 12,000 feet. The 72 days that followed saw the survivors resort to cannibalism before two men walked out of the mountains and found help.

That tale of horror and human resilience is the subject of the Netflix movie "Society of the Snow" (streaming now), another in a long line of retellings that include the 1974 bestseller "Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors" by Piers Paul Read, which led to the 1993 Ethan Hawke movie "Alive," as well as the 2023 book that shares the title of this movie. The Spanish-language drama is Spain's Oscar contender for best international feature.

"Society of the Snow" is another cinematic retelling of the crash of an Urguayan Air Force charter plane, which included members of a rugby team. Some were forced to eat dead friends to survive. Eventually 16 were rescued.

Thanks to an abundance of source material and the longevity of many of the 16 crash survivors, film depictions of the accident tend to stay factually on course. "Society of the Snow" director J.A. Bayona ("The Impossible," "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom") weighs in on how he aimed to show the accident's horrors and triumphs on the big screen.

Where to find it: 'Society of the Snow': How to watch Netflix's survival film about doomed Flight 571

Is 'Society of the Snow' based on a true story?

The improbable survival of nearly half the flight's passengers despite brutal conditions and months without traditional food  survivors sustained themselves by eating the bodies of the dead  has riveted readers and movie fans for decades. Bayona and his team were eager to craft a new tale that hewed as closely as possible to true events. To that end, he conducted 100 hours of interviews with the remaining survivors.

"We tried to be as close to what happened as possible," Bayona says. "I remember having conversations with the other writers asking them not to alter the facts to make it more appealing to the audience and instead focus more on understanding the psychology behind what they did and show that on the screen."

What in 'Society of the Snow' never happened?

Given that movies always face the daunting task of compressing real-event days, weeks and even years into a few hours, changes to timelines are inevitable. "Society of the Snow" was no exception.

Some of the crew set up a shot during the making of "Society of the Snow," the re-telling of a famous 1973 plane crash high in the Andes. Some of the film was shot at the original crash site.

"Probably the biggest alterations were these two," Bayona says: "One, on the flight to Santiago, Chile, they stopped in Mendoza (Argentina) for weather conditions and spent one night in the city. But we never showed that pause in the journey."

Toward the end of the saga, rescue operations are mounted to pluck the remaining survivors off the mountainside. "There were two rescue operations to take the survivors out on helicopter," he says. "The first trip only took half of them, and a group of the rescue people stayed with the survivors and spent a night with them. Then another helicopter took them out the day after. But we only show you one helicopter."

What's the biggest difference between 'Society of the Snow' and past movies about the Andean disaster?

Bayona based his movie on the eponymous 2023 book, for which author Pablo Vierci conducted countless interviews, not only to tell the story of the group's survival but chronicle the profound impact the misadventure had on the rest of their lives.

The director felt it was important to "tell this story from the perspective of one of the dead. By doing so, we were reaching a more spiritual approach," he says. "The idea here was to give the survivors the chance to use their testimony to give voice to the dead."

How much did those stranded on the mountain work together to ensure the group's survival?

In any disaster, personality traits  good and bad  rise to the surface, leaving some to do more of the heavy lifting to help the group survive. Bayona says reading Vierci's account of the accident made it clear that his movie had to show the interconnectedness of those stranded, which ultimately contributed to the survival of so many.

In this scene from "Society of the Snow," actors playing the survivors of an Uruguayan Air Force charter plane crash try to attract the attention of rescuers. The movie is Spain's entrant into Oscar's international film sweepstakes.

"I was really impressed how Pablo Vierci explored how all of the people in the plane were useful to each other," he says. "Even those that apparently didnt do much were fundamental in that they gave the other ones a purpose or a role in the mountain. (Vierci) is very compassionate toward all of them, and I tried to follow his example in order to create an authentic but at the same time respectful approach to them and the story."

Did any of the survivors of the Andean plane crash help make 'Society of the Snow'?

Bayona was not shy about leveraging his access to some of the survivors, now in their 70s. The passage of time made them more open to sharing some of the more traumatic memories of their time on the mountain.

"I think some of the survivors after 50 years of the tragedy were more open to talk about what happened," he says. "I am thinking for example of Adolfo 'Fito' Strauch. Speaking with him helped a lot in shaping his character in the film, and he had a very important role. Along with his cousins, Daniel Fernandez and Eduardo Strauch, they were responsible for the organization of the group" after the death of the plane's crew and the captain of the rugby team.

'Society of the Snow': How to watch Netflix's survival film about doomed Flight 571

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact checking 'Society of the Snow,' Netflix's disaster movie
Homes in San Francisco and San Jose are already worth more than $1 million today, and will likely see further increases in the next 10 years. - Getty Images/iStockphoto

The housing market is already unaffordable in many parts of the U.S., but in these California cities, the typical home is expected to be worth at least a million dollars in the next 10 years, according to a new analysis.

Most Read from MarketWatch

The analysis from real-estate company Zillow ZG , which was provided exclusively to MarketWatch, looked at home values over the next decade. Economists at the company said they used a fairly conservative method that blended their short-term forecast and historical average for each market, and found that four cities would have typical homes worth more than $1 million a decade from now.

They also noted that it is very hard to predict home values that far out, considering that there could be external shocks which are unpredictable. As we saw during the pandemic boom theres a lot that can happen to put home values on a completely different path, Bachaud said.

Putting that caveat aside, the most-expensive cities ten years from now are commonly known as expensive, high-cost metros: San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles.

Homes in San Francisco and San Jose are already worth more than $1 million today. The other two cities currently have a typical home value of less than $1 million, according to Zillows data.

But a decade from now, the typical home in San Jose would be around $1.5 million, the most expensive in the nation, Zillow found, followed by San Francisco, at $1.19 million, and San Diego, at $1.09 million. A typical in Los Angeles a decade from now would be about $1.05 million.

Story continues

The housing shortage is the biggest reason home values have risen so much over the past decade, and why they are expected to continue to rise, Nicole Bachaud, senior economist at Zillow, told MarketWatch.

The U.S. is short of at least 2.3 million homes, according to an estimate by Realtor.com.

The oversupply that followed the Great Recession ushered in a decade of underbuilding, she added. When the huge millennial generation reached the age when we typically see people buy their first home, there was a lot of competition for relatively few available homes, which has driven prices higher and higher.

Housing inventory a big driver of home prices

Over the last year, despite a surge in mortgage rates, housing demand continued to outstrip supply and home values rose to an all-time high .

The typical home in November was $387,600, up 4% from last November. While home values have come off from a peak of $416,000 in June 2022 , prices are still rising faster than wages.

One of the big drivers of home prices is a low supply of homes.

With few homeowners interested in selling their homes, that keeps a lid on the number of resale listings. Homeowners see little incentive at the current moment to sell, as they would need to give up their low mortgage rate in the 3% to 4% range or even lower for a 30-year mortgage rate in the 6% or even 7% range.

A lack of newly built homes will also push home prices up over the next decade, Bachaud added. We are in a construction boom, which is good news, but recent Zillow research has shown we are 4.3 million homes short of what we need, she said. Its important this construction boom continues into the coming years.

Strong demand from home buyers will also pressure prices up.

Demand for homes should remain high as the massive millennial generation has largely hit its prime home buying years and many millennials have had to delay their first home purchase because of affordability challenges, Bachaud stated. How well the U.S. is able to meet that demand with new construction will go a long way to determining how much home values rise.

Income required to afford a million-dollar home

To afford a million-dollar home, Zillow also calculated how much a buyer would need to make.

Putting aside property taxes, property insurance and mortgage insurance, the typical buyer who plans to put down 10% with mortgage rates at the 6.7% range, they would need to earn at least $232,000, Zillow said.

Insurance costs can vary widely by state, according to an analysis by Bankrate. Some states may also require a separate flood insurance policy, if the area the home is in is prone to flooding, for instance.

But if one were to use rough estimates for taxes, insurance, and mortgage insurance since the buyer would be putting down less than 20%, youd need to make $287,000 to comfortably afford a $1 million home, Bachaud said.

In contrast to the million-dollar home prices out west, the typical cost of a home across the nation will only be worth about $394,000 in 10 years, Zillow said, using the same forecasting method.

Realtor.com is operated by News Corp subsidiary Move Inc., and MarketWatch is a unit of Dow Jones, also a subsidiary of News Corp.

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Awards season is under way with the 81st Golden Globes  Oscars boozier sibling  taking place this weekend. On Sunday, Hollywoods finest will descend upon the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles to toast the greatest contributions to screens both big and small. Itll be a veritable whos who of A-listers, with Robert DeNiro, Margot Robbie and Jeffrey Wright among the nominees up for one of the many shiny celestial trophies. One face thatll be less familiar, though, is that of Jo Koy, the comedian asked to host at the last minute.

Arguably, the Globes host hasnt been relevant for a long time. The ceremonies in recent memory have passed by forgettably, not least because 2022s awards show was devoid of both stars and cameras due to the controversy surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association  the organisation behind the Globes  over accusations of corruption and a lack of diversity. Koy, in his first major hosting gig, has quite the task ahead of him.

The 52-year-old Filipino-American comedian  born Joseph Glenn Herbert Sr  was asked to host only two weeks ago. When they asked me, it was an immediate yes. I couldnt believe this was happening  and then I woke up and went, Wait a minute, I have two weeks to write jokes! he told Variety. Actually, I think I had less than two weeks because I didnt get my writers until five days later. To put it into perspective, previous hosts  like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and, most infamously, Ricky Gervais  got months to prepare. Its been a crash course in hosting, Koy said.

Hes no new kid on the block, though. Over the years, Koys brand of comedy  which is conversational, story-based and takes its cues from Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg  has won over throngs of fans, two million of whom follow him on Instagram. He cut his teeth on the Nineties stand-up circuit in Las Vegas and has since had several well-received comedy specials air on Comedy Central and Netflix, most recently 2020s Jo Koy: In His Elements, which shone a light on the local talent in Manila, Philippines. Hes recently inked a deal with the streaming giant for two more specials. On screen, Koy led the 2022 comedy film Easter Sunday and appeared in this years Haunted Mansion reboot, which also starred LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish and Danny DeVito.

Late-night fans will also recognise Koy as a guest on shows like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Last Call with Carson Daly. Most frequently, though, Koy appeared as a season regular on Chelsea Handlers talk show Chelsea Lately before it was cancelled in 2014. He and Handler later dated for a year in 2021 before announcing their beautiful split in 2022.

As Kevin Hart once put it, Koy is a guy who has earned his f***ing stripes. He was selling shoes at Nordstrom Rack, a discount department store, when he got his first big break in 2005: a stand-up gig on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Koy was a hit. Still today, he is one of only a few comedians to have received a standing ovation on the show. Speaking to Hart in 2021 on the podcast Gold Minds with Kevin Hart, Koy recalled how he went into work the next day to find customers applauding his hilarious set  and then theyd ask, Can I have this in a size eight? From The Tonight Show came a lucrative commercial deal with the cell phone service company Ampd Mobile and things snowballed from there.

That was the last time I had a part-time job, said Koy, who worked 17 years in stand-up before feeling financially secure enough to leave his day job. I always wanted to make sure I had some type of money, some type of income.

Koy had just two weeks notice before the ceremony (AP)

Born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1971, Koy, together with his parents and three siblings, moved to Las Vegas after high school to care for his sick grandmother. While he had enrolled at university in Vegas, Koy eventually dropped out to pursue stand-up comedy  a decision made to the initial despair of his mother Josie Harrison, who has since become a beloved mainstay in Koys comedy sets. A YouTube video of Harrison reacting to her sons jokes about her has been viewed more than 2.5 million times.

Koys father, who served in the US Air Force, met his mother when stationed in the Philippines. Throughout his career, Koy has spoken about the struggles his family faced growing up in America. During an event to promote his 2022 film Easter Sunday, Koy recounted one time in his childhood when his family filled out a thousand raffle tickets at the department store Sears in the hopes of winning a TV because they couldnt afford to buy one themselves. We won. We won the f***ing TV! And then we went up the escalator, its like 1985, and my mom loves little kids, he said. My mum sees this little kid and shes like, Hi, whats your name? The kid turns around and pulls his eyes back and [giggles]. I [didnt] understand that type of normalisation. Why would that be funny?

Koy with ex-girlfriend Chelsea Handler (Getty)

While theres no doubt that the Globes is another huge opportunity for Koy, he sees it also as an important responsibility. This is everything, Koy told Variety. You hear that a lot right now, but it means a lot for someone that looks like me. Theres a kid thats Asian out there, or thats half white/half Asian, any ethnicity. Being able to see this, it will indirectly inspire them. This is one of those finally moments. I dont want to address that when Im on stage, but I think me just being on stage is enough.

As for whether he will go down the much-loved Gervais route of roasting his audience, Koy pointed to the recent strikes that halted Hollywood for months. Im going to poke fun, but I want to do it in a way where were still celebrating. The industry got hit hard. Hollywood got shook. Everyone got shook. It wasnt just the writers. It wasnt just the actors So, lets celebrate, he said. Lets enjoy this. We have a great gig. Thats the approach I want to have on this one. This is a great moment for all of us. Whether its an entertaining one for us at home is still to be seen.
Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a 1920s boxer who wins a match after being paid by criminals to lose it, Legionnaire is a 1998 American drama war film directed by Peter MacDonald. Van Damme then flees to join the French Foreign Legion. The movie was shot in Moroccos Ouarzazate and Tangier.

Heres how you can watch and stream Legionnaire via streaming services such as Peacock.

Is Legionnaire available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Legionnaire is available to watch via streaming on Peacock.

An aspirational boxer named Alain LeFevre (Jean-Claude Van Damme) faces consequences for turning down a mobsters bribe. A man on the run, LeFevre seeks safety by joining the French Foreign Legion. Following their arrival at a distant Moroccan outpost, LeFevre and his regiment are subjected to continuous raids by the army of Berber rebels. LeFevre longs to go back to France and find his lady love, Katrina (Ana Sofrenovic), as he fights to survive his time as a legionnaire.

The cast includes Jean-Claude Van Damme, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Daniel Caltagirone, Nicholas Farrell, and Steven Berkoff.

Watch Legionnaire streaming via Peacock

Legionnaire is available to watch on Peacock. NBCUniversal Television and Streaming subsidiary Peacock TV LLC owns and runs the American over-the-top video streaming service Peacock. The service, which bears the name of the NBC logo, debuted on July 15, 2020.

You can watch via Peacock by following these steps:

Go to PeacockTV.com Click Get Started Choose your payment plan $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year (premium)

$11.99 per month or $119.99 per year (premium plus Create your account Enter your payment details

Peacocks Premium account provides access to over 80,000+ hours of TV, movies, and sports, including current NBC and Bravo Shows, along with 50 always-on channels. Premium Plus is the same plan but with no ads (save for limited exclusions), along with allowing users to download select titles and watch them offline and providing access to your local NBC channel live 24/7.

The synopsis of Legionnaire is as follows:

Alain Lefevre is a boxer paid by a Marseille mobster to take a dive. When he wins the fight he attempts to flee to America with the mobsters girlfriend Katrina. This plan fails and he seeks escape by joining the foreign legion. As part of the legion he tangles with abusive lieutenant Steinkampf and bonds with legionnaires Luther, Mackintosh and Rosetti.

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

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From personalized bars to avoiding Saturdays entirely, Forbes Functions founder Cameron Forbes breaks down the easiest methods to save a bit on your big day

Getty Image of a rustic backyard wedding ceremony

To absolutely nobody's surprise, weddings can be expensive.

In 2023, the national average wedding cost hit a whopping $30,000, according to those who filled out The Knot's Real Weddings Study. That figure marked a $2,000 increase from 2022's national average  and that average price varies by state.

But while weddings may be a major investment, they don't always have to be that major. That's where Cameron Forbes, founder of New York City-based event planning company Forbes Functions, comes in.

A native New Yorker with a background in public relations and design, Forbes has been taking the weight off her clients' shoulders with the help of vendors across New York and Long Island  all while making a name for herself in the event-planning scene, even beyond just weddings.

And for 2024, Forbes has provided PEOPLE with some go-to, money-saving tips for knocking out the details for their big day. Some of these might take you by surprise, but they won't take as much out of your wallet.

Related: Should You Have a Child-Free Wedding? Celeb Wedding Planner Lisa Vorce Breaks Down the Pros and Cons

Shrink the Wedding Party

It might be a tough task for those with a few too many close friends, but the wedding party itself costs a pretty penny and may need a reduction if soon-to-be newlyweds want to save a quick buck.

"Over the last few years, we've seen a giant increase in the number of people in the wedding party. Brides often have upwards of seven bridesmaids, increasing both the overall guest count and getting ready costs for hair and makeup," Forbes says. "I highly recommend opting for a smaller bridal party  not only will you be able to spend more quality time with loved ones in an intimate setting, but you will also be able to save money on the big day."

Select a "Shoulder Season"

Summer weddings are a big deal to most and for some, even a non-negotiable. As Forbes explains, May through October is when most weddings are booked  but it shouldn't always have to be that way.

"To save on venue and other vendor costs, consider hosting your wedding during a 'shoulder season'  an off-peak time when vendors and venues have lower prices due to decreased demand," she says. "December, January and February are three winter wedding months where prices drop with the fall in temperature, leading to savings in the thousands."

Skip Saturdays

If summer weddings with big wedding parties are a must, Forbes has another cheat that may help lovebirds help their bank accounts: Choosing a cheaper day of the week. "Saturdays are the most popular days for weddings  guests are available on the weekends, don't have to worry about missing work and can travel to your destination if needed," Forbes says. "You stand to save thousands if you can host your wedding on an alternate day, such as Friday or Sunday."

According to Forbes, venues tend to increase their pricing on Saturday nights due to demand. "So skipping Saturdays is a great way to spend less on your wedding day."

Getty Wedding reception table

Related: Wedding Planning Expert Emily Coyne Shares Secret Tips That Most Planners Won't Tell You (Exclusive)

Digitize Strategically

We're living in an increasingly digital world. Reflecting that in your special day can help alleviate some big-time wedding expenses, as would trading some aspects such as physical invitations and other keepsakes for a personalized wedding website.

"I recommend clients only partially forgo the traditional wedding invitation and stationery  it's classic for a reason and serves as a keepsake of the day in a way a screenshot simply can't. However, I don't advise clients to go all-out on wedding stationery," Forbes tells us.

"Instead, I recommend clients save on cards, postage and envelopes by sending out one primary card in the invitation and guiding guests to an online wedding website for other relevant information," she adds. "The less material is printed, the less money is spent on invitations, so building a beautiful wedding website instead of sending out multiple cards in your invitation suite is a sure way to save."

Cut the buses

As Forbes shares, transportation is an often overlooked expense when it comes time to tie the knot. Instead of spending thousands on shuttling your guests, she recommends "either using the same venue for the ceremony and reception or making sure the trip is walkable to save on transport."

"Not only will you cut spending, guests will be able to spend more time together enjoying the wedding," she adds.

Personalize the Bar

For many weddinggoers, the reception is a great time to unwind with a drink after a busy day of dressing up and watching love in real-time. It's "one of the most significant expenses at any event, and couples often find making the decision on whether or not to offer an open bar difficult," Forbes says.

But it doesn't have to be that way. As Forbes explains, "providing specialty cocktails tailored to the bride and groom instead of a full bar" can really slash an alcohol budget.

"Custom cocktails feel unique and youthful, and pairing them with beer and wine options allows guests to enjoy a range of refreshments without breaking the bank," she says. "To make the moment even more memorable, come up with some fun names for the specialty cocktails and prepare a cute menu."

Getty Wedding bar

Hire a Wedding Planner

Even Forbes admits that this one "may seem counterintuitive," but really, hiring a planner is the easiest way to "stay on budget, track wedding expenses and find deals and discounts through exclusive connections and contacts."

"I recommend using the Knot, Zola or a similar site to search for planners near you," she says. "You'll save money and be able to enjoy your day without focusing on the nitty-gritty of the event!"

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Read the original article on People.
Note: This review originally published on Next Best Picture.

The story of Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters  Eya, Tayssir, Rahma, and Ghofrane  has been covered in the Tunisian media for years, but is presented to worldwide audiences in Kaouther Ben Hanias film Four Daughters in such a unique way. Her elder daughters Rahma and Ghofrane were devoured by the wolf years ago, but what exactly happened to them isnt revealed until much later in Ben Hanias film.

Rather than just speak to the family about the events leading up to their disappearance, Ben Hania goes in a new direction. She blends conventional documentary talking head interviews and live conversations with reenacted scenes from the familys life, played by Olfa and her younger daughters, as well as Nour Karoui and Ichraq Matar, who play Rahma and Ghofrane, respectively, and popular Egyptian-Tunisian actress Hend Sabri, who stands in for Olfa when scenes are too upsetting.

What we get is a wholly captivating film that takes documentaries to a new level and focuses on the meaning of family, womanhood, shame and radicalization.

Olfa is a no-nonsense kind of matriarch who is tough on her daughters, but only because she has gone through the same. Before she had her children, she stood up for herself in the face of oppressive men, as various reenactments show. In one, she stands nearby and observes as Sabri and Majd Mastoura act out her wedding night when her husband tries to force himself on her. Though she can laugh about the harrowing memory now, we see just how difficult a life she has lived, but she has continued to stand tall.

A still from "Four Daughters."

It must be so strange to have various moments of your life played out in front of you, but it doesnt seem to distract the family too much. Instead, it leads to very lively, unrehearsed conversations among all of them and prep among the actors. In one beautifully captured scene, Sabri is seen reciting lines and trying to get the right cadence of Olfas voice down. Viewers at home rarely see that kind of prep work for films, making this such a sacred moment to observe.

As tough as Olfa can be, shes raised equally spunky daughters who love their mother but also have lived through immense trauma. Eya and Tayssir, along with their stand-in older sisters, recount nights when their father would come home drunk and start badgering all of them.

After they left their father, Olfa started seeing someone (also played by Mastoura) who sexually abused her daughters. In one challenging scene, Mastoura storms off and says he cant continue the scene because of its uncomfortable and brutal nature. Eya says hes an actor and should know its just a scene in a movie. But on a deeper level, it serves as a way for the girls to move on from that dark chapter in their lives.

Theres always an ethical dilemma with documentaries when it comes to making their subjects relive traumas, and thats the most difficult aspect of this film. When Olfa and her younger daughters see Karoui and Matar as Rahma and Ghofrane, theres joy in the prospect of doing the film, but moments later, immense sadness takes over all of them as they remember what happened years prior.

A still from "Four Daughters."

By this point, its safe to reveal that Rahma and Ghofrane, teenagers at the time, left their families to join the Islamic State in Libya. There was worry that their younger sisters would join or potentially be kidnapped, which led to them staying at a juvenile center for their protection.

Knowing all that the family has been through, its even harder to watch the film and see them relive pivotal moments, like when Rahma and Ghofrane started to wear a hijab or niqab or how they were acting out. Its almost cruel to see them struggle with certain scenes, and sometimes even say they cant look at an actor because it reminds them too much of their missing loved ones. Theres also no doubt in anyones mind that the three women wish they could play those moments differently and hope for better outcomes.

As the family reenacts their life, the asides they have are equally interesting, especially as Eya and Tayssir open up about their relationship with their mother. Theyre open about the times she has hurt them, whether it was warranted or not, and Eya doesnt shy away from saying she wanted to strangle her mother for the ways she was treated.

Their mother equally does not shy away from saying she never wanted daughters, nor from calling them whores for their actions or for the what ifs that go through a parents head when raising young women. Even Sabri gets into heated arguments with Olfa about her overly conservative and traditional views on womanhood. Not only does it add drama to the film, but it offers valuable insights into another culture and the way children are raised and women are regarded.

There is one main question that comes from watching Four Daughters: Why did Ben Hania decide to make the film in its unique format? Well, we never really get an answer. It could have been a way to help this family heal and move on from dark chapters. But does making them relive so much pain and causing them emotional distress, as seen so many times in the film, make it worthwhile? Only Olfa, Eya, and Tayssir can tell us.

In the end, Four Daughters shows us just how far documentaries can be pushed to bring something new to the genre. Its a complicated watch in many ways, but just like the best documentaries out there, Ben Hania keeps it honest throughout her film, whether the scenes are scripted or unscripted.

How to watch

What: "Four Daughters" screenings at the Palm Springs International Film Festival

When and where: 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6 at Mary Pickford is D'Place; 8:45 p.m. Jan. 9 at Regal Cinemas Palm Springs; 4:45 p.m. Jan. 13 at Regal Cinemas Palm Springs

Cost: $15

More info: www.psfilmfest.org

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Review: 'Four Daughters' tackles documentary filmmaking in new way
Christian Oliver was 51 years old. His daughters were 10 and 12.

Christian Oliver was 51 years old. His daughters were 10 and 12.

Christian Oliver, who starred in films including 2008s Valkyrie and Speed Racer, was killed Thursday in a plane crash in the Caribbean along with his two young daughters. The planes owner and pilot, identified as Robert Sachs, reportedly died as well.

Oliver was 51 years old. His daughter Madita was 10 and Annik was 12.

The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said in a statement that the accident occurred off the coast of Bequia. Oliver, who was born Christian Klepser in West Germany, was bound for St. Lucia with his kids in a single-engine aircraft that took off from J.F. Mitchell Airport on Bequia.

Locals told The St. Vincent Times on Thursday that the plane made a sputtering noise upon takeoff. Island resident Danroy Joseph likened it to when a vehicle is struggling  you know, stalling, struggling for power to go up a hill.

Moments after taking off, the aircraft experienced difficulties and plummeted into the ocean, police said in a Facebook statement Thursday. Fishermen and divers from Paget Farm went to the scene of the incident in their boats to render assistance.

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard led rescue efforts. All four passengers were retrieved from the plane and ocean but were later pronounced dead. The crash occurred three days after Oliver celebrated New Years Eve with a post on Instagram.

Oliver starred opposite Cate Blanchett in the 2006 film

Oliver starred opposite Cate Blanchett in the 2006 film "The Good German," directed by Steven Soderbergh (left).

The bodies were transported to St. Vincent on board the Coast Guard vessel and were taken to the Kingstown Mortuary, where post-mortem examinations are expected to be carried out to ascertain the cause of death, police added in their statement.

I cried cried, it was our first and last film together, I loved working with him so much  He was so. nice, worked so hard and [was] such a brave actor and a beautiful gentle person, Bai Ling, Olivers co-star in the upcoming film Forever Hold Your Peace, wrote on Instagram. She said she last saw Oliver on Dec. 20, as they wrapped up shooting on the film.

Oliver had curated an impressive acting resume. He starred as a detective for two years on the popular German TV series Alarm fur Cobra 11 before making the leap to Hollywood features.

Oliver not only starred opposite George Clooney and Cate Blanchett in Steven Soderberghs The Good German (2006), but he also played opposite Tom Cruise in Valkyrie (2008) and under the direction of the Wachowskis in Speed Racer that same year.

His last major credit was in the 2022 TV movie English Estate.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Related...
With the deadline for the debut London Camera Exchange Photographer of the Year competition is fast approaching and amateur photographers are encouraged to enter and showcase their skills. Open to amateur photographers worldwide, the competition features 14 diverse categories and up for grabs is a prize fund of 12,000.

This is an exciting opportunity for non-professional photographers (i.e. those who dont make the majority of their income from photography) with categories spanning everything from landscape, street, wildlife, and portraits. A special Peoples Choice award will also allow the public to vote on their favorite image adding a welcome interactive element to the contest - you can now check out the entries so far and vote for your favorite.

The esteemed panel of judges for the LCE Photographer of the Year competition includes DCWs very own Chris George, content director at Future Publishing; Peter Dench, renowned street photographer; Angela Nicholson, journalist and founder of SheClicks; and Nick Richens, chief executive at London Camera Exchange.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during The Photography & Video Show in March at the NEC in Birmingham. The shortlisted photographers will also have the privilege of having their selected images featured in a commemorative book and displayed at an exhibition in the entrance hall of the show.

The prize fund is generously supported by renowned brands such as Canon, Nikon, OM System, Fujifilm, Panasonic, and Sony, and will be distributed among the category winners with the overall winner taking home a substantial 5,000 in LCE vouchers. While the competition is open worldwide, prizes will only be awarded to UK residents.

Entrants must be aged 18 and over and have until midnight on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, to submit their work. The competition is free to enter and participants can submit their entries online at poty.lcegroup.co.uk or at any of LCE's 26 retail stores across the UK. To view the full terms and conditions, rules and FAQs head to the LCE website.

Book your tickets to the The Photography & Video Show 2024 which takes place at the NEC from March 16-19
Since the 1960s, our global seafood consumption has increased by 228%. Growing concerns over the future of our oceans are pushing chefs and consumers to reconsider their relationships with seafood. Though sushi is a rice-based dish, it's synonymous with fish, and the number of sushi restaurants in the United States has increased an average of 4% each year since 2018. Many of these restaurants rely on the same few varieties of seafood to satisfy their clientele and sustain their businesses, but some chefs are pushing back on the norm.

At Sozai, a sustainable sushi restaurant in Metro Detroit, Chef and Owner Hajime Sato only works with a select few varieties of seafood. This past year, Sato was one of five chefs nominated for the James Beard Award for "Outstanding Chef" for his work in sustainable sushi, though he thinks this distinction is silly. ("There should be no 'sustainable sushi chef,'" says Sato. "It should all be sustainable.") We sat down with Sato to discuss what he thinks diners should know about the sustainable sushi trend and whether or not he believes it's possible to operate more restaurants like his. (Spoiler alert: Sato knows it's not only possible but necessary, though he's candid about the hard road ahead for aspiring proprietors.)

Read more: 15 Different Ways To Cook Fish

Sustainable Sushi Is Not Regulated

aerial view of fish aquaculture - Dudits/Getty Images

The term "sustainable" has lost credibility due to greenwashing, a common marketing tactic. Unlike "organic," which the USDA regulates, any business can slap "sustainable" in front of its offerings without legal recourse. "Some sushi restaurants will claim they're sustainable when they haven't changed their practices. ... It's all marketing," says Sato.

So what are the best sustainable seafood Sato and others consider "sustainable" enough to bring into their kitchens? Turns out no single species of fish is inherently more "sustainable" than another. Instead, sustainable sushi restauranteurs look to the fishery to answer this question. Several factors influence the sustainability of the fishery, like the type of equipment and the stability of the ecosystem. Fisheries also have a responsibility to respond appropriately to environmental changes that could impact their intended catch. Though some species are notoriously overfished, evaluating "stocks" (or groups) of fish is a better yardstick for measuring sustainability than evaluating them only at a species level.

The Sustainable Sushi Movement Is Regressing

school of fish swimming in ocean - Stock_colors/Getty Images

According to Sato, his sustainable sushi restaurant contemporaries are in decline, largely because their chefs have thrown in the towel. "Fifteen years ago, there were more sustainable sushi bars. It's less now, much less. Because it's really hard," says Sato. According to Casson Trenor, the author of the book "Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time," as reported in the The Seattle Times, the movement has died down since sushi restaurants began operating in this way in the late 2000s. A lack of consensus around a unifying philosophy is partially to blame for the movement's diffusion: Some thought sustainable meant "vegan," like NYC's Beyond Sushi, while others relied on seafood supplier certifications to bolster their claims of sustainability. Yet all chefs endure continuous, painstaking education and re-education. "There were some legit people. It was so small. They gave up. It's too hard," says Sato.

Sato was personally disappointed with the film Seaspiracy, which claims that sustainable fishing doesn't exist despite organizations actively supporting such ends. Though the film may have highlighted the dire circumstances of the ocean's fish populations, it also breeds confusion and mistrust in anyone or anything working to create and promote sustainable fishing practices. This runs the risk of disengaging consumers from the movement and disenchanting consumers from believing more sustainable seafood dining options  like Sato's  exist.

Certification Programs Exist For Fisheries

fisherwoman touching baskets of fish - Nikada/Getty Images

The Marine Stewardship Council is the largest international organization for certifying wild-caught fisheries that follow sustainable practices. (The ASC, or Aquaculture Stewardship Council, is a separate organization for certifying farm-raised fish.) To meet certification requirements, fisheries must uphold certain standards -- like ensuring their catch is not endangered. While the MSC is aware that there is no such thing as a perfectly sustainable fishery  an impossible goal  Sato is still skeptical that certification is the only solution to our oceanic crisis. "While there are certification programs, you can't say overall that the fish is 'sustainable'  and the parameters [for certification] change all the time, so they're hard to follow."

Obtaining certification requires following rigorous procedures that are expensive and time-consuming to conduct, many of which require a backlog of data and ample financial resources, limiting small fisheries in particular from gaining licensure. In 2021, only 18% of small fisheries obtained an MSC license, despite the many that are well-managed. However, organizations like the MSC are taking measures to ensure the small fish aren't excluded from the bigger sustainability pond: Since 2020, the MSC has been providing grants to fund fishery improvement projects in small-scale and developing country fisheries through their Ocean Stewardship Fund.

Consumer Demand Impacts The Movement The Most

millenials eating aesthetic sushi - Lorado/Getty Images

From chef to supplier, no agent in the seafood supply chain is more important in determining which kinds of seafood, sustainable or otherwise, end up on the diner's geta than the diners themselves. You've probably grown to expect the same few varieties of fish appearing on a sushi menu, like hamachi (yellowtail), ahi (bluefin tuna), and unagi (eel), without giving their sourcing much thought. Consumer demand for the same few fish species puts pressure on chefs and suppliers to deliver at any cost. "Everybody wants to consume the same fish -- that's the problem. [Consumers] expect me to have yellowtail and bluefin tuna and the six or seven fish that they know," says Sato.

Of course, suppliers can limit what they supply, and some, like those who are a part of Sea Pact, have agreed to do just that. Ultimately, though, distributors and restaurants alike need to meet a certain public demand, which requires servicing an appetite that hasn't caught up with the reality that sushi can no longer be excluded from the sustainability zeitgeist.

Fish Traceability Is Crucial

asian man tossing fishing net - Onuma Inthapong/Getty Images

When it comes to ensuring sushi is sustainable, "traceability is more important than anything else," says Sato. "If you cannot trace [a fish back] to learn what it is, then you cannot say whether it's sustainable or not." To reduce their workloads, many sushi chefs source their seafood through distributors versus single suppliers. However, many distributors can't afford to work with only sustainable fisheries, especially if those fisheries are small. The sustainability of the fish sourced can become dubious at best. "I do have to trust the distributor to a point because I can't verify every single fish," Sato laments.

Sato consults several different organizations to evaluate his fish, like the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For those looking to make sushi at home, Sato recommends following Seafood Watch ("There's an app you can download") while also cross-referencing various sources to be sure. Regardless of where you're finding your information, Sato emphasizes that sustainability starts at the level of the fishery, not the fish: "If I know of a really good [fishing] practice in Chile, then I might get [that particular fish] from Chile."

You'll Need To Bring A Local And A Global Mindset To The Table

old man fishing off boat - Clarkandcompany/Getty Images

You might think that the easiest way for chefs to ensure the sustainability of the seafood is simply by sourcing what's local. (Sato, who relocated from Seattle, now knows his way around the Great Lakes.) However, having a full picture of sustainability requires thinking both locally and globally. Fisheries in the United States are well-managed compared to many across the globe. However, current estimates put the United States at around 60% of exported fish to meet our total seafood consumption. Some estimates predict that it's even higher -- around 90%. (The difference in estimates is due to several factors, namely unreported catches, and fish that are re-imported after overseas processing.)

While keeping things local could cut back on carbon emissions, globalization is critical to our economy -- and it would be difficult to be successful in the Midwest as a sushi restaurant by offering local varieties of fish only. "How local can I go? Of course, I think about it ... you have to think big and small at the same time," says Sato. Though sustainable sushi chefs will utilize local fish -- especially lake and river fish -- these are generally not the only species on their menu, and most others require thinking about sustainability globally. "You have to think about how fish are caught between Holland and England because that fish might go around [the world] and come back over here."

Restaurants Tend To Be Omakase-Style

sushi chef preparing omakase - Artit Wongpradu/Shutterstock

One of the ways sustainable sushi chefs can regain control of diners' appetites is by restricting what they can order. "I cannot have the same fish [on my menu] over and over -- that's why my restaurant had to be more omakase-heavy," says Sato. The omakase menu, which translates to "leave it to the chef," undercuts a kind of Newton's-first-law of sushi dining: Instead of diners picking the same few rolls out of inertia alone, chefs select and serve only what's most delicious (or most sustainable), exposing diners to the possibility of sushi beyond tuna.

Engineering a successful omakase menu requires balancing sustainability with familiarity. Sato creatively meets (or exceeds) his diners' expectations by offering traditional rolls prepared using more sustainable seafood. "Sushi can be scary. People ask me if I have a California roll, and I say no. That's why we have a 'Pure Michigan' roll with cooked walleye ... instead of the fake crab." For diners seeking out rare but ultimately unsustainable fish for the luxury of it alone, Omakase offers a cultural cache that Sato uses to his advantage: "If I put the liver of the fish or the sperm sac of the fish [on the menu], do you think people are going to order it? No. But if it's part of the omakase, now it's kind of fancy ... then surprisingly, they might like it," says Sato.

You're Unlikely To Find Bluefin Or Super White Tuna

raw ahi tuna steaks - xiaoxiao9119/Shutterstock

If you're trying to determine the ethics of a sushi restaurant, simply take a peek at their sushi list. Though some fish with poor reputations can still be harvested sustainably, other species are notoriously overfished. Sato disavows the much-lauded bluefin tuna, going so far as not putting it on his menu. So, is tuna a sustainable seafood or not? That depends. Many of the most popular tuna species are at risk of becoming endangered, and those that are not threatened are fished using methods that result in excessive amounts of by-catch.

Then other species of fish are just plain bad for your health. Take escolar, a fish that's on sushi menus under the pseudonym "Super White Tuna." Escolar contains a toxic fat that can cause severe gastric distress if ingested in even moderate amounts. "It's banned in Japan and most European countries because it contains a waxy substance called [gempylotoxin] and we cannot digest it. It's legal [in the United States] because fisheries push it and it's cheap," says Sato. While it may be legal in the U.S., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration still warns proprietors against putting the fish on their menus, though not all comply. In 2009, a study conducted by Columbia University and the American Museum of Natural History analyzed nine dishes billing themselves as "white tuna" at sushi restaurants across Denver and New York City and found that five of these were escolar.

Prepare To See Smaller, Oiler Fish On The Menu

various sushi on black clay plate - cjmac/Shutterstock

Before big saltwater fish like tuna became fashionable, sushi was mostly made with smaller freshwater fish that were easier for fishermen to catch, like catfish, carp, and freshwater bass. Pelagic ocean fish like mackerel, herring, and sardines inhabit shallow and sunlit ocean waters, reproducing quickly. Saltwater fish like these are more plentiful than big tuna and salmon and thus more resistant to overfishing. Since they're lower on the food chain, pelagic fish require fewer resources to yield the same quantity of protein as fish species higher up on the food chain.

Sato agrees that these fish are a welcome addition to his omakase. "Trout's good, mackerel's great. ... So many people want to be eating seven or eight different kinds of fish, but we should be expanding beyond [those] and including fish that don't have much of a name -- trout, sardines, mackerel ... fish that are smaller and 'fishier.' Whatever that is, we should be eating those." However, even the little guys can be fished in such a way that they are not considered sustainable, and each stock needs to be assessed independently to determine whether or not it's a sustainable choice to enjoy.

The Fish Was Likely Once Frozen  And That's A Good Thing

woman selecting frozen fish fillet - Nastya_ph/Getty Images

"Everybody thinks that fresh fish is better, but freezing technology is really good," says Sato. Today, much of the seafood sold in sushi restaurants has been flash-frozen, which means the fish's temperature is immediately reduced to -40 to -60 C after the fish has been caught. This rapid freezing technology ensures the integrity of the protein post-thaw, avoiding the mushiness generally associated with common frozen products such as vegetables. Not only are flash-frozen fish delectable, but they're economical and sustainable, too. Fresh fish requires the fish to be shipped as quickly as possible -- by plane -- while frozen fish can take a more leisurely and less carbon-heavy journey by boat, train, or truck to get to your plate.

Consumer research echoes Sato's sentiments -- that the term "freshness" is the highest-ranking consideration for people buying fish, despite much of the fish sold in grocery having been previously frozen and labeled as such. "I always say: What if the fisherman caught this fish in the boat [and didn't freeze it]? It might take two weeks to get here, and it's not frozen. Or there is a processing plant that's right by the fisherman, and they freeze it at -60C right by the fishery. Which one do you think is fresher?" Doing away with frozen fish's bad reputation can also expand the possibility of offering sustainable sushi menus across seasons. "There's a lot of seasonality in the fish. So there's kind of a balance on using frozen fish that's more sustainable and caught in a certain way so that it can kind of give you a more steady supply," says Sato.

Unagi Is Rarely A Sustainable Choice

unagi sushi on black clay plate - Kollawat Somsri/Shutterstock

One of the most vulnerable species of sushi fish is eel. Called unagi when prepared as sushi, according to Sato, "It's one of the worst things you can be eating right now." Climate change patterns like El Nino are affecting the Pacific Ocean and the currents that carry eel, impacting their spawning sites. Pollution and overfishing have also depleted eel stocks. Eels are also notoriously difficult to farm, as their breeding patterns remain a mystery, even to scientists, prompting the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to conclude that eels must emerge "spontaneously" in mud.

In 2014, Japanese eel was classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. "[Eel populations] are collapsing to the point where some scientists might say that they're extinct, not even endangered -- but yet, you can still get it." How they're still accessible may be due to the black market spurred by their extremely limited stock: In Japan, environmental groups estimate that upwards of 40% of eels consumed in Japan are raised illegally. Sato worries that the rarity of the eel will only make it appear more luxurious to diners, but restoring the eel population will require a collective effort. "If one restaurant, like here, doesn't have eel, it's not going to save the eel population, but if the entire population [stops eating eel] ... that might make the eel population go back up," says Sato.

Plant-Based Sushi Is Emergent

various vegetable sushi on plate - Magdanatka/Shutterstock

We've seen it happen with beef. Now seafood is going "plant-based" too, with products made from legumes and vegetables calling themselves "fish". Ocean Hugger Foods has keyed in on two of the most at-risk sushi fish -- Atlantic bluefin tuna and eel, creating plant-based "texture-driven" alternatives that sub in for the real thing. "Ahimi" is a tomato-based alternative to raw ahi tuna made from tomatoes, gluten-free soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil, while "Unami" is a similarly soy-flavored but made from eggplant instead of tomato. Sato is dubious of plant-based alternatives like these, questioning their role in overthrowing an unsustainable market if they potentially replace it for another: "Plant-based is heavily processed ... and all of the nutrition is not there. You might as well eat Doritos and call it a day." The unagi this plant-based brand emulates closely mimics nasu nigiri: eggplant sushi that's been a part of the dish's history much longer than Ocean Hugger has.

There are traditional types of sushi rolls that don't contain any raw fish: Kappa (cucumber), shinko (pickled radish), and kampyo (made with dried gourd) nigiri are inherently vegetarian. "I love vegetable sushi. If you go back to my grandma's cooking ... it was all [made with] vegetables because we couldn't afford to buy fish." Sato's philosophy on eating sustainability remains simple: Reduce protein consumption and eat more vegetables. "Don't do fake tuna, fake this, fake that. ... What's the point?"

Sustainable Sushi Means Utilizing By-Catch

octopus traps sitting on shore - Horacio Villalobos/Getty Images

Despite our best efforts to fish without disrupting neighboring ecosystems, by-catch or unintended catch is still a frustrating and tragic reality of fishery -- partly because of what it means for the fish and partly what it could mean for addressing widespread hunger with the right systems in place. Says Sato, "If I could distribute the entire by-catch of [salmon] processing plants, I could feed the entire world. But you can't. Because it's all about efficiency, processing, how are we going to make money?"

Most by-catch is thrown away because there aren't adequate systems set up to create a market for it, but chefs like Sato are looking for ways to buy it back. For Sato, part of building a sustainable sushi restaurant means taking a closer look at all the seafood that comes into contact with his supplier's catch -- even the unintended ones -- by painstakingly building bridges between stakeholders. "It took me eight years to get about 20,000 [by-catch] octopus distributed. 'Hey, shrimping guys, you can go talk to those guys. They can box it and make products out of it.' That supply chain took me eight years [to build]."

Some Chefs Are Utilizing Invasive Species

person holding giant periwinkle snail - SusanBrand/Shutterstock

Another sustainable source of protein for sushi is invasive species. These non-native fish, like lionfish, zebra mussels, and periwinkles, cause environmental and economic harm to their habitats -- a boon for chefs looking to create dishes with more than one bottom line. However, sourcing these species can be difficult, as supply chains are not set up for them. "To source them, you need [many] restaurants that want to buy them so that they're economically viable for the fisherman to catch. ... Again, it fails at a supply chain [level]," says Sato. Instead, chefs have to forage for these species themselves. "People talk about it all the time  we should be eating [invasive species]. Okay, great. But I don't have time to go the Great Lakes to catch all of the goldfish and come back."

On Sato's wishlist are the blue catfish and jumbo feral goldfish that invade the Great Lakes and the aforementioned lionfish, which is difficult to catch because it lives in reefs. When asked if there are trade-offs to flavor, Sato says, yes, these species can be more difficult to work with, but ultimately, he won't know until he gives them a taste: "Can I at least get them so that I can say that they're horrible?"

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Of all social media-fueled trends to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, the whipped coffee craze has to be one of the most appealing to caffeine lovers. It's a simple enough concept, using foam or froth to jive up your java. Whether your taste favors the sweet and decadent or the rich and robust, there's likely a way to whip up an improved version of your favorite type of coffee.

In fact, the so-called trend of whipped coffee is in no way a new concept. All over the world, various cultures have developed their own distinctive versions of whipped coffee. Some regions boast cold and refreshing beverages, while others champion warmer brews topped with whipped foam. Many whipped coffees come from countries bolstering long and storied relationships with coffee production. Others have developed a more contemporary obsession with the drink that the rest of the world can now enjoy.

Ultimately, the world has no shortage of foamy, frothy, silky, or bubbly whipped coffees that elevate a simple drink into an experience greater than the sum of its parts. The ingredients in these beverages are often similar, combining coffee, sugar, and milk in unique ways that add texture and shape to the brew.

Read more: 26 Coffee Hacks You Need To Know For A Better Cup

Vietnamese Egg Coffee

Vietnamese egg coffee with beans - ngoc tran/Shutterstock

Ca phe trung, or Vietnamese egg coffee, offers a unique experience to explorers through the world of coffee. What makes this coffee unique is the whipped custard-like foam that tops it, made of sweetened condensed milk and, of course, egg yolk. Since the late 1850s, when French colonists began growing coffee in Vietnam, the country has been developing its unique coffee culture, including egg coffee.According to Japanese Coffee Co., the drink was invented in the mid-1940s, and as the legend goes, a man named Nguyen Van Giang worked in a French hotel when he invented the drink. Due to dwindling and overpriced milk supplies, Giang came up with the idea of using eggs instead, resulting in a pleasant, creamy-textured froth. The drink was a huge success, and in 1946, Giang championed the coffee within the walls of Cafe Giang, his own coffee shop.

Since then, ca phe trung has gained popularity in the streets of Hanoi and on social media, where the visually appealing whipped coffee has attracted much attention. In appearance, egg coffee has a distinctive golden-brown foam top, which sits neatly over a rich layer of strong black coffee. To enjoy, you can either stir these two layers together to enjoy a sweet and creamy drink or sip the black coffee through the foam top. The taste of the drink is said to be similar to tiramisu, with the sweet custard-like foam complementing the bitter coffee.

Korean Dalgona Coffee

dalgona coffee on table - Alvarez/Getty Images

Dalgona coffee is a cold, sweet, and visually impressive beverage that has become the face of whipped coffees around the world. A quick internet search for "whipped coffee" returns page after page raving about dalgona coffee with images of cold milk topped with decadent coffee foam.

Dalgona coffee is said to have gained immense online popularity when Jung Il-woo, a popular South Korean actor, enjoyed the whipped beverage in a cafe in Macau while filming a program, according to South China Morning Post. The coffee resembles the flavor of the popular Korean dalgona honeycomb candies (made famous by the Netflix series "Squid Game"), so the name stuck, and the internet quickly jumped on the new whipped coffee fad. Now, the popularity of dalgona coffee is a persistent remnant of the COVID-19-era trend. The beverage has become closely associated with South Korea.

The science behind dalgona coffee is simple, as is the process of making it. With only a few ingredients, namely instant coffee, sugar, milk, and water, it's something many people can whip up with what's already in their pantries. Just whip the instant coffee, water, and sugar into a smooth foam and layer it over a glass of milk with ice. As you drink this tasty beverage, the coffee foam mixes with the milk to create a delicious and refreshing whipped coffee.

Italian Crema Di Caffe

served italian crema di cafe - barcarpediemsanmartino / Instagram

When tourists fantasize about Italian coffee, they likely picture the quintessential image of standing at the bar or sitting at tables enjoying small cups of espresso. What many may not realize, however, is that Italy also has a delicious summertime alternative to espresso. This is the refreshing crema di caffe. Another common name for these that you might find around Italy is crema fredda al caffe.

Crema di caffe is a sweet, cold whipped coffee that many restaurants, bars, and tabacchi (a convenience store crossed with bar and cafe) serve to those seeking escape from the heat of Italian summer. Just as with normal espresso, these are also served in the same small cups. Rather than sipping, customers enjoy crema di caffe with a spoon, as it's quite thick.

In Italy, bartenders or baristas may serve these from large mixers behind the bar, but it's also easy to prepare at home. You can make your own crema di caffe by whipping together strong, chilled, sugar-sweetened coffee and cold whipping cream. Serve in a small glass or cup, and top with cocoa powder or cinnamon if that suits your taste.

Cafe Cubano

two cafe Cubano cups - amendolafamilycigars / Instagram

While dalgona coffee has been holding the whipped coffee limelight since the lockdown era, there is another traditional coffee that boasts a frothy coffee and sugar concoction. Cuban coffee, also called cafe Cubano, has differences with dalgona, although there are also notable similarities.

Cafe Cubano is a strong, foamy coffee made by combining espresso and demerara or brown sugar. The foam is traditionally created by combining a small amount of espresso and demerara sugar and stirring intensely until it produces a rich coffee froth, known as espuma. After creating the foam, the maker pours espresso into the small cup to create a strong, espresso-sized coffee topped with sweet, rich froth. The traditional process for brewing the espresso for this drink is to use an Italian stovetop moka pot espresso maker, which produces strong dark coffee. This is a far stronger coffee than dalgona coffee, as well as being a hot beverage. For those wanting a colder beverage, a creamy iced Cuban coffee with a splash of sweetened condensed milk goes down smoothly on a hot day.

Cafe Cubano is a common accompaniment to breakfast, or when eating or taking a break at different times of day. As with Italian espresso, it's common for Cubans to socialize while enjoying cafe Cubano.

Pakistani Phitti Hui

ingredients for phitti hui coffee - New Africa/Shutterstock

Phitti hui, which translates to "beaten coffee," is the traditional Pakistani version of whipped coffee. Using instant coffee, sugar, and water, this is similar to many other popular whipped coffees that have captured the interest of coffee lovers around the world.

The traditional method for preparing this coffee involves whipping the coffee, warm water, and sugar together with a spoon, although modern-day preparation certainly forgives an electric beater. Despite the similarities in preparing the foam this way, phitti hui is usually enjoyed warm, rather than on ice, distinguishing it from other whipped coffees such as dalgona coffee. After whipping up the foam, add hot water and milk into the cup to your liking. A gentle stir mixes the beverage while leaving the foam light and frothy on the top.

The resulting drink is a satisfyingly sweet and warm drink with that same appealing silky whipped coffee topping. These coffees can even be found in machines in Pakistan, but are also common drinks to prepare at home.

Indian Beaten Coffee

Indian beaten coffee with macaroons - edenamour_thb / Instagram

A variation of Pakistan's phitti hui is Indian beaten coffee. Another common name for this style of whipped coffee is Indian cappuccino, because of how the whipped top of the beverage resembles the foamed milk on the top of an Italian cappuccino. These can also be called hand-beaten coffees because of the traditional method of beating the coffee to whip the foam. Other names include desi coffee or soft coffee, but all these different names mean the same thing, a warm, sweetened whipped coffee.

Indian beaten coffee is popular in North Indian homes, but can also be enjoyed publicly in coffee houses of this region as well as other areas. This drink is also key to Indian wedding ceremonies and other important gatherings.

The process of making this coffee is as simple as with its Pakistani counterpart. In fact, the preparation steps are the same. Making this coffee involves whipping instant coffee with sugar and water, before adding in warm milk or water to your liking. Although one of the names of this drink is hand-beaten coffee, using an electric beater can still make this step simpler and result in fluffier, smoother whipped coffee foam.

Greek Frappe

two frappes with greece backdrop - Desislava Lyungova/Shutterstock

While the word frappe may evoke images of trendy iced beverages, sipped over laptops in your local Starbucks, this cold whipped coffee has interesting roots in Greece. In fact, there are several major differences between the frappe and the frappuccino, with which you may be more familiar.

The history of the frappe is not a long one, with the drink first emerging in 1957 as a happy accident due to a Nestle employee exhibiting an innovative shaken chocolate drink at the Thessaloniki Trade Fair. The employee didn't have hot water for his instant coffee, so tried the new shaker method with cold water and ice. In doing so, he inadvertently invented the world's first frappe.

Today, the Greek frappe is a ubiquitous way to beat the heat with a drink that's both refreshingly cold and stimulatingly caffeinated. Shaking the drink with ice generates an enjoyable foam and cools down the ingredients. These are simple  just water, instant coffee, and if you prefer, milk. Customers typically choose how they want their frappes, whether sweeter, more bitter, or milky. This milk can be either normal milk or evaporated milk.

Frappes are extremely common throughout Greece and also Cyprus. In fact, it has been heralded as the national coffee drink of Greece since approximately 1979, further solidifying its place as one of the world's favorite whipped coffees.

Greek Freddo

freddo espresso beside freddo cappuccino - lodimimini / Instagram

While the Greek frappe has enjoyed the limelight, its younger espresso-based counterpart has also been a local favorite since around the mid-'90s, after the introduction of espresso into the regional coffee culture took hold. The freddo espresso is the iced, Greek version of the frappuccinos that have made a place for themselves around the world.

Making freddo espresso involves adding a freshly drawn double espresso shot to a shaker with your desired level of sugar, and shaking well with ice. Next, the maker pours the foamy coffee over ice to be enjoyed with a straw. This can be a refreshingly bitter whipped coffee, or sweeter if that's your preference.

Freddo cappuccino involves the same process of whipping espresso in a mixer with ice but adds a final stage of layering whipped milk foam on top. As with the freddo espresso, sweetness is down to personal taste, which determines how much sugar to add. The sugar is added to the hot espresso shot and stirred before shaking with ice.

Spanish Cafe Bombon

cafe bombon with ingredients - Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock

One of the sweetest whipped coffees is the Spanish cafe bombon, the name of which even translates to "confection." This is a popular coffee to enjoy throughout Spain, having first emerged in Valencia.

What gives this coffee its signature sweetness is the use of evaporated milk in place of normal milk. Unlike other whipped coffees in this list, rather than preparing the drink by whipping ingredients together, common versions of the cafe bombon are somewhat deconstructed. The coffee, condensed milk, and sugar are presented in distinctive layers.

A popular way to make this coffee involves vanilla-enhanced whipped cream to top the drink off. This can be created ahead of time by whipping up the cream with vanilla extract with an electric beater or by hand. The coffee is assembled by pouring a bottom layer of condensed milk, followed by a double shot of espresso. Another method for this stage is to draw the espresso in the glass and carefully pour the heavier condensed milk into it, allowing it to sink down the side to the bottom forming a solid white layer. Using a glass allows for this layering effect to make the beverage even more appealing. The coffee is finished with a final layer of vanilla whipped cream. Enjoy this coffee by stirring these layers together, making this deconstructed whipped coffee into one sweet, hot, and foamy beverage.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Chanel Iman first joined the SI Swimsuit family in 2014, when the Atlanta native traveled to Madagascar with photographer Derek Kettela. She returned to the fold the next two years, and her work took her to Utah with the SI Swimsuit team and visual artist James Macari next. Imans most recent brand feature took place in 2016, when she posed for Ruven Afanador in Zanzibar.

While all three of the 33-year-olds features with SI Swimsuit have been absolutely breathtaking, Imans spread in East Africa was by far the most daring. In addition to rocking sheer one-pieces and bold, strappy black bikinis, Iman bravely posed with a python for several snapshots while on location.

I started off with one python snake and then they brought out the second one, she told People at the time. It was really easy because their mouths were taped, but theres always that fear that the tape might come off and they might just squeeze the crap out of you  especially when theyre around your neck, and theyre on your arms, you dont know what theyre gonna do, so theres always a little bit of fear that something could go wrong on the shoot.

The models bravery was well worth it, as the resulting images are absolutely stunning.

Today, Iman is the proud mom of three children. She and her fiance, Davon Godchaux, got engaged last spring while in Italy. They welcomed a baby girl in September, and Iman shares her two other daughters with her ex-husband, Sterling Shepard.

Below are a few of our favorite pics from her SI Swimsuit feature in Zanzibar.

Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

Make sure to follow SI Swimsuit on YouTube!
Elizabeth Hurley attends the 'Cancer Ball' Charity Dinner presented by Elle Magazine at the Royal Theater on Oct. 20, 2022, in Madrid, Spain.

Elizabeth Hurley never disappoints with her regular social media updates, often showing the Austin Powers actress posing on tropical vacations. But in her most recent Instagram post, the model stunned in a cozy wintry look from the mountains of Switzerland.

On Friday, Jan. 5, Hurley, 58, gifted her followers with a carousel of photos from St. Moritz, which lies on the southern slopes of the Albula Alps. "On Top of the World #stmoritz," she captioned her Instagram post. "Loving 2024 ."

In the photos, Hurley donned a white Moncler turtleneck sweater with black designs around the neck and shoulders. She paired it with black snow pants and a black Moncler beanie with a pom-pom. Finishing off the look, Hurley wore a pair of sunglasses as she basked in the sunlight with a gorgeous backdrop of the mountains.

Folks in the comments section loved her winter style, with one Instagram user declaring, "So gorgeous in the mountains xx."

Another person wondered, "How is it even possible to look this good?"

Meanwhile, someone else commented, "Stunning peaks! "

View the original article to see embedded media.

On Dec. 30, Hurley posted a video of herself rocking a different cold-weather 'fit from a ski resort. "Wondrous Winter Wonderland ," she captioned the Instagram clip, which showed her posing with a woman and a group of men as people skied on the slopes behind them.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Whether she's basking on the beach for a tropical getaway or layered up in the mountains of Switzerland, Hurley knows how to slay an outfit in all weather conditions.

Next: Elizabeth Hurley's Best Bikini Moments of 2023
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus reports that the organisation of high-level visits between Azerbaijan and Belarus was discussed, Azernews reports.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Belarus Maharram Aliyev handed a copy of his power of attorney to the head of the Foreign Ministry of the Eastern European country, Sergei Aleinik. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the state and prospects of the Belarusian-Azerbaijani relations.

In addition, the diplomats paid special attention to the organisation of the upcoming high-level and top-level visits, strengthening trade and economic cooperation, and agreeing on a roadmap for the development of cooperation between the two countries.

At the same time, the sides confirmed that they pay attention to the further development of relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan in line with the Strategic Partnership.
Some Verizon customers may be eligible to claim part of a $100 million class-action settlement, but they'll have to act soon to cash in.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit with Verizon Wireless subscribers claiming the mobile service provider tacked on an extra "administrative charge" to its customers' monthly bills to "extract additional cash" from them.

Here's what to know about the settlement.

Why is Verizon paying $100 million to its customers?

Verizon is shelling out the money to settle a lawsuit filed by current and former customers last year.

In the complaint, lawyers for Verizon customers allege the company "deceived" subscribers by "unlawfully" tacking on an additional "administrative charge" to their service bills "without [their] consent."

In addition, Verizon "never adequately or honestly disclosed" the fee to its customers before they subscribed to its services, and "uniformly charged them higher monthly rates than it advertised and promised," lawyers said in the complaint.

Verizon denies any wrongdoing, according to the settlement website. The company did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch's request for comment.

Who is eligible to get a payout?

Current and former Verizon customers who had a postpaid wireless or data service plan and were charged an "Administrative Charge and/or an Administrative and Telco Recovery charge" from Jan. 1, 2016, to November 8, 2023, are eligible to receive compensation under the settlement, the class action settlement agreement shows.

Postpaid plans are those in which holders pay for services at the end of a monthly billing cycle.

How much is the payout?

The initial payout will be between $15 and $100, depending on the length of time the claimant has been a customer, the claims website FAQs page shows.

How do I claim the money?

Affected customers must file a compensation request form through the claims website. Eligible customers should receive an email with a notice ID and confirmation code that will allow them to access an online portal where they can file a claim.

Story continues

To file a print claim, you can download and print a form through the claims website, fill it out and mail it to the address listed on the form.

The filing deadline for claims is April 15, 2024, according to the settlement website. Claimants that file after that date will not receive compensation. In addition, they will also forfeit their right to sue Verizon over the allegations resolved by the settlement.

How do I opt out of the settlement? Why do people opt out?

You should opt out if you intend on filing a separate complaint against Verizon over any claims contained in this most recent class-action lawsuit.

To opt out, claimants must mail a signed exclusion request to the settlement administrator by Feb. 20, 2024, the claims website shows.

Claimants should address the letter to the following P.O. box: Verizon Administrative Charge Settlement Administrator, Attn: Exclusions, P.O. Box 58220, Philadelphia, PA 19102.
Bhutan, a landlocked nation in the Himalayas, has beautiful landscapes and a Gross National Happiness Index that should be enough to convince anyone to go. It is one of the few places in the world where you can truly experience a different way of life, far from the maelstrom of contemporary life. In a mere five days, you can unlock the secrets of this mysterious land  from its spirituality to deep traditions, and heres how.

Day 1: Thimphu  Bhutans Lively Capital

As you touch down in the land of the thunder dragon, let Thimphu, the capital city, be your introduction. Thimphu may be small, but it packs a punch. Start your day at the Memorial Chorten, where the air is thick with spirituality.

Observe the locals spinning prayer wheels and take a moment to soak in the peaceful atmosphere. Then, make your way to the Folk Heritage Museum for a crash course in Bhutanese culture. With a witty guide narrating tales of yore, youll find history coming alive in the most engaging way possible.

Day 2: Punakha  The Valley of Great Bliss

Gear up for a scenic drive to Punakha, passing through the awe-inspiring Dochula Pass. At 3,100 meters, the pass offers panoramic views of the Himalayas, a perfect teaser for what lies ahead. Once in Punakha, visit the Punakha Dzong  an ethereal fortress.

With its intricate architecture and riverside setting, Punakha Dzong is a living testament to Bhutans culture. Here, enjoy a walk along the Mo Chhu River; you might feel the great bliss the valley is named after.

Day 3: Paro  The Gateway to Bhutanese Culture

Paro, with its lush greenery and iconic Tigers Nest Monastery, beckons on the third day. The hike to Tigers Nest is a rite of passage for Bhutan visitors. Climbing the mountain trail is an incredible challenge, but the payoff is well worth it: stunning views and a profound feeling of achievement.

After descending, explore Paro town. Visit the National Museum, housed in a watchtower. And, for a taste of the modern, go down the main street, where traditional architecture integrates with modern boutiques and cafes.

Day 4: Haa Valley  The Hidden Gem

Next, escape the well-trodden path and venture into the lesser-explored Haa Valley. The road to Haa is an adventure, winding through dense forests and villages. As you reach the valley, the sheer serenity will envelop you.

Visit the Lhakhang Karpo (White Temple) and Lhakhang Nagpo (Black Temple), two ancient temples with fascinating legends. On top of that, the Haa Summer Festival, if timed right, offers an insight into the local culture.

Day 5: Back to Thimphu  Culmination of Bliss

As your five-day journey draws to a close, head back to Thimphu with a heart full of memories. En route, stop at the Chele La Pass, the highest road pass in Bhutan, for one last panoramic view of the Himalayas.

Spend your final evening in Thimphu at a local restaurant, eating traditional Bhutanese food. While reflecting on your whirlwind travels, enjoy the flavors of ema datshi (chili and cheese stew) and momo (dumplings).
In a bright rehearsal room in Budapest, a week or two before filming began on Poor Things, the actress Emma Stone picked up an apple from the breakfast table, thrust it quizzically between her legs, and started to moan. This was an early moment of self-discovery for the films dauntless (and filter-less) heroine, Bella Baxter  a formerly dead Victorian gentlewoman who is reanimated, Frankenstein-style, with the transplanted brain of her unborn child, and then strikes out on a sexual and philosophical odyssey through Europe.

As Stone writhed in her seat, her co-star Ramy Youssef begged her to stop, as the scene required  but after their director, Yorgos Lanthimos, called a halt to proceedings, Youssefs look of shock did not entirely fade.

Tony, he said, turning to the screenwriter Tony McNamara, who was sitting in the corner nursing a coffee. You do know were all going to be cancelled for this, right?

A little over two years later, McNamara is sitting in a London hotel room, clasping another coffee, still braced for a cancellation that has, as yet, failed to materialise.

When we made this film, none of us said, Well, heres something thats going to win over everyone, says the bookish Australian, who looks younger than his 56 years, despite the horn-rimmed spectacles, shock of silvering hair and already long-silvered beard. But the people it wont win over still havent made themselves known, so perhaps I should be nervous.

When it premiered at Venice last September, Poor Things was met with the most uniformly positive reviews in the recent history of the festival. Ah well, McNamara joked in a WhatsApp message to Lanthimos: no hope of a prize from the jury, then. A week later, he was lying on the sofa in his home in London when Lanthimos texted him to say it had just won Venices top prize, the Golden Lion. It then drew rapturous reactions at further festival screenings in Telluride, New York and London, took $3.4 million (2.7 million) over the Christmas weekend in the US, and is in the running for seven awards at tomorrow nights Golden Globes. McNamara appears to have cracked a formula that has proved increasingly elusive since the 1970s: coming up with a deeply weird and provocative film that is also a popular hit.

Poor Things  which arrives in UK cinemas on Friday  is a dazzlingly funny and mad reworking of the 1992 novel by the Scottish author Alasdair Gray. Lanthimos, the Greek-born filmmaker behind such deadpan provocations as Dogtooth and The Lobster, had earmarked it for McNamara just over a decade ago, when the two were refining the script for their Restoration-era black comedy The Favourite.

McNamara, who at the time was working in Australia as a playwright and screenwriter, had never heard of the book before Lanthimos pressed it into his hands. But a barista in his local coffee shop was a Scot, and when I mentioned it to him, he got very excited.

In 2011, shortly after moving to the UK, Lanthimos, a longtime admirer of Grays work, travelled to Glasgow to try to win the authors approval. On his arrival, however, Gray immediately bundled him back out of the door and took him on an impromptu walking tour of his favourite spots in the city, from the university to the Necropolis. In an email to McNamara afterwards, Lanthimos described Gray telling him on the doorstep, almost as an afterthought, that he had enjoyed Dogtooth and was happy to give a Poor Things adaptation his blessing.

It was incredibly generous of him and Yorgos was overjoyed, McNamara says, adding that it brought a note of real bittersweetness to the production that Gray, who died in 2019 at the age of 85, wasnt around to see the cameras finally roll on the project.

'Im the wrong person to talk to about the modern world, because I try to avoid it': Poor Things writer Tony McNamara - Gareth Cattermole

McNamara had taken some nicely judged liberties with the source material, darkening the final act and lopping off a playful framing narrative that calls into question the central version of events. But the most drastic shift was swapping its Glasgow setting for London  or at least a heightened version of it, built (like each of its locations) in a Hungarian film studio  and thereby draining the tale of its peculiar Scottish flavour in the process. Just a single twang remains: as the eccentric scientist Godwin Baxter, Willem Dafoe does a very convincing Scottish Enlightenment accent.

When the first trailer was released last summer, some portions of Scottish social media were consumed by grumbling over this, while others rightly wondered why their countrys own cultural sector had left it to England (and Australia, Greece, Hungary, and so on) to bring this nationally beloved novel to a wider audience.



McNamara stresses the relocation wasnt personal. We were sad to take it away from Glasgow, but felt like we had to, he says. It made it so much simpler for a wider audience to get into the movie, without us having to set up such a specific cultural context. We wanted to bring everyone into this bizarre world of a mad scientist performing brain transplants with corpses and foetuses, so to then say to the audience, By the way, this is happening in Scotland, felt like asking too much. Because then they start wondering, Well, what does that mean? So, while I understand some Scots have been a bit twitchy about it  he looks suddenly apprehensive, perhaps in case his Scottish-accented interviewer is one of them  it was only because London is instantly understandable around the world as a gothic Victorian backdrop.

Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning in The Great - Christian Black

Anyway, Lanthimos had always conceived of the film as an international effort. McNamara remembers an afternoon during the filming of The Favourite when the director quietly took him aside, pointed at Stone, and said of the Arizona-born actress: I think shes our Bella.

When we told her what we had, she loved it and immediately jumped on board, McNamara says  though he didnt start the adaptation process with Stone specifically in mind. I cant imagine actors when I write, he says, even when Im literally married to one of the cast. (In his streaming series The Great, a period comedy about the Russian empress Catherine II, McNamaras wife, Belinda Bromilow, plays Elizabeth of Russia.)

Born and raised an hour north of Melbourne, McNamara came to London at 22 to work as a merchant banker, but fled before the year was out. In his short initial spell here, he fell in love with the theatre  and on a trip to Rome to decompress, decided to reinvent himself as a playwright. Returning to Melbourne, he took a year-long creative-writing course, which led to a lengthy spell working as a waiter  but also enough downtime in which to write his first play, a Ferris Bueller-esque satire of middle-class Australian teen life titled The Cafe Latte Kid. This in turn became his debut feature, 2003s The Rage in Placid Lake, which he also directed.

I enjoyed making it, but I also realised I was never going to be good at both writing and directing, he remembers. The first of those was where I had to commit.

His knack for complex and unruly female characters  Catherine the Great, all three leads in The Favourite, a young Miss de Vil in Cruella  quickly won him Stones admiration, who brought him onto that latter Disney film in 2019 after its screenplay got stuck in a rut.

That job was all methodical, all calculation, he explains. You quickly realise youre there to serve a piece of IP  intellectual property; in this case, an existing character or premise  which Disney are very invested in emotionally, but also want to make a lot of money with, so its all about finding a middle path that satisfies both halves. He remembers fretting before his initial meeting with the producers, because it seemed so corporate and onerous, and Id always been an indie kind of person. But they were so nice to me. They sat me down and asked, What would you do to solve these things we think are problems, and what other problems havent we spotted?

Did it work? Well, around his Poor Things schedule  also technically a Disney gig, since the films parent studio is Searchlight Pictures  hes currently beavering away on Cruella 2.

Olivia Colman in The Favourite - Atsushi Nishijima

Its certainly interesting that a studio as image-conscious as Disney would bring McNamara back to write one of its iconic heroines at a time when writers identities  that is, their sex, and racial and cultural backgrounds  are scrutinised for suitability on such projects. How does he feel about the modern fixation on who gets to tell which stories?

Im the wrong person to talk to about the modern world, because I try to avoid it, he chuckles. But I mean, whatever you do, someones going to have a problem. Oprah Winfrey sent $5 million to Hawaii after the wildfires, and some people went after her for that. Unfortunately, thats the world we live in. But I do feel this film is about that sort of control  what it means to live in a time when people have strict ideas about how we should and shouldnt speak and behave.

Bella Baxter  dancing, shagging, arguing and scoffing Portuguese custard tarts till she pukes  is, in that respect, as out of place in the 2020s as she is in the 1890s. Perhaps thats why shes striking such a chord.

Poor Things is in UK cinemas from Jan 12

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Pastor Jerrill Wyler is a son of Doug and Ronda Wyler, along with his siblings Jethniel, Joel, sister Javonda and Jaron.

Jerrill was born in 1987 in Ashland, and from the time he was 4, the family traveled in an RV while serving in gospel evangelism. Jerrill has traveled to all 48 states, as well as Canada, Mexico and Haiti.

He always liked music, and while not being very good at it, his parents asked him to stick with the project. He played trumpet and harmonica and learned to sing well enough. Since the family was always on the road, the children were home schooled, and Jerrill doesnt have any one school to claim as his own.

They were a close family. Mom was the main teacher. He looks back on it as a unique childhood, a wonderful experience, and he wouldnt trade it. Jerrill graduated high school in 2005.

When Jerrill was 17 he began college at Pensacola Christian College majoring in youth ministries. It was a four-year bachelors degree program and he graduated in 2008. While in college, he worked at a church in Alabama as an intern. During that time, Jerrill felt the calling from God to be in local church ministries. Jerrill graduated college in 2008, and then went on to Port St. Lucie, Florida, as a sixth grade Christian school teacher for one year. The job was challenging and not what he was trained to do, but it was good.

Pastor Jerrill Wyler is senior pastor at Wayside Chapel in Bucyrus.

Building a family, looking for a church to pastor, finding it in Bucyrus

During college, Jerrill had met Andrea Gordon while on one of the family travels. They had probably met much earlier in life since Andrea went to a church where Jerrills family had ministered. They could have "passed like two ships in the night." Andrea was from Commerce, Georgia, about a six-hour drive from Pensacola. They had a long-distance relationship during college, visiting each other on occasion. The couple married in 2010.

For the next 11 years, he was a teacher and associate pastor in Port St. Lucie. Starting in 2016, Jerrill received a masters of arts in Christian studies from Dallas Theological Seminary, an online program, while he was still at Port St. Lucie. Their oldest son Bryson was born in 2013, Elijah was born in 2015 and Gideon was born in 2018  all born in Florida. Their fourth son, Myles, was born in Bucyrus in 2022.

While Jerrill and family were still in Port St. Lucie and he was finishing his masters degree, Jerrill was looking for an opportunity to become a senior pastor at a church. The yearlong search process ended with the move to Bucyrus. Ironically, during childhood travels, he had first been to Wayside with his family when he was 4. Now 32 years later, he is the pastor.

Church and school are growing

The Wyler family arrived at Wayside in August 2021, and he officially as pastor in September. He says its been good. The church is growing, and full of ministry opportunities. The people in his congregation have a desire for the Word of God, the Bible, and to be taught.

Andrea is Jerrills biggest supporter and the love of his life. She is very involved in the church and in raising their sons. The two oldest attend Wayside Christian School.

In May, Wayside Chapel celebrated its 60th anniversary. When Pastor Reuben Leuthold founded the church, he also founded Wayside Christian School, which celebrated its 50th year in May. Wayside Christian School, kindergarten through high school, has 91 students. They recently applied to be a non-public chartered school through the State of Ohio to allow families to take advantage of the EdChoice Scholarship Funds. The voucher program, depending on income, would mean many families could attend school there free, or at a much-reduced cost. Its a great opportunity for private Christian education focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Wayside Christian School has begun a building project to expand classroom space and improve the property. With the new voucher program, they expect the current enrollment to increase dramatically, and they dont want to turn anyone away because of lack of space. Wayside is celebrating whats happened in the past but with great anticipation of what can happen in the future.

In closing, God has lead them to being part of all of this, and Jerrill is very excited. Its good to see and be blessed by what God is doing. The charter school and building project is His thing and they are trusting in the Lord for His provision for this roughly $2 million project. Jerrill says while its a big number, its definitely not too big for God.

Go online for more of Mary Foxs stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Jerrill Wyler and his passion for the ministry led him to Bucyrus
Peter Hermann and Mariska Hargitay

Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann appear to be having the trip of a lifetime.

The married couple have recently been traveling in Kenya with their three children, August, 17, Amaya, 12, and Andrew, 11and from the looks of it, their family vacay has been quite the trip.

The Law & Order: SVU star has already shared several artsy photos, taken by her hubby and even some captured by her kids, but in her latest post, Hermann got the spotlight.

The Blue Bloods actor, 56, could be seen walking across a wooden bridge on their way back from a safari in the candid snap shared to Hargitay's Instagram on Friday, Jan. 5. Hermann, who was dressed appropriately in safari gear, couldn't help but sport a giant smile across his face while looking at his wife, who was presumably behind the camera.

"9:00 AM return to our home away from home. ," Hargitay, 59, wrote in her caption while adding that her husband was giving off major "#IndianaJonesVibes."

And her followers agreed, as many of them took to the comments to fawn over Hermann's perfectly rugged appearance.

"Peter ate this pic up," one commenter wrote under the post, while another added, "Your King of the Jungle! ."

"What a hottie you've got there girlfriend ," someone else chimed in.

Others couldn't help but notice how happy Hermann and Hargitay both look whenever their spouse photographs them, as one user pointed out, "You two capture each others happiness better than anyone ."

"Beautiful view of a beautiful human! You both just look like youre glowing with happiness on this trip, and I love it! " someone else added.

Next: Mariska Hargitay Shares Rare Selfie With 17-Year-Old Son From 'Epic' Safari
The giant ground pangolin reemerged in Kenya in 2018, the first time the scaly creature had been spotted in 47 years.

It was thought to be locally extinct, but since 2022, The Pangolin Project has been working with landowners around Nyekweri Forest to create space for these animals, The Guardian reported in December.

Pangolins are the most trafficked animal in the world, according to the outlet, which noted 23.5 tonnes (nearly 26 tons) of pangolins and their body parts were bought and sold in 2021 and that one million pangolins have been poached in the last 10 years. The giant ground pangolin is endangered.

Three other species live in Africa, and another four live in Asia. The nocturnal mammal is covered in tough, overlapping scales of keratin and eats termites and ants with its extremely long, muscular, sticky tongue, which can be half the length of its head and body, according to the Save Pangolins organization. When threatened, a pangolin curls up into a ball and can use its tail to defend itself.

The Guardian compared the being to a huge, slow-moving pine cone. They range from about 3.5 to 73 pounds, according to Save Pangolins.

Awareness about the animals plight is high, but only a few dozen may remain in Kenya, The Guardian reported.

This knowledge has not translated into a robust conservation drive, Claire Okell, founder of The Pangolin Project told the outlet.

Beryl Makori, the projects programs and operations manager, said that deforestation and demarcation were causing the loss of pangolin habitat in Kenya.

Around 23 area landowners formed the Nyekweri Kimintet Forest Conservation Trust, protecting 5,000 acres. A lack of alternatives to farming has held others back from joining the effort, The Guardian reported.

Community-led conservation is central to saving endangered species and creating coexistence between wildlife and the people living alongside wildlife, director of the Pangolin Crisis Fund Araluen Azza Schunmann said. For wildlife to thrive, the people of the region need to thrive as well.

The Pangolin Project has helped landowners remove the animals biggest threat: the lowest lines of electric fences.

I feel we are protecting the last of the pangolins, Makori said. We will give all it takes for a protected habitat with a viable population.

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Airport greeters can eliminate the stress of tight connections. Heres how to go VIP the next time you fly.

MARIA GREJC

David Lowy, the president of Vancouver-based Renshaw Travel, has spent his career planning trips for demanding clients who expect top-notch service. And while he considers himself pretty savvy  hes on T+Ls Travel Advisory Board, after all  something Lowy will often splurge on is an airport greeter. These concierge-style pros will meet passengers planeside, help them breeze through customs and immigration, and guide them to baggage claim  turning what can be a hectic and overwhelming ordeal into a soft landing.

Where this kind of VIP service really shines, Lowy says, is when youve got a connection. Lets say youre going Chicago to Frankfurt to Athens, but you only have an hour to connect, he says. Its a huge airport and you have to clear immigration into the EU and then go through security. If you have a guide, they know the fastest route  and sometimes they can even put you into a car to speed things up. Depending on the airport, the cost of such white-glove treatment may run to a few hundred dollars, Lowy adds. But its worth it.

Travel advisors can arrange for a meet-and-greet at almost any airport, but you can also book the service on your own. Royal Airport Concierge is one of the larger providers, with operations in more than 700 locations worldwide; arrival and transit help can also be booked on travel platforms such as GetYourGuide and Viator.

This type of thing is newly relevant after the travel debacles of the past few years, says Jack Ezon, also a member of the Travel Advisory Board and the cofounder of Embark Beyond. With losing bags always a possibility and airport chaos an ordinary occurrence, our clients are much more willing to splurge to ease travel concerns. Among Ezons clients, demand for airport greeters is up more than 160 percent compared with pre-pandemic times, he says.

Still, some airports, such as Hamad International, in Doha, Qatar, or Incheon International, near Seoul, run so smoothly that the value proposition of a private chaperone may not add up. In other destinations, the cost-to-benefit ratio is a no-brainer, says T+L editor in chief Jacqui Gifford.

I was flying back to New York City from Dubai, connecting in Istanbul, she recalls. People on my flight were very stressed about making the tight connection, given the size of Istanbul Airport. But Id arranged for a greeter through IGA Pass, which has a range of services including buggies, fast-track security, and lounge access. He whisked me to my gate  and took away all my stress.

A version of this article appeared in the November 2023 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline "Worth Every Cent."

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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
Were throwing it back to one of the most iconic cover photoshoots in recent years. Remember when Tyra Banks came out of retirement and practically broke the internet with her appearance in the 2019 issue? The supermodel and actress was photographed by Laretta Houston in the Bahamas, and she rocked the most stunning itty-bitty yellow Andi Bagus bikini for the front of the magazine. The moment was talked about all over the world, and we still think about it to this day.

The Life Size star and Americas Next Top Model host made her debut with the magazine in 1993, when she was photographed by Walter Iooss Jr. in the Florida Keys. She returned to the brand three years later and landed her first cover alongside Valeria Mazza in South Africa.

In 97, Banks became the first Black model to land an SI Swimsuit solo cover when she was captured by Russell James in Harbour Island, Bahamas. The 49-year-old returned again in 98 and traveled to Vabbinfaru in the Maldives with Robert Erdmann. Banks was featured in two in-studio photoshoots in 04 and 14, as well.

Im really really proud. Its kind of surreal. I was about 25 pounds, 30 pounds heavier than the cover 22 years ago, and so the secret is, when you gain a little, the swimsuit goes smaller, Banks joked about her latest cover. People think its the opposite. Dental floss it, the bigger you are. This is the rule. Im in a new phase. I have a new body. I think I was like let me just celebrate what I am now and just be real.

Below are six incredible snaps of Banks in the Bahamas.

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

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Princess Leonor of Asturias is embracing her royal duties with her first public outing of 2024 and debut attendance at the Pascua Militar ceremony.

Carlos Alvarez

Pascua Militar, which translates to Military Easter, takes place annually on January 6 in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. The tradition dates back to the 18th century, established by King Charles III in celebration of the Franco-Spanish armys recapture of the Menorcan town Mahon from the British in 1782.

The princess commemorated the start of a new military year looking regal and honorable in a dark gray military uniform adorned with several medals, a yellow-and-red belt, and a blue Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III sash. She suited up further in black dress shoes, white gloves, and a red military beret, wore her brunette hair in a slicked-back braided bun, and kept her makeup minimal.

Carlos Alvarez

Princess Leonor stood alongside her parents Queen Letizia, who looked ever-elegant in a long-sleeve, high-neck silk blouse, flowy black skirt, matching fur-trimmed poncho, and pointed-toe heels, and King Felipe VI, who matched his daughter in a dark blue military uniform adorned with medals, a red belt and pink-and-white sash. He, too, wore black dress shoes, white gloves, and a white-and-black military hat.

It appears the princess is taking to her royal engagements swimmingly. Her outing comes on the heels of her 18th birthday in November, when she swore allegiance to the Spanish Constitution before the Spanish parliament, paving the way for her eventual secession as queen. Just a couple months prior, she enrolled at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza, where she is to complete three years of military training.

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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is truly the queen of being confident in every setting, whether its in the middle of a hectic fashion show or during a family vacation to the beach. Speaking of the beach, she just shared a series of super rare photos of her children living their best life by the beach, and showing that theyre the ultimate beach babies.

On Jan 4, the supermodel shared a series of photos of her and her familys vacation to Phuket, Thailand on her Instagram. She shared the photos with the caption reading, Sunrise to sunset .

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In the first photo, we see a sunrise over their stay, with their son Jack looking as adorable as can be while staring off at the sunrise. Along with that, we see a photo of Huntington Whiteley holding on to Jack while they play in the ocean, followed by a picture of her holding on to their daughter Isabella while walking through the town and holding her again as they take a photo of their sweet mother-daughter shadow silhouette.

We also get quite a few Scenic photos of Thailand, along with a show-stopping photo of Huntington Whiteley looking as gorgeous as can be in a caped white mini-dress

Truly, her kids seem so at home by the beach and these sweet photos prove it.

Huntington-Whiteley and her fiance Jason Statham have been together since 2010, soon after meeting at a party in London. They later got engaged back in early 2016, and now have two children together: a son named Jack Oscar, born on June 24, 2017, and a daughter named Isabella James, born on Feb 2, 2022.

In a rare interview, she revealed to Net-A-Porter that being a mom changed her identity. I think once I stepped into the role, embraced it, everything sort of relaxed a little bit. I did start to feel this new sense of life, she said. And now in my 30s, my confidence is so much [greater], and my ability to make decisions and not second-guess myself is stronger. I genuinely feel like my life is much more well-rounded.

Before you go, check out these celebrity kids who are fashion icons in the making.



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While there are loads of chicken recipes to be familiar with when your plate needs an easy serving of protein, you may eventually crave new flavors that make chicken nights exciting again. The good news is that your kitchen may already be stocked with the ingredients needed to make shoyu chicken, a widely popular hybrid dish in Hawaii infused with umami goodness.

"Shoyu" is Japanese for soy sauce and it lends a rich, salty taste to chicken when cooked using a Chinese technique involving a long poach in the sauce. This savory Hawaiian entree is made authentic when you use shoyu, which differs from other soy sauces in its fermentation method and base ingredients. Thankfully, Kikkoman, one of the world's most famous soy sauce brands, is shoyu and is an easy find in stores if you don't already have some stocked up. To balance out the punch of soy sauce that's absorbed by the chicken, sugar and ginger are also used to amp up the sweet and zesty undertones the dish is well known for. The taste is often thought of as a creative twist on teriyaki chicken.

Most Hawaiian households have unique versions of traditional shoyu chicken and potlucks or parties across the islands can't truly start without it. The recipe is delightfully straightforward, with white rice and macaroni salad being the two main sides that are commonly paired with it to complete the experience.

Read more: 6 Canned Meats You Should Buy And 6 You Shouldn't

Shoyu Chicken Is The Result Of Multiple Cultural Influences

hands passing food bowl - Jupiterimages/Getty Images

The rolling mountains, crystal clear waves, and swaying palms aren't the only things that make the Aloha State a beautiful corner of the world. Its culture is also a thing of beauty and its culinary scene is a big part of that. Many dishes and new flavors were brought over by immigrants from Japan, China, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and several other countries to create a one-of-a-kind blend of tastes. Shoyu chicken was a result of this multicultural shift, becoming commonly sold by housewives to plantation workers in the form of bento box lunches known as okazuya. Today, there are still several Japanese okazuya delis spread across the main islands where shoyu chicken can be ordered as a filling plate lunch.

While this Hawaiian food's exact origins aren't known, it's beloved for its simplicity. Some variations of shoyu chicken may include a few slices of juicy pineapple, adding an added layer of complexity and signature local flavors to the meal. Others enjoy preparing it by barbecuing or frying the chicken after it's done marinating in the soy sauce to reach a crispy finish. Honey, mirin, chicken broth, and even sherry are used in some recipes, and some may prefer a thinner sauce or one thickened with the help of a cornstarch slurry. Many people could agree that the traditional taste of shoyu chicken shines through best when the recipe calls for basic ingredients.

How To Make Easy Shoyu Chicken At Home

fried soy sauce chicken - Haoliang/Getty Images

When cooking shoyu chicken at home, the Kikkoman soy sauce does most of the heavy lifting. It's important to get a balanced flavor by using sweeteners like brown sugar or mirin but these are typically seen as optional recipe adjustments for those who are keen on using the best sugar substitutes. Otherwise, normal white cane sugar does the trick when combined with the shoyu, freshly grated ginger, garlic, and diluted with a bit of water. Poaching the chicken is the ideal way to use the "low and slow" method when cooking it, ensuring the meat is moist and begins to fall off the bone when it's ready. Skin-on chicken thighs are simmered in the aromatic mixture for 30 minutes before they're flipped and left to marinate for another 30.

Typical garnishes for shoyu chicken are chopped scallions or sesame seeds. The sauce can be stored and used for any leftovers. This flavorful dish is often said to be even better the next day after the soy sauce has had a chance to seep into the chicken for even longer. Adding pineapple slices is one optional topping that can be a real treat. If the classic sides are served with it, it's a match made in heaven. A bed of white rice does well to soak up the saucy marinade, while a creamy batch of macaroni salad reduces the overall saltiness of the chicken.

Where To Eat Shoyu Chicken In Hawaii

shoyu chicken with rice - Leigh Anne Meeks/Shutterstock

You're likely to find many local hotspots across each of Hawaii's main islands that serve shoyu chicken, complete with hefty scoops of rice to soak up the excess soy sauce. Okazuya shops like the family-owned Kawamoto Store in Hilo are great local options where it can be ordered for just over $2.00. While the Big Island has lots of choices, Oahu also has it's fair share of quick-stops and drive-ins to choose from. While it's often sold at affordable prices, there are more expensive ways to dine on shoyu chicken. One such place is a Hawaiian comfort fast food chain called Zippy's. There, a regular-sized portion can be ordered for just shy of 16 bucks, and a "mini" meal goes for around $12.

Rather than experiencing this dish through the lens of fast food, you'll always have the best luck when dining on a plate of home-cooked shoyu chicken or scoring some at a lively Hawaiian luau. However, if you don't live there and won't be boarding a flight anytime soon, making it yourself isn't complicated. With the right technique and ingredients, you could end up creating something close to traditional right in your own home.

Read the original article on Mashed.
Countries in south and southeast Asia are the most exposed to flooding risks in the Asia-Pacific region, and sovereigns with a lower capacity to adapt are likely to face negative rating pressure, according to Fitch Ratings.

Flooding, one of the most common types of natural disaster, could lead to significant economic losses and degraded ratings for some Asia-Pacific sovereigns, the company said in a report on Thursday.

"Sovereigns more vulnerable to physical risks, with weak adaptation capacity, are likely to be under negative rating pressure," the report said. "This puts many sovereigns in south and southeast Asia at risk of negative rating action, with Singapore as the exception."

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Most southeast Asian countries are island economies or have long coastlines, leaving them highly exposed to coastal flooding, according to the report. Sea levels have been rising in southeast Asia for several decades, leaving low-lying economies in the region vulnerable to coastal flooding and putting ecosystems that are built around water at risk.

A resident evacuates a pig amid flooding from heavy rains brough by Tropical Storm Jelawat in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur province, the Philippines, on December 18, 2023. Photo: AFP alt=A resident evacuates a pig amid flooding from heavy rains brough by Tropical Storm Jelawat in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur province, the Philippines, on December 18, 2023. Photo: AFP>

Sea levels in the Philippines have risen by between 5.7mm and 7mm per year in some areas, double the global average from 1951 to 2015, according to the World Bank's climate and development report for the country.

"Sovereigns in southeast Asia are highly exposed to physical risks from climate change," said Sagarika Chandra, director of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch Ratings in the report. "Flooding in particular is a key vulnerability for those sovereigns."

Story continues

Vietnam is the most at risk of flooding in southeast Asia, according to the report, citing data from the Index for Risk Management, a collaboration of the United Nation's Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Risk, Early Warning and Preparedness and the European Commission.

Apart from being prone to coastal flooding, Vietnam is also among the most exposed to river flooding due to a multitude of river systems that run across the country. Both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are located near highly flood-prone deltas, of the Mekong River and Red River, respectively.

The Philippines is one of the most exposed to risks from storms such as tropical cyclones in southeast Asia.

In south Asia, Bangladesh is the most prone to flooding, which can be attributed to the country's large rivers and low average elevation of just a few metres above sea level, according to the database of the Index for Risk Management.

"We expect high economic growth in most of south and southeast Asia, with increasing urbanisation, which means their populations' vulnerability to flooding risks is likely to increase," the report said.

"International financing for adaptation and green transition purposes may help fill funding gaps for some sovereigns at the margins, but this is likely to be a small portion of overall funding needs."

Vietnam has received funding of about US$146 million for projects through the Green Climate Fund, the world's largest climate fund established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010 which aims at supporting developing countries in meeting their targets towards lower emissions and building greater climate resilience.

The Philippines has received US$137.7 million in funding, while Indonesia has received US$496.7 million and Bangladesh US$441.2 million.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
The mass rerouting of container vessels away from the Red Sea illustrates how easily unforeseen events can upend supply chains. And the Middle East crisis is just one of many concerns that logistics executives should address in 2024.

Everstream Analytics named extreme weather patternsand their impact on delivery timesas the top logistics disruptor to the current supply chain. The companys latest report slapped a 100 percent risk score on weather worriesthe highest across the five major risks it identified.

More from Sourcing Journal

According to the report, the U.S. experienced a billion-dollar weather event every four months in the 1980s, compared to every three weeks today. Domestically, logistics giants like Amazon, FedEx and UPS saw disruptions when Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida in August.

And overseas, a months-long drought is behind the bloated backlog in the Panama Canal, where restrictions have limited traffic since the last summer.

As we have just entered Panamas typical dry season until early-to-mid April, the historically low water levels in the Panama Canal are likely to worsen, and freight rates are likely to continue increasing in 2024, said Jena Santoro, senior manager of supply chain risk at Everstream Analytics.

Everstream said shippers must leverage predictive weather forecasts and disruptions alerts when planning, and look to predictive ETAs to better forecast delivery dates.

The other alternative is switching modes or increasing the utilization of intermodal transport, Santoro told Sourcing Journal. Air freight has not yet seen a surge in demand or rates as a result of ocean disruptions, but is likely to see these changes the longer the ocean disruptions persist.

ESG policy pressure

In its annual Risk Report, Everstream named disruption from growing environmental regulations as the second biggest supply chain risk with a score of 92 percent.

From 1972-2019, there was a 38-fold increase in environmental laws, the report said, pressuring governments and businesses to adopt net-zero emissions and energy policies.

Production stoppages and litigation due to environmental violations are particularly strong

in the U.S., where 41.7 percent of such incidents in 2023 occurred.

With protectionist policies in place, get to know your Tier 2 suppliers

With an 85 percent risk score, protectionist measures such as growing export controls and sanctions, particularly between the U.S. and China, could pose problems for the global supply chain.

This is why Everstream advises shippers to uncover potential sub-tier bottlenecks where sanctions can shut down a supply chain. This means checking for single-source suppliers at the Tier 2 level, where multiple Tier 1 suppliers depend on the same Tier 2 supplier.

Multi-tier visibility into extended supply chain networks is even more critical now than ever before, given the era of trade tensions, Santoro told Sourcing Journal. It has always been a difficult task for multinational companies with global, fragmented supply chains with hundreds of category suppliers and contractors, and it typically becomes more challenging which each tier.

Santoro said a 2023 Deloitte survey found that only 15 percent of chief procurement officers have visibility past Tier 1 suppliers.

Taiwan disruption would impact half of container ships

Taiwan tensions, which carried a 75 percent risk score, could include export restrictions to the country and blockades of the Taiwan Strait if China greenlights an invasion. Disruption in the Taiwan Strait would affect about half of all the worlds container ships, according to Everstream.

Any expected disruptions would be less severe than the current Red Sea situation, as vessels are unlikely to be targeted directly.

Vessels could divert around the east of Taiwan in the Philippine Sea, adding only two-to-three days to the journey, Santoro said. Though the diversions could still cause delays and backlogs, especially in the case of the Taiwan Strait being blocked completely, it is unlikely comparable to the current Red Sea crisis where the available diversion can cost $1 million in fuel costs added to the roundtrip journey from Asia to northern Europe.

The company advises supply chain managers to be mindful that Tier 1 supplier diversification may not carry over into Tier 2 since many Tier 1 suppliers could be sourcing from the same region or supplier.

Suppliers could run out of agricultural commodities

At No. 5 with a 72 percent risk score, commodity shortages of sugar, rubber, and rice will come to a head this year due to the culmination of factors, including high input prices, farm profitability concerns, and increasing protectionism and extreme weather events.

Everstream recommends companies fix prices whenever possible while building a multinational sourcing strategy per commodity, and then monitor the market for opportunities to drive down costs throughout the year.
Martha Stewart is no stranger to interacting with her fans. From chuckling with the public about the suggestion that she should date Pete Davidson to hosting fan getaways at her New York farm, Stewart enjoys sharing the love with her followers. Back in 2014, she created a thread on Reddit that allowed users to ask her anything. When asked about her go-to Moroccan foods, Stewart replied, "Bisteeya, pigeon pie, tagine of lamb with prunes, and couscous, of course."

Bisteeya, or pastilla, and pigeon pie are actually the same thing  some variations are made with pigeon meat, while others opt for different poultry selections like turkey and chicken. In Stewart's recipe for bisteeya, she details chicken thighs as the meat of choice, but she also has a recipe for a turkey rendition. Essentially, bisteeya is a meat pie with a poultry base that's brought to life with traditional Moroccan flavors like saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger. Encrusted in a dough made from phyllo and accompanied with layers of sugary almonds and eggs, this is a pie that sings with notes of both savory and sweet.

Lamb tagine is a bold, robust dish forged from a richly seasoned sauce that embraces cubes of lamb  or other meats in different instances. Like bisteeya, it focuses on Moroccan essentials like cinnamon, saffron, and ginger. While the name tagine is the type of stew this recipe uses, it's also the name of the pot it's cooked in. Traditionally, you'll often see it served over couscous.

Read more: Ina Garten's 12 Best Cleaning Tips For A Mess-Free Kitchen

Dinner With Martha, Moroccan-Style

lamb tagine with couscous - Vitalii Kholmohorov/Getty Images

In 2021, several years after Martha Stewart's Reddit thread, she blogged about a Moroccan dinner she hosted at her farm in New York. Sticking to her love for bisteeya, she served 17 people three variations of the dish  all made with a chicken base and an ornamental phyllo crust. She explains that most Moroccan bisteeya is decorated with dustings of powdered sugar and finished off with a design made from cinnamon (Stewart suggests using a small spoon to create thin criss-crosses of cinnamon along the top).

While she did not make a tagine sauce, she served food cooked in traditional Moroccan tagines, which allow steam from the food to rise to the top of the pot and come back into the base, making for a juicy result. Couscous was prepared to be served alongside lamb, sausage, chicken, and vegetables that were prepared in the morning to employ a technique called "mise-en-place," translating to "set in place." This method allows the cook to have all the couscous and vegetables washed and ready to be cooked before the cooking has even begun. For dessert, Stewart treated her guests to a pomegranate-topped sorbet nestled alongside Moroccan blood orange shortbread, a dessert that's easy to bake.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.


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The legendary mystery of Jack the Rippers true identity, an enigma that has endured for over a century, may be coming to an end thanks to the re-emergence of an old memento and a new theory proposed by a former police volunteer.

Are true crime obsessives headed down yet another tantalizing shrouded alley, only to find a dead end? Or will there finally be a proper face put to the notorious name that, once whispered in fear, is now shouted by endless tour guides in the Whitechapel district of London?

Perhaps the most famous cold case in history, the mystery of Jack the Rippers real name has attracted more sleuths, professional and amateur, than any other case of the last 130 years. That the identity of the killer has remained unknown all this time has allowed him to slip into the realm of the morbidly fantastical, like the fictional occupants of penny dreadful novels such as Sweeney Todd and Springheel Jack.

Jack the Ripper has inspired films, novels, operas, and video games. Hes even tousled with Batman on the illustrated page. After all, innumerable theories abound as to the identity of Londons most infamous killer, and since weve long been left wondering who he wasor what he even looked likeweve let our minds imagine anyone, real or fake, wandering the foggy streets of Whitechapel.

LMPC - Getty Images

But now, we may actually be close to answering the impossible question: Just who was Jack the Ripper?

What Are the New Clues That Reveal Jack the Rippers Identity?

A newly rediscovered artifact that once belonged to Frederick Abberline, a detective who investigated Jack the Ripper back in 1888, is the first intriguing development.

As the New York Post reports, a custom-engraved walking stick that Abberline owned had long been held within the Police College in Bramshill, Hampshire, but it ...was feared lost when the institution was shut down in 2015.

However, the cane recently reappeared when staff members at the College of Policings headquarters Ryton were searching through memorabilia. The cane itself, in addition to being photographed and posted online, is now on display at the College of Policing to highlight advancements in police technology to recruits.

This walking stick is significant because Abberline had carved into the cane the only existing composite image ever made of Jack the Ripper, based on witness testimony. While the cane alone doesnt tell us who the infamous killer really was, its rediscovery does allow us to put a face to the Jack the Ripper.

College of Policing

A single cane from the 1800s may not close the case by itself, but a former police volunteer believes that combining the same kind of witness testimonies that led to that composite image with a close examination of medical records of the era could lead to a suspect long overlooked in the investigation.



As noted in The Independent, Sarah Bax Horton, the grandchild of an investigator who worked on the Jack the Ripper case, believes she has found the man responsible for the grisly Whitechapel murders.

Through examining medical records of the era, Horton says she has identified cigar maker Hyam Hyams as the real man behind Jack the Ripper. While Hyams profession likely means he was proficient with a knife, the weapon used in the Jack the Ripper killings, Hortons theory relies more on the maladies that afflicted Hyams, both mental and physical, which align with what we know about Jack the Ripper.

For the first time in history, Jack the Ripper can be identified as Hyam Hyams using distinctive physical characteristics, Horton told The Telegraph regarding her theory. Reviewing medical notes for Hyams, Horton found that he had an irregular gait and an inability to straighten his knees, with asymmetric foot-dragging. Eyewitnesses in the Jack the Ripper investigation noted that the infamous killer also had an irregular gait.

Horton also notes that Hyams had a documented history of mental illness and violent outbursts. The Independent notes that Hyams ...repeatedly assaulted his wife, fearing she was cheating on him, and was eventually arrested after attacking her and his mother with a chopper. Records of Hyams from across a number of infirmaries and asylums indicate that his mental and physical decline coincided with the Rippers killing period, escalating between his breaking his left arm in February 1888 and his permanent committal in September 1889.

Of course, this triangulation of medical records and century-old eyewitness reports is unlikely to be enough to get most self-described Ripperologists to declare case closed. But one has to wonder: At this point, what would be enough?

Is it possible that there could ever be a satisfying conclusion to the worlds most famous cold case? And why does it continue to captivate true crime enthusiasts all these decades later?

Was Jack the Ripper the First Serial Killer?

Mike Kemp - Getty Images

Jack the Ripper, a moniker adopted for the unidentified murderer, was not by any means the worlds first serial killer. History, unsurprisingly, is littered with figures who would fit that bill depending on how specific a definition you choose.

Liu Pengli, the Prince of Jidong in the 2nd century B.C., slaughtered over 100 civilians. Dame Alice Kyteler, the Witch of Kilkenny, poisoned four of her husbands in 1300s Ireland. Joan of Arcs comrade-in-arms Gilles de Rais confessed to the killing of over 100 children. Countess Elizabeth Bathorys alleged killings of servant girls had already become the stuff of macabre folklore by the time the Whitechapel murders began. And there are countless figures in history who could be rightly categorized as serial killers, despite their victims being viewed as property or subhuman by the ruling governments of the time.

But while Jack the Ripper wasnt the first serial killer by any means, he was the first to become a media sensation, and the subject of fascination on a global scale. He may not have been the first serial killer by the literal definition, but in the manner in which we view the macabre topic, the exploits of the unknown man behind the moniker set the template for more than a century of morbid speculation and fascination.

Universal History Archive - Getty Images

Who Did Jack the Ripper Kill?

There are five canonical murders attributed to Jack the Ripper: those of Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. (Of course, as is the case even today in cold case investigations, there are other killings that are at times theorized as also being at the hands of the same murderer.) Biography notes that these murders all took place from August 7 to September 10, 1888, all within one mile of each other, and all targeting women of the same profession: sex workers.

As Biography points out, typically the death or murder of a working girl was rarely reported in the press or discussed within polite society. One might think that the sadistic butchery of the Jack the Ripper killings might have pushed their discussions further to the fringes of societal conversation, rather than to the center of public fascination. Instead, the newly affordable mass media of the time allowed the Jack the Ripper saga, including a series of mocking letters the killer reportedly sent to Scotland Yard, to serve as a macabre mirror to a society that had been otherwise priding itself on its progress and achievement.

Science & Society Picture Library - Getty Images

What Was Jack the Rippers London Like?

The 19th century, at least in the eyes of high society, saw the United Kingdom launch itself into modernity. The era of Queen Victoria saw Englands streets becoming bathed in gaslight, the skyline filled with smokestacks from the Industrial Revolution. It was Isambard Kingdom Brunel connecting the nation through the Thames Tunnel, the Great Western Railway, and the SS Great Briton, amongst others. To stand in some parts of London by the latter decades of the 19th century must have felt as though one had stepped into the future, with wonders and marvels of modernity accessible to the many rather than simply the few. This was the side of London that Great Britain wanted the world to know about.

But of course, London is a big city. And the bright lights shone on some parts also cast shadows on all the rest. Such is the case in Whitechapel and its surrounding areas, where Jack the Ripper stalked his prey.

Heres how Biography sets the scene:

"In the late 1800s, London's East End was a place that was viewed by citizens with either compassion or utter contempt. Despite being an area where skilled immigrants, mainly Jews and Russians, came to start a new life and start businesses, the district was notorious for squalor, violence and crime. Prostitution was only illegal if the practice caused a public disturbance, and thousands of brothels and low-rent lodging houses provided sexual services during the late 19th century."

Hulton Archive - Getty Images

In Victorian Parliaments push for progress, poverty became a consequence. This industrial projects displaced a large number of people, such that even Conservative Party members were demanding social reform to repair the damage done. Laissez-faire is an admirable doctrine, Conservative Party leader Lord Salisbury said in an 1883 National Review article entitled Labourers and Artisans Dwellings, ...but it must be applied on both sides.

Much was made of the squalor in which the poor and working class were living while the wealthy in London lavished in the height of modernity. Parliament passed The Housing of the Working Classes Act 1885, which allowed them to condemn buildings they deemed slums. But this was merely a cosmetic action; the 1885 act did not allow for the government to create any new residences for the now-displaced people within them.

How Did Jack the Ripper Change the World?

The Jack the Ripper murders served as a wake-up call for Great Britain and the world, as the details of these grisly, monstrous crimes were contrasted against the supposedly advanced society that had inadvertently created the circumstances that had allowed them to fester.

The same forces and actions that allowed for the creation of the London Underground also created the seedy London underbelly that fed victims to craven creatures like Jack the Ripper. In much the same way the Manson murders in America 80 years later would be contrasted against the optimistic Flower Power movement of its era, Jack the Ripper forced the public to reconcile with the consequences of the steam-powered era of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and wonder if this utopian vision wasnt terribly unstable as well.

Loop Images - Getty Images

The mystery of Jack the Ripper casts a long shadow over London to this day. Clearly, amateur sleuths still puzzle over the identity of the man who wielded a knife on the streets of London, and claimed the lives of innocent women struggling to get by. But the most significant consequence of the killings isnt a century of true crime speculations, nor the many books, films, and walking tours it inspired.

The reporting in the press on the Jack the Ripper killings led to a public outcry amongst the populace for social reforms to protect the most vulnerable. Reacting to the outcry, Parliament passed, amongst other acts, the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890, which now gave them the ability to purchase land and build new housing for those displaced by the condemning of buildings deemed to be in poor condition.

In a bit of pithy commentary, playwright George Bernard Shaw declared in The Star that Jack the Ripper had, in his brutality, led to more social change than any academic or activist of the era:

Now all is changed. Private enterprise has succeeded where Socialism failed. Whilst we conventional Social Democrats were wasting our time on education, agitation, and organisation, some independent genius has taken the matter in hand, and by simply murdering and disembowelling four women, converted the proprietary press to an inept sort of communism.

Why Are We Still Searching for Jack the Ripper?

Like Sarah Bax Horton taking her grandfather's cause into the 21st century, we culturally cannot let go of Jack the Ripper. You can chalk it up to a fascination with serial killers and true crime. You can attribute it to its inseparability from the steampunk vibes of 19th century London. And of course, it will be argued that the mystery of Jack the Rippers real identity is what keeps us coming back to the sordid tale.

But our fixation may well mask a deeper question raised by the story of the Whitechapel murders, one on which its far less fun to ruminate. Abberlines canethe one with the supposed face of the killeris on display at the College of Policing not in the hopes that someone might walk past and suddenly solve the case, but rather, to inspire a reflection on that dark past, and how far advancements in police technology have come.

Jack the Ripper, in absence of a biography of the killer to cling to, is instead a composite of the world he inhabited: the gaslights, the poverty, the easy prey, and the depravity that kept a country darkly fascinated. And as long as we must settle for the setting of the crimes in absence of facts about the killer, then staring at a carved face or corroborating medical records raises a question more lurid than, Who was Jack the Ripper?: that of How did a supposedly great society allow such horrors to happen?

And thats a scarier thought than any walking tour or comic book could conjure.

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They're both similar and very different.

Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer

It's not everyday that most of us are shopping for or cooking up clams and mussels. Perhaps you're planning on doing a Feast of the Seven Fishes or want to prepare a classic cioppino.

No matter the dish, it can be intimidating to cook clams and mussels, especially the first time around. From the different types of clams and mussels you might encounter at the store, to how to cook with each, we'll break down how these mollusks are both similar and different, and what to know about them before you get cooking.







Meet The Expert

Erin T. Spencer is a marine ecologist and science writer who is passionate about sharing inspiring stories of marine conservation. As a National Geographic Explorer, she's traveled from Florida to Fiji to learn how communities can work together to protect our oceans' fisheries. Learn more about her work at erintspencer.com.







How Clams And Mussels Are Similar

Both clams and mussels are bivalve mollusks (along with oysters and scallops) that have two-part hinged shells and a soft body. They are both filter feeders, meaning they subsist on nutrients they glean from the moving water they filter through their gills. (Yes, they have gills just like fish!) They feed on plankton and other microscopic organisms.

They're both sustainable food choices (more on that below) and can both grow in fresh or saltwater, with the specific habitat they're raised in contributing to their flavor. Both cook quite quickly and will pop open when fully cooked and ready to eat. (Any clams or mussels that don't open up should be discarded. Same with any that are already open before cooking.)

How Clams And Mussels Are Different

The biggest differences between the two comes down to flavor and texture: Mussels have a creamier, tender texture in comparison to clams that have a little more chew to them. That said, if mussels, or clams for that matter, are overcooked they'll both be extremely chewy and rubbery.

As for flavor, generally mussels are milder and less briny than clams, which have a stronger seafood flavor. They also look very different visually, which we'll get into below.

How To Tell Them Apart

Don't feel bad if you struggle to decipher between clams and mussels. Once you know what to look for, it's easy to tell them apart (although you can always ask the fishmonger, if ever in doubt).

"Most clams have oval-shaped shells (the razor clams have longer, more rectangular shells) that can be tan, brown, or white in color. Mussels have much darker shells, more like a brown or black, and can have a blue-purple sheen to their shells. Also their shells are more teardrop-shaped when compared to clams," says Erin T. Spencer, marine ecologist and science writer.

Another visual difference is that mussels have a bundle of thin fibers that protrude from their shell that they use to stick to rocks or other mussels. These fibers are referred to as beards. Many farmed mussels come with them already removed, but if you purchase mussels with the beards still attached, it's easy to pull them off and discard.

Linda Pugliese; Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke; Food Stylist: Anna Hampton

Types of Clams

These are some of the common kinds of clams you're likely to encounter at your local fish market.

Steamers

You'll often see these sweet, tender clams on restaurant menus labeled "steamers," but they can also be called soft shell clams. As the name implies, they're delicious steamed and served with butter (although truthfully, most clams are), and they have a more brittle shell compared to other varieties, hence the soft shell moniker, so they should be handled with care.

Manila

These clams are small, soft, sweet, and have a light briny flavor. You might also find them labeled asari, which is the Japanese name for this variety. Know that when looking for them in store, Manila clam shells range in color from white to yellow, brown, or gray, with concentric rings and lines running across them. They're classically used in pastas, soups, and simply steamed. They are found in the Philippines, South and East China Seas, the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan, among other places, including along the West Coast.

Quahogs

Also called hard clams or hard-shell clams, quahog is the umbrella term that encompasses a large size range of clams found from Florida to Canada that can grow up to about 6 inches. A few common varieties are countneck, littleneck, topneck, cherrystone, and chowder, and they are named according to size. They're versatile in terms of cooking, and have a mild, sweet flavor with a pleasantly briny taste.

Razors

Razor clams are long, narrow, saltwater clams that are shaped like a closed straight razor, hence the name. There are many types of razor clams, but Pacific razors are one popular variety. In terms of preparation, you'll often see them fried or used in chowders.

"The most commonly-known species, razor clams are native to estuaries of China and Japan and, according to Monterey Bay Seafood Watch, are one of the top five most important bivalve aquaculture species," says Spencer.



Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer

Linguine With Clams

Types of Mussels

When shopping for mussels, use this guide to help you understand the varieties often found in the seafood case.

Blue

Tender and sweet, these mussels come from tidal areas or offshore, mostly from New England, Washington, and California, and are the most widely consumed mussels in North America. They can be enjoyed a variety of ways, from steamed to baked.

"Found on the East and West Coasts, these little guys can grow up to eight inches. They can also be called PEI mussels if harvested from Prince Edward Island. They'll have black or brown shells with blue-purple hues," says Spencer.

Getty Images

Mediterranean

These mussels, as the name alludes, are from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coast of Europe. Mild with a firm texture, you'll see them smoked, broiled, and steamed, but it's worth noting that the variety has been introduced in other parts of the world and is considered invasive in many of those locations. They're even listed as one of the top 100 worst invasive species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. These mussels look very similar to blue mussels, but are typically larger. Their shells can be a deep blue color, brown, or almost black.

New Zealand Green-Lipped

Larger than blue mussels, these get their name from the green "lips" around the edges of their shells. They're also simply known as New Zealand mussels. Plump, juicy, and sweet, serve them steamed, in pasta, or stuffed and baked.









Seafood Watch

Spencer recommends visiting the sustainable seafood guide from Monterey Bay Aquarium called Seafood Watch. The resource has a color-coded scale to sustainable seafood options, from salmon to mollusks. Any seafood labeled green means it's a great sustainable choice, with yellow indicating a good alternative, and red labels denoting that seafood that's should be avoided.





The good news is that "bivalves like clams and mussels are considered some of the most sustainable seafood options you can buy," says Spencer.







Wild vs. Farmed

"Wild caught bivalves can be dug by hand or dredged, while farmed ones can be grown on the sea floor or suspended in the water column in protective bags or on longlines," says Spencer.

The majority of clams and mussels you'll find in stores are farmed. As Spencer notes, about 90 percent of the global bivalve production is farmed, according to Monterey Bay Seafood Watch.

While a valid concern with farmed seafood is what is used as feed, bivalves, which are filter feeders that extract nutrients out of moving water, don't require an additional food supply that could contain less than ideal ingredients. Plus, "as they filter their food, they're making the water cleaner!" she says.



Can You Substitute Clams for Mussels in Cooking, and Vice Versa?

The answer to this question is highly recipe specific. Clams and mussels are often used in conjunction in dishes, and can be similarly steamed in rich bathes of white wine and fresh herbs, but they do cook at different rates, especially depending on size, and might not be a suitable one-for-one swap depending on the recipe.

In a fish stew, for example, if clams aren't available, mussels would be a fine substitute (although they will impart a different flavor). While the mussels might cook at a different rate than the clams, luckily it's easy to tell when they're done: they'll pop right open.

Related: 63 Delicious Reasons to Eat More Seafood

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Read the original article on Southern Living.
A dagger, known as jambiya, is held up as Houthi supporters rally to commemorate ten fighters killed by the US Navy in the Red Sea - KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS

In this episode of Battle Lines, we hear from Foreign Correspondent Lizzie Porter in Jerusalem, who brings you up to date on the war in Gaza. Then we look South, with The Telegraphs Defence Editor Danielle Sheridan, at the tensions rising in the Red Sea as Houthi rebels continue to target a busy shipping lane with missiles and drones.

Finally, with our Asia Correspondent Nicola Smith, we travel to Taiwan a week ahead of the presidential election in the embattled island nation that could have profound consequences for the country, the region and the world.

Across the world, from Europe to Asia, from the Americas to the Middle East, tensions are rising between nation states as the traditional alliances and alignments evolve in the 21st century.

2024 sees war in Europe and Israel, and elections in major economies, from the US and the UK to Taiwan. Insurgencies flare in Yemen and Burma, tensions escalate in East Africa, and all around the world the international security architecture buckles under increasing pressure.

Battle Lines, a new podcast from The Telegraph, combines on-the-ground reporting with analytical expertise to help the listener to better understand the course of world politics, wars and tensions, as fault lines grind and slip in an increasingly dangerous and confusing multipolar world.

Listen to Battle Lines using the audio player in this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favourite podcast app.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
The Gee Family, also known as The Bucket List Family on Instagram, shared the terrifying video of a worm being pulled from their toddler's head

TheBucketListFamily/Instagram Garrett Gee pulls botfly larva from son Cali's head

What looked like a pimple or an insect bite on Jessica and Garrett Gee's toddler's head during a trip to Botswana turned out to be far more invasive.

"WARNING this video includes worms and is NOT for the faint of heart," wrote The Bucket List Family mom Jessica, in an Instagram post showing the video of her husband slowly pulling a botfly larva from the head of their 5-year-old son Cali.

"This incident actually happened while we were in Botswana this past Summer but we only shared it on our Bucket List Friends video : THINGS GONE WRONG IN AFRICA," she continued.

The Bucket List Family  Garrett, Jessica and their three kids Dorothy, Manilla and Cali  spend as much of their free time as possible traveling to foreign countries. It was during one of their adventures that things went a little buggy.

"Cali had been complaining of a pain on the top of his head but it just looked like a little red bump," Jessica wrote. "The next day it had a white tip like a pimple but after showing our guides and a local medic nobody knew what it could be. Randomly, I texted a photo of it to my girlfriend back home and her husband recognized it as a boy fly! A BOT FLY!!?!?!!"

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.

Related: Surgeon Finds Live 3-Inch Worm in Womans Brain After She Becomes Accidental Host

The video shows Garrett using a pair of tweezers to slowly extract the larva, which looks like a whitehead pimple about to pop at first but then reveals itself to be a small, maggot-like worm.

"A bot fly bit Cali on the head and laid its egg inside his skin. The egg then hatched and the larva continued to live in his head and would have been there for ~20 more days until it was ready to crawl out and fly away on its own!!" Jessica continued.

"It was late into the night when my girlfriend notified me it may be a bot fly so I woke up Garrett and with tweezers in hand said 'youre not going to believe this. I think the pimple is alive and we need to operate,' " she continued. "Those who know Garrett know he hates gross stuff like this but he went total Papa Bear mode and with steady hands, got it out! We didnt know what to expect so you can imagine our shock and terror as that long worm began to pull out!!"

The video shows their son crying as Garrett gently extracts the larva, before soothing Cali and then giving his wife a shocked, clearly uncomfortable look.

"That look on Garretts face at the end says it all!" Jessica wrote. "Cali immediately felt better and fell back asleep, and as soon as the next morning he was bragging to his big brother about the 'head monster' that dad pulled out of his skin. MORAL OF THE STORY : Traveling isnt always rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes its tweezers and bot flies."

TheBucketListFamily/Instagram The Gee family

Related: Young Millionaire Utah Couple Sells Their Belongings to Travel the World with Their Kids  and Finds a Way to Give Back

The Gees, who call Hawaii their home base, have said that they've experienced other misadventures during their travels.

"We had three accidents that led to stitches  in Thailand and Nepal, and at the Male airport in the Maldives," Garrett told Drew and Jonathan Scott during an interview in 2020. "The key is to have travel insurance that includes medical coverage. Its no more complicated than running into an accident or incident back at home."

That hasn't slowed them down, though they did note during the interview that they now have their kids on a consistent school schedule.

As Jessica explained, "Through travel, we hope our children gain a love for our earth and wildlife. We hope they are open-minded and open-hearted to people from other cultures. We hope they gain a love for trying new things."

"But, most of all, we hope they know that we love them and treasure this time we have to experience the world together," she added.



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Read the original article on People.
Over the past week thousands of pages of court documents relating to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, have been made public after US judge Loretta Preska ordered the release of filings in a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell.

The documents named scores of prominent figures including, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Victorias Secret boss Les Wexner. Being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

The final batch of documents, released on Tuesday, included depositions from Ms Giuffre, Maxwell and Epstein.

In Epsteins deposition, he was questioned about his campaign of abuse of young and underage girls. He pleaded the Fifth over 1,000 times.

In Maxwells deposition, she was confronted with disturbing messages left for Epstein  one of which referenced what appeared to be code for procuring an underage Russian girl for Epstein. She is two times eight years old. Not blond. Lessons are free and you can have your first today if you call, it read.

Key points

Unsealing of documents related to decades of Epsteins sexual abuse of girls concludes

What were the allegations against Epstein and Maxwell?

Epstein refused to say if he tried to blackmail Prince Andrew over sexual encounter, documents reveal

Aaron Rodgers refuses to apologise over feud with Jimmy Kimmel

Trump hits back at Epstein allegations after list unsealed: Stupid island

Thursday 11 January 2024 11:00 , Andrea Blanco

Donald Trump lashed out at allegations that he was on the plane of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.

The former president took to Truth Social on Wednesday to share screenshots of a Daily Mail article criticising actor Mark Ruffalo after he backtracked after sharing fake images of Mr Trump on Mr Epsteins plane surrounded by young girls that turned out to have been created by artificial intelligence.

Read more:

Trump hits back at Epstein allegations after list unsealed: Stupid island

How did Jeffrey Epstein make his money?

Thursday 11 January 2024 11:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

For many, Jeffrey Epsteins name is now solely associated with the murky world of sex trafficking, with the well-connected multi-millionaire accused of targeting young women and girls from across the world.

It is a reputation he took to his grave when he killed himself in his prison cell while facing charges of running a vast network of underage girls, leaving his associate and ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell to receive a 20-year prison sentence.

But before the numerous accusations came to light, Epstein was publicly known for his rise in the finance world; rising from a school drop-out to one of the richest men in America, with former US presidents and Hollywood stars among his acquaintances.

Epstein even boasted of having two private islands in the Caribbean - Great St James and Little St James - as well as properties in New York and Palm Beach in Florida.

Read the full story here:

Court strikes inaccurate transcription from Epsteins deposition transcript

Thursday 11 January 2024 12:00 , Andrea Blanco

A transcript released on Tuesday showed that Epstein had allegedly answered yes after being asked if he had sent Virginia Giuffre to have sex with Glenn Dubin.

The court filed an order on Tuesday, reading: This Court expressly ordered that lines 217:17-19 of the deposition transcript should remain under seal because they contained a mistaken transcription, and the answer transcribed was not the answer actually given.

Epstein victim claimed she was sex trafficked to former Victorias Secret CEO Les Wexner

Thursday 11 January 2024 12:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Jeffrey Epsteins victim Virginia Giuffre claimed that she was trafficked to former Victoria Secrets CEO Les Wexner, newly unsealed documents show.

The allegations emerged in a 2016 deposition by Ms Giuffre, which was part of likely the final batch of documents ordered unsealed by Judge Loretta Preska in the now-settled litigation between Ms Giuffre and Epsteins fixer Ghislaine Maxwell.

Although Ms Giuffre had previously alleged she had been trafficked to other high-profile figures, it is the first time that allegations have emerged that Mr Wexner had sex with underage girls.

The Independent has reached out to L Brands group for comment.

Ms Giuffre claimed that she was trafficked to have sex with Mr Wexner between three and ten times during the time that she was recruited by Epstein and Maxwell. Ms Giuffre said that she was instructed by Maxwell to wear lingerie for Mr Wexner  which Maxwell went on to categorically deny in her own deposition.

Read the full story here:

Epstein victim claimed she was sex trafficked to ex-Victorias Secret CEO Les Wexner

Clinton Center deletes controversial post after Epstein filings

Thursday 11 January 2024 13:00 , Andrea Blanco

The Clinton Presidential Center briefly posted on X wondering to whom former president Bill Clinton sent his first email after his name was revealed in the unsealed Epstein documents.

On November 7, 1998, Pres. @BillClinton typed out and sent his first-ever email. Can you guess who it was to? #WorldTying Day, the tweet said from the @ClintonCenter account, according to screenshots circulating on X.

The X post featured a photo of Mr Clinton typing on a clunky 1990s laptop and tagged the Clinton Presidential Library.

The Independents Kelly Rissman reports:

Clinton Center deletes controversial post after Epstein filings

Unanswered questions from the Epstein documents

Thursday 11 January 2024 20:18 , Mike Bedigan

The highly anticipated release of a trove of documents relating to disgraced financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein concluded with a fifth and final batch of filings unsealed on Tuesday.

However, many questions remain, including the identities of two J Does mentioned in the documents who remain anonymous. Judge Loretta Preska has yet to rule on whether the two names will be released to the public.

Andrew Blanco explores the questions that remain unanswered.

Hundreds of Epstein files were released. These questions remain unanswered

Why were the secret Epstein documents released now?

Thursday 11 January 2024 21:00 , Mike Bedigan

Over the past week, thousands of pages of court documents were publicly released for the first time, revealing the names of individuals who associated with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, magician David Copperfield and several Hollywood celebrities all found themselves on the so-called Epstein list.

Their names in the filings do not indicate any wrongdoing or any involvement in Epsteins crimes.

Epstein was arrested on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York in July 2019. He was found dead in his prison cell a month later.

So why have the previously sealed documents beeen made public now?

Epstein list: Why are secret documents being released now?

Alleged associates of Jeffrey Epstein: Names and numbers

Thursday 11 January 2024 22:00 , Mike Bedigan

The multiple batches of unsealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents revealed a number of high-profile individuals whose names appeared multiple times in various materials, including footnotes.

Among them are two former US presidents  Donald Trump and Bill Clinton  and Prince Andrew, all three of whom have been pictured with and known to associate with the disgraced financier in the past.

Other names include lawyer Alan Dershowitz, magician David Copperfield, Michael Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

However, being identified through the court documents does not necessarily mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

The alleged associates of Jeffrey Epstein: Names and numbers

The Epstein list: How public figures and associates reacted to being named

Thursday 11 January 2024 23:00 , Mike Bedigan

Read more about how some of the high-profile names at the centre of the trove of court documents have responded to being named:

The Epstein list: How public figures and associates have reacted to being named

Whats next for Ghislaine Maxwell now secret Epstein files have been released?

Friday 12 January 2024 00:00 , Mike Bedigan

Ghislaine Maxwell had once lived a life as one of Britains most well-connected socialites, mingling with US presidents, royalty and celebrities.

The daughter of the media tycoon Robert Maxwell now spends her days holed up in a cell in Florida, after being jailed for 20 years for child abuse and sex-trafficking in the service of her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein.

Over the course of the late 1990s and early 2000s, she helped lure and recruit a number of underage girls to work for the US billionaire, only for them to be forced to give sexual massages and allegedly abused by his associates.

The Independents Holly Evans reports:

What next for Ghislaine Maxwell now secret Epstein files have been released?

Watch: Comedian Jim Gaffigan makes daring Jeffrey Epstein reference at Golden Globes 2024

Friday 12 January 2024 01:00 , Mike Bedigan

How did lawyer Alan Dershowitz responded to the Epstein files

Friday 12 January 2024 02:00 , Mike Bedigan

Alan Dershowitz was mentioned in many of the released documents. A Jane Doe claimed that Epstein instructed her to have sex with Dershowitz, which the former Harvard Law Professor has vehemently denied.

Epstein required Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with Dershowitz on numerous occasions while she was a minor, not only in Florida but also on private planes, in New York, New Mexico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, an excerpt of the filings by the plaintiffs attorneys read.

Following accusations by Ms Giuffre that she had been trafficked to have sex with Mr Dershowitz, contentious legal battles between the pair rumbled on for the next three years. In November 2022, Ms Giuffre admitted that she may have made a mistake in identifying Mr Dershowitz as one of her abusers. Lawsuits were then dismissed on both sides.

Alan Dershowitz (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Mr Dershowitz previously denied allegations in 2015 that he had sex with an underage girl. In a response just hours after the first tranche of filings were unsealed last week, Mr Dershowitz again denied those allegations.

Of course Im on that list, I was his lawyer. I flew on his plane, Mr Dershowitz said during a YouTube livestream that he titled The Epstein list and guilt by association. I had an innocent relationship with a man who I didnt know, nobody suspected, had done anything wrong.

Mr Dershowitz glossed over his role in helping secure Epsteins 2008 secret sweetheart plea deal on charges of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting prostitution, which landed Epstein in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade for just 13 months. Three months into his sentence, Epstein was allowed to leave the jail through a work-release program.

Key takeaways from the new Epstein documents

Friday 12 January 2024 03:00 , Mike Bedigan

More than two hundred previously sealed court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and registered sex offender, have now been made public. Multiple tranches were released over the past week.

US judge Loretta Preska ordered that the court filings in a lawsuit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre must finally be unsealed and the names of up to 200 John and Jane Does unredacted.

She mentioned that many did not oppose the release of the documents. Judge Preska did instruct that certain names be kept redacted to protect the identities of sexual abuse victims.

Read more:

Key takeaways from the new Epstein documents

Photos of Ghislaine Maxwell, young girls on Epstein Island of Sin released in filings

Friday 12 January 2024 04:00 , Mike Bedigan

(PA)

Jeffrey Epstein on Little St Island (PA)

(PA)

Various females on Island in 2006 including Nadia Marcinkova (2nd from right) (PA)

Sarah Ransome in 2006 on Little St James Island (PA)

Various females on Island in 2006 including Nadia Marcinkova (right) (PA)

Ghislaine Maxwell and disgraced model scout Jean Luc Brunel (PA)

Jeffrey Epsteins island: What really happened there?

Friday 12 January 2024 05:00 , Mike Bedigan

A criminal complaint from the attorney general of the US Virgin Islands described it as the perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault.

On this island, the complaint said: Epstein and his associates could avoid detection of their illegal activity from Virgin Islands and federal law enforcement, and prevent these young women and underage girls from leaving freely and escaping the abuse.

The Independents Io Dodds reports:

Jeffrey Epstein island: What really happened there?

WATCH: Epstein spurned Trump because he thought he was crook, brother claims

Friday 12 January 2024 06:00 , Mike Bedigan

Whos on the Epstein list?

Friday 12 January 2024 07:00 , Mike Bedigan

Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton are among the more than 100 people named in the newly-published legal documents linked to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Being named in these documents does not indicate any wrongdoing related to Epstein or anyone else.

The list includes many of Epsteins accusers and alleged victims, as well as people with only tangential connections to Epstein who were pulled into the lawsuit against Maxwell.

Prince Andrew appears prominently, with the documents mentioning a previously reported accusation that he groped Johanna Sjoberg (which he denies). Former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are also named, with neither accused of wrongdoing.

Judges, court staff and legal represenatives are not included.

Heres the list of names in full:

The Epstein List: Full list of names revealed in unsealed court records so far

What were the allegations against Epstein and Maxwell?

Friday 12 January 2024 08:01 , Mike Bedigan

Jeffrey Epstein, a millionaire money manager, surrounded himself with celebrities, leading academics and big names from the fashion and political worlds before he was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2006 and accused of paying underage girls for sex.

He served 13 months in a jail work release program. Outrage over his plea bargain, sparked by reporting in the Miami Herald, led federal prosecutors in New York to bring new sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, and he killed himself in a federal jail cell while awaiting trial.

Prosecutors also brought charges against Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year prison term for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

Dozens of women say Epstein sexually abused them at his homes in New York, Florida, the Virgin Islands and New Mexico.

The documents released this month relate to a 2015 defamation lawsuit that Virginia Giuffre filed against Maxwell and was settled in 2017. Most of the court files have been public for years, but public interest in the documents soared after a judge ordered that some sealed sections be fully released.

US financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services sex offender registry 28 March 2017 and obtained by Reuters 10 July 2019 (Reuters)

Much of the lawsuit revolved around the truthfulness of Ms Giuffres claims that Epstein had flown her around the world for sexual encounters with billionaires, politicians, royals and heads of state.

She initially kept the names of those men secret, but in a 2014 legal filing, she said her abusers included Prince Andrew, other royal figures whose names she didnt know, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, the head of a hotel chain, noted academics, former US senator George Mitchell, French modeling scout Jean Luc Brunel, billionaire Glenn Dubin and law professor Alan Dershowitz, who had represented Epstein.

All of the men named by Ms Giuffre denied her allegations.

Ms Giuffre withdrew her claims about Mr Dershowitz in 2022, saying she may have made a mistake in identifying him as an abuser. She said she was very young at the time and it was a very stressful and traumatic environment. Mr Dershowitz campaigned to get documents related to Ms Giuffres lawsuit unsealed, arguing that they would make his innocence more clear.

Ms Giuffre settled a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in 2022.

Brunel, who was close to Epstein, killed himself in a Paris jail in 2022 while awaiting trial on charges that he raped underage girls.

Aaron Rodgers refuses to apologise over feud with Jimmy Kimmel

Friday 12 January 2024 09:00 , Mike Bedigan

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers denied he implied comic Jimmy Kimmel was a paedophile and condemned those who do, but stopped short of apologising for his role in escalating their burgeoning feud.

Rodgers appeared on ESPNs The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday for his weekly appearance and addressed comments he made the week before that appeared to suggest Kimmels name might appear on a list of associates of Jeffrey Epstein, a millionaire accused of sex trafficking involving underage victims before he died by suicide.

Any type of name calling is ridiculous and Im not calling him (a paedophile), and neither should you, Rodgers said on the show on Tuesday.

The feud between ABCs late-night star and Rodgers, who regularly appears on the daily ESPN show, has proven embarrassing for The Walt Disney Co, the parent company to both television networks.

Rodgers criticised Mike Foss, an ESPN executive who oversees McAfees show, for saying that Rodgers had made a dumb and factually inaccurate joke about Kimmel.

Mike, youre not helping, Rodgers said. Youre not helping because I just read earlier exactly what I said. This is the game plan of the media and this is what they do: They try to cancel, you know, and its not just me.

Rodgers last week said a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, are really hoping that a list of Epsteins associates doesnt come out publicly. Kimmel, who has denied any association with Epstein, threatened Rodgers with a lawsuit for the comment and said the NFL star was putting his family in danger.

Rodgers suggested that people were reading too much into what he said, and that he was not stupid enough to accuse Kimmel of being a paedophile.

WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel delivers seven-minute roast of Aaron Rodgers over Epstein list row

Friday 12 January 2024 10:00 , Mike Bedigan

Virginia Giuffre recounted meeting Al Gore in deposition

Friday 12 January 2024 10:30 , Rachel Sharp

In her deposition, unsealed this week, Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre recounted meeting Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper.

She said she thought he was a wonderful guy and that she would vote for him.

I thought he was a wonderful guy who loved his wife and they spent the entire time like there was nothing else around them, it was just those two. It was a dinner table, a long dinner table with people around, but they were just lovely, just watching them as a couple, Ms Giuffre said.

I remember thinking, you know, hes somebody that I would definitely vote for. Hes just somebody that loves his wife that much.

The Gores are not accused of any wrongdoing in association with Epstein.

Kimmel says hed accept an apology from Aaron Rodgers but doesnt expect one

Friday 12 January 2024 11:00 , Mike Bedigan

Jimmy Kimmel said hed accept an apology from New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers for inappropriate comments associating the comic with Jeffrey Epstein, but doesnt expect one.

A decent person would apologise, Kimmel said on Monday during his first appearance on his late-night ABC show since Rodgers comments. But he probably wont.

Kimmel laid into Rodgers in his ABC monologue late on Monday, calling him hamster-brained and said that he got two As on his report card  theyre both in the name Aaron.

It might be time to revisit that concussion profile, Aaron, Kimmel said.

Aaron Rodgers will not return to Pat McAfee Show after Jimmy Kimmel row

Friday 12 January 2024 12:00 , Mike Bedigan

Following the public backlash from NFL star Aaron Rodgers comments, ESPN announced he would not be returning to his weekly slot on The Pat McAfee Show.

It came after the quarterback became embroiled in a row after implying on air that talk show host Jimmy Kimmel could be named on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteins client list.

Read the full story here:

Aaron Rodgers will not return to Pat McAfee Show after Jimmy Kimmel row

Epstein couldnt identify a window in deposition with over 1,000 Fifth pleas

Friday 12 January 2024 13:00 , Mike Bedigan

The final batch of court documents, unsealed on Tuesday, contained deposition from late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein himself.

The disgraced financier was asked hundreds of questions about his relationships with individuals including Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton.

Epstein invoked his Fifth Amendment right around 1,200 times during the interview, often going to special lengths to frustrate his questioners.

Read the full story here:

Epstein couldnt identify a window in deposition with over 1,000 Fifth pleas

Clinton Center deletes controversial post after Epstein filings

Friday 12 January 2024 14:00 , Mike Bedigan

The Clinton Presidential Center briefly posted on X wondering to whom former president Bill Clinton sent his first email after his name was revealed in the unsealed Epstein documents.

On November 7, 1998, Pres. @BillClinton typed out and sent his first-ever email. Can you guess who it was to? #WorldTying Day, the tweet said from the @ClintonCenter account, according to screenshots circulating on X.

Read more:

Clinton Center deletes controversial post after Epstein filings

Donald Trumps alleged sexual proclivities graphically detailed in new Epstein documents

Friday 12 January 2024 15:00 , Mike Bedigan

In documents released earlier this week, graphic details about Donald Trumps alleged sexual proclivities emerged.

The documents contained incendiary claims about the former president, including accusations that he had sexual relations with many girls, made by one of Epsteins alleged victims, Sarah Ransome.

Read the full story here:

Trumps alleged sexual proclivities graphically detailed in new Epstein documents

Trump Jr hit with community notice after leaving his fathers name off Epstein list

Friday 12 January 2024 16:00 , Andrea Blanco

Donald Trump Jr was subject to a community notice on social media after failing to include his fathers name in a reshared article about associates of late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Trump Jr shared an article from The New York Post on X on Monday, which reported on claims that compromising sex tapes were made by the disgraced financier.

The articles headline noted that former presidents Trump and Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew were named in the latest batch of unsealed court documents.

Sharing a link to the article, Mr Trump Jr wrote: This seems like a big deal and if true why has nothing been done about it?

Breaking News: Court documents allege Jeffrey Epstein recorded sex tapes of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, and Sir Richard Branson.

Other users were quick to point out his omission of his fathers name, and a community notice was later added to the post, which stated: Donald Trump is also one of the persons mentioned in the new court documents.

Donald Trump Jr (AP)

Trump hits back at Epstein allegations after list unsealed: Stupid island

Friday 12 January 2024 17:00 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump lashed out online at allegations that he was on the plane of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The former president took to Truth Social on Wednesday to share screenshots of a Daily Mail article criticising actor Mark Ruffalo after he backtracked after sharing fake images of Mr Trump on Mr Epsteins plane surrounded by young girls that turned out to have been created by artificial intelligence.

Gustaf Kilander has the full story:

Trump hits back at Epstein allegations after list unsealed: Stupid island

WATCH: Epstein victim doubles down on Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Richard Branson sex tape claim

Friday 12 January 2024 18:00 , Rachel Sharp

Epstein spurned Trump because he thought he was a crook, brother claims

Friday 12 January 2024 19:00 , Rachel Sharp

Jeffrey Epstein severed ties to Donald Trump when he realised the former president was a crook, his brother has claimed.

Mark Epstein, brother of the late paedophile, said he did not have any specific information about the reason that the two fell out, but that he had heard video evidence of Epsteins claims.

Mr Trumps name has appeared several times in the recently unsealed court documents which detail information about the disgraced financiers associates.

While being mentioned does not mean that an individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein, some of the documents have contained allegations against Mr Trump.

A Trump spokeperson told The Independent that any accusations were baseless and had been fully retracted because they are simply false and have no merit.

Read the full story:

Epstein spurned Trump because he thought he was a crook, brother claims

Who was Jean-Luc Brunel? Jeffrey Epsteins disgraced fashion mogul friend named in new filings

Friday 12 January 2024 20:00 , Rachel Sharp

Fresh accusations against Jean-Luc Brunel, the late Parisian model agent alleged to have arranged depraved gifts for Jeffrey Epstein, have resurfaced in newly unsealed documents relating to the disgraced financier.

Brunel, who was said to have trafficked dozens of women and girls to Epstein, died by suicide at the La Sante prison in the French capital last year. He was found dead in a prison cell while awaiting trial on charges of raping a minor.

The 76-year-old  once nicknamed the king of the catwalk  was there after being arrested in December 2020 following claims by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre that he used her as a sex slave while she was still a minor. The suicide came days after Ms Giuffre agreed a multi-million out-of-court settlement over her allegations of sexual abuse by Prince Andrew  claims he has always strongly denied.

It brought an end to the life of a man some have suggested was even more debased than his American billionaire friend. Brunel is said to have systematically raped girls and women over three decades. His vast riches made him so apparently untouchable that frustrated French detectives trying to nail him had labelled him the ghost.

(BFM TV)

Paris-born Brunel was a model talent scout who rose to be boss of the Karin Models agency in the 1970s. He is credited with helping turn the business into a fashion powerhouse, while discovering several supermodels including Christy Turlington and Milla Jovovich.

So renowned did his reputation become for making stars that young women, the model Desiree Gruber reportedly said in 1988, starved themselves [to] parade for Jean-Luc Brunel.

Jerry Hall, Sharon Stone and Monica Bellucci were among the famous faces who had worked with him. He met Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1980s. Maxwell, in turn, introduced him to her then-partner, Epstein.

The pair, court documents suggest, bonded over a shared love of the high life and an interest in underage girls.

They appear to have come to an agreement that, while Brunel travelled the fashion globe, he would scour each city for girls he could groom for Epstein.

Not even the fact that Brunel was kicked out of the agency in 1999  following a BBC report into abuse in the industry  could deter the pair. They simply set up a new business, MC2 Model Management, and continued in the same vein.

Soon after Epsteins death in July 2019, however, a French judicial inquiry into Brunels conduct was opened. Evidence gathered led to a warrant for his arrest  which was executed as he attempted to flee to Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

Brunel was found dead by officers at La Sante prison, in Paris, at 1am on 19 February 2022, while awaiting trial for charges of rape and trafficking of minors.

Epsteins brother claims dead sex trafficker was just having a good time

Friday 12 January 2024 21:00 , Rachel Sharp

The brother of Jeffrey Epstein defended the late sex trafficker following the release of bombshell documents, saying he was just having a good time.

While speaking on NewsNations On Balance, Mark Epstein was asked about the explosive allegations against his brother and insisted Jeffrey liked to have a good time.

Host Leland Vittert interrupted, Theres a, theres a big difference though between having...

Before Vittert could finish his sentence, Mr Epstein said he refused to speculate because I wasnt there.

Read the full story:

Epsteins brother claims dead sex trafficker was just having a good time

Trump hits back at Epstein allegations after list unsealed: Stupid island

Friday 12 January 2024 22:00 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump lashed out online at allegations that he was on the plane of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The former president took to Truth Social on Wednesday to share screenshots of a Daily Mail article criticising actor Mark Ruffalo after he backtracked after sharing fake images of Mr Trump on Mr Epsteins plane surrounded by young girls that turned out to have been created by artificial intelligence.

Gustaf Kilander has the full story:

Trump hits back at Epstein allegations after list unsealed: Stupid island

WATCH: Epstein spurned Trump because he thought he was crook, brother claims

Friday 12 January 2024 23:00 , Rachel Sharp

Epstein victim claimed she was sex trafficked to former Victorias Secret CEO Les Wexner

Saturday 13 January 2024 00:00 , Rachel Sharp

Jeffrey Epsteins victim Virginia Giuffre claimed that she was trafficked to former Victoria Secrets CEO Les Wexner, newly unsealed documents show.

The allegations emerged in a 2016 deposition by Ms Giuffre, which was part of likely the final batch of documents ordered unsealed by Judge Loretta Preska in the now-settled litigation between Ms Giuffre and Epsteins fixer Ghislaine Maxwell.

Although Ms Giuffre had previously alleged she had been trafficked to other high-profile figures, it is the first time that allegations have emerged that Mr Wexner had sex with underage girls.

The Independent has reached out to L Brands group for comment.

Ms Giuffre claimed that she was trafficked to have sex with Mr Wexner between three and ten times during the time that she was recruited by Epstein and Maxwell. Ms Giuffre said that she was instructed by Maxwell to wear lingerie for Mr Wexner  which Maxwell went on to categorically deny in her own deposition.

Read the full story here:

Epstein victim claimed she was sex trafficked to ex-Victorias Secret CEO Les Wexner

More than 4,000 pages of Epstein files have been released. These questions remain unanswered

Saturday 13 January 2024 01:00 , Rachel Sharp

Very few new details and names have emerged in the more than 4,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein files that have been unsealed. Judge Loretta Preska has yet to rule on whether the names of two J Does mentioned in the documents will be released to the public. Andrea Blanco reports:

Hundreds of Epstein files were released. These questions remain unanswered

The alleged associates of Jeffrey Epstein: Names and numbers

Saturday 13 January 2024 02:00 , Rachel Sharp

New batches of unsealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents continue to reveal a number of high-profile individuals whose names appeared multiple times in various materials, including footnotes.

Among them are two former US presidents  Donald Trump and Bill Clinton  and Prince Andrew, all three of whom have been pictured with and known to associate with the disgraced financier in the past.

Other names include lawyer Alan Dershowitz, magician David Copperfield, Michael Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

However, being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

The alleged associates of Jeffrey Epstein: Names and numbers

WATCH: Comedian Jim Gaffigan makes daring Jeffrey Epstein reference at Golden Globes 2024

Saturday 13 January 2024 03:00 , Rachel Sharp

Did Epstein keep tapes of high-profile figures having sex?

Saturday 13 January 2024 05:00 , Rachel Sharp

In emails sent by Epstein victim Sarah Ransome  sections of which were included as exhibits in one of the filings unsealed on 8 January  she said that an unnamed friend had sexual intercourse with former US President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and Virgin group magnate Richard Branson and that these encounters had been filmed by Epstein and that she herself had later seen the sex tapes.

All three strongly deny the allegations against them.

A Virgin Group spokesperson referred The Independent to the New Yorkers article, adding: We can confirm that Sarah Ransomes claims are baseless and unfounded.

We categorically reject all allegations made by Sarah Ransome. In 2016, Ms Ransome retracted her claims and then in 2019 after settling her claims with Epstein and Maxwell, she also admitted to The New Yorker that the tapes had been invented. The allegations are baseless and unfounded, the statement read.

The actions of Jeffrey Epstein were abhorrent and we support the right to justice for the many victims impacted by his abuse.

The unsealed extracts were included along with a letter sent by attorneys representing Alan Dershowitz in 2017, seeking to undermine Ms Ransomes credibility.

In a New Yorker article released two years later in 2019, Ms Ransome admitted that she had invented the tapes to draw attention to Epsteins behaviour, and to make him believe that she had evidence that would come out if he harmed me.

Ms Ransome, who delivered a victim impact statement at Ghislaine Maxwells sentencing for sex-trafficking charges, has since doubled down on her allegations during a media appearance on 9 January.

Ms Ransome said it is no secret that the alleged tapes were made, but she did not elaborate this time on who was in the tapes.

There are videos that exist. The people that know they exist Im sure are very frightened of them being released, she told Good Morning Britain.

Virginia Giuffre claims Epstein had room known as the dungeon in NYC townhouse

Saturday 13 January 2024 07:00 , Rachel Sharp

Virginia Giuffre claimed that dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had a room known as the dungeon inside his New York City townhouse in a 2016 deposition.

Among the newly-unsealed court documents released on Tuesday was testimony the Epstein victim gave as part of a lawsuit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell.

So there was pictures on his desk in the office and around that room, and then theres this room that I refer to as the dungeon and that had a huge photograph of me and another girl, I mean huge as in bigger than that wall cabinet, she testified.

Theres a painting of both of us doing salacious acts together.

When asked what she meant by salacious acts, she replied: Sexual acts, you know what Im saying?

Ms Giuffre said that there nude photographs of victims around the paedophiles property.

Was anyone else involved in Epstein and Maxwells crimes?

Saturday 13 January 2024 08:00 , Andrea Blanco

Ahead of the unsealing, social media had been fascinated with the possibility that some of the rich and powerful men in Epsteins social circle were also involved in the abuse. Being identified through the recently unsealed court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.

New allegations emerged against and former Victoria Secrets CEO Les Wexner, who Virginia Giuffre alleged she was trafficked to during a 2016 depositions. Mr Wexner has previously denied any involvement in Epsteins sex trafficking ring.

Mr Wexner was unaware of, and was never a participant in, any of the abhorrent behavior engaged in by Epstein against Epsteins victims ... Mr Wexner ha[s] never met Ms Guiffre, and ... any claims to the contrary were not true, a spokesperson told Business Insider.

Most of the figures alleged of taking part in crimes had already been named in previously released court dockets.

Ms Giuffre said she was trafficked to a prince and a former prime minister but declined to name them out of fears of retaliation, she said. Other names that have been linked to the same allegations are the late New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former senator George Mitchel, AI pioneer Marvin Minsky, Tom Pritzker, Glenn Dubin, and Prince Andrew.

Mr Dershowitz previously denied allegations in 2015 that he had sex with an underage girl. Mr Dershowitz has again strongly denied those allegations in recent days.

A spokesperson for Senator Mitchell referred The Independent to a previous statement in which he categorically denied any wrongdoing, and pointed out that no new allegations have emerged regarding Senator Mitchell in the filings recently unsealed.

A representative for Mr Pritzker also said that he first rejected Ms Giuffres allegations in 2019 and continues to vehemently deny them.

A spokesperson for Mr Dubin told The Independent in a statement: The Dubins strongly deny these allegations, as we first said in 2019 when these unsubstantiated statements first surfaced as part of this same civil court proceeding.

The Duke of York has also strongly denied Ms Giuffres allegations in the past.

The names of two people who Ms Giuffre alleged she was trafficked to, one of them a politician, remain redacted.

Donald Trumps alleged sexual proclivities graphically detailed in new Epstein documents

Saturday 13 January 2024 09:00 , Rachel Sharp

Graphic details about Donald Trumps alleged sexual proclivities have emerged in the latest round of court documents containing details of late paedophile Jeffrey Epsteins associates.

The new documents contain incendiary claims about the former president, including accusations that he had sexual relations with many girls, made by one of Epsteins alleged victims, Sarah Ransome.

Mr Trumps name has appeared a handful of times previously in the documents and, while not accusing him of wrongdoing, appears to illustrate the good relationship he had with the disgraced financier.

In the newly unsealed documents, Ms Ransome testified that her unnamed friend was one of the many girls that had sexual relations with Donald Trump  including at Epsteins New York townhouse.

Read the full story:

Trumps alleged sexual proclivities graphically detailed in new Epstein documents

Who are Does 107 and 110?

Saturday 13 January 2024 10:00 , Rachel Sharp

A request by The Miami Herald for a master list of all the J Does in the case to be released, seconded by Alan Dershowitz, was denied last week by Judge Preska. The names of 10 Jane Does mentioned in the filings will remain under seal because their right to privacy as victims outweighed the publics right to know.

A J Doe, 107, has until 22 January to submit proof to the court that the release of their name will put them at risk of physical harm.

Meanwhile, a request by a second J Doe, 110, to keep their name under seal is currently being reviewed by the court.

Ghislaine Maxwell features in documents over 1,000 times

Saturday 13 January 2024 11:00 , Rachel Sharp

Unsurprisingly, Epsteins partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell is one of the names that features the most, appearing over 1000 times in the first five batches of documents.

The British socialites name appears in full hundreds of times, due to the files being part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against her, though the name Maxwell appears still more, sometimes in reference to legal matters and footnotes.

References to Maxwell were made throughout the documents, with various other witnesses being asked about her involvement with Epstein in their separate testimonies.

Much of the information in the third and fourth tranches of evidence, released on Friday, was taken from Maxwells own despositions. They included questions over her interactions with Prince Andrew and Ms Giuffre as well as with former president Bill Clinton and others.

She is currently serving 20 years in prison, having been convicted sex-trafficking underage girls in June 2022.

Did Epstein have a client list?

Saturday 13 January 2024 12:00 , Rachel Sharp

If Epstein kept a physical list of the men who paid him to have sex with young women, it has never come up in legal filings.

Items seized by the Palm Beach Police Department during their initial investigation in 2005-06 included phone messages left for Epstein, and grocery lists, as recently unsealed documents show, but there is no mention of a compiled list of alleged clients.

In 2015, Gawker published Epsteins Little Black Book, which appeared to be a directory with hundreds of celebrity names. According to a 2009 article in The New York Times, Epsteins house manager Alfredo Rodriguez tried to sell the book before it was published.

However, there was no indication that the names listed in the book were clients of Epstein, and some of those listed have contested they never even met Epstein.

Clinton Center deletes controversial post after Epstein filings

Saturday 13 January 2024 13:00 , Rachel Sharp

The Clinton Presidential Center briefly posted on X wondering to whom former president Bill Clinton sent his first email after his name was revealed in the unsealed Epstein documents.

On November 7, 1998, Pres. @BillClinton typed out and sent his first-ever email. Can you guess who it was to? #WorldTying Day, the tweet said from the @ClintonCenter account, according to screenshots circulating on X.

The X post featured a photo of Mr Clinton typing on a clunky 1990s laptop and tagged the Clinton Presidential Library.

Read the story here:

Clinton Center deletes controversial post after Epstein filings

Jeffrey Epsteins paedophile island is getting a major rebrand - as a luxury resort

Saturday 13 January 2024 14:00 , Rachel Sharp

For years, it was known to victims as the paedophile island.

It was a place where Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell lured girls and vulnerable young women, dazzled by the glamour of a spectacular, paradise Caribbean island.

Once there  and with no way of getting off the islands  these victims were sexually abused by Epstein and allegedly trafficked to his powerful, wealthy circle of clients.

Dozens of celebrities and famous figures also visited the 70-plus-acre island of Little St. James and 160-plus-acre island of Great St. James  visits that, based on what later came to light, many would rather erase from public memory.

Theres no denying that these islands have dark pasts.

But, they are now having a total makeover  courtesy of a new owner and his grand plans to transform the infamous hideaway into a luxury, five-star resort...

Jeffrey Epsteins paedophile island is getting a major rebrand - as a luxury resort

Jean Luc Brunel left note about Russian girl two times eight years old for Epstein

Saturday 13 January 2024 15:00 , Rachel Sharp

Maxwell was confronted with detailed phone tones left for Epstein at his Florida home. The notes were seized by the Palm Beach Police Department during the initial investigation into Jeffrey Epsteins sex trafficking ring.

One of the notes referenced what appeared to be code for procuring a minor Russian girl for Epstein.

I will direct your attention to [redacted] so you will skip a page and go back, its the final page in the message pads and you will see on the top left for Jeffrey, on 6/1/2005 from Jean Luc Brunel with a phone number, Maxwell was asked.

It says, quote, He has a teacher for you to teach you how to speak Russian. She is two times eight years old. Not blond. Lessons are free and you can have your first today if you call.

Brunel, a Parisian model scout, died by suicide in a French jail last year while awaiting trial on sexual assault charges.

Whos on the Epstein list?

Saturday 13 January 2024 16:00 , Rachel Sharp

Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton are among the more than 100 people named in the newly-published legal documents linked to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Being named in these documents does not indicate any wrongdoing related to Epstein or anyone else.

The list includes many of Epsteins accusers and alleged victims, as well as people with only tangential connections to Epstein who were pulled into the lawsuit against Maxwell.

Prince Andrew appears prominently, with the documents mentioning a previously reported accusation that he groped Johanna Sjoberg (which he denies). Former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are also named, with neither accused of wrongdoing.

Judges, court staff and legal represenatives are not included.

Heres the list of names in full:

The Epstein List: Full list of names revealed in unsealed court records so far

Why have the secret Epstein documents been released now?

Saturday 13 January 2024 17:00 , Rachel Sharp

These thousands of pages of documents arent new.

They are part of a defamation lawsuit brought against Ghislaine Maxwell back in 2015 by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.

Ms Giuffre filed the suit after Maxwell accused her of lying about the years-long abuse she had suffered at the hands of Epstein and some in his inner circle.

The case went through the courts for two years  and dozens of individuals sat for depositions and gave testimony on both sides  before the suit was settled in 2017.

At the time, a judge placed the filings under a protective seal  with the identities of those named in the filings kept under lock and key.

But, The Miami Herald  whose investigative reporting first exposed Epsteins crimes  sued for the release of all of the sealed documents.

Around 2,000 pages of documents were first unsealed in 2019, with further documents released over the following years.

But, this current trove of documents remained sealed  and the names of hundreds of people associated with the dead paedophile were kept secret, known only as Jane and John Does.

Maxwells legal team sought to block it for years  before finally giving up the fight in 2022.

Virginia Giuffre with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell at Epsteins townhouse

Then, in a landmark ruling in December, US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the trove of documents could be released and the names unsealed in full, saying that there was no legal justification to keep the names of Epsteins associates redacted as John and Jane Does.

She also argued that much of the information is already available publicly, having been revealed through other lawsuits, criminal cases or media reports.

The judges ruling thereby paved the way for the release of the documents  and the names and ties of those linked to the notorious disgraced financier unmasked.

Individuals named in the documents were given 14 days to appeal, before the documents were to be unsealed in full from 1 January.

Two individuals asked for their names to remain under seal.

The first, known only as Doe 107, claimed that she lives in a conservative country and could be at risk of physical harm if her name is revealed. The judge granted her an extension until 22 January to provide evidence for this.

The request from the second individual, Doe 110, is still under review.

The federal judge has also ordered the names of several Epstein victims to remain anonymous.

But, beyond this, all documents were ordered to be released. All redacted names unredacted. And all revelations made public.
A federal appeals court has denied a legal effort to stop Mississippi officials from creating a state-run court in part of the majority-Black capital city of Jackson, over objections from the NAACP.

In a Thursday ruling, three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied the NAACPs motions for an injunction pending an appeal and vacated an administrative stay that had temporarily blocked state officials from creating the court.

The panel's unanimous decision means state officials can begin setting up the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court, which will have a judge appointed by the state Supreme Court chief justice and prosecutors appointed by the state attorney general  officials who are white and conservative. A state law approved by the Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature created the court; Jackson is governed by Democrats.

The 5th Circuits decision said the NAACP's argument did not meet the burden for an appeal.

We begin and end with the first factor: likelihood of success on the merits, the panel wrote. In sum, plaintiffs fail to plead a cognizable injury-in-fact and thus lack standing to assert their claims. Without standing, they cannot obtain an injunction.

Attorneys for the NAACP and other civil rights organizations had sued on behalf of several Jackson residents, saying the new court undermines democracy because local voters or local elected officials wont choose its judge or prosecutors.

The panel said the argument that the state law would take away power from local officials has no basis in fact because the legislation creates a new court, staffed with a newly appointed judge and newly appointed prosecutors.

In a statement following the ruling, the NAACP said its legal fight would continue.

The NAACP is profoundly disappointed by today's ruling," said Janette McCarthy Wallace, general counsel for the NAACP. "Despite any obstacles we may face, the fight continues. Our case will proceed, with more briefing and arguments to come. The NAACP remains committed to upholding democracy and putting power back in the hands of Jackson residents.

The NAACP did not immediately explain the legal strategy they would use to keep the case alive.

Attorney General Lynn Fitchs office applauded the ruling and said the court would benefit the local community.

The people of Jackson deserve a safer community and this office stands ready to help the people of Jackson get access to the prompt adjudication of justice that this law makes possible, chief of staff Michelle Williams said.

The state law creating the new court also expands the patrol territory for Capitol Police. The state-run police department previously patrolled near state government buildings in downtown Jackson, but the new law added other parts of the city, including more affluent residential and shopping areas.

Before the 5th Circuit took up the appellate motions, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate had already dismissed requests to block the new court. Legal arguments in the case touched on racial discrimination, public safety and democracy.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Federal appeals court denies effort to block state-run court in Jackson MS
This week, the Border Force announced plans for more frictionless travel thanks to an intelligent border run by facial recognition cameras at e-gates. It means that when you travel through UK airports, although youll still need to carry your passport, you wont necessarily need to show it to officers or even passport-reading machines. While promising greater convenience, the plans might have hidden costs, introducing serious privacy threats, risks of technical failures and expenses for the taxpayer. Frictionless, it is not.

International travel is the most liberating activity in the world. And yet over the past 20 years, it has become punctuated by increasingly oppressive airport experiences, from pat-downs to full body scans. Then there are the dreaded passport queues  so most of us would do anything to make it all less stressful and quicker.

E-gates certainly have the potential to offer speed  though for non-British travellers, it may mean completing online forms and scanning your passport on a smartphone, something that may be more difficult for older passengers and people with disabilities. Furthermore, facial recognition technology currently suffers with inaccuracy and struggles with darker skin tones, ageing, and, of course, twins. Even so, a 1:1 biometric facial check, comparing a passport photo to the face looking at the camera, is widely accepted as a fast and secure way to verify an identity.

But behind these apparently convenient e-gates is a completely new, colossal infrastructure harvesting our digital information. Rather than showing a paper passport to a human officer like we all used to, the officer is now a machine and it already has your passport, your photos, your biometric data and potentially more of your information in a giant database. The emergence of smart borders is not simply a technological upgrade  it is a shift for our privacy rights.

E-gates offer speed but our writer questions potential privacy issues - Alamy

How intrusive this will be depends on how much data the Government decides to store and for how long. But in theory, e-gates of this type open the possibility of harvesting the travel data and biometrics of the population across our lifetimes, as well as detailed records of the tens of millions of visitors to the UK each year. That database would need extremely strong technological, human, political and legal protections to be used safely and not to the disadvantage of individuals. And yet, with the casual announcement of this major change made from the Border Force to the press, such protections dont get a mention.

How intrusive it will be also depends on whether we can choose to use e-gates. Currently, we can choose whether to use passport e-gates, and they require us to present our passport. But the difference with frictionless security is that the individual has less agency  your passport is effectively digitally pickpocketed by high-tech cameras that scan your face and decide whether to permit or deny your entry. Unless it is radically changed, the Governments Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, currently going through parliament, will significantly weaken our data rights, paving the way for a country with many more facial recognition cameras not only in airports but potentially everywhere.

Even if these next generation e-gates start on a consent basis, that would be highly unlikely to last. In fact, before the plans were barely uttered in public, director general of the Border Force Phil Douglas told industry bosses that the use of human passport desks will fall away in the next few years due to e-gates and the value of ID data to authorities. Although presented as an inevitable consequence of technological advancement, human services do not simply fall away in acts of nature but rather are stripped away, along with our privacy, by the latent techno-authoritarianism that underpins our time.

The use of human passport desks could fall away in the next few years due to e-gates - Alamy

For most of us, our passport is the most personal and sensitive item of information we have. We tuck it away in a drawer or safe at home  it is the thing we are most anxious about losing or being stolen. But changes like this take our passports out of our hands and further out of our control.

Mixed in with hundreds of millions of other peoples passports, photos, visas and biometrics on giant databases that are searched over a hundred million times a year, there are major new risks of loss, error  and even catastrophic hacks. Just three years ago in Estonia, the worlds most advanced digital society  also known as e-Estonia, a hacker downloaded close to 300,000 personal ID photos after obtaining personal names and ID numbers from a government database.

Some of the risks of digitalising critical infrastructure are more banal. During the May bank holiday last year, a routine system upgrade to the current passport e-gates brought British airports to a standstill, causing four-hour queues.

If taking your passport out of your pocket is to be reclassified as friction, perhaps it is a friction we should be willing to endure. It may be safer than the steady erosion of our privacy by a growing database state.

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As ceasefire plans are formulated, more than 100 targets were hit in Gaza on Thursday - Anadolu

The fighting in Gaza continues with more than 100 targets hit on Thursday alone but beneath the hellfire the building blocks for a ceasefire are slowly being put into place.

Late on Thursday evening, for the first time since the war started, a senior Israeli minister outlined proposals for the future of Gaza once the fighting stops.

The four-point plan, presented to the Israeli cabinet by Yoav Gallant, the countrys defence minister, is the third in a series of little-reported initiatives that seem positive.

It follows a three-point plan for peace proposed by Egypt on Christmas Eve and the announcement on Monday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has started withdrawing troops from Gaza.

The three initiatives are not formally linked but they have an uncanny symmetry.

Mr Gallants piece of the jigsaw was presented shortly before Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, arrived in the region on Friday for the fourth time since Oct 7.

It is almost as if the United States made his visit conditional on the Israelis publishing their plan.

The plan, which was shown to the United States in advance, proposes four pillars for civil rule in post-war Gaza.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, has outlined proposals for the future of Gaza once the fighting stops - VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA/REUTERS

First, a multinational force, led by the United States in partnership with European and moderate Arab nations, will take responsibility for the reconstruction and economic rehabilitation of the enclave.

Second, existing Palestinian administrative mechanisms will be maintained, provided that the officials within them are not affiliated with Hamas. Authorities that deal with health, sewage, electricity, water and aid will continue to operate, in collaboration with the new task force.

Third, Egypt  a major actor in the plan  will retain responsibility for the main civilian border crossing into Gaza, in coordination with Israel.

Fourth, Israel will retain military control on the borders and the right to take military and security action inside Gaza where deemed necessary.

Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against the State of Israel, Mr Gallant said.

The plan has been presented as Mr Gallants own but it is clear it has the approval, for now at least, of his Likud colleague Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

It avoids mention of the two most contentious elements of any serious proposal for peace  a role for the Palestinian Authority and a Palestinian state  but nor does it rule them out.

Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, arrived in the region on Friday, for the fourth time since Oct 7 - EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/AFP

Yet it is the Israeli plans fit with the Egyptian proposals published on Christmas Eve that is most striking.

That plan  currently being debated by Hamas and Israeli representatives in Cairo and also familiar to Mr Blinken  offers a three-point route to a sustainable peace.

It starts with a two-week lull in fighting in which 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas (women, children and sick adults) would be released in exchange for 120 Palestinian prisoners and more aid into Gaza.

In the deals second phase, a new ad hoc administration would be formed to oversee Gazas rehabilitation and prepare the enclave for elections  closely matching Mr Gallants vision.

The third and final phase would involve talks for a comprehensive ceasefire that will include the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners and, once completed, Israels complete withdrawal from Gaza.

So finely balanced is Israeli politics that Mr Netanyahu himself has not directly mentioned either of the proposals, or indeed the ongoing withdrawal of a full five divisions of IDF troops from Gaza.

His ruling coalition government only needs five representatives to resign and it will fall, triggering new elections.

The far right ethno-nationalists propping up the current cabinet  men who have been openly calling for Gaza to be cleansed of Palestinians through export to places like the Congo  will almost certainly jump at some point.

Mr Blinkens job in the coming weeks and months is to somehow make that happen gracefully.

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Skittish investors drove down the price of a host of altcoins this week, due in no small part to an alarming report from a crypto services firm. This analysis speculated that the hoped-for regulatory approval of the first spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is not going to occur.

This dinged the prices of many coins and tokens, no matter how large and well established (or obscure and infrequently traded). Prominent altcoins Polygon (CRYPTO: MATIC), Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI), and Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC) -- to name only three -- really took it on the chin. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the trio fell a respective 14%, 18%, and 12% over the course of the week.

The Matrixport analysis shook the crypto market

The analysis, published on Tuesday, was the latest weekly report of a crypto company known as Matrixport -- hardly a famous name even in the niche digital currency world. Its conclusions were contrarian and alarming, though, and as such they spread around the crypto community like a wildfire.

In that edition of its Matrix on Target digest, Matrixport said that it expected the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reject all of the numerous spot Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ETFs this month. It cited several reasons, mainly that SEC chief Gary Gensler continues to be resistant to approving cryptos and related investments generally.

Matrixport wrote of Gensler that "he still sees this industry in need of more stringent compliance."

Further, the firm opined, "From a political perspective, there is no reason to approve a Bitcoin spot ETF that would legitimize Bitcoin as an alternative store of value."

Although it overstated its case, Matrixpoint correctly pointed out that hopes for the first Bitcoin spot ETF approvals have been a force propelling the broader crypto market forward. Such instruments would allow investors to hold cryptocurrencies "wrapped" inside an easily tradable security. At the moment, ownership of even the most prominent coins and tokens can be complicated, cumbersome, and at times risky.

Story continues

Will the SEC say yes or no?

Crypto spot ETF approval has been seen as the potential monster tide lifting all boats. So it stands to reason that the rejection Matrixport anticipates lowered the water level.

Bitcoin was slammed on Tuesday, and as often happens with a notable Bitcoin price movement, a great many altcoins tumbled, too. Quite a few have since recovered, but like the leading coin they haven't yet recovered to levels seen at the start of the week. This crypto spot ETF saga is getting interesting; the market will keep a sharp eye on how it develops.

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A French-owned, Malta-flagged container ship became the latest target of an attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia on Tuesday. Three missiles were fired at the ship from Yemen, but it was not hit, according to the Ambrey Analytics maritime security firm . Ambrey declined to name the vessel targeted during the incident.

The attack occurred around 10 p.m. local time and took place about 15 miles southwest of Mocha, Yemen, in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The explosions were observed about one to five nautical miles from the ship according to the Royal Navys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

https://twitter.com/uk_mto/status/1742291883412341189?s=46\u0026t=WGR8ATVuYlDW934sMHUUhQ

There was no official response from the Houthis. The Pentagon is aware of the reports of the attack but had no further comment, a Pentagon spokesman told The War Zone.

The vessel was traveling to Alexandria, Egypt at the time of the attack and the ships master was overheard calling for assistance from a coalition warship, according to Ambrey.

The ship was bound for Alexandria, Egypt, when it came under attack. (Google Earth image)

After the ships crew saw the explosions, another vessel reported seeing a small boat within a mile of the location.

It was advised to treat this boat with caution as it may have been used to assist the targeting, Ambrey stated.

This latest incident comes two days after U.S. Navy helicopters were fired upon by Houthi raiding craft while responding to a distress call from a cargo ship. The helicopters fired back, sinking the boats and killing 10 Houthi fighters. Just hours before that engagement, USS Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles during an assault on the Maersk Hangzhou, which was struck by a weapon while traveling in the Southern Red Sea, according to U.S. Central Command. You can read more about this series of events in our initial reporting here .

https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1741259817602429357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1741259817602429357%7Ctwgr%5E9c4fcf1e91b1e5134a8cc4b9d399942bfcfe939e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fafter-u-s-navy-helicopters-sink-houthi-boats-are-strikes-next

In the wake of the Dec. 30 attack on the Maersk Hangzhou, the Maersk shipping company on Tuesday said it was pausing all transits through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden "until further notice."

"An investigation into the incident is ongoing and we will continue to pause all cargo movement through the area while we further assess the constantly evolving situation," Maersk said in a statement. "In cases where it makes most sense for our customers, vessels will be rerouted and continue their journey around the Cape of Good Hope. The latest information is available on our diversion and contingency plans page."

Amid the growing tension in the region, Iran on Monday said it sent the destroyer Alborz into the Red Sea.

"Since 2009, Iranian warships have been operating in open waters to secure shipping lines, fight against pirates and carry out other missions," the official Iranian FARS news outlet reported . "The warship, overhauled and equipped with state-of-the-art systems, joined the Iranian Navy's fleet in 2019. The flotilla's arrival in the Red Sea comes amid rising tensions following Yemens retaliatory attacks on Israeli-owned and -bound vessels in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

https://twitter.com/EnglishFars/status/1742128640131830174

As the Alborz was entering the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy announced that the Ford carrier group would making a scheduled return to its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, after two months in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Pentagon first announced the Ford carrier group was headed to the region on Oct. 8 in the wake of the deadly Hamas surprise attack on Israel.

The redeployment was scheduled so that the strike group can "prepare for future deployments," according to U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa. The Ford was expected to head home soon after two deployment extensions for the carrier's first major cruise.

https://twitter.com/USNavyEurope/status/1741859241269297276

Earlier on Tuesday, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, presented combat medals to the crew of the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Carney. Cooper also presented the entire crew with Combat Action Ribbons. The awards were for the crew's actions Dec. 16, when they shot down 14 Houthi drones in the Red Sea .

https://twitter.com/us5thfleet/status/1742177396801860095?s=46\u0026t=WGR8ATVuYlDW934sMHUUhQ

While these attacks continue, there has still been no kinetic response on Houthi facilities in Yemen.

The Sunday Times reported that the U.K. is readying a series of air strikes alongside the U.S. and possibly other European countries. It claimed that the U.S. and the U.K. would make a joint statement warning the Houthis to stop their attacks or face a kinetic response. That would serve as a final warning before strikes are ordered, the publication reported, however, no such statement was issued.

As we reported previously , the U.S. is "discussing all kinds of different strike packages against the Houthis, including radar facilities and installations, a U.S. military official told The War Zone Dec. 21.

Meanwhile, the status of the newly formed Operation Prosperity Guardian , a multi-nation effort to bolster maritime security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, remains in flux.

As we reported Sunday : "while small convoy operations appear to have occurred, there have no large multinational combined operations that have been observed. With multiple partners that are sending ships not being willing to put their vessels under U.S. control, the exact amount of coordination, and what ships each country is willing to provide security for, remains unclear."

We will continue to monitor this tense situation and will provide updates when warranted, especially if there is any kind of kinetic response on Houthi facilities in response to the ongoing attacks.

Update 11:37 PM Eastern -

In a statement released on Twitter, CENTCOM said the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) into the southern Red Sea. Multiple ships reported their impact into the surrounding water. This was the 24th attack against merchant shipping in that area since Nov. 19.

It happened around the same time the crew of the French-owned container ship reported seeing explosions in the water, but it is unclear whether this is the same incident. We've reached out to CENTCOM to find out and we will update this story if any additional details are provided.

https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1742389041725886957?s=20

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
The Sky Dew pictured in November berthed near Haifa, northern Israel - Christopher Furlong

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has brought an enormous radar blimp out of retirement to patrol its border with Lebanon.

The Sky Dew, a white high-altitude balloon which is used to detect missiles and drones, was retired in 2022 amid unspecified setbacks in its development.

But it has now been confirmed to be back in use after being photographed over northern Israel on Saturday.

The experimental blimps redeployment comes amid an uptick in clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanon border.

The Iran-backed terror group said it launched 62 rockets on an IDF base in northern Israel on Saturday morning in revenge for the death of Hamass deputy political chief Saleh Al-Arouri in an Israeli air strike last week.

05:11 PM GMT

Thank you for following today's blog

Thats all for today. Follow our live blog again tomorrow for all the latest developments in the war in Gaza.

05:10 PM GMT

Todays headlines

Hezbollah launched a 62-missile barrage on an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base in northern Israel in revenge for the death of Hamass deputy political chief.

Two Hezbollah terrorists were killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the United Statess blind support for Israel is to blame for civilian deaths in Gaza.

The IDF said it found Hamas body armour hidden in UN aid bags at a Gaza City medical clinic.

The United Nations womens agency is investigating a top official who endorsed 153 pro-Palestinian social media posts.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was reported to have detained a team of Al Jazeera journalists at Kibbutz Beeri for filming in a closed military area without permission.

Antony Blinken will push Israel to enable displaced Palestinians to return home by adapting the way it is fighting in Gaza, an official said.

The United States announced it is offering up to $10million (7.8m) for intelligence on five key Hamas financiers.

The mother of dead Israeli hostage Tamir Adar, 38, said he would still be alive if the Israeli state had been functioning on October 7.

The IDF has brought an enormous radar blimp out of retirement to patrol its border with Lebanon, it was confirmed.

05:09 PM GMT

French foreign minister urges Iran to stop 'destabilising acts'

Catherine Colonna, Frances foreign minister, has told her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that Iran and its affiliates must stop destabilising acts that could ignite a broader conflict in the Middle East.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Colonna stated that she delivered a very clear message: the risk of regional conflagration has never been so great; Iran and its affiliates must immediately cease their destabilising acts. Nobody would win from escalation.

Iran has formed and expanded a network of proxies throughout the Middle East, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. Tehran has also supplied drones and munitions to Russia, which have been used in the war in Ukraine.

04:46 PM GMT

Watch: IDF chiefs tour Hamas tunnel network

Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), has toured a Hamas tunnel network with other senior IDF commanders and Ronen Bar, the head of Israels internal security service.

Lt Gen Halevi and Mr Bar were filmed alongside Maj Gen Yaron Finkelman, the head of the IDFs southern command; Maj Gen Aharon Haliva, the head of military intelligence and Brig Gen Dan Goldfus, commander of the 98th Division.

The military and security chiefs were filmed inside the complex beneath the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Friday.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the head of the Shin Bet security agency Ronen Bar toured a Hamas tunnel network under southern Gaza's Khan Younis yesterday, the military announces.



Halevi and Bar were joined by the head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron pic.twitter.com/AGSTPTxjun  Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 6, 2024

04:17 PM GMT

Two more Hezbollah fighters killed on Israel border

Hezbollah has said that two more of its fighters have been killed on the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Iran-backed Lebanese terror group fired a barrage of 62 rockets on northern Israel on Saturday morning, before the Israeli military launched a wave of retaliatory strikes at targets in southern Lebanon.

The deaths take the total number of Hezbollah fighters killed in border skirmishes with Israel since the war began to 152.

03:46 PM GMT

UK reports 6 craft approaching merchant vessel near Yemen

Britain has warned that six small boats are approaching a merchant vessel about 50 nautical miles south east of the Yemeni city of Mocha.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organisation said that it had received the report, adding that no weapons have been sighted and coalition forces are assisting.

Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have declared support for Hamas, have vowed to continue targeting shipping in the Red Sea despite US warnings of a military response to further attacks.

More than 20 countries, including the US, UK and France, are contributing to patrols in the crucial global shipping lane to protect commercial traffic.

03:33 PM GMT

Blinken warns against conflict spreading in Erdogan talks

Anthony Blinken has concluded talks with Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In the talks, the US secretary of state emphasised the need to prevent the conflict from spreading, secure the release of hostages, expand humanitarian assistance and reduce civilian casualties, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Blinken also stressed the need to work toward broader, lasting regional peace that ensures Israels security and advances the establishment of a Palestinian state, Mr Miller added.

Antony Blinken waves as he boards a flight to Crete from Turkey - Evelyn Hockstein

03:23 PM GMT

EU foreign policy chief calls for two-state solution

The only path to peace in the Gaza Strip is the creation of a Palestinian state, Josep Borrell, the EUs foreign policy chief, has said.

Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, Mr Borrell stated that the the only way [to peace] is the creation of a Palestinian state.

The prospect would offer a horizon of hope to the Palestinians, he added.

02:58 PM GMT

IDF brings massive Sky Dew radar balloon back into operation in northern Israel

The Israel Defence Forces has brought the enormous Sky Dew radar balloon back into operation in northern Israel, a year and a half after being deactivated.

The Sky Dew, equipped with advanced missile and aircraft detection abilities, is one of the largest aerial threat warning systems in the world.

02:45 PM GMT

Hundreds gather outside Parliament for pro-Palestine protest

Hundreds of people are protesting outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster for an end to the war in Gaza.

The crowd waved Palestine flags and held placards reading Ceasefire now.

The Free Palestine Coalition, which says it is made of grassroots organisations in London, including Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK, London for a Free Palestine, and the Palestinian Youth Movement, is protesting today.

The Metropolitan Police has said the protestors refused to share information about their route.

It has applied the Public Order Act to the protest, meaning they cannot move from Westminsters Bridge Street and must end the rally by 3pm.

The pro-Palestine protest gathered outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster - Henry Nicholls

02:27 PM GMT

In pictures: 'Liberate Palestine' jigsaw found in IDF raid

IDF found weapons inside a house in Khan Younis - IDF

A 'liberate Palestine' children's jigsaw found in a house in Khan Younis - IDF

02:04 PM GMT

Watch: Israeli helicopter shoots down Hezbollah drone

Israeli TV station Channel 12 has released footage of an IDF helicopter shooting down a Hezbollah drone launched towards Israel from Lebanon.

:     "  -           



https://t.co/ZG0MZ2FDLi pic.twitter.com/w3AnVZD3WE   - N12 (@N12News) January 6, 2024

01:50 PM GMT

Mother of murdered Israeli hostage blames state failures for sons death

The mother of Israeli hostage Tamir Adar, 38, whose death was confirmed yesterday, has said that her son would have been saved if the Israeli state had been functioning.

Tamir was kidnapped while wounded and alive. Tamir was murdered in the absence of immediate medical attention, Yael Adar wrote in a post on Facebook.

Everything needs to be done to release all the hostages alive now, before it is too late for them We lost the most precious thing. Dont let the other families lose their loved ones, Ms Adar added.

Tamir Adar was part of Kibbutz Nir Ozs emergency response squad that fought Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks on southern Israel. It is believed he was later killed before his body was taken to the Gaza Strip.

01:42 PM GMT

Lebanon Sunni Islamists fire missiles on Israel

The Lebanon-based Sunni Islamist Jamaa Islamiya group has fired two volleys of missiles at northern Israel.

It said it had fired rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city just miles from the Lebanon border, early on Saturday afternoon.

01:24 PM GMT

Hezbollah clashes risk dragging Lebanon into war, warns EU chief

The intensifying border clashes between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) could drag other countries into the war, the European Unions foreign policy chief has warned.

Josep Borrell told a press conference in Beirut, Lebanons capital, that it was absolutely necessary that regional escalation is avoided.

It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East, he said. It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict.

01:10 PM GMT

US offers $10m rewards for intel on Hamas financiers

The United States is offering up to $10million (7.8m) for information on five key Hamas financiers.

The State Department said on Friday that the men had all previously been designated as terrorists.

Abdelbasit Haza Elhassan Khair, known as Hamza, is based in Sudan and manages Hamass investment portfolio, the department said.

Amer Kamal Sharif Alshawa, Ahmed Sadu Jahleb and Walid Mohammed Mustafa Jadallah are said to live in Turkey and are involved in managing a network of investments there.

Muhammad Ahmad Abd Al-Dayim Nasrallah has helped transfer tens of millions of dollars to Hamas and also has close ties to Iranian entities.

The rewards will be given for information on Hamass revenue sources, major donors and front companies, as well as criminal schemes which benefit the terror group and financial institutions which facilitate its transactions.

01:06 PM GMT

Allow Gazans to return home, Blinken to tell Israel

Antony Blinken will push Israel to enable displaced Palestinians to return home by adapting the way it is fighting in Gaza.

A senior US administration official told AFP that the secretary of state would press Israel to move to a new, more targeted phase of the war that would allow Gazan refugees to move out of densely-packed refugee camps.

He will also urge Benjamin Netanyahu to increase the flow of aid into the enclave, the official added.

Mr Blinken is on a whirlwind week-long tour of the region, his fourth since October 7.

He met Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday and will also travel to Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt before returning to the USA on Thursday.

The official said Mr Blinkens discussion with Arab leaders would focus on how Gaza will be governed after the war.

He also discussed Swedens accession to Nato with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Mr Blinken will hope to win assurances that a ratification vote on Swedens accession to Nato will be held soon by Turkeys parliament.

Turkey, a Nato member, has been able to its veto power to impel Sweden to take a tougher stance on Kurdish groups in Stockholm that Ankara sees as terrorists.

12:30 PM GMT

IDF releases footage of battle in Gaza school

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has released footage of an elite commando unit fighting Hamas in a school on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The unit killed three gunmen, the IDF said, and found stashes of rocket-propelled grenades as well as a lot of intelligence information about Hamas forces operating in Khan Younis.

The home of a Hamas commander was also raided in the operation, the IDF added.

12:12 PM GMT

UN warns that Gaza is now 'uninhabitable'

The UN has warned that the Gaza Strip has been rendered uninhabitable by three months of war.

With much of the besieged enclave reduced to rubble, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on Friday that Gaza has simply become uninhabitable.

Civilians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip face widespread displacement, destruction and a deepening humanitarian crisis.

11:47 AM GMT

IDF detains Al Jazeera team at Kibbutz Be'eri

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has detained a team of Al Jazeera journalists at Kibbutz Beeri for filming in a closed military area without permission, Israels Kan public broadcaster has reported.

Kan said the journalists filmed IDF soldiers and that police were called to the scene.

The journalists told Oren Ziv, a reporter for +972 magazine, that they had not filmed any soldiers and were detained before taking out a camera.

The IDF is yet to comment.

Benjamin Netanyahus government was reported in November to want to ban Qatar-owned Al Jazeera from Israel. The Times of Israel reports that it has not done so because of Qatars role in ongoing hostage release negotiations.

11:38 AM GMT

Death toll in Iran suicide bomb blasts rises to 91

The death toll from a suicide bombing in Iran claimed by Islamic State has risen from 89 to at least 91, Iranian state TV reported on Saturday.

The report quoted Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for Irans emergency services, as saying an 8-year boy and a 67-year-old man who were wounded in the attack have now died.

On Wednesday, two blasts tore through crowds in Kerman at a memorial service for Qassim Soleimani, an Iranian general killed by a US drone strike in 2020.

Iranian officials initially appeared split over blaming Israel and the US directly for the attacks, before Islamic State-affiliated Telegram channels claimed responsibility on Thursday.

White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the United States was in no position to doubt Islamic States claim that it was responsible for Wednesdays attack.

11:29 AM GMT

Watch: IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

 ,  ,    ; "     >> pic.twitter.com/MH0HY5JRR6     (@idfonline) January 6, 2024

10:57 AM GMT

22,722 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

At least 22,722 Palestinians have been killed and 58,166 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Some 122 Palestinians were killed and 256 wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

10:49 AM GMT

Red Sea attacks may impact British economy, says Jeremy Hunt

Houthi rebel strikes on shipping in the Red Sea may impact the UK economy, the Chancellor has said.

Speaking to the BBCs Today programme on Saturday, Jeremy Hunt was asked whether attacks by the Iran-aligned militants could mean rising prices in Britain.

We obviously have to monitor whats happening in the Red Sea, he said. It may have an impact and well watch it very, very carefully.

The US, UK and 10 other states warned the militant group on Wednesday that they will face military action if they continue to attack commercial shipping.

However the group, who have declared support for Hamas, vowed to continue targeting vessels they consider linked to Israel.

10:40 AM GMT

Hezbollah damaged Israeli base but no casualties, IDF confirms

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed that one of its bases was targeted by a Hezbollah missile barrage on Saturday morning, Lizzie Porter reports.

No IDF injuries were reported, but we can confirm that there was damage caused as a result of the barrage, an official told The Telegraph.

However we are unable to say the extent or what was damaged as of right now.

The Lebanon-based terror group earlier said it fired 62 rockets at a military installation near Mount Meron in northern Israel.

The IDF said it launched a wave of retaliatory strikes at targets in the southern Lebanon villages of Ayta ash-Shab, Yaroun and Ramyah.

Smoke rises in southern Lebanon after Israeli strikes on Saturday morning - Karim Daher

10:27 AM GMT

UN agency investigates top official for endorsing anti-Israel posts

The United Nations womens agency is investigating a top official for endorsing 153 pro-Palestinian social media posts.

Sarah Douglas, the deputy chief of UN Womens peace and security office, was accused of breaching the UNs impartiality code after Geneva-based advocacy group UN Watch reported her consistent liking of pro-Palestinian posts since October 7.

One tweet liked by Ms Douglas read: We are currently witnessing all the forces of empire team up to annihilate the Palestinian people and struggle for freedom.

Another post liked by Douglas included an accusation that America was funding and arming the genocide in Gaza.

US senators Rick Scott and Marsha Blackburn have called for Ms Douglas to be fired.

When asked about Douglass social media activity, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week: I understand there was a violation of the Code of Conduct by this individual.

We are aware of reports relating to a mid-level manager and the incompatibility of her social media activity with the standards of conduct required of UN staff members, UN Women said in a statement to reporters.

10:22 AM GMT

In pictures: IDF operations in Gaza

Israeli soldiers operate in Gaza as smoke billows in the background - IDF

The troops move forward through hazy rubble-strewn territory on the hunt for Hamas terrorists - IDF

10:03 AM GMT

IDF 'finds Hamas body armour hidden in UN aid bags'

Israeli soldiers found Hamas body armour hidden in UN aid bags at a Gaza medical clinic, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

It published images of combat vests which it said had been used by Hamass elite Nukhba force and were found inside a UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) sack at the facility in Gaza City.

The IDF added that RPGs, Kalashnikovs and other munitions were discovered in a building near the clinic.

A UN food bag which the IDF says was used to hide a Hamas combat vest - IDF

09:52 AM GMT

Blind US support for Israel to blame for Gaza civilian deaths, Hamas says

The United Statess blind support for Israel is to blame for civilian deaths in Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has said.

The remarks came as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken begins a crisis tour of the Middle East starting in Turkey, where he will meet president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.

We hope that Mr Blinken learned lessons from the past three months and realised the extent of the mistakes the US has made by blindly supporting the Zionist occupation and believing its lies, which resulted in unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people in Gaza, Mr Haniyeh said in a speech.

More than 20,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the strips Hamas-run health ministry.

09:46 AM GMT

Hezbollah launches missile barrage in revenge for Hamas official

Hezbollah launched a barrage of 62 missiles on northern Israel on Saturday morning in what it said was an initial response to the death of Hamas deputy chief Saleh Al-Arouri.

The terror groups deputy political leader was killed on January 2 in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut, Lebanons capital.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that the terror group would retaliate for the killing.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said approximately 40 rockets were fired towards the Mount Meron area.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility and said it fired 62 missiles at a military installation there.

The IDF added that it had launched retaliatory strikes on the terror groups positions in southern Lebanon. It said it successfully it struck a terrorist cell that took part in the launches.

There are no reports of deaths or injuries as things stand.

Footage released by the IDF shows its retaliatory strike on a Hezbollah position this morning - IDF

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Editor's Note: For the latest news on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility Thursday for the two bombings that killed dozens at a remembrance for a slain general in Iran, the latest development to rock the Middle East amid the chaos caused by the Hamas-Israel war.

Israel and its chief ally, the U.S., have been grappling with repeated assaults from Iran-backed militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen as they attempt to keep the war from expanding.

An Israeli link to Wednesdays suicide attacks in the central Iran city of Kerman, where at least 84 were killed and more than 280 wounded, had the potential to provoke Iranian retaliation and further destabilize the region.

But according to the Associated Press, experts who follow the Islamic State confirmed the statement taking responsibility, circulated online among jihadists, came from the extremists, who are probably trying to exploit the regions turmoil.

The European Union's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said this week he fears the Middle East could become "engulfed in flames."

People attend the funeral for Saleh Arouri, one of the top Hamas commanders, and two other Hamas members in Beirut on Jan. 4, 2023.

Israel destroys Shifa Hospital tunnels: More 'terrorist infrastructure' eyed

Developments:

 Former Vice President Mike Pence visited southern Israel on Thursday, saying the U.S. stood with Israel even as the world community "always seems to find its way eventually to criticizing Israel, particularly in places like the United Nations."

 Palestinians fleeing combat zones have once again been attacked as an Israeli airstrike killed a married couple, seven of their children and three other children in a southern Gaza home located in an area the Israeli military had declared safe.

 The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it received reports that gunmen boarded a merchant ship about 500 miles east of Eyl, Somalia. Shipping companies, including global giant Maersk, have cut back on transiting through the nearby Red Sea amid increased Houthi attacks targeting ships believed to be Israeli or traveling to Israel.

 The Israeli Defense Ministry rejected a U.N. claim that it hasn't been able to deliver humanitarian aid to northern Gaza for three days because of the fighting and difficulties accessing the area. The ministry said it had expanded access to border crossings and accused the U.N. of "stalling."

 The Beirut apartment destroyed in the attack that killed Arouri was being used by Hamas for the first time since the militant group vacated it ahead of its Oct. 7. attack on Israel, the Lebanese Al-Akhbar news outlet reported. Arouri had just returned after spending several weeks in Qatar and Turkey, Al-Akhbar reported.

Saleh Arouri killed: Top Hamas leader dies in apparent Israeli strike

US airstrike kills militia leader in Iraq, heightening tensions

The Pentagon acknowledged Thursday launching an airstrike that killed a senior commander of an Iran-backed militia in Baghdad, an attack condemned by the Iraqi military.

Brigade commander Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, known as Abu Taqwa, was among at least two men killed when their vehicle was struck near the headquarters of the Harakat al-Nujaba militia, which the U.S. believes had attacked American personnel in the region.

Militias in Iraq and Syria have launched at least 100 operations against coalition forces since the start of the Hamas-Israel war, which the U.S. is trying to keep from spilling into other countries.

Harakat al-Nujaba is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, which said in a statement it blamed the U.S.-led coalition forces for the unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security body operating'' under the government's authority.

The Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the strike was necessary and proportionate and that no civilians were harmed. "Abu Taqwa was actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel,'' Ryder said.

Houthis launch another Red Sea attack despite US threat

A day after the U.S. and 12 allies issued an ultimatum for Houthi rebels from Yemen to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea, an armed sea drone from the militant group came within about two miles of U.S. Navy and commercial vessels in the Red Sea before exploding Thursday.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads the Navy's operations in the Middle East, did not provide details on why the unmanned surface vessel blew up, but said it was "packed with explosives.''

Cooper told reporters there have been 25 attacks on merchant ships in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since Nov. 18. In mid-December, the U.S. announced the formation of a multination coalition under the title Operation Prosperity Guarding intended to deter the assaults and protect the merchant ships.

Noting the defensive mission of the operation, Cooper said, "We are certainly mindful of the continued threat and expect the Houthi attacks may continue.''

Israeli jet hits targets in Lebanon

An Israeli fighter jet pounded an observation post and "infrastructure" of Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon on Thursday. The Israeli military said its assault on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, coming a day after Hezbollah rockets slammed into Israel, also included an attack on an anti-tank squad and and a mortar attack to "remove a threat."

Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel have been firing rockets back and forth across the border sporadically since the war began Oct. 7, but the Hezbollah attacks have increased in recent days, the Israeli military says. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has pledged to "punish" Israel for Tuesday's drone attack that killed several militants, including second-in-command Saleh Arouri.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah has tried to balance the need to support Gaza with concerns for Lebanon's national interests. But if the Israelis launch a war on Lebanon, the group is ready for a fight without limits," he said.

They will regret it, he said. It will be very, very, very costly.

Israel: 'Short window of time' to avoid confronting Hezbollah

There is still a chance to keep the growing tensions with Hezbollah from turning into a bigger confrontation, though that time frame is dwindling, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday.

"There is a short window of time for diplomatic understandings, which we prefer,'' Gallant told White House envoy Amos Hochstein in Tel Aviv. "We will not tolerate the threats posed by the Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, and we will ensure the security of our citizens.

Israel is pushing for the safe return of 80,000 residents of northern Israel displaced from their homes near the Lebanon border by the Hezbollah shelling. Israel has demanded that Hezbollah respect a 2006 U.N. cease-fire requiring it to pull back from the Israeli border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke with Hochstein and said he's seeking a fundamental change on Israels border with Lebanon but did not elaborate.

Hamas leader mourned amid fears war will spread

Thousands of mourners waving Palestinian and Hamas flags marched along Beirut streets Thursday for the funeral of Hamas second-in-command Saleh Arouri, killed days earlier in an apparent Israeli drone attack in the Lebanese capital.

The remains of Arouri, with his rifle sitting atop his coffin, and two of the other victims of the Tuesday attack were taken to a Beirut mosque for prayers, then carried by the crowd to the Palestine Martyrs Cemetery. High-level Palestinian, Hamas and even some Lebanese officials attended the funeral.

The enemy is running away from its failures and defeats (in Gaza) to Lebanon, senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech aired during the funeral. He called Arouri's death "proof of (Israels) bloody mentality.

Lebanese officials and state media said Arouri was one of seven Hamas members killed in the assault. Israel, which has not claimed responsibility, was on high alert amid increased military activity across the Lebanese border.

The escalation comes despite efforts by the Biden administration and other governments to keep the Israeli-Hamas war from spreading across the region.

Israel blocks tax payments to Palestinian Authority

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich refused to allow the transfer of Palestinian tax funds to Gaza, saying he feared the money would be funneled to Hamas. The U.S. and other nations are urging Israel to release the funds so the Palestinian Authority can pay the salaries of public workers and other bills. Smotrich, however, has focused on the authority's plan to provide some relief to the families of martyrs, prisoners and wounded Palestinians.

"I greatly appreciate the support of the USA and President Biden for Israel, but as long as I am the Minister of Finance, we will not transfer a single shekel to the Palestinian Authority that will go to the families of the terrorists and Nazis in Gaza," Smotrich said.

Smotrich, leader of the far-rigth Religious Zionism Party, drew the ire of the U.S., Britain and France earlier this week when he promoted his voluntary emigration plan that would encourage Palestinians to leave Gaza after the war.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas live updates: Islamic State behind Iran suicide bombings
The claim: Israel set to face genocide charges in International Criminal Court

A Jan. 2 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows two officials posing for photos in front of the South African and Palestinian flags.

"Breaking: Israel will face genocide charges on Jan 11 in ICC," reads the caption on the post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter.

ICC is an acronym for the International Criminal Court.

The Instagram post was liked more than 25,000 times in two days. The original X post was reposted more than 33,000 times in three days.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

Our rating: Partly false

There is an ongoing case against Israel, but not in the court referenced here. The International Court of Justice, or ICJ, scheduled hearings on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 related to South Africa's claim that Israel's ongoing war in Gaza amounts to genocide. This is not a criminal court. The International Criminal Court, or ICC, investigates individuals  not groups or states.

Post confuses courts based in The Hague

There are no credible reports of the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, scheduling a Jan. 11 hearing involving Israel, as the post claims.

The International Criminal Court's calendar does not list any hearings involving Israel on Jan. 11, and the court has not released any statements about an upcoming hearing involving Israel.

The International Criminal Court does not prosecute groups or states, according to the court. It investigates and tries individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court has had a broad investigation into possible war crimes by Israelis and Palestinians in Palestinian territories since 2014 that is ongoing, however. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a Nov. 17, 2023, statement that his office's investigation, started in 2021, encompasses the escalation in hostilities since Oct. 7, 2023. Khan affirmed the investigation's ongoing status in a Dec. 3, 2023, video statement.

Israel is not a member state of the International Criminal Court and, according to news reports, Israel does not recognize the court's authority.

However, the International Court of Justice, a separate court also based in The Hague, announced Jan. 3 that it will hold public hearings on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 related to South Africa's genocide case against Israel.

The International Court of Justice is the main judicial body of the United Nations. It is not a criminal court. Instead, it settles legal disputes between states.

South Africa filed an application with the U.N. court on Dec. 29, 2023, alleging that since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Israel has "engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza."

Fact check: Viral video shows fabricated Times Square billboard condemning Hamas violence

South Africa is seeking an immediate suspension of Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip. A Jan. 2 article by PBS News Hour says Israel plans to defend itself in court.

Unlike the justice court, the International Criminal Court is independent of the U.N.

The Instagram user and X user did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The International Criminal Court also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ICJ, not ICC, set hearings in Gaza Strip genocide case | Fact check
The aftermath of an Israeli strike on Rafah  one of the few places in Gaza not under evacuation orders (Reuters)

When an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building just metres from southern Gazas Kuwaiti Hospital, the surrounding area  overcrowded with people who have fled other parts of Gaza  sank into chaos.

It wasnt a normal airstrike, says Awad Mohammed Ali Al-Zain, 22, who was sitting near the building when he was hit by shrapnel from the blast. It was terrifying, he says.

People in the streets outside the hospital dropped their belongings and ran for cover. Some crouched behind ambulances, others sprinted up the street. A father ran clutching his toddler. Young children burst into tears. A lone donkey that had been towing a cart of supplies turned itself halfway around in the middle of the road as its owners fled for cover  as a burst of further strikes hit the building just a few hundred metres behind it.

Scenes like this shock no one in Gaza any more. Many of the injured were taken into the hospital screaming in agony. Some were treated on the hospital floor. Others were crowded into prayer rooms as doctors moved from patient to patient.

Jamal Hams, the medical director of the Kuwaiti Hospital, tells The Independent conditions there have worsened dramatically in recent weeks. The hospital doesnt have the capacity to treat these patients properly, he says.

Sometimes we have very severe injuries that force us to push other patients out [of the ward] into the courtyard or into the prayer rooms to make space for them.

When our children are found with severe injuries to their heads or torso, when our children are brought into the hospital on the verge of death or permanent disability, this is what hurts the medical team the most, he adds. The innocent child sat in his home has nothing to do with this war, nor with politics, nor with security and nor with the military."

Israel is targeting the centre of Gaza as it continues to pursue Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the territory (AP)

The Kuwaiti Hospital is located in Rafah, close to the border with Egypt at the southern tip of Gaza. It is one of the few places in Gaza not under evacuation orders. Airstrikes pounded al-Maghazi and al-Bureij in the centre of Gaza on Sunday, forcing more residents to flee toward Rafah.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, in the wake of the cross-border attack on 7 October that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with another 240 people being taken hostage. Israels air and artillery bombardment has killed more than 21,800 people, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, with many more feared dead in the rubble, and has pushed around 85 per cent of its 2.3 million residents from their homes.

Jamal Hams says infectious diseases are spreading rapidly through Rafah and that the medical team at Kuwaiti Hospital are dealing with large numbers of cases  as well as many patients with long-term illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

This is not a life, says Al-Zain of day-to-day conditions in Rafah. You cant take a bath, theres no food, theres no drink, theres nothing people want.

The World Health Organisation has reported climbing rates of disease across Gaza, including a fivefold increase in diarrhoea, as well as upper respiratory infections, meningitis, skin rashes, scabies, lice and chickenpox.

The war and lack of supplies has left 40 per cent of Gazans at risk of famine, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said, with Israel having blocked almost all food, fuel and medicine from entering Gaza after the 7 October attack. It said on Sunday it was ready to let ships from some Western countries deliver aid directly to Gazas shores after security checks in Cyprus.

It can start immediately, foreign minister Eli Cohen told Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM when asked about the Mediterranean corridor. He said Britain, France, Greece and the Netherlands were among countries with vessels able to land directly on the shores of Gaza, which lacks a deep-water port. He appeared to suggest he expected them to do that rather than offload aid in Israel.

Comments from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday suggest there will be no easing of the conflict soon. He said the war is at its height and Israel would have to retake control of Gazas border with Egypt  an area now full of civilians. Senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank claimed via social media that Israel taking over the border was evidence of a decision to completely return the occupation.

Umm Mohammed, a displaced Palestinian woman sheltering by the border, told Reuters: We moved here from Khan Younis on the basis that Rafah was a safe place. There is no space in Rafah as it is overcrowded with displaced.

If they control the border, where will people go? she asked, saying this would be a disaster.
Queen Margrethe will abdicate on January 14, 2024, ending her 52 year long reign and handing the throne over to her son, Crown Prince Frederik. When he rules, he will use the regnal name of King Frederik X.

In Denmark, since 1513, kings are named (alternating) Frederik and Christian. Queen Margrethe II became the first female monarch since Queen Margrethe I (who ruled from 1376 to 1412), and because her father was King Frederik IX, she decided to be the "Christian" name cycle, and named her eldest Frederik. Prince Frederik, then, named his eldest son Prince Christian, in following with royal tradition. Upon his father's accession, he will become Crown Prince Christian, and one day, he will be King Christian XI.

Crown Princess Mary (who was born Mary Donaldson) will become Queen Mary upon Queen Margrethe's abdication. No other titles will change.

There were some title changes last year, however; As of January 1, 2023, four of Queen Margrethe's grandchildrenthe children of her second son, Prince Joachimno longer had the "prince and princess" title. (They remain in the line of succession.)

"The Queens decision is in line with similar adjustments that other royal houses have made in various ways in recent years," the Danish Royal Court said at the time. "With her decision, Her Majesty The Queen wishes to create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a much greater extent without being limited by the special considerations and duties that a formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution involves."

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Three days after a second pause on Red Sea-bound traffic, A.P. Moller-Maersk now says it will avoid the war-torn waterway for the foreseeable future.

Maersk and container shipping rivals including Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Cosco Shipping, Evergreen and ZIM have diverted ships from the Red Sea and its chokepoint, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, around southern Africas Cape of Good Hope amid repeated drone attacks from Yemen-based Houthi militants since November.

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Of the major ocean freight lines, only CMA CGM and Cosco are sticking it out in the conflict-ridden region.

The diversion of ships from the Red Sea has limited container shipping traffic through Egypts Suez Canal, a gateway for 12 percent of global trade. According to estimates from Project44, ships rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope typically take anywhere between seven and 20 days more to reach their destination.

Impacts have already been felt at European retailers like Ikea and Next, both of which expect delays due to the longer transit times. And on a macroeconomic level, freight rates have risen significantly in the wake of the Houthi attacks, with Drewrys World Container Index jumping 93 percent since Nov. 30 to $2,670 per 20-foot equivalent container unit (TEU).

By suspending voyages through the Red Sea and the neighboring Gulf of Aden, Maersk wants to bring customers more consistency and predictability in the wake of the delays, according to a company statement.

Maersk made its decision less than a week after one of its container ships, the Maersk Hangzhou, was attacked by the Houthis. While the ships security team and the U.S. Navy successfully thwarted the attack and prevented injuries, uncertain conditions appeared to spook Maersk away from the region.

On Thursday, Maersk rerouted four out of five southbound ships that already passed through the Suez Canal, sending them north into the canal to circumvent Africa altogether. All five ships were poised to travel south past Yemen when the pause was announced, with one remaining near Saudi Arabias Port of Jeddah.

The situation is constantly evolving and remains highly volatile, and all available intelligence at hand confirms that the security risk continues to be at a significantly elevated level, Maersk said in a statement. We understand the potential impact this will have on your logistics operations, but please rest assured that all decisions have been carefully considered and ultimately prioritize the safety of our vessels, seafarers and your cargo.

The move also suggests Maersk might doubt the abilities of Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG), the U.S.-led multinational maritime security operation initiated in to protect ships in the area from the ongoing missile attacks.

Maersk made the call two days after the U.S., the U.K. and 10 international allies gave a final warning to the Yemeni militant group to stop the attacks, saying in a statement that it would face consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy and free flow of commerce in the regions critical waterways.

The World Shipping Council, the International Chamber of Shipping and the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) lauded the international warning shot and condemnation in a joint statement.

These attacks are unacceptable, illegal and directly threaten the freedom of navigation that is fundamental to global trade, the statement read. On behalf of our members and their seafarers and customers throughout the world, the organizations thank these 12 nations for their strong commitment to defending rules-based international order and to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks.

The Houthis ignored the warning, detonating an unmanned, explosives-laden drone boat Thursday in the Red Sea. The explosion detonated within a couple of miles of merchant ships and U.S. Navy vessels, according to Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. No one was hurt, and the target of the attack is not clear.

According to the Pentagon, the drone boat incident is the 25th such attack attempted by the Iran-backed Houthi militants. The rebels say the continued attacks on commercial vessels in the region are in protest against Israels military operations against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.

While Maersk isnt sailing the Suez, Hapag-Lloyd instituted a short-term workaround for shippers by introducing a shuttle service transporting Red Sea cargo via Jeddah.

The container shipping company set up the land-based service to connect cargo in the Red Sea market with Europe, North America and Latin America while avoiding the waterway itself. The route will originate in Jeddah and will stop at Damietta, Egypt and Tangier, Morocco. Hapag-Lloyd plans to maintain a 10-day frequency for this service.

A feeder service has also been arranged so that cargo headed to Aqaba, Jordan and Port Sudan, Sudan will be routed via Jeddah.

We understand that this doesnt cover all Red Sea cargo, so we will continue to provide updates as we come up with more solutions, the shipping line noted.
Liz Cheney is adding her voice to the movement to bar Donald Trump from the ballot, saying Friday that theres no question his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, fall under the so-called insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.

I dont believe he should be part of our political process, Cheney said. And this is a process that will go through the courts and that well see sort of how that unfolds. But theres no question in my mind that his actions clearly constituted an offense that is within the language of the 14th Amendment.

The former Wyoming representatives remarks, at a promotional event for her book at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, came moments before the Supreme Court agreed to consider Trumps appeal of the Colorado top courts decision to strike his name from the states primary ballot.

Cheney noted the congressional Jan. 6 select committee on which she served referred to the Justice Department evidence that Trump provided aid and comfort to the mob that stormed the Capitol three years ago. That is language in the section of the 14th Amendment that liberal advocacy groups and some voters are leaning on to challenge Trumps eligibility for the GOP primary ballot in dozens of states.

Republicans, including Trumps rivals for the GOP nomination, have widely criticized efforts to bar the former president from the ballot as undemocratic. Some have argued that its wrong to disqualify Trump without him being convicted of a crime.

But Cheney, one of the GOPs most outspoken critics of Trump, said a conviction isnt required under the Constitution.

I certainly believe he should have been convicted by the Senate. But I dont believe that thats necessary, Cheney said. His actions do fit the plain meaning of the Constitution, the plain language.

On the eve of the third anniversary of the Capitol riot, Cheney said that Trumps actions that day threaten the very foundations of our democracy.

She urged New Hampshire voters to reject him in the states first-in-the-nation presidential primary later this month, even as the former president leads polls of likely GOP primary voters by double digits on average.

In a little over two weeks, when you in New Hampshire go to the polls, the world will be watching. And so, New Hampshire, I ask you this: speak for us all, Cheney said. Show the world that we will defeat the plague of cowardice sweeping through the Republican Party.

Cheney continues to flirt with the possibility of her own third-party presidential bid, vowing to do whatever it takes to keep Trump from returning to the White House.

Im going to do whatever is the most effective thing to ensure that Donald Trump is not elected, Cheney said to applause on Friday. Ill make a decision about what that is in the coming months.
Alexander Lukashenkos new law says he cannot be held accountable for actions committed in connection with exercising his presidential powers - PETER KOVALEV/TASS/GETTY

Belaruss authoritarian leader has granted himself lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution with a decree that also bars exiled opposition leaders from standing in presidential elections.

The law, signed by Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday, theoretically applies to any former president and members of his or her family.

In reality, it is only relevant to the 69-year-old himself, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for almost 30 years.

The new measure appears to be an attempt by Mr Lukashenko to shore up power and eliminate potential challengers in the countrys next presidential election, which is due to take place in 2025.

It tightens requirements for presidential candidates and makes it impossible to elect opposition leaders who fled to neighbouring countries in recent years.

Only citizens of Belarus who have permanently resided in the country for at least 20 years and have never had a residence permit in another country are eligible to run.

Fraudulent re-election

Belarus was rocked by mass protests during Mr Lukashenkos re-election in August 2020 for a sixth term, which the opposition and the West condemned as fraudulent.

At that time, Belarusian authorities detained more than 35,000 people, many of whom were tortured in custody or left the country.

Mr Lukashenko, dubbed Europes last dictator by critics, has also been accused of involvement in the illegal transfer of children from Russian-occupied towns in Ukraine to Belarus.

According to the text of the law, Mr Lukashenko, were he to leave power, cannot be held accountable for actions committed in connection with exercising his presidential powers.

The measure also says the president and members of his family will be provided with lifelong state protection, medical care, life and health insurance.

If he were to resign, the president would also become a permanent lifelong member of the upper house of parliament.

Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader, said the president will be punished according to international law - Eddie Mulholland

Ruined the fates of thousands of Belarusians

Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition leader, who fled to neighbouring Lithuania in 2020, said the law is Mr Lukashenkos response to his fear of an inevitable future, suggesting he must be concerned about what happens to him when he leaves power.

Lukashenko, who ruined the fates of thousands of Belarusians, will be punished according to international law, and no immunity will protect him against this. Its only a matter of time, she said.

The countrys opposition is seeking an investigation into the disappearances of politicians and the removal of Ukrainian children from Ukraine.

We will ensure that the dictator is brought to justice, Ms Tikhanovskaya said, emphasising that there are still about 1,500 political prisoners behind bars in Belarus, including Ales Bialiatski, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

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The second holiday of 2024 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The holiday is celebrated around the United States in recognition of the man who led a nonviolent movement in the mid 1900s for legal equality for African-Americans in the United States.

Here's what you should know about the man and the holiday.

When is Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024?

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday will be Jan. 15, 2024.

Is Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday?

Yes. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal and Florida holiday.

Is MLK Day on Jan. 15 every year?

No. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Jan. 15, but the federal holiday was set for the third Monday in January in 1983, according to the National Constitution Center.

By 2000, all 50 states had made it a state holiday.

Is it Martin Luther King Jr. or MLK Day?

Martin Luther King Day is often shortened to MLK Day or MLK Jr. Day.

What is King-Lee Day?

Alabama and Mississippi are the only two states that recognize both Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Robert E. Lee's birthdays together on one state holiday.

Who is Martin Luther King Jr.?

King led a nonviolent movement in the late 1950s and 1960s to achieve legal equality for African Americans in the United States.

"During the less than 13 years of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s leadership of the modern American Civil Rights Movement, from December 1955 until April 4, 1968, African Americans achieved more genuine progress toward racial equality in America than the previous 350 years had produced," the King Center said.

His I Have a Dream speech, Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and Letter from a Birmingham Jail are among the most revered orations and writings in the English language.

King was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

How do you celebrate MLK Day?

Cities throughout the U.S. celebrate the day with marches, parades and speeches.

Some people and organizations volunteer to support the MLK Day of Service.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration marred by gunfire in Florida

Eight people were shot and four others were injured while fleeing the scene at the 772 MLK Car Show & Family Fun Day in Fort Pierce on Jan. 16, 2023.

All eight of the shooting victims, who were all adults, were taken to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital. One of the victims, who had been in critical condition, died the next morning.

Today, Chief Deputy Hester and I were honored to be in the Martin Luther King Jr. parade along Martin Luther King Blvd. Sadly, within hours of that parade ending, we are investigating a shooting in a county park located at Avenue M and 13th Street in which eight people have been shot, said St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara.

The U.S. Marshal Service arrested Kemmye Riccardo Parson, 28, of Fort Pierce, in March at a Tampa hotel. Among the charges were: attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, second-degree murder, possession of firearm or ammunition by a felon.

Is there a theme for Martin Luther King Day 2024?

Yes. The theme for 2024 is "It starts with me: Shifting the cultural climate through the study and practice of Kingian nonviolence," according to the King Center.

"The pioneering work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrated that Kingian Nonviolence is the sustainable solution to injustice and violence in our world, ultimately leading to the creation of the Beloved Community, where injustice ceases and love prevails."

What is the King Center's definition of nonviolence?

"Nonviolence is a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting, and engaging that leads to personal, cultural and societal transformation."

What are Dr. King's principles of nonviolence?

According to the King Center, Martin King King Jr. had six principles of nonviolence, which were inspired by Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi.

King said the six principles should be embraced as a lifestyle. The six principles are:

Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice or evil, not people. Nonviolence holds that unearned, voluntary suffering for a just cause can educate and transform people and societies. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Martin Luther King Jr Day: 11 things to know about federal holiday
City veteran Mr Soames is set to officially take over as CBI president in June - Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock

Sir Winston Churchills grandson has launched a charm offensive to revive the crisis-hit Confederation of British Industry (CBI) as he takes over as president of the lobby group.

City sources said that boardroom veteran Rupert Soames has sent letters out to influential industry figures inviting them to share their thoughts on the organisation after it was rocked by sexual misconduct claims and an exodus of corporate members last year.

The former Serco chief executive is aiming to have personal conversations with top executives over the coming weeks to drum up support and hear what they think his game plan should be.

You can imagine hes got a pretty good contacts book. Most importantly in an election year he wants to know what the CBI should be doing, what it stands for and what it should focus on, said a City source aware of his plans.

What comes out of this will define what comes next.

Mr Soames, who has also previously led power supplier Aggreko and is the chairman of medical device company Smith & Nephew, admitted while still at outsourcing giant Serco that he has a horrible habit of walking towards gunfire when it came to jobs.

The brother of Tory grandee Lord Soames, he is set to formally take on the role after the CBIs annual meeting in June.

His appointment at the CBI comes as the UKs self-styled voice of business battles to rebuild its reputation following a misconduct scandal which triggered an exodus of high-profile members such as Natwest, John Lewis and Aviva.

Outgoing CBI president Brian McBride suggested just after the sexual misconduct allegations that the organisation could be beyond saving.

However, the CBI survived a crunch vote on its future last June after businesses were asked to decide whether they still had confidence in it.

In his early 20s, Mr Soames was a regular DJ at Mayfair nightclub Annabels, earning about 10,000 a year while still a student before starting his corporate career at General Electric.

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He has been known to farm cattle and sheep in his spare time, as well as look after his pet goats.

A CBI spokesman said: It is only natural that Rupert  as the CBIs new president  should spend time listening to their views and hearing what they believe to be the key priorities for strengthening the UKs business environment and economy overall.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was accused in a second superseding indictment Tuesday of accepting gifts from the Qatari government and for helping a New Jersey real estate developer obtain millions in investment funds from the Gulf country, adding to the former Senate Foreign Relations chairmans legal woes.

The allegations add to the four criminal charges filed in September and October against the longtime New Jersey lawmaker. Menendez was charged with bribery, fraud, extortion and acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt, with the new accusations adding the involvement of Qatar.

Prosecutors previously alleged that the senator accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold in exchange for political favors for three New Jersey businessmen and interests in Egypt. Tuesdays superseding indictment adds that Menendez also made statements praising the Qatari government in an effort to secure a multimillion dollar deal for the real estate developer.

The new indictment does not add additional charges. Menendezs wife, Nadine Arslanian, and the three businessman also face criminal charges related to the scheme.

The accusations in the superseding indictment claim Menendez introduced real estate developer Fred Daibes to a member of the Qatari royal family in order to encourage a multimillion dollar investment deal for Daibes.

Menendez also released a press statement praising the country and instructed Daibes to send the statement to his Qatari contacts in an effort prosecutors characterize as exerting political influence.

The press release in question, published in August 2021, lauded the Qatari government for assisting the processing of Afghan refugees attempting to enter the U.S. after the U.S. withdrawal.

Representatives of the Qatari government later provided a Menendez family member with multiple tickets to a Formula One race, and Daibes gifted him at least two gold bars worth about $100,000 after he received the Qatari investment, prosecutors alleged.

The senator previously pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing to the September and October charges. The Hill has reached out to his office for comment.

The allegations leveled against me are just that: allegations, Menendez said in September. I recognized that this will be the biggest fight yet. But as I have stated through this whole process, I firmly believe that when all of the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I will still be New Jerseys senior senator.

Menendez, who stepped down from his role as Senate Foreign Relations chairman after he was first indicted, has rejected growing calls for his resignation and now faces a tough reelection battle in 2024. The incumbent faces strong primary challenges from New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy and Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.).

An internal Kim campaign poll last month found the congressman with a 23-point lead over Murphy, and Menendez with just 3 percent support.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A set of Republican lawmakers hope to allow Idaho schoolchildren to use state funds to pay for their education expenses, even if they dont attend public schools.

After a similar proposal to implement education savings accounts failed to pass last year, two Republican lawmakers instead proposed a tax rebate arrangement Friday.

A group of parents and students with Idaho Parents Want School Choice signs gathered in the Idaho Capitol on Friday with Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, as the lawmakers brought forward a bill to provide $50 million in state funds for students who are either enrolled in private schools or religious schools or home-schooled.

This proposal is designed to support Idaho parents as they make decisions about their childs education, Den Hartog said.

The proposal would provide parents on a first-come basis with $5,000 in refundable tax credits, which could pay for qualified education expenses, including private school tuition, for students in grade school, Den Hartog said. The plan is capped at $40 million, and another $10 million would provide the same $5,000 to low-income families that qualify for the federal earned income tax credit as a grant. After the first year, those families would receive the funds as a tax rebate, Den Hartog said.

The Meridian senator said qualified expenses could include tutoring costs, exam costs, exam preparation, or tuition. The bill is designed to include families with creative educational arrangements, like groups of parents who have hired teachers and formed learning pods.

Both programs would be overseen by the Idaho State Tax Commission, Den Hartog said. The bill wouldnt require income maximums for parents to receive the funding.

I care about the education of every single child in this state, no matter where they are learning, Horman said.

A proposal last year to provide $6,000 to families with students who are in private school or home-schooled failed in the Senate. While many Republicans supported the concept, they had concerns about the costs of the program, according to previous Statesman reporting.

It is unclear how much support the proposal has from other lawmakers. Two Nampa lawmakers, Sen. Ben Adams and Rep. John Vander Woude  Den Hartogs father  were also at the press conference.

Similar proposals, which are often called school vouchers, have become law in states like Arizona and Florida. The ideas are widely opposed by teachers unions and many school boards, who fear the funding would drain money out of already underfunded public school systems, or that the benefits will largely go to wealthy families whose children are already enrolled in private school.

Democrat: Plan would siphon money from public schools

Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, thinks the proposal would siphon money away from public schools and allow it to be spent with essentially zero accountability, she told reporters Friday.

Horman disagreed.

We wouldnt be standing here if we thought there was any chance of this bill harming public schools, she said.

At the Statesmans legislative preview Friday, Horman also said the state would be returning money to parents who enroll their children in private schools and save the state millions of dollars. In response, Necochea said the state doesnt make these kinds of offers anywhere else in our government.

Oh, I didnt go to the park this year, can I get my money back? I didnt use that stoplight, can I get my money back? Necochea said at the preview. Its just not workable in our government to do those things.

Necochea said $5,000 is generally not enough to pay for tuition at a private institution, adding that she thinks such schools would still be out of reach for lower-income families, while wealthy families who can already pay for the high-cost education would accept the rebate.

Necochea said Idaho is behind on $1 billion in school maintenance costs, which has caused safety issues, including at a high school in Pocatello that burned because of an electrical failure.

She said the bill could lure families without enough resources into home-schooling their children and would especially harm rural students, who often dont have private schools nearby that they could go to.
Editor's Note: The initial version of the headline said that Ukrainian pilots would finish training "by end of 2024."



Ukrainian pilots currently undergoing F-16 fighter jet training in the United States are expected to complete their training later in 2024, a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson said in a press briefing on Jan. 4, without providing the exact date.

"I would expect sometime later this year we start to see those pilots graduate," said Brigadier General Pat Ryder, adding that it will take between five to eight months to complete the training, depending on an individual pilot's skill level.

Ukrainian pilots continue their training on the aircraft with U.S. instructors at an airbase in Arizona. The Ukrainians pilots began their training in late October by learning the basics of operating F-16s in classrooms and simulators before moving on to actually flying the jets. Ryder did not comment on how far along the pilots were in their training.

Earlier on Thursday, Belgium confirmed it will send two F-16 fighter jets and 50 training personnel to Denmark from March to September to support the training of Ukrainian pilots in the country. In addition to the United States, Ukrainian pilots are undergoing or will undergo F-16 training in Romania, Denmark, France, and the United Kingdom.

The Netherlands and Norway have also previously agreed to supply their own aircraft to bolster Ukraine's Air Force.

It is unclear when the first F-16s will actually arrive and be operational in Ukraine. Some Ukrainian lawmakers have suggested that they will not be in operation until late spring in the best-case scenario.

Read also: Belgium to send F-16 fighter jets to Denmark for Ukrainian pilots training

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X Wednesday that he was grateful to everyone who helped release 230 Ukrainians in a prisoner swap with Russia mediated by the UAE. Photo courtesy of President Zelensky X account

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 230 Ukrainians including 213 soldiers and sergeants, 11 officers and six civilians were returned in the swap.

"I am grateful to everyone who achieved this result.We remember each and every one of our people. And we must return all of them," Zelensky wrote on social media.

230 of our people. Today, 213 soldiers and sergeants, 11 officers, and 6 civilians returned home. I am grateful to everyone who achieved this result. We remember each and every one of our people. And we must return all of them. pic.twitter.com/RCeYnLYPn4 Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) January 3, 2024

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday 230 Ukrainian prisoners were released in exchange for Russians held by Ukraine in a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Photo courtesy of President Volodymyr Zelensky X account.

The Russian state news agency TASS said 248 Russian servicemen were released during the prisoner swap.

According to Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, 75 Russian servicemen were also exchanged for five members of the Ukraine's Azov regiment designated as a terrorist organization in Russia.

UAE's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its appreciation to the governments of the Russian Federation and Ukraine for their cooperation and response to the UAE mediation efforts to make the prisoner exchange process a success, despite the challenges posed by the current war conditions."

The UAE added that it is committed to continuing efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine as it called for diplomacy, dialogue and reducing escalation.

UAE's Foreign Ministry said the prisoner exchange was "one of the largest prisoner exchanges between the two sides since the beginning of the war."
The last time I visited Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park  a true hidden gem north of Nine Mile Road  was 2012 and park founder/manager Sandy Kirkconnell was a little bummed that the bird rescue sanctuary was, perhaps, a little too hidden. It was October when I visited, and Sandy had told me only "a handful" of people had visited the nonprofit facility in the previous month.

"I don't understand it," Kirkconnell said 11 years ago. "It's been tough the past year."

"Uncle Sandy," as he was known, would die the following year.

But if he could see his park now, his legacy, he'd be happy.

On this visit deep in 2023, there were already more than "a handful" of visitors, including a family from New Jersey, and it wasn't yet noon.

"It's definitely picked up since then," said Reed Raulston, who began working at the park in 2009, and who now manages the park, which includes a residential home for the manager. "June, July and August  we'll get 150 people a day."

A macaw named Sammy flies to Operations Manager Reed Raulston at Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park in Pensacola on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.

Kirkconnell was a retired merchant marine whose love affair with birds of all kind came while living in Honduras. He began keep the birds at his Pensacola home, taking in birds that were neglected and abandoned, and opened Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park in 2009.

Today, the park has about 170 birds of which 70 or so are macaws  colorful, long-tailed New World parrots. But there are also peacocks, plenty of yapping parakeets and even two emus, Itchy and Gitchy.

"I can get this one to dance," loyal park volunteer Traci Rickard said, rubbing Itchy's long neck. "I love it out here. It's one of my favorite places to be in Pensacola."

There are numerous bird caging areas, some with one or two birds, some with multiple, including a large, 40-by-80 foot free-flight cage.

Guests receive nuts and fruits to feed the birds with warnings not to put fingers in the cages because, as the signs warn, "Birds bite!" (In fact, there were even a couple of naughty cockatoos in a "time out" area away from guests because they were snipping at fingers.)

Maylin Zhu was making the rounds through the sprawling park, feeding birds various nuts and fruits that guests receive upon arrival.

Nearby, her parents Ping and Michael Zhu were walking through the smaller bird areas  a noisy section of parakeets and other squawking birds that make a constant, glorious racket.

"Hello," Ping said. "Hello."

A few seconds later, the Amazon parakeet piped back.

"Hi."

Then, "Hi, Nina."

Who is Nina?

The parakeet.

Walking through a whole area of yapping birds, I heard "What'cha doing?" "Hello," "Oh my God" and "Hi there."

"It's definitely loud," Raulston said. "Always."

He said the growth of the Internet and online travel recommendations have helped the park immensely.

In fact, the Zhu family found the park, like many visitors, by searching for Pensacola area attractions.

"This was one of the first that came up and it seemed fun," Ping Zhu said. "My daughter loves birds so we thought it would be a good time."

Maylin Zhu, of Warren, New Jersey, feeds birds at Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park in Pensacola on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.

Raulston said that the park probably gets more out-of-town guests than residents. Residents, he said, largely don't know about the place.

"People coming into town will search for things to do while they are here,'' he said. "You normally don't search for things to do in your backyard."

But it is here in our backyard. Give Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park, a nonprofit rescue and sanctuary, a try.

It is located at 9513 N. Palafox St. Admission is $5 for 13 years and older, $2 for children 7 to 12 years old and free for children 6 and under. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The park is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Details: macawbirdpark.org.

A macaw peeks out of a barrell at Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park in Pensacola on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park grows in popularity.
Vietnamese authorities are reportedly harassing a citizen for criticizing Vietnam's first major automaker, VinFast , on Facebook. Despite well-documented problems with VinFast's business and products, it seems the company is trying to quash bad press by calling the police on its detractors.

Sonnie Tran is a 37-year-old Vietnamese social media personality who has built a following for his posts commentating on VinFast. Until December, Tran posted prolifically about alleged problems with VinFast in Vietnamese-language business groups. Topics include questioning the venture's financial integrity, alleging VinFast hides debt using shell companies , calling out misleading sales numbers , and claiming that VinFast outsourced its design to China and India rather than working with Pininfarina, as it's publicized.

VinFast VF8. VinFast

It's not just Tran that's making these claims, either. Other Vietnamese social media users have posted similar allegations on platforms like Linkedin and Reddit . It has also come to light that VinFast's sales numbers are inflated by selling to other companies owned by Vingroup , VinFast's parent company.

Now, Tran has been repeatedly detained by police in Ho Chi Minh City according to BNN Breaking , which reports Tran spent 35 hours in interrogation at a police station in December. This occurred over at least four separate days according to a Reddit post. Tran has reportedly been questioned regarding his motives for criticizing VinFast, with police searching for evidence of a nefarious backer for his activities. The Drive has reached out to VinFast's U.S. communications team about these reports, and will update this story should we learn anything.

Officers have reportedly seized Tran's electronic devices and copied their data, justifying it all under Article 331 of Vietnamese criminal code, which reportedly forbids harming the interests of othersfrom the individual to the state, and everything in between. That apparently includes big, blatantly problem-ridden businesses like VinFast.

VinFast VF8. VinFast

Tran isn't the only person VinFast has called police on for negative press. In May 2021, the company tried to have cops harass one of its customers for posting a YouTube video complaining of problems with their car and the difficulty of getting warranty work done on it. U.S. media outlets reported similar quality problems when they drove the VF8, whose debut on the U.S. market was key to the company's overinflated stock valuation . (Its value has since fallen 80 percent.)

VinFast's biggest problem however is that as of Q3 2023 , its most recently reported quarter, it's still losing hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter. Swat as many of your critics as you want, but you'll never make it if you don't turn a profit in the first place.

Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: james@thedrive.com
Beginning in December, after the end of the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expanded its ground operation in Gaza  both in the south, and more recently, in the central region of the territory.

This has also resulted in more evacuation warnings for civilians in areas of combat, and with the addition of warnings for cities in the central region, 60% of Gaza's territory is now under evacuation orders, according to an analysis by ABC News.

PHOTO: Illustration (ABC News / Israel Defense Forces)

By cross-referencing the IDF evacuation warnings, sent on social media as well as leaflets dropped on Gaza, with the IDF's map dividing Gaza into blocks, ABC News has been able to create an overall picture of every evacuation warning the IDF has announced.

Up to 1.9 million people  or more than 85% of the population  have been displaced throughout the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, according to a Jan. 2 report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Dr. Elizabeth Ferris, the director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, said the "unprecedented" scale of displacement in Gaza creates a range of serious consequences.

MORE: Damage epicenter shifts to Khan Younis as Israel-Hamas fighting moves south, data shows

Displacement causes poverty, Ferris said, as people lose their assets, homes and livelihoods. Mental health and physical safety are put in jeopardy, she said.

Multiple displacements compound harm, she said, adding that children are particularly traumatized and re-traumatized by repeated displacements.

"It's much more difficult to bounce back," Ferris said. "There's a limit to resilience in terms of being able to cope with these kinds of situations."

When it comes to evacuation orders, Ferris said it's important that messages are widely distributed in languages people understand and through means they can access.

The IDF issues evacuation orders in Arabic through multiple avenues, including the leaflets dropped on Gaza and updates on social media.

But a UN expert said the IDF's evacuation orders have been "inaccurate, self-contradictory" and too dependent on "electricity and telecommunications networks" that Gazans may not have access to.

When the temporary truce ended on Dec. 1, the IDF introduced a map of Gaza divided into small, numbered blocks. Israel announced the map system as a way to direct specific evacuations of civilians; however, experts say the reality on the ground, like difficulties accessing internet service and unfamiliarity with the new map system, means people aren't always sure what to do.

ABC News spoke with people as they traveled toward the southern city of Rafah. They described traveling from one place to another as they tried to heed evacuation orders in Gaza.

Muhammad Alyan said he and his family fled northern Gaza City and walked to Khan Yunis in the south. After arriving in Khan Yunis, leaflets fell from the sky instructing them to move again.

"Now we are heading to Rafah. Where do we go? There was nowhere left to go," Alyan told ABC News.

Additionally, when the IDF announces evacuation zones, the map graphics that accompany its announcements don't always match the text announcement of what blocks are meant to evacuate, or even the location of the blocks, according to an analysis by ABC News.

On Dec. 2, a map with highlighted areas of Khan Younis said to evacuate. However, the text of the announcement also warned of several blocks encompassing two towns north of the city to leave as well.

The IDF told ABC News it has asked for temporary evacuations to safe areas "in order to minimize the risk posed by remaining in areas of intense hostilities." It said the warnings are delivered in multiple ways including "a dedicated website in Arabic, millions of pre-recorded phone calls and tens of thousands of live phone calls, and millions of leaflets."

"The IDF will act against Hamas wherever it operates, with full commitment to international law, while distinguishing between terrorists and civilians, and taking all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians," the IDF statement said.

Despite the confusion residents say they feel about evacuation orders and the block maps, they are generally continuing to evacuate areas where the IDF announces ground operations.

This has exponentially grown the populations taking refuge in the few remaining safe areas where millions are sheltering in schools and makeshift tent camps.

MORE: 3 Israeli hostages killed by IDF identified, were waving 'white cloth'

Juliette Touma, director of communications for UNRWA, said about 1 million people are now living in Rafah alone, a city which prewar had a population of about 150,000 people.

"Rafah historically is one of the poorest areas in the Gaza Strip. It does not have the civilian infrastructure that can support such a huge influx of displaced people," Touma said.

Even known shelters, which are where the IDF directs people in their evacuation warnings, are no longer an option for displaced people, Touma said.

"Our own shelters in the area are just massively overcrowded, we cannot take more people anymore. And so, what happened is that people started living anywhere they could," Touma said.

The IDF's last two evacuation notices, for Bureij and Nuseirat camps, have directed people to shelter in the central city of Deir Al Balah. Satellite imagery shows new camps are forming around tents set up in empty fields and lots, indicating existing shelters and tent camps are at capacity in Deir Al Balah.

PHOTO: Illustration (ABC News / Plant)

As IDF ground operations continue, experts say even more people will flood the few remaining areas free of ground combat, but the space and resources to accommodate them are running out.

Hamas launched its surprise terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, according to the Israeli prime minister's office. Since Israel launched its counter-offensive, more than 22,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

ABC News' Samy Zyara and Luis Yordan contributed to this story.

Visual analysis shows 60% of Gaza now under evacuation orders originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A womans body was found 13 years ago in a vineyard in California, deputies said.

DNA testing recently identified the remains as 64-year-old Ada Beth Kaplan of Canyon Country, the Kern County Sheriffs Office said in a Jan. 4 news release.

Kaplans unidentified body was found March 29, 2011, in Arvin, deputies said. Arvin is about 20 miles southeast of Bakersfield.

Investigators ran her fingerprints and reviewed missing person records but were unable to identify her, deputies said.

A DNA profile was then created by a coroner and added to the Combined DNA Index System, a federal DNA database, but a match was never made, deputies said.

An autopsy was also conducted on her body, and her death was ruled as a result of homicide.

Kaplan was buried, and her case wasnt revisited until July 2020, deputies said. Thats when investigators worked with the DNA Doe Project to build a family tree based on her genetic profile.

Two potential family members were identified in July 2023, deputies said. They provided their DNA to be tested, which helped authorities identify the body as Kaplans.

A missing person report was never filed for Kaplan, and a suspect is not known, authorities said.

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Construction workers work underneath the Interstate 10 freeway on Nov. 14, 2023. A fire under the freeway severely damaged the overpass in an industrial zone near downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. The large blaze burned trailers, cars and other things in storage lots beneath a major highway near downtown Los Angeles, forcing the temporary closure of the roadway.

When corporations fail to pay workers for overtime, don't pay workers for all of their hours or pay below minimum wage, they are violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. Often, these violations are perpetrated against younger workers, migrant workers and those working minimum wage jobs.

The Department of Labor investigates wage theft and recovers unpaid money on behalf of employees, but this money doesn't always make it to the pockets of the employees who earned it.

From health care staffing, construction, to state corrections departments, these industries are high on the list of unclaimed worker-owed wages. An estimated 208,000 workers across the U.S. are owed millions in back pay from corporations that violated wage laws, as of last month.

As USA TODAY previously reported, the Labor Department disbursed over $26.9 million in back pay last fiscal year through the worker-owed wage website. The wages benefited more than 3,972 workers. But thousands of workers have yet to claim their hard-earned money, and the department only holds onto it for three years before it's handed over to the U.S. Treasury.

These companies paid a hefty amount in back wages and fines, but the money remains unclaimed:

Top companies that paid out the most unclaimed back wages

At the top of the list is U.S. Medical Staffing Inc., which has been paying back wages and damages to employees for several years after being found guilty of denying employees their overtime pay, according to the labor department. The labor department is holding onto over $2.7 million in back wages owed to 1,275 current or former employees of the company.

Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. is the largest hazardous waste disposal company in North America, with more than 400 service locations. The corporation estimates it employees about 20,000 workers currently. The labor department has over $1.6 million in back pay that it collected from Clean Harbor, owed to 2,833 current or former employees of the corporation.

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Other employers on this list include:

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections

Alorica, a consulting company headquartered in Irvine, California

Stratis Construction INC., a residential drywall company based in Phoenix that was ordered to pay back previously denied overtime wages and consequential damages.

Which industries paid the most in back wages that are unclaimed?

The food service, health care, and construction industries have the largest number of unclaimed back wages owed to workers, according to the Department of Labor.

More than 36,000 people employed by the food service industry are owed back wages that have already been paid out by their current or previous employer. The labor department will only hold onto these back wages for three years before it's turned over to the U.S. Treasury.

Why can't companies find the workers owed money?

Oftentimes, employees who are owed money change jobs, addresses or otherwise cannot be found.

"One of our top priorities is to ensure that the back wages we recover are swiftly paid to the workers who earned them," Jessica Looman, the department's wage and hour administrator, recently told USA TODAY.

"Yet, a portion of that money remains unclaimed because some of the workers due back wages cannot be located," she said. "They may have changed jobs or changed addresses and cannot be notified of the money owed to them."

Representatives from the Wage and Hour Division said many of the employees who are owed wages come from underserved populations, such as young workers, migrant workers and those earning near minimum wage.

Which states have the most workers with owed wages?

The top five most populated states are also home to the most employees who are owed back pay by their previous or current employers.

Texas: 29,427 workers are owed back pay and $16.23 million in unclaimed wages exist. California: 17,471 workers are owed back pay and $17.81 million in unclaimed wages exist. Pennsylvania: 16,704 workers are owed back pay and $19.11 million in unclaimed wages exist. New York: 11,530 workers are owed back pay and $9.85 million in unclaimed wages exist. Florida: 10,846 workers are owed back pay and $6.17 million in unclaimed wages exist.

Pennsylvania employers paid over $19 million in back pay, the most of any state. These wages have still yet to be claimed. California, Texas, Massachusetts and Virginia followed as the states paying the most in back wages that remain unclaimed. These five states owed a cumulative of $74 million in back wages.

Searching the workers owed wages database

The Labor Department set up a Workers Owed Wages website where anyone can see if their current or former employer is listed and check to see if their name is among those owed money.

If your employer pops up on the list, you can then search your first and last name, enter your information and provide documentation to prove you were employed.

For more information and follow up inquiries about potential back wages owed to you, reach out to your local Wage and Hour Division office at 1-866-487-9243.

The Labor Department provides resources and information on worker's rights for those who believe they may have experienced wage theft or other worker violations.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Millions worth of back pay is sitting unclaimed from these companies
Santiago Ochoa's reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund. For information on republishing, email news@yakimaherald.com.
'Wake up and smell the hydrocarbons': Kevin O'Leary blasts California Gov. Gavin Newsom over energy policies. Chevron says state is playing a 'dangerous game'

Shark Tank investor and businessman Kevin OLeary urges California governor Gavin Newsom to wake up and smell the hydrocarbons when it comes to the states battle against climate change.

Californias energy policies have come under fire lately, with Chevrons U.S. refining division chief Andy Walz accusing the Golden State of playing a dangerous game that risks gasoline price spikes and shortages. The premium California drivers pay for gas over the national average may rise significantly if lawmakers continue to enact policies that push for low-carbon fuel standards, he told Bloomberg.

On Feb. 2, Chevron reported an overall profit of $21.3-billion in 2023, a 40% decline from the previous year, despite increased oil and gas production.

Don't miss

OLearys been on Californias case for a while now. In an interview with Fox Business on Jan. 3, he slammed the states uncompetitive energy policies and called Californias management the worst of every state in the union.

Despite claiming to like Newsom after meeting him in person, OLeary described the democratic governor as clueless to the competition in the energy market between states  adding, I wouldnt let him manage a candy store.

He called California a very bad place to do business for energy companies and their investors. Is OLeary right?

California vs. Big Oil

In late 2022, Newsom announced an ambitious climate action plan that would slash greenhouse gas emissions by 85% and drop gas consumption 94% by 2045.

Story continues

After reporting Big Oil made $200 billion in profits in 2022, Newsom accused these companies of fleecing Californians at the pump and promised to hold them accountable. State lawmakers are considering capping refining profits.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of New York City's Climate Week in September, Newsom accused oil supermajors of lying about climate change. He said: The climate crisis is, after all, a fossil fuel crisis. They continue to play us for fools. Ive had enough and Im sick and tired of this.

Read more: Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now cash in on prime real estate  without the headache of being a landlord. Here's how

In the same week, California filed a civil lawsuit against five energy giants  Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips and California-based Chevron  accusing them of misleading the public and downplaying how fossil fuels are contributing to climate change.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth rejected that claim, telling Bloomberg: Climate change is a global issue. It calls for a coordinated global policy response, not piecemeal litigation that benefits attorneys and politicians.

Investment capital in California

The Golden States not-so-golden treatment of Big Oil has had a huge impact on its willingness to invest in the nations most populous state.

According to Bloomberg, in December, Walz wrote in a filing: Californias policies have made it a difficult place to invest so we have rejected capital projects in the state.

He added: Such capital flight reflects the states inadequate returns and adversarial business climate.

As an investor in the energy industry, OLeary has rejected California because of its bad policy [and] weak management that he claims is hurting the California economy and people.

Instead, he would rather pump money into states like North Dakota, Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas because theyre competing for my money and have regulatory environments that boost  rather than hinder  energy security.

Who would give a dime to California to invest in energy when the regulatory environment is so punitive you can't make money? he said. Thats what Chevrons telling everybody.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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Stronger growth in the earlier period is often associated with the five Great Inventions of the Second Industrial Revolution, which include electricity (for example, the light bulb and electric motor), the internal combustion engine, sanitation (for example, running water and indoor plumbing), chemicals (e.g., natural gas, plastics, and pharmaceuticals), and telecommunications (e.g., the telephone and radio). Some researchers show that these inventions had such a profound and anomalous effect on the economy and living standards that their strong economic effects are unlikely to be repeated in the future.4

The type of innovations that occurred over the 40 years following World War II likely explains some of the associated positive economic outcomes. Most of these inventions would be considered product innovations, which are creations of a new or vastly improved good or service rather than a process innovation, which is focused on how a good or service is created. For example, the invention of the automobile would be a product innovation, whereas the invention of industrial robots that assemble automobiles would be a process innovation. Research shows that product innovations are more likely than process innovations to improve productivity and therefore boost economic output.5

Researchers focusing on the labor market invoke a similar argument.6 They believe technological innovation focused on augmenting labor or performing tasks that humans do not or cannot perform will lead to stronger growth in aggregate labor demand. Such innovations are more closely aligned to product innovations. Conversely, labor-automating technologies that focus on performing existing human tasks, such as aspects of AI, are more similar to process innovations and are more likely to diminish aggregate labor demand.

Making distinctions between product and process innovations, and labor-augmenting and -automating innovations can be murky. For example, the invention of the automobile can be considered a product innovation in that it was sold to customers and was significantly different from anything that came before it. However, it can also be a process innovation when it is used to transport goods. Similarly, an innovation such as a word processor can be considered labor-automating to a legal secretary but labor-augmenting to a lawyer.

The scale of an innovation is perhaps more important than whether it is a product or labor-augmenting innovation. Research focusing on innovations among French manufacturers shows that it is radical innovation, rather than incremental innovation, that has a positive effect on overall productivity growth.7 Similarly, two leading researchers on the topic note that it is not the brilliant automation technologies that threaten employment and wages, but so-so technologies that generate small productivity improvements.8 A brilliant technology would include the invention of refrigeration, which drastically reduced food spoilage and improved productivity in agriculture and food processing. A self-service kiosk that shifts work from the cashier to the customer without improving quality could be considered a so-so innovation.

From a theoretical standpoint, we can decompose innovations effect on the labor market into three distinct effects: the displacement effect, the reinstatement effect, and the productivity effect.9 The displacement effect reduces employment as innovation automates tasks and therefore reduces the demand for labor. The reinstatement effect improves labor demand as innovation creates new tasks that humans will need to perform. For example, more data and computer scientists could be employed to produce and maintain an automating technology. Finally, the productivity effect increases demand for labor in unaffected industries as more productive economic activity raises incomes. For example, when refrigeration reduced spoilage, it brought down costs typically shared between businesses and consumers. Those cost savings can then be deployed elsewhere in the economy, driving up labor demand in those other industries.

Even if labor-augmenting and product innovations are preferable to labor-automating and process innovations, respectively, many experts in the field of innovation economics argue that the magnitude of the productivity effect is what will ultimately determine if an innovation increases or decreases aggregate labor demand. The mechanism for this productivity effect is important. Larger cost savings in the innovation firm or industry will yield higher productivity growth. This means that the productivity effect is strongest when wages are high, and labor is scarce in the innovating firm or industry.10
YORK  York County Development Corporation Director Lisa Hurley presented the results of the corporations most recent Business Retention and Expansion survey at the meeting.

The results are in and Yorks businesses are expanding with no plans to stop.

A majority of the businesses surveyed said that they anticipated an increase in revenue in the future and also anticipated increasing hires and capital investment, Hurley told the York City Council on Thursday.

In addition, a majority said that they had historically already been increasing revenue and capital investment. Employment, a majority surveyed said, had stayed the same, with slightly fewer saying they had increased hires and a handful saying that they had decreased hires.

One of the red flags with this survey, which the development corporation conducts regularly, Hurley said, is if [companies] are not investing in equipment or employees. In that case, you might be at risk of losing them.

However, the 2021-2023 survey shows that businesses continue to invest in equipment and employees. No businesses surveyed said they were planning to decrease their number of employees in the future.

I think our business community is very strong right now, Hurley said. The businesses in York, Hurley said, are aided by their location at the intersection of Interstate 80 and Highway 81. The city offers easy access to customers and high quality amenities.

A vast majority of businesses surveyed said that they did not have any online sales, which Hurley said is something she is hoping to help businesses improve on.

The businesses in York are not without their challenges when it comes to expansion, Hurley told the council.

Some had concerns about the lack of available childcare in York  a well-documented phenomenon  as well as the availability of affordable housing, and infrastructure issues relating to utilities and roads.

Labor, Hurley added, also comes into every conversation. Businesses remain concerned about labor costs and attracting high quality workers.

The businesses surveyed were from a range of sectors, including retail, agriculture, manufacturing, and more. Hurley explained that these surveys are useful when she goes in front of the city council or the county commissioners board to advocate on issues related to the business community.

At Thursdays busy City Council meeting City Administrator Sue Crawford also shared that 23 acres would be removed from the York County flood zone, based on updates from the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and FEMA.

Crawford could not share the number of properties in the relevant area, but property owners are likely to see their insurance policies change as a result of being removed from the flood zone. The updated map is available on the city councils website.

The council also heard from representatives from Nebraska Public Power District, which has been the utility provider for the City of York since the 1940s.

As Yorks energy partner, NPPD representatives explained, NPPD paid about $1.8 million in 2023 to lease the citys energy infrastructure. In 2022  the 2023 numbers were not yet available  NPPD paid $272,073 in city sales tax to York, according to materials provided by NPPD.

NPPD representatives also shared that NPPD is currently 56% carbon free and plans to be 100% carbon free by 2050.

Among the other items on the councils agenda on Thursday included further discussion of LB 840, a bill which allows municipalities like York to use taxes for economic development programs.

With some council members concerned about where the tax revenue source for the development program would come from, the council agreed to halt discussion and let the ordinance committee look further into how York could implement it.

My biggest concern is the money, Mayor Barry Redfern said.

The council also passed an ordinance which, according to City Attorney Charles Campbell, clarifies an existing code in the city ordinances that allows the city administrator to terminate and hire city employees other than department heads. The council read through the ordinance for the first time at the last meeting and passed it at this meeting.

Other items on the agenda included the approval of a $259,950 bid from Dans Construction for a 50-foot by 125-foot Behlen Steel Building for the street department, as well as the approval of a $30,000 agreement with Olsson Inc. for professional services with regards to the Highway 81 Gateway Development Plan.
New Delhi: The Delhi Govts Directorate of Education has withdrawn the earlier announced order on extension of Winter Vacation for all the Govt, Govt-aided and Unaided Recognised Private Schools till January 10, news agency ANI reported. The Delhi government cited extreme cold wave and the yellow alert issued by the IMD as a reason for the extension which has been rolled back now.

"An order extending winter break was incorrectly issued. The order has been withdrawn immediately. A decision on the same will be taken tomorrow morning," ANI quoted Department of Education as saying.

#Update | An order extending winter break was incorrectly issued. The order has been withdrawn immediately. A decision on the same will be taken tomorrow morning: Department of Education, Delhi Govt  ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2024

The earlier released holiay extension award stated that the decision was taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the students and staff of the schools, as the IMD has predicted severe cold conditions and dense fog in the national capital for the next few days.

The Directorate of Education has directed all the schools to comply with the order and inform the parents and students accordingly. The schools have also been advised to continue the online classes and other academic activities as per the existing schedule.
New Delhi: Following an incident where a window of an Alaska Airlines flight fell off mid-air, the DGCA has instructed domestic airlines to conduct a one-time inspection of the emergency exits of all Boeing 737-8 Max planes in their fleets. The aviation regulator said the inspection was an abundant precautionary measure and would not affect the flight schedules. The DGCA official said that all Indian air operators had to complete the inspection of the emergency exits of the Boeing 737-8 Max planes by noon on January 7. The inspection would be done during the night halt of the aircraft, the official added.

The official also said that there was no guidance or input from Boeing regarding the Alaska Airlines incident, which involved a Boeing 737-9 Max plane. Indian carriers do not have any Boeing 737-9 Max planes in their fleets at present.

A large window section of an Alaska Air flight AS1282, Boeing 737-900/ -9 MAX from Portland to Ontario, CA experienced an incident yesterday evening soon after departure. A large window segment broke off mid flight causing severe depressurisation and the ejection of an pic.twitter.com/rGfl2l5IZt  Abayomi Adekunle (@yommywindy) January 6, 2024

There are more than 40 Boeing 737-8 Max planes that are operated by three domestic airlines  Akasa Air, SpiceJet and Air India Express. Boeing did not comment on the DGCA directive immediately.

A SpiceJet spokesperson said that the airline did not have any Boeing 737-9 Max planes in its fleet and would comply with the DGCA directive on the Boeing 737-8 Max planes. An Akasa Air spokesperson said that the airline also did not have any Boeing 737-9 Max planes in its fleet, which was the aircraft type involved in the Alaska Airlines incident.

The spokesperson said that the airline was in touch with the aircraft manufacturer and regulators to monitor the developments and would follow any guidance issued by them. An Air India Express spokesperson said that the aircraft involved in the Alaska Airlines incident was a different variant from the B737-8 operated by Air India Express.

The spokesperson said that the airline was in contact with Boeing and regulators for more information and would adhere to any advisory. A Boeing spokesperson said that it was aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines flight 1282.

The spokesperson said that it was working to gather more information and was in contact with its airline customer. A Boeing technical team was ready to support the investigation, the spokesperson said about the incident that occurred on Friday.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate apprehended former Bongaon Municipality Chairman Shankar Adhya on Saturday midnight in connection with an alleged ration scam. The arrest of the TMC leader came after an extensive search of his premises in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, a day subsequent to an ED team being assaulted during raids in the case. Adhya was taken to a hospital in Kolkata for a medical examination on Saturday.

On Thursday night, ED officials faced an assault in North 24 Parganas district while en route to conduct raids at the residences of ex-Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya and Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan in relation to the alleged ration 'scam' case.

The Trinamool Congress leader's supporters started protesting outside the leader's residence while the raid was underway and later on a mob attacked ED officials and vandalized their cars, according to ED officials. A member of the raiding ED team said, "Eight people came to the spot. We three moved from the incident spot ...they attacked us."

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress leaders said that the attack on the team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in West Bengal was an "effect of provocation".

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that the Central agency is working against the leader of his party at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"What happened in Sandeskhali was an effect of provocation. In West Bengal, central agencies and forces on the instructions of the BJP are going to the residence of one or the other TMC leader or workers to harass, spread negative statements and provoke people. We are receiving such allegations and that's what happened in Sandeshkhali yesterday," Ghosh said.

On Thursday night, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team was attacked and its vehicles damaged in Sandeshkhali village of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, when it tried to raid the residence of block-level leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in connection with an alleged ration scam case, an official of the agency said.

As per reports, the ED was conducting raids at the residence of former Bongaon Municipality Chairman Shankar Adhya in Bangaon and TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan's house in connection with the alleged ration scam case.
A rendering of The Hub on Campus, a student-oriented housing project at 1415 E. Elizabeth St. in Campus West.

Since development company Core Spaces first proposed building student apartments with retail space at 1415 W. Elizabeth St. in Campus West, little has happened.

The site, formerly home to C.B. & Potts restaurant and taphouse, has been empty since 2016 after the restaurant closed and the property sold to Chicago-based Core Spaces for $5.65 million. The building was razed in 2018 and the site cleaned up in preparation for its new project. Core Spaces got approval for its plans in 2018, but nothing has happened since.

Today, it sits empty, a lone undeveloped site among a sea of restaurants and stores catering to Colorado State University students.

City staff has granted two extensions but now the project's approval is about to expire unless the Planning and Zoning Commission grants a one-year extension to their vest rights. If denied, Core Spaces would have to start the approval process all over again.

The commission is expected to discuss the extension at its next meeting Thursday, Jan. 18.

The project, as approved, was for a five-story and three-story building with 143 units (364 bedrooms) of student-oriented apartments and 7,931 square feet of commercial space and a parking garage.

Since the demolition permit for C.B. & Potts was issued in November 2018, there have been no building permits issued, according to city records.

Core Spaces representatives were not immediately available for comment on their plans.

City Planning Manager Clay Frickey said it's rare that the Planning and Zoning Commission consider a request for an extension of vested rights.

The commission will consider whether the project complies with all current standards, that the request is not detrimental to the public good and that the applicant has been diligent in constructing required improvements and needs more time or constructing required engineering improvements right now will result in an unusual hardship unique to the property.

Interested?

The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, at City Council Chambers, 300 Laporte Ave., Fort Collins, or virtually. Virtual meeting information will be posted 48 hours prior to the meeting at fcgov.com/developmentreview/proposals.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Developer seeks more time for Campus West project in Fort Collins
New Delhi: An employee of Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Sajahan has lodged a counter-FIR against the Enforcement Director (ED) officials who were assaulted by the locals during a raid and search operation at Sajahans house in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas district, on Saturday. The employee alleged that the ED officials attempted to force their way into the ToMC leaders residence without showing any search warrant and in violation of the law. The counter-FIR was registered at the Nazat Police Station against the injured ED officials.

The ED, on the other hand, has filed a separate FIR at the same police station, accusing a crowd of 1,000 men and women of attacking their officers and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel who accompanied them. The ED said that three of their officers were wounded and their personal and official items such as mobile phones, laptops and wallets were snatched.

The ED also submitted some video footage of the incident as evidence. The district police has also initiated a suo motu FIR based on their inspection of the site of the attack. The police said that they have begun an investigation into both the FIRs filed by and against the ED.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has finished its arguments on charging BJP MP and ex-Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case of alleged sexual harassment by six women wrestlers. The police arguments continued before the Rouse Avenue Courts Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot, who took over the fresh hearing on Thursday after the transfer of ACMM Harjeet Singh Jaspal who had earlier handled the case.

The Delhi Police maintained that the incidents of alleged sexual harassment, whether happening abroad or within the country, were linked and part of the same occurrence. Therefore, the police said that the court had the authority to hear the case.

The BJP MP had previously challenged the jurisdiction of Delhi court saying that there was no act or outcome which occurred in India. Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava, representing the Delhi Police, argued that under Section 354 of the IPC, the case is not time-bound, as it carries a maximum penalty of five years.

Addressing the issue of delay in filing complaints, Srivastava raised the issue of fear among the women wrestlers, saying that wrestling was very important in their lives, and they were reluctant to come forward due to worries about ruining their careers. The prosecution argued that Brij Bhushans defence, claiming his actions were paternal, showed awareness of his acts.

The accuseds explanation that he was checking breathing patterns contradicted the victims statements about improper touching. The court has now scheduled the matter for further hearing on January 20 and 23, where the counsel for the complainants will present their arguments.

On Thursday, the police had said that there is enough prima facie evidence to go ahead with trial against Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar, suspended Assistant Secretary of the WFI. The prosecution has earlier said that the act of sexual harassment of the victims was a continuing offence, as it did not end at any specific time.

Delhi Police had also told the court that Singh never missed a chance to sexually harass women wrestlers, adding that there is enough evidence to frame charges against him and proceed with the trial.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate apprehended former Bongaon Municipality Chairman Shankar Adhya on Saturday at midnight in connection with an alleged ration scam. Shankar, widely known as 'Daku' throughout the district, has earned recognition even among the party's top leaders by that name. His political journey began alongside the influential TMC leader and currently incarcerated minister, Jyotipriyo Mallik. Shankar Addey assumed the role of councilor in Bangaon Municipality in 2005 and later ascended to the position of chairman.

Holding sway over various Trinamool organizations, Shankar's influence extended to his wife, Jyotsna, who became the municipality's chairperson. Shankar's rapid rise is largely attributed to the support of Jyotipriyo Mallick. Expanding his legacy significantly, Shankar engaged in foreign currency exchange in Kolkata, Bangaon, and the Petrapole border.

He established a hotel, gold shop, and a school worth Rs 10 crore in his father's name, along with acquiring a market in Bangaon and constructing a hotel cum restaurant in front of the Bangaon police station on Municipality and PWD land.

Shankar's ventures also include a 3-star hotel in Digha, luxurious flats in Kolkata and Dubai. However, opponents claim that he was involved in facilitating illegal crossings from India to Bangladesh. Despite aspiring to contest in the 2021 assembly elections, Shankar refrained from campaigning due to the party's dissatisfaction. Following the party's electoral setback, he was relieved of all posts.
New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted severe cold days with dense fog conditions in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan during next 2 days. The met department has also predicted light rainfall over Northwest and Central India from January 8 to 10.

According to IMD's weather bulletin, dense to very dense fog conditions are anticipated during the night and morning in certain areas/isolated pockets over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh, and East Rajasthan till January 7.

Additionally, dense fog is expected in isolated pockets for the following 24 hours. On the 6th of January, West Uttar Pradesh and West Rajasthan are likely to experience dense to very dense fog conditions for a few hours in the morning, with further instances of dense fog in isolated pockets on the 7th and 8th of January. The IMD has issued a cold wave warning for Rajasthan on January 6.

As the Northern part of the country experiences a cold wave, the IMD forecasts a period of rainfall in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Lakshadweep over the next 4-5 days. Isolated heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning is highly likely over Tamil Nadu is anticipated between Jan 6 to Jan 8. During the same period, Kerala is expected to experience such conditions until the Jan 7. Furthermore, isolated very heavy rainfall is also predicted over Kerala on the 5th and over Tamil Nadu on January 7, 2024.
Ahead of the January 7 general elections in Bangladesh, the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), issued a call for a 48-hour nationwide 'hartal' (general strike) commencing on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "illegal government," the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Under the leadership of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the BNP has decided to boycott the general election scheduled for Sunday. The party is advocating for the formation of an interim non-party neutral government to oversee the election, a demand that has been rebuffed by the government led by Prime Minister Hasina.

The BNP will carry out processions, mass campaigns and distribute leaflets against the polls across the country, as reported by the Dhaka Tribune.

Moreover, the second day of the hartal coincides with the election, which has already gathered global attention. BNP Joint Senior Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programs on Thursday afternoon in a virtual press briefing. He further said that the hartal will begin at 6 am on Saturday and end at 6 am on Monday.

Meanwhile, the BNP's like-minded parties will observe the programmes simultaneously.

The demands by the BNP include the resignation of the government, the release of its leaders and activists arrested since late October, and the unconditional release of party chief Khaleda Zia.

Soon after Rizvi's announcement, the Liberal Democratic Party also said that it would go on a strike for 48 hours starting at 6 am on Saturday, Dhaka Tribune reported.

It will be the fifth spell of hartals by the BNP and like-minded parties since October 29. The opposition parties enforced countrywide blockades for 23 days in 12 phases over the period.

The BNP came up with the call for a non-cooperation movement on December 20, which led to the continued mass campaigns and distribution of leaflets.

Rizvi further said that their programme is meant to drum up public support in favour of the party's call to boycott the January 7 election.

Reportedly, he is also wanted by the police for campaigning against the election, according to Dhaka Tribune.

Earlier on Thursday, the BNP leader urged the people to boycott the "one-sided and dummy election as it will put the country into trouble."

Later in the day, leaders of the 12-party alliance marched in the capital's Paltan area, where they circulated anti-poll leaflets too. Moreover, they also held a brief rally in front of the National Press Club.

In another development, BNP Standing Committee Member Abdul Moyeen Khan, pointing at the Awami League, said, "A government can retain power by cheating the people."

"But the Awami League government will have to step down today or tomorrow," he added.

He was addressing a rally of the Bangladesh Sammilito Peshajibi Parishad, a pro-BNP organisation of professionals, near the press club, reported the Dhaka Tribune.

Meanwhile, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Thursday made an impassioned appeal and urged the people to exercise their voting rights in Sunday's election to prove that democracy prevails in Bangladesh.

"Today I've appeared before you to ask for votes in favour of the symbol, Boat," she said in a televised address to the nation, her final campaign speech before the January 7 national election to form the country's 12th parliament.

"The call has come; it's time to take the road", Sheikh Hasina said, quoting from poet Sunkanta Bhattacharya's poem, Udayachal (From the east).

In her over 24-minute speech, the prime minister said she is seeking another five-year term in office to make development sustainable, work to improve people's living standards and build a smart, developed Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty.

Prime Minister Hasina said during her Awami League government's three consecutive terms (2009-2023) the country has witnessed the continuation of a "democratic trend and stability" in the process of building a people's welfare-oriented society based on "equality and justice."

"If we can form the government again by getting your valuable votes we will be able to continue with the implementation of the programs taken by us," she said adding that this will give "us an opportunity to further improve your living condition.," she added.
Dhaka: Four people died after an intercity Benapole Express train caught fire in Bangladesh's Gopibagh, as reported by the Dhaka Tribune. Dhaka Tribune reported that the incident took place around 9.05 pm on Friday and at least five compartments of the train have been set ablaze by "miscreants". However, the victims could not be identified yet.

Reportedly, seven firefighting units were brought in to control the fire, according to the duty officer of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, Rakibul Hasan. Following the incident, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) Mahid Uddin alleged that the Benapole Express train fire was a "planned attack".

#WATCH | A passenger train was set on fire in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka yesterday (January 5) ahead of the country's general election this weekend.



At least four people died aboard the intercity train, reports Reuters quoting local newspaper Dhaka Tribune.



(Source: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/FoFZVsqZ6u  ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2024

The incident happened just two days ahead of Bangladesh's general elections. "We cannot say for sure who carried out the arson attack but it is sabotage for sure," he said. The official added that those who carried out the attack will be brought under the law. "Such behaviour towards common people, children and women are inhumane."

He further said that the people who committed the crime might have disguised themselves as passengers, as reported by the Dhaka Tribune. Moreover, Ashraf Hossain, sub-inspector of Dhaka Railway Police Station, said that they received a fire report from the emergency service number around 9:07 pm. However, police officials are still fearing that people could be trapped inside the train, Dhaka Tribune reported.
Scientists long ago figured out that genetic changes give pathogens such as bacteria and viruses the ability to infect new species and develop resistance to drugs.

But they didnt know what might allow prions  the infectious agents that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases, including chronic wasting disease in deer and mad cow disease in cattle  to make such changes. Prions, pronounced pre-ons, are composed solely of proteins and lack any type of genetic material.

Jason Bartz, a professor of medical microbiology and immunology in Creighton Universitys School of Medicine, said researchers have theorized that small numbers of prions with subtly different shapes, known as substrains, hiding out in the larger crowd might provide an opening for such changes.

This fall, Bartz and his students published the first solid evidence that substrains are present in a prion mix in a stable rodent model and that administering anti-prion drugs can allow drug-resistant ones to emerge. The paper was published in September in PloS Pathogens, a peer-reviewed, open-access medical journal.

As a result of that work, the National Institutes of Health recently awarded the team a five-year, $2.7 million grant that will allow them to apply the methods they developed to other basic questions about prions, such as how they infect other species.

Prions can evolve like other microorganisms in that they respond to selective pressures and they can adapt to different environments, Bartz said. This idea of substrains just helps them more rapidly adapt to new environments.

Such questions are important in an agricultural state like Nebraska, Bartz said. Exports of American beef dropped off to some countries for a time in the early 2000s after the first case of mad cow, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was identified in the United States in 2003 in a cow imported from Canada.

Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, was first discovered in Colorado in 1967 and was identified in Nebraskas Kimball County in 2000. Surveillance by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission detected 31 positive cases in deer from 603 samples collected in central and north-central Nebraska during the November firearm deer season. The agency has tested more than 57,000 deer and more than 400 elk for the fatal neurodegenerative disease since 1997. A total of 1,269 deer and 19 elk have tested positive for CWD to date.

The agency noted that there is no strong evidence that chronic wasting disease, a prion disease that attacks the brains of infected deer, moose and elk, poses a risk for humans. Public health officials, however, recommend avoiding human exposure. People should remain cautious in how they handle, process and consume deer, avoiding butchering or processing deer in a way that could spread spinal cord or brain tissue to meat or the environment.

Bartz noted that deer range with other animals, including cattle, sheep and pigs. While chronic wasting disease has not transmitted from deer to any of those species, there may be potential for such transmission to occur. Among other things, he and his students want to understand whether there is a risk of transmission.

Wed like to understand at fine detail, how does that work? he said. If we know how it works, then we can try to prevent it.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of December 2023
The Dodge County Sheriffs Office received a grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety for overtime traffic enforcement in conjunction with the National Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. Agencies from across the State of Nebraska and the United States participated in this initiative.

The grant period was from Dec. 15 through Jan. 1. The DCSO provided nine deputies who worked a total of 179.5 overtime hours.

The traffic enforcement statistics during this grant period are as follows: Speeding citations, 14; reckless driving citations, 2; arrests for DWI alcohol, 15; arrests for DUID drugs, 4; fugitives apprehended, 14; citations for open alcohol container, 7; citations for minor in possession of alcohol, 2; citation for child passenger safety restraint, 1; total citations, 67; total vehicles contacted, 159.
The Office of Congressman Mike Flood has announced that district staff will host mobile office hours in Fremont from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9, at the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce office, 128 E. Sixth St., in Fremont.

During the office hours, district office team members will be available to assist with challenges regarding federal agencies, military academy nominations, scheduling requests and any other needs constituents might encounter.

Congressional staff are available to answer questions about the mobile office for media in the days ahead of the mobile office event.

Congressman Flood maintains permanent offices in Lincoln and in Washington, D.C. Location and contact information for the permanent offices can be found at https://flood.house.gov.
In 2023, renewable energy sources (RES) in Germany provided up to 60% of electricity generated, the German Institute for Solar Energy Systems of the Fraunhofer Society reported, Azernews .reports, citing Kun.uz News Agency.

Wind farms produced about 140 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, up 14% from last year. The share of wind turbines in the overall structure of the German electric power industry was 32%.

Last year, energy production from solar power plants increased by 30%  from 46 to 60 TWh. The German government planned to launch new solar power plants for 9 GW, but in the end the plan was exceeded by more than half.

On July 7 at 13:15, solar panels were generating more than 40 GW. This means that at that moment Germany received 68% of its energy from the sun.

The total renewable energy capacity amounted to 260 TWh, an increase of 7.2% compared to 2022. Thus, the share of green energy that households received from electrical outlets increased from 50.2 to 57.1%.

In addition, the production of electricity from brown coal in Germany decreased by 27% (1963 level), hard coal  by 35% (1955 level).
A Colorado University university official on Thursday sought to distance the educational institution from a department's accusation that Israel's retaliatory strikes amounted to an "unprecedented genocidal attack," a development that mirrors the tension roiling America's colleges after Hamas militants crossed the border from Gaza earlier this month and killed 1,400 Israelis.
After over a year the misdemeanor case of the mother of Club Q shooter Anderson Aldrich continues to be delayed due to her inability to receive mental health restoration treatment out of state, causing tensions to flare between attorneys in court on Friday morning.

Laura Voepel, 46, is facing misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after police told Voepel on Nov. 20, 2022 that her child, Aldrich, had been arrested in connection with a murder.

Aldrich, who killed five people at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ nightclub in November, pleaded guilty to 51 charges and was sentenced to 2,208 years in prison as part of a plea agreement.

Voepel's case has stalled significantly since she moved to Florida over the summer and mental health professionals found her incompetent to stand trial.

At Friday morning's hearing Voepel's attorney, Carrie Thompson, informed the court that issues regarding Voepel's competency remained.

Due to Voepel's residency in Florida  where she currently lives with her parents  she has been unable to receive mental health treatment services to help restore her to competency to allow the case to proceed, according to Thompson.

Voepel's inability to get restoration services in Florida has been an issue for several months now after being found incompetent to stand trial by a forensic psychologist last year. Prosecutor Andrew Vaughan has been insistent at the past several hearings that he believes the only way to have the case proceed is for the court to either mandate Voepel's extradition back to Colorado, or to issue a warrant for her arrest.

Thompson in past hearings has disagreed with the opinion of the prosecution, stating that Voepel should eventually be able to receive restoration services in Florida, but on Friday Thompson elevated her frustrations with Vaughan and the District Attorney's Office.

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Thompson stated that she thought it was "appalling" that the prosecution continues to attempt to have a mentally ill woman removed from her home and taken back to Colorado, where Thompson alleges Voepel would be homeless, over a misdemeanor offense.

"If this was in any other jurisdiction the prosecution would have dismissed this case. ... They have a bias against her," Thompson said, alleging that the prosecution only continues to pursue the case because Voepel's child committed the Club Q mass shooting. "They want her arrested because she was yelling outside of her apartment."

Back and forth between the attorneys continued throughout the hearing, with Vaughan attempting to clarify that he wasn't seeking a warrant to be issued against Voepel on Friday, and Thompson expressing more frustration over 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen allegedly refusing to meet with her about the case.

Ultimately, Judge Yolonda Fennick stated that she would not be requesting for Voepel to be returned to Colorado, but set for a new review date on Feb. 9 for updates regarding progress on her restoration services.

Thompson told Fennick that she anticipates good progress to be made before the February hearing, with hopes that Voepel will be accepted to Medicaid by that time.

Until Voepel is restored to competency, which Thompson has acknowledged in previous hearing may never happen due to the severity of her mental illness, her criminal case will be put on hold.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired about 200 artillery shells from the west coast towards the South Korean islands. It is worth noting that in 2010, residents of Yeonpyeong Island, an island under South Korean control that was subjected to North Korean artillery fire, were ordered to evacuate immediately because of Pyongyang's "possible provocation", Azernews reports.

Immediately afterwards, South Korea issued a warning to evacuate civilians on the island, although it did not confirm whether it was related.

The South condemned the move, calling it a "provocative act." North Korean artillery shelled Yeonpyeong Island several times in 2010, killing four people.

The artillery shells fired on Friday between 09:00 and 11:00 local time (00:00 and 02:00 GMT) did not hit South Korean territory as they all fell in the buffer zone between the two countries.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the incident caused "no damage to our people or military" but added that the act "threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and raises tensions".

The latest incident comes months after North Korea completely suspended a military agreement with the South aimed at reducing tensions.

Pyongyang has since said it will cancel all measures "taken to prevent military conflict in all areas, including land, sea and air" and deploy "more powerful armed forces and new-type military equipment" to the border region.

The last time North Korea fired artillery shells into the sea was in December 2022, with nine such incidents this year alone.

Yeonpyeong Island, home to a military base and a small civilian population of about 2,000, is 3 km from the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea and 12 km from the North Korean coast.

It has been the scene of inter-Korean maritime clashes for many years.
GUEST COLUMN: Non-citizens appearing on the voter rolls in Colorado and the nation
Former longtime Greater Albany Public Schools board member and farmer Frank Bricker died Dec. 23 after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.

Bricker, who was serving his 12th year on the board of the Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District, had served on the GAPS school board for 25 years.

Politics 'A Place to Sleep' podcast: Catch all the episodes here Our podcast, A Place to Sleep, explores how Oregon cities are responding to a new law that is meant to provide homeless individuals a place to rest.

To fellow school board members, district staff and others in the community, Bricker was a steady and dedicated public servant who was always willing to learn, even after accumulating a quarter-centurys worth of experience.

In farewell remarks to Bricker when he left the board in 2019, former school board member Jennifer Ward called him a living encyclopedia.

He was 'old school' in the best of ways, she told Mid-Valley Media.

A 'thing' for service

For many, Brickers passing wasnt just a personal loss, but a loss for the community he served in multiple capacities, including as a member of the LBL ESD board, the Benton County Farm Bureau and Albany First Christian Church.

Service was just his thing, former school board member Michael Thomson said.

Among his achievements, those who worked with Bricker said, he was instrumental in the passage of bonds that upgraded and built new schools in the district. They also touted his role as a board representative at the bargaining table between the district and its employees.

Admirers, including Ward, said his ability to engage and carefully weigh both sides on an issue proved invaluable in those talks.

Many also highlighted his generosity and mentorship.

Ward said she tapped Bricker to be her vice chair when she led the school board and leaned on his experience.

Although Thomson served on the board after Bricker left, the latter lent his sizable institutional memory whenever called upon, Thomson said.

Tonja Everest, a former LBL ESD superintendent and a former GAPS assistant superintendent, said Bricker was always available, even on the weekends. He was so accessible that sometimes she could hear Bricker operating farming machinery in the background of their phone calls.

After graduating from Eastern Oregon University in 1972 with a B.S. in anthropology and sociology, Bricker eventually became a self-employed grass seed farmer. Along with his wife Linda, Bricker raised three children, all of whom attended Albany schools.

Her father cared deeply about public education, Mary Bricker said, and he eventually landed a seat on the school board in 1994.

James Haggart, a former GAPS board secretary, estimated he attended more than 300 meetings alongside the veteran school board member. Bricker was not one to chatter, Haggart said, but when he did speak, he said something worthwhile.

Everest echoed Haggarts sentiments, saying Bricker took his time to ponder the often-weighty issues before the board.

If you go back and watch videos of him in board meetings, he didnt take up a lot of space, she said. He was one of those people that when they choose to speak, everybody listens because hes really thought it through.

Current LBL ESD Superintendent Jason Hay saw Bricker's accomplishments up close. Hay served as the first principal of the Timber Ridge School when it opened in 2009  one of the products of a $55 million bond Bricker helped pass in 2006.

Hay said Brickers legacy is visible in those 2006 bond projects, as well as in the renovations and expansions of the $159 million GAPS bond approved in 2017.

And like many others, Hay considered Bricker a friend and mentor who could impart knowledge and wisdom without condescension.

There are going to be many, many times in the coming months where Im going to think, Oh, I should call Frank, and I cant, Hay said.

Former Democrat-Herald reporter Jennifer Moody, who attended countless school board meetings during her decades of coverage, said Bricker had an ability to quietly keep fellow board members on track without being pedantic.

She called Bricker a consummate professional who was synonymous with the word integrity.

He was also wonderful source, Moody added.

He always called back immediately and told me everything he could or let me know if he couldnt, she said via text. I had enormous respect for him and will miss him very much.

Current GAPS school board Chair Brad Wilson said Brickers level of service set a high standard, while Vice Chair Pete Morse said Bricker served his community selflessly and worked hard to make GAPS the best it could be.

Jean Wooton, Brickers fellow LBL ESD board member, said he was always looking for ways to make things better for all students. She called him dependable.

Once Frank signed up for something, you knew itd get done, Wooten said.

In a statement, current GAPS Superintendent Andy Gardner said the district mourned Bricker's loss.

It was clear to me Frank was unwavering in his support of our students, teachers and staff, Gardner said. His 25 years of service to GAPS is admired and is a testament to his lasting legacy he leaves behind.

The qualities Bricker brought to his volunteer positions were the same he brought to his family and broader community, including the Albany First Christian Church where over the years he served on various committees and the board.

Graham Kislingbury, the church's board co-chair who also worked at the Democrat-Herald for 33 years as an editor, said Bricker would show up early before baptisms to fill the baptismal tank and ensure the water temperature was just right.

Bricker was also a caregiver to his wife Linda of 51 years, who suffered from a form of dementia later in her life, according to daughter Mary Bricker. She said her father delivered amazing and respectful care and wouldnt discuss his wifes struggles to others while Linda was present, careful not to make his wife uncomfortable.

He really enabled her to retain an enormous amount of dignity through an illness that can be really hard on everyone involved, she said.

Bricker left the school board in 2019 to devote more time to caring for his wife. She passed away in 2020.

Bricker later launched campaign to return to the GAPS school board but lost the race to Wilson in 2021.

However, Bricker continued his service on the LBL ESD board. And he still served his family.

Mary Bricker, who lives in Hamilton, Montana, operates an organic vegetable farm and would still call on her father for advice from time to time, just like when she a kid.

He was a really good problem-solver, she said.

She remembers her fathers calmness and patience, and his ability to sooth even a fussy toddler to sleep. She said he had sympathy for students who struggled in school, having struggled similarly himself. And she recalled his dedication to his community and her father's love for people.

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He really genuinely enjoyed getting to know just about everyone, she said.

He was a really good dad, she added.

Bricker is survived by his three children, Patty Baker, Mary Bricker and Steven Bricker, and by two grandchildren.

A celebration of both Frank and Linda Bricker's lives will be held 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at Albany First Christian Church, 432 Ferry St. SW.

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Finland may stop buying Russian LNG in 2025 as a result of the gas market reform agreed in December 2023, Azernews reports.

Helsingin Sanomat reported this from the words of Climate and Environment Minister Kai Mykkanen.

"I don't want to promise a specific date, but hopefully next year we will be in a situation where the ban will come into force," the minister said.

According to the minister, a simpler solution would be for the European Union to adopt appropriate sanctions, but some countries are not ready for that.

The minister emphasised that Finland imported a small volume of Russian LNG, but "this issue is not significant".

The gas reform allows EU countries to ban the purchase of pipeline and liquefied natural gas on security grounds. The regulation is due to come into force in the spring, after which the government will be able to submit its proposals to ban imports for a limited period of time. Latvia and Lithuania have already banned Russian gas imports, but Finland has been pushing for gas market reform to come into force so that the decision is simple and has greater legal certainty.

Russia sold about 16 million tonnes of LNG to European countries in 2023. Together with the reduction in pipeline gas pumping, LNG supplies have increased. The largest buyers of Russian LNG were Spain (first place among the other suppliers), France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The contract for pipeline gas supplies to Finland from Russia was terminated in May 2022.
One Vision announced in a press release the transformation of The General Store into One Vision Thrift Store.

The name change was driven by the desire to better communicate the connection to One Vision services whose mission is to stand with and support individuals with disabilities, the release said.

Proceeds from the Thrift Store sales are earmarked for insurance shortfall funding of individuals One Vision serves across North Iowa. The funds assist in a variety of ways, including supporting the employment of persons served through employer partners.

One Vision invites the public to celebrate the newly branded One Vision Thrift Store during a ribbon-cutting event. One Vision and the Clear Lake and Mason City Chambers of Commerce are co-hosting the event, which is slated from 11:15-11:45 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at the thrift store at 830 U.S. Highway-18, Clear Lake, Iowa.
In a terse ruling this week, a district court judge denied a repeated effort to negate guilty verdicts for a man accused of stealing trees from the state.

An attorney for Jason Levant Ferguson, 41, of Rolfe, argues that a jury erred in November when it convicted him of felony theft and 50 timber violations.

In separate requests for a new trial and for an arrest of judgment, attorney Kevin Fors of Harcourt has insisted in recent weeks that Ferguson is entitled to cut firewood and timber from public land to be used for heat and shelter.

Fors has used Englands Charter of the Forest  which established the rights of commoners to use public lands about 800 years ago  to justify Fergusons takings from the Stoddard Wildlife Management Area in northwest Iowa. Ferguson was accused of stealing more than 100 trees from the public area, including a bur oak that was about six feet wide at its base.

In December, District Court Judge Derek Johnson rejected the motion for a new trial because he said the English charter does not apply to forests of the United States.

Earlier this month, the judge rejected a recent request to not impose the jurys unanimous guilty verdicts.

For the reasons stated in the Courts ruling of December 19, 2023, the Defendants motion in arrest of judgment is DENIED, Johnson wrote.

Ferguson is set to be sentenced during a court hearing on Jan. 26. He faces up to five years in prison for the theft charge and one year for each of the 50 timber violations.

Ferguson had also faced numerous felony drug charges and decades in prison when searches of his rural property uncovered evidence of marijuana and methamphetamine production, but the judge decided the evidence was obtained with improperly approved search warrants. Those charges were dismissed.
Rockingham County will be the end of the line for the The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate, a natural gas route that was originally planned to extend to near the Haw River in Alamance County, according to federal regulatory documents filed by developers on Friday.

The move would shorten the pipeline, which would extend into North Carolina from Pittsylvania County, Va., by about 50% and reduce its cost from $468 million to about $371 million, according to federal records published by multiple media outlets.

That means the original proposed 75-mile pipeline span would be whittled to a 31-mile stretch, according to documents developers filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, on Friday.

Developers of the project, approved by FERC in 2018, include the Pennsylvania-based MVP and Equitrans Midstream Corporation, or EQM.

The developers have not yet released a map of the new route or details about whether the pipeline will cross the Dan River as detailed in the original plan, according to multiple news outlets.

Unfortunately there is not a whole lot of information available right now about the new, proposed route, said Tiffany Haworth, executive director of the Dan River Basin Association, a non-profit, Eden-based organization that works to preserve and protect the natural and cultural resources of the river basin.

Equitrans Midstream, which owns a 47.2% interest in the MVP Southgate project, alerted the US Securities and Exchange Commission to the plan to amend the route in a Dec. 29 letter, the reports say.

And developers told the agency and FERC on Dec. 29 that the project would be finalized in June 2028, according to reports.

Developers plan to stream natural gas from Utica and Marcellus shale regions in New York and Pennsylvania to commercial and residential Public Service North Carolina PSNC customers, as well as new clients along the pipelines path.

Richmond-based Dominion Energy, which has owned PSNC since 2019, announced in September its plans to sell to Enbridge Inc., a Canadian multinational pipeline and energy company, for $3.1 billion.

These companies are far reaching and it is impossible to guess what they are planning, Haworth said Friday.

In the Mountain Valley Pipelines original plan, the pipelines southern section ended near the intersection of NC Hwy 54 and Cherry Lane in the Hawfields community of Alamance County after, extending south from Danville, Va.

Alamance Community College and other properties along MVP Southgates original plan had negotiated with developers to sell easements  or risk condemnation of their property, according to the Alamance News.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the Triad and most of Northwest North Carolina.

The weather service also issued a winter storm warning for Surry County.

The winter weather advisory will be in effect from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday in Guilford, Forsyth and Davidson counties, and from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Davie, Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga, Wilkes, Stokes, Rockingham and Yadkin counties, the weather service said.

The warning will be effect from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Surry County, the weather service said.

A winter weather advisory means that periods of snow, sleet or freezing rain will cause travel difficulties. A winter storm warning means that a storm can produce heavy snow or significant ice accumulations, the weather service said.

Freezing rain is expected in the Triad, with a light glaze of ice accumulation, the weather service said.

The storm is expected to arrive as freezing rain by 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, said John Feerick, a senior meteorologist for Accuweather in State College, Pa.

The precipitation should turn to just rain by mid-morning Saturday, Feerick said.

Crews in Greensboro planned to brine elevated road structures that can get icy with rain and cold temperatures starting at 10 p.m. Friday continuing through 10 a.m. Saturday, said Jake Keys, a city spokesperson.

State crews applied brine Friday to slightly more than 5,000 miles of state-maintained roads and highways in Forsyth, Stokes, Davidson, Davie and Rowan counties, said John Rhyne, a division maintenance engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Crews will monitor the weather overnight into Saturday and will apply salt to roads and highways, if necessary, Rhyne said.

By noon (Saturday), the roads should be in pretty good shape no matter what happens, Rhyne said.

Guilford County Schools said in a news release that no school events or travel would be permitted before 11 a.m. Saturday

In Northwest North Carolina, snow, sleet and freezing rain are expected, the weather service said. Snow and sleet accumulation may reach 1 inch with ice accumulation up to 0.10 inch.

The weather will result in slippery sidewalks, roads and bridges, the weather service said. Untreated roads and sidewalks will become slick and hazardous.

Bridges and overpasses will be susceptible to ice, the weather service said. Ice accumulation on trees and power lines combined with wind gusts up to 35 mph may result in downed tree limbs and scattered power outages.

Across the mountains in North Carolina, sleet and light snow will fall, before changing to freezing rain and then just rain, the weather service said.

Over the northwest Piedmont, a wintry mix of rain and freezing rain is expected, turning to all rain by late Saturday morning, the weather service said.

Drivers should plan on poor travel conditions and should reduce speed and allow extra time to reach their destinations, the weather service said. Motorists should postpone their travel, if possible.

Tonights forecast for Guilford County calls for freezing rain after midnight, ice accumulation of up to a tenth of an inch, and a low temperature around 32 degrees.

Saturdays forecast for Guilford County calls for rain mainly before 1 p.m., with a high temperature near 45 degrees and wind chills as low as 25 degrees early in the morning. There is also a 100% chance the area will receive between three-quarters and one inch of precipitation, according to the weather service.
As we enter a new year, we take the time to reflect on the successes and challenges of this past year, but more importantly set our sights on the future. Healthy individuals, community and environment are our vision states for 2024, and Lewis and Clark Public Health continues to strive for conditions that result in positive health outcomes for all people in our county.

Lewis and Clark Public Health provides high-quality home visiting services, vaccination consultations and administration, restaurant, pool and public accommodation inspections, on-site wastewater monitoring, tobacco prevention activities, behavioral health advocacy, and so much more. While these services are foundational and honorable, according to our 2021 Community Health Report, we continue to see poor health outcomes in the areas of lung health, cancer, heart disease, housing insecurity, mental illness and substance misuse.

So how can we fine tune our highly effective public health tools to gain larger strides toward greater health in these areas? Health departments across Montana and across the nation are zeroing in on strategies that address the social determinants of health to achieve better health outcomes for all county residents and more equitable health outcomes for those who are underserved in our community.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Social determinants of health are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, racism, climate change, and politic systems.

There are five social determinants of health that have the potential to double down on improving health outcomes for residents of this county: economic stability, education, health care access and quality, neighborhood and the built environment, and social community context.

Economic stability is the connection between a persons financial circumstances, such as income and cost of living, and their health. Key issues are poverty, employment, food security and housing affordability. From 2015 to 2019, the countys annual poverty rate slightly increased for the population aged 65 year or older (2021 CHA).

Access to quality education is the connection between a persons education and their health. Key considerations are high school graduation, literacy and access to early childhood education. The percent of Lewis and Clark County high school students who dropped out of school decreased from 7% in 2009-2010 school year to 4% in 2019-2020 school year [Figure 3]. The high school dropout rate over time improved more for the county and remained about the same for the state (2021 CHA).

Access to quality health care is the connection between a persons access to health care and their health. Key issues are affordability, transportation and health literacy. In 2021, the most common (22%) barrier to obtaining a health care provider for county residents was difficulty in getting a medical appointment (2021 CHA).

Neighborhood and built environment is the connection between where people live and their health. Key issues are safe housing, interpersonal violence and physical environmental conditions. In 2019, approximately 40% of Lewis and Clark County residents spent at least 30% of their household income on rent. The rent expense exceeded the recommended Health People 2030 target of 25.4% (2021 CHA).

Social community context is the connection between a persons social support, family circumstances, community engagement and their health. Key issues are community participation, incarceration of a family member or discrimination. Non-white Lewis and Clark County residents had a higher rate of disabilities. Thirty-two percent of Black or African American residents reported at least one disability type. The rate was almost three times higher compared to white residents (2021 CHA).

According to the World Health Organization, The Social Determinants of Health have an important influence on health inequities  the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries. In countries at all levels of income, health and illness follow a social gradient: the lower the socioeconomic position, the worse the health. This stands true right here in Lewis and Clark County as well.

To quote the Frame Works Institute, Equity means fairness and justice. It involves ensuring that every individual and group get what they need to thrive and participate fully in society. Achieving equity often asks us to rethink uniform, one-size-fits-all treatment. It sometimes involves devoting more resources or different resources in communities that face injustice, to correct imbalances caused by unfair or unequal treatment.

Achieving health equity requires valuing every person and their health fairly; addressing unfair practices and unjust conditions that can harm the health of specific groups in society; and working with different groups in specific, sensitive ways to address health issues that affect them. What it does not mean is stopping or diverting public health services that all residents of the county deserve in order to serve a few. Lewis and Clark Public Healths mission is to improve and protect the health of ALL Lewis and Clark residents. Its not a withdrawal of services, but rather an added layer of dedicated effort to ensure the underserved populations in our community achieve their greatest potential for health as well as those with better access to health care, education, housing, healthy foods and a positive social network.

Solving these complex issues cannot be done by any one entity alone. In order to make sizable advances in addressing homelessness, hunger, poverty, violence, and lack of child care and community engagement - which all negatively impact individual and community health - we must all come together. It will take individuals, agencies and government to bring knowledge, experience, expertise, resources and determination to realize our vison for healthier people, community and environment.

Public Healths role in addressing social determinants is to convene community partners, integrate efforts to avoid duplication and fill gaps, influence decision makers to adopt policies that improve conditions for all, and contribute experience and expertise to solve big health problems and create the necessary changes across the county that positively impact the health of all residents. This is our mission, and we resolve to improve and protect health for all county residents into the new year.
DECATUR  Carl Leming helped his daughter with her Free Application for Federal Student Aid a few years ago, when it was over 100 questions and required a significant amount of documentation of financials.

This year, he helped both his daughter and granddaughter with their FAFSAs and it took 15 minutes.

Now it is streamlined with the IRS and there are fewer questions to answer. I really like the improvement, said Leming, of Decatur.

Whether a student plans to take out a loan, apply for scholarships or a Pell Grant, do a work-study program, or some combination, the FAFSA is the first step and is required of all students seeking financial aid of any sort.

The U.S. Department of Education announced earlier that the FAFSA was undergoing a complete redevelopment and simplification, and that the new online version of the form would roll out on Dec. 31 instead of Oct. 1, as it has for the past several years.

Federal law required that it be opened by Dec. 31 at the latest, so they had to 'soft launch' because it wasn't ready, but they did meet the federal requirement, said Stacey Hubbard, assistant vice president of administrative services at Millikin University. When they opened it, it had all kinds of bugs. The first day was nutty, but I did hear yesterday that people did get it filed. People are having some success.

According to the Department of Education's website, The Department has started the soft launch of the 2024-25 FAFSA form, where the form will be available for periods of time over the coming days while we monitor site performance and respond in real time to any potential issues impacting the applicant experience. During the soft launch we will be initiating pauses to the site, during which time the form will not be available while our team makes improvements. As explained below, students and families will have ample time to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA, and do not need to rush to fill out the form immediately when the soft launch period opens.

One of the ways the process was streamlined is that families' financial information is transmitted to the Department of Education by the IRS, so the student and family no longer have to fill out tax information. But that means the parent or guardian and the student have to have their own ID on the website. It takes a couple of days for that to be issued, and you have to have that before beginning to fill out the form.

I completed it for two boys, one a senior at Eisenhower High School and the other a junior in college,' said Roberta Tally of Decatur. The process was quick and easy. They got in quickly; I had to wait awhile to get in. If you have a high school student make sure the parent also has a FAFSA ID.

Kelly Allee, director of marketing and public relations for Lake Land College in Mattoon, said some of the notable changes include more available languages, expanded Pell Grant eligibility, fewer questions and the ability to list more colleges.

"Because Lake Land does not have any priority deadlines or institutional scholarships that are reliant on completing the FAFSA before a particular deadline, we are encouraging students to wait patiently for a few weeks as FSA fine-tunes the new form," Allee said.

In the meantime, Allee said students can take proactive steps by creating an FSA ID at StudentAid.gov and gathering required information to ensure they are prepared when the soft launch concludes.

Throughout January and February, Lake Land staff members are co-hosting Financial Aid Nights at 25 area high schools. There, staff can help Laker students and families understand the FAFSA changes and provide assistance in completing the form. The full schedule for the Financial Aid Nights is available at LakeLandCollege.edu/FinancialAid/Financial-Aid-Events/.

Millikin's Hubbard said the forms will not be transmitted to colleges and universities until the end of January, but because the FAFSA was previously available in October, and because some financial aid is first come, first served, families are feeling pressure to get it done as early as possible.

But Hubbard said college financial aid offices knew this was coming and deadlines for scholarship applications are being extended to allow time for everything to get done. The problem, both for colleges and for families, is that the time for colleges to process financial aid applications and get the award letters sent out to students has been shortened by two months. That's putting pressure on financial aid departments and on students who are waiting to see how much aid they'll get before making a decision on which college to choose.

It's just going to be chaos for the next month, Hubbard said. I've been in financial aid since 1992, and FAFSA did not open until Jan. 1 for years. That's the timeline we followed for years, and we'd get information out in February or March to new students. It works, but it's not ideal. It's opened Oct. 1 now for several years so we feel like it's late.

The formulas for determining how much aid a student is eligible for have changed as well, she said. Formerly, the family's financial situation and their ability to pay for college was designated as the expected family contribution. That had not been updated for some time, and has been changed to the student aid index. It will be used the same way the expected family contribution was used when financial aid departments calculate award packages, she said, but they can't even begin working on those packages until the end of January or early February.

The cost of higher education has been a hot topic, and Millikin, Hubbard said, has decreased tuition by $15,000 to help make the cost more affordable. Most students can attend Millikin for about the same cost as a state school. With thousands of students nationwide filling out their FAFSAs online and colleges having less time to process financial aid and get the letters out to students, it makes the decision-making process stressful for everyone.

I think it's unfortunate that it's off to a slow start, having been delayed from October to December and now January with a 'soft launch,' said Jack Wallace, director of governmental relations at Yrefy, a company that works in private student loan refinancing in Phoenix, Arizona. What it's doing is putting a burden on students and parents and financial aid offices, the state agencies and authorities responsible for giving out state grant and scholarship money.

Colleges where acceptance rates have decreased the most since 2001 Colleges where acceptance rates have decreased the most since 2001 #10. Pitzer College #9. Colby College #7 (tie). Grinnell College #7 (tie). Pomona College #6. Northeastern University #5. Northwestern University #4. Vanderbilt University #3. Colorado College #2. Tulane University #1. University of Chicago
A new organization is asking friends to join its efforts to support the Cherokee National Forest of eastern Tennessee.

In December, the Friends of the Cherokee National Forest, a public charity nonprofit organization, announced that it had officially launched and was seeking support. The group, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, aims to become a driving force in preserving one of the regions most cherished landscapes, according to a news release.

The Friends groups mission is to conserve, protect and promote the natural beauty and ecological vitality of the forest for current and future generations through partnerships with the Cherokee National Forest, volunteers, donors, board members, community members and partners, the release states.

Friends of the Cherokee National Forest is more than a nonprofit; its a community of passionate individuals dedicated to conserving the natural beauty and ecological significance of this remarkable forest, said Mark Healey, the organizations founder, president and director.

The Friends group seeks to support three aspects of the forest, including wildlife and fisheries habitat conservation, enhancing recreational experiences and inspiring environmental stewardship, the release states.

Healey, a 33-year career veteran, previously served as a forester with the Georgia Pacific Corporation, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Forest Service. He retired in 2021 and began efforts to create a nonprofit group dedicated to the Cherokee National Forest.

We invite everyone who shares our commitment to conservation and community to join us in this important endeavor and, together, we can make a meaningful impact on this treasured resource, Healey said.

The groups board of directors includes members from across the region, including Parker Street of Jonesborough, Tennessee, who serves as the treasurer, and Jeff Richards of Shady Valley, Tennessee.

The Cherokee National Forest is considered the largest tract of public land in Tennessee and stretches from Bristol to Chattanooga along the North Carolina border. It covers about 640,000 acres in the Appalachian Mountains.

For more information, visit www.focnf.org. The Friends of the Cherokee National Forest welcomes donations, volunteer support and strategic partnerships.
CHARLESTON  Jyoti Lama of Nepal said she initially felt nervous when she began her studies last fall far from home at Eastern Illinois University.

The clinical psychology graduate student said that apprehension left her as she was welcomed by the campus and Charleston community, including at an international dinner that was hosted by the Home Church. Lama said she enjoyed this comforting experience so much that she returned for the spring semester welcome dinner Thursday night at the church as a volunteer.

"That (dinner) was important for me feeling a sense of community. I wanted to give back in any way possible," said Lama, as she served there as an EIU international student ambassador for incoming graduate students. "I want to make sure they are welcomed properly and make sure they feel at home."

Ben Rienbolt, international student coordinator at EIU, said the university partners with community organizations to welcome new students from overseas to Charleston. He said this includes the Home Church, 2350 Madison Ave., hosting its meal Thursday night and the Woodlawn Chapel, 917 Woodlawn Drive, hosting a catered international dinner Friday night for the graduate students.

Rienbolt said the meals provide an opportunity for the international students to build relationships with people in the community, people who will be there for them if they need a ride to Walmart or other help during their time in town.

"It's a way to let international students know there are people in the community who care about them and are glad that they are here," Rienbolt said as approximately 75 international graduate students dined Thursday night at the Home Church. He said most students enroll at Eastern in the fall semester, so the turnout at the fall dinner is roughly twice as big.

Home Church has hosted fall and spring semester welcome dinners for international graduate students for several years now, with church members and other volunteers preparing and serving the food. This spring's menu featured curried chicken, West African jollof rice, white rice with a variety of toppings available, bean and vegetable soup, pasta and fruit salads, and desserts.

The volunteers also offered prize drawings for small appliances, pots and pans, fleece blankets and other supplies that the international graduate students can utilize in their residences, especially if they are living in rented apartments and houses off campus.

Whit Lauwers, lead pastor at Home Church, said the welcome dinners provide a way for the congregation to support Eastern and to help the students feel at home. He said the dinners have been great experiences for him and others at the church.

"You get to interact with the world. People come in from so many different areas of the world," Lauwers said. He noted that many of them are older nontraditional students who have temporarily left their spouses and children to complete their studies at Eastern and may feel lonely. "We want to be a home away from home for them."

Technology and sustainability graduate student Isaiah Adegoke of Ghana said he has begun his third semester at Eastern while his wife, Pearl, is pursuing her master's in applied communications about three hours away at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Adegoke said he has appreciated his welcome on campus, where class sizes are typically small and instructors "go out of their way" to help students, and his welcome off campus, where the community has a supportive small-town feel. He said the dinner at the Home Church helps incoming international students bond with classmates and the community.

"The church is doing an amazing job with supporting international students and helping them feel comfortable," Adegoke said.

Close Contractors had the exterior walls of the former Title Max and Premier video building knocked down by Thursday afternoon. Demolition contractors started their work by emptying the interior of the former Title Max and Premiere Video building before removing the roof and then focusing on the exterior walls. Contractors began demolishing the exterior of the former Title Max and Premiere Video building on Dec. 29 following a light snowfall. Photos: Building in front of Cross County Mall in Mattoon demolished Demolition contractors finished tearing down the former Title Max and Premiere Video building this week in front of the Cross County Mall in Mattoon. Mall property owner Rural King Realty of Mattoon plans to market the site as two separate lots. The building was constructed as a J.C. Penney auto center around the time the mall opened in fall 1971. Contractors had the exterior walls of the former Title Max and Premier video building knocked down by Thursday afternoon. Demolition contractors started their work by emptying the interior of the former Title Max and Premiere Video building before removing the roof and then focusing on the exterior walls. Contractors began demolishing the exterior of the former Title Max and Premiere Video building on Dec. 29 following a light snowfall.
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has announced the detention of a number of people involved in the terrorist attack on a cemetery in Kerman province, Azernews reports.

"A number of individuals involved in the incident have been detained and their information will be announced later by the security services," he said.

Iran raised a red flag of revenge on the dome of Jamkaran mosque over the terrorist attack near a cemetery in Kerman.

The last time a red flag of revenge was raised over this mosque was after the assassination of Qasem Suleimani on 3 January 2020.

It was taken down after the Iranians attacked the US base of Ain al-Asad in Iraq with ballistic missiles in retaliation for Suleimani's murder.




Weather forecasters are predicting that the Triad could see treacherous conditions Saturday morning. Hopefully, everyone got their French toast ingredients  bread, milk, and eggs earlier in the week.

The U.S. Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory from 3 to 9 a.m. Saturday for the Northwest Piedmont. The advisory calls for freezing rain with a light glaze of ice. The advisory cautions people to be aware of possible slick sidewalks, road and bridges.

Winston-Salem city crews and N.C. Department of Transportation were busy Friday putting brine down on streets and highways.

Jake Keys, a spokesman for Greensboro, said streets there were not going to be brined because the rain would wash it away. However, a crew would be on duty from 10 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday to salt elevated surfaces as needed.

The forecast calls for almost half an inch of precipitation Saturday before the front moves out Saturday night. The forecast for Sunday is partly sunny and a high in the mid-50s.

Here are some tips from AAA on driving in wintry weather:

*Probably the best advice is to stay home if possible. Only go out if absolutely necessary. Even if you can drive well in bad weather, its better to avoid taking unnecessary risks by venturing out.

*Drive slowly. Always adjust your speed down to account for lower traction when driving on snow or ice.

*Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Apply the gas slowly to regain traction and avoid skids. Dont try to get moving in a hurry and take time to slow down for a stoplight. Remember: It takes longer to slow down on icy roads.

*Increase your following distance to five to six seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide the longer distance needed if you have to stop.

* Know your brakes. Whether you have antilock brakes or not, keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.

*Dont stop if you can avoid it. Theres a big difference in the amount of energy it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.

*Dont power up hills. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads will just make your wheels spin. Try to get a little energy going before you reach the hill and let that energy carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed downhill slowly.

*Dont stop when going up a hill. Theres nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some energy going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.

*You should keep the following cold-weather items in your car, food and water, warm clothing, a flashlight, a window scraper, blankets, and medications.

*Make certain your tires are properly inflated and have plenty of tread.

*Keep at least half a tank of fuel in your vehicle at all times.

*Never warm up a vehicle in an enclosed area, such as a garage.

*Do not use cruise control when driving on any slippery surface, such as on ice and snow.

*Most importantly, be careful out there.
Kim Bell says she wants justice for her husband who was shot and killed in early May in northeastern Winston-Salem, she said.

My local neighbors and my local friends know (whom the killer is), but they wont tell me or the police, Bell said. They are just keeping it all hush hush.

William Bell Jr., 69, was shot to death shortly after 7 p.m. May 2 at the 400 block of Barry Street. Winston-Salem police found Bell lying in the street.

No arrests have been made.

William Bells death is among the 55 homicides that happened in 2023 in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, a historic high for the county.

Kim Bell said that her husband had gone to Barry Street to meet a friend. When his friend got there, William Bell was lying in the street, his wife said.

Police initially believed that William Bell might have been targeted, but Kim Bell and her family members are uncertain, Kim Bell said.

Police took two suspects into custody in connection with Bells death, his wife said. But detectives couldnt gather enough evidence to charge them with murder, she said.

We just want some closure in this, Kim Bell said. There is a lot of senseless black-on-black crime. People are not valuing life.

Kim Bell said she hopes her husbands killer will turn himself or herself in to the authorities.

Kim and William Bell had been married for 36 years, she said. They have six children, 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The couple moved to Winston-Salem in 1999 from Sacramento, Calif.

The kids are very sad because of this tragedy, Kim Bell said. We are grieving very, very badly. Its terrible.

Her husband would have turned 70 on Dec. 28, she said. William Bell was a truck driver and worked as a handyman in the city.

He was very close to a lot of people in the community, Kim Bell said.

His last job was delivering food from California to Harris Teeter stores in Winston-Salem, his wife said.

I thought we would grow old together, Kim Bell said of her husband. He was a very healthy man, and he never hurt anybody. He always helped people.

Crime Stoppers of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County is offering a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to arrests and prosecutions of suspects involved in William Bells death.

Kim Bell says she is also offering her own money to anyone with information about her husbands killer.

Fifty-five homicides

Among the countys 55 homicides, the city had 48 killings in 2023, surpassing the 44 homicides in 2021 in Winston-Salem. In 2021, there were a combined 50 homicides in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

Winston-Salem police investigated 47 homicides, and the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office and the State Bureau of Investigation investigated one homicide in the city  an officer involved shooting.

In 2023, there were also three homicides in Kernersville, and four homicides in the unincorporated areas of Forsyth County.

The citys 2023 homicides represent a 37% increase to the 35 homicides that occurred in 2022 in Winston-Salem, according to police statistics.

Every time there is a homicide, I spend countless hours thinking if I could do something more, and they weigh heavily on me, said Chief William Penn Jr. of the Winston-Salem Police Department. As I sift through it, I realize public safety is just that, and it requires every one of us to keep our community safe.

I can guarantee that the police department will do more than their part, but we need everyones help, Penn said. We are all stakeholders in the community. We are committed not only this year but every year to safeguarding our community by serving, protecting and supporting.

The local homicides happened in the city with its population of 251,350, Kernersville with its population of 27,763, Forsyth County with its population of 389,157, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The numbers show that there were 32 homicides in 2020 within the city, 32 homicides in 2019 and 26 homicides in 2018.

By comparison, Greensboro had 74 homicides in 2023, Durham had 49 homicides, Raleigh had 33 homicides and High Point had 13 homicides, police spokespeople for those cities said.

A spokesperson for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department couldnt be reached to comment about North Carolinas largest citys homicides in 2023.

Nationally, there have been 9.394 homicides so far in 2023, as compared to 10,761 homicides in 2022, according AH Datalytics, a consulting firm based in New Orleans.

Based on the figures we are seeing, its the largest or one of the largest decreases in homicides ever recorded, said Jeff Asher, a founder of AH Datalytics and a national crime analyst. There is no set reason of why the decline is happening.

A likely factor is that the reduced threat of the COVID-19 pandemic is not at the forefront of everyday life with its stresses and pressures, said Asher, whose firm reviewed crime statistics from 177 law enforcement agencies in the country.

Nationwide, the homicide rate is probably returning to its pre-pandemic level, Asher said.

Homicide rates are trending to the pre-pandemic levels, but we havent reached that yet, Asher said.

For example, homicides this year in Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles decreased from 2022, according to AH Datalytics. However, in cities the size of Durham and Greensboro, homicides increased in 2023 from 2022, the statistics show.

In Winston-Salem, 42 victims died by gunfire, and five victims were stabbed to death. One victim was beaten to death.

Mayor Allen Joines of Winston-Salem said the citys overall crime rate was down last year.

Its just the issue of homicides is up for us, Joines said.

Homicides also have increased for some other cities across the United States and North Carolina, Joines said.

Its not a phenomenon that is only happening in Winston, Joines said. We are taking it seriously.

The mayor pointed to the Winston-Salem Police Departments crime-fighting tools such as its shot spotter technology. The technology works by alerting police when it detects the sound of gunfire.

Joines pointed to the C.U.R.E (Communities United for Revitalization and Engagement) program. C.U.R.E. is an alliance of neighborhood association representatives and community stakeholders.

The program has received city and county money. Counselors have been hired to go into neighborhoods to work with young people.

Counselors are getting their feet on the ground, Joines said. They are working in small groups and giving feedback and address anger or disagreements without violence.

Joines, a Democrat, is running for re-election for a seventh term as mayor.

Heart-wrenching losses

His Democratic challengers in the March 5 primary are JoAnne Allen, who is running for mayor for a third time, and Frankie Gist, a community activist and founder of H.O.P.E. Dealers Outreach.

Gists organization works to reduce gun violence, police brutality and homelessness in local communities, according to its website.

Allen said she is heartbroken about the citys homicides.

Winston-Salem has been my familys hometown for over 125 years and never has this city experienced this type of violence of shootings and stabbings of one another, Allen said. My heart goes out to all the families who have had to endure such heart-wrenching losses of their love ones.

There are no words to express how truly devastating these homicides have affected the communities and our way of life in Winston-Salem, Allen said. A simple walk down the street or just sitting in your car or at your kitchen table in your own home can now result in the loss of your life.

Allen said she is a family member of Archie Nash, 63, who was stabbed to death Jan. 25 in his home in the 800 block of North Cameron Avenue. Crystal Lakita Spencer James, 33, of East Devonshire Street is charged with murder in Nashs death.

James is being held in the Forsyth County Jail with no bond allowed, the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office said.

These homicides take on a personal sensitivity in trying to resolve what we can do as private citizens, Allen said. Violent acts of this nature cannot be resolved by the residents or the Winston-Salem police.

However, we all have a responsibility and a duty to do what we can, Allen said.

Society must address the factors that lead to violence, crimes and killing, Allen said.

We must first start by addressing poverty, homelessness, affordable housing, the easy accessibility to guns and weapons, sustainable jobs and wages or these homicides will continue to increase each year, Allen said.

When a population is desperate to exist, that population will always engage in desperate reactions to include the loss of their lives or other lives as well, Allen said.

Gist said he is passionate about reducing gun violence in Winston-Salem.

Most of the victims are young men, young women and kids being murdered, Gist said. I know them. I know their families.

Local residents should be celebrating successes in their communities rather than holding candlelight vigils for homicide victims, Gist said.

It hurts, Gist said.

City residents and Winston-Salem police can do more to reduce homicides in the city, Gist said.

As citizens, if we want to reduce gun violence, we have to figure out ways to get involved in our community to end gun violence, Gist said.

Jeff MacIntosh, who represents the Northwest Ward on the Winston-Salem City Council, said he was disheartened about the citys homicides in 2023.

It was really so reassuring during the years to see it (homicides) dip down into the teens, MacIntosh said. Everybody thought we had a handle on this. To see it ratchet back up is disheartening.

The factors behind the homicides are peoples anxiety and frustration within the societal culture, MacIntosh said.

Everyone is so polarized that people dont punch each other in the nose, they pull out a gun, MacIntosh said. Things that used to end up is in fisticuffs, now up with somebody in the hospital or dead.

The availability of guns is also factor, MacIntosh said.

We are awash in guns, MacIntosh said. It certainly cant be solved with having an officer on every corner.

Police technology leads to more arrests, solving more criminal cases and taking accused criminal off the streets, MacIntosh said.

When you arrest someone for pulling the trigger, they are not able to pull the trigger again, MacIntosh said. But it doesnt deal with the underlying anger, frustration and willingness to take a life that seems to be prevalent these days.

Discouraging and heartbreaking

Kevin Mundy, who represents the Southwest Ward on the city council, said the citys homicides increasing in 2023 from the previous year is alarming, troubling, discouraging and heartbreaking.

The jump in homicides in some U.S. cities indicates that the nation is failing en masse and using examples of higher homicide rates to rationalize and minimize our own failures, Mundy said.

Homicides and gun violence are increasing because many resorting to this have lost hope for the future and have little to no respect for the lives of others or even for themselves, Mundy said. Whats the big deal about dying if you have nothing to live for?

The Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity is very concerned with the present homicide rate in the city, said the Rev. Keith Vereen, the organizations president.

Vereen said he has participated in many community meetings with local law enforcement leaders and residents.

We are all seeking viable solutions to the increasing instances of violent crime here in Winston-Salem, said Vereen, the pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Kernersville. The issue is not one dimensional, and neither is the solution.

We will not apprehend and arrest our way to a non-existent homicide rate, Vereen said. Very few homicides in this city are random acts of violence. Often the perpetrators and victims know one another, and there are evidence trails of preexisting conflict.

Parents, family, friends and the community must be held accountable as it pertains to making Winston-Salem a safe place for all citizens to live and thrive without fear and apprehension, Vereen said.

We have to collectively address the issues of illegal guns, drugs, mental health, gang violence and education and economic disparity, Vereen said. That will require resources in the manner of money, people and programs that create alternative choices to conflict and crime.

There is a cost relative to our safe streets, peace of mind, and a reduced homicide rate, Vereen said. Who is willing to step forward and foot the bill for substantive transformation in these communities that are primarily affected?

High-profile killings

Several high-profile killings happened last year in Winston-Salem.

Quante Donnell Wilder, 35, died from multiple gunshots at 2:10 a.m. Feb. 27 at Gatsbys Pub at 1157 Burke St. Jason Efren Cisneros Olmedo, 19, and Nehemian Chrysyion Chandler, 19, are charged with murder in Wilders death. Olmedo and Chandler are being held in the jail with no bonds allowed.

Winston-Salem police responded to Gatsbys on a report of a large number of people fighting and the sound of gunfire. When they arrived, officers found Wilder with multiple wounds.

Wilder died less than a block away from Burke Street Pub, where on Jan. 19 a man fired into the business and killed Kane Jacob Bowen, 30. A woman was also injured.

William Preston Drake, 75, is charged with murder and other offenses in Bowens death. Drake is being in the jail with no bond allowed.

Penn and Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. joined city officials March 2 to speak with downtown business owners about their concerns about violent crime.

At that time, Kimbrough said that his office has traditionally focused on patrols outside the city and left Winston-Salem crime prevention to city police.

I disagree with that because people in the city pay county taxes, Kimbrough said, Mentioning Penn, who sat beside him. Kimbrough said we are in this together.

And I assure you that we are going to put our resources together to come into the downtown, Kimbrough said.

The deadly shootings prompted Forsyth County sheriffs deputies to be stationed in downtown Winston-Salem to help city police patrol that area.

A month later on April 11, a mother shot her three children inside a home in the citys southern section while on a Facetime call, police said. The mother then apparently shot herself.

The person at the other end of the call saw the shootings.

Sakendra Syann Steele, 9; Sakenya Syretha Steele, 12; their brother, Sakenlo Shawn Steele Jr., 14, were shot and killed. The childrens mother, Ethal Syretha Steele, 40, took her own life, police said.

Officers found their bodies shortly before noon at 3140 Brookhill Drive after a receiving a report of a shooting there.

On April 22, Beatrice Maxine Knights, 21, was shot and killed at 9:47 p.m. at 1256 Alder St. Knights and four other people were hit by gunfire during a party at the pavilion at Happy Hill Park.

No arrests have been made.

Another rash of fatal shootings occurred the week of July 17 in Winston-Salem.

Aljerone Miguel Sims, 37, was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting at 6:59 p.m. July 17 at 100 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Devon Maurice Moore, 30, of Lewisville is charged with murder in Sims death. Moore is being held in the jail with no bond allowed.

Mario Raeford Todd, 27, of Northampton Drive was shot to death following an argument at midnight July 17 at 624 Mock St.

Tyrese Malik Joyner, 23, of Mock Street is charged with murder in Todds death. Joyner is being held in the jail with no bond allowed.

Ricky Renea Davis, 27, of East First Street was fatally shot at 10:35 p.m. July 19 at a vigil for Sims at 100 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. No arrests have been made.

Devontay Demon Atkins, 26, was fatally shot at 12:24 a.m. July 21 during a fight at 1122 E. 17th St.

Demario Marcell Williams, 30, is charged with murder in Atkins death. Williams is being held in the jail with no bond allowed.

Sharing information

In a joint news conference, Penn, Kimbrough and police Sgt. Jake Swaim talked to reporters about the rash of killings and emphasized the need for the community to share information about the cases with local authorities.

This is our community and what were allowing is unacceptable to me, Penn said. Everyone should be angry. If the police were shooting people like this, they would be this angry.

Penn repeatedly urged residents to use Crime Stoppers and text-a-tip to provide information without being identified  a common concern amongst bystanders and nearby residents where shootings occur.

When asked if people who refused to speak up were guilty to a certain extent, Penn said theyre guilty of allowing terrorism to take place in (the) community.

All were saying is that we cannot sit by silently, Kimbrough said. Anytime theres a situation, there has to be voices. There has to be enough voices to demand that this stop.

During the late July week of the news conference, the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office posted a video to the sheriffs offices Facebook page.

In the video, Kimbrough urged local residents to find ways to stop deadly shootings and other violent crimes and address issues such as poverty in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

I guess the question is simple. Rhetorically in nature, Kimbrough said in a voiceover on the video. If this was happening in your community, what would you do, and what would you give? It is happening. Our city. Our county. Our community. The future needs you now.

The 1:36 minute video, produced by the sheriffs offices public relations team, compiled clips from local TV coverage of deadly shootings in Winston-Salem, a YouTube video of local Black men and teens holding guns and firing them as well as Kimbroughs comments about those killings.

In regards to that possibly portraying racial stereotypes, Kimbrough said thats a silly-ass game.

How many Black men are dying every day? Kimbrough asked.

This isnt a black-white dynamic, the sheriff said.

Those are facts, Kimbrough said. The truth is the truth. The truth has no color.

An accused killer was given too low of a bond after his first arrest on drug and weapons charges, Penn said at a Dec. 12 news conference.

On Saturday two days after his release, officers and detectives again arrested Ryan Anguiano Prudente, 18, this time on two counts of murder in the deaths of a man and a woman in the citys southeastern section.

The same folks who put him in jail Wednesday along with our detectives had to put him back in jail for more a serious crime this past Saturday, Penn said. As you can imagine, that is extremely frustrating.

Prudente is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Jahir Jimenez-Laredo, 20, of Barnes Road, and Mitzi Saldana-Clemente, 21. Prudente and three juveniles are charged with murder in the deaths of Jimenez-Laredo and Saldana-Clemente.

Prudente is being held in the jail with no bond allowed.

In late December, Judge George Cleland IV of Forsyth District Court said he properly set a $50,000 bond Dec. 7 for Prudente.

Prudente was charged Dec. 6 with 16 drug and weapons offenses, posted a $50,000 bond. Prudente then was released from the jail.

Cleland said he set Prudentes bond using guidelines under state law.

I set Mr. Prudentes bond at the maximum allowed by the guidelines, Cleland said on Dec. 21.
The Triad is in the midst of a mixed-bag scenario when it comes to respiratory viruses, a local infectious diseases expert said Friday.

Dr. Christopher Ohl, with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, said the recent sharp increase in Triad influenza cases prompted him to dust off his Facebook presentations that were done on a weekly basis during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Part of his incentive is with the increasing volume of respiratory virus cases in Triad emergency departments and urgent care facilities.

This past week, our urgent care volumes set records for the number of patients seen, Ohl said.

If you really need to go to the emergency department, expect a wait. We are keeping track of it and changing shifts, but were not so tight that we have to cut back on normal services, and we dont anticipate that being the case.

Ohl cautioned that within Baptist facilities, our flu numbers continue to increase, and we havent had the usual dip we see right around Christmas time when schools are out.

For the next three to four weeks, flu is going to give us some trouble. In terms of hospitalizations in our region, flu is a bigger problem than COVID.

However, Ohl projected the region may have seen the worst of the RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) community spread that can cause severe infections in children and adults over age 60.

Fortunately, the number of RSV (cases) that had been quite high (before Christmas) and a bit of a problem in our pediatric units have started to fall, Ohl said.

It looks like it has peaked and will continue to decline as we go through January.

In terms of COVID-19, Ohl said cases remain on the rise, but at a lower amount than the flu.

Thankfully, not a lot of people are being hospitalized with COVID in the Triad, Ohl said. It is evolving to where it is mostly seen during normal respiratory virus season.

According to the latest N.C. Department of Health and Human Services report for the week that ended Dec. 30, there were 4,118 confirmed cases of the flu reported by the states hospitals.

DHHS reported Wednesday the number of flu-related deaths has reached 30 in North Carolina, including three among children ages 5 to 17. So far, the state has recorded 22 deaths among those 65 and older, two for ages 50 to 64 and three in ages 25 to 39.

DHHS does not provide the region of the state in which flu-related deaths occur, citing patient privacy policies.

Meanwhile, the latest DHHS report had 1,834 cases of COVID-19 statewide, including 866 COVID-19 hospital patients, and 877 cases of RSV.

The latest COVID variant, known as JN1, currently comprises about 37% of cases in North Carolina and about 44% of cases nationwide.

Ohl said that JN1 is an omicron variant that is a bit more infectious, but luckily it doesnt appear to be more severe than other variants and the fall COVID booster seems to be protective for JN1.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that about 44% of U.S. adults had gotten flu shots by Dec. 23, according to the most recently available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination survey data.

By comparison, about 19% of U.S. adults were reported to have received an updated COVID-19 shot as of early December.

We are approaching the peak of winter respiratory virus season and encourage people to get tested early and seek treatment as soon as they begin to develop symptoms, Dr. Elizabeth Cuervo-Tilson, the states health director and chief medical officer, said Wednesday.

Dont wait to seek treatment if you test positive for the flu or COVID-19, as treatments can help prevent severe illness, especially for those who are high risk of serious complications based on their age or medical conditions.

Next steps

Ohl said the current respiratory season is a good time to revisit how individuals prepare for and respond to the three viruses.

That includes revising testing and isolation protocols, including prioritizing testing for COVID-19.

Ohl said that while there are plenty of COVID-19 test kits available for purchase at local pharmacies, the supply of free tests remain limited. An over-the-counter test for flu is becoming more available, as well as urgent care facilities.

Ohl continued to take a common sense approach to wearing a mask, such as health care settings, crowded public venues and public transportation, and for those who are immunocompromised.

It is not too late to get vaccinated for the flu and COVID, Ohl said, although he said the Forsyth County Department of Public Health recently ran out of about 5,000 free COVID-19 vaccines for adults.

The department has a new order in and its expected to arrive any day, Ohl said.

If your COVID test is negative and you have a fever with your illness, you can assume that it is influenza.

If you dont have a fever, it is advisable to take a COVID test the next day because it can show up as positive a day or two after the symptoms show up. If it is negative the second day, you have a cold.

Ohl said isolating for five days remains the primary recommendation for COVID-19, and then wearing a mask in public for at least another five days.

Ohl stressed that when in doubt about being sick, just stay at home and keep from spreading your virus to others.
A winter storm brought steady rain Saturday morning to Forsyth County and produced light, freezing rain in some mountainous areas in the northwestern part of the state.

Temperatures overnight Friday into Saturday never dipped below 32 degrees in the Triad and central North Carolina, preventing freezing rain from becoming an issue.

Instead, the wintry weather produced a cold, wet deluge that pummeled the area for several hours.

Any day we dont have freezing rain and ice accumulation is a good day, said Jimmy Taeger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. The temperatures were not cold enough.

No weather-related traffic crashes were reported in Winston-Salem, authorities said.

According to a transportation map, state-maintained roads and highways in Forsyth and Guilford counties were clear Saturday without any ice accumulation.

It was a cold rain, said Keith Huff, Winston-Salems director of field operations. We didnt have any areas where we had problems.

The regional office of the N.C. Department of Transportation received a report of a weather-related traffic crash in Stokes County, said John Rhyne, a division maintenance engineer in Winston-Salem. Rhyne said he didnt know if there were any injuries.

Freezing rain was reported Saturday morning in northern Surry County as well as in central and western Watauga County, according to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va. The weather service also reported ice accumulation ranging from a trace to 0.10 inch in Mount Airy to areas north near the Virginia border.

In Watauga County, ice accumulation ranged from 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches. A small amount of ice also was reported in Alleghany, Ashe and Wilkes counties and had partially covered roads and highways.

The event has produced some light, freezing rain, said Phil Hysell, a warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service in Blacksburg. We are asking people to take precautions when they go out today.

By mid-morning Saturday, Duke Energy reported 2,177 outages to customers in the Carolinas. Within the region, there five outages in Forsyth County as well as in Guilford County (six), Rockingham County (two) and Wilkes County (100).
Local agencies focusing on care during the cold

- The city of Winston-Salem is continuing to work with local agencies to provide emergency shelter to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Single men and women in need of help should contact City With Dwellings at 502 N. Broad St. or by calling (336) 790-9766.

- Families in need of shelter should contact the Coordinated Intake Center line at (336) 721-9327.

- City With Dwellings will extend its shelter hours this weekend during the cold weather.

- Emergency shelter is also available year-round at Samaritan Ministries, Bethesda Center for the Homeless and the Salvation Army of Winston-Salem.
The attorney for a former corrections officer who is suing the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services alleging sex and race discrimination says prison investigators' behavior was "beyond the pale" when they tested her newborn to determine if she'd had sex with an inmate based on rumors.

"I would submit that the evidence as a whole shows that Ms. Barnes was treated very differently than a person would have been treated if they were white or if they would have been a male," said Mary Barnes' attorney, Joy Shiffermiller.

At a hearing this week, the Attorney General's Office, which represents the prison, asked Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen to dismiss the case, saying everything prison employees did stemmed from "very serious allegations" being made against her.

In 2020, the Lincoln woman sued the Corrections Department alleging that, as a Black woman, she was treated differently than white, male staff members at the Lincoln Correctional Center, which since has become part of the Reception and Treatment Center.

Barnes started working there in April 2017.

Shiffermiller said in late summer of 2018 Barnes complained to a sergeant about a Black inmate harassing her and was told to write a report, which was to be delivered to a prison major. But it was put on hold because her superiors wanted to collect more incident reports about the inmate first.

In the meantime, the harassment continued, she said.

Shiffermiller alleged staff members treated Barnes differently, too.

During a staff search in October 2018, Barnes was asked how she was able to afford a Gucci-brand wallet; and a week later a staff member had her scroll through her smart watch so she could search it, when others' smart watches weren't searched.

And on Oct. 10, 2018, Barnes was taken to a small, dark room and interrogated by two captains, both non-Black men, and asked personal questions about her family and whether they ever had been incarcerated.

Shiffermiller said they told Barnes an inmate told them she had been texting him, against prison rules. They told her they believed she had "introduced so much contraband into the facility that it almost started a riot."

Everything was "black and white," they told her, and if she didn't confess she would be sent to jail. Then they left her to sit in a dark room for about two hours, the attorney said.

The prison later determined that Barnes hadn't committed the acts alleged.

But, that night, when she got home she emailed her lieutenant, described the interrogation and said she no longer felt safe coming to work. Later that month, she got a letter from a major saying DCS was contemplating bringing disciplinary action against her for failing to show up for work for more than two weeks.

Barnes ultimately lost pay and health insurance over her absence.

On Nov. 6, 2018, two days before a scheduled disciplinary hearing, an investigator from DCS's central office went to her home and asked her to provide a DNA sample from her daughter to determine her paternity, a move Shiffermiller called "beyond the pale."

She said Barnes consented because she had nothing to hide.

"I cannot imagine how embarrassingly humiliating it must have been for Ms. Barnes to be accused of having a baby with an inmate. And to say that that is not based on gender is incredible," she told Jacobsen on Wednesday.

On the other side, Assistant Attorney General Erik Fern said confidential informants had alleged that Barnes was the source of illegal contraband coming into LCC and was engaging in sexual acts with an inmate.

"NDCS rightfully and correctly began an investigation," he said.

Fern said investigators searched the inmate's cell and found a cellphone and, on it, texts that appeared to coincide with Barnes' work schedule and maternity leave and that referenced Barnes' sister's nickname on social media.

Then came the Oct. 10 interview investigators had with Barnes.

"Really everything stems from these very serious allegations that were very, very correctly investigated," Fern said. "And, importantly, Mary Barnes was found not to have committed these acts. There was insufficient evidence for that."

He said in discrimination law the case law is clear. An employer's nondiscriminatory reason need not be fair or accurate. As long as their motivation was not race or sex.

Jacobsen took the matter under advisement.

The Journal Star's most memorable photos of 2023
With the current news stories of huge bank failures and federal payouts to depositors its easy to think that such catastrophic events only occur on the East or West Coast. Economic depressions and financial institution defaults and failures are, however, no strangers to Nebraska and Lincoln.

Lincolns first bank was established by State Treasurer James Sweet of Nebraska City in 1868 on the northeast corner of 10th and O. Two years later R. C. Outcalt, most recently a shirtmaker in New York City, arrived in Lincoln and went to work for the Sweet & Brock Bank then, in 1872, became a bookkeeper for the State National Bank. About 1878 he joined Marsh Brothers & Mosher Bank.

Brothers C. W. and W. W. Marsh joined C. W. Marshs uncle Charles W. Mosher from Illinois, in forming Marsh Brothers & Mosher Bank on Oct. 1, 1878, with a capitalization of $50,000. The Marsh brothers also were the principal owners of Marsh Bros. Manufacturing and other Illinois companies.

It was later reported that the banks principal business became handling the paper of the various Marsh-owned businesses which should possibly have been a red flag. In 1881 the bank moved from 9th and O into the Walsh/Putnam Building pictured on the southwest corner of 11th and O. The bank was then elaborately remodeled in polished maple and cherry. R. C. Outcalt joined the bank in 1881-82.

On June 29, 1883, With Charles W. Mosher president and Richard C. Outcalt cashier, Marsh National Bank incorporated and received federal charter number 2,988 with $300,000 in capital and employing 17 clerks.

The following year the bank changed its name to the Capital National Bank of Lincoln. In 1889 a local newspaper lauded R. C. Outcalt as one of the best posted financiers of Lincoln and noted he was the second oldest banker in the city. In 1892 Capital National Bank was called one of the most thoroughly reliable financial institutions in the West and by years end, reported $912,000 in deposits and $21,181 in undivided profits.

President C. W. Mosher was considered one of the great financiers in the state, while also serving as vice president of the Lincoln Gas & Electric Light Co. and treasurer of Farmers and Merchants Insurance Co. while the bank carried a correspondent relationship with Chemical Bank of New York, American Exchange Bank of Chicago, and U. S. National Bank of Omaha. What could possibly go wrong?

At 9 a.m. on Jan. 21, 1893, about 100 men gathered outside the Capital National Bank where a handwritten note on bank letterhead was posted saying the bank was temporarily closed. The headline on the Lincoln Evening News of Jan. 23 read Capital National Bank Goes Under for Half Million.

John Griffith, the National Bank Examiner arrived from Wahoo and immediately suspended the banks operation. Although the State of Nebraska had already withdrawn $60,000, when they attempted another withdrawal of $225,000 from the banks total reported deposits of $625,000, there were no ready funds available.

Concerns from the public did not precede the states attempted withdrawal even though the bank had just, for the first time, missed paying a quarterly dividend. Further there was little concern about liquidity because it was widely felt Mosher was wealthy and additionally his father-in-law was worth from $1 million to $3 million dollars and would stand behind the bank.

Within two days information began to leak, beginning with a $66,000 Mosher purchase of pedigree stallions which had been unloaded for about $3,000 and other general crooked work done by those who managed the institution, including all sorts of promissory notes from the Farmers and Merchants Insurance Co., Western Manufacturing and Lincoln Gas & Electric Co., all of which Mosher was closely associated with. In that regard, the bank proved to have paid out $602,054.50 on $15,946.77 in certificates of deposits.

On Feb. 6, 1893, the bank was officially in receivership for dishonesty. In April C. W. Mosher, termed thieving and criminally negligent, was arrested on a federal grand jury indictment and in July, Omaha Judge Elmer Dundy sentenced Mosher to the minimum sentence of five years in the Sioux Falls Federal Penitentiary. Mosher was released in 1897 after serving three years and four months, then moved directly to Chicago and never returned to Lincoln.

The Journal Star's most memorable photos of 2023
GRAND ISLAND  Three Conestoga Mall businesses  Dees Hallmark, the Incredible Bulk and LensCrafters  will close their doors this month.

Dees Hallmark and the Incredible Bulk have no plans to reopen anywhere else in Grand Island. An employee at LensCrafters, which will close Jan. 20, said the company hasnt given any indication if it will reopen elsewhere.

The leases for both the Hallmark store and the Incredible Bulk are expiring.

They are among the stores currently operating in the south end of the mall, as Conestoga Mall is being transformed into Conestoga Marketplace.

Dees Hallmark needs to vacate its space by Jan. 31, but may close before then, said owner Colleen Belitz, who lives in Columbus.

Belitz used to own a total of three Hallmark stores  in Columbus, Beatrice and Grand Island. Now the only one left will be in Beatrice. Shes owned the Grand Island business for about 10 years.

Belitz has checked other possible sites in Grand Island. We have, yeah. Since we werent provided a spot in the redevelopment.

She said she's been looking around for eight or 10 months and talked to several landlords in Grand Island. Theyve all been really helpful, but we just could not find a spot that worked.

Initially, it looked as though Dees Hallmark could stay in the mall.

When this first started, they did come in and ask if we were interested in a space. And we of course said yes. But she found out later that we werent in their plans for what they wanted the redevelopment to be.

The Incredible Bulk, a part of the mall since 1988, will close its doors this weekend. When it does, the mall will say goodbye to two of its fixtures.

Randy Price of Lincoln has owned the Incredible Bulk for 24 years.

Because of reduced foot traffic in the mall, This last year has been horrible, Price said.

The number of tenants has been reduced from more than 100 to about 15, he said. And its just cost me money every month.

The mall is being redeveloped by Woodsonia Real Estate.

Price believes Conestoga Marketplace will be an asset to Grand Island. But he doesnt like the way Woodsonia has treated the current tenants.

He doesnt believe he could have stayed in the mall after his lease expires Feb. 1.

They offered me so many different things, he said. The last thing Woodsonia representatives told him, in nice words, was that they dont want little mom and pop stores anymore in here, he said. They said we wont renew your lease. So could I have gone on? Nope, I dont think so.

I think what theyre doing in Grand Island to that mall is fantastic for Grand Island. But what they did to Incredible Bulk was classless. And thats a fact, he said.

With the stores closure imminent, people have been taking nostalgic pictures with Kathy and the sign, said Price, who formerly owned two Incredible Bulk stores in Lincoln.

A Hastings woman has purchased the Incredible Bulk name and a sign from Price. So a store of the same name will probably continue in Central Nebraska.

The Journal Star's most memorable photos of 2023
For years, this swath of land in Sarpy County was farm ground. Then came the buildings, the parking lots, the high-tech machines and the colorful sign bearing a well-known name: Google.

The company, through a Delaware-based limited liability company called Fireball Group, spent $25 million in Sarpy County for roughly 280 acres, most of which used to be farmland, assessors records show.

In Douglas County, Google dropped another $21 million to accumulate more than 400 acres northwest of Omaha, 90% once farmland.

And in Lincoln, Google owns some-500 acres, close to 500 of which used to be farmland, according to Lancaster County Assessors records.

Google isnt the only tech giant gobbling up land once used for crops. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has poured more than $50 million into nearly 900 acres of agricultural land in Sarpy County since 2017, according to assessors records compiled by the Flatwater Free Press.

Meta and Google, acting through various LLCs, are among the top buyers of agricultural land by money spent, according to a Flatwater Free Press analysis of state sales data gathered by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications journalism class.

Both paid a premium for Nebraska farmland. Meta paid nearly seven times the per-acre price for farmland in eastern Nebraska. In Sarpy County, Google paid almost 10 times the regional average.

Meta and Google purchased the land to build data centers, massive warehouse-sized buildings that house machines essential to todays cloud-based technology. They represent substantial investments by both companies. They also embody the ongoing urbanization of former farmland.

Some view the transformation as an inevitability and net positive. Others want farmland to remain farmland.

But keeping farmland for farming, particularly on the outskirts of Nebraskas growing metro areas, can be a tough proposition, especially when deep-pocketed buyers are involved.

Nobody is paying $50,000 an acre to farm beans, said Michael Goodwillie, compliance officer in the Douglas County Assessors Office.

Meta didnt reply to three Flatwater Free Press email inquiries about the total Nebraska ag land it owns and its plans for future purchases.

A spokesperson for Google didnt respond to questions posed by the Flatwater Free Press and instead pointed to a press release about its new round of investments in Nebraska totaling $1.2 billion.

Data centers have sprung up across the country and found their way into the Midwest.

Google and Meta chose Nebraska thanks to the rarity of natural disasters and the reliable fiber network in the Omaha area, said Mark Norman, vice president of economic development at the Greater Omaha Chamber.

Both companies have built in locations targeted for industrial and commercial development, Norman said.

It just happened to be a data center as opposed to a warehouse, as opposed to a manufacturing facility, he said.

In Sarpy County, Meta and Google landed on locations near Nebraska 50 and sent representatives to knock on doors.

Deborah Bowmans family farmed 77 acres of the land now under Metas data center for more than a century. Bowman, in her 70s, grew up 2 miles away.

She felt backed into a corner to give up the land, she said, noting her lawyer encouraged her to sell.

I did not want to sell it or have Facebook take it, she said. That was absolutely the last thing I wanted done.

After two years of negotiation, she eventually swapped her land for a similarly-sized plot owned by her neighbor, who got paid by Raven Northbrook, she said. Raven Northbrook is the name of the LLC through which Meta bought land in Sarpy County. The neighbor sold three other parcels separately to Meta for $23 million, sales records show.

On paper, Bowmans old land was worth $5 million. Her new land is worth much less. That could change if another developer comes along. She doesnt intend to sell.

I just wish this whole thing would have never happened, she said.

Sarpy County Commissioner Don Kelly sees no difference between Meta and Googles purchases and the developer that paid millions for land to build Gretnas Hy-Vee. It comes down to demand.

They looked at the return on investment and felt the land was worth every penny, and they bought it, said Kelly.

Sarpy County boasts more than 190,000 residents, more than double the population in 1980. As the county grows, more farmland will surely turn into industrial or commercial areas, Kelly said, but its his job as an elected official to make sure the growth is controlled and planned.

Agricultural acres in Sarpy County and Douglas County have both declined in the past decade by more than 10%, according to Nebraska Department of Revenue reports.

Tech companies are far from the only non-ag buyers of farmland.

In Douglas and Sarpy counties, Celebrity Homes bought about 450 acres of farmland between 2018 and 2022, state sales records show. A manager of the home builder did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Nebraska is a state that has agricultural roots as the basis of our economy.  But you cant keep an urban county agriculture forever, said Kelly.

Land used for agricultural purposes in Nebraska enjoys a lighter tax burden. Owners can apply for a special evaluation program that assesses agricultural land at 75% of market value, but the land must remain farmed to qualify.

Once farmland is developed, the property taxes the county can collect shoot up, and that can help fund local schools and government, Kelly said.

Meta and Google have paid millions in property taxes per year, a Flatwater review of assessors records shows.

Data centers can apply for other tax breaks through the states business incentive program, ImagiNE Nebraska.

Steven Shultz, a land use economics professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said data centers bring higher net economic benefits compared to traditional residential housing developments. Thats because they dont require substantial public expenditures on services such as schools, parks and transportation, he explained.

Jane Amerine is not happy that Meta and Google are displacing farmland. The home she has lived in for more than 40 years is among a cluster of houses tucked behind the trees, only hundreds of yards west of Metas data center.

It was a peaceful neighborhood, away from the hustle and bustle of metro Omaha.

Until 2017, when she began hearing the construction noises. Two other companies have since started constructing warehouses north of her home.

The economic development people, the county commissioners, the city government  if they can get some sort of data center or speculative warehouse or some big commercial development and they lose me, they dont care, Amerine said.

The speed at which the county loses farmland is a choice made by elected officials, Amerine said. In Washington County, farmland acreage has dipped by 0.2% in the past decade.

Sewer, roads and other infrastructure and municipal services that follow developments like the data centers, on the other hand, add value to nearby land.

Amerine said her family will leave the county eventually because of the changes.

Kelly thinks Amerine has a fair point, but overall, the charitable giving and tax revenue brought by these developments bring value to the community, he said.

A big data center perhaps would not make an ideal neighbor for somebody that wanted to just have a rural farm site and farm for the rest of their life. No ones gonna tell them they cant do that, Kelly said. But my point is that whether its Facebook or somebody else, growth is gonna come. Theres nothing I can do to stop it.

Flatwater Free Press reporter Destiny Herbers contributed to the data analysis used in this story. The series, Whos Buying Nebraska? was made possible by a grant from the Center for Rural Strategies and Grist.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.(tncms-asset)7d8ee2e0-5ce7-5204-9cba-0724f62300fe[2](/tncms-asset)

Top Journal Star photos for December 2023
A proposal put forth Friday by an Omaha lawmaker would put Nebraska's Legislature in charge of the state's prison system, which, for now, is under the purview of the executive branch.

If made law, Sen. Justin Wayne's bill (LB994) would put senators in charge of the "general management, control and government" of the Department of Correctional Services, giving the Legislature hiring power over the department's director.

The power to make such a change is already prescribed to lawmakers in Nebraska's Constitution, which grants the Legislature the power to manage "all state charitable, mental, reformatory and penal institutions."

"We actually have control over corrections  it's all vested in us," Wayne said Friday, which marked the third day of the 2024 legislative session. "So maybe we should take it back. Maybe we should create an independent board, like Arkansas.

"We're going to be exploring those options this year and hopefully we can make sure we have the proper oversight that's needed in Corrections."

For Wayne, who chairs the body's Judiciary Committee, the change is overdue.

He pointed to the 2015 revelation that the department, using a flawed formula to calculate sentences, had carved at least 750 years off the collective sentences of more than 200 inmates in state custody.

The bill, too, was spurred in part by the department's decision in August to eliminate prison facility and document access to the Office of the Inspectors General, the Legislature's watchdog responsible for investigating the state's prison and child welfare systems.

That move came after Attorney General Mike Hilgers' office published a nonbinding opinion suggesting the oversight offices are unconstitutional.

"At the end of the day, we've been having problems with Corrections. It's been an ongoing issue since we improperly calculated good time," he said, referring to the 2015 sentencing scandal. "So maybe we should let somebody else run it."

The Omaha senator said he's considering designating the bill as his personal priority this session, which would increase the likelihood it will be debated on the floor, in an effort to see it made law.

Wayne on Friday also put forth a proposal (LB996) that would put the Department of Correctional Services in charge of all of Nebraska's county jails  a move that, coupled with his effort to put the department under the Legislature's control, would give lawmakers oversight of every jail and prison inmate in the state.

And he introduced a bill (LB995) that would give defendants in certain criminal court cases 10 days upon a guilty verdict to request a deferred judgment, which allows defendants to make a case to their judge to impose a sentence of probation prior to the entry of a judgment of conviction.

Wayne's proposals were among several criminal justice and penal reform bills and amendments introduced Friday, including:

FIRING SQUAD: After Sen. Loren Lippincott on Thursday introduced a bill (LB970) that would allow for the state to carry out the death penalty by forcing death row inmates to breathe pure nitrogen gas, an Omaha lawmaker offered an unlikely amendment Friday.

Sen. Megan Hunt's amendment would give the state two options for enforcing the death penalty: lethal injection, the only route currently allowed by state law, or by a firing squad firing made of "all members of the Legislature, who shall use firearms to shoot the convicted person."

"A legislative firing squad results in quick death and offers lawmakers opportunity to bear responsibility for state-sponsored murder," Hunt said in a social media post.

WITNESS: Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha introduced a bill (LB980) that would allow two members of the Legislature to attend state executions  and require the head of the state's prison system to "continuously witness the execution process" from the moment a death row inmate enters the execution chamber until the inmate is declared dead or the execution is halted.

WAGES: Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh's proposal (LB1021) would require cities, counties and the state to pay jail or prison inmates minimum wage for any job they might hold while incarcerated. The bill would put 25% of the wages into a trust to be accessed upon release and another 25% for use while incarcerated.

The rest would be divided between their families or dependents, court-ordered fees and fines and the state's Victim's Compensation Fund.

TRAFFICKING: A legislative resolution from Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue (LR277CA) calls for a constitutional amendment to go before state voters this November that would apply a mandatory minimum life sentence for defendants convicted of crimes involving labor or sex trafficking of a minor.

PLEAS: A bill (LB983) introduced by Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha would allow for defendants and prosecutors who come to a tentative plea deal in a criminal case to disclose the agreed-upon deal to the judge to gauge whether the court would be receptive to any sentencing recommendation or other concession or term that requires court approval.

DEMOGRAPHICS: Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington put forward a bill (LB979) that would require the Corrections Department, the Office of Probation Administration and Division of Parole Supervision to submit an annual report to the Legislature detailing the race, ethnicity, gender, citizenship status and county of prior residence of each individual with an active case in each department.

Photos: Nebraska Legislature gavels in for first day of 2024 session
Saudi-based Nesma Infrastructure & Technology said it has been awarded a key contract by NEOM, the developer of Saudi futuristic city, for the installation of public safety systems within its key development Sindalah.

As per the contract valued at around SAR50 million ($13.3 million), Nesma will be responsible for the design, supply, installation as well as the operation and maintenance of comprehensive security systems, including CCTV cameras and radar.

Located off the coast of NEOM in the kingdom's north-west region, Sindalah is the developer's first luxury island and yacht club destination in the Red Sea.

The first of NEOMs assets to be unveiled, Sindalah will offer guests an idyllic luxury lifestyle. Home to one of the world-leading yachting ecosystems, Sindalah marina aims to become a new hub and fixture in the global yachting calendar. The project is likely to be delivered in June.
MONDAYAl-Anon: 8 p.m., Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 3350 Lathrop Ave.

Retired Involved Nurses Group: 11:30 a.m., Crystal Bay, 3900 N. Main St. Lunch is at noon. The cost of membership is $15 and lunch is $15. A business meeting will follow. For more information or reservations, call Marge Orth, secretary, 262-884-0742.

WEDNESDAYCaledonia Senior Card Club: Sheepshead, for ages 55 and older, noon to 3 p.m., Franksville Memorial Park, 9614 Northwestern Ave., Franksville. For more information, call 414-856-9550.

Kiwanis Club of West of Racine: 7:30 a.m., in-person at Living Faith Lutheran Church, 2915 Wright Ave. Kiwanis is an international organization dedicated to serving the children of the world. To attend a meeting, contact Shirley Meyer, membership chair, at 262-260-8101 or email aquashirl4@yahoo.com.

FRIDAYRacine Founders Rotary Club: 7 a.m., Racine Country Club, 2401 Northwestern Ave.

DAILY/OTHERSCaledonia Historical Society Meeting: 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Franksville Park, 9614 Northwestern Ave. The meeting is open to the public. There will be no meetings December through March. https://caledoniahistoricalsociety.org.

Overeaters Anonymous: 7 p.m. Monday and Thursday, Living Faith Lutheran Church, 2915 Wright Ave., a free fellowship group for all eating disorders using the 12 steps and 12 traditions. For more information call 262-652-5635.

Racine Duplicate Bridge Club: Each week two ACBL-sanctioned duplicate bridge games are played in Racine  at 12:15 p.m. Monday and Friday at The Lanes, 6501 Washington Ave., Mount Pleasant. People must have proof of COVID-19 vaccination to play. Call Henry Kensler, club manager, at 262-652-6173 for reservations. Recent winners are:

Dec. 29: Lee Petzold and Donald Urquhart, first place; Richard Arneson and Gloria Arneson, second place; Mary Matthews and Marilyn Wescott, third place.

Jan. 1: Dee Becker and John Meyers, first place; Lee Petzold and Paul Dorsey, second place; George Urquhart and Janet Urquhart tied with Jean Myrvold and Denise Anastasio for third place.

Lighthouse Quilters Guild: Open to quilters of all skill levels, 7 p.m., on the last Monday of each month at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, 322 Ohio St. For more information, lighthousequiltersguild.com.

Racine Welcome Club: Drop in coffee 9-11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at Panera Bread, 5304 Washington Ave. The group is open to women interested in making new friends, learning about community resources, and being involved in philanthropic and social activities. Call 262-994-0957 for more information.

Ladies New Heart Luncheon: The Ladies New Heart Luncheon will meet at noon Tuesday, Jan. 16, at Parkway Chateau, 12304 75th St., Kenosha.

Deborah Rodriquez will discuss From Insignificance to Royalty.

The cost is $14 and no child care is provided. For reservations call Nancy at 262-914-1821 or Kathy at 262-653-0503.
Aurora offers classes

BURLINGTON  Aurora Health Care is offering the following programs:

Free Blood Pressure Clinic  8 a.m. to noon and 1-4:30 p.m. every Wednesday. To make an appointment, call 262-767-8000.

Childbirth and Beyond  Get ready for a new addition through free, ongoing classes, including Preparing for Labor and Birth, Bringing Baby Home, Breastfeeding Basics and Infant CPR & Safety. Learn more by visiting https://bit.ly/ALMCchildbirth.

Movement and Music  This free class for people with Parkinsons disease incorporates stretches, strength training, posture, balance and walking drills, as well as vocal exercises. Manage Parkinsons symptoms and improve quality of daily life while having fun. Modifications will be provided to ensure a safe and effective setting for all participants. Caregivers are also welcome. Register at mail@wiparkinson.org or 414-312-6990.

Stroke Support Group  This group provides emotional support through opportunities to interact with others who have experienced a stroke. Informational programs also will be provided about stroke/brain attack. The group welcomes individuals newly diagnosed, those with a history of stroke and caregivers. Learn more by visiting https://bit.ly/ALMCstroke.

Memory Cafe  Memory Cafe is a comfortable, free social gathering that allows people experiencing memory loss and a loved one to connect and build new support networks at the Aurora Wellness Center, Classroom C. For information, or first-time attendees, contact Chad at 262-212-3596 or csutkay@touchinghearts.com.

Walk with a Doc  Get out, get active and enjoy good conversation on the third Saturday of the month at Burlington High School, 400 McCanna Parkway. Learn about a current health topic, then spend the rest of the hour enjoying a walk at your own pace and distance with a medical provider. The program is free, and no registration is required. Meet at the front entrance vestibule by the flagpole.

Art Therapy Open Studio  Open Studio is an art group designed to aid in self-expression relaxation, and personal growth. Open Studio is open to current and past cancer patients, companions and caretakers. Each session is facilitated by a credentialed art therapist and will include a featured project. All supplies provided. Learn more by visiting https://bit.ly/AMCBarttherapy.

For more information about Aurora Health Care programs, www.aurorahealthcare.org/classes-events/ or call 800-499-5736.l

Spectrum offers classes

RACINE  Spectrum School of the Arts and Community Gallery, located in the East Building of the DeKoven Center, 2000 Wisconsin Ave., is offering winter fine arts classes for adults and high school students. All classes are small (between four and 10 students per class) and are highly instructional according to the individuals needs, goals and abilities. All levels of experience are welcome.

Drawing and/or Painting: 9 a.m. to noon, flexible scheduling Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays through March 13. Individualized instruction for all levels. Instructor: Denise Zingg. Five classes: $150; 10 classes: $250.00.

Beginning Digital SLR Photography: 6:308:30 p.m., Mondays from Jan. 15 through Feb. 12. Learn the controls of you SLR (not for point-and-shoot cameras) and take excellent photographs. Bring your camera and instruction manual. Instructor: Denise Zingg. Five weeks: $125.

Ceramics: 9:30 a.m. to noon, Saturdays from Feb. 3 through March 23. Learn how to work clay with creative hand-building or throwing pots on the wheel. Includes 25 pounds of clay, use of equipment, firings and glazes, plus extra studio time. Instructor: Mark Hyde. $200.

Intro to Black and White Film and Darkroom Photography: 6:309 p.m. Wednesdays from Feb. 21 through March 20. Learn all about the fundamentals of photography in this classic medium and create stunning black and white prints in the darkroom. Two rolls of film, chemicals and extra darkroom time included. Camera rentals available. Five weeks: $175.

Customized classes and workshops are provided for three or more adults, children or family combination. Private art and music lessons for adults and children also are available. Half-hour lessons are $30, or $1 per minute.

Traditional darkrooms, a matting and framing room, and ceramics studios are available for individual work. The cost is $65 each per month or $180 for a three-month pass. (Ceramics studios include firings; darkrooms include chemicals.)

Call 262-634-4345 to register. Space is limited to 10 students. Material lists are available at www.spectrumschoolandgallery.org.
CALEDONIA  Several law enforcement agencies are looking for a 23-year-old Milwaukee man in connection to a high-speed chase that happened Friday evening.

At 6:55 p.m., the Caledonia Police Department received a call about a gray 2011 Hyundai Sonata that allegedly had been taken by force and was at a business on the 13600 block of Seven Mile Road.

A Racine County Sheriffs Office deputy reportedly saw the car traveling southbound near Highway 20 and a traffic stop was initiated near Highway KR.

According to RCSO, the car slowed down and appeared to be pulling over before speeding away.

A pursuit was initiated, with speeds reportedly reaching more than 110 mph.

After the Kenosha County Sheriffs Department joined the pursuit, the car reportedly entered a subdivision off Highway C and Bain Station Road, and drove into a yard in the 9000 block of Ashbury Lane.

The driver, later identified Million D. Harper, allegedly ran away.

A 22-year-old woman and a 1-year-old girl were passengers in the car. The woman reportedly told authorities that she had pleaded with Harper to stop the car.

Although members of the Kenosha County Sheriffs Department, Pleasant Prairie Police Department, City of Kenosha Police Department and Wisconsin State Patrol, along with several K9 units and drones, conducted a search, they were unable to find Harper.

Anyone with information about Harpers location is asked to call the Racine County Communications Center at 262-886-2300 or their local law enforcement agency.
Local law enforcement agencies are searching for a Milwaukee man believed to have fled from police at high speeds in a stolen vehicle Friday night.

The driver was identified by authorities as Million D. Harper, 23, of Milwaukee.

The Caledonia Police Department originally received a call about a stolen vehicle taken from the Mobil Gas Station at 13600 Seven Mile Road around 7 p.m. The vehicle was identified as a gray 2011 Hyundai Sonata with Wisconsin registration.

A Racine County sheriffs deputy was patrolling the Interstate 94 area when he located the vehicle heading south near Highway 20, according to a prepared statement from the Racine County Sheriffs Office. Once the deputies initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle near Highway KR, the driver slowed down and appeared to be pulling over, according to Racine County Lt. Joseph Patla. The driver, however, then sped off at speeds which exceeded 110 mph.

Assistance from the Kenosha County Sheriffs Department was requested. When the suspect observed a Kenosha County sheriffs squad, the vehicle abruptly exited at Highway C and then into a subdivision off Highway C and Bain Station Road, crashing into a yard in the 9000 block of Ashbury Lane. Harper then fled on foot.

As deputies started to pursue the suspect on foot, a 22-year-old woman exited the front passenger seat with a 1-year-old girl. At the time of high-speed pursuit, authorities said deputies did now know there was a child in the car. The woman reportedly told law enforcement she was pleading for the man to stop.

A perimeter was established with assistance from Kenosha County Sheriffs Department, Pleasant Prairie Police Department, Kenosha Police Department and Wisconsin State Patrol. Several K-9 units, as well as drones, were deployed in an attempt to find Harper, who could not be located.

An investigation revealed the vehicle was stolen from a family member in Milwaukee. That family member was able to track the car and alert authorities to the gas station in Caledonia.

Kenosha County Sgt. Colin Coultrip said Harper could have been picked up by another vehicle on Highway C.

Harper remains at large and is actively wanted by numerous law enforcement agencies, Coultrip said in a statement. He could be armed and clearly will flee. Kenosha Sheriffs Department deputies and other law enforcement officials remained in the area through the night conducting proactive enforcement for our community.

Anyone with information as to Harpers location can call the Racine County Communications Center at 262-886-2300 or their local law enforcement agency.

The after-effects of the TikTok Kia Challenge on car insurance The after-effects of the TikTok Kia Challenge on car insurance How specifically has this affected the owners of Kia and Hyundai? The Kia challenge targets specific vehicle models Level of impact
RAYMOND  Two Raymond School Board members are challenging their recalls, but petitioners argue the board members have not provided evidence to support their claims.

Signed recall petitions against Gwen Keller and Janell Wise were submitted to the Raymond School Board before its Dec. 18 regular meeting.

There were 667 signatures to recall Wise and 666 signatures to recall Keller.

Each petition required at least 497 signatures, because a recall election is triggered if there are signatures equal to or greater than 25% of the votes cast in the voting district in the most recent governor election.

Jan. 18 is the deadline for the School Board to verify if there are enough signatures.

Concerned parents and community members supporting the recalls believe Keller and Wise have not adhered to their duties as board members and that more transparency and accountability is needed.

Our stance and our goal in all of this has been to return the School Board to a composition that will do what its supposed to do, will focus on the kids, will focus on doing the task at hand and taking care of the school, parent Mitchell Berman said. This board hasnt been doing that  Thats all we ask. Its not an us versus them. Its an us versus ineptitude.

Challenges, responses

Keller and Wise are serving three-year terms that end April 2025.

According to Wisconsin state law, a recall requires a reason related to the official responsibilities of the official.

Recall supporters argue that, as School Board members, Keller and Wise have discriminated against Raymond School Principal Jeff Peterson and not followed Wisconsins open meeting laws. They also argue that Keller, who was board clerk at the time, did not follow state election law related to a spring 2023 recount.

In a statement about alleged discrimination against Peterson, Keller and Wise said any notion that the school district or its board members would tolerate any discrimination, including that which is based on sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected classification, is ridiculous and extremely disappointing.

In fall 2023, the Racine County Sheriffs Office closed its investigation and did not recommend charges regarding an open meeting law complaint against the Raymond School Board.

A decision has not been issued on a complaint filed in fall 2023 with the Wisconsin Elections Commission related to the April 2023 Raymond School Board election recount.

In her Dec. 28 challenge, Keller argued that the reasons for the recalls are based on falsehoods.

Wise shared a similar sentiment in her Dec. 28 challenge.

The entire justification for the recall is a misrepresentation, Wise wrote in her challenge. Accusations are not based on any actual facts or evidence  The actual purpose for the recall is that this group of people dont like the decisions I am making and are using any talking point they can come up with to discredit me.

Robin Gavigan filed a response to Kellers challenge, and Deb Mikolajczyk filed a response to Wises challenge. The responses are identical except for the board members last names.

Both responses asked Amanda Falaschi, School Board clerk, to reject the board members challenges and certify the recall petitions.

Falaschi was named board clerk at a special Raymond School Board meeting Dec. 21. Keller previously served as clerk.

In their Jan. 2 responses, Gavigan and Mikolajczyk wrote that the misrepresentation accusations from Keller and Wise were baseless and unfounded.

It is crucial to clarify that the purpose of the petition was to remove (Keller and Wise) from (their) school board seat(s) through a recall election, Gavigan and Mikolajczyk wrote. This purpose was never misrepresented to anyone who signed the petition  It is evident that (Keller and Wise are) conflating the reasons for the recall with the purpose of the petition. In doing so, (they are) misleading constituents and misrepresenting the process for the legal removal of petition signatures.

Gavigan and Mikolajczyk are members of the Raymond Community for Truth and Transparency Recall Committee, the group that organized the recalls starting in October.

Asking to remove, not count signatures

In their challenges, Keller and Wise alleged that some people who signed the recall petitions were given false or misleading information.

Gavigan and Mikolajczyk denied the allegation in their responses.

The recall committee wholly rebuffs any implied notion constituents were intentionally deceived or lied to, Gavigan and Mikolajczyk wrote. However, it is important to note that the recall committee cannot determine how constituents will interpret the facts that are presented to them or the inferences they may make.

Some people are signing notarized affidavits to have their recall signatures removed before Jan. 18, according to Keller and Wise.

Berman, a recall committee member, said the committee is aware of three affidavits from people who want their signatures removed from the recall petitions.

However, Berman said many more people still favor the recall.

The number of people that are in support of this, that are standing behind this, that want to see these people removed from these positions and want to instill integrity back into the School Board  those people far outweigh the people that are having second thoughts, Berman said.

Berman said he expected the challenges from Keller and Wise but was surprised by how they challenged the recall signatures.

We pretty much anticipated that they were going to put up every hurdle that they can to try and slow the process down, Berman said. The fact that they went after individual members of the community  thats what I think we were taken aback by. They had less concern with the process and more concern with disenfranchising the people.

Questions of eligibility

In their challenges, Keller and Wise also alleged that some of the recall petitions signatures should not be counted. They alleged that some people who signed the petitions were ineligible to do so for several reasons, including that they do not live in school district boundaries, had illegible handwriting and that some signatures appeared to have the same handwriting.

The responses from Gavigan and Mikolajczyk argued that the names of some people who signed the recall petitions dont appear on property records associated with addresses but that the people are still eligible electors. People could rent a property, a property could be in someone elses name or in a trust, among other reasons, according to the responses.

Gavigan and Mikolajczyk also questioned if Keller and Wise are handwriting experts.

As responsible challenger(s), it is incumbent upon (Wise and Keller) to present factual and substantiated arguments to discredit the petition, Gavigan and Mikolajczyk wrote. However, thus far, no credible evidence has been provided to validate any of the claims (they have) made. Without substantial proof, it becomes increasingly difficult to take (their) objection(s) seriously.

Board member reply

Keller did not respond to a request for comment about if she replied to Gavigans response.

In a Jan. 4 reply to Mikolajczyks response, Wise, the School Board vice president, asked Falaschi, the board clerk, to allow the full time allotted to do a thorough review of all the signatures.

The full time allotted is Jan. 18, which is the deadline for the Raymond School Board to verify recall signatures.

Ensuring that this process includes a diligent review models exactly the democratic principles upon which our society is built, Wise wrote. My request to ensure integrity in the recall certification process shouldnt be interpreted as a lack of respect for the process but rather each of us doing our role to ensure it is done properly out of utmost respect for the process. We owe it to our fellow neighbors and taxpayers to ensure that this process is thoroughly vetted.

If enough recall signatures are verified by Jan. 18, a recall election would occur on the sixth Tuesday after the School Board verification.

Berman said the recall committee is in the process of retaining an attorney to assist with the recall situation, which he believes will end up in court.

Ten photos of the Raymond School Board Dec. 18 meeting Raymond School has named its new leader for the rest of the school year. Heiden and Kostuch James Heiden, left, talks with Audrey Kostuch on Monday before a Raymond School Board meeting. Kostuch, board president, and board members app Heiden meet and greet James Heiden, left, talks with an attendee Monday before a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. Heiden was appointed Raymond School int Peter Kempen Peter Kempen, Raymond School interim principal, talks Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. Kempen's first day was Dec.  Garvey and Kostuch Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. Signed recall petitions Dorae Moonen presents signed recall petitions Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. The petitions are to recall board me Dorae Moonen Dorae Moonen presents signed recall petitions Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. The petitions are to recall board me Heiden and Lewis Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. Board meeting School Board President Audrey Kostuch, left, listens to Superintendent Michael Garvey on Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76 Audrey Kostuch Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. Janell Wise Board member Janell Wise walks Monday during a Raymond School Board meeting, 2659 76th St. Signed recall petitions for Wise and board member G Raymond School Board Dec. 18, 2023
The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be kept off the ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, inserting the court squarely in the 2024 presidential campaign.
1. Yes. It will be convenient and the fares are cheap. I plan to use the transit system often.

2. Yes. I have a vehicle, but I may still use the service now and then, especially in bad weather.

3. No. I dont use the current bus service, and I dont plan to use the micro-transit service either.

4. No. It may be fine in town, but it still involves a transfer for longer trips. That wont work.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say. It depends on how well the service works once its in place.

Vote

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Indian Navy commandos yesterday (January 5) thwarted an attempt by armed individuals to hijack a Bahrain-bound Liberian tanker off Somalias coast in the North Arabian Sea, said media reports.

Marine commandos on board Indian Navys missile destroyer INS Chennai on Friday intercepted the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier MV Lila Norfolk  hijacked by Somalian pirates in the north Arabian Sea a day before  and rescued all the 21 crew members, including 15 Indians.

"The attempt of hijacking by the pirates was probably abandoned with the forceful warning by the Indian Navy," a navy spokesperson said.

The vessel was sailing from Port Du Aco in Brazil and was destined to reach Khalifa Bin Salman in Bahrain when it was hijacked 300 nautical miles east of Somalia.

"All the 21 crew, including 15 Indians, on board have been safely evacuated from the citadel. The sanitisation by Marcos has confirmed the absence of the hijackers personnel," he added.

Since INS Chennai was in the vicinity, the warship was pressed into action. INS Chennai, diverted from her anti-piracy patrol, intercepted the merchant vessel at 15.15 hours on Jan 5. The ship was kept under continuous surveillance using maritime patrol aircraft, Predator MQ9B (drones) and helicopters.

The Indian Navy marine commandos boarded the vessel and commenced sanitisation, he said. Earlier in the day, an Indian aircraft flew over the vessel and established contact with the ship,

On Thursday evening, the UK Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO) informed New Delhi about the hijacking attempt after the vessel sent a message on its portal, indicating boarding by five to six unknown armed personnel on January 4 evening.

The Indian Navy, which had increased its surveillance of the Arabian Sea after recent attacks in the region, immediately sprung into action.

India has currently deployed four destroyers  INS Kochi, INS Kolkata, INS Mormugao and INS Chennai  and Talwar-class frigates and missile boats in the Arabian Sea to ensure maritime security, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring the safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries," stated the report citing a statement by the Indian Defence Ministry.

Worlds largest shipping firm Maersk suspended Red Sea traffic after Iranian-backed Houthi attacks last month following the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

A ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels slammed into a cargo vessel in the Red Sea near the Bab El Mandeb Strait, following another attack hours earlier that struck a separate vessel.

The White House on Wednesday released a joint statement by 44 countries, including Bahrain, condemning Houthi attacks against commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea. There has been a significant escalation over the past week with Houthis targeting commercial vessels with missiles, small boats, and attempted hijackings.
I am writing this article for a day that has gone down in history: Jan. 6, Epiphany.

Yes, thats right. As recorded in Matthew 2, the day begins with turmoil in Israels royal court of King Herod when certain foreign magi came seeking a newborn monarch. Since these wise men were outsiders, both politically and religiously, they may not have realized the fear and jealous firestorm precipitated by their inquiry.

Epiphany is a Greek word that means manifest. Several dictionaries describe epiphany as a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something. I like, Aha, I get it! with the realization that I need divine help in getting it.

It is easy to be caught up in aspects of the story and miss the epiphany. We struggle to understand the exotic astronomy that still seeks explanation (was it a comet, or a special formation of stars in Persian astrology charts?)

We do know the magi followed this first century GPS (KING-STAR system) which temporarily rerouted them (like my Waze misdirected me the other day). The epiphany for me is more reflective. What guides am I trusting to help me find my way on lifes journey?

And the gifts they brought to baby Jesus! For a nativity scene, the gold, frankincense and myrrh are serious bling, becoming signs, according to We Three Kinds, of the royal priest willing to die for his subjects.

Other songs and stories offer alternative gifts: lambs that signify sacrifice, crutches testifying of healing, and little drummer boys offering the gift of themselves. For me, a moment of aha came while singing In the Bleak Midwinter with the haunting end line, What can I give him? Give him my heart.

Yet with all the magic, wonder, and drama of the Epiphany story, I invite us to revel in a simpler aha moment. Matthew tells us that the visitors presumed the story of Gods work; that it would happen in the religious center of the Temple, or through the palace of power. Only later did they find the star stopped over the humble home in Bethlehem, and they blessed that house.

That epiphany struck me again as I recently witnessed house dedications for three industrious Habitat for Humanity families this past year (homes 95, 96 and 97 for Kearney!). It was a true blessing working alongside the families throughout the building season, but it was a marvelous experience coming together in each living room with the December stars and Christmas lights shining outside.

The ceremonies of house blessing were beautiful, but I was most touched by the comments of the families who had worked so hard on their homes. They were appreciative and humbled to have made a home with the joyful help of the community.

One Epiphany tradition that is shared by various church traditions encourages families to have a house blessing. Perhaps this could be a season for you to recognize the star shining over your house.

You may not see it, but the Guiding Light is always present. Gods word of promise is that He is always willing to lead us in our struggle/journey. We are assured of his constant gifts of forgiveness, fellowship, and acceptance. Consider sharing this brief blessing in your home, and may you have an aha to Gods presence with you.

A prayer follows from Augsburg Fortress:

O God, you revealed your Son to all people by the shining light of a star. We pray that you bless this home and all who live here with your gracious presence. May your love be our inspiration, your wisdom our guide, your truth our light, and your peace our benediction; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
LYONS  Military veterans interested in agriculture are invited to attend a series of on-farm and virtual workshops highlighting farm stores, onsite and off. This course is free for active military service members and military veterans.

Hosted by the Center for Rural Affairs, the 11-session series, Agritourism through Farm Stores, starts Feb. 19 and runs through August. The workshops will rotate between online classroom sessions and on-farm sessions with an online option.

In our classroom sessions, participants will hear from experts, learn business and financial skills, and obtain resources applicable to farm stores, whether it be an actual storefront, online store, or a farm stand, said Kirstin Bailey, senior project associate for the Center. During the on-farm sessions, experienced farmers will go through the ins and outs of on- and off-site farm stores, how they set up their on-farm buying experiences, and challenges they have faced.

Session topics include obtaining proper equipment, maintaining adequate facilities, setting up purchasing systems, and more.

Farmer-leaders with experience in various types of agriculture and agritourism (such as poultry, pork, beef, beekeeping) will be available to assist participants throughout the courses online platform.

For more information or to register, contact Bailey at 402-870-2390 or kirstinb@cfra.org.

Participant stipends are available to cover approved expenses such as travel, meals, and childcare. Individuals are welcome to attend with family members. For on-farm events, physical accommodations may be made upon request.

Find a detailed schedule, including dates and times of sessions, at cfra.org/AgVets2024.

Programming is funded through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Training to become a health care professional is anything but easy. In addition to exceptional grades and high entrance exam scores, acceptance into professional programs  whether it be medical school, a physician assistant program or graduate studies in science  requires research and health care experience.

With the help of local sponsors, six talented college students got first-hand experience in the day-to-day work of health care professionals and the rigors of research through participation in an immersive summer experience at Gundersen Health Systems La Crosse campus.

Since 1985, the A.C.V. Elston, III, MD, summer research fellowship has provided an opportunity for college students from all over the U.S. to engage in medical research at Gundersen. The fellowship is funded in part by the generous donations of community members who seek to help future professionals attain their goals by providing a robust experience in medical research.

Last summer, each fellow experienced the challenging process of gathering data, analyzing results and creating a formal research presentation. The process culminated in three days of podium presentations where the fellows presented their findings in front of a packed auditorium at Gundersen. In attendance were family, friends, clinicians, researchers and, of course, program sponsors. This forum provided a unique opportunity for fellows to meet the community members who invested in their futures.

Meeting my sponsor following my presentation introduced me to an individual I aspire to become: a person that philanthropically provides an opportunity for a student they had never met before to gain life-changing experiences, said Devin Bocook, a senior at the University of Kentucky. I never thought that my sponsor, once a stranger, would provide me with an opportunity to help further my path in academia and medicine.

Bocook, now in the process of applying to medical school, has gained acceptance to multiple schools throughout the country.

Although research is a focus of the program, the Elston Fellowship offers much more. Fellows observe clinicians, participate in simulation labs, attend lectures and hone their medical and graduate school interview skills. All these experiences provide great benefit to the students as they pursue healthcare careers.

My experience at Gundersen reaffirmed my passion for medicine. Having the opportunity to engage with salient research projects, shadow a vast variety of skilled specialists, and participate in the unique simulation opportunities allowed me to gain insights on aspects of the physician profession that I had not quite witnessed before, said Emily Chopra, a senior at the University of Georgia and current medical school applicant. While the medical school application process has been arduous, my time at Gundersen has shown me what is ahead. I am so excited to take the next step in my journey to becoming a doctor.

Thanks to the generosity of local donors, these future professionals will certainly enrich the lives of many in our community and beyond.

Are you interested in becoming a donor for the A.C.V. Elston, III, MD, summer research fellowship? Contact Andrew Steger, manager of philanthropy, at the Gundersen Medical Foundation at (608) 775-1575 or amsteger@gundersenhealth.org.
Four years after the last census, almost a dozen small communities in the Midwest are going to be counted again in hopes of getting a new grocery store or more state funding to build roads, fire stations and parks.

Eleven small cities in Illinois and Iowa are the only municipalities so far to have signed agreements with the U.S. Census Bureau for a second count of their residents in 2024 and 2025, in a repeat of what happened during the 2020 census. The first year in which the special censuses can be conducted is 2024.

With one exception, city officials don't think the numbers from the original count were inaccurate. It's just that their populations have grown so fast in three years that officials believe they are leaving state funding for roads and other items on the table by not adding the extra growth to their population totals. Some also believe that new results from a second count will open up their community to new businesses by showing they have crossed a population threshold.

"We anticipate a significant increase in population from the special census, particularly given that we have had a record building-permit year," said Marketa Oliver, city administrator for Bondurant, Iowa, a city of more than 8,700 residents in mid-2022, the last year figures are available, which is an 18% increase over the count in 2020.

Officials in Norwalk, Iowa, hope the second count shows the city has surpassed 15,000 people, since that is the threshold typically used as a rule of thumb in commercial real estate for when a community can support a business like a supermarket.

Once a city hits 15,000, the market opens up tremendously, said Luke Nelson, Norwalks city manager.

Unlike the 2020 census, the second counts wont be used for redrawing political districts or determining how many congressional seats each state gets. Instead, they will be used to determine how much the communities will get in state funding that often is calculated by population size. Communities losing population in the past three years have nothing to worry about  their declining numbers wont catch up with them until after the 2030 census.

Local, state and tribal governments across the U.S. have until May 2027 to ask for a special census from the Census Bureau. While the tab for the 2020 head count was picked up by the federal government, the local municipalities have to foot the bill for their special censuses. The cost isnt cheap, ranging from just over $370,000 to almost $500,000 for the communities.

Some communities have already forged ahead with their own do-it-yourself recounts, unwilling to pay the price tag for a bureau-organized special census. Others have challenged their numbers with the Census Bureau and gotten small wins.

The cities in Iowa paying for a Census Bureau-run second count  Altoona, Bondurant, Grimes, Johnston, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill and Waukee  are fast-growing suburbs of Des Moines. The reason special censuses are so popular in Iowa is because the state uses the once-a-decade head count as the official population when it comes to funding based on population size, said Gary Krob, coordinator for the State Data Center at the State Library of Iowa.

Other states between censuses use annual population estimates for calculating how much funding local governments should get each year.

That means the 2020 census population is currently the official count for every city and county in Iowa, Krob said. The only way to adjust your population count between now and 2030 is to conduct a special census with the Census Bureau and then have this new count certified by the Iowa Secretary of State."

The geography of the Illinois cities and their reasons for seeking a second count  McDonough, Pingree Grove, Urbana and Warrenville  are a little more scattershot than in Iowa.

Officials in Warrenville, a suburb of Chicago with more than 13,500 residents in 2020, believe they can get an extra $1.2 million annually in federal and state funding, based on the calculation that they have added almost 1,000 new residents from several new housing developments.

The Village of Pingree Grove outside Chicago has experienced rapid growth, doubling from more than 4,500 residents in 2010 to more than 10,300 residents in 2020. Village officials believe there will be 12,300 residents in 2024, so the special census is needed to bring in an increased share of state revenues, versus waiting another six years for the 2030 Census, said Laura Ortega, the village clerk.

University of Illinois students make up about half the population of the college town of Urbana and city officials maintain the 2020 census missed a lot of them.

During the 2020 census, places with large numbers of students emptied out as campuses shut down in-person classes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Urbana's expected modest population gain for the 2020 census ended up being a 7% decrease from the 2010 head count, with the largest decreases in student neighborhoods near campus, Mayor Diane Marlin said in an email.

The uncounted students are costing the city at least $500,000 to $750,000 annually in missing state and federal funding, the mayor said. The 2024 count in Urbana will be limited to neighborhoods that saw the biggest decreases.

If we recapture our population through a more accurate count, we recapture lost revenue," Marlin said.

Boomers are moving to these cities for their golden years Boomers are moving to these cities for their golden years Here's a closer look at the top 10 cities where baby boomers are moving
WASHINGTON  In the follow-up to their 2018 bestseller "How Democracies Die," authors Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write about three rules that political parties must follow: accept the results of fair elections, reject the use of violence to gain power and break ties to extremists.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, they write, only one U.S. political party "violated all three."

On Saturday, the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, former President Donald Trump remained the leading Republican candidate in 2024. He still refuses to acknowledge his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. Far from rejecting the rioters, he suggested he would pardon some of those convicted of violent crimes. Rather than distance himself from extremists, he welcomes them at his rallies and calls them patriots.

Trump is now backed by many of the Republican leaders who fled for their lives and hid from the rioters, even some who had condemned Trump. Several top GOP leaders have endorsed his candidacy.

The support for Trump starkly highlights the divisions in the aftermath of the deadly storming of the Capitol and frames the question about whose definition of governance will prevail  or if democracy will prevail at all.

"If our political leaders do not stand up in defense of democracy, our democracy won't be defended," said Levitsky, one of the Harvard professors whose new book is "Tyranny of the Minority."

"There's no country in the world, no country on Earth in history, where the politicians abdicated democracy but the institutions held," he told The Associated Press. "People have to defend democracy."

The third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack comes during the most convulsive period in American politics in at least a generation, with Congress barely able to keep up with the basics of governing, and the start of the presidential nominating contests just over a week away.

Trump's persistent false claims that the election of 2020 was stolen  which were rejected in at least 60 court cases, every state election certification and by the former president's one-time attorney general  continue to animate the presidential race as he eyes a rematch with Biden.

Trump now faces more than 90 criminal charges in federal and state courts, including the federal indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of conspiring to defraud the U.S. over the election.

Biden, speaking Friday near Pennsylvania's Valley Forge, commemorated Jan. 6, saying on that day "we nearly lost America  lost it all."

While Congress returned that night to certify the election results and show the world democracy was still standing, Biden said Trump is now trying to revise the narrative of what happened that day  calling the rioters "patriots" and promising to pardon them. And he said some Republicans in Congress were complicit.

"When the attack on Jan. 6 happened, there was no doubt about the truth," Biden said. "Now these MAGA voices  who know the truth about Trump and Jan. 6  have abandoned the truth and abandoned the democracy."

At a quieter Capitol, without much ceremony planned for Saturday, it will be the last time the anniversary passes before Congress is called upon again on Jan. 6, 2025, to certify the results of the presidential election  democracy once more put to the test.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who led Trump's impeachment over the insurrection, said Biden's 306-232 electoral victory in 2020 remains "the hard, inescapable, irradicable fact that Donald Trump and his followers have not been able to accept  to this day."

Raskin envisions a time when there will be a Capitol exhibit, and tours for visitors, to commemorate what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. Five people died during the riot and the immediate aftermath, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police.

All told,140 police officers were injured in the Capitol siege, including U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died later. Several others died later by suicide.

One officer, Harry Dunn, announced he is running for Congress to "ensure it never happens again."

Trump's decision to reject the results of the 2020 election was the only time Americans have not witnessed the peaceful transfer of presidential power, a hallmark of U.S. democracy.

Trump opened his first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign with a popular recording of the J6 Prison Choir  riot defendants singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" recorded over a phone line from jail, interspersed with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

More than 1,200 people have been charged in the riot, with nearly 900 convicted, including leaders of the extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who are serving lengthy terms for seditious conspiracy.

Trump called Jan. 6 defendants "hostages" and said there was so much love at the "Stop the Steal" rally he held near the White House that day before he encouraged the mob to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, assuring he would be with them at the Capitol, though he never did join.

Allies of Trump scoff at the narrative of Jan. 6 that has emerged. Mike Davis, a Trump ally sometimes mentioned as a future attorney general, mocked the Democrats and others for turning Jan. 6 into a "religious holiday."

Republican Kevin McCarthy, who went on to become House speaker, called Jan. 6 the "saddest day" he ever had in Congress. But the California Republican, who retired last month, endorsed Trump for president and said he would consider joining his Cabinet.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he would back whomever becomes the Republican Party nominee, despite a scathing speech at the time in which he called Trump's actions "disgraceful" and said the rioters "had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election."

Asked about Trump's second-term agenda, GOP lawmakers brushed off his admission that he would be a dictator on "day one."

"He's joking," said Trump ally Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2024 1. West Virginia 2. Montana 3. Ohio 4. Pennsylvania 5. Arizona 6. Nevada 8. Michigan 9. Texas 10. Florida Analysis: Pennsylvania moves up list of contested Senate seats in 2024 7. Wisconsin
The owner of a Minocqua brewing company on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to bar Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in Wisconsin, saying the former presidents involvement in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the nations Capitol makes him ineligible to run.

Trump should be disqualified from serving as president under the so-called insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution, which bars anyone who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States from holding office, Minocqua Brewing Co. owner Kirk Bangstad argues in the lawsuit filed in Dane County Circuit Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday it will consider Trumps appeals of decisions by the Colorado Supreme Court and Maines Democratic secretary of state declaring him ineligible for the presidency. It will be the first time the nations highest court has ruled on the rarely used Civil War-era provision.

A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court will apply to all 50 states, meaning a ruling in Trumps favor will make Bangstads lawsuit moot.

In the lawsuit, Bangstad contends that Trump is disqualified from serving as president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, and is therefore also disqualified from appearing on the ballot in the 2024 Wisconsin Republican presidential preference primary election.

Bangstad initially filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, but the agency promptly dismissed the complaint last week because it was filed directly against members of the bipartisan agency.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers told The Associated Press this week removing Trump from the ballot wouldnt solve anything because, at the end of the day, I think the U.S. Supreme Court is going to say, Were going to let the people decide.

Do I think that he has done things that make Donald Trump disqualified? Evers said. Yeah, but then people can vote against him.

In a split decision Dec. 19, the Colorado Supreme Court found Trump ineligible to be included in that states presidential primary. That ruling was the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to disqualify a presidential candidate.

Last week, Maines top election official declared Trump ineligible to appear on the states ballots.

In Trumps appeal, his attorneys have said the provision in the Constitution does not apply to the president.

His lawyers also contend that the question of who is covered by a rarely used clause of the Constitution is political and cannot be decided by unelected judges. They contend that Jan. 6 wasnt an insurrection  it wasnt widespread, they say, and didnt involve large numbers of firearms or other markers of sedition. They say Trump didnt engage in anything that day other than in exercising his protected free speech rights.

The Michigan Supreme Court last week said it will not hear an appeal of a lower courts ruling from groups seeking to keep Trump from appearing on the ballot, noting that we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court.

The plaintiffs in Michigan can technically try again to disqualify Trump in the general election, though its likely there will be a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the issue by then.

Last summer, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit funded by Bangstads Minocqua Brewing Co. Super PAC seeking to block U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, and U.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, and Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, from being on the ballot that year for supporting efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

Tiffany and Fitzgerald were among 121 House Republicans who voted to object to counting Joe Bidens presidential electors from Arizona on Jan. 6, 2021. Tiffany and Fitzgerald also were among 138 Republicans who voted to object to Bidens Pennsylvania electors.

Johnson tried to pass documents signed by 10 Wisconsin Republicans alleging that Trump had won the 2020 election to former Vice President Mike Pence as Pence prepared to certify the election. The vice presidents office declined to accept the document from Johnson.

In that ruling, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said the plaintiffs claim, if it exists at all, was procedurally improper and would best be resolved by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The states bipartisan Presidential Preference Selection Committee on Monday selected Trump, along with five other Republicans, and President Joe Biden to be on Wisconsins April 2 presidential primary ballot.

The names next go to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which will approve them for the ballot.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
India's space agency ISRO began the year with a bang as its first solar observation mission, Aditya-L1 today (January 6) reached the spot in space from where it will be able to continuously watch the Sun.

The country's space agency ISRO had launched it just days after India made history by becoming the first to land near the Moon's south pole through its moon mission Chandrayaan, reported BBC.

The spacecraft has been travelling towards the Sun for four months since lift-off on 2 September.

India's first space-based mission to study the solar system's biggest object is named after Surya - the Hindu god of the Sun, who is also known as Aditya.

L1 stands for Lagrange point 1 - the exact place between the Sun and Earth where the spacecraft has now reached. L1 is located 1.5 million km from the Earth, which is 1% of the Earth-Sun distance.

Space agency Isro launched it just days after India made history by becoming the first to land near the Moon's south pole.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the mission was "a landmark" and an "extraordinary feat".

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Modi said: "It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions."

The final manoeuvre was performed on Saturday at around 16:00 India time (10:30 GMT) to place Aditya in L1's orbit, the Times of India reported.

Isro chief S Somanath previously told the BBC that the agency would trap the craft in orbit and would occasionally need to perform more manoeuvres to keep it in place.

Once Aditya-L1 reaches this "parking spot" it will be able to orbit the Sun at the same rate as the Earth. From this vantage point it will be able to watch the Sun constantly, even during eclipses and occultations, and carry out scientific studies.
Harvard Universitys Claudine Gay recently became the second Ivy League president to step down under pressure from alumni, political activists and supporters of the University.

Gay was the first Black president of Harvard and second woman to lead the university. She started the job only six months ago.

Gay and two other presidents were widely criticized after making controversial comments to the U.S. Congress in December.

Gay, along with Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, were called to Washington to discuss American lawmakers concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. Antisemitism is the hatred of Jewish people.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education chose the presidents because their schools had been at the center of the rise in antisemitic protests, a committee spokesperson said in a statement.

The protests were related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Harvard graduate Elise Stefanik of New York is part of the Republican-led committee. She asked each university leader about how their school would react to calls to kill large numbers of Jews, something described as genocide.

Stefanik asked Magill: Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penns rules or code of conduct? Yes or no? Penn is the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Ivy League.

She asked the same question of Gay and Kornbluth.

None of the school leaders were able to clearly say calling for the death of Jews violated school rules.

The presidents were sharply criticized for their lack of clarity. Within a few days, influential members of the University of Pennsylvania community pushed Magill to resign.

For a time, it looked as if Gays job was safe. She received support from some notable professors at Harvard, including legal scholar Laurence Tribe.

Tribe said it is dangerous for universities to be  bullied into micromanaging their policies. He was talking about the way some activists and politicians seemed to be pushing the universities toward their preferred result.

One of those activists is Christopher Rufo. Rufo is a member of the leadership group that oversees New College of Florida. With the support of Governor Ron DeSantis, Rufo and others have been pushing the small college to change its curriculum.

After Gay announced her resignation on January 2, Rufo wrote words of celebration on X, formerly known as Twitter. He and other conservatives believe American higher education has too many liberal people in leadership roles.

Gays position at Harvard looked safe in December. So what changed?

In the weeks following the congressional hearing, some critics charged Gay with using duplicative language in academic writing. To duplicate means to make an exact copy of something.

They also said Gay had plagiarized -- or claimed others writing as her own.

The charges, however, did not come from those working in higher education. They came from people like Rufo who are working to push out higher education leaders they do not agree with.

At first, Harvard said it did not consider Gays work to be intentional or reckless. But pressure continued.

Many observers believe the conservative activists felt Gay only received Harvards presidency because she was a Black woman.

On X, Rufo wrote that he was establishing a plagiarism hunting fund as a way to oust university leaders and bring attention to the rot in the Ivy League.

Gay wrote a letter to the Harvard community announcing she was leaving her position with a heavy heart. She also said it was frightening to be attacked due to her race. Gay said she would remain at Harvard as a professor.

Plagiarism complaints as a tool

Academic experts who have been following the pressure campaign on Gay say the plagiarism accusations only came after it looked like she would not lose her job.

They worry that people who do not like the leaders of major American universities will now research their academic writing in search of duplications and poor citations.

Davarian Baldwin is a historian at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He writes about race and higher education. Baldwin said Gay made mistakes in her writing and noted that anti-plagiarism software will make it easy for critics to find problematic writing by college leaders and professors.

The tools are designed to help educators learn whether their students writings are their own. But Baldwin said the tools can be dangerous if they fall into the hands of people who want to argue that academia is full of corrupt and incompetent people. Incompetent means someone lacks the ability to do something well.

Irene Mulvey is president of the American Association of University Professors. She said plagiarism investigations could be weaponized to push out presidents.

She said she is concerned that conservative activists will use the successful campaign against Gay as a method to push out other academic leaders.

For presidents to be taken down like this, it does not bode well for academic freedom, she said.

Im Dan Friedell. And Im Gena Bennett.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

Quiz - Harvard Presidents Ouster Leads to Concerns about Academic Freedom Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

______________________________________________

Words in This Story

alumni n. the people who graduated from a school or university

campus n. the physical location of a college or universitys buildings

code of conduct n. rules on how to participate in a group, such as how to be a student at a university

bully v. to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person) : to act like a bully toward (someone)

micromanage v. to try to control all parts of something usually in a way that is not wanted

preferred adj. the better choice among multiple things

curriculum n. a study plan set up for students by a professor or school

preferred adj. the better choice among multiple things

rot n. decay or lack of health

bode well v. to feel positive about the future of something

We want to hear from you. Do you think university presidents should be worried about their jobs?
After nearly four decades of commitment to Farm Bureau Financial Services, Rick Trampe, an expert in the insurance industry, bade farewell to his career last week.

In an interview with the Clipper-Herald, Trampe shared his journey, experiences and insights from a career dedicated to building relationships and serving his community.

Trampes journey began on a farm in Elm Creek, where he spent his childhood with his mom and dad. After graduating from Elm Creek High School in 1979, he embarked on his academic journey at Kearney State College alongside his future wife, Pam.

Pam, also raised in Elm Creek, graduated from Kearney State College with a business management and marketing degree. Pam currently works in Lexington as a licensed real estate agent with BHA Real Estate and is secretary/treasurer for the Lexington Regional Health Center Board of Directors.

The couple then ventured to Colorado, where Rick Trampe initiated his career with Farm Bureau in 1986, setting the stage for a long journey in the field of financial service

So with me retiring, that takes me to about 38 years with Farm Bureau in total, he said. And Ive been in the insurance industry prior to that when I was going to school, so Im about 42 years in the insurance industry.

Trampe emphasized the complexity of the insurance industry. Theres a lot to learn in the insurance industry, he said. If youre a multi-line agent, you get to know everything about property and casualty, which is home insurance, auto insurance, liability insurance.

After several years in Fort Collins, Colorado, Trampe returned to Nebraska in 1991. He recalls the exact day of their move.

I think we moved into Lexington, Nebraska, about three oclock in the afternoon on the 14th day of December of 1991, Trampe said.

Trampes achievements at Farm Bureau are marked not only by professional accolades but by the deep relationships he cultivated with his clients.

His induction into the 2012 Nebraska Farm Bureau Hall of Fame stands as a testament to his dedication. Trampe said his proudest accomplishment, however, lies in the bonds he formed with his clients.

Being able to take care of people and build their trust, having that relationship with your clients is the biggest win, he said.

Throughout his tenure, Trampe faced various obstacles, with the most significant being the advent of technology in the insurance industry. Despite the prevalence of remote communication, Trampe remained steadfast in his belief in face-to-face interactions.

The way I look at my agency is its all about relationships, and its all about sitting across and talking with people and speaking with them, Trampe said.

Even during the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he continued to show up to his office at Farm Bureau Financial Services, maintaining social distancing measures while encouraging clients to reach out while his place of work was still open.

After over 40 years in the business, its time to try to do something different with my life, he said of his decision to retire. While uncertain about the future, Trampe expressed eagerness for new experiences and opportunities.

Ive got all kinds of stuff that I want to do, but now Im not sure exactly what the Lord is going to have me do, Trampe said.

The reactions to his retirement were mixed; his family anticipated the decision, while friends and clients were shocked. Clients expressed their gratitude, saying they would miss Trampe dearly.

Trampes advice for those considering a similar career path is rooted in genuine care for people and hard work.

I wouldnt discourage anybody from getting in the career, he said. Its a very rewarding career. Youve got to have a heart to take care of people. I think if you put their needs above your needs, youll always get what you need.

During his career at Farm Bureau Financial Service, he said, he would always think back to the advice his manager gave him: Hard work pays off.

Trampe hopes to be remembered as someone who contributed to the community, getting involved and making a difference.

Its been a rewarding career, he said. Im glad I was able to see a lot of the world, which was always an incentive to go out and work a little harder.
Lebanons Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel on Saturday, warning that the barrage was its initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanons capital earlier this week.

The rocket attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that his group must retaliate for the killing of Saleh Arouri, the deputy political leader of Hamas, in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut. Nasrallah said that if Hezbollah did not strike back, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack. He appeared to be making his case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on.

Hezbollah said it launched 62 rockets toward an Israeli air surveillance base on Mount Meron and that it scored direct hits. The group said rockets also struck two army posts near the border. The Israeli military said about 40 rockets were fired toward Meron and that a base was targeted, but made no mention of the base being hit. It said it struck the Hezbollah cell that fired the rockets.

Separately, the armed wing of the Islamic Group in Lebanon said it fired two volleys of rockets toward the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday night. Two of the groups members were killed in the strike that killed Arouri.

The cross-border escalation came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was kicking off an urgent Middle East diplomatic tour, his fourth to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted three months ago. The war was triggered by a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel in which fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages.

In recent weeks, Israel has been scaling back its military assault in the north of the territory and pressing its heavy offensive in the south, vowing to crush Hamas. In the south, most of Gazas 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster, while still being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.

On Saturday, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 122 Palestinians were killed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the war to 22,722. The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The ministry has said two-thirds of those killed have been women and children. The overall number of wounded rose to 58,166, the ministry said.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah received at least 46 bodies overnight, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press. Many were men who were apparently shot. Fighting has raged between Israeli forces and Hamas in the area. The dead also included five members of a family killed in an airstrike, the records showed.

The latest Israeli-dropped leaflets urged Palestinians in some areas near the hospital to evacuate, citing dangerous fighting.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, the focus of Israels ground offensive, the local European Hospital received the bodies of 18 people killed in an overnight airstrike on a house in the citys Maan neighborhood, said Saleh al-Hamms, head of the nursing department at the hospital. Citing witnesses, he said more than three dozen people had been sheltering in the house, including those displaced.

Israel has held Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the group has embedded within in Gazas civilian infrastructure. Still, international criticism of Israels conduct in the war has grown more persistent because of the rising civilian death toll. The United States has urged Israel to do more to prevent harm to civilians, even as it keeps sending weapons and munitions while shielding its close ally against international censure.

Blinken began his latest Mideast trip in Turkey on Saturday. The Biden administration believes that Turkey and others can exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to tamp down fears of a regional conflagration. Those fears have spiked in recent days with incidents in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.

In talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Blinken sought Turkish support for still nascent plans for post-war Gaza that could include monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multinational force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

From Turkey, Blinken was traveling to Turkish rival and fellow NATO ally Greece to meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his residence on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Mitsotakis and his government have been supportive of U.S. efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading and have signaled their willingness to assist should the situation deteriorate.

Other stops on the trip include Jordan, followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank next week before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

The European Unions foreign policy chief said during a visit to Beirut he aims to jump-start a European-Arab initiative to revive a peace process that would result in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Josep Borrell said he will visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The only way is the creation of a Palestinian state offering a horizon of hope for the Palestinians, he said.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Jobain reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Istanbul and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
BOSTON  Winter weather battered both U.S. coasts Saturday as New Englanders braced for an even more potent mix of snow and freezing rain through the weekend and a Sierra Nevada storm packing heavy snow shut down a stretch of interstate and briefly knocked out power to tens of thousands in Reno, Nevada.

Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the Northeast, and icy roads made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina.

The National Weather Service said it was a "major winter storm" that would continue into Sunday evening, with up to a foot of snow in parts of New England and pockets of rain/freezing rain in the central Appalachians.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she expected two-thirds of her state to get 8 inches of snow or more, "fortunately missing some of our more populated areas downstate, the Long Island and New York City."

"If they get anything beyond rain, it'll be just a wintry mix of 1 to 2 inches, but really for our Southern Tier  it's going to be the first major snowstorm of the year and we're ready for it," she told Spectrum News.

In the West, a winter storm warning was in effect through Saturday night in the Sierra Nevada from south of Yosemite National Park to north of Reno, where the weather service said as much as 20 inches of snow could fall in the mountains around Lake Tahoe with winds gusting up to 100 mph over ridgetops.

The California Highway Patrol said numerous spinouts and collisions forced the temporary closure of I-80 for several hours from west of Truckee, California, to the state line west of Reno, where more than 27,000 homes briefly lost power in high winds at midday.

Fewer than 1,000 customers were without power by nightfall, and westbound lanes of the interstate reopened but a steady snow was falling in Reno and CHP warned of potential closures through the night.

The weather service said that system would continue to bring heavy mountain snow and coastal rain overnight before moving into central and Southern California, then off to the Southwest and the southern Rockies.

The East Coast system was expected to track along the northeastern coastline through the weekend, with the heaviest snowfall expected in Pennsylvania, parts of the Hudson Valley and portions of New England.

In Massachusetts and portions of Rhode Island, the National Weather Service declared a winter storm warning from 4 p.m. Saturday through 1 a.m. Monday, with snow accumulations of 6 inches up to a foot and winds gusting as high as 35 mph.

The weather service predicted similar levels of snow in portions of Maine and New Hampshire, with slightly less  3 to 6 inches  in areas of Vermont.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the city was preparing for the storm but didn't expect it to be a major event, and the timing of the snow meant it would likely have less of an impact on city life. Storm surges also were not expected.

Ice arrived early Saturday to some western North Carolina and southern Virginia areas, ranging from a fine coating to around a quarter-inch. Watauga County, North Carolina saw some of the highest amounts, said meteorologist Dennis Sleighter of the National Weather Service's Blacksburg, Virginia, office.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said 6 to 12 inches of snow could fall in the southern Pocono mountains and northern New Jersey, with smaller snow and sleet totals changing to rain in other areas that could cause some flooding. Forecasters also warned of hazardous marine conditions Saturday night with gale-force wind gusts and 6-foot to 10-foot seas.

Forecasters also warned of another storm Tuesday into Wednesday that is expected to bring rain and some flooding as well as high winds and coastal flooding.

Philadelphia has already reached 705 consecutive days with less than an inch of snow, through Friday  beating the prior record of 661 days that ended on Dec. 15, 1973. New York City went 691 days through Friday, outstripping the prior record of 383 days that ended on March 21, 1998. Baltimore reached 707 days through Friday, beating the prior record of 672 days that ended on Dec. 25, 2012.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said it's been about two years since a major storm hit the state.

"I think this storm's been a long time coming," he said.
Waunakees Octopi Brewing has been acquired by Asahi Europe & International, based in the Czech Republic.

The company, a branch of Tokyo-based Asahi Group Holdings, produces beverages and food products in eight European countries, has 19 production facilities, employs more than 10,000 people and makes more than 44 million hectoliters, or about 37 million U.S. barrels, of beer per year, according to AEIs website.

The deal will allow Asahi Super Dry  Japans most popular beer  to be brewed in the United States for the first time, said Octopi Brewing founder Isaac Showaki, who is now managing director. The acquisition will help AEI grow its sales in the U.S. and Canada, as well as support the companys plan to become carbon-neutral across its wider supply chain by 2050.

Conversations about a sale started a little over year ago, Showaki said.

We fit the bill of geographical size, facility and structure, he said. It was a perfect match.

Octopi Brewing, in the Waunakee Business Park, began in a $5 million facility just under 10 years ago. In 2019, an $11 million, 33,000-square-foot expansion added more fermentation tanks and a new canning line.

In 2021, the company underwent a $72 million, 300,000-square-foot expansion project designed to push beer production to 1 million barrels per year. Octopi Brewing has about 250 employees, Showaki said.

The latest expansion included a large-scale energy storage system touted as a roadmap for other businesses looking to reduce their reliance on the electrical grid. The $1.5 million energy system, which went online in May 2022, saves Octopi more than $13,000 on its electrical bills and provides about 25% of the growing companys power needs.

Showaki found a profitable and growing niche in producing 500 different beers, hard ciders and canned cocktails, as well as nonalcoholic teas, sodas, seltzers, coffees and flavored waters for several companies besides Octopi.

Octopi was also named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country after it grew by 700% in 2020. It was one of 18 Dane County companies to make the list of 5,000 companies nationwide.

Octopi Brewing will be integrated into AEI as a U.S. subsidiary. Asahi Beer USA will begin production of Asahi Super Dry and other global beer brands at Octopi, along with brands for distribution and sale in Canada.

The company will continue its co-packing operations, and its existing leadership team will remain in place under Showaki.

We expect to grow and keep hiring more people in Waunakee, Showaki said.

AEI did not disclose the cost of its acquisition of Octopi Brewing.

Local production in North America has been an ambition of ours for some time because of the benefits it will bring, Paolo Lanzarotti, CEO of AEI, said in a statement.

With complementary strengths and a shared growth mindset, Asahi and Octopi maintain a commitment to creating meaningful connections with our partners, the communities in which we operate and the planet.

State Journal reporter Barry Adams contributed to this report.
Mononas police chief is standing by his departments pursuit policy and officers actions after a chase that ended in the deaths of the three people fleeing law enforcement Monday night.

The chase began just after 9 p.m., when Monona police tried to pull over a suspicious vehicle. In an interview Friday, Chief Brian Chaney did not comment on why the vehicle was deemed suspicious but said that there may have been other acts involved leading to the attempted traffic stop and subsequent chase.

The chase ended when the vehicle crashed into a tree in Cottage Grove near the corner of Femrite Drive and Buckeye Road, according to the state Department of Justices Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the incident.

Mononas police pursuit policy has changed at least twice in the past three years, most recently in November 2022, when it was broadened to allow officers to pursue suspects for reasons beyond suspected violent felonies. After Mondays crash, the city has temporarily pivoted the policy to focus on violent felony chases to allow for public assessment and input.

Chaney rejected the notion that the pivot would lead to a permanent change in chase policy.

Im very frustrated in some of the headlines that this is a policy change. We are still operating under our same policy. I have no authority to suspend our policy.

This is a refocusing, Chaney said. Lets focus on the big fish.

Chaney and other Monona officials have remained tight-lipped about the specifics of Mondays crash, which claimed the lives of Rashad Nelson, 30, Aaron Willis, 30, and Aajayah Ray, 19. Authorities have not said whether any of the three were wanted in connection with any crimes.

Monona Mayor Mary OConnor and Monona City Council members Nancy Moore and Doug Wood declined to comment on the crash or the citys temporarily re-focused pursuit policy, citing advice from the citys legal counsel.

In 2023, Monona police counted 59 car chases. Chaney said Friday that the number of times officers could pursue a chase but refrain from doing so likely outweighs the number of actual chases.

If theres a path of least resistance that makes sense for us  that accomplishes the mission, that does the job  were going to take that path, Chaney said. Theres only a handful of mandatory arrest situations, which law enforcement has to act on.

Chaney said he remains proud of his officers discretion, in part due to positive feedback from those who have been caught fleeing from police.

Weve gotten a lot of thank-yous, believe it or not, from people who weve arrested as a result of pursuits he said. The feedback has been Im so sorry, I made a horrible judgment call, heres my history with the police, and so thats why we have officers who are caring, empathetic, understanding, have trained on unconscious bias, are aware of some of the reasons why people may fear the police.

Still, allegations of racism in the department have arisen after Mondays crash, in which all three of those killed were Black. However, Chaney, the departments first Black chief, maintained that Monona police are aware of pre-existing tensions between marginalized communities and law enforcement, adding that officers undergo regular bias training.

Its important for my officers to understand different perspectives, respect peoples, you know, fears of law enforcement and their, you know, the history of law enforcement, but we have a job to do, he said. We talk about that  and youre talking to a gay Black chief who grew up in Chicago.

Before Mondays chase ended, Dane County deputies assisted Monona police, laying spike strips. The county defended the spike strip deployment in a statement Thursday. Collaborations like this happen fairly often, Chaney said, but regardless of jurisdiction, Monona officers are required to abide by their departments pursuit policies, bowing out of other agencies pursuits when continuing to chase no longer aligns with the departments policy.

Before becoming Mononas chief, Chaney spent 19 years in the Madison Police Department, last serving as captain for Traffic and Specialized Services. Chaney said his 21-officer department needs more help in approaching traffic crime.

We need more resources to address the violent behavior. Were small. We have two, three cops working at a time, he said. The problem here is that we have individuals who are making poor decisions to break the law and to try to elude the police.

The citys police pursuit policy is slated for discussion at the next City Council meeting, on Jan. 16.
ATLANTA  Citing gun violence in the U.S., the deaths of families in Ukraine and Gaza from war, and threats from artificial intelligence, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s daughter said the world urgently needs to study and adopt her father's philosophy of nonviolence to avoid self-destruction.

The Rev. Bernice King used an address Thursday to announce events for the upcoming holiday in honor of her father to warn that humanity was at a critical juncture.

We are witnessing unprecedented loss of human life and especially among the Black, brown and indigenous people throughout the world," she said.

She also mentioned conflicts in Yemen, Congo and Ethiopia and cited racism against Black people as another threat to humans, saying it remained a blight more than 50 years after her father was assassinated.

Overall, humanity was dangerously close to fulfilling her father's prophecy that it could destroy itself through the misuse of its own instruments, she warned. But she also offered a solution.

The study and practice of her father's philosophy of nonviolence could teach people how to live together peacefully, she said. The events the King Center has planned this year for the week leading up to the MLK holiday, including a teach-in and training seminars, are therefore centered on the theme of shifting "the cultural climate through Kingian nonviolence.

We face individual and collective choices that will determine whether we will continue to diminish and devastate humanity and the earth or if we will become co-conspirators to shift the cultural climate throughout our nation and world," she said.

King said the center also plans to honor her mother, Coretta Scott King, with a virtual exhibit later this year that will highlight her work to advance civil rights and her husband's legacy.

5 films to watch for MLK Day Brother John, 1971 Sidney Poitier, arguably American cinemas most-influential Black actor, died Jan. 6 at 94. Even after his death, "Brother John" is Poitiers most-overlooked film. The story of John Kane returning to his little hometown in rural Alabama is a tale of pain, suppressed rage and a fate all of us may face because of our inhumanity to one another. Poitiers pivotal scene with co-star Will Geer is one of the best in all of cinema. 13th, 2016 Want to feel a tad uncomfortable? Want to explore how some rights can be used as a way to disenfranchise people? Watch Ava DuVernays documentary "13th" about our prison system and the 13th Amendment. MLK/FBI, 2020 Everyone claims the cuddly, generic legacy of MLK these days, but there was a time when powerful forces in this country believed he was a dangerous radical. Others claimed he was under Soviet influence. The documentary "MLK/FBI" captures an overlooked, important part of history. I am Not Your Negro, 2016 Based on an unfinished manuscript from writer and activist James Baldwin, the documentary "I am Not Your Negro" offers us the voices of the people who fought for civil rights and paid dearly in the effort to stand for others. In the Heat of the Night, 1967 A must-watch. "In the Heat of the Night" was not played in many theaters throughout the South. Why? Because Sidney Poitiers Virgil Tibbs raised his voice to the Sparta police chief played by Rod Steiger. An incredible score from Quincy Jones, as well as strong supporting performances from Warren Oates and Lee Grant.
During my years in the newspaper business, I spent more than three decades practicing and preaching the importance of our First Amendment right to free speech. The news organizations I worked for were quick to come to the defense of any person or organization whose right to free speech was being threatened  even if we disagreed with their point of view.

Our reasoning? If someone elses right to free speech could be taken away, then ours could be next.

Sadly  and alarmingly  freedom of speech in the United States and in other democratic countries around the world is under attack. Governments, Big Tech companies, and non-governmental organizations  aided and abetted by some media companies  are undertaking efforts to minimize, suppress or totally eliminate the rights of people and organizations to freely express themselves on topics of national and international importance.

The Censorship Industrial Complex, as it has become known, is increasingly working to limit open dialogue by labeling certain points of view as misinformation or disinformation.

In India and Turkey, government authorities have implemented powers to remove content from social media. The German legislature and Brazilian Supreme Court have criminalized certain political speech. Efforts such as Irelands hate speech bill, Scotlands Hate Crime Act and the United Kingdoms online safety bill could severely restrict expression and create a chilling effect on free speech.

And in the United States, the federal governments efforts to limit free speech by working with social media companies during and after the 2020 election cycle were exposed with the release of the Twitter files. The collusion between government officials and Big Tech is well documented in Missouri v. Biden.

In that case, federal Judge Terry Doughty in July condemned the Biden administration for potentially the most massive attack against free speech in United States history. And in September, a federal appeals court ratified that verdict, accusing the White House and federal agencies of actions suppressing millions of protected free speech postings by American citizens.

That case is now on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Censorship Industrial Complex is thoroughly outlined in a document called the Westminster Declaration. In June, scores of concerned people from many walks of life gathered in Westminster, London, to share their concerns about the assault on freedom of speech.

The declaration is signed by more than 130 high-profile people representing 19 industrialized nations. The declaration states:

We write as journalists, artists, authors, activists, technologists and academics to warn of increasing international censorship that threatens to erode centuries-old democratic norms.

Coming from the left, right and center, we are united by our commitment to universal human rights and freedom of speech, and we are all deeply concerned about attempts to label protected speech as misinformation, disinformation and other ill-defined terms.

This abuse of these terms has resulted in the censorship of ordinary people, journalists and dissidents in countries all over the world.

The Westminster Declaration is a call to action for anyone concerned about the erosion of our right to free speech. I encourage you to read the document at westminsterdeclaration.org. And I also encourage you to openly exercise and defend your right to free speech, as well as those with whom you may disagree. Because, you know, if they go after someone elses right to free speech, they could be coming for yours next.
Professor set to speak about Twin Falls Migratory Labor Camp

Russ Tremayne, co-founder and member of the Preservation Twin Falls Board of Directors, will tell the story of the Twin Falls Migratory Labor Camp at 6 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Mountain View Barn, 392 E. 300 S. near Jerome for the History at the Barn winter lecture series.

The camp was built in 1939 by the Farm Security Administration and managed by the War Food Administration during World War II. After the war, the Twin Falls County Farm Labor Sponsoring Organization took control of the camp and managed it until the 1970s.

The camp housed poor white farmers fleeing the Dust Bowl, Japanese Americans removed from the West coast by Executive Order 9066, Mexican migrants and braceros, Jamaicans, Bahamians, and other farm workers.

Supper is available to purchase at 6 p.m. Presentation begins at 6:30 p.m.

Also:

Maverick Robert Davis was the first baby born at St. Lukes Wood River

in 2024 to parents to Brandon and Ashley Davis. Maverick arrived at 9:37 p.m. Jan. 1, weighing 8 pounds, and measuring 20 inches. St. Lukes Wood River provided a special gift basket for the first 2024 baby with diapers, baby blankets, a stuffed animal, onesies, and other goodies.

The

Idaho Transportation Department said repairs will continue to advance along the Perrine Bridge with crews expected to transition to the south end of the bridge starting Monday. Crews will begin building an enclosure underneath the bridge in advance of sandblasting scheduled to start Jan. 16. During this time, the pathway underneath the bridge will remain open. The enclosure is estimated to take around a week to build. Bridge users should expect loud noises and check

for updates on closures. Repairs to the bridge are expected to continue into the spring of 2024.

The

Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney

is offering the Drug Free Student Scholarships for students graduating in the upcoming spring from any high school in Twin Falls County. The applicant must be a county resident, must attend the College of Southern Idaho full-time for the upcoming academic year starting in fall of 2024, and must be enrolled in either an academic or a vocational education program leading towards a degree or certification. The application deadline is March 1. Find applications at your school counselors office.

Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Governor Scott Bedke

announced that as of Dec. 28, there are 12,588 high school seniors who submitted or started applications for LAUNCH grantstwo-thirds more than expected. LAUNCH offers graduating high school seniors grants that cover 80 percent of the cost to enroll in an education or training program. Applications were well distributed among various regions in Idaho. Approximately 88% of applications received came from students enrolled in public high schools across Idaho.

The

South Central Public Health District is offering free classes to help people quit using tobacco use or vaping. Walk-in clinics are held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays through March 28 at both the Twin Falls public health district office, 1020 Washington St. N, and the Gooding office, 225 N. Canyon Dr. Classes are held at the health district office in Jerome, 951 E. Ave. H from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Jan. 23. Visit

for more information or call 208-737-5968 to schedule a class.

 Times-News
Bad decisions came back to bite Robert Michael Porter.

The 52-year-old Clinton, Iowa, resident just spent 295 days in Twin Falls County Jail, a result of lashing out against a woman he had never met, yet broke his heart during an online romance, defense attorney Peter Hatch said.

Charges against him appeared hideous: video voyeurism, two counts of attempted grand theft by extortion, and a count of destruction of evidence, but it wasnt as serious as what it might look on paper, even Judge Roger Harris said.

And through a plea deal, all but the first charge were dismissed.

The case wasnt really about extortion, Harris said, but more about Porter trying to gain leverage in his relationship with the woman that prompted him to threaten to and then send compromising photos of the woman to her 26-year-old son  photos that the woman had sent to Porter previously but were meant to be kept private.

Harris said hes seen a lot of things during his 15 years on the bench, and what Porter did was one of the most childish things I have seen.

Porter, who has never before been in trouble with the law, admitted to Harris that its been a big mistake since the beginning.

According to court records, Porter grew enraged at the Twin Falls woman, who spurned him after an argument in December 2022. They had known each other, albeit online only, for six months, and he had begun sending her gifts, including lingerie and cash.

He also loaned her $300, court records say.

The woman blocked his phone number and wouldnt contact him, prompting Porter to make his threat that he would take action if the woman didnt make amends with him and repay the $300. Porter befriended the womans son on Facebook, and sent him the photos, records say.

Deputy prosecutor Jill Sweesy, in Tuesdays hearing, said Porter also threatened to send photos to others, including posting them on Facebook and inviting men to her house, and asking men to send nude pictures to her.

Those kinds of alleged threats, plus what Sweesy said was a complete lack of remorse, prompted the prosecutors office to recommend Porter spend additional time in jail.

He has frightened (the victims) family, she related, and said the relationship between the victim and her son will never be the same.

Hatch said there wasnt evidence Porter had sent the photos to anyone but her son, and that the 295 days Porter has spent in jail, apparently unable to come up with the $75,000 bond, was ample punishment.

This is a probation case as clear as day, Hatch said, who said Porter hopes to return home to Iowa. The defendant was extradited from Iowa to Idaho in April, to a state he had no connections, Hatch said.

Harris sided with Hatch, giving Porter a suspended sentence of two years fixed and three years indeterminate, with three years probation.

Porter is banned from online social media sites and will undergo counseling.

Porter told law enforcement when the incident happened that he didnt think he had done anything wrong. I realized it was immoral, but not illegal, he explained to Harris.

And Harris said Porter, who was released from jail shortly after his hearing, cant immediately leave the state and return to Iowa, but first must work out the terms of his probation with officials in that state.

At the end of the sentencing, Harris advised Porter to delete any photos of the woman he might have access to, along with offering this piece of advice: Make smarter choices.

And with that, Porter checked out of jail shortly afterward.
This Christmas, Santa brought my 16 year old a new phone, which caused a bit of jealousy in his younger, more irresponsible brother.

Deciding when to let your child jump into that tech world is not easy. No matter how many rules your family may have, it is still natural to worry about what your children will find, or who theyll talk to, online.

It has been more than a quarter-century since Congress passed a law to protect kids online. In 1998, less than half the country was even connected to the internet, and those who were likely used AOL. There was no Facebook. There was no social media.

Today, more than half of teenagers say it would be difficult to give up their social media time, according to Pew Research polling. Half of parents are worried about what their child is being exposed to online.

As legislatures convene here at home and across the country, there will no doubt be an onslaught of proposed laws aimed at protecting kids online. Few will doubt the good intentions of these proposed policies.

In Idaho last session, a bill would have required manufacturers of internet-capable devises to install and active technology that enables parents to make filtering decisions.

A new law in Utah requires social media companies to obtain parental consent for those under 18. And if the parent does consent, they are given full access to their childs social media accounts.

Meantime, Colorados governor says he would not back state-imposed restrictions. And other states have a bevy of restrictions and proposed laws.

Social media and the internet are very much mobile. It would be nearly impossible for companies to create 50 different oversight mechanisms to comply with every states preference. And even if they did, teens and families move fluidly across state lines. A patchwork of laws would mean they are inconsistently protected.

Thats why, at the very least, Congress needs to work with tech providers to create a standard for the national marketplace to ensure uniform protection for kids online health and safety.

One idea put forward by Meta  the parent company of Facebook  is to require parental consent for teens under 16 at the app store level. What does this mean? Essentially, parents would have to approve any download of an app other than general items such as search or email. Age verification would be completed at the app level  which would ensure kids are placed in the appropriate app experience. All apps would need to be treated consistently.

Another proposal would require ad targeting standards that would limit the personalization of ads to those under 16 to age and location only. This means advertisers and videos that may be questionable could not be targeted to kids under 16.

These are common sense proposals that recognize the complexity of the issue.

We need to protect kids online while not stifling innovation and advancement in the coming years. A patchwork of laws is messy. One national standard that puts parents, not the government, in the drivers seat, would be best.
A MAGA-leaning conservative official prominently displayed a copy of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand on his bookshelf while he was commenting on a current event unrelated to economics. Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, was an acolyte of Rand. Her philosophy, named Objectivism, has been foundational to Conservative Republican thinking.

The other sustained conservative influence is Frederick Hayek. His writing and Rands are used to justify the rich getting richer. However, they considered different intellectual reasoning throughout their careers. Hayek won the Nobel Prize for economics with Gunnar Myrdal. His interest was in how prices communicate information. He considered himself a classical liberal.

They are both examples of well-known thinking countering the appeal of communism as a means of economic organization. The idea that the people should control the economy for their benefit had broad appeal in the early to mid-twentieth century. Still, the worlds two sustained experiments in establishing a communist economy have failed.

Russia and China took the idea behind democracy, a government of the people for the people, to mean government control in the name of the people. There was no public participation. The result was an oligarchy. Propaganda masked the prosperous lifestyles of the governing elite. The people with government power got richer because their economic interests directed economic growth.

Rands novels, The Fountainhead and the more popular Atlas Shrugged (published in 1957) launched her later career as a public philosopher. They both contained romantic tropes featuring her ideal manindependent, strong, visionary, anti (corrupt) establishment. Her view attracted many males. Atlas Shrugged was also polemic, an open attack on collectivism.

She was jolted out of a solid middle-class life by the Russian Revolution when she was twelve, and the government took her fathers pharmacy. She was almost denied a university graduation because of government action. She traveled to Chicago at barely twenty-one, but her parents and siblings were never allowed to leave Russia. Her passionate dislike of government control of personal lives is not surprising.

Mike Wallace interviewed her in 1957, and Im using a transcript to argue with her ideas. When asked about wanting to destroy almost every edifice of the contemporary American life, she replied, I am challenging the moral code of altruism. Another question was, Who will pay for things like schools, roads, sanitation, and hospitals? She replies that the individual producing the money will pay for them voluntarily out of self-interest. She says goodwill is not necessary, only the self-interest of the (pure) capitalist.

She falsely states, This country was made not by robber barons, but by independent men, by industrialists, who succeeded on sheer ability..without political force, help, or compulsion. She contrasts these paragons with industrialists who used government power as a club to help them against competitors. She castigates liberals for using the same compulsion to aid the workers against the industrialists. She asserts there should be no government compulsion for either side.

Her objection to the democratic process is that it has enacted laws that allow the taking of life, property, or freedom away from others. Therefore, she doesnt think people have a right to vote on everything. She somehow believes that people would voluntarily cooperate as free men without being forced.

Her philosophy is atheistic, and it is illogical that Christian Nationalists, evangelicals, or other Christian denominations would accept its premise. She correctly states that we have no fundamental right to demand that others create our happiness. However, no matter how independent her mind was, she did not seem to find happiness for herself. Her entire philosophy tends to justify her anger at the deep distress the Russian Revolution and its subsequent form of government caused her.

After leaving behind a hoped-for screenplay writing career, she devoted her life to drawing false equivalencies between the Russian government and her perception that any drift toward moral altruism is evil.

Rands thinking, as influential as it became, is impractical. The worlds understanding of human nature and economic theory has evolved. Her view of the ideal society would result in the dominators taking control and fighting for power. Its hard to imagine that humans can flourish even if they survive that way of life.
The Idaho State Capitol is not just a building; its the Peoples House. Regular Idaho families dont have lobbyists and cant afford big campaign donations, but their interests should always be front and center. As the legislature reconvenes, Idaho Democrats are prioritizing the working families who are too often left behind.

First, we are committed to thriving Main Streets with economic opportunity in towns big and small. A fundamental building block of a strong economy is education. Democrats will work to protect the new LAUNCH scholarships that are opening pathways to in-demand careers with family-sustaining wages and building the skilled workforce that industries need.

We must finally address the $1 billion backlog in school facilities needs so that children arent contending with overcrowded classrooms, leaky roofs, or unsafe situations, such as the electrical issues that led to a severe fire in a Pocatello school.

Idaho Democrats want to correct last years funding methodology shift that shortchanged schools by $162 million. And we will again defend against voucher schemes that divert precious public dollars away from public schools and into private, religious, and for-profit institutions with zero accountability.

Second, we will be a voice for Idahos working families when it comes to revenue collection. Idahos upside down tax code gets worse every year. Today, an Idaho mom pays a higher tax rate on essentials like food and diapers than corporations pay on their profits. Its past time we eliminate the sales tax on groceries, a move supported by 82% of Idahoans but consistently blocked by the Republican supermajority. We should have a meaningful child tax credit to help make it affordable to raise the next generation and finally establish a state earned income tax credit to avoid taxing working families into poverty.

Third, we should act on the principle that affordable healthcare is a necessity. We will work to properly fund Medicaid, a lifeline for children, seniors, and Idahoans with disabilities, and to extend coverage for postpartum mothers. Well oppose the repeal of Medicaid expansion, which would take healthcare away from tens of thousands.

What Idahoans dont need is more extremism. Whether it comes to your most intimate medical decisions, the books you read, or who you love, its time for GOP politicians to stop interfering in your private life.

While Democrats are underdogs in the Legislature, we stand behind an agenda that is broadly supported by voters. We hope Republican lawmakers will meet us here so that we can govern to make life better for Idahoans.

To advance our shared priorities, we need the voices of Idahoans to resonate in the Peoples House, demanding policies that truly reflect your values. I hope to see you there.
Rheinmetall Defense has introduced another variant of its Skyranger air defense weapon system, the Skyranger 30 HEL  a mobile, hybrid solution mounting the companys 30mm AHEAD with a laser onboard.

The Skyranger 30 HEL is designed to thwart the full range of current and future airborne threats as a hybrid solution. The interplay of a 30mm automatic cannon, guided missiles, and a high-energy laser (HEL) results in a mix of effectors unique in this combination. The Skyranger HEL was presented in public for the first time at a counter-drone event held last year by the Swiss procurement agency armasuisse in Bure, Switzerland.

Teamed with the Skymaster fire control system, and the different effectors, Skyranger 30 HEL achieves maximum tactical impact. It can monitor airspace autonomously, while simultaneously selecting the optimum effector in response to the threat being detected. The missiles provide the outer layer of defense primarily against aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial systems. The gun, firing AHEAD or ABM (airburst) ammunition is designed to defeat hard targets, such as rockets and projectiles, and add a second line of defense to the missiles. The laser operates at close range, to defeat soft targets, such as drones and loitering missiles, as well as against helicopters, aircraft, and guided weapons, targeting their optical systems.

Rheinmetalls HEL effectors consist of a laser source and laser guidance system, both of which are integrated into the vehicle, along with a laser weapon station built into the turret that simultaneously serves as a platform for the electro-optical sensors. The laser weapon station tracks targets automatically, neutralizing them with a laser beam.

In live trials, current technology sample systems for laser weapon systems have successfully achieved laser outputs of 20kW. Laser outputs of up 20-50 kW are planned for the first realization phase. The ability to increase this figure to 100kW is already an integral feature of this technology, combining multiple fiber-optic lasers into one powerful beam. The laser weapon station used on the Skyranger 30 HEL has its own sensors for identifying and tracking targets. System subassemblies are coordinated to interoperate harmoniously to produce the beam quality required for high-output laser weapons, enabling the beam director to point to the target and track it with high precision.

Mounted on an armored vehicle chassis, the Skyranger 30 HEL can protect mobile units on the march or critical stationary infrastructure and facilities from aerial threats. The integration of the missiles and laser is part of Rheinmetalls air-defense road map. As an experienced system house for combat vehicles and air defense systems, Rheinmetall can support mechanical and system integration into wheeled or tracked mobile platforms such as the Boxer multipurpose wheeled armored vehicle or the tracked Lynx KF41 armored vehicle.

Featuring a rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute, the 30mmx173 KCE revolver gun is the worlds top-performing weapon in this calibre. Programmable time-delay ammunition enhances the probability of hitting even the smallest aerial targets. The Skyranger 30 HELs guided missiles increase the systems operational flexibility and maximum range.
A 32-year-old man is in critical condition after being shot during an argument at a restaurant Friday night in the Bridgeport neighborhood, Chicago police said.

Shortly before 11:30 p.m., the victim was in a restaurant in the 3400 block of South Halsted Street when he was approached by two males, and an argument ensued. One of the males pulled out a gun and shot the victim before fleeing the scene, police said.

The victim suffered multiple wounds to the body, and was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital.

No one was in custody and detectives were investigating.
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In the kitchen of his Abidjan restaurant, Ivory Coast chef Charlie Koffi prepares his countrys staggering tropical bounty with the techniques of fine French cuisine. And hes far from alone.

A growing number of his fellow chefs in the West African nation are retouching local specialities with cooking skills picked up elsewhere.

One of Koffis signature dishes is an adaptation of gouagouassou sauce, a local specialty.

In his version, a rabbit is stewed with African eggplants, spicy oil, powdered akpi seeds and local fefe pepper.

It is one of the dishes I really loved as a child, Koffi told AFP. As a chef, it was almost an obligation to come back to it.

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Koffi was trained in France before opening his Abidjan restaurant, Villa Alfira, in 2017 to showcase his countrys cuisine.

In the well-lit main dining room overlooking a pond where fish on the menu swim, Eric Guei tucked into a gouagouassou casserole.

I find taste and audacity in this dish, the happy customer said. It mixes Western know-how with local flavors.

Guei enjoyed the copious but beautifully presented meal with his friend Yasmine Doumbia. Gouagouassou is a very traditional Ivory Coast dish, and to see it in a restaurant like this is a real pleasure, she said.

Villa Alfira is a change from the maquis, typical animated local eateries where braised chickens and fish are eaten by hand, along with traditional sauces, manioc polenta, and fried plantains.

Grilled okra and cassava chips

A few kilometers away, a chef at the upscale restaurant La Maison Palmier is working on her new creation: a taster dish inspired by placali, a typical Ivorian dish made with sticky gumbo sauce, bits of meat and dried fish, accompanied by fermented manioc paste.

Hermence Kadio, who trained locally, has her own much lighter take on the classic. She grilled the gumbo (okra), while the cassava is puffed up and turned into chips.

Every week the restaurants French head chef Matthieu Gasnier offers amuse-bouche  small bite-sized appetizers  like these to re-awaken the memories of people who grew up with these dishes.

About half his clientele is Ivorian, he said.

Even if our restaurants cuisine is intended to be international since we are in a five-star hotel, I think it would be wrong not to take advantage of all these beautiful products that surround us, he said.

Grains such as fonio and sorghum grow in the Ivory Coasts hot dry northern savannas, said Koffi, while the forested south produces local varieties of spinach and typical tropical products such as bananas and yams.

Healthier and tastier

NCho Yapi, who founded the group Chefs: Creators of Emotions, said Ivorian cooks began going back to their culinary roots just after the turn of the century.

Before that, chefs at fancy restaurants had the habit of offering Western dishes with imported products, he said. But the cost of living kept going up, so they turned to less-expensive products they had just under their noses.

And local specialties are appearing more and more on the menus of the luxury restaurants that have mushroomed across Abidjan in recent years, Yapi added.

Valerie Rollainth, an Ivorian chef trained in France at the famous Institut Paul Bocuse, insisted that typically hearty Ivorian cuisine is no longer suited to the capitals increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

There are too few vegetables, a shocking quantity of oil, and the dishes are cooked too long and lose their nutrients, she said.

At the nutritional workshops she organizes she urges people to eat local products in new ways, such as raw okra, which is very good against diabetes.

Some diseases are linked to eating habits, she said. In the Ivory Coast, not everyone has access to health care, but everyone has access to healthy food.
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Washingtons top diplomat discusses the Gaza war with Turkeys mercurial leader on Saturday before flying to Crete to address Greek worries about the looming sale of US fighter jets to Ankara.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Istanbul late Friday for the first leg of a trip that includes visits to both Israel and the West Bank.

Blinkens fourth crisis tour since the start of the Israel-Hamas war three months ago comes with fears mounting that the conflict will engulf swathes of the Middle East.

A senior US administration official said Blinken will press Israel to increase aid to Palestinians and move to a phase of combat that allows the displaced to start returning to their homes.

The official added that much of the discussions with Arab leaders will focus on containing the violence and looking at how the region can be governed once the fighting ends.

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Istanbul served as a base for Hamas political leaders until raids on Israel killed around 1,140 people and triggered a reprisal offensive that the Gaza health ministry says has claimed 22,600 lives  most of them women and children.

Turkey asked the Hamas chiefs to leave after some were captured on video celebrating the deadliest attack in Israels history.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since turned into one of the Muslim worlds harshest critics of the scale of death and destruction happening in Gaza  and of Washingtons support for Israel.

Erdogan has compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accused the United States of sponsoring the genocide of Palestinians.

He has also rebuffed US pressure to cut off the suspected flow of funding through Turkey to Hamas and defended the group as legitimately elected liberators fighting for their land.

The US State Department on Friday announced $10 million rewards for information about five alleged Hamas foreign operatives  three of them believed to be based in Turkey  thought to be helping finance the Iran-backed group.

Turkey this week countered by detaining 34 people suspected of planning attacks against Palestinians and spying for Israels Mossad intelligence agency.

Erdogan began to tone down his most strident comments after US President Joe Biden last month called the Turkish leader for the first time since the war broke out.

The call helped push along NATO member Turkeys glacial progress in accepting Sweden into the US-led defence organisation in the wake of Russias war on Ukraine.

A parliamentary committee approved Swedens application in late December.

Some analysts believe Bidens call also secured Blinkens planned meeting with Erdogan. The Turkish leader notably left the capital during Blinkens last visit two months ago.

Blinken will hope to win assurances in talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Erdogan that a vote by the full chamber will happen soon.

Approval from all NATO states is required for new members to join the defense bloc.

NATO has already doubled the length of its border with Russia when Turkey relented and accepted Swedens neighbour Finland into the alliance last year.

Erdogan has been able to use Turkeys veto power to impel Sweden into taking a tougher stance with Kurdish groups in Stockholm that Ankara views as terrorists.

He has also been trying to make Swedens approval conditional on the US delivering 40 US F-16 fighter jets and nearly 80 modernization kits for Turkeys ageing air force.

Bidens administration officially backs the sale, but has been unable to overcome resistance in Congress from lawmakers who express alarm about Turkeys position on Sweden and past military standoffs with historic rival Greece.

We have made clear that we do not believe the sale should be linked with Swedens NATO accession, but there are members of Congress who have a different opinion and they have linked the two, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said this week.

Blinken will travel to the Greek island of Crete later Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Greece has fiercely resisted the US jet sales because of its longstanding territorial disputes with Turkey in the energy-rich eastern Mediterranean region.

Athens is seeking to purchase a batch of more advanced F-35 jets from the United States to counter the perceived Turkish threat.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

US regulators on Friday approved Florida's plan to import prescription drugs from Canada, making it the first state to win such authorization, in a bid to lower costs for American consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) green light marks a step forward in reducing drug costs in the country, although such a move has faced strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry.

According to Florida's estimates, its program could save taxpayers up to $150 million annually.

Several other states have also submitted their drug importation programs for FDA approval.

President Joe Biden has been pushing to lower health care costs ahead of this year's elections, and in a 2021 executive order called for officials to continue working with states on importation plans.

Individuals can buy drugs from Canadian pharmacies, but states' efforts would allow them to buy drugs in bulk from wholesalers.

In a statement, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said the agency is "committed" to working with states and Indian tribes looking to develop similar import proposals.

"These proposals must demonstrate the programs would result in significant cost savings to consumers without adding risk of exposure to unsafe or ineffective drugs," Califf added.

In pushing back against imports, the pharmaceutical industry argues there is a risk of counterfeit or substandard products entering the country.

But in authorizing Florida's program, the FDA laid out rules aiming to mitigate concerns.

Before drugs can be imported, state authorities must submit more specific details for FDA approval, and ensure the medicines have been tested for authenticity and compliance with standards.

Meanwhile, Florida authorities must submit a quarterly report to the FDA, including details on cost savings and possible safety issues.

The approval allows Florida to import drugs for two years, from the date that the FDA is informed of the first shipment.

The authorization has already drawn criticism from the pharmaceutical industry.

Stephen Ubl, president of lobbying group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in a statement it was "deeply concerned with the FDA's reckless decision."

Arguing that such imports pose "serious danger to public health," Ubl added that "PhRMA is considering all options for preventing this policy from harming patients."

 2024 AFP
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A study conducted by researchers at Ruppin Academic Center in Israel and Columbia University documents the broad impact on the mental health of Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, with sharp increases in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety in the aftermath Hamas' attack in October.

The study, published in the Lancet's EClinicalMedicine Jan. 5, 2023, found the prevalence of probable PTSD, depression, and anxiety in the weeks following the attacks (29% for PTSD, 42%-44% for depression and GAD, respectively), almost doubling the prevalence recorded two months before the attack.

"The prevalences of PTSD, depression, and anxiety are considerably higher than those reported in previous studies focusing on terrorist events, such as the 9/11 attacks and other attacks," said Yossi Levi-Belz, Ph.D., a professor of clinical psychology and chair the Lior Tsfaty Center for Suicide and Mental Pain Studies at the Ruppin Academic Center in Israel who led the study.

The escalation of the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict began Oct. 7 with Hamas' attacks on civilians in Southern Israel that Israeli officials say killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in 240 being seized as hostages. The terrorist attack was followed by all-out war between the militant Palestinian group and Israeli forces, which followed more than a decade of relative calm across the Gaza-Israeli border.

The nationwide cohort study, according to the researchers, addressed limitations of previous research by using prospective study design to evaluate the impact of the attack. The researchers employed a wide range of probable outcome measures including PTSD, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), assessing a cohort of Israeli citizens, both Jews and Arabs, twice, 6-7 weeks before the attack and 5-6 weeks after the attacks.

Since the beginning of the conflict 240,000 Israeli civilians have evacuated their homes and 129 Israelis are still held hostage. The ground war in Gaza has also taken a heavy toll on Palestinians. The health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said that more than 20,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the beginning of the war.

Numerous studies have documented that traumatic events like war and armed conflicts can cause an alarming spike in post-traumatic stress and depression. Symptoms of PTSD were the most common health effect of the 9/11 attacks. Up to 20% of adults directly exposed to the disaster or injured in the attack had PTSD symptoms five to six years after the attack. Ten years after the attacks, 15% of the 70,000 enrollees in the World Trade Center Health Registry reported depression and 10% reported both depression and PTSD.

Study co-author Yuval Neria, Ph.D., professor of clinical medical psychology (in psychiatry and epidemiology) at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and director of the PTSD Research and Treatment program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), said the findings underline the crucial importance of conducting an immediate assessment of those exposed to severe trauma that taking into account pre-attack psychological difficulties and psychiatric 'diagnoses' in the aftermath of such a large-scale trauma.

"Moreover, nation leaders and policymakers should consider taking steps to allocate all resources to facilitate evidence-based treatments of affected civilians," Dr. Neria added. "Early to mid-term interventions must be made accessible to citizens as a whole, with the aim of promoting self- and community efficacy, connectedness, and hope immediately after the attacks and during a massive military confrontation for both Israelis and Arab populations."

More information: Yossi Levi-Belz et al, PTSD, depression, and anxiety after the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel: a nationwide prospective study, eClinicalMedicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102418 Journal information: EClinicalMedicine
MCAT and spectrUM celebrate Stephen Hawkings birthday

MCAT and spectrUM are teaming up to celebrate Stephen Hawkings birthday Jan. 8 through Jan. 12 in the MCAT Studio during open hours on Level One of the library. SpectrUMs Black (W)hole exhibit is an immersive exhibit designed by a team of artists and scientists at the eXtreme Gravity Institute at Montana State University that demonstrates the physics of how two black holes interacting would generate gravity waves. Violent events in space, such as collisions or explosions, cause ripples in spacetime, like when you throw a stone into a pond. Those ripples are gravitational waves, which were first predicted by Einstein but only detected for the first time in 2015. Participants can listen and watch as a smaller black hole is sucked into a supermassive one!

Memory Cafe: Turning the Wheel visits

Missoula Public Librarys Memory Cafe is a safe, welcoming and supportive space for individuals experiencing memory loss and their caregivers and family members. This month Turning the Wheel will lead us in joyful connections with movement games, rhythm and wordplay to inspire mental and physical creativity. This program is held on Jan. 9 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Cooper Room on Level Four of the library.

Western Montana Genealogical Society

Meet with the members of the Western Montana Genealogical Society on Jan. 9 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Blackfoot Conference Room on Level Four of the library. Join the members of this group for general genealogy discussions and tips on making your family history research more productive.

Special spectrUM Discovery Area theme: Fire Science

SpectrUM staff will lead this special guided science activity on Jan. 10 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Discovery Bench on Level Two of the library. Kids will learn about the fire triangle, wildfire and smoke, and air quality. No registration is required for this program.

Gallop Toward the Sun: An evening of conversation with Peter Stark and Chris La Tray

Join us on Jan. 10 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Cooper Room on Level Four of the library for an in-depth discussion about the conquest of Indigenous land in North America and the often overlooked efforts of tribal cooperation to stand against it, viewed through the lens of the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, the subject of Starks new book, and La Trays own Pembina Chippewa/Little Shell people. Peter Stark is an adventure and exploration writer and historian. A longtime correspondent for Outside Magazine, Starks articles and essays have also appeared in Smithsonian, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Mens Journal and many others. His previous book, Astoria, was a New York Times bestseller, a finalist for a PEN USA literary award, and was adapted into a play by Portland Center Stage. Chris La Tray is a Metis storyteller, a descendant of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. His first book, One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large, won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award. His third book, Becoming Little Shell, will be published in 2024. Chris writes the weekly newsletter, An Irritable Metis, and is the Montana Poet Laureate for 2023-2025. Doors will open at 6 p.m. for this event. Fact & Fiction will be on hand to sell books to those interested.

Missoula Reads 2024

New Year, new list! Can you read 50 books in 2024? Join us for this fun and popular challenge, now in its eight year. The 2024 reading categories are posted online and reading logs are available on Level Three. For more information about the 2024 reading challenge visit: missoulapubliclibrary.org/home/programs-events/ongoing-programs/missoula-reads/.

16th annual Missoula Writes contest

The sixteenth annual community writing contest, Missoula Writes, is open for submissions. The contest is open to all Montana residents. We are seeking fiction, non-fiction and poetry submissions from the following age groups: 8-10, 11-14, 15-18 and 19+. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three contestants in each category and age group. The submission link, full contest rules, and more are available at: missoulapubliclibrary.org/home/programs-events/ongoing-programs/missoula-writes/.

Missoula Public Library holiday closureThe library will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15. Patrons can access their accounts at missoulapubliclibrary.org/ to renew materials and place holds.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be kept off the ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, inserting the court squarely in the 2024 presidential campaign.

The justices acknowledged the need to reach a decision quickly, as voters will soon begin casting presidential primary ballots across the country. The court agreed to take up Trump's appeal of a case from Colorado stemming from his role in the events that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Underscoring the urgency, arguments will be held Feb. 8  during what is normally a nearly monthlong winter break for the justices. The compressed timeframe could allow the court to produce a decision before Super Tuesday on March 5, when the largest number of delegates are up for grabs in a single day, including in Colorado.

Trump, speaking at a campaign event in Iowa, said: "All I want is fair. I just hope that they're going to be fair."

The court for the first time will consider the meaning and reach of a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who "engaged in insurrection" from holding public office. The amendment was adopted in 1868, after the Civil War. It is so rarely used, the nation's highest court had no previous occasion to interpret it.

Colorado's Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, ruled last month that Trump should not be on the Republican primary ballot. The decision was the first time the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot.

Trump separately is appealing to state court a ruling by Maine's Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, that he was ineligible to appear on that state's ballot over his role in the Capitol attack.

Both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state's rulings are on hold until the appeals play out.

The high court's decision to intervene, which both sides called for, is the most direct involvement in a presidential election since Bush v. Gore in 2000, when a conservative majority effectively decided the election for Republican George W. Bush. Only Justice Clarence Thomas remains from that court.

Three of the nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Trump, though they have ruled against him in 2020 election-related lawsuits, as well as his efforts to keep documents related to Jan. 6 and his tax returns from being turned over to congressional committees.

At the same time, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh were in the majority of conservative-driven decisions that overturned the five-decades-old constitutional right to abortion, expanded gun rights and struck down affirmative action in college admissions.

Some Democratic lawmakers called on Thomas to step aside from the case because of his wife's support for Trump's effort to overturn the results of the election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Thomas is unlikely to agree, and there was every indication Friday that all the justices will participate. Thomas recused himself from only one other case related to the 2020 election, involving former law clerk John Eastman, and so far the people trying to disqualify Trump haven't asked him to recuse.

The 4-3 Colorado decision cites a ruling by Gorsuch when he was a federal judge in that state. That Gorsuch decision upheld Colorado's move to strike a naturalized citizen from the state's presidential ballot because he was born in Guyana and didn't meet the constitutional requirements to run for office. The court found that Trump likewise doesn't meet the qualifications due to his role in the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. That day, the Republican president held a rally outside the White House and exhorted his supporters to "fight like hell" before they walked to the Capitol.

The two-sentence provision in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that anyone who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection" against it is no longer eligible for state or federal office. After Congress passed an amnesty for most of the former Confederates the measure targeted in 1872, the provision fell into disuse until dozens of suits were filed to keep Trump off the ballot this year. Only the one in Colorado was successful.

Trump asked the court to overturn the Colorado ruling without even hearing arguments. "The Colorado Supreme Court decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide," Trump's lawyers wrote.

They argue that Trump should win on many grounds, including that the events of Jan. 6 did not constitute an insurrection. Even if it did, they wrote, Trump himself had not engaged in insurrection. They also contend that the insurrection clause does not apply to the president and that Congress must act, not individual states.

Critics of the former president who sued in Colorado agreed that the justices should step in now and resolve the issue, as do many election law experts.

"This case is of utmost national importance. And given the upcoming presidential primary schedule, there is no time to wait for the issues to percolate further. The Court should resolve this case on an expedited timetable, so that voters in Colorado and elsewhere will know whether Trump is indeed constitutionally ineligible when they cast their primary ballots," lawyers for the Colorado plaintiffs told the Supreme Court.

Today in history: Jan. 5 1914: Henry Ford 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross 1933: Golden Gate Bridge 1943: George Washington Carver 1949: Harry Truman 1998: Sonny Bono 2004: Airports 2011: John Boehner 2012: Barack Obama 2017: Donald Trump 2017: Gretchen Carlson 2018: Peter Martins 2018: Rose Bowl 2021: Georgia 2021: Kenosha 2022: Grammy Awards 2022: Kyrie Irving 2022: Novak Djokovic returns to the tennis court
A Billings man admitted Friday to threatening to kill Montana U.S. Senator Jon Tester in voicemail messages, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Anthony James Cross, 30, pleaded guilty to threats to injure and murder a United States Senator. Cross faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The court set sentencing for May 1. Cross was detained pending further proceedings.

Under the terms of a plea agreement in the case, if the court accepts the agreement at sentencing, the government will seek to dismiss count two of the indictment, which charges Cross with threats against the president.

At 5:34 a.m. and 5:37 a.m. on April 17, two voicemails were left at Sen. Jon Testers Billings, Montana and Washington, D.C. offices. In the first voicemail, the caller stated that Jon Testeris gonna die a horrible death and so is your familyyoure not gonna do anything about this.

In the second voicemail, the caller stated, I swear to God, you and your family will suffer such a horrendous death. And its not going to be by some white boy, no its gonna be by some Indian like meIm gonna kill every single one of your (obscenity) family members. Law enforcement determined that the phone number associated with the calls was attributed to Cross.

On April 25, Google contacted the FBI regarding multiple comments made to YouTube videos flagged as threatening. The comments were attributed to Crosss YouTube account. Some of the comments made in April included:

 Im going to kill every trans I see.

 We are actively hunting down and killing any trans in our major cities. You wont hear about it until Trump overcomes his indictment and Biden loses the re-election.

 I will personally kill Joe Biden.

During an interview with law enforcement, Cross admitted to making the comments posted on YouTube and to using his cellular phone to make the comments.

The FBI and United States Secret Service conducted the investigation.
A group of Montana law students and young activists launched an organization this week to help facilitate freedom-of-information requests and to educate both the public and policymakers on the state Constitutions right to know.

The founders of the Montana Transparency Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, say they want to complement the states existing landscape of FOI resources  namely, attorneys  by helping everyday Montanans with the initial steps of requesting public information from their government.

We realized that it can be really hard to know whats the best way to do this, whats the timeline, will it cost money, what questions to ask, said Jacob Linfesty, the organizations president and a Harvard Law School student originally from Billings. If youre an average Montanan, if you dont have connections, a lawyer, these questions are hard to answer.

The idea for the project hatched when Linfesty was working with the groups now-secretary, Claremont McKenna College senior Caroline Bullock, and now-treasurer, University of Wisconsin law student Lydia Dal Nogare, at the Helena non-profit public interest law firm Upper Seven last summer. The trio, working as non-attorney associates, assisted in some First Amendment and freedom-of-information cases, Linfesty said, and saw some of the challenges that people can face when requesting even the most basic public information.

A lot of Montanas dont know they even have a right to know, Linfesty said.

Soon, the nascent group grew to include two additional University of Montana law students, now-vice president Lauren Halverson and now-communications chair Addie Slanger. Even outside of Upper Seven, an influential law firm that often files constitutional challenges against the state, the group has some notable connections in Montanas political sphere: Caroline Bullock is the daughter of former Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, and Addie Slanger is the daughter of attorney Sean Slanger, a lobbyist whose clients have included the State Bar of Montana.

Linfesty said Thursday the groups work will be non-partisan, though not necessarily non-political. The Montana Transparency Projects website features a page-long non-partisanship policy, which states the group will not assist candidates, campaigns, ballot measure campaigns, political parties, independent committees  or any other group organized exclusively or primarily for political purposes  with information requests.

The group may make some of its own requests, the policy states, if the release of the relevant information would foster the publics confidence in political institutions, allow for the examination of public expenditures, maintain accountability for officials, prevent secret government conduct, and support the right to know and the other rights enshrined in the  Constitution.

A form on the projects website allows those seeking assistance to generally describe the information theyre looking for and what kind of help they need. From there, Linfesty and his colleagues would help them format, refine and target their request to receive the best result possible in the least amount of time.

This would be a help for not just members of the public but also public information officers, who sometimes receive requests that for various reasons are not administrable, Linfesty said.

Weve had a lot of conversations with [public information officers], and one issue thats important is the administration of the right to know for Montanas to make a request, Linfesty said. PIOs often get requests that are hard to understand what theyre looking for, or it yields 10,000 pages as a response, which isnt helpful to the requestor.

On the flip side, he said, its also important to educate government officials about their obligations under the law.

As nobody in the group  for now, at least  is licensed to practice law, the project will not (and, legally, cannot) offer legal advice. That sets it apart from the Montana Freedom of Information Hotline, which is connected to attorney Mike Meloy, or from non-profit firms like Upper Seven.

Linfesty said the organizations primary focus will be on step one of the information process, while the hotline generally works with people further along the way.

The Montana Transparency Project will complement the free services the Montana Freedom of Information Hotline provides through Right to Know specialist Peter Mike Meloy, a veteran Helena attorney, the hotlines chairwoman, Choteau Acantha editor Melody Martinsen, said in a press release announcing the transparency projects launch. MTP will provide another option for citizens, particularly, to receive free, non-attorney assistance in filing requests for public documents, which can be confusing and frustrating for people new to the process.

Linfesty said that the money for the projects startup costs came from the founding quintets pockets, but theyll be soliciting grants and donations in the future.

Its not funded by any outside interest. Its funded by our own interest in securing the promise of the Montana Constitution, he said.
Editors note: Calendar items must be submitted at least five days before an event. Email all items to news@morganton.com.

TUESDAY, JAN. 9

Burke County Democratic Party is sponsoring an evening with Justice Michael Morgan. It will be held at Mountain View Recreation Center, 111 Alphabet Lane, Morganton on Tuesday, Jan. 9. A reception will be held at 5 p.m. Program begins at 6 p.m.

Nurturing Souls group

Carolina Caring will offer a free grief support group called Nurturing Souls on Tuesday, Jan. 9, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at Waterbean Coffee, 1995 Startown Road, in Hickory. Anyone in the community who has had a recent loss or whose grief is still fresh is encouraged to grab an afternoon cup of coffee or hot tea and join an informal time of sharing and connecting with others who have also experienced a recent loss of someone close to them. The group will continue to meet on the second Tuesday of every month. No registration is required but if youd like more information, visit CarolinaCaring.org/support, email wspurling@carolinacaring.org or call 828-466-0466, ext. 3201.

FRIDAY, JAN. 12

The Burke County Chamber of Commerce will hold the Coffee and Conversations with Drexel Mayor Dennis Anthony on Friday, Jan. 12, from 7:30-9 a.m. at the R.O. Huffman Recreation Center, 700 S. Main St. Drexel. Cost is $15 for Chamber members and $25 for non-members. Cost includes breakfast. Come learn more information about happenings in Drexel and network with local leaders. For more information or to register, visit burkecountychamber.org.

MONDAY, JAN. 15

Vietnam Veterans meeting

Vietnam Veterans of America, Robert Douglas Avery Chapter 1116 will be meeting on Monday, Jan. 15, at Timberwoods Family Restaurant with a social hour beginning at 5 p.m. and meal at 6 p.m. Meals for first time guest will be paid for. A business meeting will begin at 6 p.m. All Vietnam veterans, members and non-members, are invited to attend this meeting. Membership information will be provided for all non-members interested in joining our chapter. For those who filled out a membership form, dont forget to bring a copy of your DD 214. Any questions that you have may be directed to Chapter Secretary Tom Johnson at 828-413-0143.

Democratic Party meeting

The Burke County Democratic Party will hold a building meeting at 2 p.m. at its headquarters, 301 S. Sterling St.

THURSDAY, JAN. 25

The Burke County Chamber of Commerce will hold a reception for newly elected candidates on Jan. 25 from 4-6 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 100 Silver Creek Road, Morganton. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by Monday, Jan. 22, to burkecountychamber.org.

SATURDAY, JAN. 27

Docent training

The Exploring Joara Foundation invites people interested in telling the story of the Berry archaeological site and Living History Village at Catawba Meadows Park to the first session in a docent training, which will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Wall Center for Archaeological Research at 220 New St. in Morganton. Additional sessions will take place Feb. 10 and 24 and will involve working with school groups at the Living History Village and the Berry site. Those sessions also will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information or to register, visit https://exploringjoara.org/ejf-docent-volunteers/.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

Cruise Unifour Christian Ministries will be embarking on a cruise to Grand Turk and Dominican Republic. Members of the public are invited to join. Call Annette Guffey at 828-493-1723 or 828-396-1906 for more information.
Human remains discovered on CTA Blue Line train tracks near OHare International Airport halted rail service for about three hours Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Chicago police said a person was found unresponsive on the train tracks near Terminal Five at 3:27 p.m. The person was pronounced dead on scene, police said. Police said they were not able to identify the gender of the person.

On social media, the Chicago Transit Authority announced Blue Line trains were temporarily suspended due to a medical emergency at 3:23 p.m., with service finally resuming around 6:30 p.m.

The Cook County medical examiners office had not identified the victim as of Friday evening. An autopsy was scheduled for Saturday.

Police said they were investigating.
RALEIGH  For political journalists, a standard tool of the trade is the New Year prediction column. Especially when the date is an even number, signifying the start of a presidential or midterm election cycle, pundits typically offer up a series of forecasts about who will win, who will lose, and whom the losers will blame.

(Wholl take credit for the wins? The victorious candidates, of course! Thats no prediction. Thats a metaphysical certitude.)

On first impression, such columns may seem awfully risky. After all, pundits possess no great superhuman insight that other folks lack. We inevitably get some predictions wrong. Often many are wrong. Doesnt that ruin our credibility?

Nah. Lets face it: most of us have little credibility to risk. Readers enjoy prediction columns even though they recognize columnists are far from prescient. And columnists enjoy writing them even though they recognize some readers (not most, thank goodness) will actually remember the predictions.

As we enter the 2024 election cycle  try not to shudder when you read that, I dare you  Ive decided not to predict the future. Im going to do something else, something surprising, perhaps even transgressive. Im going to predict the past.

Or, more to the point, Im going to predict some 2024 events that I know are going to occur, because they will be commemorations of important events in the history of America in general and North Carolina in particular.

I refer to the approaching semiquincentennial of our countrys birth as an independent republic. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution declaring 13 of Britains North American colonies to be free and independent states. Two days later, on July 4, delegates to the Congress approved (and perhaps signed) the formal Declaration of Independence as we know it today.

The celebration of Americas 250th birthday wont start in 2026, however. Its already begun. Last month, there were commemorations in Massachusetts and elsewhere of the semiquincentennial of the Boston Tea Party, which occurred on Dec. 16, 1773. Over the course of the ensuing year, outraged patriots across the colonies took a number of additional steps toward a decisive break with Britain:

On July 18, 1774, Virginia leaders George Washington and George Mason presented a document at the Fairfax County Courthouse. Their Fairfax Resolves challenged British abuses of colonists rights and called for the convening of a Continental Congress to discuss how to respond.

Other colonies took up the cause. On Aug. 25, delegates representing 44 counties and towns met in New Bern as North Carolinas first Provincial Congress. While affirming their loyalty to King George III, the North Carolina leaders declared that any act of Parliament imposing a tax is illegal and unconstitutional, and that our Provincial Assemblies, the King by his governors constituting one branch thereof, solely and exclusively possess that right.

On Sept. 5, 1774, the first Continental Congress began its proceedings in Philadelphia. North Carolinas three delegates were Joseph Hewes and William Hooper, both of whom signed the Declaration of Independence two years later, and Richard Caswell, who became our states first governor.

On Oct. 25, 1774, Penelope Barker organized a protest in Edenton. Fifty-one women met to declare their opposition to taxation without representation and pledging not to purchase British imports of tea and cloth. It is a duty that we owe not only to our near and dear connections, they stated, but to ourselves.

The towns historical commission has embarked on a yearlong commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Edenton Tea Party. The North Carolina Department of Natural and Resources is coordinating a broader effort, in conjunction with the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, to recognize key North Carolina contributions to the fight for independence. Private initiatives such as the American Enterprise Institutes We Hold These Truths project will focus additional attention on the founding principles of our country.

Im looking forward to the celebration  and to the address President Haley will deliver in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026.
No comments were made during the Muscatine City Council meeting Thursday during a public hearing regarding the citys coming wayfinding program.

The council moved on to adopt the Wayfinder master plan, which would set the locations and materials needed so the city can get quotes. Council member Peggy Gordon cast the sole nay vote, commenting the plans looked good, but she was not ready to move ahead with the plan until the designs blend in better with recent additions to the downtown area, specifically Mississippi Drive.

The designs are beautiful, she said. Id like to see them consolidated. I think the plan as it is now leaves room for that to be determined.

The plan will install several monuments in the downtown area designed to show visitors to Muscatine the location of area attractions.

Jeff Frank from Corbin Design said the city had given the directions to coordinate with the existing system.

Our signs are designed in a way we can expand on those designs, he said.

He explained the designs are meant to have a unique silhouette setting them apart from the square design of many of the existing signs in the downtown area.

Gordon commented she sees it as Muscatine having multiple brandings throughout the town, including the use of the citys logo. She said if the plan would move ahead with the existing designs it would change her vote.

Frank commented that city logos change every few years, but the wayfinder designs are meant to last over 20 years.

Council member Jeff Osborne said the council had previously chosen a series of designs to move ahead with.

Also during the meeting Sandy Grady, a former resident at Welch Apartments, approached the council for answers to when the former residents could collect their belongings,. She said it had been 134 days since they were evacuated, after being told they would only be out of the building for five days.

I know this is out of the city councils wheelhouse, but we need answers, she said. We dont know who to contact. We are concerned about the safety of the building. There are so many rumors flying around that the building has been sold, or the contractors are in, or that it has been broken into.

Grady expressed concerns about the security of the building, saying everyone knows the building is empty and that the former tenants belongings are still inside.

She also asked for a specific person or company she could contact for more information about the future of the building.

Osborne said he had received contact information for the owners and he plans to get ahold of them soon to open lines of communications.

On Aug. 23, engineers reported structural damage to the building, including bulging walls and floors moving away from walls. Richman Asset Management, the owners of the building, ordered the 17 tenants living in the building to be evacuated. According to tenant statements at city council meetings, they had 15 minutes to leave the building. Richman put the tenants up in local motels temporarily and later helped them find permanent housing.

After coronavirus: What your next group tour will look like Group travel will be focused heavily on domestic travel this year and possibly beyond. Groups will be smaller to ensure social distancing. You may already know the people you'll be traveling with. Nature will nurture. Reducing the number of "touch points" will be a bigger plus for groups. Part of a tour company's "duty of care" now includes health.
DES MOINES  Iowa statehouse Democrats will push to reverse a decision from state officials to opt out of a federal food assistance program for low-income children, party leaders said during a forum Thursday.

House and Senate Democratic leaders made the remarks during the Iowa Capitol Press Associations annual Legislative Session Preview Forum. Republican leaders and Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declined to attend the forum.

The state Department of Health and Human Services announced in December that it would not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children program. The program would have given $40 per child for each of the summer months for families who qualify for free and reduced lunch during the school year.

Instead, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said the state would expand existing programs that leverage partnerships with community-based providers and schools who understand the needs of the families they serve.

Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and dont provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families, Reynolds said in a statement in December. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.

The HHS department noted the state would have been required to spend $2.2 million in administrative fees to cover their share of the program.

On Thursday, Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum of Dubuque said she had reached out to Republican colleagues, who make up the majority in both chambers, asking them to join Democrats in reversing the decision to reject the aid.

Some of the arguments the governor has made in terms of why she has rejected that funding just don't wash, Jochum said. They just dont wash. It has nothing to do with obesity, even though she may claim that.

Democratic Sen. Izaah Knox issued a statement last week calling for collaboration among all stakeholders to address food insecurity in the wake of the states decision to opt out of the federal program.

Republican Sen. Mike Costello, the vice chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said its unlikely Republicans will pursue legislation to increase funding for food assistance for low-income families.

He said he supports state officials decision to pass on the federal program and focus attention on existing state programs.

The department has  a lot of different programs for feeding children, Costello said. And they feel like they can work with the latitude they already have to meet those needs.

In an email, Reynolds' spokesperson Kollin Crompton said the state is exploring using federal funds from the American Rescue Plan to incentivize school districts and other sites to participate in other federally-funded summer feeding programs, while asking other districts to expand their programs. The state will also explore ways to connect Medicaid-eligible Iowans with food assistance.

He said existing state programs offer more nutritious alternatives to EBT cards, which do not have a nutritional requirement.

"The Summer Food Service Program and the Seamless Summer Option, already run through the state, are required to provide Milk, fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats / proteins  all based around age-appropriate meal patterns,' Crompton said. "These nutritional standards provide well balanced, prepared meals for children in a healthy, safe environment.

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights, who leads House Democrats, said she is skeptical there will be any support from Republicans to reverse the decision or expand funding for low-income families to make up for the federal dollars.

I dont know that there are bipartisan opportunities, but Democrats are ready to work on those, Konfrst said. I just dont believe Republicans are willing to stand up to the governor on this really disastrous and offensive decision.
The California State laws governing ADUs and JADUs are changing every year. ADUs, also known as granny flats, in-law units, guest or secondary units, are intended to create more homes to help ease our current housing shortage. Up until last year, the state allowed one main residence, one ADU accessory dwelling unit as well as one JADU, junior accessory dwelling unit, on any legal single family residential lot. A new state "policy (meaning its not official law as of yet) will allow municipalities to administratively approve a building permit application with one ADU and one JADU and one additional detached newly constructed ADU, under certain circumstances and interpretations. Combining this law with other housing laws such as Senate bill SB9, one lot could yield up to eight homes. Since little public noticing is required once a complete application is accepted by the local agencies, I see the neighborhood battles emerging on the horizon. Get out the torches, nooses, and pitchforks!

SB 897 came into effect to make it easier and more cost-effective to add ADUs to anyones properties. The property must be zoned for single-family residential use with a primary dwelling and a new ADUs can go up to 25 feet or the height of the main house, whichever is lower. Detached ADUs have a limit of 18 feet, which might accommodate two floors or a mezzanine. SB 897 relaxes setback requirements, especially for smaller ADUs. But 4 feet to a property line is really essential.

The bill also removes minimum lot sizes and lot coverage requirements, making ADU feasible on smaller lots. Replacement parking is no longer mandatory when a garage is converted into an ADU. Additionally, the need for automatic fire sprinklers in ADUs has been modified, further simplifying the process. Always check with your local building and fire departments for specifics.

In addition, the State Housing Department policy is allowing communities to allow ADUs in sensitive habitat areas and high-fire hazard severity zoned areas. This also could mean allowing ADUs in hillside areas with narrow and steep roads. Im less concerned about resident access but fire suppression and construction supplies will be a challenge. Again, check with your local building and fire departments for specifics.

Individual Accessory Dwelling Units are now sellable

ADUs were originally intended to create more housing opportunities. Not all ADUs are rented: often property owners use a newly constructed ADU as a pool, office or guest house. Assembly Bill 1033 will now allow ADUs to be separated and sold, which could in effect create two- or more condominiums on a residential lot. The bill in 2024 will allow a city or county to opt-into a new program in order to allow homeowners to sell their ADUs separately from the main residence.

This will also require the creation of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions, CC&Rs, to govern the use of any piece of real estate just like a homeowners association or maintenance organization for condominiums. I dont see this happening widely but a standard set of CC&Rs should be created by the state since any CC&R package would have to be certified by the DOH.

I dont think the lending industry was considered in this. Financing the construction of ADUs is still a challenge for many banks and financing separate condo ADUs on a property is unheard of, if not next to impossible. City governments may embrace the concept, but financing will be the real challenge.

Cities across California are getting creative in adding ADUs. San Diego city has created a ADU Bonus Program where an ADU that is built and dedicated to lower-income renters, then the city will allow the owner to build an additional ADU to rent at market rate. In so-called transit priority areas, there are technically no limits to the number of bonus ADUs someone can build.

If San Diego opts into AB 1033, thousands of newly eligible housing units could hit the market in the coming years thus creating more low-income and first-time buyers to get in the housing market. Through October of 2023, a total of 124 ADUs were permitted as ADU bonuses and allowing the sale of ADUs would be a real game changer.

Are Municipal Impact Fees holding back ADU construction?

One major obstacle to ADU construction is local Municipal Impact Fees, MIFs, for an ADU. Basically, they include not only building permits expenses but additional costs to maintain existing services that havent been passed on to all existing residences. Typically, these fees apply to newly constructed condominiums or luxury homes, which is the current market. However, should these be passed on to new ADUs?

Finding the municipal fees requires Sherlock Holmes. The city fee schedule for an ADU under 749 SF is about $2,000, depending on the moon and the stars that night. ADUs above 750 square feet are around $15,000, if youre lucky. These are approximate since there is no way to know what the total fees are until an actual application goes through the whole process. Ask five city employees and youll get 10 different answers.

Its arguable that individual homeowners building ADUs will help solve Napas required state mandate to creating more housing and therefore the city should eliminate or reduce MIFs for ADUs. But that falls on deaf ears.

In the meantime, keep your ADUs under 749 square feet.
Story Highlights 28% are satisfied, down from the prior low of 35% after Jan. 6 Capitol riot

38% of Democrats, 17% of Republicans are satisfied

Americans with less formal education are less satisfied

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new low of 28% of U.S. adults are satisfied with the way democracy is working in the country. The current figure is down from the prior low -- 35% measured shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by rioters trying to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election.

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The latest results are based on a Dec. 1-20, 2023, survey.

Gallup has asked Americans about their satisfaction with U.S. democracy nine times since 1984. The high point came in the first reading, when 61% of Americans were satisfied with the way democracy was working. It was nearly as high, at 60%, in 1991.

However, Americans satisfaction showed signs of deterioration in 1992 -- often referred to as the year of the angry voter -- in the wake of an economic recession and congressional scandals exemplified by members writing scores of bad checks from the House bank. By June 1992, when insurgent third-party candidate Ross Perot led presidential preference polls, 36% of Americans were satisfied with the way democracy was working. Later that year, incumbent President George H.W. Bush was defeated for reelection, and the reelection rate for members of the U.S. House was one of the lowest in the past 50 years.

American satisfaction rebounded in 1994-1998 surveys, including 52% satisfied in 1998 after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach then-President Bill Clinton. The increase may have reflected greater satisfaction with the way things were going in the country, generally, during a period of strong economic growth.

Gallup did not ask the question again until 2021, though two CNN surveys from 2010 and 2016 each showed 40% satisfaction ratings. These results suggest Americans in the 2010s were once again disillusioned with the way democracy was working, perhaps due to continued gridlock in Washington amid growing budget deficits, ongoing gun violence, racial tensions and illegal immigration.

The more recent declines of the past two years (to varying degrees for different partisan groups) may reflect economic unease amid higher prices, disapproval of the jobs President Joe Biden, Congress and the Supreme Court are doing, increasing hostility between the political parties, former President Donald Trumps persistent political strength, and concerns about election security, voting rights and the independence of the courts and the justice system.

Republicans Least Satisfied With Democracy

Among major U.S. subgroups, Republicans (17%) are least likely to say they are satisfied with the state of democracy, and Democrats (38%) are most likely. Political independents fall about midway between the two party groups, at 27% satisfaction.

All three party groups are less satisfied now than they were in 2021, when 47% of Democrats, 21% of Republicans and 36% of independents were satisfied shortly after Biden took office.

Typically, partisans have been more satisfied with the way democracy is working when a president from their preferred party has been in office. Between 1984 and 1992, spanning the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, Republicans expressed greater satisfaction than Democrats in each of the four surveys conducted.

All of the more recent surveys have been conducted in years when a Democratic president was in the White House. Democrats have been more satisfied than Republicans in all of those except one: the 1998 survey conducted after the Republican-led House impeached Clinton.

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Satisfaction with democracy also differs sharply by education. Americans with postgraduate education tie Democrats as the subgroup most likely to be satisfied, at 38%. Meanwhile, roughly three in 10 adults who attended college, but not graduate school, are satisfied, and 21% of those who did not attend college are.

Americans without a college education show the steepest decline in satisfaction since 2021 among key subgroups, dropping 15 percentage points from 36%.

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In past surveys, Americans with no college education have typically been the least satisfied with U.S. democracy.

Bottom Line

Americans are preparing to elect the next president at a time when they are less happy about the state of U.S. democracy than at any point in at least 40 years. The 2024 election is expected to match a historically unpopular incumbent president with a former president whom voters previously rejected for a second term. While conditions seem ripe for a successful third-party challenger, it remains unclear whether such a candidate can win within the U.S. electoral system.

To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on X.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

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PNN New Delhi [India], January 6: In the ever-evolving world of beverages, Cocobae stands out as a trendsetter, redefining the way we enjoy tender coconut water. Introducing the concept of "Customized Coconut" or "Customized Coconuts" Cocobae invites you to not only relish a refreshing drink but to make it uniquely yours, complete with your logo, tagline, or hashtag. At the heart of Cocobae's innovation stands its visionary founder, Harjas Singh, whose journey has been nothing short of inspiring. Harjas's passion for reimagining traditional beverages led him to embark on a mission to redefine the way we experience tender coconut water. Drawing from his rich experiences and a deep understanding of consumer preferences, Harjas has seamlessly woven the essence of personalization into Cocobae's DNA. His entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to offering a refreshing and personalized beverage experience have propelled Cocobae to the forefront of the beverage industry. Today, under Harjas's guidance, Cocobae continues to flourish, providing a platform for individuals and businesses to celebrate their uniqueness with every sip. Crafting Your Brand on Every Sip Imagine sipping on the pure goodness of tender coconut water, now personalized with your distinct touch. Cocobae's Customized Coconuts Experience goes beyond flavors; it lets you imprint your brand identity on every coconut. With the incorporation of your logo, tagline, or hashtag, each sip becomes a statement of your brand's individuality. The Seamless Customization Process Cocobae makes personalization a breeze. Begin by choosing the finest tender coconut water as your base--the canvas for your customized creation. Next, add your unique flair by uploading your logo, selecting a tagline, or incorporating a memorable hashtag. Cocobae's cutting-edge technology seamlessly integrates these elements, that not only quenches your thirst but also speaks volumes about your unique name! Why Opt for Customized Coconut Water Experience? Unforgettable Celebrations: Make your special moments truly memorable by serving Cocobae's Customized Coconut at weddings, birthdays, Haldi Ceremony, Guest Welcome, Baby Shower, Pool Party, Baraat Swagat, Destination wedding, Corporate Meeting, House Warming, Mehndi ceremony or other celebrations. Your personalized touch adds a unique and refreshing element to the festivities. Branding Reinvented: Stand out in the crowded market by associating your brand with a product that reflects your identity. Cocobae's customization ensures that your logo, tagline, or hashtag is prominently featured on each coconut. Memorable Marketing: Turn your hydration routine into a marketing strategy. With every sip, your customers engage with your brand, reinforcing brand recall and loyalty. Corporate Elegance: Elevate your corporate events with a touch of sophistication. Customized Coconuts becomes a refreshing and branded addition to conferences, seminars, or product launches, making a lasting impression on clients and colleagues alike. The Cocobae Advantage Cocobae's commitment to innovation extends beyond the drink itself. By offering the Customised Coconuts Experience, the brand enables individuals and businesses to stand out at events and create a lasting impression through a beverage that is not only refreshing but also reflective of their unique identity. With Pan India delivery, Cocobae is delivering Fresh Engraved Branded Coconuts through India. Following them, Brands like Mr Coconut & more have followed them to join the league. Having its Hub in the Capital city Delhi, Cocobae is majorly serving in Agra, Ahmedabad, Alibagh, Chandigarh, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mussoorie, Surat, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Bangalore, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Shimla, Pune, Patiala, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jim corbett, Ramnagar, Nainital, Gurgaon, Noida, Panipat, Zirakpur, Mohali, Faridabad, Dehradun & more. Unveiling the Craftsmanship Behind Cocobae's Customized Coconut Water Cocobae's dedication to delivering a unique and personalized coconut water experience begins with the careful selection of the finest tender coconuts. Each coconut is handpicked to ensure optimal freshness and flavor. The crafting of Cocobae's Customized Coconut Water involves a meticulous blending of natural flavors, allowing you to tailor your beverage to perfection. Cocobae takes pride in offering not just a drink but a crafted masterpiece that harmonizes the purity of tender coconut water with the individuality of your chosen names on it. Sustainability at the Core: Cocobae's Green Initiative In addition to delivering a personalized and refreshing experience, Cocobae is committed to environmental responsibility. Our coconuts are sourced from sustainable and eco-friendly farms, aligning with our dedication to preserving the planet. Unlike traditional bottled beverages, Cocobae's focus on sustainability means we minimize packaging waste, opting for eco-conscious solutions. By choosing Cocobae's Customized Coconut Water, you're not only treating yourself to a unique taste but also contributing to a greener and more sustainable future. Join us in sipping responsibly as we redefine the coconut water experience, one personalized serving at a time. Cocobae has spread it;s wings & serving in all the major hotels including Andaz, JW Marriot, The Leela, A Dot, Pullman, Le Meridien, Radisson, Trident, City Park, The Westin, Clardiges & whatnot. Pioneering the Future: Cocobae's Vision Ahead As we stride into the future, Cocobae is poised for remarkable growth and innovation. Our commitment to redefining the beverage industry extends beyond the present, and we are actively exploring avenues to expand our footprint. In the coming years, Cocobae envisions introducing an even broader range of flavors and customization options, ensuring that every individual can create a coconut water experience that resonates with their unique taste preferences. Moreover, our commitment to sustainability will be amplified as we explore eco-friendly packaging alternatives, aiming to make a positive impact on the environment. Cocobae's future plans are anchored in the belief that customization, quality, and sustainability will continue to be the driving forces that set us apart in the evolving landscape of beverage consumption. Join us on this exciting journey as we shape the future of refreshing and personalized coconut water experiences. In conclusion, add a touch of distinction to your next function, wedding, or corporate event with Cocobae's Customized Coconuts Experience. It's not just about serving a beverage; it's about creating a personalized and memorable experience that will be talked about long after the event is over. Make your mark in the world of events, one customized Coconut at a time, with Cocobae- where every drop tells a story of your brand. Visit: https://www.cocobae.in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocobaeofficial/ (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PRNewswire Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 6: Mumbai-based fashion brand in the comfort wear category, July Wear has raised its maiden funding round of Rs. 2 Crores via India Angel Fund. When Neha Bajaj, a Mompreneur stepped out of her Manufacturing business in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, she made it her mission to: "Build a Fashion Brand" Thanks to COVID-19, the growth of comfort-oriented silhouettes made for a strong case to build upon as a category. What she noticed was the lack of a contemporary and trendy comfort-wear homegrown branded range. Building July Wear with the premise that "Why should comfort come at the cost of style?", the brand has already clocked a revenue of INR 5 Crores with its presence both online and offline. Selling from 300+ stores across the country, Neha now is focussing on tapping the power of the D2C channel. Leveraging D2C, brand, and creator collaborations, an innovative range, and international expansion, July is set to target a growth of INR 100 Crores MRR in 18 months. Setting shop in the fashion capital of the country, Neha moved to Mumbai with a map in her hand to figure out the markets she needed to visit and how to get there. Hustling in the Mumbai local trains, chasing retailers, and figuring out the how of performance marketing versus placement in offline stores, this traditional Marwari girl originally from Sirsa in Haryana, soon became a Fashion Entrepreneur in Mumbai. A NIFT Delhi graduate, Neha found immense inspiration in her single mother who is an impact entrepreneur herself, and runs a school in Sirsa, Haryana where she still wakes up at 3.00 a.m. to manage the school. Neha credits her husband Samant Bajaj as a big motivation and her pillar of support alongside her brother Rajeev Goel who is a serial entrepreneur and investor himself. Recalling the early days when people were very skeptical of her determination to start up a fashion brand and particularly when a retailer made her stand outside his store for 12 hours before finally relenting to place her garments in his store, Neha feels it is her stubbornness to build this venture that continues to bear the fruit every time. This "Zid" finally has culminated in Neha now looking to scale her venture into the big league. With this round of capital infusion, July Wear is set to begin with an Experience Centre in South Mumbai, identify potential collaborations with complementary brands and individuals, as also soon launch an exclusive collection in the Middle East starting with Dubai and Abu Dhabi A deeply spiritual person, the founder, Neha is also exploring options of creating a range of natural fragrance and energy-infused fabrics and creating exclusive collections in partnership with young creators. July Wear is also currently hiring for various roles with its Mantra being "Hire For Attitude and Train For Skill" About July Wear July Wear is all about tapping into comfort, confidence, and charisma. A question that July began with was "Why should comfort come at the cost of style?" With that as its mission, July Wear makes you feel your best while looking your best. Looking for trendy co-ord sets, loungewear, kaftans and contemporary comfort wear that is crafted to last, July is the answer. Media ContactNeha Bajaje-mail: neha@julynightwear.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2312167/Neha_Bajaj_July_Wear.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
The official page of Panorama Studios took to Instagram to announce the news. They wrote, "IRS Officer Amay Patnaik returns for another gripping case! Get ready for intense drama and suspense with Raid 2 on November 15, 2024!"

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1v4kOvIsVZ/

The post also featured a poster, depicting merely the shoes of an IRS officer going along the street.

Actor Ajay Devgn has reunited with director Rajkumar Gupta and producers Bhushan Kumar, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak and Krishan Kumar for the highly anticipated sequel, 'Raid 2.'

The movie is all set to tell a true story from the books of the Income Tax Department's unsung heroes.

The film's production began today in Mumbai and will be shot extensively in Mumbai, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

The initial film captivated audiences with its gripping tale, and now that the sequel is in the works, 'Raid 2' has already piqued the interest of viewers with its double drama and suspense.

'Raid 2 is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak and Krishan Kumar under their banner T-Series and Panorama Studios.

The film will be released in theatres on November 15, 2024.

Part 1, 'Raid,' was set in the early 1980s with Lucknow as the background, the film revolves around a true incident of the longest raid in history. The movie also stars Ileana D'Cruz in the pivotal role. (ANI)
Christian Oliver was enjoying "paradise" just days before he and his two young daughters were killed in a plane crash in the Caribbean, reported Page Six. On Monday, the 'Speed Racer' star shared a sunset photo on Instagram and expressed his excitement for the new year. "Let love rule," the 51-year-old wrote atop the image. "Wishing all of you the best for 2024!" While Oliver was not in the photograph, numerous women, including two little girls, were in the shadows near the coastline. In the caption, Oliver wrote, "Greetings from somewhere in paradise! To community and love ... 2024 her[e] we come!" https://www.instagram.com/p/C1j_hZlr-fG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== According to Page Six, after news of the fatal crash made headlines on Friday, hundreds of fans rushed to the actor's social media pages to offer their condolences. "I hope your heaven is now your paradise...," one person commented. "My sincere condolences to his family and to all who are affected by this tragedy," another wrote. "A big hug for the children mom. I wouldn't dare to imagine your pain." The actor, whose real name was Christian Klepser, was flying to St. Lucia with his 10-year-old daughter, Madita, and 12-year-old daughter, Annik, when they "plummeted into the ocean," according to the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police. Robert Sachs, their pilot, also died in the crash. While it's unclear what happened, officials say the single-engine plane "experienced difficulties" just "moments after taking off" from Bequia. Sachs reportedly radioed the control tower at Bequiaafter after noticing something was wrong and told them he was turning around, per Searchlight, a local outlet. However, that was the last point of contact made with the aircraft before residents saw it nosedive into the sea. Several fishermen and divers raced out to save those on board, but all four bodies were discovered and proclaimed dead at the site. Oliver shared his two daughters with ex-wife Jessica Muroz. The pair reportedly split in 2021. The German-born actor and producer was best known for his roles in "Saved by the Bell: The New Class," "Valkyrie" and "Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny." He also teased several new projects before his passing, including the film "Forever Hold Your Peace" which he finished filming in December, reported Page Six. (ANI)
Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar feels honoured to receive an invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Speaking to ANI, Bhandarkar said, "It will be an important occasion for all Indians. I have been invited to attend the ceremony and I am extremely excited to be there on January 22. I wish the whole world celebrates the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir." The ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 22, 2024. As per sources, BJP workers have been instructed to set up large screens for the live telecast of the Shri Ram Consecration at the booth level. This initiative aims to provide a means for the common people to witness the consecration of Shri Ram Lala."This way, the general public can have darshan of Shri Ram Lala and witness the consecration ceremony," the source mentioned. Additionally, BJP workers are encouraged to engage in social work on a personal level."Workers may choose to distribute blankets, organize community feasts ('bhandara'), or contribute through donations in terms of food or fruits to help those in need," the sources added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple on January 22. The event has garnered significant attention, with several VVIP guests from India and abroad receiving invitations to participate in the auspicious occasion in Ayodhya. Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony. A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahotsav.A 1008 Hundi Mahayagya will also be organised, in which thousands of devotees will be fed. Several tent cities are being erected in Ayodhya to accommodate thousands of devotees, who are expected to arrive in the temple town of Uttar Pradesh for the grand consecration. According to the Sri Ram Janambhoomi Trust, arrangements will be made for 10,000-15,000 people. Local authorities are gearing up for the anticipated surge in visitors around the grand ceremony and are in the process of implementing enhanced security measures and making logistical arrangements to ensure a smooth and spiritually enriching experience for all attendees. (ANI)
The Rev. Raymond Goedert was a confidant of cardinals who served as acting head of the Archdiocese of Chicago after Cardinal Joseph Bernardin died in 1996, and later acknowledged his failure to report sexual abuse accusations against priests.

Goedert, 96, died of natural causes on Dec. 9 at his Gold Coast home, said his cousin, John Holden. A longtime Chicago resident, Goedert resided in the residence of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich on North State Parkway.

Born in Oak Park, Goedert attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and then earned bachelors and masters degrees from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein.

In 1952, Goedert was ordained to the priesthood, and several years later he was studying in Rome. On his way back to the United States, he was aboard the trans-Atlantic SS Andrea Doria ocean liner off the coast of Massachusetts when it collided with a Swedish passenger liner.

The Andrea Doria eventually sank 225 feet to the bottom of the ocean, but not before the vast majority of its passengers were rescued. However, 46 people on the ship perished from the collision, and the tragedy left a significant imprint on Goedert.

I believe the care and attention he gave to people was shaped in part or at least reinforced by having survived the wreck of the Andrea Doria in 1956, said the Rev. Scott Donahue, president and CEO of the Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, a longtime friend and colleague. That experience forever colored his approach to life, which was to appreciate that every moment we have is a gift from God and is not to be wasted.

He was extraordinarily patient with people and a great listener. He was known for asking questions and he truly listened to and respected the responses he received in return, Donahue said.

In 1979, Goedert described his emotions as he watched the Andrea Doria sink.

I think we kid ourselves as priests, he told the Tribune. We talk of the joy and happiness of heaven. I was faced with the prospect and found that I was not all that happy to go. I was willing to wait.

After he was ordained, Goedert was an assistant pastor at several parishes in the city, including St. Gabriel and Blessed Sacrament parishes, and also at Mater Christi parish in North Riverside. He was pastor at St. Barnabas parish in the South Side Beverly neighborhood from 1976 until 1987.

In 1973, Goedert was elected president of the Chicago Priests Senate. He and the Senate battled with Chicagos cardinal at the time, John Cody, over a plan to close four South Side Catholic schools. He stepped down from his two-year term in that role in 1975.

From 1987 until 1991, Goedert was a vicar of priests  or in lay terms, a pastor of all other priests  serving from St. Andrew parish on the North Side. In 1991, Goedert was named auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and he was elevated to be vicar general of the archdiocese in 1995.

Weakened from the battle with cancer that soon claimed his life, Bernardin in 1996 turned over the day-to-day operations of the Archdiocese of Chicago to Goedert. It was a role Goedert also had held the previous year, while Bernardin had undergone cancer surgery.

Goedert retired as vicar general in 2003 but briefly held the role again the following year on an interim basis.

In 2009, Goederts testimony in a lawsuit filed by victims of sexual abuse against the church detailed the churchs failure to report the crimes. The lawsuit covered six cases involving sexual abuse by four priests between 1970 and 1986.

In an 180-page deposition, Goedert testified that most of the priests he confronted with sexual abuse charges admitted the abuse, but that he felt compelled to treat such matters confidentially under church law.

I knew the civil law considered it a crime, Goedert testified. I simply would not talk about (the cases) to anyone except those who had a right to know because of their position in the diocese.

Goederts testimony showed how deeply ingrained secrecy was in the archdiocese, Barbara Dorris, the outreach director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said at the time. The archdiocese ultimately agreed to pay $6.9 million to settle the six cases.

In April 2015, Goedert provided last rites to Cardinal Francis George, by anointing George with oil and bestowing the sacrament of the sick, while the cardinals longtime assistant, the Rev. Dan Flens, gave George Holy Communion.

The hope is the blessing will possibly heal the person if possible, but especially help the person to face death and put them at peace, Goedert told the Tribune after George died. He was certainly, in my mind, at peace at the end.

There were no immediate survivors.

Services were held.

Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

To purchase a death notice, visit https://placeanad.chicagotribune.com/death-notices. To suggest a staff-written obituary on a person of local interest, email chicagoland@chicagotribune.com.
Police suspect that the killing was the fallout of a dispute related to land and money.

After the arrest, an FIR was registered at Kothrud Police Station under sections 302, 307, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other relevant sections of the Arms Act and Maharashtra Police Act.

According to the senior police official of the Crime Branch, after the incident, police deployed nine teams and dispatched them to various locations, including Pune City, Pune Rural, Satara, and Kolhapur.

Sharad Mohol (40) was allegedly shot and injured by 3-4 unidentified attackers in Pune on Friday afternoon.

He was rushed to a private hospital in the Kothrud area but was pronounced dead, said police.

The police informed that a manhunt is underway and dedicated teams have been formed to nab the culprits.

Sambhaji Kadam, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Pune, said, "The firing incident took place around 1.30 pm. Sharad Mohol sustained gunshot wounds. A team each from a local police department and a crime branch have launched a manhunt for the attackers."

Further details are awaited. (ANI)
The National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Institute of Constitutional and Parliament Studies have formed an unprecedented alliance with the pioneering initiative "Panchayat Se Parliament." This groundbreaking program brought together approximately 500 elected women Sarpanch, including leaders from urban local bodies, from across India for a transformative one-day training session held at the prestigious central hall of Parliament. The event was graced by the presence of the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, who emphasised the significance of empowering women in politics with the poignant statement, "Indian democracy is a testament to the vibrant tapestry of diverse voices, where the power of unity amidst diversity shapes the symphony of progress and inclusivity." The LOk Sabha Speaker highlighted that women are taking a leap in making our nation "aatm nirbhar bharat," and under Rekha Sharma (NCW Chairperson), NCW has been able to reach women in the most remote areas of the country. Highlighting the intention behind this programme, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma, spotlighted the ongoing initiative titled "She is a Changemaker," a collaborative venture between NCW and various stakeholders spanning two years. This initiative has been instrumental in facilitating and supporting women in grassroots politics. "It is pivotal for women to embrace the dual role of not just being voters, but also stepping forward as candidates themselves," said Rekha Sharma. The program also received a commendation from Minister of Panchayati Raj, Kapil Moreshwar Patil, who hailed it as a significant initiative empowering women in rural areas to consider a career in politics as their primary pursuit.The training program encompassed an array of enlightening sessions. Experts elaborated on the legal framework of Panchayati Raj, while discussions on Gender-Sensitive Governance led by distinguished panelists underscored the importance of gender equality in governance. Lok Sabha member Manoj Tiwari talked about Gender sensitive governance. A noteworthy session on Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping's role in rural planning was conducted, featuring insights from a renowned expert. Their contribution highlighted GIS as a crucial tool offering essential services to rural areas. Specifically, the session emphasised how GIS aids in Land Records Management, enabling activities like land acquisition, crop rotation, taxation, and revenue collection in rural regions. The "Panchayat Se Parliament" initiative represents a transformative step towards fostering empowered women leaders, ensuring their active participation and leadership in the political landscape, from grassroots governance to national-level policymaking. (ANI)
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Mumbai Crime Branch has secured its first arrest in connection with the Rs 15,000 crore Mahadev betting app case, police said on Friday. As per police, a 27-year-old man, identified as Dixit Kothari, has been arrested in the matter. As per officials, an FIR was filed by Matunga Police last year, and the case was transferred to the crime branch, leading to the formation of the SIT. The Mahadev Online Book Betting app is learned to be an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of Benami bank accounts. The Directorate of Enforcement is probing the matter under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Meanwhile, authorities in Dubai last month "restricted the movements" of Saurabh Chandrakar, one of the two Mahadev online betting app promoters. Chandrakar is believed to be the mastermind of a betting syndicate. This move comes nearly two weeks after the other promoter of the Mahadev App, Ravi Uppal, was detained in Dubai by the local police. Uppal is facing a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate. He is named as accused in the case in which allegations of kickbacks were made against outgoing Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. As per officials, Dubai Police detained Uppal following a Red Corner notice issued against him at the behest of the Enforcement Directorate. Sources said that Dubai authorities conveyed to Indian officials soon after the arrest of Uppal and showed their willingness to deport him as he is wanted in India for his alleged involvement in money laundering worth nearly Rs 6,000 crore. Red Corner notices were issued against Uppal and Chandrakar, the other promoter and mastermind of the illegal betting syndicate, who is also in the UAE, in October this year. A Red Corner notice was issued against both the accused after the Enforcement Directorate had moved a special court in Raipur and obtained a non-bailable warrant against them. After the arrest of Uppal, it was then learnt that Chandrakar may be arrested soon. The development comes months after a lavish wedding held this February in the United Arab Emirates caught the attention of the Enforcement Directorate, as the entire money--around Rs 200 crore spent on the bash--was paid entirely in cash. At his wedding held in Ras AlKhaimah, Chandrakar hired private jets to ferry family members from Nagpur to the UAE and paid celebrities from the film industry to perform, according to the ED. The ED said Chandrakar and Uppal, who hail from Bhilai in Chattisgarh, are the two main promoters of the Mahadev betting platform and run their operations from Dubai. They had created an empire for themselves in that country. The agency had recently conducted searches at 39 locations across Raipur, Bhopal, Mumbai and Kolkata and seized illegal assets worth Rs 417 crore. ED has also earnestly taken up investigation abroad. A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court at Raipur has also issued non-bailable warrants against the suspects. (ANI)
After former litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, Iqbal Ansari, received an invitation to the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Temple, Hindu Mahasabha President Swami Chakrapani Maharaj on Friday thanked and lauded Ansari. RSS workers, on behalf of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, handed Iqbal Ansari the invitation card on Friday. "I am happy that the idol of Lord Ram is going to be installed...Ayodhya is the land of Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian harmony. It will always remain intact...The Supreme Court gave a verdict and the Muslims across the country respected it. There was no protest or demonstration anywhere...People of Ayodhya are happy, I am happy too..." Iqbal Ansari told ANI. Ansari had earlier said that the Muslim community respected the 2019 verdict of the Supreme Court on the Ram temple issue. "I support and thank Iqbal Ansari's statement. When Ansari can make such statements despite representing the Muslim side in the case, then why is the opposition shouting so much," said Swami Chakrapani Maharaj. Invitation cards for the grand consecration ceremony of 'Ram Lalla' on January 22 have been sent to invitees from across the nation. These invitation cards have been sent out by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to more than 6,000 people. "Whether the invitation should be sent out or not is decided by the committee, so we feel that devotees of Ram should remain wherever they are and wherever you can see a temple nearby, offer prayers in it. If there is nothing else, then do puja at home and light a lamp," he said. "We were the main party in the Supreme Court in the name of President of All India Hindu Mahasabha, Swami Chakrapani. Even I haven't received the invitation yet. But no one can take away your devotion," he added. The Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust has decided to enthrone Ram Lalla at the sanctum-sanctorum of the Ram Temple at noon on January 22. Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, holds great spiritual, historical and cultural significance for the people of India. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested that people refrain from visiting Ayodhya in large numbers in view of security and logistical reasons. Acknowledging that Lord Ram's devotees are eager to be part of the inauguration day of Ram Mandir, PM Modi said that only a few people have been invited to the inauguration ceremony. "I have a request to all. Everyone has a wish to come to Ayodhya to be a part of the event on January 22. But you know it is not possible for everyone to come. Therefore, I request all Ram devotees that once the formal program is done on January 22nd, they should come to Ayodhya at their convenience, do not make up their minds to come to Ayodhya on January 22nd," PM Modi said while addressing a mega public gathering in Ayodhya. Preparations are underway in full swing for the Ram Temple inauguration, which is expected to draw dignitaries and people from all walks of life. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. (ANI)
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "For Congress party CM never meant chief minister, it only meant corruption minister. Prime Minister Modi gave a RuPay card and Congress gave a 'Bhupe card'."

He accused the Congress of treating Chhattisgarh as an ATM and engaging in widespread corruption during its tenure.

"For the Congress party, Chhattisgarh was only an ATM and they were looting with both hands. Rs 500 crore bribe paid to former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has been established and the proof has come out," Poonawalla stated.

Poonawalla claimed that a person nabbed during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections in November 2023 revealed how money was being paid to the close aides of Bhupesh Baghel.

"We have seen how during the election this money was being sent to Bhupesh Baghel and it was caught red-handed. The person who was caught has also spoken of how this money was being paid to the close aides of Bhupesh Baghel," he added.

"Now Congress party should tell us, will they continue to defend corruption?" Poonawalla questioned.

The ED named Baghel in a supplementary chargesheet filed before the special court for PMLA cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at Raipur, Chhattisgarh on January 1, 2024.

The chargesheet is related to allegations of receiving bribes amounting to approximately Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev App. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work done by the Central government for over last nine years, stating that "Modi Ki Guarantee" means good governance and people-centric schemes. Jaishankar was addressing the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram. "Five years as a minister and five years before that have been the most satisfying years for me. It is because I have seen a complete change in how the government performs. I am also looking to see how the bankers perform. If you look at the change in the government, it is something that has gone through every part. The bureaucracy is more sensible, bankers are more friendly towards customers and every public-dealing organisation today is looking at people very differently. That is how 'Viksit Bharat' will be created," he said. "Today, 'Modi ki guarantee' is something that is believed not only in the country but also in the world. 'Modi ki guarantee' means good governance and people-centric policies. This means that if someone is in trouble abroad, whether it is somebody who goes to Saudi Arabia or the UAE or students in Ukraine, PM Modi is there for them. This is a big difference that has happened in the last 10 years," added the Union Minister. Speaking on the central government's public welfare schemes, Jaishankar said, "In these ten years, I have had the great fortune of working very closely with the Prime Minister as his cabinet member. These have been very difficult years, too. During COVID, we sat together and discussed how to respond to it. I have actually seen many of the schemes, whose results we are seeing today, from the start. I have seen it since the first meeting, when someone raised a concern. But 'Modi is Modi', he strives to find a solution." "The last ten years have seen every need addressed in some form. If you have health issues, there is 'Jana Arogya Yojna'. For people who want to start their business but lack resources, there is 'Mudra Yojna'," he added. S Jaishankar further said, "I am very happy, as we are close to completing ten years of the 'Modi Sarkar'. This has only begun now. This work has to go on if you want to create 'Viksit Bharat'. The rest of the world is actually talking about us. They ask what has changed in India. I tell them what has changed in India is 'vision'. This vision is now the talk of the world. There is a great deal of respect for India." The resolution of the 'Viskit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' is to develop India in every way by 2047. Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is being undertaken across the country with the aim of attaining saturation of flagship schemes of the government by ensuring that the benefits of these schemes reach all targeted beneficiaries in a time-bound manner. (ANI)
After the ED named former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the Mahadev App case, Saurabh Pandey, Enforcement Directorate lawyer, said that as more evidence is obtained during the investigation, summons can be issued to Baghel also. "As evidence is obtained during the investigation, summons can be issued to anyone including the former Chief Minister," he told ANI. In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named Baghel in a supplementary chargesheet filed on January 1, 2024. The chargesheet is related to allegations of receiving bribes amounting to about Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev App. "In the first supplementary prosecution complaint that we have presented, we have written about Shubham Soni and the email that Shubham Soni sent us was a certified email. In that email, he wrote about the former Chief Minister. It was said that Rs 508 crores have been used in the form of documents which we have presented. Aseem Das had earlier said that 5 crores 39 lakhs that he had also given to the CM, that was also in the statement, we made that as a part of our prosecution complaint. Although it is in its place that in the first supplementary PC (prosecution complaint) which has been presented, five people have been named in it. The accused include Aseem Das, Bhim Singh Yadav, Anil Kumar Aggarwal, Rohit Gulati and Shubham Soni," he added. He further said that the three accused have denied their statements after ED authorities went to jail, saying that it was not their handwriting. "Some letters related to Mahadev's applications were sent to the court and also to other authorities who are in jail. A letter had come from the three accused in the Mahadev application, Chandra Bhushan Verma and Satish Chandrakar, in which it was said that whatever statements were given to the ED authority under Section 50 of Money Laundering were false. But now when the ED authority went to jail after getting permission from the court, they denied this and said that the letters written were fake and it is not their handwriting and they do not have to believe in it," the ED lawyer told ANI. "It is necessary for us to show the court what statements we have recorded. We had presented our statement in front of the special court and had also expressed our views there," he asserted. (ANI)
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday that the government is working towards cultural development that is beyond preservation so that future generations can be proud of the country's culture. The Defence Minister, along with Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, attended the foundation stone laying ceremony of Patanjali Gurukulam in Haridwar. He also said that in the current circumstances, the role of Gurukul becomes very important in cultural development. "The efforts that the government is making towards cultural upliftment do not only mean infrastructure development at cultural and heritage sites. When we were building the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor or infrastructure development in Mahakaleshwar Dham in Ujjain, connecting all the pilgrimage sites of the country and when a grand Ram temple was being constructed in this country. It does not mean at all that our focus is only on the infrastructure development of cultural places," said Rajnath Singh. He added that the government is working towards cultural development that is beyond cultural preservation so that future generations can be proud of the culture of the country. "We all know the importance of Sanskrit in our literature. Maharishi Patanjali also wrote important philosophies like Yoga Sutras in Sanskrit. The Guru tradition in India has also made a huge contribution to the promotion of Sanskrit, but at the same time, there is a worrying thing about Sanskrit. The number of people reading, writing and speaking it is continuously decreasing," he said. "I would like to suggest to Acharyas and Gurus that, as you made a difficult discipline like Yoga accessible to the public, in the same way, you should also make some efforts regarding Dev Bhasha (Sanskrit)," the Defence Minister stated. He added that every year, on June 21, the United Nations celebrates International Yoga Day all over the world. Yoga, which was considered limited to India only, is now being practised by the whole world, making it a part of their daily lives. "Through the new education policy, the government is committed to inculcating moral values in the minds of students right from primary education. The new education policy is being implemented in many educational institutions across the country, although this process is very long because no change in the educational system comes suddenly," said Singh further. "Gurukul can play a very important role in this long process. And Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust is moving towards establishing a huge and excellent Gurukul, which is a good sign for our education system," he added. Gurukuls are becoming modern and state-of-the-art. Therefore, changing India and changing times demand that Gurukul, along with traditional education, should also advance itself in the areas of emerging and cutting-edge technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum technology, he said. "In the coming times, Gurukul should think ahead of technologies like AI, etc., and develop such technologies that will make the nation a leader in the technology sector compared to other countries. I wish to see Gurukul as a guide for other educational institutions in India. In the times to come, Gurukul should once again represent India and Indian culture and become the new identity of India," he said. (ANI)
The Tagin community in Arunachal Pradesh celebrated the 50th Si-Donyi festival at Naharlagun in Itanagar district on Saturday. The Golden Jubilee celebration witnessed the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowma Mein, Education Minister Taba Tedir, and Rajiv Gandhi University Vice Chancellor Saket Kushwaha. The Si-Donyi Festival is the major festival celebrated among the Tagin tribe of Arunachal Pradesh in North-eastern India. Meanwhile, Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu attended the Golden Jubilee celebration of the festival today at Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district. "The air at Si-Donyi celebration has brought alive the profound connect with our indigenous culture," said CM Khandu at the festival. Expressing gratitude to the Festival Celebration Committee for extending him the invite to join the celebration as the chief guest along with Union Minister for Earth Science Kiren Rijiju, Khandu said that he has taken note of suggestions provided by the Tagin Cultural Society for the preservation of vibrant Tagin culture and identity. "We will steadfastly work on it, as, with changing times, we should not erode our culture," he asserted. Khandu lauded the people for supporting developmental projects initiated by the state and central governments, which, he said, have changed the overall scenario of the district. Talking about connectivity, he said that the portion of the Trans Arunachal Highway that passes through the district connecting it with the rest of the state will be completed by April this year. "Those executing the project have informed me that the road will be completed within the next two months and one bridge on the highway will be ready by April," he informed. Khandu appreciated the local representatives for quality work in developing Daporijo township roads and assured that the left-out township roads will also be sanctioned by the state government very soon. Laying the foundation stone of the Si Donyi Festival Ground on the occasion, Khandu asked the elders and leaders of the district to design it in such a way that the entire complex showcases the rich, vibrant tradition and cultural heritage of the Tagin community. All four legislators of the district - Tourism Minister Nakap Nalo, MLAs Tanya Soki, Rode Bui and Nyato Dukam - were also present at the celebration. (ANI)
Chief Minister Adityanath also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 29 development projects and performed the Bhoomi Pujan of Kalyan Mandap in the district.

The Chief Minister said that the schemes of the central and state governments are bringing positive changes to the lives of the poor.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister attended the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Sanjhai, Gorakhpur and distributed certificates and blankets to the beneficiaries of the PM Awas Yojana, Ayushman Yojana, PM Swanidhi Yojana, and Ujjwala Yojana.

CM Yogi said that if the country moves forward with a pledge and determination, by the time it celebrates its centenary year of independence in 2047, it will be fully developed, eradicating poverty, illiteracy, chaos, and insecurity.

"The goal is to see India not just as a developed nation but as a global leader, where every citizen's face radiates happiness. The development process will be complete, instilling pride in every Indian and garnering admiration worldwide," UP CM said.

Chief Minister Adityanath said that the government will ensure the provision of benefits from welfare schemes to all those who have until now been deprived of them.

Emphasising the aim for 100 per cent satisfaction in these initiatives, CM Yogi said that garnering the people's blessings will accelerate the pace of development.

During the event, he also mentioned the remarkable development that has taken place in Sanjhai and the neighbouring areas as well as in Gorakhpur, under the double-engine government.

Prior to the event, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inspected stalls arranged by various departments on-site and served food to young children. (ANI)
The filing period for presidential candidates to appear on Illinois March 19 primary ballot ended Friday with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie putting in paperwork to join the partys top three national contenders, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.

But Christies filing indicated the difficulties of putting together a national campaign organization for the GOP fields most vocal opponent of Trump.

Trump, DeSantis and Haley on Thursday all filed full slates of 51 delegate candidates  three from each of the states 17 congressional districts  to go to the Republican National Convention July 15-18 in Milwaukee.

Christie filed paperwork for only 35 delegate candidates. He had none in the 13th and 16th congressional districts, both downstate Trump strongholds  and only one in each of the 15th and 17th districts.

He also had no delegate candidates in the heavily Democratic 2nd District, which covers parts of Chicago and the south suburbs.

Among Christies delegate candidates is Jennifer Pritzker, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzkers cousin. Gov. Pritzker, a member of President Joe Bidens reelection campaign team and a major donor, will play host for the Democratic National Convention Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.

Another cousin of the governors, former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, is Bidens special U.S. representative for Ukraines economic recovery.

In 2016, Jennifer Pritzker supported Trump and gave committees backing his campaign more than $250,000.

But she soured on Trumps 2017 transgender military ban and gave Biden $2,000 in 2020. Like the governor, she is an heir to the Hyatt hotels fortune, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, the founder of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago and Forbes has described her as the worlds only known transgender billionaire.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy did not file for the Illinois ballot. Little-known Republican candidate Ryan Binkley, a businessman and pastor from Dallas, filed on Thursday but did not offer any delegate candidates.

On the Democratic side, Bidens candidacy petitions were filed a day earlier, as were those for two nominal opponents, self-help author and unsuccessful 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota.

On Friday, event producer Frank Lozada of New York filed for the Democratic nomination but, like Williamson and Phillips, he did not file any delegate candidates.

An objection to Trumps candidacy has been filed by a group of five voters backed by Free Speech for People, an organization that has pursued efforts nationwide to have Trump disqualified from state ballots under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Veteran election law attorneys contacted by the Tribune said they expected the State Board of Elections to reject the groups effort. The board has previously said that its actions on constitutional issues are limited by a past Illinois Supreme Court ruling and that the issue of disqualification is one for the courts or the Illinois legislature.

Some lawyers said privately that they theorized the filing of an objection with the board was a procedural precursor to filing a lawsuit seeking to have Trump removed from the ballot.

The Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state have disqualified Trump from the ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and the former president has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Friday, the court agreed to hear arguments on Feb. 8, with a ruling expected quickly given the nations election calendar.

Trump spokesman Steve Cheung said the campaign welcomed a fair hearing at the Supreme Court.

The so-called ballot-challenge cases are all part of a well-funded effort by left-wing, political activists hell-bent on stopping the lawful reelection of President Trump this November, even if it means disenfranchising voters, Cheung said in a statement. We are confident that the fair-minded Supreme Court will unanimously affirm the civil rights of President Trump, and the voting rights of all Americans in a ruling that will squash all of the remaining ballot challenge hoaxes once and for all.

rap30@aol.com
Associate Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Stephanie Tremblay said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has intended to organise the second meeting of the country's special envoys for Afghanistan at an appropriate time, as reported by TOLO News. Tremblay emphasised that this is to discuss the recommendations of the independent assessments. "This is to cement international consensus on the way forward and to discuss the recommendations of the independent assessments," she said. Moreover, Tremblay said that the mission of the UN Special Coordinator and Independent Assessor of the UN, Feridun Hadi Sinirlioglu, has been extended until the end of February, reported TOLO News. Meanwhile, the Taliban has called for the invitation of its representatives to the meeting of the special envoy. "Any meeting which is being held regarding Afghanistan, the presence of the representatives of the Islamic Emirate is needed. If the representatives of the Islamic Emirate is not present, the meeting will undoubtedly not be effective," said Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson. International relations analyst Wahid Faqiri noted that in the past two and a half years, the Taliban has been creating problems for the international community. "The Afghan government should have a parallel movement regarding such meetings. Unfortunately, the Taliban government during the past two and a half years has made hurdles ahead of the international community instead of cooperating with it," Faqiri said. Earlier, the Russian special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, highlighted that the broad meeting on Afghanistan under the auspices of the UN may be conducted in mid-January, reported TASS. (ANI)
Abu Dhabi [UAE], January 6 (ANI/WAM): The eighth group of wounded Palestinian children and cancer patients arrived in the UAE on Friday in implementation of the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to provide medical treatment for 1,000 wounded children, and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip, in the UAE's hospitals. Departing from Al Arish International Airport, the plane landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport, carrying 28 Palestinians in the most urgent need of medical assistance, accompanied by 35 members of their families. The Emirates News Agency (WAM) accompanied the plane and spoke with the Palestinian families upon their arrival. They hailed the UAE's "unique model" in responding to the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people, highlighting the country's comprehensive initiatives in providing both humanitarian and medical assistance to alleviate their suffering. They expressed their sincere thanks and appreciation to the UAE for this humanitarian initiative. The UAE's hospitals provide the highest levels of healthcare for injured and cancer patients, in accordance of the directives of the country's wise leadership. Since the onset of the crisis, the UAE has been a steadfast supporter of Gaza, launching Operation "Gallant Knight 3" on November 5, 2023, to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. The United Arab Emirates has strengthened its humanitarian response to the crisis through the continuous flow of food, and humanitarian, and emergency medical assistance to the Palestinian people. The country established a 150-bed field hospital in Gaza, where over 100 major and critical surgeries have been performed. According to the statistics of the "Gallant Knight 3" operation, until Thursday, 4th January, the UAE's hospitals have received 395 cases of Palestinian children and cancer patients, while the total number of cases received at the UAE field hospital in Gaza reached 1,098 cases. The UAE also launched six desalination plants in Rafah, Egypt, to address the dire water infrastructure situation in Gaza and ensure the Palestinian people's access to safe drinking water. The plants work to desalinate about 1.2 million gallons per day and pump them through pipes that extend into Gaza. The competent authorities in the UAE implemented the 'Tarahum - for Gaza', a campaign to provide relief aid to the Palestinian people impacted by the war in the Gaza Strip to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable groups, especially children, women, and the elderly. In continuation of these initiatives, the United Arab Emirates University has welcomed 33 students from the Gaza Strip to study at the expense of the UAE. These initiatives exemplify the UAE's long-standing dedication to supporting the Palestinian people, alleviating their hardships, and fostering solidarity and cooperation through impactful humanitarian efforts. (ANI/WAM)
Indians, who were a part of the crew onboard the hijacked vessel MV Lili Norfolk, thanked the Indian Navy for rescuing them. The Indian Navy on Friday safely evacuated the hijacked vessel MV Lila Norfolk off Somalia''s coast. In a video posted by the Navy, the crew members can be seen chanting "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and thanking the Indian Navy. One of the Indians who was rescued by the Indian Navy said, "We were stuck for 24 hours. We got relief after the Indian Navy came to rescue them." Another man said, "Proud of the Indian Navy." The Indian Navy''s marine commandos rescued 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, from the hijacked Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk on January 6, 2024. The crew members were rescued in a swift operation in the North Arabian Sea after armed pirates attempted to hijack the vessel. In a statement posted on X, the Indian Navy on Friday stated, "Indian Navy''s Swift Response to the Hijacking Attempt of MV Lila Norfolk in the North Arabian Sea. All 21 crew (incl 15 Indians) onboard safely evacuated from the citadel. Sanitisation by MARCOs has confirmed the absence of the hijackers." The attempt of hijacking by the pirates was probably abandoned with the forceful warning by the Indian Navy, MPA of interception by Indian Naval warship, the statement read. INS Chennai is in the vicinity of MV and rendering support to restore the power generation and propulsion, and commence her voyage to the next port of call. Indian Navy''s elite Marine Commandos are still carrying out sanitisation operations in other parts of the vessel, the military officials earlier told ANI. According to the officials, MARCOS did not find any pirates on the hijacked vessel. The rescued crew has informed that the pirates had fired at the ship during a hijack attempt after which they all hid themselves in the citadel. INS Chennai diverted from her Anti-Piracy patrol and intercepted the MV at 3:15 pm on Friday. "MV was kept under continuous surveillance using Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Predator MQ9B and integral helos. The Indian Navy Marine Commandos present onboard the Mission Deployed warship boarded the MV and have commenced the Sanitisation," the earlier statement from the Indian Navy stated. In another development, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar issued directives to the Indian warships operating in the Arabian Sea to take the "strictest possible action" against the pirates, defence officials said. Earlier, the officials had informed that Merchant vessel MV Lila Norfolk was hijacked by pirates 300 nautical miles east of Somalia, while it was sailing from Port Du Aco in Brazil and was bound for Khalifa Bin Salman in Bahrain. The Indian Navy''s Mission Deployed Platforms responded swiftly to the hijacking attempt on board a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier after it received a message on the UKMTO portal indicating boarding by approximately five to six unknown armed personnel on Thursday evening, the Indian Navy said in a statement. In response to the situation, the Indian Navy launched a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and diverted INS Chennai, deployed for maritime security operations, to assist the vessel. (ANI)
Sri Lanka hosted its first Jallikattu in Triconmalee with the country's Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman and Malaysia's member of parliament Saravanan Murugan flagged off the event on Saturday. "We will be conducting Jallikattu and Rekla races, silambam fights, boat races, beach kabadi. We have a lot of events connected to Pongal which are happening here. We are proud that the cultural events are restored with the Tamil community," Thondaman told ANI. Thonadaman who hails from Tamil Nadu's Sivagangai district and in charge of organising the event said that Pongal is one of the popular festivals celebrated by the Tamil community worldwide. A week-long Pongal festival has been planned with the community set to hold the Jallikattu and Rekla race today, he said. Thonadaman and Malaysia's member of parliament Saravanan Murugan flagged off the Jallikattu event at the ground in the Sampur area of Trincomalee. More than 200 bulls and more than 100 bull tamers will participate in the Jallikattu competition.. Jallikattu is a popular bull-embracing sport traditionally played in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal harvest festival in the second week of January. Thondaman said, "Jallikattu, Mattu Pongal continues as a part of Pongal festival. We are starting the Pongal festival with 1008 Pongal pots and 1500 Bharatnatyam dancers." Over 1,000 trained bulls will be released from a closed space called 'vadi vassal', one after the another, and the bull tamers will be on the ground in an attempt to grab the hump of the bull and hold on to it to win the award. Only one person is allowed to attempt it at a time. The traditional sport is practised annually and is quite popular in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, especially in Madurai. In the age-old practice, a bull is released into a crowd of people and participants of the event try to grab the large hump on the bull's back, attempting to bring the bull to stop. Due to the risk of injury, both to the participants and the bull, the animal rights organizations had called for a ban to the sport. In 2014, the Supreme Court of India imposed a ban on Jallikattu but in 2017, the Tamil Nadu government passed an ordinance to allow Jallikattu, introducing regulations to ensure the safety of both participants and bulls. However, after long protests by the people against the ban, the Supreme Court in India , in May 2023, upheld the Tamil Nadu government's law allowing the bull-taming sport 'Jallikattu' in the State. A five-judge Constitution bench of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar heard a batch of petitions challenging Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments' laws allowing the bull-taming sport 'Jallikattu' and bullock cart races. The Tamil Nadu government had defended the event of "Jallikattu" and told the apex court that sporting events can also be a cultural event and there is no cruelty on the bulls in "Jallikattu". (ANI)
Amid pre-poll violence in Bangladesh, Foreign Secretary, Masud Bin Momen on Saturday called for political stability in the country and warned that any de-stability will be disastrous for this huge population. "Any de-stability will be disastrous for this huge population. Therefore, stability and democratic rule is a mandatory provision for our existence as a nation. Our constitution has very clear provisions for smooth democratic practices in the country. The National Election Commission a constitutional body to hold elections in the country is well in its business," said Momen while addressing Election Observers from across the globe. Thanking them for coming to Bangladesh and attending the reception, he reiterated to observe free and fair elections. "We seek support from our friends across the globe including you in our efforts. We hope that alongside our economic strides, we will also succeed in building a democratic society which our future generations will take pride in," said Momen. His address comes in the wake of arsonists attack on the intercity Benapole Express train in Gopibagh, which claimed the lives of four people. The incident comes in the backdrop of January 7 general elections and amid calls from the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for a 48-hour nationwide 'hartal' (general strike) commencing on Saturday with demand of resignation from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "illegal government." The Foreign Secretary said that Bangladesh is a young nation and is in the 52nd year of its journey as an independent country, adding that the nation is striving to achieve the global threshold in democratic practices. "Western democracy is yet to take its full shape here. Recently, cracks are being surfaced even in matured western democracies. It has, therefore, been growingly felt that no political system is perfect and no democracy is matured in that sense," he said. He further expressed hope that the coming elections will be peaceful by keeping clashes as minimum as possible, as per the confidence and preparations of the law-enforcing agencies.Momen also said that the turn out in polls in the subcontinent tends to be higher than the global average. "People of this subcontinent have always been found historically and culturally to be more politically aware and engaged - in respect of both domestic, regional and global issues. Voters and supporters of the political parties, let alone the activists, get engaged in the electoral process very actively. This lead to intense competitions in the elections which often turns violent. Casualties, even deaths are a common phenomenon in the lections of our part of the world. Casualties occur more in local body elections where competitions extend to neck-to neck," said Momen. Notably, a total of 128 election observers have been accredited to observe the elections. Teams from 05 International election observing bodies have also arrived in Dhaka to observe the elections. Over 20,000 local election observers have also been accredited so far. A total of 76 foreign journalists have also been accredited to cover the elections, besides hundreds of local journalists. The current election commission is the first election commission in the history of Bangladesh to be formed as per the relevant Act which is the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2022. "All the provisions of the Act has been duly complied in forming the current Commission. The Commission duly followed the election procedures starting from inviting all the registered political parties to preparatory dialogues for holding free and fair elections. They also strictly followed the relevant rules in scrutinizing the nomination papers and finalizing the candidates. They did their due diligence in ensuring compliance of electoral rules by the candidates. As of now, a total of 28 political parties are taking part in the elections, and the total number of candidates stands at 1970. The Election Commission encouraged all registered political parties to take part in the elections. However, a few registered political parties chose not to take part," said Momen to Election observers. (ANI)
A cabinet committee was established on Saturday by the Pakistan federal government on Saturday to look into the May 9 riots, when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters vandalised private and public property after Imran Khan was arrested, according to ARY News. The notification has stated that the convening committee would be the acting federal minister of law and justice. The ministries of the interior, information, and human rights are among the committee's other members. The notification went on to say that any issue may be resolved by adding a new member to the committee. The committee's terms of reference (TORs) underline that it must investigate the circumstances leading up to the incidents on May 9, 2023, to identify and determine the role of the mastermind, planners, facilitators, and executors, according to ARY News. The committee will examine the reasons behind these occurrences and assign blame. It will assess both the short- and long-term effects. Morover, the committee will also make recommendations for both strengthening the current legal framework and preventive actions to make sure that such a violation of national security doesn't happen again. The committee will receive secretarial support from the Ministry of Interior. Within fourteen days, the committee will present its report to the government for consideration, ARY News reported. Following the arrest of the former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9, 2023, violent riots broke out throughout Pakistan. Due to the party workers' agitation over their chairman's arrest, protests were staged in both major and distant cities. Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoned the armed forces to maintain peace and order. Workers from PTI had attacked Army posts, including the Corps Commander's residence in Lahore, during the rallies. It is important to note that the PTI founder is included as the primary culprit in every case involving the May 9 riots. (ANI)
With 849 registered transgender voters in the country, Anowara Islam Rani's candidature from Rangpur-3, the northern part in the country, marks a significant stride towards inclusivity.

Ashok Kumar Debnath, Additional Secretary of Bangladesh Election Secretariat, confirmed this groundbreaking development, saying, "We have a transgender candidate on the list for the first time in Bangladesh's electoral history."

"Bangladesh has a total of 849 registered transgender voters. And this is the first time that the transgender people are contest contesting in this elections in the history of Bangladesh," Debnath said.

Amid preparations for the elections, tensions rose in Bangladesh as the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), staged a massive protest in Dhaka's Paltan area, signaling potential disruptions.

In response, the election commission secretariat intensified security measures, deploying around 8,00,000 personnel, including armed forces, to ensure the safety of voters.

A total of 120 million voters are expected to participate, with 1,972 candidates representing various parties.

Among the 44 registered political parties, 28 are actively engaged, while seven, including the BNP, are boycotting the elections. The electoral landscape comprises 2,61,000 booths and 42 polling stations, setting the stage for a crucial and closely watched democratic process.

As Bangladesh approaches this historic election, the inclusion of Anowara Islam Rani highlights not only the diversity of candidates but also the country's commitment to fostering a more inclusive and representative political landscape. (ANI)
Singapore has announced plans to make investments in Tamil Nadu's green economy and sustainability sector at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024. According to a statement by the High Commission of Singapore in India, Singapore and its companies will strengthen economic cooperation with the state of Tamil Nadu. This will be through expanded investments into Tamil Nadu's green economy and sustainability sector, as well as the infrastructure development (including data centres, IT parks, and logistics) sector. These investments will be announced during the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet (TNGIM), held in Chennai on January 7 and 8, 2024. Singapore will participate as the first partner country at the TNGIM, alongside eight other countries. A dedicated Singapore Pavilion will be set up to showcase Singapore companies with a strong presence in the state. It will feature a total of seven companies, including Sembcorp, CapitaLand, YCH, and Blue Planet, in sectors such as renewable energy, waste management, and logistics. These companies also have plans to increase their investments in Tamil Nadu, the statement added. Singapore High Commissioner to India Simon Wong will lead a delegation of officials and 60 business delegates to the TNGIM. High Commissioner Wong will deliver the opening remarks at the Singapore Seminar, which will be held on January 8, 2024. He said that Tamil Nadu has the potential to be a key partner for Singapore in exploring exports of promising renewable energy solutions such as green hydrogen and green ammonia from India to Singapore. The Singapore Seminar will feature a fireside chat with business leaders on partnership and collaboration for a greener future. The panel will comprise Singapore CEOs from Sembcorp Industries, CapitaLand Investment, Blue Planet Renewables, and EnvironSens. Several new Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) will be concluded and signed between Singapore companies and the Government of Tamil Nadu (Guidance TN) at the TNGIM. These MoUs, totaling more than SGD 5 billion or over Rs 31,000 crore in investments, signal Singapore's continued interest and confidence to capture new opportunities in the state. For instance, to capture the fast-growing opportunities in India's digital economy, CapitaLand has committed to additional investments in Chennai, to be deployed across business parks, logistics, warehouses, and a data centre, the statement concluded. (ANI)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been receiving strong criticism from the opposition parties over his latest luxury holiday that he took with his family at an oceanfront villa in Jamaica at no cost, Canada-based Global News reported. The Canadian Prime Minister met with the customary question of whether he should accept complimentary vacation accommodations from affluent friends. As to the National Post, Trudeau is under criticism from opposition parties for using a free oceanfront villa in Jamaica for his winter vacation. On the resort's website, rooms are available for about USD9,300 per night, Global News reported. The owner of Prospect Estate and Villas, which is close to Ocho Rios, is a businessman named Peter Green. The Trudeaus have been known by the Green family for many years, the report stated. Trudeau, as per the report vacationed at Prospect Estate from December 26 to January 4 with his three children and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau. Although the prime minister's office claimed in a statement that the vacation was approved by the ethics commissioner, it did not disclose where Trudeau and his family stayed in Jamaica. "The Prime Minister and his family are staying with family friends at no cost. As per standard practice, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was consulted on these details prior to the travel to ensure that the rules were followed," the prime minister's press secretary Mohammad Hussain told Global News in an email on Thursday. "The Prime Minister continues to reimburse the equivalent of a commercial airline ticket for his personal travel and that of his family," he added. Following their initial statement to the Canadian Press that the family was covering the expense of the vacation, the prime minister's office clarified earlier this week that Trudeau and his family stayed "at no cost at a location owned by family friends." Conservatives questioned Trudeau's judgement after learning about the vacation details, claiming he was far from ordinary Canadians. "Prime Minister Trudeau yet again shows how out of touch he is as he takes another lavish trip to Jamaica, paid for by his billionaire friend," said NDP ethics critic Matthew Green in a statement to Global News. Meanwhile, Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett, according to Global News, said in an email, "While millions of Canadians had to cut back or cancel plans over the holidays because of eight years of his Liberal policies driving up the cost-of-living, Justin Trudeau took a free vacation, worth $84,000 from a Trudeau Foundation donor and lied about it to Canadians." Trudeau's trips have frequently sparked concerns about apparent or potential conflicts of interest. In 2021, the Green Family made a donation to the Trudeau Foundation. Following information that a billionaire with connections to Beijing had given the foundation USD200,000, the charity was questioned last year. Since taking office, the prime minister has not participated in the charity. (ANI)
Most likely because it doesnt have a train station, Oak Brook has not yet been one of the many suburban drop-off spots for busloads of migrants being sent to the area from Texas by that states governor, Greg Abbott.

Even so, Oak Brook officials are taking a proactive approach in dealing with the situation, which for them has been most visible over the past two months with the arrests of 30 unlawful migrants for theft from retailers in the village.

The shoplifting is a problem for us, Village President Larry Herman said. It puts an added burden on both our retail stores and police department. Thanks to Oak Brooks proactive policing measures, there has been, and is, no immediate threat to public safety, which remains our top priority.

Herman said village officials have contingency plans in place and are prepared to take any necessary and legal actions to implement permissible regulations to minimize the impact of illegal migration in Oak Brook. In the event of an occurrence in the village, officials are prepared to transfer any such migrants to a self-designated sanctuary city, Herman said.

Even with Chicago continuing to operate as a sanctuary city and accept arriving migrants, a challenge remains for impacted suburbs because Chicago recently adopted an ordinance outlining required procedures for buses transporting migrants into the city.

These parameters include advance notification, limiting hours of drop offs, setting a limit of two buses per hour, and consequences, such as bus impoundment for not observing the aforementioned regulations.

As a direct result of the actions of the City of Chicago, the governor of Texas has redirected these drop offs to suburban train stations, without any advanced notice, Herman said. Thus far, we are aware of 72 such suburban bus drop offs totaling 2,988 migrant men, women, and children. Busloads of migrants are generally comprised of 30 to 50 individuals who, at drop off, are each provided a one-way train ticket to downtown Chicago. Furthermore, all Federal and State of Illinois migrant relief funding has been directed to the City of Chicago and not to the suburbs.

Herman said Oak Brook staff remains in communication with the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, whose members are working in conjunction with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to address the migrant issue, including coordination with the City of Chicago. Simultaneously, DuPage County is continuing to monitor and coordinate the migrant situation and allocate appropriate resources to this situation.

We continue to monitor the migrant bus situation and are prepared to make any changes that may be necessary as the situation evolves, Herman said.

Elmhurst, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Westmont, and Villa Park are among nearby communities in which there have been drop offs of migrants, he said.

In each case, these communities report no incidents, and we further understand that these migrants are ultimately looking to get to Chicago as expeditiously as possible for intake and access to resources, Herman said.

He said several suburban home rule municipalities have responded to the dropping off of migrants by passing their own ordinances setting forth similar parameters. However, because Oak Brook is a non-home rule community, it is not able to pass such an ordinance, Herman said,

Hinsdale also is a non-home rule village, but its Village Board Tuesday Jan. 2 unanimously adopted an ordinance that asks for five days advance notice and completion of an application that, among other things, requires an explanation of how migrants will be cared for before a busload can be dropped off. Buses that violate the ordinance face seizure and impoundment, and a fee of $750.

As the weather turns dangerously cold, migrant drop-offs unannounced in Hinsdale put in danger lives, Hinsdale Village President Thomas Cauley said. Hinsdale has received a dozen buses since mid-December, according a Chicago Tribune story.

The true underlying source of the problem that needs to be addressed is the responsibility of the Federal government and can no longer be ignored at the highest levels, Herman said.

Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  One teenager is dead and another is facing a charge of intoxication manslaughter after an early morning crash Friday, Jan. 5 along the Border Highway in South-Central El Paso, police said.

Police said Anahi Karla Leanos, 17, was killed in the crash that happened about 1:30 a.m. along the Border Highway East at Fonseca Drive in South-Central El Paso.

1 dead after crash in South-Central El Paso

According to the preliminary investigation, Leanos was driving her vehicle when it broke down on the eastbound lane of Loop 375 at Mile Marker 56 (Fonseca).

She pulled over to the left emergency lane, thinking it was out of gas, police said.

While Leanos was waiting for assistance, another vehicle driven by Ruger Garrett Clark, 18, was reportedly swerving in the middle lane, according to police.

Police say Clark crashed into the back of Leanos stalled vehicle at high speed. He then checked on the driver. However, he took some things from Leanos vehicle and fled, police said. Leanos died at the scene.

Police conducted a traffic stop after observing Clark on Alameda near Yarbrough. He was then placed under arrest and taken to a local hospital for minor injuries he had sustained in the crash.

Clark was later booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility and charged with intoxication manslaughter with a $100,000 bond and collision involving death with a $75,000 bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Trump 1. Supreme Court to rule onbeing kept off 2024 presidential ballots

The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be listed on primary ballots for the 2024 election. The high court will consider whether or not states have the right to kick Trump off their ballots due to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In a legal order, the court said it would review the basis of these efforts: a recent decision from the Colorado Supreme Court that removed Trump from the state's ballot. Colorado found that Trump was ineligible to run for president under the 14th Amendment restricting insurrectionists from holding office. Politico, The Washington Post

2. Hezbollah fires rockets toward Israel following Hamas leaders death

The militant group Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets toward northern Israel on Saturday in what it called an "initial response" to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon. There were no initial reports of injuries from the attacks, as the Israeli Defense Force said some 40 rockets had been fired toward a military installation near Mount Meron. The IDF said it responded by attacking one of the Lebanese groups that had assisted with the rocket launches. The Beirut-based Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas and has pledged continued retaliation following the death of Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas commander, last week. Israel has not claimed responsibility for al-Arouri's death. The New York Times, The Times of Israel

3. Supreme Court temporarily upholds strict Idaho abortion ban

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday allowed Idaho to temporarily enforce its strict abortion ban, even in cases of certain medical emergencies. The court's decision marks a blow to a Biden administration effort to require hospitals to circumvent abortion bans in red states. The federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, requires emergency rooms to perform abortions if the mother's life is at risk, even in states where abortion is banned. The Biden administration claims that the law circumvents state abortion bans, but Idaho criminalizes abortions unless the mother's life is in imminent danger. The Supreme Court is allowing Idaho's ban to remain in place while arguments are heard. CBS News, USA Today

Biden 4.marks third anniversary of Jan. 6, calls Trump a danger to democracy

President Joe Biden marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol on Friday by blasting former President Donald Trump's actions on that day. Speaking near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Biden sought to paint the upcoming election as a referendum on democracy. "We nearly lost America  lost it all," Biden said of Jan. 6, adding, "we all know who Donald Trump is. The question we have to answer is who are we?" The president said that Trump's actions on Jan. 6, in which he has been accused of inciting the violent mob that overtook the Capitol, were "among the worst derelictions of duty by a president in American history." The Associated Press, Axios

Wayne LaPierre 5.resigns from NRA ahead of corruption trial

Wayne LaPierre resigned as the leader of the National Rifle Association on Friday, ending his control of one of the country's most prominent and controversial gun rights groups. LaPierre, who served as executive vice president and chief executive officer, announced his decision in a statement, saying he "will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom." LaPierre's resignation comes days before he is set to begin a civil trial in New York. The trial pits LaPierre and other former NRA leaders against the state, which is alleging that the NRA misused millions of dollars of funds and violated tax laws for nonprofit groups. NBC News, CNN

6. Alaska Airlines grounds all its Boeing 737-9s after emergency landing

Alaska Airlines on Friday said it was temporarily grounding its Boeing 737-9 Max fleet after a window blowout forced a plane to make an emergency landing. The flight, bound for Ontario, California, was forced to return to Portland, Oregon, after the cabin depressurized following the blowout, reports said. The window damage occurred despite the plane in question being brand-new, and Alaska Airlines said in a statement that it was grounding its 65 other 737-9s as a result. The planes will be put back into service "only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections," the airline said. Boeing said it was aware of the incident and was working to gather more information. ABC News, Reuters

7. Michigan Republicans to vote on ousting controversial chairwoman

Michigan Republicans on Saturday will vote on the removal of their statewide leader, Kristina Karamo, amid ongoing chaos and problems within the party. Karamo, the chairwoman of the Michigan GOP, has said she will not accept the results of the vote if she is ousted, paving the way for a potential fight in Michigan's court system. The Michigan Republican Party suffered a wave of losses during the 2022 midterms and has since been hit with issues of financing and widespread infighting between the state's more moderate wing and its far-right leadership. Eight of the 13 GOP congressional district chairs in Michigan have called for Karamo to resign. The Associated Press

8. Death toll in Japan earthquake passes 100

The death toll from the earthquake in Japan on New Year's Day passed 100 on Saturday as hope of finding more survivors dwindles. At least 110 people have been confirmed dead, Japanese officials said, and more than 200 people are still missing. "I am keenly aware of the extent of the damage caused," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. The 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Japan's Hokuriku region, destroying buildings and infrastructure in the area and forcing more than 30,000 people to evacuate. Kishida has ordered government officials to hasten emergency efforts, as rescue workers currently number around 5,400. Reuters

9. Actor Christian Oliver and his daughters die in plane crash

Actor Christian Oliver and his two young daughters died in a plane crash in the Caribbean, the Grenadines Police Force announced Friday. Oliver, 51, and his daughters, Madita Klepser, 12, and Annik Klepser, 10, passed away Thursday after the small one-engine plane they were on crashed off the coast of Petit Nevis, a small island in the Grenadines. The pilot, Robert Sachs, also died in the crash. No other passengers were aboard the plane. Oliver was best known for appearing in the live-action adaptation of "Speed Racer" in 2008 and also had a role in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" last year. Variety

10. Mark Cuban to distribute $35M in bonuses to Dallas Mavericks staff

Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban said Friday that he would distribute more than $35 million in bonuses to the team's employees. In a memo obtained by ESPN, Cuban said the payout was a "thank you for all your hard work making the Mavs an amazing organization." The amount of each bonus will be calculated by how long an employee has worked for the team, Cuban said. The billionaire investor recently sold his controlling interest in the Mavericks to the Adelson and Dupont families of Las Vegas fame. The exact details of the transaction weren't disclosed, but reportedly valued the Mavericks franchise at around $3.5 billion. CNN
Happy New Year.

And I mean it.

For reasons unknown, I have eased into 2024 with few groans and a decided downturn in  shall we politely say  colorful colloquialisms that Id never use in front of my 91-year-old mother. (She still thinks Im a good boy.)

Oh, I have reasons to be curmudgeonly.

When I finish writing this column, Ive got an appointment with a radiologist. (I foolishly tried to get out of a stroll along the San Antonio River Walk last week by mentioning my ribs hurt. My wife immediately started the interrogation, and I confessed the pain might have started a month ago. So, yippee-ki-yay for me, Ive been testing our companys health plan to start the year.)

And then theres the Triangle weather. I am not conditioned for temperatures below 40. That Im semi-wishing for an early pollen season because pounding headaches mean warmer weather  well, there are issues of logic here.

And dont even bring up the cheeriness some folks have about New Years resolutions. (Quit mailing me gym membership offers. Those aching ribs didnt happen because I lounge around. And I added tomatoes and guacamole to Tuesdays tacos. That qualifies as a salad. That checks the healthy-living box.)

The Year of You

All of the above as I painfully wasted your time with my self-musings  and youre still reading?

Thank you.

This is why 2024 should be the Year of You.

Im not going to navel-gaze today about how local journalism has changed. It has. Youre still reading and engaging with The News & Observer because  despite these changes  you care about your neighborhood, your community and our state.

Employees at the K-Mart in Raleigh watch the moon landing in the store on July 20, 1969. The image is part of our ongoing feature of historic photos documenting North Carolinas changing landscape.

We appreciate that you turn to The N&O often and also hold us to high standards. When we dont deliver  literally and figuratively you let us know.

So, lets start the Year of You with our hopes for 2024:

Thank you for your time.

Lets make this year meaningful.

Lets make it about you.

Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. He fell asleep before 9 p.m. on New Years Eve.
After 46 years, Pepes Mexican Restaurant in Naperville is shutting its doors.

The owners say they are charting a new course with a bar-only business, The Can, which they plan to open at 634 E. Ogden Ave. where Miss Kittys Saloon is located.

Pepes filled its dining room for the last time on New Years Eve as the lease on its longtime 1270 E. Chicago Ave. home drew to a close. Take-out orders and bar service continued through this weekend. The owner of the stripmall site plans to redevelop the space for a different use.

On Thursday night, the Naperville Liquor Commission unanimously endorsed a Class C tavern license for the owners new enterprise. Final approval could come at the Naperville City Councils Jan. 16 meeting.

Co-owner Matt Rocush said Friday that obtaining the license is the last hurdle in making the move, which otherwise is in pretty good shape.

The idea is for Pepes to start anew as The Can, short for cantina, serving alcohol without providing food service. The new business could be open by months end.

Rocush said the opportunity to breathe life into a new version of Pepes is exciting. But saying goodbye to what has been a Naperville fixture  and a big part of his life  is bittersweet, he said.

Pepes as a brand started in Chicago some 57 years ago. The restaurant now has more than 30 independently owned and operated locations across the Chicago-area and Northwest Indiana.

The Naperville restaurant opened in 1977, specializing in casual family dining.

Sometimes wed have three generations of people at the same table, Rocush said.

He has co-owned the Naperville business since 2015 with his wife, Sandy, and partner Rod Peterson. But even before he took over the local franchise, he was a fan, he said.

Ive lived here since 1978, he said. And my dad used to  go to Pepes on lunch breaks with his work guys. He started bringing me in the 80s.

After he and Sandy married about two decades ago, Pepes became a regular spot for them. Over the years, they became friends with the former owners and jumped when a chance to buy the business came up.

Each of them quickly fell into a role. Matt ran the kitchen. Sandy ran the bar  known as The Cantina, or The Can (a precursor to plans now)  and Peterson kept track of the books.

Its been a wonderful thing, Sandy said.

They had hoped to keep the tradition going for as long as possible. But plans changed when Heinens Grocery Store purchased Eagle Crest shopping center, the 7.3-acre strip mall housing Pepes and a few other businesses, for redevelopment.

At first, the Rocushes were optimistic that Pepes could stay amid redevelopment, which is set to not only give Heinens a new location at Eagle Crest but also rebuild and update the center as a whole, according to plans Heinens brought to the Naperville City Council in 2022.

When they learned that wouldnt be the case, they announced on Facebook in April 2023 that they were losing their lease.

(Heinens) has informed us that upon rebuilding, they will only be replacing the grocery store with no other retail spaces available, the Facebook post said.

At that point, they started looking for a new spot to call home. But at a cost of $750,000 to $1 million, launching a new Pepes restaurant proved too expensive, the Rocushes said.

Even on a 10-year lease, we would never be able to make that kind of money back, Sandy said. It wasnt feasible.

Transitioning to just a bar was more within their financial wheelhouse. But that doesnt mean aspirations to return to a full restaurant at some point are dead, Matt said.

We would love to continue the Pepes tradition where were at, but that remains to be seen if were able to do that, he said.

For now, the owners are making best of what they have  and remain keen to keep the spirit of Pepes going whatever their next steps are.

Were very, very sad, Sandy said. But were hopeful.

The Rocushes also wished Heinens well with Eagle Crest, which, according to city staff, is making slow progress.

We have not received much from Heinen yet, Naperville Financial Director Rachel Mayer wrote in an emailed statement. All that we have are preliminary engineering plans for their store.  They still have a long way to go.

Reached by phone Friday, Jeff Heinen said were working to move it along.

To build something, theres a lot of is to dot and ts to cross, but were working through the processes, he said.

The goal is to open the new Naperville location in the spring 2025, Heinen said.

tkenny@chicagotribune.com
Israel has one of the most powerful air forces in the world.

Its arsenal includes custom versions of US-made fighter jets such as the F-15, F-16, and F-35.

Aerial attacks account for much of the destruction, displacement, and casualties in Gaza.

Israel's air force is carrying out a relentless air campaign against Hamas that relies heavily on the US-built jets that make up its fighter fleet.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) flies the F-15, F-35, and F-16 fighter jets that have been launching airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel by Hamas militants. The air campaign has reduced wide sections of the territory to rubble and accounts for much of the human suffering of the 22,400 Palestinians killed and 57,600 injured.

The US has given Israel, a close US ally in the Middle East, more military support and aid than any other foreign country since World War II. There's bipartisan support to send additional aid to Israel, and the Biden administration was quick to send military support in the wake of the terror attacks.

However, lawmakers are in disagreement about how much to send, especially amid rising concerns over Palestinian civilian casualties, injuries, and displacements since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched unprecedented attacks in Gaza, largely carried out by weapons and munitions provided by the US government.

In November 2023, Congress approved a bill to send $14.3 billion in emergency aid to Israel, on top of the military support it provided shortly after the October 7 attacks, including munitions, aircraft carriers, and fighter jets.

Alongside its destructive air campaign in Gaza, the Israeli military is also trading fire with Iran-backed militants in Lebanon. Israeli fighter jets targeted Hezbollah hideouts in southern Lebanon, claiming that it was in response to Israeli civilians being injured by anti-tank missiles. The IDF also launched an attack on an area they said was a "terrorist cell embedded in a civilian area in Lebanon that intended to open fire toward Israeli territory."

Here's a look at Israel's versions of these powerful warplanes.

F-15I

An Israeli Air Force F-15I (Ra'am) from the IDF/AF No 69 Hammers Squadron maneuvers away after receiving fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Nevada's test and training ranges during Red Flag 04-3 Aug 25. US Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Kevin Gruenwald

The F-15I Ra'am, also known as Thunder in Israel, plays a key role in the IDF's air campaign in Gaza.

Its design is based on the F-15E Strike Eagle but is larger and capable of carrying more weapons. The F-15 also has a greater range than the other two fighter jets that make up Israel's air fleet, which is why the IAF calls the F-15I its "strategic aircraft."

"At the end of the day, when we want to reach far distances with few aircraft many arms  the F-15I wins," the head of the aircraft branch said.

Air-to-ground combat

The F-15I fighter jet firing flares. Nir Ben-Yosef/IAF/Facebook

The jets are multi-role aerial combat aircraft, though they're largely used for ground attacks as Hamas lacks the air defenses and shoulder-fired missiles needed to threaten Israeli aircraft.

Hamas and its allies have tried to strike back with surface-to-air missiles, drones, and hit-and-run tactics that rely on tunnels.

F-35I

An Israeli Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft flies over during an air show in Tel Aviv JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Though the F-35 is an American plane, Israel is the only country to use it in combat situations thus far. The stealth fighter took down two Iranian drones near Israeli airspace back in March 2021, and targeted Iranian missile launch sites in Syria in May 2018.

Marillyn A. Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, said the IDF's use of F-35s has been "critical" in its fight against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon that has traded escalating blows with Israel in recent weeks.

"With C4I technology integrated into the Adir, the F-35 is particularly critical to countering Hezbollah's vast rocket threat through rapid identification and prioritization of targets for the IAF," Hewson said in May 2018.

She added that the jets "can fly in what we call 'beast mode,' carrying up to 18,000 pounds of internal and external ordnance, in a mix that can include 5,000-pound-class weapons."

Israel's custom version of an American stealth fighter

A crew works on an F-35I with a 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) visible in the foreground. IAF/Facebook

The F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter jet manufactured by Lockheed Martin, though Israel produced its own variant of the combat aircraft, dubbed the Adir, or the Mighty One.

"Lockheed-Martin has refused to undergo major client state-specific modifications to the F-35," Maya Carlin, an analyst with the Center for Security Policy, told The National Interest. "Israel was able to maneuver around this barrier and involve its local defense contractors in acquiring the jets."

"This deal allowed sophisticated helmet sets and wings to be manufactured in Israel by its own defense industry, paid for with U.S. military aid" Carlin added. "The F-35I variant can be externally modified by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), which also has access to the jet's advanced digital architecture, including its communication systems, electronic warfare and surveillance suite, and mission control hardware. Included in the 'Mighty One's' Israeli-made hardware is an electronic warfare system that has a 'plug-and-play' function for add-on systems like air-to-air missiles and external electronic warfare pods."

F-16I

An Israeli air force F-16 fighter jet takes off. JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Like the F-35I, the F-16I Sufa also boosts some Israeli-specific modifications, making it a crucial asset to the IAF. The jet is fitted with conformal fuel tanks to increase its fuel capacity, allowing the wings' inner store stations to be used for additional weapons storage instead of external tanks, The National Interest reported.

The F-16I also features a more advanced electronic warfare system and avionics, including a decoy system to protect it from air-to-air combat.

The Sufa has taken part in strikes against Hamas' underground tunnel network and some weapon depots.

The largest operator of F-16s outside the US

Israeli Air Force F-16I fighter jet on a runway. Nir Ben-Yosef/IAF/Facebook

As the largest operator of F-16s outside of the US, Israel employed a fleet of the combat aircraft in its air war over Gaza. The F-16 is a multi-role fighter designed for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat, like the F-15.

The F-16s, like the other fighters, have taken off on missions with missiles and bombs, including unguided "dumb" bombs that have been a large portion of the airstrikes.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump gather Jan. 6, 2021, on the west front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Over the last three years, hundreds of people have been convicted in the massive prosecution related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that stunned a nation as it watched the U.S. Capitol attack unfold on live TV.

As Washington's federal courthouse remains flooded with trials, guilty plea hearings and sentencings, the work is far from over.

Three years ago, rioters in support of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol two months after he lost the 2020 presidential election. The far-right rioters were bent on upending the election of President Joe Biden, vandalizing the building and pummeling police as lawmakers barricaded themselves in the building.

Although the chaos of Jan. 6 came down on members of both political parties, it is being remembered in a largely polarized fashion now, like other aspects of political life in a divided country.

The day before the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, Biden spoke near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago.

He said that Jan. 6, 2021, marked a moment where we nearly lost America  lost it all, reports The Associated Press.

At least nine people who were at the Capitol that day died during or after the rioting, including several officers who died of suicide, a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber, and three other Trump supporters who authorities said suffered medical emergencies.

More than 1,200 people have been charged with federal crimes so far as a result of the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

Ten were from Oklahoma at the time.

The Justice Department will hold all Jan. 6 perpetrators at any level accountable under the law, whether they were present that day or otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday.

He said the cases filed show the department is abiding by the long-standing norms to ensure independence and integrity or our investigations.

Today, only one Oklahoman is in federal prison, while six have been sentenced after pleading guilty. Three are still facing charges.

Benjamen Scott Burlew

Burlew, an Army veteran, is facing felony and misdemeanor counts accusing him of causing civil disorder, assaulting a news photographer, and assaulting or impeding a police officer outside the Capitol.

A jury trial for Burlew, 44, of Miami, had been set to begin last month but was called off.

Dova Alina Winegeart

Dova Alina Winegeart, 50, of Fairview, is facing one felony, attempted destruction of government property, and four misdemeanors. A jury trial is set to begin March 25.

In a court affidavit, the FBI reported two friends submitted several photos of Winegeart at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In one photo, she is swinging a long wooden pole with pointed metal attachments at the window of an exterior door marked "House of Representatives," according to the affidavit. The damage to the door has been estimated at about $2,000.

Tricia Monique LaCount

LaCount, 53, of Tulsa, was charged last year with four misdemeanor counts after a Facebook friend tipped the FBI off, a special agent reported in a court affidavit.

The evidence against LaCount includes a video of her inside the House speaker's office and a Facebook conversation about it, according to the affidavit.

During the Facebook conversation, she stated, "Pelosi's office is so gaudy ... massive chandelier, beautiful fireplace ... MSNBC live was on every laptop," the FBI agent reported.

Anthony Griffith Sr.

Griffith, 59, was arrested in Muskogee and charged with four misdemeanor counts after admitting he went inside the Capitol.

During trial, Griffith said he was not protesting and instead was following God's will and praying for the unborn.

A judge rejected his prayer defense and found Griffith guilty of four misdemeanors "for his participation and actions at the insurrection."

In September, Griffith was ordered to spend six months in prison for going inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.

Levi Roy Gable

Gable, 38, was arrested in Tulsa. He was accused in four misdemeanor counts of illegally going inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and engaging in disruptive conduct.

Gable was turned in by a college fraternity brother who saw his 10 Facebook videos of the riot, the FBI reported.

He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, illegal entry, and was later put on probation for two years for going inside the Capitol during the riot. His movements were restricted for 45 days to home, work, church, doctor appointments and attorney visits.

Gable was also fined $1,000, was required to pay $500 in restitution and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service.

Jerry Edward Ryals

Ryals, 29, of Fort Gibson, was arrested in Muskogee and pleaded guilty to a civil disorder charge.

A judge ordered Ryals to spend nine months in prison and pay $2,000 in restitution for his role in the insurrection.

Jerry Ryals, left, and Anthony Griffith Sr. are seen outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in this photo used as evidence at Griffith's trial.

He admitted to going inside the Capitol after traveling to Washington, D.C., with his boss to attend the Save America rally, the FBI reported. Afterward, he wrote on Facebook, "We reclaimed our Capitol, just to be slandered by the media."

Edward T. Spain Jr.

In May 2022, Spain, a U.S. Army veteran, was put on probation for three years for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Spain, 58, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol.

The judge also ordered Spain to complete 60 hours of community service, pay $500 in restitution and get mental health and substance abuse treatment. Three other misdemeanor counts against him were dismissed.

Andrew Craig Ericson

Trump supporter Andrew Craig Ericson is shown in this Shapchat photo with his feet on a table in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's conference room during the U.S. Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021.

Ericson, 26, was arrested in Muskogee. Hes the son of former state Rep. Stuart Ericson and live streamed on Snapchat while inside the Capitol.

He took a "selfie" with his feet propped up on a table inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's conference room, and witnesses watching his livestream saw him take a beer out of a refrigerator.

Ericson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor  illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol.

In December 2022, he was sentenced to 20 days behind bars, but was told he could serve the time on consecutive weekends. He also was placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay $500 in restitution.

Danielle Nicole Doyle

Doyle, 39, was arrested in Oklahoma City.

She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor  illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol  for climbing through a broken window.

She was sentenced to two months on probation and fined $3,000. She also was ordered to pay $500 in restitution and to get mental health treatment.

Tanner Bryce Sells

Sells, 28, was arrested in Chandler. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor  illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol.

Sells, who runs a construction business, was inside the Capitol for a little more than five minutes, his attorney wrote in a sentencing memo.

A year after the riot, a judge put Sells on probation for two years and fined him $1,500 after he expressed little remorse for breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Sells was ordered to spend the first 90 days of his probation on home detention. He was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution and complete 50 hours of community service.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jan. 6 Capitol riot anniversary: Some Oklahomans yet to see trial
Saturday marks three years since people stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The U.S. Supreme Court made a historic announcement on Friday with sweeping implications for the 2024 election.

The justices revealed that they would hear the case of whether former President Donald Trump can be banned from the ballot in Colorado for engaging in insurrection against the United States on Jan. 6.

Read: Two Florida men indicted and arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges for Jan. 6 Capitol breach

The justices agreed to hear arguments on Feb. 8 and suggested deciding the outcome before Super Tuesday.

Colorados Supreme Court banned Trump from the primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment, which prohibits any officer of the United States who swore an oath to the Constitution and engaged in insurrection from holding office.

Read: Supreme Court to decide whether Trump can be kept off the 2024 presidential ballot

Trump has denied any involvement in the Capitol riot and hosted a campaign rally in Iowa.

Over 30 states made similar efforts to keep Trump off the ballot. Four states have rejected claims seeking to bar Trump, including Florida, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

People gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

State Representative Anna Eskamani (D) speaks at a vigil to commemorate the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

People gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

People gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

People gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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Think you know everything about Valentine's Day? Let's find out!

To test your knowledge on love, candy, chocolates, flowers and everything else related to the year's most romantic holiday, we've collected a list of Valentine's Day trivia questions and answers to help determine your V-Day IQ.

Whether you love all things love or prefer celebrating Galentine's Day instead, we've got a little something here for just about everyone, and we promise you'll be swooning over this list of interesting trivia and facts dedicated to February 14.

For instance, can you guess how many calories are in a glass of champagne? Or how about this bit of movie trivia: What actor uttered the line "Im also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her?" in the heart-melting romance "Notting Hill"?

You ever wonder how many cocoa beans it takes to make a pound of chocolate or what the least popular Valentine's Day gift is according to women? We bet you're dying to find out. So, go ahead and read on. Find out how much you really know about all things red, white and pink. If you can guess them all, congratulations, you probably can teach Cupid a thing or two. Kick back with a box of conversation hearts, press play on the romantic tunes playlist and let's begin.

Valentine's Day Trivia

In the movie "Sleepless in Seattle," where do Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meet face-to-face for the first time? Answer: At the top of the Empire State Building

Which U.S. Founding Father is said to have sold chocolate out of his print shop in Philadelphia? Answer: Benjamin Franklin

According to the National Confectioners Association, how many cocoa beans does it take to make a pound of chocolate? Answer: 400

On average, how many times does the average heart beat per day? Answer: 100,000

How many calories are in a glass of champagne? Answer: 84 (per the NIH)

Approximately how many roses are produced for Valentine's Day each year? Answer: 250 million

Valentine's Day Trivia

Which famous playwright coined the term "star-crossed lovers? " Answer: William Shakespeare

According to Roman mythology, who is the son of Mercury and Venus? Answer: Cupid

With a population of 108 people, which U.S. state is home to the town of Valentine? Answer: Texas

In the movie "Titanic," what's the name of Rose's necklace? Answer: The Heart of the Ocean

Romance is linked to Valentine's Day due to the medieval belief that the mating season of what animal begins on Feb. 14? Answer: Bird

Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Elvis Presley all got married in what U.S. city? Answer: Las Vegas

Valentine's Day Trivia

What does XOXO stand for? Answer: Hugs and kisses or, more specifically, kiss, hug, kiss, hug

According to the Webster Dictionary, what word means "to curl up comfortably or cozily?" Answer: Snuggle

Which month is designated National Candy Month? Answer: June

What word denotes a chubby, angelic-looking baby with wings? Answer: Cherub

What 1942 film features the famous movie line, Of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine. Answer: Casablanca

Where do cocoa beans come from? Answer: Cocoa trees

Valentine's Day Trivia

Why does chocolate melt in your hand? Answer: The melting point of chocolate is between 86 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which is lower than the average body temperature of 98.6 degrees.

Which mammal boasts the largest heart? Answer: Whale

Between women and men, who typically has a faster heartbeat? Answer: Women

Which holiday sees more floral purchases: Valentine's Day or Mother's Day? Answer: Valentine's Day

What are the top three colors of roses sold on Valentine's Day? Answer: Red, followed by pink and white.

What's the French word for love? Answer: Amour

Valentine's Day Trivia

According to the NRF, what's the top gift consumers give on Valentine's Day? Answer: Candy

After candy, what's the most popular gift consumers give on Valentine's Day? Answer: Greeting cards

In 2023, what percentage of Americans planned to celebrate Valentine's Day? Answer: 52 percent

On what date is Galentine's Day observed? Answer: February 13

What popular TV sitcom popularized the concept of celebrating Galentine's Day? Answer: "Parks and Recreation"

In the movie "Notting Hill," what actor memorably says, "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her?" Answer: Julia Roberts

Valentine's Day Trivia

Founded in 1806, what Salem, Massachusetts confectioner is known as America's oldest candy company? Answer: Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie

The 2002 movie "Spider-Man" won a MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. Name the two actors who shared it. Answer: Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst

On what date is National Candy Day observed? Answer: Nov. 4

According to Statista, what's the least desired Valentine's Day gift by women? Answer: Teddy bear

In 2023, consumers, on average, were projected to spend how much money on Valentine's Day per person? Answer: $193

On average, how much money does a one-carat engagement ring cost? Answer: $6,000

Comedian and actor Bob Hope and wife Dolores Reade hold the Guinness World Record for what feat? Answer: Longest Hollywood marriage

Valentine's Day Trivia

Rudolph Valentino and Jean Acker hold the Guinness World Record for the shortest marriage. How long did it last? Answer: 20 minutes

What month is National Weddings Month? Answer: February

Instead of commemorating Valentine's Day, this Scandinavian country celebrates Ystavanpaiva, or Friendship Day, instead. Answer: Finland

What compound found in cocoa makes chocolate toxic to dogs? Answer: Theobromine

What Christian martyr is considered the patron saint of lovers? A nswer: Saint Valentine

The Spangler Candy Company produces what popular Valentine's Day candy? Answer: Sweethearts conversation hearts

How many heart candies come in a single box of Sweethearts? Answer: 36

National Singles Day is commemorated annually during which month? Answer: September

Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling play star-crossed lovers in what 2004 film? Answer: "The Notebook"

The Leonard Bernstein Broadway musical "West Side Story" is based on what literary classic? Answer: William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

How many lines are there in a sonnet? Answer: 14

According to Billboard, what's the top love song of all time? Answer: "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie

Of the men surveyed in a 2022 YouGov poll, what is their most-preferred Valentine's Day gift? Answer: A card

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A 60-year-old Pensacola man was sentenced to spend the next three decades in a Florida prison after a judge levied a sentence Friday afternoon for sharing over 100 files of child pornography.

J Bant Sexson was ordered to serve 390 months in Florida's Department of Corrections, the lowest permitted sentence, for his 15 counts of possessing child pornography. Some of the files included children as young as 5 years old.

Sexson did not have any family attend his sentencing hearing.

He was allowed a chance to speak to the court prior to being sentenced, using the time to ask for a "chance to redeem" himself from what he did. He then simply said, "I'm ashamed of myself."

Sexson arrested: ECSO arrests Pensacola man for allegedly uploading over 100 files of child sex abuse

Originally charged with 20 counts of possessing child pornography, he faced a maximum of 300 years in prison, but after taking a deal in which he pleaded guilty, court records show he then only faced a maximum of 225 years in prison.

In return for his plea agreement, the Office of the State Attorney announced it would drop five of the child porn charges and his two possession of a controlled substance charges.

Sexson was sentenced to 16.25 years in prison on count one, then when that term is over he faces an additional 16.25 years for the remaining charges.

How did law enforcement find Sexson's stash of child porn?

On Oct. 13, 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent the Escambia County Sheriff's Office a CyberTipline report generated after Sexson uploaded 113 child sex abuse files to "a commonly used file storage account."

After deputies reviewed the files, they determined the report met the statutory definition of child sex abuse material.

Sexson's cell phone number was reportedly listed in the storage account where the files were found, leading to investigators discovering the IP address used for the uploads was the residence where Sexson lived.

Once deputies executed a search warrant at Sexson's address, they reportedly discovered several child sex abuse material files.

"Sexson III provided extensive detail on how he obtains pornographic files of adults, and the forensic analysis indicated that Sexson III actually utilized these methods to obtain files of child sex abuse material and files of child erotica," his arrest report states.

According to Sexson's arrest report, one of the files discovered even depicted a child engaged in bondage. The prosecutor on the case said that child appeared to be under the age of 10.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola man J Bant Sexson sentenced for sharing child porn files
A 68-year-old man faces a hate crime charge after he was accused of assaulting his Palestinian neighbor, Illinois police said.

The fight started at about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 3, when a Palestinian man moved his garbage cans in a communal driveway, according to a Village of Orland Park news release. The move initially spurred insults from a neighbor, who became increasingly violent, according to police.

The neighbor made hateful comments about the mans Palestinian national origin and punched the man in the face, police said.

Seeing the altercation, the mans wife came out to try to de-escalate the situation, police said. The neighbor then made more disparaging comments related to the womans Palestinian ethnicity and stepped toward her, police said.

The womans husband put himself between her and the neighbor, who hit the Palestinian man in the face again, according to police. The attack pushed the man back on top of his wife, police said.

The 68-year-old was arrested on two counts of misdemeanor battery and a felony hate crime charge.

We welcome the hate crime charge in this case as an indication that anti-Palestinian attacks will be taken seriously by law enforcement authorities and the alleged perpetrators will face justice, said Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab in a statement.

The man appeared in the Bridgeview Courthouse Jan. 4, where he was released from custody, ABC 7 Chicago reported.

Orland Park is about 25 miles southwest of Chicago.

75-year-old chases down accused attacker after antisemitic attack, California cops say

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A 93-year-old man died Friday in a two-vehicle collision in which a Sacramento County man couldnt swerve to avoid the elderly drivers car as it pulled into a Sutter County intersection, the California Highway Patrol said.

The 93-year-old Wheatland man, whose identity will be released by the Sutter County Coroners Office, was driving a 2017 Toyota Prius east on Cornelius Avenue and paused at a stop sign, the CHPs Yuba-Sutter office said in a news release. A 19-year-old Citrus Heights man in a 2019 Toyota Highlander was approaching Cornelius Avenue on Pleasant Grove Road, CHP officials said.

After braking, the 93-year-old began driving again and pulled out into the path of the 19-year-old man, who didnt have a stop sign, CHP said. The Highlander driver broadsided the drivers door of the Prius, said CHP officials, who were called to the incident about 2:30 p.m.

The Wheatland man died at the scene, CHP officials said. The 19-year-old man and two children in his car werent injured.

Drugs and alcohol didnt play a role in this crash, CHP said.

Officer Brian Danielson, a spokesman for the CHP Yuba-Sutter office, wrote in an email that the 19-year-old driver wont be arrested and officers wont seek charges in the fatal collision.
Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at ensuring abortion rights in Florida have submitted enough valid petition signatures to get on the November ballot, a key step in what could become the states biggest political battle this year.

The Florida Division of Elections website Friday morning showed that 910,946 valid signatures had been tallied for the proposal, which is sponsored by the political committee Floridians Protecting Freedom. That topped a requirement of submitting 891,523 signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Also, Floridians Protecting Freedom met a requirement to meet signature thresholds in at least half of the states 28 congressional districts. Unofficial totals on the Division of Elections website showed that the committee exceeded the thresholds in 17 of the 28 districts.

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Now, focus will shift to the Florida Supreme Court, which has to sign off on the wording of proposed ballot initiatives. The court has scheduled a Feb. 7 hearing on the abortion initiative, which Attorney General Ashley Moody and other opponents are trying to keep off the ballot.

Make no mistake: we will put abortion on the ballot in 2024 and take back the rights that have been stolen, Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, D-Davie, said Friday in a post on the social-media site X.

But Moody and the other opponents are urging the Supreme Court to block the measure, contending it would be misleading to voters  an argument that initiative supporters dispute.

The Supreme Court will review the proposed ballot summary and title, the wording that voters see when they go to the polls. The proposed ballot summary says, in part: No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patients health, as determined by the patients healthcare provider.

Moody and other opponents have raised a series of objections, including contending that the word viability can have multiple meanings.

Floridians Protecting Freedom announced the initiative in May after the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law that could prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The six-week limit is contingent on the outcome of a legal battle about a 15-week abortion limit that DeSantis and lawmakers passed in 2022. The 15-week case also is pending at the Florida Supreme Court.

Read: Nearly a dozen fatal crashes reported so far in 2024, several due to wrong way driving

The proposed constitutional amendment has come amid the backdrop of ballot fights in other states after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision. The U.S. Supreme Courts ruling left abortion decisions to states.

If the Florida Supreme Court signs off on the wording, the Floridians Protecting Freedom initiative is almost certain to spur a fierce  and expensive  political battle. The six-week limit approved this spring by lawmakers and DeSantis would largely halt abortions in Florida, where a reported 72,087 abortions were performed during the first 11 months of 2023, according to state Agency for Health Care Administration data.

The petition-gathering process is complicated and costly, and Floridians for Protecting Freedom faced a Feb. 1 deadline for meeting the requirements. It had raised $8.91 million for the initiative as of Sept. 30, while spending $8.79 million as it worked to collect signatures. It will have to file an updated finance report by a Wednesday deadline.

The signature totals posted Friday morning on the Division of Elections website showed that the largest number of valid signatures, 54,277, had been collected in Congressional District 14 in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Meanwhile, 45,673 had been collected in Congressional District 10 in Orange County, and 45,268 had been collected in Congressional District 21 in Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.

Read: Law and order: FHP explains more lenient pursuit policy

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From former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton to disgraced king of pop Michael Jackson, the inclusion of some of the most famous names on the planet in this weeks release of unsealed records related to Jeffrey Epstein brought the prolific sex predator and sphere of high-flying figures he surrounded himself with into clearer focus.

The names  who were largely not accused of wrongdoing  featured among more than 1,300 pages of court filings made public in Manhattan federal court starting late Wednesday in a lawsuit settled in 2017 between Epsteins convicted right-hand, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Virginia Giuffre.

Giuffre, now 40, has long alleged she was recruited to be abused by Epstein as a teenager and loaned out to powerful men in his orbit for sex. More than 1,000 pages were unsealed on Friday alone.

The paperwork comprises motions by Giuffre and Maxwell, excerpts from their depositions and those of other Epstein victims, members of his house staff, and law enforcement, as well as records from a 2005 investigation into the disgraced financier by the Palm Beach police that almost brought him to justice.

The tranche of documents had remained under seal throughout the litigation, primarily to protect victims identities and individuals whose names came up but didnt do anything wrong, the judge who unsealed them wrote last month.

Manhattan federal court Judge Loretta Preska noted their contents were largely public record, whether from being revealed in court cases or media reports, documentaries, podcasts, books, or elsewhere. Vast swaths of the case were unsealed at various intervals in recent years following legal efforts led by the Miami Herald, including a massive release on the eve of Epsteins 2019 suicide while he was awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail cell.

Most of the elite names to hit the headlines this week have long been known to have socialized with Epstein. Still, new tidbits of their dealings with the perverted financier add sharper detail to claims by scores of women who say he sought to leverage his high-profile contacts while grooming them for repeated sexual abuse.

Heres a look at some of the most notable figures referenced.

Prince Andrews well-documented friendship with Epstein comes up throughout the filings, including Giuffres allegations the financier forced her to sleep with him as a teen. The disgraced British royal, who stepped down from his military duties in 2022 amid fallout over his friendship with the disgraced perv, settled a suit with Giuffre the same year for a reported $16 million. He did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement and has adamantly denied any abuse.

Andrew, King Charles brother, is accused in one filing by alleged Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg of groping her at the financiers Manhattan townhouse in April 2001 while holding a puppet of himself. Buckingham Palace previously denied it ever happened.

In her deposition, Maxwell acknowledged being on Epsteins Caribbean island with the British royal. It was on the private island, Little St. James, where Epstein was alleged to have committed much of his abuse. There are no further details of the princes activities there in the deposition.

In excerpts from Juan Alessis deposition unsealed Friday, Epsteins longtime house manager at his Palm Beach estate recalled the prince visiting for extended trips.

Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us, Alessi testified, adding that he received daily massages.

The Daily News in 2015 first reported on the deposition from Alessi in a 2009 case featured in Giuffre and Maxwells suit. Epsteins house manager from 1990 to 2001 provided crucial testimony at Maxwells trial, recalling how he regularly saw famous faces at Epsteins Florida mansion and young girls walking around topless.

Maxwell, the daughter of the disgraced publishing baron Robert Maxwell, who owned the Daily News when he died in 1991, became friends with Prince Andrew while at Oxford. She was convicted in 2021 of charges alleging she procured young girls to be abused by Epstein for around a decade and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Bill Clinton

At least 70 references to Clinton came up in the latest tranche regarding previously reported events, which he did not object to being made public.

Clinton has not been accused of abuse by Giuffre or anyone else. But her lawyers doggedly fought to depose him in vain about his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, describing him as a key person who could disprove various claims made by Maxwell.

Clintons name was featured on multiple flight logs in evidence at Maxwells trial, though none to Epsteins private island, Little St. James. At Maxwells criminal trial, jurors heard about how he was among the famous figures who traveled on Epsteins private planes, along with Trump, Prince Andrew and many others.

Sjobergs lengthy May 2016 deposition included a particularly unfavorable and unverified claim about Clinton allegedly made by Epstein that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.

Clinton has admitted traveling on Epsteins aircraft but has denied visiting his properties in the Virgin Islands, New York, and New Mexico or staying in touch with him after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a 14-year-old girl for sex. Maxwell claimed she couldnt recall if the two men were friendly or why they once went to Thailand together, Giuffres lawyers wrote in one filing.

Donald Trump

Passing references are made to Trump, but nowhere is he accused of any abuse.

He also came up as one of the celebrities Alessi said he saw at Epsteins Florida home in his 2009 deposition, along with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., celebrity hair stylist Frederic Fekkai, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Kennedy, Fekkai, and Ferguson were not accused of wrongdoing.

The house manager recalled Trump often coming over to Epsteins when he was in town at his Mar-a-Lago estate, saying, He never sat at the table. He eats with me in the kitchen.

Epstein was placed at Trumps Atlantic City casino in Sjobergs deposition. She said they stopped off when Epsteins private pilots rerouted their flight to New York from Florida due to bad weather.

Jeffrey said, Great, well call up Trump,' Sjoberg testified, later adding she was never asked to massage Trump.

The current Republican front-runner for the 2024 election has said that he once thought the Brooklyn-born money manager was a terrific guy but that they never spoke after a disagreement.

Michael Jackson, David Copperfield

Sjoberg recalled meeting Michael Jackson at Epsteins Palm Beach mansion, saying she was not required to massage him. She said she also met celebrity magician Copperfield at a dinner at Epsteins attended by a girl she believed may have still been in high school.

After doing some magic tricks, Sjoberg testified, Copperfield asked if she was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls. She said he didnt specify if they were underage.

Copperfield and Jackson were not accused of wrongdoing.

Jean-Luc Brunel

Long suspected of steering underage girls to Epstein, Brunel features throughout the tranche of legal papers. Giuffre has claimed that Maxwell forced her into sex with the French model agent multiple times.

Last year, Brunel killed himself in a French jail cell while facing sex trafficking allegations, seeing an eerily similar demise to Epstein.

Stephen Hawking, Naomi Campbell, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis and Leonardo DiCaprio

There is no evidence the esteemed late theoretical physicist and Cambridge professor Stephen Hawking was involved in Epsteins depravity.

His name has come up in news reports about the document dump because Epstein mentioned it in a typo-laden email to Maxwell in 2015 about baseless rumors they could debunk.

Blanchett, Diaz, DiCaprio, and Willis similarly appeared spontaneously in filings unsealed in the case, whether in depositions or email correspondence between parties and journalists.

None were accused of wrongdoing. Reps for DiCaprio, Diaz, and Blanchett this week denied having any association with Epstein to The Guardian.

Sjoberg said Epstein name-dropped them during massages, claiming hed been talking to some on the phone. She said she never saw or met any of the celebrities.

Campbells name came up when Giuffre said in her deposition that Giuffre had been forced to sleep with a French hotel owner around the same time as the supermodels birthday party. Campbell was not accused of wrongdoing and has condemned Epstein.
I greatly respect James Martin, a Republican former governor of North Carolina. I hope that doesnt get him in more trouble in the states conservative circles  having someone like me express admiration for him  where some have begun questioning his Republican bona fides in the age of Donald Trump. Maybe this will keep him in good standing: I passionately disagree with Martin about higher education.

Issac Bailey

I dont respect him because we have a shared loved of Davidson College, our alma mater, though that doesnt hurt. I respect him because in our interactions, including when we helped craft what would become the first commitment to free expression statement by a private college in North Carolina, hes been kind and determined to build consensus across ideological lines.

During an earlier time, such interactions would have made me reconsider my decision to stop voting for Republicans. I have voted for the likes of Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley during the primary of her first run for South Carolina governor, and George W. Bush for president in 2000. Unfortunately, that time is no more. Todays GOP is full of people more eager to make Fox News happy than building coalitions to solve problems. Theyd rather complain about the crisis at our southern border than agree to the kind of compromise that received 68 votes in the U.S. Senate in 2013. And the party is poised to choose Trump as its standard bearer for a third consecutive time  unless Haley can pull off the upset - despite his trying to overturn an election and his inciting a violent attack on our Capitol.

Martin strongly disagrees with a position I recently took. I criticized the decision by University of North Carolina System President Peter Hans to appoint Lee Roberts as interim chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill despite Hans having no previous professional administrative experience in higher education. Martin believes the appointment was a good one. And he and I have a long-standing disagreement about how conservatives are treated on college campuses today.

I have no doubt he is making good-faith arguments. Its just that he doesnt know what I know, cant see what I see. To those not politically connected, the UNC appointment looks like more evidence of a good ole boy system. Its a system its adherents are happy to defend even as they criticize the hiring of highly qualified Black people.

I know that I recently had to co-moderate a public discussion at Davidson about media and Israel because some of my colleagues would have been attacked and found it more difficult to find work in the future had they done so. I know that Republican legislators in North Carolina and South Carolina have effectively put a target on the backs of Black and brown professors if we dare teach honestly about this countrys racial history. I know and will soon be writing about Black professors at Coastal Carolina University near Myrtle Beach, S.C., have had to endure racist attacks from the parents of white students who question their qualifications. I know Ive heard from Muslim students I taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism utterly terrified of saying anything that might be misinterpreted as an unfair attack on Israel.

I get that conservatives are outnumbered and often outshouted on a growing number of college campuses, including Davidson, and that their voices matter, too. On that, Martin and I agree. And I know he, too, wants the best for all students and faculty. Its just that we dont agree on whats standing in the way of our making that a reality.

Issac Bailey is a Carolinas opinion writer for McClatchy.
A Crown Point woman was sentenced to 46 months Thursday for stealing $490,000 from her job for vacations, drugs and plastic surgery.

Loraine Duchscher, 50, pleaded guilty Jan. 12 in the U.S. District Court in Hammond to three counts of wire fraud, filings show.

Federal prosecutors allege she was a serial conwoman who may have defrauded at least three different employers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Lupa wrote Duchscher lied repeatedly  including submitting two fake doctors notes  to delay her sentencing.

After she didnt show for an Oct. 3 sentencing, probation officers contacted the doctor. The doctor wrote back that she never treated Duchscher for either condition.

A judge issued an arrest warrant.

Duchscher said she would turn herself in on Oct. 5. Three hours later, FBI agents found her near her parents house. She lied about who she was.

She also claimed she was unemployed but probation officers learned she had been working as an office manager for a different company since April 2021. The new job flagged discrepancies after her arrest and planned an audit. She hasnt been charged in those allegations.

As a result, prosecutors added another nine months to her suggested prison sentence, according to court filings.

Under the federal case, Duchscher worked as an office manager for Pyro Shield in Crown Point from March 2017 to December 2019.

She had unsupervised access to its cash, financial records and payroll.

Prosecutors allege she falsified payroll to add $311,000 over time to her checks, then updated fake entries in its bookkeeping system.

She also cut over 100 unauthorized checks totaling $180,000 that she or an unwitting co-worker cashed for her.

Duchscher used the money for lavish vacations and gratuitous plastic surgery. She booked flights to San Diego and Las Vegas, a California rental home, bought Universal Studios tickets, and clothes.

She bought thousands in cocaine for herself and a boyfriend, documents allege.

It took a heavy toll on the company. Pyro Shield sued her in Lake Superior Court. A judge awarded nearly $1 million in damages in 2020.

At a prior job, court documents also allege Duchscher took $53,000 by charging to a Munster sales companys credit card or via cash advances while she worked as their bookkeeper in 2014 and 2015.

She treated herself to furniture, cocaine and plastic surgery, according to court filings.

She pleaded guilty in Lake Superior Court and got one year probation in 2017. She was on probation when stealing from Pyro Shield, records show.

mcolias@post-trib.com
ROBERTSDALE, Ala. (WKRG)  Students from around the southeast were taking aim in Central Baldwin County. They gathered in Robertsdale for an annual air rifle tournament. As Chad Petri reports its a competition of skill with safety first.

Several students line the floor of the Robertsdale High School gym for this annual competition. They all aim for tiny targets on the opposite side of the room.

This is what theyre trying to shoot. Just a dot, said Robertsdale High School NJROTCs Frank Starr holding up a target. That dot in the center, not the whole bullseye, not the whole black, but the dot. Dealing with any firearm, even when it comes to an air rifle, can have some degree of danger. Thats why instructors here say one of the most important things to teach these students is safety first.

We are teaching kids how to shoot. Were also teaching, or more importantly, how to be safe with guns. Were not. Its not about how to hurt things or do bad things with them, said Starr.

This is a competition among Junior ROTC programs around the region. Teams from Robertsdale and Daphne took part as well as groups from Florida, Mississippi, and Louisana. Members of the military are here tooimproving skills, especially when it comes to standing shooting.

Its the most unstable shooting position and they just dont know how to do it better because its something everyone struggles with, said US Army Staff Sergeant Verne Conant. The students I spoke with say air rifle marksmanship can be meditative.

It kind of just like zones you out from everything else. And its just like helps me focus on like one thing at a time. Its just like me in my rifle, said Elberta High School Junior Haley Wheeles. Others say its a good way to focus.

Personally, it helps me focus on myself. It gives me something to channel all of my extra energy into, said Robertsdale High Sophomore Taylor Sherrin.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
(Reuters) - Canada said on Friday an aircraft was sent this week to Jamaica to address a maintenance issue with the plane that took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a visit to the Caribbean, enabling him to fly back home.

It is the second recent instance of such an aircraft glitch; Trudeau's departure from India in September 2023 was delayed by a couple of days after a G20 summit.

"We can confirm two Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challengers were in Jamaica supporting transport for the prime minister," a spokesperson for Canada's defence department said.

An inspection uncovered the maintenance issue on Tuesday, before Trudeaus departure date, the spokesperson added. A maintenance team and aircraft were sent to the island to restore the craft to service the next day.

Trudeau was able to return on the original plane, the spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Gokul Pisharody in Bengaluru. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered most of Boeing's 737 MAX-9 aircraft to be temporarily grounded, pending inspections, after an exit panel blew off from the Alaska Airlines airplane mid-flight late Friday.

The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement, adding that "safety will continue to drive" its decision-making as the agency assists the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the flight. The grounding order means about 171 airplanes worldwide will be taken out of service until they can be inspected.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Whitaker has acted to order these aircraft grounded pending the inspections necessary to ensure that they are safe to operate.

Alaska Airlines had earlier grounded its fleet of 65 Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft, but quickly returned a handful to flight after an inspection. But by late Saturday the airline said they had been grounded again.

Alaska said it at first determined that 18 aircraft had thorough inspections of the area in question after "a recent heavy maintenance visit." However, the airline later changed course after consulting with the FAA, stating these aircraft won't fly until the carrier confirms more details about possible additional maintenance work with the FAA.

"We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service," Alaska said. Remaining inspections will be completed in the next few days.

United Airlines  which has 79 of the aircraft in its inventory  said it suspended service for the inspections required by the FAA.

"We are working directly with impacted customers to find them alternative travel options," the Chicago-based carrier said, adding the suspension will cause roughly 60 flight cancellations on Saturday. Inspections have already been completed on 33 aircraft, United said in a statement.

No one on board was hurt in the Alaska incident, but it raises fresh questions about Boeings 737 MAX fleet, which is no stranger to scrutiny. The MAX-9 is a different design than the MAX-8, which was grounded globally for almost two years after two crashes overseas that killed 346 people. Multiple probes into how the MAX-8 was certified heaped blame on both Boeing and the FAA for inadequate oversight.

The Alaska Airlines flight had to turn back around for Portland International Airport around 5 p.m. local time on Friday, after the crew reported a pressurization issue, according to the FAA. Video on social media showed a hole in the fuselage near where the mid-cabin exit door should be as the plane came back to land. The plane was put into service in Oct. 2023.

According to FlightAware, a plane tracking website, the plane, bound for Ontario International Airport in California and carrying 170 people, reached 16,000 feet before it turned around. It was in flight for roughly 25 minutes. Several passengers experienced injuries that required medical attention, Alaska said, adding they have now been medically cleared.

Boeing said in a statement it agrees with and fully supports "the FAAs decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane."

A Boeing technical team is supporting the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates transportation incidents, in its investigation. The NTSB launched a team that will probe the matter, with the FAAs support.

The 737-9 model is the second largest aircraft in the MAX family. It was certified in 2018. There are more than 200 in service globally. The plane in question was delivered to Alaska Airlines in October 2023.

Last month, the FAA also called for additional inspections of the 737 MAX planes following reports of a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system.

Alaska cancelled 160 total flights Saturday, affecting roughly 23,000 passengers. "We are identifying necessary cancellations for tomorrow and expect the disruption to last through at least mid-week," the airline said. Alaska has an additional 240 commercial aircraft in service, including its regional fleet.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle took to X to express concerns over the event.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking member of the Commerce Committee, said he will be "carefully tracking the investigation, particularly how this problem was not flagged earlier in the aircraft inspection process."

Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, also a member of the Commerce Committee, said the near-catastrophic event raises questions about whether the 737 MAX is safe. "Pilots have filed safety complaints on these aircraft, many of which had just rolled off the production line, at a rate which is unbecoming of American aviation," Vance said.

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, another member of the committee, said on X that, "We need answers. Im glad the FAA & NTSB are taking action and investigating this terrifying incident."

The House Transportation Committee said it will continue to closely monitor developments, including the investigative work of the NTSB.

Meanwhile, The Seattle Times on Friday reported that Boeing is petitioning the FAA to bypass some safety standards for its Boeing 737-7 models involving the engines anti-ice system. The Allied Pilots Association told the newspaper the potential flaw "gives us great concern."

Its not the first time the company has looked for some leeway: In 2022, Boeing wanted lawmakers to include a provision for its 737-7 and 737-10 airplanes which at the time needed a safety alert system installed by that years end. Lawmakers granted the extension.

On Saturday, unions applauded the FAA's safety initiative, as the airline and the agencies together investigate what occurred during the flight that caused the exit door to abruptly fail.

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents Alaska Airlines flight attendants, said it "supports the FAA's quick and decisive action to ground certain 737 MAX 9 Fleet that do not meet the inspection cycles specified in the Emergency Airworthiness Directive," it said in a statement.

We will closely monitor the safety inspection process to ensure that aircraft are not returned to service until they are deemed safe for all, the union said.
The Gary School Boards hunt for a superintendent is expected to be completed in April, officials said Thursday after the board hired a Chicago-area consulting firm.

The board unanimously hired BWP & Associates, based in Libertyville, Illinois, to conduct the search under a $16,500 contract. The School Town of Munster used BWP in 2021 to assist in its search that led to the hiring of current Superintendent Bret Heller.

It marked the first meeting for Glenn Johnson, selected by Mayor Eddie Melton to replace board member Akilia McCain. Hes a former Lake Ridge Schools board member.

Board member Danita Johnson, who headed the committee to identify a search firm, said it looked at several companies before settling on BWP.

Debra A. Hill, BWP managing director, said it will begin the search process with a community survey.

Every district, every community is different. We work with the board to determine what you want the process to look like, she said. We insist on clear communication, transparency and honesty.

She said BWP has completed hundreds of searches for districts across the country. About 91% of the candidates recommended make it through the first four years, she said. And 87% receive a second contract.

We keep doing the search, if the candidate pool isnt what you want, she said. We work with you that first year to make sure the relationship is going to work .

She said a search typically takes 18 to 22 weeks with the goal of having a superintendent named by April.

The hiring of a superintendent will be the most impactful decision the first-year board makes as it begins the transition from state control.

The state took over the Gary Community School Corp. in 2017 after it fell into financial peril, leaving it unable to repair aging schools and pay utility and vendor bills. A state law stripped the district of its superintendent and elected school board.

Instead, a state-appointed education management team has run the district, guiding it back into more solid financial ground.

Earlier this year, the General Assembly approved a measure allowing the city to have an appointed school board, the state secretary of education still controlling its makeup with three appointees.

State-appointed MGT Consulting is expected to continue to govern the district until this summer when the state could return it back to the school board.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Illustration of a small spacecraft approaching cloudy venus, with the blackness of space in the background.

New research is focusing on the sulfuric-acid clouds of Venus as a potential abode for life.

The new Venus study calls for the start of a new branch of astrobiology and a new branch of organic chemistry.

"The search for signs of life beyond Earth is a motivator in modern-day planetary exploration, but life on other planets does not have to have the same biochemistry as our life here on Earth," said Janusz Petkowski, a research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. "Life needs some sort of liquid medium to function, but does it always have to be water?"

Related: Life on Venus? Why it's not a crazy thought

Amino acids are surprisingly stable

A major finding of the new study , which appears in a special collection of "Venues" research papers in the journal Astrobiology, is that amino acids remain stable in concentrated sulfuric acid. That's extremely interesting to astrobiologists, for amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which are essential for life as we know it.

And that brings us full circle to those sulfuric acid-laden Venusian clouds . Venus is often called Earth's sister planet, but is it also a celestial companion of cozy microbes?

"These findings significantly broaden the range of biologically relevant molecules that could be components of a biochemistry based on a concentrated sulfuric acid solvent," Petkowski and his research colleagues state in the paper, which is titled "Stability of 20 Biogenic Amino Acids in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Habitability of Venus' Clouds."

Solvent for life

Petkowski points to other potential liquid solvents on the surface, subsurface or in the clouds of planets and moons. "Therefore, it is important to understand the basic chemistry that happens in such potential alternative solvents for life, to assess if complex organic chemistry could form in them, be stable and soluble. On Earth , water is a dominant liquid, but other liquid solvents are also present in our solar system ," he told Space.com.

Petkowski is interested in research related to hunting for life on exoplanets , biosignature gases and theoretical biochemistry. One goal of his work is determining whether or not any universal laws of biology can be identified, a pursuit that uses "cheminformatics" computer simulations as an aid in designing future laboratory experiments.

The research team is particularly interested in concentrated sulfuric acid as a potential solvent for life. Liquid droplets of concentrated sulfuric acid build the clouds of Venus. The acid concentrations in the droplets vary from 81% to 98% acid, with the rest being composed of water.

An important item to mix into that Venusian cloud blend: Amino acids and other organics are continuously being delivered to Venus with meteoritic material.

Related: 1st private mission to Venus will search for alien life in clouds of sulfuric acid

Morning Star initiative

Could such an aggressive solvent in the Venus clouds set the stage for alien biochemistry?

"If yes, then of course such life would be fundamentally different from life on Earth," said Petkowski. He and colleagues are motivated to study organic chemistry in concentrated sulfuric acid, to see if such complex reacions might be occurring in the Venus cloud layers, around 30 miles to 40 miles (48 to 64 kilometers) up.

This research will also likely inform future missions to the cloud-cloaked planet. These efforts include the Venus Life Finder mission (now labeled the Rocket Lab Mission to Venus), which is scheduled to launch atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket in early 2025, and the subsequent projects from the Morning Star Missions to Venus initiative led by MIT astrophysicist and planetary scientist Sara Seager.

Petkowski is deputy principal investigator on the Venus Life Finder Mission Concept Study.

Objective #1 for Venus Life Finder is searching for the presence of organic material within cloud-layer particles as a function of altitude.

Early work on the scientific and technical challenges of privately funded Venus exploration was aided by the Breakthrough Initiatives , a suite of space science programs financially backed by a foundation established by entrepreneurs Julia and Yuri Milner.

"There's increasing attention on Earth's 'Evil Twin' Venus as a past, and possible current, abode of life," Pete Worden, executive director of Breakthrough Initiatives, told Space.com. "It's possible, and increasingly likely that Venus is a life-bearing world. Perhaps Earth life even originated there!"

RELATED STORIES:

 If Venus had Earth-like plate tectonics in its distant past, did it have life too?

 New wave of missions to reignite Venus exploration

 Can a private space mission pierce Venus's clouds?

Not universally hostile

"We have shown that concentrated sulfuric acid is not universally hostile to organic chemistry and that surprisingly, many organics are stable and soluble for months, if not longer, in this aggressive solvent," Petkowski said.

In earlier work, the investigative team showed that other key molecules needed for life  nucleic acid bases  are stable in concentrated sulfuric acid, "advancing the notion that the Venus atmosphere environment may be able to support complex chemicals needed for life," Petkowski added.

The stability of amino acids in concentrated sulfuric acid is an "unexpected discovery," Petkowski said, "that further supports the notion that complex organic chemistry is possible in Venus' concentrated sulfuric acid clouds, and that it is likely that organic chemistry is in fact present in Venus clouds."
An American Airlines flight was diverted to a Texas airport mid-flight this week after a passenger punched a flight attendant multiple times and assaulted at least one police officer, according to court documents.

The plane, which was headed to Bozeman, Montana, from Dallas, landed at an airport in Amarillo on Wednesday after the flight crew declared a Level 2 threat due to a physical assault, the criminal complaint filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas states, citing an affidavit from an FBI agent involved in the arrest.

Keith Edward Fagiana, 61, was escorted off the plane  American Airlines flight 1497  by police and charged with interference with a flight crew, the complaint said.

The incident started when a passenger complained Fagiana was violently kicking their chair, court documents say. Fagiana then yelled expletives at a flight attendant who asked him not to kick the chair, the complaint says. He then punched the flight attendant in the stomach, the documents say.

The flight attendant was punched three more times by Fagiana before other passengers helped to physically restrain him, the complaint said. The flight attendant used flex cuffs to restrain him and buckled him in a seat to wait for police upon landing, the documents state.

Police entered the aircraft after it landed at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport and escorted Fagiana off the plane, documents say. He complained the flex cuffs were hurting him, so officers changed out the restraints with steel handcuffs.

Keith Edward Fagiana's booking photo. - Randall County Sheriff's Office

While changing out handcuffs, Fagiana kicked one of the Amarillo Airport Police Officers in the groin area and spit on escorting officers, the documents say.

During a police interview, Fagiana admitted to fighting with police officers after being removed from the aircraft because he didnt want to be arrested, the complaint said.

He also claimed he didnt remember anything that happened on the flight and said he had drunk some Captain Morgans at different bars before the flight, documents say.

The flight continued its trek and left the Amarillo airport shortly after, according to a statement from American Airlines.

Acts of violence are not tolerated by American Airlines and we are committed to working closely with law enforcement in their investigation, the statement reads.

CNN was unable to determine if Fagiana has obtained legal representation as of Friday.

CNNs Sara Smart and Asher Moskowitz contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Anaheim police are actively searching for a hit-and-run driver responsible for two separate collisions on Friday evening, which resulted in three injuries and a woman's death. (Google Maps)

Anaheim police were searching Saturday for a hit-and-run driver who they said is responsible for two separate collisions that injured three people and killed one.

The first collision occurred Friday night when the driver struck three pedestrians on South Harbor Boulevard, near Katella Avenue, before fleeing the scene, said Sgt. John McClintock. The driver then struck a woman in a separate collision at Harbor Boulevard and Convention Way.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, he said. She has not been identified.

Two of the other victims suffered minor injuries, while the third individual sustained moderate injuries, authorities said.

The suspect's car was described as a tan or gold sedan, possibly a Toyota Corolla or a Camry.

Police shut down the southbound lanes of Harbor Avenue for several hours while processing the scene and interviewing witnesses.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, authorities said.

Anaheim police are urging anyone with information on the incident to call (714) 765-1900.





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A veteran of the fossil fuel industry has been appointed to lead the worlds next round of climate emergency negotiations, prompting dismay among environmentalists.

Mukhtar Babayev spent more than 24 years working in Azerbaijans State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (Socar), according to his LinkedIn profile.

Last year there was widespread anger at the appointment of Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to head the climate talks in Dubai.

Mukhtar Babayev spoke at Cop28 in Dubai (AP)

Ending the burning of fossil fuels is seen as vital to keeping global temperature rises under 1.5C and averting the worst effects, such as drought, floods and devastation of food production.

The Azerbaijani government appointed Mr Babayev, its ecology and natural resources minister, as president of the United Nations Cop29 talks that are due to be held in Baku in November.

Scientists and climate campaigners expressed disappointment at the appointment.

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer told The Independent: A dangerous and very unwelcome pattern is developing with this latest planned appointment  the oil industry capture of the COP process.

COP works because it brings together governments, the people most impacted by climate change and non-governmental organisations.

Consensus and actions to combat climate change have been hard won. This is at risk if we allow COP to be taken over and run in the interests of the very people who are creating and profiting from the crisis.

University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann wrote on social media that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change had not taken to heart scientists call last year for oil industry executives to not be allowed to exert heavy influence over  much less lead  annual climate negotiations.

However, according to a leaked 2008 telegram from the US Azeri ambassador to the US government, Mr Babayevs approach put him at odds with Socars grand old man, a company chief.

He wanted to alter how his company developed its resources, the document shows, saying he had to change its attitude to the environment, ensuring it preserved the environment while fulfilling its mission to develop Azerbaijans hydrocarbon resources.

He said Socar was trying to establish a master plan for cleaning-up the Absheron Peninsula, devastated by oil and chemicals production, and that his mission was to "change the mentality" of Azerbaijanis over their responsibilities to preserve the environment.

Azerbaijan, which is rich in fossil fuels, has an estimated 2.5 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves, according to a 2021 BP review, and is aiming to double gas exports to Europe by 2027.

At last years Dubai talks, an 11th-hour accord was struck calling for the first time for transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.

But some environmentalists condemned it for failing to set out detailed plans to cut fossil fuel use and keep global warming below 1.5C.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Arkansas State University trustees have voted to honor an outgoing president as the search begins for a new university head.

The trustees voted in a special meeting Friday to designate outgoing president Chuck Welch as ASU President Emeritus. Welch announced his resignation on Nov. 14 after serving the university for 13 years.

Arkansas State University System President Chuck Welch named American Association of State Colleges and Universities new CEO

Welch, who holds a doctorate of education degree, has accepted a position as the president and chief executive officer of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Robin Myers, who retired in July after 11 years as chancellor of ASU-Mountain Home, will serve as ASU interim president.

Arkansas State Red Wolves set to play in first bowl game in 4 years

The ASU system announced at a Friday reception honoring Welch the creation of the Charles L. Welch Presidental Scholars Program. The program will honor students transferring from an ASU two-year institution to a four-year ASU university and will include monetary awards.

Chair of the trustees search process, Price Gardner of Little Rock, said a contract had been made with a search firm to find the universitys next president. The plan is to have a candidate selected by May for a July 1 start.

Students look forward to 96th Battle of the Ravine between Ouachita Baptist University and Henderson State University

Additional information on ASU and its campuses may be found at ASUSystem.edu.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
The family of a 35-year-old California woman who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer during the Jan. 6 insurrection has filed a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government.

Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed Jan. 6, 2021, while she tried to climb through a broken door into the Speaker's Lobby outside the House Chamber, as a mob of dozens of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol while lawmakers were preparing to certify the results of the 2020 election. The shooting was captured on cell phone video. Babbitt later died at a hospital.

In the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in federal court in Southern California, Babbitt's family claimed that she was unarmed and had her hands in the air when she was shot once by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.

"Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone," the lawsuit states, going on to claim that she was "ambushed" by the officer.

The lawsuit also argued that Byrd was "not in uniform," "did not identify himself as a police officer" and did not issue a warning before opening fire.

However, in August of 2021, Capitol Police reported that an internal investigation had determined Byrd had acted within department policy, had violated no laws and would not be disciplined for the shooting. The investigation also found that Byrd's actions had "potentially saved members and staff from serious injury and possible death."

"USCP officers had barricaded the Speaker's Lobby with furniture before a rioter shattered the glass door. If the doors were breached, the rioters would have immediate access to the House chambers," Capitol police said at the time. "The officer's actions were consistent with the officer's training and USCP policies and procedures."

Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, had traveled to Washington, D.C., from her home in San Diego because she "loved her country and wanted to show her support" for Trump, the lawsuit read, adding that she "did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose."

The lawsuit accuses Capitol Police of assault and battery and negligent use of force, among other allegations.

In March, Babbitt's mother, Micki Witthoeft met with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in his office. Before the meeting, Witthoeft has been leading nightly Jan. 6 protests outside the D.C. jail for months.

Almost three years on, nearly 1,200 people have so far been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, and more than 700 have pleaded guilty. According to investigators, 140 police officers were assaulted at the Capitol.

In July 2021, as part of a plea deal, the man who live-streamed Babbitt's shooting pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

CBS News has reached out to Capitol Police for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

 Robert Legare, Scott MacFarlane and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.

Houthi militia defies U.S. warning with 25th Red Sea attack

Saturday Sessions: Lola Kirke performs "He Says Y'all"

Saturday Sessions: Lola Kirke performs "My House"
When Highlands Town Council and Clerk-Treasurer Mark Herak are sworn in at the Councils first public meeting on Jan. 8, it wont be the first time theyll be taking the oath.

That swearing-in will be a re-do for the public because the Council was sworn in Dec. 21 during a private ceremony at Briar Ridge Country Club in Schererville. The private, lightly catered affair was for the elected officials and their families and friends only and paid for by Town Attorney John Reed, Reed said in an email Thursday; Reed is a Briar Ridge member.

Multiple sources said the swearing ins were presided over by Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Thomas L. Kirsch II, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana from 2017-2020.

Highlands elected officials will be sworn in for a second time at the Councils first public meeting on Jan. 8 at the Highland Municipal Complex. That swearing-in will be a re-do for the public because the Council was sworn in Dec. 21 during a private ceremony at Briar Ridge Country Club in Schererville.

Traditionally, Highlands officials are sworn in Jan. 1 at the Town Hall or another location in Highland. On Dec. 1, Herak sent an email to the Council-elects outlining the ways in which the ceremony could be done, reads an email the Post-Tribune received on the matter. In one option, the Council and Herak would be sworn in with no other action on the agenda, and board and committee members would be appointed at the Jan. 8 meeting.

In option two, the Council and Herak would be sworn in, and the board and committee members appointed, with the Jan. 8 meeting for all other matters, the email reads. In both cases, the Council would need to secure a judge to perform the ceremony, someone to perform an invocation and benediction, and refreshments, the email said.

After Herak sent out that email, outgoing Council President Tom Black, R-4, told him there was a ceremony already in the works, said an official with knowledge of the conversation.

When the Post-Tribune asked them how attending a private, vendor-paid, out-of-town ceremony lines up with campaign calls for transparency in Highlands administration, none of the elected officials  George Georgeff, R-1; Doug Turich, R-2; Alex Robertson, D-3; Black; Phil Scheeringa, R-5; and Herak  responded. Other town officials, who declined to be named for fear of retaliation, acknowledged that having a Highland ceremony in Schererville didnt look good for the town.

Reed said, however, that he doesnt think the Councilmen and Clerk-Treasurer showed any lack of transparency because the normal ceremony on the 8th will happen as usual.

I asked if they would enjoy having their family and friends out to Briar Ridge for a nice evening and ceremony, to which they agreed, he said in the email. Frankly, I thought it would be nice for the candidates (both Republican and Democrat) to be able to enjoy an evening with their friends and family rather than just a 5-minute swearing-in at the Town Council chambers prior to a regular meeting.

The families of elected officials pay a tremendous price for the elected officials participation in government. I felt it would be nice to let them enjoy one evening. I do not think I was wrong.

Reed disclosed the price of the event as $1,314, but said it was legally no ones business, in an email.

Highland isnt the only town to have its candidates take their oaths in private swearing-in ceremonies. The Town of Griffith, for example, conducted a private ceremony for its elected officials Dec. 29 at the Knights of Columbus, 1400 S. Broad St., Griffith, and other candidates from other municipalities opted to be sworn in separately by a judge or other official because they cant be at their scheduled ceremony.

Former Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson also had two swearing-in ceremonies when she was elected that citys first Black woman mayor  one at the former Genesis Convention Center on Dec. 31, 2011 and a second one Jan. 7, 2012 for the public at Garys West Side Leadership Academy.

The Town of Highlands second swearing-in will take place at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 at Town Hall, with U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Indiana Jon DeGuilio presiding.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  An Auburndale man was killed Friday evening after a failed attempt at passing in a no-passing zone ended in a fiery crash, troopers said.

The Florida Highway Patrol said at 8:57 p.m., a 27-year-old motorcyclist was driving north on SR-39 in Pasco County at a high speed when he tried to illegally pass multiple cars.

Lakeland Jan. 6 fugitives caught on Florida ranch 3 years after insurrection, FBI says

However, this led to the man crashing head-on into a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 17-year-old from Plant City.

According to troopers, the motorcyclist ended up ejected from his vehicle and into an embankment where he died. His motorcycle flipped and crashed into a guardrail before catching fire.

The driver of the Cherokee and his passengers, also teenagers, suffered minor injuries.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Multiple police departments started a manhunt Friday night for a Milwaukee man who suspected of stealing a car by force in Caledonia and leading authorities on a chase with a baby in the vehicle.

Million Harper, 23, of Milwaukee

Million Harper, 23, of Milwaukee allegedly stole a 2011 Hyundai Sonata from a family member in Milwaukee and that family member was able to track the vehicle to the Mobil gas station at the 13600 Seven Mile Road in Caledonia about 6:55 p.m. Friday and alerted police.

Police were also informed that Harper possibly was armed with a gun.

A Racine County sheriffs deputy spotted the vehicle near I-94 and Highway 20 and followed until other deputies arrived.

According to a Racine County Sheriff's Office release:

The driver slowed down after deputies initiated a traffic stop but then sped away at speeds more than 110 mph toward Kenosha.

When Harper noticed a Kenosha police car join the pursuit he exited the interstate at Highway C and drove into a residential yard in the 9000 block of Ashbury Lane before fleeing on foot.

As officers prepared to pursue Harper on foot his 22-year-old girlfriend with their 1-year-old daughter exited the vehicle and told police that she had been pleading with him to stop.

Police used K9 units and drones but were unable to find Harper Friday night.

Anyone with information about Harpers location is asked to call Racine County communications center at (262) 886-2300 or their local law enforcement agency.

Police from Racine and Kenosha counties, Pleasant Prairie, city of Kenosha and Wisconsin state patrol assisted in the manhunt.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man sought after high-speed pursuit in stolen vehicle
An aviation safety theory may explain a plane crash in Japan this week.

The "Swiss cheese" theory argues that crashes are often caused by a series of small errors.

A Japan Airlines plane crashed into a smaller plane while landing at Tokyo Haneda airport Tuesday.

A Japan Airlines Airbus A350 erupted into a fireball this week after colliding with a Japanese coast guard aircraft on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

Five people in the coast guard plane, a smaller Dash-8 turboprop, died. However, in what many people call a miracle, all 379 passengers and crew aboard the A350 jetliner survived.

The aircraft only had three of its eight emergency exit doors available for the evacuation, which took about 18 minutes in total.

An investigation into the cause of the crash is underway. Still, it will likely be months before Japanese regulators release their preliminary findings, and it's impossible to know for sure the root cause before then.

But information is already starting to emerge, with safety experts trying to piece together what happened. Former JAL pilot and aviation safety analyst Hiroyuki Kobayashi told Reuters the cause was likely pilot error.

A published air traffic control transcript said the Dash-8 pilot did not have clearance to enter the active runway. According to the recordings, the instruction was to hold short of the runway, not enter, though the Dash-8 pilot  the one person in the plane who survived the collision  told investigators he believed he had clearance to take off.

While this may look like a straightforward case of pilot error or negligence, a core causation model in aviation safety called the "Swiss cheese model" could tell a different story.

The JAL air crash was likely caused by several smaller errors

Air crashes are rarely caused by a single factor, but rather are a series of individual failures that collectively lead to an incident or accident.

This is commonly illustrated through the "Swiss cheese" model. The "holes" represent the failures, and the slices of cheese represent the layers of protection put in place to prevent those failures from turning into a catastrophe.

Using the method, safety professionals can more easily identify and address safety gaps before an event occurs, whether it be related to human error, technology, procedures, or everything in between.

"Airlines can be accused of cost-cutting in various areas, like putting more seats on airplanes and cutting back on amenities and services," travel analyst Henry Hardevelt told Business Insider. "But one thing airlines don't skimp on is safety."

The Swiss cheese model illustrates how several smaller failures can culminate into a catastrophic hazard. Richard A. Brooks/AFP/Getty Images

According to the Swiss cheese model, events like the one in Tokyo can happen when too many safeguards fail  allowing the "holes" to line up and open a window of opportunity for an accident or incident.

"Investigators are going to look at everything like weather, air traffic control, communications, and human factors," Anthony Brickhouse, an aviation safety associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told Business Insider.

Fatigue, lighting malfunctions and an earthquake may all have played a role

In the case of JAL, the Dash-8 pilots' misunderstood radio call could turn out to be because they were experiencing particularly severe fatigue in the wake of their duties following the earthquakes that struck Japan on January 1. Fatigue, the hypothetical second hole, can contribute to pilot error .

For the pilots of the A350, it's likely investigators will ask if they saw the Dash-8 on the runway during landing. However, the nighttime conditions  another possible hole  could have made it more difficult for them to spot the turboprop and avoid a collision.

Airline safety experts say safety measures are multi-layered but each has vulnerabilities, likened to the holes in slices of Swiss cheese. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

The earthquake may turn out to be a contributing factor in the JAL accident as well. Had the disaster not happened, the Dash-8 likely wouldn't have even been on the runway that night in the first place.

"Something that caught my attention was that this wasn't two commercial airliners colliding, but a commercial airliner and a military aircraft," Brickhouse told BI. "I'd be interested in what role that played in the accident and how the coast guard operates out of Haneda airport."

The string of hazards doesn't stop there, though. Many large global airports have "stop bar" lights that indicates to pilots if a runway is clear. They're intended to stop planes from entering an active runway even if they think they have clearance.

On the day of the accident, however, the lights at the intersection where the Dash-8 entered the runway were malfunctioning, according to a notice to airmen that went into effect on December 27. Pilots are expected to check airport NOTAMs.

Debris of the Japan Airlines plane on a runway at Tokyo Haneda airport. RICHARD A. BROOKS

"These stop bar lights are a series of red lights at the junction of the taxiway and the runway, and they are a sort of last resort precaution, if you like, to stop pilots from blundering onto an active runway," Geoffrey Thomas, editor in chief of AirlineRatings.com, a source of airline safety ratings and product reviews, said on Thursday.

Airport equipment like the stop bar lighting exists as another redundancy, or layer of Swiss cheese, in an aviation safety system. But the safeguard in place for the Dash-8 failed, too, and could not course-correct the pilot's potential communication error.

Experts have been cautioning for months about the technology gaps in runway detection systems, especially after a string of near-misses gave the US a wake-up call last year.

"Many of the serious incidents could have been avoided through better situational awareness technologies that can help air traffic controllers and pilots detect potential runway conflicts," Flight Safety Foundation CEO Hassan Shahidi told Reuters on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, in every case in the US, at least one layer of Swiss cheese held up to prevent an accident from occurring, from air traffic control's quick corrections to the evasive actions of pilots.

While the investigation will likely uncover even more information as the months go on, it's too early to say what caused the Dash-8 and A350 to collide in Tokyo.

Still, it's a good example of the Swiss cheese model at work in modern aviation and a reminder that even the safest systems are at risk if the right hazards come together at the wrong time.

Read the original article on Business Insider
BALTIMORE  Prosecutors are hoping to prosecute the five people charged in connection with the July shooting at a Baltimore housing complex together in one trial.

The development came to light Friday when the cases of two young men charged in the July 2 shooting, which left two dead and 28 others wounded, came up on the citys Reception Court docket. Tristan Jackson and Aaron Brown, both 18, each face several counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder stemming from what has been described as one of Baltimores worst mass shooting events.

The shooting in the Brooklyn Homes happened around 12:30 a.m. after a daylong Brooklyn Day block party meant to serve as a reunion for current and former residents of public housing complex. A police after action report blamed the shooting on multiple failures, including officer indifference, lapses in community policing, flawed decisions by supervisors who failed to call for backup and delays in escalating the growing gathering up the chain of command.

Nobody has been charged yet in the fatal shootings of 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are proceeding with the cases of Jackson, Brown and three minors, who face adult charges.

Chief States Attorney Michael Dunty, head of the Baltimore prosecutors offices homicide unit, said in court Friday that he filed a motion asking a judge to conjoin the cases of all five defendants.

The case involves over 12,000 pages of physical documents and hundreds of hours of video, Dunty said.

Assistant Public Defender Amanda Savage, who represents Jackson, and defense attorney Roya Hanna, who represents Brown, said in court Friday they oppose the motion.

Michael Clinkscale, an attorney for a teen charged with firearms offenses and inciting a riot at the public housing complex, told The Baltimore Sun that he filed papers arguing against conjoining the cases, but declined to comment further.

A judge ruled the case of Clinkscales client, who is 17, will remain in adult court. Clinkscale previously said his client was carrying a toy gun the night of the shooting.

On Friday, Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Copeland set a hearing March 7 to determine whether the cases will be tried together. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Geller will preside over that proceeding.

Dunty said Friday that it remains to be seen whether the cases of the other two minors charged in the shooting will stay in adult court or be transferred to juvenile court, where penalties focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. If someone is found guilty in juvenile court, a judge can sentence them to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Services, whose jurisdiction over a person ends when they turn 21.

Both teens have hearings in February to determine which court their trial will be held in, Dunty said in court.

According to Dunty, Juvenile Services has completed its evaluations of whether the teens are suitable for juvenile court and prepared reports explaining their determinations.

It is up to a judge to make the decision, considering factors such as the nature of the charges, public safety, the minors background and their amenability to treatment offered by juvenile services.

_______
Former Attorney General Bill Barr argued that the Department of Justice (DOJ) cast its net far too broadly on prosecuting rioters involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Well, you know, like everything else the left does, they did, I think, go too far, Barr told Fox News Neil Cavuto on Saturday.

I think there were people involved in January 6, particularly the people who attacked the police and broke their way into the Capitol, there were people that should have been prosecuted, but I think they cast their net far too broadly and have been hounding people that really, you know, just wanted into open doors in the Capitol and hung around, Barr continued.

Barr, who served as attorney general for former President George H.W. Bush and then again for former President Trump, said he didnt want to minimize what happened at the Capitol three years ago but does not think it was an insurrection.

It clearly was a shameful episode, and some of the people involved should be prosecuted, he said.

Barrs comments come exactly three years after rioters at the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., marched to the Capitol at the direction of Trump and participated in an insurrection attempting to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election.

More Top Stories from The Hill

About 1,000 rioters have either pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes ranging from felonies like seditious conspiracy and assaulting police officers to misdemeanors such as trespassing in the three years since the attack.

More than 1,200 individuals have been charged with federal crimes for the insurrection, The Hill previously reported.

In what has become the largest criminal investigation in American history, prosecutors are still searching for suspects and continue to ask for the publics help in identifying at least 80 people.

A federal court ruled Friday that rioters who were passive during the attack can be convicted of disorderly conduct.

At least two dozen defendants are seeking to delay their cases until the Supreme Court decides whether an obstruction charge used to prosecute rioters was legitimately applied by the DOJ. Some are seeking pauses in their upcoming hearings while some already sentenced are hoping to be released from prison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, whose country currently presides over the Council of the EU, said on Jan. 5 that the bloc must undertake reforms before accepting new members.

The statement comes less than a month after the European Council agreed to launch accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova.

Speaking at a Brussels press conference together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, de Croo said that the Belgian presidency would work on a negotiating framework for the entry of the two candidate countries.

"The European population looks to the European Union...with expectations to protect them, with expectations to strengthen our well-being, our welfare, and with expectations to prepare a common future," de Croo said.

"A common future here in Europe means also, of course, Ukraine in the heart of Europe. It is the best guarantee for our future security and collective stability."

The prime minister nevertheless noted that reforms are needed before the enlargement, saying that "before we get bigger, we need to get better."

The EU must improve its ability to make quick decisions while maintaining unity and be more efficient with the resources of its member countries, he said.

Read also: BREAKING: European Council agrees to open accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova

Weeks before the EU summit that greenlit the accession talks with Kyiv, Hungary threatened to derail the European unity and block the start of the negotiations.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban eventually allowed other leaders to reach a consensus by leaving the room during a key vote.

European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova was hopeful about Kyiv's membership process, saying it will take years rather than decades. European Council President Charles Michel said in October that Ukraine should become a full member by 2030.

While not obstructing the accession talks, Budapest blocked the EU funding package for Ukraine of 50 billion euros ($55 billion) during the December summit. European leaders are to re-convene on Feb. 1 to discuss the issue.

Speaking at the press conference with de Croo, von der Leyen said that the Commission is working on "operational solutions" to assist Ukraine if the proposed $55 million funding package falls through.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Church services on the eve of Russian Orthodox Christmas, celebrated on Jan. 7, have been canceled "due to the operational situation," Belgorod Mayor Valentin Demidov announced on Jan. 6.

A Dec. 30 strike on Belgorod, which lies about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, reportedly killed 25 people and injured over 100.

Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the strike, which came one day after Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine that killed over 50 people and injured 160.

Several Ukrainian media outlets reported that Ukrainian forces struck military facilities in Belgorod on Dec. 30, citing anonymous sources in Ukraine's special services.

Debris from the used weapons fell in the city center "due to the unprofessional actions of the Russian air defense," according to the sources.

Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed on Jan. 5 that the authorities have started moving residents out of Belgorod to towns to the north, further away from the border with Ukraine.

"I see several appeals on social media where people write, 'We are scared, help us get to a safe place.' Of course we will! We have already moved several families," Gladkov claimed.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify any of these claims.

Read also: French Foreign Ministry on Belgorod strike: Russia bears full responsibility for human casualties

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Indiana lawmakers are expected to consider several education-related bills, including school cell phone use and stiffer truancy penalties when their short session begins Monday in Indianapolis.

Theres even a bill from a Gary lawmaker banning the teaching of Christopher Columbus and any president who owned slaves.

With Republicans holding supermajorities in both chambers, theyre able to control the agendas on bills they want to move forward.

Anthony Bruno, a student at the Washington Junior High School, uses the unlocking mechanism as he leaves classes for the day to open the bag that his cell phone was sealed in during the school day, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, in Washington, Pa. Citing mental health, behavior and engagement as the impetus, many educators are updating cellphone policies, with a number turning to magnetically sealing pouches. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

GOP leaders have signaled interest in school literacy with some suggesting third-graders be held back if they dont pass the states reading exam or I-READ.

No bill has been filed yet and the debate over holding children back could create a serious impact in the Gary Community School Corp. where more than half the third-graders cant read, according to a 2023 state assessment.

Statewide, concern grew from the I-READ exams results that showed one in five Hoosier third-graders cant read.

Northview Elementary second grade teacher Kay Magnetti looks over student Adrian Bindel during a reading comprehension test in class on Thursday. (Kyle Telechan/For the Post Tribune)

GOP State Secretary of Education Katie Jenner wants lawmakers to add more teeth to the retention policy.

State law allows third-graders who fail the reading test to be retained, but there are several exceptions that leave the final decision up to schools.

Lawmakers are expected to zero in on the exceptions and reduce them, GOP leaders have said.

American students are coming back to the classroom after the pandemic, but they still arent attending class at pre-COVID-19 rates. According to a recent study, chronic absenteeism may indicate a student is experiencing significant obstacles, such as mental health challenges or issues with transportation, the researchers wrote. Irregular student attendance doesnt only harm said student: It can also make it difficult for teachers to stay on schedule with the curriculum, the effects of which can trickle down to the students who regularly attend class.

Educators, meanwhile, worry holding children back will lead to crowded classrooms and adverse social impacts on children.

Jenner maintains literacy is a foundational skill needed for academic success. Moving children who cant read up to fourth grade doesnt benefit them, Jenner has said.

State DOE data showed 13,840 third-graders didnt pass the I-READ exam last year. There were 5,503 exemptions. Of the 8,337 who didnt receive an exemption, 95% moved onto third grade. Just 412 were retained.

Demarius Toney, 10, of Gary, smiles as he chooses a book during the Gift of Reading book fair at the Gary Teachers Union on Saturday, December 23, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)

Jenner wants to see 95% of Indiana students pass the reading exam by 2027.

Proficiency on the I-READ exam and other state assessments is intertwined with absenteeism, state officials contend.

State attendance data showed about 40% of students missed 10 or more days of school in 2023. Nearly one in five missed at least 18 days.

With a 66% attendance rate, its another dubious category where Gary students lead the state.

State Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said a bill addressing truancy will be introduced, although so far it hasnt been released.

Absenteeism has increased since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic that initially shuttered schools, leaving students learning remotely at home in front of a computer.

State data shows absenteeism problems impact Black students in high poverty areas like Gary more than other demographics.

Raatz has also said he plans to introduce a bill restricting student cell phone in classrooms. Many Northwest Indiana districts, like Griffith, Highland and Munster, already have policies requiring cell phones to be kept in lockers during class.

Locally, state Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, introduced a bill to exempt the School City of Hammond from a state law that requires school districts to offer vacant buildings to charter schools for $1 before the building can be sold to another party.

It would exempt Hammond, if it intends to sell Gavit High School, which closed in 2021.

Why not have an opportunity to repurpose to re-gentrify the area, Dernulc said.

He suggested several possible uses. Hammond is the most populous city in Lake County and they dont have a big medical facility since St. Margarets closed. It could also be dorms, he said.

State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Cedar Lake, has introduced a bill that establishes that a registered owner of a vehicle commits an infraction if the owners vehicle doesnt stop for a school bus stop arm, whether the owner is driving or not. The maximum penalty would be $1,000.

The bill is already set for a 9 a.m. hearing Tuesday in the Homeland Security and Transportation Committee.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said his bill to ban the teaching of Christopher Columbuss arrival in America and of presidents who owned slaves, is a tongue-in-cheek response to Republicans who championed a critical race theory bill in the past session.

I dont expect the bill to move, Smith said. Im just trying to make a point. These topics keep coming up dealing with critical race theory and the aim is to change history.

Taught in universities, conservatives want K-12 bans on the teaching of critical race theory, which explores how racism has been institutionalized. Legislation has been debated, but hasnt moved forward yet in Indiana.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
For 1,095 days, right-wing Congress members have been telling me that I didnt see what I saw on January 6, 2021. The GOP is whitewashing the American tragedy caused by Donald Trump before our eyes.

In an effort to support Trumps 2024 presidential bid, the Louisiana Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson recently released deceptively edited videotapes to the public, sparking condemnation from even his own party. Former GOP Illinois congressman Joe Walsh called it aiding and abetting criminal activity. Johnson demanded transparency while hypocritically blurring faces of January 6 rioters to protect them from the American justice system, pushing revisionist history. Trump and Johnson keep attempting to deceive the country with misinformation to prove the Jan. 6 rampage on the Capitol was a peaceful protest. It wasnt. I was there  as the newly released footage of me shows.

They used the images of me standing upright on the evening of January 6, after Id been bludgeoned by rioters for six hours, to disprove my sworn testimony. As a police officer defending the Capitol, I fought off the mob of Trump supporters in what resembled a medieval battle. I feared Id lose my life, as five others did that day. Yet I kept showing up to work shocked and on adrenaline  for weeks afterwards. In excruciating pain, I didnt know the extent of multiple injuries Id suffered. After doctors insisted I have X-rays and MRIs (whose results I released on social media) I learned Id need two surgeries, one on my shoulder and another that left a metal plate with 8 screws in my foot. Theyd both required months of physical and mental therapy to treat my PTSD. It ruined my career.

Speaker Mike Johnson witnessed firsthand the violent insurrection three years ago. Yet he still supports the former president who was indicted on 91 counts, including inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol and almost killed me. If Trump is reelected, hes vowed to give full pardons and a government apology to the rioters who attacked law enforcement officers like myself to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

Mike Johnson knows the truth. On January 7, 2021, he went on the radio to describe the capitol riot as a bad dream and chaotic scene that unfolded as he was swiftly escorted into a secure area during the lockdown. We heard gunshots and screamingIt was crazy, people were banging on the doors he said at the time, calling the presidents whipping the crowd into a frenzy and handling of the situation terrible, and expecting Trump to stop it.

Then Johnson joined Trumps minions in downplaying the siege to imply nothing bad happened. To whom? These lawmakers went home to their families unharmed that night and to their white collar jobs the next day as Trump fled to his multi-million dollar Mar-a-Lago estate, while nine people lost their lives. Four of my brothers in blue were so damaged by what they experienced that they died by suicide, leaving widows and fatherless children. More than 700 riot participants instructed by Trump to fight like hell to uphold his fraud were convicted of assault, battery, destruction and obstruction. Some are locked up with 20-year sentences.

Trumps henchman Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay $148 million for doing his bosss bidding in defaming election workers. Yet Trump has faced no consequences for inciting the riot. The front-runner for the upcoming election, hes being rewarded for it, emboldened by the members of his supposed law and order party who dont care that he lawlessly endangered our liberty.

Senator Minority Whip John Thune  who can be seen on the new tapes  criticized Trump, tweeting on January 7 that the insurrection was inexcusable and disgusting. Now he insists that January 6 is in the past, as if we could easily move on. But for those of us who stood our ground and did our job protecting our country, January 6 never ended. There are hundreds of ongoing court cases where weve been called to testify, magnifying our traumas and injuries.

Unlike Johnson, Thune and their lackeys, I never wavered about the violence I witnessed, as I told the FBI, district attorneys and January 6 Committee. Two brave Republican members  Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger thanked me for protecting them that day. They published an 845-page report holding Trump responsible for the riots, recommending criminal charges. In it, I reported what I saw as one of 140 officers hurt by the armed mob, beating us with furniture, swords, flagpoles and using poisonous sprays.

Following in most of his partys feckless footsteps, Johnson took back the truth, acting as a Trump apologist and abettor. Maryland Democratic Rep. Jaime Raskin called him an insurrection esquire and Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado called out his partys hardliners, declaring that anyone saying the 2020 election was stolen or that the insurrectionists didnt commit crimes is lying to America.

As an immigrant of color and U.S. Army veteran I worked for 16 years on the DC force, rising to Sergeant and passing the test for lieutenant. The wounds I sustained on January 6 meant I could no longer pass the physical tests for my job at 42. Yet after violating his duties, Trump is allowed to run for office again at 77, even if hes found guilty of all crimes hes accused of and put in jail. He pretends to be a loud supporter of the police  just not the officers who are suing him for the peril he put us in on January 6.

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Johnson should release videos of my fellow officers defending the Capitol as elected officials like himself and Thune fled in fear. He should show our efforts to get U.S. representatives into secure rooms while we stayed, taking the blows to fend off Trumps mob. Since so many insurrectionists proudly filmed themselves, the world can see what Trumps unscrupulous MAGA P.R. campaign seeks to hide.

Ill never forget how that day rioters called me a traitor and disgrace who should be executed. Its infuriating to still hear some of the people I protected spewing conspiracy theories. Theyve referred to the rioters as Antifa, Black Lives Matter supporters, FBI agents, political prisoners or hostages, changing their story daily, distorting reality.

If the truth sets you free, deception keeps you mired in chaos and darkness. Many officers like me lost our health and livelihoods enforcing laws that these immoral politicians keep violating. Instead of allowing us to heal, their subterfuge is further harming the Democracy they were elected to serve. Three years later, the only moral coda for January 6 is to demand accountability, and follow Colorado and Maines court rulings banning Trump from running in 2024 under the Constitutional provision that disqualifies people who engaged in insurrection from holding public office. Trump should be prosecuted to the full extent of the laws that he desecrated. Otherwise, hell do it again.
ADAMS COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) A bicyclist was hospitalized after suffering serious injuries from a November crash in Adams County, according to a report from State Police.

First responders were called to the crash that happened just before 2 p.m. on Old Harrisburg Road near its intersection with Heidlersburg Road in Tyrone Township.

Troopers report that a 2019 GMC Terrain was stopped at the intersection while a man was riding an electric assisted bicycle west on Heidlersburg Road.

The crash happened when the bicyclist turned onto Old Harrisburg Road and the driver of the GMC continued to move north, the report reads.

Harrisburg native wins $17K and trip to Florida Keys on Wheel of Fortune

The bicyclist suffered serious injuries from the crash and was transported to the hospital but the other driver was not injured.

It was noted in the crash report that a bicycle helmet was used.

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UPMC EMS, York Springs Fire Department and Heidlersburg Fire Department assisted State Police at the scene.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
President Joe Biden is expected to outline his 2024 agenda as he seeks to keep former President Donald Trump out of the White House. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden on Saturday accepted an invitation from House Speaker Mike Johnson to deliver his State of the Union address on March 7.

Johnson extended the invitation in a letter to Biden sent Friday, writing, "In this moment of great challenge for our country, it is my solemn duty to extend this invitation for you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, March 7, 2024, so that you may fulfill your obligation under the U.S. Constitution to report on the state of our union."

"Looking forward to it, Mr. Speaker," Biden responded Saturday on X.

Political analysts noted the March 7 date is later than is customary for the State of the Union address and will come after after the Super Tuesday primaries.

It is also scheduled after what promises to be a bitter political fight in Congress over funding for the federal government and a possible shutdown.

The speech will give Biden the chance to lay out his 2024 agenda as he seeks a second term in office and to deliver contrasts between him and his most likely opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Biden took aim at Trump Friday during his first campaign speech of the new year near Valley Forge, Pa., marking the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

In that speech, the president told his constituents, "The choice is clear: Donald's Trump campaign is about him, not America, not you ... our campaign is about America. It's about you ... it's about the future that we're going to continue to build together.
Branda Le, left, and her parents Kim Luong and Hung Le pose for a photo at the Vietnamese Noodle House in Yellowknife, which Luong and Hung Le have owned for the last 18 years. The couple has sold the restaurant and will retire on Monday. (Hilary Bird/CBC - image credit)

After 18 years running Yellowknife's Vietnamese Noodle House, it's fair to say owners Kim Luong and her husband Hung Le, have earned a break.

But the sale of the popular restaurant has understandably led to mixed feelings for the pair.

The Vietnamese Noodle House will remain open under its current ownership for a few more days. After that, Le and Luong will officially retire, and the restaurant will be taken over by new owners.

"I'm feeling pretty good, because we worked so hard," Luong said. "A little bit sad, because we stayed here for a long time, and now we have to say goodbye. Happy and sad, combined."

Hung Le arrived in Canada in 1994, moving from Vietnam to Calgary. Luong arrived in the country the next year.

The pair then moved to Yellowknife, where Le was working as a taxi driver. A decade later, after saving up, they decided to purchase the restaurant.

"At that time, [there weren't] many Vietnamese restaurants up here," Luong said.

Branda Le, the couple's daughter, said she also has mixed feelings about the sale  but for different reasons.

"I'm really happy for them because, they're gonna be finally retiring," she said. "It's definitely been a lot of hurdles with COVID and then the evacuations and labour shortages and just all sorts of different challenges."

"But I'm also just really happy for them," she said. "And I'm kind of curious, because my parents have been working since they were like children in Vietnam and they're so used to working all the time."

"So I'm curious as to see how it'll be when they'll be relaxing, because I know it's hard for them to relax."

Customers still have until Monday to visit the Vietnamese Noodle House. After that, the restaurant will close for a few weeks, until the new owners take over.
Updated: April 14, 2022: Israels Minister of Defense Benny Gantz has approved allocating a significant budget to develop and produce a high-power solid-state laser system designed to intercept rockets, mortars, and UAVs. Rafael, the system developer, expects to sign the full-scale development contract with the Ministry of Defense in the coming days; the initial investment amounts to hundreds of millions of NIS. By mid-April 2022, the technology demonstrator completed the first test series, intercepting UAVs, mortars, rockets, and anti-tank missiles in various scenarios.

The systems production and deployment will cost hundreds of millions of NIS more, and the funding approved will cover the system development, procurement, and initial deployment. As Iron Beam becomes operational, it will be integrated into Israels multi-tier air and missile defense system, providing a cost-effective and operationally efficient lower-tier defense against missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, rockets, and mortars.

According to Rafaels CEO, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yoav Har-Even, the Iron-Beam system, is the most powerful laser system of its kind in the world. Rafael first introduced the Iron Beam high-energy laser technology concept in 2014, depicting a system consisting of a pair of high-energy lasers effectors. The two systems would deliver a combined effect with the power level required and dwell time necessary to defeat rocket and missile type airborne targets.

The ministerial decision was announced by Minister of Defense Benny Gantz at Rafael compound, together with the head of Research and Development at the DDR&D Brigadier General Yaniv Rotem, where CEO of Rafael, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yoav Har-Even, and General Manager at Elbit Systems ISTAR & EW, Oren Sabag, presented the prototype. Subsequently, the Minister of Defense approved the plans progression according to the work plan and the agreement with Rafael.

The funding approval follows the programs feasibility demonstration conducted by Israels Ministry of Defense (IMOD) Directorate of Defense R&D (DDR&D), which demonstrated the technological breakthrough in the development of the Iron Beam high-power laser system. DDR&D will be the program manager, with prime contractor Rafael and subcontractor Elbit Systems. Both companies have already demonstrated proof-of-concept land-based (Rafael) and airborne (Elbit Systems) high-power laser systems.

Today we are advancing towards a dramatic change in the battlefield and enhancing Israels security in the face of growing threats emanating from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, supported by Iran and terrorist organizations. Minister of Defense Benny Gantz said, The high-power laser system constitutes a strategic change in Israels defense of the home front in addition to the political and operational echelons flexibility during combat. As in the past, the DDR&D, Israeli industries, and the defense establishment continue to maintain Israels operational edge and save lives through creativity, flexibility, and ground-breaking technologies. We will do everything we can and allocate the necessary resources to complete the process as quickly as possible, and I am sure that along with the unprecedented operational and security gain, our investment will also lead to great economic gain for the State of Israel and ground-breaking collaborations with our allies. Ganz added.

Israels investments in laser technology have led to the ability to precisely focus laser beams on long-range targets, overcoming atmospheric disturbances. The new technology is critical for the delivery of laser effects on target within a short time. It will enable the development of laser weapons capable of intercepting various threats. IMOD embarked on three parallel high-energy laser weapon systems demonstrator programs with Elbit Systems and Rafael based on that technology demonstration. In a recent test, Elbit Systems has already demonstrated the feasibility of such a laser to defeat airborne targets.

Israels ground-based laser weapon system is developed as a containerized system that will field similar to the Iron Dome launchers. It will complement the capabilities of the Iron Dome, establishing the lowest tier layer to augment Israels four-layered air defense system. This lowest layer will be able to defeat mortar bombs, and short-range rockets fired at very short ranges, leaving a very short time for intercept. While the Iron Dome missile-based C-RAM has demonstrated the capability to engage those threats, their interception by missiles is too costly to deliver for an optimal response.

DDR&D also develops a compact laser system mounted on vehicles to protect maneuver forces against direct and indirect threats. These lasers will complement the vehicle-specific active protection systems deployed on heavy and future armored combat vehicles, such as the Merkava and Namer, and provide a higher level of protection for less protected vehicles or troops in the open.
China's State Council on Friday held an executive meeting to evaluate the development of the silver economy, as well as hear a report on ensuring the payment of migrant workers wages.

The meeting, presided over by Premier Li Qiang, emphasized that expanding the silver economy is an important measure to actively respond to the aging population and promote high-quality development that will benefit both the present and future.

According to the meeting, it is necessary for the government to effectively fulfill its responsibility to secure basic needs, strengthen basic livelihood protection for senior people, and increase the supply of basic public services.

It stressed the importance of using market mechanisms, fully utilizing the role of various business entities and social organizations, and better meet the multi-level and diverse needs of the senior people.

It is necessary to continue to improve relevant policies and measures, focusing on solving the most pressing issues of great concern, such as home care, medical treatment, and health care for the senior people, the meeting said.

During the meeting, it was recommended that the government should optimize services and improve administrative efficiency, focus on major issues raised by the people and enterprises, strengthen coordination and cooperation, take the initiative to reform and innovate, and further optimize service processes using digital technology and other means.

The meeting called for resolving several important issues every year, such as promptly copying and promoting positive experiences and practices, persisting in implementation, and continuously enhancing the people and enterprises' sense of fulfillment.

The meeting pointed out that the Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 10, is the busiest time for migrant workers to negotiate their wages. The government must ensure that migrant workers are paid and firmly crack down on acts of intentionally defaulting on their wages.

It is necessary to improve the long-term mechanism for dealing with wage defaults, strengthen regular monitoring, evaluation, inspection and supervision, and promote the implementation of various systems and policies to ensure the payment of wages to migrant workers, according to the meeting.

The meeting also decided to submit the draft amendment of the Accounting Law and the draft energy law to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for review. At the meeting, a draft interim regulation on the management of carbon emissions trading was also adopted.


On Apr. 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while assisting striking sanitation workers.

Back then, over a half century ago, the wholesale racial integration required by the 1964 Civil Rights Act was just beginning to chip away at discrimination in education, jobs and public facilities. Black voters had only obtained legal protections two years earlier, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act was about to become law.

African-Americans were only beginning to move into neighborhoods, colleges and careers once reserved for whites only.

Im too young to remember those days. But hearing my parents talk about the late 1960s, it sounds in some ways like another world. Numerous African-Americans now hold positions of power, from mayor to governor to corporate chief executive  and, yes, once upon a time, president. The U.S. is a very different place than it was in 1968.

Or is it? As a scholar of minority politics, I know that while some things have improved markedly for Black Americans in the past 50-odd years, today we are still fighting many of the same battles as Dr. King did in his day.

That was then

The 1960s were tumultuous years indeed. During the long, hot summers from 1965 to 1968, American cities saw approximately 150 race riots and other uprisings. The protests were a sign of profound citizen anger about a nation that was, according to the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, moving toward two societies, one black, one white  separate and unequal.

Economically, that was certainly true. In 1968, just 10% of white people lived below the poverty level, while nearly 34% of African-Americans did. Likewise, just 2.6% of white job seekers were unemployed, compared to 6.7% of black job seekers.

A year before his death, Dr. King and others began organizing a Poor Peoples Campaign to dramatize the plight of Americas poor of all races and make very clear that they are sick and tired of waiting for a better life.

On May 28, 1968, one month after Kings assassination, the mass anti-poverty march took place. Individuals from across the nation erected a tent city on the National Mall, in Washington, calling it Resurrection City. The aim was to bring attention to the problems associated with poverty.

Ralph Abernathy, an African-American minister, led the way in his fallen friends place.

We come with an appeal to open the doors of America to the almost 50 million Americans who have not been given a fair share of Americas wealth and opportunity, Abernathy said, and we will stay until we get it.

This is now

So, how far have Black people progressed since 1968? Have we gotten our fair share yet? Those questions have been on my mind a lot this month.

In some ways, weve barely budged as a people. Poverty is still too common in the U.S. In 1968, 25 million Americans  roughly 13 percent of the population  lived below poverty level. In 2016, 43.1 million  or more than 12.7%  did.

Todays Black poverty rate of 21% is almost three times that of whites. Compared to the 1968 rate of 32%, theres not been a huge improvement.

Financial security, too, still differs dramatically by race. In 2018 black households earned .30 for every 0 in income earned by white families. And for every 0 in white family wealth, black families held just .04.

Another troubling aspect about black social progress  or the lack thereof  is how many black families are headed by single women. In the 1960s, unmarried women were the main breadwinners for 20% of households. In recent years, the percentage has risen as high as 72%.

This is important, but not because of some outmoded sexist ideal of the family. In the U.S., as across the Americas, theres a powerful connection between poverty and female-headed households.

Black Americans today are also more dependent on government aid than they were in 1968. About 40% of African-Americans are poor enough to qualify for welfare, housing assistance and other government programs that offer modest support to families living under the poverty line.

Thats higher than any other U.S. racial group. Just 21% of Latinos, 18% Asian-Americans and 17% of whites are on welfare.

Finding the bright spots

There are, of course, positive trends. Today, far more African-Americans graduate from college  38 percent  than they did 50 years ago.

Our incomes are also way up. Black adults experienced a more significant income increase from 1980 to 2016  from ,667 to ,490  than any other U.S. demographic group. This, in part, is why theres now a significant black middle class.

Legally, African-Americans may live in any community they want  and from Beverly Hills to the Upper East Side, they can and do.

But why arent those gains deeper and more widespread?

Some prominent thinkers  including the award-winning writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and The New Jim Crow author Michelle Alexander  put the onus on institutional racism. Coates argues, among other things, that racism has so held back African-Americans throughout history that we deserve reparations, resurfacing a claim with a long history in Black activism.

Alexander, for her part, has famously said that racial profiling and the mass incarceration of African-Americans are just modern-day forms of the legal, institutionalized racism that once ruled across the American South.

More conservative thinkers may hold Black people solely accountable for their problems. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson is in this personal responsibility camp, along with public intellectuals like Thomas Sowell and Larry Elder.

Depending on who you ask, then, Black people arent much better off than in 1968 because either theres not enough government help or theres too much.

In 1963, 250,000 people marched on Washington to demand equal rights. By 1968, laws had changed. But social progress has since stalled. United States Information Agency

What would MLK do?

I dont have to wonder what Dr. King would recommend. He believed in institutional racism.

In 1968, King and the Southern Christian Leadership Council sought to tackle inequality with the Economic Bill of Rights. This was not a legislative proposal, per se, but a moral vision of a just America where all citizens had educational opportunities, a home, access to land, a meaningful job at a living wage and a secure and adequate income.

To achieve that, King wrote, the U.S. government should create an initiative to abolish unemployment, by developing incentives to increase the number of jobs for black Americans. He also recommended another program to supplement the income of those whose earnings are below the poverty level.

Those ideas were revolutionary in 1968. Today, they seem prescient. Kings notion that all citizens need a living wage portends the universal basic income concept now gaining traction worldwide.

Kings rhetoric and ideology are also obvious influences on Sen. Bernie Sanders, who in the 2016 and 2020 presidential primaries has advocated equality for all people, economic incentives for working families, improved schools, greater access to higher education and for anti-poverty initiatives.

Progress has been made. Just not as much as many of us would like.

To put it in Dr. Kings words, Lord, we aint what we oughta be. We aint what we want to be. We aint what we gonna be. But, thank God, we aint what we was.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.The Conversation is trustworthy news from experts. Try our free newsletters.

It was written by: Sharon D. Wright Austin, University of Florida.

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Sharon D. Wright Austin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
This Black-Owned Family Bakery Gives Back To Western New York Community By Offering STEM Programs | Photo: fstop123 via Getty Images

A Black-owned family bakery is giving back to the Western New York community by using its treats to help city youth.

According to WKBW-7 TV, Radah Baked Goods owners Lavenia and Lee Thomas offer decorating classes and science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs to public and charter school students through their partnership with the program Say Yes Buffalo.

We do cupcake decorating classes. STEM programs for education programs like SAY YES Buffalo, BestSelf throughout Western New York, Lee said in an interview.

The initiative was created in 2011 by community leaders who wanted to strengthen the Western New York community by investing in childrens education. Say Yes Buffalo is dedicated to putting racial equality and inclusion at its forefront, along with tuition assistance and career opportunities to increase high school and secondary education completion, according to its website.

So we do cupcake classes with the schools in the local area. Theyre fun. They give us a theme, and we just bring a cupcake that coincides with it, Lavenia explained. We also have given away things for free such as the cupcakes and things of that nature.

The couple has owned Radah Baked Goods for nearly four years but has only been at their 247 Amherst Street location in Buffalo, New York, for about a year.

In addition to their community efforts, Lavenia and Lee have also collaborated with Erie County Legislature Chair April Baskins program, Level Up. The program, supported by the Buffalo Bills, helps business owners from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise certification to help negotiate with larger governmental contracts.

Such as capability statements negotiating contracts with larger corporations. And now were at ECC every Monday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. serving southtowns, Lee said. So its a program to showcase our talents and hopefully one day get into the new Bills stadium.

While the couple remains active in their community, they keep their sweets at a reasonable price for everyone. Their shop offers brownies and cupcakes for $3.50, cookies for $2.50 and three-layer cakes for $50.

We didnt want to be too extensive with our pricing. The point of it is to give back to the community, Lavenia said. Were not trying to take from it.

Radah Baked Goods is open after hours for those looking for a late-night treat. According to the couple, the shops name best fits their mission and how they serve the community.

Its a Hebrew name that stands for dominion and power and thats something that started with our legacy, Lee said. And we want to give that to our community and our children.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Vahdettin Mansion. -/Turkish Presidency/dpa

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday, with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Sweden's NATO bid top of the agenda.

In addition to Gaza, the two discussed final steps to complete Ankara's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership bid, as well as an anticipated US sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, state news agency Anadolu reported.

Erdogan had already made the US jet sale a condition for the Turkish parliament to proceed to a full-vote on Sweden's NATO bid.

Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022, a decision affected by Russia's war on Ukraine, and hoped to join later that summer.

However, Turkey accused Sweden of lacking commitment in dealing with "terrorist organizations" such as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and refused to give its consent. New members of the defence alliance must be unanimously approved by current members.

After Sweden made concessions, Erdogan recently announced that he would allow ratification by the Turkish parliament. At the same time, however, he wants the US Congress to give its approval for the delivery of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

There were initially no further details available regarding the closed-door meeting, which was also attended by Turkey's intelligence chief and the US ambassador to Ankara.

Erdogan is a harsh critic of Israel's Gaza campaign. His government maintains links with Palestinian extremist organization Hamas and rejects labelling the group a terrorist organization, as the EU and the US have done.

Earlier on Saturday, Blinken also met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss the "humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Fidan's office said on social media platform X.

Blinken next heads on to the Middle East, his fourth tour to the region in three months. He is expected to make stops in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia as well as Israel, the West Bank and Egypt.

During the tour, Blinken seeks to discuss concrete steps on how actors in the region could use their influence to avoid an escalation of the Gaza war, his office said.

Washington also wants to ensure increased humanitarian aid enters Gaza and Hamas militants free the remaining hostages they hold.
By Simon Lewis and Tuvan Gumrukcu

CHANIA, Greece (Reuters) -Middle Eastern nations need to use their influence over regional actors to ensure the Gaza conflict is contained and prevent "an endless cycle of violence," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday.

Blinken spoke late in the day after meeting the leaders of Turkey and Greece at the start of a week-long trip aimed at calming tensions that have spiked since Israel's war with Hamas began in October.

It is in the interests of virtually all nations in the Middle East to contain the fighting, Blinken told reporters.

"We want to make sure that countries who feel that way are also using their ties, using their influence, using their relationships with some of the actors that might be involved to keep a lid on things, to make sure that we're not seeing the spread of conflict," he said before flying to Jordan.

Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group said on Saturday it had fired rockets at Israel, and its arch-foe said it had struck a "terrorist cell" in retaliation.

Blinken said it was very important that Israel had security in the north of the country.

"From the perspective of Israel, it's clearly not interested, does not want escalation ... but they also have to be fully prepared to defend themselves," he said.

Blinken, who will also visit Arab states, Israel and the occupied West Bank, said if efforts to settle the crisis failed the outcome would be "an endless cycle of violence ... and lives of insecurity and conflict for people in the region."

He also said he would be looking at what could be done to maximize the protection of civilians in Gaza and increase deliveries of humanitarian assistance.

"Far too many Palestinians have been killed, especially children," he said.

The war began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 22,700 Palestinians, according to Palestinian officials, and the conflict has spilled into the West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.

Blinken earlier met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, a strong critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza.

Blinken and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had earlier discussed Gaza, as well as Turkey's process to ratify Sweden's membership of the NATO military alliance, Turkey's foreign ministry said.

U.S. officials have been frustrated by the length of the process, but are confident Ankara will soon approve Sweden's accession after it won the Turkish parliament's backing last month, said a senior State Department official traveling with Blinken, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. lawmakers have held up the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until it signs off on Swedish membership.

BLINKEN VISITS GREECE

Blinken later traveled to Crete where he met Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Fellow NATO member Greece is awaiting U.S. Congress approval of a sale of F-35 fighter jets.

Blinken stressed the importance of Greece's strong alliance with Washington, while Mitsotakis said the two countries could work together to help safeguard security in a turbulent region.

Greece has condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and backs Cyprus' initiative for a maritime corridor to help deliver more aid to the enclave. It believes it can play an active role on that front due to its historic ties with the Arab world.

The U.S. official said Turkey has relationships with many parties in the conflict, a reference to its ties to U.S. adversary Iran and Hamas. Unlike the U.S., Turkey does not view Hamas as a terrorist group and hosts some of its members.

Blinken also hopes to make progress in talks on how Gaza could be governed if and when Israel achieves its aim of eradicating Hamas.

Washington wants countries in the region, including Turkey, to play a role in reconstruction, governance and potentially security in the Gaza Strip, which has been run by Hamas since 2007, the official said.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Istanbul and Angeliki Koutantou in Athens;Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens and David Ljunggren in Ottawa;Editing by Jan Harvey, Kevin Liffey, Frances Kerry and Chris Reese)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Saturday in Istanbul during a Middle East tour aimed at preventing Israel's war against Hamas from spiraling into a regional conflict. Photo provided by Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs/X

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken kicked off a Middle Eastern diplomatic push Saturday, meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Israel's war with Hamas threatened to expand into a regional conflict.

Blinken met with Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at Istanbul's Vahdettin Mansion, Turkish officials said, and has further stops scheduled in Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt through Thursday.

In his meeting with Fidan, Blinken "discussed the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Sweden's NATO accession process, bilateral & regional issues," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Officials also published a photo of the top U.S. diplomat shaking hands with Erdogan but offered no comments on what they discussed.

Blinken's Middle East trip comes as fighting between Israel and Hamas' Lebanese allies Hezbollah reached new levels as the weekend began, raising fresh concerns the fighting would spiral into a regional conflict.

Hezbollah fired about 40 rockets into Israel's Meron area from Lebanese territory on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said, later adding that further rocket launches were aimed at the Toula and Margaliot areas.

    ,  -40        .              . "            pic.twitter.com/vtqyF960hk    (@idfonline) January 6, 2024

The Iran-backed Shiite militant group said in a statement the launches targeting the "Meron air traffic control base" atop Mount Jarmaq were "part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri."

Al-Arouri, a senior Hamas leader, and two companions were killed Tuesday in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold.

The IDF said its forces responded with strikes against "a series of Hezbollah targets" in southern Lebanon, including a launch site, military buildings and "terrorist infrastructure."

The U.S. State Department said Blinken's Middle East visit is aimed at preventing the spread of the Israeli-Hamas conflict to other theaters, including Lebanon and the Red Sea, where Washington is committed to deterring attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on commercial shipping.

"The Secretary will reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions necessary for peace in the Middle East, which includes comprehensive, tangible steps toward the realization of a future Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, with both living in peace and security," U.S. officials said on Thursday.

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also launched a Middle East diplomatic mission on Saturday, arriving in Lebanon to meet with Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib and Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun.

"Good meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri on the Gaza war & its impact on Lebanon, stressing the need for regional de-escalation & a political solution," Borrell said in a post on X. "Also discussed the internal situation. In these difficult times it is crucial for Lebanon to have strong functioning institutions."

He also met with Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, to whom he "reaffirmed EU's strong support to the UN mission, which plays a crucial role in preventing and mitigating escalation."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Greece as part of his latest diplomatic mission as fears mount that Israels war against Hamas may explode into a broader conflict.

Blinken visited Turkey on Saturday in what was his fourth visit to the region in three months.

Fighting in Gaza has put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful US push to prevent a regional conflagration in the weeks after the war began - and growing international criticism of Israels military operation.

Earlier on Saturday, Blinken met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies.

They are also trying to solve the problem of how to ease soaring tensions, speed up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin to plan for reconstruction and governance of post-war Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble by three months of intense Israeli bombardments.

In Greeve, Blinken will meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his residence on the Mediterranean island of Crete.

Mitsotakis and his government have been supportive of US efforts to prevent the Gaza war from spreading and have signalled their willingness to assist should the situation deteriorate further.

In Istanbul, US officials said Blinken would be seeking Turkish buy-in, or at least consideration, of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts.

The top US diplomat also wants some form of Turkish participation in a proposed multi-national force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory.

Turkey's leader has been particularly critical of Israel for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

According to a Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issues, Fidan told Blinken that Israels increasing aggression in Gaza was a threat to the region.

The Turkish minister also called for an immediate ceasefire and the delivery of uninterrupted humanitarian aid, saying negotiations for a two-state solution should begin as soon as possible.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at Vahdettin, a private residence of the Presidency, in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday - Evelyn Hockstein/AP/Pool

Blinken will end his Saturday in Jordan which, apart from Israel, has been the secretarys most frequent stop on his recent Middle East tours.

Jordan will be the first Arab nation visited by Blinken, followed by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday.

Blinken will then visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

As well as pressing Israel for dramatic increases in humanitarian aid to Gaza, a shift toward less intense military operations and a concerted effort to rein in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Jewish settlers, Blinken will be urging reluctant Gulf Arab nations to work with the US on the future of Gaza.
 Flash

The death toll has risen to 94, with the number of people unaccounted for exceeding 200 in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa on Friday, four days after a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the prefecture and its vicinity, raising concerns of escalating damages amid ongoing efforts to find survivors.

A total of 222 people were reported missing in Ishikawa as of 2:00 p.m. local time on Friday and the missing individuals, with a significant number being elderly residents, are predominantly concentrated in the cities of Wajima and Suzu, according to local media.

More than 100 residents are estimated to be trapped under collapsed buildings in the most-hit coastal city of Wajima following the earthquake on New Year's Day, Mayor Shigeru Sakaguchi told reporters on Friday morning.

Wajima's roads have been cut off and there have been frequent landslides, making the search for survivors difficult, Sakaguchi said, adding that rescue efforts are focusing on places where people have heard voices from the rubble.

A coastline in Wajima shifted about 250 meters in the wake of the powerful earthquake and moved toward the sea as a result of a ground elevation at a beach near the Kaiso fishing port in the city, a survey by the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute has found.

As the cold weather is toughening the situation for the affected areas, the National Police Agency has boosted its disaster response team in Ishikawa prefecture to around 1,100 from 700, while the government has more than doubled the number of Self-Defense Forces personnel deployed to disaster-affected areas to around 5,000.

As of 1 p.m. local time on Friday, at least 830 people are stranded in 32 districts in four municipalities across the Noto region, where many roads remain severed, leaving some communities completely isolated, public broadcaster NHK said.

The region's infrastructure has suffered severe setbacks, with around 30,000 households facing power outages and 80,000 households in 13 cities and towns experiencing water supply disruptions, Kyodo News said.

While some 33,000 people have stayed at about 370 evacuation centers in Ishikawa, issues related to sanitation, including access to toilets, have also emerged as pressing concerns, according to local governments.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday called for ensuring the hygiene and living conditions in evacuation centers, maintaining the health of the affected residents, and initiating prompt measures for the disposal of disaster-related waste.

The prime minister instructed officials to speed up road repairs, so that relief supplies and personnel could reach isolated areas and told them to start preparations for building temporary housing.

Kishida also said the government will assist the lives of people affected by the quake and requested officials to draw up a support package as soon as possible.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki announced that the government plans to allocate 4.74 billion yen (about 32.7 million U.S. dollars) from the reserve fund for the fiscal year 2023 to enhance "push-type support" for victims of the quake, which allows for the immediate dispatch of supplies to the disaster-stricken areas without waiting for specific requests from local authorities.

A series of strong earthquakes, with a major one of 7.6 magnitude, on Monday struck at a shallow depth in the Noto region of Ishikawa.

Centered around 30 km east-northeast of Wajima, the devastating quake registered a maximum intensity of 7.
The entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft flying in the US has been grounded after a panel blew out from an Alaska Airlines aircraft as it climbed from Portland, Oregon.

The plane, on a routine flight to Ontario near Los Angeles, suffered immediate depressurisation and declared an emergency. All 177 passengers and crew aboard flight AS1282 were safe when the aircraft landed back at Portland.

But problems involving the fuselage panel have been discovered by both of the main airlines flying the jet  Alaska Airlines and United, which is the biggest operator.

The incident has once again raised questions about an aircraft type that was involved in two fatal crashes.

The Boeing 737, first launched in 1967, is the worlds most successful aircraft  with around 10,000 delivered. But the latest version, the Max, was involved in two terrible tragedies.

On 29 October 2018, a faulty sensor triggered an anti-stall system that caused Lion Air flight 610 to crash shortly after take-off from Jakarta. All 189 passengers and crew died.

Less than six months later, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was lost, along with 157 lives, in similar circumstances.

The plane was grounded worldwide shortly afterwards. After a rigorous redesign and certification, the aircraft is flying again  including for Europes biggest budget airline, Ryanair.

What does the latest event mean for passengers? These are the key questions and answers.

High flyer: Boeing 737 Max 9. The optional exit can be seen between the wing and the tail  a window slightly separated from those left and right (Boeing)

What caused the two fatal crashes?

Both tragedies involved Max 8 aircraft. They were caused by software known as the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS). The software was installed as a precaution due to the unusual structure of the latest variant of the 737: it has large engines mounted further forward than is usual.

MCAS was intended to provide consistent handling qualities. But neither the main safety regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), nor the airlines that bought the plane, were fully informed of the new system and its power to defy pilots.

In both crashes, incorrect data from a faulty sensor caused the software to push the nose of the aircraft down repeatedly while the pilots struggled for control.

Following the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy, the Max was grounded for 20 months while safety enhancements were made. The plane re-entered service in December 2020 and has been flying routinely since then.

What appears to have happened to Alaska Airlines jet?

An exit plug  also called a door in some media  containing a window blew out of the port side of the fuselage of the Boeing 737 Max 9.

The FAA describe it as an in-flight departure of a mid cabin door plug.

The plug was located between the overwing and aft emergency exits. On Max 9 aircraft it fills the space for what is termed a deactivated mid-cabin exit.

The plug fell 16,000 feet into the back yard of a Portland-area schoolteacher, Bob Sauer.

Why would any aircraft have a deactivated exit?

Because the law does not require one for the maximum number of passengers aboard the aircraft as operated by the airlines.

The Boeing 737 Max 9 can hold up to 220 seats, but Alaska Airlines Max 9 jets are fitted with just 178  with first class and a premium economy product with extra legroom. United Airlines has fitted 179 seats.

In these configurations, the forward, overwing and aft exits are sufficient to allow an emergency evacuation that meets the 90-second requirement for everyone leaving the aircraft.

Were a high-density configuration to be fitted, either by the original buyer or a later owner, then an extra exit would be needed. Rather than invasive engineering to allow this, the panel/plug/door is a design feature to make it ease to retrofit an additional emergency exit.

Why were all Max 9 planes grounded?

The FAA says: Boeing 737-9 aircraft will remain grounded until operators complete enhanced inspections which include both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners.

Operators must also complete corrective action requirements based on findings from the inspections prior to bringing any aircraft back into service.

What have inspections found?

Alaska Airlines says it is found loose hardware in the affected area. The statement read: As our maintenance technicians began preparing our 737-9 Max fleet for inspections, they accessed the area in question. Initial reports from our technicians indicate some loose hardware was visible on some aircraft.

The safety of these aircraft is our priority and we will take the time and steps necessary to ensure their airworthiness, in close partnership with the FAA.

United Airlines said in a statement: Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug.

For example, bolts that needed additional tightening.

What does Boeing have to say?

As operators conduct the required inspections, we are staying in close contact with them and will help address any and all findings. We are committed to ensuring every Boeing airplane meets design specifications and the highest safety and quality standards.

We regret the impact this has had on our customers and their passengers.

Is there any connection between this latest event and the two tragedies?

The fatal accidents were due to catastrophically designed software on Max 8 aircraft. This latest event is a structural issue on a different variant, the Max 9. The connection is that they involve the latest version of the Boeing 737.

Could the same thing happen to a jet I am travelling on?

Most unlikely. By far the largest operator of Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the UK and the rest of Europe is Ryanair. The airline has more than 100 Max 8 aircraft  in a special edition known as a 737 Max 200 or the 737-8200.

This type does not have the deactivated exit as featured on the Max 9 planes. In fact, Ryanair required Boeing to fit an extra, real emergency exit for its Max aircraft.

This is an extra door between wing and aft, allowing Ryanair to boost maximum capacity from 189 to 197 passengers (and to be able to sell some more seats with extra legroom). So it is a real emergency exit, rather than one an airline might press into service later.

Would you step aboard a Boeing 737 Max?

Yes, I have found the aircraft excellent to fly on, and I trust the judgment of the captain and his or her airline.

Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue  and what it means for you.
A Boise father whose son drowned at Lucky Peak Lake was placed on probation after he pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child for driving a jet ski while he was drunk.

Fourth District Judge Samuel A. Hoagland sentenced 38-year-old Vyla Sichulailuck to six years of felony probation following recommendations made by both the prosecution and defense. Hoagland said he rarely sentences someone on a felony without requiring some jail time but that he didnt think additional time behind bars would serve any purpose.

You already have, basically, a lifetime sentence of blaming yourself for the death of a son that I know that you loved, and I know that he loved you, Hoagland said. He added that he received letters of support from almost every one of Sichulailucks family members sitting in the courtroom.

In July 2022, Sichulailuck and his 16-year-old son, Bobby, were riding a jet ski at Lucky Peak Lake when they hit a wave from a nearby boat and Bobby fell off, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. Sichulailuck jumped into the water to try and save Bobby, but Bobby drowned, Hoagland said in court. Neither of them were wearing life jackets.

Authorities determined through a blood test that Sichulailucks blood alcohol content was 0.135, Patrick Orr, the spokesperson for the Ada County Sheriffs Office, previously told the Statesman. Hoagland said in court that Sichulailucks blood was tested a couple of hours after the incident, which meant Sichulailucks blood alcohol content was roughly twice the legal limit of 0.08 while he was operating the jet ski.

Hoagland granted Sichulailuck a withheld judgment, which means he wont order a judgment of conviction. So long as Sichulailuck complies with the terms of his probation, he can petition the court to dismiss the felony charge in six years.

A withheld judgment is a two-edged sword, Hoagland said. Its very favorable if you comply and the charges can get dismissed at the end of the probation period, and you can legally say you were never convicted of a felony. But ... I have the whole sentence in my back pocket that I could impose if you violate probation.

Sichulailuck could have faced up to 10 years in prison under Idaho law. As part of his probation, Hoagland required that Sichulailuck attend an outpatient treatment center for alcohol abuse and that he comply with weekly random drug and alcohol testing during the first year of his probation. Hell also be required to pay a $1,000 fine along with court costs.

Sichulailucks attorney, John Sutton, said hes been nothing but remorseful and that based on the court-ordered evaluations, Sichulailuck is at a low risk to re-offend. He added that Sichulailuck has gone to counseling and plans to complete his mandated alcohol education and group therapy for both alcohol and grief counseling.

Its speculation whether he would have been able to save (Bobby) if hed been sober, Sutton said. But its clear that he would have been in a much better capacity to be able to do that had he not been impaired.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Salm Partners, LLC is recalling around 133,039 pounds of ready-to-eat turkey kielbasa products contaminated with extraneous material, specifically bone fragments.

The recalled products were shipped nationwide and were produced on Oct. 27 and Oct. 30, labeled as PARKVIEW TURKEY POLSKA KIELBASA in a 13-ounce vacuum-sealed bag. It also has P-32009, and use-by dates of APR 24 24 or APR 27 24  printed on the bag.

The U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service received complaints of pieces of bone found in the product, along with a complaint regarding a minor oral injury.

FSIS said there have been no additional reports of illness or injury.

U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS

U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS

Those who currently have the product are asked to not consume it and to throw it away or return it to the place of purchase.

More information can be found at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
DELTA COUNTY, Colo. (KREX)  A Delta man is facing murder charges after a Boss was found shot dead at work on Thursday morning.

At around 9:44 A.M., Delta County Sheriffs Deputies and North Folk EMS crews responded to a 9-1-1 call from a person saying their boss had been shot at a ranch in the 10,000 Block of Payne Siding Road near Austin, Colorado.

Officials declared the man, later identified as 58-year-old John David Viera of Hotchkiss, deceased when they found him at the scene.

Investigators and deputies obtained enough evidence to arrest 20-year-old Luke Shelton of Grand Junction on probable cause and transported him to the Delta County Detention Facility.

Investigators completed an evaluation of the scene and then charged Shelton with murder in the first degree and tampering with a deceased body. Sheltons bond has been set to $500,000, per officials.

Investigators have determined this to be an isolated incident with no threat to the public.

This is an active investigation with no further information available at this time. WesternSlopeNow.com will follow this case as it heads to court.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
Braintree Police are seeking the publics help in identifying a person of interest in several Peeping Tom cases where a male is viewing or filming young females in their homes, police said.

Braintree Police on Friday released surveillance video of the male being sought in the cases, which are centered around two neighborhoods. Most of the cases have occurred since November 2023, but others may date back to 2021, police said.

The male has appeared outside of homes in the areas of Alida and Angela roads, and at all times during the day, from early evening to early morning, police said.

We have some investigative leads but also need assistance from any resident who may have encountered a suspicious person on their property, police said in a Facebook post. We ask residents to check their camera footage to see if any persons have been captured on their surveillance systems.

Police said neighbors should remain vigilant and report further suspicious activity.

The motivation of this person is unknown, police said. In each case the person is surreptitiously viewing or filming young females in their homes.

Police described the person as a light-skinned male of average height and build.

While following leads, we have also been saturating the area with marked and undercover patrols, police said. These cases are usually solved with the assistance of our community; our neighbors will be our best source of information to identify this person.

While these crimes are misdemeanors, police said they are extremely distressing and violating for those involved.

We can use your help, police said.

Anyone with information is urged to call the detective unit at 781-794-8620.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Cape Coral Police Department is asking for help in locating resident Barry Schmalbach, 56, after a friend reported him missing when he tried to kick out a roommate.

Nearly six months after the disappearance of a Cape Coral man, police say they're still investigating.

Cape Coral police say Barry Schmalbach disappeared on July 20 and suspect foul play. He was 56 at the time and has since had a birthday.

"This is still an active and ongoing investigation," Officer Mercedes Phillips wrote in a statement sent to The News-Press this week. "We are still collecting details about the case that we are unable to discuss at this time."

Phillips said further updates are to come.

Chief Anthony Sizemore said Aug. 4 the Schmalbach's disappearance was "suspicious in nature."

He said they had a person of interest in custody, but didn't provide his identity or any possible charges he might face. He said at the time that person of interest was being helpful, but added that he had not always been so.

It's unclear if the person of interest is still in custody.

Schmalbach's family and friends haven't heard from or seen him since the evening of July 19.

Sizemore had said Schmalbach's boyfriend, Christopher Davis, 35, called police July 22, to report the disappearance. He also said one call prompted police suspicion.

Barry Schmalbach: Family says missing Cape Coral man is 'a great guy,' 'one of the most intelligent people'

The chief said the reporting party didn't give any indication that it was unusual or an exigent situation.

Sizemore previously said that, given the "deceptive nature" of the call in question, authorities suspected foul play. He said that they've executed several search warrants for physical and digital evidence.

He had previously said the search for Schmalbach covers several counties, but wouldn't disclose the areas.

Miguel Blanco, a close friend of Barry Schmalbach, 56, holds up a missing persons sign on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. The search for Schmalbach, who went missing July 19, 2023, is nearing two weeks.

While they investigated Schmalbach's disappearance, Sizemore said they discovered a warrant for Davis' arrest. Cape Coral Police arrested him in front of Esporta Gym, 2301 Del Prado Blvd. S., on the active warrant out of Columbia, South Carolina, for a probation violation dated July 11, 2018.

The violation is related to a 2013 conviction on one county of grand larceny and two counts of credit card fraud, said Anita Dantzler, spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

He was taken into custody Aug. 1. Lee County Jail records indicate Davis was extradited Aug. 10.

Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers had announced a reward of $3,000 for any tips that could lead to Schmalbach or making an arrest in the case. They raised the reward amount to $16,000.

Trish Routte, spokesperson for Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers, previously told The News-Press that the $13,000 increase in the reward from their typical $3,000 comes from "people who are close to Barry."

Schmalbach's sister, Emily Scaletta, who lives in Chicago, told The News-Press that Schmalbach had lived in Naples before he moved to Cape Coral.

She and one of Schmalbach's close friends, Miguel Blanco, passed flyers out to local businesses in August.

The News-Press couldn't immediately reach Scaletta or Blanco for comment on Saturday morning.

Marco Patriots Disaster Response, a volunteer civilian assistance group to those in need during natural disasters and other emergencies, has also assisted in searching for Schmalbach in the Cape Coral waterways.

Schmalbach is described as a 6'3" white male who weighs 200 pounds and has balding blonde hair and blue eyes. His last known location was around the 1800 block of Beach Parkway, in Cape Coral, around 11 p.m. July 20.

Detectives with the Cape Coral major crime unit have asked residents and visitors with any tips on Schmalbach's whereabouts to contact them at 239-574-3223 or submit a tip to CCPDtips@Cape Coral.gov or Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at (800) 780-8477.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Barry Schamlbach's disappearance remains active, Cape Coral police say
 Flash

The military units of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) staged a naval live-shell firing drill off the DPRK's southwestern coast from 09:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (0000 GMT to 0200 GMT) on Friday, according to the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in a report carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The naval live-shell firing drill is a natural countermeasure taken by the KPA against the actions of the South Korean military, which staged large-scale artillery firing and maneuvers in the vicinity of the entire border area from the outset of the year, according to the report.

"The direction of naval live-shell firing doesn't give even an indirect effect on Paekryong and Yonphyong islands," the report said.

"If the enemies commit an act which may be regarded as a provocation under the pretext of so-called counteraction, the KPA will show tough counteraction on an unprecedented level," it added.
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo.  A former Jefferson County deputy no longer faces felony charges in a crash that led to the death of his wife after prosecutors amended his charges Friday.

Investigators say Colby McCreary was driving in the early-morning hours of April 30, 2023, on Interstate 55 near Festus when he crashed. His wife, Savannah McCreary, was a passenger and died in the collision.

The Festus Police Department investigated the crash, then handed it over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

When and where the snow is expected to fall this week

Colby was arrested and charged with two felonies, DWI resulting in death and involuntary manslaughter, on June 6. Nearly half a year later, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorneys Office amended his charges to one misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated.

Prosecutors say the Missouri State Highway Patrol has completed a full crash reconstruction report since Colbys original charges. The report determined that neither Colby nor Savannah were wearing seatbelts, the vehicle veered to the right after the wheel turned abruptly, and there was no evidence of a mechanical failure or roadway issues in the crash.

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A statement from Trisha C. Stefanski, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney via a news release states the following:

Ethically, Prosecutors cannot pursue charges that they do not believe they can prove

beyond a reasonable doubt. Given the findings in the crash reconstruction report, we

believe there is now a reasonable doubt as to whether Colby McCreary committed the

offenses with which he was originally charged. Our office will continue to pursue the

charges that are supported by the evidence.

A Festus police chief previously told FOX 2 there was no cover-up in his departments investigation of the crash.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
A 27-year-old Charlotte man was arrested after taking off during a traffic stop and leading police on a two-county chase Thursday night, Gaston County police said.

2 in custody for shooting involving wrecker, Gaston County police say

Officers tried to stop a 2012 Dodge Charger at about 9 p.m. on McAdenville Road near Belmont for registration and insurance violations.

The driver, Malcolm Jamal Smith, drove off and hit another vehicle.

Officers followed Smith onto Interstate 85 into Mecklenburg County.

Smith exited onto Billy Graham Parkway where he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a guard rail.

#BREAKING Gaston County officials have confirmed that their officers were involved in a pursuit that ended near Billy Graham Parkway. Were working to learn what lead up to the incident. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/TtKEn4sTYU  Coleman Montgomery (@colemanreports) January 5, 2024

Smith jumped out and ran away and officers chased him.

The suspect fired a handgun before throwing it off an overpass, police said.

Smith was caught and arrested. Officers did not fire their weapons.

There were pills and two pounds of marijuana in Smiths backpack, police said.

The gun was also found. There was another pistol in his car.

Smith was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, multiple drug charges, and driving offenses.

He was booked into the Gaston County Jail and issued a $500,000 secured bond.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said he was "trolling" when he offered to exchange Ukrainian prisoners of war in return for having sanctions against him and his family lifted.

Source: Kadyrov during a formation ceremony of Chechen security forces

Quote from Kadyrov: "It [the United States  ed.] is only interested in its own interests, so I made the statement to show the true face of American politicians.

Specifically, I am prepared to exchange these 20 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the lifting of sanctions against my dear mother, Aiman Kadyrova, my daughters, my children under 18, and my wife, Medny Musaievna. All of them have absolutely nothing to do with politics.

Obviously the States won't do that. But it would be interesting to hear their excuses, if they have any.

[Disgraced former American intelligence officer and Kremlin propagandist] Scott Ritter, unlike some people, understood this massive trolling correctly.

As for the sanctions, they dont interfere with our lives in any way."

Background:

In a video published by Russian media, Ramzan Kadyrov offered to release 20 Ukrainian prisoners of war if Western sanctions were lifted from members of his family.

Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, responded to Kadyrov's offer to release 20 Ukrainian prisoners of war in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against his family members, planes and horses.

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Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) made a plea to New Hampshire voters to take a stand against what she calls cowardice in the Republican party when they head to the polls later this month.

Cheney slammed the faction of her party that has devoted itself to former President Trump in remarks made at Dartmouth College on Friday, the eve of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

In a little over two weeks when you in New Hamshire go to the polls the world will be watching, Cheney, who has emerged as one of Trumps most outspoken critics, said of the upcoming first-in-the-nation primary.

She added, Show the world that we will defeat the plague of cowardice sweeping through the Republican party.

Cheney, once a prominent member of the GOP, split with much of her party in the aftermath of the insurrection and her subsequent vote to impeach Trump.

As a nation, we have arrived at a point where a group of elected Republicans cannot be counted on to defend the Constitution, she said Friday.

Since being voted out of office in 2022, the former Wyoming lawmaker has made several warnings about what she feels could happen if Trump is reelected. She doubled down on her claims Friday, arguing the former presidents actions and attempt to seize power only threaten the very foundations of our democracy.

Her comments come in the lead-up to the Jan. 23 New Hampshire GOP primary. Polls show Trump maintaining his leading status among Granite State voters, although rival Nikki Haley has been narrowing the gap in recent weeks.

Primary voting season for the Republican Party begins in less than two weeks, when the Iowa caucuses take place on Jan. 15.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Next Tuesday during its first meeting of the year, councilmembers will consider Memphis Police Department Chief CJ Davis reappointment and several other mayoral appointments.

This comes after Mayor Paul Young announced that Davis, the citys first female African American police chief, will continue to oversee the department.

She is the right person: Incoming Memphis mayor backs Police Chief C.J. Davis

Im going to pose a question to everybody in the City of Memphis. Has crime gotten better in the past four years, said JB Smiley, City Council Chairman.

Smiley says this new council wont rubber stamp appointments or reappointments like in the past.

Im disappointed in the council for the last four years and Im optimistic that this council will do our jobs, which is were not going to be rubber-stamped on any particular agenda and we will not be told what to do. We will do our job for the people, Smiley said. Based on the information I have as a returning council member, which is their record and what I hear from the community. Thats how Ill be making my decision. I want it to be an opportunity for public discourse. So, were not going to rush the appointments.

Mayor Paul Young, city leaders provide public safety update

Davis became police chief in the middle of 2021 after the retirement of Michael Rallings. But she faced controversy after Tyre Nichols was beaten by officers with MPDs Scorpion Unit. The unit was disbanded three weeks after Nichols beating and public pressure.

The Department of Justice is also in the middle of a pattern-or-practice investigation into MPD. Davis says its about having good officers in her department and holding them accountable.

The ones that are doing the work every day that continue to do good work every day, we got to continue to support them, but also ensure that were holding them accountable to do the right thing all the time, Davis said.

WREG did reach out to all 13 Memphis City Council members. Some did not respond or specifically reveal how they would vote.

42% of Memphians in poll say police chief should be replaced

Councilwoman Rhonda Logan said in an email to WREG, Everyone is looking forward to collaborating with Mayor Young and his administration. We are looking forward to change and uplift our city and our communities. Public Safety is top of mind and first priority for all.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Damaged homes are seen on Jackie Lorraine Drive in Clarksville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. Tornadoes struck Middle Tennessee on Saturday, killing at least six people and leaving more than 160,000 Middle Tennessee residents without power.

The city of Clarksville and Montgomery County have endured much during 2023, especially the recent destruction by an EF-3 tornado less than a month before Christmas and the loss of soldiers at Fort Campbell during two tragic Black Hawk helicopter crashes.

However, it's not the tragedies that have defined the city and surrounding area, it is the community's response to them.

The day of the tornado on Dec. 9, a bus loaded with members of a Kentucky church was in motion just hours after the storm touched down. The next morning, less than 24 hours after the natural disaster, 1,000 volunteers came out to help.

In the days following, so many volunteers inundated relief centers like Mosaic Church and city clean-up spots that city government leaders had to ask the volunteers to pause their efforts so they could catch up.

Piles of rubble lines the streets before city trash vehicles could get to them and yards and homes were cleared almost as quickly as the storm hit.

Logan Coble spends a moment by a cross for 10-year old Arlan Coty in Clarksville, Tenn., Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. Arlan was killed when a tornado destroyed his family's home on Saturday.

The flood of volunteers did not stop there. Over the course of the next few days, Mosaic Church alone, located within the state-declared disaster zone of the 43-mile-long tornado reaching from Kentucky to Middle Tennessee, welcomed the help of over 3,100 volunteers.

Community leaders, elected officials and residents stood in awe at the quick, almost seamless clean-up and recovery efforts from the tornado, so well-organized that it seemed like a business in operation for years. Head clean-up director at Mosaic Church Aron Maberry said the only explanation for the church's ability to create such order out of chaos is "the hand of God."

The church collected and distributed supplies, food, services, resources and helped connect people with missing items displaced from the tornado.

Over 1,000 volunteers gathered at Mosaic Church Monday at a supply staging area to help hundreds of residents affected or displaced by the EF-3 tornado that hit Clarksville a little after 1:30 p.m.on Saturday. Items ranging from food and clothes to diapers, toys and cleaning supplies are collected for distribution on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023.

The community is still mourning the death of four victims of the tornado, three residents and one visiting mother and grandmother from Texas. Neighbors ached at the loss but provided affected families with comfort, first aid and meals and prayers to families experiencing great loss.

The Leaf-Chronicle documented through impactful photos and stories these occurrences that will remain a significant part of Clarksville's history.

In the midst of despair, tragedies such as this show the true strength, solidarity and heart of the Clarksville community.

Even though the recovery is not complete and many are still sorting through the pieces, the resiliency of the city's residents is evident and inspiring.

It's an honor and a privilege to serve the community through local journalism at The Leaf-Chronicle.

In addition to the hardships in 2023, the Leaf-Chronicle has brought important coverage of government, school and economic issues as well as coverage of new businesses and restaurants. We look forward to continuing to bring you pertinent topics in 2024.

We appreciate your readership and hope that you will continue to support the standing legacy of the state's oldest newspaper through your loyal readership in the new year and beyond.

Kerri Bartlett will take the reins as editor of the Columbia Daily Herald and Advertiser News of Spring Hill on Dec. 28.

Kerri Bartlett is the interim editor of The Leaf-Chronicle and deputy editor of the Middle Tennessee region. She can be reached at kbartlett@gannett.com or 615-308-8324.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Clarksville volunteer spirit shines hope on new year
Claudine Gay received the call that ended her six-month tenure as Harvard Universitys first Black president two days after Christmas while on vacation in Rome, per the New York Times. Gays congressional testimony about anti-semitism on college campuses, along with plagiarism allegations, sparked mounting controversy. (Harvard has denied that Gay committed any research misconduct.) The Harvard Corporation initially backed Gay, but support eroded as members of Harvards Board sustained increasing criticism. Gay, meanwhile, faced death threats alongside racist messages and phone calls; police reportedly monitored her home around the clock. Academics have decried the racism that animated the loudest cries for Gays resignation, and in a Times op-ed, she wrote that those whod relentlessly campaigned against her often trafficked in lies and ad hominem insults, not reasoned argument. They recycled tired racial stereotypes about Black talent and temperament. They pushed a false narrative of indifference and incompetence.

Read it at New York Times

Read more at The Daily Beast.
 Flash

The possibility of domestic terrorism and acts of political violence in the United States, particularly around the 2024 presidential election, was ranked as the leading concern in terms of impact on U.S. interests and likelihood of occurring or escalating in 2024, according to a newly-released yearly survey.

Description of the scenario goes as "Growing political polarization in the United States, particularly around the 2024 presidential election, leads to acts of domestic terrorism and political violence," according to the survey, which was conducted by the Center for Preventive Action under New York-based think tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

For the first time in its 16-year history, the Preventive Priorities Survey found that the leading concern for foreign policy experts is not a foreign threat to U.S. interests, said a release by the CFR on Thursday.

The survey was conducted in November 2023 and was based on responses from around 550 U.S. government officials, foreign policy experts, and academics, each of whom was asked to estimate the impact of 30 ongoing or potential violent conflicts on U.S. interests and likelihood of occurring or escalating in 2024, respectively.

Three scenarios were judged to be both high-likelihood and high-impact, which is unprecedented since the survey began in 2008. Besides the election-related violence in the United States, experts are concerned about an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a wider regional conflict, and a surge of migration to the southwest U.S. border.

The survey was primarily created in 2008 to alert U.S. policymakers to potentially threatening sources of instability and conflict overseas so they could take timely preventive action and reduce the risk of additional military interventions, according to the CFR.

In prior years, only overseas or foreign-sourced risks to U.S. interests were evaluated in the survey. However, during the public solicitation of contingencies for the 2024 survey, the level of concern expressed about the risk of politically motivated violence in the United States, especially surrounding the upcoming presidential election, was too great to disregard, said the CFR.
My column published by this paper several days ago  concerning the Colorado and Maine state decisions to find former President Trump disqualified from being on those states ballots for the presidency  generated a good many online comments, and some emails from a few people who think the death penalty might be the appropriate punishment for writing it. So I just wanted to try to respectfully respond to some of the comments and the issues they raise concerning the application of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to Trump.

First, to the folks who found me to be a partisan: true. I think the corrosive effect on the country flowing from the Big Lie, and the resulting distrust in our basic means of electing people to public office, should alone disqualify Trump from ever holding public office again. Our country is successful when we have two parties working toward consensus, rather than demonizing one another. Consensus is bipartisan, and allows the country to see how a policy initiative works. As it now stands, we cannot even experiment on things that may help Americans. Again, my opinion.

Christopher Cole

Second, many comments were aimed at the issues of due process and the lack of a criminal conviction of Trump for insurrection. Frankly, these are good questions.

Let me say first that I would very much prefer that Trump and his movement be soundly defeated at the ballot box. It would be better political hygiene for the country to have it happen that way, of course; but at the same time, I think it is a near certainty that Trump and his acolytes will accept only a win at the polls and that all else will be Deep State subterfuge, etc. So, a conundrum.

I think, if I may, that these commenters are asking if a civil trial that results in a factual finding of "insurrection" or aiding those who rebel against the Constitution is: (1) sufficient as a matter of due process; and (2) sufficient under the civil standard of proof ("clear and convincing" in the Colorado case, less rigorous than the criminal standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt," and more rigorous than the usual preponderance of the evidence standard of most civil trials) to constitute "insurrection" within the meaning of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Certainly in Colorado Trump and his campaign received all of the process that is due in a civil case, and in fact received the benefit of a heightened standard of proof for a civil case, the clear and convincing standard  a five-day trial, witnesses and experts for each side, submission of exhibits as evidence and a body of historical data about the creation and adoption of Section 3. Trump has appealed the Maine Secretary of States decision to the Kennebec County Superior Court, where that court will give him all the process that is due to him in a civil case as well, and will likely apply no deference to the Secretary of States decision.

So does the removal of someone from the ballot for this reason  "insurrection" or aiding those who rebel against the Constitution  require a prior criminal conviction? Look at the Colorado Supreme Court decision; the relevant discussion begins on page 96 of the courts decision (after that court carefully and comprehensively waded through the minefield of procedural and substantive questions and defenses raised by the Trump Campaign). The court defines insurrection using, among other sources, Noah Webster's dictionary of 1860, and notes that Trump's counsel described insurrection as "more than a riot but less than a rebellion." The court then canvassed the evidence presented at trial (starting at page 106). It cites pre- and post-election comments and statements from Trump, not merely the speech at the Ellipse. As to the speech, the court notes that "from the approximately 28,000 attendees who passed through these security checkpoints, the Secret Service confiscated hundreds of weapons and other prohibited items, including knives or blades, pepper spray, brass knuckles, tasers, body armor, gas masks and batons or blunt instruments." Another 25,000 people remained outside the magnetometers and were not subject to search. The evidence showed that Trump was aware of the presence of weapons among his supporters and attendees, and famously told the Secret Service that he didn't care because the guns were no threat to him.

So the evidence is there, and a trial court made a finding of fact that Trump had "engaged in insurrection." An appellate court confirmed that factual finding on appeal. The question raised by folks about due process and the absence of a conviction is, I think, whether a criminal conviction is required as a pre-requisite to the disqualification. Those folks may be right, that a criminal conviction is required. But for now the answer is, "no one knows for sure," and the SCOTUS will have the final say on that, if they allow it to even be considered given the plethora of other defenses raised by Trump, such as the "political question doctrine" and "justiciability" under which the courts leave the question, as a matter of prudence and respect for the separation of powers, exclusively to the political branches.

I haven't looked at the few cases in which the 14th Amendment has been used to remove a person from the ballot. But other people have.

A pretty cogent article (by an organization leading the effort to exclude Trump from the ballot) says, in relevant part, the following:

Section 3 adjudications against former Confederates were rare in the aftermath of the Civil War. That is because it was widely understood that former Confederates who took an oath to support the Constitution before the Civil War were disqualified under Section 3 and therefore many likely did not seek office in the first place. In fact, ex-Confederates flooded Congress with thousands of amnesty requests to remove their Section 3 disqualification, demonstrating that they understood themselves to be disqualified even without a formal adjudication. In addition, the window for disqualifying ex-Confederates was small: the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868, and Congress removed the Section 3 disqualification for most ex-Confederates less than four years later in the Amnesty Act of May 22, 1872 (that statute withheld amnesty from Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis). So while only eight officials have been formally ruled to be disqualified under Section 3, thousands more were understood to be disqualified in the period between the Fourteenth Amendments ratification in 1868 and Congresss passage of the Amnesty Act in 1872 that applied to former Confederates.

"Historical precedent also confirms that a criminal conviction is not required for an individual to be disqualified under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. No one who has been formally disqualified under Section 3 was charged under the criminal rebellion or insurrection statute (18 U.S.C.  2383) or its predecessors. This fact is consistent with Section 3s text, legislative history, and precedent, all of which make clear that a criminal conviction for any offense is not required for disqualification. Section 3 is not a criminal penalty, but rather is a qualification for holding public office in the United States that can be and has been enforced through civil lawsuits in state courts, among other means.

The article then canvasses the cases in a brief but illuminating chart. Again, reasonable people can differ on this issue, but the history is there to review.

Third, at least one person asked why I didn't include the entire verbiage of the amendment. Its true: I omitted in ellipses part of the first sentence, and did so to save space. The parts I omitted are in bold: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. The Colorado Supreme Court also dealt with this issue, and determined that the presidency is an office, and that the President is an officer who takes an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States. The sentence does not exclude the presidency from the scope of disqualification. It says no person shallhold any officeas a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States. It seems clear that excluding the presidency  alone among all of these elected and appointed positions in Congress, among members of a state legislature, and among executive officers of states and judges  seems strange and not warranted by the language of the Amendment. Here again, the Supreme Court will adjudicate this question of the reach of the Amendment, unless it can find another dodge.

The point of my column is to counter the suggestion that court intervention into the qualifications of a candidate is somehow anti-democratic or violative of the norms of our constitutional structure. When the people have ordained and adopted a Constitution, as we have, then the courts have a role to play: saying what the law is. Section 3 has a standard to meet: dont engage in insurrection or rebellion or aid people in doing so. Its kind of a low bar. Courts fashion remedies  injunctions to enforce parts of the Constitution and laws  all the time. Here, two adjudicative bodies in two States either have (Colorado) or will (Maine and likely others) make the call on Trumps qualification to stand for elected office. It may not be comfortable, but it is not anti-democratic.

Christopher Cole is a lawyer who lives in Portsmouth.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Cole: Keeping Trump off ballot is uncomfortable, not undemocratic
Knock on wood, Ive been able to avoid medical facilities lately, unlike my friend who found himself in an urgent care situation last week because of a nagging back issue.

But that ailment quickly took a back seat, he told me later, as he found himself sitting in an urgent care facility in Batavia packed with sneezing and coughing and hacking patients that made him realize I could actually leave here with something worse than what I came in with.

Some were wearing masks. Some were not.

After unsuccessfully scrounging through his own pockets for a face covering, my friend was relieved when the first thing the nurse asked after he finally got called to an exam room was whether he wanted a mask.

He eagerly replied in the affirmative. And there he was, transported back in time, or at least to a year ago when health care facilities required such protections.

Because the facility was so crowded, the nurse sent him back to the waiting area after triage, where he had another 45-minute wait before the doctor could see him.

Not that he was getting impatient. There were people far worse off, insisted my friend, including a middle school-aged girl who looked absolutely miserable and a patient in the next room experiencing shortness of breath.

All told, his trip to urgent care took over three hours, long enough, he told me, to read five chapters in the book he brought and to watch at least five house rehabs on the HGTV channel in the waiting room.

Hopefully, not long enough for him to catch one of the viruses that now seem to be trying their best to interrupt our lives yet again.

But my friends recent experience in a local urgent care certainly piqued my curiosity. Four years out from the start of the COVID-19 invasion, just how bad is it out there now that  like my friend  most of us have lost or tossed all those masks that once filled our pockets, purses and the cubbies of our cars?

Calls to local hospitals indicate now might be a good time to bring them back out.

Kane Countys numbers for COVID-19, the flu and RSV are considered high, according to local health officials. And because those statistics moved the risk factor into the yellow zone, said Dr. Brett Cassidy, chief medical officer for Ascension Mercy, the Aurora hospital began mandating masks be worn again in all critical areas of the hospital, including emergency rooms, ICU and labor and delivery.

In the last two weeks, he noted, there have been 45 patients in Mercys ER who tested positive for the flu, with three requiring ICU admission; 85 who tested positive for COVID, five of which required ICU admission; and four adults hospitalized with RSV, two of which were admitted to the ICU.

A week ago, the significantly elevated levels of influenza-like illnesses in our communities also led Rush Copley in Aurora to require staff, patients and visitors to wear masks in certain areas of the hospital, including inpatient rooms, exam rooms, clinical waiting areas and when registering.

Rush Copley has seen a 70% increase in the last month of influenza and RSV cases in its Emergency Department, according to spokesperson Courtney Satlak. The majority of those being admitted to the hospital are elderly or have multiple other health issues, she said, adding that COVID cases being seen in the ER and also admitted have moderately increased over that same time.

The majority of COVID-19 patients, however, are being treated at urgent care centers and are not getting admitted which is a significant difference from years past, pointed out Satlak.

While Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva has not called for a mask mandate, they are required in clinical areas for patients who have symptoms of a respiratory virus and in a patients room if requested or if staff requires it, said spokesman Christopher King.

Likewise, Edward-Elmhurst Health is not requiring masks for everyone who comes into its facilities but strongly encourages their use.

Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, infectious disease specialist, told me that from Nov. 1 to Dec. 16, Edward Hospital in Naperville was averaging 22 COVID-19 admissions per week, a number that went up to 44 the last week of December.

According to statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health, for the week ending Dec. 23, 7% of hospital ER visits in Kane County were for influenza-like illness reasons, nearly doubling the 3.75% baseline.

We dont want to mandate (masks), said Pinsky. But many people are there for respiratory symptoms. They could have COVID or influenza.

And sitting in a waiting room without a mask is doing little to protect yourself or others from potential exposure, he noted.

Not surprisingly, asking people to mask up again is not always an easy sell.

I would say its 50/50, said Cassidy, referring to pushback from patients, visitors and even staff.

Both medical experts warn that, while many people might now consider COVID-19 just another flu, it can be as severe, even fatal, as ever, especially for the elderly or those with medical issues.

That is yet another reason, they insist, to get vaccinated.

We know updated vaccines provide very good protection against circulating strains, said Pinsky, adding that last years vaccine resulted in a 60% to 80% reduction in ER visits from COVID-19.

According to Ascension Mercy officials, 90% of all recent cases are for the A strain flu, indicating we are far from the late season B strain transition.

Which means we will likely be seeing high numbers until early spring, say the experts.

My friend, who often visits and cares for an aging parent, told me he is once more carrying masks in his pockets and car. And after turning this column in, I am heading to the junk drawer in my bedroom, where a couple of unused ones have been buried for well over a year now.

This is a good time to get it back out, said Pinsky, especially if you have a compromised immune system or are living with someone who has an underlying medical condition.

dcrosby@tribpub.com
Sandra Frank, who led All Faiths Food Bank for 12 years, with board chair Terri Vitale, left, and Barancik Foundation CEO Teri A Hansen. "The food bank will always be the bedrock of this community and I know it is in good hands, Frank said.

Sandra Frank, who retired as CEO of All Faiths Food Bank in December, was honored by food bank board members and staff, community leaders and funders, and national food bank leaders during a recent celebration of her career at Michael's On East.

All Faiths board chair Terri Vitale opened the celebration followed by tributes from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation president and CEO Teri A Hansen and community leaders and philanthropists Keith Monda and Veronica Brady. Also in attendance were Stephanie Dragatisis, vice president of member engagement, and Mark Biewald, senior director of member engagement for Feeding America, and Robin Safley, executive director of Feeding Florida.

All Faiths new president and CEO Nelle Miller spoke about her longtime friendship with Frank, the legacy she leaves behind, and how the work Miller will do is only possible because of the foundation Frank has laid.

In a video tribute highlighting Franks impact on the organization and the community, Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot added her praise, expressing admiration for Franks "compassion and passion, dedication and stick-to-it-iveness'. ... I'm confident that you will leave that food bank in great hands and that we, together, will move forward on your vision.

In 12 years at All Faiths, Frank led the organization to rethink and re-envision the food bank to ensure that ending hunger extends beyond the traditional food in, food out model and targets underlying causes to end hunger. With guidance from Feeding America, Frank set All Faiths apart by being one of the early food banks in the nation to initiate a program assessment and evaluation  activities that are crucial in better understanding hunger and supporting the communities served.

"The food bank is the bedrock of the community," Frank said. "Our job is to strengthen, deepen, expand and diversify that foundation so that  regardless of what occurs  the food bank is forward facing, has a plan and is prepared."

Working alongside the board of directors and senior leadership team, Frank launched a new mission and rebranding of the organization in 2018. Frank spearheaded the expansion of the food bank, doubling the warehouse, refrigeration and community space in 2018, while bolstering All Faiths' future capacity by purchasing adjacent property for further expansion.

Campaign Against Summer Hunger

Frank helped create the foundation for All Faiths fundraising program, including the Campaign Against Summer Hunger  Franks self-proclaimed proudest achievement  which provides food to students and their siblings during the summer months when schools are closed. Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the Campaign, which has raised over $16 million and feeds more than 35,000 children every summer.

Together with donors, Frank oversaw the opening of the DeSoto County Food and Resource Center, a national model for addressing hunger and providing social services in rural communities. Frank guided All Faiths through a global pandemic, devastating hurricanes, and record levels of need. Her leadership earned All Faiths Food Bank national and local recognition  including recent honors from Florida Trend as one of Floridas "Best Companies To Work For".

"Today, I feel your respect, your affection, your happiness for me, and your understanding that it's time for me to step away, relax and enjoy," Frank said. "The food bank will always be the bedrock of this community and I know it is in good hands.

Submitted by Sharon Kunkel

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sandra Frank honored for legacy of achievement at All Faiths Food Bank
By Ange Kasongo

KINSHASA (Reuters) -Congo's election commission said it has cancelled votes cast for 82 of the 101,000 legislative candidates in the disputed December general election over alleged fraud and other issues, amid fresh opposition calls for a re-run of the vote.

Those disqualified include contenders for national, provincial and municipal assemblies, the results of which are yet to be published amid the fallout from the Dec. 20 poll that threatens to further destabilise the Democratic Republic of Congo, a top producer of cobalt and Africa's second-largest country.

A CENI election committee statement on Friday did not address the presidential vote that also took place on Dec. 20, handing President Felix Tshisekedi a landslide victory. The opposition has contested the result amid claims of alleged widespread electoral irregularities reported by their own and independent monitors.

The commission said it had launched an inquiry after the polls to look into "acts of violence, vandalism and sabotage perpetrated by certain ill-intentioned candidates against voters, their staff, their assets and electoral materials."

The inquiry has led to the invalidation of the 82 legislative candidacies as well as the full annulment of the elections at all levels in two out of 484 constituencies, it said. A further 16 had already been excluded from the election due to local security issues.

Four acting provincial governors and three government ministers were among the 82 excluded.

CENI's move has not appeased the opposition, many of whom accuse the commission of helping tip the election in Tshisekedi's favour.

Presidential challenger Martin Fayulu on Saturday repeated a joint call for the annulment of the vote and a full re-run - a demand the authorities have dismissed.

"We want real elections," Fayulu told an opposition press conference, calling on the African Union or the Southern African Development Community to "get involved to resolve these problems".

He asked supporters to show resistance in the face of the alleged fraud, but did not call for more street protests outright.

The government and CENI have said the latest election was free and fair despite irregularities, including polling stations failing to open on election day, violent incidents, malfunctioning voting machines and other setbacks that led to an unscheduled extension of voting whose legal basis the main observer mission has questioned.

Tresor Kibangula, a political analyst at Congo's Ebuteli research institute, said it was difficult to see how the such irregularities had not also affected the presidential election, "especially considering that all these ballots were conducted on the same day with the same electronic voting device".

"The central question is ... whether the extent of (Tshisekedi's) proclaimed victory was distorted by these irregularities that were apparently widespread throughout the country," he said by phone.

(Additional reporting by Sonia Rolley; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Clelia Oziel and Mike Harrison)
WASHINGTON  Three years ago, the nations Capitol underwent a marathon day that disrupted a centuries-old tradition of peaceful transitions of power in the United States.

Hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump broke into the U.S. Capitol building as Congress convened to help formalize the results of the 2020 presidential election, interrupting the proceedings for hours even as some Republican lawmakers moved to reject the election results in key swing states.

The riot shook Congress. A bipartisan group of lawmakers crafted legislation intended to clarify the electoral count process that had created such uncertainty following the 2020 election.

As the country heads into another election year that will likely have Trump on the general election ballot, experts say those changes significantly reduced the likelihood that valid election results could be overturned by Congress or the vice president  but warned there are still vulnerabilities at the state and local level that could be exploited.

It is much better than it was, it was totally arcane, said Rebecca Green, an election law professor at the College of William and Mary. This reform really does provide a lot of important clarification and takes away some of the risks that we saw unfold on Jan. 6.

Game-changing legislation

In the immediate wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, lawmakers of both parties were rattled. Many condemned the violence and moved to clarify the objection process to stop the assault from happening again.

A bill to change vague and vulnerable wording in the 19th-century Electoral Count Act  supported by dozens of members of both parties  was included in a year-end spending bill signed by President Joe Biden in December 2022.

The law made some significant changes. It:

Clarified that the vice presidents role is ceremonial and does not include the power to accept or reject electors.

Designates one official in each state to submit the states slate of electors, rather than leaving the possibility of multiple slates being submitted to Congress, and requires Congress to accept only that slate.

Created a process of expedited court review of electoral challenges from presidential candidates.

Raised the threshold to object to a states election results from one senator and one representative to one-fifth of each chamber of Congress.

These changes significantly decrease the risk of Congress overturning valid election results, experts said, by preventing dueling slates of electors and requiring more consensus to mount an objection.

The idea is that only serious objections would be entertained, Green said. The universe of possible problems is much, much smaller with this process.

Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over the certification of Electoral College votes at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

New risks and pressure

Despite these changes, the experts who spoke with USA TODAY said valid election results could still be overturned.

There are grave risks, said Matthew Seligman, a legal scholar at Stanford University focusing on election law. But I think theyre a bit different than the risks that we faced in 2020.

Because the Congress and the vice president are going to be off the playing board in significant ways, I think the effort is going to be focused more on states, Seligman said, such as pressuring Republican-controlled legislatures or secretaries of state to take unprecedented action. There have now been years for Trumps legal team to contemplate new avenues to reverse legitimate election results, he added.

Sheri Berman, a political scientist at Barnard College, agreed that state and local election officials are likely to be in the spotlight.

We have a very decentralized electoral system, she said, creating multiple avenues for legal disputes. Theres lots of potential places where things can go wrong.

Since 2021, Trumps grip on the Republican party has also intensified, multiple experts noted.

More than half of Trump supporters have no confidence the results of the 2024 election will be accurately counted and reported, according to a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll. A majority of GOP candidates in the 2022 midterm elections denied or questioned the results of the 2020 election. The new Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, was a leader in a legal effort to overturn the election.

If Republicans retain control of the House or win the Senate, they would be responsible for adhering to the new electoral count process, perhaps under immense pressure from Trump or their constituents.

How your vote gets in front of Congress

Before the election, state political parties typically choose people to serve as electors if their presidential candidate wins. In most cases, whichever candidate wins the most votes in each state claims all of its electoral votes (Maine and Nebraska use a proportional system).

The winning partys electors meet to cast their votes in December after the election. A copy of those votes are sent to the vice president to be counted in front of Congress on the following Jan. 6. Whichever candidate received the most electoral votes  at least 270  becomes the president.

This is typically an uneventful process. But as the votes are read out, members of Congress can object to counting them. Theyre required to state the reason theyre objecting in writing, and under the old procedure, only one senator and one member of the House was required to object.

If that happens, the Senate and the House are required to meet in their own chambers and debate the merits of the objection and vote on whether to accept it. If both chambers do, those votes are excluded from the total count.

Insurrections loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. The Department of Justice is prosecuting those who violently stormed the Capitol.

What happened on Jan. 6, 2021

This process played out three years ago, when Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, both Republicans, objected to Arizonas results, citing allegations of election fraud that had been raised in eight separate lawsuits and rejected each time.

It was the climax of months of challenges by the Trump campaign to keep the presidency despite losing the election.

Trump and his allies pressured state and local election officials not to certify the election results; encouraged Republican electors to submit their votes and pushed officials in key swing states to formally recognize them rather than the duly elected Democratic slate; and pressured his Justice Department to declare a formal investigation into alleged fraud, among other efforts.

Trump had also been publicly pushing Republican lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to reject the electors votes in an effort to help him reverse the election results, or declare the election disputed in order to buy time for state legislatures to replace Democratic electors.

Pence said he wouldnt because he didnt have unilateral authority to reject the results, and the lawmakers plan to overturn certain states votes wouldnt succeed because of the Houses Democratic majority.

But the two chambers split to debate the objection, which was intended to be the first of six  lawmakers planned objections to Georgia, Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin as well. The debate was interrupted when a mob of Trumps supporters stormed the Capitol.

After the building was cleared nearly six hours later, the chambers resumed their debate and eventually defeated the Arizona objection. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., objected to Pennsylvanias results shortly after midnight. That objection was rejected after 3 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. The other objections never materialized, and the results were certified.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can Congress overturn an election? Here are changes since Jan. 6, 2021
The eighth generation of a Maury County farming family, Samuel Kennedy IV sits on his great great grandmother's headstone in a family cemetery located on the family's 210-year-old Kettle Mills Farm in Columbia, Tenn. on Nov. 18, 2022.

Columbia and the Maury County area continue to grow, rivaling other surrounding larger cities in Middle Tennessee in the manufacturing industry, small business environment and new restaurants, boutiques and shops.

Columbia has become quite an exciting place to be over the past several years.

First Fridays downtown continue to attract more people; the square was buzzing with thousands during the Christmas tree lighting, and of course every year, Mule Day never disappoints, attracting 100,000-plus people to enjoy our town.

Home prices continue to rise beyond past numbers, reaching a median sale price of $420,000 as of September.

Maury County recently joined the wealthiest county in the state, Williamson County, in the top five most expensive households in Tennessee, according to bill-paying platform Doxo.

As new families, industry and business continue to shape the face of Columbia's future, I still see that most community members want to stick to it roots as a small town with friendly and genuine people, instilled with a strong work ethic and focus on family and faith. Those are the qualities that seem to draw people to our city time after time.

Maury County Sheriff Bucky Rowland and his wife Kerrie helped to gather items for volunteers during the Keep Maury Beautiful Duck River clean-up day on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.

And of course there's also the beautiful landscape that beckons. From a charming town square anchored in history to swaths of farmland and green space, Columbia is a place where people can spread out, breathe, farm or homestead.

Dubbed as the fastest growing county in Tennessee, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, it's an honor and a privilege at The Daily Herald to cover the community during such a time of growth, prosperity and advancement.

In 2023, The Daily Herald brought you impactful news stories and features, documenting the growth, change, controversy and triumphs in the community. The Herald took home two more First Place awards in the Tennessee Press Association for our coverage of land loss in Tennessee and how small family farms are keeping the legacy of generational farming alive.

We focused on Maury County Century Farm Kettle Mills run by Sam Kennedy III, and his family, showing their daily operations and love of stewarding their family's land.

Samuel Kennedy IV feeds sheep at his families farm, Kettle Mills in Columbia, Tenn. on Nov. 18, 2022. Samuel is in line to become the eighth generation owner of Kettle Mills once he comes of age.

We also followed legislation passed in the state legislature, expanding the scenic status of The Duck River, an issue that drew bipartisan support while almost 200 Maury County residents filled the capitol to rally for the bill's passage.

We covered many other important topics such as homelessness, addiction and recovery, city and county government decisions and the controversial American Classical Academy school that was voted down by the school board.

Over the past two years, we have been proud to earn seven First Place awards in the Tennessee Press Association for our high quality news coverage, education coverage, local news coverage, photography and digital packages. Our coverage also made the Best of Gannett list three times in two years.

We strive to continue the high standards we have set. But it's your support that allows us to continue our important work in local journalism, carrying on the legacy of print news at The Daily Herald. We are dedicated to excellence built on the standards of truth, accuracy and quality reporting with a small staff.

We appreciate your continued readership and support in the work we do and look forward to more coverage in 2024.

Stay tuned.

Kerri Bartlett will take the reins as editor of the Columbia Daily Herald and Advertiser News of Spring Hill on Dec. 28.

Kerri Bartlett is editor of The Daily Herald and deputy editor of the Middle Tennessee Region.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Daily Herald to continue impactful journalism in 2024
Residents of the Pensacola area are advised to be on alert as a possibly dangerous storm system approaches the Panhandle Monday.

Meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Mobile told the News Journal that two storm systems will move into the area, but the second of the two could bring dangerously high winds and possible tornadoes.

Meteorologist Cody Lindsey said Friday an initial storm system Friday night was likely to bring some rainfall and dangerous surf and rip currents, but the weekend should otherwise be relatively dry.

"Then we've got a bit more potent system we're a little bit more concerned about for slightly higher potential severe weather coming in Monday night," Lindsey said.

Panhandle cold front: Cold fronts may bring 'sleet pellets,' tornadoes, heavy rain to Florida. What are sleet pellets?

The concern comes around evening time Monday, when Lindsey says high winds, severe rainfall and possible flash floods move in.

"Given all the strong wind fields in place, low level moisture and what we call 'instability,' it'll certainly bring a severe threat," Lindsey said. "We'll have a potential for heavy rainfall. It looks like fall amounts of 2 to 4 inches coming in with the system."

Lindsey said Pensacola could see gusts of wind up to 45 or 50 mph while seeing 25 to 35 mph sustained winds. The storm system could also bring flash floods with the sudden heavy rain, and a nearby warm front could cause tornadic activity in the area.

He said the high winds could also knock down trees and power lines.

"That's something folks will really want to keep an eye on as we move into that timeframe, especially if it comes in the overnight hours," Lindsey told the News Journal. "We would encourage people to have multiple ways to receive warnings during the overnight hours."

For information on prepping for storms, visit Escambia County Emergency Management's website at myescambia.com/BeReady or Santa Rosa County's Emergency Management website at santarosa.fl.gov/974/Emergency-Management.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola area could see tornadoes, flooding Monday per NWS
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong has a video call with Myanmar Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Yar Pyae, Jan. 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong had a video call with Myanmar Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Yar Pyae on Friday.



Wang said that China has always viewed and developed China-Myanmar relations from a strategic height, and is willing to work with Myanmar to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, comprehensively deepen cooperation in law enforcement and security.

Wang also expressed China's willingness to collaborate with Myanmar to crack down telecom and online fraud, cooperate on key cases, maintain security and stability in border areas, safeguard Chinese personnel and projects, and continue to promote the building of a China-Myanmar community with a shared future.

Yar Pyae said that Myanmar is willing to deepen law enforcement and security cooperation with China and make every effort to safeguard security and stability in the border areas between the two countries.
For years, my husband would say after we returned from the church, I thought the sermon was good. To that, I would reply, I didnt hear the sermon, as usual.

As a person with a severe to profound hearing loss, I nearly left the church out of frustration and anger. In addition to hymns, spoken readings and testimonies, Christian worship focuses on the spoken word. As scripture says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

I am not alone in feeling discouraged by so much focus on the word of God and spoken words in Christian tradition. Many people with hearing loss leave or disengage from their Christian faith.

But that doesnt have to happen. As a theologian, I study how adults with hearing loss worldwide engage with their Christian faith through unique forms of worship and contemplative prayer, and I have found examples of holy people who experienced hearing loss.

Alienated in churches

One popular deaf Christian organization, Silent Blessings Deaf Ministries, estimates that as many as 4% of Christians worldwide are profoundly deaf. That number doesnt include the people who have milder hearing loss, or older adults who experience hearing loss later in life. About 13% of Americans experience some hearing loss, which can affect their ability to participate in worship.

A 1997 National Council of Churches document on deafness describes the frustrations of people with conventional church services that emphasize spoken words. One woman who lost some hearing later in life said: I was very active in the church, taught Sunday School for many years and served on the boards of various womens groups. But then I started to lose my hearing and stopped understanding what was going on. I became very depressed and isolated. I dont go to church any more.

The biblical stories recounted in some scriptures also can feel alienating to deaf and hard-of-hearing people, according to theologian Wayne Morris.

In his 2008 book on deaf Christianity, Morris describes, as an example, how the story of Moses and the burning bush might be received in a deaf congregation. In it, Moses covers his eyes when he encounters God in the burning bush. Yet no person with deafness could stand to cover their eyes: Sight is what enables hearing-impaired people to navigate the world.

The story of Moses and the burning bush can feel alienating to deaf people. An illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible

Other scriptures even name hearing loss as indicating separation from God. In Psalm 58:3-4, Gods chosen people of Israel are compared negatively to a deaf person. The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ears.

Worship services

As a result of the challenges they face in churches that emphasize spoken words, deaf people might choose worship services led by deaf pastors, or hearing churches whose worship styles engage all five senses of the body rather than focusing on hearing alone.

A hearing church that adds a signing interpreter but that maintains reliance on spoken words isnt necessarily being welcoming. This can make people with hearing loss feel like they need to be fixed, or made able to attend hearing worship.

A deaf worship service includes not only the deaf, but those who appreciate a worship that involves more than just the sense of hearing.

There are several church communities that do signed worship. There are also emerging translations of the Bible including one in American sign language and a few other languages.

During a deaf worship service, praying happens with open eyes and with lots of signing. Hands are often raised up to sign a joyful alleluia to God. In fact, the whole congregation creates a mosaic of gestures that praise God. Silence is not required in order to hear the pastor speaking from pulpit.

Experiencing silence

People with hearing loss may find access to faith in the Christian tradition of silence, too.

Christian contemplative prayer, which developed among monks in the third and fourth centuries, celebrates silence as an essential part of prayer to God.

The 20th-century monk Thomas Merton, who is known for his contemplative and mystical spirit, once observed the ways words can even divide people from God.

When we have really met and known the world in silence, words do not separate us from the world nor from other people, nor from God, nor from ourselves because we no longer trust entirely in language to contain reality, he wrote in 1956.

Some deaf Christians see not hearing as a gift from God.

He has created me with ears that hear what people REALLY say, for in my intensity to hear I listen not just with mechanically assisted hearing, the deaf pastor Elizabeth von Trapp Walker said in a 1999 interview whether disability could be a gift from God. I listen with my whole body. My eyes see the joy, pain and sorrow sometimes hidden in the words as the ears of my heart listen and read the body language of the speaker.

For Christians like von Trapp and Merton, silence can enable a person be a better witness to the world around them.

Deaf saints

The Catholic Church recognizes some saints who were deaf.

Saint Teresa de Cartagena, a nun who lived in 15th-century Spain, lost her hearing in childhood. She wrote Grove of the Infirm, a book about disability and faith, sometime between 1450 and 1460. Teresa writes of her deafness as a great good because it leads her toward God. God has placed such cloisters on my hearing so that she can maintain complete silence in order to better understand an inner spiritual life with God.

The 16th-century Saint Teresa of Avila similarly found her tinnitus  a ringing in the ears often associated with hearing loss  no hindrance either to my prayer or to what I am saying now, but the tranquility and love in my soul are quite unaffected, and so are its desires and clearness of mind.

An Italian woman, Benedetta Bianchi Porro, was recently declared blessed, a step before being named a saint, on Sept. 14, 2019. Porro experienced progressive deafness beginning at age 15 as a result of polio.

She sought healing in 1963 for deafness, along with other conditions associated with the disease, at Lourdes, a shrine in France that people visit in hopes of being healed of various diseases. While there, she wrote a letter to friend saying that she had received a miracle  not of recovery from deafness but of an understanding of the richness of my condition.

Porro isnt the only Christian to learn that being deaf can deepen ones faith. For me, finding a worship service that emphasizes all five senses and discovering that the silence I live because I am deaf has helped me embrace Christianity instead of leaving it behind.

Rather than fixing hearing loss or seeing deafness as a sign of Gods disfavor, the faith of deaf and hard-of-hearing Christians brings new understandings about God to the world.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: Jana Bennett, University of Dayton.

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Jana Bennett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A man mourns next to the coffins during a funeral ceremony for the victims of the recent explosions that struck a crowd commemorating Iranian top commander Soleimani, at the Saheb al-Zaman mosque. On the 4th anniversary of the assassination of Iranian General Soleimani, two explosions killed more than 70 people and wounded another 171 near the mausoleum dedicated to him. Iranian Presidency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The death toll in the suicide blasts in Iran earlier this week has risen to 91, state media reported on Saturday.

An 8-year-old child and a 67-year-old man succumbed to their injuries, state broadcaster Irib reported.

Around 100 injured people are still in hospital, 11 of whom are in a critical condition.

The secret service said it had arrested a total of 11 people in connection with the attack.

On Wednesday, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the city of Kerman, at a ceremony to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of the powerful Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

The terrorist militia Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamic State considers the predominantly Shiite majority in Iran to be apostates of Islam.
The death toll from the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year's Day has risen to 126, officials said Saturday. Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA-EFE

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The death toll from this week's devastating magnitude-7.6 earthquake in Japan has surpassed 120 with hundreds of residents still unaccounted for, officials said Saturday.

Japanese authorities confirmed at least 126 people have died while more than 200 remain missing following the quake on New Year's Day.

The majority of those missing are thought to be located around the cities of Suzu and Wajima, located approximately 33 miles apart in Ishikawa Prefecture on western Japan's Noto Peninsula.

Many people are believed to be trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings and officials believe survivors could be spread across approximately 100 separate locations.

Mud and rock slides have also destroyed dozens of homes, and were directly responsible for at least three deaths Saturday, authorities in the town of Anamizu reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday pleaded with emergency personnel to continue with rescue efforts despite the diminishing chances of finding many more people alive five days after the powerful quake.

Hopes were raised that more people could still be alive in the rubble when a woman in her 90s was rescued from a collapsed house in Suzu on Saturday.

Earlier in the week, Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase indicated a vital 72-hour window to find victims alive would expire Thursday, with little hope of trapped survivors persevering beyond that.

"Please do all you can for the rescue operation and work to save as many people as possible, without giving up," Kishida said in his message to rescue officials Saturday.

Authorities have reported more than 500 injuries as a result of the quake.

At least 30,000 residents have been forced out of their homes and are relying on more than 350 shelters in the region, many of which are without water or electricity.

Approximately 5,400 members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces are now deployed to the region to help.

Officials are also worried looming rain in the forecast could worsen the situation and cause further avalanches with the ground already unstable.
WASHINGTON  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin acknowledged ''concerns'' over his secret hospitalization but revealed no new details of his condition in a statement released by the Pentagon Saturday.

It wasn't until late Friday that the Pentagon disclosed that Austin had been hospitalized after complications from an elective procedure. In the statement, Austin said he "could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better."

Neither Austin nor the Pentagon has revealed the nature of his illness, which has hospitalized him since Jan.1. The Pentagon didn't alert the White House until Thursday about Austin's condition, three days after he had been admitted to the hospital, according to a senior Defense official who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

The failure to disclose that Austin, 70, had been hospitalized for days was a breach of the norm in which health issues of senior government officials are released with alacrity. That was the case for Austin as recently as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Austin did not indicate that he would divulge the nature of the illness that hospitalized him.

The failure to disclose the hospitalization to the White House was first reported by POLITICO.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III holds a press briefing about the US military drawdown in Afghanistan, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC September 1, 2021. The US military carried out strikes on three sites used by Iran-backed forces in Iraq on December 25 after an attack wounded American personnel earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

President Joe Biden on Saturday did not appear to acknowledge a question about Austins hospitalization and recovery.

A White House official told USA TODAY that Biden and Austin spoke Saturday evening.

"It was a warm conversation," the official said. "The president has complete confidence in Secretary Austin and is looking forward to him being back in the Pentagon."

Earlier, NBC News reported that Austin had been spent four days in the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He remained there Saturday, according to his spokesman, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

"I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon," Austin said in the statement. He also thanked the staff at Walter Reed.

"But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure," Austin said in the statement.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas and a member of the Armed Services Committee, demanded on X that Austin address reports that he delayed notifying the White House about his illness.

"The Secretary of Defense is the key link in the chain of command between the president and the uniformed military, including the nuclear chain of command, when the weightiest of decisions must be made in minutes," Cotton wrote.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Jan. 1, Pentagon announces

NBC News cited two administration officials who said Austin had been unable to perform his duties since New Year's Day. That would have left his duties to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who had been on leave during that time.

Hicks has been in Puerto Rico and has conducted routine business from there, according to NBC.

The Defense Department has been dealing with crises in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

On Thursday, the Pentagon ordered a drone strike on a militant in Baghdad that killed Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, also known as Abu-Taqwa. Abu-Taqwa had been actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel, Ryder told reporters.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lloyd Austin takes blame for hospitalization, kept White House in dark
An Israeli F-16 on the Gaza border on December 10, 2023

The delivery of the first six Danish F-16 jets to Ukraine, which was expected to take place around the end of 2023, has been postponed until the second quarter of 2024, Danish newspaper Berlingske reported on Jan. 6, citing the country's Defense Ministry.

Some of the necessary conditions for the transfer of the F-16s, including pilot training, have not yet been met, the Ministry said, noting that the training schedule depends on several factors, including weather conditions.

The work of the international air force coalition is underway to ensure the necessary infrastructure, material and technical base at Ukrainian airfields, as well as the training of mechanics and other ground personnel, he added.

Read also: Airfield where Ukrainian pilots will train on F-16 fighter jets officially opens in Romania

The delivery terms for eight more Danish F-16s previously scheduled for 2024 and five more in 2025, remain unknown at this time.

Denmark is the only country to have announced exact delivery dates for the F-16s, while Norway and Belgium have not publicly disclosed details of their planned transfers.

Belgium will send two two-seater F-16Bs to Denmark and about fifty instructors to train Ukrainian pilots between March and September, RTBF reported on Jan. 4, citing the countrys Defense Ministry.

Two F-16 fighter jets donated by Norway for training Ukrainian pilots had arrived in Denmark, according to reports on Jan. 5.

Read also: First Dutch F-16s arrive in Romania to train Ukrainian and NATO pilots

The training mission, which will also include training Ukrainian technicians and mission planners, is part of the F-16 coalition of thirteen countries, including Belgium, led by Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States. Its goal is to provide the Ukrainian Air Force with this type of fighter jet and to train personnel capable of using these aircraft to combat Russian invasion.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Dec. 22 that the Netherlands had begun preparations to hand over the first 18 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

In August, the Netherlands and Denmark promised to provide Ukraine with 61 aircraft  42 and 19, respectively. Later, Norway confirmed its intention to supply F-16s. Belgium will also give Ukraine F-16s starting in 2025.

Read also: No F-16s in 2023 says Air Force

Ukraine's allies are collaborating to increase the number of F-16 fighter jets provided to Ukraine, announced Ukraine's Ukraines Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba during a joint press conference with Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot in Kyiv on December 5.

He previously stated that Ukraine could receive the first F-16s in the first half of 2024.

Read also: Ukrainian Patriot air defense systems took down 10 Russian aircraft says military expert

Ukrainian pilots in Denmark are already conducting flights with instructors on F-16 fighter jets, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuri Ihnat, said during a briefing on Nov. 21.

Western F-16 fighters may be "less helpful" next year as Russia has improved its weapons and air defense system, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in an interview with UK news magazine The Economist.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
 Flash

As the United States marks the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, in which an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building, questions linger about how it happened, who is responsible, and how it would continue to shape U.S. politics.



With the upcoming presidential election, the Capitol riot continues to fuel U.S. political turmoil amid an intensifying division between Democrats and Republicans, and could bring more chaos and turbulence.

STAIN ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY



After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, refused to concede to his Democratic opponent Joe Biden and repeatedly claimed that there was widespread election fraud. On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters violently broke into the Capitol building, and interrupted the certifying process of the 2020 presidential election, prompting hundreds of lawmakers to evacuate in panic.

"I think all of us, myself included, had images of a mass-shooting event," said Democratic Senator Peter Welch, former House representative who posted video updates on X, formerly twitter, as the chaos unfolded. "It was terrifying in the moment."

More than 1,200 individuals have been charged with federal crimes over the riot, with over 700 having pleaded guilty, making it one of the biggest criminal investigations in American history.

Trump was also charged with obstructing an official proceeding and three other counts stemming from his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The deadly attack, which killed five people and injured hundreds of police officers, is a "landmark stain" on American democracy, according to a CNN report published in June 2021.

"American democracy had near-death experience," and the country's air of invulnerability was shattered in the Capitol riot, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News reported in January 2022.

Over half of Americans, or 55 percent of respondents, noted the Capitol riot was an "attack on democracy that should never be forgotten," according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released this week.

GROWING PARTISAN DIVIDE



Three years on, the events of Jan. 6, 2021 are still a major point of contention between Democrats and Republicans, at a time of bitter partisan rivalry in Washington.

Democrats refer to the events as a serious attack on U.S. Democracy. They maintain that then-outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump's supporters -- at the behest of Trump himself -- engaged in an "insurrection" in a bid to disrupt the election process.

Republicans, meanwhile, contend that Jan. 6 was simply a protest that got out of hand, and Trump has been accusing Democrats of conducting a "witch hunt" against him.

Majorities of Democrats and independents believe the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was an attack on democracy, while more than 7 in 10 Republicans say that too much is being made of the attack and that it is "time to move on," according to the Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

Corey Greenburg, 52, an office worker in Washington, D.C., called the events of Jan. 6 an "outrage" and "insurgency," telling Xinhua that it threatened democracy.

Shauna Eland, 71, a retiree in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, told Xinhua that the events were merely a protest.

The Jan. 6 riot "created new dividing lines within the U.S. political class," Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua, adding that it's "a major test of the American system."

MORE CHAOS



The political fallout continues even three years later. Some U.S. states have pressed to keep Trump off the ballot in 2024, citing a constitutional provision that disallows anyone who had attempted to overthrow the government from holding office.

Colorado Supreme Court's ruling two weeks ago marked the first time a U.S. state court has agreed that Trump should be disqualified from the 2024 presidential election, citing the rarely used insurrection clause.

Trump on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the ruling, and the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider it, setting up a historic case ahead of the presidential election.

The riot, with divided views among voters, would be a factor in the upcoming presidential elections, according to observers.

The Jan. 6 events "will inevitably play a role this year" in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential elections, Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua.

If, as seems likely, Trump is the Republican nominee, Republican officials will have a powerful incentive to downplay Jan. 6 and embrace Trump, Galdieri said.

Noting that this was a winning issue for Democrats in 2022 in many swing states, Galdieri also expects it will be "a central part" of the Biden campaign's case against Trump.

Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, told Xinhua that the Capitol riot will continue to fuel U.S. political turmoil three years later, and he is concerned about more violence in this country.

"It has already begun," Cusack said, noting that some statehouses were falsely alerted to bomb or other threats last week.
Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for Ukraine's Air Force, has stressed that there were no official reports from Denmark about the delay in the delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine, adding that Ukraine expects to receive them this spring.

Source: Ihnat during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: The spokesperson was asked to comment on a story published by the Danish newspaper Berlingske, which cited the Danish Defence Ministry as saying that Denmark's delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine was delayed by six months.

Copenhagen was supposed to deliver the first six warplanes by the new year 2024, but the ministry told the newspaper that their delivery was expected in the second quarter.

Quote from Ihnat: "Looking at the website of the Danish Ministry of Defence, I didn't see any statement. So, the newspaper refers to some of its sources. This is immediately noticed and has turned into the mainstream in our media.

There are no official statements on what the article reads. Let's look at all statements not through the media, as the Western media often surprise us with some statements citing their sources. There are official statements; we should stick to them."

More details: Ihnat noted that it made no sense to deliver F-16s by the end of 2023, given that the infrastructure for the aircraft had not been prepared.

The military official explained that Ukraine expected both the fighter jets' delivery and pilot training completion this spring.

The Air Force spokesman mentioned the training of Ukrainian pilots for the F-16s in three countries.

Quote: "A group of pilots trained in the UK are 2023 graduates, and they will spend up to two years training before being transferred to the F-16s.

The other group is studying in the US in Arizona, where the Americans have announced that the training will last until the end of 2024. Perhaps some of them will have their training completed sooner.

The group that we sent to Denmark is advanced and already undergoing training, and pilots are already flying the F-16s with instructors...

Different groups have different training periods in different countries. As for Denmark, this is an advanced group. Both fighters and pilots will come from there as soon as possible. When will it happen? Well, we are still expecting [to see them] in spring."

Background: In August, Denmark announced that it would provide Ukraine with a total of 19 F-16 fighter jets.

In October, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Denmark planned to deliver the first F-16s to Ukraine in spring 2024, although this would also depend on the readiness of pilots, technicians and infrastructure.

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The sea of Christian, nationalist and racist symbols displayed at the seat of our democracy on Jan. 6, 2021, represented more than just a rift from Americas long tradition of peaceful transitions of power. Amongst the easily recognizable MAGA, QAnon, and Confederate battle flags, were the far less notorious, but far more alarming, white flags with a sole green pine tree and the words AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN written above it. First flown by a squadron of six frigates during the American Revolution, the flag quoting John Lockes right to revolution, now represents both the gaping schism between evangelical Christians and the gravest threat to American democracy.

Portsmouth City Councilor and Army veteran Josh Denton leads the Portsmouth Burial at Sea ceremony at Prescott Park on Friday, May 27, 2022.

Most of the evangelical Christians I knew in the army viewed their politics through the context of their faith in the scripture. A fellow platoon leader spoke of the gospel teaching to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that every soul could be saved, and that abundant grace and forgiveness should be given to those who do not know God. However, something changed in 2005, when the Topeka Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church began protesting funerals of service members killed in Iraq. Their pastor asserted the service members' deaths were Gods retribution for Americas immorality, while his faithful held banners reading, God hates (homosexuals)  and Thank God for dead soldiers."

Westboros condemnation, fire, and brimstone for those who did not know God has continued over the past two decades, with them notably protesting the Orlando Pulse nightclub funerals in 2016. However, by then the schism amongst the tens of millions of evangelical Christians was underway, with more and more viewing their faith through the context of their politics. Blood and soil Christian nationalist congregations with millions of online followers went from turning their worship services into political pep rallies, to warning other congregations to break from pastors not using their pulpits to advance Gods militant agenda, to preaching under AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN flag that a second civil war is necessary to prevent the Rapture.

Earlier this year, Rep. (now House Speaker) Mike Johnsons National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance included the blowing of Old Testament era rams horns to herald a modern-day army of God, prayers of spiritual warfare over the country against in the flesh demons, and appearances by prophets of the decentralized New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). These zealots receive direct revelations from God, and core tenants of their dogma are for Christians to exercise dominion over every aspect of society, reclaim the fallen earth from Satan, and create a physical Kingdom of God.

Just weeks before ascending to become speaker of the House, on the World Prayer Network broadcast, Rep. Johnson discussed the risk of divine retribution with pastor Jim Garlow, a prominent NAR apostle. Rep. Johnson grew tearful, invoked the fiery destruction of Sodom, and prayed, We repent for our sins individually and collectively. And we ask that You not give us the judgment that we clearly deserve. To make abundantly clear the danger that Christian nationalist congregations pose to every other American, on a Facebook livestream to the one million followers of a fellow apostle that he was seated with at a black-tie Mar-a-Lago gala in November, pastor Garlow declared, We dont just preach Jesus. We preach what Jesus preached. He preached the Kingdom  Whats the King over? Everything. Everything. Including the governmental and political realm.

The black-tie gala was for the America First Policy Institute, that is often described as a second Trump administration in waiting. The think tank raised a reported $1.6 million at the event and paid $963,000 for the events rent/facility costs to the forever grifting former president, who spoke at the affair. Trumps initial candidacys renegade populism appealed to many Americans who were tired of traditional politicians never solving long simmering issues, his unapologetic rhetoric appealed to other Americans with no deep ideology other than disliking feeling scolded for being politically incorrect, and then after winning his primary, he appealed to some Christian evangelical leaders after transactionally promising to fight for Christianity if their congregations voted for him. The NAR endorsed Trump early because it was apparent that he would not be contained by social norms or political institutions, that his power comes from his followers who love him because they feel empowered when he crosses boundaries, and that bestows upon him the ability to fight the hordes at the gate in a way no one else ever has. Many devotees see the sinner as a messiah figure, believe he fights for Christianity because he transformed into a Christian during his presidency, and internalize attacks on his character as attacks on their character, as evidenced by the fortification of their resolve once his indictments began.

The ferocity of the violence seen on Jan. 6, 2021, is an omen. Even more Christian nationalists feel under siege, believe that a civil war is an existential necessity to prevent Armageddon, and therefore they will not stop at just taking away the rights of those of other religions, the LGBTQ+ community, or women just wanting bodily autonomy. On the third anniversary of the insurrection, do not lose site that AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN flag was on a pole that was used to attack police, worn as a cape by another rioter who entered the Capitol, and now prominently hangs outside the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Josh Denton is commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 168, a Portsmouth city councilor and writes the Nationalism = Patriotism Substack.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Denton: Appeal to Heaven flag warns of rise of Christian nationalism
Going Up

A spectacular design for a space elevator, with the goal of efficiently transporting passengers into outer space, has been awarded a $11,000 prize.

As the BBC reports, British architect Jordan William Hughes won the prize for space architecture and innovation from the Jacques Rougerie Foundation in Paris.

His concept, dubbed Ascensio, connects an ocean-based ship to a structure in Earth's orbit via a cable-like structure. The ship is designed to keep up with the spaceport by moving around the ocean.

Of course, it's only an inspired work of science fiction and likely won't be built any time soon, if ever. But that doesn't mean we can't dream of a future in which space is a simple elevator ride away.

"It would revolutionize the way we get to and from space and make it more viable," Hughes told the BBC.

Jordan William Hughes via the BBC

High Times

Space elevators would elegantly solve one of the biggest hurdles in space travel, foregoing the need for heavy and expensive rockets to access the Earth's orbit. The concept was first envisioned by Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in a 1895 book called "Dreams of Earth and Sky," in which he described an imaginary 22,000-mile tower. Russian engineer Yuri Artsutanov later expanded on the idea, describing a cable that connects the Earth's surface to a geosynchronous satellite.

While some experts have posited that space elevators aren't actually as far-fetched as they sound, science still has plenty of catching up to do.

In his interview with the BBC, Hughes admitted that he doesn't expect anything like it to be "built in the next ten years. But I am pretty much certain that at some point this will be built. Not my project, but a space elevator."

"It's a bit fanciful today," he added, "but I'm sure it will happen because this is the only way space travel and space exploration actually works and becomes efficient."

More on space elevators: Professor Says We Could Already Build a Floating Space Elevator
Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine on 2 January, in particular destroying a residential building in the Solomianskyi district.

Among the survivors is 62-year-old Oleh Hontarenko, who has been disabled since birth. The man's height is 1.05 metres, journalist Nataliia Nahorna said.

Now Oleh needs help because his belongings and his car have burned down. The apartment was affected the most  only some clothes and crutches could be retrieved.

Quote: "Youve probably seen on social media the photo of Oleh Hontarenko's rescue. Rescue workers carried him in their arms out of a collapsed and smoke-filled apartment. Oleh is alive and well. However, he used to move around in a car, which is now completely destroyed. Those were his 'legs.' There is nothing left of the vehicle," wrote the TSN programmes journalist.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv

When the Russian missile hit the courtyard, he was having breakfast in his room.

"It saved him because the explosion's epicentre was right under the kitchen windows. Oleh spent almost an hour under the rubble of the destroyed house. Everything around him was on fire.

He couldn't get out on his own, although he tried several times to climb over the mountains of debris from furniture, concrete, glass, and belongings. Rescue workers pulled him out, and most of you saw this rescue," also wrote journalist Olena Rovenchuk.

Photo: Natasya Nagorna

Currently, Oleh is in hospital, but he has nowhere to return.

"What concerns him the most is how he will manage without a car because, he says, it was his 'legs'. He has had bone problems since birth and walks poorly. After the death of his mother, he was left completely alone with his brother, and the specially equipped car became his ticket to the world.

He used to go to the store, to the cinema, to the theatre, and wherever he wanted. Oleh is very sociable and told me he is most afraid of being isolated without communication," adds Olena.

The man has started a fundraiser for new housing. All willing individuals can also contribute funds using the details provided by Nataliia Nahorna.

Support UP or become our patron!
The Democratic National Committee is blasting New Hampshire Democrats for selecting delegates for the state's meaningless unsanctioned presidential primary.

The DNCs Rules and Bylaws Committee fired off a letter to New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley ahead of the state partys delegate caucuses Saturday warning that the process had not been approved and that no delegates or alternates would be awarded based on the results of the unofficial primary.

Non-compliant processes can disenfranchise and confuse voters, Minyon Moore and Jim Roosevelt Jr., the co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws committee, wrote to Buckley in the Friday letter shared first with POLITICO.

The upcoming primary is detrimental and meaningless, they wrote, and the NHDP and presidential candidates should take all steps possible not to participate. The committee asked the state party to submit a compliant delegate selection plan by Jan. 15.

Buckley, the New Hampshire Democratic Party chair, dismissed the pushback as "nothing new."

"They've been saying that for a year, yet we persist," he said.

New Hampshire is holding an unsanctioned Democratic primary in just over two weeks after state and national Democrats failed to agree on the order of this years nominating calendar.

President Joe Biden and the DNC pitched South Carolina, a more diverse state that propelled Biden to the nomination in 2020, for the lead-off spot. But Republicans who control New Hampshires government refused to change the law that says the state must hold its primary a week before any similar contest. The secretary of state scheduled the primary for Jan. 23. South Carolinas Democratic primary is Feb. 3.

Biden skipped putting his name on the ballot for New Hampshires primary as a result. His allies in the state are now waging a write-in campaign on his behalf.

New Hampshire Democrats continued with business as usual by scheduling delegate-selection caucuses for Biden and longshot challengers Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and self-help guru Marianne Williamson on Saturday.
Dominic West has shared some insight into making the easy decision to portray Prince Charles in The Crown.

The actor, 56, appeared on screen in the fifth and sixth seasons of the Netflix series, a dramatisation of the British royal family from the 1950s to the early 2000s.

As the then-prince, West portrayed Charles as he reacted to the untimely death of his ex-wife, Princess Diana (played by Elizabeth Debicki), the aftermath, and his eventual wedding to Camilla (played by Olivia Williams).

Dominic West plays Prince Charles in The Crown (PA / Netflix / Keith Bernstein)

On Fridays edition (5 January) of The Graham Norton Show, West spoke about accepting the role of the monarch.

There was an enormous pressure on The Crown because it was such a successful show before I went in, and Josh did such a great job, he began, referring to Josh OConnors portrayal of a younger Prince Charles in seasons three and four.

But at the end of the day, youve got to do parts that appeal to you; not that many come along, West continued.

When youve got a juicy part like that, you cant turn it down. I loved playing him, he was brilliant.

The actor, also well known for his roles in The Wire and The Affair, went on to reveal some of his failsafe methods for getting into character as Charles, including pointing animatedly as he spoke.

West on The Graham Norton Show (PA)

I saw many documentaries on him, one he did with Jonathan Dimbleby, West explained.

Hes on a plane, and hes talking about, I dont do this for my own good, you know  I do this for jolly old Britain.

And it was so funny, jolly old Britain, every time I was trying to get into him on set, Id just go jolly old Britain. And I was in.

Previously, West had expressed that hed accepted the unlikeliness of receiving a knighthood in the future, due to his involvement in the programme.

I suppose having to forgo the British Empire Medal that I might have got for services to acting, he said on BBC Radio. It was alright for [Prince Philip actor Jonathan Pryce], who had already been knighted.

West explained that hed met Charles before being cast as the royal, saying: I have. Ive done a bit of stuff for the Princes Trust so Ive stood in line and shook his hand a couple of times, so not particularly intimate.

However, West said that after taking on the role, those invitations dried up.
Former President Donald Trump is trying to quash his indictment for the attempt to steal the 2020 election by arguing before a federal appeals court that presidents have an absolute immunity from criminal prosecution, even after leaving office.

Trumps claim of absolute immunity comes in the federal case charging him with four felony counts related to his efforts to overturn his reelection loss that led up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The former president also faces a state prosecution in Georgia over attempts to steal the states election, a federal case related to illegally taking classified documents, and a trial in New York over hush money payments to a porn actor.

In his appeal in the federal election theft case, Trump makes two arguments. The first is that he has permanent absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for any acts undertaken during his presidency. The second is that under the theory of double jeopardy, he cannot face criminal charges for acts upon which he was impeached but not convicted.

The structure of our government, the text of the Constitution and its early commentators, common-law immunity doctrines, our political history, the Supreme Courts analogous immunity doctrines, and the policy considerations rooted in the separation of powers all dictate that no President, current or former, may be criminally prosecuted for his official acts unless he is first impeached and convicted by the Senate, Trumps appeal brief states.

But his arguments run counter to centuries of judicial precedent and constitutional interpretation, as well as the intent of the Constitutions authors and the very conception of the United States as a democratic republic governed by the rule of law enshrined in a constitution.

Aside from flying in the face of the nations history and system of government, both of Trumps arguments would create perverse incentives for presidents to break the law to stay in office, and for their partisans in Congress to immunize them from criminal prosecution by impeaching but not convicting them.

Former President Donald Trump wants a court to give him

Former President Donald Trump wants a court to give him "absolute immunity" from criminal prosecution as he faces four felony charges over his attempt to steal the 2020 election.

The defendants sweeping immunity claim threatens to license Presidents to commit crimes to remain in office, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith argued in a brief filed with the appeals court last week.

Under this theory, a president would be immune from prosecution if they directed the FBI Director to plant incriminating evidence on a political enemy or instructed the National Guard to murder his most prominent critics, according to Smiths brief. And a president could avoid an impeachment conviction by inciting his supporters during a State of the Union address to kill opposing lawmakersthereby hamstringing any impeachment proceedingto ensure that he remains in office unlawfully.

Taken to its most extreme logical conclusion, the theory would allow President Joe Biden to abduct Trump and hold him in a black site prison or kill him, and potentially face no legal consequences, as HuffPosts S.V. Date writes.

Trumps argument for an absolute immunity for ex-presidents rests on two main points. Firstly, courts and Justice Department legal guidance state that sitting presidents are immune from prosecution, as it would interfere with their constitutionally required duty to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed. The second is former presidents absolute immunity from civil liability for official acts taken while in office, as ruled by the Supreme Courts 1982 decision in Nixon v. Fitzgerald.

In pitching his case, Trump tries to blur the difference between a sitting and a former president, between civil and criminal liability, and between official and unofficial acts. But these are not the same thing.

First, there is significant historical and judicial evidence that sitting and former presidents are treated differently. While sitting presidents are granted numerous prerogatives of office, including executive privilege and protection from prosecution, former presidents are not  and were never conceived to have been.

The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law, Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers in 1788 to argue in support of the impeachment clause as written in the Constitution.

Not two decades later, Chief Justice John Marshall expressed this same sentiment in the case of United States v. Burr, in which former Vice President Aaron Burr had been prosecuted on charges of treason: The president is elected from the mass of the people, and, on the expiration of the time for which he is elected, returns to the mass of the people again.

President Gerald Ford pardoned predecessor Richard Nixon in 1974 for

President Gerald Ford pardoned predecessor Richard Nixon in 1974 for "for all offenses against the United States which he  has committed or may have committed or taken part in."

And even without reaching back to the founding generation, the common practice in the modern era of politics is equally instructive on this point.

After resigning from office in 1974, former President Richard Nixon received a full, free, and absolute pardon from Gerald Ford, his successor, for all offenses against the United States which he  has committed or may have committed or taken part in, effectively acknowledging the threat of prosecution. Nixon faced the possibility of federal and state indictments after crimes were uncovered in the Watergate investigation.

More recently, in the late 1990s President Bill Clinton faced the prospect of criminal indictment after leaving office for making false statements under oath during his deposition in the Paula Jones case, in which Jones accused him of sexually harassing her. On his final day as president, Clinton reached a deal with the independent counsel in which he would admit to giving false testimony in exchange for the counsel not pursuing charges.

Similarly, recent Supreme Court decisions provide strong evidence that ex-presidents are not immune from criminal prosecution.

In our system of government, as this Court has often stated, no one is above the law. That principle applies, of course, to a President, wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a concurring opinion in the 2020 case of Trump v. Vance, regarding the power to subpoena a presidents financial records.

In a dissent in the Vance case, Justice Samuel Alito agreed that criminal prosecution  is a consequence for potential criminal behavior by a president following the conclusion of an impeachment trial.

Ex-presidents do have one significant protection when they return to the mass of the people: the absolute immunity from civil liability suits for official acts taken while in office.

One reason that the court provided this immunity was to prevent the threat of future civil liability suits from interrupting the decision-making of a sitting president in undertaking his or her duties. Since anyone can file a civil suit seeking damages, a former president could spend their post-presidency tied up in courts facing endless trials, and their judgment while in office may be hindered by this lingering threat.

However, criminal prosecution is quite different. Charges must be brought by federal or state prosecutors, and there must be an actual alleged crime committed. There are also laws and Justice Department rules prohibiting capricious criminal prosecutions designed merely to harass an individual.

Most importantly, there is a significant distinction between the definition of official acts as described in Nixon v. Fitzgerald and the acts described in Trumps indictment.

In Nixon, the former president faced charges that he and other administration officials had eliminated the position of an analyst for the Air Force in retaliation for the analysts congressional testimony, given prior to Nixons presidency. The court ruled that Nixons action fell within the outer perimeter of the presidents official acts, as he had the authority to prescribe reorganizations and reductions in force.

David Schoen, a defense attorney for Trump during his second impeachment, argued that the former president could not face impeachment, but should rather be tried in criminal court.

David Schoen, a defense attorney for Trump during his second impeachment, argued that the former president could not face impeachment, but should rather be tried in criminal court.

On the other hand, Trumps claim that his actions surrounding the 2020 election fell within the outer perimeter of a presidents official acts is patently absurd. These actions were taken in connection with his reelection campaign, which, by definition, cannot be official presidential acts.

When Trump filed a motion to intervene at the Supreme Court in Texas lawsuit to overturn the election, he did so in his personal capacity as candidate for re-election. His lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis were not government lawyers, but rather funded privately through his campaign. His alleged accomplices in organizing fake elector slates to disrupt the electoral vote count on Jan. 6, 2021, were also campaign staffers, paid for by campaign funds.

Trumps second argument, that he cannot face criminal indictment for actions upon which he was impeached but not convicted, stands on similarly specious grounds.

The Constitution states that punishment for a president convicted in the Senate shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

The entirety of Trumps argument rests on the fact that the text states that the Party convicted can be criminally indicted, but doesnt say anything about a president who is acquitted. Trump claims that criminally prosecuting a president who was impeached but not convicted by the Senate effectively amounts to double jeopardy, which prohibits anyone from being tried twice for the same alleged crime.

Like Trumps assertion of absolute immunity, this argument is undermined by statements of the Constitutions authors and the existing historical record.

Far from being above the laws, he [the president] is amenable to them in his private character as a citizen, and in his public character by impeachment, said James Wilson, a participant in the Constitutional Convention, at Pennsylvanias ratifying convention in 1787.

That sentiment has played out in practice, as seen in the Nixon pardon and Clintons deal to avoid criminal charges. Clintons case is particularly instructive as he, like Trump, was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate  and still reached an agreement that prevented his indictment.

In fact, during Trumps 2021 impeachment trial for instigating insurrection on Jan. 6, his lawyer David Schoen argued that the impeachment was not necessary because the standard criminal justice system could handle such issues for a former president.

We have a judicial process in this country, Schoen said. We have an investigative process in this country to which no former officeholder is immune. That is the process that should be running its course.

And when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) justified his vote to acquit Trump during the impeachment trial, he did so by arguing that the judicial system was the proper arena to adjudicate complaints against former presidents.

President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run, McConnell said on the floor of the Senate after Trumps acquittal. [He] didnt get away with anything yet. Yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is set to hear arguments in Trumps case Tuesday.
Former President Donald Trump campaigned in Iowa on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot Saturday, shrugging off the violent attack as "patriotic and peaceful," then assailing the lead prosecutor bringing charges against him and the congressional committee that investigated the insurrection.

Trump persisted in falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election he lost to Joe Biden was "rigged"  the same exhortations that prompted his supporters to breach the Capitol in an attempt to halt congressional certification of the results  and he dismissed both the lead-up and aftermath of the riot that resulted in multiple deaths.

"Nobody thought J6 was even a possibility," he told supporters at Des Moines Area Community College's Newton, Iowa, campus.

Iowa caucuses: On 3rd anniversary of Jan. 6 riots, GOP presidential candidates reveal what they learned

And later, when speaking about policies on the U.S. southern border, he invoked the term "insurrection" to reference immigrants crossing the U.S. illegally, and contrasted it with Jan. 6, which he said was done "patriotically and peacefully."

"You talk about insurrection? That's the real deal," he said. "Not patriotically and peacefully."

Rioters loyal to then-President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington.

During his remarks at a later campaign stop in Clinton, Iowa, Saturday evening, Trump called for the release of those convicted and imprisoned for crimes relating to the riot, describing them as "J6 hostages" and calling on President Biden to release them.

They ought to release the J6 hostages, Trump said, drawing cheers from the crowd at Clinton Middle School. I call them hostages. Some people call them prisoners, I call them hostages. Release the J6 hostages, Joe. Release them, Joe. You could do it real easy, Joe.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a commit to caucus rally, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Clinton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Trump also mocked the U.S. House panel that investigated the Jan. 6 riot, calling it a "fake committee" and attacking former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the panel's two Republican members.

And he said Jack Smith, the special counsel who has criminally charged Trump for interfering in the 2020 election, was "the personification of evil" and "a sad sack."

"Because I fought against a corrupt election, I was indicted," Trump said, ignoring multiple judicial rulings and even his own administration that found there was no evidence of fraud that would have altered the outcome.

Former President Donald Trump addresses the audience during a campaign event Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, at the DMACC Conference Center in Newton.

Iowa caucuses: Trump sends sympathy over Perry shooting, 'but we have to get over it'

Michell Harvilla, a 58-year-old Clinton resident who attended Trump's campaign event in Clinton Saturday evening, said she believes the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

Harvilla, who plans to caucus for Trump, said she believes the former president is ultimately not to blame for what had happened at the U.S. Capitol because he had called for a peaceful march, not the violent attack that ultimately unfolded on the grounds.

Im hopeful we get our true president, moving forward, said Harvilla, a paraeducator and librarian tech at Clinton Middle School, where the get-out-to-caucus event was held Saturday.

People listen as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a commit to caucus rally, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Clinton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Jennifer McAndrew Lane, a probation officer who also attended Trump's event in Clinton Saturday, echoed those beliefs, stating her support for the former president has not been swayed.

McAndrew Lane described the investigation into Jan. 6 as a politically motivated joke and criticized states such as Colorado and Maine that have taken steps to remove Trump from the ballot over the insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment. The 49-year-old Scott County resident said she believes doing so takes away citizens' rights to cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice.

I believe firmly in the court of law. Thats not a court of law, said McAndrew Lane, 49-year-old rural Scott County resident.

But in a statement Saturday, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart excoriated Trump for being willing to "sacrifice our democracy and defy the will of the people in order to cling to power after he lost the 2020 election."

"Three years later, Trumps here in Iowa to try to rewrite history and deny his role in inciting a deadly insurrection on our nations Capitol  but Iowans watched with their own eyes as he encouraged his supporters to riot before they violently assaulted law enforcement," Hart said. "We lived through one of the darkest days in our nations history because of Donald Trump, and yet, he is still threatening to tear apart the foundations of this country if he gets the chance."

People listen as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a commit to caucus rally, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Clinton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Trump says Civil War was 'fascinating' and 'horrible,' and could have been avoided

The former president in his remarks Saturday also ruminated on the American Civil War, saying he was "so attracted to" studying it and theorizing that the conflict between the Union and the Confederacy could have been avoided through negotiation.

"I think you could have negotiated that," Trump said. "So many people died.

He added that "of course, if you negotiated it, you probably wouldnt even know who Abraham Lincoln was."

Several attempts were made to mend relations and negotiate a compromise on the issue of slavery before southern states began to secede, including the Compromise of 1850, which allowed California to enter the Union as a free state while strengthening fugitive slave laws, among other provisions.

Those deals ultimately just delayed the war.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump stands on stage after speaking during a commit to caucus rally, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Clinton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Trump: 'I'm going to caucus, OK?' (He can't)

The former president told supporters in Newton Saturday that he planned to be in Iowa for Caucus Day, and said he was "going to caucus," although he would be barred from doing so under the Iowa Republican Party's rules for the contest.

Trump, a resident of Florida, is not eligible to participate in the caucuses, which are limited to registered Republicans who are legal Iowa residents.

"I'm coming to Iowa, we're going to be picking some nice location, we have a lot of people. I'm going to caucus, OK?" Trump said, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

Supporters arrive for a Donald Trump campaign event Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, at the DMACC Conference Center in Newton.

And when encouraging attendees to learn the caucus procedure, he said "I'm going to have to learn, too, by the way."

"I haven't done this before. But they're going to teach me. I'm a quick study, and so are you."

His remarks were quickly pointed out by allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose wife, Casey, was criticized, provoking a response from the Iowa GOP after encouraging supporters from outside of the state to "descend" on the state for the caucuses.

Trump's swing through Iowa on the penultimate weekend before the caucuses comes just days after a school shooting in Perry, which killed an 11-year-old and wounded several other students and staff, including the school principal. The 17-year-old gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In remarks Friday afternoon in Sioux Center, he expressed "support and deepest sympathies" to the families and victims, saying "it's so surprising to see it here."

"But we have to get over it. We have to move forward," Trump added. To all the relatives, and all the people who are devastated right now, to the point they can't breathe, they cant live, we are with you all the way.

Former President Donald Trump dances after speaking at a campaign rally at Terrace View Event Center in Sioux Center, Iowa, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump takes aim at Biden policies, other GOP presidential hopefuls

At that Sioux Center speech and a second Friday stop in Mason City, he ramped up his attacks on Republican presidential opponents Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In December's Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, Trump was the faraway frontrunner in the Republican field, receiving 51% first-choice support and leading his closest challenger by 32 percentage points.

Trump continued those attacks against fellow presidential hopefuls during his campaign stop in Clinton, but Biden took on the brunt of his attacks. During his nearly two-hour remarks Saturday, Trump blamed Biden  calling him "crooked Joe Biden"  for rising inflation and increased illegal immigration at the southern border.

Americas not great right now," Trump told supporters. "Were going to make it great, were going to make it greater than ever before, but right now were a laughing stock of the world. This election is our last chance to save America, and that begins in Iowa. It begins right here.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump waves after speaking during a commit to caucus rally, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Clinton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

"The battle begins in Iowa. First in the nation, it begins right here in Iowa on Jan. 15 and Joe Bidens banana republic ends on Nov. 5, 2024.

Register reporters Donnelle Eller and Michaela Ramm contributed to this story.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Trump in Iowa on anniversary of Jan. 6 riot falsely calls it 'patriotic'
ST. LOUIS  Police are searching for a stolen vehicle and a suspect who allegedly carjacked a DoorDash driver overnight in south St. Louis.

The incident unfolded around 3:30 a.m. Saturday in the 4000 block of Oregon Avenue in the Dutchtown neighborhood.

Investigators say the victim, a 34-year-old man, was delivering a DoorDash order to a home when a suspect suddenly approached the passengers side of his car and produced a weapon. The suspect ordered the victim out of the car, snatched his keys, and took off in the northbound direction.

When and where the snow is expected to fall this week

Police are looking for the victims stolen vehicle, a black 2011 Nissan Sentra with Missouri license plate number VG9L8N.

If you have any information relevant to this information, contact the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department at 314-231-1212.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
UK Defence Intelligence has assessed that the downing of three Russian Su-34 fighter jets over the south of Ukraine has affected the operations of the Russians on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence review dated 6 January, as reported by European Pravda

Details: UK intelligence recalled that Ukrainian defenders downed three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers on the southern front on 22 December.

Quote: "Previously, Russian tactical air power had been playing a key role in the south, especially attacking Ukraine's bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River," the analysts said, adding that after 22 December, Russian fighter jets "almost completely ceased crewed operations" for some time.

"There is a realistic possibility that the lack of air support contributed to the failure of an attempt by Russian Ground Forces' 18th Combined Arms Army to clear the bridgehead," UK Defence Intelligence believes.

The report notes, however, that in recent days Russia has again intensified tactical airstrikes in the area of the Ukrainian bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro River, "at a lower level than before the shootdowns" of the Su-34s.

"This once again demonstrates that Russia's inability to establish air superiority in the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine war continues to undermine their daily operations," the review concludes.

Background:

On 5 January, UK Defence Intelligence reported that ground combat operations in Ukraine over the past week have featured either a static front line or very gradual, localised advances by Russian forces in critical areas.

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Volunteers deliver sandbags to protect houses around Marsh Lock at Henley after the River Thames flooded - Julian Simmonds

The number of properties flooded in England was announced to have almost doubled on Saturday, as officials warned that significant flooding impacts will last for days.

On Saturday, the Environment Agency (EA) revealed that 1,800 properties had been affected, with parts of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire suffering rising river levels over the previous 24 hours.

Areas of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire also continued to be affected.

The figure rose from that of 1,000 announced by the EAs chief executive on Friday morning.

Areas of Salisbury, Hants, are severely impacted by flooding - Declan Spreadbury/Solent News and Photo Agency

It came as the Government opened its financial support scheme for flood victims, with eligible households able to apply for 500 in immediate costs and small-to-medium businesses up to 2,500.

While the wet weather has passed major rivers will be slow to respond, with water running off the saturated landscape into the coming week.

Government officials and police urged motorists not to drive through flood water, following multiple reports of people having to be rescued.

Almost 250 flood warnings remain in place across England and Wales as conditions continue to cause travel problems across large parts of the country.

While the Met Office predicts the wet weather has passed, water levels remain high and colder temperatures are predicted for the next few days with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issuing a yellow cold weather alert.

David Walters, owner of Cresslands Touring park for caravans in Lincolnshire, said the heartbreaking floods had wiped out the inheritance he had hoped to leave to his daughter.

Flood water engulfed the property, before wrenching off the cap of a borehole as it receded.

Ive put blood, sweat and tears into this project for 11 years and this is my nest egg, he said.

When I was finished with it, I was going to sell it and give the inheritance to my daughter and that has disappeared, as the value of this land will have completely plummeted now due to this event.

Thats the most heartbreaking thing for me.

A man examines his submerged fuel pump at Henley-on Thames in Oxfordshire - JULIAN SIMMONDS FOR THE TELEGRAPH

In Gloucestershire, police said they had reported a taxi driver for offences after he tried to drive through flood water but got into difficulty.

Meanwhile police in Leicester described drivers moving warning signs in order to proceed up flooded roads as the height of stupidity.

Michael Gove, the communities secretary, said: If youve been affected by the recent severe flooding, you do not have to deal with it alone - we are providing financial help so you can recover as quickly as possible.

We know families and businesses are facing extreme challenges right now and we are doing all we can with our partners across central and local government to ensure communities are supported.

A woman carries a child through floodwater in Bathampton, near Bath in Somerset - Andrew Lloyd

Under the Flood Recovery Framework, flooded households in eligible areas can apply for up to 500 to help with immediate costs, while households and businesses in significantly affected areas will be eligible for total council tax and business rates relief for at least three months.

Small-to-medium-sized businesses in eligible areas can apply for up to 2,500, while eligible property owners will be able to apply for up to 5,000 to help make their properties more resilient to flooding in the future.

Farmers who have suffered uninsurable damage can apply for grants of up to 25,000.

Robbie Moore, the floods minister, said the Government had absolutely provided enough money for flood prevention.

The Keighley MP said: In those hard-hit areas weve experienced a huge amount of flooding, a huge amount of rain, not only here in Nottinghamshire but down in the Severn Valley in Gloucestershire, as well.

Significant river flooding impacts are still expected today and over the next few days across parts of the river Thames in Oxfordshire as well as the River Trent near Nottingham and the River Severn including Gloucester. The prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall has led to flooding impacts and our thoughts are with all of those affected.

We also urge people not to drive through flood water and follow advice of local emergency services on the roads  flood water is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.

On Saturday thousands of residents in 10 areas of Nottinghamshire were urged to consider evacuating their homes due to the state of the River Trent.

Nottinghamshire county council said the the river had reached the highest level at Torksey Lock since measurements began there in 2000.

You should consider whether you can stay with friends or family if possible, the council said.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch

Its never good when you get a text from your editor in the middle of the night. Typically it means youre being reprimanded for something. Possibly fired.

The one I got last night was worse than that.

Because I will forget in the morning, he wrote, tomorrows newsletter could be expanding on the idea you touched on today, how this primary has been almost entirely devoid of policy. But its also been devoid of direct attacks on Trumps fitness. So what has it been about?

What has it been about?

He meant the question earnestly, but it sounded like a riddlesomething a hermit would spend 10 years in a cave meditating on. Theres no answer in the conventional sense; its either a diabolical puzzle contrived to drive someone mad or a koan to lead them to a higher state of consciousness.

I couldnt sleep afterward. Despite following the campaign daily for more than a year, trying to find meaning in it felt like entering a hall of mirrors. What has the Republican primary campaign been about?

Scrolling through political news on Friday morning deepened the mystery. The frontrunner in the race is ranting about a defamation suit. The second-place candidate is being attacked on all sides over something as picayune as a gas tax. The third-place candidate proposed a flat tax at a town hall on Thursday evening, stunning the mediauntil they remembered that he proposed the same thing months ago.

No one cares about any of this. Its all forgettable, literally. Yet somehow its what the top three in the field are chattering about with Iowa preparing to vote in 10 days.

What has this campaign been about?

One possible answer is that right-wing politics isnt about anything anymore, really. When the House majority is being accused of having achieved nothing by its own members, you know were not in a golden age of Republican dynamism.

But that answer, that the GOP is a show about nothing, is hard to square with the consensus that next years election is of momentous importance.

So lets consider a second possibility, that a presidential primary being about nothing is more the rule historically than the exception.

What was the 2008 Republican primary about?

John McCain ended up winning it. Which big idea supposedly put him over the top?

He was pro-war, you might say. Right, but everyone in the field that year was pro-war save Ron Paul. And while its true that McCain was very hawkish, even relative to other hawks, its also true that being hawkish about Iraq was, er, not ideal for the general election.

Republican voters nominated him anyway. Why? Because, I suspect, he was a known quantity and seemed electable. Theres not much more to it than that.

Thats how it tends to go in presidential primaries, in both parties. Its why, after spending two years bathing in outrage over Obamacare, the GOP turned around in 2012 and nominated the guy who pioneered Obamacare-style universal health coverage in Massachusetts. Mitt Romney was an absurd choice on the policy merits, but he was well-known from his 2008 campaign and appeared eminently electable. And thats what matters.

The same goes for the Democratic primaries of 2016 and 2020. Bernie Sanders had an enthusiastic base of young progressives behind him and an agenda overflowing with bold ideas. More than that, he had the good fortune to face two neoliberals in Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden whom even a friendly political observer might delicately describe as underwhelming.

He lost both races. And each time, there was barely a pretense that his opponent won for reasons other than that they were electable and unusually well known. The core argument for nominating Biden was that he was an inoffensive, generic Democrat whod served as vice president and therefore could defeat Trump. The core argument for nominating Clinton was that it was, ahem, her turn.

Rarely will you go wrong running as the boring centrist whom everyone has heard of. But it does happen.

The two great exceptions in recent years were the 2008 Democratic primary and the 2016 Republican primary. Even then, though, its hard to say how much the upstart candidate owed his victory to policy differences with the rest of the field and how much he owed to pure charisma and a broad desire for capital-C Change.

Barack Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start; Hillary Clinton voted for it as a member of the Senate before turning against it. That difference surely helped him overtake her. But was that primary chiefly about Iraq? Or was it about the left feeling so exasperated by the Bush years that they craved the boldest possible break with politics as usual, which in this case meant electing the first black president in American history?

Trump had multiple meaningful policy differences with his opponents in 2016, splitting from the traditional Republican consensus on foreign policy and protectionism. He also changed the culture of his party more profoundly, and more rapidly, than any politician in my lifetime. Evangelical voters who had loathed Bill Clinton for his peccadilloes decided almost overnight that peccadilloes didnt matter to political leadership. Constitutional conservatives who made their bones during the Tea Party era became accomplices to a coup attempt in 2020.

But even that campaign wasnt ultimately about policy, I think. It was about persona. Trump was the incarnation of the grassroots rights contempt for its enemies outsideand especially insidethe party. Charismatic, uncouth, unconcerned with legal niceties, it was because he was a loose cannonthe craziest SOB in the race, to borrow a phraserather than in spite of it that he became the nominee. Hes the guy you nominate when your fondest political desire is to extend a middle finger to establishmentarians who look down on you, not because you have a keen interest in tariff policy.

Admittedly, he wouldnt have been the same candidate without his policy heresies. How different can an outsider be, after all, if he agrees with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell about everything? But I think, like Obama, Trump ultimately succeeded because he represented radical change in a way that transcended legislative preferences.

The DeSantis 2024 campaign sometimes feels like a lab experiment designed to prove that point, in fact. On policy after policy, the governor of Florida has staked out positions that are at least as populist as Trumps are, and often more so. His reward for his diligence is a deficit of 52 points in the latest national polling, leaving him in third place, a hair behind uniparty figurehead Nikki Haley. If Trumpmania is about policy, it sure is curious that an executive as accomplished as Ron DeSantis has performed so dismally, no?

So maybe the answer to the question of what the current primary is about is as simple as this: Its mainly about vibes, like presidential primaries always are.

And yet, that doesnt sit right in this cycle.

If ever there were a presidential primary that should have been about ideas, this is it.

To an extent greater than in 2008, 2012, 2016, or 2020, this years GOP primary involves two distinct, de facto parties competing under one partisan banner. Last years unprecedented leadership fiasco among House Republicans made that clearer than its ever been. Theres a populist party and a conservative party, they often want different things, and those differences are destined to come to the fore as they jockey for control.

One could argue, in fact, that there are three discrete parties at odds in the Republican race: the populists, represented by DeSantis; the conservatives, represented by Haley; and the Trumpists, represented by you-know-who.

There are a lot of points of ideological friction among those three entities that might plausibly cause a spark and then a fire. This isnt Obama and Clinton quibbling over whether universal health care should or shouldnt include an individual mandate. Its big stuff. How much of a priority is entitlement reform? Should there be federal restrictions on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy? Has aid to Ukraine grown too expensive or would cutting them off cost America too much global credibility?

Answering the question What was this campaign about? should have been unusually easy this time, not unusually hard.

In fairness to Nikki Haley and especially Ron DeSantis, they tried to make it easy.

Haley has attacked Trump for gladhanding dictators and running up unfathomable amounts of sovereign debt. Shes warned voters about unsustainable entitlements and pledged her support for Ukraine at every opportunity. DeSantis has criticized Trump on everything from COVID restrictions to the unbuilt border wall to abortion. During Thursdays televised town hall on CNN, he went as far as to accuse the frontrunner of not being pro-life. Hes even dinged him for wanting to build a new FBI headquarters in Washington instead of somewhere outside the Beltway.

The irony of complaining that the Republican primary hasnt been about anything substantive is that both of Trumps top challengers desperately wanted it to be, to the absolute exclusion of awkward conversations about certain candidates manifest unfitness for office. And they did their best to make it so.

Their problem, with the benefit of hindsight, is that if ever there were a presidential primary that couldnt possibly have been about ideas, this was it. It was destined to become a pure referendum on Trump. And so it has.

Start with the fact that hes a former president, the first time in generations that someone with that credential has sought to return to office. He isnt technically an incumbent, but hes sort of an incumbent, and presidential incumbents always, always manage to fend off their primary challengersusually with ease.

Viewed that way, Haley and DeSantis havent done terribly badly by holding Trump to around 60 percent of the Republican vote. Thats a ghastly landslide by the standards of normal competitive primaries, but no great shakes for an incumbent president seeking renomination. If eight years of your leadership has led 2 of every 5 voters in your party to prefer a different nominee, you have a problem. Potentially a serious one.

Trump isnt any ol former president either, of course. The share of Republicans who believe Joe Bidens victory in 2020 was legitimate is down to 31 percent and still shrinking, relieving him of the loser baggage that presidents ousted from office usually carry. His perceived political martyrdom was compounded when he was indicted (and indicted and indicted and indicted) last year, and has probably been compounded further by Democratic efforts to remove him from the ballot under the 14th Amendment.

It sounded like buck-passing when DeSantis complained recently that the indictments had sucked out a lot of oxygen from the race, but he was inescapably right. The sudden sharp shift in national polling immediately following Trumps first indictment proves it. If there were any chance of the campaign becoming something more than a referendum on whether to triple down on him, it was extinguished by his legal troubles.

But thats one big if. Had Trump never been indicted, I think its more likely than not that he would have won the primary anyway. Its a grim fact of this race that the architect of January 6 has polled higher than the combined share of DeSantis and Haleys vote on every day of the campaign, even before the first criminal charges were filed in Manhattan.

And so, if asked to summarize what the 2024 primary was about, I would say it turns out to be surprisingly simple: Its about retribution, just like the man said. Retribution for grievances real and imaginarybut mostly imaginary, like the unfair election of 2020. The modern right is built on spite for its political enemies, not on a policy vision. What did we think would happen once those enemies, electoral and institutional, decided that Trump is unfit to be president?

DeSantis and Haley seem to understand that, and they did the only thing they could think to dodoggedly make the case for preferring them on policy, scrupulously avoid aligning themselves with liberals who are challenging his fitness, and hope for a deus ex machina that will make Republican voters think better of this insanity before its too late. Here we are, just in case you decide you want to turn the page, they seem to be saying. In case you want something different.

One day shy of the third anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, its clear that those voters dont want something different.

And precisely because they dont, Joe Bidens plan to use January 6 as a core theme of the general election seems pretty savvy to me.

Hes speaking about it in Valley Forge as I write this.

Biden: He retreated to The White House. As America was attacked from within, Donald Trump watched on TV in the private small dining room of the oval office. The entire nation watched in horror, the whole world watched in disbelief, and trump did nothing. pic.twitter.com/OTzc4QLeb0  Acyn (@Acyn) January 5, 2024

However the average Republican voter may conceive of what the primary is about, the hard reality is that theyre about to embrace a coup-plotter as their champion. Therell be no avoiding that in the campaign to come, and thus no escaping the contempt many otherwise persuadable voters are destined to feel for the party writ large. DeSantis and Haley have each tried to warn primary voters about it in roundabout ways, to no avail.

As grotesque a political figure as Trump was in 2016 and 2020, in neither race were Republican voters ratifying the behavior of an insurrectionist. Some of us discerned from the beginning what he was capable of, but right-wingers have never gone to the polls knowing definitively that they were voting for someone who might compromise American democracy for the sake of his own power.

That will change 10 days from now in Iowa. Everyone knows who he is this time. Hes going to win the primaryand win handilyanyway.

Theres no policy dispute between the two sides that matters more than that to the future of the country, or should matter more to swing voters. Democrats will spend the next 10 months making sure its what the general election is about. They should.

Read more at The Dispatch

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The European Commission is working on "operational solutions" to assist Ukraine if the proposed $55 million funding package falls through, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference in Belgium on Jan. 5.

The European Council will hold a summit on Feb. 1 to discuss the four-year funding package for Ukraine, worth $55 billion (50 million euros). EU leaders failed to approve the funding agreement in December due to obstruction from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Von der Leyen said the aim is to secure unanimous agreement from the 27 member nations at the February summit.

"But, of course, we have to prepare for other options," she said.

Von der Leyen said the Commission is currently preparing "operational solutions" in the event the package fails to pass, though she did not disclose the details of those alternatives.

"Important to know is we have just released before Christmas the last tranche of our 18-billion-euro support package for Ukraine for 2023, so this will help Ukraine finance their needs for the beginning of this year," von der Leyen said.

Ukraine received 1.5 billion euros in the final installment of the EU's Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) package on Dec. 21.

"This gives us a little bit of leeway, but of course we have to work as hard and as fast as possible to deliver," von der Leyen said.

Von der Leyen addressed the issue of Ukraine aid at a joint press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who also expressed hope that EU leaders would reach a unanimous agreement.

"The aim is to come to an agreement with 27 countries, and we've had, over the past three years, other moments where there were doubts," De Croo said.

De Croo said he believed that the member states would be able to once again overcome those doubts and reach consensus.

Both De Croo and von der Leyen named support for Ukraine as the top priority for the EU going forward.

"We all witnessed Russia's recent brutal airstrikes on civilian targets in Ukraine, and after the historic decision to launch accession negotiations with Ukraine, we must urgently move forward on stabilizing our financial aid to the country," von der Leyen said.

"The Commission will come to the European Council with operation solutions to ensure that we can agree on the Ukraine facility."

Von der Leyen's visit to Belgium marked the start of the Belgian presidency of the European Council. Belgium will assume the presidency of the Council from Jan. 1 to June 30 2024, taking over from Spain.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
National tribute ceremony to late former EU Commission President Jacques Delors in Paris

(Reuters) - EU Council President Charles Michel will run in the election for European Parliament in June and will leave his post mid-July if he gets elected, he said in an interview with Belgian newspaper De Standaard published on Saturday.

"I have decided to run in the European elections in 2024," Michel said.

"If I get elected, I will take my seat. The European Council can anticipate and name a successor by end-June, early-July."

Michel, 48, is a former Belgian prime minister and has served as chief of the EU Council, the group of government leaders of the 27 EU member states, since late 2019.

He will run as the top candidate for his Belgian center-right Movement Reformateur party, De Standaard said.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Leslie Adler and Daniel Wallis)
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell speaks in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa

During a visit to Lebanon, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell called for de-escalation given the tense situation on the border with Israel and the raging Gaza war.

"We agreed to work together through diplomacy towards deescalation and long-term stability, which are in the interest of everyone," he said on X, referring to his meeting with Lebanon's acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

In a further post, Borrell also called for a political solution to end the Gaza war.

Lebanon should not be dragged into a regional conflict with Israel, the EU's foreign affairs chief said, according to the state agency NNA.

There would be no winners, he added, also addressing Israel.

Mikati said that a major attack in southern Lebanon would cause the region to "totally explode."

Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the massacre by terrorists from the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement and other extremists in Israel on October 7, there have been almost daily confrontations between Israel's army and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia in the border region.

It is the most serious escalation since the second Lebanon war in 2006, with regular shelling leading to deaths on both sides, including civilians.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press statement at the CSU's winter retreat in the Bundestag at Seeon Monastery. Peter Kneffel/dpa

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the year 2024 is "a key year for democracy" as Europeans are set to head to the polls amid ongoing major challenges for the continent, most notably Russia's continuing invasion of Ukraine.

"We have the elections in Europe, we have the elections in the United States of America. And we will do everything we can to ensure that open, free democracies prevail," von der Leyen told a retreat of Germany's Christian Social Union parliamentary group in Bavaria on Saturday.

Germany's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is the traditional party of Germany's conservatives. However the CDU is not represented in the southern state of Bavaria - instead, its sister party, the Christian Social Union, or CSU, is the party on the ground.

The European Parliament is set to be re-elected at the beginning of June, followed by the presidential election in the US on November 5.

Looking ahead, von der Leyen called for Europe to focus more on defence. "Europe must have protection as a core task," she said.

Following the conclusion of recent reforms to the EU's asylum system, she said, it must be very clear: "We have always honoured our international commitments... But it is we, the Europeans, who decide who comes to Europe and under what circumstances - and not the smugglers and traffickers."

Von der Leyen distanced herself from the CSU's proposal to reduce the European Commission, the EU's executive body, from the current 27 to seven commissioners.

She said that it was important for her to emphasize "that it is rightly a very important concern for all member states to be represented at European level."

"Representation in the European Commission by a commissioner is enormously important for the member states, especially for the smaller member states," she said, adding that this is why she holds the principle in such high regard.

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt said under his party's plans, there should be junior commissioners alongside the commissioners with large portfolios, so that all member states could be involved in the commission.

Dobrindt said he did not think that was a contradiction with von der Leyen's ideas.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C), Minister President of Bavaria and Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) Chairman Markus Soeder (R) and CSU Regional Group Leader Alexander Dobrindt take part in the CSU's winter retreat in the Bundestag at Seeon Monastery. Peter Kneffel/dpa
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  As Formula One has come and gone, some Las Vegas Valley businesses say they are still recovering from a weekend of losses while others report the race as their highest-grossing weekend ever.

Simran Singh has a constant reminder of the half-year construction project, which converted nearly four miles of public road into a world-class racetrack, outside her front door. Her husband and her own Las Vegas Souvenirs & Gifts, located directly next to a 750-foot-long temporary vehicular bridge built on Flamingo Road over Koval Lane that is still there.

Theyre supposed to take it down because look how slow it is, Singh said outside her store Friday morning, referencing a nearly empty storefront as cars flew over the bridge and past her business. It wasnt easy. We didnt get any business at all.

The temporary vehicle bridge on Flamingo Road over Koval Lane continues to be the focus of a undergo a traffic study by Clark County Public Works. (KLAS)

The potential of new customers stopping into the giftshop en route to their assigned F1 grandstand seat was enough to keep the Singhs excitement high. However, she said the excitement faded when the track fencing was installed directly in front of them making it a hassle for customers, primarily from the nearby Strip, to access them.

Those fences may be gone nearly two months later, but recovery is ongoing with the Flamingo Bridge still standing.

They pass the bridge and go all the way down, Singh said. Thats the kind of business that were losing. Thats not supposed to be happening.

Its a story that Andrew Woods, director of UNLVs Center for Business and Economic Research, knows well: which businesses won and which lost during Formula One?

It seems like a little bit of a tale of two different cities in terms of success or not, Woods said during a virtual interview.

MGM Resorts reported the three-day racing event as its highest-grossing weekend ever while dealers at Wynn Resorts reportedly split $1 million in tips over those three days. Its part of the $1.37 billion casinos won in November 2023 statewide. That number comes from the Nevada Gaming Control Boards most recent report, which shows the Strip hit its second-highest grossing month ever: $820,99,082. Thats 22.6 percent, or $151,478,070, more than revenue reported during November 2022.

However, as Woods acknowledged, that success was largely focused on the Strip. Downtown Las Vegas lost nearly $1.6 million in November 2023 compared to November 2022, per the report.

Other parts of town were very empty, Woods said. Sometimes, thats how events go in Las Vegas, right? There are certain events that some properties benefit off of and others may not.

Beyond the Flamingo bridge, F1 immediately reported after racing weekend that it also left behind $1.2 billion in economic impact. The official and certified amount is not expected from Clark County until later in January.

The racing giant also left behind nearly four miles of upgraded and repaved roads. But, as Clark County Commission Chair Tick Segerblom told 8 News Now on Thursday, their $40 million ask for the county to reimburse them may be left in the dust.

If we want to start talking about dollars and cents, lets look at what the county has expended to make that race happen. Lets look at what the citizens of Las Vegas have lost to make that race happen, Segerblom said, speaking of ongoing negotiations with F1 that have not seen any progress in recent weeks. Maybe they should be paying us money. They make money off our bridges. They make money everywhere.

While Las Vegas continues to await the official economic scope F1 left behind, businesses such as Singhs are bracing for a potential of nine more years of impacts as they recover from the first year.

Do you guys think youll be able to survive another 10 years of this race? 8 News Now Reporter Ryan Matthey asked. No, not at all, Singh said, staring at the nearby bridge potential customers could use to take their business elsewhere.

While F1 has another two years in its contract with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to race annually down the Strip, Clark County Commissioners have designated it an annual event for another nine years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  On Monday, Jan. 15, America and Salt Lake City will once again be working to honor civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and ABC4 will be broadcasting the 40th MLK Day Rally and March in his honor.

ABC4 is teaming up with the University of Utah Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Department to broadcast the event starting at 2:30 p.m. at East High School on S. 1300 East in Salt Lake City. It will start with a rally in the East High Auditorium with several guest speakers. At 3 p.m., the rally will move outdoors with a march from East High to Kingsbury Hall on the U of U campus.

Biden: Americans should pay attention to MLKs legacy

After the march concludes, cookies and warm drinks will be served at Kingsbury Hall, and Step Afrika!  the first professional dance company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping  will perform. Tickets to their performance are available online.

Drawing inspiration from the rhythmic and percussive styles of historically African American fraternities and sororities, Step Afrika! infuses these traditions with traditional West and Southern African dances, creating a unique and captivating performance that will leave you breathless, states the Step Afrika! website.

The entire event is free to the public. However, if you arent able to attend in person, ABC4 will be broadcasting the entire event on TV and online with hosts Emily Florez and Brien McElhatten, along with a host of ABC4 News personalities.

ABC4 and CW30 TV Schedules

Parking for the event will be available at East High and in the Northwest Garage and Lot 34 for the events at Kingsbury Hall. Shuttle rides back to East High will also be available after the march. Signs will also be available for marchers. Those with questions about the Rally and March can email edi-events@utah.edu

A Granddaughters Dream

Prior to broadcasting the Rally and March, ABC4 will also be airing a special entitled A Granddaughters Dream, starting at 2 p.m. An encore showing of the special will also occur the same night immediately following the NFLs AFC Wild Card game.

In the special, author and activist Yolanda Renee King discusses the significance of her familys legacy now that a new generation can fight where past generations have failed. Yolanda Renee King, 15, is the only granddaughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King and is the daughter of Martin Luther King III. She is the author of We Dream a World, which was published this week and is now available through Scholastic Books.

The special will also be aired on over 200 Nexstar Media television stations nationwide.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
ORLANDO, Fla.  An Orange County, Florida, teacher is facing federal charges after 28 sex videos of her and a former eighth-grade student were found on his phone.

Federal investigators said the students parents found video of Marie-Jo Gordo and their underage son, whom she taught in 2019, having sex in what appeared to be vehicles and hotel rooms throughout Central Florida. The videos were taken between June and September of 2023 and three were described in court filings.

Gordo was indicted Wednesday, facing three counts of sexually exploiting a minor. Investigators said she resigned from an unspecified charter school in Orange County in June before working at another school as an art teacher.

The teens parents reported their discovery to the Orange County Sheriffs Office in September, and provided authorities with his phone for review. Investigators found that many of the videos were recorded and sent from what they believe was Gordos phone.

The Seminole County Sheriffs Office interviewed the boy, who was identified in records only as CV and confirmed to detectives that he and Gordo had been seeing each other.

In addition to being his teacher in 2019, Gordo was his religious ambassador, according to the complaint. She was arrested in October.

Gordo has been released from custody and is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The Michigan Department of Attorney General is suing a Rockford business owner and his tree service companies, alleging illegal business practices like misleading customers and charging grossly excessive prices.

The AGs office says in 2022, it began to investigate Michigans Choice Tree Service, LLC, which is owned and operated by David Foster. It found evidence that Michigans Choice was confusing customers about their rights and misleading them about the agreements they were signing, the costs of the services and their responsibility for the costs insurance didnt cover, the office said Friday in a release.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Ingham Countys 30th Circuit Court and dated Jan. 3, Foster did not give any cost estimates and led customers to believe he would work with insurers so they would not have to pay anything out of pocket. Then, Michigans Choice would allegedly have customers sign contracts holding them liable for any costs that insurance did not cover.

The LLC also demonstrated a pattern of charging grossly excessive prices, the release says. The lawsuit alleges Michigans Choice charged about $20,500 for a job in Gaylord that took 3.5 hours, and when the insurer would not pay the full cost, Foster allegedly caused a lien to be placed upon the customers home.

After looking at the evidence, the AGs office issued a notice of intended action in February 2023. The office says Foster and Michigans Choice entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance the following month, agreeing not to violate the Michigan Consumer Protection Act and to give customers written price quotes before starting work or having them sign contracts.

During the same month, Foster allegedly created Storm Support Emergency Tree Removal, LLC, in the state of Wyoming, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General. The department says he did not file a certificate to conduct business in Michigan, allegedly violating the Limited Liability Company Act, but has continued to engage in the same alleged illegal business practices found in the prior investigation into Michigans Choice.

According to the AGs lawsuit, Foster and Storm Support have used unlawful contracts and oral representations and created confusion over customers rights. They have also allegedly overcharged customers: The attorney generals office says Storm Support charged about $23,700 to remove three branches from a roof in Lansing, about $39,500 to remove a tree that fell on a Grand Rapids house and about $26,100 to remove a tree that fell on a Cedar Springs home.

The attorney generals office says Foster, Storm Support and Michigans Choice have until Jan. 25 to respond to the lawsuit or face a default judgment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB Investigator-in-Charge John Lovell examines the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Portland, Ore. A panel used to plug an area reserved for an exit door on the Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner blew out Friday night shortly after the flight took off from Portland, forcing the plane to return to Portland International Airport. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP)

Air travelers will want to keep watch on the latest trouble facing the Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded 171 of the Boeing 737 Max 9 planes worldwide after a hole blew out of an Alaska Airlines plane Friday night on a flight out of Portland, Oregon. No one was injured in the incident, and the flight made a safe emergency landing back at Portland International Airport.

In a statement on Boeing's website, the aircraft company says: "Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers. We agree with and fully support the FAA's decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane. In addition, a Boeing technical team is supporting the NTSB's investigation into last night's event. We will remain in close contact with our regulator and customers."

But the involvement of the 737 Max airplane  previous safety concerns about the aircraft led to it being grounded for nearly two years  suggests there could be repercussions for the already troubled airplane fleet.

The National Transportation Safety Board has sent investigators to Portland to investigate the incident involving the Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282 bound for Ontario, California.

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane sits at a gate at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on January 6, 2024. Alaska Airlines grounded its 737 MAX 9 planes after part of a fuselage blew off during a flight from Portland Oregon to Ontario, California.

Plane crash: 'Saved by the Bell,' 'Speed Racer' actor Christian Oliver killed in plane crash with 2 daughters

Boeing 737 Max 9 aircrafts grounded by FAA, Alaska Airlines

The FAA said its Emergency Airworthiness Directive, affecting about 171 airplanes worldwide, would require inspections taking four to eight hours. "Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB's investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282," the agency said.

Before the FAA made their decision, Alaska Airlines had announced that it would be grounded its fleet of 65 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes. But on Saturday, shortly before the FAA statement, Alaska Airlines said in a post on X that inspections had been done on more than a quarter of its 737 MAX 9 aircraft with "no concerning findings." Flights on the fleet will return to service after successful inspections.

Since the aircraft is used by other airlines including United Airlines, Copa Airlines, Aeromexico and Turkish Airlines  according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company  other international agencies will be interested in any findings, too.

United Airlines released a statement to USA TODAY saying: "United has temporarily suspended service on select Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to conduct an inspection required by the FAA. We are working directly with impacted customers to find them alternative travel options."

USA TODAY spoke with Shem Malmquist, instructor at college of aeronautics at the Florida Institute of Technology, about the Alaska Airlines grounding.

"To the extent that they need to do anything, the question is: Do they need to ground all the airplanes and look at other ones or can they look at this and say, this was just this particular configuration?" said Malmquist, a current Boeing 777 captain and experienced accident and safety investigator. "Until they've looked at it nobody is going to be able to give you a truthful answer."

What happened to the Boeing 737 Max 9 jet on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282?

Alaska Airlines N704AL, a 737 Max 9 which made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a part of the fuselage broke off mid-flight on Friday, is parked at a maintenance hanger in Portland, Ore., Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer) ORG XMIT: ORCM102

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was at about 16,000 feet shortly after takeoff when an exit door plug, a section of the fuselage, blew out. The crew reported a "pressurization issue," according to the Federal Aviation Administration. One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.

"We need to turn back to Portland, the pilot told controllers in a calm voice that she maintained throughout the landing process.

Passenger Kyle Rinker described to CNN how "it was really abrupt. Just got to altitude, and the window/wall just popped off and didnt notice it until the oxygen masks came off. He posted a picture on X, formerly Twitter.

.oembed-frame {width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;border:0;}

When the wall of the plane just breaks off mid flight @AlaskaAir pic.twitter.com/pMWhpiHmFY  Kyle Rinker (@Kyrinker) January 6, 2024

The Alaska Airlines plane apparently had "plugged" a section of the plane that could be used as an exit door, with another cabin piece without a door, Malmquist said. The number of exit doors needed on a plane is based on the seating configuration, with more exits required as the number of passengers accommodated rises.

Without an exit door there "it's a bit lighter ... and it is a pretty big advantage to do that," Malmquist said. If it's determined that this configuration caused the incident, other airlines may not have to cancel any other flights, he said.

What could the Alaska Airlines incident mean for other airlines?

Alaska Airlines and investigators will look at whether the incident was caused by "that configuration or is it a general, larger problem," Malmquist said. "If it's a larger problem it's a big mess because that means it could open other doors or other windows. If it's just the plug windows, that greatly narrows the scope."

Any other airline that uses a similar configuration  plugging that exit door  "is probably going to be proactive," he said. "Airlines that are operating a different configuration may take more of a 'wait and see' (approach). They are going to be watching it closely."

What is the history of the Boeing 737 Max?

The aircraft involved in Friday's incident is a new addition to the Alaska Airlines fleet, having received its certification just two months ago, The Associated Press reported. It had flown 145 flights since entering commercial service on Nov. 11, according to FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircrafts third of the day.

The Max is the newest version of Boeings venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights.

The plane, which went into service in May 2017, has had controversy. Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people, resulting in a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. The planes returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.

And in December, the company told airlines to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

Malmquist is concerned these continued issues come as a result of Boeing's concern for costs over safety, as the company has offered senior engineers and other employees to retire. "In the entire process, there's a strong incentive to reduce costs and I think that although people who are in management realize that experience matters in management they don't necessarily realize that also equally applies to all the other various areas," he said.

What rights do passengers have when an airline grounds its fleets?

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's air consumer website, Alaska Airlines has committed to several remedies for passengers affected by "controllable" cancellations.

Those commitments include rebooking travelers on the airline or a partner airline at no additional cost.

Passengers can be given meal, meal cash or vouchers by Alaska Airlines when a cancellation forces them to wait more than three hours for a new flight. They can also receive hotel accommodations, and transportation to and from the hotel, from Alaska Airlines if affected by an overnight cancellation.

Passengers can receive credit, travel vouchers or frequent flyer miles if the canceled flight results in them waiting three hours or more from the scheduled departure time.

But, according to the DOT website, passengers cannot receive compensation from Alaska Airlines if a cancellation causes a person to wait more than three hours from the departure time.

What should travelers learn from the incident?

In the near-term, if you are traveling soon, check to see if you are traveling on this type of airplane. "I would consider seeing if you can switch," Malmquist said. "I would see what I can do to take a slightly later flight. That seems to me the logical thing."

And anytime, travelers should learn to fasten their seatbelts when on a flight. "I don't ever sit down without my seatbelt buckled," Malmquist said. "More likely, you will hit some turbulence for whatever reason that's not expected and you go flying into the ceiling. That can happen, too."

Also he suggests making sure you have your shoes on during takeoff and landing. If there's a quick evacuation, Malmquist said, "you don't want to be running across the pavement (without shoes). There might be glass and who knows what else?"

Contributing: Zach Wichter, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boeing 737 Max 9s grounded over Alaska Airlines incident: What to know
People sit on a plane next to a missing window and portion of a side wall of an Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, in Portland, Oregon

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive on Saturday temporarily grounding certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplanes until inspections are performed after an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday made an emergency landing following a cabin panel blowout.

The directive covers 171 airplanes, but leaves open questions about how recently inspections must have occurred before further flights can take place or detail the precise inspection requirements.

The FAA said the potential in-flight loss of a mid-cabin door plug "could result in injury to passengers and crew, the door impacting the airplane, and/or loss of control of the airplane."

Friday's structural failure of the Alaska Airline-operated plane left a rectangular hole in an area of fuselage reserved for an optional extra door, but which is disactivated on Alaska's aircraft and fitted with a special door replacement "plug."

The FAA's emergency airworthiness directive requires operators to inspect aircraft before further flight that do not meet the required inspection cycles, but it does not detail the precise figure.

The FAA must approve any inspection requirements that Boeing proposes.

Required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft, the FAA said.

Alaska Airlines said that after it had voluntarily temporarily grounded its fleet of 65 737 MAX 9 aircraft early Saturday, "it was determined that 18 had in-depth and thorough plug door inspections performed as part of a recent heavy maintenance visit. These 18 aircraft were cleared to return to service today."

United Airlines, the only other U.S. airline that operates Boeing's 737 MAX 9 jets, said it temporarily suspended service of 45 737 MAX 9 aircraft but would continue to operate 33 that have already received the necessary inspection that is required by the FAA.

Alaska canceled about 140 flights on Saturday, or 18% of scheduled operations, according to FlightAware, while United said it expected to cancel 60 flights because of the service issue.

The president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Sara Nelson, said the union "supports the FAA's quick and decisive action to ground certain 737 MAX 9 Fleet that do not meet the inspection cycles specified in the Emergency Airworthiness Directive."

Lawmakers called for quick action if any issues are discovered. "The NTSB (National Transporation Safety Board) and FAA must thoroughly investigate this incident to address an alarming breach of safety," said Senator Ted Cruz, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the FAA.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Chris Reese)
Officials prepare documents before distributing ballot boxes to the voting centres as part of election preparation, a day ahead of the general election in Dhaka

Officials prepare documents before distributing ballot boxes to the voting centres as part of election preparation, a day ahead of the general election in Dhaka

By Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh holds a general election on Sunday, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set to win a fourth straight term and the fifth overall for her Awami League-led alliance, despite an economy that required an international bailout last year.

Here are key facts about the election in the South Asian country of almost 170 million people:

* The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party of the ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is boycotting the poll after Hasina denied its demand to resign and let a caretaker government run the election.

* Violence erupted on the eve of the election, with a passenger train fire, which officials called arson, killing at least four people and several polling booths set ablaze around the country.

* Women make up almost half of the nearly 120 million eligible voters, while first-time voters number about 15 million.

* Nearly 2,000 candidates overall are vying for the 300 directly elected parliament seats, with a record high 5.1% women candidates.

* There are 436 independent candidates in the race, the most since 2001. The BNP says the Awami League has propped up "dummy" candidates to try to make the election look credible, a claim the ruling party denies.

* Hasina has been credited with turning around the $416-billion economy and its massive garments industry, while also winning international praise for sheltering nearly a million Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.

* But in recent months, the economy, once among the world's fastest-growing, was rocked by violent protests after a jump in the cost of living, as Bangladesh struggles to pay for costly energy imports amid depleting dollar reserves and a domestic currency.

* The International Monetary Fund cleared the first review of Bangladesh's $4.7 billion bailout in December, providing immediate access to $468.3 million and made $221.5 million available for its climate change agenda.

* Rights groups have accused the government of targeting opposition leaders and supporters, while Hasina and the Awami League have repeatedly condemned the BNP as troublemakers set on sabotaging the elections.

* Nearly 800,000 police, paramilitary and police auxiliaries will guard the polls on election day. Officials of the army, navy and air force have also been deployed.

* As many as 127 foreign observers will track the election process to assess its fairness, while 59 journalists from abroad have been accredited.

* The top buyer of Bangladeshi garments, the United States, warned in May that it would restrict visas for Bangladesh citizens who undermine the democratic election process.

* Voting begins at 8 a.m. (0200 GMT) and ends at 4 p.m. (1000 GMT). Counting will start soon after the end of voting, with initial results expected by Monday.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly in Dhaka; Editing by William Mallard)
(BCN)  The 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid and California Dream Act Application are now available online for students seeking financial aid for college.

Both financial aid forms, typically launched in October, were delayed while major revisions were made to the applications, according to the California Student Aid Commission.

Man with cancer marries love of his life at Wilma Chan Highland Hospital

The Federal Student Aid Office integrated tax data into the FAFSA form so most families will have prepopulated data on the form, making filing it more efficient. The formula to determine eligibility also has been updated to make more students eligible for aid, according to a news release from the California Student Aid Commission.

The new FAFSA application is in a soft launch phase, so it may not always be available initially while the office continues to make technical updates to the site. If information is submitted during the soft launch, it will be saved.

The California Dream Act Application also has been updated to simple steps and to implement recent legislation to embed an affidavit filers must complete to demonstrate their eligibility for financial aid. Previously, undocumented students had to fill these forms out separately.

Due to the delayed launch of the financial aid applications, the Cal Grant priority deadline has been extended to April 2. Students should also check with their college as there may be other deadlines to be considered for campus-based aid.

Copyright  2024 Bay City News, Inc.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
A nine-year-old Haverhill boy who was struck by a pick-up truck moments after getting off his school bus Thursday is in critical but stable condition, while the accused drunk driver remains in jail.

The boy, whose family members identified him as Yonis Rodriquez, a student at Pentucket Lake Elementary School, is in Childrens Hospital in Boston after being taken by MedFlight from the scene.

Prosecutors say Tiffany Zembower, 44, of Haverhill, was driving drunk with empty nips in her Toyota Tacoma when witnesses say she sped down Main Street and did not stop for the extended, flashing stop sign on the bus before hitting the boy.

After the impact, the driver stopped, and according to neighbor John Tyler, she attempted CPR on the child.

This lady got down, started giving the child CPR, mouth-to-mouth, pressing, Tyler said. The police came and pulled her off, and shes screaming things like, I brought him back to life.

Tyler told Boston 25 News the boy was unresponsive but said to be breathing.

That was the worst thing Ive seen, Tyler said. I dont want to see a child like that ever again.

Yoniss 18-year-old sister Stephanie Bonilla said her little brother has bleeding on his brain but she is hopeful he will recover and return home.

Bonilla was home when the incident happened. Her younger sister told her someone had been hit by a truck, but when her brother didnt return home, she went outside to find him severely injured and being treated by first responders.

I see them lift him up on the stretcher, and I guess I recognized his head, and I ran over, and I said, Thats my little brother, Bonilla said.

Zembower was arrested Thursday night and arraigned Friday on several charges including operating under the influence of liquor  second offense, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and failure to stop for a school bus.

Prosecutors said Zembower lied to investigators at the scene, initially saying her fiance had been driving the truck before changing her story to say she had been driving but the boy had appeared out of nowhere.

Zembower allegedly failed field sobriety tests and had red, glassy eyes.

A plea of not guilty was entered on Zembowers behalf Friday, and she was held on $25,000 bail.

Zembower has received several driving citations over the years, including one in 2014 for failing to stop for a school bus.

Im a little upset she pleaded not guilty, Bonilla said, because you know what you did, you were there, you witnessed it, you did it.

As Yoniss sisters pray for the recovery of a little boy they call funny, kind and respectful, they are trying to stay strong and positive for him.

I am just trying to be happy, Bonilla said. So, when he comes home, its not like he comes home to a sad environment; he comes home to a happy, loving home.





This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Stark County Minority Business Association

Stark County Minority Business Association and the Minority Business Assistance Center have announced a financial literacy workshop this month.

The workshop, planned for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 16 at Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, 222 Market Ave. N in Canton.

Those who attend will gain an understanding of business organizational structures, including sole proprietorship, partnerships, limited liability companies, C-corporations and S-corporations. Knowledge in these areas helps while making decisions that can significantly impact the growth and sustainability of a business.

The workshop is specifically designed to cater to the unique needs of minorities, women and veteran-friendly business owners.

"We are thrilled to partner with KeyBank to bring another Capital Conversations workshop to our community, said Skyler Parks, MBAC business adviser. This is a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds to gain valuable insights into the nuances of business structures and financial literacy.

The event will include a complimentary, catered lunch.

KeyBank representatives will lead the workshop, offering advice and practical knowledge. For more information or to register, check the Stark County Minority Business Associations website.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Financial literacy seminar set for Jan. 16
The Finnish government plans to ban the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2025

The Finnish government plans to halt the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2025, the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported on Jan. 5.

"The government is getting ready to ban Russian LNG imports to Finland, to enforce it in 2025," said Kai Mykkanen, Finland's Environment and Climate Change Minister.

This prohibition could be set in motion through EU gas market reform, greenlit in early December. Mykkanen acknowledged the challenges in reaching a consensus on fresh sanctions within the energy sector.

Read also: First part of Finland's national plan for Ukraine's reconstruction published

"It would be straightforward if the EU collectively decided on the matter, but some member states are not on board, Mykkanen said.

The reality is that such a decision cannot be easily reached within the EU."

Gasum, a Finnish state-owned gas company, continued Russian LNG imports throughout the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, citing contractual obligations and a longstanding gas supply agreement with Russia's Gazprom.

Read also: Finland announces $117 million military aid package for Ukraine

Since the start of the war, Gasum says that it.has only purchased the minimum amount of gas from Gazprom stipulated in the agreement, refraining from disclosing specifics on the agreement's duration or the minimum purchase volume.

In 2023, Finland continued to import Russian natural gas on a monthly basis. The value of these imports was over EUR 100 million ($110 million) per month before Russia cut off pipeline gas supplies to Finland in May 2022, for refusing to comply with the Russian side's demands to switch to a new gas payment system in rubles.

Finland continued LNG imports from Russia through the Uusikaupunki port terminal, where 51% ownership belongs to the Russian company Novatek, with the remaining 49% owned by Russian gas monopolist Gazprom.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Abortion rights activists rally after the US Supreme Court striked down the right to abortion, in Miami, Florida, in June 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

Activists seeking to amend Floridas state constitution to protect abortion rights received the requisite number of signatures to put the amendment on the ballot in November.

Pro-abortion rights activists have sought to follow the path of supporters of abortion rights in Ohio, who last year successfully put an amendment to its state constitution defending abortion rights on the ballot, which passed.

In recent years, Florida has severely restricted abortion. In 2022, Gov Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, signed legislation that banned abortion after 15 weeks. In 2023, Mr DeSantis went a step further and signed legislation banning abortion at 6 weeks.

The fact that we only launched our campaign eight months ago and weve already reached our petition goal speaks to the unprecedented support and momentum there is to get politicians out of our private lives and health care decisions, Lauren Benzel, campaign director for Floridians Protecting Freedom, said in a statement. Most initiative campaigns never make it this far. The ones that do usually spend far more or take much longer to qualify, which is why were so confident that voters will approve our amendment once theyre given a chance to vote.

The group said it has gathered more than 1 million petition signatures with just 891,523 needed. The Florida Division of Elections website stated on Friday that 910,946 had been verified.

The initiative says that No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare provider. It adds that the amendment does not change the Legislature's constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.

The initiative could also likely help Democrats boost turnout in a state that has moved decidedly into the Republican column in recent elections. Florida has no statewide elected Democrats, with its last one, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, losing her campaign for governor in the Democratic primary in 2022.

Ms Fried, now the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party praised the milestone on Friday.

Normally getting texts in the middle of the night is never good. But learning that the people of Florida did it, that we are going to take back our rights, I will take every night.



Congratulations to the people of Florida & all of the grassroots organizers. We will https://t.co/VJujfwYSoZ  Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) January 5, 2024

Normally getting texts in the middle of the night is never good, she said on X, formerly Twitter. But learning that the people of Florida did it, that we are going to take back our rights, I will take every night. 

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in its 2022 Dobbs v Jackson decision, every initiative that has attempted to restrict abortion, including in Kentucky, Montana and Kansas has rejected ballot initiatives to restrict abortion access. Conversely, states like California, Michigan and Vermont have voted to protect and enshrine abortion rights.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former congresswoman looking to unseat Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R), compared the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol to attacks on democracy in Latin American countries.

Ecuador-born Mucarsel-Powell, the first member of Congress born in South America, fled her birth country as a teenager with her family in 1985.

As a South American immigrant with family still in Latin America, Ive seen the effects of authoritarian regimes firsthand, and the fight to protect democracy at home and abroad is personal to me, she told The Hill.

Like so many immigrants in Florida, I came to the United States in search of the safety and stability of American democracy, the former lawmaker added. Weve seen democracies attacked abroad, and Ive watched as spineless leaders have remained silent in the face of authoritarians  but I never expected that to happen here.

Mucarsel-Powell is in a crowded primary, though shes posted the highest fundraising numbers of any Democrat so far.

More Top Stories from The Hill

While Scott is also facing primary challengers, he is widely expected to retain the Republican nomination and is the favorite to win the general election. But, he is perceived as the closest thing to a vulnerable GOP Senate incumbent.

Scotts campaign did not wish to provide comment.

Mucarsel-Powell served one term representing Floridas southernmost district, which had been notorious for flipping parties, but she lost to Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R) in 2020, when Republicans made massive gains in South Florida.

That election cycle ended on Jan. 6, 2021, with the certification of President Bidens win following the attack on the Capitol.

Since then, political divisions have grown, Republicans have won a House majority, former President Trump has taken a seemingly insurmountable lead in the GOP presidential race and campaign rhetoric has heightened, particularly against immigrants.

Trump has added references to immigration poisoning the blood of this country to his stump speech, drawing criticism and comparisons to former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler from the left.

Those comparisons have drawn mostly eyerolls from Trump allies, who see the left as grasping at straws to demonize the former president, though some like Gimenez have softly pushed back at the rhetoric.

Rick Scott has remained silent as Donald Trump echoed Hitlers rhetoric, Mucarsel-Powell said. He defended Trumps involvement in the January 6th insurrection.

The former representative, who is investing heavily and early to reach Floridas different Hispanic groups, compared his behavior to the regimes of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela.

By choosing to put party before country and standing with Donald Trump, Rick Scott is standing with dictators that destroy freedom and democracy like weve seen in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela, she said. Rick Scott is a threat to democracy, and we have to stand strong against him and these attacks.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) arrives for an all Senators meeting to hear from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discuss future aide for the war effort on Thursday, September 21, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Republicans have had success painting Democrats in South Florida as sympathetic to those left-leaning dictatorships, but Mucarsel-Powell is using her personal experience with Latin American authoritarianism as a shield against those accusations.

My story is like the story of so many Latinos that have come here to work hard and look for opportunities. Theyre looking, actually, for safety. Many Latinos have fled political violence, she told The Hill. And then they come here and then they find themselves living in a country where the rise of violence continues.

Mucarsel-Powell, whose first language is Spanish, is also making a point of appearing on Spanish-language news radio on a daily basis, tapping into the heart of South Floridas political scene.

There, shes been leveling attacks commonly used against Scott  including by his primary opponents  but reaching an audience thats usually segregated from such direct contact with statewide candidates.

The Senate hopeful believes her early and bilingual Hispanic outreach is the key that will unlock Florida for Democrats after two disastrous campaign cycles.

Throughout his political career, Scott has been lambasted by attacks on his fortunes origin, a settlement after a complex fraud case involving the company he ran, Columbia/HCA, once the countrys largest health care company.

Mucarsel Powell called that chapter the largest Medicare fraud ever committed in the history of this country.

Scotts also drawn fire for his opposition to public health care programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and has publicly butted heads with GOP leadership, even challenging Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

But Scott has proven resilient to political broadsides.

Mucarsel-Powell wants to crack that code with a bilingual delivery of attacks on Scott, her personal story, and an anti-extremism pitch.

Ive done everything I can to work with Republicans to serve the people of Florida. I did that as it pertained to Everglades restoration funding, she said. I did a lot of work with [Rep.] Brian Mast [R-Fla], trying to protect our clean water here in the state of Florida, [former Rep.] Francis Rooney [R-Fla.].

And always, always [I] will sit down and be willing to work with whomever wants to work, to reduce the cost of living, to help families here in Florida thrive, Mucarsel-Powell added. We cant continue to have people leaving our state because theyre scared, because they cant afford to live here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON  The Food and Drug Administration on Friday cleared the way for Florida's first-in-the-nation plan to import prescription drugs from Canada, a long-sought approach to accessing cheaper medications that follows decades of frustration with U.S. drug prices.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the plan into law in 2019, but it required federal review and approval by the FDA, which controls prescription drug imports.

Democratic President Joe Biden has backed such programs as a way to lower prices, signing an executive order in 2021 that directed the FDA to work with states on imports.

The White House called Fridays action a step in the right direction, and encouraged more states to apply for importation.

For too long, Americans have been forced to pay the highest prescription drug prices of any developed nation, White House spokesperson Kelly Scully said in a statement.

Canada warns plan could be impractical due to shortages

But even as U.S. politicians applauded the plan, Canadian health providers said it was impractical given the supply challenges the country already faces.

Historically, weve had some pretty devastating drug shortages in Canada, Joelle Walker, spokesperson for the Canadian Pharmacists Association, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation So the idea that they could import them from us is not really feasible."

The policy represents a major shift in the U.S. after years of successful lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry, which said imports would expose U.S. patients to risks of counterfeit or adulterated drugs. The FDA also previously warned of the difficulties of assuring the safety of drugs originating from outside the U.S.

But the politics surrounding the issue have shifted in recent years, with both parties  including former President Donald Trump  doubling down on the import approach.

Jeff Johnson, director for AARP Florida, said he was excited about the federal decision, though he said its only one step of many the group would like to see to help lower prescription drug costs. He noted savings wont be noticed by most people, but the state will save money overall.

Unless our healthcare coverage comes through Medicaid or through some another state-run program, we probably wont save that money on prescription drugs, Johnson said. If there are enough different things out there that help reduce drug prices, together theyll make a difference.

The FDA said Floridas program will be authorized for two years, though imports won't begin immediately. Under federal requirements, state officials must first test the drugs to make sure theyre authentic and relabel them so that they comply with U.S. standards.

Floridas health department must also provide a quarterly report to the FDA on the types of drugs imported, cost savings and any potential safety and quality issues.

The FDA action was first reported by The New York Times.

DeSantis, who is battling Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, previously sued the Biden administration for allegedly delaying approval of the import program. Several other states are also awaiting federal approval.

After years of federal bureaucrats dragging their feet, Florida will now be able to import low-cost, life-saving prescription drugs, said DeSantis in a statement.

While US officials applaud approval, pharmaceutical industry balks

The FDA is likely to face legal challenges over the decision, which the pharmaceutical industry's trade organization called a serious danger to public health.

We are deeply concerned with the FDAs reckless decision to approve Floridas state importation plan," the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said in a statement Friday.

Many people already buy at least some of their medicines from pharmacies in Canada or Mexico, although technically its illegal to import them.

Work on allowing state imports began under Trump, a relentless critic of industry pricing.

Under the current regulations, states can import certain medicines through pharmacies and wholesalers. DeSantis has previously estimated taxpayers could save up to $150 million annually under the program.

The states proposal includes a number of drug classes, including medications for asthma; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD; diabetes; HIV and AIDS; and mental illness.

The medications would be only for certain people, including foster children, inmates, certain elderly patients and  eventually  Medicaid recipients.

Like most developed nations, Canada sets limits on the prices drugmakers can charge if they wish to enter the market. Health officials there have suggested their countrys prescription drug market is too small to have any real impact on U.S. prices.

Until recently, the U.S. government had almost no leverage over the prices set by drugmakers. Only in 2022 did Congress pass a law allowing the federal government to negotiate prices for a small number of medications used by seniors in the Medicare program. The first such negotiations are set to take place later this year.

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed to this story.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida can import prescription drugs from Canada, FDA says
As school administrators and teachers struggle to affirm their LGBTQ+ students in Florida, some locales are working with Equality Florida to implement strategies that allow for the use of preferred pronouns and names with parental permission.

Floridas Leon County is among the school districts implementing these LGBTQ+ guidelines. This move comes after the state passed legislation in 2023 restricting the use of preferred pronouns and names in education.

The law, part of the expanded Parental Rights in Education bill, commonly referred to by critics as the dont say gay law, bars public school teachers from using pronouns that dont align with students' sex assigned at birth and prohibits staff from asking students about their preferred pronouns.



In contrast, some districts, with the help of Equality Florida, are formulating policies allowing the use of preferred pronouns and names with parental consent. This civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy group assists in creating inclusive guidelines addressing issues like pronoun usage, dress codes, and bathroom use. Esme Rodriguez of Equality Floridas Safe and Healthy Schools team stressed the importance of these guidelines in navigating the legal landscape while affirming students identities, Tallahassee public broadcasting affiliate WFSU reports.

Rodriguez noted that confusion regarding pronoun usage in schools has been a significant issue. The guidelines clarify that students can use their preferred pronouns with parental consent. Additionally, if a teacher is uncomfortable using a students preferred pronouns, the team works to place the student in a more affirming classroom environment.

"A lot of school districts were like, 'Oh my gosh, can we use this transgender student's pronouns?' And yes, you can, if there's parent or guardian signature and permission," Rodriguez said. "When we're talking about parental rights, it's about all parents, right?

Furthermore, in response to legislation mandating the use of public bathrooms corresponding to ones birth sex, Equality Florida continues to advocate for more single-stall, gender-neutral bathrooms. This initiative aims to ensure privacy and respect for all students.

These efforts have increased since 2018 due to legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community, mainly as Floridas Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, aimed at marginalized people in his war on all things woke. The broad wording of these laws, particularly concerning instruction on gender and sexuality, has had a chilling effect.

"Sometimes teachers are scared to use a student's affirmed pronoun because they don't want to do anything against the law and lose their teaching credentials," Rodriguez explained. "So those guides protect the teachers and the district and have gone through the school board attorneys."

Hillsborough County Public Schools and Pinellas County District, among others, have released resource guides. These guides provide clarity on restroom and locker room access for transgender students, freedom of expression in dress codes, and the overall safety and dignity of students. This initiative continues a broader trend of school districts grappling with state laws while striving to support and respect their LGBTQ+ students.
As the search for the Ocala mall shooter continues, the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) has said it increased the reward for information leading to his arrest.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Back on Dec. 23, 2023, the Ocala Police Department received a call regarding a shooting at the Paddock mall with multiple shots fired. The report came over the dispatch radio as an active shooter situation and police responded with a heavy police presence of officers. Officers immediately entered the building to eliminate any threat. Police discovered that there was no active shooter but that one had occurred.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

One adult male was found deceased, and one woman, who sustained a gunshot wound, was taken to the hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. The victim of the shooting has been identified as David Nathaniel Barron, 40.

Original Story: Man killed, woman injured in shooting at Florida mall; police identify suspect

Deputies quickly identified Albert Shell Jr., 39, as the murder suspect.

Since the shooting, an initial reward of $5,000 was offered. On Dec. 24, the reward ballooned to $15,000.

On Friday, FSA said that at the request of Sheriff Billy Woods, it offered an additional $5,000 reward through its Criminal Apprehension Assistance Program (CAAP). The total reward is now up to a total of $20,000.

Related Story: Ocala Police Department offers $5,000 reward for information about mall shooter

This criminal act committed in a crowded mall with no regard for the safety of our citizens, has affected all of us, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods. I appreciate the FSA standing with us and offering an increased reward as we work to bring this criminal to justice.

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The sheriffs office said an extensive manhunt has been underway involving multiple law enforcement agencies. They are urging the public to call 352-369-7000 with any information that could help locate and apprehend Shell Jr.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Following are impressions from the main foreign exhibits at Vietnam Defence 2022

Russia

At the Vietnam Defense Exhibition, Russia was represented by Rosoboronexport, Rostec, and United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), but the displays mainly consisted of models. The Russian exhibit reflected their attempt to focus on what works in combat and minimize focus on the hardware that has shown poor performance in Ukraine. In this context, artillery rocket systems of various sizes, including a compact launcher of six 300mm rockets adapted for light trucks, were on display, with rockets modified to provide precision strike capability with an accuracy of 30 meters at a flight distance of 120 km. This trend is likely the Russian response and lessons from the successful performance of the Lockheed Martin M-142 HIMARS  the US equivalent used extensively by Ukraine with its M31 227mm precision-guided rockets. To gather accurate target information at these ranges, Russian artillery units could use the Orlan drones, which were also on display.

India

India had a strong presence at the exhibition, with 20 exhibitors from the public and private sectors and research and development organizations. The main focus was on the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which has achieved operational capability with the Indian navy and army and is being flight tested on Indian Su-30 MKI strike fighter jets similar to the Su-30s used by Vietnam. India has already sold the BrahMos to the Philippines and is negotiating to sell it to Indonesia and Vietnam. Other weapon systems promoted at the exhibition included the AKASH air defense systems, ASTRA beyond visual range air-to-air missile (also developed for Indias Su-30MKI and Tejas MK1), and an 88 wheeled Armored Platform (WhAP) APC that could potentially replace Vietnams legacy BTRs.

US

Since lifting trade sanctions in 2016, the US has gradually increased defense trade with Vietnam, including selling T-6C training aircraft and pilot training through Foreign Military Support funds. Sales of F-16 fighter jets and C-130J transport aircraft are also in the works. Participating companies included Lockheed Martin, Textron, Honeywell, and Aerovironment.

Israel

In recent years, Vietnam has been looking to diversify its arms suppliers beyond Russia and has already acquired Israeli Spyder air defense systems and Trigon coastal defense rockets. Vietnam has also expressed interest in the Israeli Barak 8 air defense system as part of a $500 million investment.

Czech and Slovak Republics

The Vietnam defense market is of interest to the Czech and Slovak defense industries, which are organized under the CSG group. This enterprise brings together 11 companies from both countries, including Excalibur Army (armored vehicle manufacturer), Tatra Defense Vehicles (truck producer), MSM Group (ammunition provider), Retia (radar specialist), and others.

Read more on Vietnam Defence 2022 in this post
A Florida woman who has been in jail since 2022 is pregnant, prompting an investigation

A woman who has been in a Florida county jail since June 2022 is pregnant, according to her sister and her attorney, who are demanding answers from corrections officials.

Daisy Link, 28, called her family on Christmas Day to say she was almost four months pregnant, according to her sister, Crystal Barreto.

I was lost for words. I couldnt believe what I was hearing, Barreto, who lives in Homestead, Florida, said in a phone interview. Right away, I was concerned about Daisy and her safety.

Daisy Link. (Courtesy Crystal Barreto)

Link is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County on a charge of second-degree murder, jail records show. She is also charged with battery by a detainee on a visitor or other detainee. Her case has not gone to trial yet.

In her first interview about Links pregnancy, Links criminal defense attorney, Marlene Montaner, told NBC News that the second-degree murder charge stems from a domestic violence incident in which Link fired a single gunshot while attempting to protect herself from an abusive partner. She shared photos with NBC News of Link with blood on her shoulders and head that Montaner said was the result of abuse Link had endured days before she fired the weapon in June 2022.

Both Montaner and Barreto have been trying to get Link released on house arrest, especially now that she is pregnant. Neither knows how she got pregnant. The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department did not comment on who may have impregnated Link and Barreto said that her sister has not told her what happened.

My sister, when she was able to call us here and there, was trying to tell us pieces of the story, but is very scared to say anything over the phone because her calls are being recorded, Barreto said.

Montaner said the allegations right now are that its another inmate, but said she does not yet have additional information. The county jail houses male and female inmates, separated by floor.

Montaner added that she doubts implausible reports that were published in other media outlets that suggested the pregnancy may have been the result of a male inmate passing semen through an air conditioning vent. Barreto also said she doesnt believe that story.

Regardless, Montaner said, she blames the corrections officials.

No matter how you slice this for them, at the end, they are at fault for her pregnancy, she said, adding: I want answers.

Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami. (Google Maps)

A spokesman for Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation said in an emailed statement that the matter is under active investigation and that corrections staff were told by an inmate on Dec. 23 that she believed she is pregnant. The pregnancy was confirmed after a thorough medical exam through our Correctional Health Services partners, the statement said.

According to Barreto, Link said she had tried telling jail officials about her pregnancy earlier.

They laughed at her. They told her, Youve been in here going on two years. Who are you going to be pregnant by, aliens? Like, mocking her, Barreto said.

Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation declined to comment further on the investigation but said it has seen no evidence that the pregnancy was the result of a sexual assault.

While there is no evidence of sexual battery against our inmate at this time, the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy are currently under active investigation, the departments spokesman said.

Pregnant inmates receive timely and appropriate prenatal care, he added.

The MDCR has healthcare procedures in place to ensure the safety of all those in our custody, any unborn child, and staff, in any case of pregnancy while in our care, he said.

But Links family remains concerned.

Nobody should come out pregnant in jail. This is really ridiculous, Barreto said. Were just very worried about Daisy and her well-being, her safety and the safety of her unborn child.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's decree giving Russian citizenship to abducted Ukrainian children violates international law, Ukrainian legislation, and the rights of these children, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Jan. 6.

According to the Ministry, this decree is part of Russia's broader demographic strategy to weaponize war refugees and legitimize their occupation, and the Kremlin is introducing new legislation aimed at preventing abducted Ukrainian children from returning to their homeland.

Read also: Ukraine successfully returns nearly 400 children kidnapped by Russia

However, these children remain citizens of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian authorities will continue to take all possible measures to protect their rights and freedoms, the Ministry emphasized.

"The real value of this decree is that it will serve as further evidence of Russia's crimes against Ukraine, the forced assimilation of Ukrainian children, and the attempts to deprive them of their own homeland," the statement reads.

The Foreign Ministry called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider the actions of the Russian leadership and urging the international community to implement the ICC arrest warrant for Putin as soon as possible.

Earlier, Ukraines human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced that Putin had signed Decree No. 11 on granting Russian citizenship to foreigners, including children from Ukraine.

Read also: First Lady Zelenska highlights plights of Ukraines children, confirms 504 dead, almost 20,000 kidnapped

The decree refers to orphans and children who lack guardians and possess Ukrainian citizenship. It allows them to be given Russian citizenship via dictatorial fiat, without taking into account "certain requirements of federal legislation.

On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on charges of committing war crimes in connection with the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution recognizing the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide on April 27.

According to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the Russians have stolen almost 20,000 children from occupied Ukrainian territories, and approximately 6,000 are being held in re-education camps.

The number of Ukrainian children illegally deported to Russia may have reached as many as 300,000, according to figures quoted by the European Parliament. MEPs believe that Russia began abducting Ukrainian children in 2014, ever since the occupation of Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Former federal judge Michael Luttig argued Saturday that former President Trumps violation of the 14th Amendment couldnt be any clearer.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment simply could not be any clearer that the former president is disqualified from the presidency as the Colorado Supreme Court held, Luttig told MSNBCs Ali Velshi on Saturday, the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

His argument comes just one day after the Supreme Court decided it would look into the Colorado decision on whether Trump could be disqualified from appearing on the states primary ballot for his actions related to the insurrection.

Luttig, who said he has spent the last three years studying the amendment, believes the high court  which currently leans Republican  will likely look for every legitimate way possible to avoid an opinion on whether Trump can be disqualified from running for office again.

However, Luttig said there are very few, if any, off-ramps that would allow the nations highest court to avoid making that decision.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case on Feb. 8.

The 14th Amendments insurrection clause prohibits anyone from holding office if they have engaged in insurrection after previously taking an oath to support the Constitution.

Luttig previously argued that the Colorado Supreme Courts decision is not anti-democratic, but rather Trumps conduct that prompted the disqualification was anti-democratic.

What the American public is going to come to understand is that the Constitution of the United States is what will forbid the former President from  holding the office of the presidency again, if thats the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, Luttig said Saturday.

So that is not a question  thats open to the American people, he continued. The Constitution, the United States has settled this issue, beginning with the ratification of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in 1868, provided that thats what the Supreme Court of the United States holds.

Luttig suggested that the framers of the 14th Amendment envisioned precisely this moment  when a president would attempt to remain in power after losing an election. He said the disqualification clause is perhaps the most democratic provision in the Constitution.

This will be one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions for both American democracy and for American politics since the founding of the nation, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A former chief of staff to Wayne LaPierre  who resigned as the National Rifle Associations chief executive on Friday  has agreed to a $100,000 settlement in connection with a civil lawsuit filed by the New York attorney generals office.

As part of the settlement announced on Saturday, Joshua Powell  one of five defendants in the lawsuit against the NRA, a gun-rights organization  admitted to wrongdoing in failing to fulfill his fiduciary responsibilities and misusing charitable funds.

Related: Wayne LaPierre: the man who remade the NRA as the good guy with a gun

Joshua Powells admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierres resignation confirm what we have alleged for years: the NRA and its senior leaders are financially corrupt, a statement from the New York attorney general, Letitia James, said. These are important victories in our case, and we look forward to ensuring the NRA and the defendants face justice for their actions.

The New York attorney generals office sued the NRA after alleging the organizations senior management misused millions of dollars to fund the use of private jets, expensive meals and family trips to the Bahamas. The office has noted that the NRA, registered as a not-for-profit charity in New York, had legal obligations to use its funds for charitable purposes.

The NRA and its senior officials have repeatedly but unsuccessfully sought a dismissal of the lawsuit. They also tried but failed to secure a change in trial venue.

In January 2021, the NRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Four months later, a Texas court rejected its petition as being filed in bad faith.

The civil trial against the NRA and its senior management is scheduled to begin on Monday.

LaPierre, 74, announced his resignation on Friday  the last business day before the trials scheduled start  citing health concerns. His resignation is set to take effect on 31 January.

He has led the NRA since 1991. As head of the organization, LaPierre was well known for extreme rightwing rhetoric in opposition to growing calls for substantial gun-control legislation in response to the epidemic of mass shootings in the US.

For instance, after 20 children were shot to death in their Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school in 2012, many people expected that the NRA would be forced to be conciliatory. LaPierre instead responded with a news conference in which he said: The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. He advocated for simply placing armed guards in schools across the US.

The lawsuit against the NRA and its senior management accuses LaPierre of using the organizations funds for personal travel, including to pay for flights that his associates or family took without him even onboard.
HANCOCK  Although Finlandia Universitys final class of graduates received their diplomas last spring, the colleges legacy will live on thanks to Finlandia Foundation National.

Finlandia Foundation National (FFN), a nonprofit founded in Pasadena, California in 1953 to support and promote Finnish-American interests and offer related programming, scholarships and grants, recently announced they had purchased two buildings that were formerly a part of Finlandia University.

The foundation now owns the structures that house the Finnish American Heritage Center at 435 Quincy St. and North Wind Books store at 437 Quincy St. in Hancock. According to a press release from the foundation, the acquisition is the next step in their mission to preserve the Finnish cultural institutions that faced an uncertain future when the school announced its closure in March 2023.

Marissa Schilling, who received a bachelor's degree in nursing, was the last graduate on stage Sunday, May 7, 2023, at Finlandia University in Hancock, Mich. The school closed after more than 100 years, due to low enrollment, debt and other challenges.

More: After 100-plus years, last graduates leave Michigan college

More: Up North's Finlandia University to close after this school year

In order to do this, the foundation has launched a $3 million campaign and has now been able to purchase the two buildings, the archival material, artwork, artifacts, inventory and the resources related to the Finnish American Folk School thanks to the support of donors. They have also secured the positions of the six staff members who are responsible for the ongoing programs, operations and conservation of and care for the material assets.

With the acquisition of these cultural institutions, FFN moves into the next phase of its overall plan to make them more accessible to the general public, including the digitization of many of the archival records and creating touring exhibitions of the contents, said FFN Executive Director Thomas Flanagan in a statement. Additionally, the organization will create an endowment to ensure the future health of the FAHC and entities.

Finlandia University was founded in 1896 as Suomi College by Finnish Lutheran immigrants. At its peak, Finlandia had more than 600 students enrolled. Last year, the school announced it would be closing at the end of the 2023 school year because of low enrollment. According to the Detroit Free Press, the school had about 424 undergraduate students enrolled in fall 2021.

 Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Foundation announces purchase of two Finlandia University buildings
Francoise Delbart, who has died in Normandy aged 93, was formerly an actress, but it was none of the roles in her brief career that made her face familiar to millions; that happened decades after a photograph for which she had posed in the 1950s became, as The Kiss, an imperishable image of Paris as the City of Love.

In 1950, the photographer Robert Doisneau was commissioned by Life magazine to shoot a piece on springtime romance in the French capital. He saw a pair of aspiring actors kiss in a Left Bank cafe and asked them to do so again for his Rolleiflex camera in various locations. Among these were the Place de la Concorde, the Rue de Rivoli and, finally, in front of the town hall, the Hotel de Ville.

Although Doisneau was known for the seeming spontaneity of his black-and-white street pictures, in fact these were often staged, albeit in a naturalistic way. I dont photograph life as it is, but as I would like it to be, he observed. He gave the couple 500 francs for their trouble; the article was published and then promptly forgotten for the next 35 years.

In the early 1980s, a keen-eyed commercial publisher came across the town hall image and thought it would make a good poster. It seemed to strike a chord, especially with young people, and within a few years it had sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Other reproductions soon featured on items from key fobs to tea towels.

The Kiss - Robert DOISNEAU/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

The photographs appeal was in part that it encapsulated a now vanished and perhaps more elegant era. Primarily, however, viewers responded to the potency of the embrace, a moment in which young lovers lost themselves in one another.

They appeared careless of the other Parisians going about their business around them (although as was delightfully revealed later, the man in the beret behind them was in fact an Irish auctioneer, Jack Costello, captured on his one and only trip abroad).

The success of the poster helped to revive interest in Doisneau, then in his seventies, but to his distress it also had less happy consequences. Under French law, citizens own the rights to their likeness.

In 1993, a couple came forward and claimed 100,000 francs for invasion of privacy. Denise and Jean-Louis Lavergne, who were printers, believed it was them in the picture and that they had been snapped by Doisneau as they happened to pass his lens.

Of course, Doisneau knew otherwise, as did Francoise Delbart. Encouraged by her husband, she now made herself known in turn, producing the signed prints of the original photographs which Doisneaus laboratory had given her at the time. They were trampling on a memory that was mine, she said of the Lavergnes lawsuit.

She had posed for Doisneau with her boyfriend at the time, Jacques Carteaud, whom she recalled looked a bit like [the actor] Burt Lancaster. They had split up nine months later, however, when he had met someone else. He had subsequently become a wine grower and refused to join in the action.

In the event, a court ruled that no ones rights had been infringed. The Lavergnes had no proof that they were the couple in the photograph, while Francoise Delbart had already been paid for her participation, rather like an extra in a film.

Nonetheless, she negotiated a settlement of 50,000 francs in return for not appealing and by way of renouncing any past or future rights in the image.

Doisneau, bruised by his encounter with commercial realities, died the next year. Carteaud died in 2006. A year earlier, Francoise Delbart had put her original print of the photograph up for auction. The estimated price was 10-20,000 euros, but it was bought by a Swiss collector for 155,000 euros.

Francoise Delbart was born in 1930. After studying at the Cours Simon drama school, she made about a dozen appearances on both the stage and the screen in the decade from 1953.

In the cinema, she had supporting roles in films such as Les Grandes Familles (1958), opposite Jean Gabin in a tale of revenge adapted from Maurice Druons Prix Goncourt-winning novel. Her theatrical career included a part in the first production of a play by Romain Gary, Johnnie Coeur, which opened in 1961 at the Theatre de la Michodiere, Paris.

The previous year, however, she had married Alain Bornet, a screenwriter and later a director of advertisements and industry training films. She gave up acting, although she did do voiceovers for many of her husbands productions.

They lived in the 17th arrondissement of the capital until his death 10 years ago. During the Covid pandemic, Francoise Delbart moved to Evreux, Normandy, to be closer to family. Into her nineties, she remained a dedicated smoker and continued to enjoy a glass or two of whisky.

Francoise Delbart, born 1930, died December 25 2023

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A couple from the French-speaking part of Belgium wanted to become naturalized French citizens but found themselves with the most French of problems  a bureaucratic struggle to prove they speak their mother tongue.

The documents they provided to their local prefecture were deemed insufficient to demonstrate that they speak French.

I am the commercial director of a French company, my wife wrote a book in French, Vincent Lenoir told CNNs affiliate BFMTV Friday in an interview in French.

He has been living in the southern French department of Drome for 24 years and his wife Martine for nine. After having lived in the country for so long, they felt like the time had come for them to become French.

But their path of becoming naturalized ran into a most unlikely obstacle  they cant prove that they speak French.

They submitted their degrees from French-speaking universities and were told these could not prove that they speak B1-level French, intermediate level under the current European Union system.

You can see that Im talking to you [in French] in a correct way, but unfortunately a priori thats not enough for our administration, Lenoir said.

Yet the local prefecture also has a strong case  they were simply following the law.

It is totally inaccurate to state that the Lenoirs application for naturalization was rejected for lack of knowledge of the French language, the Drome government office said in a statement published Thursday.

Instead, the reason why Lenoir and his wife failed to obtain French citizenship was because they provided documents that do not comply with what was required by French law.

Unlike the United States or Canada, who recognize university degrees earned in other Anglo-Saxon countries, France doesnt recognize university degrees earned in other francophone countries as a way of proving language proficiency.

There are basically two ways of proving ones proficiency in French according to the current French nationality law  earn a middle school degree or above in France or pass a language exam, either conducted by other European countries or a take an official TCF/ TEF exam.

For the latter, the exam result must be no older than two years.

It is therefore necessary for applicants to provide valid documents for their applications to be in proper shape, the local government statement said.

But for Vincent Lenoir, the reality is more complicated than simply taking another exam.

You can only take this exam in January and get the result in March, while our appeal to the governments appeal is only valid for two months. So by the time we get the result it will be useless, he told BFMTV, meaning they will have restart the whole process all over again.

Ironically, if a French person wants to become Belgian, his or her university degree earned in France will be sufficient to prove language proficiency in French, one of the three national languages of Belgium.

But anyone who has lived in France will agree that for one person to go to the local government for an administrative task only to be told that one didnt bring the right type of document is probably the most French interaction one can ever have.

Additional reporting from Maya Szaniecki.

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Its a new year and time to consider new paths Baltimore could take over the next decade.

The West Baltimore MARC rail station, at the western end of the Franklin-Mulberry corridor, the so-called Highway to Nowhere, is one such starting place.

Theres now money to replace the 151-year former Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel under West Baltimore, which has been renamed in honor of Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist who escaped from slavery in Maryland.

As construction moves forward (no completion predictions here) the rail tracks will be realigned and the current West Baltimore station will be replaced with something more permanent. The current station did its job, but is little more than a wooden deck.

But what this station has is golden: acres and acres of free parking for commuters making the trip to Washington and its suburbs or on to eastern Baltimore County and Perryville.

When the station opened in 1984 to replace one at Edmondson Avenue, it was not used so much. In time, it found a purpose and now its parking lots are filled.

Baltimore has a potent financial ally in Washington and its well-paying jobs. The cost of living is lower in Baltimore, and many commute by rail.

A few bits of history: The existing tunnel runs near the old Frederick Douglass High School (1925) at Calhoun and Baker streets. The heart of Baltimores historically Black community once had a station on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The old tunnel opened in June 1873 and took a little more than two years to hand dig. The Sun reported that 500 men labored daily in construction crews. A trio of steam-powered pumps worked continuously to draw out the spring water that inundated the excavation. The tunnel was used by steam locomotives and produced plenty of foul air. The solution was the two, 60-foot-high chimneys that ventilated the underground cavity.

Nearly 130 trains, both MARC and Amtrak, use the tunnel daily. Only the state-run commuter trains call at West Baltimore.

The tunnel did its job until May 1924, when a city water main broke in Bolton Hill. It took all summer to repair and the tunnel has experienced periodic cave-ins ever since.

The planned replacement tunnels construction comes as the city deliberates what to do about the blunder it made 50 years ago  the displacement of thousands of families for the depressed highway (once called I-170 and now Route 40) that runs from Fremont Avenue to Smallwood Street.

Every 30 years the federal government requires an interstate highway to be rebuilt and in the case of Baltimore, the bridges that span the highway as well, said Baltimore City Planning director Chris Ryer. Rochester, New York, had an old depressed highway and that city did a study. They found it was cheaper to fill in the highway than replace all the bridges.

Ryer envisions eliminating the huge concrete pit that ends at the West Baltimore MARC Station. It would be a mighty project, to fill in blocks and blocks and thus restore the links between the communities of Harlem Park, Lafayette, Franklin and Union squares.

He also notes that the long discussed Red Line transportation link could be routed this way as either heavy rail, light rail or dedicated bus lanes.

We could reconnect communities by taking out that highway, said Ryer. We could build a traditional boulevard and with the extra land build affordable housing, retail or whatever. We have the opportunity. The city and state own all that land.

Ryer then dreamed aloud and thought expansively.

There could be a new city built, like a Reston [a 1964 new town in Northern Virginia] near the MARC West Baltimore Station. We have the opportunity now, he said.

So, as two huge projects  the construction of an all new Frederick Douglass Tunnel and the eventual fate of the Franklin-Mulberry corridor  come into focus, Ryer wants to consider the big possibilities.
[Source]

After being forced to close amid false accusations fueled by a racist stereotype, a Laos-Thai restaurant in Fresno, California, has reopened with a new name and outlook.

Catch up: Love & Thai, formerly known as Tasty Thai, faced a tumultuous period in early 2023 after TikTok user Maria Garcia falsely accused the restaurant of using dog meat. The false, racist claim led to a barrage of harassment, death threats and fears for the safety of the owner, David Rasavong.

While the accusation was immediately debunked, the family-run business was forced to shut down in May after just seven months of operation.

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Beginning again: Rasavong would later find unwavering support from the community. For one, a shopping center property manager offered the restaurant a new location at 4821 E. Butler Ave. in Fresno. Local artists and designers also volunteered their services for the grand reopening on Nov. 3, 2023.

In a new interview with AP News, Rasavong expressed his belief that what they went through happened for a reason.

"Theres a journey that were supposed to go on. Dont get me wrong. People need to realize this business is not easy ... But you know, we believe in what were doing and so far so good." Trending on NextShark: Asian couple who gave birth to white twins settles with erring fertility clinic

Standing together against hate: Speaking at the grand reopening of Love & Thai, Fresno City Councilman Luis Chavez emphasized the community's strength in supporting small businesses and standing up against hate. According to Chavez, Love & Thai is a story about resilience born out of something vile and hateful.

Other community leaders who spoke at the event include Fresno Center President Pao Yang, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California President Diane Phakonekham, Efrain Botello-Cisneros from the State Attorney Generals Office and Laotian Community of Fresno (LACF) Executive Director Khampha Thephavong.

Looking back at the incident, Rasavong shared that the ordeal did not feel real at the time.

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When you have people that have such disgust for you and have such disgusting accusations, it is hard to get out of that feeling," he said. "Its not something I would wish for anyone.

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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Three Kings Day or Dia de Reyes is a Christian tradition that commemorates the moment the Three Wise Men visited baby Jesus. Different cultures celebrate this day in unique ways, and in Fresno, Mexican residents celebrate with the Rosca de Reyes.

Perla Ambraz with El Ranchito Bakery says they have been selling the Rosca de Reyes, or Kings Cake, for 23 years. The Rosca de Reyes is going to be available from Friday to Saturday to celebrate the Reyes Magos (Three Wise Men) who went to visit baby Jesus when he was born.

Ambraz says inside of the bread there is a small, white plastic figure representing baby Jesus. The figurine is small and white. If someone cuts the bread and gets baby Jesus in their slide, that is going to bring them luck.

Its a blessing, she said.

Whoever slices into the bread and gets the baby in their slice is expected to host a party on Feb. 2 to celebrate el Dia de la Candelaria or Candlemas Day.

El Ranchito Bakery is located at 417 W Shields Avenue in Fresno. They will be open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
Digital image of artificial intelligence human brain on black background. Credit - Getty Images-Andriy Onufriyenko

Generative AIthink Dall.E, ChatGPT-4, and many moreis all the rage. Its remarkable successes, and occasional catastrophic failures, have kick-started important debates about both the scope and dangers of advanced forms of artificial intelligence. But what, if anything, does this work reveal about natural intelligences such as our own?

Im a philosopher and cognitive scientist who has spent their entire career trying to understand how the human mind works. Drawing on research spanning psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, my search has drawn me towards a picture of how natural minds work that is both interestingly similar to, yet also deeply different from, the core operating principles of the generative AIs. Examining this contrast may help us better understand them both.

The AIs learn a generative model (hence their name) that enables them to predict patterns in various kinds of data or signal. What generative there means is that they learn enough about the deep regularities in some data-set to enable them to create plausible new versions of that kind of data for themselves. In the case of ChatGPT the data is text. Knowing about all the many faint and strong patterns in a huge library of texts allows ChatGPT, when prompted, to produce plausible versions of that kind of data in interesting ways, when sculpted by user promptsfor example, a user might request a story about a black cat written in the style of Ernest Hemingway. But there are also AIs specializing in other kinds of data, such as images, enabling them to create new paintings in the style of, say, Picasso.

What does this have to do with the human mind? According to much contemporary theorizing, the human brain has learnt a model to predict certain kinds of data, too. But in this case the data to be predicted are the various barrages of sensory information registered by sensors in our eyes, ears, and other perceptual organs. Now comes the crucial difference. Natural brains must learn to predict those sensory flows in a very special kind of contextthe context of using the sensory information to select actions that help us survive and thrive in our worlds. This means that among the many things our brains learn to predict, a core subset concerns the ways our own actions on the world will alter what we subsequently sense. For example, my brain has learnt that if I accidentally tread on the tail of my cat, the next sensory stimulations I get will often include sightings of wailing, squirming, and occasionally feelings of pain from a well-deserved retaliatory scratch.

Read More: AI and the Rise of Mediocrity

This kind of learning has special virtues. It helps us separate cause and simple correlation. Seeing my cat is strongly correlated with seeing the furniture in my apartment. But neither one of these causes the other to occur. Treading on my cats tail, by contrast, causes the subsequent wailing and scratching. Knowing the difference is crucial if you are a creature that needs to act on its world to bring about desired (or to avoid undesired) effects. In other words, the generative model that issues natural predictions is constrained by a familiar and biologically critical goalthe selection of the right actions to perform at the right times. That means knowing how things currently are and (crucially) how things will change and alter if we act and intervene on the world in certain ways.

How do ChatGPT and the other contemporary AIs look when compared with this understanding of human brains and human minds? Most obviously, current AIs tend to specialize in predicting rather specific kinds of datasequences of words, in the case of ChatGPT. At first sight, this suggest that ChatGPT might more properly be seen as a model of our textual outputs rather than (like biological brains) models of the world we live in. That would be a very significant difference indeed. But that move is arguably a little too swift. Words, as the wealth of great and not-so-great literature attests, already depict patterns of every kindpatterns among looks and tastes and sounds for example. This gives the generative AIs a real window onto our world. Still missing, however, is that crucial ingredientaction. At best, text-predictive AIs get a kind of verbal fossil trail of the effects of our actions upon the world. That trail is made up of verbal descriptions of actions ("Andy trod on his cats tail") along with verbally couched information about their typical effects and consequences. Despite this the AIs have no practical abilities to intervene on the worldso no way to test, evaluate, and improve their own world-model, the one making the predictions.

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This is an important practical limitation. It is rather as if someone had access to a huge library of data concerning the shape and outcomes of all previous experiments, but were unable to conduct any of their own. But it may have deeper significance too. For plausibly, it is only by poking, prodding, and generally intervening upon our worlds that biological minds anchor their knowledge to the very world it is meant to describe. By learning what causes what, and how different actions will affect our future worlds in different ways, we build a firm basis for our own later understandings. It is that grounding in actions and their effects that later enables us to truly understand encountered sentences such as "The cat scratched the person who trod on its tail." Our generative modelsunlike those of the generative AIsare forged in the fires of action.

Might future AIs build anchored models in this way too? Might they start to run experiments in which they launch responses into the world to see what effects those responses have? Something a bit like this already occurs in the context of online advertising, political campaigning, and social media manipulating, where algorithms can launch ads, posts and reports and adjust their future behavior according to specific effects on buyers, voters, and others. If more powerful AIs closed the action loop in these ways, they would be starting to turn their currently passive and "second-hand" window onto the human world into something closer to the kind of grip that active beings like us have on our worlds.

But even then, thered be other things missing. Many of the predictions that structure human experience concern our own internal physiological states. For example, we experience thirst and hunger in ways that are deeply anticipatory, allowing us to remedy looming shortfalls in advance, so as to stay within the correct zone for bodily integrity and survival. This means that we exist in a world where some of our brains predictions matter in a very special way. They matter because they enable us to continue to exist as the embodied, energy metabolizing, beings that we are. We humans also benefit hugely from collective practices of culture, science, and art, allowing us to share our knowledge and to probe and test our own best models of ourselves and our worlds.

In addition, we humans are what might be called "knowing knowers"we depict ourselves to ourselves as having knowledge and beliefs, and we have slowly designed the complex worlds of art, science, and technology to test and improve our own knowledge and beliefs. For example, we can write papers that make claims that are swiftly challenged by others, and then run experiments to try to resolve the differences of opinion. In all these ways (even bracketing obvious but currently intractable questions about true conscious awareness) there seems to be a very large gulf separating our special kinds of knowing and understanding from anything so far achieved by the AIs.

Could AIs one day become prediction machines with a survival instinct, running baseline predictions that pro-actively seek to create and maintain the conditions for their own existence? Could they thereby become increasingly autonomous, protecting their own hardware and manufacturing and drawing power as needed? Could they form a community, and invent a kind of culture? Could they start to model themselves as beings with beliefs and opinions? There is nothing in their current situation to drive them in these familiar directions. But none of these dimensions is obviously off-limits either. If changes were to occur along all or some of those key missing dimensions, we might yet be glimpsing the soul of a new machine.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Several leading representatives of the German Bundestag concerned with defence matters have advocated giving Ukraine Taurus long-range missiles to launch strikes against Russian targets, a position which the federal government had previously deemed unacceptable.

Source: German news paper Rheinische Post, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Previously, defence spokeswoman for the Green Party Sara Nanni and former Bundeswehr Colonel Roderich Kiesewetter, an expert on foreign policy for the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have spoken out in favour of supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

Both emphasise that Ukraine should have the right to use these long-range missiles to destroy Russian systems from which missiles are launched into its territory.

Quote: "The most effective defence against Russian airstrikes is to fire on targets on Russian territory and in the occupied territories in the east of Ukraine, from where Russia carries out its attacks," Nanni said, adding that this is the best defence for Ukrainian civilians and is provided for by international law.

Kiesewetter believes that German cruise missiles will be indispensable for such strikes.

"Taurus is important because this system is very effective and can be used to destroy supply and command structures far beyond the front line," he said.

The CDU politician thought that Ukraine could liberate the Crimean peninsula if it used long-range weapons to destroy the Crimean Bridge, which would prevent Russian forces from entering the peninsula, destroy the Black Sea Fleet, and force the Russians to surrender.

Background: After the massive missile attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukraine, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Chairwoman of the Bundestag's Defence Committee and Representative of the Free Democratic Party, also called for Ukraine to be supplied with Taurus missiles. She pointed out that now Ukraine is in dire need of ammunition for artillery, Taurus and spare parts for the large equipment that they can supply.

At the same time, the German government is continuing to refuse to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

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Farmers protest with their tractors and posters on a bridge over the A23 highway, in response to the federal government's austerity plans. Marcus Brandt/dpa

The German Farmers Association has called for restraint ahead of a week of protests over planned subsidy cuts, after a group of angry agriculturalists prevented the country's vice chancellor from disembarking from a ferry.

There should be no protests in front of the private homes of dialogue partners or personal hostility, the association appealed to members in a post on X on Saturday.

"We firmly deny demo symbols such as gallows, black flags or other symbols of extremist groups!" the Farmers Association said.

Farmers in Germany are outraged by the federal government's planned reduction in agricultural subsidies, including for fuel, although some of the measures have already been rolled back.

The tensions escalated late on Thursday, when an angry crowd of protesters blocked a North Sea coast ferry Germany's Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck was on, forcing it to turn back.

According to one family who had travelled on the same ferry, one of the placards held by the protesters showed a gallows.

The association also decisively distanced itself from people who propagate fantasies of revolution or glorify violence, including far-right extremists and other radical fringe groups "also because some of them want to appropriate our protest for their vile causes."

Farmers are preparing a range of protests starting on Monday to demonstrate against the government's agricultural policy, with tractor convoys and rallies planned.

Frank Schuhmacher, Production Manager at Landgesellschaft Lebus GmbH, holds a banner in front of his tractor during a protest by farmers against the planned cuts and cuts by the federal government. Patrick Pleul/dpa

The skull of a dead cow and a poster with the slogan "If there are no more farmers, your plates will remain empty" are attached to a tractor at a farmers' association rally against the German government's austerity plans. Stefan Puchner/dpa
The skull of a dead cow and a poster with the slogan "If there are no more farmers, your plates will remain empty" are attached to a tractor at a farmers' association rally against the German government's austerity plans. Stefan Puchner/dpa

The German Farmers Association has called for restraint ahead of a week of protests over planned subsidy cuts, after a group of angry agriculturalists prevented the country's vice chancellor from disembarking from a ferry.

There should be no protests in front of the private homes of dialogue partners or personal hostility, the association appealed to members in a post on X on Saturday.

"We firmly deny demo symbols such as gallows, black flags or other symbols of extremist groups!" the Farmers Association said.

Farmers in Germany are outraged by the federal government's planned reduction in agricultural subsidies, including for fuel, although some of the measures have already been rolled back.

The tensions escalated late on Thursday, when an angry crowd of protesters blocked a North Sea coast ferry Germany's Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck was on, forcing it to turn back.

According to one family who had travelled on the same ferry, one of the placards held by the protesters showed a gallows.

The association also decisively distanced itself from people who propagate fantasies of revolution or glorify violence, including far-right extremists and other radical fringe groups "also because some of them want to appropriate our protest for their vile causes."

Farmers are preparing a range of protests starting on Monday to demonstrate against the government's agricultural policy, with tractor convoys and rallies planned.

The Farmers Association called on farmers to only demonstrate peacefully and only take part in registered and authorized actions, pointing to state and district farmers' associations.

Habeck, who is also the country's economy minister, finally made it to the German mainland early Friday, hours after farmers prevented him from exiting the ferry.

Around 100 people took part in the blockade of the pier on Thursday night. Police used pepper spray to disperse the protest.

Germany's Farmers' Association distanced itself from the blockade.

Habeck, a member of the Green Party who plays a major role in shaping the country's economic and climate policies, has come in for particular criticism from the farmers over the proposed cuts.

The cuts were part of a package of measures intended to plug a multi-billion-euro gap in the government budget following a landmark court ruling at the end of last year that sent the government coalition's financial plans into disarray.

On Thursday, the government decided to partially scale back its plans, after a string of mass protests by farmers. Fuel subsidies are to be gradually decreased, rather than cut all at once.

Farmers with their tractors demonstrates at a farmers' association rally against the German government with a poster reading "War destroys Ukraine & Gaza. Stefan Puchner/dpa
Winfried Kretschmann, Minister President of Baden-Wurttemberg, attends the the funeral service for Wolfgang Schauble. Uwe Anspach/dpa

The premier of the south-western German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, has warned parties against adopting the policies of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is seeing its support grow in the polls.

"In the fight against the extreme, we must not become extreme ourselves. We must not counter their drivel with more drivel, but with reason and clear arguments," the Green politician told dpa in Stuttgart.

It is wrong to believe that there is a single recipe to fight right-wing populism and the AfD, said Kretschmann.

In the states of Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, where new state parliaments will be elected in September, polls show the AfD in the lead, in some cases by a considerable margin.

"I can only warn against saying 'Let them govern, then people will see what comes of it.' The damage they cause along the way would be too great," he said.

"We have to make it clear: Everywhere they have a say, things are getting worse, not better."

The rapid rise of right-wing populists is not a German phenomenon, but a "struggle all over the world," said Kretschmann. Democracy is under stress.

"What catches the AfD is their narrative that we can restore the good old days, which on closer inspection were not so good."

We have to come to terms with the fact that part of the population is going down this path, he warned.

"We have to make sure that we solve the problems, that there are no structural breaks. That's what we're working on. And we shouldn't stir up unnecessary controversies - such as over gender stereotyping."

The Poles recently proved that the rise of right-wing populism can be stopped, he said.

Kretschmann is convinced that the rise of right-wing populists is not only a major threat to democracy, but also to the country's economic prosperity. Germany also needs a considerable effort at regulating immigration, he said.

The justice minister in the national coalition government, Marco Buschmann, meanwhile expressed scepticism about any legal attempt to ban the AfD.

"The Federal Constitutional Court has set the hurdles for a party ban very high," the liberal politician told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"If such proceedings were to fail before the Constitutional Court, it would be a huge PR victory for the AfD," h said.

Founded in 2013, the AfD is listed as a suspected right-wing extremist organiszation by Germany's domestic intelligence service.

In Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, the local branches are regarded as confirmed right-wing extremist groups.

Politicians from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Socia Democrats, and his coalition partner the Greens had recently argued that the option of a ban procedure should be kept open.
KALAMAZOO  The federal three-judge panel that ruled unconstitutional more than a dozen Detroit-based state legislative districts floated the possibility at a Friday hearing that a court-appointed special master could draw new districts at the same time Michigan's citizen-led redistricting commission attempts to redraw the lines.

It may be the first time in a redistricting case that a court does not give the state body responsible for drawing district lines exclusively the first opportunity to fix the maps before a court-appointed special master takes up the pen.

Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, a group of metro Detroit voters sued the redistricting commission in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. They alleged the commission's newly drawn voting districts that run through Detroit illegally disenfranchise Black voters.

In late December, a three-judge panel struck down 13 state legislative maps in Detroit. U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Raymond Kethledge, who wrote the bruising opinion that found race predominated in how the commission drew lines through the majority-Black city, characterized the posture of the group of citizen mappers since the panel's order came down as one of "defiance and disarray."

Michigan redistricting: Commission to appeal ruling against metro Detroit maps

A trio of resignations and a pair of misconduct allegations facing commissioners has plagued the group in recent weeks. Commission infighting prompted lawyers for the plaintiffs to argue in a brief earlier this week that a special master should have "veto" power over the commission.

Kethledge said during the court hearing Friday it would be "foolhardy" for the panel to put its full faith in the commission alone to redraw the maps. Instead, Kethledge proposed a "parallel map drawing" in which the commission would have an opportunity to redraw the invalidated districts while a court-appointed master carried out a separate mapping process, giving the panel two sets of maps to consider.

U.S. District Judge Janet Neff put forward another option: the court would consider adopting the redrawn maps submitted by the redistricting commission if they are legally compliant before turning to look at the maps drawn by a special master.

With the April 23 candidate filing deadline for the August primary election looming, Kethledge said he wants to prevent a "fire drill" at the last minute in the event the commission fails to meet the deadline for drawing new maps or draws maps that don't pass legal muster.

"We don't have time to see if it goes wrong," Kethledge said.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney said the panel has to have confidence the commission can meet the tight timeline for redrawing districts and pointed to recent discord in the commission as casting doubt the commission is up to the task. Patrick Lewis, a lawyer representing the commission, said that the commission will do everything in its power to meet its mapping deadline.

The redistricting commission awaits the panel's decision about next steps as it pursues an appeal of the ruling against its maps in the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Although we are filing an appeal, we're still going to be aggressively trying to follow through with the court's order," the redistricting commission's Executive Director Edward Woods III told reporters after the court hearing.

Hours before the court hearing Friday, lawyers for the redistricting commission filed a motion asking the court to halt its order barring use of the commission's state legislative maps in this year's elections pending appeal. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney said the panel will reject the request.

Woods said the commission plans to file a motion to stay the lower court's injunction with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 1 way invalidated Detroit districts could be redrawn
The judge who found Tom Girardi competent to stand trial saw evidence he was faking memory problems in his relationship with his reality star wife and in the shabby cardigan the normally dapper man wore for mental exams.

In a 52-page decision unsealed Friday, U.S. Dist. Judge Josephine Staton wrote that the disgraced former attorney met the legal standard to face wire fraud charges stemming from what prosecutors describe as a decades-long, $100-million scheme that robbed law firm clients.

Defendant clearly understands the nature of the charges against him, the judge wrote. She said Girardis purported denial of knowledge of the charges made against him [and/or the purported failure to remember such charges once reminded of them] is wholly lacking in credibility.

Statons competency finding was disclosed last week, but the decision explaining her reasons was held back to allow for redactions of personal information. Much of her ruling is based in the conclusions of experts who testified at series of hearings last fall.

The judge also pointed to Girardis claim that he did not remember his wife, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne. The pair have been married for more than 20 years, though she filed for divorce in 2020 as his financial problems emerged.

Defendants denial of any memory of a third wife is undercut by the fact that, during a clinical interview, he answered a phone call from her, accurately remembering she was leaving to fly to Spain that day, the judge wrote, referring to testimony from a neuropsychologist who examined Girardi for the government.

Staton also noted the ill-fitting and hole-ridden burgundy sweater that Girardi, known during his career for immaculately tailored suits, chose to wear to court, interviews with lawyers and medical experts. Prosecutors have suggested it was part of a calculated plan to portray himself as mentally addled. Staton noted how Girardi would dig through a hamper looking for the sweater before key meetings with psychological experts.

This tended to show that Defendants short-term memory was intact because he recalled having that sweater, sought it out to wear on that day, and found it in the laundry, she wrote.

Girardis lawyers have argued that the 84-year-old, who resides in the dementia ward of a nursing home, has no short-term memory and does not recognize them or remember the criminal case against him when they meet.

A magistrate judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf last year because of the competency issue. With that decided, normal proceedings in the case are to resume with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Staton allowed that his advanced age might make him less of a help to his lawyers than at the pinnacle of his career, when his superior cognition and his abilities as a civil trial attorney would have been likely to result in an exceptional ability to participate in his own defense.

But, she concluded, any actual diminishment of these abilities or of his cognition is not as severe as Defendant presents it and, stripped of the feigning and/or exaggeration described by the experts and found by the Court herein, Defendant retains the ability to assist properly in his defense.





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
After Netflix apparently charged Glendale residents the City of Milwaukee's sales tax, which was recently raised 2%, in its most recent billing cycle, Glendale's mayor is calling for the subscription streaming service to investigate and correct the error on residents' accounts.

The problem underscores a broader issue another suburban mayor says he saw coming.

In a letter sent to Netflix's Research Team Jan. 4, Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy said although the City of Milwaukee's sales tax is now 7.9%, the sales tax for the rest of Milwaukee County's suburban communities, including Glendale, remains at 5.9%.

Most of Glendale lies in the 53209 ZIP code, which also includes a piece of the City of Milwaukee and part of Brown Deer.

"It appears that your billing system defaulted 53209 to City of Milwaukee, and charged me and hundreds of other Glendale residents the additional 2% sales tax," Kennedy said in the letter.

"That money does not return to the Glendale treasury. Your system is illegally billing Glendale residents for a City of Milwaukee tax and passing sales tax revenue to Milwaukee," he said.

Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy sent a letter to Netflix, claiming the company had overcharged Glendale residents.

But the issue evidently isn't specific to Glendale or Netflix. Kennedy said other companies in the areas surrounding the city told Kennedy their systems have been defaulting to Milwaukee's 7.9% sales tax.

"This is just the tip of an iceberg," Kennedy said. "There's a lot of stuff we need to get figured out now as to how the county, the City of Milwaukee or the Department of Revenue is going to fix this."

More: Milwaukee's mayor responds to Washington County official's digs over sales tax increases

Kennedy requested Netflix run an audit for the 52309 ZIP code and separate Glendale customers from the Milwaukee customers in its billing.

He said the streaming company should proactively correct the error in Glendale customers' accounts, as opposed to requiring hundreds of residents to reach out individually using Netflix's complaint system, which Kennedy said was inaccessible to many users.

Bryan Kennedy

Netflix typically requires complaints to be submitted in letters faxed to the company, and Kennedy said he had to use the Glendale Police Department's fax machine because even the village doesn't have one anymore.

While Netflix subscriptions cost a few dollars a year, when added up amongst thousands of people in contiguous communities, the errors could cost residents a significant amount of money, Kennedy said.

The Journal Sentinel's attempts to reach Netflix were not immediately successful.

Both Kennedy and Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke, whose city also shares ZIP codes with Milwaukee, requested for the issue to be added to the agenda for the next Intergovernmental Cooperation Council meeting Jan. 8. The ICC is a Milwaukee County coalition of mayors, village presidents and administrators from each of the 19 municipalities in the county.

Neitzke said officials have known since last summer when the tax increase passed that the issue of how sales tax is collected and how ZIP codes are arranged in Milwaukee County would adversely impact some municipalities.

Concerned about the potential for Greenfield residents to be paying Milwaukees new sales tax, Neitzke raised the issue with the ICC. He also reached out to state Sen. Julian Bradley, who was told by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue that any issues would be taken care of.

However, on Dec. 5, Greenfields Common Council passed a resolution that halts any Milwaukee sales taxes and called upon the City of Milwaukee to take up the burden that results in the collection of improperly and illegally collected sales taxes, according to the resolution.

Like Kennedy, Neitzke sees this as a larger issue, but his bone to pick is with what he calls an archaic postal code system and with companies that exclude smaller municipalities in their data. Even Apple and Google maps misattribute locations in Greenfield to Milwaukee, he said.

Before the new tax went into effect, Neitzke directed Greenfield's city attorney to prepare an injunction in the event that any Greenfield residents get charged for Milwaukees sales tax.

I knew this was coming," Neitzke said. "Other cities knew this was coming. I don't know what a court will do with the injunction. But it just has to be figured out. And the solution can't be filing a claim with the City of Milwaukee to get your $30 or 30 cents back.

Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Glendale residents see Milwaukee sales tax on Netflix bill, mayor says
Diners twirl their gold forks around strands of pasta, sipping boozy Negronis under candlelight in Florence, Italy.

Or  almost Florence. The embossed plaques, ornamented ceilings and marble tables paint the illusion that the small crowd is lounging in a high-end European restaurant. But past heavy curtains, cars zip down 18th Street in Kansas Citys Crossroads.

Italian-style Bar Medici opened in Kansas Citys Crossroads Dec. 22.

Chandeliers and tableware gleam. The restaurants name, Bar Medici, reminds history pupils of the prominent banking family whose patronage of the arts helped birth the Renaissance.

The M in its logo echoes the window arches of the Medici Palazzo in Florence.

Bar Medici serves a variety of cocktails, including the lemony frizzante.

Its been a longer process of design  curating everything that goes into this, said general manager Bennett Hofer. Whether it be the furnishings, the style or even the talent that goes into creating a beautiful bar like this.

Bar Medici is on the ground floor of the Reverb apartment building, at 1800 Walnut St., Suite 100. Its first customers dined Dec. 22, with a multi-course menu to choose from.

Granchio spaghetti alla chimaera is one many dishes served at Bar Medici. It features spaghetti with snow crab, crab bisque sauce, scallion, Aleppo pepper and Grana Padano.

First, for the antipasti (appetizers): focaccia with Calabrian chili butter, oysters, porcini ciambella (savory mushroom doughnuts) and more. Main courses include pesce spada (grilled swordfish, bagna cauda and wilted bitter greens), scallops or maiale la gamba (braised pork shank, stewed lentils and prosecco zabaglione).

Drinks are, of course, a must when visiting Bar Medici. Perhaps a frizzante (vodka, limonello, egg white and sparkling wine)? Maybe the favo spritz, a honeycomb-infused Cocchi Americano with limoncello and mead?

Bar Medicis Negroni Pisco is served with an ice cube stamped with the bars logo.

To polish it off, Medici offers desserts like its homemade gelato or cannolis dusted with powdered sugar.

Our cuisine and our cocktails are no slouches, thats for sure, Hofer said.

Bar Medicis dessert menu includes cannoli and housemade gelato.

The glitzy space is the newest concept from Exit Strategy, the company that owns The Mercury Room on the 14th floor of the same building and Verdigris in Leawood. The Monarch bar off the Country Club Plaza is owned by architect David Manica and managed by Exit Strategy.

Exit Strategy, founded in 2019, is the brainchild of Manica and Christian Moscoso.

Manica pulled inspiration from his frequent trips to Italy, bringing elements of its classical style to Kansas City.

Bartender Abby Lee prepares a frizzante cocktail at Bar Medici, a Renaissance-style bar and restaurant.

Medici is the only concept from Exit Strategy that offers a full menu. Its meant to go hand-in-hand with The Mercury Room  a small bar lined with twinkling lights and tall windows, offering a view of Kansas Citys skyline. First a fancy dinner, then an elevator ride to the view.

The Mercury Room opened in 2020, but it was always Exit Strategys plan to offer a dining option alongside it. Medici has been in the works since 2021.

Bar Medici is just an elevator ride away from The Mercury Room, with twinkling lights and views of Kansas Citys skyline.

Through Bar Medicis door and past the lounge area are rows of tables and a long, rectangular bar. A few couples sit across from each other, leaning in to talk.

Upstairs, under the glow of the city lights, customers speak in murmurs. The Mercury Room opens to a patio looking out above the city, the tallest buildings dotting the sky.

They really had the design that this building would be the one-stop shop for the most beautiful date that you could have with someone, Hofer said.
Members of the Michigan Republican State Committee voted Saturday to remove the state party chair, Kristina Karamo, saying it is time to "stop the bleeding," and a change at the top is needed to improve GOP performance in the Nov. 5 election.

Mark Forton, chairman of the Macomb County Republican Party, said he has long been a supporter of Karamo and still admires her, but he ultimately concluded she has to be removed because of the people around her. "We have an election in 2024 and up until now the state party hasn't addressed any part of it," Forton said.

But the special meeting of the state party's governing committee had already been declared null and void by Karamo and her supporters. Karamo, who took office 11 months ago, said the meeting at a hall in western Oakland County was not convened in accordance with the party's bylaws. She did not attend Saturday's session and pointed to an authorized special state committee meeting, set for Jan. 13.

State committee members, not including proxies, voted 40-5 to remove Karamo, several attendees leaving the meeting told the Free Press. They also voted to remove Dan Hartman, the general counsel who attended the meeting to speak on Karamo's behalf, and Jim Copas, the party's executive director. Malinda Pego, the state party co-chair from Muskegon County, will serve as acting chair until a new chair is selected, officials said.

But Karamo has not accepted the results and has vowed to fight them.

MIGOP chair Kristina Karamo speaks to reporters before former President Donald Trump speaks at Drake Enterprise in Clinton Township on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.

So for now, Saturday's action signals further strife and disarray and possibly another in a long list of lawsuits in a party riven by divisions as its power has cratered in Michigan. Just before the 2018 election, the GOP controlled both chambers of the state Legislature plus the offices of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. After the 2022 election, that full control was held by Michigan Democrats.

The Republican National Committee, which could play a role by indicating whether it recognizes Saturday's meeting and voting as legitimate, did not immediately respond to questions about the meeting sent to an RNC spokeswoman.

State committee members, who listed anemic fundraising, interference in county party business, and a lack of transparency among reasons for ousting Karamo, did not allow news media inside the meeting room.

Karamo's standing appeared to dip further Saturday when the state GOP floated a plan, which faced immediate criticism, to move the selection of more party candidates away from primary elections to party caucuses.

Though it appears fundraising under Karamo has continued to deteriorate, a Free Press analysis, published at the time she was elected chair, showed the once-mighty Michigan GOP financial machine was already in serious trouble.

Karamo supporters said Saturday they learned from contacts inside the meeting that district chairs appointed proxies for state committee members who did not attend, without seeking or receiving approval from the state committee members who had their voting powers assigned to someone else.

"They are trying to hoodwink the entire state party," said Darlene Doetzel, a state committee member from Shelby Township. She said she stayed away from the meeting because she supports Karamo and believes the meeting was unlawful but learned her vote was assigned to a Karamo opponent. She then rushed to the meeting to cast her own vote for Karamo, but said she believes other state committee members had their votes assigned to others in the way her vote almost was.

Supporters of Michigan Republican Party Chair Kristina Karamo protest Saturday outside of a meeting of state committee members considering Karamo's ouster. Holding signs, from left, are Melissa Pehlis, the Macomb County party secretary, and Michelle Lawler, of Brandon, who is a member of the executive committee in the 9th District. Both said Barb Zinner, the 10th District chair who is referenced in one of the signs, ignored appeals from party members to not participate in Saturday's meeting.

Tom Norton, a former Republican primary candidate for Congress in the 2nd District who is working with the Karamo opponents, said as long as a state committee member filled out a proxy form, they could choose who voted for them in their place. In cases where no proxy forms were filled out, the relevant district chair could fill those voting spots with an eligible person of their choosing, he said. No proxy form was received from Doetzel, he said.

The state committee has just over 100 members and removing Karamo requires a 75% vote. Dissidents said they believed they had that much support, but also voted Saturday to amend the party bylaws to lower the threshold for removal to 60%. Amending the party bylaws requires a two-thirds vote. In both cases, the thresholds apply to the number of voting members in attendance. The proxy votes were used to achieve a quorum for the meeting.

Dr. Philip O'Halloran, a state committee member who supports Karamo, said the party chair did not have access to donor lists, loan information, campaign finance reporting software, and other key assets when she first took office because the previous administration "took their toys and went home." Early on, she decided not to use the former party headquarters in Lansing, which is owned by a trust controlled by former party chairs. Karamo is now backing a lawsuit seeking to wrest control of the building from the trust.

The state party, for a time divided between "tea party" Republicans and mainstream conservatives, and later split between "MAGA" (Make America Great Again) adherents of Donald Trump and those who do not enthusiastically support the former president, is now mostly divided among competing MAGA factions. Karamo, who denies President Joe Biden was the lawful winner of the 2020 presidential election and has refused to concede her own 14-point defeat in the 2022 election for secretary of state, is an ardent Trump supporter. So are the most vocal leaders of the attempts to remove her, many of whom also back Trump's unsupported claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Saturday's vote was taken on the three-year anniversary of the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in which Trump supporters attempted to stop the official count of the nation's election results showing Biden the winner. Among the indictments Trump now faces is one that accuses him of spreading lies that fueled the riot and exploiting it to further his own aims of unlawfully remaining in power. Trump is the leading GOP contender to be the 2024 presidential nominee.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GOP committee votes to remove Kristina Karamo at contested meeting
Russian authorities in occupied parts of Luhansk Oblast had ordered the creation of propaganda centers posing as "museums of the special military operation (a Russian term for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine)," Governor Artem Lysohor said on Jan. 6.

Russia has occupied parts of Luhansk Oblast, including its regional center, since 2014. Following the start of the all-out war, Moscow's troops seized the majority of the region.

These propaganda places will exhibit Russian military equipment and glorify local collaborationists, Lysohor said. This is meant to strengthen the myth of popular support for Russian occupation among local youth.

Such an exhibition had recently been opened in a history museum in Svatove, the governor noted.

Propaganda and indoctrination is one of the methods employed by the Kremlin to integrate occupied territories of Ukraine.

Mimicking the tactics used during the occupation of Crimea and Donbas in 2014, Russian authorities are seeking to curb access to outside information and organize propaganda events also in newly conquered areas of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.

Read also: Escaping Russian army: The story of one Ukrainian forced to fight against his homeland

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russian forces attacked Donetsk Oblast on Jan. 6, killing 11 people, including five children, and injuring eight civilians, Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

The barrage of S-300 missiles hit the town of Pokrovsk and the Myrnohrad community, destroying at least six houses. The governor hasn't specified the number of missiles Russia used to target the area.

S-300s are Soviet missile systems designed for air defense. However, Russia has been using the repurposed S-300 to attack targets in Ukraine. Their key difference compared to other missiles is poor accuracy.

Pokrovsk lies some 40 kilometers from the eastern front line, close to the administrative border with Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

The emergency services are on the scene, the governor said.

Following the attack, Filashkin said one person was rescued from the rubble.

Earlier in the day, Russian forces hit the Pivnichne community with two aerial bombs, killing one and injuring another civilian, the governor said in a separate Telegram post.

Pivnichne lies on the outskirts of Toretsk, a front-line town regularly suffering from Russian attacks.

Read also: Exploring Ukraines most important battles of 2023

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
This article was originally published in KFF Health News.

Limya Harvey and Cydney Mumford set up a folding table a few times a month on the University of Texas-San Antonio campus to give away kits containing emergency contraceptives, condoms, and lube, or menstrual products like tampons and pads. They typically bring 50 of each type of kit, and after just an hour or two everything is gone.

The 19-year-old sophomores  Harvey is enrolled at UTSA and Mumford at Northeast Lakeview College  founded the organization Black Book Sex Ed last spring. Their mission is to educate students and others in need about sexual health and connect them with free services and products packaged into kits they distribute on campus, in the community, and through their website.

Both of us grew up rather lower-income, Mumford said, so theres a soft spot as it relates to people who say, Oh, I just dont have it right now. Thats part of the reason we started doing this.

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Harvey and Mumford arent alone. A growing number of students on college campuses nationwide are stepping in to provide other students with free or low-cost emergency contraceptives, birth control, and menstrual products.

They are also pushing back against threats to their reproductive freedom since the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs decision last year, which eliminated federal abortion protections.

Although emergency contraceptives are legal in every state, some policymakers worry that in states that ban or severely restrict abortion, access to emergency contraceptives and other types of birth control may erode because of people failing to distinguish between drugs that prevent pregnancy and medications used for abortions.

Our requests for help have quadrupled since Dobbs, said Kelly Cleland, the executive director of the American Society for Emergency Contraception, which provides toolkits and technical assistance to help students develop what are becoming known as peer-to-peer distribution networks. Those student networks provide emergency contraceptives and bring vending machines to their campuses that carry the medications and other personal health care products. The organization has worked with students at more than 200 campuses.

Many types of emergency contraceptive pills are available over the counter and without age restrictions. Students who distribute them are generally not putting themselves at legal risk, especially if they ensure the products are in their original packaging and havent expired and refrain from providing medical advice, Cleland said. Its like giving a friend a Tylenol, one advocate explained.

Its really growing and a really interesting new route for people to get what they need in trusted ways, especially in Texas and other states where there are repercussions from the Dobbs decision, said Mara Gandal-Powers, director of birth control access at the National Womens Law Center.

Like those of many student groups, Harvey and Mumfords kits contain products  emergency contraceptive pills, tampons, lube, etc.  donated by nonprofits and companies. Black Book Sex Ed accepts financial donations as well and uses the money to buy items at big-box stores.

The University of Texas-San Antonio didnt respond to requests for comment.

Across the country, at Bowie State University in Maryland, a graduate student took a different approach to improving student access to contraceptives.

What started as a class project last year for Jakeya Johnsons masters degree program in public administration and policy, eventually became state law.

Starting next year, the measure will require many Maryland public colleges to provide round-the-clock access to emergency contraception and develop a comprehensive plan to ensure students have access to all FDA-approved forms of birth control, plus abortion services.

Related

New Research Looks for Ways to Reduce Sexual Harassment and Assault in Schools

As part of her project, Johnson, 28, started researching the availability of reproductive health care at Bowie State, and she quickly learned that options were somewhat limited. When she called the health center, she was told that emergency contraception was available only to students who went through counseling first and that, while the college prescribed birth control, there was no pharmacy on campus where students could fill their prescriptions. She proposed that the school install a vending machine stocked with emergency contraceptives, condoms, pregnancy tests, and other sexual health products. But college officials told her they didnt have money for the machines. Her research showed that students at other colleges in Maryland faced similar roadblocks.

So, Johnson approached then-Del. Ariana Kelly (D-Montgomery), now a state senator, about introducing a bill that would require schools to provide access to emergency contraceptives and other contraceptive services.

The bill, which was signed in May, requires the schools to provide the services by August 2024.

There was definitely some pushback from conservative legislators during the process, Johnson said. Although the final bill didnt include requirements for transportation services or school reporting that Johnson wanted, she was heartened by the amount of support the bill received from parents and students.

In the spring, Johnson received a public service fellowship from the University System of Maryland that has enabled her to work with her student health center to develop a blueprint for Bowie State that other schools can follow, she said.

Its something that in 2023 we shouldnt have to be fighting for, she said. We should already have it.

The legislation was confirmation and affirmation of the direction we were headed anyway, said Michele Richardson, director of the Henry Wise Wellness Center at Bowie State. She noted that the school is in the process of bringing to campus wellness vending machines, which will be installed by August.

But increasing access is more challenging elsewhere.

At Loyola University Chicago, a Jesuit college, members of the organization Students for Reproductive Justice arent permitted to host events on campus or reserve space in meeting rooms. The Loyola for Life group, which opposes abortion, faces no such restrictions.

While Loyola welcomes an open exchange of ideas, only registered student organizations that are congruent with our values as a Jesuit, Catholic institution can submit activity requests or reserve space on campus, said Matthew McDermott, a spokesperson for the university.

Oral contraceptives are provided only to students who need them for reasons unrelated to preventing pregnancy, and resident advisers are not permitted to distribute condoms or other forms of birth control.

Thats where Students for Reproductive Justice comes in, said Andi Beaudouin, 21, who for the past two years has overseen the groups distribution of free emergency contraception. We were like, If the university isnt going to do it then we will. Everyone deserves this and we dont need to feel embarrassed or hesitant about getting the resources that we need.

Beaudouin and other volunteers take orders for emergency contraception by email. They package pills with two pregnancy tests and some pads and liners in case of bleeding and hand off the kits to students either on campus or nearby. In the past two years, theyve filled orders for more than 100 kits.

When the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs, the number of requests skyrocketed, Beaudouin said. The group posted on Instagram pleading with students not to stockpile pills, because its supplies were very limited.

People understood, but I felt really bad about it, they said. (Beaudouin uses the pronoun they.)

Beaudouin doesnt think university officials know that the reproductive health group distributes emergency contraceptives on campus. And Loyola for Life has picketed their off-campus condom distribution events, but it has gotten better since the reproductive health group asked them to stop, Beaudouin said.

Loyola for Life didnt respond to a request for comment.

The national anti-abortion group Students for Life of America wouldnt object to students distributing free pregnancy tests and menstrual products, said Kate Maloney, manager of the groups Campaign for Abortion Free Cities. But they would object to distribution of emergency contraception, which they claim is an abortion-causing drug.

Still, the reproductive justice groups shouldnt be prohibited from operating on campus, Maloney said. Were not going to say whether a group should be denied the right to exist, she said, because that has happened a lot to us.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard's sister Mia is happy that she's out of prison.

On Dec. 29, one day after Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from Missouris Chillicothe Correctional Center, the former inmate posted a photo of her and Mia Blanchard together.

In the snap, they wrapped their arm around one another and stood in front of some golden balloons, which said, "Welcome home."

Gypsy Rose Blanchard captioned the snap, "Sister Love ."

On Instagram, Mia Blanchard reshared the same snap, along with another pic of them and their dad, Rod Blanchard, and Mia's mom, Kristy.

She penned the caption, "The sweetest hello, welcome home sister."

The sweet post comes after Gypsy Rose Blanchard served eight years in prison for her role in the 2015 slaying of her allegedly abusive mother, Clauddine Dee Dee Blanchard.

After pleading guilty to second degree murder, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is currently out on parole and is enjoying life with her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson and her family.

When Gypsy Rose Blanchard was younger and under her mothers care, she became a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which a caretaker makes someone ill or creates the illusion of them being ill, per the National Institutes of Health.

During her trial, Gypsy Rose Blanchard testified that her mother made her believe she suffered from numerous medical conditions that she did not have, including leukemia and muscular dystrophy.

Now that she's a free woman, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is enjoying everything that life has to offer  including her sister Mia.

Read on to learn more about Mia Blanchard.

Mia Blanchard is technically Gypsy Rose Blanchard's stepsister

Mia Blanchard is one of Gypsy Rose Blanchard's father's two kids, whom he shares with his wife, Kristy Blanchard.

Before Rod Blanchard and Kristy Blanchard got together, Rod Blanchard was married to Dee Dee.

According to BuzzFeed News, Rod Blanchard met Dee Dee when he was still in high school, and they dated between four and six months before Dee Dee, then 24, became pregnant with Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Rod Blanchard was 17 at the time.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, her sister Mia Blanchard, father Rod Blanchard and stepmom Kristy Blanchard pose together for a photo after Gypsy's release from prison. (@mia.blanchard via Instagram)

The couple soon wed, but the romance was short-lived once Rod Blanchard came to terms with his real feelings for Dee Dee.

I wasnt in love with her, really. I knew I got married for the wrong reasons," he told BuzzFeed News.

After they separated, Rod Blanchard found love with Kristy and in 2001, they welcomed Mia Blanchard into the world.

Mia Blanchard wishes Gypsy Rose Blanchard waited to get married

According to the Springfield News-Leader, Gypsy Rose Blanchard got married to her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, in 2022 while she was still in prison.

When asked how she felt about the news on "The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard," Mia Blanchard said she wished her sister would've waited a little longer before she walked down the aisle.

"I kind of wish she would have just waited so she can live at home with mom and dad. It would be easier for family time," she said. "It would be easier to create that bond with her that we were both robbed of, me and my brother. And it's just not going to be the same as if she would have been living at home."

"Yeah," Rod and Kristy Blanchard agreed in unison.

Mia Blanchard met Gypsy Rose Blanchard's husband after they got engaged

In The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, cameras followed Mia Blanchard as she met Anderson for the first time.

In episode six of the documentary, Mia Blanchard said she didn't know whether or not Anderson had her sister's best interests at heart so she needed to meet him in person.

"I just don't want her first marriage, her probably only marriage, to end up in divorce," she said.

...She dont know what its like to live in the real world yet. She doesnt know what its like to live with a man and Im just worried itll end in divorce," she added.

During their conversation, Mia Blanchard questioned Anderson on his ability to have children and whether he could be supportive to Gypsy Rose Blanchard during tough times, now that she's become a public figure.

After confirming his ability to have children and saying he would stick by Gypsy's side, Mia Blanchard said she felt a bit more relaxed over their nuptials, even though she still preferred them to wait to get married.

"Ryan made me feel at ease. He wasn't afraid to stick up for himself and he always had a reply," she said. "But I don't think they should be making that decision to get married now. I'm not going to keep her from doing anything. I want her to live but she has a whole life to experience, a whole life to live."

Where is Mia Blanchard now?

After high school, Mia Blanchard went to college at the University of Louisiana, where she's studing nursing.

While in school, Mia Blanchard was associated with the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. On Instagram, she posted photos of herself wearing an Alpha Delta Pi shirt and hanging out with other women who sported the same tees.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
If youre looking for hopeful signs that the Republican presidential nomination fight isnt over before it has started, heres one: Donald Trumps campaign is blasting Nikki Haley over one of GOP voters top issues, immigration.

A new television ad in New Hampshire accuses Haley of opposing Trumps proposed (but never completed) border wall and ban on U.S. entry for those from certain countries, according to NBC News. Trump allies are also highlighting comments in 2015, when Haley was governor of South Carolina. She rebuked the use of the term criminals to describe immigrants, saying: They want to come for a better life, too.  We dont need to be disrespectful. We dont need to talk about them as criminals.

That was standard rhetoric for many leading Republicans at the time, even those who wanted to crack down on illegal immigration. But then and now, the partys base voters want a much tougher stance, both in word and deed.

Nikki Haley says it's inappropriate to call the illegal immigrants 'criminals':



"We don't need to be disrespectful. We don't need to talk about them as criminals. They're not, they're families that want a better life." pic.twitter.com/ypMi4H1Oya  Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 4, 2024

Haley has shifted her tone, too, and the episode shows the conflagratory potential of illegal immigration and border security in this years campaigns. Many people who still agree that migrants are largely after a better life and contribute to society dont want to hear it anymore. The facts on the ground  felt every day in Texas and increasingly throughout the nation  simply crowd out that level of compassion. Even Democrats are proving it.

The numbers of migrants coming over the border stagger the imagination. Border officials processed more than 300,000 people attempting to enter illegally in December, yet another record.

Its confounding to leftists, especially those in northern cities, for whom open borders were always easy to support as a matter of theory. Now, mayors in cities such as Denver and Chicago are declaring that unchecked migration cannot continue. Areas that have declared themselves sanctuary cities are trying to divert new arrivals seeking, um, sanctuary.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is the author of some of this torment. When Abbott began offering migrants released by border officials voluntary transportation out of the state, it took just a fraction of the number flowing into Texas for New York Mayor Eric Adams to start sounding like Trump, warning of changes to the citys character and its ultimate destruction.

Like so much of liberalism, sanctuary policy is a gesture separated from reality. Once migrants actually started showing up in New York and taking advantage of generous policies, Adams discovered the concept of borders, even crafting a policy that prompted diversion of migrants to New Jersey and other states. Now, hes suing the transport companies contracted with Abbott, as if the busing business is suddenly, somehow illegal.

So, in this environment, attacking Haley for once defending immigration is politically useful. The thing is, she was mostly right.

The U.S. needs orderly migration. Population decline is a threat to Western prosperity, and an aging population demands an infusion of young workers to support the economy.

What we have now is anything but orderly, though. Migration is mostly a game of tag, with little regard to whether those who make it in match the countrys needs. Its hard to argue for sensible migration when U.S. policy is to release so many people into the country with immigration court dates scheduled so far out they might as well be the subject of science fiction movies. Surely some people already here will travel to their hearings in 2035 in flying cars, right?

Nikki Haley campaigning in October in Exeter, New Hampshire. (Jack Gruber-USA TODAY)

Its politically smart for Trump to dredge up Haleys old comments. Shes closing on him in New Hampshire polls, the first candidate in months to show any signs of giving him any competition for the GOP nomination. Its one state and Trumps advantages remain daunting, but his team is smart to take no chances.

Especially on the issue of immigration. Its hard enough in our sclerotic discourse to have any high-level policy discussions. When voters are convinced that basic order is breaking down  and in the governance of our borders, they are not wrong  such discussions are impossible.

But Republicans would be better off with a nominee who understands that while, yes, controlling the chaos is the first priority, immigration reform will need a phase two  one that actually recognizes what the U.S. needs and pursues it.

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SAN DIEGO  A measure to increase sales taxes by half a cent to fund countywide transit projects has qualified for the November ballot, according to the Registrar of Voters office.

The ballot initiative was launched last year by a coalition of labor leaders and climate activists, called Lets Go! San Diego, to support transit and road plans by the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG.

In a letter to proponents dated Jan. 3 and obtained by FOX 5 Friday, the county Registrar of Voters said a total of 172,916 signatures were submitted to the Registrar of Voters with a projected 127,249 that are considered valid  about 10% above what is required for qualification.

Affordable housing project breaks ground in San Ysidro

After more than two years of organizing, Environmental Health Coalition, transit riders, and community advocates are proud the transit measure will be on the 2024 ballot, Carolina Martinez, a climate justice director with the Lets Go! coalition, said in a release Friday.

Currently, 70% of jobs are not reachable by public transit, she continued. This forces San Diegans into congested streets and highways which are leading contributors to climate change and air pollution in the San Diego region. By increasing service, frequency, and access, the measure will help build our economy, clean our air, and achieve our climate goals.

With the certification of the initiative, the county says registered voters in the county will be able to vote on it as part of the the Nov. 7 ballot.

This comes a year after a previous attempt by the same coalition of groups to put the proposed sales tax increase on the ballot, which failed to garner enough signatures to qualify, with only 94,787 verified by the registrar at the time.

The measures failure to make it on the ballot posed a significant obstacle for the regional planning agency in funding its $160 billion long-term plan for transit projects in the coming decades.

This includes projects to connect the San Diego International Airport to public transit, the creation of a new Purple Line to connect the South Bay to Sorrento Mesa, and the realignment of county tracks in the train corridor connecting San Diego to Los Angeles.

As the Voice of San Diego reported last year, the outline, which was approved by the SANDAG board in 2021, assumed that county voters would approve a handful of tax increases  like the now-defunct milage fee  to generate over $20 billion towards the plan.

The initial citizens initiative for the half-cent increase was also brought forward to help fund projects included in the outline.

However, this move drew backlash from some conservatives on the planning agencys board, led by Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey, as the citizens initiative would take a simple majority of voters to approve as opposed to the two-thirds required for a SANDAG-sponsored one.

Bailey revoiced some of these concerns in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Thursday, criticizing SANDAG for circumventing the majority of board members and the law.

ReBeach: A look at Oceansides sand retention project

When government relies on special interests, including labor groups or business or otherwise, to circumvent the law, taxpayers always lose, he continued.

FOX 5 has reached out to SANDAG for comment and is awaiting a response.

Voters have previously approved a half-cent sales tax, called the TransNet program, to fund SANDAG projects in 2004. According to the 2021 regional plan, this tax is expected to generate about $11.1 billion for transportation improvements through 2050.

However, a similar measure sponsored by SANDAG to increase this sales tax by another half-cent in 2016 fell short of the two-thirds threshold, with only 58% of county voters supporting it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
An IDF report says that top-quality Chinese weapons are in use by Hamas in Gaza.

The stockpile includes assault rifles, grenade launchers, and advanced communications equipment.

Israeli intelligence had observed an upgrade in equipment used by Hamas.

Hamas has a large stockpile of Chinese weaponry in Gaza, including assault rifles, grenade launchers, and advanced communications equipment, according to the IDF, the Telegraph reports.

The findings raise questions about how the weaponry reached Hamas, potentially straining relations between Israel and China.

The IDF's findings also include telescopic sights for rifles, M16 cartridges, listening devices, and tactical military radio.

Israeli intelligence sources observed a significant upgrade in weaponry and technology acquired by Hamas, raising concerns about whether the Chinese supplies came directly from China or through a third party.

"This is top-grade weaponry and communications technology, stuff that Hamas didn't have before, with very sophisticated explosives which have never been found before and especially on such a large scale," an Israeli intelligence source told The Telegraph.

Weapons such as QBZ assault rifles and QLZ87 automatic grenade launchers were among the uncovered haul, signs of bolstered Hamas firepower.

The IDF warned that this arsenal is complemented by intelligence and communications equipment capable of operating within the complex tunnel system used by Hamas for surprise attacks on Israeli troops.

A Palestinian supporter of Hamas carries M16 machine gun in Jabalya Refugee camp northern Gaza. strip. Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Chinese-made weapons discovery was described as a "surprise." dIt could strain ties between Israel and China, which have cooled since the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Experts suggest that if the Chinese-made equipment reached Hamas in large quantities, it is likely via a state actor, with Iran being a probable candidate.

China has historical ties to arming and training Palestinian factions, the Telegraph reports.

"China has changed its attitude to Israel dramatically, and it's gone totally toward a position of antisemitism now," the Israeli intelligence source told The Telegraph.

Some Chinese social media influencers have been openly pro-Hamas since the October 7 terrorist attacks, when around 1,140 people in Israel were killed in a wave of terrorist attacks, and 240 were kidnapped and taken hostages.

The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killed roughly 22,000 Palestinians, and displaced almost all of the territory's 2.3 million people.

Over 170 soldiers have been killed and 1,020 soldiers injured while fighting in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Editors Note: Harry Dunn is a former US Capitol police officer and a candidate for the US House representing a district in Maryland. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.

For 15 years, Id had the honor of working at the US Capitol and drawing inspiration from its magnificent Rotunda  a place so beautiful it took my breath away each day.

Harry Dunn - Courtesy Leigh Vogel

Three years ago, in that same building that filled me with such awe, I was immersed for what felt like countless hours in a profane mix of sweat, screams, shrieks, anger, death, fear, blood, broken limbs, spit, hatred, horror, racism and bigotry.

The chaos and violence that unfolded on the grounds of the Capitol, a place I swore to protect, shook me to the core. The wounds experienced by me and my heroic fellow officers during that violent attack are still healing. But my commitment to ensuring the strength of our democracy has only deepened. Its the reason Ive decided to run for Congress.

Capitol Police officers and Metropolitan Police officers engaged in desperate, hand-to-hand fighting with rioters on January 6, 2021, with the Capitol under full-scale siege. Those who took part in the assault against the Capitol used all kinds of weapons against the officers defending it: Flagpoles were used as pikes. Metal bike racks that they had torn apart became bludgeons.

Some of the police officers who fought alongside me were screaming in pain from the injuries they suffered while battling the attackers. Many officers were temporarily blinded and coughing from chemical irritants being sprayed in their faces. Police officers like myself who were Black were verbally assaulted with racial epithets, in addition to the physical blows we endured.

Our scars, both physical and emotional, still run deep and serve as a constant reminder of the fragility of our democratic institutions. The racial undertones of some of the attacks were disturbing, bringing back to light a dark past that so many of us condemn and want to move away from.

As a patriotic American who has defended our Capitol for a decade and a half, I question why all Americans arent united in the pursuit of justice and accountability. It has been disheartening to witness the growing support for former President Donald Trump, the instigator of the violence we saw that day.

"I never want to return to the horrors of January 6  that, for me, is the urgency of the upcoming election," writes Harry Dunn. - Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Its appalling to me that some of the same people who took part in the attack against our democracy have declared their intention to run for office in the very institution that they defiled. For the sake of our democracy, now more than ever it is crucial that we elect leaders who revere our democratic institutions and who are willing to prioritize the well-being of our nation.

In the years since Jan. 6, Republican extremists have backtracked on their weak rebukes of the former president and some now openly question whether the insurrection even happened. They want to erase the history of that day and openly embrace conspiracy theories.

As Americans, we must demand transparency, accountability and a commitment to upholding the values that make our nation strong. It is time for lawmakers to put country before party and take a stand against any threat to our democratic principles.

I never want to return to the horrors of Jan. 6  that, for me, is the urgency of the upcoming election. We must learn from the past, acknowledge our vulnerabilities and actively work to strengthen our democratic foundations. My experience on that dark day has fueled my determination to enact meaningful change to ensure that such an attack never happens again.

Ive made it my personal mission to share my story, speak truth to power and work to ensure this never happens again. Thats why a few weeks ago, I retired from the police force, and thats why I announced my campaign to run for Congress in Marylands Third Congressional District.

Throughout my career, Ive had the privilege of meeting thousands of elected officials, congressional staff and employees and visitors from all over the world to our nations Capitol.

Every day, I was reminded of the United States place in the world as a guardian of democracy. Im committed to holding accountable those who threaten our democratic values and ensuring that the events of Jan. 6 are only a dark chapter in our nations history.

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Claudine Gays days as Harvard president may well have been numbered from the moment she appeared to equivocate on whether theoretical calls for violence against Jewish people violated Harvards rules while testifying before Congress last month. But it was allegations of plagiarism that ultimately led to her resignation on Wednesday.

Investigations by the Washington Free Beacon and the New York Post, at least partially instigated by the conservative activist Christopher Rufo and his crusade to chase wokeism and diversity initiatives from all corners of society, turned up nearly 50 instances of alleged plagiarism in Gays academic writing.

Related:Powerful donors managed to push out Harvards Claudine Gay. But at what cost? | Robert Reich

According to the Harvard board, a school subcommittee and independent panel charged with investigating the plagiarism allegations against Gay found a few instances of inadequate citation but no violation of Harvards standard for research misconduct; Gay was said to be proactively requesting four corrections.

No doubt, a top administrator accused of being a chronic cut-and-paster is a bad look for the nations foremost institution of higher education. But is what Gay did beyond the pale? Experts concede its a complicated issue.

I used to call plagiarism the oldest profession, says Barbara Glatt, a pioneering forensic plagiarism investigator who is regularly called upon to consult on high-profile cases within the academy and in publishing. It can be direct (copying something word for word without attribution), indirect (the wholesale theft of ideas), mosaic (changing some words while copying others) or even an honest mistake (an error of omission or execution)  all things Gay was accused to have done, even as she continues to stand by her scholarship.

Academic writing isnt a breezy process that makes for easy reading  especially in college, where the rules often come down to a professors style preference (MLA v Chicago v AP v APA). Its no wonder so many fall into the plagiarism trap of their own making. And while Gay more than anyone should have known better, it seems unfair that she should be the one to take the fall when her errors were missed by the institutions that published her  not least the Harvard PhD committee that awarded her the Toppan prize for the best political science dissertation in 1998.

Not even Harvards own board appears to have done as thorough a vetting of Gays bibliography before making her the colleges first Black president in 387 years, or before forcing her demotion after six months on the job. They had a month and a half to get ahead of this scandal, says Jonathan Bailey, a journalist and plagiarism consultant who began hearing of efforts to investigate Gay for plagiarism after her ignominious appearance on the Hill. I also feel pretty confident that if they had started from the word go, hired an outside expert, made it a transparent process and highlighted the details, they couldve gotten ahead of this.

Since Gay was chased out of office, Business Insider found what it characterized as a similar pattern of plagiarism in a Harvard dissertation authored by Neri Oxman, a professor and artist married to Bill Ackman  the billionaire Harvard donor and a prominent player in the anti-Gay attack machine. (Oxman has apologized.)

Plagiarism fundamentalism

When it comes to fighting plagiarism outright, few can claim as long a lead as Glatt. In the 80s, she was among the first to develop academic-focused anti-plagiarism software to suss out plagiarism in school papers. The software would take a sample of student writing, remove every fifth word  then Glatt would circle back to the suspect to fill in the blanks to determine whether the text was theirs. Back then she reckoned the transgression rates among high school and college students was between 50% and 80%. She figures the problem has only become worse since the internet came along and created a bull market for plagiarism, where sources and cheating services abound. In recent years AI has become as much a part of the solution as part of the problem, providing an easy means to produce work thats not ones own, but also for educators to cross-check for plagiarism.

Related: A bully: the billionaire who led calls for Claudine Gays Harvard exit

It was through AI that the inconsistencies in Gays scholarship were found. In some works, Gay credits a source in the wrong sentence. In others, she borrows language that even those who were ostensibly plagiarized accept as common phrasing within their field of study. I am not at all concerned about the passages, said the political science professor David Canon, whose work the Washington Free Beacon accused Gay of plagiarizing. This isnt even close to an example of academic plagiarism.

In the acknowledgments section of her political science dissertation, Gay shouts out her dissertation adviser, the esteemed social scientist Gary King, who reminded me of the importance of getting the data right and following where they lead without fear or favor, and paid homage to her family, who drove me harder than I sometimes wanted to be driven.

The Beacon report sourced both quotes back to the acknowledgments section of the 1996 book Facing up to the American Dream by Jennifer L Hochschild, another Harvard social scientist professor. Speaking to the Washington Post, Hochschild said: My first reaction was, This is a little weird. But my second reaction was, Boy, these are cliches. Reacting to Gays resignation, Hochschild told the Harvard Crimson she was furious at the people who had set out on a deliberate campaign to destroy her career and maybe destroy her personally.

Theres a kind of continuum between originality and complete copying, and language and culture lies somewhere in the middle Susan Blum

Even with the best plagiarism-ferreting tools, the answer isnt always cut and dry. The offending passages in Gays dissertation acknowledgments, unoriginal as they look on first glance, could be charitably interpreted as intertextual references for a knowing audience. If you look at the allegations, says Bailey, they include examples that are actually worrisome and raise serious issues. But they also include a lot of examples that are weak and meaningless.

Its an escalating game of cops and robbers that only figures to ratchet the already thick tension in the classroom. I dont believe in churning everything through turnitin.com because thats a mechanical way of doing things, says Susan Blum, a professor of linguistic anthropology at Notre Dame, referencing a go-to anti-plagiarism tool. Her 2009 book, My Word!, explores the evolution of plagiarism in college. She takes exception to what she calls plagiarism fundamentalism, the idea that every thought should be completely original  which runs counter to a human nature to mimic. We have these things called mirror neurons, which allow us to feel what other people are doing while theyre doing them, says Blum. Theres a kind of continuum between originality and complete copying, and language and culture lies somewhere in the middle.

While Gay has emerged as the face of plagiarism in the past few weeks, the issue, or derivatives of it, seem to be arising in more and more contexts lately. The court clerk in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial was outed by her co-author for lifting sections for a forthcoming memoir from a BBC article; the New York Times sued OpenAI and other bot shops for copyright infringement; and Katt Williams called out his fellow comedian Cedric the Entertainer for stealing one of his best jokes (an allegation Cedric denied). In the wake of Gays resignation, critics on the left have been quick to recall the 2017 supreme court confirmation of the Harvard Law alum Neil Gorsuch, who was exposed for lifting sections of his 2006 book The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia from a 1984 article in the Indiana Law Journal. (In defense of their nominee, the Trump White House called the allegations a false attack.)

Many of the plagiarism allegations against Gay seem archly pedantic, a thinly veiled effort to undermine Gays social justice-focused scholarship and discredit her as a leading Black scholar. That Ackman, Rufo et al would use plagiarism to take Gay down seems a throwback to the days of Reconstruction, when conservative lawmakers leveraged vagrancy laws to funnel free Black people into chain gangs. With the punishment for plagiarism as inconsistent as the actual transgressions, it seems cheating allegations can only prosper.

Related:Claudine Gays resignation had nothing to do with plagiarism | Moira Donegan

If Gay had gotten caught as an undergrad, maybe she fails a course and has a hard start to her career, Bailey says. If she were a regular old faculty member, she might be ordered to make corrections, take a remedial course, serve a small suspension and earn an article on a site like Retraction Watch. But once you get to the top of a school like Harvard, its almost like the script flips and suddenly plagiarism is very strictly enforced, at least by the public.

Much like with other transgressions, it seems that how plagiarism is enforced has more to do with the person being accused than the violation that was committed. I dont think we can actually divorce the political from plagiarism partly because its often the case that scrutiny is applied to some people in some moments and not others in other moments, Blum says. This case has a number of tragic and angering dimensions. Whether it should rise to the level of forcing her resignation, Im not sure.
BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday that Xinjiang will keep its door open to the world, adding China sincerely welcomes more friends from all countries to visit Xinjiang and see its charm, harmony and prosperity for themselves.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing, in response to recent comments by Moiz Farooq, an executive editor of Daily Ittehad Media Group about his visit to Xinjiang.

Wang said in 2023 alone, Xinjiang received nearly 400 delegations and groups that consist of over 4,300 visitors from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Egypt, France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other countries and international organizations.

Some of them are government officials, diplomats, religious figures, experts, scholars, journalists and ordinary travelers, Wang said. "They visited many places there. They listened to clergies giving sermons at mosques and the Islamic institutes and visited cultural heritage sites to see how Xinjiang's traditional culture is protected. They went to local factories, businesses and farms to learn about Xinjiang's production and development, and visited ordinary households where they saw the happy life of people of various ethnic groups."

He went on to quote relevant remarks about Xinjiang from those who have visited the region. Wang said Japanese tourists who traveled to Xinjiang said that they witnessed the happy life of Xinjiang people and began to know that many ethnic groups live side by side in the region and they are united like pomegranate seeds. A Pakistani journalist said that everywhere he went in Xinjiang, he could see people living a normal, peaceful and contented life, and what he saw in Xinjiang is different from the horrifying reports he had read about. Maxime Vivas, a French writer who visited Xinjiang for the third time last year, said that tranquility and harmony can be seen everywhere in the region.

"Seeing is believing. People are not blind to the truth," the spokesperson said. "For certain countries, they are comfortable telling lies and rumors about so-called 'genocide' and 'forced labor' in Xinjiang, but it takes them forever to acknowledge the humanitarian tragedies in places such as Gaza. This is plain hypocrisy." 
To many conservatives, American institutions are in a constant state of crisis. A mass deterioration of civil societyfrom the nuclear family, to higher education, to community lifehas led to many social and political woes, they point out, but the proposed solutions to institutional breakdown often remain outside our reach. If hoped-for policy changes could take generations to enact, what can the average American accomplish with a mere Tocquevillian lament?

David Brooks How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, begins with the usual culprits for our social and political disarray. Unlike other diagnoses, however, his book gravitates toward more granular solutions: a hand planted on a shoulder, a listening ear, a caring gaze, an understanding nod. The book treats these actions as the mustard seeds that build relationships between two people, and eventually within a nation. As Brooks writes, Many of our big national problems arise from the fraying of our social fabric. If we want to begin repairing the big national ruptures, we have to learn to do the small things well. Part memoir of Brooks own soul and relationships, part manual for how to meaningfully connect with other humans, How to Know a Person blends the ideal and the real, the abstract and the tangible.

Brooks spent more than four years researching the book, with impressive results. As he often does, he helpfully surveys various social psychology studies. Some notable ones include William Ickes research which found that people accurately predict what strangers think only 20 percent of the time, and the work of a group of neuroscientists who found that people often prefer to share their thoughts or feelings than receive money. The way Brooks blends this research into his narrative keeps How to Know a Person from reading like a self-help manual.

But his grasp of moral philosophywhich underpins a case for why we should want to cultivate skills for seeing and allowing ourselves to be seenis even more admirable. As much as it is a practical how-to book, How to See A Person is also a book about moral formation.

Whether a deep conversation with a family member or a glance at a stranger on the street, every encounter has the potential to affirm or reject another person. Summarizing the British novelist Iris Murdoch, Brooks writes that the essential immoral act is the inability to see other people correctly  Evil happens when people are unseeing, when they dont recognize the personhood in other human beings. In turn, the antidote to dehumanization and passive indifference calls us to really try and see. And truly seeing requires the accumulation of little human interactions, creating a basis for a moral imagination that beholds the life and dignity of other people. Like any aspect of moral formation, these skills must be sought, honed, and acquired through hard work.

Two categoriesIlluminator and Diminisherexemplify the actions that make up Brooks moral framework for how to see a person. Illuminators are curious and attempt to develop the skills to understand others. Conversely, Diminishers view other people as instruments, or simply disregard their existence. Illuminators make others feel uplifted; Diminishers make others feel insignificant. Through examples of his own and others behavior, Brooks provides narrative after narrative to show how Illuminators and Diminishers engage the world and the effects they can have on the lives around them.

How does the difference between an Illuminator and a Diminisher relate to our socio-political disconnection? For one, the distinction reminds us that work of moral formation is not done in isolation. Becoming an Illuminator takes a village. In the Illuminator model, character building is not something you can do alone. Morality is a social practice. It is trying to be generous and considerate toward a specific other person, who is enmeshed in a specific context, writes Brooks. This makes the task of becoming an Illuminator all the more challenging. Our ardent individualistic tendencies and our hesitancy to invite others into our lives, especially those who are different from us, keeps us from practicing how to see and know others.

More importantly, the process of becoming an Illuminator matters for our politics because it helps us recognize the complexity of other people. We struggle to view people as part of a group identitywhether religious, racial, or politicaland also as distinct individuals within those groups. Brooks offers seeing as the way to hold these seemingly contradictory ways of understanding a person together. He writes that we must adopt a kind of double vision, adding that seeing a person:

means stepping back to appreciate the power of group culture and how it is formed over generations and then poured into a person. But it also means stepping close and perceiving each individual person in the midst of their lifelong project of crafting their own life and their own point of view, often in defiance of their groups consciousness. The trick is to hold these two perspectives together at the same time.

Being an Illuminator for one person disrupts our instinct to treat them primarily as a member of a group, and it shines the light on our tribalist tendency to group people into us and them categories.

Brooks granular approach avoids what I think of as the homogeneity problem on the right. According to books like Rod Drehers The Benedict Option, healing the social fabric takes place in thick, homogeneous communities, with limited differences in religion, culture, or political beliefs. Homogeneity might make social cohesion easier, but America isnt homogeneous and is only becoming less so.

Therefore, our challenge is to form closer community ties amid diverse communities, not to wish that diversity away. As Brooks writes, this is a matter of national survival. The solution will require citizens who can look across difference and show the kind of understanding that is a prerequisite of trustwho can say, at the very least, Im beginning to see you. How to Know a Person explores these skills of human encounterto make others feel fully seen, heard, and understoodand why theyre necessary to bridge seemingly impassable differences.

Moreover, one feature of the book that has lingered in my psyche and informed my interactions with others is Brooks encouragement to ask better follow-up questions. Carefully and thoughtfully pulling on the threads of other peoples stories can be hard; after all, were often quick to want to jump in with our own stories. What unravels when we prioritize asking rather than telling, however, is often deeper and more interesting than we would expect. It can create a moment of encounter imbued with meaning.

As someone who often tried to reconcile the ideas and policy ecosystem of Washington, D.C., with my rural, working-class roots, I found How to Know a Person refreshing. Brooks manages to tap into something that often goes unnoticed: Theres simple and profound power in envisioning elites and everyday Americans, Democrats and Republicans, partisans and moderates, taking the time to truly see each other eye-to-eye.

Read more at The Dispatch

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The breach of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, interrupted the counting of the electoral votes submitted by the states after the 2020 election. More specifically, the riot interrupted debates in both the House and Senate over whether to count the votes from Arizona.

Among the crowd who stormed the Capitol were people from Arizona. Two men who held office in the Arizona Legislature were outside the building and the state flag was among the banners held aloft over the rioting crowd.

At least 12 people from Arizona faced federal charges for their participation that day. Some have since pleaded guilty. Some were incarcerated. And two stormed the U.S. Capitol wearing costumes.

Here are the notable people with Arizona ties who were at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and what happened to them in the aftermath.

Jake Angeli, aka Jacob Chansley, aka the 'QAnon Shaman'

Jake Angeli became the face of the riot because of his unique attire  shirtless and showing off elaborate chest tattoos, a painted face and a fur-lined helmet topped with horns.

It is the get-up he had worn during the previous two years at protests of all sorts in and around the Phoenix area.

Angeli, a U.S. Navy veteran, told The Arizona Republic in 2020 that he had received a vision that he was among a cadre of spiritual super-soldiers. He saw it as his mission to inform the public about the truths he had discovered online. Some of those aligned with the QAnon conspiracy that held that the world was governed by an elite ruling class that engaged in ritual child sacrifice.

Angeli was among the first people to enter the Capitol. A federal judge would say that Angeli quite literally spearheaded entry to the building. He was shown on video posted on the New Yorker magazine website seating himself at the dais of the U.S. Senate. He left a note for Vice President Mike Pence that read, Its only a matter of time! Justice is coming.

Angeli was arrested after showing up for an interview with FBI agents days after the January 2021 riot. He was ordered jailed until trial. He pleaded guilty in September 2021 to a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding. He was released from federal custody in May.

The day of his release, Angeli, who earned the nickname "QAnon Shaman," got into his famous attire again and posed for photos outside the Arizona Capitol. He started a website selling his face on water bottles, T-shirts and leggings. For a specified sum, Angeli, who has dubbed himself the American Shaman, will sit for a one-on-one video consultation.

Angeli has announced his intention to seek a seat in Congress, running as a Libertarian in a heavily Republican district northwest of Phoenix.

Angeli may run: 'QAnon shaman' from Jan. 6 Capitol attack could run as Libertarian for Congress

Nathan Wayne Entrekin, aka 'Captain Moroni'

Although Angeli grabbed most of the attention, Arizona had another costumed protester at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021: Nathan Wayne Entrekin, who was in a gladiator costume meant to evoke a figure from the Book of Mormon.

Entrekin had driven from his home in Cottonwood, in northern Arizona, to Washington, D.C., after feeling called by Trump to attend the rally in person.

He dressed in an off-the-rack gladiator costume and told bystanders he was portraying Captain Moroni, a figure from the sacred text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the text, Moroni led a battle against a group that wanted to install a king, rather than a leader elected by the people.

The evidence against Entrekin largely came from his cellphone. He narrated videos that he apparently intended to show to his mother.

I made it, Mom. I made it to the top, he said in a video after he climbed steps along the west side of the Capitol. Look at all the patriots here. Haha, if I can make it up that, anybody can.

He was sentenced in May 2022 to 45 days in prison. He also was sentenced to 36 months of probation but in December asked a judge to end that early.

The judge granted the request, noting Entrekin had found stable employment and housing and had completed mental health treatment.

Receives jail time: Nathan Entrekin, Jan. 6 raider from Arizona in gladiator costume, sentenced to 45 days in jail

Ray Epps

At one time, Ray Epps of Queen Creek was a Trump supporter and chapter leader of the Oath Keepers. He was seen on video at the front of a police line near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, wearing a Trump hat. He said he left the grounds once he saw people scaling the walls.

Epps turned himself into the FBI two days after the riot after finding out agents were looking for him. But he escaped charges for years. And a conspiracy theory erupted as to why.

Online sleuths zeroed in on a pair of videos they claimed made the case. One was taken the night of Jan. 5. Epps was seen telling a crowd that the next day we need to go into the Capitol. Some people started shouting, Fed, Fed, at Epps, accusing him of being a government agent, and planting one seed of conspiracy.

Video taken on Jan. 6 showed Epps whispering something into the ear of a man just before he attacked a police barricade. Both Epps and the man said Epps had told him to back off. Still, to the conspiracy-minded, it tracked with a federally hired instigator spurring on Trump supporters to break the law.

That conspiracy was the subject of several stories on Fox News, including on the then-highly rated show hosted by Tucker Carlson. Epps has sued the network for defamation, but Fox has moved to dismiss the lawsuit. Epps and his wife, in an interview on "60 Minutes, said they had to abandon their wedding venue business and live in an RV in the Rocky Mountains.

Epps pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in September, one day after the case was filed. Prosecutors have asked he serve six months in prison when he is sentenced Tuesday.

Ray Epps case: Prosecutors recommend 6 months in prison for man at center of a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory

Mark Finchem

An Arizonan who was a state lawmaker at the time, Mark Finchem was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He has cast himself as a bystander. But Finchem played an instrumental role in casting doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election in Arizona.

Mark Finchem, then an Arizona secretary of state candidate, listens to a speaker discuss the importance of state elections at the Unite and Win Rally organized by Turning Point Action in Phoenix on Aug. 14, 2022.

Finchem had two reasons to be in Washington, D.C., the day the electoral votes were scheduled for counting in a joint session of Congress. Finchem said, in a statement released days after the riot, that he was going to deliver an evidence book to Pence outlining fraud in the election in Arizona and ask the vice president to not certify the states votes. It is not clear if that meeting took place.

Finchem also was scheduled to speak at a Stop the Steal rally on the east end of the U.S. Capitol when an organizer of that event sent him a text message that the Capitol was breached. I dont think its safe, read the message sent to Finchem, which was released to The Republic through a public records request.

Finchem texted the rally organizer that he was going to make his way to the front of the U.S. Capitol and the two men would find each other. He said his black cowboy hat should make him recognizable.

At 3:16 p.m. D.C. time, Finchem posted a photo on what was then Twitter of the crowd outside the Capitol. What happens when the People feel they have been ignored, and Congress refuses to acknowledge rampant fraud, he wrote.

Finchem, in his statement, said he never was closer than "500 yards" from the Capitol. He also said that he saw a crowd more interested in photos than violence. (The crowd) did not appear hostile, he wrote in his statement, nor did they appear disrespectful. The Arizona Mirror, using video and images from Getty, estimated he was closer: roughly 100 yards away.

Finchem was the Republican nominee for Arizona secretary of state in 2022 but lost to Democrat Adrian Fontes.

Loss in court: Kari Lake, Mark Finchem lose federal appeal in effort to ban voting machines in Arizona

Tim Gionet, aka 'Baked Alaska'

Tim Gionet, who went by the online name Baked Alaska, shot 27 minutes of live video as he wandered inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In the video, he encouraged people to stay inside the building, wandered into a congressional office and cursed at law enforcement.

According to court records, Gionet was shouting, "Patriots are in control" and "1776 will commence again."

Tim "Baked Alaska" Gionet livestreams from Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, the night before the U.S. Capitol riot.

Gionets attorney argued in court that Gionet was in the Capitol as a member of the press.

Gionet was charged under the name Anthime Gionet, and the aliases of "Baked Alaska" and "Pawg Collector," according to federal court records.

Gionet was arrested in Houston on Jan. 15 but released ahead of his trial. He pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading or demonstrating in a Capitol building. In January 2023, he was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail and two years of probation. He also was ordered to pay a $2,510 fine, which his attorney told the court he had done.

Gionet also has faced police allegations for damaging a menorah displayed outside the Arizona Capitol and for getting in a scuffle with security at a Scottsdale bar. Security had asked him to leave the bar, Giligans, after his livestreaming made patrons uncomfortable.

In December, Gionet asked the federal court to end his probation in the Jan. 6, 2021, case, citing a D.C.-circuit court opinion that a petty offender cannot face sentences of both incarceration and probation. The judge has not ruled on that request.

More court trouble: Jan. 6 media streamer 'Baked Alaska' found guilty of damaging Hanukkah display

Micajah Joel Jackson

A Phoenix military veteran, Micajah Joel Jackson marched alongside Proud Boys who identified themselves as Arizonans by wearing orange armbands.

In an interview with The Republic, Jackson said he wasnt affiliated with the Proud Boys but walked with them since they were from Arizona. He said it felt safer than being on his own.

Micajah Joel Jackson is shown on the Eastern Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021.

A U.S. Capitol Police officer testified before the Jan. 6 congressional committee that when the orange armband-wearing Proud Boys showed up at the police line, the situation became dire. The officer, Caroline Edwards, said that after the Arizona group of Proud Boys joined the confrontation at the police line, the attacks through the megaphone became personal and pointed against the officers.

"I know when Im being turned into a villain, Edwards said, and thats when I turned to my sergeant and I stated the understatement of the century. I said, Sarge, I think were going to need a few more people down here.

Jackson was sentenced in March 2022 to 36 months of probation with the first 90 days in a residential halfway house.

Before imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss sharply rebuked the 26-year-old Marine Corps veteran for his conduct, which included shouting at law enforcement and being at the forefront of the crowd who entered the restricted building.

"You were in the midst of it and you knew you shouldnt be," Moss said. "You made a huge, huge mistake that day in doing that.

Jackson told The Republic in an interview that he is being politically persecuted and that he didn't do anything violent.

Gets probation: Arizona man who illegally entered U.S. Capitol avoids prison time

Klete Derik Keller

Klete Keller, a two-time gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding of Congress. Keller graduated from Arcardia High School in 2000 and trained at the Phoenix Swim Club, though he worked as a real estate agent in Colorado before his arrest.

In court documents, Keller said he attended Trumps speech on the Ellipse hoping to hear what was promised as new information about irregularities in the 2020 election. After realizing there was no new information forthcoming, Keller said he walked toward the U.S. Capitol, knowing there were food vendors set up outside.

A photograph from a "statement of facts" filed by an FBI agent after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Federal officials allege Olympian Klete Keller was among the crowd.

While headed there, Keller said he smelled tear gas and saw people climbing the scaffolding set up for the inauguration ceremony. Looking back, I should have recognized the potential danger and gone back to the hotel, Keller wrote in a letter to the judge in his case.

Instead, he joined the crowd that entered the Capitol. I knew I shouldnt be there, he wrote in his letter, but it seemed like an act of civil disobedience.

Keller was in the crowd for about 50 minutes. He joined in shouts of curses at Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and ignored officers commands to leave. All the while, he was wearing his U.S. Olympic team jacket.

I shouted out obnoxious, hostile slogans at law enforcement officers who were doing their job to protect Congress, he wrote.

Officers deployed tear gas and used tactics described in court papers akin to a rugby scrum to clear Keller and others out of the rotunda area. As Keller left, he threw his Olympic jacket in a trash can.

On a train ride home, a boy recognized the Olympic athlete and asked for a photo. According to court documents, as he posed for the photo, Keller realized the magnitude of what he had done at the U.S. Capitol and broke down inside.

He was among the first people to take a guilty plea, prosecutors said, and cooperated with authorities investigating that day.

In December, Keller was sentenced to three years of probation.

Takes plea deal: Former Arizona Olympian Klete Keller, charged in U.S. Capitol riot, pleads guilty

Anthony Kern

As he stood on the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Anthony Kern was a state lawmaker who had lost his reelection bid in the election a few months prior. But he had appointed himself to another role: Kern was among the Republicans from Arizona who falsely claimed they were the states duly appointed electors and cast their votes for Trump.

Kern was one of the 11 Republicans appointed by the state party to cast Arizonas votes in the Electoral College, a process spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, had Trump won the state. Nevertheless, after results showed Joe Biden won for president, Kern and the other electors convened anyway. They cast their votes for Trump and sent the documents by certified mail to Washington, D.C.

It was part of a plan, according to testimony before the House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol, that would have given Pence an option to say he couldnt certify the election because there were competing slates of electors. The fate of the election could have then been tossed back to the Legislature in Arizona and other states in supposed dispute, or decided in the U.S. House, where Republicans held a majority.

Kern was photographed among the crowd of people surging toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In the image, he is facing away from the crowd, looking toward the camera, wearing a suit, red tie and gray scarf. There is no evidence he entered the Capitol.

Republican state Sen. Anthony Kern leads a protest across the street from the Washington Elementary School District office on March 9, 2023, in Glendale.

The Huffington Post noted Kern reimbursed himself for travel and lodging expenses from around that time through campaign contributions. The notation for the plane ticket does not state a destination. A complaint was filed with the Arizona Secretary of States Office in October, claiming Kern misused campaign cash. Kern quipped to The Republic that he thanked the Democratic voter and liberal group that filed the complaint for the free publicity.

For a time, Kern was among the volunteers involved in a state Senate-ordered recount of ballots cast in Maricopa County in 2020. Kern was removed from the so-called audit after a Republic reporter observing the counting noted his presence. One of the audit leaders said Kern was removed because of the "optics."

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is investigating whether Kern and the other fake electors committed a crime by submitting the documents to Congress.

Kern won election to a state Senate seat in 2022. He has since announced his candidacy for Congress.

Faces accusations: Conservative Arizona lawmaker used campaign cash for Jan. 6 travel, complaint alleges

Felicia and Cory Konold

Tucson siblings Felicia and Cory Konold were accused of being part of a group that stormed past police and into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Federal prosecutors say Felicia and Cory Konold were part of a group that stormed past police and into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Felicia Konold was seen on video walking with a group of Proud Boys toward the Capitol. Her brother, according to the siblings attorney, was a Democrat who was there only to accompany his sister.

Both were accused of storming past two lines of police barricades. Prosecutors said the pair was in a group that was near the front of the crowd that breached the second one. Once inside the Capitol, Felicia Konold joined others in stopping officers from closing a sliding metal door.

On a social media post quoted in court documents, Felicia Konold wrote, I never could have imagined having that much of an influence on the events that unfolded today. Dude, people were willing to follow.

In November, both siblings pleaded guilty to a single felony count of obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 24.

A gladiator, an Olympian and a shaman: Here are people with ties to Arizona who face charges in Capitol riot

James Burton McGrew

James Burton McGrew was identified by his unique King James tattoo on his belly.

Body camera footage showed the tattoo as he raised his shirt inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Court records say McGrew attended the rally with his mother. The two were separated inside the Capitol after officers deployed tear gas.

McGrews attorney said his client tried to retreat, but with no way back, he pushed forward.

Prosecutors say McGrew, a Marine and veteran of the Iraq War, screamed at officers and lunged for the baton of one.

Although he had stayed in Mississippi and California, McGrew was living with his sister in Glendale, Arizona, at the time of his arrest.

McGrew pleaded guilty in May 2022 to a felony count of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. He was sentenced in January 2023 to 78 months in prison.

ID'd by 'King James' belly tattoo: Man arrested in Arizona accused of striking 2 officers in U.S. Capitol riot

Edward Vallejo

Technically, Edward Vallejo was not at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He was at a Comfort Inn miles away in northern Virginia.

But a jury found the Army veteran, who lived in both Willcox and the Phoenix area, guilty of seditious conspiracy for plotting to organize weapons and supplies delivery to a group of Oath Keepers should Trump invoke martial law.

Vallejo was one of three quick reaction force teams set up at hotels and poised to act.

Vallejo back at hotel and outfitted," he messaged to other Oath Keepers at 2:24 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, according to court records. "Have 2 trucks available. Let me know how I can assist."

Vallejos attorney told The Republic that Vallejo expected he would cook for protesters at a campsite, using the 30 days' worth of food he had brought.

However, on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Vallejo called into a podcast hosted by a longtime Arizona Libertarian figure, Ernest Hancock, and said that if the day ended without what he considered a just result, thats going to be the declaration of a guerrilla war.

He was sentenced in June to 36 months in prison. The Bureau of Prisons website shows someone matching Vallejos name and age housed in a minimum security facility in Beaumont, Texas.

Convicted: Arizonan found guilty of seditious conspiracy for role in Jan. 6 riot

Jacob Zerkle

The FBI asked people for help identifying a man shown in a photograph numbered 355. And someone recognized the mutton chop beard of Jacob Zerkle.

An image from an officer's body-worn camera shows Jacob Zerkle of Bowie, Arizona, "physically engaging" with an officer, according to a federal complaint

Zerkle was arrested in the southern Arizona community of Bowie in March 2022. He told an FBI agent that he pushed into officers while protesting outside the Capitol and that he probably did something dumb, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C.

New case in Jan. 6 Capitol riot: Arizonan Jacob Zerkle arrested, admitted to shoving officers

Zerkle was shown in photos with a white beard growing in two tufts past his chin. Authorities tracked him on surveillance videos because of his mutton chops, according to the complaint.

He pleaded guilty to two counts  civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers  in October 2023. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 22.

Takes plea deal: Southern Arizona man pleads guilty to shoving officers during Jan. 6 riot at US Capitol

Jeff Zink and Ryan Scott Zink

Jeff Zink, who for a second time is seeking a congressional seat in a heavily Democratic south Phoenix district, was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with his son, Ryan Zink, of Texas. Although Jeff Zink said in a campaign video in 2022 that he was with his son the whole time, only Ryan was accused of crimes related to the breach of the Capitol.

Jeff Zink is a Republican candidate in the 3rd Congressional District for 2024.

In September, a jury found Ryan Zink guilty of a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding and two misdemeanor counts of entering a restricted building and disorderly or disruptive conduct.

According to prosecutors, Ryan Zink took video on his cellphone of him saying, "We've knocked down the gates! We're storming the Capitol! You can't stop us!"

Ryan Zink later texted someone prosecutors called an associate, writing, Broke down the doors pushed Congress out of session I took two flash bangs Im ok.

Zinks sentencing, which was scheduled for January, was ordered delayed. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case, U.S. v. Fischer, that concerns the interpretation of the statute against interrupting an official proceeding. The judge said sentencing would follow a ruling in that case.

Running for Congress: He rallied in DC Jan. 6 and worked on discredited 'audit'

Jeff Zink lost his 2022 congressional bid by a 3-to-1 margin, but suggested to The Republic there were irregularities in that vote. He is running again in 2024.

Reach the reporter at richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8473.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Many Arizona participants in Jan. 6 Capitol riot served time in jail
Hezbollah has launched a salvo of rockets into Israel from Lebanon in what it said was its first response to the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Beirut last week.

The Iran-backed group announced that it had fired 62 rockets towards an aerial observation base on Mount Meron at around 8am on Saturday, in the framework of the initial response to the assassination of the senior leader Saleh al-Arouri and his martyr brothers.

Warning sirens rang out across northern Israel and attack alert apps pinged with notifications about the incoming barrage.

Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah threatens Israel as he pays tribute to assassinated Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri

Al-Arouri, deputy leader of Hamass politburo, was assassinated in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut on Jan 2.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it had identified at least 40 launches from Lebanon, and later, struck a terrorist cell that took part in the launches.

An IDF base was targeted during the barrage of Hezbollah rockets, an IDF official told The Telegraph.

No Israeli injuries reported

No IDF injuries were reported, but we can confirm that there was damage caused as a result of the barrage, however we are unable to say the extent or what was damaged as of right now, the official said.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that the terror group would retaliate for Al-Arouris killing.

It has not laid out what further steps it may take following Saturdays attack.

Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas and has been exchanging cross-border fire with Israel for the past three months in solidarity.

Israel attacks Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon - Israel Defense Forces

The violence has displaced tens of thousands of people in both Israel and Lebanon.

The Hezbollah strike came as tensions rose on the border between Israel and Lebanon in the wake of Al-Arouris killing.

US and European officials have renewed attempts for a diplomatic solution to governance and security in southern Lebanon to attempt to bring calm to both countries.

Israel is demanding the full implementation of a long-standing UN resolution in which Hezbollah militants are required to withdraw north of Lebanons Litani river.

This would essentially create a buffer zone clear of the Iran-backed gunmen whom Israel does not want on its northern border.

Hezbollah has already pulled back some of its elite Radwan fighters a few miles back from the frontier, Israeli military officials say.

We will not withdraw

But the Lebanese group is unlikely to agree to a full withdrawal north of the Litani, which lies around 18 miles from the border.

A Lebanese official close to Hezbollah told The Telegraph: Of course, we have not and we will not withdraw [north of the Litani].

It came after Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, began a tour of the Middle East this week, including stops in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

His trip follows a visit to Israel by White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein, who arrived in Israel on Thursday in an urgent bid to prevent a new Israel-Lebanon war.

Israeli officials have said that they will escalate against Hezbollah if the militants do not withdraw further north.

There is only one possible result  a new reality in the northern arena, which will enable the secure return of our citizens, Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, told Mr Hochstein.

We will not tolerate the threats posed by the Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, and we will ensure the security of our citizens, he added.

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Pueblo County School District 70 is welcoming families across the district to attend a free Motheread/Fatheread Colorado event at Sierra Vista Elementary School, 500 S. Spaulding Ave., on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

Motheread/Fatheread Colorado sessions are designed to help families bolster academic success through literacy. Parents will be able to practice reading to their children and meet other parents at the event, according to a post on the Pueblo D70 Facebook page.

Childrens books on display at the Pueblo City-County Greenhorn Valley Branch Library.

Refreshments will be provided during the Jan. 9 session from 3:45 to 4:15 p.m. Activities will follow the refreshment period.

Additional Motheread/Fatheread Colorado events for Pueblo D70 families are planned though the months of January and February at Sierra Vista Elementary, Prairie Winds Elementary and Liberty Point Elementary schools.

More information can be found by contacting Kelly Gonzalez at kgonzalez@district70.org. To learn more about Motheread/Fatheread Colorado, visit coloradohumanities.org/programs/mothereadfatheread-colorado.

Members of the CSU Pueblo CyberWolves team

CSU Pueblo CyberWolves team wins top spot at regional competition

Colorado State University Pueblo's CyberWolves Red Team placed first at the fourth annual Mountain West Cyber Challenge on Dec. 2

The CyberWolves Red Team achieved the highest score of 35 teams competing in a seven-hour round of "Capture the Flag"  an exercise that requires participants to locate hidden text strings. The team scored 1,850 points, while the competition's second place finisher scored 1,150 points, according to a CSU Pueblo news release.

In addition to dominating their regional competition, the CyberWolves have been historically competitive on the national stage. They placed third in overall National Cyber Power Rankings during the Fall of 2018, according to Cyber Skyline.com.

The CyberWolves received the 12th highest overall national ranking in fall 2023.

Members of the CSU Pueblo Choir

CSU Pueblo choir to perform at Broadmoor during Jan. 26 convention

The CSU Pueblo choir is heading to the Broadmoor on Friday, Jan. 26, after being selected to perform at the 80th annual Colorado Music Educators Association Convention.

CSU Pueblo will be performing "American Credo," a composition by CSU Pueblo professor David Volk, in Broadmoor Hall B at 4:30 p.m. The composition takes inspiration from the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision and "Borderlines" composed by Mari Esabel Valverde.

These selections underscore the university's commitment to diversity and inclusivity and highlight the rich tapestry of voices of the Pueblo community, said Jennifer Bruton, CSU Pueblo's Director of Choral Activities, in a news release.

PCC to host enrollment night for new students on Jan. 9

An enrollment night for those interested in attending Pueblo Community College, 900 W. Orman Ave., will be held on Jan. 9 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Attendees will receive assistance with applying for college, financial aid and selecting classes. The enrollment night will be at the PCC campus' Student Center, room 251. More information about Pueblo Community College can be found online at pueblocc.edu.

CSU Pueblo union workers: State union workers at CSU Pueblo celebrate new contract

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo D70 hosts reading event, CSU Pueblo CyberWolves win regional
Rishi Sunak has been warned of the high risk that European judges will block deportations to Rwanda - Leon Neal/PA

Home Office officials have warned of a high risk that European judges will block deportations to Rwanda, The Telegraph can disclose.

A risk register drawn up by civil servants highlighted the prospect of a fresh injunction from Strasbourg as a significant threat that could derail the scheme designed to deter illegal Channel crossings by migrants.

It also warned of the risk of an increased number of individuals absconding prior to detention, leading to a possible delay to first flight if insufficient numbers  and suggested that the Ministry of Defence was preparing contingency aircraft to fly migrants to Rwanda if charter companies refused the work.

The disclosure will heighten concerns among the Conservative Right about potential weaknesses in the Governments plan to start deportation flights to Rwanda with the help of a fresh bill introduced last month in an attempt to avoid further legal blocks. Tory MPs are gearing up for a battle over the bill when Parliament returns from its Christmas recess this week.

Amid public anger over illegal migration, a Public First poll conducted last month shows that 43 per cent of people planning to vote for the Conservatives at the next election would consider voting for a party led by Nigel Farage.

The flights to Rwanda have been grounded since June 2022, when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued at the eleventh-hour a late-night Rule 39 order, dubbed pyjama injunctions, blocking the first departure.

Last year, the Illegal Migration Act gave ministers the discretion to ignore future Rule 39 orders.

But the star chamber of Tory Brexiteers, who have analysed the Prime Ministers latest Rwanda bill, proposed that, among other changes, the Bill should be revised to ensure Rule 39 injunctions must be ignored by ministers.

Their verdict came after Suella Braverman, the former home secretary sacked by Mr Sunak, told The Telegraph last month that Victoria Prentis, the Attorney General, advised that to ignore a Rule 39 injunction would be a breach of international law, so therefore, as it stands, Rule 39s will block flights.

The Home Office risk register seen by The Telegraph was drawn up in the autumn to analyse critical risks that could impact the delivery of a first flight under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, which allows the UK to send migrants to Rwanda who would otherwise claim asylum in the UK.

A small handful of risks listed in the document were categorised as high risk including imposition of R39 measures by ECtHR. Under the heading impact, the document states of such a scenario: Migrants bailed. Insufficient numbers left in detention.

The document adds that mitigations against such a scenario include allowing adequate time for training and quality decision making as well as counsel support for initial decisions and letters.

Given that the current legislation only gives ministers the discretion to block Rule 39 injunctions, the imposition of such a court order would be likely to spark a major row within government and the Conservative Party, with Ms Prentis and other ministers opposing the use of the power on the basis of her view that it would amount to a breach of international law.

Mr Sunak has repeatedly pledged that he will not allow a foreign court to block the deportation flights - a statement he repeated in an interview with The Telegraph published at the weekend.

The document also warns of a medium risk that demands of litigation / legal actions are greater than planned, leading to loss in court. Migrants bailed. Insufficient numbers left in detention.

To mitigate such a risk it says the Home Office will seek additional legal adviser capacity. It describes as low risk the prospect that the airfield earmarked for the flights  believed to be Boscombe Down, near Salisbury, in Wiltshire  will not be ready in time for the first departures.

It also accounts for the low risk possibility that there will be no charter operator interested in running initial flight to Rwanda, suggesting that the Ministry of Defence will provide a 12-week contingency scheme in such a scenario.

It was reported at the weekend that documents prepared in March 2022 showed Mr Sunak had significant reservations about the Rwanda scheme initially devised during Boris Johnsons time as prime minister, and that he wanted to limit the numbers of migrants being sent to the country in the first few years.

A Home Office spokesman said that, since the risk register was drawn up, the Safety of Rwanda Bill had clarified that ministers alone and not a court can decide whether the UK should comply with a Rule 39 measure.

He added: The Government is committed to doing whatever is necessary to stop the boats and prevent people from risking their lives at the hands of vile people smuggling gangs.

Thats why we have addressed the Supreme Courts findings to get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible, a safe country that cares deeply about supporting refugees. The Prime Minister has been clear he would not let a foreign court block flights to Rwanda.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE)  Newly released court records paint a picture of familial strife over assets long before a North Plains resident was deemed a person of interest in his brothers fatal shooting near North Plains on Jan. 2.

Carl Horning was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds at Hornings Hideout, a property owned by both Carl Horning and his brother Robert, as well as their mother, Jane Horning, just after New Years Day.

Former Oregon football coach Don Read dies at age 90

Robert Horning was at the scene and was initially detained from the wedding venue and outdoor recreation site north of North Plains but was released several hours later, according to authorities.

Carl Horning, the owner of Hornings Hideout, has been identified by Washington County Sheriffs Office as the victim in a deadly shooting. Jan. 3, 2024 (courtesy, TVF&R).

The Washington County Sheriffs Office says he remains a person of interest in the homicide investigation. No charges have been filed against him in Washington County Circuit Court.

Natural gas explosion destroys Hillsboro garage

Carl, Robert and Jane Horning are listed as the property owners of Hornings Hideout, at 21277 N.W. Brunswick Canyon Road  where the shooting took place  according to county property records.

Read more at PortlandTribune.com.

The Portland Tribune and its parent company Pamplin Media Group are KOIN 6 News media partners

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
A man steps into a polling station in Mmopane, Kweneng district, Botswana, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)

GABORONE, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of Botswana on Friday kicked off the voter registration process, which will conclude on Feb. 3 in preparation for the general elections later this year.

Around 2,880 polling stations across the country and 48 polling stations in foreign countries opened at 8:00 a.m. local time and will close at 6 p.m. Batswana citizens aged 18 years and above with a valid identity card are eligible to register.

Mokgweetsi Masisi, president of Botswana, encouraged Batswana citizens to register in large numbers, urging the people to register peacefully in a message shared over social media on Friday.

The registration of voters was postponed twice in November this year after Botswana's main opposition -- the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) -- took the IEC to court seeking to be allowed to deploy registration observers across the country.

However, Botswana's Court of Appeal overturned the verdict, arguing that the deployment of observers is not mandated by the country's electoral act. 

A man is registered as a voter in Mogoditshane town, Kweneng district, Botswana, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)

Registration clerks work at a polling station in Mmopane, Kweneng district, Botswana, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden will give his annual State of the Union address on March 7.

In a letter sent to the White House on Saturday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., extended the formal invitation for Biden to speak to a joint session of Congress. Johnson said he was inviting Biden in this moment of great challenge for our country. On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Biden accepted. Looking forward to it, Mr. Speaker, the president said.

This will be the first State of the Union for Johnson as speaker, who traditionally sits behind the president and to his left during the address to Congress. This year's speech will offer an opportunity for Biden to detail his broader vision and policy priorities as he campaigns for reelection in November.

Notably, Biden's address is scheduled for after a pair of critical deadlines to avert a government shutdown.

Funding for federal agencies that oversee programs for veterans, and on transportation, housing, agriculture and energy, is set to expire Jan. 19. Funding for the rest of the federal government, including the Pentagon, State Department and Homeland Security, will run out Feb. 2.

The annual address from the president to Congress is usually scheduled for late January or February.

Biden's March 7 address would be the latest that a president has delivered the State of the Union since 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt revived the practice of giving the annual speech in person. Before this year, the latest that a State of the Union had been given was in 2022, when Biden delivered it on March 1 of that year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

In last year's State of the Union, Biden repeatedly declared that he would finish the job" on critical parts of his agenda that remained incomplete, such as capping insulin costs for all Americans, taking more aggressive actions on climate change, banning so-called assault-style weapons and pushing for higher taxes on corporations and the rich.

It was also his first State of the Union in front of a divided Congress, and some House Republicans interrupted and jeered at Biden, particularly when he spoke about efforts from some GOP lawmakers to cut Medicare and Social Security.
Family, friends and community members said their final goodbyes to a fallen deputy.

Channel 2s Audrey Washington was there as people packed inside the Griffin First Assembly of God Church on Friday for the funeral of Spalding County Sheriffs Deputy Sgt. Marc McIntyre.

Were here to honor the life of Sgt. Marc McIntyre, said Pastor Stephen Durvan.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

During the service, people wiped away tears, hugged and laughed at times, as friends and colleagues shared memories.

Its an honor to be able to stand up here and speak a little bit about a man who was more like a father to me than a coworker, Inv. Justin Zambujo told the church.

Deputies said last Friday, Todd Harper, 57, opened fire on Sgt. McIntyre and his partner as they responded to Harpers Deason Street home. One bullet hit shift supervisor McIntyre in the head. He died hours later.

Harper was taken into custody after an hours-long standoff. Neighbors said he suffered from mental health issues.

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Family, friends, and colleagues told Washington they will not focus on how Sgt. McIntyre lost his life, but how he lived his life.

He made a positive impact on everyone that he encountered, Pastor Benny Tate said.

Marc, I love you brother and I hope you save one of those Hawaiian shirts and big kisses for me, said Inv. Justin Zambujo during the funeral service.

A procession followed the service.

Weve been taking it one day at a time and were just going to be there for the family, Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said.

The Sheriffs office has established a donation account for the family of Sgt. McIntyre.

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IN RELATED NEWS:
Hundreds of people are still stuck in Afghanistan or other countries awaiting resettlement to the UK more than two years after the Taliban takeover, Lord Cameron has said.

Almost two thirds of people eligible to come to the UK under a scheme for those who directly supported the British and international communitys efforts during the war are yet to be resettled.

There has been one case of someone being deported back to Afghanistan despite being on a scheme for vulnerable refugees.

When Taliban militants returned to power in summer 2021 after western forces, including the US and UK, withdrew following a 20-year occupation, the British Government announced legal routes for those most vulnerable and at risk to come to the UK.

They committed to welcome up to 20,000 people under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme (ACRS) but campaigners have criticised the process for being slow.

The scheme is split into three pathways, with the third specifically for British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni  all of whom are deemed to have directly supported the UK and international communitys efforts in Afghanistan.

The Government initially put a cap of 1,500 places for this first stage of pathway three, but said that with eligible family members coming too, this would likely be exceeded.

There has been ongoing concern about eligible Afghans being stuck in other countries as they try to make it to the UK.

The plight of some elite veterans, who fought alongside UK forces but were since threatened with being deported back to their home country from Pakistan, was raised last month in the House of Lords.

Pakistan had announced it was expelling Afghans who took refuge there as part of an ongoing crackdown on people without valid papers.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has given an update on those awaiting resettlement in the UK, including hundreds still stuck in Afghanistan.

Plans are in place to bring the remainder of those now in third countries to the UK early in the New Year, leaving only those still in Afghanistan, of which our estimate is there are less than 700

Lord Cameron

In a letter to Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns, he said there had been two flights, one with 246 people on board, in December, meaning that almost all of the most vulnerable undocumented EPs (eligible persons) will have left Pakistan before a deadline of December 31, 2023.

He added: Over a third of all those due to come to the UK under this first stage of ACRS pathway three will have got here before the end of the year.

He said: Plans are in place to bring the remainder of those now in third countries to the UK early in the New Year, leaving only those still in Afghanistan, of which our estimate is there are less than 700.

He said that for those people their journey to the UK will depend on whether they can secure the necessary documentation to be allowed to leave Afghanistan, and visas for third countries, to cross the border.

On people being deported back to Afghanistan having fled, Lord Cameron said there had been one case under ACRS pathway two, which covers vulnerable refugees referred for resettlement to the UK by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

He said the Foreign Office was not aware of any deportations under pathway three or under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) which was set up for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan.

Lord Cameron said he was not complacent about deportations, adding: We continue to work hard to try to ensure there are no further cases.

There are still serious concerns over the danger that eligible Afghans will be deported back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. This would be a betrayal of the promises we made to them and would place them in substantial peril

Alicia Kearns, committee chairwoman

Ms Kearns said this was a cross-cutting, complex area and that Lord Cameron had provided some much-needed clarity on the current state of Afghan resettlement schemes and the remits and responsibilities in government.

She said there was finally some movement in the right direction.

But she added there remain serious concerns over the danger that eligible Afghans, including those who put their lives at risk for the UK, will be deported back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan which she said would be a betrayal of the promises we made to them and would place them in substantial peril.

She added: It remains the case that two thirds of the Afghans eligible for resettlement in the UK under the first stage of ACRS pathway three havent been resettled, and this letter does not provide details on the Governments plans to evacuate them to the UK.

The Foreign Affairs Committee will continue to scrutinise the UKs approach to the fallout from the Afghanistan evacuation, and advocate for those Afghans who made significant sacrifices on our behalf.

Lord Cameron will appear before the Foreign Affairs committee next week for the first time since becoming Foreign Secretary.

Figures published in November, the latest available, showed that 1,110 Afghans arrived in the UK in the year to September under the legal routes created by the Home Office after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

Arrivals under the schemes were down from 5,346 in the year to September 2022.

Under the ACRS, 224 people were resettled in the UK in the year to September 2023, 96 of them aged under 18.

Some 886 arrived under Arap, of whom more than half (501) were under 18.
Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) cannot confirm the elimination of Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov in occupied Crimea during a Jan. 4 attack on the occupied peninsula, HUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Radio NV on Jan. 6.

"If Gerasimov quacks, it will be a nice bonus, he said.

Read also: Ukrainian Air Force hits Russian command post at Saky airfield overnight  commander

The information has not yet been confirmed. And for the first time it appeared from Russian public and sources. And it's not the first time that they make similar reports. That is, this is information that requires careful additional verification. This would be very good news for all of us, but we are currently verifying it.

Read also: Ukrainian strike destroys Russian ammunition depot and command post in occupied Crimea

He added that the Ukrainian military, along with Ukrainian security forces, did in fact strike Russian military facilities in occupied Crimea, eliminating warehouses, personnel, and enemy forces.

The Russians general was previously reported to have been "nearly liquidated by the SBU." On April 28, 2022, media outlets reported that Gerasimov personally arrived in the then-occupied Ukrainian city of Izyum, Kharkiv Oblast, to command troops in Donbas.

Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to the head of the Internal Affairs Ministry, said on May 1 that Gerasimov may have been wounded near Izyum. Explosions in Izyum occurred in the area of the headquarters of the 2nd Army of the Russian forces, where the headquarters of the Russian General Staff was located.

Ukraines Internal Affairs Ministry later reported having confirmation that Gerasimov, was indeed near Izyum. However, there is no confirmation that he was injured.

The commander-in-chief of the AFU, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, admitted in spring 2023 that he reads Gerasimovs publications, stating, "I am interested in his opinion as a military man."

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
India says drug-makers must clean up act as overseas deaths threaten reputation of pharmacy of the world

India has ordered its pharmaceutical companies to meet new manufacturing standards this year after a string of deaths reported overseas linked to Indian-made drugs since 2022.

Following deaths linked to India-made cough syrups in countries including Gambia and Uzbekistan, prime minister Narendra Modis government increased scrutiny of drug-making factories to restore trust in the countrys image as the pharmacy of the world.

The manufacturer must assume responsibility for the quality of the pharmaceutical products to ensure that they are fit for their intended use, comply with the requirements of the licence and do not place patients at risk due to inadequate safety, quality or efficacy, a notification dated 28 December said, Reuters reported.

The new standards require large drug-makers to address concerns within six months and small manufacturers in 12 months. Small companies had asked for more time to meet the new standards, citing their debt loads.

In 2022, more than 60 children, most under five years of age, died as a result of acute kidney injuries which were linked to cough syrups made in India.

In the same year, 19 children in Uzbekistan who consumed cough syrups made in India died.

Then last year, the manufacturer of over two dozen varieties of eyedrops was subject to a US safety warning officially recalling the products.

The USs FDA had warned consumers not to use the products due to the risk of vision loss or blindness.

The WHO also flagged a batch of a contaminated cough syrup made in India and found in the Marhsall Islands and Micronesia in 2023.

Overall, health authorities have linked Indian cough syrups to the death of at least 141 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon.

The Indian health ministrys inspections of 162 drug factories since December 2022 found an absence of testing of incoming raw materials.

Important news for Indian pharma quality: The Indian government has notified a revised Schedule M, which is supposedly in line with the WHO's Good Manufacturing Practices. (1) pic.twitter.com/F0B9lumDU2  PriyankaPulla (@PriyankaPulla) January 6, 2024

To ensure safety of pharma products made in the country, India has ordered its drug-makers to follow new standards.

It has ordered companies to market a finished product only after getting satisfactory results on tests of the ingredients.

Drug manufacturers must also retain a sufficient quantity of the samples of intermediate and final products to allow repeated testing or verification of a batch, the Indian government said.

Health experts say the government order is unlikely to see immediate changes, given manufacturers with a turnover of less than Rs 2.5bn ($30M) turnover have an entire year to implement the new rules.
File. INS Chennai, a Kolkata class destroyer, is moored at a jetty in Mumbai, India, Friday, 18 November 2016. - The Indian navy said on Friday, 5 January 2023, that it has deployed the ship and a patrol aircraft in the Arabian Sea following a hijacking attempt onboard a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier (Associated Press)

The Indian Navy dispatched a vessel and a surveillance aircraft to the Arabian Sea in response to an attempted hijacking aboard a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier.

On 4 January, the vessel reported an unauthorised boarding by around five to six armed men  suspected to be Somali pirates  although there has been no official confirmation of their identity.

The Indian Navy said in a statement that the vessel sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations portal about the hijacking.

Fifteen Indians are on board the hijacked ship, not identified by the officials but media reports said it was MV Lila Norfolk, and communication has been established with the crew.

The Indian Navy warship INS Chennai was dispatched to the Arabian Sea to help with the attempted hijacking.

On early Friday, a patrol aircraft flew over the vessel, establishing contact with the crew and confirming their safety, the Indian Navy said.

The aircraft overflew the vessel on early morning of 5 January [20]24 and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew, the statement added.

Naval aircraft continues to monitor movement and INS Chennai is closing the vessel to render assistance. The overall situation is being closely monitored, in coordination with other agencies/ [Maritime Task Force] MNF in the area, it further added.

The aircraft is continuing to monitor the carriers movements and the naval ship is travelling to the vessel to assist.

Commander Mehul Karnik, a navy spokesperson, said the crew members said they were in their strong room and were operating the vessel from there, according to the Associated Press.

The hijacking incident comes just days after an unknown group seized a Maltese-flagged merchant vessel in the Arabian Sea, bringing piracy back into the spotlight. The vessel reported that six pirates had illegally boarded it.

Meanwhile, no group has taken responsibility for the attempt to hijack the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier.

The situation is being closely monitored, with collaborative efforts underway involving multiple agencies and the Maritime Task Force (MNF) in the region.

Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries, the statement said.

Additional reporting with agencies
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) released a report this month forecasting a sharp global increase in the humanitarian crisis in 2024. In its 2024 Emergency Watch list, IRC President David Miliband wrote, its the worst of times.

The report lists armed conflicts, rising debt crisis, climate change and donor apathy as contributing factors to what it described as heightened humanitarian crisis in 2024. Eleven of the 20 countries reported as high risk of experiencing worsening Humanitarian outcomes are Sub-Saharan African nations. The ongoing war in Sudan made the nation the most vulnerable with South Sudan coming second in the emergency watch list.

Empowering women, people-first banking for people displaced, climate adaptation strategies and a fight against impunity might be the best antidote to the impending crisis, Miliband said.

Dechasa Hirpessa, the peace and advocacy officer at the Evangelical Fellowship Churches of Ethiopia (ECFE) reflected on the growing humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia.

Regrettably, food aid assistance to Ethiopia had been suspended by most humanitarian agencies at the time of our intervention, exacerbating an already dire situation, Hirpessa said. The resulting scarcity has placed the health and well-being of IDPs at great risk with over 2.2 million individuals, displaced by the war, struggling for survival in Tigray.

With support from Giving Hands Germany in collaboration with the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA) and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Business Coalition, the national evangelical alliance in Ethiopia formulated a crisis response aimed at those most affected by the conflict in Welo area, Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia.

Our projects swift response provided essential sustenance to 950 households, ultimately saving thousands of lives, he said.

Jude Simion is the CEO of Philoi Global  an organization that responds to the humanitarian gaps of persecuted minorities through relief, relocation, and resettlement. He is also a member of the global leadership team of the Refugee Highway Partnership. He affirmed the Churchs responsibility to care for the aliens, widows and orphans.

Unlike the aid agencies, the Church journeys with the displaced, it is among the displaced, first to respond and it never leaves the community. Aid agencies may come and go depending on donor tractions, but the local church remains among the people.

Simon further expounded on the attention needed to address the impacts of forcible displacement on food, security and livelihoods while speaking during the Refugee Highway Partnership Global leadership meetings in Helsinki held from December 16-19, 2023. He said, When we think of the emerging humanitarian crisis, the impact is not only limited to the forcibly displaced communities, but it also significantly affects the host communities especially in Africa. Donor fatigue, and funding limitations affects displaced populations.

According to Simon, durable solutions for forcible displacement should be based on enabling the host communities, facilitating returning possibilities through peace building and rebuilding efforts. Ultimately, he added, We should not forget, not even one percent of the global displaced population get to resettle in the western world, and it should not be the ultimate solution. Ninety percent of the refugees are hosted by the developing world.
An Iowa school principal talked down the school shooter and tried to distract him so students could escape, his daughter says

Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger was among those injured in the school shooting in Iowa.

Marburger's daughter said he tried to distract the gunman to allow other students to escape.

As her father recovers, Claire Marburger called for compassion toward the deceased gunman's family.

After a school shooting in Iowa left two people dead and seven injured, the high school principal's daughter is commending her father's brave actions to distract the gunman.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety confirmed the shooter was a 17-year-old who fatally shot eleven-year-old Ahmir Jolliff and injured seven other people before turning a gun on himself on January 4.

Among the injured was Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger, who the department said suffered multiple gunshot wounds and went to the hospital in critical condition.

Marburger's daughter, Claire, said on Facebook on January 5 that her father had undergone surgery and was stable. She said her dad would be "devastated about Dylan" Butler, who state authorities confirmed was the deceased shooter.

Claire Marburger added that she was unsurprised that her father was a victim in the shooting because she knew he would put himself in danger "for the benefit of the kids and his staff."

"It is absolutely zero surprise to hear he tried to approach and talk Dylan down and distract him long enough for some students to get out of the cafeteria. That's just Dad," Claire Marburger's post read.

Friday's statement from the state DPS appeared to corroborate Claire Marburger's comments, though details remained limited amid the active investigation.

"The investigation thus far confirms Principal Marburger acted selflessly and placed himself in harm's way in an apparent effort to protect his students," the department's statement read.

Claire Marburger added that her father would joke that "his ugly face is popping up too much online, as he is getting attention as he is a deserving hero."

"Please reach out to the other victim's families," she said in the post. "Show grace to the Butler family, as we are not our kid's mistakes and actions or our parent's mistakes and actions. Remember this is something Dylan's family has to live with too, as well as losing their child."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Protesters joined members of the March For Our Lives group to march along Locust Street in protest of gun violence and lack of sensible regulation during a rally in Des Moines on Friday, June 10, 2022.

In the wake of a deadly shooting at Perry High School, Iowa students are planning to walk out out of class Monday, Jan. 8, and march to the Capitol to protest what they say is lawmakers' inaction on gun violence.

The call for students to participate was put out by March For Our Lives Iowa just hours after authorities say Dylan Butler, 17, shot and killed Ahmir Jolliff, 11, and injured seven others at Perry High School on Thursday. Among those seriously injured is Principal Dan Marburger.

Butler was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school, authorities said.

Related: 11-year-old boy identified as victim in Perry High School shooting that wounded 8

March for Our Lives Iowa  a nonpartisan group that works to encourage young people to become involved in politics  began organizing the walkout after students repeatedly voiced their frustration over the school shooting.

"The shooting has hit really close to home for a lot of us," Akshara Eswar, one of the group's executive state directors, told the Des Moines Register. "People are angry. They're thinking about it constantly. That's all that we can talk about and so we need to utilize this energy  and try to make sure that our legislators know that we are not happy with the state of the gun laws in Iowa."

Students in Des Moines, Bettendorf, Johnston, Waukee and West Des Moines are expected to walk out of class around noon Monday. Those in the Des Moines metro area are being encouraged to meet at 1 p.m. at the Iowa State Capitol, 1007 E. Grand Ave., in Des Moines.

More: Two Iowa school districts rescind policies allowing armed teachers in class. Here's why:

The group plans to deliver a letter  which lays out its legislative priorities  to Gov. Kim Reynolds, said Eswar, a Johnston High School senior. Monday also marks the first day of the 2024 legislative session.

March for Our Lives' legislative priorities include a law that would require people to report lost or stolen firearms, and another that would temporarily ban people who have been proven to be at risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing or possessing a gun. The ban would be lifted once they received help.

"I think our biggest hope or agenda item, I would say for this, is that legislators understand that we are terrified to be in school," Eswar said.

Iowa lawmakers have not prioritized laws that directly impact the safety of children and people in the state in recent years, Eswar said.

Instead, the focus has been on laws that ban books depicting sex acts from schools, mandate school administrators inform parents if a student asks to use different name or pronouns and ban transgender girls and women from playing sports.

Related: What to know about the weapons police found at the Perry High School shooting

"They use all of this in the name of protecting children," she said. "But the reality is every day is a gamble. Every day we walk into school never actually knowing what's going to happen that day and it's not fair that we have to live in that fear."

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa students to walk out, march to Capitol after Perry school shooting
Members of an Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite armed group carry pictures of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Qasem Soleimani next to his coffin during a joint funeral procession in Baghdad on Jan. 4, 2020. File Photo by Ibrahim Jassam/UPI

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Iranian officials have announced the arrest of 11 people in connection with a pair of deadly suicide bombings in the southeastern city of Kerman on Wednesday.

Iran's Ministry of Information revealed Friday that one of the suicide bombers was from Tajikistan and raised the toll from the twin blasts to 91 deaths and 280 injuries.

After identifying how the suicide bombers entered Iran, investigators determined where they stayed prior to the attack and have now arrested 11 people in six provinces, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombings that occurred at the tomb of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani in Kerman, Iran, Wednesday. The Iranians were holding a memorial service when the suicide bombings occurred four years after the U.S. military used a drone to assassinate Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020.

The attack is the deadliest event in Iran since the 1979 revolution. A mass funeral was held in Kerman Friday morning for the victims of the attack on Wednesday. Iran's Pres. Ebrahim Raisi and current IRGC commander Gen. Hossein Salami attended.

During the mass funeral, Raisi claimed Israel supports the Islamic State and said the names of the two suicide bombers are Omer al-Mohed and Safiullah Mujahid, Turkish news outlet Anadolu Ajansi reported Saturday. The two men wore vests laden with explosives to commit the mass-casualty attack.

Iranian officials said they will continue to investigate and arrest more people who assisted the suicide bombers in any way. They discovered additional equipment for carrying out attacks at a residence used by the suicide bombers, including two explosive vests, two detonators and two remote-control devices, official media said.

The U.S. military undertook a "decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad" when President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani, the Pentagon said in a statement issued on Jan. 2, 2020.

Soleimani led a Quds Force that Washington says killed hundreds of U.S. and coalition service members and wounded thousands of others in a series of coordinated attacks on bases in Iraq in the months prior to his assassination.

One such strike was a Dec. 31, 2019, attack on the Green Zone of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad carried out by Iraqi Hezbollah militiamen.
An Islamic preacher has been accused of using anti-Semitic tropes in a London mosque by claiming Zionists are plotting to control the world by manipulating banks, media organisations and regimes, The Telegraph can reveal.

Sheikh Babikir Ahmed Babikir said that any Muslim who opposed Hamas was a hypocrite and compared the proscribed terrorist organisation with Nelson Mandela.

He made the comments at the Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent  a registered charity in north London.

The Charity Commission has opened a regulatory compliance case following the revelations.

The sermons took place in November and December, with videos uploaded to Mr Babikirs YouTube account.

In a talk on Dec 30, he said that Zionists were in league with the Dajjal  an evil false prophet in Islamic theology comparable to the Antichrist.

He said: Zionism is like a political party, preparing for the Dajjal to come to rule the world, and their main function is to make sure that all the organs of states across the world and the national and international bodies will be in their hold.

They hold the media, they hold all the financial institutions, they control a lot of the political regimes around the world and once they have that they will try to control the world.

In a speech on Dec 8, he said Zionists were bribing UK politicians down to small town mayors to use their false narrative and fabricated stories to push their agenda.

On Nov 11, he labelled Zionists as soldiers of the devil.

A spokesman for the Community Security Trust said: Conspiracy theories about Zionists supposedly controlling the media, politics and finance come directly from the long history of anti-Jewish stereotypes, and cloaking them in anti-Israel language does not change their anti-Semitic character.

A charity commission spokesman said: Charities must not allow their premises, events or online content to be misused as forums for hate speech or extremism. We have opened a regulatory compliance case to assess the concerns raised with us about the Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent and asked the charitys trustees for their response.

In a speech on Dec 2, Mr Babikir said: Any Muslim who speaks against the Palestinians, any Muslim who stands against even Hamas, you are a hypocrite.

On Nov 17 he described being shocked when he was asked about Hamas during a meeting, saying: I said to the person that was asking me, what did you used to think of Mandela?  Yesterday he was a terrorist but tomorrow hes the best leader in the world.

Discussing the Gaza mujahideen on Dec 29, he said: These are people whom Allah has chosen, Allah has empowered.

They make their own weapons, with the least they have, with all the difficulties in front of them, and they are managing to destroy the most hardest, advanced weapon man be proud of.

He added: Your job and my job is to support them and to help them.

Mr Babikir told the Telegraph that he vehemently disagreed with the notion that his stance was anti-Semitic and for decades had emphasised the essence of brotherhood, transcending the bounds of blood ties, encompassing the Islamic and Abrahamic faiths.

On the allegation that he had used anti-Semitic tropes, he said: In my discourse, it is important to clarify that I refer to Zionists, not Jews, recognising that not all proponents of Zionism are of Jewish descent.

On Hamas, he said he made it clear that fighting in self-defence is permitted, but must be within Muslim rules of engagement.

He said: Amid the escalating destruction of Gaza, where egregious violations of the Geneva Conventions were occurring, and with the stark reality of a child being killed every 10 minutes, my reference to self-defence was not an endorsement of their political designation.

Similarly, when discussing support, the focus was on the humanitarian aid imperative for civilians who found themselves deprived of essential resources  water, food, shelter, and medicines.

He continued: It is worth noting my longstanding involvement in interfaith activities spanning five decades, consistently advocating for my community to adhere to the laws of the land and refrain from unwarranted attacks  especially upon innocent Jews in the UK who bear no responsibility for the atrocities in the Holy Land.

The Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent did not respond to a request for comment.

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APC vehicles drive along the Gaza-Israel border as fighting between Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militants continues. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says the military structure of Islamist Hamas has been dismantled in the north of the Gaza Strip.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Hamas had two brigades with 12 regiments in the north of the coastal strip before the war began three months ago.

"There were about 14,000 terrorists in total," Hagari said on Saturday. Since then, numerous commanders have been killed and weapons and ammunition destroyed. IDF soldiers found and demolished underground tunnels, he said.

In Jabalia refugee camp in the northern section of the Gaza Strip alone, Hagari said the army had found eight kilometres of underground tunnels and 40 entrances.

Hamas no longer functions in a coordinated way in the area, he said. "There are still terrorists in Jabalia, but now they operate without a framework and without commanders."

However, he said further sporadic rocket attacks on Israel were expected from this area.

The Israeli army is now seeking to destroy Hamas structures in the centre and southern Gaza Strip, a process he said would take time. The fighting will continue throughout the year, Hagari said.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in November that Hamas had lost its control of Gaza. However, the fighting continued.

So far, Israel says some 8,000 terrorists have been killed since the conflict began after unprecedented terror attacks by extremist Hamas and other groups on October 7.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza that has claimed the lives of at least 22,722 people, according to the health authority which is controlled by Hamas.

Abroad, criticism of the operation is growing, given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed-off area and high number of civilian casualties.

An Israeli tank driving along the border of Israel and Gaza as fighting between Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militants continues. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

An Israeli tank driving along the border of Israel and Gaza as fighting between Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militants continues. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
In the coming weeks, Russian forces may scale up offensive operations in Kharkiv Oblast in an attempt to seize Kupiansk, the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its assessment on Jan. 5.

The tempo of operations and configuration of Moscow's troops in the area does not, however, suggest a major offensive "along the entire Kupiansk-Lyman line, similar to the failed Russian offensive effort in northeastern Ukraine in winter-spring 2023," the ISW said.

Liberated from Russian occupation in the September 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive, Kupiansk has been a critical target for renewed Russian offensives, as it serves as a key logistics hub for a potential push further south or west.

According to the think tank, Russia has slowly built up reconstituted and well-rested units to intensify localized operations that began last October.

These troops have reportedly not committed substantial efforts to the ongoing hostilities, thus avoiding losses Russian forces suffered in Avdiivka, the experts assessed.

Russian units operating in the Kupiansk direction are comprised largely of the 1st Guards Tank Army and the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District, reinforced through Russian mobilization efforts, the ISW noted.

The capture of Kupiansk could help Russian forces push Ukrainian troops off the east bank of the Oskil River and set conditions for further operations along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna axis, according to the experts.

In December, the Ukrainian military warned that Russia is deploying its reserves to capture the village of Synkivka as part of efforts to encircle Kupiansk.

Ukrainian army spokesperson Volodymyr Fito noted on Dec. 16 that Moscow is moving reserve assault battalions to the area to compensate for heavy losses.

Read also: Military: Russia committing more reserves in attempt to capture Kupiansk

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JACKSONVILLE, Ark.  Frigid temperatures have crept into central Arkansas and the reality of this weather is that without the help from the Jacksonville Animal Shelter, two puppies might have frozen to death.

Five puppies were found at the intersection of Homer Adkins Drive and Emily Lane in Jacksonville on Thursday. The shelter said they were left in a box on the side of the road.

Humane Society of Searcy looks to 2024, hoping for more adoptions

Two of the dogs escaped the box and wandered their way into a drainage pipe. A neighbor called in that the puppies were stuck, and Officer Tristan Russo responded.

Time was of the essence before it started raining so we either had to get them out tonight or they were going to die, Russo explained.

The temperature on Thursday was in the 30s and the forecast for Friday was snow and rain.

Russo was able to save one dog, but he couldnt reach the other. He needed someone smaller.

After calling for backup, Officer Madison Binsted arrived and got to work immediately.

I dont think wed have had the outcome we did if it had been like it was today, Binsted said.

Central Arkansas animal shelters urging community to help save pets lives

Russo and Binsted said the entire animal shelter went out and helped to save the dogs from the cold and it took them nearly three hours.

The puppies were eventually reunited with their siblings who were found in a box a few hours before the drainage incident.

The amount of relief that I felt when I pulled her out of that drain is indescribable, Binsted said.

The Jacksonville Animal Shelter said if youre missing your dog or if you just want a new friend, they have plenty for you to choose from.

Friday snow surprises many, causes crashes in Little Rock

The Jacksonville Animal Shelters adoption fee is $55 for unaltered animals. If the pet needs the rabies vaccine, it will be $70. All of the animals will be spayed and neutered.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
In a Historic Decision, U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Idaho Abortion Ban in First Such Ruling Since Dobbs NEWS PROVIDED BY

Stanton Public Policy Center

Jan. 6, 2024



WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2024 /Christian Newswire/ -- Idaho's Defense of Life Act bans virtually all abortions in Idaho but does allow for exceptions to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.



Stanton Public Policy Center applauds the United States Supreme Court for upholding the Defense of Life Act which protects innocent children from abortion violence and women from abortion abuse.



Stanton Public Policy Center is a women's advocacy and educational organization that works on issues of human rights and justice which empower and inspire women. It is affiliated with Stanton Healthcare which has life-affirming women's health clinics in America and internationally.



Based in Idaho, Stanton Healthcare operates fully accredited, life-affirming women's reproductive health clinics. Stanton provides women navigating unexpected pregnancies with professional medical care, practical and emotional support, women's wellness support, and a special outreach to refugee and marginalized communities both in America and internationally.



Brandi Swindell, Founder and CEO of Stanton Healthcare, states: "As founder of life-affirming women's medical clinics based in Idaho, we applaud the United States Supreme Court for upholding the Defense of Life Act which protects innocent children from abortion violence and women from abortion abuse. The law also allows for exceptions to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.



"It is critical that Idaho's emergency rooms are not turned into 'abortion clinics.' At Stanton Healthcare, we will continue to provide exceptional medical care, tangible support and hope to women facing unexpected pregnancies as we work to make abortion unthinkable and end abortion abuse." Linda Thomas, Director of Community Outreach with Stanton Healthcare, shares: "We are thankful the nation's highest court has ruled to protect the most basic and fundamental human right...the right to life. The state of Idaho and Stanton Healthcare have built a model for the nation in how to protect women and their preborn children from abortion violence while also providing exceptional medical care and ongoing support to each woman.



"Abortion is not a compassionate solution to an unexpected pregnancy, nor is it the solution women want. At Stanton Healthcare, we have seen a 70% increase in new clients since the Dobbs ruling. While Boise's Planned Parenthood permanently closed their doors to women in Idaho, Stanton Healthcare has expanded our services for women to ensure they receive exceptional medical care, resources, and support throughout their pregnancy and beyond." For more information or interviews call

Rev. Patrick Mahoney at: 540.538.4741



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DES MOINES, Iowa  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chided Democrats and the media on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by contending they have used the attack as a bloody shirt to impugn Americans.

DeSantis has been repeatedly asked  by the media as well as voters at his campaign stops in the state this week  about Jan. 6. He has called the attack a riot but his comments Saturday on Fox News may mark the first time he has leaned into a term associated with the political battles held in the immediate shadow of the Civil War.

Its one thing to say ok you know these things shouldnt have happened but its another thing to wave the bloody shirt and try to impugn tens of millions of Americans as a result of that, said DeSantis, who then smacked President Joe Biden for his focus on Jan. 6.

[Biden] had a chance to be a uniter for this country but he has failed, said DeSantis, who eventually added: At some point are we going to move on and focus on the peoples issues?  This is not on the top of the mind for voters.

The term wave the bloody shirt is a reference to the rhetoric used in the late 19th century following the four-year war that ripped the nation apart. It has been viewed as a critical term thrown against politicians, primarily Republicans, who referred to the losses of the war while campaigning.

DeSantis was sharply critical of the Jan. 6, 2021 riots in the immediate aftermath. But he would eventually lambast Democrats  and the congressional committee investigating the attacks  by saying they were trying to smear Trump supporters. On the first anniversary of the attacks, he rejected defining the riots as an insurrection because no one has been charged with any crimes that fit that definition.

Now two years later, DeSantis has been pushed to talk about Jan. 6 after two states blocked Trump from the primary ballot by relying on a clause in the 14th amendment that bars some people from holding public office if they engaged in insurrection.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether the states have the power to disqualify Trump from the ballot. DeSantis has predicted the high court will rule against Colorado and Maine and he criticized the push to disqualify Trump by saying it violated the due process rights of the former president. Trump is currently facing federal charges that he tried to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election.

How do you get to say then that someone should be off the ballot absent a conviction, not only for him but for anyone? DeSantis told reporters following a Friday campaign stop in the small town of Cumming. That opens up Pandoras box.

At that same stop, DeSantis was asked by an Iowa voter whether Trump had engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6. He didnt directly answer the question and instead said that no one had been charged with insurrection.

DeSantis is challenging Trump for the GOP presidential nomination but has struggled to gain traction and is viewing Iowa as a make-or-break state.

The comments by DeSantis on Jan. 6 are still in stark contrast to Trump, who brought up the attacks during a rally he held in Sioux City. He said that there was Antifa and there was FBI, at the riot. He added that those who had been imprisoned for their roles that day were hostages.


At least two dozen Jan. 6 defendants are seeking to delay their cases until the Supreme Court decides whether an obstruction charge used to prosecute scores of rioters was legitimately applied by the Justice Department, court filings show.

Some defendants are seeking pauses in their upcoming trials or sentencing hearings. Others already sentenced are hoping to be released from prison or punt their upcoming surrenders.

If successful, the requests could cause months-long delays and pose new challenges for prosecutors as the third anniversary of the Capitol attack passes.

The developments follow the Supreme Courts announcement it will hear Fischer v. United States, a Jan. 6 defendants challenge to the obstruction statute that has allowed prosecutors to paint rioters actions as part of a bigger plot to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

The high courts eventual ruling threatens to derail the cases of hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants charged under the statute  including former President Trump.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Run GenZ campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

But regardless of the outcome, prosecutors in the meantime now must confront the possibility that some defendants cases will be paused until the summer, as the Supreme Courts decision is unlikely to land until May or June.

The Supreme Court could say 1512(c) is unconstitutional, said Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor who later served as a defense attorney for an Oath Keeper charged over Jan. 6. You dont want to have a trial  waste resources, witnesses, court time, jurys time  and then later have the government lose and the court says, You shouldnt have tried that 1512. Its a misapplication of the law.

Every judge, in my opinion, should pause and wait for the Supreme Court, he added.

The Justice Department has insisted the prosecutions should still move ahead, noting how many of the defendants are charged with other crimes and asserting a strong public interest in the timely adjudication of the cases.

The mere fact that the Supreme Court agreed to hear Fischer does not indicate that those opinions were wrongly decided, prosecutors wrote in one case.

More Courts coverage from The Hill

At issue before the justices is how prosecutors have charged scores of rioters with obstruction of an official proceeding.

Enacted in the wake of the Enron scandal to curb corporate wrongdoing, the statute criminalizes corruptly obstructing, impeding or interfering with an official government proceeding. It carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Former police officer Joseph Fischer is challenging his conviction by arguing the laws history suggests a narrower scope, one that would require actual document destruction.

The charge has allowed federal prosecutors to include additional damning evidence in Jan. 6 cases, like videos from the Capitol hallways and information about Congress certification of the 2020 election, by asserting that the rioters were obstructing the legislatures proceeding that day, Rossi said.

If you take out that 1512, it could arguablydilute the power of (the governments) case and the gravity of their case, Rossi said. So thats why this appeal to the Supreme Court is so important.

But the impact of the Supreme Courts decision could extend far beyond Fischers case. The charge has been levied against more than 332 Jan. 6 defendants so far, according to a Justice Department tally.

More than two dozen of them have now asked for a pause, arguing a favorable Supreme Court ruling could remake the future of their cases.

While some judges rejected a few of the attempts, one federal judge who oversees Jan. 6 cases in D.C.s federal courthouse agreed to issue pauses for two defendants.

Jacob Clark, who hit a police officer with a 24 wooden plank inside the Capitol and was sentenced to 33 months in prison, was set to surrender by Jan. 2.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, put his surrender date on hold until after the Supreme Courts decision, finding that a ruling favorable to Clark could lead to a new trial or an outright dismissal of some of his charges.

In this case, the Court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if released, Friedrich wrote in the brief ruling. The defendant has not fled or endangered anyone during a lengthy period of pretrial release. Rather, for more than two years, he has complied with substantially all of his pretrial release conditions.

The next day, Friedrich similarly paused the sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 8 for Ethan Seitz, an Ohio man who was convicted on two charges.

Resolution of Fischer directly implicates the sole felony count for which Mr. Seitz will be sentenced, Seitzs federal defender argued in court papers. Therefore, in the interests of judicial economy, Mr. Seitz moves the Court to stay sentencing until the Supreme Court has resolved the issues raised in Fischer.

Thomas Caldwell, an affiliate of the right-wing militia Oath Keepers who was tried alongside the groups leader, Stewart Rhodes, successfully delayed his long-awaited sentencing by referencing Fischers case.

Unlike Rhodes, Caldwell was acquitted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol riot but was convicted of the 1512 obstruction statute and another felony. His lawyer argued in court filings that the governments 14-year prison sentence request is based almost entirely on his obstruction charge conviction.

Prosecutors countered that Caldwells co-defendants were already sentenced  many of whom were also convicted of the obstruction charge and whose sentences were heavily influenced by those convictions. Allowing him to delay his sentencing, while the others were sentenced in May and June last year, affords him an unfair advantage his co-defendants were not granted, they said.

Rhodes was sentenced in May to 18 years in prison, the second harshest punishment to come from the attack on the Capitol. The other three defendants tried alongside Caldwell and Rhodes in 2022 were sentenced between four and 12 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ultimately vacated Caldwells sentencing, which was scheduled for Dec. 20. Mehta did not rule on whether the sentencing would be stayed until after Fischers case is resolved.

Other judges have brushed aside defendants motions.

Sara Carpenter, a former New York Police Department officer who shook a tambourine throughout the Capitol, made a last-minute effort to pause her sentencing hearing, which was scheduled for six days after the Supreme Court took up the case.

Chief District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, ruled that Carpenters sentence would not be heavily dependent on the obstruction charge and allowed her sentencing to move ahead as planned. Boasberg went on to sentence Carpenter to 22 months in prison.

Other defendants motions are still pending. The list includes Kevin Seefried, who is serving a three-year prison sentence after entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 and carrying a Confederate battle flag.

Seefrieds surrender was delayed as an intermediate appeals court weighed the case now before the Supreme Court. But once the appeals court issued its decision that upheld the use of the obstruction charge against Jan. 6 defendants, the judge ordered Seefried to report to jail.

The Supreme Courts resolution of the matter could dramatically alter how Jan. 6 rioters are sentenced, Rossi said.

1512 added rocket fuel to the governments argument at sentencing about the severity of the actions of the defendant, he said. If 1512 is declared inapplicable, then these defendants  including my client  have been convicted of a statute for which they should not have been charged.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A security guard points his firearm at rioters storming the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in footage captured on a cellphone (NBC News)

Dramatic new cellphone video from the Capitol riot introduced as evidence ahead of the sentencing of rioter Damon Beckley, shows the tense standoff at the entrance to the chamber of the House of Representatives on 6 January 2021.

As rioters hurled insults and angry, false claims of election fraud and two Republican members of Congress confronted them through the broken glass, law enforcement officers pointed their firearms at the mob trying to breach the main door to the chamber.

The footage was released to the media following a request by NBC News and provides a clear insight into the motivation of the rioters as they tried to gain access to the floor of the House, where many members, media, and staffers were trapped.

Video and photos already seen from the day show how the doors to the chamber were barricaded by those inside as the mob descended and proceeded to smash the glass of the windowed doors.

Reps Troy Nehls of Texas and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma scolded the rioters for their actions, with Mr Nehls telling them they should be ashamed.

Both lawmakers voted to overturn the 2020 election results in favour of Donald Trump in an attempt to stop the winner of both the Electoral College and popular vote, Joe Biden, from becoming president.

Beckley can be heard in the video saying: I drove fourteen hours to get here and stood in the cold for three and a half hours to find out that Mike Pence is a f***ing traitor, man. And I voted for that f***ing dude.

If were got to hang a bunch of crooked congressmen, well do that, okay? pic.twitter.com/r2jdvAEq2y  Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) January 6, 2024

He adds: He couldve done the right thing and certified those legislators, electors, and we wouldnt be standing here with a nine-millimetre pointed at me right now!

The rioters unhinged shouts on the video include an apparent assertion within earshot of law enforcement: They can only kill so many of us.

The stand-off at the door to the House of Representatives chamber on 6 January 2021 (Getty Images)

During the riot, in another part of the building, Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old US Air Force veteran from San Diego, California, was shot dead by a police officer as she climbed through the window of a barricaded door.

On the video, a rioter can be heard calling the officers with their weapons drawn: F***ing paedophiles!

They add: We know about your paedophilia.

A security guard points his firearm at rioters storming the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in footage captured on a cellphone (NBC News)

Later in the standoff, a rioter says through the broken glass of the door: If weve got to hang a bunch of crooked congressmen, well do that, okay?

Toward the end of the video clip, reinforcements of Capitol Police arrive and clear the doorway ushering the angry mob away.

Shame on your f***ing selves, a rioter yells as they move away.
Last year, the fine arts market experienced an overall dip compared to its performance in the past years, Christie's has even come out with a report saying its year-end total was down by 25%.

That said, 2023 still had a handful of gigantic sales with one clear forerunner that had a final auction price that was leaps and bounds above other sales.

That particular piece was by the Spanish master Pablo Picasso, whose work had pieces made by Gustav Klimt and Claude Monet trailing it.

Picasso's 'Femme a la Montre' or 'Woman with a Watch'

Back in November, Picasso's "Femme a la Montre" painting fetched a ridiculous $139.3 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York, surpassing its high-end estimation by over $19 million. This price cemented the piece as the second most expensive Picasso piece ever sold.

The sale was part of a larger auction comprising items from the late Emily Fisher Landau's highly sought-after art collection, the "Woman with a Watch" artwork was once even considered as the "crown jewel" of the Landau estate.

Its background is surrounded by drama regarding Picasso and his "golden muse" and secret lover, Marie-Therese Walter.

Picasso created the painting in 1932 as a gift to the French model, who was 17 at the time. The artist himself was 47 and was known to have been married to the ballet dancer Olga Khoklova.

Aside from this piece, Walter ended up being the subject of Picasso's many artistic forays including his 1932 artwork dubbed "Femme Nue Couchee," or "Nude Reclining Woman," which brought Sotheby's over $67.5 million at an auction in May 2022.

Read Also: 'A Table for All' Butter Sculpture Revealed at the 2024 Pennsylvania Farm Show

Klimt's 'Dame mit Facher'

The two runner-ups as 2023's most expensive paintings sold in an auction are works by Klimt and Monet, with the former's piece holding the second spot and the latter's being the third most expensive artwork last year.

In the case of Klimt's 1918 painting, named "Dame mit Facher" or "Lady with a Fan," it sold for $106,756,365 at the Sotheby's London sale "Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction, featuring Face to Face: A Celebration of Portraiture."

This particular final price beat out the previous highest bid for a Klimt piece of around $104 million, belonging to the artist's "Birch Forest" painting made in 1903, the sale of which happened at a Christie's auction in November 2022.

In the catalog note for "Lady with a Fan," Sotheby's writes, "It combines rich patterns and oriental motifs with the delicate and luminous human touch that makes Klimt's portraits so sought-after."

Monet's 'Le Bassin aux Nympheas'

On the other hand, Monet's 1919 "Le Bassin aux Nympheas," or "Water Lily Pond," sold for a comparably lower yet still respectable $74 million at Christie's "Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale" in New York back in November 2023.

According to the auction house's written highlight for the piece, Monet painted the piece at the precarious age of 80 and was well beyond the average life expectancy of his era. During this time, he was already suffering from cataracts in both of his eyes.

Despite this, the legendary Impressionism master would eventually finish painting "Water Lily Pond," and due to his worsening vision, had given the piece an almost "ethereal" element to it.

After its creation, the piece found its way to a private collection and was held by the same family for over five decades before it finally sold at the Christie's auction and cemented its place as the sixth-most expensive artwork made by the legendary French Impressionist.

Currently, the Monet piece with the highest final price is held by "Meules," which was made in 1890. The sale of this particular painting brought in over $110.7 million for Sotheby's, in one of its auctions in 2019.

Read More: Francoise Bornet: The Woman in Robert Doisneau's Famous Paris Kiss Photo Dies at 93

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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the House GOP wont shut down the government over border spending following a threat by fellow member Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).

Johnson appeared to try to cool fears over Roys recent threat to withhold government funding legislation until Democrats and President Biden agree to border security and asylum reforms in H.R. 2.

When asked about Roys threat, Johnson responded that Roy wasnt threatening to shut down the government.

Chips one of my closest friends and colleagues. I talked to him last night, thats not what he intended to say, Johnson said in a clip of CBSs Face the Nation posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter Friday.

In a letter from Tuesday, Roy said he and his colleagues must make funding for federal government operations contingent on the president signing H.R. 2, or its functional equivalent, into law and stopping the flow across our border.

More Top Stories from The Hill

Roy isnt the only Congress member to threaten to withhold government funding over the border.

I will not vote to fund the government until our border is secure, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote in a post on X.

The Senate adjourned last month without a deal on funding for Ukraine or border security, ending a historically unproductive legislative session. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) attributed the absence of achievements to the influence of former President Trump on the Republican-majority House.

Under a Republican House majority this year, we saw a year marked by chaos, extremism and paralysis. Theres no question that divided government and MAGA extremism made legislating in 2023 very difficult, Schumer said in floor remarks.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor fired Police Chief Tommy Henderson, citing her constitutional right to do so, Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln confirmed Friday night.

According to Sartor, Lt. Chris Cato will serve as interim chief of police, pending city council approval on Monday.

Its another police firing by Sartor, who will be sworn in for the second time Monday after winning reelection.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

In early December, Channel 2 Action News spoke with former Sgt. Daryll Triplett, who Sartor fired.

Triplett shared his termination letter with Lincoln, which alleged he violated department policy by speaking with the news media and publicly criticizing the agencys policies.

TRENDING STORIES:

Previously, Triplett said he was suspended for testifying in an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by Sartor. He later alleged his firing was in retaliation for his testimony.

As reported by Channel 2 Action News, one of the allegations claimed that the mayor had a gun in city hall and pointed it at a police officer. The GBI later told Channel 2 Action News that they found no evidence that backed accusations that Sartor pointed a gun at a Jonesboro police officer.

Triplett said in December that hed hired an attorney and planned to take legal action against the city for violating Georgias Whistleblower Act, which protects government whistleblowers from retaliation.

Channel 2 Action News reached out to city officials and Chief Henderson for comment and are awaiting their responses.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Friday denied a bid by Rudy Giuliani to extend motions related to the election interference case against him in Georgia. McAfee said Giuliani failed to articulate exactly what discovery must still be reviewed for him to need an extension. While Defendant claims to have filed many motions concerning discovery, none appear on the docket, McAfee wrote. Giuliani was indicted alongside 18 othersincluding former President Donald Trumpfor allegedly working to interfere in the 2020 election.

Read it at NBC News

Read more at The Daily Beast.
A Georgia judge rejected Rudy Giulianis request for an extended deadline in his election interference case Friday.

Giuliani requested that the Monday deadline for motions be extended due to the significant burden of case discovery.

Judge Scott McAfee said the former New York City mayor does not articulate exactly what discovery must still be reviewed, or why the review has not been completed in the approximately four months that have passed since arraignment.

The former Trump attorney was charged as part of the broad racketeering case against the former president and his allies over attempts to overturn 2020 election results in the state. Prosecutors allege that Giuliani knowingly lied to state lawmakers as part of a fake electors scheme.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

More Top Stories from The Hill

Giuliani sent a separate demand to McAfee Thursday, asking that the judge schedule a hearing on his request to have his indictment thrown out. His motion for dismissal was filed in September.

The motion describes the 98-page indictment against Giuliani and the other defendants as conspiratorial bouillabaisse consisting of purported criminal acts, daily activities, and constitutionally protected speech.

Four of the 19 defendants have pleaded guilty to crimes to avoid trial, including three of Trumps attorneys. A trial date is not yet set for the case, but prosecutors requested it begin in August.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
As another tranche of formerly sealed court documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein was unsealed Friday, the federal judge overseeing the case denied a motion by the Miami Herald to make public a master list of Epstein J. Does.

The Herald argued that releasing the list  consisting of the names of all those in the Epstein-related court file except victims of the late sex trafficker  would provide transparency and that a number of unexplained name redactions in already-released documents didnt seem to correspond with victims.

Judge Loretta Preska, in rejecting the request, noted her concern that releasing the list would violate the privacy of some individuals and create a circus of innuendo.

The records were generated by a defamation lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Epstein, against his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, after Maxwell said Giuffre was lying about sexual abuse she said she suffered at the hands of the prominent pair. The presiding judge, since deceased, ordered the file sealed. The Herald went to court asking for the seal to be lifted, arguing that the public had a right to know all it possibly could about Epsteins sprawling sex-trafficking operation and whether famous people were being shielded from exposure.

Preska, the federal judge who inherited jurisdiction, ruled in favor of unsealing most of the records, but only after a careful document-by-document review to ensure that, for instance, victims wishes and privacy were respected.

Judge Loretta Preska

She wrote: The public does not have an absolute right to access and inspect court documents; rather, courts may exercise their supervisory power to ensure that records are not used as vehicle[s] for improper purposes, including, for example, to promote public scandal.

She also noted that the alphabetical order of the master list could allow people to figure out the names of those whose names were not unsealed.

Its not clear, however, whether the master list remains in alphabetical order. While J. Doe 1 is believed to be Juan Alessi, one of Epsteins butlers, J. Doe 2 is thought to be Joe Recarey, the former police detective who investigated Epstein in 2005.

Each J Doe was assigned a number. We asked the Court to release the list showing the actual name that corresponds with each number so that the press and public can more fully understand what information remains sealed and why the court ruled to keep it sealed, said Christine N. Walz of Holland & Knight, the attorney for the Herald and its parent company, McClatchy. We are disappointed that the Court denied our request.

In one document, for example, Giuffre is asked during sworn testimony about emails she exchanged with journalist Sharon Churcher in which she refers to two powerful politicians. One of them she identifies as former President Bill Clinton, but the other name is redacted from her deposition. Its not clear which J. Doe this redaction refers to and why the judge decided to keep the name sealed.

Screenshot of document mentioning Bill Clinton and another politician, that one redacted.

There have been myriad problems with the releases. The judge was forced to strike a number of documents on Thursday that had already been made public because they contained addresses and other identifying information for many of the individuals listed in the documents. She wrote that the disclosures could threaten the safety and privacy of named individuals.

The documents were refiled with further redactions.

Constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who was a friend of and attorney for the late financier, also wrote a letter of support on the motion made by the Herald, which spent years in court trying to get the full, unredacted file unsealed, finally succeeding this week.

The Heralds five-year legal effort followed the 2018 publication of a series of Miami Herald stories, Perversion of Justice, that rekindled interest in Epstein, who was first arrested 15 years ago for abusing girls at his Palm Beach estate. He pleaded at that time to reduced charges and served a short term in the local jail before reentering society, welcomed by celebrities and business leaders.

The Miami Heralds original Perversion of Justice series:

The defamation lawsuit at the heart of the unsealing case was filed in 2015 by Giuffre, who said Maxwell, a British socialite, and Epstein recruited and sexually abused hundreds of girls and young women from 2001 to 2018, including her. Giuffre said Maxwell and Epstein also loaned her out to friends and associates for sexual purposes.

The suit was settled in 2017, but much of the evidence that could fill in details about Epsteins sex-trafficking operation  as well as the wealthy and prominent people with whom he associated  was placed off limits.

After Perversion of Justice brought renewed attention to the Epstein case, federal prosecutors arrested him in the summer of 2019. He was found hanged in his prison cell while awaiting trial a month later, a death ruled to be self-inflicted.

Shortly after that, Maxwell was arrested on sex-trafficking charges. She was tried and convicted in New York City and is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida.
Kadyrov changed his mind and said that sanctions "do not prevent him from living"

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlins puppet warlord in Chechnya, referred to his earlier proposal to lift U.S. sanctions on his family in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners-of-war as heavy trolling on Telegram on Jan. 5.

Read also: Chechen warlord Kadyrov proposes Ukrainian prisoner swap for lifting U.S. sanctions against his family

The day before, Kadyrov expressed readiness to exchange 20 Ukrainian prisoners for the removal of sanctions on his mother, wives, daughters, and children. He reportedly provided a list of prisoners for exchange to propagandist and convicted pedophile Scott Ritter, who arrived in the Chechen capital of Grozny.

Kadyrov then stated that he made this declaration to reveal the true face of American politicians, for whom the lives of ordinary Ukrainians mean nothing.

Scott Ritter, unlike some, correctly understood this heavy trolling, Kadyrov opined.

And as for the sanctions, they dont interfere with our lives in any way.

Read also: Blinken to visit Greece to talk aid to Ukraine

The United States imposed personal sanctions on Kadyrov and some members of his family on Sept. 15, 2022. Affected family members include Kadyrovs wives Medni, Aminat, and Fatima, adult daughters Aishat, Karina, and Tabarik, Kadyrovs cousin Turpal-Ali Ibragimov, and several others. His mother was included in the sanctions list in August 2023.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Womens Missionary Society retreat of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S., January 6, 2024. ( REUTERS/Randall Hill)

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday warned of an all-out attack on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights by Republicans and former president Donald Trump and stressed the importance of Black voters in her and President Joe Bidens electoral prospects.

Ms Harris, who travelled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to address the African Methodist Episcopal Churchs Seventh District Womens Missionary Society, recalled how Americans had shown up to vote in the middle of a global pandemic just over three years ago.

It is because of you that Joe Biden is President of the United States and I am the first black woman to be Vice President of the United States. And so Im here of course to say thank you for your work and your leadership and your vision for what is possible for our nation, she said, adding later that it was because of people like those in the crowd of 1,232 who came to see her that she was in a position to address the needs of Black and rural South Carolinians on issues such as maternal mortality and the availability of high-speed broadband internet.

She also hailed the voters who put her and Mr Biden in the White House for giving them the ability to replace lead pipes across the country, safeguarding childrens health and safety, to invest more than $7 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and to appoint more Black women to the federal bench than any previous administration.

Because of your faith in the promise of America, we together can move our country forward, she said.

But Ms Harris, who was met with boisterous applause from the crowd as she recalled her and Mr Bidens successes, warned attendees that their administrations fight for progress is still being challenged by those who are trying to pull us backward in this moment.

She cited Republicans efforts to restrict voting rights in the wake of her and Mr Bidens 2020 victory over Mr Trump, often by changing the law to make the process of voting more arduous.

Capitol Riot Arrests (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

They have the gall to pass laws to ban drop boxes, to limit early voting, to make it illegal to offer food and water to people who stand in line for hours simply to exercise their civic duty and right  whatever happened to love thy neighbour? she asked, adding that the GOPs hypocrisy knows no bounds

Ms Harris rattled off a listed numerous GOP efforts to restrict rights, zeroing in on actions states have taken since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year and laws enacted in states such as Florida to regulate how history is taught in public schools.

In states across our nation, extremists pass laws that criminalise doctors and punish women who seek basic reproductive health care. We see extremists ban books and attempt to erase, overlook and even rewrite the dark parts of Americas history, she said. And all of this  and refuse to pass reasonable gun safety laws, to keep our children and places of worship safe.

The Vice President asked attendees to imagine the split screen between her and Mr Biden, and the Trump-led Republicans who want to ban books instead of assault weapons and infringe on other rights.

They think government should tell a woman what to do with her body, we trust women to know what is in their own best interest, and women trust us to protect their fundamental freedoms. We fight to protect the sacred freedom to vote while they try to silence the voice of the people, she said.

Ms Harris noted that she was speaking on the three-year anniversary of the day that a riotous mob of Mr Trumps supporters had stormed the US Capitol to prevent certification of her and Mr Bidens 2020 election win.

The Vice President asked her audience to remember where they were that day, and reminded them that the mob, acting at the best of the then-sitting president, had used brutal force and fear to try and overturn the results of a free and fair election and overrule the votes of millions of Americans.

She also warned that Mr Trump and his allies are still trying to whitewash the facts of that day.

On that day, we saw violence, chaos, and lawlessness. But some so-called leaders still try to mislead and gaslight by claiming it was a peaceful protest  can you imagine  like we werent watching! she said, adding that the same extremist leaders  including Mr Trump  now say that the riot, which resulted in the deaths of multiple police officers, was led by great patriots.

She asked: Is that how you define who loves our country?

Ms Harris said the events of that day were a reminder that America still [has] far to go and Americans still have work to do, and asked the missionary society members that American democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.

In this moment, our nation once again needs your leadership as you have done for generations, to defend our most sacred ideals. To continue to organise, energise and make your voices heard, she said.

And at this moment in history I say, Let us not throw up our hands when its time to roll up our sleeves because we were born for a time such as this and we love our country, we believe in the principles upon which we were founded and guided by our faith. We are prepared to fight for all that we know is right and hold dear, she continued. And I know that when we fight, we win.
Former gubernatorial and current U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake filed a special action appeal on Friday challenging a Maricopa County judge's decision last month to allow a defamation lawsuit against her to go forward.

Appeals are generally filed after trial or a judge's final order, but Lake's petition asks the Arizona Court of Appeals to rule more immediately on whether her motions to dismiss the defamation lawsuit were improperly denied.

That could impact whether the case continues to discovery, the formal process of exchanging information between attorneys about witnesses and evidence that could be presented before a jury at trial. Lake's petition says the appellate court should consider the issue because the lawsuit is "a matter of significant statewide importance" and "significant judicial and litigant resources will be extended" if the case proceeds.

"Defendants expect the trial to run at least 10-14 days, with tens of thousands of pages of exhibits, a half-dozen or more expert witnesses, which will be preceded by dozens of discovery disputes," the appeal states.

Kari Lake, former Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, speaks at Turning Point USA's 2023 America Fest in the Phoenix Convention Center on Dec. 17, 2023, in Phoenix.

Now, the appellate court must determine whether it will accept Lake's appeal before the conclusion of the case in Maricopa County Superior Court.

The defamation lawsuit, filed in June by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, accuses Lake and her affiliates of spreading false information about Richer following the November 2022 election. He alleges that Lake knew, or should have known, the statements were false. Lake and Richer are both Republicans.

But Lake says Richer, who is running for reelection, is seeking to silence her and other election integrity critics. She has repeatedly condemned his defamation suit against her.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer answers a question at Maricopa County Superior Court during a voting records trial brought by Kari Lake, former Arizona Republican candidate for governor, on Sept. 21, 2023, in Phoenix. The trial is a public records lawsuit that asks to review all early ballot envelopes with voter signatures in Maricopa County, where election officials denied Lake's request for those documents.

Her attorneys previously filed two motions to dismiss the defamation case, but Judge Jay Adleman rejected both.

The appeal disputes Adleman's conclusion that Lake's statements about Richer are "provably false" and may not be subject to First Amendment protections. Adleman cited that reasoning while rejecting Lake's first motion to dismiss.

Lake's appeal also argues that Adleman erred on her second motion when he determined that Lake failed to provide enough evidence to get the case dismissed outright under a recently revised state law intending to deter lawsuits that seek to censor or intimidate critics.

Richer and Tim LaSota, an attorney for Lake, did not immediately return The Arizona Republic's request for comment.

Richer has until Jan. 16 to file a response to Lake's petition, according to court documents.

Stands by claims: Kari Lake digs in on 'rigged' election claims in court despite pivot in Senate campaign

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip to share on elections or voting? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake challenges judge's decision in defamation lawsuit
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Kansas City police are searching for a missing woman last seen near the 2900 block of Brighton Ave.

Bonnie Olds, 66, has grey or brown hair and was seen on foot in unknown clothing near 2900 Brighton Ave. on January 6, around 9 a.m.

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Her family is concerned for her safety. FOX4 will update you as more details come along.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Missing Person Unit at 816-324-5043 or 911.

Update: Olds has been located safe.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine demonstrates the strategic shift in air warfare from direct attacks by bombers to standoff attacks using missiles. The ground-based air defenses have yet to embrace this change.

Legacy air defenses were designed to defeat the weapon carriers  the bombers, strike fighters, and their highly trained aircrews. Unlike the air raids of WWII, flown by thousands of bombers, modern air forces have much fewer aircraft and even fewer bombers.

In the recent conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine, the role of missiles has increased, with each conflict involving a larger share of missiles in standoff attacks. These missiles include loitering, cruise, tactical ballistic missiles (TBM), and hypersonic maneuvering. Ukraine has encountered all these threats in its War against Russia in 2022-2023.

The Proliferation of the Missile Threat

This threat is also relevant to many European nations, specifically the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These nations have modern energy, telecommunications, transportation, and commercial infrastructure. In the event of a direct Russian strike or an ambiguous terrorist missile attack, significant damage could be caused to the countrys infrastructure, disrupt commercial continuity, and expose the population to great danger. The assessment of such risks has urgently driven Estonia and Latvia to seek a modern, advanced air defense solution. As the front-line NATO member countries, both share a border with Russia. The optimal protection in both countries requires a national air defense system that will provide wide-area defense in several layers, including point defense of high-priority strategic sites, effective against the different threat vectors.

Each type of missile represents different challenges for air defenses. Loitering missiles are launched from the ground; they are small, slow, and have a small radar signature making them virtually invisible to radar. Their relatively low cost enables the enemy to use large numbers of such missiles to saturate the defenses. Cruise missiles are launched from ships, submarines, aircraft, and ground launchers. They are a great challenge, especially since they fly low above the surface to evade detection. The ground-launched TBM is much faster. Although they fly in a predictable trajectory, they challenge the defenses with high terminal velocity, and the use of decoys, while some of the new TBM also consist of a level of maneuverability to confuse defenders fire controls. The new air and sea-launched hypersonic missiles take these capabilities to a new level, further challenging air and missile defenses.

The TBM threat is proliferating fast. From Iran to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and most recently, Ukraine. According to official Ukraine sources, between February and November 2022, Russia launched over 800 tactical ballistic missiles in its attacks on Ukraines military, infrastructure, and population centers. They spent a large arsenal of their most advanced TBM  the 9K720 Iskander missile, striking targets from 500 kilometers. As the most devastating TBM in the Russian tactical arsenal, the Iskander poses the most challenging threat to air defense systems. It can carry a conventional or nuclear warhead and hit targets with high precision. The Russian attacks targeted strategic infrastructure such as the national energy generation systems and power grid, communications networks, military barracks, and air defense sites. The strategic goal behind those attacks was to cause a humanitarian crisis that would turn the population against the regime. This strategy was first implemented in Syria, almost eliminating the revolt that spanned over a decade. Russia considers its strategic attacks against Ukraine a success, and it is most likely that Moscow will use this strategy again if the conflict spills over to neighboring countries.

Air Defense Should Evolve Missile Defense Capabilities

Air defense against such threats is not trivial. It includes fighter planes carrying missiles and guns and ground-based air defense systems, including radars, fire control centers, and missile interceptors. Those systems are based on technologies developed in the 1990s. Ground-based systems were designed to protect specific targets and operate in independent units. Such systems address distinct layers of defense  short, medium, and long ranges. To extend coverage over a wide area, an integrated network of several units is used to protect a larger area. However, as the sensors, battle management, and interceptors of most such systems are not optimized for all those missions, this solution is not optimal. Moreover, fighter planes cannot engage TBM and are challenged by the slow, low-flying, loitering weapons.

Only a few countries have missile defense capabilities, such as the Israeli ARROW system and the USA THAAD system, as part of their multi-layered air defense systems.

Modern air defense systems are designed to provide nationwide air defense  implementing a distributed system of sensors, fire units based on smart launchers, and battle management systems that can employ different interceptors for short, medium, and long-range. Some of them with interception capabilities even out to 150 km. The battle management system and fire controls should be based on open systems architecture, which means they should implement different algorithms to engage specific targets, such as aircraft, guided missiles, and TBM. Each type of target requires techniques that are unavailable with legacy systems. Radars suitable for those systems should also be modular, able to be enhanced to detect and track smaller targets and extend their coverage from medium to long range.

While national air defense systems are primarily designed to defend military forces, strategic sites, and infrastructure from military threats, they are also required to protect the population and safeguard the citizens. Air and missile defense systems are required to deliver the best capabilities at an affordable cost and are measured by the cost of coverage rather than intercept. To achieve this goal, systems should be flexible and agile and have the growth potential to evolve throughout their life cycle. Combat experience has demonstrated that air defenses should be able to adapt and change, to deliver effective defense against the threats of today and tomorrow.
In a bid to get sympathetic responses, artist Brooke Peachley posted an image of Keith Haring's provocative piece named "Unfinished Painting" on X, formerly known as Twitter.

However, she probably didn't anticipate that it would soon devolve into a controversial thread filled with "trolling" and anger.

Peachley originally solicited names of other paintings or artworks that "never fail to [emotionally] destroy" people through the caption of her post, sharing Haring's piece as the precedent under this criteria.

Indeed, the painting itself had quite a sad background, especially because the renowned American artist made it a commentary on how the AIDS crisis negatively influenced the lives of many individuals diagnosed with it from the '80s to the '90s.

The post has currently received over 434.8 million views and around 3,600 comments, with a lot of users giving suggestions like Lynda Barry's four-panel comic and Felix Gonzalez-Torres' "Untitled" piece, which is similarly about AIDS.

Read Also: Picasso Reigns Over Klimt and Monet as the Artist's Masterpiece is 2023's Most Expensive Painting

Unsolicited AI Interpolation of Keith Haring's Work

Last Sunday, however, waves of outrage suddenly erupted from the thread when X user Donnel responded, writing, "The story behind this painting is so sad! Now using AI we can complete what he couldn't finish!"

Attached in Donnel's post is an altered version of the Haring painting, its missing parts haphazardly filled in by AI generative technology.

The story behind this painting is so sad! 

Now using AI we can complete what he couldn't finish!  https://t.co/RuASoTfFdk pic.twitter.com/uAwM6SBUGW  Donnel (@DonnelVillager) December 31, 2023

Other users immediately welled up in a rage, with one saying: "Congrats this is the worst thing I've ever seen," while others commented how the interpolation was a "desecration of [Haring's] art" hoping that Donnel's "heinous action" gets punished.

"This is incomprehensible, you can't see what anything is," another user noted, criticizing that the AI only made "squiggles" and nothing remotely similar to the original area of the piece.

"Clearly you know nothing about Keith or this painting. It was left unfinished on purpose," commented another user. "I hope his estate sues you."

That said, amongst the sea of anger, a handful of users saw through Donnel's post and realized the user was probably just "trolling."

Many of these keen-eyed individuals called out Donnel for "rage baiting," an internet practice of intentionally making other people upset to gain traction.

"Pack it up. This is the best post of 2023. An absolute masterclass in baiting," one user pointed out.

Related Article: A Social Media 'Troll' Used AI to Offer 'Improvements' on Edward Hopper's Famed 'Nighthawks' Painting

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It was shortly before Christmas when I developed congestion, followed by a cough. And then came dread  I could not, would not be sick for Christmas.

I rarely get sick. Even the two times I had COVID, I was asymptomatic. But I found myself congested and coughing, mostly at night. I had to keep tissues nearby, while on a regular dose of cold medicine, though thank goodness I never had a fever.

More: My New Year's resolution? Less on my 'to-do' list and more grace | THE MOM STOP

I took a COVID test, not wanting to transmit anything to my family, especially over the holidays. It was thankfully negative. I took a flu test. It was also negative.

Lydia Seabol Avant. [Staff file photo/The Tuscaloosa News]

Instead, it seemed I had somehow just contracted a regular cold. Still, it knocked me out for a couple of days.

Others in my circle havent been so lucky, since we had family members and friends who did have COVID over Christmas. One friend actually had COVID and flu at the same time, contracted when her relatives who came in town to visit.

Unfortunately, circumstances like these are not that uncommon this time of year. The holidays have brought a rise in new COVID-19 and flu cases. According to a flu tracker from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alabama has very high flu levels through Dec. 23, not accounting for cases after Christmas. Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, New Mexico and New York City had the highest rates of flu activity by mid-December.

As of Dec. 27, visits to emergency rooms in Alabama by people with respiratory illnesses had jumped  with the flu representing about 3% of all ER visits, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Confirmed COVID-19 cases represented about 1.68% of ER visits, with Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases accounting for about 1%.

Cold and flu season has arrived, it appears. But, there are things that can be done to try to reduce your chances of getting sick.

The CDC recommends getting vaccinated for respiratory viruses such as COVID-19, the flu and if you are pregnant or age 60 or older, it is also now recommended to be vaccinated against RSV.

But there are other things people can do. The ADPH recommends that people who are feeling sick should stay home, cover their mouth when they sneeze and cough, and wash hands with soap for at least 20 seconds.

People who do test positive for the flu can be prescribed antiviral drugs that will help reduce the symptoms, if they take the medication within the first few days of getting the flu. That is one reason why many doctors recommend that people who are older or at higher risk see a doctor early.

And if you want to reduce the chances that others get sick, wear a mask, even when staying at home, especially if your family is nearby. Even if you arent sick, you may also choose to wear a mask in public while flu and other respiratory illnesses are high.

For me, luckily, the cold passed quickly. But it was a reminder to take my youngest child in for her flu vaccine, which we hadnt done yet. It wasnt something she wanted to do, especially during the holidays. But it was much better than getting sick.

Lydia Seabol Avant writes The Mom Stop for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at momstopcolumn@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Sneezing season: Be prepared as cold and flu cases rise | THE MOM STOP
Russian forces may intensively target energy infrastructure as winter weather conditions worsen, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synegubov warned on Telegram on Jan. 6.

The concern was raised during a meeting of the Regional Defense Council.

Read also: Kyiv takes measures to prevent heating system from freezing

Emergency services are fully prepared for this eventuality, however, and all medical facilities and critical infrastructure have alternative power sources, Synegubov said.

Ensuring traffic on strategic sections, particularly evacuation and medical routes, is a priority for the regional administration, and road services have been directed to oversee the highway leading to the town of Izyum, he added.

Read also: Ukrainian energy system holding up to Russian assault

The meeting also addressed mobilization processes and emphasized the importance of citizens and representatives of the territorial recruitment center complying with the law. The governor emphasized that any violations will be investigated by law enforcement.

Powerful explosions sounded in the Kharkiv suburbs during an air raid alert on Jan. 6. Synegubov reported that Russians targeted areas between settlements in the Kharkiv Oblast with S-300 missiles, though no casualties were mentioned.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Russian occupiers bombarded the hromada of Tiahynka in Kherson Oblast on the morning of 6 January, causing significant damage [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories].

Source: Kherson Oblast Military Administration

Details: The Russian attack destroyed the village council building, modular houses where internally displaced people were living, a warehouse containing humanitarian aid, and private cars.

The authorities have released photos of the aftermath.

Photo: Kherson Oblast Military Administration

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The investigation of the Perry High School shootings that left the gunman and a sixth grader dead and the principal in critical condition now turns to the question of why and how the tragedy happened.

Here is what we know about the probe.

What are the next steps in the investigation of the Perry, Iowa school shooting?

Perry High School stands empty on Friday, the day after the shootings there.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation, as is typical in complex homicide cases.

Mitch Mortvedt, a DCI assistant director, did not respond to requests for comment Friday. In a news release, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said detectives were still interviewing witnesses and reviewing witness accounts. Investigators also seized "large volumes" of digital and social media evidence, according to the release.

The electronic evidence "will take time to review," the news release said. Once the Iowa DCI finishes its investigation, a report compiled by DCI investigators will be turned over to the Dallas County Attorney's Office to determine what steps, if any, to take next, it said.

What do we know about Dylan Butler, who opened fire at Perry High School on Thursday?

MItch Mortvedt, assistant director at Iowa Division of Criminal investigation, speaks during a news conference about the Perry High School Shooting on Thursday.

The gunman, Dylan Butler, 17, was a Perry High School student. Armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun, he apparently hid out in a bathroom before opening fire in the school at 7:37 a.m. Thursday while students at the high school and adjacent middle school were eating breakfast, according to authorities.

He shot eight people  five students, Principal Dan Marburger and two other staff members  according to authorities. On Friday afternoon, they identified the Perry Middle School sixth-grader who died as Ahmir Jolliff, 11.

Butler was the son of Jack Butler, the manager of Perry Municipal Airport and former public works director for the city. An autopsy confirmed Dylan Butler died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Friday's news release said.

Butler made numerous posts on social media before the shooting, including a TikTok selfie Thursday morning of him in a school bathroom with a blue duffel bag by his feet and a caption reading "Now we wait." DCI investigators are looking into the posts as part of the investigation, Mortvedt said Thursday.

A photo of Dylan Butler in the 2021-22 Perry High School yearbook.

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told the Associated Press that federal and state investigators were interviewing Butlers friends and analyzing his social media profiles. Investigators also have found other photos Butler posted of himself posing with firearms, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Sisters Yesenia Roeder Hall and Khamya Hall, both 17, told the Associated Press Thursday that Butler was their friend and would come over to their house to watch movies and eat with them. Butler had been bullied relentlessly since elementary school, but the situation escalated recently when his younger sister started getting picked on, too, they said. His parents brought up the issue to the school and that was the last straw for Butler, they said.

He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment, said Yesenia Roeder Hall, 17. Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no.

Dylan Butler also responsible for improvised explosive device at Perry High School, fire marshal's office said

A small memoria outside Perry High School honors the shooting victims.

In addition to the shootings, Butler was responsible for an improvised explosive device police officers found as they searched the school Thursday, Ron Humphrey, a special agent with the Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office, confirmed Friday.

Agents from the Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, disassembled the device Thursday, Humphrey said.

It was "rudimentary," Humphrey said, adding that he was not sure how much damage it might have done had it gone off.

"It's hard to say with these things," Humphrey said. "I don't like to speculate."

Principal Dan Marburger speaks during the Perry High School graduation ceremony on May 28, 2023.

'If you see something, say something:' Police urge everyone to be vigilant of social media posts following Iowa school shooting

West Des Moines police on Friday reported they had arrested a man who made social media posts supporting Butler and making threats against local schools. Echoing the police in their news release, Iowa State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Alex Dinkla urged anyone who sees disturbing social media posts to call 911.

"Report it. Let authorities know. If you see something, say something," Dinkla said. "That's always a good lesson I think everybody should always go by. You never know when it might affect or change somebody's life or save somebody's life."

The empty Perry High School on Friday, the day after the shootings there.

Philip Joens covers public safety, retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What's next in investigation of Iowa school shooting, gunman Dylan Butler
Last December, insiders of the critically acclaimed West End production of the Jamie Lloyd-directed "Sunset Boulevard" revival said that it would be crossing the pond this year.

Now, it has been confirmed that the hit show is indeed coming to New York City and that Nicole Scherzinger is reprising her role as "Norma Desmond," consequently making her Broadway debut through the musical.

Nicole Scherzinger's Performance in the Successful Revival

Last Thursday, Jan. 4, Lloyd and his theater company announced the revival's transfer on their Instagram account with dates and theater location yet to be confirmed.

The jaw-dropping run that gave a new life to Andrew Lloyd Webber's original 1993 musical is also set to hold its final show in London this Saturday, Jan. 6.

Scherzinger, known for being an "X-Factor" judge and the former Pussycat Dolls lead vocalist, has proven she is capable of taking over the famed role of "Norma" from the likes of Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, and Patti Lupone as she won the 2023 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance.

The actress's chilling portrayal has also earned her roses from a handful of critics, with the New York Times praising her "career-defining performance" as echoed by the Washington Post describing her as "the perfect Norma Desmond."

This performance benefits heavily from Lloyd's laid-back approach which has also received an accolade from the ES Awards that granted him the Best Director award. The show itself has also won nine nominations during the WhatsOnStage Awards ceremony.

Read Also: AI Alteration of Keith Haring's 'Unfinished Painting' About the AIDS Crisis Sparks Social Media Outrage

What to Expect in the Upcoming Broadway Run of 'Sunset Boulevard'

Joining Scherzinger in the eventual transfer to New York are fellow cast members from the London production, including Tom Francis who played "Joe Gillis", Grace Hodgett-Young who played "Betty Schaefer", and Olivier Award-winner David Thaxton who starred as "Max Von Mayerling".

Would-be theatergoers should expect the same "stripped" aesthetic for the upcoming Broadway run of "Sunset Boulevard" as it had done in its previous iteration, shedding away the baroque visuals that Billy Wilder's 1950 film adaptation had popularized.

Instead, Lloyd's version is much more "sleek-looking" as actors are adorned in silky modern clothing with the stage mirroring the overall "bareness" of the production contrasted by the striking and "bloody" finale.

In terms of the performance of its lead, critic Nick Curtis from the Evening Standard said that Scherzinger "brings not only an operatically powerful voice but shrewd comedy, harrowing pathos, and a dancer's physical precision" in her portrayal of "Norma."

Variety's David Benedict similarly praised the headlining actress' acting and its congruity with the captivating technical ingenuity in the show's staging, which included the utilization of cameras, projections, and a large screen.

"Scherzinger plays both to the audience and the camera with elaborate knowingness. She's at least as arch as the character, but since Lloyd rarely lets her relax it's hard to empathize," said the critic.

Read More: 'Miss Saigon' Stars Reunite: Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce Meet Again at the West End Run of 'Old Friends'

 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Russia will not stop at Ukraine and will look for new "targets" after its aggression against Kyiv is over, Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Jan. 5.

Read also: Russia will be held to account for its war crimes - EU top diplomat

The West needs a long-term strategy to contain Russia, as it has an "imperialistic-fuelled ideology," which means that the threat from Moscow will remain even under the new president and even if Ukraine regains all the occupied territories, the Latvian diplomat stated.

"Russia will not stop. Russia can only be stopped," said Karins.

Stopping Russia in Ukraine does not mean that it is over. It simply means we will have to continue. That is what is important for NATO: that we will have to work on a long-term strategy of Russia containment.

He also noted that the alliance needs to increase its defense industry's capacity and "interoperability" to ensure that different weapons systems are standardized and that ammunition and artillery can be shared among all members.

As soon as the Russian war against Ukraine is over, the war machine will begin to rebuild itself. The aggressor state will look for ways to provoke and create difficulties on its borders, so it is necessary to make sure that NATO is able to prevent any such incidents thanks to the alliance's determination and investment in defense, Karins stated.

Russia's aggression against Ukraine is a difficult period. Still, the diplomat is optimistic that Europe and the United States will support Ukraine militarily and financially, while Russia is only trying to "psych out" the West by claiming that it is "divided."

Read also: Ukraines NATO membership crucial for Poland  Duda

"Russia is trying to instill a doubt among us," he said.

But Putin has managed to reinvigorate NATO. We have managed to converge on all issues to date regarding Ukraine.

The unity of the West and NATO membership is essential for Ukraine after the war, Karins concluded.

Read also: Ukrainian deputy PM says nation will satisfy EU membership requirements by 2025

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier that Russia could attack Europe in the next few years.

In an interview with The Economist, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if the West leaves Ukraine without help and allows Russia to win, the war will spread to NATO and the EU.

Read also: Latvia to deport 1,213 Russian citizens who did not apply for residency

The German newspaper Bild reported on Dec. 23, citing its sources in the intelligence service of a European country, that Russia may try to attack Europe in late 2024 or early 2025.

Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer admitted on Dec. 9 that Germany may one day be forced to wage a defensive war against Russia.

Read also: Fortifying border with Russia & Belarus one of Latvias main priorities of 2024  Latvian President

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Dec. 6 that Russia will attack NATO countries if it successfully invades Ukraine.

Lieutenant General Jurgen-Joachim von Sandrart, Commander of NATO's Multinational Corps North East, said on Dec. 5 that Russia is rebuilding its forces and capabilities and preparing for a possible confrontation with NATO.

Read also: Putin signals desire to halt hostilities to thwart Western aid, says ISW

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on Dec. 4 that Russia had begun to restore a strategic stockpile of nuclear-capable missiles to threaten NATO.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Nov. 24 that the region should prepare for a war with Russia, as Western support may not be enough for Ukraine to win.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Florida Highway Patrol leaders have issued a partial explanation for their decision to relax the agencys high-speed pursuit policy last month.

The revision swapped language urging caution and safety with sentences that encouraged engaging in pursuits to obtain justice.

Among other things, it also dropped a requirement that a person needed to be suspected of a felony, DUI or reckless driving in order for a chase to be authorized.

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Despite being a staple of action movies, pursuits have been a controversial practiced inside and outside of law enforcement circles for decades.

Studies have shown one person is killed in a high-speed chase every day in the United States. A third of pursuits end in crashes and 17% result in injuries and fatalities, with 25% of them happening to innocent bystanders, passengers or law enforcement officers.

Department of Justice memos discourage agencies from engaging in pursuits for minor offenses, saying the dangers outweighed the potential apprehension.

Read: Reward for Ocala mall shooter increases to $20K

However, FHPs new explanation takes another tone, saying the new policy aligned with Gov. DeSantis vision that Florida was a law and order state.

While many states shy away from holding dangerous felons accountable for their decisions, the Florida Highway Patrol seeks to use every tool and tactic available to ensure dangerous felons end up in jail and off our streets, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner wrote.

Kerner noted that the new policy encouraged ending pursuits quickly, either through a PIT maneuver  a tactic that comes with its own warnings  or another tactic, including calling the chase off.

Read: Nearly a dozen fatal crashes reported so far in 2024, several due to wrong way driving

He said troopers received extensive training and the state was making investments in tools like helicopters and drones to assist them.

We put focus and emphasis on the destructive behaviors of reckless fleeing felons, instead of excusing or ignoring their behaviors and decisions, Kerner said. Floridians have the right to be protected on their roadways and highways.

However, FHPs statement did not include any data supporting the need for additional pursuits, or an explanation of why leaders believed the old version of the policy, passed in October 2022, was too restrictive.

Read: Supreme Court to decide whether Trump can be kept off the 2024 presidential ballot

Was this policy the result of them doing an in-depth analysis, saying that we were terminating or not pursuing, and those individuals went on to hurt Florida citizens? police consultant Dr. Randy Nelson wondered before the statement was released.

Opponents of pursuits include many family members of people killed by chases, including the late father of a UCF student who was killed by a suspect being chased in Orange County in 2001.

His campaign caused most Central Florida agencies to restrict high-speed chases to violent felons, which pursuit opponents see as the model for agencies, since they acknowledge pursuits are a necessary tool to stop immediate threats to public safety.

Were still catching the bad guys, then-OPD chief Mike McCoy said to reporters.

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The chairman of the Oklahoma House of Representatives' Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee called Friday for an "independent investigation" of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

State Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, said he wanted the investigation to examine claims of increased violent assaults against inmates and state Corrections Department staff and an examination of the agency's budget and how the department spends its funds. Humphrey said he would question state Corrections Department officials during a meeting of the Appropriations and Budget Public Safety Subcommittee Monday at the state Capitol. That meeting is expected to last all day.

"The Department of Corrections within the past year has seen an increase in violence against inmates and staff," Humphrey said in a media statement announcing the call for the investigation. "Stabbings, assaults and rapes appear to have become a near daily occurrence. I am receiving multiple reports, like an inmate being tied up for approximately 12 hours and raped repeatedly. Another report is of inmates entering an employees office and repeatedly stabbing an inmate in front of that employee."

State Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane

Concerns over inmate, staff assaults at state prisons

Humphrey said he had received reports of inmates or employees being attacked, beaten or stabbed. He said the most recent attack was a video of an inmate attack at the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy. That video was broadcast on KFOR, an Oklahoma City television station.

That video, which aired on Dec. 22, 2023, showed Carlos Ross, Jr., begin attacked by other inmates at the prison. At that time, corrections officials told the television station they were aware of the incident but couldn't comment.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is aware of an incident at Dick Conner Correctional Center Wednesday evening," the department said in a media statement in December. "The Office of Inspector General launched an immediate investigation. Since the investigation has just begun, ODOC is unable to release any additional information at this time.

Late Friday, DOC officials issued another statement which said contraband cell phones were a threat to public safety and that agency employees "work diligently daily to combat the introduction of cellular devices into our facilities using state-of-the-art technology and traditional methods. Over the last year, we have confiscated or bricked over 5,000 cell phones."

More: Oklahoma Corrections Department to overhaul antiquated security systems

Humphrey said he notified Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond's office earlier this year about his concerns of how inmates in state custody were begin treated. Drummond's office replayed in May, writing that state Corrections Department officials had 'fully cooperated with the OAG inquiry' and had provided 'extensive documentation of their internal investigatory materials and subsequent actions.'

"After thoroughly reviewing all the documentation that you provided, we contacted DOC Inspector General Justin Wheeler to determine if these incidents were investigated," Drummond wrote in a letter to Humphrey. "Mr. Wheeler provided copies of the DOC investigative reports for each of these incidents. After reviewing the information received from DOC, our office has concluded that each of the incidents brought to your attention were investigated appropriately and according to DOC policy."

Question over DOC's budget and spending priorities

Humphrey said his review of the state Corrections Department's budget showed the department had been overpaid by at least $43 million, which, he said, was initially concealed within the agency's budget. He said he would ask any investigators to examine whether executive employees were wrongfully fired and replaced with inexperienced associates of the director.

DOC's spokesman Kay Thompson said Friday it was not within DOCs ethos to hide money. "Every year, a transparent budget request, including a plan and spending history, is presented to the legislature. It would be detrimental to try to conceal money  a risk no DOC employee, current or previous, is willing to take," Thompson said in a media statement. "Through streamlining processes and identifying efficiencies, the agency was able to afford a one-time performance-based stipend."

More: Activists argue federal authorities should take over Oklahoma County's troubled jail

Humphrey said he wants an examination of the director's training, experience and education "to ensure it is commensurate with corrections work and that it warrants a $90,000 raise he said the current director recently received."

"It is my understanding this would bring the directors pay to approximately $275,000 per year. I understand $275,000 is nearly equivalent to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice director who I believe has a nearly $4 billion larger budget, has tens of thousands more inmates and has decades of correctional experience, training and education," Humphrey said.

Thompson said Humphrey's claims were wrong. "The performance stipends were distributed per Oklahoma Statute 74-840-2.17, a law since 2002," she said in a media statement. "ODOC continues to be a good steward of taxpayers dollars while rewarding its workforce for their dedication to the State of Oklahoma, public safety, and changing lives. The method of performance review, which has long been used in private industry, has been a state standard since 2019. ODOC began using calibration in early 2022 before Director Harpe started his time with the agency. Also, Director Harpe did not receive a raise when he became the director of ODOC. He has received the same pay since July 2021, when Governor Stitt named him the state chief operating officer."

She added that corrections officials had "no report or knowledge of any inmate being tied up and raped for hours.

"If true, this egregious act must be investigated thoroughly, and those involved must be held responsible," Thompson's said. "We welcome Rep. Humphrey to send us the information about the referenced incident. ODOC staff work diligently to ensure the safety of inmates and fellow staff members. We respond swiftly to incidents and provide any necessary medical treatment as quickly as possible."

She said looking at one or two incidents is not indicative of the overall embodiment of how ODOC is operating and protecting staff and those incarcerated. "Over the last six months, there has not been a statistically significant increase in inmate-on-inmate assaults. During the same time frame, there has been a reduction in inmate-on-staff assaults," Thompson said.

Humphrey said the state has closed prisons and has reduced the inmate population by approximately 6,000, which should translate to reduced costs.

Humphrey said he received documentation that inmates were being held in two-by-two-foot cells for days while being denied food, water and bathroom facilities. Humphrey said the Department of Corrections claimed the change was done to move inmates from cells and that inmates were not held in the small spaces for more than three days.

Thompson's statement did not address Humphrey's complaints about the two-by-two-foot cells. Insated, Thompson said Corrections Director Steven Harpe has pushed for employees to be compensated fairly. "Captains now receive overtime pay, which will encourage more qualified security staff to apply for promotions, and all levels of food service workers received a much-needed pay raise. The salaries of other job positions are currently being reviewed. Director Harpe also implemented a technology refresh for the entire agency, eliminating antiquated computers that hindered employees from efficiently performing their duties," her statement said.

Harpe's efforts, the DOC said, are being noticed throughout the United States.

"Under Director Harpes leadership, many positive changes have occurred," Thompson said. "Our recruitment efforts and results stay strong, the agencys attrition rate is down, and the culture change continues to take hold across the agency  a change noticed by staff and inmates. His office continuously receives compliments about the agency-wide changes from employees, inmates, and their families."

Humphrey, however, said he remained concerned by actions of DOC officials.

"If proven the department treated inmates in this manner and that the department intentionally ignored rapes, then unquestionably this would constitute civil rights and human rights violations," he said. "If this report is true, it clearly demonstrates the administrations catastrophic failure. The Department of Corrections cannot be trusted to investigate themselves. It is time Oklahomans demand a proper investigation into the numerous reports and allegations involving our Department of Corrections."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma lawmaker wants Department of Corrections investigation
One of the distinctive and longstanding characteristics of the Sarasota community is residents interest and engagement in local government processes.

Our citizens want to be informed.

They want to have a voice in initiatives and capital projects  from constructing a new park to attainable housing, from density to vacation rentals, from sound regulations to sidewalks. They even want to have a voice on the details within the Engineering Design Criteria Manual.

Liz Alpert

And thats a good thing!

We appreciate residents taking time from their busy schedules to share input and feedback. When I talk with other local elected officials around Florida, they are surprised by the consistently high level of engagement in Sarasota.

We couldnt imagine it any other way.

Recently, however, the input has taken an unpleasant turn with not-so-veiled attacks on city staff. Our staff is comprised of knowledgeable, accomplished professionals  many with masters degrees and doctorates  and years of experience in their fields of expertise. To accuse them of going rogue and ignoring the Sarasota City Commissions direction in favor of personal agendas could not be further from the truth.

More: Sarasota City Hall needs an attitude adjustment

Our hard-working city staff members are expected to make recommendations to the commission. If they are reviewing, for example, a specific portion of the Zoning Code and determine that other facets should be addressed simultaneously, they should do so.

In fact, I expect them to do so  just as staff members are expected to meet with all stakeholders whether they are residents, business owners or developers. Input from all sides is needed, especially when deciding if a substantive policy change will produce the city commissions desired outcome.

Ultimately, the city staff will present its recommendations to the commission, and the commission will accept or reject those recommendations. Its that simple. As the elected officials, we decide and set policy  not city staff.

Having ones actions scrutinized and taking heat from the public goes with the job as an elected official. But that doesn't apply to the members of the city staff, who are hired because of their professional expertise.

Our city of Sarasota staff is valued and supported. Lets allow our city staff members to do their jobs without vilification and continue to work together to make Sarasota the best city it can be.

Sarasota City Commissioner Liz Alpert also serves as the city's mayor.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota's city staff members should be valued, respected
AIPAC return on investment

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a powerful lobby group in Washington, spends millions annually to promote pro-Israel policies to U.S. Congress members. To butter the skids, AIPAC arranges for free all-expense paid eight-day junkets to Israel for Congress members.

AIPAC pays for these propaganda trips through the American Israel Education Fund, intentionally set up as a charity or 501(c)(4) instead of lobby group so that paying for the trips is not characterized as lobbying.

In August 2023, The Guardian reported that U.S. House Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, took 24 Democrats to Israel paid for by AIEF. Jeffries has been one of Israels most ardent supporters.

In November 2023, The Intercept reported that in 2019 AIEF sponsored trips for 64 Democrats and 65 Republicans on 14 separate dates and that Each trip can cost up to $10,000 per person  members of Congress can also bring senior members of staff, spouses, or children. donors helped finance 129 AIEF-sponsored trips to Israel in 2019, totaling $2.32 million.

Since 2019, AIEF has spent a total of $6.1 million on 309 trips to Israel, 144 for Republicans and 165 for Democrats

In 2019, the Congress approved $3.8 billion in military aid for Israel paid by US taxpayers. Divide that amount by $2.32 million paid by AIEF, i.e., thats a 1,638-fold return on investment. Not bad.

Genevieve Shulick, Bellefonte

Offer thanks on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day

The beginning of each new year brings something exciting for every person  whether its a life milestone such as a wedding or maybe a relaxing vacation. For the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge, it means National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.

National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day is held each year on Jan. 9, and was created as a way for the community to show their gratitude to all law enforcement officers across the country.

Dozens of officers give their lives in the line of duty each year, making law enforcement one of the most dangerous careers imaginable. This is why we ask that you join us in honoring and thanking the select few who make this commitment to protecting your community on this day of appreciation.

Some of the easiest ways to show your gratitude include writing a thank you card to your local department, wearing an article of blue clothing, or simply thanking a police officer if you see one. We invite you to participate in making National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day one to remember for those who give so much of themselves.

On behalf of the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge, we thank you for supporting those who protect our commonwealths communities every day.

Joseph Regan, Mechanicsburg. The author is the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge.
Semafor Signals

Insights from New York Times, The Trace, The Reload





NEWS

Longtime National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre said Friday he would resign, days before a civil corruption trial is set to get underway in New York.

LaPierre has led the United States biggest gun rights group since 1991, playing a prominent role in the evolution of the nations gun culture. He cited health reasons for stepping down.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Resignation follows years of scandal and financial turmoil

Sources: New York Times, NPR, CNN

The later years of LaPierres tenure were marred by scandal, with a civil trial alleging corruption and the misuse of almost $64 million by NRA executives finally set to begin in Manhattan Monday.

New York Attorney General Letitia James first alleged in 2020 that LaPierre and other NRA leaders had exploited the nonprofits funds for personal trips, accepted lavish gifts from vendors, and conducted financial deals with board members. On Friday she called LaPierres resignation a validation" of the claims  but vowed it would not insulate him or the NRA from accountability. In 2021 the NRA unsuccessfully tried to file for bankruptcy to dodge the lawsuit. Stephen Gutowski, the founder of guns publication The Reload, told CNN that LaPierre resigning feels like an attempt to try and find a settlement.

NRA faces plummeting membership, despite a post-pandemic increase in gun owners

Sources: The Trace, The Reload

LaPierres resignation comes as the NRA faces a steep decline in membership, losing almost 1 million members since 2018, The Reload reported. Although gun ownership expanded during the pandemic, many of these owners are not joining the NRA. Meanwhile, current members are aging and donating less to political action committees, according to an analysis by The Trace. One dissident NRA board member and LaPierre critic said that the organization has lost credibility.

Some Republicans are shifting to support tighter gun controls

Sources: The Washington Post, Politico

As the NRA stumbles, there are signs that some Republicans  particularly the younger generation  may be shifting from the partys traditional position on gun rights.

Gen Z conservatives who grew up in a climate of increased mass shootings  are more likely to believe in tougher gun laws, such as psychological exams for all gun purchasers, Politico reported. Four current and three former U.S. senators have changed their positions on gun control since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, the Washington Post reported, underscoring how the failure to change laws continues to haunt many who held power at the time. Former senator Mark Udall of Colorado, who expressed coming under pressure from the NRA during reelections, said he would change his previous position against assault bans and take the political heat.
A portrait made by renowned Spanish Golden Era portraitist Diego Velazquez depicting the country's queen in the 1620s, Isabel de Borbon, has been quietly pulled out of the auction block ahead of the Sotheby's "Old Masters" sale to be held in New York this February.

This development follows the initial news that the piece will break the master's previous final price record with its high-end valuation sitting at $35 million.

What Happened to the Much-Awaited Velazquez Portrait Sale?

The sale of the portrait, which stayed in a family's private trust in the US starting in 1978, was reportedly canceled because of "ongoing discussions" initiated by the sellers, according to the Art Newspaper.

This coincides with the painting's omission from Sotheby's website catalog, which was released last Dec. 21.

As per the art publication, there is an ongoing conjecture that a museum based in the US has possibly offered an undefined sum for the piece, something the auction house declined to comment on.

In an earlier statement from Sotheby's, it said that the Borbon painting may have been linked to a portrait of her husband Philip IV, similarly made by Velazquez, with the latter currently being held at Madrid's Museo del Prado.

During Napoleon's invasion in 1808, the Borbon piece was taken from the Spanish royal family's treasury, before it eventually found itself in a French aristocrat's collection come 1838.

It then changed hands and was once possessed by British collector Henry Huth, whose kin held onto the piece until 1950, when it was last seen publicly in an auction catalog.

Works made by Velazquez of this caliber and quality are usually procured and held by royal or institutional collections. Sales of pieces such as the Borbon portrait are rarely made, with the initial price tag reflecting its rarity.

Had the sale of the piece been pushed through, it would have fetched two-fold the Spanish master's current record of $16.9 million for his "Saint Ruffina" piece sold in a London Sotheby's Auction back in 2007.

Read Also: Picasso Reigns Over Klimt and Monet as the Artist's Masterpiece is 2023's Most Expensive Painting

 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) Chief Robert Luckritz said 911 calls dont just come in for major emergencies anymore.

911 has evolved from just calling for life-threatening emergencies to calling for assistance, he said.

He doesnt want to discourage people from calling 911 when they need help, but he said he recognized this new normal means he has to reorganize the agencys workflow. Previously, he said, when you called 911 and asked for EMS, the department would automatically dispatch the closest ambulance to you.

Now were going to take a few seconds or a minute longer to find out what is the real resource that you need, he said. While that adds more time on the front end, Luckritz said it has contributed to keeping response times to the highest priority calls on target.

Activists participate in police use-of-force training

We cant send an ambulance to individuals to people who may not have life-threatening injuries, making those ambulances unavailable for those life-threatening emergencies, he said. Well send something other than the closest ambulance. It might be an ambulance from further away to keep that local ambulance available for a life-threatening call. Or we might send a community health paramedic or a PA.

Firefighters typically wont go to low-priority calls, but they do assist EMS on major medical calls.

Mentorship program at Pflugerville Fire Department aims to retain passionate staff

Like EMS, the Austin Fire Department can also struggle to get to certain parts of town, but AFD hopes to fix that problem soon.

Were going to be opening Station 53 in Goodnight Ranch, said Assistant Chief Tom Vocke with the Austin Fire Department. And then later in the year we also anticipate opening Station 54 in northwest Austin.

According to data AFD provided KXAN, average response times in the departments service region were about 10 minutes in 2023. Their target is getting to 90% of calls in eight minutes.

In the downtown area, we hit that eight minutes every time, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
MEXICO BEACH  Despite two local officials advocating fire Chris Hubbard, for now he remains city administrator.

In a special meeting Thursday, Mexico Beach City Council members took a vote to fire Hubbard, who was selected for the position less than six months ago. The motion failed 2-3, with Mayor Michele Miller and Councilwoman Linda Hamilton voting in favor of his termination, and Councilmen Jerry Smith, Adrian Welle and Richard Wolff voting to keep him.

Lasting about 40 minutes, the meeting was fraught with confrontational conversations between council members. Hubbard, however, did not say anything.

A motion to fire Chris Hubbard as city administrator of Mexico Beach failed 2-3 during a special meeting on Thursday.

"There's been a lot of controversy regarding some posting online (by) Hubbard, as well as some inappropriate behaviors at the City Council table during City Council meetings," Miller said to open the meeting.

Hamilton then said that she thought Hubbard's attitude is that "he answers to no one but himself."

"When he recently used the Mexico Beach Facebook page as an avenue to express his personal rants of emotions, referring to people as clowns, he greatly abused his power," Hamilton said. "Many citizens were concerned about this explosive personality and stated in such emails to the City Council."

Though Welle did not agree that Hubbard should be fired, he did think Hubbard should get a written warning for his Facebook comments, which were not explicitly outlined during the meeting. Wolff, who agreed, added that he thought Miller also is guilty of posting inappropriate comments.

"I think it is appropriate that we do a written warning, (and) if this happens again, we need to be done with it," Welle said.

"I've been personally attacked on social media, along with you," Wolff said to Miller. "All four of us (referring to Welle, Smith, Hamilton and himself) have been attacked. ... Have we replied? No. All four of us have not replied. Has our mayor replied? Absolutely. The stuff that she has posted is just as bad as Mr. Hubbard has done."

During the meeting, Miller said she has already given Hubbard at least two verbal warnings and one written warning. This was the first time any other members of the council, along with City Attorney Clint McCahill, heard about the written warning.

"When Mr. Hubbard came here, even in his interview, he was very arrogant," Miller said. "He's looked at me and told me, 'Yes, I'm arrogant.' He's looked at me and said, 'You know why I'm here  cause I can stand up to you.' ... I think Mr. Hubbard is not good for our city."

The special meeting is only the latest incident in a string of recent controversy in Mexico Beach. Miller is in the midst of a lawsuit against the City Council, accusing them of withholding from her financial information about the city that she believes is necessary for her position.

Some residents have begun the process of seeking a recall for Miller, filing a petition against her in December with more than 200 signatures.

Related meeting: Mexico Beach mayor calls special meeting about city administrator. Only 2 officials attend

Twice during the meeting, McCahill urged the council to take public comments before taking a vote on the termination.

The motion to fire Hubbard was made by Hamilton before the council could consider a motion to take public comments. After her motion failed, Miller immediately hit her gavel to close the meeting, leaving no time to hear from residents.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: 2 Mexico Beach officials attempt to fire city administrator, but fail
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Steuben County man was arrested by Niagara County authorities on charges that he sexually abused a young child, the Niagara County Sheriffs Office announced Friday.

34-year-old Jason Lolley, a resident of the Town of Avoca, was charged with first degree sexual abuse.

According to the sheriffs office, Lolley was arrested following an investigation into the sexual abuse of a 6-year-old girl who was known to him.

Lolley was taken to the Niagara County Jail for arraignment.

Latest Local News

Justin McMullen is a Western New York native who joined the News 4 team in 2023. You can read more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said they have arrested a man who shot and killed another man in Southeast D.C. back in November.

Police said that on November 20 at about 3:10 p.m., they responded to the 4200 block of 4th Street, Southeast, for the report of a shooting.

When police arrived at the scene, they found a man who had been shot. The man died at the scene.

1 dead, 4 hurt in Southeast DC shootings overnight

The victim was identified as 35-year-old Rodney Snead, of District Heights, MD.

On January 5, 2024, police arrested 22-year-old Cory Heard of no fixed address.

He is being charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A man wanted for shooting a woman outside Tanger Outlets Nashville on Christmas Eve has been arrested in Georgia.

According to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), 20-year-old Daweit Solomon was arrested on Friday, Jan. 5 in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta. He will be returned to Nashville in the near future to face charges stemming from the Christmas Eve shooting.

PREVIOUS: Woman shot in leg during fight outside Tanger Outlets Nashville, police say

Police said the shooting happened just before 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve and was the result of a dispute between Solomon and a 19-year-old woman he knew. During the fight, Solomon reportedly shot the woman in the leg before he ran to his car, leaving the woman with non-critical injuries.

On Christmas Day, investigators issued arrest warrants for Solomon charging him with especially aggravated robbery and felony gun possession.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

No other information was released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
The 29-year-old man beaten and stabbed by four men at a Bronx train station he wished a happy new year to was trying to squeeze past the cruel quartet when he was attacked, family members said Saturday.

He was coming down [to the platform] and then these guys  he said it was two on one side, two on the other  he said Happy New Year and then after that they came behind him and they just attacked him, a relative of victim Carlos Pilliza told the Daily News.

Nearly a week after the attack, Pilliza remained at St. Barnabas Hospital, suffering from multiple stab wounds to the chest and neck.

They stabbed him in the lungs and the heart and here, the relative said, pointing to her neck. And then they leave him there.

Pilliza didnt recognize any of his attackers and had no idea why they would hurt him.

He had just stepped onto the Manhattan-bound D train platform at the 182-183rd St. station in Fordham when he said happy new year to the four fellow straphangers about 8:45 p.m. Monday  about 21 hours after the ball fell in Times Square, cops said.

The salutation sparked an argument, then fisticuffs as the suspects punched the victim in the face and body, according to cops.

As the New Years day beatdown escalated, one of the men pulled a knife and jammed it into Pilliza multiple times.

As his attackers ran off, Pilliza tried to call 911, but passed out from his wounds.

He said that he went down [to the ground] and tried to talk, the family member said. Everything started getting dark and then another person came and grabbed the phone so maybe the other person helped.

Pilliza was on the mend, the relative said.

Hes fine. He had a lot of surgeries. He cannot talk really well, she said, adding that she had spent New Years Day with Pilliza before he left for home.

Thats why we were surprised (about what happened), she said.

Pillizas attackers remained at large Saturday.

Cops on Friday posted new crystal clear images of the four scowling suspects responsible for the attack.

All of the brawlers are believed to be about 5-foot-8 with slim builds. One sported braids while another had braids and glasses, cops said.

A third attacker had long hair and was wearing red-and-black checkerboard-style pants while a fourth wore a black jacket and a black ski mask.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
ALTON, Ill.  Authorities have arrested a man linked to the discovery of a body earlier this week in a wooded area of Alton.

The Madison County States Attorney Office has charged Antonio Baker, 44, of Ferguson, Missouri, with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Andre Hawkins, 34, of Maryland Heights, Missouri.

Investigators say a municipal worker discovered the body of Hawkins shortly after noon on Wednesday. He was found in a wooded area along Lincoln Avenue with several gunshot wounds.

When and where the snow is expected to fall this week

Baker was arrested Thursday evening in Missouri. He is being held in the St. Louis County Jail, pending extradition to Madison County.

Prosecutors believe the death was not a random attack and possibly linked to a dispute that happened in Missouri.

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Why this occurred in Alton is unknown, said Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine. All parties involved were residents of Missouri. But choosing to bring any violence to our streets is a very poor decision. In Madison County, we take violent crime very seriously, and will aggressively prosecute this heinous act.

The Madison County Coroners Office is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The Alton Police Department and Illinois State Police are both investigating the matter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Poland's artist selection for the upcoming 2024 Venice Biennale, considered to be the most prestigious exhibition in the world, turns awry as political issues interject the initial choice made last year.

Behind Poland's Initial Support for Ignacy Czwartos

Poland's previous administration, run by the Law and Justice party (PiS), originally chose Ignacy Czwartos to be the country's representative in this year's Venice Biennale.

That said, a statement issued last Dec. 29 by the current Polish Ministry of Culture, Bartomiej Sienkiewicz, which operates under the administration of the newly elected Prime Minister Donald Tusk, announced the cancellation of support for Czwartos' would-be project.

According to his statement to The Art Newspaper, Czwartos had already received the green light for his proposed exhibition dubbed "Polish Practice in Tragedy. Between Germany and Russia" following his win in a competition.

To add, the artist was also reportedly endorsed by one of the jury members, which was convened by the Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw.

Read More: $35 Million Diego Velazquez Portrait of Spanish Queen Quietly Pulled Out of Upcoming Sotheby's Auction

Politics Surrounding the Selection for the Venice Biennale

Last year, after Czwartos' selection was publicized, his proposal received outrage from critics who said that it represents too much of a bias towards the agenda of the Law and Justice party. Some of these critics were former staff of the Zacheta Gallery, including three individuals from the museum's jury.

On Oct. 31, Poland's then-Ministry of Culture confirmed that Czwartos would be the one to represent the country at the coming national pavilion. This announcement was made following the general election that occurred on Oct. 15.

The result of that election turned out to be bad for PiS as it had failed to win the majority vote which had put its opposition, as represented by current PM Tusk, to take office starting on Dec. 13, after forming a newly established centrist coalition within the country's government.

Czwartos said that even though the contract was already signed by the competition jury, which was decided following "the legal procedures" and was backed by the former Minister of Culture, his project was still stopped following a Dec. 29 statement from the newly seated minister.

"I perceive it as censorship," the artist said.

Now, instead of Czwartos, a collective of artists called "Open Group," comprising Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, and Anton Varga, will be representing the country in the national pavilion.

In a statement to the art publication, the gallery said: "As per the regulations, Sienkiewicz has given the go-ahead to the backup exhibition project, 'Repeat after Me,' submitted by curator Marta Czyz and featuring Open Group."

Read Also: AI Alteration of Keith Haring's 'Unfinished Painting' About the AIDS Crisis Sparks Social Media Outrage

 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  An Oklahoma City man was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison on Wednesday after he allegedly received a two-kilogram package of rainbow fentanyl at a metro post office while also carrying an illegal firearm.

Court documents show 28-year-old Cristobal Calderon picked up a package from a U.S. Post Office on Nov. 8, 2022, which contained two kilograms worth of counterfeit Oxycodone pills. The pills later tested positive for fentanyl.

The complaint describes the pills as rainbow fentanylpills dyed a variety of colors to avoid detection and make the drug more appealing to young people, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Tens of thousands of fentanyl pills found in NE Oklahoma City traffic stop

As we continue to lose lives by this fentanyl epidemic, know that any pill, regardless of color, shape, or size that you purchase on the street must be treated as if it were potentially deadly illicit fentanyl, said Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Dallas, which oversees operations in Oklahoma.

Mr. Calderon is being held accountable for the poison that found its way into our community by his hand. Whether it is one pill of fentanyl or 1,000, the DEA will never cease its efforts to rid these drugs from the streets of Oklahoma.

The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) had previously intercepted the package on Nov. 3, 2022, suspecting that the package contained a controlled substance.

Calderon was arrested at a metro-area motel shortly after picking up the package. Authorities also found a gun in Calderons waistband at the time of his arrest.

On Feb. 14, 2023, Calderon was charged by superseding information with drug conspiracy and being a drug user in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty on April 4, admitting to possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and possessing a hand gun while being a user of illegal drugs.

Calderon has been sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
A man and woman died Christmas Day in an apparent murder-suicide in a Fort Wort home, according to Fort Worth police.

On Dec. 25, officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of Berryhill Drive in response to a welfare check call.

Upon arrival, officers entered the residence and discovered the victim, 55-year-old Michael Sandoval, and the suspect, a 44-year-old woman, both dead with apparent gunshot wounds.

Police determined the incident to be a domestic murder-suicide, due to evidence collected at the scene.

Sandoval died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of his death was ruled a homicide by the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office. An autopsy report for the woman was not immediately available.

Homicide detectives continue to investigate.
As Americans gear up for another tense presidential election, the US legal system is still grappling with how to handle the hundreds of individuals who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to keep former President Donald Trump in the White House.

Over 1,200 Americans have been charged criminally for their alleged actions during the riot, and more than 890 have been found guilty of federal crimes, according to the Justice Department. More than half of those found guilty have been sentenced to prison time.

And Trump, who was also criminally indicted for his alleged actions following his 2020 election loss, continues to propagate false claims of a stolen election and is again vying for the Oval Office.

Even after three years, law enforcement and federal judges are feeling the reverberations of what has become the largest criminal investigation in American history, and the public is still wrestling with how the assault on the citadel of US democracy will define the countrys laws and politics.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday said that the Justice Department will hold all January 6 perpetrators at any level accountable under the law whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.

But there are factors at play that may prevent that from happening.

FBI is still looking for hundreds of people

The FBI and the Justice Department responded to the riot with one of the most sprawling law enforcement investigations in US history, resulting in hundreds of convictions for crimes ranging from trespassing on Capitol grounds to seditious conspiracy.

Yet three years later, investigators have charged only a fraction of the estimated thousands of individuals who breached Capitol grounds that day.

On Thursday, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves told reporters that prosecutors have primarily focused on those who entered the building or those who engaged in violent or corrupt conduct on Capitol grounds.

Thousands of images are still plastered on the FBIs Most Wanted site for individuals accused of participating in the attack. And more than 80 people are still wanted for acts of violence at the Capitol.

Underscoring the ongoing nature of the search for some January 6 defendants, the FBI on Saturday arrested three people in Florida charged in connection to the attack who had fled from law enforcement and were considered fugitives.

Jonathan Daniel Pollock, Olivia Michele Pollock and Joseph Daniel Hutchinson III were taken into custody early Saturday morning. The three are facing several charges for what prosecutors allege was a coordinated assault on several police officers.

Court documents do not list an attorney for Jonathan Pollock. An attorney for Olivia Pollock declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the attorney listed for Hutchinson for comment.

Among those not yet arrested is the person who placed pipe bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC, the night before the riot. Law enforcement agencies are offering a reward of up to $500,000 for information leading to an arrest of that person.

Possibility of presidential pardons

On the campaign trail and in his own court proceedings, Trump has vehemently pushed falsehoods about the riot  going so far as to offer support for convicted rioters, calling them political prisoners of the Biden administration.

In CNNs May town hall, the former president  who faces his own charges related to the January 6 Capitol attack and efforts to subvert the election  promised he will pardon a large portion of January 6 rioters very early on if he were reelected.

I am inclined to pardon many of them, Trump said. I cant say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.

Such a pardon would certainly be in Trumps power were he to win the 2024 election.

The president often pardons named individuals, Jeffrey Crouch, an assistant professor at American University and the author of The Presidential Pardon Power, told CNN. The president can also issue a proclamation that does not specify names, but instead mentions  for example  the group of covered offenders, the laws that were broken and are included in the scope of the pardon, and a time span that the pardon applies to.

Several other presidents  including Joe Biden, who pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession  have issued mass pardons before.

Perhaps the best-known examples are the Civil War and Vietnam War amnesties, Crouch said.

Other Republican candidates have also proposed pardoning rioters if they assumed the presidency. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that, under his administration, individuals convicted for their actions that day would be able to apply for pardons and clemency.

Legal challenges to some charges are ongoing

The Supreme Court has said it will consider whether a federal obstruction law can be used to charge some alleged members of the January 6 mob, a case that could have implications for Trumps own election subversion case in DC.

The obstruction law at issue, which makes it a crime to corruptly obstruct an official proceeding, has been used to charge hundreds of members of the pro-Trump rioters who aimed to stop Congress certification of Bidens 2020 electoral college win and to charge the former president himself for his alleged efforts to remain in power.

A federal judge in DC threw out the obstruction charge against a few January 6 defendants after finding that the alleged conduct of the defendants wasnt directly aimed at tampering with records, documents or other objects related to an official proceeding  which is how the law has generally been used in the past.

But the federal appeals court in DC reversed that ruling, and the justices last year took up an appeal from one of the defendants, Joseph Fischer, and will decide this term the scope of the obstruction law.

Fischer has pleaded not guilty to several crimes related to the January 6 attack, and his lawyers told CNN they firmly believe the statute does not apply to his conduct.

This statutes historical context and purpose was to deter people who would actually destroy or otherwise impair evidence in connection with an investigation or a specific congressional inquiry, said Jeffrey Green, Fischers lawyer. It is not a statute that criminalizes the disruption of the ordinary course of government business.

If the Supreme Court ruled in favor of their client, Green said, the most immediate effect would be the dismissal of a number of pending charges against some January 6 defendants. Which cases are dismissed turns quite a bit on the individual defendant and facts like what exactly they did or didnt do, said Fritz Ulrich, another of Fischers attorneys.

Of the hundreds of individuals convicted for their actions that day, two dozen people have been convicted solely on the obstruction charge, according to DCs US attorneys office.

It isnt yet clear how a decision by the high court to overturn the Justice Departments use of the obstruction statute would affect special counsel Jack Smiths case against Trump.

I do think that our position would probably make Jack Smiths prosecution on the same charge more difficult, Green said.

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Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski is expected to sign an agreement with farmers blocking the Shehyni-Medyka crossing with Ukraine on Jan. 6 in a bid to lift the blockade, Rzeczpospolita reported.

Since November, Polish truckers have been blocking three crossings with Ukraine in protest of the EU's liberalization of transit rules for Ukrainian truckers.

Polish farmers also launched a blockade at a fourth crossing near Medyka, first between Nov. 23 and Dec. 24 and then again between Jan. 4 and Feb. 3.

The minister, who should arrive in Rzeszow to finalize the deal with the "Betrayed Countryside" group organizing the protest, agreed to three of the farmers' demands: corn subsidies, higher loans for the agricultural sector, and no tax increase, the Polish newspaper said.

Farmers have also asked to expand the import ban on Ukrainian agricultural products to items like sugar, eggs, and poultry. Rzeczpospolita did not say whether Warsaw plans to accommodate this demand as well.

Imports of Ukrainian sugar, eggs, and poultry sparked worries among European farmers, and a Polish EU Commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski, said he would demand a bloc-wide restriction on these products.

The border crisis that enters its third month continues to put pressure on Ukrainian-Polish relations, already strained by disputes over grain imports last fall.

Protests organized by Polish truckers and farmers caused huge lines on the border and negatively impacted Ukraine's economy amid an all-out war with Russia.

According to Rzeczpospolita, lifting the Shehyni-Medyka blockade could create a positive dynamic and help to unblock other crossings as well.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Several alleged members of a violent crime ring in Columbus are now facing charges after an investigation by the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force.

The six members were indicted on a combined 124 felony charges in Franklin County last week, including murder and human trafficking, according to the Ohio Attorney Generals Office.

>> 16-year-old wanted for murder of Ohio 14-year-old arrested by US Marshals

Heres how their charges are broken down:

James Antwan Dukes-Johnson, 28, of Columbus: 39 felony charges, including aggravated murder, murder, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, trafficking in persons, compelling prostitution, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, and felonious assault.

Michael Anthony Davis, 21, of Columbus: 38 felony charges, including aggravated murder, murder, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, trafficking in persons, compelling prostitution, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, and felonious assault.

Sarah Rose Dotson, 33, of Columbus: 29 felony charges, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, trafficking in persons, compelling prostitution, and possession of a fentanyl-related compound.

Shahee Siler, 38, of Columbus: 10 felony charges, including aggravated murder, murder, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, promoting prostitution, and felonious assault.

Alexias Monay Lashel Carr-Johnson, 28, of Marysville: Four felony charges, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, and money laundering.

Tyler Leianne Payne, 29, of Columbus: Four felony charges, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, and money laundering.

>> Man allegedly picked up Ohio teen, took her to Florida with plans to marry her

Busts like this free victims from the clutches of trafficking and rid our streets of dangerous criminals, Attorney General Dave Yost said. These successful investigations propel us closer to a future in which no human beings are bought or sold in Ohio.
Its been three years since the greatest assault on our democracy, and many of the tools that election deniers used to attempt to carry out the Jan. 6 insurrection were fashioned here in Michigan.

And all the while, the Republicans who led the Michigan Legislature three years ago refused to take the obvious actions to assure the sanctity and security of the will of our voters at every step of these absurd perversions of our democratic process  even, at times, actively participating in it.

Our new Democratic majority in the Michigan Legislature, elected in 2022, acted swiftly this past year to ensure unlawful actors and their contrived chaos can never use those tools again. Much of our work focused on making elections more efficient, and strengthening the penalties for those who strive to disenfranchise voters.

What happened in 2020

Almost as soon as the polls closed on election night in 2020, all hell broke loose. Trump supporters  knowing that the states winner and possibly the national election hinged upon the results in Detroit  descended upon the TCF Center, the hub of the citys ballot processing apparatus.

The Detroit Free Press reported, the vote-counting arena inside TCF [turned] into a sports stadium, complete with yelling, taunting, cheering, fists pounding on glass and unruly challengers being hauled off by cops. Protesters pushed debunked conspiracies about the systems there, and brought forward unsuccessful suits in courts at every level to try to stop the lawful process of certifying our election.

Election Challengers watch as poll workers process absentee ballots in the Detroit Elections Department Absentee Ballot counting room at TCF Center in Downtown Detroit on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. At around 2 p.m. no more challengers were allowed in the room that was over capacity for both democratic and republican parties.

A lawyer for Republican poll challengers petitioned a local court to suspend the counting, which a Wayne County judge denied, ruling the claims as incorrect and not credible. Donald Trumps lawyers, led by Sidney Powell, filed a federal suit to overturn the results that a judge said abused the well-established rules applicable to the litigation process by proffering claims not backed by law, and ordered the attorneys to pay sanctions.

Trump himself pressured the local board of canvassers not to certify the results from Detroit, as The Detroit News recently revealed. Then, after the Board of State Canvassers certified that Joe Biden won Michigan, several Trump allies persisted, unlawfully acting as voting members from the Electoral College, falsely submitting a document to the U.S. Senate and National Archives claiming that Trump won Michigan.

These fake slates of electors from Michigan and other states were the exact instrument used at the U.S Capitol in a violent attempt to compel Mike Pence to reject the real electors and halt the congressional certification.

That was the entire point of the insurrection. The plot didnt work, and the Michiganders involved have since been charged with fraud and other election crimes by our states attorney general.

What Michiganders did

In 2022, Michigan voters took their power back, approving a voting rights proposal and electing a Democratic majority to implement it. Included in that proposal, which passed with 60 percent support, is a new way of connecting Michiganders to their ballot starting in 2024 with at least nine days of in-person voting before Election Day, joining more than 20 other states that offer early voting.

Upon taking the majority, we spent the last year working to ensure unlawful actors cannot use the same tools to cause the contrived chaos again, applying the lessons of Jan. 6, 2021 to enact several key election reforms that will head off any similar illegalities leading up to Jan. 6, 2025.

As the new chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, I drafted a law to allow Michigan clerks to begin processing absentee ballots before Election Day, just as nearly 40 other states do. This solves a huge election administration problem that was among the biggest failures of 2020: That year, state law forbade early counting of the record 3.3 million absentee ballots  the safest way to vote in the middle of a pandemic, but more time intensive to count than a standard ballot. Processing of those ballots only began the morning of Election Day.

Clerks from both sides of the aisle begged the Legislature for permission to process ballots earlier, to no avail. As tabulation lasted well into the day after the election, the Stop the Count movement in Detroit spread across the country.

Former Republican Senate Leader Mike Shirkey  who had opposed early counting  acknowledged his responsibility in this mess, telling The Detroit News: I own this.

In 2024, processing absentee ballots before Election Day coupled with nine days of early voting will expedite the reporting of Michigans accurate election results when the polls close and reduce the space for the inevitable post-election Trump-fueled lies to permeate.

A car caravan to Count Every Vote circles the Michigan State Capitol In Lansing on Monday, November 23, 2020 during the Board of State Canvassers meeting to certify the stateOs presidential election results.

Protecting election officials

We also took further action to prevent the same disruptive scenes from the TCF Center and elsewhere throughout Michigan from playing out again. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, which identified Michigan among a handful of states in which threats and violence during the voting are especially high, reported that two-thirds of election officials are worried about how this interference will impact their ability to perform their jobs. Twenty percent are already planning to leave the profession before this years elections.

Our Legislature passed new laws that set penalties for intimidating or preventing an election official from performing their duties, just as a dozen other states have done.

And we followed the lead of our federal partners who passed a much-needed update to the 1887 Electoral Count Act to remove any ambiguities in the congressional process to certify the Electoral College vote, affirming the vice presidents ceremonial role.

Likewise, we strengthened our own state election certification timeline and duties to eliminate any space for crazed theories about how the Electoral College convenes in Michigan and how the votes from our electors are sent to Congress.

No more fake slates.

Late last year at the Detroit NAACP office, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed these reforms and other pro-voter measures we passed  including an expansion of our automatic registration system and the repeal of our states arcane 1895 ban on hiring transportation to the polls on Election Day.

It was a fitting backdrop: The early actions of the Jan. 6 insurrection began in Detroit, and we reclaimed our democracy in the city, strengthening the process certifying the next election, and remaining on guard for new tactics that may attempt to disrupt it.

State Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, is the Michigan Senate President Pro Tempore and Chairman of the Elections and Ethics Committee. He represents a portion of Detroit and its suburbs. Submit a letter to editor at freep.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Since Jan. 6, Michigan has made these changes to prevent insurrection
By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) -A group of Michigan Republicans voted on Saturday to remove Kristina Karamo as state party chairperson after months of infighting and slow fundraising raised concerns her leadership would hurt the party's chances in the key swing state in 2024.

Karamo, a former community college instructor and grassroots activist who was elevated to her post in February, has indicated she would not respect Saturday's vote, setting the stage for a potentially messy court battle over party leadership.

At a special meeting called by critics of Karamo, nearly all of the state committee members present voted to remove her from her post, according to Bree Moeggenberg, a state committee member who helped organize the meeting in Commerce Township.

"We have voted to remove Kristina Karamo as the Chair of the Michigan Republican Party. It is now time to collaborate and grow forward," Moeggenberg said in a statement.

After running unsuccessfully for Michigan secretary of state in 2022, Karamo ran for the party's top position with a promise to break free from the big donors she vilified as part of the "establishment" while expanding the base of small donors.

But she has failed to deliver on that promise while angering many of her supporters with what they called a lack of transparency from her administration. Contributions from the party's largest donors have dried up, leading to a cash crunch.

A report released last month by Warren Carpenter, a former congressional district chair and one-time Karamo supporter, said the state party was mired in debt, on the "brink of bankruptcy" and "essentially non-functional" under her leadership.

Karamo did not respond to requests for comment. In an email statement on Friday the party said the Saturday meeting "by a faction of the State Committee" was unauthorized and in violation of party bylaws. Karamo would attend at a separately called special meeting on Jan. 13, according to the statement.

Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, said an effective new leader could help the party "right the ship" before the November 2024 elections, but that a drawn out fight in court could hinder that progress.

To date, the chaos engulfing the party has prevented it from fulfilling its traditional role of organizing and fundraising for Republican candidates, former party officials have said.

"I think the chaos is far from over," Roe said. "If this turns out to be a binding vote I don't think she (Karamo) or her supporters will go quietly and there will probably continue to be skirmishes throughout the election cycle."

As the special meeting got underway on Saturday, Karamo's administration announced it would consider a plan under which candidates for elected office would no longer be chosen by voters in a primary but by precinct delegates in a caucus.

The plan, due to be discussed at the Jan. 13 meeting called by Karamo, was met with criticism by a number of prominent Republicans in Michigan, some of whom warned the move would empower party insiders more likely to elevate extremist candidates while stripping power from voters.

"Instead of trusting voters, the Michigan Republican Party is now attempting to consolidate power into the hands of 2,000 people," Tudor Dixon, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, said in a statement on social media, referring to the party's roughly 2,000 precinct delegates across the state.

"The MIGOP leadership has become what it claims it despises."

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)
A MiG-31K fighter jet, capable of carrying Kh-47M Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, has taken off in Russia, and an air-raid warning has been issued in all Ukrainian oblasts.

Source: Ukrainian Air Force

Details: The military reported the take-off of the MiG fighter jet.

Neither the number of the aircraft nor the airfield from which it took off is currently known.

Updated: The all-clear was given more than two hours later.

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The portrait was beamed into millions of households during the pandemic when it served as the backdrop to numerous broadcasts by Matt Hancock

They lock horns on a daily basis over thorny questions of policy, often vying against each other for the top jobs. But another fierce battleground for ministers is revealed today: the Government art collection.

One of the most highly prized assets of the state-owned collection is, it transpires, a brightly coloured portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Damien Hirst.

Described, perhaps aptly, as a spin painting, the portrait was beamed into millions of households during the Covid pandemic when it served as the backdrop to numerous broadcasts by Matt Hancock, the then health Secretary.

Now it can be revealed that Mr Hancock was far from the only senior Tory to have taken a shine to the painting, entitled Beautiful Portrait.

It has moved between ministerial offices five times in the last five years  and not just because of churn at the top of government.

It has been the subject of several rivalries, beginning in 2015 when it was first donated to the Government art collection by Mr Hirsts charitable trust.

The painting is based on an official photograph of the late Queen - Prudence Cuming Associates/Damien Hirst and Science Ltd

At the time, one art critic said that Hirsts first known portrait of the then monarch had completed a career turnaround from bad boy of British art to firm fixture of the establishment.

Although the portrait has no publicly-stated value, many of Hirsts other works have sold for six or seven figure sums, with the sale of The Golden Calf, a bull preserved in formaldehyde, auctioned for 10.3 million in 2008.

Following the 2015 election, Ed Vaizey, the then arts minister, who had been in the department since 2010, managed to bag the portrait for his own office in June 2015, ahead of his then boss, Sir John Whittingdale, who wrongly assumed that as culture secretary he would have the dominant claim.

A Whitehall source familiar with the discussions at the time said of the more junior minister, now Lord Vaizey of Didcot: He fought hard to keep it.

In an article for Country & Town House magazine, Lord Vaizey later recounted: Every new minister gets a visit from the formidable director of the collection, Penny Johnson, who asks what they want on their walls. As a new arts minister, I was tremendously excited and interested. I asked Penny for a range of works  Kossoff, Freud, Auerbach and so on. After listening to this demented rant, Penny drew herself up to her full height and said coldly, Minister, we are not an Argos catalogue.

What I did get was a Damien Hirst, and not just any old Damien Hirst. It is a splash painting of our wonderful Queen.

The portrait is now on the wall in Michelle Donelan's office in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology - Belinda Jiao

The painting, described on the Government Art Collection website as combining tradition and the contemporary in one vibrant image, is based on an official photograph of the late Queen. It is a contemporary take on his early spin paintings, which involved putting large canvases on a rotating turntable and then flinging, dropping and pouring paint on them.

When Lord Vaizey was sacked by Theresa May in July 2016, the happy beneficiary of his departure was Matt Hancock, the new minister of state for digital and culture, who inherited his predecessors office and the prized Hirst portrait along with it.

When Mr Hancock was promoted to health secretary in July 2018, he ensured that Beautiful Portrait also undertook the 700-yards move from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to his office at the top of the Department of Health.

There it became a familiar feature on television broadcasts as Mr Hancock updated the nation on the Governments response to the pandemic.

However, when he quit following revelations that he had breached Covid guidance in June 2021, it was Oliver Dowden, the then culture secretary, who immediately stepped in.

Ten days after Mr Hancocks departure, the portrait of the Queen was once again packed up in a box  this time to return to the DCMS secretary of states office. Mr Dowden had succeeded where Sir John failed.

The following month he proudly tweeted a picture of himself on an official telephone call  with his spoils hanging on the wall in the background.

Oliver Dowden posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, showing the portrait on the wall in the background

Having obtained the portrait, Mr Dowden took it with him to the Cabinet Office when he was appointed as party chairman in September 2021  depriving Nadine Dorries, his successor, of the work in a move she might attribute to the so-called movement of people that she claims were at odds with her and Mr Johnson and would go on to engineer the ousting of the Prime Minister.

When Liz Truss entered Downing Street in September 2022, with Mr Dowden, a close ally of Rishi Sunak, safely on the backbenches, the portrait was ordered back to DCMS once again, this time by Michelle Donelan. Ms Donelan followed her predecessors example and then took the well-travelled painting to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she was appointed to run the ministry in February 2023, and where it remains today, in her office.

Now back in Government as Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Dowden has consoled himself with the fact that the modern vibrancy of the portrait would be out of keeping with his current office at the heart of the Cabinet Office, which dates back to the 18th century.

Instead there is a large copy of David Baileys Sapphire Jubilee photograph of the late Queen hanging on the wall, with a portrait of the King on order as part of the government scheme supplying official pictures of the new monarch to public buildings.

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The surviving tail section of a missile that Russia may have received from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is being examined in the city of Kharkiv. Visually, it resembles a Russian Iskander missile, but there are some technical differences.

Source: Ukrinform news outlet, citing Dmytro Chubenko, spokesman for the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office

Details: Chubenko released footage of wreckage of a missile that the Russians fired on Kharkiv between 29 December and 2 January, namely the remains of a missile that hit the city centre near Freedom Square.

Quote: "Huge parts of the missile, including the tail section, survived the strike, allowing us to identify it as an atypical Iskander missile. I can't say at the moment what kind of missiles were used  whether they were the same (as during other recent strikes  ed.) or not  because small parts were left from the other hits, which makes it impossible to distinguish whether it was an Iskander or something very similar. We are conducting expert examinations."

More details: Chubenko noted that there have been no previous cases of the Russians trying to conceal the markings on missiles used to attack Kharkiv Oblast.

 ,    ,   

Wreckage of the missile that hit Kharkiv.

Photo: Ukrinform

"The attempt to erase the numbers on certain parts indicates a desire to hide information about this missile. Moreover, we can see that the inscriptions inside the missile are not particularly neat, but rather scattered. As a rule, such missiles, made in the Soviet Union and Russia, have very neat inscriptions, with everything done with great care, and sometimes even the names of the factory workers are put to mark who did what. There are no such signs here. And the inscriptions, numbers, and abbreviations are of different types," Chubenko explained.

The official added it is not just the missiles quality that has caused the experts to have doubts: there are also technical differences.

"This missile is slightly bigger than an Iskander, by just 10 mm in diameter. It differs internally: the wiring is different, as the Iskander has electronic warfare protection and special guidance. There is none here; the wires just go inside the missile," Chubenko said.

There are other technical differences. However, experts cannot say for sure that this is a North Korean-made missile. The prosecutor's office believes that either Russia has switched to more careless missile production, or it could be a missile made by a different country.

Quote: "Based on the information available on the internet, photos from North Korean parades, the nozzles and the rear of this missile  it looks very similar. And indeed, the North Korean missile was based on the Iskander. That's why we are inclined to believe that this may be a missile provided by North Korea. But I would like to point out that there is currently no direct evidence to say that North Korea or any other country supplied it."

Previously: John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, noted that the United States had evidence that Russia had received ballistic missiles from North Korea and launched them on Ukraine, and that Moscow and Tehran were negotiating on similar weapons, as has been reported in the media.

Reports have suggested that the United States is preparing additional sanctions against individuals involved in the transfer of military assistance to Russia from North Korea and Iran, including ballistic missiles.

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A 44-year-old Missouri man was charged with first-degree murder Friday in the death of a man whose body was found Wednesday in Alton. Court records say police officers heard the gunshots fired in the shooting death.

Antonio M. Baker, of Ferguson, Missouri, was arrested Thursday in connection with the shooting death of Andre T. Hawkins, 34, of Maryland Heights, Missouri, according to a news release Friday from Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine and Alton Police Chief Jarrett Ford.

A municipal worker discovered the body of Hawkins shortly after noon Wednesday in a wooded area along Lincoln Avenue, the news release stated.

Hawkins was shot 15 times on New Years Day, according to charging documents and the prosecutors motion to hold Baker in jail until his trial.

The charging documents and pretrial detention motion allege Baker put Hawkins in a truck with a trailer in Missouri on Monday night, and the truck was seen in Alton at about 11:09 p.m.

About 11:27 p.m., Baker was seen driving his truck and trailer southbound on Lincoln Avenue and parking on the edge of the roadway, according to the documents.

Police officers nearby heard multiple shots about 11:29 p.m., the motion states.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., Baker drove his truck and trailer away from the scene and traveled back to Missouri, according to authorities.

Hawkins body was found about 50 feet off the road near where Baker had parked on Lincoln Avenue, the records state.

Ammunition found in Bakers home matches the caliber of the shell casings found at the scene of Hawkins death, according to court records.

Haine stated this was not a random attack but the result of a dispute that happened in Missouri. The nature of the dispute was not released.

Baker was being held in St. Louis County Friday awaiting extradition to Madison County.

Why this occurred in Alton is unknown, Haine said. All parties involved were residents of Missouri.

Baker was being held in St. Louis County Friday awaiting extradition to Madison County. A defense attorney was not listed for him in Madison County court records.

Our condolences go out to Andres family and friends, Ford said in the news release. It is my hope that Andres family and friends find comfort in knowing that the Alton Police Department and the many agencies involved in this investigation have worked tirelessly to seek justice for Andre.
Defence chiefs have been accused of dirty tricks after admitting that almost 500 wounded troops seeking compensation have been spied on by private detectives hired by government lawyers.

The Ministry of Defence has spent millions of pounds of taxpayers money conducting covert surveillance on people suspected of submitting fraudulent compensation claims.

The move was heavily criticised by one personal injury lawyer who branded the move as disgraceful.

Government figures show that since 2003 MoD lawyers have hired private investigators at a rate of 1,750 a day to monitor 489 individuals claiming millions in compensation.

The claims are not for war wounds but injuries suffered through training, such as back problems, hearing damage and cold weather injuries.

No win no fee

Private investigators say that operations usually last weeks not months which means that if each investigation continues for five days the total bill would be more than 4 million.

The number of compensation claims has surged in recent years with many law firms offering soldiers and veterans no win, no fee deals to sue the armed forces.

In 2021/22, defence chiefs paid out 135 million in compensation after 5,718 common law claims for compensation were submitted  an increase of more than 10 per cent on the 2020/21. Three years earlier, in 2017/18, just 3,987 claims were filed.

Under the separate Armed Forces compensation, MoD figures show that 94 million was paid out in 2021/22 to serving personnel. A total of 4,317 claims were submitted but 41 per cent were rejected because they were either false or the injury was not caused by military service.

However, the MoD says that it is forced to use private investigators because of the increasing rise in fraudulent compensation claims by military personnel, civilian employees and members of the public.

Last April, the department revealed that covert surveillance had been used to monitor the activities of a former serviceman who was claiming 1.5 million damages from the department.

Michael Mantey, an ex-soldier 'dishonestly' claimed to be suffering a serious injury - CHP

Michael Mantey, 40, said that he had suffered a non-freezing cold injury while serving with 26 Engineer Regiment in Estonia in 2017 and was medically discharged from the army in 2020.

But a judge ruled that he suffered a minor non-freezing cold injury, but dishonestly portrayed himself as having suffered a more serious injury which had a continuing and disabling effect.

Mr Justice Eyre said Mr Mantey had discontinued his claim after the MOD disclosed video-recorded surveillance evidence which was said to be inconsistent with the alleged symptoms. The video showed Mr Mantey walking without a stick and wearing sandals.

Instead, the ex-soldier was ordered to pay the court 70,000 to cover the MoDs legal fees.

Prof Hilary Meredith-Beckham, CEO of Hilary Meredith Solicitors, described the use of covert surveillance as disgraceful behaviour by the MoD.

The MoD says surveillance is only undertaken in 'exceptional circumstances' - JOHN KEEBLE/GETTY

She said: Covert surveillance leaves a very bad taste in the mouths of wounded service personnel seeking compensation for injuries caused during their service. This is the wrong cohort to video.

Its my experience that these clients are very reticent claimants and only make a civil claim when all else has failed, such as a loss of career due to injury, low award or a long fight with the veterans agency or medical discharge with limited assistance. We have had clients who were subjected to surveillance but still won significant awards.

Col Phil Ingram, a former military intelligence officer, added: What the MoD is doing amounts to running a dirty tricks campaign.

He said: The use of private investigators is yet another step in what is a campaign of doing everything to deny veterans any support. The MoD seems to put more effort into catching the very very few veterans who try to defraud the system than they do to support those who need real help. For those who do try and rip the system off, simple social media searches would find what they need in most cases without resorting to expensive private investigators.

Once again, the MoD gets its priorities badly wrong: support those who need it first and deal with the problems second.

A MoD spokesman said: In exceptional circumstances, surveillance might be undertaken to observe the true extent of a claimants alleged injuries where there is a suspicion of exaggeration. Evidence from surveillance reduces money paid out in damages and saves taxpayers money.

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The Montgomery Police Department has charged a Montgomery man with capital murder in connection with a Dec. 29, fatal shooting.

Samual Robinson, 46, is charged, said Maj. Saba Coleman, spokeswoman for the MPD. He was identified as the suspect in the Dec. 29 shooting death of David Pitts, 59, of Montgomery, she said.

He was taken into custody on Friday by MPD and the United States Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force and placed in the Montgomery County Detention Facility under no bond.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Montgomery man faces capital murder charge in December shooting
When the mob of rioters started pounding on the doors of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Ruben Gallegos herding instincts kicked in.

Gallego, D-Ariz., had learned in the Marine Corps that when a big group suddenly needs to move, the first thing to do is assess the situation. Preparing for an evacuation, he went to the back of the House floor to take stock of the group. Thats when he saw the face that, three years later, remains his most vivid memory of that day: a young girl, 12 or 13 years old, fearful as the mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump closed in on the House chamber.

The fright in her eyes  will always stick with me, said Gallego, an Iraq War veteran.

Photos of Gallego that day, standing on a chair on the House floor to direct traffic, his tie askew, circulated widely on social media in the wake of the attack.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., stands on a chair as lawmakers prepare to evacuate the floor as rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

His colleague, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., a former social worker, helped calm a panicked staffer. The lawmakers and their staff were whisked away to a secure location where they huddled for hours, while the pro-Trump rioters ransacked offices and roamed the vacated halls.

For an instant, it seemed the attack would shock lawmakers into a rare moment of bipartisan consensus. In the weeks that followed, some House Republicans backed a resolution censuring Trump, and the former presidents approval ratings plunged.

That bipartisanship was short-lived.

2024 presidential and Senate races: Arizona again to play outsized role

In the three years since the attack, Democrats have continued to argue the Capitol breach is proof of threats to U.S. democracy. President Joe Biden on Friday marked the anniversary with a speech near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, teeing off a campaign argument that Trump is "willing to sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power."

But most Republicans have adopted a different posture, advancing conspiracy theories that downplay the role of Trump or his supporters in the violence that day or, more often, avoiding the topic altogether.

Those dynamics are on full display in the highly watched race for Sinemas seat, a potentially majority-making race that could pit Kari Lake, the former TV news anchor who is the front-runner for the GOP nomination, against Gallego, who has represented Arizona in Congress since 2015. As the calendar turned to 2024, Sinema still had not announced an official reelection campaign.

Lake, a Trump ally whose Senate candidacy he has endorsed, has long trafficked in conspiracy theories about the Capitol riot. While running for Arizona governor in 2021 and 2022, she claimed that the Capitol Police invited rioters in, and that participants in the violent attack were being held in jail without charges. (In fact, more than 100 police officers were injured during the attack, and, according to a PolitiFact review, every person detained had been charged in complaints or indictments with criminal offenses.)

Despite urging from national Republicans to look to the future rather than the past, Lake has in recent months defended by name one person prosecuted for violence against police officers and cheered the release of another January 6 participant from prison. She has promoted a mosaic of conspiracy theories, such as the attack was fomented not by Trump supporters, but by federal agents, or that top U.S. officials deliberately withheld intelligence that day.

Lakes campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Though on Friday, during Biden's speech marking the Jan. 6 anniversary, she wrote on social media, "We will not be lectured about 'threats to democracy' by a deeply corrupt man who has weaponized the justice system against the American people and his political opponents."

In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Gallego was unsparing in his condemnation of Lakes stance.

The fact (is) that Kari Lake is lying and saying that this was a staged protest or riot, knowing that hundreds of police officers were hurt.  I saw them bloodied, I saw them with the remnants of the dust of tear gas on their outfits, Gallego said. It takes a certain level of moral cowardice to deny what occurred there.

Shes doing it either A, because she believes it, which is scary, or B, because she wants to attract the support of those January 6-ers.

Sinema, the incumbent, had delivered a floor speech defending the integrity of Arizona's election before rioters infiltrated the chamber.

Rather than reflect on the attack on the Capitol, Sinema cited her legislative response to it.

She was among the bipartisan group of lawmakers that crafted a 2023 law intended to ensure electoral counts in Congress are in line with state-level results to prevent presidential candidates from overturning a U.S. election result.

We saw on January 6th how partisan vitriol can lead to a violent insurrection. Following the horrific attacks on our democracy, I worked with colleagues of all political backgrounds to restore trust in our system and ensure an insurrection never happens again," Sinema said in a written statement.

"By focusing on our shared values of protecting the peaceful transition of power  instead of villainizing each other over our differences  we negotiated, wrote, and passed into law our Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Improvement Act law that protects our democracy, prevents another insurrection, and stands the test of time.

Asked about Sinemas response to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Gallego noted Democrat-led efforts to pass legislation protecting voting rights. Republicans scuttled that effort by invoking the legislative filibuster that Sinema, who was then a Democrat, was unwilling to set aside.

January 6 was the physical attempt at stopping the transfer of power. I think there has been a political attempt at that," Gallego said.

The Democrats proposed legislation would have enacted a sweeping set of reforms intended to block state-level efforts to tighten voter registration or restrict certain types of voting.

A judge recently dismantled an Arizona law signed by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey that required voters to prove their citizenship. Sinema has said that she supported the Democratic package but opposed suspending the filibuster, a Senate rule, to enact it. That move prompted political blowback and a formal censure by Arizonas Democratic Party.

By December 2022, with many Democrats calling for her to face a primary challenger, Sinema quit the party and became an independent, a label she had often cited in her breakthrough 2018 election to the Senate.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema: Why I'm registering as an independent

In a comment, Sinema's office noted that the electoral count reform act was passed "through regular order" with the filibuster in place.

Approaching next year's presidential election, polling suggests that the sentiment that fueled the Jan. 6 attack remains alive and well. A strong majority of Republicans believe that Biden's 2020 election win was not legitimate. And loyalty to Trump and the January 6 participants appears to have climbed since the attack.

Gallego believes that his party is taking the right approach on the policy side to stave off threats to U.S. democracy, which he described as creeping fascism. Asked what was missing in the Democrats approach, he pointed to the question of messaging, warning his party: don't shy away from being the defenders of democracy.

Laura Gersony is a national politics reporter for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Contact her at 480-372-0389, or by email at lgersony@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @lauragersony.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake draws fire from Ruben Gallego in Arizona Senate race
This multipurpose complexion booster is infused with skin-loving ingredients for that coveted soft-focus glow.

This multipurpose complexion booster is infused with skin-loving ingredients for that coveted soft-focus glow.

HuffPost receives compensation from one or more retailers on this page, and HuffPost and its publishing partners may also receive a commission for purchases made via links. Every item is independently curated by the HuffPost Shopping team. Prices and availability are subject to change.

Charlotte Tilburys Hollywood Flawless Filter is a makeup item so adored that its helped maintain the luxury beauty brands household name status. If youre not familiar with the product, it can be described as a versatile skin booster for transforming any complexion into dewy, perfected, glow-from-within goodness  all for nearly $50 a bottle.

But now, a new (and much more affordable) sheriff is in town, and some claim that it might perform even better than its high-end competition. E.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Liquid Filter, which seems to be formulated and used in much the same way as the Charlotte Tilbury product, costs less than $15 and currently has TikTok aflutter.

Meant to be worn alone or underneath makeup to help create a radiant base, this product is not a foundation, a primer or a highlight. Instead, its a little bit of all three. Its hybrid and sheer-coverage formulation uses a blend of finely milled powders to help blur fine lines and imperfections, creating that soft-focus skin look. Available in eight flexible shades, it also contains squalane and hyaluronic acid, two ingredients known to keep skin hydrated.

Unlike the luxury version, many people on TikTok claim the Halo Glow works well even on textured skin and doesnt exaggerate the appearance of pores or make foundation look cakey when applied as a base. The finish is also loved because its less glittery and more radiant than its predecessor.

Walmart shoppers have awarded the product a 4.7-star rating across over 5,800 reviews. You can read some of them below, or just scroll all the way down to pick up a tube for yourself.

Im obsessed with ELF period but the halo glow is just wonderful. It is everything that say it is. Its so smooth on my skin. I see why it sells out so quickly lol. Thank you ELF.  Susan25 I was skeptical, but I just needed to try the product everyone was talking about. With first use I was hooked! I now have it in Medium, Light Medium, and am waiting for Fair Light and Fair to come back in stock. Ive used Lancome for over 20 years and never thought Id find a budge friendly product that is actually better than their makeup. But, I did and Im over the moon about this amazing collection!  kryptoniteyes How about this product a few weeks ago and I have used it almost every day since then. It makes my skin look so blurred and smooth while still looking radiant. Ive gotten so many compliments on my make up in the past few weeks because of it. I definitely will be buying a second bottle.  LooksByJanaya

Related...
The Dawson County Sheriffs Office is mourning the loss of one of their own.

Deputies say that K9 Arthur went to the veterinarian on Friday for a dental procedure and died.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Arthur, a chocolate Labrador Retriever, was six years old. He started serving with the Dawson County Sheriffs Office in February 2018 when he was a year old as a tracking and explosive detection dog.

He was in the process of transitioning to a new handler after the one he previously worked with transferred to the Hall County Sheriffs Office.

K9 Arthur was full of life and energy and loved his job of serving the citizens of Dawson County, said Deputy Elder, his new handler.

TRENDING STORIES:

Throughout his career, Arthur had 166 live deployments, including bomb threats, school sweeps, sporting events and more.

K9 Arthur was more than just a bomb-sniffing dog; he was a cherished member of our law enforcement family. His loyalty and dedication were exemplary, leaving an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of working alongside him, said Dawson County Sheriff Jeff Johnson.

He also placed first during a regional explosive detective dog competiton.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
It was the biggest industrial transaction in Miami-Dade County in 2023. Six warehouses in Hialeah were snagged for $174.3 million, but the buyer wasnt a major corporation or manufacturer. It was the Mormon Church.

Its not yet clear what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, plans to do with the massive warehouse space. But the Utah-based LDS church is already one of Floridas largest private landowners, with holdings that include a sprawling Central Florida ranch and a huge swath of timberland in the Panhandle.

The purchase is an investment play, said Chris Spear, a principal at the brokerage firm ComReal. He said, The Mormon Church is one of the largest real estate investors in the U.S.

Property Reserve, an investment branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, purchased the 1.3-million-square-foot site at Beacon Logistics Park from Coral Gables-based Codina Partners.

The sale was confirmed by real estate records, commercial real estate analytic firm CoStar and real estate investment firm Colliers.

The industrial park at 4220 W. 91st Ter., just west of Interstate 75, features six buildings ranging from 129,000 square feet to 232,620 square feet.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints paid $174.3 million for warehouses at Beacon Logistics Park in Hialeah at 4120 and 4220 West 91st Place on Friday, January 5, 2024.

While its the biggest deal in 2023 for Miami-Dade, its not the biggest in South Florida. Real estate private equity firm Longpoint Partners $262 million purchase of a Deerfield Beach industrial park in Broward County takes that distinction.

But the LDS churchs purchase still surpasses the $113 million sale of the Bridge Point Cold Logistics Center in Hialeah. The cold storage warehouse was sold to Pontegadea, the same Spanish investment firm run by Amancio Ortega, co-founder of clothing chain Zara.

Though the churchs plans arent clear, one commercial real estate expert said the recent transactions show demand remains high for warehouse space in South Florida, given the states population boom and growth of online shopping and home deliveries.

Buyers have an insatiable appetite for warehouses in South Florida, said Steven Wasserman, international vice president at Colliers. E-commerce has changed the world. Whether you want to buy a sweater at Macys in the store or have it delivered to your house that has changed everything, Wasserman said. E-commerce is stronger than ever.

Codina Partners and representatives of Property Reserve did not respond to multiple interview requests from the Miami Herald.

Mormon Church in Florida

The LDS church is one of Floridas largest private landowners, owning more than 2 percent of its landmass, according to reporting from The Salt Lake Tribune.

The church has owned Deseret Ranches, a 290,000-acre cattle and citrus farm spanning three counties in Central Florida and located about 50 miles from Orlando International Airport, for over 60 years. Farmland Reserve, Inc., a nonprofit entity of the church with headquarters in Salt Lake City, purchased the Florida farmland in 1950. The Deseret Ranches website says the ranch serves as an agricultural investment and resource to support the Churchs charitable efforts. The website also says the ranch pays property taxes, unlike religious institutions, and supports the local economy.

In 2013, the LDS church made another major land purchase: 400,000 acres in Floridas Panhandle region, for $565 million, according to Reuters. Land purchases such as these are made through church-owned businesses such as Property Reserve, Farmland Reserve and AgReserves Inc.

Religion and real estate

The Church of Latter-day Saints has 267 congregations across Florida, 19 of which are in Miami-Dade County. There are roughly 22,470 LDS members in Broward and Miami-Dade County, according to a 2020 report from The Association of Religion Data Archives.

The Fort Lauderdale Temple, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a 28,000-square-foot building described in application materials as an interpretation of Neoclassicism with arches, columns and a steeple. The temple features a sun and palm tree motif with beautiful murals in the first-stage endowment room, inspired by local landscapes.

The LDS church grew to over 17 million members and 31,000 congregations worldwide in 2023. Latter-day Saints believe that there will be a Second Coming of Christ, and that those who have obeyed certain religious covenants on Earth will return to live with God and their families forever, according to the LDS website.

The churchs website outlines certain tenets that seem reflected in the accumulation of real estate. It states that a large part of LDS culture is welfare and learning to become self-reliant, or being able to take care of the spiritual and physical needs of themselves, their families and their communities. That can include starting their own business, being wise with finances or accumulating resources to prepare for uncertain times. The LDS church also operates resource storehouses or Bishops Storehouses, which are like supermarkets without the till, and are paid for by donations from church members. There are 260 facilities across the country that offer food and household products to anyone  in or outside of the church  who is struggling. The idea is that, should the world descend into chaos, LDS members will be prepared to weather the storm.

This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Police arrested an Alabama man on Friday after he crashed his car outside a Bass Pro Shop, stripped naked and leapt into an aquarium in the store for over five minutes, the Associated Press reported, citing local authorities. The nude man stood under the waterfall after making a cannonball jump into the water, according to Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin. The man eventually climbed out of the massive aquarium to shout at two police officers before diving back in. He was arrested after his second exit from the aquarium and faces charges of criminal mischief, public lewdness, and disorderly conduct.

Read it at The Associated Press

Read more at The Daily Beast.
The X-59 in its hangar in Palmdale, California.

NASAs supersonic experimental planethe linchpin of the agencys Quesst missionis set to roll out of its warehouse in the California desert next week. Were gassed for the big moment: the X-59 has been in development for six years, and, if successful, it will demonstrate supersonic flight without sonic booms. - Isaac Schultz Read More





Workers inside the vacuum vessel of the KSTAR tokamak.



Workers inside the vacuum vessel of the KSTAR tokamak.

The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy has installed a new diverter in the KSTAR tokamak, allowing the artificial sun to sustain high-ion temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius for longer. - Isaac Schultz Read More

Read more

Situated between the constellations Bootes and Draco (right near the Big Dipper), the Quadrantids are named for Quadrans Muralis, a now-defunct constellation. They are an annual shower that peaks in early January, and they are, in my meteor-loving opinion, a great way to kick off each new year. - Isaac Schultz Read More





The Vulcan rocket booster and second stage during tests in Florida.



The Vulcan rocket booster and second stage during tests in Florida.

On Monday, January 8, United Launch Alliances Vulcan Centaur could finally perform its first flight. ULA has been a rock in the spaceflight industry since its founding in 2006, and with this pending launch, the company is ready to take its next bold step into space. Heres what you should know about Americas latest powerhouse rocket and and how it could disrupt the sector and compete with the ever-dominant SpaceX. - George Dvorsky Read More





NASAs Juno mission captured Jupiters moon Io on December 30 during its closest flyby.



NASAs Juno mission captured Jupiters moon Io on December 30 during its closest flyby.

The mutilated surface of Jupiters moon Io was revealed in great detail by the Juno spacecraft, which has been exploring the Jovian system since 2016 and recently pulled off the closest flyby of the volcanic world. - Passant Rabie Read More





The latest batch of Starlink satellites included six direct to cell satellites.



The latest batch of Starlink satellites included six direct to cell satellites.

SpaceX is gearing up to test its Starlink satellites ability to connect directly to cellphones in the U.S., launching the first six satellites under a temporary license with the hopes to expand its connectivity reach beyond that of traditional cell signals. - Passant Rabie Read More





An artists depiction of the spacecraft on the surface of Apophis.



An artists depiction of the spacecraft on the surface of Apophis.

New mission, who dis? The spacecraft formerly known as OSIRIS-REx had an impromptu close encounter with the Sun as it follows a newly crafted route to a second asteroid, using one of its solar arrays for shade. - Passant Rabie Read More





Stromatolites in Western Australia's Shark Bay.



Stromatolites in Western Australias Shark Bay.

The story of life on Earth cant be told without photosynthesis, the process by which plants (and some other lifeforms) convert sunlight into chemical energy. Now, a team of researchers has announced the discovery of fossilized photosynthetic structuresthe oldest yet knownfrom a staggering 1.75 billion years ago. - Isaac Schultz Read More





Image: Brian A Jackson (Shutterstock)

Researchers at Stanford University say theyve made the sort of discovery that youd expect to see in a piece of science fiction. In a controlled and randomized trial published this week, they found evidence that people can be made more susceptible to hypnosis with just two short sessions of non-invasive brain stimulation. The findings suggest that brain stimulation could make hypnosis a more effective treatment for various health conditions like chronic pain, though more extensive research will be needed to know for sure. - Ed Cara Read More

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Click here to read the full article.
The National Guard of Ukraine has reported that it is already using modern field hospitals received from the Netherlands.

Source: European Pravda; Oleksandr Pivnenko, Commander of the National Guard, on Telegram

Details: The National Guard noted that they have already received and are using the medical and humanitarian assistance provided, in particular field hospitals, which were transferred by the Dutch governments decision. There are already eight of them in total.

The National Guard points out that the mobile medical hospital, which is designed for 26-50 beds in various configurations and is equipped with an autonomous power supply, can operate without a power supply on a diesel generator and also has a water supply and sanitation system.

"This significantly improves the conditions for providing assistance and treatment to our servicemen and facilitates the work of doctors who save soldiers' lives. It is provided with the necessary medicines and supplies," the National Guard notes.

Background:

In December, it was reported that Ukrainian border guards received from the Netherlands three field hospitals and six medevacs.

In November, Ukraine received a military field hospital from Estonia and Iceland .

In the summer, Spain also donated a field hospital.

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Moon Desecration

Space contractor Astrobotic wants its Peregrine lander to become the first private lander to make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon in the coming months.

The United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur will attempt its first foray into outer space to deliver the special cargo as soon as January 8, pending favorable weather conditions for the launch.

On board the small commercial lander is some precious cargo. Astrobiotic partnered up with Celestis and Elysium Space, two companies offering services to send human remains to the lunar surface.

Unfortunately, that hasn't sat well with everybody. Last month, Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren filed a formal objection with NASA and the US Department of Transportation, decrying the plans as an "act of desecration."

"It is crucial to emphasize that the Moon holds a sacred position in many Indigenous cultures, including ours," he wrote. "The act of depositing human remains and other materials, which could be perceived as discards in any other location, on the Moon is tantamount to desecration of this sacred space."

Now, NASA has responded to Nygren's complaint, actively distancing itself from Celestis and Elysium Space's project.

"We don't have the framework for telling them what they can and can't fly," Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program manager Chris Culbert said during a press briefing this week, as quoted by Space.com. "The approval process doesn't run through NASA for commercial missions."

Private Business

It's an arguably feeble attempt to address a deep disagreement over our efforts to establish a presence on the Moon, and the implications such a controversial act has for some cultures back on Earth.

Kearns referred to the space agency's commercial program as "new ways of doing business" and admitted that "some non-NASA commercial payloads can be a cause for concern to some communities."

In other words, Nygren's complaints appear to have largely fallen on deaf ears.

Celestis, for its part, defended its efforts to send human remains to the lunar surface.

In a statement to Space.com, Celestis CEO Charles Chafer said that the "regulatory process that approves space missions does not consider compliance with the tenets of any religion in the process for obvious reasons."

"No one, and no religion, owns the Moon, and, were the beliefs of the world's multitude of religions considered, its quite likely that no missions would ever be approved," he added. "Simply, we do not and never have let religious beliefs dictate humanitys space efforts  there is not and should not be a religious test."

More on Celestis: Man Sending His DNA to the Moon So Aliens Can Clone Him and Put Him in a Zoo
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren vocalized the Indigenous community's objection to human remains being sent to the moon during a news conference Friday.

On Friday afternoon, Nygren held discussions with representatives from the White House, the Department of Transportation, and NASA. The purpose of the meeting was to express concerns regarding the scheduled launch of the Vulcan Centaur on Jan. 8. This mission aims to land on the moon, carrying the Peregrine Mission One developed by Astrobotic Technology.

Among the 28 payloads scheduled for the launch, there was an inclusion from Celestis and Elysium Space. These companies specialize in memorial services and had plans to transport cremated human remains to the moon as part of their payloads.

Nygren expressed the sentiment, "We're born here, and we should be left here as well when we move on." He communicated to reporters that he raised concerns with U.S. government officials, emphasizing that the Navajo Nation should have been provided with more thorough notice and consideration regarding the launch and its potential impact.

"Our moon is just so integral in everything that we do that there should be some respect, and respect some of the sacredness to the moon, and by having human remains up there constantly floating around the earth as we continue to exist here on Mother Earth, it's just of concern," Nygren said.

Nygren explained that the moon is used in ceremonies across Navajo and other Indigenous cultures as a prominent part of religious and spiritual beliefs.

In an emailed statement, NASA said, "In the coming months, in a first of a kind initiative called CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services), American companies will attempt to land on the Moon. The landers are owned and operated by the commercial companies and the companies are responsible for choosing and managing payloads. NASA is one of multiple payload customers of these landers. No NASA payloads on any CLPS landers include human remains."

"For additional information on non-NASA payloads, please reach out to the commercial providers, in this case, Astrobotic," the statement read.

Nygren mentioned that government officials conveyed to him their limited influence over the specifics of missions like the upcoming one. He explained that such missions are carried out by private entities, and government oversight primarily focuses on aspects such as safety and mission success. Nygren found this approach irresponsible, especially given the inclusion of human remains in the mission payload.

"These missions don't happen without NASA, so we can come up with something then to really try to focus on how we can collaborate and make sure that these future missions don't have human remains, just out of respect for the hundreds of tribes that exist here in the United States," Nygren said.

Navajo Nation: "Uncompromising" activist Klee Benally dies at age 48

Nygren said he received "no strong affirmative response" from U.S. officials regarding the assurance that human remains would not be sent to the moon.

Nygren referred to former Navajo Nation President Albert Hale, who was in office during Nygren's youth, and recalled how the late Hale took a stand against the sending of cremated remains, particularly those of former astronaut Eugene Shoemaker, to the moon in January 1998. Nygren was a witness to this stance.

Nygren explicitly stated that the Navajo Nation wasn't attempting to claim ownership of the moon. Instead, he emphasized the profound significance of the concept of human life in Navajo culture. The Nation's desire is for the government to conduct its missions and space exploration in a manner that respects and incorporates Indigenous beliefs.

The Navajo Nation was consulting with other nationwide tribes on the issue, along with continued advice from Navajo traditional practitioners.

Nygren said in a news release in late December that the Biden administration had previously promised to consult on matters that impact tribes directly with their Indigenous governments.

The Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to The Arizona Republic's request for comment.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Navajo Nation objects to NASA allowing human on moon
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  North Carolina is the first state in the nation to begin sending out absentee ballots, but the rules have changed regarding how they are to be completed.

When you want to vote in person, you go to a polling place and cast your ballot, where pretty much procedures are cut and dried.

However, if you want to vote by mail, youve got some new rules and new deadlines for those absentee ballots that you need to be aware of.

The first thing we need to talk about is voter ID.

Those who vote in person must present some form of official identification and if you decide to vote by mail  youve now got to do the same thing.

When a voter returns their ballot by mail as an absentee by mail ballot, they will be required to include a photo ID, a copy of that photo ID, or an exception form, said Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the State Board of Elections. That exception form may even include the fact that they could not make a copy of their ID to include.

If you are voting by mail, you also need to know that the deadlines for returning those ballots have now changed. Theresless time.

In the past, voters who voted absentee by mail just had to have their ballot postmarked by Election Day and ensure it was received within three days after the election, said Bell. Now, the deadline is that they must be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Voting by mail has become more popular and the state board of elections says people are now more comfortable with it than in the past.

We saw the largest use of absentee by mail in 2020 that we have ever seen. 2022 went down some, said Bell. But we also dont have as much turnout in a midterm or municipal election, so were not quite sure what the interest will be in absentee by mail.

We do know that voters did use it more since 2020, she said.

One of the big challenges of this election will be educating people about the changes to voting by mail.

Officials have created online videos, but they need to spread the word in other ways too.

There are a lot of organizations that get out and educate voters. So we want to make sure that were in contact with them and providing them with information. said Bell. Were also going to do an outreach campaign and advertising campaign.

If you request an absentee ballot, you arent locked into it.

You can still vote in person, however, your absentee ballot will no longer count if its been submitted once you vote in person.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
This photo combination provided by the Metropolitan Police on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 shows Christopher Gibbons, left and Tyrone Patten-Walsh. A neo-Nazi podcaster who called for the deaths of Prince Harry and his young son has been sentenced to prison with his co-host for encouraging terrorism. A London judge on Thursday called Christopher Gibbons and Tyrone Patten-Walsh dedicated and unapologetic white supremacists. Gibbons had said the Duke of Sussex should be killed for treason and called for his son, Archie, to be "put down. (Metropolitan Police via AP)

LONDON (AP)  A neo-Nazi podcaster who called for the deaths of Prince Harry and his young son received a prison sentence Thursday along with his co-host Thursday. The sentencing judge in London called the duo dedicated and unapologetic white supremacists" who encouraged terrorism.

Christopher Gibbons and Tyrone Patten-Walsh espoused racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic and misogynistic views and encouraged listeners of their Lone Wolf Radio podcast to commit violent acts against ethnic minorities, authorities said.

Using aliases on their show, the pair said the white race was likely to be genocided unless steps were taken to fight back. They approved of a day when so-called race traitors would be hanged, particularly those in interracial relationships. Prince Harry's wife, Meghan, is biracial.

On one episode, Gibbons said the Duke of Sussex should be prosecuted and judicially killed for treason and called Harry's son, Archie, who is now 4, a creature that should be put down.

Gibbons, 40, was sentenced to eight years in prison, the Metropolitan Police said. Patten-Walsh, 34, was given a 7-year term. Both will be on the equivalent of probation for three years after their release.

The evidence demonstrates that you desire to live in a world dominated by white people purely for white people. Your distorted thinking is that the white race has ceded too much influence to Blacks and Asians, to Jews and Muslims, to gays, to white liberals and to white people in mixed-race relationships, Judge Peter Lodder said.

While Patten-Walsh and Gibbons were entitled to hold their beliefs  regardless of being as preposterous as they are offensive to a civilized society  Lodder said they had gone too far.

The London men started Lone Wolf Radio, which had 128 subscribers and around 9,000 views of its 21 episodes in June 2020.

The two celebrated right-wing extremists who carried out mass murders in Norway, Christchurch, New Zealand and Charleston, South Carolina. They also posted images of a Nazi executing a Jewish man at the edge of a pit of corpses and Nelson Mandela being lynched.

A Kingston Crown Court jury convicted them in July of eight counts of encouraging terrorism.

Gibbons was also convicted of two counts of disseminating terrorist documents through his online neo-Nazi radicalization library that had more than 2,000 subscribers, authorities said.

Cmdr. Dominic Murphy, who heads the Mets counter terrorism unit, said the material they disseminated is exactly the kind that has the potential to draw vulnerable people  particularly young people  into terrorism.
Republican presidential candidates will have one last chance to clash on live TV before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

Only three candidates qualified on time for the fifth GOP primary debate on Wednesday at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, including GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. The former president has skipped the last four broadcasts and will continue the no-show streak, citing a huge lead in polls.

CNN Anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the broadcast. The network is also set to host another GOP debate in New Hampshire.

But Wednesday's broadcast will be the final opportunity for candidates to win over national viewers before the Jan. 15 caucuses, where Republican voters will gather in a series of local meetings throughout Iowa and decide who should represent the party on the presidential ballot.

Here is what to know about Wednesday's debate.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the fourth Republican Presidential Primary Debate on Dec. 6, 2023. The two will be the only candidates at the fifth GOP debate on Jan. 10, 2024.

What channel is the republican debate on tonight

The fifth GOP presidential primary debate will air live on CNN on Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Viewers can also watch the broadcast on CNN International and CNN en Espanol, or stream it on Max (formerly HBO Max).

TV subscribers can also watch via CNN.com and the CNN mobile apps. It was also be available the next day On Demand via CNN.com, CNN apps as well as Cable Operator Platforms.

Who is in the next Republican debate

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will be the only candidates at Wednesday's presidential primary debate, according to CNN.

The GOP runner-ups qualified before the window closed on Jan. 2 along with Trump. The network hosted hour-long townhalls for DeSantis and Haley in Iowa with DeSantis on Thursday.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie did not qualify in time for the debate after appearing at the previous four.

What were the qualifications?

To qualify for the Iowa GOP debate, candidates had to receive at least 10% in three different national and/or Iowa polls of primary voters or Republican caucus attendees. The network required one of those polls to be an approved CNN poll of likely Republican caucus-goers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What time is the GOP debate tonight? How to watch Haley vs. DeSantis
Two brothers aged 9 were injured in a Russian attack on Darivka hromada in Kherson Oblast and have been taken to hospital. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories.]

Source: Kherson Oblast Prosecutor's Office

Quote: "Enemy troops once again targeted Darivka hromada on 6 January 2024.

Two brothers aged 9 sustained shrapnel injuries during the attack. They were taken to hospital.

In addition, a man, 56, was hospitalised due to an attack on Tiahynka hromada."

Details: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, later explained that the 9-year-old twins and their parents had been travelling by car between the settlements of Darivka and Fedorivka when the Russians opened fire.

"The boys were taken to hospital. Their condition has been stabilised. One of them has a foot injury, the other one has injuries to the soft tissue of the anterior abdominal wall. Doctors are conducting further examinations," the official noted.

A 58-year-old man was also injured in Kherson district. He has a shrapnel injury to the chest. His condition is fair.

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When dozens of Miami police officers descended on Bayside Marketplace on New Years Day, immediate answers on what triggered the massive response were elusive. In the days since, authorities have told the public what occurred.

But in that temporary information vacuum, social media and conspiracy theorists have shared their ideas of what happened: A mass shooting. A possible riot. An alien invasion?

READ MORE: Miami cops arrest teens after fireworks, riots, fights erupted at Bayside Marketplace

On Friday, the Miami Police Department released an Instagram video to put the rumors to bed, sparking another flood of online conversation. It was more tongue-in-cheek this time since police revealed a bombshell truth in its video  aliens did not invade Bayside.

There is now video going viral of 8- to 10-foot aliens walking around Bayside, police say in the now-viral video. It is just a person walking with a shadow. So I can confirm to you all here today that there are no aliens in Miami [or] Bayside Marketplace, at the moment.

What triggered the large police response?

On the night of New Years Day, 911 callers reported hearing what they thought were gunshots at Bayside Marketplace, 401 Biscayne Blvd., Officer Michael Vega, a police spokesman, told the Miami Herald earlier this week.

The incorrectly reported gunshots were 50 or so juveniles shooting fireworks at people, with some looting also occurring, police said in its Friday video.

Police called a city-wide emergency as officers already at Bayside were not able to contain the situation. That alert, called a City-wide 3, tells all active officers in the city to respond to the incident location.

Some officers were heavily armed and approached the crowd displaying high-powered rifles, reflecting the fact that officers were initially erroneously told the situation involved an active shooter, the Downtown Neighbors Alliance, an organization that represents residents of several condos in the area, said in an earlier news release.

That night, four teens  a 14-year-old, two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old  were arrested on charges ranging from burglary, third-degree grand theft, battery, and resisting arrest without violence, according to their arrest reports.

Miami Herald reporter Omar Rodriguez Ortiz contributed to this report.
London's Metropolitan Police said they were not conducting any new investigations into Prince Andrew after a 2016 deposition accusing him of groping a woman's breast was released this week. The deposition was among hundreds of pages of mostly unredacted documents related to Jeffrey Epstein unsealed this week under the order of a judge in a now-settled defamation case brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims.

What the documents say

In the deposition, Johanna Sjoberg alleges she was groped by Prince Andrew in 2001, when she was 21. The allegation is not new, and BBC News reports Buckingham Palace previously called her allegations "categorically untrue."

Sjoberg says she met Andrew when she was brought to Epstein's home in New York in 2001 by Ghislaine Maxwell. Virginia Giuffre, whose lawsuit accusing Prince Andrew of sexual abuse was settled out of court in 2022, was also at the house at the time.

Sjoberg said she initially didn't know who the British royal was, until Maxwell took her to get a caricature puppet of him from a BBC show. Then, she said, she sat on Andrew's lap, while Giuffre sat beside him on the couch with the puppet in her own lap. The group took a photo with the Prince Andrew puppet groping Giuffre's breast, and Andrew himself groping Sjoberg's.

In an excerpted transcript from a deposition of Maxwell released among the documents unsealed this week, she seemingly confirmed the existence of the puppet  which she called "Not a puppet. I don't know how you would describe it. A caricature of Prince Andrew that was in Jeffrey's home." When asked about the incident Sjoberg described, she said, "I don't recollect. I recollect the puppet but I don't recollect anything around the puppet," before saying again it was a "characterization of Andrew."

Reaction in the U.K.

"We are aware of the release of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement. "As with any matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention we will assess it. No investigation has been launched."

Virginia Giuffre accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her on three separate occasions when she was 17, which were among the information included in the documents released this week. Prince Andrew denied the allegations and claimed to have no recollection of meeting Giuffre, though the two were photographed together when Giuffre was a teenager.

Graham Smith, CEO of the British anti-monarchy group Republic, said in a statement that he had reported Prince Andrew to police.

"To date there appears to have been no serious criminal investigation, no interview of the accused or other witnesses and no clear justification for taking no action," Smith said, calling on authorities to look into the allegations against Prince Andrew.

"Given the seriousness of the incidents, the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew's payment of an estimated 12m to Guiffre and the related accusations from other victims it seems there must be grounds for a full criminal investigation into these events and those involved," he said.

Houthi militia defies U.S. warning with 25th Red Sea attack

Saturday Sessions: Lola Kirke performs "He Says Y'all"

Saturday Sessions: Lola Kirke performs "My House"
South Korea's Northwestern Island Defense Command is shown firing artillery shells from Baengyeong Island on Friday in response to North Korean shelling. Photo provided by the Republic of Korea Defense Department/X

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- North Korea fired artillery shells near two South Korean islands for a second straight day Saturday, but the shells were fewer in number and landed in waters above the Northern Limit Line, officials said.

South Korea's military said North Korea fired about 60 shells that landed in waters near the same two islands but north of a demarcation line separating the territorial waters of North Korea and South Korea in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The islands are located near the western border between the two Korean nations.

North Korea fired some 200 artillery shells near the South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong for over two hours Friday morning. Many of the shells landed in the sea below the NLL, prompting South Korea to respond with artillery salvos totaling about 600 shells that landed in its territorial waters.

South Korea ordered locals to occupy emergency shelters on the two islands Friday for protection. No such order was made after Saturday's shelling, however.

No damage, deaths or injuries occurred due to the shelling on either day, South Korean officials said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday's shelling occurred for about an hour starting at 4 p.m. local time.

North Korea previously shelled Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, which killed four people and injured 18 more. The 2010 shelling occurred after boundary disputes arose and the United States and South Korea conducted joint military exercises in the area.

A 2018 military pact between the two Koreas created the NLL to diffuse tensions between the two nations that share the Korean Peninsula. North Korea withdrew from the pact in November after launching its first military satellite to orbit the Earth.

The latest round of live-firing near the border separating the Yellow Sea territorial waters between the two nations represents a threat to peace, the South Korean military said in a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire.
A young NYPD officer has been arrested and charged with theft and fraud after authorities say he gave out a suspects card number to his friends. The scam was only foiled after his friends unsuccessfully tried to buy coffee at Starbucks.

NYPD rookie police officer ended up on the other side of the law after stealing an arrestees credit card information. (Getty Images/Tim Drivas Photography)

After a probe into the fraud, Officer Andy Urrutia, a one-year rookie cop, was charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, petty larceny, official misconduct, attempted identity theft, and unlawful possession of personal identification.

Prosecutors stated the card owner had been arrested and detained at the 52nd Precinct stationhouse for three days before Urrutia, 24, gained access to the card. During her stay, her belongings were secured in police custody, providing him the opportunity to use his cellphone to capture images of her card.

Police reports state that the officer sent photos of the credit card and shared them with a group of his friends on a text thread on March 23 that said, Lunch on me guys!!! later adding, You are all welcome, according to the New York Daily News.

The images clearly showed the womans credit card number, expiration date, and security code.

His friends responded.

One person named Lemon quipped, Probably got overdraft fees cause they broke.

The officer chimed in, Try it, before telling them to use a Bronx ZIP code.

About to run it up at Starbucks, another one replied.

When the friend attempted to make a purchase the card number was declined by a Starbucks barista, according to court records.

The young men were persistent and tried to use the card four additional times. Finally, they abandoned their attempt. The fraud attempts occurred within a 12-minute time frame.

The card owner, seated in the NYPD station house, realized that someone was using her card. It was at that moment she reported the fraud attempt, especially considering she had only entrusted her card with her belongings to the officers within the station.

The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau was able to trace the crime to Urrutia. He was later apprehended early Tuesday, Jan. 2, around 11 a.m. Officers arrested him after he had completed a midnight shift.

When he got off, they were waiting for him in the upper lot [of the 52nd Precinct stationhouse]. He was taking pictures of victims and perps IDs and credit cards and sending them to friends who made charges, the New York Daily News reports an insider from the department said.

Atlanta Black Star was unable to verify whether it was a credit card or a debit card.

He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court. Still, the rookie was suspended from the force without pay following his arrest.

A Bronx Criminal Court judge ordered the officer to be released on his own recognizance and scheduled his return to court on Feb. 6.
OKLAHOMA (KFOR)  KFOR is hearing from the Oklahoma Attorney General one day after he announced possible legal action over inflated prices of insulin. He believes it has been potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says his office has completed an internal investigation and they feel comfortable moving forward with a lawsuit. Now, they are looking for an outside law firm to take the next step.

Senators say diabetes and obesity epidemics are harming health of millions of Americans and costing billions of dollars

There is no reason to wait for a multidistrict litigation or a multistate action. Weve identified the need. Weve identified the exploitation of our consumers. And this attorney general is going to find a remedy, said Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma Attorney General.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says nearly 13% of Oklahomas population is diabetic. Thats nearly 400,000 Oklahomans who use insulin on a regular basis.

Insulin helps take sugar from the bloodstream and put it into cells and so in type one diabetes, people are insulin deficient, meaning that their pancreas doesnt make insulin. And in type two diabetics, they are insulin resistant, meaning that the body doesnt have the same response that it would lower doses of insulin in type two diabetics, said Melina Cail, M.D., Primary Health Partners.

Drummond says its a statewide issue and hes seeking to hold those accountable for hiking prices for a diabetes medication a lot of Oklahomans rely on to survive.

In this instance, we have just a few manufacturers of insulin effectively in oligopolies. And so, these oligopolies can set an arbitrary higher price than the market would bear if there were true free market influences on this issue. So, in the absence of free market and in the absence of self-regulation by these that are prioritizing their profit over the health of Oklahomans and their other consumers, it requires state action, said Drummond.

Plan to cap insulin prices gains traction in U.S. Senate

Right now, the state law caps how much insurance companies can charge for insulin. It is $30 for a 30-day supply and $90 for a 90-day supply.

The law permits a $30 to $90 charge based on supply of insulin. So, it gives some market acknowledgment to supply and demand. But thats only if youre in these protected buckets of Medicaid, Medicare, state employee and on the exchange, if youre just a normal human being breathing air in Oklahoma, then you can still be exploited If you have Blue Cross Blue Shield or any of the other insurance providers, you know, they are simply passed passing through. The cost of insulin is charged by either the pharmaceutical company or the pharmacy benefit manager, said Drummond.

Drummond said he hopes to make a change before it could potentially end up being too late.

If a type one diabetic does not get insulin, it is actually life threatening and can kill them, said Dr. Cail.

 Have fresh headlines sent to your inbox! Subscribe to KFORs Morning Headline Newsletter 

Drummonds office is now seeking bids from outside firms to investigate those he says are responsible for increased insulin prices, and potentially file a lawsuit.

The Oklahoma Insurance Department sent KFOR the following statement:

The Oklahoma Insurance Department routinely monitors insurance company and large employer insurance coverage for compliance to the state law that requires a $30/30 day prescription copay or a $90/90day prescription copay for insulin. The Department has observed that health plans are in compliance with these copay requirements. If a consumer identifies an issue related to the copay requirement they can call the OID Consumer Assistance Division at 800-522-0071 or 405-521-2991.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Two Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police officers work alongside a Tulsa County Sheriff's deputy to inspect a stripped car in July. The Grand River Dam Authority notified the Muscogee Nation on Friday that it would no longer allow Lighthorse officers to make arrests under its authority.

An Oklahoma state law enforcement agency says it will no longer allow tribal police officers to act on its behalf, a move that comes weeks after a dispute over jurisdiction in Okmulgee County.

The Grand River Dam Authority notified the Muscogee and Cherokee nations about the decision Friday, saying it would take immediate effect. The tribes leaders quickly denounced the move as a political stunt by Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has formed his own task force to analyze public safety issues on tribal reservations.

We believe it is misguided to suspend any commission immediately, said David Hill, the principal chief of the Muscogee Nation, based in Okmulgee. Violent criminals and those who harm others will not suspend their criminal activities, and there should be more police on the streets to address them, not less.

When asked if Stitt directed the Grand River Dam Authority to suspend its agreements with the tribes, a spokesperson did not say.

However, both the agency and the governors office cited the need for uniform police agreements between the state and tribes, which Stitt called for in his Dec. 22 executive order forming the One Oklahoma Task Force.

The governor has asked for consistency from all state law enforcement as we continue to evaluate the impacts of the conflict in Okmulgee County last month, Abegail Cave, the governors communications director, said in a statement. The GRDA is working to ensure its agreements work to protect all Oklahomans in their jurisdiction.

The development is the latest in a years-long dispute between Stitt and tribal leaders over the growing recognition of tribal reservations in eastern Oklahoma. Federal law limits the states power over tribal citizens on the reservations, which Stitt has frequently criticized as unsafe and unfair.

But tribal officials say they have expanded their justice systems to handle the increased caseload. They also point to dozens of operating agreements with other law enforcement agencies that allow police officers to enforce state and tribal public safety laws  which are very similar  at the same time. Then, if the person facing charges is Native American, the case is forwarded to tribal or federal court.

McGirt v. Oklahoma, 3 years later: How police work on the Muscogee Nation reservation

Suspending those working agreements makes people less safe, said Chuck Hoskin Jr., the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, based in Tahlequah. He said the Grand River Dam Authoritys decision was not driven by reason, but apparent pressure from Stitt.

Governor Stitt has spent more than three years pressing phony claims of chaos on tribal reservations with no basis, in fact, deciding to create chaos to fit his narrative, Hoskin said.

The governor has pointed to a dispute in Okmulgee County between Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police and county jail staffers, which escalated into a physical altercation.

The incident unfolded Dec. 18 after Lighthorse officers arrested a non-Native man accused of driving the wrong way in a school zone and possessing fentanyl. Tribal police had the power to make the arrest under the Muscogee Nations operating agreement with the Grand River Dam Authority.

When officers tried to drop the man off at the county jail, workers there refused to book him into custody, leading to a dispute. Tribal prosecutors later filed charges against a jail employee for allegedly assaulting a Lighthorse police officer during the encounter. The mans initial court hearing in Muscogee Nation District Court is set for later in January.

Geri Wisner, the Muscogee Nations attorney general, met with officials from the Grand River Dam Authority in the days after the incident, Hill said.

They expressed enthusiastic support for the benefits of working together under our cross-deputization agreement, he said. They even began planning training events to make others aware of how well it worked.

The decision weeks later to revoke tribal officers authority came by surprise.

Brian Edwards, chief of law enforcement for the Grand River Dam Authority, said in a letter to the Cherokee Nation that their working agreement was not being terminated altogether, but was being reevaluated in light of the governors new task force.

Stitt has said the Okmulgee County conflict motivated him to create the task force, which he named after an online campaign he launched in July to promote his belief that state laws should trump tribal laws on tribal reservations.

The 13-member task force will include two representatives from tribal nations, a number Hill and Hoskin have both criticized as too low. Hoskin has said the Cherokee Nation will not have any involvement in the group.

Stitt has given the task force until June 1 to deliver a report recommending legal fixes and policy changes that would clear up confusion over jurisdiction on reservations.

Molly Young covers Indigenous affairs. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Grand River Dam Authority suspends agreements with tribal police
Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed a decree that will facilitate granting Russian citizenship to deported Ukrainian children, which, in turn, will allow for adopting them as Russians and changing their identity, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Jan. 5.

The Ukrainian authorities have identified over 19,000 Ukrainian children who have been illegally deported to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Only 387 children have been brought back so far, according to the national database Children of War.

The decree signed on Jan. 4 states that Ukrainian orphans and children left without parental care can receive Russian citizenship by Putin's personal decision without taking into account all or some requirements of federal legislation.

A citizenship application for such a child can be submitted by their legal guardian or the head of a Russian organization responsible for the child.

According to Lubinets, Russia aims to grant Russian citizenship to more of the deported Ukrainian children so that they don't de-jure count as Ukrainians remaining on their territory anymore.

Read also: Explainer: What we know about Russias deportation of Ukrainian children

"It (the decree) means that for deported Ukrainian children who are currently in Russian institutions or under the care of Russian families, Russian citizens can submit applications for accession to citizenship, which Putin will satisfy without any demands," Lubinets said on Telegram.

"We understand the terrible consequences of such actions because the next step after they receive the 'citizenship' of the Russian Federation will be the adoption of children as Russians, and after that - the change of their personal data."

In late November, Lubinets confirmed the first recorded case of a changed identity of a Ukrainian child illegally adopted by a Russian citizen.

Originally named Marharyta Prokopenko, the child was abducted from a children's home in then-occupied Kherson, adopted by a Russian lawmaker's family, granted Russian citizenship, and renamed Marina Mironova. Her birthplace was purportedly changed in the records as Russian Podolsk.

"In one moment, it may happen that not a single Ukrainian child will remain in the Russian Federation because all of them may become Russians within the next 3 months," added Lubinets in his Jan. 5 post.

He emphasized that the forced transfer of children from one national group to another is a sign of genocide.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would take up a case centered on abortion care in emergency medical situations, leapfrogging the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which was scheduled to hear arguments later this month.

The Court will also reimpose Idahos abortion ban in emergency room situations, something Republican state legislators had asked the justices to do well over a month ago. Its an ominous sign for abortion rights supporters, and means that the ban will remain in place until the Courts final ruling. The case will be argued in the April 2024 session.

The Idaho case, and a mirror one out of Texas, center on whether abortions are part of federally mandated emergency care in hospitals that accept Medicare funding. The Biden Health and Human Services Department had sent out a letter shortly after the Dobbs ruling reminding hospitals that they are required by federal law to perform abortions when they are necessary to stabilize a patient, even in states with bans.

Texas argued that the letter was not simply a reminder of the statute  called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)  but an unlawful expansion of it. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas earlier this week, ruling that EMTALAs silence on abortions (though its silent on nearly all the specifics of what care physicians should provide in these situations) proves that the law does not require physicians to provide abortions  even when the abortions are necessary to the laws mandate to stabilize the patient.

In Idaho, the Biden administration had sued the state, arguing that its near-exception free abortion ban violated EMTALAs requirements. The government won at district court, where it got the ban blocked in emergency room situations, and only suffered a brief defeat at the appellate court. There, a 9th Circuit panel composed of three Donald Trump appointees ruled against the government and reimposed the abortion ban. The full 9th Circuit quickly stepped in, agreed to rehear the case, blocked the abortion ban and denied the Republican legislators request to lift it again. Thats when the Idaho Republicans went to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court likely would have gotten involved in the case eventually, either on appeal from the appellate courts, or to resolve a circuit split, should the 9th Circuit have ultimately ruled differently than the 5th. But the way it did so  skipping over the 9th Circuit and reimposing the Idaho ban for the duration  does not bode well for the Biden administration.

The EMTALA letter was part of the Biden administrations attempts to reinforce abortion rights in the narrow spaces where federal law dictates, and, specifically, to retain patients right to the procedure at least in life-or-death situations. The 5th Circuit has already ensured that no such safety net exists in Texas; now, for at least the next several months, the Supreme Court has removed it from Idahos emergency rooms as well.

Read the order here:

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Aftermath of the Russian attack on Nikopol district on 6 January.

A civilian has been killed and two more people injured, including a 16-year-old teenage girl and 4 people sought medical assistance due to severe stress due to the Russian attack on the Nikopol district in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Saturday, 6 January.

Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

   6 ,  

Aftermath of the Russian attack on Nikopol district on 6 January. Photo: Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration

Details: The Russians launched 12 artillery bombardments and 3 kamikaze drone attacks on Nikopol district over the past 24 hours.

The town of Nikopol, and Myrove, Marhanets and Pokrovske rural hromadas suffered from the Russian terror [hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.].

Quote: "Unfortunately, there is a dead civilian and two injured. A teenage girl, 16, and a man, 66, sustained shrapnel injuries. They are hospitalised in moderate condition.

Four more people needed medical help due to severe stress. A 5-year-old boy was among them."

More details: Two industrial premises and 27 private houses were damaged in the area. A total of 13 outbuildings were damaged, one of them burnt down. The fire also destroyed a car. Several other civilian vehicles were affected.

Solar panels, gas pipelines and power lines were hit. Almost 2,000 families were cut off from the power grid.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  One person is dead and another is injured after a crash in west Columbus on Friday evening.

Authorities responded to a crash on the 1600 block of Sullivant Avenue in the Hilltop area around 7:18 p.m. Two people were transported to Grant Medical Center in unknown condition, according to Columbus Division of Fire Chief Jeff Geitter. One male was pronounced dead at 8:38 p.m.

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State Route 315 northbound closed Downtown this weekend for construction

Columbus police said the crash occurred when a white Scion xB was traveling west on Sullivant Avenue approaching Ryan Avenue. The driver lost control of his vehicle and traveled into the eastbound lane then swerved back into the westbound lane and struck a utility pole on the north side of the road, according to police.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The building would go on to be violently invaded. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Three years ago today, then-President Trump's months-long attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss culminated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Two weeks later, the president left Washington hours before the inauguration of Joe Biden, humiliated and shunned even by members of his own party who had, before Jan. 6, indulged his election conspiracy theories.

Today, on Jan. 6, 2024, Trump's grip on the Republican Party is firm. Facing multiple criminal trials, he has a good chance of winning back the presidency in 10 months. What was obvious three years ago  that the storming of the Capitol to thwart Congress' ratification of Biden's victory was plainly an insurrection against the U.S. government  is now disputed by those who would vote to put Trump back into the White House.

As we begin another election year, the United States embarks into uncharted territory. For all the wishes of "happy new year" this week, there was plenty of grumbling over what kind of year this would be. On our op-ed page, historian Benajmin Carter Hett compared the trajectory of the U.S. in 2024 to those of Germany in the 1930s and Italy in the 1920s, prompting dozens of readers to weigh in on the state of our union in the new year.



To the editor: Benjamin Carter Hett does an excellent job of drawing some of the parallels between the electoral, cultural and social landscapes during the rise of the original fascists and those who exist in today's United States.

One parallel Hett missed was the difference in fascist Germany between the voting patterns in rural and urban areas. We have seen some of the same patterns in the last several election cycles here.

The social, cultural and political implications of the urban-rural divide is a more useful tool for understanding election results than the divergent voting patterns displayed by "educated" and "uneducated" voters. Hett is perpetuating (perhaps unwittingly) a view that is insulting and smacks of elitism.

It also contradicts everyday experience. I'm sure everyone knows plenty of stupid people with a college degree, as well as plenty of smart people without a diploma.

David L. Clark, Ventura

..

To the editor: My answer to Carter's question, "Is America doomed to go the way of Hitler's Germany or Mussolini's Italy?" is no  that is, as long as we understand what is fascism and we absorb the historical lessons of what caused it.

Fascism must be based on a mass movement that tries to obliterate democracy by suppressing and destroying unions, the voice of working people. It comes about as the last resort for capitalists to maintain their profits. This is what happened in Germany.

It is not all about whether Trump is elected as president. Fascist currents grow when people feel besieged and desperate because of housing crises, layoffs, gentrification and cuts to social, health and mental health services.

Fascism is an economic system that forces workers to rescind their economic gains, and therefore the union movement plays a critical role in fighting it.

Even if Trump gets reelected, there is still hope that we can defeat fascism. History has taught us that it will take a united front of those who provide the labor and who want to be free of all kinds of discrimination  and want an alternative anti-capitalist party to vote for.

I am optimistic that in 2024, that we can come together to build a powerful united front to stop fascism in its tracks.

Yolanda Alaniz, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: I had to chuckle when Hett raised concerns about Trump being some kind of dictator. Was it not Gov. Gavin Newsom who locked down 40 million Californians without a legislative vote?

Lloyd Forrester, Simi Valley

..

To the editor: After reading the opinion piece and how easily our democracy could slip away, I have some questions for people who want a dictator to head our country.

Why would you want to lose your freedom to vote?

What does a dictatorship offer you?

How long before a dictator betrays you?

Do you perceive that having someone telling you what to do, when to do it and removing all choice is what you truly want?

If you must choose a dictator, why would you choose a person of such low moral character?

Have you looked at other countries with a dictator? How are their economies?

I know that some areas of the country are suffering economically. But to turn our country into a dictatorship because of it is indefensible.

Linda Shabsin, Diamond Bar

..

To the editor: The idea that election results are a remedy powerful enough to cure the current Republican Party's "nazification" problem seems more wishful than likely.

The decisiveness of the last election did nothing then or since to minimize the MAGA wing's influence on the Republican Party. In fact, it did the opposite.

The record is clear: Losing elections, no matter the margin, has only made Trumps admirers more loyal and more willing to subvert any democratic norms not deemed favorable to them.

I'm not sure there's a rational fix for that.

Ted Rosenblatt, Pacific Palisades

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Boise, Idaho, man was shot and injured by Oregon police during a traffic stop earlier this week.

Baker City District Attorney Greg Baxter told the Idaho Statesman that Justin Burkeen is receiving treatment for multiple gunshot wounds at a Boise-area hospital after two Baker City police officers shot him. The 30-year-old hasnt been charged with a crime yet, but Baxter said by phone that he plans to convene a grand jury.

The Baker City Police Department pulled over a vehicle at around 2 a.m. Tuesday near the citys center at the intersection of Clark and Church streets, according to a news release from the department. Burkeen was a passenger in the vehicle, and according to police, he brandished a firearm during the traffic stop, causing the officers to fire their weapons.

The driver of the vehicle, an unidentified woman, wasnt arrested and hasnt been charged with any crime, Baxter said. He declined to say why officers pulled over the vehicle.

Baker City, which has a population of about 10,000 people, is roughly two hours northwest of Boise on Interstate 84. The city, along with its surrounding county, had not seen a police shooting since at least 1992, Baxter said.

The officers, who havent been identified, were placed on paid leave per department policy. Baxter said he expects to release the officers names early next week after theyve been interviewed. He said they were wearing body cameras.

The incident is being investigated by the Baker County Major Crimes Team, which includes the Oregon State Police, Baker County Sheriffs Office, Baker City Police Department and Baker County District Attorneys Office.

A warrant was issued for Burkeen in Ada County in August after he allegedly violated his probation, according to online court records. Hes on felony probation until 2026 on a drug charge.
A Russian Orthodox Church priest makes the sign of the cross during an Orthodox Christmas service at the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana near the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, Russia, late Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Orthodox Christians packed churches Saturday night for Christmas Eve services, a holiday overshadowed for many believers by conflict.

Traditions vary, but typically the main worship service for Orthodox Christians takes place the night before Christmas, which is Jan. 7.

Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, the worlds largest Orthodox denomination, led elaborate and well-attended services at Moscows Christ the Savior Cathedral. In ornately decorated vestments, dozens of priests and officiants took part, swinging smoking incense censers and chanting the liturgy.

In his Christmas message, broadcast just before the service Saturday night, Kirill spoke on the theme of sacrificial love, noting that Jesus Christ saved us from the wrong path in life, from the wrong life orientation. He also called for prayers for Russia, so that no alien evil will could disrupt the peaceful flow of life.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was joined by families of military personnel who have died in the war in Ukraine at Christmas Eve services at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence, in the western suburbs of Moscow.

In a statement congratulating Orthodox Christians, Putin highlighted the efforts of religious organizations aimed at supporting our heroes  participants in the special military operation, as the Kremlin refers to Russia's efforts in Ukraine.

Officials said about a million people were expected to go to church in the Russian capital. But nighttime services were canceled in the Russian border city of Belgorod due to the operational situation, Mayor Valentin Demidov said.

Ukrainian attacks in Belgorod on Dec. 30 killed 25 people, officials there said, making it one of the deadliest strikes on Russian soil since the start of Moscows invasion of Ukraine nearly 23 months ago. Rocket and drone attacks on the city continued throughout this week.

Russians and Orthodox in some other countries observe Christmas on Jan. 7.

But Ukraine, which is a predominantly Orthodox country, officially observed Christmas this year as a public holiday on Dec. 25. The change, enacted in legislation signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in July, reflects Ukrainians dismay with the nearly 23-month-old Russian invasion and their assertion of a national identity.

In neighboring Belarus, Christmas is officially celebrated with public holidays on both Dec. 25 and on Jan. 7. About 80% of believers are Orthodox, belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church, while around 14% are Catholics, living mainly in the west, north and center of the country.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 30 years, calls himself an Orthodox atheist. He usually attends Christmas Eve services and lights a candle in an Orthodox church.

He wished Orthodox Christians a happy Christmas, saying in a statement that he is convinced that by preserving the Orthodox traditions of mercy and moral purity, together we will create the best future for our native Belarus.

Orthodox believers in Serbia marked the day by burning oak branches at services outside churches and temples, including hundreds who gathered at the St. Sava Temple  the biggest Orthodox church in the Balkans.

The young oak tree symbolizes Christ and his entry into the world, with the centuries-old tradition led by Serbian Orthodox church priests. As the fire was lit, dozens of people of all ages threw small branches of dried oak into the large bonfire.

In these hard times, we need to come together in unity and to nurture peace, love, and respect towards each other, Belgrade resident Mica Jovanovic told The Associated Press.

Celebrations in the Middle East were darkened by another conflict: the Israel-Hamas war.

In Bethlehem, where Orthodox Christmas Eve normally draws tens of thousands of tourists to visit the traditional birthplace of Jesus, roughly 100 observers milled about in Manger Square. They were nearly outnumbered by police officers and clergymen.

Christmas festivities were canceled in the West Bank town after the heads of major churches in Jerusalem asked their congregations to forgo any unnecessarily festive activities in light of the fighting in Gaza. The majority of Christians in the region are Palestinians, and Christian leaders have called upon observers to spend the holidays praying for peace and an end to the war.

Despite the cancellation of festivities, church leaders still gathered to welcome the arrival of patriarchs from different Orthodox churches  Greek, Coptic and Ethiopian  and a customary procession of Boy Scouts proceeded through Bethlehem, though without the usual fanfare. A midnight Mass was planned.

Samir Qumseyeh, a Palestinian Christian and founder of a Christian TV channel, has been filming the celebrations since 1996. He said this years observance was even more muted than at the height of the second intifada, when Israeli forces locked down parts of the West Bank in response to Palestinians carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks that killed Israeli civilians.

Even during the intifada, still the festivals and the joy were there, Qumseyeh said. But this year, I am feeling very, very, very sad. But I understand why the church leaders had to do this. You cannot show joy when the people of Gaza are suffering.

In Iraq, many Christians canceled Christmas and New Years celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, as well as in an act of continued mourning for the victims of a deadly fire that killed more than 100 people at a wedding in the predominantly Christian Hamdaniya area of northern Iraq in September.

Dozens of Iraqi Armenian Orthodox Christians attended Christmas Eve Mass in Baghdad but the celebration was limited to Christmas prayers and rituals.

In 2023, we went through many crises, including the Hamdaniya tragedy which the entire world learned about, as well as to Gaza and our brothers in Palestine, Gebre Kashikian, pastor of the Armenian Church in Baghdad, said at the Mass.

In Istanbul, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I presided over the Blessing of the Waters ceremony on the Golden Horn. The tradition sees the patriarch toss a wooden cross into the inlet, which this year nearly 50 swimmers competed to recover.

Kostas Kypros, from Alexandroupoli in Greece, emerged from the water clutching the crucifix. I am very happy. I wish the best for everyone. I was lucky and I pulled out the cross, Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency reported him as saying.

Earlier, members of Istanbuls tiny Greek Orthodox community and visitors from neighboring Greece attended an Epiphany service led by Bartholomew I at the Patriarchal Church of St George in Istanbuls Fener district.

Bartholomew I is regarded as the first among equals among patriarchs in Eastern Orthodoxy and the spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians. The patriarchate dates from the 1,100-year Orthodox Greek Byzantine Empire, which ended in 1453 when the Muslim Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, todays Istanbul.

___

Associated Press journalists Marko Drobnjakovic in Belgrade, Serbia; Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia; Elise Morton in London; Ahmed Sami in Baghdad; and Andrew Wilks in Istanbul contributed to this report.
Patriot air defence systems successfully repel Russian ballistic missiles that could have caused massive losses and destruction.

Source: New York Times

Details: The New York Times spoke with Ukrainian serviceman Volodymyr (he asked to be identified only by his name due to the sensitivity of his unit's operations), who works on the Patriot systems.

He recounted how on 11 December at 04:00, the radar detected an anomaly  it later turned out to be a Russian ballistic missile flying towards Kyiv.

At a time when millions of people were sleeping in their homes and there was no time to turn on an air-raid siren, Ukrainian troops fired several American Patriot missiles. This night was successful for the Ukrainian air defence.

Quote from Volodymyr: "Given that the Patriot is one of the few systems that can effectively shoot down ballistic missiles, and ballistic missiles cause the most casualties, I think the number of lives saved during the war is in the thousands."

More details: The New York Times notes that White House and Pentagon officials have warned that the United States may soon be unable to sustain Ukrainian Patriot missile batteries with interceptor missiles, the cost of which may range from US$2-4 million each.

Volodymyr recalls that when the first ballistic missile was intercepted on 4 May, everyone was very surprised, but after that, "our confidence in the equipment that our partners provided us grew."

In May and June, during some of the most challenging attacks involving drones, cruise missiles, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles, two Ukrainian Patriot batteries successfully intercepted all 34 ballistic missiles launched by Russia towards Kyiv, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Volodymyr says that the system is constantly moved from place to place to prevent the Russians from knowing its location.

Quote from Volodymyr: "We managed to create a shield over the state thanks to our foreign partners. But if our foreign partners turn their backs on us, we will return to the beginning of the war, when people simply did not come out of their shelters and the Russians tried to turn our cities into complete ruins."

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SAN DIEGO  Paw Patrol is on a roll into San Diego this weekend. Join Ryder, Marshall, Rubble, Rocky, Skye and your other favorite Paw Patrol characters for PAW Patrol Live! Heroes Unite.

The show is coming to the San Diego Civic Theatre this weekend (Jan. 5-7, 2024).

Disney on Ice, Blueys Big Play heading to San Diego this winter

The shows run kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday night, with performances in the mornings and afternoons Saturday and Sunday. Click here for showtimes.

Mayor Humdinger has dognapped Robo Dog and cloned him. In Paw Patrol live, watch as the pups catch those clones, rescue Robo Dog and show when the going gets ruff, lending a paw makes you the ultimate TOP HERO!

Grab a free SeaWorld Preschool Fun Card for little ones for 2024

The show also heads to Riverside, Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, Santa Barbara, Long Beach, Bakersfield, Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco in California, along with other stops across the country.

Visit pawpatrollive.com to purchase tickets, for more information on the show, showtimes, tour stops and more.

And dont miss other shows coming up. Disney on Ice Frozen & Encanto is heading to Pechanga Arena San Diego from Jan. 18-21, 2024.

Then, in February, young fans of the famous blue heeler puppy can catch Bluey and family live for the first time during Blueys Big Play at the Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego from Feb. 9-11, 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
With flu on the rise and area hospitals seeing an increase in the number of patients with COVID, RSV and other respiratory illnesses, mask mandates are reappearing.

Both the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Jefferson Health issued directives late Friday that masking will be required for staff working with patients and patients in emergency departments and other congregant settings in hospitals and urgent care centers.

Penn described the directive, which starts Monday as "during all patient care/patient-facing activities, and in all places where patients may be encountered."

University of Pennsylvania adjunct professor of neurosurgery Katalin Kariko, and research professor Drew Weissman are the recipients of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine, for their work on modifying mRNA into vaccines to combat COVID.

"Patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days or who have symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, fever, sore throat, nasal congestion) must wear a mask," Penn Health stated.

And visitors to Penn Health facilities who tested positive for COVID-19 or who have symptoms are not allowed to enter, even with a mask.

Jefferson said its directive starts now and will remain in effect through Jan. 29, the height of the flu season.

"All visitors to our other healthcare settings should be strongly encouraged to mask and should not visit if they have symptoms of a respiratory virus infection," Jefferson stated.

Jefferson also wants its pediatric facilities to check the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination status of patients. It reported a measles case to the Philadelphia Dept. of Health last month.

Hospitals in South Jersey have also restarted masking mandates.

Mask mandates: Some South Jersey hospitals bring back mask rules as flu, RSV, COVID on rise

COVID, flu cases rising

As of Dec. 30, the confirmed case count for flu in Pennsylvania had risen to 47,358, up from 32,998 the week before, the state Department of Health reported.

COVID is also making a comeback with an increase in hospital admissions.

And RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) has been identified in 30,689 cases so far this fall and winter though the numbers have dropped in recent weeks, the state reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is concerned about low vaccination rates this winter. It released data Dec. 14 showing that as of mid-November, there were 7.4 million fewer influenza vaccine doses administered nationwide to adults in pharmacies and physician offices when compared with the 2022-23 flu season. COVID-19 vaccination rates for children and adults remains low, as are RSV vaccination rates.

The CDC is warning that fewer vaccinations coupled with increases in national and international respiratory disease activity "could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks."

At Jefferson hospitals, including their Abington, Bucks County and Lansdale locations, there is "an uptick mostly in flu and COVID cases in the Emergency Departments," said hospital spokeswoman Ashley Jefferson. The hospital also noted

More: Fight over records about Bucks County COVID masking guidelines still unresolved. What's next

The situation is the same at St. Mary's.

"Like most hospitals in our region and across the country, St. Mary Medical Center is seeing a significant increase in seasonal respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 and influenza. These increases are creating a surge in patients seeking care in hospital emergency departments, which impacts hospital volumes, workforce capacity and emergency department wait times," said Jason Griffith, communications manager for Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic.

Masking mandate reviews

St. Mary has not implemented required masking but is watching the situation closely.

Doylestown Hospital has not seen a rise in respiratory admissions compared to last year but also is keeping an eye on patient data.

"Case levels are monitored daily, and while we are not currently requiring masking, any unexpected spikes would warrant further review and evaluation of our masking policy," said Dr. Scott Levy, vice president and chief medical officer for Doylestown Health. "We always encourage those who are at elevated risk to mask whenever they are in public, in addition to when they visit us here at Doylestown Hospital."

Lower Bucks Hospital spokesperson Michelle Aliprantis said the hospital has not seen a rise in respiratory admissions and is not requiring masking at this time.

"Currently, we are monitoring our census closely with regard to any respiratory cases while maintaining the safety of our patients and staff. Adjustments will be made as necessary in accordance with CDC protocols," she said.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Suburban hospitals watching flu, COVID data as Penn requires masking
Penn State has added another former five-star recruit from the transfer portal.

The Nittany Lions added offensive lineman Nolan Rucci from the portal Saturday afternoon. He previously played for Wisconsin. Rucci is a Pennsylvania native, going to Warwick High School, and picked the Badgers over PSU as a recruit. He returns to the state after spending three seasons with Wisconsin and announced the commitment on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rucci, who has prototypical tackle size at 6-foot-8, 300 pounds, could compete at right tackle for the Nittany Lions, with former starter Caedan Wallace moving on and his backup Drew Shelton expected to flip to left tackle and start in 2024.

The latest addition joins former five-star recruit Julian Fleming, also a Pennsylvania native, as highly-touted high school targets who have circled back to the Nittany Lions out of the portal.

Rucci, Fleming and the rest of the program will next take the field when they play West Virginia in Morgantown on Aug. 31.
Lloyd Austin, US secretary of defence, resumed official duties on Friday after he was hospitalised on Jan 1 - ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP

The US defence secretary said he will commit to doing better after he was accused of covering up a four-day hospital stay that forced him to delegate his official duties.

Lloyd Austin, the second-in-command of the US military after Joe Biden, said he understand[s] the media concerns about transparency and that he could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed about the trip.

Mr Austin was taken into hospital on January 1 over complications following a recent elective medical procedure, according to a Pentagon spokesman, as Houthis conducted further attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea and Russia launched long-range missiles in Ukraine.

However, Mr Austins hospitalisation was not made public until Friday, January 5, despite the decision that Kathleen Hicks, his deputy, would take on his official duties while he was reportedly in an intensive care unit.

Politico reported that White House officials were not made aware of his hospitalisation until Thursday  three days after he was admitted.

Mr Biden and his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, were not kept in the loop about his medical issue, the outlet said.

Ms Hicks was in Puerto Rico at the time, communicating with the Pentagon virtually, officials said.

The Pentagon was accused of covering up the illness by the Pentagon Press Association, a group of reporters who cover military news.

At a time when there are growing threats to US military service members in the Middle East and the US is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defence leader, the group said.

In the time that Mr Austin was in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the US dealt with an attack in the Red Sea from a Houthi suicide boat packed with explosives in one of the worlds busiest shipping channels.

The US government also announced that Russia had used long-range missiles supplied by North Korea on the battlefield in Ukraine for the first time, and American forces conducted a strike against a senior Iranian-backed militia member in Baghdad. Bases of US troops in the Middle East have been attacked at least six times.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Mr Austin said: I want to thank the amazing doctors and nursing staff at Walter Reed for the exceptional care they have delivered to me and for the personal warmth they have shown my family.

I also appreciate all the outreach and well wishes from colleagues and friends. Charlene and I are very grateful for your support.

I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon. I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognise I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better.

But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.

The Pentagon would not comment on the nature of Mr Austins illness, or whether he had been taken to hospital in an ambulance, but it said he had resumed all official duties on Friday evening.

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Yelahahanka, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India:

For several decades, India and Israel have established a long-standing relationship in the defense sector, with cooperation intensifying in the past 30 years. The association has grown from a buyer-seller relationship to a unique and comprehensive strategic partnership, with both countries collaborating on a wide range of defense projects and exchanging expertise in various fields.

This trusted partnership has always been a factor driving the growth of India-Israel defense cooperation. As two democracies whose heritage spans millennia, Israel and Indias bilateral relations stand tall in the changing geopolitical landscape. This trusted partnership has always been a factor driving the growth of India-Israel defense cooperation. As two democracies whose heritage spans millennia, Israel and Indias bilateral relations stand tall in the changing geopolitical landscape. From the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008 to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, the two countries have stood together side by side. Israel proved a reliable partner, and its advanced defense technology and expertise make it a unique partner for India.



In association with Aeromag Asia

The official Media Partner of Aero-India 2023

These bilateral relations are essential for both sides. For Israel, the stimulus is strategic. As one of the worlds largest economies, India is an important ally that helps forge foreign relations in the region and beyond and a market that can tap Israels innovative technologies in many fields, from defense, security, and aerospace, to science, agriculture, healthcare, water management, and many other areas.

The history of India-Israel defense cooperation can be traced back to the early 1990s when India started purchasing defense equipment from Israel. Over the years, India has become one of the largest buyers of Israeli defense equipment, purchasing a wide range of products, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), radar systems, missile defense systems, and ammunition.

Atmanirbhar Bharat aims to unlock the potential of the Indian domestic industry and manufacturers to meet the countrys growing requirements

One of the significant milestones in India-Israel defense cooperation was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defense cooperation in January 2008. The MoU provided a framework for the two countries to collaborate on various defense projects and exchange expertise in multiple fields.

Joint defense programs between India and Israel include the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), loitering missiles, electro-optics, radars, avionics, electronic warfare equipment, naval countermeasures, and communications systems. The two countries have also developed joint solutions for defense, security, cyber, and counter-terrorism operations, exchanging expertise in various fields.

Keeping their commitment to the Make-in-India policy, Israels defense enterprises have always respected Indias demand for localization and indigenization. All of Israels leading defense companies and some of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have established joint ventures with local partners in India to position their products in the Indian market better. With activities covering various fields that were pursued under JVs with Defense Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) such as HAL, BEL, and BDL, and Private Sector Companies such as Kalyani, Adani, Tata, Alpha Design, Mahindra, Wipro, among others, opening manufacturing plants in Hyderabad and other locations.

Israels leading defense companies have established JVs with local partners in India to position their products in the Indian market better

The MoU also laid the foundation for establishing the Joint Working Group on Defense Cooperation, which has been instrumental in strengthening the defense relationship between the two countries. This task force works to identify new areas of defense cooperation, examined within the strategic perspective of the two countries. The group examines mutually-beneficial technologies and fosters deeper engagement between the two defense ecosystems.

The defense relationship between the two countries has been shaped by Indias growing need for advanced defense technologies and Israels expertise in developing cutting-edge defense solutions. But the pace of business was determined by Indias complex regulations. In recent years, different rules regarding offset obligations and the mandatory level of domestic origin (known as Make in India) complicated collaborative programs as Israeli companies grappled with how to deal with the regulations and limited the scope to scale and grow. In recent years the policy has evolved into the Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) initiative that aims to unlock the potential of the domestic industry and manufacturers to meet the countrys growing requirements. The new policy is challenging and denies foreign players access to major Indian defense programs; on the other hand, it provides foreign companies a path for closer integration in the Indian market, offering up to 74 percent foreign direct investment in local companies. With a more substantial stake in JVs, Israeli companies are becoming assured of the intellectual property (IP) they transfer to the JVs they establish in India, thus overcoming a major roadblock that hindered some transfer of sensitive technologies in the past.

In conclusion, the past three decades have seen significant growth in India-Israel defense cooperation. The relationship has evolved from a commercial relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, with both countries collaborating on a wide range of defense projects and exchanging expertise in various fields. This cooperation is expected to grow in the coming years as Israeli defense companies expand their presence and adjust to Indias self-reliance policy to address regional security challenges and tap the true scope of this market. It comes at a time when the military seeks new solutions addressing operational gaps unveiled in recent conflicts and lessons learned from the war in Eastern Europe. A clear lesson is a need for India to become self-reliant. However, self-reliance should also promote synergy in defense research and technology  another facet of what Israel and India have in common.
Perry High School students will not return to classes at their shooting-stricken school next week, Perry schools Superintendent Clark Wicks said Friday during a news conference at the city's Hotel Pattee.

Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh and Stacey Warren, a clinical social worker with Heartland Area Education Agency, joined Wicks.

As we focus on supporting our students and faculty, the most important question we have to answer is when school will open again. There will be no classes for high school students all next week, Wicks said.

Perry schools Superintendent Clark Wicks speaks during a news conference Friday at the Hotel Pattee in Perry.

He that students at the district's elementary school and the middle school, which shares its campus with the high school, will not resume classes until next Friday, Jan. 12, at the earliest.

More: 11-year-old boy identified as victim in Perry High School shooting that wounded 8

"If there are any changes, we will share with parents and guardians and on our school website, he said.

While the schools are closed, Wicks said the district will be offering grab-and-go lunch service at Perry Elementary School each day from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

'Extraordinary, difficult couple of days for everyone involved'

When asked by a reporter about any record of school discipline regarding the shooter, Dylan Butler, in recent years, Wicks declined to comment.

I appreciate your question, but Im not going to get into specific names or specific incidences with any individuals during this time, Wicks said.

More: Trump comments on Perry shootings at Iowa Caucuses event

"I recognize that this has been an extraordinary, difficult couple of days for everyone involved," he said. "We have students and staff who have been directly affected, whether they were in the building yesterday, on the way to school or connected to the district in any way. There are undoubtedly thousands more who were shocked and saddened when they heard the news.

"Heres what I want you to know: At Perry Community Schools, we are committed to taking care of our students, we are focused on supporting those who have been affected and focusing on healing for everyone in our community going forward."

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Reopening dates for Perry schools remain uncertain after shootings
The pain is deep in Perry after a school shooting shook the community to its core, but residents say the healing has already begun.

And if there is a community anywhere that can pick itself up after such a tragedy, Perry is the one, they told the Des Moines Register.

By the next day, a number of fundraising efforts were already underway in the town of around 8,000 northwest of Des Moines.

Community members gather as they honor the victims of a shooting at Perry High School Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, at Wiese Park in Perry.

We learned a hard lesson on Thursday, that no place is immune (from violence), but it has brought this community together, said Pastor Jon Williams of the First Methodist Church of Perry.

Gunfire that rang out just before the start of classes Thursday at Perry High School killed a sixth-grader, 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, and wounded four other students, Principal Dan Marburger and two other staff members. The 17-year-old shooter, identified by authorities as student Dylan Butler, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Perry leaders say residents are stepping up to support one another after Iowa school shooting

Former Mayor John Andorf said the best thing for Perry now is for its residents to come together.

"Perry is a strong community," he said. "One of the things I like about Perry is when we do have tragedies or a crisis, people always pull together, and I know they will this time. Its already started."

David Sheffer, owner of the Tin Pig Tavern in downtown Perry, was one of the residents who quickly swung into action following the tragedy on Thursday, taking sandwiches and beverages to the more than 100 law enforcement officers on scene at the high school.

Tin Pig Tavern owner David Sheffer recounts his experience bringing food to first responders after Thursday's shooting at Perry High School.

You could tell the situation was pretty grim," Sheffer said. "The officers showed no emotion when I delivered the food, but I did have one of them tell me that it was uplifting to know that people were thinking of them. I told them that if they needed anything, anything at all, to just text me.

Sheffer and other businesses also took food to the hospital.

Sheffer said he started getting calls Thursday morning even before the media began reporting on the shooting, and his first concern was for the high school students who work for him. He started calling staff to make sure they were safe.

Community members gather at Perry Perk, a local coffee shop, on Friday morning after a shooting a Perry High School. A sixth grade student died, and four students and three school staff were injured.

More: 11-year-old boy identified as victim in Perry High School shooting that wounded 8

Sheffer did not open the tavern on Thursday night but was torn about it. He had wanted to open to give people a place to go, but didnt feel right taking money on such a tragic day, he said.

I had some of my high school staff saying they wanted to work, but I thought it would be best for them to stay home with their families, Sheffer said. Some of the students still came in and just kind of hung out.

He said Perry businesses are working together to assist the families of the shooting victims.

The people of Perry are pretty tough," Sheffer said, but "its going to take a while."

More: One Perry shooting victim discharged from Des Moines hospital, trauma doctor confirms

Efforts underway to reach everyone in Perry's diverse community

Perry is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Iowa, and the heart and soul of the community is on display every day in how immigrants from all over the world are welcomed, Williams said. The U.S. Census Bureau in 2022 estimated that 31.2% of the Perry population is Hispanic or Latino, and 9.3% are two or more races.

We have people who come to Perry with literally just the clothes on their back, and we have programs to help them all to get established here," Williams said.

Because of Perry's diverse population, where some residents have limited English skills, we are going to have to work extra hard to make sure we are getting our messages to everyone, said newly elected Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh. The community has many translators and also receives assistance from Tyson Fresh Meats, the packing plant where many immigrants work, he said.

Cavanaugh said the citys role will be to provide as much support as possible to the school district going forward.

As a result of lessons learned during the COVID pandemic, the schools can provide remote learning if some students are reluctant to return to school right away, Cavanaugh said.

Doug Royer (left) and Ken Cunningham play billiards on Friday in downtown Perry as they discuss the shooting at Perry High School.

Silviano Conelio, who speaks only Spanish, said through an interpreter that the school shooting left him feeling insecure.

I would not expect this to happen in a small town," Conelio said through a translator. "I hope they put in metal detectors in the schools.

Time is needed, Perry residents say, for healing, for asking tough questions about school shooting

Leaders and residents alike said the community needs time, to grieve, to be supportive of one another, to process what happened and to learn from it.

Andorf said the highest priority in these initial days is for individuals, families and the community as a whole to care for one another.

"What needs to happen in the immediate time frame is we all need to remain as strong as we can and support each other, hug each other  especially our family and our children," he said.

Down the road, the focus can turn to what led to the shooting and how such tragedies can be prevented, he said.

"Now is not a time to point fingers at whos to blame or what could have been done, what should have been done," he said. Later, the community will "take time to sort out what may have occurred prior to this happening and how we can move on and work together to try and make sure it wont happen again."

Two sisters, Yesenia Roeder Hall and Khamya Hall, both 17, told the Associated Press that Butler was their friend and that he had been bullied relentlessly since elementary school. More recently, his younger sister started getting picked on, too, they said.

Retirees and lifelong Perry residents Ken Cunningham and Doug Rayer said they hope that if bullying was a factor in the shooting, it gets addressed. Officials have not given a motive for the shooting.

It was obviously a young man (the shooter) who had troubles, and you have to wonder if he tried to find help and couldnt find it, Cunningham said. Its going to be tough for kids to go back to school and see that empty seat. We have to trust that the school will be doing everything it can do to make it safe.

A sign reading "Perry Strong" is displayed near the edge of town following a shooting at Perry High School on Thursday.

Pastor sees spirituality as part of healing process

Williams said he was encouraged by the number of people who attended the many prayer vigils on Thursday night, which he saw as a start down the path toward healing.

It seems like everyone attended at least one, Williams said.

He said the tragedy no one expects to happen in a small town might help raise awareness of mental health issues and violence.

The Pastoral Association of Perry quickly swung into action and also received assistance from nearby pastors and congregations, he said.

We are here for the resources people need, whether it's food, water or prayer," Williams said. "Our house is their house.

Williams sees spirituality as important in helping the people of Perry move forward, which started with the prayer vigils.

Jon Williams, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Perry, Ron Carlson and United Methodist Church Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai pray during a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Perry High School shootings on Thursday.

When a tragedy like this happens, people ask where was God when this happened," Williams said. "Its important to us as clergy to help them understand that our God would never do this. He does not kill, steal or destroy. Our bishops message last night (Thursday) is that Gods light overcomes all darkness, and that is my message going forward, one of love, hope and comfort.

Linda Andorf, president of the Perry Community School District board and wife of the former mayor, echoed the call for people to focus now on the present and coming together  and acknowledged that healing will take time.

"People may be feeling or saying, I should have done more," she said. "Everybody did everything they could possibly do. And everybody was a part of keeping kids safe in a place where they should always be safe and never have fear.

"Its going to take time, and its going to take everybody pulling and working together, which I know that they will do.  We will come out stronger on the other side.

Download the free Des Moines Register app and turn on notifications to follow continuing coverage of this story. Also sign up for the Daily Briefing to get the biggest updates directly in your inbox each morning.

This breaking news coverage is being provided for free as a service to the community. Subscribe to the Des Moines Register to support the local journalists covering this story.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa school shooting: Perry residents say healing will take time
PETERSBURG  A city man was arrested Friday night after police said he shot an intruder on his property.

Junternius Stinson, 52, has been charged with malicious wounding following the incident in the 70 block of Grayson Street, which is in Petersburgs west end. According to reports, Stinson reportedly shot 54-year-old Wayne Cherry after the latter allegedly tried to break tnto a shed behind Stinsons residence around 6 p.m. Friday.

Cherry, a Petersburg resident whose injuries were not considered life-threatening, was charged with breaking and entering, and possession of burglary tools. Police said the two men did not know each other.

The incident was the first of two shootings within a day of each other in the city. Shortly after police reported the burglary and subsequent arrests, officers were called Saturday afternoon to the 1400 block of Montgomery Avenue, also in Petersburgs west end, for what police called an active shooting investigation.

Details about the Montgomery Avenue shooting have yet to be released. Anyone who has information about it is asked to contact Petersburg Police at (804) 732-4222 or use the P3Tips mobile app.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg man charged with shooting burglar at shed; burglar also arrested
Pharrell Williams was spotted trying to parallel park his Tesla Cybertruck.

Williams ultimately had to leave his truck in the street after his failed attempt, a witness said.

Tesla delivered the first round of Cybertrucks to their owners in November.

The internet jokesters are calling it "Pharrellel parking."

Pharrell Williams is the latest public figure to be seen with the new Tesla Cybertruck, which was released in November to a small group of customers.

This week, the influential record producer and musician was spotted attempting to parallel park the vehicle outside a Louis Vuitton store in Miami. And in a situation that might feel familiar to many drivers, he ended up dangerously close to crunching another car.

Williams eventually had to assess his parking skills from outside his Cybertruck. Roxana Gonzalez

According to Roxana Gonzalez, the woman who captured his parking skills, Williams  who's also the creative director for Louis Vuitton  tried for 10 minutes to get the car into the space before abandoning the effort and letting the valet handle it.

The situation occurred outside a Louis Vuitton store in Miami. Roxana Gonzalez

"That truck was never going to fit," Gonzalez told Business Insider.

The photo below is his reaction to how close he got to the red car behind the truck.

His reaction to the parking job shows just how close of a call it was. Roxana Gonzalez

The Cybertruck went out to the first group of owners on November 30, 2023. For size comparison, it's slightly less than 19 feet long and about 80 inches wide, shorter and more narrow than Ford's F-150 Lighting, though much larger than, for example, a Toyota Prius.

The cheapest Cybertruck model costs $60,990, while the all-wheel drive option costs $79,990, and the "Cyberbeast" option costs $99,990.

Tesla had originally not wanted to add side mirrors to the Cybertruck, seeking to keep the design as streamlined and angular as possible. Elon Musk had said that drivers could rely on side-mounted cameras. However, US regulators said drivers aren't ready to rely solely on those just yet and required Tesla to add mirrors.

The futuristic vehicle has attracted a few famous drivers. While Williams wasn't among the owners who rolled away in it in November, Alexis Ohanian, cofounder of Reddit, was seen getting into a brand new Cybertruck then. Ohanian said the truck is the "first car that really feels comfortable to me" as a tall person.

Meanwhile, an automobile competitor used Williams' parking snafu as an excuse to market its own brand. Underneath an Instagram post of pictures of the incident, Mercedes-Benz commented:

"Our Active Parking Assist can help with that ," the official Mercedes account commented.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(KRON)  Local popular coffee chain Philz Coffee has moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Oakland, CEO Mahesh Sadarangani said in a statement on Friday. The former headquarters in San Francisco was in the Dogpatch neighborhood.

The company was founded in San Francisco more than 20 years ago, with the first coffee shop in the Mission District. Philz Coffees new headquarters in Oakland will be at the companys roasting facility.

Sadarangani said the existing lease on the SF building no longer aligned with our needs as a accompany. He added that is due, in part, to the fact nearly all of Philzs corporate team members are fully remote.

Adidas store at San Francisco Centre set to close

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is excited and honored about the San Francisco-founded companys move to her city.

So happy to welcome Philz to their permanent home right here in the Town, Thao posted Friday on X. Its not just about coffee; its about community, and were honored that a major local favorite has chosen Oakland as their home. Welcome to the Oakland family, Philz Coffee!

The move to Oakland comes a few months after Philz closed its original shop last October in San Franciscos Mission District.

Since being founded in 2003, Philz Coffee now has dozens of locations across California, including Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego counties. There are six locations in the Chicago area.

We look forward to continuing to be a part of the community and having a strong presence in the Bay Area, Sadarangani said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Two men were hurt during a shooting on Main Street in Pittsfield shortly before noon on Saturday, police said.

At approximately 11:50 a.m., officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area of 54 Main St.

When officers arrived, they found two injured men in a parking lot, police said. The victims were taken by ambulance to Concord Hospital as officers began to search for the suspect. Their conditions were not known on Saturday.

After the shooting, police advised residents to avoid the area as investigators searched the area.

Troopers with the New Hampshire State Police responded to assist and are investigating.

Police said there is no ongoing threat.

Anyone with information about this incident, and who has not talked to investigators, is asked to contact Trooper First Class Amanda Johnson at Amanda.L.Johnson@dos.nh.gov.

Police said additional information will be released as appropriate.

Pittsfield is a small town located east of Concord. The towns population was 4,075 at the 2020 census.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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FILE - A Royal Mail Post Office is seen in London, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. U.K. police have opened a fraud investigation into Britains Post Office over a miscarriage of justice that saw hundreds of postmasters wrongfully accused of stealing money, when a faulty computer system was to blame. The Metropolitan Police said late Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, that it was investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions, relating to money the Post Office received as a result of prosecutions or civil actions against falsely accused postal workers. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

LONDON (AP)  U.K. police have opened a fraud investigation into Britains Post Office over a miscarriage of justice that saw hundreds of postmasters wrongfully accused of stealing money when a faulty computer system was to blame.

The Metropolitan Police force said late Friday that it is investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions, relating to money the Post Office received as a result of prosecutions or civil actions against accused postal workers.

Police also are investigating potential offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice over investigations and prosecutions carried out by the Post Office.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 post office branch managers were accused of theft or fraud because computers wrongly showed that money was missing. Many were financially ruined after being forced to pay large sums to the company, and some were convicted and sent to prison. Several killed themselves.

The real culprit was a defective computer accounting system called Horizon, supplied by the Japanese technology firm Fujitsu, that was installed in local Post Office branches in 1999.

The Post Office maintained for years that data from Horizon was reliable and accused branch managers of dishonesty when the system showed money was missing.

After years of campaigning by victims and their lawyers, the Court of Appeal quashed 39 of the convictions in 2021. A judge said the Post Office knew there were serious issues about the reliability of Horizon and had committed egregious failures of investigation and disclosure.

A total of 93 of the postal workers have now had their convictions overturned, according to the Post Office. But many others have yet to be exonerated, and only 30 have agreed to full and final compensation payments. A public inquiry into the scandal has been underway since 2022.

So far, no one from the publicly owned Post Office or other companies involved has been arrested or faced criminal charges.

Lee Castleton, a former branch manager who went bankrupt after being pursued by the Post Office for missing funds, said his family was ostracized in their hometown of Bridlington in northern England. He said his daughter was bullied because people thought her father was a thief, and hed take money from old people.

He said victims wanted those responsible to be named.

Its about accountability, Castleton told Times Radio on Saturday. Lets see who made those decisions and made this happen.

The long-simmering scandal stirred new outrage with the broadcast this week of a TV docudrama, Mr. Bates vs the Post Office. It charted a two-decade battle by branch manager Alan Bates, played by Toby Jones, to expose the truth and clear the wronged postal workers.

Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read, appointed after the scandal, welcomed the TV series and said he hoped it would raise further awareness and encourage anyone affected who has not yet come forward to seek the redress and compensation they deserve.

A lawyer for some of the postal workers said 50 new potential victims had approached lawyers since the show aired on the ITV network.

The drama has elevated public awareness to a whole new level, attorney Neil Hudgell said. The British public and their overwhelming sympathy for the plight of these poor people has given some the strength to finally come forward. Those numbers increase by the day, but there are so many more out there.
Czesaw Siekierski, Polands Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, will sign an agreement in Rzeszow on Saturday, 6 January with representatives of the Oszukana Wies (Deceived Village) movement in order to bring their border blockade in the town of Medyka to an end.

Source: Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita; European Pravda

Details: Rzeczpospolita states that Siekierski made a decision to provide written assurances for the fulfilment of three demands made by farmers who were protesting: cheap loans, guarantees of no tax increases, and maize subsidies.

The article states that Poland applied to the European Commission for approval regarding subsidies, that the Polish Sejm [lower house of the Polish parliament - ed.] should approve the repeal of a 21% tax increase, and that local authorities will provide loan guarantees in exchange for compensation from the state budget.

Publicly, Oszukana Wies also demanded that the ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine be extended to additional products such as soft fruits, sugar, alcohol, honey, apple concentrate, eggs and poultry.

Although the Polish government informed the farmers that it has approved some of their demands, they demanded written guarantees, which is why Siekierski will reportedly be going to Rzeszow on Saturday to conclude a deal. After that, the farmers should end the blockade.

At the same time, Rzeczpospolitas sources claim that the minister had not yet made a final decision as of the evening of 5 January.

Background: Farmers from Oszukana Wies began blocking the Medyka border checkpoint on 23 November this year. They announced that they would suspend their protest from 24 December until early January and might not resume it if their demands were met. But on 4 January, the blockade resumed.

At the end of December, the Ministry for Restoration of Ukraine and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland agreed on a list of conditions necessary for unblocking the border.

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FILE - A worker rakes wheat in a granary on a private farm in Zhurivka, Kyiv region, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Poland's state news agency is reporting that Polish farmers who had blockaded a border crossing to Ukraine ended their protest after reaching an agreement with the government that met their demands. The frustration of the farmers was one of the challenges facing the new Polish government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which seeks to support Ukraine while also addressing the demands of Polish farmers and truckers whose livelihoods have been hurt by the war. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Polish farmers who had blockaded a border crossing to Ukraine ended their protest after reaching an agreement with the government that met their demands, Poland's state news agency PAP reported Saturday.

The frustration of the farmers was one of the challenges facing the new Polish government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which seeks to support Ukraine while also addressing the demands of Polish farmers and truckers whose livelihoods have been hurt by the war.

Since November, both farmers and truckers have been blockading border crossings, threatening the flow of some aid going into Ukraine.

Polish farmers complain that imports of Ukrainian foods have caused prices to fall, hurting their incomes, while truckers say they are being undercut by their Ukrainian counterparts.

The truckers are continuing their protest, creating queues of many kilometers at serveral border crossings. This week truckers had to wait over two days before they could cross.

Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski signed an agreement Saturday with a farmers group called Deceived Village and Teresa Kubas-Hul, a leader of the Podkarpackie region, which borders Ukraine. Under the deal, the farmers agreed to suspend their protest at the Medyka border crossing.

The deal states that the agriculture minister accepted the demands of the farmers, who sought a corn production subsidy of 1 billion Polish zlotys ($250 million), a lower agricultural tax and preferential liquidity loans, PAP reported.

The demands are to be implemented after the legislative process is completed and the necessary approvals from the European Union are obtained, PAP reported.
Polish farmers have agreed to suspend their border blockade at the Shehyni-Medyka crossing after reaching an agreement with government representatives, the Polish Agriculture Ministry announced on Jan. 6.

Polish truckers have been blocking three crossings with Ukraine since November 2023 in protest of the EU's liberalization of transit rules for Ukrainian truckers, causing massive lines on the border and negatively impacting Ukraine's economy.

Polish farmers then launched a blockade at a fourth crossing at Medyka. They temporarily suspended the protest over the Christmas period between Dec. 24 and Jan. 4.

The farmers said they launched the protest because the authorities have not taken enough measures to protect their livelihoods, despite an import ban on Ukrainian grain.

Agricultural Minister Czeslaw Siekierski pledged to meet three of the farmers farmers' demands on Jan. 6, according to the government announcement.

These include launching corn subsidies worth one billion zloty ($251 million), increasing liquidity loans by 2.5 billion zloty ($629 million), and keeping agricultural tax at the 2023 level.

These measures "will be implemented after the legislative process is completed and acceptance by the European Commission is obtained," the Agriculture Ministry said.

Farmers have also previously asked to expand the import ban on Ukrainian agricultural products to items like sugar, eggs, and poultry, but this was not included in the deal reached on Jan. 6.

European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski told Polish media outlet RMF24 on Jan. 5 that he would demand an EU-wide restriction on these products.

Truckers continue their protest at the other border crossings, and as of Jan. 5, 2,000 trucks were waiting in line to enter Ukraine from Poland, according to Border Guard Service spokesman Andrii Demchenko.

The border crisis that enters its third month continues to put pressure on Ukrainian-Polish relations, already strained by disputes over grain imports last fall.

Read also: Anger and disappointment in endless lines of Ukrainian trucks at Polish border

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Czesaw Siekierski, Polands Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and representatives of the Oszukana Wies (Deceived Village) movement have signed an agreement to end the blocking of the border crossing point with Ukraine at Medyka.

Source: Polsat News, citing Teresa Kubas-Hul, Voivode (Governor) of Subcarpathia, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Siekierski promised to meet all the farmers' demands: one million zoty worth of maize subsidies, a 2.5-billion-zoty increase in loans, and maintaining the agricultural tax at the level of 2023.

The agreement states that the blocking of the checkpoint in Medyka must be suspended, but no deadline for suspension is specified.

Previously: Poland applied to the European Commission for approval of the subsidies; the Polish Sejm [lower house of the Polish parliament  ed.] must approve the repeal of the 21% tax increase; and local authorities will provide loan guarantees in exchange for compensation from the state budget.

Farmers from Oszukana Wies began blocking the Medyka border checkpoint on 23 November this year. They announced on 24 December that they would suspend their protest until early January and might not resume it if their demands were met. But on 4 January, the blockade resumed.

At the end of December, Ukraines Ministry for Restoration and Polands Infrastructure Ministry agreed on an action plan to unblock the border.

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Pope Francis presides over an Epiphany mass in St.Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY (AP)  Amid resistance to some Vatican policy by more conservative factions of the Catholic church, Pope Francis on Saturday cautioned the faithful against fracturing into groups based on our own ideas."

He issued the call to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies in his homily in St. Peter's Basilica during Epiphany Day Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday.

Francis also warned against basking in some elegant religious theory instead of finding God in the faces of the poor.

Last month, Francis gave permission for priests to bless couples outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships, as long as the blessing was pastoral and not liturgical or part of some religious rite.

Some bishops who view Francis as a dangerous progressive immediately rejected such blessings. That prompted the Vatican earlier this week to issue a statement stressing that the blessings don't constitute heresy and there were no doctrinal grounds to reject the practice.

Francis in his Epiphany homily didn't cite the pushback against his same-sex blessings policy. But he deviated from the written text of the homily to cite the need to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies.

Francis said the Church needed to ensure that "our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance.

We find the God who comes down to visit us, not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life," especially in the faces of the poor, the pontiff said.

The pontiff, who turned 87 last month and who battled health problems last year, held up well during the Epiphany ceremony, which included singing of Christmas hymns. At the end of the 90-minute service, an aide wheeled Francis down the basilica's center aisle. The pope has a chronic knee problem and uses a wheelchair to navigate longer distances.

He has dedicated much of his nearly 11-year-old papacy to encouraging attention to marginalized people, including the poor. While the Church teaches that homosexual acts are sinful, Francis has made efforts to make LGBTQ+ Catholics feel welcome.
PORTSMOUTH  The city's newly established Public Art Review Committee is launching a process to plan, create and install a signature work of art on city property at Peirce Island using funding from the citys Percent-for-Art program.

From statues, murals, fountains, paintings, and photography, Portsmouth features many examples of public art. The new work on Peirce Island will join such signature examples as the new Endeavor sculpture by Sijia Chen in Bohenko Gateway Park, Jerome Meadows artistic elements at the African Burying Ground Memorial Park, and Foundry Place Garage art works by Peter Happny, Terrence Parker, and others that honor Portsmouths industrial past.

The construction of the Peirce Island Wastewater Treatment Plant provides the funding for the Peirce Island Art Project.

Like the Foundry Place works, the Peirce Island Art Project will be funded through Portsmouths Percent-for-Art program, established in 2006 to increase the number of significant works of art in the City available for the enjoyment and enlightenment of citizens and visitors. The Portsmouth public art ordinance was modeled on the state of New Hampshires Percent-for-Art program. For each publicly funded construction project, the City allocates 1% of the total project budget up to $150,000 toward public art.

The construction of the Peirce Island Wastewater Treatment Plant provides the funding for the Peirce Island Art Project. PARC anticipates the artwork will be located near the entrance to the Island in reasonable proximity to the Citys Outdoor Pool and playground and freely accessible for all visitors.

PARC members will soon announce a series of community engagement sessions open to all Portsmouth residents to elicit citizens ideas for the Peirce Island Art Project. The artwork could be a sculpture or a landscape design, could be a single piece or several works, and/or could reflect a single theme or a range of ideas or themes, said PARC Chairperson Chris Dwyer in announcing the project launch. Citizens ideas will inform the Request for Proposals from interested artists that PARC will release in the Spring.

For more information and future updates, visit the Public Art Review Committee page on the City website: portsnh.co/publicart.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth launches Peirce Island public art installation planning
Bev Jackson, the co-founder of LGB Alliance, said the Post Office showed 'some nerve' in lecturing a lesbian activist over the word 'queer'

The Post Office has defended its use of the word queer following an outcry from activists.

Responding to criticisms about its use of the term, the Post Office wrote online: Allow us to educate. Queer can be used as an umbrella term for those who do not identify as heterosexual or straight. It can mean many different things to people but is a way of uniting those to identify as their authentic self.

The company faced further backlash from campaigners following the post on X, formerly Twitter. The critics said the word was a hateful slur often used by violent homophobes.

They added that the Post Office wouldnt dream of advocating use of the N-word, which they felt was similarly offensive.

But the Post Office rebuffed condemnation and said its partnership with charity and museum Queer Britain was evidence the description was acceptable.

A fashionable identity

Bev Jackson, the co-founder of LGB Alliance, told The Telegraph: Many lesbians and gay men reject the word queer as a slur, one often uttered before a vicious beating. Others reject it because it has been claimed by straight people as a fashionable identity.

Last year, LGB Alliance released a report entitled Dont Call Me Queer which found 90 per cent of those surveyed felt uncomfortable with the word.

Aja the Empress, a campaigner who chose not to give her real name for fear of reprisal, highlighted Post Offices stance on social media and said she doesnt understand why it felt entitled to use a term which has been spat at me venom.

She told The Telegraph: Im a 39-year-old lesbian who is old enough to remember the word queer being spat at me with such venom I can still feel the hate today.

I know gay men who have been beaten up under the banner of that word. For many of us it is a slur and always will be, which is why I cannot for the life of me understand it being used by the likes of the Post Office (or anyone).

Aja added: For me as a black woman it hits the same way the N word does but The Post Office would never dream of calling black people the N word. They would never dare tell us we had to accept it but they do with homosexuals and queer.

The campaigner claimed the Post Offices stance was an example of businesses being captured by woke gender ideology and using it as an opportunity to virtue signal, while ignoring their own mistakes.

The Post Office, like many other organisations, have clearly been captured by gender ideology/queer theory and are using it as a virtue stick which means they can ignore their own failing, such as the innocent sub-postmasters sent to jail, she said.

The Post Office is already at the centre of controversy over the wrongful prosecution of sub-postmasters - LEFTERIS PITARAKIS/AP

More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Fujitsu accounting software, called Horizon, made it seem that money had gone missing from their businesses. The public inquiry, which has been going on for three years, is yet to conclude.

After ITV aired a new drama about the scandal, there were calls for Paula Vennells, who oversaw the organisation while it denied there were problems with the Horizon IT system, to be stripped of her CBE.

Word is being reclaimed

Ms Jackson added: Certainly, no corporation has the right to use or reclaim queer on our behalf. It takes some nerve for the Post Office to school Aja, a black lesbian activist, on which words she should allow others to use to describe her.

A Post Office spokesman said: We support Pride month and events every year and respond to questions about our support on our social media channels. Were proud to have previously worked with the charity Queer Britain, the UKs LGBTQ+ museum.

They say that language changes and that whilst the term queer has long been a term of abuse for LGBTQ+ people, it is being reclaimed by younger people especially who they say embrace it proudly as their identity.

It was in this context that our response to a query on X (formerly Twitter) should be seen.

The original tweet the Post Office has defended online and in its response to The Telegraph has since been deleted. The Post Office refused to provide further details of the exchange which drew criticism despite purporting to back its position on the matter.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
Migrants are taken into custody by officials at the Texas-Mexico border on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. The Biden administration is attempting to block a Texas law that seeks to take on federal responsibility of managing migrants. | Eric Gay, Associated Press

The Biden administration is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over the states new law that empowers its state and local authorities to jail and prosecute those entering the country illegally, taking on the responsibility given to U.S. Customs and Immigration.

The court documents say the administration is pursuing legal action to preserve its exclusive authority to regulate immigration under federal law. It also states that Texas cannot run its own immigration system.

Texas law  known as SB4  is invalid, the lawsuit says.

What did Gov. Greg Abbott say about the latest lawsuit?

Abbott took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and said, Biden sued me today because I signed a law making it illegal for an illegal immigrant to enter or attempt to enter Texas directly from a foreign nation.

I like my chances, he added. Texas is the only government in America trying to stop illegal immigration.

Related

Utah Sen. Mike Lee also chimed in on X, blaming Biden for the problem, which has left Texas with no recourse.

Biden wants to stop Texas from fixing the problem  the one he created by refusing to enforce the law, the GOP senator said. Its time to enforce the border. Or shut it down.

Biden created the problem.



He left Texas with no recourse.



So Texas tried to fix it.



Bidens mad.



So he sued Texas.



Biden wants to stop Texas from fixing the problemthe one he created by refusing to enforce the law.



Its time to enforce the border.



Or shut it down. https://t.co/SNwonCvmeR  Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) January 4, 2024

The White House blamed Republicans for blocking the presidents efforts to direct more resources to the border, referring to the border security spending deal that Congress has yet to find consensus on.

We really do hope that we come to a place where we can talk about a bipartisan agreement, said press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre.

This back and forth coincides with House Speaker Mike Johnsons visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday. He was accompanied by 60 Republican members of Congress, including Utah Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs three bills into law at a border wall construction site in Brownsville, Texas, Dec. 18, 2023, that will broaden his border security plans and add funding for more infrastructure to deter illegal immigration. The Justice Department on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, sued Texas over a new law that would allow police to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally, taking Abbott to court again over his escalating response to border crossers arriving from Mexico. | Valerie Gonzalez, Associated Press

Gov. Greg Abbott defends Texas policies against illegal migration

Abbott has been leading the conversation on illegal immigration occurring through the U.S.-Mexico border. He has long expressed frustration with whats asked of his state while the federal government doesnt manage the border, before deciding to start busing migrants to Democrat-run cities across the U.S. and install razor wires along the border under Operation Lone Star.

But the crisis at the border has only persisted, with a surge in illegal migrant crossings  more than 300,000  in December, marking an all-time monthly high in the three years since President Biden took office.

So, on Dec. 18, Abbott signed SB4, which is set to take effect on Sept. 1. A day later, the policy faced a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union. They argued the law is unconstitutional.

The strict immigration law also prompted a threat from the Justice Department, which warned Texas that it would file a lawsuit should the state not willingly backtrack on enforcing SB4 and issuing a deadline of Jan. 3.

SB4 is preempted and violates the United States Constitution, wrote Brian Boynton, the principal deputy assistant attorney general, in a letter dated Dec. 28. The United States is committed to both securing the border and ensuring the processing of noncitizens consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act, adding the new Texas law is contrary to these goals.

In response, Abbott wrote in a post on X that the Biden administration neither enforces the existing federal immigration laws nor are they allowing Texas to enforce laws against illegal migration.

Biden is destroying America. Texas is trying to save it, Abbott said.

Other legal feuds between Texas and the Biden administration

In December, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to allow for the removal of Texas razor fence in an emergency appeal after the lower courts ruled in favor of Texas, restricting the wire from being cut or moved.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has vowed to fight the lawsuit brought by the ACLU and the Biden administration in a social media post. Texas has the sovereign right to protect our state, he said.

The attorney general is also leading 20 Republican states in legally challenging a federal policy instated under the current administration that allows roughly 360,000 people from a handful of South American countries to enter the U.S. Paxton argues the individuals who are being permitted into the country would not be eligible to immigrate were it not for this policy, as Reuters reported.
President Joe Biden plans to attend a wake for late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson scheduled for Monday in Dallas.

Johnson died at the age of 88 on New Years Eve.

A viewing for Johnson will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m Monday at the Hall of State at Fair Park in Dallas, according to Star-Telegram media partner, WFAA-TV. A prayer service will follow the viewing, scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Concord Church at 8808 Pastor Bailey Drive.

Johnsons funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9., at Concord Church.

Services will end with a graveyard service at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

Johnson served almost three decades in Congress representing Dallas and the North Texas area. The first black member of Congress from Dallas and the third female Texas native elected to the U.S. House, Johnson won reelection 15 times before retiring in 2023.

She was a remarkable and loving mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great grandmother, as well as a trailblazer and public servant, said her son, Kirk Johnson, in a Facebook post Sunday announcing her passing.

Born Dec. 3, 1935 in Waco, Johnson attended Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, Saint Marys College and worked as a nurse prior to her political career.

She was also a champion of womens and minority rights.

After announcing her retirement, she quickly endorsed U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, who filled Johnsons seat in 2023.

Throughout her life, and as the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, she was an icon and mentor to generations of public servants, through whom her legacy of resilience and purpose will endure, Biden said in a statement Sunday. Jill and I send our love to her family, including her son Kirk and her grandchildren Kirk Jr., David, and James; to her many friends; and to the people of Texas 30th Congressional District, who were so fortunate to have her as their champion for so long.

Johnsons family invites all who wish to participate in commemorating her life to the services.

The memorial services of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will provide an opportunity for friends, colleagues, and the community to celebrate and honor the extraordinary life and legacy of her remarkable contributions to public service, the family said in a statement, according to KXAS-TV. Memorial services will include tributes, reflections, and remembrances from those who were touched by Congresswoman Johnsons dedication and leadership. These services aim to capture the essence of her enduring impact on the community and the nation.
Dozens of women have accused Jeffrey Epstein of abusing them - GETTY IMAGES

Prince Andrew had daily massages when he spent weeks at Jeffrey Epsteins home, according to the late financiers former assistant in newly released court documents.

Juan Alessi, who worked at Epsteins Palm Beach residence, said both Prince Andrew and his then wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were friends with Epstein and Maxwell.

Asked during a 2009 deposition whether the pair ever had massages at the Florida property, Mr Alessi replied: Prince Andrew did.

He added: I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I dont think she slept in there. I cannot remember.

I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us, he said, adding that he would sleep in the main guest bedroom.

He said during his stays he would have daily massages.

Asked if it was sometimes more than one a day, Mr Alessi said: I cant remember if he had more than one, but I think it was just a massage for him.

We set up the tables and...

He said he could not recall whether Ms Giuffre had come to the house when Andrew was there.

The Duke has strenuously denied Ms Giuffres allegations. He settled a claim by Ms Giuffre for an undisclosed sum in 2022 without admitting any wrongdoing.

The claims were revealed in the latest dossier of unsealed documents related to Epstein and Maxwells sexual abuse that was unsealed in New York on Friday.

12:45 AM GMT

What we learnt today

Here is a summary of what we learnt from the Epstein files today and the top stories:

Ghislaine Maxwell claimed she never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein, newly unsealed court documents have revealed

One of Epsteins former housekeepers said the Duke had daily massages when he spent weeks at the paedophile financiers Florida home

An Epstein employee, who is labelled only as the witness in the documents, claimed Maxwell took the paedophile financier to England to introduce him to royalty

The Duke of York is set to be forced to fund future security operations at his Windsor home, The Telegraph can reveal

Sir Keir Starmer said police should look into sexual abuse allegations made against Prince Andrew

12:14 AM GMT

Epstein pushed Maxwell to deny sex abuse claims in 2015

An email chain between Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and her advisers reveals how he pushed her to release a statement protesting her innocence after Virginia Giuffre accused them of sexual abuse in January 2015.

In emails revealed in a newly released court filing, Maxwell is urged several times to release a statement denying the claims.

You have done nothing wrong and i woudl urge you to start acting like it. go outside, head high, not as an esacping convict. go to parties. deal with it, Epstein wrote.

On January 22 he emailed again: ive tried to call. what have you decided?. On January 27 he said: what has happned to you and your statmenet??

She replied: I have not decided what to do.

Epstein then drafted a long statement for her, dismissing the story as outright lies, innuendo, slander, defamation and salacious gossip and harrassment.

Maxwell and Epstein

11:29 PM GMT

Epsteins assistant pled the fifth

Jeffrey Epsteins former assistant Sarah Kellen refused to answer more than 20 questions about the paedophile during a 2010 interview.

Despite being asked a string of questions, including whether she had been instructed to find underage girls for Epstein, Ms Kellen responded each time with the same refrain: On the instruction of my 15 lawyer, I must invoke my Fifth Amendment right.

11:00 PM GMT

Prince Andrew spent weeks at Epsteins home, former housekeeper claims

One of Epsteins former housekeepers said Prince Andrew had daily massages when he spent weeks at the paedophile financiers Florida home.

Juan Alessi, who worked at Epsteins Palm Beach residence, said both the Duke of York and his then wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were friends with Epstein and Maxwell.

Asked during a 2009 deposition whether the pair ever had massages at the Florida property, Mr Alessi replied: Prince Andrew did.

He added: I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I dont think she slept in there. I cannot remember.

I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us, he said, adding that he would sleep in the main guest bedroom.

He said during his stays he would have daily massages.

10:25 PM GMT

Epstein associate Marcinkova refused 41 questions on her former boss

Nadia Marcinkova, a model-turned-pilot who once worked with Jeffrey Epstein, refused 41 times to answer questions on the disgraced financer when questioned about him in 2010, one of the latest unsealed documents reveals.

Ms Marcinkova, who was allegedly an accomplice of Mr Epstein in the recruitment of girls working for him as massage therapists, declined to answer any questions in a document released on Friday.

Unlike the other documents that have been unsealed in recent days, the Marcinkova deposition relates to a separate case between an unnamed alleged victim Jane Doe and Mr Epstein himself.

Ms Marcinkova declined to answer any of the questions put to her by lawyers, responding fifth  a reference to the Fifth Amendment right that gives Americans the right to refuse to answer questions that may incriminate them.

The questions included the accusation that she had been groomed to enjoy and appreciate the acts of sex underage minors and that Epstein had indicated to you that he will always engage in sex acts with underage minor females?.

09:38 PM GMT

Second batch of documents unsealed

A new batch of documents has been unsealed, the second today.

Our reporters are reading them now and we will post the latest news in this thread.

09:06 PM GMT

Maxwell refused to answer questions about Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell repeatedly refused to answer questions about her sexual relations with Jeffrey Epstein and others.

Maxwell was asked again and again over the course of several hours about what she knew of her ex-boyfriends sexual activity.

On the advice of her lawyers, she also refused to answer whether she had ever given Epstein a massage, or any other questions relating to any consensual adult interaction she had with him.

The subject was returned to repeatedly, and in one tense exchange led Virginia Giuffres lawyer Sigrid McCawley to chastise Maxwell and warn her she could be called back for a second deposition.

Im in charge of the deposition, McCawley told Maxwell. I say when we move on and when we dont. You are here to respond to my 11 questions.

If you are refusing to answer, the court will bring you back for another deposition to answer these questions. Do you understand that?

Maxwells lawyer, Jeffrey Pagliuca, replied: You dont need to threaten the witness.

09:00 PM GMT

Brunel called Epstein multiple times, according to messages

Jean Luc Brunel called Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions, phone messages left for the paedophile appear to show.

A handwritten message from 26 February 2005 states someone called Gean Luc called. The note underneath read: Please call him.

An entry two days later also appears to show a missed call from Gean Luc with the message: that he called back.

Another entry does not give the name of the caller, but appears to say she was ringing to ask if she should bring her friend.

Brunel was a close friend of Epstein and was awaiting trial on charges that he raped underaged girls when he killed himself in a Paris prison in 2022.

08:51 PM GMT

Massaging Epstein is an excellent job opportunity, Maxwell said

Ghislaine Maxwell said she viewed offering Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg extra money to massage him as career advice and an excellent job opportunity.

In a 2016 deposition, Maxwell was asked about meeting Ms Sjoberg and said she was hired to answer phones.

She was asked: Did you ever tell Johanna that she would get extra money if she provided Jeffrey massages?

To which Maxwell replied: I was always happy to give career advice to people and I think that becoming somebody in the healthcare profession, either exercise instructor or nutritionist or professional massage therapist is an excellent job opportunity.

She went on: Hourly wages are about $7, $8, $9 and as a professional healthcare provider you can earn somewhere between as we have established $100 to $200.

She added: So in the context of advising people for opportunities for work, it is possible that I would have said that she should explore that as an option.

Johanna Sjoberg

08:34 PM GMT

Maxwell: I did not know ages of girls coming to Epsteins house

Ghislaine Maxwell claimed she could not possibly know how old the girls coming to Jeffrey Epsteins house were.

In an hours-long deposition in 2016, Maxwell was repeatedly probed on whether she knew underage girls were present in the late financiers home.

She said: How would I possibly know how [old] someone is when they are at his house. You are asking me to do that. I cannot possibly testify to that.

Maxwell added: As far as Im concerned, everyone who came to his house was an adult professional person.

The deposition is part of the unsealed documents released on Friday in relation to a defamation suit brought by accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Asked if Ms Giuffre was under the age of 18 when she met her, or whether she looked like a child, Maxwell replied: I dont remember what she looked like at the time.

Epstein and Maxwell

08:27 PM GMT

What we know so far

The documents released today contain several chunks of depositions that have already been published, including by Johanna Sjoberg and Tony Figueroa, Virginia Giuffres ex-boyfriend.

Some of the other documents contain extensive legal argument about the scope of the depositions faced by Ms Maxwell, and a dispute about articles by a British tabloid reporter that was exposed in yesterdays tranche of files.

08:11 PM GMT

'Clinton', 'Prince' and 'Andrew' among list of terms Giuffres lawyers searched Maxwell's emails for

The words Clinton, Prince and Andrew were all included in a list of terms one of Ms Giuffres lawyers instructed Maxwells email accounts and devices should be searched for.

The list of 368 words included a string familiar names which have appeared in the files so far, including Leslie, Wexner and Marvin, Minksy.

Other terms were listed such as schoolgirl, dildo and slave. There is no suggestion any of the people mentioned have done anything wrong.

07:45 PM GMT

Virginia Giuffres ex-boyfriend said Epstein would pay him to bring teenage girls to his mansion

In a 2016 deposition, Virginia Giuffres ex-boyfriend Anthony Figueroa described how Epstein would pay him $200 to apiece to bring teenage girls to the sex offenders mansion.

Mr Figueroa, who was 19 at the time, said he often met the girls through school and they all looked around 16 to 19.

He said he asked him to bring girls to the house as much as possible.

07:18 PM GMT

The third tranche of legal files relating to Jeffrey Epstein have begun to be unsealed

The third tranche of legal files relating to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has begun to be unsealed by a New York court.

The latest cache features 29 documents.

A fourth batch of documents is expected to be unsealed later on Friday evening.

07:12 PM GMT

Recap: Princess Beatrice visits Prince Andrew after Epstein court files released

Princess Beatrice has been pictured visiting her father, the beleaguered Duke of York, at his Windsor home.

Read the full story here.

07:12 PM GMT

The threads that tie the rich and famous to Jeffrey Epstein

Whether they flew in Jeffrey Epsteins private jet, or were hosted at his Manhattan, Palm Beach or New Mexico homes, the rich and famous surrounded the disgraced American financier and sex offender.

Read the full story here.

06:36 PM GMT

What we learned on Thursday

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Protesters at a pro-Palestine demonstration blockaded Westminster Bridge in London following skirmishes with police.

For almost two hours on Saturday, protesters held a mass die-in preventing traffic from crossing the bridge near the Palace of Westminster.

From noon, hundreds of people gathered at a fountain in St Jamess Park for the latest demonstration in the capital.

A few scuffles broke out when officers appeared to advance on the protest leader, an NHS doctor, after she gave a speech using a loudspeaker.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and held handmade placards condemning Israels war in Gaza. Some placards read: No votes for genocide supporters.

Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters wave Palestinian flags and hold placards during a demonstration in central London - Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images

Protesters carried placards blaming Britain for the 'genocide' in Gaza - Hesther Ng / Story Picture Agency

Protesters wore headscarves and face masks - Guy Smallman

Demonstrators were involved in angry exchanges with police - Mike Ruane / Story Picture Agency

Four Metropolitan Police vans carrying a number of officers were parked next to the fountain on Birdcage Walk, with other vehicles and officers on horseback also patrolling the road.

The march moved into Parliament Square and onto Westminster Bridge before police set up a cordon blocking further protesters from crossing.

Around 200 pro-Palestinian protesters on the bridge held a die-in bring traffic over the River Thames to a halt. Some tourists were caught up in the mayhem, many fearing they were being contained by police.

Some protesters wore masks of leading politicians, including Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, and Joe Biden, the US president, and held up both their hands which were covered in red paint.

Activists wear masks of politicians' faces, including Rishi Sunak and David Cameron - Mike Ruane / Story Picture Agency

Officers try to control the crowds - HENRY NICHOLLS

'Palestine will be free' was among the slogans on protesters' placards - Guy Smallman

Protesters accuse Israel of being a 'Nazi state - Paul Grover

The protesters had also chanted at officers shame on you and who do you serve, who do you protect?

Officers were forced to explain to confused tourists that they were not caught in a containment zone and everyone was free to leave. Officers also released protesters with the demonstration fizzling out by about 4pm.

The Metropolitan Police remained in place lined up on both sides of the bridge until the area was cleared.

Organisers said the die in was meant to send a signal to the UK Government that Palestine is a political priority and that there can be no business as usual and to call for an immediate ceasefire.

In Parliament Square, a man with a loud hailer was filmed chanting: Yemen, Yemen make us proud. How many ships have you turned around? The comment is a reference to the Iran-backed Houthis interrupting international shipping lanes

The Free Palestine Coalition, which says it is made up of grassroots organisations in London, including Sisters Uncut, Black Lives Matter UK, London for a Free Palestine, and the Palestinian Youth Movement told supporters to meet at the drinking fountain at St Jamess Park at noon.

It said they will be blockading a well-known location in London and expected thousands to attend.

The FPC has chosen this date, in advance of Parliament returning, to send a strong signal to the UK Government that Palestine is a political priority and that there can be no business as usual, it said.

Metropolitan Police officers form a cordon at Parliament Square to prevent protesters reaching Westminster Bridge - Victoria Jones

A large number of officers will be in central London to minimise disruption and deal with any offences as protest groups hold a march demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, the Metropolitan Police said.

The force posted on X: Various protest groups, including Sisters Uncut and Black Lives Matter, are planning to hold a protest in central London today.

Officers have attempted to speak with the organisers, however they have not shared any information with us about their proposed route.

This has an impact on how we plan our policing response and means more officers have to be deployed to central London to ensure we can respond quickly.

A number of the placards accused Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, of having blood on his hands after his initial failure to call for a ceasefire.

Another placard contained the quote: I have no problem calling Israel a Nazi state committing acts of genocide knowing full well what my Jewish family endured.

The quote is from Aaron Mate, a journalist at The Grayzone, an American far-left online publication. Mr Mate has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and in November was removed from an Amtrak train after he persistently challenged Chris Coons, a US senator, over his failure to support an unconditional ceasefire.

A series of smaller marches were held in cities and towns across the country in what the Palestine Solidarity Campaign called a day of action.

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Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) slammed a comment by former President Trumps lawyer where she insinuated Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will step up when it comes to the the former presidents ballot cases, claiming it shows a New York mobsters mentality.

Well, this is the way that New York mobsters think about judges, Raskin told MSNBC Friday. Yeah, we own that one. We own that one. Get in that court. That guys in our pocket. And for fascists and authoritarian parties and movements, the law is really not what you know, but its who you know. And its always better for them to know the judge than to know the law.

But to know the law here is to understand that Donald Trump is disqualified, he added in the interview highlighted by Mediaite, just hours after the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case.

Colorados Supreme Court ruled in December that Trump was disqualified from the states primary ballot under the 14th Amendments insurrection clause. The court affirmed that the former president violated the clause  which prohibits those that take an oath of office from rebelling against the government  by inflaming his supporters with false claims of election fraud and directing them to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, speaks at a news conference at the Capitol on threats to democracy three years after the January 6th riot, in Washington, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trumps campaign appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, setting up what will likely be a fiery battle running parallel to the 2024 election.

I think it should be a slam dunk in the Supreme Court. I have faith in them, Trump attorney Alina Habba told Fox Newss Sean Hannity a day before the high court agreed to hear the case. You know, people like Kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who the President went through how to get into place, hell step up.

Raskin also blasted Republicans that have called the Colorado and subsequent Maine decisions to remove Trump from the ballot undemocratic.

Theres nothing undemocratic about it, which is what I keep hearing from, you know, the far precincts of the right, he argued Friday.

Its no more undemocratic than saying that youve gotta be 35 years old to be president, which means that there are a lot of qualified Democrats and Republicans and independents who simply cant run because theyre not qualified under the Constitution  just like a lot of people born abroad dont meet the native birth qualification, he added.

More Top Stories from The Hill

The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in the Colorado case on Feb. 8.

Dozens of other states have also challenged Trumps eligibility under the 14th Amendment though many have been rejected by lower courts.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Rembrandt's connection to the shipwreck has been described as 'immensely exciting' - HERITAGE IMAGES/HULTON FINE ARTS COLLECTION

Two paintings by Rembrandt that were lost in a shipwreck off the coast of Cornwall could have been avoided had it not been for delays by the Dutch master in completing the works, new research reveals.

David Gibbins, a leading British maritime archaeologist, has discovered that the paintings were on board the Santo Cristo di Castello, a Genoese merchant ship wrecked in a storm on her maiden voyage near Mullion Cove in 1667.

Lorenzo Viviano, the ships captain, had overseen her lengthy construction in Amsterdam, only for the ships departure to be delayed by the wait for Rembrandt to complete two paintings for his Genoese patron.

The vessel was trapped icebound in Amsterdam during a severe winter and finally set off months later than planned, when the south-westerlies off the Atlantic were a greater risk.

It was heading out into the Atlantic, transporting cargo destined for Spain and Italy but sank after being blown against rocks along the Lizard Peninsula.

A 16th-century brass crucified Christ, a Corpus Christi, and an angels wing were found in the shipwreck

Dr Gibbins has linked the lost Rembrandts to letters that emerged from the Sauli family archive in Genoa in 2006. They relate to the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, the church that the Sauli family  one of the citys wealthiest  used as a private chapel.

In the 1660s, Francesco Maria Sauli had decided to fill it with art, including a magnificent new altarpiece commissioned from Rembrandt. As Sauli had a part-share in a ship that was being constructed in Amsterdam, he instructed his agents and Viviano to handle negotiations with the artist.

In 1666, the agents told Sauli that Rembrandt had promised to make two modelli of the paintings you want, allowing him to approve the final commission.

They added: He wants a lot of money, but he presents himself as someone who has knowledge of the art of painting and he therefore stands his ground.

Molly Gibbins with a cannon on the wreck

Weeks later, Viviano wrote to Sauli, raising his concern about the delay and the cost. His letter reveals the subject-matter of one of the paintings, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, to whom the Genoese church was dedicated.

Realising Rembrandts connection to the shipwreck was immensely exciting, Dr Gibbins said: When I read a publication on the letters I saw the name Viviano and my eyes just lit up because I knew that absolutely was the Santo Cristo di Castello.

Further research by Italian scholars Luca Lo Basso and Renato Gianni Ridella has firmed up the identification. This is one of the most exciting revelations of my career.

The wreck was originally discovered in 1969 by Peter McBride, a naval officer, while snorkelling. He then led a team that excavated part of the site.

Dr Gibbins first explored it in 2018, after he was told it was hardly worth a dive because treasure-hunters had used explosives to free a cannon, causing tons of rock to crash down over it.

The research will be published in Dr Gibbinss forthcoming book, A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks on Feb 8.

All too aware that at least 25 men and women on the ill-fated ship had perished, he described the site as a forbidding place, where visibility is generally extremely poor.

Passing over rocks, he saw a cannon and a golden sparkle of hundreds of brass-pins used in 17th-century society for fastening clothes and fixing hair and wigs.

He explored the site further with Mark Milburn, with whom he founded Cornwall Maritime Archaeology  a research and exploration group recording wrecks off Cornwalls south coast  and his daughter Molly Gibbins.

They were to discover that the ships extraordinarily rich cargo included a 16th-century brass crucified Christ, a Corpus Christi, and an angels wing, whose quality is remarkable despite nearly 350 years in the sea, Dr Gibbins said.

The ship sank, along with the paintings, in 1667 off the coast of Cornwall

They reported everything to the Receiver of Wreck, to which all wreck discoveries made in British waters must be declared. They are investigating the site scientifically with a publication programme and an intention for the finds to go in a museum.

The research will be published in Dr Gibbinss forthcoming book, A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks, to be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on Feb 8.

Prof Larry Silver, a leading Rembrandt scholar, is among the contributors to a new Cambridge University Press book, titled Risks in Renaissance Art. He said: In 1656, Rembrandt declared bankruptcy. Part of the problem was that he had invested in some fairly speculative ship trading and he lost a ship at sea, which was a financial setback for him. So, ironically, he wasnt just a victim of somebody elses shipwreck. He was an investor in a ship that sank.

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New Years Day can be a time to renew, reflect, resolve or regret depending on circumstances.

Paso Robles has a bonfire, the beaches have polar bear dips and it is a big day for sportsball.

As the calendar rolled over to 2000, there was the added wrinkle of computers with code allegedly set to explode as 1999 expired.

For almost a year, news stories warned of the need to update systems to prevent failure.

By and large, the advance work paid off  but inexplicably the Pentagon had a failure in their ground-based system that collected data from spy satellites.

The system crashed at 7 p.m. EST, which was midnight according to Greenwich Mean Time, a standard time measurement for many satellite systems.

They withheld the information until after the big millennial celebrations in New York and Washington finished.

Locally, the transition was quiet as Patrick Pemberton reported in the below article, published on Jan. 2, 2000, in The Tribune:

The Los Osos Bear on South Bay Blvd. was decorated in New Years garb and a Y2K OK sash. Published Jan. 2, 2000.

Y2K arrives not like a lion, but a pussycat

The Y2K survival books are still on display at Barnes & Noble, but few if any are rushing to buy them.

Thats because the lights are still on, cars are still running, and not a single plane has fallen from the sky.

The rollover for Y2K has gone very well, said Diana Gapuz, a spokesperson for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. We did not have any outages in the San Luis Obispo area.

While some books and television shows forecasted computer and man-induced havoc for the first day of the New Year, it turned out to be just another day. In fact, for a New Years, it was a pretty quiet day, police reported.

It was boring, said Sgt. Andy Rasmussen of the Sheriffs Department. I checked with the deputies and they said it wasnt even a typical Friday night.

The Paso Robles Police Department did not report a single arrest for New Years Eve and the festivities that followed. Meanwhile, police departments in Atascadero, Morro Bay, Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach reported calm nights with few, if any, arrests.

A few people did wind up in jail, though.

The California Highway Patrol recorded nine arrests for driving under the influence between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, and the San Luis Police Department recorded several arrests after its First Night celebration downtown.

In San Luis Obispo, the activity was calm early on.

Prior to midnight, it was about average, said Lt. Gary Orback of the San Luis Obispo police.

Only 13 people had been arrested before the First Night concluded. But more arrests resulted later, as partiers hung around in a stupor.

After the First Night festivities concluded, Orback said, between 20 and 23 people were arrested for public intoxication.

Thats a fairly substantial number, he said.

There were a few serious crimes reported as well.The department received one report of an attempted sexual assault and one report of a minor hit-and-run accident.

Firefighters also had a relatively tame night.

The California Department of Forestry reported several calls regarding illegal fireworks, but no significant events.

Thats a good start to the new year, said Capt. Don Salisbury.

The CDF, area police and utilities companies reported that there were no computer problems associated with the new year.

As a result, those Y2K books will probably remain on the shelves.

Itll be interesting to see if they become collectors items at some point, said Shannon Savage, an assistant manager at the Barnes & Noble in San Luis Obispo.

The books are still on display at the store, she said, but she doesnt know how long they will be.

She has not seen a lot of Y2K books returned yet, but its still early in the year. And there are a lot of them out there.

We sold a huge amount of them earlier this year, she said, when people were getting kind of nervous.
A number of the Republican presidential candidates are refusing to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election if President Joe Biden wins.

NBC News and The Des Moines Register sat down with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy this week in Iowa and asked all three of them if they would accept a Biden victory in November.

In particular, DeSantis and Ramaswamys reluctance to readily accept the possibility that Biden could achieve a legitimate victory reflects the continuing hold on the GOP of former President Donald Trumps unfounded belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him  three years after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop Congress from certifying Bidens win.

Even Republicans who dont accept Trumps belief that he won in 2020 recognize that many voters in the party dont fully trust the system any longer.

Trump supporters occupy the West Front of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images file)

DeSantis told NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns on Thursday that he would accept the results if it was a transparent victory. But he still raised the possibility of fraud.

If it was a transparent victory, obviously you accept the results, but I dont know what Democrats have up their sleeve, he said. I mean, what youre saying is if there was fraud, Im just supposed to turn a blind eye. Im not going to do that.

Ramaswamy similarly raised concerns.

If thats how it goes, through a free and fair election system, then obviously I will accept the results of an electoral process, he told Burns on Wednesday. But what I will tell you is this: We need an electoral process we can trust and believe in. Ramaswamys criteria for that included single-day voting, which is no longer the norm in most states.

I think that in some ways, this question is based on a fictitious premise that people who are allowed to run for president even are able to run for president. Were having a discussion about one of the two major candidates being removed forcibly from the ballot, Ramaswamy added. So we have major forms of election interference staring us in the face.

Ramaswamy was referring to decisions in Colorado and Maine that have determined Trump is ineligible to be on the primary ballot. The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear Trumps appeal of the decision in Colorado, as the decisions move through the legal system.

Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during an interview. (Jamie Kelter Davis for NBC News)

Haley also said the country needs to make sure we always do what it takes to protect the integrity of the election process, and that there were a few states that havent done that yet.

But she also said more definitively that she would accept the results, adding, I am assuming that were gonna have an election that is fair, that is strong, and that people can be proud of.

So, youre confident you will be able to accept the results in November? Burns asked.

Yeah, of course, Haley replied.

In May, Trump told CNN that he would accept the results  but also added an if clause.

Yes, if I think its an honest election, absolutely, I would, he said.

Trump is already raising the possibility of rigged elections. His campaign is out with a mailer in Iowa accusing DeSantis of trying to rig the Jan. 15 caucuses.

DeSantis said Thursday that he doesnt believe Trump will accept the caucus results if he loses.

Ron DeSantis speaks during an interview. (Jamie Kelter Davis for NBC News)

If he doesnt win this time, hes going to say the same thing, DeSantis said in his interview. It doesnt matter what happens, he will say the same thing. Thats just how he rolls.

Its a demonstration of how the 2020 election results, and the Jan. 6 attack, continue to hang over this election cycles contest  even though DeSantis told NBC News on Thursday that it doesnt come up on the trail.

Ive not had a single question in Iowa about Jan. 6. I mean, Ive taken hundreds and hundreds of questions, he said.

But Trump still faces legal jeopardy for, among other things, a case around whether he conspired to overturn the 2020 election results. And all the candidates have continued to get questions about whether theyd pardon the former president, should he be convicted. (DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy have all said they would.)

Voters, too, have followed the Republican candidates lead in already expressing skepticism about the legitimacy of the 2024 election results.

Barb Forney, 60, a Republican in Ames, Iowa, who is supporting Ramaswamy this year, told NBC News on Friday that it was not conceivable that Biden could have a legitimate win in November.

It was rigged, if he wins. My honest belief is that I dont think he can win, said Connie Lendt, a 69-year-old DeSantis supporter in Woodward, Iowa.

Trump has publicly embraced his supporters who found themselves in legal trouble in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, promising to pardon them and championing their cause.

When asked what lessons they took away from the attack on the U.S. Capitol  which left five people dead and about 140 police officers injured  the candidates had very different answers.

Nikki Haley during an interview in Des Moines, Iowa (Jamie Kelter Davis for NBC News)

Haley called it a terrible day and said the country can never let that happen again.

I dont know anybody that saw what happened that didnt have their heart fall to their stomach, she added.

Ramaswamy, however, said he still needs to hear more of the facts around that day, wondering how many federal agents or informants were in the field. His second takeaway was that systemic censorship led up to Jan. 6.

If you tell people they cannot speak, thats when they scream. If you tell people they cannot scream, thats when they tear things down, he said.

DeSantis said he believed the attack had been politicized by the left.

I think people went to protest and I think it got out of hand, he added.

In a speech Friday in Iowa, Trump was once again raising doubts about the electoral process and getting his supporters ready for the prospect of election interference by Democrats.

Joe Biden is a threat to democracy," he said. "He's weaponizing law enforcement for a high-level election interference. It's all about election interference."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
New York City recently passed measures aiming for 30% tree canopy cover by 2035, intending to plant up to 250,000 new trees. Tools like Tree Folio NYC help planners in optimizing tree placement and species selection, focusing on areas with social vulnerability.

Its about not just planting more trees, but the right tree in the right spot, said Alexander Kobald, a researcher at Cornell University, in an interview with The Guardian.



It is a clear win for the NYC environmental movement. More trees in urban areas help improve air quality by absorbing pollutants and releasing oxygen, creating a healthier environment for residents. Additionally, trees can boost immunity, decrease stress and blood pressure, enhance mood, and make the air cleaner for children who suffer from asthma.

Efforts involve navigating urban limitations and built environments to plant more trees while considering local needs, with new laws mandating an urban forest plan and regular monitoring using advanced technology.

However, housing disparities still exist, with communities of color having significantly less tree cover, leading to urban heat islands and health risks, especially during heat waves.

Trees provide shade, lowering temperatures and making cities more comfortable during hot seasons. Additionally, trees enhance the aesthetic appeal of urban landscapes, potentially promoting mental health and fostering a sense of community connection.

However, due to the urban environments, the trees have a shorter lifespan. The average lifespan of a street tree is 19-28 years because of factors such as exposure to pet urine and salt from the street. A similar tree in more rural conditions can typically live up to 300-400 years.

Our model is able to measure canopy coverage using newer lidar data than existing canopy coverage maps and measure the size and volume of individual canopies, making it easier to see where healthy trees are located and where existing canopies are lacking, said Kobald. If Tree Folio NYC succeeds in optimizing tree placement, it could be a helpful blueprint for other cities to mitigate the effects of Earths rising temperature.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Nearly two weeks after a deadly shooting at the Paddack Mall in Ocala, police continue to search for the gunman, Albert Shell. Jr.

On Friday, Ocala Police announced that the reward for information on Shell Jrs. location and arrest has increased from $15, 000 to $20,000,

 WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

This criminal act committed in a crowded mall with no regard for the safety of our citizens, has affected all of us. I appreciate the FSA standing with us and offering an increased reward as we work to bring this criminal to justice, said Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods.

The increased reward was provided by The Florida Sheriffs Association, at the request of Sheriff Billy Woods, through their Criminal Apprehension Assistance Program.

$20K REWARD! We are still actively searching for the Paddock Mall murder suspect, Albert Shell Jr., and we need information on his location that will lead to his arrest. pic.twitter.com/Ex1JmWDZDg  Ocala Police (@ocalapd) January 5, 2024

The shooting happened shortly before 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 23rd as people were still Christmas shopping.

Responding officers found one shooting victim who was pronounced dead at the scene. He has been identified as 40-year-old David Barron.

Read: Support group planned for those impacted by Paddock Mall shooting

A woman was also injured in the shooting. She was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries described as non-life-threatening.

Shell has a warrant out for his arrest charging him with premeditated first-degree murder, but police say they havent been able to find him.

Read: Supreme Court to decide whether Trump can be kept off the 2024 presidential ballot

Ocala police are asking anyone with information on Shells whereabouts to call them at (352) 656-6137.

Records show that Shell has a long history of run-ins with law enforcement. He has a record that includes nearly 30 court cases.

Shell has been convicted of theft, assault and battery, fleeing from police and numerous cocaine-related charges.

Read: What I lived through is real: Former Capitol Police sergeant reflects on Jan. 6 attack

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Considering how scathing and universal the criticism of Rishi Sunaks government has been, it is really quite remarkable how ineffectual the Opposition attacks on him seem to be. When even the forces that might be expected to remain loyal to any Tory leader appear to have given up on this regime, offering from the depths of their despair detailed analysis of everything it has done wrong, surely we might have expected a barrage of perfectly formed demolition and credible alternatives. But no.

The Lib Dems, who hope to make a serious challenge in Blue Wall seats, staged an exceptionally fatuous  even by their standards  comic entrance and a refusal to make clear whether they would consider joining a coalition with Labour. The new player on the scene  Reform  has added little to its core mission as the anti-immigration party which does not constitute a programme for government.

But the most stunning void has been that empty space that should be filled by the party that is assumed to be the inevitable winner of the coming election. Sir Keir Starmers speech last week, which will clearly set the tone for Labours campaign, could have been a parody of the all-purpose vacuity of a leader with nothing to say.

Rhetorical pieties and opaque hints of change with no credible argument for alternative solutions might get you through a rally of the faithful but it will not stand up to any sort of scrutiny. That the Labour leadership thinks this is the appropriate tactic presumably means that they do not expect their pitch to receive any serious examination  at least not by the electorate.

The public exasperation with the Tories will simply carry them home by default. This may well be true  in spite of the fact that it is a cowardly and dangerous political ploy which voters ought to reject. If it is indeed the Labour plan, is there anything that the Tories can do to counter it? How can they combat an opposition that refuses to say what it would do differently if it gained power?

They could just repeat endlessly the demand for answers to that important question but that will get boring quite quickly and cause the country to tune out of the whole discussion. This desperation has given rise to speculation that the election will be down and dirty, with accusations of massive misjudgement and character assassination taking over from genuine policy disagreement.

In order to consider how the Sunak team might hope to deal with this, we have to ask why it might be that the opposition parties are so determined to avoid offering any alternative proposals or even any constructive analysis of where the Tory government has gone wrong.

There may be a more interesting reason for this than sheer complacency  that they will win anyway without having to say anything  and that reason could provide the outline for a Sunak fightback.

Here is what it might sound like: the crises that faced all three doomed Tory prime ministers were so unprecedented that nobody  no leader of any political party  could have known how to deal with them in a way that did not cause huge damage to the economy and the wellbeing of the country.

The pandemic which exploded the normal expectations of the governing class of most developed countries had devastating consequences for which nobody in power had any previous experience. We know now that the expert advice changed in the midst of the emergency and that there was something close to panic at the highest levels of many democratic countries.

This may be the chief reason that so many incumbent national leaders who are now discredited are being replaced by populists who specialise in plain-speaking and suspiciously simple solutions. Nobody was actually qualified to deal with this apocalypse and nobody was in a fit state to judge the cost of those measures which seemed, on balance, to be plausible at the time.

Alongside this cataclysm which had horrendous economic and social consequences  including an apparently permanent effect on peoples attitude to work  came the Russian invasion of Ukraine which brought a huge rise in energy prices and a consequent cost of living crisis. The combined effects of money printing and energy costs came as close to undermining the foundation of Western prosperity as it is possible to imagine.

Every sitting government has had to cope with this and opposition parties just gave thanks that they were not in office at the time. So maybe what the Prime Ministers team should be offering to the country is not so much a hostile attack on Labour for its failure to offer any plan, but a frank admission of humility: an acceptance of the fact that mistakes were inevitably made in horrifying circumstances and that no government presiding over a country with our particular conditions (densely populated, ageing citizenry, entirely state-funded healthcare system, dependency on foreign oil imports) could have avoided the dire consequences that we now face.

Life-and-death decisions had to be made without hesitation. We did what we thought was right and we will accept responsibility for dealing with the aftermath. What Mr Sunak could add  and this should certainly be his personal statement  is that his government will never fail to appreciate the exceptional courage and moral resourcefulness of the British people who behaved with unselfish communal spirit during the pandemic and conscientious responsibility during the energy price spiral. We came through all this together as a country and we can solve the resulting problems together with sincere conviction and good will.

He should say all this in the grave voice that befits the message. His usual campaign persona of over-enthusiastic sixth former is unsuited to the time. He should stand still  not bounce up and down on the balls of his feet. He should not grin or look as if he is having fun at the Opposition leaders expense. He should, in that campaign language we have imported from the United States  go high, not low.

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A teenage girl who took the witness stand Friday testified Jay Rodeback repeatedly said he couldn't believe she was only 15 while they had sex.

The girl, now 17, claims the intercourse was not consensual.

Rodeback, 29, of Columbus, is charged with two counts of rape and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He is accused of forcing himself on the girl during Labor Day weekend 2021.

The teen testified on the second day of Rodeback's trial in Richland County Common Pleas Court. She said she stayed with Madison Jessie and Rodeback that weekend after getting into an argument with her friend, who lived next door.

Rodeback would have been 27 at the time.

Jay Rodeback and his attorney Sean Boone listen to testimony Friday morning during Rodeback's trial. Rodeback is charged with two counts of rape and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Sean Boone pointed out the girl has given conflicting stories of what happened and did not tell law enforcement Rodeback repeatedly referenced her being 15.

In the summer of 2021, Jessie and Rodeback were in a casual relationship. On the weekend in question, the teenage girl said Rodeback came to a back room, where she was.

The girl recalled Rodeback telling her Jessie said he could do whatever he wanted with the teen.

A

Alleged victim says assault happened twice

"He started kissing me, and I froze. I didn't know what to do," the teen testified. "He took us to the floor. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't move, so I just went with it."

She said once they were on the floor, Rodeback removed her pants and underwear, and the two had vaginal intercourse.

"Did you want to do that?" Assistant Prosecutor Nik Buckmeier asked the teen.

"No," she replied. "I told him it hurt."

The teen said Jessie had left the apartment for a short time, and when she returned, Rodeback and teen acted like nothing had happened between them.

In a second incident that weekend, the teen said she recalled waking up with Rodeback touching her.

"It escalated further to us having sex," she testified. "I told him to stop."

She testified Rodeback again repeatedly said he couldn't believe the girl was 15.

Buckmeier asked the teen about having oral sex with Rodeback. She said she didn't remember that happening. Buckmeier then had the girl read her statement to police to refresh her memory.

The teen then testified Rodeback held her head and forced her to engage in oral sex.

"Did you want to do that?" Buckmeier asked.

"No," the girl replied, adding she froze again.

She said he pulled her back by the hips and told her to quit running away.

"He leaves, and I never saw him again," the teen testified.

The girl said she initially lied to her mother about what happened, telling her she had consensual sex with a 16-year-old boy, and she feared being pregnant.

"I thought that she wouldn't believe me," the teen testified.

Buckmeier asked her about picking Rodeback out of a photo array. She began to cry when she looked at Rodeback's picture.

Jay Rodeback listens to testimony Friday morning during Rodeback's trial. Rodeback is charged with two counts of rape and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

"It's like he knew what he did, and he was proud of it," the girl said.

On cross-examination, Boone asked the teen why she made no mention of a second incident to police. The girl said she did not want to stress out her mother further.

In her testimony, the teen said there were no sexual incidents on the first day of the long weekend.

"That's completely the opposite of what you told police," Boone said.

The defense attorney also pointed out the teen made mention of only one incident to a sexual assault nurse examiner.

Nurse testifies about delayed disclosure

Jennifer Coffindaffer, a SANE nurse and forensic coordinator for OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, was the final witness of Friday's session.

She performed an exam on the teen about two weeks after the alleged rapes happened.

Coffindaffer said the girl showed no injuries but added that was not uncommon. She added it is not uncommon for adolescents to experience delayed disclosure instead of coming forward immediately.

"Sometimes they don't know it's wrong, or they're fearful," Coffindaffer said.

The girl has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, but she received the diagnosis three months before the alleged abuse.

Coffindaffer said PTSD can affect a person's memory.

"You're not always remembering exactly what happened," she said.

In the Friday morning session, the state called the girl's mother and Jessie as witnesses.

The teen's mom said she didn't find out Rodeback's age until she called police. She had been contacted by a school counselor who was confided in by her daughter.

On cross, the girl's mom said she had no communication with her daughter on that Labor Day weekend and felt no reason to worry about her.

Jessie testified just before the alleged victim. She said she connected with Rodeback on social media on the day after her 18th birthday and moved in with him after her foster parents kicked her out for smoking marijuana.

"I just kind of felt like he was taking care of me," Jessie said before adding she was booted from that place, too, after stealing a nicotine vape of Rodeback's roommate.

She said Rodeback still visited her, including that Labor Day weekend.

"(Alleged victim) brought up the idea that she wanted to have sex with Jay," Jessie testified. "I can't remember if I said how old she was, but I think (teen) did."

Jessie said she left the apartment because she didn't approve of what was happening. She talked to the teen after returning home.

"She said that she told him to stop, but I wasn't here to witness that," Jessie said.

When the case resumes Monday before Judge Brent Robinson, the jury is expected to get the case.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

X (formerly Twitter): @MarkCau32059251

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Teenage girl who claims she was raped takes witness stand
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.  Five Missouri state offices, including the governors seat, are up for grabs in the general election this November.

Mike Parson inherited the Missouri governors seat after Eric Greitens resigned in 2018. Parson finished up that term and was elected to another full term in 2020. He is no longer eligible to run again, setting the stage for a new governor in 2025.

Missouris gubernatorial election is set for Nov. 5, 2024. Candidates must file paperwork for a run for governor by March 26. The primary elections, to choose one candidate from each party, are set for Aug. 6.

Heading into the new year, FOX 2 has learned of at least eight people who plan to run for the Missouri governors office. That includes four Republican candidates, three Democratic candidates, and one Independent Party candidate.

Republican candidates

Jay Ashcroft , currently serving as the Missouri Secretary of State.

Mike Kehoe , currently serving as the Missouri Lieutenant Governor.

Bill Eigel , a Missouri State Senator from St. Charles County.

Chris Wright, an army veteran and National Guardsman based out of Joplin.

Jay Ashcroft is the son of former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. He also has experience as an engineer and an attorney.

Mike Kehoe became lieutenant governor in 2018 after Parson was appointed governor. He brings seven years of experience in the Missouri Senate, three as a majority leader.

Bill Eigel is a U.S. Air Force veteran who has served as a state senator since 2017.

Chris Wright does not have any previous political experience in Missouri.

Democrat candidates

Crystal Quade , currently serving as the Missouri House Minority Leader.

Mike Hamra , an entrepreneur based out of Springfield.

Sheryl Gladney, a councilwoman from Breckenridge Hills.

Crystal Quade has served with the Missouri House since 2016 and as the minority leader since 2019. She has also served on the states budget committee for several years.

Mike Hamara is the President and CEO of Hamra Enterprises. He does not have any previous political experience in Missouri.

Sheryl Gladney represents Ward 4 of Breckenridge Hills. She has reportedly filed paperwork for office, but has not yet formally announced her run.

Independent candidate

Larry Flenoid II, a politician based out of Springfield.

Larry Flenoid II previously campaigned for a Missouri House seat in 2022. He is the lone independent candidate to date.

Also of note

Poll projections released by research group Show Me Victories in November show Ashcroft and Kehoe almost even in support within the Republican ticket and Quade with a firm lead of support within the Democratic ticket.

The Missouri Governors Office has been run by Republican leadership since 2017, though its been split nearly half-and-half between the GOP and Democratic party since the turn to the 21st century.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Russian forces shelled four communities near the Sumy Oblast border on Jan. 5, the regional military administration reported.

A total of 52 explosions were recorded throughout the day. Russian troops fired at the border nine times, targeting the communities of Velyka Pysarivka, Shalyhyne, Svesa, and Bilopillia.

No casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure were reported.

The Russian military attacked the Sumy border with various weapons, including mines, mortars, cannon artilltery, and grenade launchers.

Sumy Oblast lies on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia. The border communities are subject to daily shelling by nearby Russian forces, who have launched attacks at Sumy Oblast on a constant basis since April 2022.

Read also: 10 books to better understand wartime Ukraine

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Russian forces attacked the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast overnight on Jan. 5-6, striking an administrative building and causing fires, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

Filashkin said Russian troops fired at the city twice, and that a garage and vehicles were in flames following the attack.

"According to preliminary information, there are no people under the rubble, but there are victims," he said.

Details on the full extent of the casualties and damage are still being investigated.

Pokrovsk lies some 40 kilometers from the eastern front line, close to the administrative border with Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Russian attacks on Donetsk Oblast on Jan. 4 left two dead and another two wounded.

Read also: 10 books to better understand wartime Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(Reuters) - Russia plans to produce more than 32,000 drones each year by 2030 and for domestic producers to account for 70% of the market, the TASS news agency cited First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as saying on Saturday.

Drones have been widely used by Moscow and Kyiv since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and both sides are sharply increasing military production as the war drags on.

"The annual production volume of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - excluding educational UAVs - is planned at 32,500 units," Belousov told TASS. "This is almost three times higher than current production volumes.

"At the same time, it is planned that the share of Russian UAVs will make up 70% of the market in this type of UAV."

Moscow has been using the cheaply-produced, Iranian-made Shahed drones, known in Ukraine for their noisy petrol engines, more and more frequently in aerial assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure far behind the war's front lines in the east and south of the country.

Russia will finance the national project on UAVs with 696 billion roubles ($7.66 billion) by 2030, Belousov said, and will publish more details this month.

Last year President Vladimir Putin said that UAVs could be used across virtually all industries, not just the military.

Russian drones initially confused Ukrainian air defences as they were harder to detect than missiles, while shooting down cheaply-made drones with expensive air defence missiles was not the most cost-effective strategy.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has intensively used FPV drones - small drones originally meant for personal civilian use but modified for the battlefield - as a cheap but effective option for reconnaissance and attacks, a tactic Russia has copied.

Ukraine said in December it planned to produce more than 11,000 medium- and long-range attack drones in 2024, as well as one million FPV (first-person-view) drones, widely in demand on the front line.

($1 = 90.9205 roubles)

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Just in case you were starting to think bacon couldn't possibly be made better, H-E-B has done it again with new flavor combination: Churro Cinnamon and Sugar Seasoned Bacon.

The sweet and salty bacon flavor is being sold in small 24-ounce packs at H-E-Bs around San Antonio, according to the website.

One H-E-B fan snagged a pack and got over 1,400 reactions and over 500 comments from both excited and horrified shoppers on social media.

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"Every day we stray farther from God," Nick Nova wrote.

While this might be a dream crossover for Texas customers, start pigging out now because it will only be a limited-time item, a representative for H-E-B confirmed.
The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod has promised to help relocate civilians worried by a recent spate of deadly Ukrainian attacks, a rare admission of the dangers posed by a once distant war that has overwhelmingly impacted Ukrainians.

Belgorod  which adjoins northern Ukraine - has seen waves of Ukrainian strikes. Last Saturday, at least 25 people were killed by an attack on the city of Belgorod itself.

Ukraine has consistently targeted Russian regions near the border, but the December 30 attack on Belgorod is thought to be one of the single deadliest incidents reported. It followed the largest Russian aerial assault of the conflict killed at least 47 people in Ukraine.

People realized there really is a war going on and its come now to Belgorod, maybe not for the first time but the most grave and frightening, one local told Reuters in the wake of the strike on Belgorod.

Directly addressing Belgorod residents, Gladkov said: I see several requests on social networks where you write: We are scared, help us go to a safe place.

Of course we will help! Several families have already been transported. We do everything that depends on us, Gladkov added.

The governor said his office had previously relocated people whose homes in the regions Shebekinsky district were damaged by shelling. In this instance a small group of residents were provided shelter whilst their homes were repaired.

Friday is the first time the top Belgorod official has offered publicly to relocate large groups of the local population impacted by the war. Residents looking to be relocated will also be expected to travel much longer distances, this time up to 87 miles.

In his video message, Gladkov instructed concerned residents to get in touch with the city administration to let it know they are ready to leave.

The governor said comfortable buses were on standby on Friday to transport residents to the cities of Stary Oskol and Gubkin where they would be lodged in warm and safe rooms.

Stary Oskol is roughly 87 miles from Belgorod while Gubkin is 74 miles from Belgorod.

You will be there for as long as necessary. If there are not enough places in our temporary accommodation centers in our region, I will turn to my colleagues, governors of other regions, so that they can help us, Gladkov told civilians.

The governor said he had received dozens of calls from his colleagues in neighboring regions offering to help all of you, dear residents of the Belgorod region.

One Belgorod local, a business owner, told Reuters how his business had dried up as a result of the fighting. I come to work, wait for customers but there is no one. I sit for three or four hours and close.

In another development, Ukraines intelligence agency said that it had destroyed a Russian military stronghold in Belgorod Friday after successfully making an incursion.

During the incursion, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine claimed to have destroyed one of the Russian strongholds and mined the road used by Russians in Grayvoronsky district.

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(Reuters) -A Russian missile strike killed 11 people and injured 10 on Saturday in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region said.

Five of the dead were children. A U.N. official in Ukraine expressed horror at the incident.

Rescue efforts extended into the night. Pictures posted online by regional governor Vadym Filashkin showed teams sifting through piles of smouldering rubble in the dark as well as a burned-out vehicle.

Filashkin told Ukrainian television that Russian forces at about 3 p.m. engaged in "mass shelling" of Pokrovsk with S-300 missiles.

"As a result of this barbaric attack, 11 people died, including five children aged from three to 17 years," he said.

"Ten people were injured. Rescue operations are continuing. Closer to morning we will have a better understanding of the final numbers of those who were injured."

Filashkin had earlier said the main strike had targeted the town of Pokrovsk and nearby villages lying about 80 km (50 miles) from the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk.

Russian forces, he said, were "trying to inflict as much grief as possible on our land."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said the attack "quite simply targeted ordinary, private homes. And Russia must be made to feel that none of these strikes will pass without consequences for the terrorist state."

"TRULY HORRIFIED"

Denise Brown, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said she was "truly horrified" by the strikes and, particularly, the deaths of children.

"These were just children who have been killed because of this war," Brown said in a statement.

Recent Russian attacks on towns, she said, were "leaving behind an outrageous number of children. Women and men killed and injured and a trail of loss and destruction."

There was no immediate response to a request for comment on the incident from Russia's Defence Ministry.

A Russian military statement issued earlier on Saturday said its forces had struck a command post used by a Ukrainian military formation near Pokrovsk, referring to the town by its Soviet-era name Krasnoarmeisk.

And a senior Moscow official working in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik, said Ukrainian forces had shelled a hospital in Donetsk, injuring three patients. Pictures he posted online showed damage to rooms and some outbuildings.

Russia denies targeting civilians in the war launched with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But its forces in the past two weeks have intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns. Ukraine has retaliated with strikes on targets in the Black Sea and on some Russian border areas, including missile and drone attacks that killed 25 people in the city of Belgrade this week.

The governor of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, adjacent to Donetsk, said one person was killed in drone strikes near the town of Nikopol, a frequent Russian target on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

And officials said three people were injured in Russian shelling of areas of Kherson region to the southwest.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Diane Craft, Daniel Wallis and Chris Reese)
Ukraines Russia-occupied territories are facing a humanitarian crisis, with escalating issues in water supply, heating, and medicines, the National Resistance Center (NRC) reported on Jan. 6.

Russian occupation authorities have neglected to restore damaged civilian infrastructure in the occupied territories, exacerbating these issues.

Read also: Russian occupation authorities to open war museums in Luhansk schools to intensify propaganda among children

According to the NRC, the water supply situation in Berdyansk is reaching critical levels, forcing residents to resort to using water from the Berda River, which is unsuitable for consumption, the NRC said.

Pharmaceutical and medical supplies are also lacking, with no access to Ukrainian or European medications. Only Russian and Chinese medicines are available, both of which are expensive and ineffective, said the NRC. Access to better medicine is limited to Russian military personnel and Russian citizens visiting the city on business trips.

Read also: Russia using internet registration to force passportization in occupied Ukraine

Due to workforce shortages and insufficient capital investments in infrastructure, a significant portion of the population in Donetsk, Horlivka, Makiivka, and Yasynuvata in Donetsk Oblast have been left without heat and electricity, the NRC reported.

A total of 111 boiler houses are not operational in the oblast, and numerous breaks in heating lines have been recorded, with the occupation administration showing no urgency in making repairs.

Residents cannot receive proper medical care without insurance in the Russia-occupied territories of Kherson Oblast, for which a Russian passport is required, the NRC reported earlier.

Furthermore, there is a growing shortage of medicines in occupied Crimea, along with a scarcity of beds in civilian hospitals.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Russia has begun moving residents out of Belgorod in the aftermath of the Dec. 30 attack on the city, Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed on Jan. 5.

A Dec. 30 strike on Belgorod, which lies about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, reportedly killed 25 people and injured over 100. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the strike, which came one day after Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Kyiv.

Gladkov said Belgorod residents were posting pleas for relocation assistance on social media.

"I see several appeals on social media where people write, 'We are scared, help us get to a safe place.' Of course we will! We have already moved several families," Gladkov claimed.

Gladkov said residents seeking relocation would be transported to the towns of Stary Oskol and Gubkin, where they could remain as long as they wished "in warm and safe rooms."

He also said that accommodation centers within Belgorod Oblast would not have the capacity to hold all residents seeking relocation, and that he would contact governors in other oblasts for assistance.

Russia launched an unprecedented number of drones and missiles at Ukraine's major cities in a series of attacks between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2. The attacks killed 39 people and left over 160 more injured.

Several Ukrainian media outlets reported that Ukrainian forces struck military facilities in Belgorod on Dec. 30 in response to the attacks. The reports cited anonymous sources in Ukraine's special services, who said that debris from anti-air munitions fell in the Belgorod city center "due to the unprofessional actions of the Russian air defense."

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify these claims, nor Russian officials' claims of the extent of the damage and casualties in Belgorod.

A representative of the French Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 3 that Russia "bears full responsibility" for the casualties of the Belgorod strike.

"Russia can put an end to this conflict and the human tragedies that accompany it, for which it bears full responsibility," the official said.

During an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council held Dec. 31, U.S. official John Kelley said that "ordinary Russian civilians are also bearing the brunt of the Kremlins brutal war."

Read also: Hit the Kremlin: Kyivans dont hold back after Russias mass attack kills 9, wounds 30 in the capital

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russia expects to produce 32,500 civilian drones annually by 2030 as part of a project approved last year, the country's first Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov said in a comment for the Russian state news agency TASS published on Jan. 6.

Backed by the Russian government at the end of December 2023, the "Unmanned Aircraft Systems" project aims to boost domestic drone production for various industry sectors.

Commercial drones have also been often repurposed for military tasks and used by both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to Belousov, the figure he provided does not include drones for educational purposes.

"It is almost three times higher than the current production volume. Furthermore, Russian-made drones will represent 70% of the market for these kinds of models," the official commented.

In 2023, Russian companies produced only about 6,000 units, TASS said, citing incomplete data from the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry.

The government plans to allocate 700 billion rubles ($7.7 billion) to "Unmanned Aircraft Systems" until the end of the decade, Belousov said.

Except for their commercial use, drones have played a major role on Ukrainian battlefields, both refitted civilian ones and military models.

Russia often employs Shahed-type kamikaze drones in strikes against Ukrainian cities, and other unmanned aerial vehicles are used by both sides to scout or attack enemy troops.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country will produce 1 million drones in 2024.

Read also: Deadly drone arms race intensifies as Ukraine, Russia embrace the future of war

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Marine Corps veteran Ron Winters and his wife, Teresa, at their home in Durant, Okla. When Ron Winters found out in August 2022 that he had bladder cancer, he braced for the fight of his life. But he says prior authorization created multiple obstacles that delayed care, including surgery. Winters says his cancer has advanced to stage 4. Desiree Rios/For KFF Health News Ron and Teresa Winters at their home in Durant, Okla. Ron Winters blames the Department of Veterans Affairs for setting up roadblocks that have delayed treatment for his bladder cancer. After his initial diagnosis, Winters said, he waited four weeks for the VA to approve the procedure that allowed his oncologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to remove some of the cancer. Desiree Rios/For KFF Health News

Marine Corps veteran Ron Winters clearly recalls his doctors sobering assessment of his bladder cancer diagnosis in August 2022.

This is bad, the 66-year-old Durant, Okla., resident remembered his urologist saying. Winters braced for the fight of his life.

Little did he anticipate, however, that he wouldnt be waging war only against cancer. He also was up against the Department of Veterans Affairs, which Winters blames for dragging its feet and setting up obstacles that have delayed his treatments.

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Winters didnt undergo cancer treatment at a VA facility. Instead, he sought care from a specialist through the Veterans Health Administrations Community Care Program, established in 2018 to enhance veterans choices and reduce their wait times. But he said the prior authorization process was a prolonged nightmare.

For them to take weeks  up to months  to provide an authorization is ridiculous, Winters said. It doesnt matter if its cancer or not.

After his initial diagnosis, Winters said, he waited four weeks for the VA to approve the procedure that allowed his urologic oncologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to remove some of the cancer.

Then, when he finished chemotherapy in March, he was forced to wait another month while the VA considered approving surgery to remove his bladder. Even routine imaging scans that Winters needs every 90 days to track progress require preapproval.

In a written response, VA press secretary Terrence Hayes acknowledged a delay in care is never acceptable. After KFF Health News inquired about Winters case, the VA began working with him to get his ongoing care authorized.

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We will also urgently review this matter and take steps to ensure that it does not happen again, Hayes told KFF Health News.

Prior authorization isnt unique to the VA. Most private and federal health insurance programs require patients to secure preapprovals for certain treatments, tests or prescription medications. The process is intended to reduce spending and avoid unnecessary, ineffective or duplicative care, although the degree to which companies and agencies set these rules varies.

Insurers argue prior authorization makes the U.S. health care system more efficient by cutting waste  theoretically a win for patients who may be harmed by excessive or futile treatment. But critics say prior authorization has become a tool that insurers use to restrict or delay expensive care. Its an especially alarming issue for people diagnosed with cancer, for whom prompt treatment can mean the difference between life and death.

Im interested in value and affordability, said Fumiko Chino, a member of the Affordability Working Group for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

But the way prior authorization is used now allows insurers to implement denial by delay, she said.

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Cancer is one of the most expensive categories of disease to treat in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2019, patients spent more than $16 billion out-of-pocket on their cancer treatment, a report by the National Cancer Institute found.

To make matters worse, many cancer patients have had oncology care delayed because of prior authorization hurdles, with some facing delays of more than two weeks, according to research Chino and colleagues published in JAMA in October.

Another recent study found that major insurers issued unnecessary initial denials in response to imaging requests, most often in endocrine and gastrointestinal cancer cases.

The federal government is weighing new rules designed to improve prior authorization for millions of people covered by Medicare, Medicaid and federal marketplace plans. The reforms, if implemented, would shorten the period insurers are permitted to consider prior authorization requests and also would require companies to provide more information when they issue a denial.

In the meantime, patients  many of whom are facing the worst diagnosis of their lives  must navigate a system marked by roadblocks, red tape and appeals.

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This is cruel and unusual, said Chino, a radiation oncologist. A two-week delay could be deadly, and that it continues to happen is unconscionable, she said.

Chinos research also has shown that prior authorization is directly related to increased anxiety among cancer patients, eroding their trust in the health care system and wasting both the providers and the patients time.

Leslie Fisk, 62, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., was diagnosed in 2021 with lung and brain cancer. After seven rounds of chemotherapy last year, her insurance company denied radiation treatment recommended by her doctors, deeming it medically unnecessary.

I remember losing my mind. I need this radiation for my lungs, Fisk said.

After fighting Florida Health Care Plans denial tooth and nail, Fisk said, the insurance company relented. The insurer did not respond to requests for comment.

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Fisk called the whole process horribly traumatic.

You have to navigate the most complicated system on the planet, she said. If youre just sitting there waiting for them to take care of you, they wont.

A new KFF report found that patients who are covered by Medicaid appear to be particularly affected by prior authorization, regardless of their health concerns. About 1 in 5 adults on Medicaid reported that their insurer had denied or delayed prior approval for a treatment, service, visit or drug  double the rate of adults with Medicare.

Consumers with prior authorization problems tend to face other insurance problems, such as trouble finding an in-network provider or reaching the limit on covered services, the report noted. They are also far more likely to experience serious health and financial consequences compared to people whose problems did not involve prior authorization.

In some cases, patients are pushing back.

In November, USA Today reported that Cigna admitted to making an error when it denied coverage to a 47-year-old Tennessee woman as she prepared to undergo a double-lung transplant to treat lung cancer.

In Michigan, a former health insurance executive told ProPublica that the company had crossed the line in denying treatment for a man with lymphoma.

And Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana met its match when the company denied a Texas trial lawyers cancer treatment, ProPublica reported in November.

Countless others have turned to social media to shame their health insurance companies into approving prior authorization requests. Legislation has been introduced in at least 30 states  from California to North Carolina  to address the problem.

Back in Oklahoma, Ron Winters is still fighting. According to his wife, Teresa, the surgeon said if Ron could have undergone his operation sooner, they might have avoided removing his bladder.

In many ways, his story echoes the national VA scandal from nearly a decade ago, in which veterans across the country were languishing  some even dying  as they waited for care.

In 2014, for example, CNN reported on veteran Thomas Breen, who was kept waiting for months to be seen by a doctor at the VA in Phoenix. He died of Stage 4 bladder cancer before the appointment was scheduled.

Winters cancer has spread to his lungs. His diagnosis has advanced to Stage 4.
Photo: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Russian occupiers were most active on three fronts over the past 24 hours, conducting 17 attacks on the Avdiivka front, 15 attacks on the Marinka front and 13 attacks on the Kherson front, all of which were unsuccessful.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 6 January

Details: Sixty-two combat engagements took place over the course of the day. In total, the Russians launched five missile strikes and 25 airstrikes and fired 32 times from multiple-launch rocket systems on the positions of Ukrainian troops and populated areas. Russian terrorist attacks have resulted in civilians being killed and injured. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and damaged.

The Russian occupiers conducted another airstrike at night using two Shahed-136/131 UAVs. All Russian drones were destroyed.

The settlements of Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast, Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Zmiivka and Chervonyi Mayak in Kherson Oblast came under air attacks by the Russians.

More than 100 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts came under Russian artillery fire.

Within the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group of Forces on the Kupiansk front, Ukrainian forces repelled seven Russian attacks near Synkivka (Kharkiv Oblast).

On the Lyman front, the Russians did not conduct any assault operations.

On the Bakhmut front, Ukrainian forces repelled three Russian attacks in the vicinity of Klishchiivka and Andriivka (Donetsk Oblast).

Within the area of responsibility of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group of Forces on the Avdiivka front, Ukrainian forces are continuing to repel Russian attempts to encircle Avdiivka. Ukrainian forces are holding the line and inflicting significant losses on the Russians. Over the course of the past day, Ukraines Defence Forces repelled four Russian attacks in the vicinity of Novobakhmutivka and Avdiivka, and another 17 assaults in the vicinity of Pervomaiske and Nevelske (Donetsk Oblast).

On the Marinka front, Ukraines Defence Forces are continuing to hold the Russians back near Marinka, Pobieda and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk Oblast), where they repelled 15 Russian attacks.

On the Shakhtarsk front, the Russians did not conduct any assault operations.

On the Zaporizhzhia front, Ukraines Defence Forces repelled a Russian attack in the vicinity of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia Oblast).

Within the area of responsibility of the Odesa Operational Strategic Group of Forces on the Kherson front, Ukrainian forces are continuing to undertake operations to expand their foothold on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River. Despite Russias significant losses in the area, its forces are continuing to try to drive the Ukrainian forces out of their positions. Over the course of the past day, the Russians undertook 13 unsuccessful assault operations.

Meanwhile, Ukraines Defence Forces are continuing to inflict losses on Russian personnel and military equipment, exhausting them along the entire line of contact.

Over the course of the past day, Ukraines Air Force carried out five strikes on clusters of Russian military personnel and one more on a command post.

Ukrainian Rocket Forces and Artillery units struck four clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment, an ammunition storage point and an artillery system.

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A Russian attack on Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, has left at least six people injured, and three people may be trapped under rubble.

Source: Vadym Filashkin, Head of Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

  ,    Telegram  

Destruction in Pokrovsk.

Photo: Vadym Filashkin's Telegram channel

Quote: "At least six people were injured in the attack on Pokrovsk.

The residential area of the city was attacked  six houses were destroyed. Three people may still be under the rubble. The authorities, police and rescue workers are working at the scene."

Details: Filashkin also said one person had been killed and one injured as a result of an airstrike on Pivnichne in the Toretsk hromada [an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories] on Saturday.

"This morning, Russians dropped two aerial bombs on the village  they landed on two high-rise buildings. A 63-year-old woman died at the scene. A 79-year-old woman was injured and taken to hospital. Three houses were partially destroyed," Filashkin said.

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A Russian airstrike killed one person in the Ukrainian village of Pivnichne

A Russian airstrike killed one person in the Ukrainian village of Pivnichne, Donetsk Oblast, regional governor, Vadym Filashkin, said on Telegram on Jan. 6.

According to him, Russian forces had targeted a residential building.

Police and paramedics are currently working at the scene.

Read also:

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Russia has abducted thousands of civilian Ukrainians from Ukraine. They are being illegally held hostage and often called prisoners of war, so it is extremely difficult to bring back such people.

Source: Petro Yatsenko, head of the press service of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War

Details: According to Petro Yatsenko, it is not necessary to call the homecoming of civilian hostages an exchange.

"The word exchange is not suitable here. That is, we would have to catch Russian civilians somewhere and exchange them. Of course, we will not do this. But the problem is really huge. Because there are many civilians that Russia has captured and imprisoned.

They don't even have any legal basis to actually keep these people in jail. They are trying to accuse them of obstructing the so-called special military operation, and they are still making up something", said Yatsenko [Special military operation is a Russian propaganda term for the war in Ukraine  ed.].

The Coordination Headquarters is also aware of cases where the Russians simply release civilian hostages who have been held captive.

"But they release them without documents or means of subsistence. Then it is very difficult for them to get out, for example, from Russia or from the temporarily occupied territories to the territory controlled by Ukraine," says the head of the press service.

According to Petro Yatsenko, earlier it was proposed to exchange civilian Ukrainians for Russian servicemen.

"But this is also not an option because many Ukrainians live in the occupied territories. This will be an incentive for them to capture everyone in order to exchange them. This is not an option. And this is where international pressure is important," Yatsenko explains.

He also noted that the Russians are very creative in how they use hostages. They often record videos of civilians being released when, in fact, they continue to hold them captive.

"We have seen Russians on camera allegedly releasing civilians they had imprisoned. For the video, they said: Here is a checkpoint on the border with the occupied territory. And now we let you go, go anywhere you want. And these people seemed to be going somewhere, but then they did not come to Ukrainian territory." Yatsenko added.

He is convinced that the actions of the Russians are aimed at causing as much suffering as possible to the civilian population of Ukraine and discouraging them from helping their troops.

The head of the press service of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War also drew attention to the lack of activity by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in working on the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Thus, in Ukraine, the ICRC has full access to the absolute majority of places of detention of prisoners, while on the Russian side, it has access to only a few.

"We would like the ICRC to be more active in demanding this access and helping. Now we see that they have started to work more actively, in particular in terms of delivering parcels and visiting these places. And now they are faced with the fact that Russia has allegedly signed all the documents on access but is not going to comply with them; there is no interaction." concludes Yatsenko.

Background: 230 Ukrainians were brought back from Russian captivity for the first time since August 2023.

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In an unexpected turn, state Rep. Mark McBride expressed satisfaction on Friday concerning information hes received from state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters after the Oklahoma House of Representatives issued a legislative subpoena last month.

About two weeks ago, McBride, state Rep. Rhonda Baker and House Speaker Charles McCall took the rare step of issuing the subpoena to Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education, seeking information which McBride and Baker said they had been asking for for months. They are leaders of House committees that oversee education.

The move caught Walters and his staff off guard. The subpoena set a deadline for 3 p.m. on Jan. 5, which was Friday. The day after Christmas, McBride, R-Moore, said Walters had complied with the subpoena. On Friday, McBride praised the cooperation hes received from the Oklahoma State Department of Education since the subpoena was issued.

Honestly, they have been very forthcoming in working with me on stuff, said McBride, R-Moore. I know you like to hear me complain, but I cant complain. Thats all Ive asked since February of last year  just show me whats going on.

State Education Department representatives are scheduled to make a budget presentation during a meeting of the House subcommittee chaired by McBride on Wednesday, and I am hoping and praying for a nice, easy budget meeting, he said. I really hope that we can move past the past and start thinking about improving education for the kids. I think that Wednesday will set the tone for the legislative session.

Ryan Walters has remained quiet on subpoena

Asked Friday about Walters' thoughts about the subpoena deadline and whether or not Walters felt he sufficiently answered the questions in the document, Dan Isset, a spokesman for the state Education Department, said, "Superintendent Walters will continue to work with Speaker McCall and other legislators to ensure woke indoctrination has no place in Oklahoma classrooms and get back to basics in education."

Subpoena issued to Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters by Oklahoma lawmakers for documents and information on the amount of tax dollars being spent by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Provided

Walters has said little publicly about the subpoena. He did an interview with Tulsa television station KOKI the day after the subpoena became public, but dodged, then shut off, questions about the subpoena the next day after a regularly scheduled state Board of Education meeting.

Ive talked about (the subpoena) for the last couple of days, Walters said then. The speaker and I have a great relationship. Were going to deal with the issues that have been created there, but thats going to be between the speaker and myself. Again, I have a great working relationship with him.

Walters didnt address his relationship with McBride  which often has been rocky  in his answers that day.

What to know about the subpoena

Until Thursday, McBride consistently complained for months about Walters not being forthcoming with information about the state Education Department, which Walters leads as superintendent.

In late October, McBride said hed been surprised by the resignation of the program manager for grant development and compliance at the state Education Department. Pamela Smith-Gordon, a Walters ally, outlined the reasons for her resignation in a lengthy letter addressed to Walters and the state school board. Her departure was one of a series of resignations since Walters took over the department.

At that time, McBride said, I really dont know whats going on over there. Nobody does. There is some lack of transparency.

In December, after McBride made another request for information from the state Education Department, McBride said he and Baker, R-Yukon, received a note from Walters top advisor, Matt Langston, that read, Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. An Oklahoma House employee took a picture of an unknown person slipping the letter under McBrides office door at the Capitol.

In a response to a subpoena question about Langstons use of official letterhead and state resources for that letter, Walters replied, Mr. Langston is the chief policy adviser for the department, and in that role, he is authorized to speak to legislators as an employee. I expect state employees to use state resources for all communications in order to keep a written record of the agencys functions, and I do not further direct whether they communicate via email, letterhead, or any other means.

Walters also said in another response that he doesnt have any policy of reviewing or pre-approving statements by employees that are authorized to speak to legislators.

The subpoena also asked for any emails, texts, or other communication between Walters and Langston concerning regarding responses to document requests from McBride and Baker. Walters responded, I have found no responsive records.

Walters provided a similar answer to requests for emails sent from Sept. 10, 2020, until the present to his email address with Every Kid Counts Oklahoma which discuss, compliment, condone or related in any way to the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability. Walters, who served as the executive director for that nonprofit organization before being elected as state superintendent, said hes no longer an employee of that organization and do not have access to that email inbox.

Another of the subpoenas questions asked about a $2 million expenditure for metrics software and how it was or was not being used by the state Education Department and/or schools. Walters response indicated the state Education Department was finalizing the required documentation for agency approval and would post a request for proposal by the end of December, with bidder presentations and evaluations expected to begin in February. The money would go to pay for a statistical software suite for data management, advanced analytics, multivariate analysis and predictive analytics.

The subpoena also had sought information about Walters efforts to recruit out-of-state teachers and about a teacher signing bonus initiative. In a press release earlier this week, Walters said 523 teachers had been awarded signing bonuses to teach in critical shortage areas of pre-kindergarten through third grade and special education.

Of that number, 117 were teachers who held out-of-state licenses and chose to teach in Oklahoma. Of those teachers who received bonuses, 76 percent were employed in high-poverty or rural districts, the release said. Applicants committed to teaching for five years to be eligible for the program.

Innovative solutions like the teacher bonus program are the key to getting Oklahoma schools back on the right track, Walters said. Any fake controversy Democrats and Republicans controlled by the teachers unions try to drum up will not dim the overwhelming success of this program. Previous small-scale programs have not worked, so we had to disrupt the market clearly and decisively to invest in our high-need areas. We will continue to disrupt the status quo, introduce free market principles in our education system, and unleash to power of innovation to reward our best teachers and help our students achieve great things.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: McBride: Walters, education department are cooperating since subpoena
There were some intriguing moments in the lives of the ancestors of Samantha Cameron, Lady Cameron of Chipping Norton, the wife of the Foreign Secretary.

Her father, Sir Reginald Sheffield Bt, is the 8th baronet of his line. In 1761, the first baronet, Sir Charles Sheffield, sold Buckingham Palace (then called Buckingham House) to King George III, for 21,000.

It was his to sell as the illegitimate son of the 1st Duke of Buckingham and heir to his estates. Charless half-brother Edmund had become the 2nd Duke, but went and died aged 19, childless. He was a grandson of James II through his mother Catherine.

Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, an illegitimate daughter of James II, did a very strange thing.

In 1735 (eight years before her death, as it transpired), she had a wax effigy made of herself dressed in her Coronation robes. She ordered a glass case for it and in this it stood after her funeral, at which her effigy was carried. It was the last known occasion in England when such an effigy was carried at a funeral.

The Duchesss waxwork stood by her place of burial, in Henry VIIs chapel in the Abbey, and was later moved to the upper chapel built in 1532 as Abbot John Islips chantry. There it joined other wax effigies that had accumulated at the Abbey.

A king or queens life-size effigy, dressed in coronation robes, was once carried in the funeral procession and placed with the coffin at the foot of the steps of the high altar. After the burial the effigy stayed on show and became Abbey property.

Before an Abbey museum was set up in 1908, the effigies and waxworks could be seen by visitors who tipped a choirman or verger. Septimus Harding, in Trollopes The Warden, trying to kill time before an appointment in London, paid his twopence and sat himself down on a stone step, and gazed up at the figure of William Pitt, who looks as though he had just entered the church for the first time in his life and was anything but pleased at finding himself there.

When Dickens saw a saints image in Italy in a little box like a berth aboard ship, with a glass front to it he reflected that it was an artefact that even Westminster Abbey might be ashamed of.

But now 20 effigies of kings, including the astonishingly lifelike head of Henry VII, and later wax figures are displayed in the Queens Diamond Jubilee Galleries up in the triforium of the Abbey. A chubby-cheeked Queen Anne sits holding orb and sceptre and wearing the jewelled collar of the Order of the Garter.

Dressed in an ermine robe, an effigy of the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Catherines son, lies in the glass case made for it, as may be seen in Victorian engravings. Nearby are Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, herself and her little son Robert, who died aged three. Dressed in a frogged gown thought to have belonged to him, he stands 3ft 3in tall.

The choirmen, wishing to attract more paying customers, bought an effigy of William Pitt and even one of Horatio Nelson, who isnt even buried in the Abbey.

I learnt from the current issue of that admirable periodical the Westminster Abbey Review (the last issue under the 36-year editorship of James Wilkinson, well known as a former science correspondent of the BBC) that the Abbey was not alone in preserving wax effigies.

At the 13th-century church of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence, pious visitors left ex voto offerings, to mark a favour gained by the intercession of the Virgin Mary. Great personages of this world would leave life-size wax effigies of themselves. By the 17th century they numbered 600. In 1785, Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, ordered them all to be burnt in the square outside. But that is another story.

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The unfolding Gaza-Israel crisis has seen both antisemitism and Islamophobia skyrocket across the globe.

Now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has taken advantage of his considerable platform to call for support for both groups.

"Muslim and Arab (especially Palestinian) colleagues in the tech community I've spoken with feel uncomfortable speaking about their recent experiences, often out of fear of retaliation and damaged career prospects," Altman tweeted.

"Our industry should be united in our support of these colleagues; it is an atrocious time," he added. "I continue to hope for a real and lasting peace, and that in the meantime we can treat each other with empathy."

It's an unusually candid and clear-headed sentiment coming from a tech CEO. Broadly speaking, executives of his stature tend to shy away from making politically charged statements  with one notable exception, of course.

After being asked how he felt about the experience of Jewish colleagues, Altman offered an incisive comment.

"I am Jewish," he replied. "I believe that antisemitism is a significant and growing problem in the world, and I see a lot of people in our industry sticking up for me, which I deeply appreciate."

"I see much less of that for Muslims," he added.

The war has led to a sharp incline in hate against both groups. Last month, the Council on American-Islamic Relations noted that it had received a "staggering" 2,171 complaints over the past 57 days, a 172 percent increase over a similar two-month period in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League recorded a total of 2,031 antisemitic incidents, a chilling 337 percent increase year-over-year.

While Altman is using his reach to highlight the plights of Muslim tech workers, other tech CEOs are actively contributing to the problem. Take X-formerly-Twitter owner Elon Musk, who was singled out for publicly agreeing with an appalling antisemitic claim about Jewish people last year.

Musk has also added to the barrage of disinformation on his social media platform by recommending unvetted accounts that are notorious for promoting lies.

In contrast, Altman's expression of concern is noteworthy  and shows how even some of the most influential business leaders are struggling to make sense of the violence in Gaza.

"For a long time, I said that antisemitism, particularly on the American left, was not as bad as people claimed," Altman tweeted in early December. "I'd like to just state that I was totally wrong. I still don't understand it, really. Or know what to do about it."

"But it is so fucked," he added.

More on Altman: Sam Altman's Life Extension Guy Warns of Injections That Cause Wild Tumor Growth
(KRON)  A San Jose father who is charged with the fentanyl overdose death of his infant daughter, Phoenix Castro, pleaded not guilty to all charges on Friday, prosecutors told KRON4.

A Santa Clara County judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for David Anthony Castro to begin on January 16.

The 3-month-old infant, referred to in court documents as Baby Phoenix, died on May 13 in a home littered with illicit drugs, according police and prosecutors. The father called 911 and was the only parent at home at the time, the San Jose Police Department said.

The District Attorneys Office charged the 38-year-old father with felony endangering or injuring the health of a child, and a special allegation of corporal injury of a child resulting in death.

Phoenixs mother, Emily De La Creda, died of a fentanyl overdose just two months after her baby died, according to court documents. The fathers behavior during his daughters short life demonstrated clear disregard for Phoenixs health and well-being, prosecutors said. The infant was still too young to know how to crawl.

San Jose parents charged with murder after fentanyl kills baby

Despite both his babys and (De La Credas) death from overdose, defendant still did not alter his behavior or home environment. When SJPD arrested the defendant for Phoenixs death on October 19, 2023, more drugs and paraphernalia were located inside the home, prosecutors wrote in court documents.

The infants death sparked an outcry from concerned community members. Last month, Santa Clara County leaders pledged to fix a broken Child Protective Services system at the countys Department of Family and Childrens Services. Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to reform DFCS.

County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said the circumstances around Phoenixs death were shocking and heart wrenching. They are also unacceptable.

David Castro remains in jail without bail, according to inmate records.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
In Sacramento, California, another pedophile-rapist bites the dust. He is killed in jail by another convict in his cell, medics came. It was too late to save the pedo.

The convicted man identified as Deandre Austin, 46, was serving life in prison for his crimes. He died last Wednesday when another inmate killed the child molester inside a shared cell. The facility where the prisoner got killed is the Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) in Ione, southeast of Sacramento, in the evening, reported Meaww.

Austin crimes included serial rape, sodomy, abusing a child under 14-years old, and many more sex-related offenses. In prison, these kinds of inmates are marked for death once they are incarcerated.

Sources say that an alert for man down was announced in prison. Though medics who tried to revive the pedo in his cell tried in vain, he died an hour later. As a result of the violent prison murder, the prison officials organized an investigation into his death, noted Newsweek.

The one who killed Austin is identified as Rodney Jordan, who will be transferred to segregated housing after results. This official inquiry will go over what Austin got rubbed out.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in their statement, On Wednesday, exactly at 5.40 pm, their officers went to check a man down in the cells. Austin was discovered unresponsive inside the cell he stayed in.

EMTs were summoned to assist in reviving the downed pedo, and resuscitation was attempted. On the time of 6:40 pm, a prison doctor was on call and declared Austin lifeless after an hour.

Also read: Love Triangle: Married Cop Strangles Lover Before She Tells His Wife

The pedophile and rapist said the department arrived after transfer from Contra Costa County. On the 2nd of October 2008, he was judged guilty with a life sentence with a chance of parole. Crimes included rape, violating a minor under 14, sex abuse of a child, and a host of acts by the convicted sex offender, cited Kiro7.

Officials connected to the Austin investigation said that changes would be present in the inquiry. To help the Amador County District Attorney's Office in assisting the investigators from MCSP in the murder case.

Prison Inmates Don't like Pedophiles

The inmate's history suspected of killing the pedo-rapist came from Los Angeles County on August 14, 2017.

Rodney Jordan was convicted for burglary and given two-years for the initial charge. He got paroled on July 31, 2018, but was sent back on September 4. The reason is second-degree robbery for five years, Mentioned KTLA.

Jordan is not the first to attack and kill a pedophile-rapist in jail. Some worse inmates cannot let a pedo-rapist to live. It's hell in the cell for them.

Roy Whiting, a child killer and child molester in a UK prison, was attacked on October 15, survived the attempt on his life. He has a 40-year sentence for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old. He also abducted and killed her. He was attacked with screws on a wood plank and called him nonce (child molester).

David Bobb got killed in prison he was put in, he sexually assaults a child under 14 years old.

Austin, a rapist, and pedophile is only one of many killed in jail. His cellmate killed him because of it.

Related article: Hell in a Cell: Convicted Child Killer and Pedophile Almost Killed by Inmates Who Stab Him
The Scottish government will not renew the 10 million in funding it initially granted to local councils to support Ukrainian refugee resettlement, the Scotsman reported Jan. 5.

The government distributed 10 million last year to Scotland's regional councils to help set Ukrainian refugees up in short-term accommodations, such as hotels and cruise ships.

Shortly before Christmas, Scotland informed local authorities it could not renew the funding this year due to financial difficulties.

Representatives from the Edinburgh City Council called the decision a "betrayal."

"After everything we have collectively done to support thousands of people who have suffered through so much, we are shocked at this decision, which affects families starting a new life here in Scotland," said Mandy Watt, deputy leader of Edinburgh City Council.

Councilmembers have warned that they may have to withdraw staff and support from hotels providing short-term housing to Ukrainian refugees. Representatives are planning to discuss their concerns in a meeting next week with MP Shirley-Anne Somerville, social justice secretary and member of Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party (SNP).

"It would be a betrayal if the SNP failed to live up to its lofty rhetoric from the early days of this crisis and broke their promises to those fleeing this awful war," said Labour MP Mark Griffin.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, who leads Scotland's Liberal Democrats and hosted a refugee from Ukraine after the invasion, also criticized the decision.

"It seems like the SNP got their press release and photo call, so they don't care about Ukrainian refugees anymore," he said.

Irish media reported in December that the government of Ireland plans to significantly reduce the benefits offered to Ukrainian refugees, cutting welfare payments and limiting housing provisions.

Read also: Demographic disaster: Ukraines biggest post-war threat

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PORTSMOUTH  Seacoast Community Lunch announced Paul J. Collins and Lori Charette have been appointed co-chairs as of Jan. 1. Collins will focus on managing kitchen and culinary matters while Charette will focus on in-house dining and volunteer activities. Alvin Felgar and Vicki Walters had served as co-chairs of SCL since its inception in 2018. Walters will continue to volunteer, focusing on fundraising.

Seacoast Community Lunch serves free healthy meals and provides community to food insecure residents in the seacoast region of New Hampshire and southern Maine.

Seacoast Community Lunch serves free healthy meals and provides community to food insecure residents in the seacoast region of New Hampshire and southern Maine. Every Wednesday, lunch is served at Middle Street Baptist Church both for in-house dining and take away. Lunches are free and available to everyone. SCL has served over 18,000 lunches.

For information, volunteer opportunities and donation needs, contact: SCL, 18 Court St., Portsmouth, NH, 03801 or lunch@middle.st.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast Community Lunch has new leaders: How you can help
A man is driving a pickup truck in West Seattle, holding his phone out of the window as if hes recording, and shouting lewd sexual comments to women walking.

Two women have reported incidents to police. But posts on social media indicate it may have happened to as many as 20 women over the last 18 months.

Local community members have been discussing the harassment on social media.

Its primarily happening to women walking along 35th Avenue SW. It has happened during the day and at night.

Late last year, the West Seattle Blog posted about specific reports from readers involving harassment who wanted to alert the community.

The blog post detailed a 15-year-old girl who dealt with a man while she was walking home from school. A second report in the post described a man in a pickup truck screaming explicit comments at a woman at the intersection of 35th Ave SW and Thistle Street.

Theres crime and theres the fear of crime. And, if women feel threatened in any way, it makes people feel uncomfortable in their own neighborhood, Jim Fuda with Crimestoppers of Puget Sound.

So far, the man has just made the lewd comments from his truck and he has never exited and tried to approach any of the women. But police encourage women to be vigilant. That includes staying safe and getting as much information as possible.

Dont engage, at all. Thats what guys like this want, and so the best thing you can do is ignore him, Fuda said. Always look for an escape route. Also, try to get information  a good description of the suspect or a license plate.

This story was originally published by my MyNorthwest.








An illustration of the VIPER moon rover (looking like a silvery box with wheels) on the moon.

Your name could fly to the moon later this year.

NASA is inviting you to put your name aboard its VIPER moon rover, which is scheduled to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in late 2024.

VIPER (short for "Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover") will hunt for water ice and other resources near the moon's south pole  the same general area where NASA plans to set up one or more crewed bases, via the agency's Artemis program.

"With VIPER, we are going to study and explore parts of the moon's surface no one has ever been to before  and with this campaign, we are inviting the world to be part of that risky yet rewarding journey," Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

"Just think: Our names will ride along as VIPER navigates across the rugged terrain of the lunar South Pole and gathers valuable data that will help us better understand the history of the moon and the environment where we plan to send Artemis astronauts," Fox added.

Getting your name aboard the rover is easy: Just go to this NASA site and follow the directions. You have until March 15 to do so.

Related: NASA delays ice-hunting VIPER moon rover launch to 2024, a one-year slip

VIPER is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to send agency instruments and other gear to the moon aboard private robotic landers. CLPS is designed to help pave the way for Artemis astronauts, who are scheduled to land near the lunar south pole for the first time in late 2025 or 2026.

The robotic lander involved in VIPER's flight is Griffin, which is built by Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic. Griffin has yet to get off the ground; VIPER's lunar delivery will be the first mission for the private lander.

Another Astrobotic moon craft is about to make its debut as well. The company's Peregrine lander, which is smaller than Griffin, is set to lift off Jan. 8 on the first-ever mission of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Peregrine is carrying a variety of scientific instruments for NASA and other space agencies, along with a number of private payloads. Among the latter are memorial capsules containing cremains and human DNA. The Navajo Nation has objected to their inclusion, saying that the deposition of human remains on the moon would desecrate a sacred space.

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The new VIPER name campaign is hardly a first for NASA; the agency commonly invites the public to put their names aboard its spacecraft.

For example, NASA's Orion capsule carried nearly 3.4 million names to lunar orbit and back on the Artemis 1 mission, an uncrewed effort that launched in November 2022.
Jeremy Hunt is being urged by more than 45 Conservative MPs to ensure that deeply worrying forecasting errors by the budget watchdog are not hampering Britains economic recovery.

In a letter to the Chancellor seen by The Sunday Telegraph, dozens of Tory MPs warn that the Office for Budget Responsibility suffers from systemic issues that must be resolved as a matter of urgency given the bodys centrality to decision-making by ministers.

The MPs, including Dame Priti Patel, Suella Braverman, Sir Simon Clarke and Sir John Redwood, cite a report due to be published next week which will claim that the difference between OBR growth forecasts and the reality has amounted to an aggregate total of 500 billion since 2010.

A report by the Conservative Way Forward Campaign Group is understood to say that even if 2019 and 2020 forecasts are removed from the figures, putting aside discrepancies caused by the unforeseen Covid pandemic, the OBRs errors would still add up to 138 billion.

The letter marks the most significant coordinated attack on the OBR by Conservative MPs to date, following growing criticism expressed in private and public by backbenchers and ministers in recent years.

The signatories also include Sir Jake Berry and Damien Moore, members of the executive committee of the Conservatives Northern Research Group, as well as Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, and the ex-Tory leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith,

The watchdog set up by George Osborne, provides official scoring on the impact of policy changes, which it then uses to calculate the overall headroom available to chancellors at financial statements.

Figures are deeply worrying

Senior Tories have previously warned that it underestimates the potential effect of tax cuts on growth and scores migration policies largely on the basis of the benefits the additional labour brings to the economy. Mrs Braverman, the former home secretary, has accused the OBR of largely ignoring the costs of higher migration from increased pressure on the NHS, schools and housing market.

The MPs warn: The countrys success relies upon the OBR getting things right. We would therefore like to draw your attention to a working paper published by the OBR itself earlier this year, entitled The OBRs Forecast Performance. In the paper the OBR says that since 2010 it has made many miscalculations about the state of the British economy, including a tendency to overestimate real GDP growth and underestimate government borrowing.

In a new report, The OBR: A Straitjacket of Failure, the Conservative Way Forward group has calculated that since 2010, the combined total of these errors in growth aggregates to a figure of over 500 billion. Similarly, the OBRs mistakes in forecasting public sector net borrowing have been wide of reality by over 600 billion in total.

They add: These figures are deeply worrying, and sensible economic management cannot continue on this basis. At a time when the British public are having to make every penny count, more must be done to ensure that the OBRs errors are not holding back the countrys recovery.

Ahead of the Spring Budget we would encourage you to engage with the findings set out in both the OBR and Conservative Way Forward reports and take steps to remedy the forecasting failings that are highlighted.

New group forming

It is understood that concerns about the influence of the OBR and other quangos is likely to be a focus of a new group, Popular Conservatism, being formed by Liz Truss, the former prime minister, together with Dame Priti, Sir Jacob and Sir Simon in an attempt to influence the Conservative manifesto with ideas from the Right, including tackling woke culture and championing deregulation and tax cuts.

The letter comes after The Sunday Telegraph revealed last month that Rishi Sunak delayed a crackdown on legal migration after voicing fears that the OBR would slash his headroom for tax cuts. Earlier, this newspaper revealed that, shortly before joining the OBR, the bodys head of economic forecasting said that a plan by Jeremy Corbyn to increase borrowing by 250 billion had the potential to provide a significant boost to growth.

An OBR spokesman said: The accuracy of our real GDP forecasts is similar to external forecasters. Both our borrowing and GDP forecasts are more accurate than those previously produced by the Treasury. The OBR is also recognised as one of the most transparent official economic forecasters in the world.

In 2022 Ms Truss was criticised for failing to ask the OBR to produce a forecast ahead of her ill-fated mini-budget. She later said: The OBR is one of the props of the current economic consensus, a brake on competitiveness and a barrier to prosperity.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
China's military is poised to conduct routine patrols in the disputed South China Sea, according to an announcement from the military's Southern Theater Command. The move comes amid continuing tensions in the region over contested territories.

The command emphasized its commitment to protecting national sovereignty, security, and maritime rights, stating that troops would maintain a constant state of high alert. Any military activity that disrupts the peace and creates tension in the South China Sea is firmly under control, the command asserted, as per to Firstpost.

Joint Drills Heighten South China Sea Tensions

imultaneously, joint military drills involving the United States and the Philippines are taking place in the same area. This marks the second such exercise in two months, as the allies strengthen their defense coordination in response to China's growing presence. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently reaffirmed Washington's commitment to military cooperation with the Philippines during a phone call with his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo.

Reports suggest that China has deployed a guided-missile destroyer and a frigate to monitor the movements of Philippine and American navies. The Philippine media outlet GMA Network reported that one of the Philippine patrol boats issued warnings to the Chinese vessels but received no response.

In response, the Philippines has deployed helicopters and ships, while the US Indo-Pacific Command has sent multiple combat aircraft and four vessels, including an aircraft carrier and destroyers.

The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, General Romeo Brawner, described the joint mission as a "significant leap" in their alliance and interoperability. He emphasized that the strengthened alliance sends a message to the world that they are committed to upholding a rules-based international order and a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

China and the Philippines have been embroiled in escalating tensions over disputed reefs in the South China Sea, which are claimed by both sides. The patrols coincide with the Philippines' announcement of sending additional floating assets to the Scarborough Shoal. This move follows an allocation of funding by the Philippine Congress to construct a "permanent structure" at the Second Thomas Shoal, prompting a warning of a "resolute response" from China.

To reinforce its sovereignty claim, the Philippines has increased its activity around the disputed reefs, including supply missions for its troops and fishermen operating in the area. These missions have often been met with blockades from China, using water cannons and floating barriers to deter Philippine vessels. These obstructions led to two ship collisions last year, with both countries blaming each other, according to South China Morning Post.

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ASEAN Urges Peaceful South China Sea Resolution

Efforts to resolve the South China Sea issue peacefully are crucial, according to experts and officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The claimant countries play a critical role in not exacerbating the situation. External parties, such as the United States, are seen as having ulterior motives in stirring up conflict and encircling China.

The US is accused of using the Philippines as a pawn in its strategic competition and containment strategy against China. Such meddling can complicate diplomatic efforts to resolve disputes and undermine ASEAN's unity in managing the issue.

Vietnam, another claimant country, sees the territorial dispute with China as a historical problem that can be resolved through consultations and exercises of restraint. Maintaining stability is essential for both countries, enabling them to focus on development. In December, China and Vietnam issued a joint statement agreeing to seek a lasting resolution to maritime disputes that aligns with international laws.

Experts emphasize the need for a shared vision, commitment, and cooperation between China and ASEAN on the South China Sea issue. They suggest focusing on areas such as nontraditional security cooperation, environmental initiatives, fisheries, and piracy to build mutual trust and gradually advance negotiations on a Code of Conduct.

Resolving differences requires a long-term perspective based on goodwill and pragmatism, moving away from a confrontational approach influenced by the West and embracing an Asian approach to dispute resolution.

Ultimately, the South China Sea should be viewed as a zone of peace, cooperation, and joint development, instead of a hindrance to bilateral relations, China Daily reported.

Related Article: Xi Jinping, Joe Biden Extend Diplomatic Cheers; Chinese Leader Offers Peaceful Coexistence Between China, US
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Starting on Jan. 1, El Paso establishments with public single-stall bathrooms are now required to turn them into gender-neutral restrooms, according to a news release sent out by city Rep. Cassandra Hernandezs office.

The City Council approved the measure on Nov. 21 and it took effect on Jan. 1.

The new requirement arises amidst a challenging backdrop in Texas, where trans youth and their families face significant societal pressures, according to the news release.

The City has also received a $500 grant or donation from the Galileo Church of Fort Worth to be used for the purchase of new signs, Hernandezs office said.

The new ordinance faces practical hurdles, including inadvertent non-compliance and financial constraints among businesses. These issues pose a threat to the success of the ordinance, and the current campaign aims to raise awareness of the ordinance, fostering an environment that leaves no excuse for non-compliance, Hernandezs office said in the release.

Rev. Katie Hays of Galileo Church said: I want to express our deep pride in standing with El Paso in its inclusive endeavors, highlighting the churchs commitment to justice for trans individuals.

City Rep. Cassandra Hernandez added: This awareness campaign symbolizes our solidarity with trans residents of El Paso, especially amidst state-level challenges to their existence. Our efforts go beyond merely changing bathroom signs; they represent a broader struggle for equality and dignity. I extend my gratitude to Galileo Church for their steadfast dedication to supporting the trans community throughout Texas.

Andrew Nunez Rupert, president of Mountain Star Pride, said: In partnership with other LGBTQIA+ organizations, Mountain Star Pride is excited to be working with the City of El Paso and City Representative Cassandra Hernandez in order to obtain gender neutral restroom signs for distribution throughout the city in aid of meeting the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community. It is our hope that this legislation will be a significant step forward in the process of promoting inclusion throughout the sun city.

An awareness campaign is currently underway and more details about how to obtain the new signs will be released in the near future, Hernandezs office said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The family of a man shot and killed in the east valley on Christmas Eve has called on the community for help as police search for three suspects in the case.

He was so charismatic, Shuvon Johnson said of her late brother. He had an infectious laugh.

Johnson shared with 8 News Now everything she misses about her brother.

I think he loved being a part of this family, she said. And we loved having him in this family.

Robert Glenn lost his life on Christmas Eve after Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said he was shot in front of his home in his neighborhood around 8:45 p.m. near St. Louis Avenue and Fremont Street.

Robert Glenn lost his life on Christmas Eve after Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said he was shot in front of his home in his neighborhood around 8:45 p.m. near St. Louis Avenue and Fremont Street. (Shuvon Johnson)

According to officers, this stemmed from an argument with three people they are still trying to find.

I hope that in that time detectives will have the publics help, Johnson told 8 News Now. To figure out why my brother was murdered and who took his life on that day.

Johnson said she hopes her efforts to speak out will encourage anyone who knows anything about the case to come forward.

Someone on that street knows something, she added. Someone in that house knows something, and I just want someone out there to share their information.

Johnson and her family hope to find some closure, so they can begin to heal while also doing their best to remember this man they loved.

Robert Glenn lost his life on Christmas Eve after Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said he was shot in front of his home in his neighborhood around 8:45 p.m. near St. Louis Avenue and Fremont Street. (Shuvon Johnson)

They deserve to be in jail, she concluded. They deserve to pay for murdering my brother.

Johnson told 8 News Now Glenn was a father and also left behind his dog, whom she adopted.

The family is still trying to raise money for funeral expenses and has a GoFundMe set up to help.

Anyone with any information about this case or the three suspects involved, call LVMPD Homicide at 702-828-3521.

To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
As enriching as family vacations can be, there's no question they're stressful to plan. And if you want to show your kids the world, planning family travel adventures to bucket-list destinations like Ireland, Alaska, or America's national parks can also be a bit daunting. The good news is there may be a better alternative to considerletting someone else do all the planning on a guided tour.

I've participated in numerous guided group tours with my family, and they've been among the most hassle-tree times together we've ever had. Letting trip planners and seasoned guides take care of tedious details and time-consuming logistics removes many of the difficulties that come with traveling, especially with kids.

While a trip to the destination of your dreams is never going to be a cheap family vacation, group travel tours can save you time, money, and a lot of stress. The end result? Family travel adventures that run smoothly and don't come with any costly surprises. Here are 15 value-packed guided tours for your familys 2024 adventures.

HASSLE-FREE VACATIONS: 11 best guided tour companies for family tours

1. Iceland with National Geographic Family Journeys

G Adventures

Iceland waterfall

Renowned small group travel tour company G Adventures has teamed up with National Geographic to create escorted family travel itineraries that take full advantage of NatGeos expertise in wildlife, storytelling, and photography. The companys eight-day Iceland Family Journey delves into the subarctic island nations unique geological features in an experiential way, including hiking on the edge of a volcanic crater and riding Icelandic horses near a waterfall.

CLOSER TO HOME: 25 best family vacation spots in the USA

The tour company's trip leaders are trained to engage young guests ages seven to 17, and the participant limit is capped at 20. These guided family travel adventures start at $4,999 per adult (theres a $200 discount for kids ages seven to 12) for 2024 and they include transportation within Iceland, accommodations, daily breakfast, three lunches, and one dinner.

2. Highlights of Ireland

Brendan Vacations

Brendan Vacations takes you to all the highlights of Ireland.

The wild Atlantic Ocean, misty cliffs, and impossibly green countryside are a few of the reasons why the Emerald Island's mystical beauty has inspired poets for centuries. From Dublin's cosmopolitan charm to hanging by your heels to kiss the Blarney Stone in Cork, Brendan Vacations are experts when it comes to Celtic travel, and its Shamrocks and Leprechauns tour is a favorite with families.

NO PASSPORT NEEDED: 21 best all-inclusive resorts in the U.S. for families

Highlights include going behind the scenes where Game of Thrones was filmed and marveling at the spectacular Cliffs of Moher. Interactive experiences, such as tea with a family on their sheep farm and dressing up like medieval archers as you learn to aim a bow and arrow, make a lasting impression.

Theres a maximum of 45 participants aged five and older on this 10-day trip in 2024. Prices start at $3,083 and children ages five to 17 receive a 10 percent discount. Transportation within Ireland, accommodations, and 15 meals are included. A travel director accompanies you throughout, with local specialists enriching the journey.

3. Canadian Rockies from Banff to Jasper

Backroads

Explor the Canadian Rockies with Backroads.

Backroads guided family travel adventures are a hit with active travelers who crave communion with nature. On Backroads Banff to Jasper Multi-Adventure Family Tour, youll join a small group of families as you bike, hike, and paddle your way across the magnificent Canadian Rockies. Float down the Athabasca River, soak in sweeping vistas at Icefields Parkway, and walk on a glacier.

ACTIVE SENIORS: 9 best tour companies for travelers over 50: Road Scholar, Globus, more

This trip has a maximum of 26 guests and is recommended for ages nine and older. Trip leaders receive specialized training to ensure that theyre well-equipped to engage youngsters. The six-day trip costs $3,999 per person in 2024. Kids 17 and under receive a 10 percent discount when staying in a single or double occupancy room; the child discount is increased to 20 percent if there are three or more people staying in the same room. Lodging, activities, daily breakfast, six lunches, four dinners, and snacks are included.

4. Grand Alaskan Adventure

Cosmos

Denali, Alaska, moose.

If your family loves the Great Outdoors, Alaska is the vacation of a lifetime. Cosmos offers guided group tours to "Americas Last Frontier" that present value without skimping on quality. The Grand Alaskan Adventure is an appealing choice with a balanced blend of group activities and free time.

SEE THE WORLD: 11 guided tour companies that offer trips around the world

Starting and finishing in Anchorage, you'll cross Prince William Sound and glimpse otters, seals, and whales. A ride on the Alaska Railroad will delight fans of train travel, while two days spent in Denali National Parks wilderness is an immersion in majestic beauty. Keep your eyes open for bears, moose, and caribou as you travel the Denali Highway across Alaskas lightly treaded interior.

In 2024, this seven-day guided family travel adventure starts at $2,139 and includes some meals, accommodations, and activities. Children as young as five are welcome, and those ages five to 17 receive a 10 percent discount. The average number of participants is 36.

5. Taste of Portugal

Globus

Wicker basket toboggan ride with Globus.

With alluring beaches, ancient villages, and sophisticated cities, its no wonder Portugal is trending in 2024. The Taste of Portugal with Madeira guided group itinerary from Globus visits cosmopolitan Lisbon, Portos cobbled streets, and the semi-tropical island of Madeira, with its natural rock-pools and unique wicker basket toboggan ride.

FAMILY TRAVEL ADVENTURES: 28 best places to go with kids this year

This 11-day escorted trip starts at $3,309 including hotels, nine breakfast, and three dinners. Kids as young as five may participate and those between ages five and 17 receive a 10 percent discount. The average group size is 36 guests.

6. New Zealand Family Travel Adventure

Austin Adventures

Explore the adventurous side of New Zealand with Austin Adventures.

Headquartered in New Zealand, guided tour company Austin Adventures is an expert when it comes to showcasing this countrys natural assets. Energetic families who want an intimate group experience will be pleased with the New Zealand Family Vacation itinerary. Starting and finishing in Christchurch, you'll visit a wildlife preserve with resident koalas, wallabies, kiwi, and ancient tuatara (a rare reptile); hike to glacial lakes; and kayak and float down a rose-lined gorge.

FAR-FLUNG ADVENTURES: Bora Bora with kids? These French Polynesia family resorts belong on your vacation bucket list

Children six and older are welcome on this 13-day trip, which costs $5,499 per adult and $4,999 per child 12 years and under. Lodging, activities, and almost all meals are part of the deal. The maximum group size is 14 people plus two guides.

7. The Greek Islands of Mykonos, Santorini, and Crete

EF Go Ahead Tours

Step into Greek history with EF Go Ahead Tours.

Get acquainted with a trifecta of Greek islands on The Greek Islands: Mykonos, Santorini, and Crete from EF Go Ahead Tours. Absorb ancient Hellenic heritage in Athens before arriving in lively Mykonos for a dip in its crystal-clear water. Cruise to Santorini, where volcanic black sand beaches are juxtaposed with bright white and sea blue houses. Then it's on to Crete with its trail of historic treasures, from palaces to archaeological ruins.

TROPICAL BLISS: 7 best tropical vacation spots for families

This 14-day family travel adventure has a maximum of 30 participants and starts at $4,019 in 2024. It includes hotels, daily breakfast, five dinners, a dedicated tour director, and local guides along the way. Children age six and older are welcome, though they don't receive a discount.

Affordable bucket list family travel adventures where someone else does all the planning originally appeared on FamilyVacationist.com.

More from FamilyVacationist:

FamilyVacationist.com and TourScoop.com are owned and operated by Vacationist Media LLC. Using the FamilyVacationist travel recommendation methodology, we review and select family vacation ideas, family vacation spots, all-inclusive family resorts, and classic family vacations for all ages. TourScoop covers guided group tours and tour operators, tour operator reviews, tour itinerary reviews and travel gear recommendations. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No planning vacations: 7 affordable family travel adventures
COLUMBIA, SC (Queen City News)  It was nearly a year ago that a Dorchester County judge slapped a $11,307.36 sanction on Chief Mark Keel, the head of South Carolinas top law enforcement agency for a list of discovery abuses arising from his agents decision to destroy a hemp farmers crop in September 2019.

Dorchester County Circuit Court Judge Maite Murphy sanctioned Keel in February 2023 after listening to arguments from the farmers attorney that Keel, who heads the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), kept discovery evidence from the farmer after the farmer sued SLED following the raid.

A SC judge ordered SLED Chief Mark Keel to pay an $11,300 fine to the attorney for a farmer SLED arrested and destroyed his hemp crop in 2019. The farmer accused Keel of discovery misconduct and a judge sanctioned the SLED leader in a Feb. 28, 2023 order. (WJZY Photo/Jody Barr)

Trent Pendarvis attorney, Patrick McLaughlin, told Murphy that SLED failed to disclose records showing what went on between state police agents, the SC Department of Agriculture, and the SC Attorney Generals Office in the weeks leading up to the raid. McLaughlin argued SLED and Keel failed to turn over documents, failed to disclose all communications and meetings related to the case, and gave incomplete responses to the farmers legal team.

The judge agreed with McLaughlin, ordering Keel to pay the Florence attorney $11,307.36 for what Murphy described as intentional, willful, and bad faith conduct, according to the Feb. 28, 2023, order sanctioning Keel.

02282023-KEEL-DISCOVERY-VIOLATIONS-ORDERDownload

I find that Keels conduct regarding discovery in this case has been dilatory, prejudicial, willful, intentional and in bad faith and his responses have been false, misleading, and incompleteDespite the clear and plain language of the rule requiring answers under oath, and the specific requests by the Plaintiff that requirement be complied with, Keel has failed to comply with Rule 33. The Plaintiff has served Keel with four (4) sets of interrogatories. During the hearing, Keel conceded to only producing Rule 33 verifications for two (2): the 2nd and 3rd set of interrogatories. Judge Maite Murphy, Feb. 28, 2023, order for sanctions against SLED Cheif Mark Keel

The judge also noted in her Feb. 28 order that Keel withheld numerous communications sent from the agencys taxpayer-funded email server that contained Pendarvis name.

Emails in the record that Keel did not identify or produce, were sent from and to sled.sc.gov email addresses. Keel is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the State of South Carolina. It is inconceivable that Keel does not have the knowledge and capability to execute a keyword/term search of his agencys digital email archives to identify and obtain every email communication that would be responsive to the Plaintiffs discovery requests. The record reflects Keel failed to do so, Murphy wrote in the February 2023, sanctions order.

On March 10, 2023, Keel asked Murphy to reconsider her sanctions. On April 5, Murphy issued a two-sentence order denying Keels request to reconsider the sanctions imposed against him and SLED.

Keel had 30 days to comply with Murphys Feb. 28, 2023, order or be held in contempt of it. But at 4:07 p.m. on the final day to respond, Keel and his taxpayer-funded attorney, Andrew Lindemann, filed an appeal of Murphys orders with the South Carolina Court of Appeals.

Keels appeal, among other requests, sought to have his name removed from the sanction order, replacing Keel with SLED. The SC Appeals Court and later the SC Supreme Court denied Keels request to undo Murphys sanction order, including removing his name from the filing.

The timing of the appeal is neither accident nor happenstance, McLaughlin wrote in a May 8, 2023, motion asking the appeals court to dismiss Keels appeal.

09182023-SLED-PETITION-FOR-WRIT-OF-CERTIORARIDownload

The farmers attorney argued SLED filed the appeal to further delay litigation thats already spanned three years.

This appeal was intentionally filed right before that deadline for compliance to avoid the Appellant being in contempt of the trial courts order and subject to further sanctions for that contempt. This appeal was intentionally filed in that improper manner despite this Court having previously instructed in Funny on the proper way to appeal such an order: be found in contempt pursuant to Tucker and appeal the contempt order, McLaughlin wrote in the May 8 motion.

In a case in which the very order being appealed found Appellant to have engaged in conduct that was dilatory, prejudicial, willful, intentional, false, misleading, incomplete and in bad faith, resulting in clear, convincing and substantial evidence that the Respondent was prejudiced by having to unnecessarily expend substantial time and resources, this improper and frivolous appeal itself warrants sanctions, McLaughlin wrote.

The appeals court ultimately agreed with McLaughlin and handed down an order on July 10, 2023, dismissing Keels appeal, finding Murphys order is not immediately appealable, meaning Keel must first be found in contempt of the order before he could appeal. The appeals court order cited three S.C. Supreme Court cases establishing legal precedence that discovery orders are interlocutory and not immediately appealable.

Keel and Lindemann filed a Writ for Certiorari, asking the SC Supreme Court to overtirn the appeals court ruling, finding Judge Murphy made multiple errors in her sanctions order and to overturn the sanctions against SLED Chief Mark Keel.

On Dec. 13, 2023, the SC Supreme Court denied Keels request to review his appeal. The case was sent back to Dorchester County and the Murphy sanction order imposed on Keel and SLED was reinstated. That order forced Keel to pay the $11,307.36 sanction and to hand over records withheld from Pendarvis.

The SC Supreme Court order wasnt made public until Dec. 27, 2023.

12272023-DENIAL-OF-KEEL-APPEALDownload

The high court agreed with McLaughlins initial argument that Keel couldnt appeal Murphys order until  and only until  he was found in contempt of it. Keel and Lindemann filed the appeal just before the deadline which could have placed Keel in contempt.

Petitioner (Keel) seeks a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals dismissal of the underlying order of the circuit court on the ground that the discovery order was not immediately appealable. Because the court of appeals correctly held the discovery order was not immediately appealable, we deny the petition, the Dec. 13, 2023, Supreme Court order stated.

The order was signed by Chief Justice Donald Beatty and four other justices.

The justices also ordered Judge Murphy to amend her discovery order to allow SLED to keep secret the contents of agents personnel files related to the Pendarvis raid  only releasing those records to attorneys in the Pendarvis lawsuit. Most of the information in a personnel file  except for information that would constitute an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy (S.C. Code 30-4-40(a))  of public employees in South Carolina, including law enforcement officers, is a public record under the SC Freedom of Information Act.

The SC Court of Appeals further solidified the publics right to access law enforcement personnel files in a case titled Burton v. York County Sheriffs Office from 2004. In the Burton case, a newspaper filed a FOIA request for personnel files of a group of deputies suspended without pay, but the sheriff released only the hire date, rank and title, and salaries for each deputy. The court found the sheriffs office illegally withheld the remainder of the files.

The sheriffs office claimed the information was of a personal nature and disclosing it would constitute an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy, according to the appeals court order.

The court found the sheriffs offices use of the privacy exemption did apply to those law enforcement personnel files.

In the present case, we find the manner in which the employees of the Sheriffs Department prosecute their duties to be a large and vital public interest that outweighs their desire to remain out of the public eye. The newspaper, in fulfilling its obligation to report on and hold to account those in public service, had a legitimate need to access the records Burton requested. Burton and the newspaper did not seek information regarding the off-duty sexual activities of the deputies involved. Rather, the access to information they sought and the trial court granted was focused on the performance of public duties by the Sheriff and his deputies and the response of the Department to allegations of misconduct by the deputies. SC Supreme Court published opinion #3771

Chief Justice Beattys name is signed to the bottom of the Burton v. York opinion, confirming his concurrence with the opinion.

However, as Chief Justice of the SC Supreme Court, Beatty signed off on the December 2023, order telling Judge Murphy to provide protection to the SLED personnel files, which appears to be in direct conflict with Beattys findings in Burton v. York.

SC Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty signed off on a 2004 judicial opinion certifying law enforcement officers personnel files were a public record in South Carolina. However, in December 2023, Beatty signed an order allowing SLED to keep personnel files of agents involed in a 2019 raid of a hemp farmer from being disclosed from anyone outside of the attorneys involved in the farmers lawsuit. (Source: SC Court Administration)

On Jan. 2, 2024, we emailed Beatty, asking him to explain the conflict in his two judicial decisions; the latest appearing to hold a SLED agents personnel file to a confidentiality provision where the states own open records law doesnt provide any such protection.

Beatty did not respond to our request to clarify his judicial positions on law enforcement personnel files.

Murphy gave Keel until Jan. 26, 2024, to comply with her demand that SLED hand over any record associated with its handling of Trent Pendarvis investigation and prosecution, including the SLED personnel files.

The farmers civil rights lawsuit will now continue where it stopped last April when Keel filed his appeal. The likely next steps would include work toward depositions, further discovery and a trial if both sides are unable to reach a settlement before trial.

We asked Keel whether he personally paid the $11,307.36 sanction or whether taxpayers footed the bill. SLEDs media office confirmed taxpayers paid the sanction, responding on Keels behalf with this statement: To be clear, Chief Keel was and is named as a defendant in this action only in his official capacity as the Chief of SLED. As such, the attorneys fees and costs awarded by Judge Murphy were not assessed against Chief Keel personally nor did he personally pay them. Rather, the amount was paid by SLEDs insurance carrier, the South Carolina Insurance Reserve Fund, SLED spokeswoman Renee Wunderlich wrote in a Jan. 2, 2023, email to QCN.

The Dorchester County case docket also shows in July, five months after Keel was sanctioned, Andrew Lindemann was removed as Keels defense attorney. The order does not state the reason for Lindemanns removal, other than Upon motion by Defendant Mark Keel, in his official capacity as Chief of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division

Lindemann was replaced by Daniel C. Plyler, according to the substitution of counsel order signed by Judge Murphy on July 18, 2023.

We asked Keel why he removed Lindemann, but in the SLED statement, Keel refused to explain his decision to remove Lindemann, Further, SLED will not discuss any attorney-client privileged conversations or communications between SLEDs former or current attorneys, Wunderlich wrote.

We also sent an email to the address listed for Lindemann on electronic court filings in the case seeking his explanation for his removal. Lindemann did not respond to our request.

Keel joined SLED in 1979 and later left to head the SC Department of Public Safety. Keel left SCDPS in 2011 when he rejoined SLED as chief following his appointment to a six-year term by then Governor Nikki Haley. Keel was reappointed in 2018 by Governor Henry McMaster.

On Dec. 7, 2023, six days before the SC Supreme Courts decision on Keels appeal, McMaster announced he was appointing Keel to another six-year term. The SC Senate will have to confirm the chiefs reappointment when the legislature reconvenes later this month.

The month after Murphys sanction order, we found McMaster at a public function to ask him about the discovery misconduct allegations against his cabinet appointee.

The entire exchange between Barr and the governor can be seen here:

McMaster defended Keel, saying the lifelong lawman has a terrific reputation.

McMaster admitted he never read the sanctions order against Keel, but that he just read newspaper reports about the hemp farmers case. McMaster also would not take a copy of the order from Barr during the March 2023 interview with the governor.

In the judges order, she writes, I find that Keels conduct regarding discovery in this case has been dilatory, prejudicial, willful, intentional, and in bad faith, and that his responses have been false, misleading and incomplete, Barr said to the governor reading Judge Murphys quote from the lawsuit. I read some of those words, but again, thats, thats the judges order and shes doing her job. Chief Keels been in law enforcement a long time. He has a terrific reputation. His whole organization does, but again, this is a civil lawsuit and its going through the proper steps, McMaster told QCN.

During our Seize and Destroy investigation, law enforcement sources told us about a SLED policy, telling agents they shall be truthful and use candor in all official matters. SLED later provided copies of the policies to us.

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The policy originally went into effect on March 1, 1992 and was revised on Oct. 1, 2007. The 2007 version of the policy was signed off by SLED Chief Mark Keel. The policy was again revised on Sept. 4, 2020 under order of Mark Keel.

McMaster appeared to have never heard of the policy when we interviewed him in March 2023 and interrupted our questions about whether Keel adhered to his own policy and who holds a cabinet appointee accountable.

Heres a transcript of that portion of our interview:

BARR: The last question I have for you is, theres a  SLED has a truthfulness policy

GOVERNOR: Has a what?

BARR: Truthfulness policy, and it was signed by Chief Keel, 2021it was updated, and it says in that policy, Employees shall be truthful and use complete candor in all official matters, whether in the course of appointment or otherwise

GOVERNOR: I understand and of course, there are always two sides, every story and thats what the judicial system is for. Chief Keel has been a respected law enforcement officer for many, many years. Ive worked with him for many, many years. I have confidence, high confidence in him. Of course, the judge has a good reputation. But thats what the legal system is for is to sort these things out in a methodical procedure that is set by law and thats whats happening.

BARR: Who should hold Chief Keel accountable for what

GOVERNOR: How many times you gonna ask that same question?

BARR: Who holds him accountable?

GOVERNOR: Thats what the judicial system is for.

Keel, who has denied every request to be interviewed about this case and the allegations against his agency, would not agree to be interviewed for this report.

THE RAID

Agents arrested Pendarvis in the middle of his hemp field on Sept. 19, 2019. SLEDs body camera recordings from the raid show the raid had the blessings of the agencys leadership. In fact, Major Frank ONeal, who heads SLEDs drug unit, was standing in Pendarvis field that day and gave the order to arrest the Dorchester County farmer.

SLED agents, armed with SC Forestry Commission heavy equipment, swarmed Maple Hill Road and raided Trent Pendarvis hemp plot. The raid ended with the farmer sitting in a Dorchester County Sheriffs Office patrol car with his hands cuffed behind his back.

SCFC workers used large tractors with bush hogs to mow the farmers crop down during the 2019 raid. SLED Major Frank ONeal also got in on the action as SLED body camera recordings show ONeal using a bush axe to chop hemp plants down while what appeared to be another SLED agent smiling while using a cell phone to record ONeals destruction work.

SLED agents accused Pendarvis of growing hemp without a license, although the farmer was awarded a hemp growers license by the SC Department of Agriculture in May 2019  more than four months before the SLED raid. Pendarvis filed coordinates for the two fields he planned to plant the hemp in, but the farmer told Queen City News Chief Investigator Jody Barr during an interview in September 2022, that the fields he originally planned to use were unusable.

Pendarvis also told SCDA officials the same when he tried to amend his acreage allotment weeks before the raid.

Pendarvis said a drought and heavy rains forced him to plant his hemp seedlings in different fields other than the ones he listed on his original application. Records obtained by QCN show Pendarvis attempted to amend his plot locations in the weeks leading up to the raid, but instead of allowing him to amend his coordinates, the SC Department of Agriculture emailed SLED on August 6, 2019, asking the law enforcement agency to investigate the farmer.

Trent Pendarvis hemp growers license awarded to him by the SC Department of Agriculture in 2019.

SLED acted quickly, opening an investigation and emailing the SC Attorney Generals Office for a legal opinion on August 6, 2019.

At some point after the raid, agents planned to seize and destroy a second field holding a portion of Pendarvis hemp allotment. However, Pendarvis attorney, Patrick McLaughlin, was able to stop SLED after filing a request for an emergency restraining order. A judge granted the restraining order, allowing Pendarvis to harvest the crop and any revenue made off the harvest placed into a trust account until both SLED and Pendarvis could have their day in court.

SLED Agent John Neale reaches for Trent Pendarvis arm after telling the Dorchester County farmer he was under arrest for violating the states new hemp farming law in 2019. SLED Major Frank ONeal gave Neale the order to arrest Pendarvis, this body camera video shows. (Source: SLED)

On the day of the raid, SLED filed a single charge against the farmer: Unlawful Cultivation of Hemp  1st Offense. Within minutes of being freed from jail, Pendarvis went on the hunt for legal help.

The farmer hired Brad Hutto, a state senator out of Orangeburg. Hutto immediately hired McLaughlin, a civil rights attorney who has successfully sued state and local government agencies in South Carolina in civil rights claims.

On July 25, 2022, the First Judicial Solicitors Office filed a letter, finding SLED could not prove what Pendarvis did was not merely a mistake. The prosecutor dismissed the charge against the farmer.

By cultivating hemp plants in a field that was not approved by SCDA, Defendant (Pendarvis) clearly violated the provisions of the Act. As such, probable cause existed to issue an arrest warrant for Defendant on the basis of these violation. However, it is also apparent from the circumstances discussed above that the State would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable [sic] that the Defendants actions were willful. For the foregoing reasons, this case will be dismissed. David L. Osborne, First Judicial Circuit Senior Litigation Counsel

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The following month, Trent Pendarvis sued SLED, the Dorchester County Sheriffs Office, and the SC Forestry Commission whom SLED summoned to the hemp field to destroy it.

That lawsuit would begin to unearth what Pendarvis and his legal team believe was a conspiracy to use the Dorchester County farmer in a political fight against the legalization of cannabis in South Carolina.

CONSPIRACY TO CHARGE PENDARVIS & DESTROY HIS CROP

Within hours of the SCDAs July 2019 inspection of Pendarvis hemp farm, records obtained by Pendarvis attorneys through discovery in two separate state-level civil lawsuits show the SCDA went to work to figure out how to enforce what it alleged was a violation of the states six-month-old Hemp Farming Act.

The Act, located in Title 46, Chapter 55 of the SC Code of Laws, states a hemp farmer cannot be charged with a crime or fined for violations, The corrective action planis the sole remedy for negligent violations of this chapter, regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, the law states. A licensee who negligently violates a provision of this chapter, regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or the state plan shall not be subject to any criminal or civil enforcement action.

Not only was Pendarvis arrested and charged, but SLED coordinated with the SC Forestry Commission the day before the raid to have the SC Forestry Commission bring heavy equipment to Pendarvis farm to destroy every hemp plant on the farm.

Trent Pendarvis legal team included this series of photographs showing a man identified as John Stokes taking selfies in the hemp field just before SLED and the SC Forestry Commission mowed the hemp field down on Sept. 19, 2019. (Source: Pendarvis lawsuit)

An email from SLED Lt. Jason Wells to SLED General Counsel Adam Whitsett, Major ONeal, Captain Wood, and Neale shows Wells planned to ask someone he knows at the SCFC to bring the equipment to Dorchester County the morning of the raid and to meet SLED agents to destroy the hemp crop.

Video recordings obtained by Pendarvis attorneys show SCFC equipment waiting in the field for SLEDs command to begin cutting the hemp down. Discovery records also included photographs of SCDA Program Manager John Stokes taking selfies in Pendarvis hemp field during the raid.

The day following the SCDA inspection in July 2019, Pendarvis emailed the Ag department the coordinates of his hemp plot and an explanation as to why he planted the crop in a different location than he initially filed with his application months earlier.

Due to the extensive drought in May and overabundance of rain in June, I was prohibited to plant the fields that were previously reported with GPS coordinates. I didnt realize the field was not reported since multiple fields were listed in case weather events delayed planting and thought everything would be finalized during inspection. It was an oversight for not reporting the change to you. The additional field is located in a 2-mile radius of existing fields and did not increase the acreage approved,July 31, 2019 email from Pendarvis to Derek Underwood, an SCDA Assistant Commissioner. July 31, 2019 email from Pendarvis to Derek Underwood, an SCDA Assistant Commissioner.

Pendarvis email also included the coordinates of the field he said he asked the SCDA to add an amendment to his application. SCDA emails show the agency did not update Pendarvis records, instead sending him a letter informing him the agency found he willfully violated the Act.

On August 5, 2019, emails obtained by Pendarvis counsel show SCDA Assistant Commissioner Derek Underwood emailed SLED Captain Jason Wells asking for a criminal investigation and enforcement action against the farmer.

SCDA Assistant Commissioner Derek Underwood notified SLED in August 2019 that the commission found Trent Pendarvis in willful violation of the states hemp farming law and asked for a criminal investigation into Pendarvis. (Source: SCDA Facebook)

The following day, SLEDs General Counsel Adam Whitsett emailed the SC Attorney Generals Office asking for a legal opinion, indicating the states Hemp Farming Act didnt clearly lay out how SLED was to enforce violations, There is no specific direction as to the process or procedure to have the illegally grown hemp, which is contraband per se, seized or destroyed. Accordingly, SLED would greatly appreciate any specific guidance you can provide on the proper procedure in this matter, Whitsett wrote in an Aug. 6, 2019, email to David S. Jones, an Assistant Attorney General in the SC Attorney Generals Solicitor General Division.

Underwood emailed SLED again two days after filing the violation allegation against Pendarvis, asking for an update. This time SLED Major Frank ONeal responded.

Not yet  we are having difficulty in what to address with so many gray areas concerning enforcement. Unlike Kentucky, we dont really have comprehensive regulation that addresses all of the possible concerns. We are having to get AG opinions along the way and the last thing we want to do is an action that will be perceived in a negative light by the media or general assembly. SLED Major Frank ONeal wrote to Derek Underwood in an August 8, 2019 email.

Trent Pendarvis federal civil rights lawsuit against SLED, the SCAG, and SCDA contains this August 8, 2019 email exchange between SLED Major Frank ONeal, SLED Captain Jason Wells, and other members of the Ag Department  to include Commissioner Hugh Weathers. In it, ONeal expresses concerns over doing anything that would be perceived in a negative light by the media or general assembly. (Source: Pendarvis lawsuit)

The email trail between SLED, SCDA, and the SCAGs offices shows the back-and-forth between the agencies, each trying to figure out how to handle the ultra murky law SLED was about to enforce. Ultra murky is the language Bob Cook, the AGs Solicitor General, used to describe the SC Hemp Farming Act of 2019.

It gives no direction whatever [sic] to law enforcement, Cook wrote in an August 7, 2019, email to Assistant Attorney General David Jones.

The next day, on August 8, 2019, AG records show Cook and Jones published the opinion SLED asked for, describing it as An opinion on the appropriate procedure to pursue enforcement of the Hemp Farming Act with respect to hemp grown in violation of the Act. The opinion is still live on the AGs website today.

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It is the opinion of this office that in the absence of legislative direction, SLED should seek judicial authorization for the seizure of legally-grown hemp in order to ensure that the grower receives due process consistent with the Constitutions of the United States and the State of South Carolina, Solicitor General Robert Cook wrote.

Given the absence of any legislative direction in the Hemp Farming Act, we advise that the prudent course of action would be to provide that opportunity in a hearing. We hope that this also will lead to judicial clarification of some of the many questions created as a result of the Hemp Farming Act, Cook continued in the legal opinion.

Emails obtained by Pendarvis legal team show SLED attempted to seek approval from a circuit court judge to destroy Pendarvis crop following the AGs opinion. On Sept. 11, 2019, SLED General Counsel Adam Whitsett emailed Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein, asking her to meet with SLED agents to discuss a proposed Hemp/Marijuana Seizure Order and Order of Destruction in the hope that the Judge will sign it, Whitsett wrote.

Trent Pendarvis lawsuit included this email between SLEDs top attorney and Dorchester County Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein. The email shows SLED attempting to meet with Goodstein to have her sign an order authorizing the destruction of Pendarvis hemp crop. (Source: Pendarvis lawsuit)

The email also showed SLED Major Frank ONeal had already spoken with Gil Gatch, Judge Goodsteins law clerk at the time. Gatch is now a current member of the SC House of Representatives and did not return messages seeking comment for this report.

ONeal contacted the judges office to find out the judges availability to meet with SLED agents, according to the emails obtained through discovery. The judges office responded to Whitsett six hours later.

The judge has reviewed your proposed order and has decided not to sign it, Gatch wrote in a Sept. 11, 2019, reply to Whitsett. She told me to let you know that if you would like a hearing on the matter, she would be glad to give you one, Gatch wrote in closing the email.

This Sept. 11, 2019, email from SLEDs top attorney, Adam Whitsett, shows SLED declining the judges offer for a hearing. Discovery records show that eight days later, SLED went to a lower court judge for an arrest warrant that Pendarvis alleges SLED used to destroy his hemp crop. (Source: Pendarvis lawsuit)

But Whitsett declined the judges offer to give Pendarvis a hearing. Please let the judge know that we appreciate her consideration and do not anticipate needs a hearing on this matter at this time, Whitsett wrote to Gatch and Goodstein more than an hour later.

Emails Pendarvis legal team obtained through discovery show that eight days later, SLED Agent John Neale went to a lower court to ask a magistrate judge for an arrest warrant for Trent Pendarvis.

SLED would later serve that warrant on Pendarvis, and then destroy his hemp crop.

Judge said, Im available, courtrooms open, you certainly are entitled to a hearing, notify the farmer and come on up here. They (SLED) didnt like that. They wanted to go around that, Pendarvis attorney Brad Hutto told QCN last month.

In reality, SLED was going around the Attorney General and around the judge, all for what? To go after Trent Pendarvis. Why? Hutto asked.

SLEDS OBSTRUCTIONIST CONDUCT

After SLED filed its appeal of the Marion County decision, Pendarvis attorneys spent the next several months fighting with SLED, the Attorney General, the Ag Department, and other state agencies trying to gather discovery records and evidence to show what happened behind the scenes in the weeks and days before SLED raided Pendarvis farm.

Pendarvis attorneys described SLEDs handling of Pendarvis criminal and civil cases as obstruction of justice in what the attorneys labeled as discovery misconduct in the agencys intentional withholding of some of the evidence it had related to the Pendarvis raid.

Patrick McLaughlin thumbs through a binder filled with discovery motions filed in the state-level civil cases filed against SLED, the Attorney General, and the SC Department of Agriculture. McLaughlin said he filed the motions in an attempt to force SLED to turn over documentation related to its handling of the allegations against Pendarvis and the raid of his family farm in September 2019. (WJZY Photo/Jody Barr)

This conduct includes willfully attempting to mislead a state court judge to authorize their seizure and destruction action, conspiring to seize and destroy the Pendarvis property after that state court judge had refused to authorize such, then denying that the state court judge had refused to authorize the seizure and destruction of the Pendarvis property and the willful and intentional obstruction of justice through discovery misconduct in both the criminal and state court cases arising from these matters, the attorneys wrote in the September 2022 federal lawsuit.

That lawsuit names 36 defendants who Pendarvis attorneys said had a hand in the communications and the on-site actions related to the September 2019 raid of Pendarvis farm.

The lawsuit points to a Sept. 30, 2019, attorney general opinion that amended the Aug. 8, 2019, opinion SLED received before raiding Pendarvis farm. The August opinion included language cautioning SLED against seizing and destroying Pendarvis hemp crop without affording him a hearing in court.

The cover page of the 92-page federal civil rights lawsuit contains the names of all 36 people Pendarvis legal team included in the litigation. (WJZY Photo/Jody Barr)

The amended opinion was published on Sept. 30, 2019  11 days after SLED raided Pendarvis farm and destroyed his hemp crop. The amended opinion included new information SLED provided the AG after SLED received a copy of the Participation Agreement between the SCDA and Pendarvis. The agreement contains what the AG called the consent to forfeiture and destruction, supposedly allowing the state to destroy Pendarvis crop if found growing in an area that is not licensed by SCDA, the AG opinion stated.

SLED and the SCDA argued that Pendarvis waived his due process rights by signing the Participation Agreement as part of his license to grow hemp.

Trent Pendarvis was the first person charged with violating the South Carolina Hemp Farming Act. SLED agents charged him with unlawful cultivation of hemp, a charge the prosecutor later dropped finding insufficient evidence Pendarvis willfully violated the act by planting his hemp crop in a different field than the one he identified in his hemp license application. (WJZY Photo/Jody Barr)

The Defendants (SLED and the SCDA) want to take the participation agreement and elevate it to law, Marion County Circuit Court Judge William Seals wrote in a Nov. 8, 2019 order leaving in place a restraining order barring SLED from destroying Pendarvis final two-acres of hemp crop in Marion County at the time.

However, as the Plaintiffs argue, through that same participation agreement, Defendant SCDA acknowledges the reality of mother nature intruding on a farmers best-laid plans by providing for a hemp licensee to submit a Permit Amendment Application, Seals noted in his order. Pendarvis legal team said the judge was recognizing then that an agreement between a farmer and the SCDA would not trump a farmers right to face his accusers and be denied a chance to defend himself and his crop.

Unlike purely contractual rights, constitutional rights cannot be extinguished or waived absent express agreement, Seals wrote.

The Sept. 30, 2019, AG opinion also stated, In addition, following the August opinion, SLED attempted to secure an order of destruction from a circuit court as discussed in the August opinion; however, the court would not entertain such. While no specific reasoning was provided by the court, there is simply no statutory or regulatory authorization for a court to entertain such a request, AG Solicitor General Bob Cook and Assistant AG David Jones wrote in the September 2019 amended opinion.

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But the emails Pendarvis attorney obtained in discovery show Judge Goodsteins office did entertain SLEDs request for the judge to sign an order allowing SLED to seize and destroy Pendarvis crop when the judges law clerk offered SLED an opportunity of a hearing. SLED General Counsel Adam Whitsett declined the judges offer that same day, according to a Sept. 11, 2019, email between Whitsett and Goodsteins law clerk, Gil Gatch.

Pendarvis attorney said SLED never mentioned the Sept. 30, 2019, amended opinion related to the Pendarvis raid in any of the responses SLED filed in the Marion County court case, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit Pendarvis filed against SLED, the AG, SCDA, SCFC, and the Dorchester County Sheriffs Office on Sept. 16, 2022.

The lawsuit also states that SLED did not initially produce any of its Sept. 11, 2019, communications with Judge Goodstein in its discovery responses and that SLED did not truthfully answer interrogatories in the civil litigation Pendarvis filed related to these specific questions.

POLITICAL VICTIM IN SLEDS FIGHT AGAINST CANNABIS?

Part of what Trent Pendarvis attorneys got back through their discovery work was a series of cell phone and body camera videos from the day of the Pendarvis Farms raid. The cell phone video was recorded by state agents on the ground as Pendarvis hemp crop was mowed over.

The body camera recordings were made by SLED. Under South Carolinas Freedom of Information Act, body camera recordings are not public records and unless a law enforcement agency, solicitor, or the SC Attorney Generals Office releases those recordings at each agencys discretion, body camera recordings can be kept from the public forever.

SC Law Enforcement Division Major Frank ONeal is photographed riding on the back of a pickup truck during a Sept. 19, 2019 raid of a hemp farm in Dorchester County, SC. ONeal heads SLEDs narcotics unit, according to the agencys website. (Source: Pendarvis v. Keel, et. al.)

In this case, the recordings were released as evidence in Pendarvis lawsuit against the 36 people named in his federal civil rights lawsuit. Otherwise, those recordings might have never been made public.

Pendarvis attorneys think the reason SLED decided to go after Pendarvis had nothing to do with an alleged violation of the states Hemp Farming Act. I think they wanted the photo up of the mowing it down, and they wanted the press release of we destroyed a crop, Hutto told QCN last month. They wanted to put that in the public realm, either to scare farmers or to further their war against the notion that theres something evil about hemp and its all linked to marijuana.

SLED still, in their minds, got it that hemp is illegal. That hemp has got THC in it; therefore, it is marijuana, Hutto said.

The lawsuit claims that SLED Chief Mark Keel and SC Attorney General Alan Wilson have vehemently and publicly opposed any attempt to legalize cannabis in South Carolina.

The Pendarvis lawsuit included this photograph clipped from an article published in a Charleston newspaper in Jan. 2019, where SC Attorney General Alan Wilson is quoted calling cannabis the most dangerous drug, according to the court filing. (Source: Pendarvis lawsuit)

In January 2019, a Charleston newspaper quoted Wilson as calling cannabis the most dangerous drug at a State House press conference with Chief Keel looking on. The newspaper included a picture of the press conference and a caption noting Keel and Wilson came out in opposition to legislation to legalize medical marijuana.

Both Keel and Wilson were surrounded by members of the South Carolina Medical Association, according to the newspapers caption.

Even after Pendarvis arrest, Keel continued his public opposition to legalizing anything to do with cannabis. In a June 14, 2021, letter to members of the South Carolina Behavioral Health Services Association and the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, Keel expressed his disappointment in the agencies lack of opposition to legislation aimed at legalizing marijuana in SC, according to the Pendarvis lawsuit.

I have spent 43 years in law enforcement standing up for those who cant stand up for themselves, Keel is quoted as writing to the groups, That is why I have consistently voiced my concerns about legalizing marijuana in any form, the section of Keels letter included in the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit also claims SLED Major Frank ONeal is a frequent speaker on behalf of Keel lobbying the public against marijuana legalization and the collateral damage it causes our country, according to the lawsuit.

In January 2022, Keel went to York County to join York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson on a show titled Crime to Court produced by members of the sheriffs office. The episode included a cowboy hat-wearing Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who Sheriff Tolson said he had to fly Lamb into town for the 32-minute video.

All three appeared on the sheriffs video to tell the public why state lawmakers legalizing medical marijuana was a bad idea.

Im proud to be here, as well; this is a topic that I think most people know that I have been very much opposed to here in South Carolina; Ive pretty well made that very well-known and continue to oppose this bill that were going to discuss today, Keel said looking into the camera.

Both Sheriff Tolson and Keel said they voiced concerns about the state passing the Hemp Farming Act, but lawmakers passed it anyway, and Governor Henry McMaster signed the Act into law.

Keel claimed in the video that 70% of the hemp products SLEDs laboratory tested out of the states hemp shops are beyond the legal limit of allowable THC content. Which makes it makes it marijuana, Keel said in the York County Sheriffs video.

And that was our concern that we let folks know about when we were debating that bill, Keel said.

Keel went on to make a pitch against the legislature approving the 2022 medical marijuana bill making its way through the State House at the time, I happen to be president of a national organization, Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, Keel said in the York County Sheriffs Office video.

Every director from those agencies tell me, Chief if you dont have it, do everything you can to defeat this bill. Its not good for your state, and theres no need to put your children through the challenges of facing recreational, medical marijuana in South Carolina.

SLED does not like the notion that the state is moving in a direction  first of legalizing hemp and possibly moving on to legalize marijuana. Look, I give them credit for this: theyve said that, right? I mean, its not like its a hidden agenda; its an out-front agenda. They dont like it, Hutto said.

The legislature heard that testimony and set the policy of this state by saying this is going to be legal. And its my opinion SLED just never accepted that. I mean, they never accepted that were the policymakers and theyre not, Hutto said last month. I think they were trying to send a message to farmers; you better stay away from this hemp farming because were going to come after you. Were going to treat you like drug dealers, not like farmers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
A storm rolling across Whatcom County could bring lowland snow or a rain-snow mix to areas around Bellingham just as residents will be heading to work and school early Monday.

Current forecasts from National Weather Service in Seattle show a storm system arriving Sunday night with enough cold air to produce a brief period of snow, meteorologist Dana Felton said in the online forecast discussion.

Snow levels could below enough with the onset of precipitation Monday morning for a rain-snow mix in Whatcom county as well as along the Hood Canal, Felton said.

Little to no accumulation is expected.

That scenario could repeat itself early Tuesday as arctic air begins to filter into Western Washington through British Columbias Fraser River Valley.

That Fraser Outflow will keep temperatures far below normal for several days, with the possibility of lowland snow later in the week, according to the forecast.
Will it snow in Delaware on Saturday?

Forecasts have been bouncing back and forth all week, going from Delaware expecting 1-3 inches of snow to none.

So, will Delaware get snow from the coastal storm expected to bring precipitation to the Northeast?

According to AccuWeather.com, little to no accumulation of snow is expected for the Wilmington area.

Here are the AccuWeather snowfall amount probabilities for Saturday, Jan. 6, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.:

Greater than 2 inches: 5%

A coating to 2 inches: 7%

Little to no accumulation: 81%

No accumulation: 7%

Sunday's snow forecast is expected to be similar, with snow possible from noon to 1 p.m., but not much if so. Here are the snowfall amount probabilities from AccuWeather:

Greater than 2 inches: 1%

A coating to 2 inches: 6%

Little to no accumulation: 91%

No accumulation: 2%

According to AccuWeather meteorologists, "As a major storm brings heavy snow to New England, upstate New York and northern and western Pennsylvania from Saturday to early Sunday, conditions across the Philadelphia area will range from rainy and wet to the southeast of the city to wintry and slippery to the north and west."

Although this storm is expected to be the largest one of the winter so far for the Northeast, Delaware seems to be missing out.

National Weather Service forecast for Delaware

Good Saturday morning. It is a cold start to the day, however a storm arriving by later today will bring accumulating snow to parts of the region and plenty of rain to other areas. Here is the latest... https://t.co/JiD09ByGTv #pawx #njwx #dewx #mdwx pic.twitter.com/gYNc0qTX4v  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) January 6, 2024

The National Weather Service has a slightly different forecast for Wilmington on Saturday.

According to the weather service, snow is likely before 1 p.m., with rainfall and snow between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The chance of snow in the early afternoon is 50% to 100%.

The high for Saturday is expected to be 41 degrees, with a low of 34 degrees.

Here's our latest forecast snowfall, not much different from before. Snow will start moving into northern Delaware towards noon and overspread the I-95 corridor and points north and west during the early to mid afternoon today, changing to rain for most areas by late tonight. pic.twitter.com/G0NYv5SosM  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) January 6, 2024

New Castle County extended forecast

The area is not done with storms, however, with another expected to bring heavy rain in the middle of next week.

Here is the extended forecast for New Castle County:

Sunday: A chance of rain and snow before 8 a.m., with rain a possibility until 1 p.m. Temperatures are expected to be a high of 43 degrees with a low of 32 degrees. Sunday night is expected to have wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

Monday: A sunny day with a partly cloudy night is expected. Temperatures are expected to be a high of 44 degrees with a low of 29 degrees.

Tuesday: Rain is expected throughout the day, with heavy rain possible at night. Temperatures are expected to be a high of 57 degrees, with a low of 43 degrees.

Wednesday: Chance of showers before 1 p.m., with a partly sunny afternoon. Temperatures are expected to be a high of 51 degrees with a low of 33 degrees.

Thursday: A mostly sunny day with a partly cloudy night is expected, with a high of 47 degrees and a low of 32 degrees.

Kent County forecast

According to the weather service, Kent County is not expected to have snow on Saturday, with rain more likely downstate.

The high for Saturday is 46 degrees, with wind gusts as high as 25 mph. The low is 35 degrees.

The extended forecast for the week is as follows:

Sunday: High of 46 degrees with a low of 32 degrees. A slight chance of rain and snow before 8 a.m., with a mostly clear night.

Monday: High of 45 degrees with a low of 31 degrees. Monday is expected to be sunny during the day with a partly cloudy night.

Tuesday: Rain is likely, with heavy rain and wind into the night. Tuesday's forecast expects a high of 59 degrees with a low of 44 degrees.

Wednesday: A chance of rain before 1 p.m. is expected, with a partly sunny afternoon. Temperatures are expected to be a high of 52 degrees with a low of 33 degrees.

Thursday: With a high of 47 degrees and a low of 33 degrees, Thursday is expected to be sunny with a partly cloudy night.

National forecast: Weekend snow forecast calls for about a foot of snow in some areas

Sussex County forecast

Sussex County is also missing out on the snow this time around, according to the weather service.

Rain is expected for Saturday, with a high of 51 degrees and a low of 35 degrees. Due to the storm, wind gusts are expected to be as high as 25 mph.

Here is the extended forecast for Sussex County:

Sunday: A slight chance of rain is possible before 11 a.m., with a partly sunny day and mostly clear night expected after. Temperatures are expected to be a high of 48 degrees with a low of 32 degrees.

Monday: A sunny day with a high of 46 degrees and a low of 31 degrees is expected.

Tuesday : Rain is anticipated; it could be heavy at times. Temperatures are expected to be a high of 61 degrees and low of 44 degrees, with windy conditions anticipated as well.

Wednesday: A mostly sunny and clear night, with a high of 52 degrees and a low of 33 degrees.

Thursday: A sunny day and partly cloudy night, with a high of 49 degrees and low of 33 degrees.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Will it snow in Delaware today? Here is the forecast
North Korea launched 200 rounds of artillery into waters near its contested western sea border with South Korea on Friday. As a result, the South Korean military requested that residents on two nearby islands seek shelter.

According to South Korean officials, the shells landed north of the disputed border, specifically the Northern Limit Line, between 9 and 11 a.m. Fortunately, no damage was reported.

North Korea Fires 200 Artillery Near South Korea Island

The military in the South has accused the North of actions that are seen as a threat to peace and causing increased tensions. They have stated their commitment to taking appropriate actions in response. Shortly after, it was reported that a response was made to the provocation from the North, with artillery shells being fired into the waters south of the disputed border.

However, as the South Korean military geared up for a firing exercise in border waters, island officials on Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong urged residents to take shelter starting at noon.

Several ferry departures from Incheon, a port west of Seoul, the South Korean capital, to the islands on Friday afternoon were also canceled. Residents of the island remain cautious about potential provocations from North Korea, particularly in light of the 2010 incident where artillery and rockets were fired, resulting in the loss of lives of South Korean civilians and marines.

In response, the South launched a counterattack on the North Korean shore, using artillery fire. Residents on the islands have become familiar with the routine of receiving instructions to vacate their homes and seek refuge in underground shelters.

The islands are scattered with underground and concrete shelters, and these orders are frequently given during military drills or when North Korea has fired its rockets towards the south.

Following the completion of a weeklong joint live-fire military drill in Pocheon, north of Seoul, the North's artillery firing occurred the next day. The drill included the use of artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, and A-10 Warthog planes by South Korea and the United States.

On Thursday, North Korea issued a strong statement, warning of retaliation against its adversaries and describing them as "mad dogs" who will face severe consequences.

In a recent development, North Korean artillery was fired on Friday, marking a significant event since the North decided to abandon the agreement it had previously signed with South Korea in 2018.

This agreement aimed to put an end to hostilities, including live-fire military drills, near the border. In November, South Korea suspended part of the pact before resuming surveillance flights near the border to enhance their monitoring of the North Korean military. North Korea promptly declared the termination of the entire agreement, as per NY Times.

Read Also: China Designates Patrols in Disputed South China Sea Amid Philippines, US Joint Military Drills

Kim Jong Un Visits Missile Factory

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a factory that manufactures mobile launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles, as reported by state media on Friday. During the visit, he also instructed for heightened preparations for a potential "military confrontation with the adversary."

Kim toured the transporter erector launcher, or TEL, facility accompanied by his young daughter Ju-ae and a group of senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong, propaganda chief Ri Il Hwan, and close aide Jo Yong Won. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, he emphasized the importance of strengthening national defense capabilities by focusing on strategic missiles.

Kim emphasized the need for production to be accelerated continuously, considering the serious situation that demands the country to be better prepared for a potential military confrontation. The situation on the Korean Peninsula continues to be fraught, as North Korea persists in its U.N.-prohibited nuclear and missile programs, while Seoul and Washington strengthen their military collaboration.

Related Article: North Korea Will No Longer Seek Reunification With South; Kim Jong Un Orders Military To Annihilate Enemies Including US If Provoked
More snow is expected in the Akron area on Saturday.

The National Weather Service said Friday that snow will move into northern Ohio Saturday morning on into the evening. Most of it is expected to fall between the late morning and afternoon hours and east of the I-71 corridor.

There's a 50% increasing to 90% chance of snow on Saturday, dropping to 40% overnight and increasing back to 90% on Sunday.

Snow will move northeast into the area Saturday with the most widespread precipitation expected east of the I-71 corridor. The majority of the snow should fall late Saturday morning into early Saturday evening with the highest snowfall totals expected in eastern counties. pic.twitter.com/uoclAfHlBY  NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) January 5, 2024

Forecasters predict light snow should continue in the area through Sunday or early Monday, with most falling across Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania.

Akron is expected to get less an inch of snow, according to the NWS. The highest snowfall totals are forecast to land in eastern counties.

High temperatures Saturday and Sunday are expected to be just above freezing, with lows around 30 overnight.

More: Ohio weather giving ski resorts the cold shoulder. Just 2 of 5 are open

In the longer term, weather service forecasters predict a 33% to 40% chance of above average temperatures in January.

Forecasters predict 33% to 40% chance of above average temperatures in January.

However, there is also a chance that a frigid Arctic oscillation the week of Jan. 12-18 will impact much of the lower 48 states. Temperatures and wind chills well below zero across the intermountain West and Northern Plains could lead to stormy conditions heading eastward through Ohio to New England.

Seven-day forecast:

Saturday: Snow, mainly after noon. High near 34. East wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Saturday Night: A chance of snow, mainly after 2 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 31. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Sunday: Snow showers. High near 35. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Sunday Night: A chance of snow showers before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. West wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37.

Monday Night: Rain and snow likely after 1 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 30. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Tuesday: Rain. High near 47. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Tuesday Night: Showers. Low around 34. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Wednesday: Rain and snow showers before 1 p.m., then a chance of snow showers. High near 40. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Breezy.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39.

Thursday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Friday: A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How much snow will Akron get Saturday? About an inch
A winter storm warning has been issued for much of Massachusetts ahead of a weekend noreaster threatening to drop up to a foot of snow in some areas.

The warning goes into effect at 4 p.m. on Saturday through 1 am. on Monday.

The warning is in effect in Northern Berkshire, Southern Berkshire, Central Middlesex County, Eastern Franklin, Eastern Hampden, Eastern Hampshire, Northern Worcester, Northwest Middlesex County, Southern Worcester, Western Essex, Western Franklin, Western Hampden, Western Hampshire, Eastern Essex, Eastern Norfolk, Southeast Middlesex, Suffolk, and Western Norfolk counties, according to the National Weather Service.

Boston upgraded from a winter storm watch to a winter storm warning in the overnight hours of Friday into Saturday.

Here is a loop of projected hourly #snowfall rates from 7 PM tonight to 7 AM Sunday. Moderate to heavy snow enters western MA/CT ~ 9-10 PM, then spreads eastward & exits eastern MA 6-7 AM Sunday. Hourly snowfall rates of 1-2" (green areas) are likely, hence difficult travel. pic.twitter.com/Ld6iszDoSm  NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 6, 2024

Heavy snow is expected in northern Worcester County and the Merrimack Valley. Up to 8-12 inches of snow will fall in the jackpot area of the storm while southern bands of 5 -8 inches and 3-5 inches of snow extend down through Norfolk County. The storm is projected to taper off, turning into a wet mix the closer it gets to Cape Cod.

Saturday night into Sunday night travel delays will set in.

Early Sunday morning is when our storm will be at its worst, and for communities along or west of I-95, roads will be too, said Boston 25 Meteorologist Tucker Antico.

However, roads east of I-95 will stay relatively clear until late Sunday afternoon and evening.

Cold temperatures can also create slick spots, according to Antico.

This is gonna be more than just heavy snow, weve got strong winds, especially along the coastline, and power outages because of the heavy wet sticky nature of the snow, adds Boston 25 Meteorlogist Shiri Spear.

Peak storm conditions will happen Sunday morning through the midday hours. The system is expected to move out by Sunday night.

By 1:00 p.m., just before [Patriots] kickoff, you have snow, probably three to four inches on the ground but on its way out through the afternoon and into the evening, said Chief Meteorologist Lemanowicz.

Just after 9:00 p.m., MassDOT alerted drivers that over 875 pieces of equipment were on their way to keep roadways clear.

Winter Storm Updates: All #MassDOT Highway Districts have activated their Storm Desks and are in Snow & Ice Operations.



 876 pieces of equipment are deployed statewide and are patrolling, pretreating, and spreading.



 For real time travel updates use https://t.co/v2W0B7nXYc pic.twitter.com/NF4nkQ9DuX  Mass. Transportation (@MassDOT) January 7, 2024

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Friday spoke to reporters about how the city is preparing ahead of the storm.

Our vehicles and our drivers and our city teams are out there trying to prepare the streets, treat them before the snow comes down, clear when it does come down, and then make sure that they are safe, Wu said.

The mayor said crews are also prepping all city vehicles to ensure they are working properly to treat city roads.

The storm is not expected to have an impact on Monday. Wu said she hopes that the storm projections will stay that way.

The timing of this so far, fingers crossed, does mean that it should have less of an impact on the normal rhythms of our weekday commutes and school pickups and drop-offs and all that, Wu said.

Stay with the Boston 25 Weather Team for updates as the storm moves into the state.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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In the heart of a small town called Roanoke, Alabama, a young individual embarked on a journey that would not only shape their destiny but also inspire those around them. Christopher Bell, now a sergeant first class in the Army, was determined to choose the path of a Soldier and pave the way for a brighter future beyond his close-knit community.

Growing up, Bell dreamed of traveling the world and earning a college education, and he realized that the Army could provide both.

Then Sgt. Christopher Bell and advanced leader course classmates conducting vehicle recovery operations March 2018, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. (Courtesy)

I joined the Army so that, honestly, I could leave my small town in Alabama, and to experience more from the world  and start my own career, said Bell, a maintenance manager in the 8th Theater Sustainment Commands G4. I didn't have a way to pay for college, and I heard that the Army also pays for college, so I took full advantage of that opportunity.

For many, joining the military is a life-altering decision, but for Bell, it became the gateway to a better future. Faced with a burning desire for education, the Army became not just a means of service but a ticket for him to become the first person in his family to earn a degree while traveling and living in different parts of the country and world. An experience that had previously seemed out of reach.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Bell upon earning an Associates in General Studies, January 2016, Grafenwoehr, Germany.

I joined the Army, Oct. 6. 2010. I went to basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, said Bell. I came in as a 91 Bravo, light wheeled mechanic, and now Im a 91 X-ray, which is the same thing but maintenance manager.

While stationed in different parts of the country and world, Bell embraced the commitment of serving the nation and pursuing academic goals. While stationed in Germany, Bell was able to earn his associates degree in business administration.

Every duty station I go to I'm taking classes working towards my bachelor's degree in business administration, said Bell.

The experience he has gained from the Army combined with a degree in business admiration will make him competitive in the outside job market, he said.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher stands for a photo following senior leader course graduation October 2022, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. (Courtesy)

I think it [degree combined with military experience] will help, but not only just being in the Army overall, it's going to help with my life outside of the military, said Bell. And it kind of correlates with my own degree also, with the managing administrative actions and personnel.

Bells enlistment and success in the Army inspired his younger brother to follow in his footsteps.

I never asked him why he joined the military, but I think that if I hadnt joined the military, he probably wouldnt have even given it a chance, said Bell. I guess hes seen how Ive been in my career and how the military is taking care of me and providing for me. The financial security is foremost.

Following in his brothers footsteps Dontay Bell joined the Army National Guard and served time in Afghanistan.

I would have to say yes, given the fact that he is my older brother and as far as growing up we didnt really have anyone to follow in their footsteps and joining the military was something we didnt see day to day, so I would say he influenced me to join, said Active Guard and Reserve Staff Sgt. Dontay Bell, a supply sergeant with the 1166th Military Police Company, located in Oneonta, Alabama.

Dontay, currently studying computer science, said college and travel where also two of the main reasons he joined the Army. Recalling that while they were growing up they didnt really travel and he knew joining the military he would see more places than Alabama.

From serving and promotions, to them being the first in their family to earn a degree, both brothers are very proud of each other and their accomplishments.

Just create our own families and leave a legacy thats going to make our family proud, said Bell.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: A Soldier's journey: From small-town dreams to college horizons
(Bloomberg) -- Somalias ambassador to Turkey quit to run for vice president of Puntland, the oil-rich, semi-autonomous territory in the eastern part of the country that holds elections on Monday.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Jama Abdullahi Mohamed, who held the position in Ankara since 2017, issued a statement on his decision on X, formerly Twitter.

Puntland, an arid region in Somalias northeast, has oil and gas reserves that havent been fully commercially extracted due to ongoing instability. Apart from clashes between national government and Puntland officials over energy and electoral laws, the area has been long known as a haven for pirates and Islamic State militants.

Read more: Oil-Rich Somalia Region Elects Leader Amid Tensions

The elections in the territory of about 4.9 million people come a week after Somaliland, Puntlands self-declared independent neighbor, concluded an agreement with Ethiopia to grant the landlocked country access to the Red Sea in exchange for a stake in Ethiopian Airlines.

Puntlands next leader will be chosen by 66 lawmakers at a meeting in Garowe, the regional capital.

Somalia, the United Nations-recognized owner of the land, rejected the deal as illegal and recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia as tensions continue to rise on the northeast Indian Ocean coast.

Read more: African Union Joins US in Calling for Calm in Horn of Africa

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Six people from central Ohio are facing over 120 felony charges after a task force dismantled a south Columbus human trafficking ring.

An investigation was conducted by the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force into a crime ring and resulted in the indictment of six adults, according to Ohio attorney general Dave Yost. A Franklin County grand jury indicted the suspects on Dec. 27 and includes two Columbus men who were charged with murder.

28-year-old James Antwan Dukes-Johnson and 21-year-old Michael Anthony Davis were two of three suspects arrested and charged in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Adrian Smith on May 31. Dukes-Johnson was arrested on July 6 in connection to the homicide while Davis was arrested on Aug. 14.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants to ban intoxicating hemp after marijuana legalization

The two each face nearly 40 felony charges related to the crime ring in addition to aggravated murder and murder charges. Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, trafficking in persons, compelling prostitution, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, and felonious assault are also charges Dukes-Johnson and Davis face.

The other four suspects indicted are 33-year-old Sarah Dotson, 38-year-old Shahee Siler, 28-year-old Alexias Carr-Johnson from Marysville, and 29-year-old Tyler Payne. Each faces at least four felony charges and additional firearm specifications. Among those charges include:

Sarah Dotson (29 charges): Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, trafficking in persons, compelling prostitution, and trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound.

Shahee Siler (10 charges): Aggravated murder, murder, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, promoting prostitution, and felonious assault.

Alexias Carr-Johnson (4 charges): Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and money laundering.

Tyler Payne (4 charges): Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and money laundering.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Ukrainian military on the left bank of the Kherson Oblast

Russian forces on the occupied left bank of the Dnipro River suffered significant losses of personnel and military equipment over the past day, Ukraines Southern Defense Forces reported on Telegram on Jan. 6.

The Ukrainian military reported the elimination of 10 enemy soldiers, along with:

Read also: Ukraine confirms its army hasnt been moved from Kherson Oblasts left bank, despite what ISW said

 1 Grad multiple rocket launcher

 2 Supercam UAVs

 1 mortar

 1 boat

 1 Murom-M video surveillance complex

 1 communication relay

 5 armored vehicles

 3 observation points

 2 UAV control points.

The loss of three Russian Su-34 fighter jets over southern Ukraine on Dec. 22 has put a near complete halt to Russian tactical aviation in Kherson Oblast, UK Defense Intelligence reported on Jan. 6.

Whats happening on the Left Bank?

Previously, Russian air power had been playing a key role in the south, especially in attacking Ukraines bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River. According to Defense Intelligence, lack of air support may have contributed to the failure of an attempt by Russian Ground Forces 18th Combined Arms Army to clear the bridgehead.

Read also: Ukrainian forces holding firm against Russian attacks in on left bank of Dnipro in Kherson Oblast

The Armed Forces of Ukraine officially reported on Nov. 17 that Ukrainian soldiers had gained a foothold in several bridgeheads on the occupied east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast. In particular, the events were centered around the village of Krynky.

According to their data, during the operation, they have already destroyed more than 1,000 Russian troops and dozens of pieces of equipment.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces later refuted a statement by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) claiming that they had been cleared out from their positions in occupied Kherson Oblast. Citing Russian sources, ISW reported that the invading army was conducting operations on the Kherson Oblasts left bank and had claimed progress on Dec. 13.

Ukrainian forces are maintaining control over a stretch of several kilometers on the left bank of Kherson Oblast, fending off multiple attempted incursions by Russian occupiers, spokesperson for the southern defense forces, Natalia Humeniuk, said on Dec. 20.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kherson Oblast continue to expand their bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro River, the General Staff reported on Dec. 28.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Agency Smith

Elon Musk's SpaceX is suing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because, according to the company's claim, the agency itself is unconstitutional.

Filed before a federal district court in Texas, SpaceX claimed in a complaint that the NLRB  which earlier this week accused the company of firing workers for being critical of Musk  is "an unconstitutionally structured agency" whose in-house courts should have no jurisdiction over the spaceflight firm.

To be fair, there's little doubt that SpaceX did, in fact, fire people who were critical of Musk. That much is very public, considering that the ex-employees in question were terminated after signing and issuing an open letter calling on their employer to distance itself from its founder because his erratic behavior was, per their description, a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment."

As the NLRB alleged in its complaint against the company, SpaceX president and CEO Gwynne Shotwell and other C-suiters at the firm acted illegally when interrogating employees about the letter and then telling them to keep those conversations secret, and overall creating an "impression of surveillance (including reading and showing screenshots of communications between employees)," the agency wrote in its filing.

Uno Reverse

Now, in an effort to kibosh this latest NLRB clapback against the many alleged labor infractions committed by companies in Musk's portfolio, SpaceX is using an unusual but not altogether unheard of argument in its countersuit: that the agency's in-house courts are "miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers." Citing constitutional framer James Madison, the SpaceX suit even goes so far as to call the NLRB "the very definition of tyranny."

The countersuit goes on to insinuate that the agency is unduly biased against him  a claim Musk himself has made repeatedly regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission's insistence on taking his stupid pot joke tweet in 2018 seriously.

"If the current Members of the NLRB are asked to make a prosecutorial determination about whether SpaceX is in violation of the [National Labor Relations Act], there is an objectively high risk that they would not later be able to provide the neutral adjudicative forum that the Constitution demands," the company's attorneys wrote, "and so would need to recuse from further participation in any agency adjudication against SpaceX."

While it's fairly unlikely  though not impossible  that any judge will agree with SpaceX's assertion, that's far from the point of this kind of filing. Musk is trying to gum up the works in this latest labor drama. And unfortunately, because he has enough money for an army of galaxy-brained lawyers, he's likely to succeed for the time being.

More on Musk: Elon Musk Is Getting Absolutely Destroyed in Sweden
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent a letter to President Biden Saturday formally extending an invitation for the 2024 State of the Union address.

In what would be the latest the address has been given since 1934, Johnson asked Biden to fulfill his obligation to address the House on Thursday, March 7.

In this moment of great challenge for our country, it is my solemn duty to extend this invitation for you to address a Joint Session of Congress, the Speaker wrote, adding Thank you, and I look forward to your response.

This will mark the first State of the Union address with Johnson on the dais, after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)  who retired from Congress at the end of 2023  was ousted from the leadership position in a historic vote in October.

It also comes amid an election year, as Biden continues to struggle with polling numbers and a low approval rating. The speech, however, could serve as an opportunity for the president to cast a new vision ahead of the November election.

While the address is typically held in late January or February, Biden also gave his 2022 address to Congress in early March, per the Associated Press.

Biden accepted the invitation Saturday afternoon with a brief statement on X: Looking forward to it, Mr. Speaker.

The later date could also provide the House GOP with room to negotiate on spending. It follows two deadlines set last November under Johnson to avert a shutdown  Jan. 19 and Feb. 2.

Bidens 2023 State of the Union address before the divided Congress was marred by shouting after the president claimed Republicans wanted to sunset Medicare and Social Security. He also pledged to finish the job, after listing off bipartisan legislation that he argued had revitalized the economy and shown the government can work for the public.

Last years address also included a standing ovation for the parents of Tyre Nichols  a Black man killed in a fatal traffic stop by Memphis police officers last January. As the first anniversary of his death approaches, the familys attorneys said they will recommit to fighting for justice for Tyre.

Updated at 12:50 p.m.

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